Colby in Kampala: My mission has been the best!

Hey guys!

This is probably going to be my last email to everyone! Next Monday I will probably be a bit busy moving around and preparing to head home. Crazy to think it is winding down to this! Just one more week here in the Uganda Kampala Mission. I hope this last letter will lay it all down and you can feel what I have felt from my mission. I will probably just go through each of my areas and rant about them... Sorry if it ends up being super long!

I think back to the early days of my mission a lot... When I was being trained in an area called Makindye in the capital city of Uganda. I was innocent, eager and pretty much clueless! It was before Uganda felt like my home. At the time I felt like I was in a foreign country full of crazy things and wild people. I couldn't understand anyone and couldn't hold down a meal to save my life... I was also incredibly homesick. Haha wowwww to even think about the yearning I had for home at the time. I had two things going on in my head all the time. 1. I was excited to get out and work, meet people and experience life in Uganda. 2. I just wanted to be home, with my family and friends. It was hard waking up every morning having each one of these voices speaking in my head. I fought through my first 3 months of my mission. It was a personal battle but I was happy to do it with Elder Ndamane! Eish that guy, I miss him so much. He is home in South Africa with a wife now! Crazy to see how time works out here. I am so excited to meet Elder Ndamane again and reminisce on the early days of my mission...

Later I moved to Ntinda in Northern Kampala. Ntinda is a wealthier area with an awesome ward. There are a lot of YSA's there and they make the work fun. I was first with Elder Haines. That was probably the high time of my mission. Elder Haines and I worked HARD. I can even remember a day we taught something like 10 or 11 lessons and even ran to make it on time to our last appointment at 8:30pm. Hahahah what a good time. I owe a good chunk of my mission to Elder Haines and his fun example he was to me as a young missionary. Later on in Ntinda I trained Elder Denison from SLC, UT. Woooooooosh that was a fun time. Elder Denison and I are pretty much the same person. We both love the same music, clothes, activities and all other things. It was kind of like being companions with myself, hahaha. I loved it. Ntinda was a good area.

After that I moved to Masaka. This was probably my favorite area in the mission. Masaka was on fire! The missionary work was amazing. The members were so active in the work and fun to be around. They fed us daily and made sure we were happy. It had the perfect mix of village life and town life too. I was there with Elder Kubheka. Wooooooooooooooo haaaaaaaa I don't even know what to say about that guy. Kubheka was the perfect companion so it just added to the mix and made Masaka that much better. I enjoyed my mission so much at this point. It was full of work, baptisms and fun. I can't thank the Lord enough for my 3 months in Masaka. Found a favorite area and made a best friend. :)

Only a few months into being in Masaka I got the news I was going to Ethiopia. The funny thing about the Uganda Kampala mission is the contrast of missionary work between these two countries. Uganda is one of the most fruitful countries around. The work is powerful and constant. Ethiopia is a bit different. It is probably one of the tougher countries to do missionary work. I won't ever speak bad about it but I can just say it is NOT like Uganda! I got there and felt like a new missionary again... By this time I was about 10 months into my mission. I had to take everything I learned over those 10 months and scrap it... Serving in Ethiopia is completely different. Approaching and contacting people is different. The pace of progression is much different. And to top it all off, there is no English! So I was just as new as can be in Ethiopia. I spent some time with Elder Munsey, Elder Tesch and Elder Chandler. All 3 were awesome companions. I won't say too much about Ethiopia. I loved the place. I loved the food. I loved the living conditions. I loved the people when I built relationships with them. Equally it was probably the hardest time of my mission and at some points some of the hardest times of my life. I really learned SO MUCH from Ethiopia though. I learned real life lessons that I didn't learn from Uganda.

In Ethiopia I learned some real social skills. Back home I was a bit more quiet and reserved. I preferred being around my close friends and sticking to the things I enjoyed and wasn't really out there. That type of personality can't really get by in Ethiopia. You can never have success as a missionary in Ethiopia if you don't stretch yourself and put yourself out there. You learn how to cope with rejection, both physical and verbal as well as tough situations. I also learned how to love people a lot more. This is something I can't put into words too well. I just gained a great love for the people there and not just for Ethiopians but for everyone. I found the value of a person and how great everyone is. These are some things I will always be grateful for.

After 9 months in Ethiopia I returned back to Uganda. Again I was put in Kampala in a ward called Nsambya. Eish Nsambya was so awesome. It was a huge change from Ethiopia. There were more active members in Nsambya than the entire country of Ethiopia so I was overwhelmed with the difference. The ward members magnify their callings and help so much with the missionary work. The biggest change coming back to Uganda was that everyone knew English!!!!! It's funny to think that at the beginning of my mission I thought that no one spoke good English in Uganda and that I was going to struggle through out my mission with that. Then I went to Ethiopia where you can go easily days and the only English you hear is the English coming out of your own mouth and your companions and that is it. Then returning to Uganda and thinking the English is just amazing and so good... hahahaha. In Nsambya I was with Elder Barnum and Elder Henriksen. Again, both of these missionaries were so awesome and are great friends. We did great work and made good friends with the members. I loved Nsambya.

I was planning to finish my mission from Nsambya when I got the news that I would spend my last 6 weeks in Gulu! I was sooo surprised. Only because Gulu is 6 hours north of Kampala and there is literally nothing between these two places. Just 6 hours of rolling hills and villages... It was wild news but I was excited. I got here to Gulu and am in a branch called Bardege. The work here is great. I serve with Elder Godfrey who is from Idaho and is the best! He is a hoot to be around and we really enjoy our time together. It has been sort of hard these last six weeks to put home in the back of my head and focus on the work. I have been doing my best and trying to enjoy the last weeks I have in Uganda. Now I am remaining with 1 week!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh I don't even know what to think. I don't really want to leave to be honest. I could live in Kampala forever I love the place and the people so much. Though home will have its benefits. I'm excited for some good food and to see my family and friends. I'm excited to work on my car and to skateboard. I'm excited to be able to drink water from the tap and the hose. But I will miss this place and am already eager for my return :) My mission has been the best. I wouldn't serve in any other place or change a single thing. It is so cool how every area and every companion teaches you something that you can take home and use for your benefit. I can't wait to take the lessons I have learned and use them back home.

My simple testimony is that I know the Book of Mormon is a testimony that Christ lives and loves us. I know Joseph Smith was called by God at his young age to usher in the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know we have a living prophet today and I am grateful for President Nelson. He is called by God and all of his words are inspired. I know our families can live together forever through the sealing powers in the temple. I am grateful for my family and the love and sacrifice they have made for me over these two years. I thank all of you who have written me or even read my weekly emails. I have felt your love and support and look forward to reuniting with you in a week.

I love you guys!

Love,
Elder McLain