Serving in Sierra Leone & Iowa City: First Baptisms and Learning Patience

Una Kushe! (Everyone Hello! in Krio)

I hope everyone had as good as a week as I did! We had our first baptism that I took part in. We baptized 3 people and it was just really awesome. Other than that, this was just another hard working and sweaty week! I think all of the excitement and new things have worn off, so now it is just keeping up on the grind and really putting some trust in The Lord. I have realized how important it is to have a positive attitude in all we do. I will share my experience from the baptism.

Before I get too much into the story, I want everyone to know about Black Man Time (BMT). This is a real and prominent thing here in Africa. BMT means that if you schedule something for 7 o'clock pm, no one will arrive until 8:00 - 8:30 pm. So nothing here starts on time...ever. Church is better, but still no exception. We usually start 15-20 minutes late every Sunday. When I first arrived here, I really struggled with this because it would completely mess up our day, but that is just the culture here!

Their Chapel

So now knowing that, this story will make more sense. We had the baptism scheduled for 9:00 am on Saturday. We thought that people would actually show up on time because we really stressed the importance of it to the people we are teaching. So 9:00 am rolls around and of course there is no one around. The baptism actually started at 11:00 am because that's when everyone showed up. After everyone showed up, we came to realize that the guy that was suppose to bring the baptismal clothes did not bring them. So He ran back to get the clothes and that took time because he actually had to run. After He came back, we realized he did not bring enough clothing and so I got stuck wearing a women's baptismal gown. To say the least I was pretty annoyed and so I said a few prayers to soften my heart. I was still pretty annoyed, until I got into the baptismal font and saw my investigator come down the stairs. I then had an overwhelming sense of love and compassion for these people. I realized, that the circumstances did not matter, no matter how many things went wrong, they were still being baptized. That is what really matters. I am really pretty grateful for this experience.

Eli's First Baptisms

We had a nice week. On Friday we had our Transfer News. Our zone got together and had some food and received the news. We were all expecting my Companion Elder Pasikala to go, but He is staying for another transfer. It will be nice to have Him finish off my training. He really is an awesome guy who teaches me so much! We also had a District Activity on Saturday, where we ate food and watched a movie. It was a fun activity!

This week I really learned that I cannot control everything. This is somewhat hard for me to learn, not going to lie. Back home, I realize that I was somewhat of a control freak, at least in my mind I was. But being on mission, I am forced to be more comfortable with not letting the things I cannot control get in my head. I think this goes for every situation! We can control ourselves and that is about it. Over all, a good lesson and much needed for me at this time! A good week to say the least! Sorry no fun or super exciting stories! Maybe next week!

Love ya guys!

-Elder Morgan