Hard Times and Tender Mercies

Hello Everybody!
Well yet another exciting week in Salone. We really do have new experiences everyday! Here are a few I want to share this week:

The first- On Tuesday we were teaching Sister Gifty, who is preparing for baptism, while we were teaching her I saw her Grandmother fall and nailed her head on the concrete. I ran over there and we ended up taking her to the hospital. I had blood all over me! After the hospital just went to our next appointments and I got some pretty weird looks haha.

Second- We have recently began to teach a blind man named Brother Kouja. He was a member of The Holy Ghost Fire Church. He is so faithful and loves to speak with us. He recently began to say that He is possessed by a demon. He says that His wife was a witch and had cursed him and now he is overcome with a devil. He asked for a Priesthood Blessing and asked me to give it. He wanted us to cast out this devil. I really did not feel like that was right, and so I gave him a blessing of peace and comfort. Afterward, we talked with him about having faith to precede the blessing.  He said that since that blessing, He has not had any 'episodes'. What a great experience.

Third- On Sunday we had to go to a neighboring area so that Elder Pasikala could do some Baptismal Interviews. On our way back to our compound, we were stopped by a minister preaching to a big group of men. We walked over and they were arguing about 2 questions. (1) Was Egypt apart of Africa or was it separated by a canal in The Old Testament and (2) If Jesus was black. I actually was trying not to laugh when they were explaining the reasoning of these questions. We actually never got the opportunity to say what we thought, because 2 new questions were brought up - Jesus Christ is not the real name of Jesus Christ and something about Adam and Eve. We explained to everyone that Jesus Christ is His real name. The Pastor was speaking very incorrectly about the commandments God gave Adam and Eve and making us read all of these scripture verses in the Bible. He was screaming pretty loud and so a big crowd assembled. Once He was finished I just simply said ' All these verses are very nice, it seems like you are very knowledgeable about the scriptures. That is very impressive. But the Lord actually gave Adam and Eve two great commandments.' I proceeded to show Him and he got really confused and said He had to go. After He had left we taught a small lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel and gave out some pamphlets. A good experience! This truly goes to show that small things really do confound the wise!

We had our first 2-hour church today. It was pretty hectic. Like I said a few emails ago, we truly are building the church here. They do things a bit different over here.The saints here have exceedingly great faith. The big problem we have is that they are all very used to loud screaming and music in their old churches. We have to be very patient with everyone because sometimes they don't teach correct doctrine form our Church haha. I truly love these people. There is a sense of innocence among them that I have never seen! It is wonderful. 

Like I mentioned last week, it was tough. It has been a tough month. It took some hard thinking and praying, but I know prayers can be answered! I have realized that it is all a mindset, you can either let all these things get you down or you can simply not. I think I like it better the second way. This week has been full of blessings. I will mention two.

The first is a package I received. I received a big box from another missionary. He is home for a big surgery, He was a total stud out here and well respected. His family had sent a big box full of American snack foods and treats. Along with all the snacks was a calendar made for me by my family! It was such a much needed and enjoyed package. 

The second blessing was in Church on Sunday. We were in Sacrament meeting and there were a few things that they were doing wrong. Instead of thinking negatively about it, I had the overwhelming sense of love for the members. I knew they were trying the best they knew how and that it was not done in bad intention. I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn from these people!

Overall just such a good week with many blessing that were much needed! Hope all is well in The United States!

-Love Elder Morgan

Elder Pasikala's Long Walk

Elder Pasikala's Long Walk

Elder Pasikala's Long Walk