The work is still going

Hey Everyone! 

I don't have much time to write but I had a good week. Just really the same as all the other weeks but a good one! So on my end I wont have much to tell you about but I will just blabber as usual and see what I can come up with for an email. Haha. I will give you a simple update on what is going on here. First, let me respond to Dad's email.

I about died reading those blog updates on that cyclist in Ethiopia. He is not at all wrong. First off, we get called ferenje EVERY 5 SECONDS!! It just means foreigner. Some aren't so nice about it though. Two, I also have been hit by rocks a ton. It is a common thing. And three, now that I can understand some Amharic, they speak and say awful things sometimes. But the truth is I am used to it now so it doesn't bother me. I can imagine as a cyclist it would be hard. All they see is nice stuff on a white dude aaaand they say and do those things. It is wild here!

Either way, it is kind of funny that you talked about cycling in this email. This week I realized I would possibly like to get into cycling when I get home. My knees are already having some issues, not sure why. And so I thought cycling would be better on them than running. I don't know, just a thought!

The work here is still going. We still don't have work permits. I am now with Elder Chandler and Munsey. Things are going well. We are also with an Elder named Kasim. He is from Hawassa branch and leaving to Sierra Leone in a few weeks and is just working on visa stuff in Addis. So he is with us. He doesn't speak English so we will get to speak some Amharic with him. He's great!

Like I said, no time this week. I will write a more decent email next week about our investigators. We should be baptizing Wurku, the Orthodox priest this week! Woohoo!! We hope it works out. 

Thanks for all the emails. I hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Elder McLain

 Me with a stash

 M&M's!!

 Yum!

 Elder Chandler

Another Ethiopian sunset 

Now there are Three......One from the US and two from Ethiopia

Hello!

Yep, another week has passed in Ethiopia. It was another week just like yours. I could almost copy and paste my email from last week and you would be pretty filled in on what is going on here. My weekly emails home are just gonna be super lame until we get work permits cause we have not that much to tell you guys. There has been no new news on work permits. We are still just waiting and for now are just visiting members that are willing to see us. So the work is a little slow. But we are enjoying as always and filling our free time with extra studies and language study. It is a good time.

Hahahaha Djibouti, Ethiopia! That one made me laugh. To be honest I have heard almost nothing on Tillerson's visit. I did hear that he said they would have much less fighting if they had more freedom in their everyday lives. Also that they should lift up the state of emergency. Other than that i don't really know  much.

(Except from Tim's letter to Colby) 

I was listening to a radio show this week on my drive home and the announcer on a national news show was talking about how our Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson was in Djibouti, Ethiopia this week. Haha. The announcer later had to correct himself and point out that Djibouti was a country adjacent to Ethiopia, not a city in Ethiopia. Oops! Did you hear anything about Tillerson’s visit. As Ethiopia is a key U.S. ally in the region, the U.S. really wants things to be stable there. I’m sure all of the state department members of your wards were on their toes this week, as well as the CIA members of your wards too!

Our investigators are all doing the same right now. We werent able to visit or see a lot of people this week. We had exchanges where I went to Beklobet area and worked with Elder Adu-Mensah. We were able to see some members there. It was nice to go back to the old area. Other than that we just visit some members. We also had a nice dinner at Sister Atsede's house. We ate some local food of course and had some soda. 

On Sunday we went to Sister Atsede's house for her daughter's birthday dinner. Her daughter is at BYU-I so we were there with her other friends and family. They fed us some great food and we laughed and had a good time. That is the major highlight of the week.

Transfer news came on Saturday. So I am staying in Megenagna and I am still with Elder Chandler. The only difference is I am also with Elder Munsey. I was with him in Beklobet. He is originally from Ethiopia too! Wild. But I am happy to stay here!!! I like that. Now 3 Elders, one from US and two from Ethiopia. Yep. It will help me blend in better and avoid people calling out and yelling and saying things so much.

Amharic is coming along good. Just studying and working on it. My comprehension is pretty good right now.

That is about all I have on the week.  Let's hope the work permits come soon. If not I will just have to return back to Ethiopia on my own time and do some good work to make up for this time period. Haha.

Other than that I am just hangin around. I look forward to my next package! Thanks!!!!

Well, that is it for the week. Thanks for everything and I love you all so much! 

