Monday, January 2, 2017

Fasting for missionary work in South Sudan



Hey family!

This week was a good week in the mission field. The town is super dead right now. It is really quiet out and the streets are super empty. It is super nice! Except when it comes to the missionary work... This week was full of "what should we do know?" and "is it 9 yet?"... It was really hard to find people to teach this week because everyone went back to the village for holiday. So I got a taste of what some other missions are like! We taught only a handful of lessons in the last 2 weeks. The days were really long. But hey, they are over now and won't come back for another year! Today is one of the first days that people are coming back and the streets are crowding again. So this week should be great!

New Years Eve was not what I expected. We had a 7pm curfew because Ugandans love alcohol and guns so we had to be indoors by night time. Plus it was fast Sunday so we couldn't do any midnight drinks or snacks. Around 10pm we all just went to sleep cause we were tired of sitting on the couch listening to music. So New Years this year was a pretty normal day!

Our fast this month was as a mission.  President Collings sent out the list of things we are fasting for and it came as a big shock.... The main thing we fasted for as a whole mission was for success in sending the first missionaries to South Sudan?! So according to this they will be opening an area or two in South Sudan in the next few transfers. Crazy?! To be honest, I hope I can serve there one day and have had a strong feeling since I got my call that I would. So we will see!

This week as we were teaching Alex and Honesty we had a cool experience. She said that she had a dream about me and my companion that really opened her eyes. She doesn't speak English and so she spoke some small local language and her husband translated. She said that she was dreaming that she was in a body of dark water and was drowning. She couldn't find her way above the water and felt like she was dying. Then my companion and I, glowing in white, grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the water. She said we saved her! She even got emotional as she told us the dream. That was a really awesome experience for all of us! She is confident that this church is true. Now we just need her and Alex to get married and baptized! That should come in the next few weeks. Alex and Honesty are so awesome. They are the definition of truly converted!

There is a man in my ward by the name of Tony Kakembo. He is a returned missionary who served a few months in Sierra Leone and finished his mission in Ethiopia due to Ebola. He said he knows Josh Burr! So ask Josh if he knows an Elder Kakembo or Tony Kakembo from Uganda. And tell him he is in my ward!

Church this week was only 40 minutes long. Literally. No one knows why. We finished our sacrament service around 10:35 and Bishop just stood up and said we will be closing with a hymn and a prayer and then going home. So that was weird...

Last random side note. Elder Smith, my Zone Leader, just showed up at our apartment the other day with a can of Dr. Pepper. To those who don't know, I love that drink SO much and they don't have it here. He found it for a really big price at a random shop far from my home and thought to get it for me. Such an awesome guy. Man, it was the nicest drink I have had in so long!


I think that is it for this week. We are kind of in a dry spot for our teaching but I am confident and have faith that we will build back up to a good spot this week! I hope all is well with everyone back home. Thank you for the love and support.

With love,
Elder McLain

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