Monday, July 16, 2012

Greetings from Salone!

This is a Poda Poda, and they cram as many as 20 people at a time in these.
Scotty is doing great in Sierra Leone! Gordon and I finally got a letter from him today. He is only able to write once a week now and because he is out in such a rural area, getting emails and sending them are not as reliable as they were at the mission home. He has requested that we all use . This way he will get our letters and will be replying the same way. In his last letter he mentioed the Poda Poda's, so I included a picture of one below. Also, I am posting Scott's letter we received. Please write him back, your letters mean so much to him.

Greetings from Salone!
I love hearing from you guys. This week has been amazing. I have realized everyday how much spiritual growth is happening and yet there is still so much yet to happen and is required. Miracles are happening everyday. Some are big and some are small. But they are there. I cannot begin to explain how prepared these people are for the Gospel. Everyone is so accepting and they truly love it. We have to to limit how many people we talk to because almost everyone is willing to listen and it can be overwhelming. So we have to pinpoint the people who are truly desirous to hear the message and are willing to make changes in their lives. But the Lord has done so much and paved the way for us. The other day we walked up to a man and said we were from the Church. He said he actually found a Book of Mormon and has been reading it. He has so many questions about it and it amazes him. He would take all the questions to his pastor who had no idea what he was talking about. So this mans name is Moses and we are going to continue teaching him. We have so many experiences like this. It is so wonderful whenever someone takes it seriously and loves what they are learning. Also, my area is not just Rokel that is just the name. The thing about my area is since the church is so new. It is way to big for us. The Church is actually looking to split the area assigned to just the 2 of us for about 10 more missionaries. Our area is HUGE. Look up the town Waterloo, that is the main place of our area. We spend a ton of time there. We have a FHE every week there and the kids love it. The kids out here are amazing. Now when they run up yelling Apoto Apoto Yamadi. I will say Owanibi Yamadi. "Black boy, I want to eat". They laugh. I haven't had much time to get pictures. We are really busy and I have to avoid appearing like a tourist. But I have a couple I will send if the internet will let me. The internet is really poor here. We are in an internet cafe and they do not run well. I am trying to get used to the food. The changes sure have effects on the system, but I am adjusting. Out here there is pretty much no sugary treats so that would be really nice in a package. Also I was told there are these meals you can buy. Mom look into the brand Mountain House. But like oreos and peanut butter would be awesome. Just some treats. Tell everyone you know to write me on Dear Elder. It is the most reliable way and it is free to my mission so make sure everyone does it! You guys may want to occasionally as well. The internet is very unreliable. Most missionaries have had more weeks where it does not work then it actually does.
Also, I am starting to slowly understand the people a bit better. I can tell you that I am definitely going to need to get down Krio. I am slowly learning. Some of the lessons I get pretty lost because I do not know what they are saying at all. And sometimes they get lost because they do not understand me. My mission call should have said you will kind of speak english and Krio. But you will not learn Krio in the MTC.... But I will get it eventually. I am having trouble uploading pictures so I do not think it will work. Maybe I will have better luck next week if you do not get it. But mom make sure to tell people to write me on dear elder.
Love Elder McDonald

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