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder McLain

Habtamuuuuu.......

He's the man!

 Hello Megenagna!

View from the top of our apartment building

 Elder Chandler's caretakers before he was adopted

Lookin fly in new fit

  Fikre's birthday party. 

Celebrating BIG!

 Bumpy bajaj selfie

 Getting out there in the village to see a member

View from his porch

 In our most favorite least favorite restaurant drinking non-alcoholic beer. 

Not worth it...

E30!

Look familiar?!

So we wait!

Hello everyone,

This weekly email will probably leave you guys with like no hair and charred faces. It will be a real BANGER!

Unfortunately, I am completely kidding. I have very little to talk about. My mission is wonderful and exciting and full of the greatest experiences of my life. As for things to report home, I have very little. 

Right now we are still waiting on work permits for our companions. This last week, three Elders were deported back to Uganda due to visa expiration issues. This leaves the work force here with 7 Elders only! Wild.... I am now in a threesome with Elder Chandler and Elder Schuler. Both of them are missing work permits and so we are not allowed to proselyte. This is the exact situation I was in earlier with Elder Tesch but now it is flipped and my companions are lacking permits. So we wait! As of now we are pretty much allowed to see members and our current investigators. We have about 40 activish members in Megenagna branch. Of those 40 we can probably visit about 20 in a week. But that includes a few families... It isn't a lot of work but we are truckin along!

This week we were able to reunite with one of my favorite investigators Wurku! He is the former Orthodox Priest and is so powerful.  He left to the village to visit his family. They are strong Orthodox people. There, they saw his Book of Mormon and rebuked him. He was kicked out of his trip there and disowned. Originally they only knew he was a Priest so they were angry to see he left that church. After coming back to Addis, he lost his job (as a Priest) and had no money. He was kicked out of his home for not having rent. He stayed at his friend's house for 2 days until he also found his Book of Mormon and kicked him out. Wurku is now homeless and jobless but continues to testify and read the Book of Mormon. Truly he has lost everything and he is still fighting for his conversion. It is a great blessing for us and even a testimony builder to me. I am happy for him.

That is really it for the week. Stay blessed everyone and enjoy yourselves!

Love,

Elder McLain

The Good Life!

Soaked to the bone but happy! 

Got me some new sunglasses

Asters House

Regular clothes as a result of getting soaked head to toe in the rain.

 Finally saw some Ethiopian village. 

First time since I've been here to meet members outside the city.

 An Ethiopian sunset

We Continue On

Selam! 

How is everyone? I am good. Still without permits and missionary work but its all good. Just ticking along right now. 

I don't know much with government and all that. To be honest it just still seems the same to me as even before the resigning of the prime minister and everything else. I feel safe and normal so no worries.

This week was again a backed up week. My companion and others are still no where close really to getting work permits. My companion actually could soon being that he is Habesha blood but the others are not close. Three will be deported tomorrow morning and we will be with 7 here for a little bit. The government is making it difficult right now for sure. And yes, TRIBAL! Agh! Why is it even a thing. Oh well, it is something we have to live with. I learn a lot from it actually. It requires patience!

Hey Dad, Elder Quinton also told me he first heard of you at a (I cant remember what the english word is but like a conference on the ummm) (hahahahah i cant describe it wow)(anyways) they told the students about professors and talked about you and so he emailed me mentioning he saw you. Then later met you at church recognizing your face. He is great! He was an amazing missionary. Made miracles happen in Ethiopia. I would love if you had him over for dinner and I am sure he would love it too.

We went on an exchange to Debre Zeit for 3 days this week so Elder Cooper and I could do some proselyting work together. We got a lot of finding done and the Debre Zeit area found a few new investigators from it. I was happy to do some finding. Other than that to be honest we didn't really do anything this week worth noting. We taught a few investigators and are helping them but don't have any new investigators in our area. It is okay though. Soon we will be able to work hard again here.

I am enjoying myself non the less and am happy to stay here and serve the rest of my mission in Ethiopia. It is a great place and I am blessed to serve here.

By the way, my soccer ball came in the mail. Brother Conner didn't know it was for me though and thought his wife sent it to him and he gave it to his guard's son. So it got in to good hands! I am okay with it. I just hope you are too. I am sure that boy was soooo happy!

