Area Map of Scott's Mission

This is a map from the Mission in Freetown to Rokel, where Scotty is teaching now. I have looked up as much information on Rokel that I can find, and I was not able to come up with much except for a YouTube video about the community building their first school for their children.


View Districts in Liberia and Sierra Leone in a larger map

First Letter in Sierra Leone

I won't always be including his entire letter, but in this case, I thought you might be interested in all the details he has shared with me. I am so proud of him, and know this is not going to be an easy experience for him. We are going to see him grow leaps and bounds during the next two years. He is going to be experiencing things that are probably not even imaginable for us. I have great comfort knowing that he is in Heavenly Father's hands. Scotty really is making a difference and he has only been there less than a week. Here is the letter his dad and I received today:


Hey Mama and Papa
I am out in the field now. I am a real missionary. I saw some of the posts on the blog. That is awesome. I haven't had the opportunity to take any pictures yet out here. We are real busy. The Lord has truly prepared these people for the Gospel. So we constantly have people to teach. It has been kind of hard in the way that the poverty is worse than I had ever imagined. I had a hard time dealing with how sad it is in the living conditions. I am placed in a place called Rokel. My companion Elder Asiedu and I have over 3 cities to cover all to ourselves. We have to travel a lot and we travel by Poda Poda's and motorbike taxis. Podas are super ghetto vans that we stuff almost 20 people into. I will try to get a picture so you might be able to get the effect. And the motorbike taxis...... well lets just hope the Lord protects us. Because we ride those a lot. Here in my area it is more rural to the East of Freetown. The houses are literally like sticks and plywood or sheet metal. Some of the nicer ones are solid concrete. But it can be hard. Almost every child I see has some form of a distended stomach from malnutrion. And it can be hard to deal with that. I do not know what to say when a bunch of half naked children run to me and take my hand and say "Apoto Apoto Yamadi" Which means "White man, White man, I want to eat". But they are awesome. I do not hear them ask for food that often but they always yell Apoto and wave with a smile. I hear it all day, I love it. The people are sooooo nice. We have our first 2 baptisms this Saturday. A member is baptizing one and I will be baptizing the other. The one I will baptize is Brother Issa. He is an awesome 12 year old boy. I will make sure to get a picture with him. But I now know we will have a lot of conversions here. We do not worry about baptism. We focus on truly converting them. Here in Rokel it is really special because Elder Asiedu and I are pioneering the church into territory it has never existed before. We are laying the ground to make it its own zone. So we have to look for a place to have as a chapel and apartments so we can start stationing missionaries there. The plan is to get it open and then my companion and I would split after my 12 week training and both be senior companions knowing othe area. I have seen many miracles with these people. But missionary work is certainly hard. My faith has never been so tried. But I will endure no matter what. I really have been doing well. I am still getting used to the physical difficulties of living. We actually have a pretty nice apartment, but we have no running water or electricity. So we have to pump water through our filter for any sort of clean water and then we have to take a bucket of water to the bathroom to flush. We do have a gas stove but it is not to reliable. The past couple nights we have been cooking over charcoals. We eat a lot rice mixed with spaghetti or pasta. Elder Asiedu is a great cook. So I am blessed to have him training me. He is from Ghana, he is very dedicated to the work and wants to teach me very well and also learn from me as much as he can. So I am enjoying working with him. We did all our laundry today which took like 2 hours.... Laundry in a bucket can be annoying. The weather out here is super hot. And it is not even dry season. It rains for several hours a day and is almost always cloudy. I really like the rain though. It is so beautiful out here. Huge green trees. very tropical. The best thing about the rain though is we just have water buckets outside to get us water so we do not have to go to the well. Don't worry I take my doxy each morning and use my net each night. I do not want malaria. I am glad you are all doing well.
Love Elder McDonald

The Work Begins

Scott and his companion with an investigator, then seen walking together.

Letter from Scott's Mission President

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Sierra Leone Freetown Mission

PO Box 263, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Telephone: +232 (0)76-541523 or +232 (0)76-541524

 

July 6, 2012

 

Dear McDonald Family:

  Here is a picture of your son as he arrived at the mission home.  We thought you might enjoy seeing him with Sister Roggia and me.  We are pleased to have him here in Sierra Leone.

