Monday, October 5, 2015

Well ya so like I said last week I am training.  That is like going pretty well.  I realize now what I was like when I got to my mission.  I looked like a cat that had just got water dumped on it.  SCARED TO DEATH!!!! For both of us because like I never stopped praying our second day out till I walked through the apt door.  :) But Elder Foster is good.  He wants to work hard and find new people.  Like I talk to a lot of people.  But ya we would be walking and I turn around and he isn't there.  He would be stopping to talk to someone.  So he is just really good and I'm excited to be here with him.  Just ready to find some new people to meet and do what I am supposed to do.  So as well I am district leader and that is like cool I guess.  But I just plan the DDM meetings so ya but its nice.  But I don't know if you know this but since we are 9 hours difference we don't get to watch conference live or even in the same weekend.  We will see it in like 3 weekends.  I about cried like I wanted conference and I wanted it now. But ya we went over to a members for FHE yesterday and tried to watch Sunday mornings session.  But ya the internet sucked so that didn't go well.  But ya I did hear a little of Nelson's and his sounded really great.  Soon as Monson started talking though and I saw him I just said a prayer for him.  He didn't look really good.  I just love that  guy so much so he can't be leaving us till like he is 100.  But ya can't wait to watch conference.  Like it's almost like Christmas :)  Well nothing much else happened. I just am starting to feel at home here in Uganda.  I love what I'm doing and can't wait to see what the future holds.  I love all of you :) Keep up the good work
Well sounds like life just moves on when you are on mission.  For some reason I just thought that as soon as I entered the MTC that the world would just pause.  But ya that doesn't happen. :) 
So this week was another great week and it was the last week of my 2nd transfer.  I also hit my 3 month mark this last week.  It is so crazy because I feel like I just got here.  But hey time flies when your feeling the spirit. :) So ya just another great week here in Nsambya.  So we found out transfer news this morning.  I am staying here in Nsambya and training Elder Foster.  My companion Elder Hardman is being transferred to America (he is going home ).  So Elder Foster I will meet Wednesday.  He is from Paradise Utah which is like Cache County I found out today so I guess we will have some common things to talk about :).  But glad to be staying here in Nsambya.  
So the highlight of the week though was baptizing Sister Harriet.  She was the one in the wheelchair that my companion and I ran into like in the middle of last transfer.  So ya it was so so awesome that she was able to be baptized.  She has like only missed 2 Sunday's since we met her and invited her to church.  Like nobody has any excuse not to come to church if she can wheel her self up a hill that's like a mile long.  Ya she is just super powerful.  So you may be wondering though how we baptized her.  Well I was the one to baptize her because I am her "twin".  Since she's a twin and I'm a twin.  So I got in the font.  Then we had to men lift her in.  Then she rested held herself up on my neck and then we couldn't figure out for like 5 minutes how we were going to get her arm under till I said I would just go all the way in as well.  So that's what we decided to do like after 5 minutes of holding her.  Like I was a little tired but not really but all the locals were like hurry and decide he is getting tired.  He will drop her and so on.  I just would have told them I was a wreslter so I picked up people that were just as heavy as her so I was fine but they wouldn't understand.  Also I've been doing my 70 pushups every night to prepare haha.  But ya so I went pretty much fully under with her.  So I baptized like Alma did.  So I guess different story but super cool.  She was just so smiley afterward.  We also just had great help from the ward.  It was just so awesome :)
Also it rained this week and that was just super nice.  Then also this week I was just like missing the feeling of being at home. I don't know why but I just was. So we ate at members house on Thursday night and it was really good food.  We just were sitting and talking and then when I walked out to the car I felt like I was home.  Then for the rest of the week I just felt like I was at home here in Uganda.  So it was really nice and I really do feel at home here in Uganda now.  But other than that nothing much else happened. I just am excited to see what my new companion is like and also who is out there for us to find.  Love you all and thanks for the support.
