Colby in Kampala: Celebrated 21 with spaghetti and meatballs in Bardege

Hey there!

Thanks for all the emails. Sounds like everyone had an eventful week! I had a pretty good one. Luckily I didn't get sick this week, haha. I think it is the first full week in Bardege that I was able to proselyte the whole week with no interruptions... Nice!

Thanks for all the Birthday wishes! Even here I didn't do much of anything... hahaha. We just ate at a restaurant on Saturday evening. I got spaghetti and meatballs. It was alright! Looking forward to the food from home though! Can't believe I am 21! Sounds wild!! Can't wait to come home and celebrate with everyone!

The week was good. We were able to find a lot of new people to teach. It is weird to think that these people won't be able to progress in time before I get home. We extended some baptismal dates today for after I leave. Weird! One of the big changes this week was a change in the branch presidency. President William was released and President Mike Okello was called! It is a good change. William is an amazing president and many of the members are really sad he is released but Mike is awesome, young and ready for it. So we had President Richard Okello from the Mission Presidency up here in Bardege to make the change because President Collings is in Rwanda. Or was.... It was nice to see President Richard and his wife Martha one last time. Fun note, Martha is a member from Ethiopia who at the time I served in Megenagna was not married yet. We would go to her house all the time. I am sure you remember me always mentioning her... She ended up marrying President Richard and now lives here in Uganda! Sunday night we made an appointment to visit with the former branch president, William. We just wanted to go over and check on him and make sure everything was well and that he was handling the release from his calling well. We were a bit nervous but he ended up just being a ball of funny energy when we went over! We ended up spending the better part of an hour there just laughing, talking about his mission and eating! It was a really good time. In my short time here in Bardege I have become really good friends with him. At the end of our time there he brought in two friends and referred them to us! We were able to share a small thought with them and set a return appointment. 2 referrals and a dinner appointment was much more than we expected out of the visit. It was great!

Fun note about President William... He served in Cape Town, South Africa and knows one of the Kaufusi sons... small world!

Let me see, for work in Bardege.... it is kind of weird. Gulu is a developing area. I think they are trying to cover up a lot of the effects of Joseph Kony and the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) by making the place look really nice. Because of that a ton of people work construction. They are paving many roads, digging and making roads wide, building government buildings and a lot of other stuff. Many others are farmers or produce drivers. Many bring things to and from South Sudan. Those are the jobs I can think of...

Wow! Doctor appointments! I think the only ones I really need are teeth and knee. I want to check my knee out and make sure I am healthy to start running again. I am REALLY eager to start running when I get home. So I hope that one will be soon! And I am already mentally preparing for like 50 cavities in my teeth. Not looking forward to that one. My teeth have been pretty destroyed out here. Always finding rocks in my food and all that stuff. We will see how the dentist goes! Might just have to pull all my teeth! Hahahahah jk...

Saw some pictures from home! The cars are looking awesome. I miss that stuff! Rorie also looked like she had fun at Homecoming! I miss school dances. She is really lucky to still have them!

Well, that is pretty much it for the week. Look forward to seeing everyone soon.

Real soon.

Love,

Colby