Let me tell you about Elder Henriksen.......EVERYONE should be this happy about the work!

Hey Everyone!

It was a good and hot week here in Nsambya. Right about now it gets really hot and it doesn't rain much... Ah! So I am getting a bit red and my shirts are getting a bit..... brown. Hahaha. I have actually been one of the better missionaries around when it comes to keeping my shirts white. I don't like brown ones so I use a bit of bleach in my washes. It works great! The work is still going well. We had many tender mercies this week worth noting. I will tell you about them in a bit.

I did get my itinerary! It was crazy to see that. Probably the first time on my mission where I have realized that I am on the later end of it. I told them to email the pdf copy to you guys back home for you to see. I guess I will see you guys face to face on the 10th of October! 

I also saw the itinerary for coming back to Uganda! I am SO excited about that. I look forward to returning. 

Anyways, the area is doing well right now. The whole area of Nsambya is slowing down a bit with missionary work. All 4 companionship's are struggling to find and teach like we were when I was here in the beginning. This is really common for areas in our mission. Often times they will explode for about 6 months and then die down for 6 months. It is just a cycle. When i first came on my mission, Nsambya was a struggling area. Now it is one of the most fruitful in the mission. For our companionship, the 3 of us, we are doing really well. Like I said we are struggling but equally we are finding great people. This week we found 7 new investigators. Not all of them are the most serious or powerful people ever but a few are really promising. Two are referrals from a member that stays near us in Gogonya. It is a nephew and his friend. They are eager and excited to learn and  we are excited to share with them.

One of my companions is named Elder Henriksen. He is a wild guy. Just loves video games and stories and everything. Probably couldn't quote a specific scripture if his life depended on it but if you ask him to tell you a story from the scriptures he can probably tell it in more detail than even the Bible does. It is awesome! He is the type of Elder to duck under signs, jump over logs, slide down dirt hills while we are on the way to appointments. If there is an easy route, he takes the more courageous and difficult one. There is a swamp river that runs through a slum near our house. It is literally sewage and used water from washing and cooking. He tried to jump it last week and fell in. For no reason... hahaha. It is just a wild time 24/7 being with him. Anyways, lately he has been writing a million pass along cards every morning and carrying them with him. As we walk he will throw them over fences, through gates, on cars, piles of trash, everywhere. It keeps him entertained while we travel and also makes us laugh every now and again. A funny thing is that the other day we got a call. The man on the line said he found a card and needs a copy of the Mormon book we have. He sounded so interested and even set up a time to meet with us and learn more. We did absolutely nothing! He called, set the time and the day and even asked us to teach him about it when we meet. It was soooo awesome! That was a tender mercy of the week! (By the way, that's Elder Henriksen above throwing  pass along cards over the gates.)

The rest of our investigators are doing well. Some have been dropped and others have been picked up. A former investigator named Aisha just showed up at church on Sunday with a friend and said they both need to keep learning from us. That was great news. Others are still progressing. I don't know if I mentioned Prisca before. She has been learning but requested a 2 week break during her exams. We respected the request and stopped meeting with her. We still call and invite her to pray and she even came to church on Sunday. Some more great news, Flavia, our recent convert, got a calling in the Primary on Sunday. She was excited about that. And Joseph was interviewed for the Priesthood and should receive it next Sunday! Lots of great stuff happening.

Well I am going to wrap up for the week. Hope everyone is doing well. I love you all. Have a great week! 

Be HAPPY!

Love,
Elder McLain

 Me and my little friend Shamila

 Broken glass

We found frozen yogurt!

BYU professor visits Colby!

Tim's friend and fellow BYU colleague, Chris Mattson, coached a team of BYU engineering students in the design of human-powered drill for drilling water wells in the developing world. The drill is called the Village Drill and it is produced by a non-profit organization called WhoLives.org. The drill is being used in developing countries around the world. Chris is currently in Uganda doing more research on water wells and was able to connect with Colby. Below is his letter to us. 

For more information about the Village Drill, see this BYU News story: BYU Village Drill brings water to thousands.


Hi McLains,

I met up with Colby and his two comps today. He seems to be doing awesome. We talked for a bit about what life is like in Uganda and east Africa. He has some amazing experiences under his belt. I asked him about his experience with water and what he sees in peoples homes. It was quite helpful. He and his comps told me that people are receptive to the gospel, and that they love the mission. It was so good to see him and them doing the work. I asked him what he wanted to tell you guys and he said “I’ll see you soon”. They were all quite into the bags you sent I heard one say “...tons of sweets...” 

Cheers, 

Chris

Chris visits Colby in Uganda

Chris and Colby in front of the church

I finally have an official release date!

Hey Everyone!

Another week down and it was a fast one too.  It was a bit of a weird one. 

We merged our area with another companionship's and I am now in a 3some with Elder Barnum and Elder Henriksen. So we are just adjusting to that life! But things are going good for us! I am still enjoying Nsambya. It is probably my most favorite area I have served in. 

