Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Learning to chum the krio....

ow di bodi?
yeah well they say it with a british indian accent here. it is really funny to hear the children say white man. it is not easy to chum the krio. (talk in krio). some of the people speak english but most just talk in krio. the lord has really blessed me with the gift of tongues and i have been able to understand very well and talk pretty good. krio is a mixture of many languages and it encompases english shortened with no past or present tense. so instead of us you say we. we always ask do you know we? ha ha i am getting used to it though.
the work is blessed here though. we have many good investigators who are baptism material. the branch president is great and is a great strength to us.
i love the work and my apartment is small but very nice. i even have running water half the time. the national power is run in segments. usually we get lucky like every 3rd day it comes on for 12 hours. if we are not lucky then we just run the generator. i prefer the generator because it kills the noise from the night club that is open every night. they love music here and there is always someone blasting it. the night club blares their music from 4pm to 2am. at 5 am the muslims put on the loud speaker so everyone can here their morning prayers. it is very annoying and i have just barely adapted to falling asleep with the loud noises all the time. i guess i will get used to it.
elder rogers and i have been enjoying what a mission should be like. there are many little things that satan has taken control of with other elders but i am now blessed to have other elders who are doing right so i dont have to stand alone anymore. i love the work and i am excited to go and climb the mountain every other day.
it is very beautiful here. i would describe it as a giant volcanic mountain sticking out of the earth with the ocean next to it. the people live on the mountain side and errosian is the enemy. although it is dry season now so dust is the new enemy. my shoes get dirty in like 2 min from walking outside. there are no taxis or motorbikes going up the mountain so its all by foot. we have some very dedicated members though that i know that i will come to love.
the funniest difference from here and liberia is that the women dont care about modesty. if you go to the stream you will see the public bath. naked people are everywhere and no one cares. owell.
the work is great here and there is a challenge and blessing with most of the people being muslim. we get to teach them correctly the first time about jesus christ and there is little corruption from other pastors and things.
anyways i have to go now. enjoy your week and keep asking questions.
no more sister wires so the pictures might have to stop coming.
osh ya. (sorry in krio)
love
elder lamb

Monday, December 8, 2008

Hard to say good-bye....

wow what a story today. ha ha
well it all started at 6 this morning . the mauldins came and picked my large bag up. we went to the small airport this time. we waited for the wires to come with elder echi-aboli to come with me. they finally arrived and we made our way inside after saying goodbye to my beloved couples the wires and mauldins. they have done so great for me and i will miss them alot. owell its time to go.
so we walk inside and the lady says i have to pay 100 us dollars for my extra backpack. well i talked her down to 60 and she took it. ha ha welcome to liberia.
we then proceded to the waiting room. we got bored after 3 hours. the plane finally landed. we went outside to watch. they filled up the gas and then hooked it up to a mitsubishi SUV and pulled it on the the runway. no joke. the plane is best described by Ron White in the blue collar comedy tour. "a pack of gum with wings" it was really small. but i managed inside. we landed in freetown and the island airport again . due to our 3 hour delay we were late. we chartered a whole nissan pathfinder to fly to the ferry dock. we jumped out and payed and ran down the dock screaming to not shut the door yet. the waited for us and we made it on the ferry. it was a miracle of God.
we sat in first class and made it across the bay. we sat and waited for 2 hours waiting for the AP's to come and get us. during our 2 hours a drunk man got in a fight with a lebanese man. the lebanese man beat him really good.
the AP's finally came and they took me straight to my new apartment. it is nice and right next to a club so there is always music playing. owell.
i am now in wellington branch freetown sierra leone. it was hard to say goodbye but somehow i was able to let go without crying yesterday. all is well and i am going to love it here.
well i have to go now.
see ya next week.
love
elder lamb

Airport in Liberia

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Leaving on a jet plane...

The official word came today that Elder Lamb is being transferred out of Liberia. He will fly out Monday morning to go to Sierra Leone.

Sister Wire was kind enough to send some nice thoughts that I would like to include:

By now you have probably heard that your Elder will be on his way to Sierra Leone on Monday Morning. I was to see him today to weigh his luggage but he was so busy eating at three different members homes that I told him I'd see him tomorrow.He is to take one luggage that weighs only 40-45 pounds and then a backpack the extra luggage he will leave here and Pres will take it to Sierra Leone for him when he returns next week. So he will be there for Christmas he'll be taking our hearts with him but I know the Pres. prays about these things and I know his strength is needed there, He is really a good Missionary and the Pres. praised him greatly in our last meeting before he left. He brings HONOR to your name.