That is it from me. Sorry the update on the work is small but I wish I had more to say. We will continue on. 

Have a great week. 

Love,

Elder McLain

Unrest in Ethiopia, loss of work permits, and LOCK DOWN.......Kind of a wild week but we are safe and doing well

Hey everyone!

Well, this week was a bit of a new one. I am not sure if you have heard anything because the Ethiopian government does a good job at keeping things off the internet but there is a lot happening right now here. I don't even know all of it but I know it is happening. So this week we were pretty much stopped again entirely for missionary work... I think I will just write my weekly email right here and now because it will be a pretty simple one. In fact, I will just go day by day and talk about what we did on those days.

Before I do that, this week we had no success on work permits. I have mine but it is only me now. When President first told me I had to stay, he didn't know that there was a problem with permits. He just felt I should stay. Soon after he told me he had some more news. It turns out that work permits are extremely difficult to get right now. None of the new Elder's are getting  them and they are even about to send them back to Uganda and bring back some Elders who previously served here. So the news is, Elders with work permits are super valuable right now to the work here. Annnndd..... that is me! So he told me I wont be able to leave Ethiopia any time soon now. I think I will stay serving here for a while. I think maybe God wants me to stay and do something because the second I felt like I wanted to go crap hit the fan and they are deporting everyone but like 3 of us.... woooO!

So, the other thing that was big this week is the Prime Minister resigned. There have been a lot of tribal fights around Ethiopia lately and the Prime Minister just had enough. So riots started up around and the opposing party is trying to fight their way to get rid of the government and it has just led to a lot of fighting and killing and wildness around me. So we were on lock down for a while. So, pretty wild week.

Monday: After emailing we went to dinner at a members and ate some shiro. Nice.

Tuesday: We had Zone Conference in the morning. It was a great zone conference focused on how to work through the hard times and the worldly troubles around us. I feel like a lot of the words were made for me seeing I had asked just hours before to leave Ethiopia and was told I would stay for a lot longer. After Zone Conference we went to English class and helped teach there. That is how we fill our time since my companion can't proselyte right now. It is sooo super fun for me to do and I am getting betam (very clever) good at it. Following that we were told to go home around 6pm because of riots.

Wednesday: Elder Cooper and I went on an exchange because we are the only two here with work permits. So our companions went to the church and spent the day there and Elder Cooper and I spent the entire day contacting and handing out loads of pass along cards. We have had a few call as a result and legally found new investigators! That was the whole day. Again at 6pm we had to head to the apartment.

Thursday: LOCK DOWN... The full day we had to stay inside. I ate tons of eggs and bread and we played some board games like Settlers of Catan and Monopoly. Lock downs are the worst!

Friday: We were on lock down in the morning. In the afternoon we were good to go out so we went to the office to do some work there. Following that we went to English class again and taught there. And then we went to a neighbors house for dinner.

Saturday: We had an okay day. Weekly planned in the morning. After that we went to Megenagna and got lunch. By the way it is "fasting season" right now which means no meat in the country for two months.... yeah, fasting. So we bought a sheep and slaughtered it. Yeah. But we ate a fasting lunch in Meg then taught some people at the church. In the evening we went to Aster's families for dinner and ate some good food. That was our day.

Sunday: Church in the morning. We had the baptisms of Abaynesh and Yiftusara which was sweeeet!!! It took a while cause of some difficulties like no water and other things. But it finally worked out and both got dunked. !! After church we went home and cooked some food. I ate some sheep stuff. Not bad. Then we went to some members out in Ayat and 49. Then headed home before it was late and played some games.

So that was my week! Kind of a wild week but we are safe and doing well. Hopefully things will calm down and we can have a productive week next week. And get some work permits! 

Okay, Sorry it is a shorter email but that's what I've got. Have a good week everyone! 

Love you guys.

Love,

Elder McLain

In the News:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/16/state-of-emergency-declared-in-ethiopia-amid-political-unrest

 Splasshhhhhh! 

Baptisms of Abaynesh and Yiftusara which was sweeeet!!!

Tok blending into my lower half

I am Mama Africa now I guess

Elder Chandler (my companion) meeting his birth father for the first time 

since he left Ethiopia as a young boy!