It was fun to meet up with Chris Mattsen! It was weird to see someone I know somehow decent here in Uganda. Others I have met I haven't seen before but to see him back home as well as here was a bit strange! I enjoyed it though. He had some questions about the water we see people using every day. I told him about my future plans. He mentioned that you had told him you had a son who wanted to do this but he never connected that it was me. So he was happy to hear that and said to call him when I get home to talk more about it. I look forward to that! We talked for about 5 minutes and then they had to head somewhere. But we enjoyed it. Plus my packages were great! Loved the Swedish Fish!!!! Thanks so much for everything in there!

The area is doing well. We started working on Wednesday. We combined our area with another set of missionaries. One of them was transferred to Rwanda and the other came to be with us. So I am working 3 strong now. It isn't my favorite but it works. We received a few investigators from them. The majority of the week was spent tracting, knocking doors and street contacting. Just looking for more people to teach. We want to start off the transfer with a good teaching pool. We had a little bit of success in our finding efforts. I don't have much to report on right now as far as investigators go. By next week we should have a better update.

Health wise I am doing A okay. Right now the parasite is gone. The knee is okay. Still just there but no real problems. I am still a bit skinny but feel healthy. Just usual I guess.

A side note, Elder Corbridge who is Noah's really good friend is now serving in my area as my Zone Leader. So I see him everyday. Small world!

I am sorry to hear about Grandma Sharon. It sounds like things are going better though. I will pray for her. Tell her I lover her!

I finally have an official release date! I fly home the 9th of October. I believe that means I will reach Utah by the 11th of October or 10th in the evening. We will see. I do know the evening of the 9th I fly home.

Welllllll Happy Pioneer Day tomorrow! And happy birthday to Rorie too! I always love the Pioneer Day parade in our neighborhood. Take some pictures of it if you go! I wanna see some faces in the ward. 

There is my week. Thanks for all the emails and love! 

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder McLain

The 3 some

Elder Barnum's hairline is the same shape as my ring...

Got to baptize Joseph!

Hey everyone! 

Well, it was a good week. Definitely not as fun as my family's but it was still good. You would be surprised just what goes on in a single day here. Hahaha. But the family trip seemed really fun! I am jealous I missed it! But it is okay. 

iIt was the last week of the transfer. Things were good! We had some big ups and some small downs. I will just go on to tell you all about it.

So the low of the week. I haven't really been telling you much about this. I have been battling a knee injury for the majority of my mission. Maybe months back I mentioned it. It comes and goes every few weeks. The area doctor thinks I strained my Lateral Collateral Ligament as well as the tendons in that area. Every time it hurts I just ice it, rest and take ibuprofen. Well, lately it is getting worse. Now, not only does the ligament hurt but the joint does too. It feels like there is no cartilage in my knee and it just grinds when I walk. I told Sister Collings about it yesterday and have an appointment at the hospital tomorrow to get it professionally checked. These days it is just bothering me constantly. I can't even sleep at night. So, I will find out tomorrow what I can do to make it better!

Our area is doing well. We got our transfer news. Elder Barnum and I are staying together and receiving a 3rd companion! His name is Elder Henriksen. He loves japanese anime, drawing, showing love to people, video games, etc. But he is soooo  fun to be around and really easy for me to get along with. We will all enjoy! Our area is doing good still too. Joseph was baptized on Friday and Confirmed yesterday!!! It was great. Bishop wanted to postpone the baptism for a week or two but we had him meet with Joseph. After the meeting he just said he is super ready and to baptize him! Joseph asked me to do it. I was so happy to! But the water was freezing! We found a few new investigators. One is from Burundi. Another is half French half Rwandese. And another is from Rwanda! All are pretty solid. This week we will be doing more finding. Our teaching pool is getting a bit smaller so we have to work on it! 

Can't wait for this coming week. I am just gonna patiently wait for a call from Chris (Tim's fellow colleague and professor - he is going to Kampala for work). I am excited to meet him! I hope he can meet up with us for a minute and we can talk. Plus I am excited to get my stuff! Thanks for sending that!

Woah....Morgan is married! Congrats to him! Also, shocked as ever to hear about Wyatt Osmond's mission call.... WOWOWOW!!!! That is crazy!!! More shocked than I am to hear about Luke's call! I hope he is ready! Again, tell him he is more than free to email me! Yay for Africa missions.

I loved the spiritual thought today from dad. I wrote it down. Thank you for that!  (see below)

Okay that is it. Short and sweet this week. Hope you have a good week!! 

Love you all!

Love,

Elder McLain

*The spiritual thought 

Vision without effort is daydreaming, effort without vision is drudgery; but vision, coupled with effort, will obtain the prize.

Needed is the capacity to make the second effort when life’s challenges lay us low.

“Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise

Will always come to the one who stays.

“Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories after a while.”