...He is a joy...some times we just need to grow and those around us aren't ready for the next level! He is more than ready. He's serious about the work and not caught up in "this will be fun" Just one mature great Man!

Elder Lamb has enjoyed his time in Liberia and I have appreciated all that the Wires have done for him. It will be sad to have him leave them, but I know he will be in good hands where ever he may go!!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Everyday is an adventure in Africa

how you comin on?
ha ha liberia was the best ever this week. on wednesday we had our elders thanksgiving. we learned how to make tortillas. which is super easy by the way. played a bunch of games, watched the work and the glory, and my personal favorite: had a huge thanksgiving dinner prepared by our amazing couple missionarys. they really outdid themselves and i am so grateful for thier sacrifice for us here.
the next day we had zone conference where we had the opportunity to watch the priesthood session while president squires was doing missionary interviews. i loved it. elder scott gave a very powerfull talk and i liked it a lot. afterwards president squires gave us some instructions and we all ate and went home. there is a new rule for us now. we have to be in by 6 instead of 7. this hinders the work in my area since i have a 45 min commute one way. so we lost another opportunity for a lesson. but it is the rule so we must obey.
president squires is really cracking down and me, i love it because it is what needed to happen.

we had the opportunity to have the ap's come and stay in the apartment. it was my first time to meet elder michael. he is a great missionary and i enjoyed staying with him. for elder ukpong it was a great reunion and we talked a lot about the good old days. it was really nice.
i have learned how to make tortillas so i started experiamenting with an african style breakfast burrito. still working on perfecting it but thats what experaments are for.
i want to say thank you to everyone. the support i have recieved is amazing. it has helped me so much get through hard times. and i want to expecially thank my mother who is so worried all the time i still dont know how she allowed the lord to take me to africa. she understands the blessings and protection involved or else i would of had to say no. ha ha but the lord has blessed me here through you guys and i express my deep appreciation and thank you all.
love
elder lamb

Monday, November 24, 2008

Best man and a Baby - African style

mom,
psh dont worry it is nothing. it is way better now. yes i remember when i cut my head open and went boating still. i am fine and even got the blood stain out of my argentina jersey.
i am gettng sick of washing my shirts by hand. they get so dirty in the taxi. next package next year i will need some shirts and pants probably. just to let your prepare. dont worry i will make it til next year easy.
wow i wish it would go down to 60. i have been sweating like crazy.
super p day is on wednesday. interviews are on thursday. so we get two really good meals ths week. i amd starting to get fat from eating so many fms here. the people are so good and so bad. the relief society is rebelling against the contribution rule. they are collecting money for the michells wedding on saturday. i am one of the best men. also one of our investigators named her baby boy spenser. they spelled it wrong but it was really after me. he is really cute.
the work is good and dont worry i am fine and working hard and not thinking about anything but keeping on.
sis wire is taking good care of me and i think she hinted to me and seawright about leaving. she gave only me and him isiah 41:15. so maybe i will conquer mountains soon. ha ha well see in a few weeks.
i cant wait to get your package. thank you so much for being an amazing mother!!!
love
elder lamb

This is Africa.....

Bloggers:
dont worry my eye is doing much better now. it should heal up really nice and only leave a small scar. what a bummer. ha ha
the work has been interesting this week. mostly from the relief society. the president is getting her civil marriage. they get traditional first which is accepted by the church but civil is needed to go to the temple. anyways so our relief society president is getting married this saturday and i have been asked to be one of the best men. so in relief society class yesterday they asked for donations for the wedding. the hand book of instuctions clearly states that this is against the rules. so one sister objects and says it is wrong. the sisters exploded on her. the branch president then ran in to see what the problem was. i quote what he said about the contribution. "this is africa and things are different from the USA." just to give you a perspective of what i am up against everyday. :)
also one of our investigators daughter had a baby boy. she decided to name him cherish spencer folly. yeah after me. i was surprised and honored at the same time. i guess some people actually like me here. ha ha
the work is good and we are plannning for some baptisms in a few weeks. i havent had any for a while. probably since i dont want to bring anyone into a place where they can so easily fall away. owell.
dont worry all is well and i am having thanksgiving on wednesday and interviews on thursday so we are kinda celebrating. i could use a little money to buy some gifts for a few members though. just a thought..
got to go now.
love
elder lamb

