Week 3

Sup Peeps!
     Congrats to Brielle on getting Baptized! that's awesome! I wish i could have been there!! but I'm so proud of you!!!
     So writing from Africa... That still seems so weird to me! Occasionally there will be moments where It hits me that I'm in Africa, but it still hasn't sunk in yet. Angola actually is really nice. Its super hot but has some really nice buildings. and a ton of people!! Id call it the California of Africa. haha.
     Food story of the week: so Last p-day, we went to a special store just so we could get peanut butter. Its pretty far but its definitely worth it! so after emailing, we got in the taxi and went to this store. its called shoprite and its in the middle of a mall called Bellas Shopping. (Angola is ridiculously expensive! i thought it'd be cheap because its Africa, but not at all. just to give you an example, Iphones here cost 1300 dollars. us dollars. xbox games, which are normally 60 cost 120!!!) but yeah so we go to belas shopping which is the rich part of Angola, and my companion tells me theres a food court here. so i go lets go check it out... and then i saw it.... The Colonel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KFC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh man, I've never been so happy. it cost 14 bucks for a three piece combo meal, but it was the best meal i ever had... and we got the peanut butter, so it was a good day.
     Ok so I didn't have a lot to write, except my mom asked me what a normal day is like, and to not hold back because "I can take it" so here we go:
     We wake up at 6:30 crawl out of bed and exercise, I'm usually still tired so i just sit at my desk for 10 minutes haha. Then I eat a bowl of cereal. Our kitchen is actually pretty nice, except there are cockroaches everywhere!! I don't know what i hate more, them or mosquitoes. Then we shower, you have the choice between cold running water, or a warm bucket shower, but you have to boil the water, so i usually take the cold running shower. Then studies begin at 8. Personal study for an hour, then companion study for two, then language study for one. then Lunch at noon. its usually cereal, but sometimes we eat at members houses. The cereal here is weird. but then again, everything here is weird haha.
     then at 13 (they use military time here) we go out of the house. We walk a little bit to the bus stop, and wait for it to pick us up. its usually packed. like wall to wall. but its like a mini bus. then we get out and have to cross the street. its two 5 lane roads, with no traffic lights. so crossing it is a little difficult sometimes but it makes me laugh. Its like Frogger, or like George Kstanza on that one episode of Seinfeld. haha. but once we get to the other side we catch one of two taxis. there are blue vans which are govt taxis, but those are always packed and they make a ton of stops. then theres illegal taxis, which are kinda sketchy cause its just random people who use their personal cars as a taxi. so kind of sketchy but nothing has happened yet. and there are like no rules on the roads, the only rule is no left turns haha. so to turn left you have to go past, make a u-turn and then turn right. if that makes sense...
     We usually have some lessons scheduled and teach those then, we walk the streets and try and find people. its so hot and we sweat so much that i can feel sweat running down my stomach when were teaching lessons haha. we sweat a ton. if we followed the ´rule´to not wear g´s when you sweat, we´d never wear them! we walk through places called bairros. theres the main street and then theres these which are neighborhoods with dirt roads. the houses are made of cement and metal. just cinder blocks and then metal for the roofs. most peoples houses look like nothing from the outside, but then you walk in and they have a flat screen TV and a sound system. its weird. but i guess its just priorities.
     Sometimes we have to walk past the things called shoppas, which are usually by garbage dumps and are houses people have built out of stuff they've found in the dump. they stink and people there don't have toilets so they just go wherever they can hahaha. its so freaking weird! and ladies are constantly breast feeding their kids. everywhere! walking down the street in the bairros, its ridiculous. and the plumbing feeds into rivers which run through the middle of town, so you're always either getting a whiff of sewer, b.o., or garbage. it stinks. except we walk by this one plant that smells way good. its my favorite plant in all of Angola.
     This past week was a little different, we ate at a bunch of members houses ( all the members always laugh at my name. haha. they all know ´money´. and they always make a joke about it like ohhh come to my house, i need more money, or do you have lots of money haha. but its nice, cause it helps me talk to more people. ) it rained a ton this last week. Like the most rain I have ever seen! and When it rains here, everything stops. People don't go out of their houses, and they don't want anyone coming in. so theres not a whole lot a missionary can do. so we stayed in for a bit and it kept raining, it rained so much that there were rivers in the streets! but behind our apartment complex is a big dirt field where the kids from the shoppas go and play soccer, so we went out there and played with them!! It was the funnest thing ever. pouring rain, 3 Elders versus 15 African kids haha, wed score and everyone would yell goal! and run around, running in straight mud, haha we have a bunch of pics, but i cant send them :( but it was way fun. and then we went back in and cleaned off, the rain stoped and we went out for the rest of the day.
      Like I said, everything is mud, and we had to walk pretty far but there weren't any taxis. but there were motorcycles :) so we hopped on the back of these two guys motorcycles and rode all the way up through the mud, through the bairros haha, it was a blast. one part we had to lift our feet up cause the mud/water was so deep!!
     We get home at around 21. or 9 pm. and get ready for bed, eat dinner, and sleep. then do it all over again. Africa is pretty crazy. It stinks, Its hot, Its weird haha. but despite all that, I LOVE IT!!!!! Angolans are straight forward, so its not weird to call them brother, or ask them their name, or if they're married or where they live, the very first time you meet them. every day is a new adventure.Were always meeting new people or something crazy is going on. I love it so much!!
      I miss you all a ton! I'm glad to see everything is going good! You're always in my prayers. I love you All. Thanks for all the love and support it helps so much! I Love it here. I wish you guys were here to see it! Fica Bem! Eu Amo Voces! Adeus

 i love you so much! and i miss you! but I'm in good hands, even with all the sketchy things we do, i feel protected. i wish i could
see the unseen world, I'm sure there are angels around us 24/7. Love you. And tell Trish thanks for the pictures!!!! I loved all of t
them.!