From “Finishers Wanted,” Elder Thomas Monson, April 1972

Be a finisher buddy!

 Joseph's Baptism

 Foggy Kampala

 Chickens

 umm.........

 From the yard to the table

Yum!

3 months in Uganda, 3 months to Home

Hey people,

Another week has passed and I am still doing good. It is crazy how fast it is going right now. I just realized today that I have been back in Uganda for 3 months and in 3 months I will be heading home. Gulp.... Things are good here right now. This week was a lil bit rough but it is over and I am back to my good self.

It was a bit of a rough week. On Tuesday I was feeling really weak and nauseous. Lately I have been losing some weight too. I went to the doctor and he told me I have a parasite called bilharzia. It causes a lot of weird things but the obvious effects are no energy, nausea and all that good stuff. I got some pills that just absolutely destroy anything in your stomach. He even said that the medication will make me feel worse than the parasite does... hahaha. So I took it and sure enough it put me out for a few days. Tuesday up to Saturday I was in the apartment. Guhh... I am in that stage as a missionary where sitting down and doing nothing just makes you want to die. I felt like that for a few days. Just eager to go out and do something. It sucked way bad. But now I am fine! Tomorrow I head back to make sure it is gone but I can already tell that I am much better than I was. So things are okay now!

My report on the area is brief seeing I spent one day in it this week. Joseph is back and better than ever. He is ready to be baptized this Friday. Yesterday we went and read the Book of Mormon with him. He is enjoying it and has been reading from the beginning. Kita got malaria this week and was not able to see us until Saturday. Even then she was sick. We just visit small and then left. She was not able to come to church on Sunday because of her illness. Hyacynte came back from Burundi! She is a recent convert. She only speaks Swahili and Kirundi so church is a bit boring but she has a tesimony of the Book of Mormon and that alone keeps her going. Her husband is being taught by us now and will probably be baptized soon. That is my current area report.

I love the Nsambya ward. For the first time on my mission the ward seems to really love and and care for us. No offense to my previous areas that are great and fun to be in... I was sick for a week and didn't see anyone. On Sunday all kinds of people came and asked where we were, why we weren't seeing them, why we didn't ask them to help us teach, etc. One was angry we didn't visit her, another was sad and thought we forgot about him and didn't want him to help us teach anymore. It was actually cool! Nsambya is so active in the missionary service and I love them for it!

Transfers are next week. We have one more week in the area. I think it is really likely that I stay in Nsambya. I love it here and my companion has been here longer than me so I think he would leave before I do. I will know by Saturday what happens to me...

That is it from me. All is well here. See you all soon. I hope you all had a good 4th of July! 

Love you!

Love,

Elder McLain

Still loving Uganda and Nsambya

Hey!

Wowow the weeks are just flying by. I swear I go to sleep and then wake up and it is p-day again. As long as the work is going well I can't complain. And it is actually. This week was a really good week for us. We didn't have much success in finding new investigators but our current ones progressed! So things are going well for us. 

I am still loving Uganda and Nsambya. I hope to stay in this area for the rest of my mission! I actually asked, haha. This week Flavia and Jacob were baptized.

This week we had some baptisms! Not all we planned for were able to make it but 2 were! The great achievement of the week was seeing Flavia be baptized. Wow, it was just awesome. I knew Flavia was powerful and had a strong testimony but she actually surprised me. After all was over she was asked to give her testimony. She stood up and bore an amazing testimony about the power and truth of the Book of Mormon, the Prophet Joseph Smith and even President Nelson. It was an amazing testimony. Following the baptism, many members came to me and my companion and said that Flavia was one of the strongest convert baptisms they have seen! She is doing so well. Cool enough, she has a degree in Child Development and we asked Bishop Omuya to give her a calling in Primary. He was happy and said he would pray about it. I think that will be awesome for her. Jacob was also baptized. He is the son of a recent convert. They are from Burundi. He is a young boy. It was a great baptism too! Both Jacob and Flavia are great. 

Joseph didn't make it this week. During the time of the baptism he was actually on a bus from Juba, South Sudan back to Kampala, Uganda. So we understood. Because of his trip and the schedule of the baptisms, he is scheduled to be baptized in two Fridays. Joseph is also really strong and definitely prepared for baptism. 

Hope everyone had a fun week. I think what I miss most about home is those days like what mom had with Tab - lunch, a little shopping, and going some place fun.  I am excited to come home and do those! I miss places like Oh Mai and R&R. And shopping for cool clothes of course!!

I have been mega busy with souvenirs this week. It is for this reason that, I could be transferred from here to an area where I can't buy them and so I am just getting everything now to be safe. Likewise it helps me know weight and room I have to get home.

So, that is it for the week. Hope everyone is doing well.

Love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

Elder McLain

Jacob, Lucky and Alpha

Flavia!

Baptismal font

 Me and my son, Elder Denison. 

Probably the most legendary companionship in the UKM.

 Celebrating Aisha

An African mask I got