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Bandaids = the real mans stitches

hey everyone,
well you could say that i prefer american football instead of soccer. yesterday while playing soccer against some branch missionaries i was chasing after a ball. i bumped into a branch missionary and my head hit his. my eye brow split open and i started bleeding a little bit. so i had to go lay down while sister mauldin came to look at it. so a few bandaids later i was fine. no worries i got some nice pics. thanks for the million bandaids you sent me with mom.

ha ha sunday was even better. in elders quorum the members got in a fight about president squires. many people were very bitter and they said some very degrading things. so now president knows that monrovia is rebelling and wanting money. these people are funny.
the work is great and i am still learning a lot everyday. there is so much for all of us to learn. wow the scriptures are so amazing. i love them. dont worry about me i am fine and i refused to go to the doctor here. i have seen the schools and the boy scouts teach more than the schools here. ha ha all is well.
love
elder lamb


He is going to have a nice "shiner"!!

I am not getting stitches!! I am a Lamb!!!

This is what the boy sent to his mom: by the way i got a minor cut on my eye from playin football. dont worry everything is ok and its not serious. sister wire made a funny video. dont worry i was only joking about stitches.

Sister Wire was so thoughtful to send pictures AND video to let the worrying mother know that her child in Africa was okay. I am thinking she didn't send the "funny" video??

Although this one is funny. He is so serious!! I don't know how he said it with a such a serious face without cracking up!! What a dork!!

Video - he hits himself in the head

Hello this is my companion Elder Lamb and he hits himself...

When Amy and I first watched/listened we thought he said he eats himself!! We just laughed that they would make a video saying how much Elder Lamb eats!! We thought Elder Tuvaifale was speaking some African language. Listen again....it does kind of sound like it - Seriously!!

Emails to Mom and Amy Lyn

mom,
this will be the 5th time i have written this email so ill try it again.
i am doing fine and the work is ok. today we are going to play ghetto basketball and football. then lauti is coming to cut my hair.
super p day next week should be awesome. i cant wait. sister wire is making everything!! i love her. she is so good to us.
president isnt coming until next week so im still waiting for gmas package.
thanks for everything and dont worry about me i am fine.
love
elder lamb


amy lyner,
ha ha i cant wait for christmas here. i am way excited to get your presents. they should be amazing. mana is doing better and isnt as skinny any more.she is still skinny though. she kinda looks like maya except she is darker.

always do your best cause thats what the lord expects of you.
i love you and miss you a lot. i cant wait to hear from you on christmas. by the way i killed like 50 cockroaches last night. it was pretty intense. ha ha well i have to go now. thanks for being amazing.
love
elder lamb

District Conference for West Africa

hello everyone,
this week has been great. it always seems like there is never enough time to do what we need. the work has been great and i am so sick of being asked how i feel about a black man ruling america. i dont even want to talk about it. the people here think that it is the greatest thing in the world. i just read the 13 articles of faith. especially number 12 to them and they usually dont ask any more.
the work is the same old same old. the members are doing better. we just had a district conference from president uchdorf and jefferey holland. it was amazing and focused directly on the needs here. i hope the people actually payed attention. the members are good but the investigators have been getting lazy. not much we can do but keep up the good work we are doing.
president squires quoted the worlds greatest swimmer when they asked him why he was the best. he said " because i kicked when i didnt want to kick and i stroked when i didnt want to stroke" i love that quote. do dont worry i am stilll kicking and stroking strong.
thanks for all that you do. sorry no snakes or cool things this week. ha ha
love
elder lamb

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Wordless Wednesday!!!

Don't dis the Argentina Jersey


Supply Day and a visit from the Wires!!!

He says " dont dis on my argentina jersey " (The blue and white shirt)

He said they don't have Halloween - but it looks like he is dressed as Indiana Jones!! This is on their way to do a service project. I think he found out Tanner was Indiana Jones and wanted to be JUST LIKE TANNER!!!

