Merry Christmas Eve From Salone (Sierra Leone)!

Hello Everyone!

Merry Christmas Eve! Christmas is definitely different over here. I miss the cold weather and Christmas Lights! But I wouldn't rather be any where else but where I am at right now. This week was another great one!

Like I said above, Christmas is very different over here. Although Salone (how they say Sierra Leone) is in the Hamata Season (*Parental Note* In December and January, the dry dusty Harmattan wind blows from the Sarhara.), it is still very hot and very sweaty. But I really do enjoy it because it makes me feel like I am working hard! It feels like a big camping trip. (*Parental Note* Eli hates camping...) I say that because there are no paved roads, just dirt paths that we follow to get to our next appointment. This is one of the biggest challenges for me as of right now because I'm used to neat roads with easy to read signs. So it is taking me a little bit to figure out where I am going. But at the same time it is a wonderful adventure because being in the "farm land" of Salone we get some really awesome views. 

Streets of Sierra Leone

Some of the homes Eli gets to visit

Chillin'

The Streets of Bo

This week was pretty interesting. We had to be somewhat careful because there are some pretty serious Secret Societies, that do some some pretty crazy things. December and January are their initiation months. There is one big society that has been having some activity  kind of by our house and so we wake up to Men and Women screaming and banging on drums at about 5:00am every morning. You don't even want to know what they do! This time of year we have to be careful at night because of this. Its not as bad here in Bo, but in The Bush it is very serious. But nothing to much to worry about here! 

We had a big Christmas Zone Conference with President Clawson. I got to meet a lot of new missionaries from different areas which was cool. President Clawson spoke and really Chastised those missionaries who are disobedient. It made me feel chastised about things I would never even dream of doing! So it was totally awesome to put those missionaries back in line. I have found out that this mission is actually pretty disobedient which is a big challenge. Its hard to do the right thing without making yourself look like a jerk or a show off. My Companion is great but I just can't wait to hopefully begin training so I can just pump out some obedient and straight up missionaries. I've learned that we must pick our battles with  Companions and just be the example! Although that is tough, I am making it work! We got invited to a Stake Choir Festival on Sunday night. We prepared 8 songs. It was us as Missionaries and then a District Choir. Lets just say we totally killed it. 

We are teaching 26 People right now. We have 3 people that have baptismal dates in January. I don't want to pick a favorite but I have really enjoyed teaching a guy named Brother Hinduah. We began teaching him last week, and we have just really connected I feel like! He has some really whack questions , and so it is always a fun lesson to look forward to. The work is busy but I find that we change plans often throughout the day. People don't really have or use phones here and so it is a challenge to see when they will be available to teach. So it is pretty normal to have 3-4 dropped appointments in a day! But it is always interesting! 

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with their families! Merry Christmas and remember why we celebrate it!

Love,
Elder Morgan

Eli's Bed - complete with a mosquito net and fan

Their Bathroom

Their Kitchen

Their Porch

Their "Compound"

Elder Pasikala learning the ropes

Eli and his trainer, Elder Pasikala