Love Lots 
Elder Brogan
So this week was really good.  It went by way fast again.  So crazy how time flies when your feeling the spirit.  So I don't have anything like super exciting that happened this week.  Just like the normal week here in Nsambya.  We did have Zone Conference this week and that was just so powerful.  So it was at President Chatfields house.  We combined with another zone and that was really good.  Because I was able to meet some of my fellow brothers (missionaries who came out the same time as me)   But ya that was really good.  But what made that place and even awesome was how I felt there.  For some reason president's home felt like the caretakers home at the Joseph Smith Memorial.  Like had some of the same features and set up.  So I felt like I was there which just made me happier.  Because I remember visiting grandma and grandpa when they served their mission there.  I remember the spirit I felt there.  That is where I first gained my own personal testimony of the Book of Mormon.  I would go out and sit on the grass and just look up at the monument and think about what Joseph Smith did.  I realized that he died for a Book.  He knew that it was true and could not deny it.  So then that made me think about the Book of Mormon and really find out for myself that it was true.  So at Zone Conference we also talked about the Book of Mormon.  It was just so awesome and made my day.  I felt like I was back in Vermont thinking about it all over again. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and for the role it plays in my life.  
So ya that was just awesome. Then for church it was kind of disappointing because we only had kind of 1 investigator show up.  The investigator was someones referral who lived in our area.  But we didn't even get to talk to him.  But I still decided to be happy and it paid off.  We had 16 RC's at church.  Which is like so many.  I was so happy about that.  Then we had an FHE at a members house and we talked about Temples.  This made me like super sad because that is probably the thing I miss most while here.  Is the Temple!  I know it will just be so great to go into the house of the lord when I get back.  But I now know what it feels like for these people who have to travel to South Africa for their temple.  That would be so rough for me.  But Temples are amazing and don't take them for granted.   Also what made this week really good was that a member fed us at KFC.  Yep KFC and boy did it taste good.  Haha that member is the best member of the ward and she is pretty amazing.  It just put a cherry on top for the week.  
So also just some funny things.  Everyone thinks I am 16 here.  Like nobody believes me when I say I am 19.  Like Nobody.  Even members of the church who know what age you can come out on mission still think I am 16.  So ya it is kind of annoying because I feel and I know I do look older than I used to but you no the haters gonna hate right.  Like one of the other Elders investigators asked them who the 16 year old young kid with glasses was.  And also if he was like a real missionary like them.  So yep I apparently I am the dating age now :)  Another good week in the books.  This coming week I will hit my 3 month mark.  It is crazy how fast time has gone by already.  So ya before I know it I will be like 40 years old.  HAHA but I'll just enjoy Africa while I can.  
Love Lots 
Elder Brogan
So this week was just another amazing week and it ended even better with 3 baptisms on Sunday.  So I forgot my camera this time so I will have to send pictures next week. But I wanted to talk about the people that got baptized.  So they are Josh and Kenneth who are brothers.  Then there is sister Zulfah.  So how this all started was when a sister in the ward brought Maria and Edith to Book of Mormon class. They are Josh and Kenneth's sisters.  So then this was just before I came on mission.  So missionaries went and taught them and their family.  Then they baptized them and their mom and sister.  Then Sister Harriet their mom referred us to Zulfah and we taught her and it took a while for her to get baptized but we did it.  Then Sister Harriet referred us to Charles who got baptized last week. Then she also had us teach her two sons Josh and Kenneth.  So like so many people got baptized and brought to the gospel because one person brought someone to a church activity.  I just love chain reaction missionary work.  This is just super cool.
So this week I went on an exchange with Elder Berghout the Zone leader.  Him and his companion stay in our apartment.  But he is from Kaysville but more Farmington.  But he is super cool and just a good guy.  We had a really good time together.   Also during that exchange we were walking to a lesson and I pointed to a road where a member stayed.  So I stuck out my hand and right then a boda driver went by.  So my hand kind of smacked him in the face.  Don't worry my hand is fine but I don't know about the boda driver because he just kept on driving while holding his nose.  Ooops.  But by the way boda boda's are small motorcycles that get in the way of everything.  Also I trip on everything here.  The roads are not smooth and my feet always catch on the small rocks that are sticking up.  I just hate it sometimes.  I haven't face planted it yet but have been close a couple of times.  Just loving it here in Uganda.  We went to the beach today and we went to a different one and it was just gorgeous.  Such pretty views and the foliage around was amazing.  I will send pictures next week.  But really loving life and I'm happy to be here doing the work of the Lord.  :)  Thanks for the support love ya lots
Love Lots
Elder Brogan