How de pinky????

hey everyone,
hows the day? how de pinky? ( how are your children) ha ha yeah its retarded.
the work is well the work is there at least. yesteday was testimony meeting. so after a few stories i got up and bore my testimony. then the next man got up and said " i bear you my testimony on prayer, in the name of jesus christ amen' then he sat down. wow i have a lot of work to do. the branch is still running a few degrees of so i need to help them turn back.
the investigators here are very lazy and i have been dropping quite a few. i have been blessed with a few good new ones so maybe they will be different from the rest. most peopl just want a white friend and not the gospel. so i am weeding out the shallow ones and looking for better ones.
the apartment is dirty now. me and tuvaifale are the only ones that clean so it gets pretty dirty from the other 2 elders. but we are doing our best and maybe they just need a correction. so we will take care of it tomorrow in the district meeting.
i am looking forward to some good letters and stuff from everyone in my christmas package. i cant wait.
all is well and i am working hard.
thanks for everything
love
elder lamb

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Christmas in October!!

OK - Now I will move on - Elder Lamb was SOO excited to get a package. President Squires had to attend a meeting in Ghana and so we didn't think he would be getting anything but letters at this zone conference. What a surprise!!!!
And yes - what a dork!!

A lesson in African!


How you comin on? (means “How are you”) now you are speaking good english for the liberians. ha ha it makes no sense at all i know. but that is how things are here. nothing makes sense.
(President and Sister Squires)
the other day me and elder tuvaifale were walking past a big destroyed house. completely normal to see here since a lot of them were destroyed during the war. as we were walking by someone hiding threw a big stone at us. good thing they were a pansy and couldnt throw it far enough. so we laughed and kept walking.
things like this happen everyday. people think that we are cia spies. then we contact them and they never come just like everyone else we talk to. but i am doing my best.

the work is ok. the investigators are going backwards instead of forwards. the people are just lazy and never do anything except run away and make excuses. the pastors have trained them very well here. you can see a church everywhere. there are more different churches than lds buildings in utah. it is insane. people use it as a business here.
i am still staying in the same area for another 6 weeks at least. maybe more. elder linde is coming to the apartment with sadare and lauti is going to congo town. rogers is going to freetown and davilla is going to kayando. elder balulwami is finally going home. he bawled like a baby at zone conference when we had a instuction on finishing. it was hard for him when his mother died and no one supported him. he stayed here and finished though.
i am doing great and i got a package from my mom with all kinds of good things inside. i love the sandals and beef jerky. thank you so much!!!! i got some letters from mom, gma pay, gma lamb, kayla, neldon and others. thank all of you for writing.
one letter asked about red light so ill explain. red light is a junction where there is a 3 way junction. at the junction are all the shops that people sell from. it is like a giant flee market with everyone selling from wheel barrows. there are a ton of thiefs so you have to watch your pockets carefully. but i havent lost much money. ha ha
all is well and thank all of you.
love
elder lamb

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Christmas in Africa!!

Attention all of you readers of this blog!!!!
Elder Lamb seems to be doing well, but said that this zone conference President Squires comes from a meeting in Ghana so no packages, just letters, will be coming with him. I think he is starting to think about the Holidays and getting a bit homesick. It is really expensive to mail things and his basic needs are being met. The African Elders don’t have a lot, so compared to them he them he has an abundance. My sister-in-law came up with the idea of sending a package of letters from everyone to our missionary sons – so I will be collecting letters – cards – pictures -or small presents from anyone who wants to and will send them to Elder Lamb to open on Christmas Day (If the slow boat to Africa makes it there before Christmas) My deadline will be Oct 31st. So everyone sit down and write him a note (you can even just email me and I will print it out – how much easier can I make it??) – it will be the best present we can give him!! (he would love the kids to draw him pictures – that is what Amy usually sends him and he puts them up on his wall). He should be transferred this month or next month - so I don't know who his companion at Christmas will be. Generally the African Elders do not get much from home, some don't even get emails :( so if you would like to also send a couple of cards or notes to some of the African Elders - that would just be AWESOME!!!

You can mail your letters to him to:
337 W 100 S.
Spanish Fork, Ut 84660

So go get busy he wants to hear from ALL OF YOU!!!!
Love
~Tracy

What a dork - enough said!!!







