Lubango!!!

Lubango is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love it!!!!!!!!!!!!! its a lot more like what i thought my mish would be. Its cooler. not to say that its cold, its still pretty hot, but its cooler than Luanda. It rains quite a bit here. but it hasn't rained super hard since I've got here. Its super green. theres goats walking around everywhere, cattle, a bunch of rivers. and its got cliffs that look like the ones behind our house in st George, but greener. Our house is really nice. except we have no air conditioning. its kind of annoying but we don't really need them. the landlords have two dogs. one is a big German Shepherd named lobo which means wolf and one is a golden retriever who's always barking named bolt. so we take meat out with us when we walk past them. lobo is really nice. and bolt is starting to warm up to us.... The branch is a lot smaller. we had 80 people at church yesterday which is quite a bit. we don't all fit into the sacrament room. I was going to play the piano, but the electricity isn't stable so if you hit more than three notes at once, the piano will turn off haha. so we'll see. there are 4 missionaries here in Lubango. we all live in the same house.

Well, I'm about to hit my year mark. I feel like i haven't been out that long, but at the same time i feel like i have forever left!! haha. time is weird on the mission. But I am so grateful for this past year. Its definitely been the hardest year of my life, but at the same time, one of the most rewarding. Ive learned a ton! The more I learn about the church, scriptures, and gospel, the more i realize how little i knew and how little i know now. I decided to make a list of some of the things I've learned and am learning up until now. Ive learned:

How to iron a shirt

cook more than just a grilled cheese

how to shop for groceries

Portuguese

Making my bed

Bucket Showers

to love to read

how to clean a toilet

Be grateful for tender mercies

Love the simple things

Do unto others as you would have done unto you

The gospel is a message of happiness and comfort

Recognizing the promptings of the Holy Ghost

Follow the promptings of the holy Ghost

Obedience brings blessings

Go out of your way to help others

appreciate the beauty around you

How great America is

How blessed I am

These are just a few of the things i have learned have finally understood. I will be forever grateful for this year of my life and I am excited for the one ahead. I love you all. Thanks for your support. The Gospel blesses lives. The Church is true.

Love,

Elder Money

 

Pics taken from Elder Cafferty's blog

 

Elder Hamilton/Lubango!!

So a lot happened this week!

First off, Elder Hamilton came and all the Elders from the provinces came up for Mission conference. It was awesome. Elder Hamilton talked about some of the problems we address as missionaries here in Angola and talked about possible solutions to those problems and what we as missionaries can do better to help establish The Church here in Angola.

Walking with Elder Hamilton! It was an awesome experience. I was super nervous!!!!! one because hes a general authority, and two because no one likes to sit with us in the mornings, so I didn't think we'd have anyone to sit with. But we were able to find some people to teach. We taught a young girl named F..., She was baptized when she was 9 but never had a testimony and never comes to church. Elder Hamilton speaks french and Spanish so he understands quite a bit, cant speak Portuguese though. So we translated for him. We taught the lesson, and at the end. He asked a couple of questions. They were super simple questions, but super powerful. You can definitely tell that he has the Spirit with him. Then we Went and taught a family. The dad, A...., was baptized when I got here in August, and already has the Melchizedek Priesthood. Super awesome guy. But his wife, J...., is super religious, has already read the BOM, but never comes to church. She believes church is in the Heart. We had an amazing lesson with them. And after they asked if Elder Hamilton could give a blessing to their grandson, who was a little sick. So he had A.... do the first part, and towards the end, antonio was so emotional that he could barely talk. Then Elder Hamilton sealed the blessing and I translated. Again, super simple, but very powerful. When he finished, A.... had tears running down his cheeks, and J.... was crying so bad she couldn't even look up. Then they cooked us a little snack and that was that. It was a wonderful learning experience that I'll never forget.

And we found out transfers today. I will be leaving Cassequel and going to Lubango! I am sooo excited! The provinces are where all the missionaries want to go. There are only 4 missionaries in all of Lubango. My new companion will be Elder Dunkley and Ill be DL. I'm looking forward to it. I get out of Luanda for the hot season, but i hear its raining a ton down there :)

Next email will be from Lubango! Love you all!

love,

Elder Money


Pictures taken from Elder Cafferty's blog

 

Picture with Elder Hamilton

Mission Tour

First off, Congrats to Ryan and Ashley on their new baby!!! And Happy Birthday to The Best Mom in the World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

Things in the area are going alright. We've got a couple of cool new investigators, so we'll see how things go with them but we're still working on finding. Other than that, not a whole lot is new. This week is Mission conference and Elder Hamilton from the quorum of the 70 is coming to Angola.

I finally got the new Ensign with the General conference talks from October. And I was reading through them. And I read the story from Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, Hastening the Lord's Game Plan. And he tells the story of how he called a lady in his stake and he called her and her son answered the phone and asked who it was, and he said tell your mom its President Nielsen. and the son put down the phone and yelled, ''Mom! its President Hinckley!!!'' and then he went on to ask ''What would you do if the Prophet of the Lord really called on you?'' and i thought to myself yeah, that would be pretty crazy. and then on Sunday, that question kind of became a reality....

I was at church on Sunday and President and Sister Merrill showed up. At the end of sacrament, President Merrill came up to me and grabs me and pulls me aside and says as you know, Elder Hamilton is coming this Wednesday, I said yeah, and he said on Friday, He will be doing comp study with you and your companion and then will be walking with you for 2-3 hours!!! That question has a lot more meaning to me now haha. I'm excited, but nervous at the same time! It'll be an awesome experience, I just hope we don't do anything dumb! And it will be cool to give him a taste of what we go through every day. He's a brave man that's for sure. So wish me luck!! And ask yourselves the question, What would you do if the prophet of the Lord really called on you?

Love,

Elder Money