"Smell my feet." 

"Ew they smell!" Aizosh hahaha

I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go

Hey everyone,

It was another week in Megenagna, Ethiopia. Things are going well for my companion and I. This week we had some bumps in the road but all in all we are hanging on and working hard. 

A highlight from the week was District Conference this weekend. There was a Saturday session, Sunday session and Sunday Fireside. All were so great. It was all focused on the importance of the temple and the blessings that come from visiting. That is a huge problem here in Ethiopia. First off, many members are angry and frustrated because they have been denied the chance to go due to not qualifying and living the commandments. They don't see the importance of being full tithe payers and all that and say it is the District Presidencies fault they can't go. BUT a lot of things were sorted out this conference. We had President and Sister Collings attend along with Sister Collings parents, the Wrights. Wow, the Wrights are amazing! Elder Wright was the Salt Lake Temple records keeper for 30 years. He is extremely spiritual and spoke at the Fireside. He pretty much laid the law of how important the temple is and how going worthily is important. It was awesome! Just what the members needed to hear. I think this conference woke many people up. 

So our investigators were sort of put on hold again this week. We had a really busy week getting the new Elders work permits and showing them around. They can't legally proselyte like I couldn't when I first came. So we can't leave them alone. As well my companion lost his work permit and doesn't have one right now. So 3 of the 4 Elders in our district and house can't do missionary work. We can see members and some less-actives who are willing and that is about it. Eish. So my update on our investigators is the exact same as last week. We can see them but on top of Zone Conference, District Conference and showing the new Elders around, we had almost no time. We did keep in contact with all and have been giving them assignments. They are all doing good. Alex, the one you (Dad) mentioned in your email is doing great. He is still investigating but hasn't quite cleared all things with his family. We still meet with him frequently. 

Soooo my personal experiences this week I want to share with you are unique. I have loved my time in Ethiopia and have learned so much. I am going strong and all things are good but this week I had a lot of thought about going back to Uganda. President Collings is always very open about sending Elders back at their request because Ethiopia is by far the most difficult place to serve in the mission and he cares about how we are doing. So this week I had my interview with President and really without a filter I blurted out that I feel like I want to go back. He was a bit surprised and I was at the time hoping he would just say, "okay." But that wasn't the case. He actually told me no. Most every missionary he will willingly send back but it was a no for me. He told me he needed me here. He said he needed my experience, my desire and my leadership here in Ethiopia right now and that I won't be able to go back. I was really frustrated at first but understood completely. After my interview was the Sunday morning session of District Conference. I was sitting in the congregation and just thumbing through a hymn book while thinking of the things we discussed in my interview. I turned randomly to a song and it was hymn #270 "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". I immediately thought, "oh darn this is a sign" hahaha. I read the words and realized quickly I was being selfish in my desires. I wanted to go back to Uganda because things are harder here. I have been here a while and the work is wearing on me a bit. The language barrier is  wearing on me a bit. The weather is wearing on me a bit. Yeah, I was pretty frustrated earlier in the week with the work here. So, I asked President if I could go back. I then realized something as I was reading the hymn. I thought about Joseph Smith and his trials and tribulations as the early Prophet of the church. I thought about his darkest times and how he endured them and then thought to myself that he never asked to be "sent back" or "released". There have been countless people in the church who have sacrificed so much to move the church forward to all people and now this is my time to do it here. So I need to buckle down and keep working. I have been asked to preach the gospel here in Ethiopia and that is what I will do!

By the way, yes I know Elder Jensen very well. I was the first missionary he met in the whole mission pretty much. I picked my new companion Elder Denison up while in Ntinda and he was right there, fresh from the MTC. He is a great Elder. Humble, funny and really hard working. I was in Ntinda while he was in Kololo. They are neighboring areas so I saw him a lot. Then he got to come here and meet me again! He is doing good up here. His Mom needs not to worry. I think no matter where he goes he will take it well. 

I hope everyone has a good week. Have a good Valentines Day! They definitely don't celebrate that here but I will find something to do! 

Love you guys!

With love,

Elder McLain

1.   
   