  You can probably expect that he will experience some homesickness as he adjusts to mission life.  Not only is there the normal adjustment of leaving behind family, friends, sports, etc. but here there is the adjustment of living in a developing country as well. You should also know that English is spoken differently here and often takes time to understand.  Many still use their tribal language, which requires an interpreter.  It will be interesting to hear your son incorporate the local Krio with his own accent.

 Your son will find the food and living conditions much different.  We work diligently to keep all missionaries happy and healthy.  There is a water filter in each apartment so they can drink purified water.   Most of the time, an apartment will hold 4 missionaries with one companionship per room.  They have single beds, a bathroom, table and chairs, and not much other furniture.  Apartments meet their needs but are not what he may be used to. He will however, adjust to all of this and come to love his companion and the people as we have learned to love them!

 We admire him for choosing to dedicate this time to the Lord.  We know He will bless him in this great cause.  We look forward to getting to know him better. 

 Missionaries love to hear from both families and church members. We encourage you to write often. It always gives the missionaries a lift to get a letter from home.   You can send a normal letter or package directly to us by addressing it to him at the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission, P.O. Box 263, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa.  We hold the mail here for them until someone goes to his area.   That may not be until Zone Conference.  Of course he may use email, which they are allowed to do in this mission. We have found that www.dearelder.com is a great way for friends to write to your missionary since only family should be emailing him.

Our email address is 537233-prs@ldschurch.org   in case you need to contact us.  It is often easier than trying to call.

  

Thank you for sharing him with us!   We are sure he will be a great missionary! We do love our missionaries.  The Lord’s hand is on West Africa today.  This is a special mission; we know he will come to love it. 

Very Sincerely,

President Richard P. Roggia                                       Sister Cathy Roggia

First Day in Freetown

Scotty and his fellow Elders were welcomed to the mission home with a nice lunch. This is going to be such a wonderful experience for him. I miss you Scotty!

Arriving in Freetown!

I am so excited to announce that Scott is now in Freetown with his Mission President and his wife. I have been keeping up with the mission blog, waiting for the day that my son's picture would be posted, and today is the day! He looks so happy and I know he is ready to get to work. I am so comforted to know that he has a wonderful Mission parents to watch over him and keep him healthy and safe. Sister Roggia said that we need to encourage our sons to take their Doxy and use their nets to avoid Malaria and Typhoid fever. I am so glad I decided to check the mission blog one more time...it made my day end on a very positive note. I have so much to be thankful for...I am a very blessed mother.

A view of the port as they depart for Freetown from the airport

Ready To Leave The MTC to Teach the Gospel

Scott is only in Ghana until Tuesday, then he is finally able to get out among the people of Africa to teach and serve.  He is growing leaps and bounds already, I can't even imagine the growth that he will have over the next two years.  Scott is with his new companion, Elder Nyonator.  Scott will be leaving for Sierra Leone on Tuesday and would love to hear from anyone now while he still has two more days access to his email.  He is asking for anyone to write to him.  Here is the email I got from him today...and it makes me sad that he is looking daily for emails and not getting them.  He misses everyone here and needs our love and support.  Here is part of the email I received from him today.

" I am leaving for Sierra Leone on Tuesday morning.  I am excited to go and actually be able to use what I know and share the message with the people.  I want to be able to change their lives for the better.  And one thing I know is htat everytime I am able to help someone in their life, that it will help me out just as well.  I feel that it will not be hard to lose myself into the work, I have almost done that already I think.  But it is hard to do so when you do not get the rewarding feeling of helping someone.  I have not actually taught or shared the message with someone who did not have i t yet.  I want you to know that the spirit has been real strong here.  The testimonies of hte Elders has truly helped bring it around.  I am oing to miss the other missionaries that I now call my Brothers.  I am going to do my best to keep in touch with them.  I hope to  hear from you soon. 
Love, Elder McDonald"


I am so proud of this amazing young man.  What an amazing example he has set for his friends and family.  I love sharing these moments with Scott even though he is on the other side of the world.  I can feel his testimony and spirit through these letters and through the strong connection I have with him.
Scott, we are all so proud of you and know you are going to make a difference in not only the people you teach, but those that are blessed to be around you.  They will be able to feel and grow from the strength you radiate.  You are very blessed to be there at this time in your life and Heavenly Father will open up the Windows of Heaven for you.