This Place Is Running Through My Veins

Hey guys,

I am doing great! Too great actually. I don't know what has changed in me over the last few weeks but I am just a completely different dude up here in Ethiopia. This place has molded me to the exact person I want to be. I want to improve in a lot of things but right now I am on the right path that is for sure.

I am still in Beklobet AKA South Side Chicago of Ethiopia. It is too cool here. I love the area and feel like I fit in perfectly minus the white skin, white shirts and height. Either way this place is a part of me and I am a part of this place now. That is the way I want it to be. I have no doubt in my mind that I was called by God to be here. The reason I know is because I promise you there are maybe only 3 missionaries in the world that are happier than I am right now. 

The work is hard! I wish I could say it was easy but it is darn hard. Transfer week made things a bit on and off with the work. The first reason is that we weren't in our area until Wednesday morning and so that got us on a late start. The other reason is that the new Elders being transferred here were having visa problems and still don't get here until tomorrow so we were stuck in the other area with an Elder so he wasn't alone. But now we are full force in our area and doing A+ work. Both of us have a really positive vision for the work this transfer and have done a lot of pondering on what we are going to do to strengthen Beklobet. The truth is it is by far the most struggling branch in the mission and so we need to work hard. And we are! 

Our idea for the area is to teach 4 lessons a day. That is our mission standard of excellence. What we want to do is teach one investigator, one recent convert, one less active member and one strong member a day. We feel like focusing on all areas of the branch will just bring it the strength it needs. 

We still have the same great investigators. Ermiyas and Emiyu both came to church this week and loved it. They are doing great and are progressing to a baptism on the 15th of October! We have a few other investigators actually we found this week. One is awesome. His name is Zemen (meaning season in Amharic). We met him in a funny way. Being in a non-English speaking country we tend to talk in English out loud a lot without anyone understanding us. One day we crammed in to a taxi and we were darn frustrated about lunch. Ethiopia is annoying for a few cultural things. One is that the Orthodox church "fasts" every Wednesday and Friday. Their idea of fasting is no animal products for 24 hours. So no meat. We were riding in a taxi and had nothing to eat. We were talking about how the Orthodox are confused on what fasting is and that fasting means no food and no water... A guy piped up next to us and said we don't understand culture. We started talking back and then he said he agreed with us and that he was Lutheran! We set an appointment and met with him on Saturday. He is extremely powerful and speaks great English. We will see how he goes. Progression in Ethiopia is much slower than Uganda. Most investigators take a few months where as in Uganda they can take 2 to 3 weeks. 

It is as if this place is running through my veins. No matter what comes my way I am just too happy to let it hit me. Will some things actually hit me physically but mentally no way. Satan is a huge coward. Right now Satan is literally helping us find the elect. Who woulda thought? It seems like every time something is going good we get a crap shoot moment coming our way. The biggest example is with Emiyu. She is just so awesome and powerful. She lives in Shiromeda. It is on the top of a mountain a good distance from our house. Every time with out fail that we go there something bad happens. Wether it is weather or the people around us something fails. Last Friday we were on the way to her house. Keep in mind that Shiromeda's elevation is higher than Provo's so it can get really cold. It was about 6 in the evening when we hit Shiromeda and the rain started coming down. We were getting soaked and had no jackets or umbrellas. My companion and I just started getting angry at Satan and knew he was behind it. We were late as it was and couldn't let her down so we just kept our heads up and walked to her house. When we were almost there, head to toe soaked and freezing, we had some guys try to rough us up. We got around it and made it to her house. There we taught an amazing lesson that helped her know how much God loves her despite the amount of rejection and trial she has gone through in this life. It was so awesome. After leaving her house we just started getting wrecked (hit) by rocks left and right. I told my comp we just have to keep going because turning around would do absolutely nothing but cause a fight. We kept our heads up and walked with confidence while the rain soaked us and the rocks pelted us. Honestly I have learned a few things from these situations. One is that, as I said earlier, Satan just helps us to know when we are on to something good. And two, enduring trials is a huge blessing. I have gotten really good here at ignoring and moving on rather than confronting and getting angry. I think this will be a blessing throughout my life. Ethiopia is the best.

I am doing amazing here you guys. You are all missing out on this kind of happiness. Thanks for all the love. One year done in the Lord's service and another prosperous one to come. 

Love you guys!

Love,

Elder McLain

satan is a coward

 Me and Elder Tesch

dropped 40 birr on some milkshakes ($2ish dollars)

 A nice nice meal. 

Kitfo (raw cow) and cheese, Kay wat, and greens... yum

The street just by my house. 

Ethiopia pride!