    It may not be on the mountain height
   Or over the stormy sea,
   It may not be at the battle’s front
   My Lord will have need of me.
   But if, by a still, small voice he calls
   To paths that I do not know,
   I’ll answer, dear Lord, with my hand in thine:
   I’ll go where you want me to go.
2. I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
   Over mountain or plain or sea;
   I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord;
   I’ll be what you want me to be. 
3. 
   
4. 
5.  Four in the back of a Bajaj (Ethiopian Taxi)

   
   

   

   
   

   

   

   

   
   

Going from a boy to a young man

Hey guys,

This week was A+ in Megenagna! It was the first week of the new transfer. I am still with my companion, Elder Chandler. The only difference is we got two more Elders in the area and so now we are a force of 4 and not 2. It was much needed for the area and will help us a ton! 

Ethiopia is the promised land and I love it here so much. The work is still going strong. We learned alot of things this week that will help us in our future missionary work. The two new elders are named Schuler and Diamini. Elder Schuler is from Oakland, CA area and Elder Diamini is from Swaziland. They are good elders and will work hard.

Every week I am good. I will be completely honest I have had very few bad days since being in Ethiopia. I have grown a ton here and learned SO much and I know this is the place I am supposed to be here. Since being here I have been able to receive confirmation on a lot of things in my life. I have grown in my testimony of the gospel as well as going from a boy to a young man. For that it is impossible for me to have a bad week. That is why they are all good! Ethiopia is my favorite place on earth. It puts Provo in the dust....

So just a fast update, I am still in Ethiopia as you know. Still in Megenagna as you know. Still with Elder Chandler as you somehow know. And still an office elder. It is all the ultimate combination of best mission experience. My area is the greatest and the most fun area I have been in. My companion is awesome. You are right, good companion after good companion. I don't want to boast but I have been told many times by many people on my mission that my greatest personality trait is that I can adapt myself to get along with anyone. I think that has played the biggest role in having great companions. I find something in each of them that I like and work with it. Elder Chandler is from Pocatello, Idaho and was adopted when he was like 9 or something. Yeah, good time every day.

This week we were supposed to have the baptisms of Abaynesh, Yiftusara, Alemu and Alemayehu. Of those four we had zero of them baptized..... Ara benat. No problems though. All will be baptized in time. For Alemayehu he didn't pass his interview. As we talked about serious crimes and asking if he ever committed one he told us he recently robbed a white guy in Bole, stole $30, a suitcase and then beat him almost to death for not having more on him. Then he and his friend fled. His friend was caught and arrested and Alemayehu escaped. Wooooo. We talked to our mission president who took it up with the representative of the mission in Ethiopia. It was all resolved and he will just pretty much have to repent and wait a few weeks. Alemu just said he would wait until that day to be baptized together. Yiftusara is still having a problem with tea. We politely laid the law and are going to work with her to stop. She will be a little while. Abaynesh passed and was ready to go. Sunday morning the power and water were out and the font wasn't able to fill. So she has been postponed to next week. So that is it for those four! 

This week we weren't able to see many of our other investigators. Elder Chandler and I spent the majority of our time splitting with the new Elders in the area and showing them the ropes. Both are new to Ethiopia and let me tell you, missionaries are more green coming to Ethiopia than they are their first day on mission. Pretty much everything you know and have learned on your mission you just chuck out the window and relearn everything. So it has been fun showing them around.

This morning we were walking to a taxi to go to town and a random van pulled over. The guy asked where we were going and I said "Megenagna". He told us to jump in. I opened up the back and there were no seats, just a typical like kidnapper van. Me and my comp sat on the wheel well things. He started driving quick and turned up the radio and I hear, "AND YOU CAN SAY BABY" and I asked him in Amharic DUDE YOU LISTEN TO TRACY CHAPMAN ?? And he goes YEAH SHE IS MY FAVORITE. I reached up and gave him some knuckles. His name was Abel, super duper cool guy. Made a nice friend today!

I think that is about it. I am well and happy as ever! Love you guys. Have a great week.

Love,
Elder McLain

ELDER KUBHEKA SENT ME 5 ROCK BOOMS FROM UGANDA 

HE IS THE SAINT OF SAINTS

Got some free glasses

 A new cafe we found that is owned by an American 

and is super nice and not super expensive

In the back of my new friend's van listening to Tracy Chapman

An ebony wood carving I got to turn into a shift knob for my car