BIG white man can play football in Africa...

hey everyone,

the normal cafe is on fire right now and there are no firetrucks here so it will just burn and burn. owell.
i just got back from playing soccer. wow you should see my tan lines. i hope to get some pictures. it is great to get together with all the other elders and see some white people.
today i want to talk on racism. why did god create some people black and others white? here white people are considered rich. to us black people are considered the same. why do we judge on the color of our skin? read 1 samuel 16. you will come to understand that we are all children of our heavenly father and that he loves us all. there are millions of people here in the bush that will never hear the gospel. that doesnt mean that god doesnt love them. he is working on his time. i have come to love the people here and appreciate the opportunity to serve among them. it is hard as a white man. the critisism is high and i have been called every name in the book. everyone wants to pick your pocket and steal from you. but the lord is on my side and i am staying strong. the greatest calling we have is to procliam this gospel. i wouldnt rather be anywhere in the world. sure i miss my mom and the work is hard. but i will continue to stay strong.
one thing i would like to ask for is the church hymns on cd. it would help a lot to teach the people the correct way to sing. so please talk with my mom about that i would appreciate it a lot.
thanks for everything and i love you all
love
elder lamb


White men from America using machettes??

hey everyone,
this week has been good. we have been focusing more on service. so this week we went to sister appleton. she is a widow who always feeds us no matter what. she is so kind and loving. so she needed some grass cut so we asked her if we could come chop it for her. she was shocked and said yes. so we went and took some machettes and starting cutting the grass. the people driving and walking by on the main road were very confused at seeing 3 white men doing very hard physical labor. we had many people ask when we would start building the new church there or how much sister appleton is paying us. they have never seen anyone just give service like that before. so people gave us a hard time. when we went to tell sister appleton goodbye she was crying and the phone was ringing off the hook with all her friends asking her what was happening at her house. it was one of the best moments i have had here. the wires called us and told us that the news was everywhere that the white men from america could cut grass. it was
hilarious.
mana is doing good and getting better everytime i see her. i dont know what any of you can send for christmas. the kids already molest me after church and i am a God in gardnersville primary. maybe matchbox cars or something. almost everyone can read english and they dont have toys really. they are all great kids and i love all of them.
the branch is doing well and i am doing great. the work is moving along good and if i dont kill the district leader i will be great. i am grateful for all of you and i love to read letters :)love
elder lamb

Monday, October 6, 2008

The story of Mana Wilson

hey everyone,
i guess the first news everyone wants to know is that i got dear johned. yep for real. owell that is life. i just have to put a smile on and trust God. anyways enough of the unimportant stuff.
this week i want to tell the story of mana wilson. she is 2 years old and the first time i met her she couldnt even stand up. she has malnutruiton and is starving. she was always so sad and her gut was huge while her arms and legs were paper thin. so the first time we shared scriptures with the mother who is skinnier than a twig. the next time we brought some extra rice from the apartment. then mana was gone the next time. she went into intensive care at the hospital. she had to have a blood transfusion. she was there for 2 weeks. we kept checking up on the family who are all members. then mana came home. we sent the relief society to visit. then we went to visit. mana seemed a little better. i had a package of cookies in my bag so i gave them to her. that was the first time i have seen her smile. then they came to church. mana still wasnt looking to good. so we took a bag of rice again to the family. this time mana looked better so i picked her up and held her close. the next time we visited she saw me and just smiled. so i picked he up again and held her during the lesson. she fell asleep in my arms. now mana is my best friend and everytime she sees me all she does is smiles. she can walk and talk and is doing great now. the wilson family has been coming to church again and i will make sure they keep it up.
i hope this story touches you like it did to me. God truly looks after all of his children. i dont know how we decided to give them some rice the first time. but since we did they had enough money to go to the hospital.
i love this work and i love the people here. i hope that i can continue to do great things for the Lord and that i will still be an instrument in his hands.
good luck with all that all of you are doing
love
elder lamb

Pictures from Zone Conference

September Zone Conference
2008
Got to love the candy cane tie!!










This is Elder Lamb and Elder Linde. Elder Linde is from St. George. He met Spencer's friend in the Provo MTC.



I have NO Clue what this is a picture of. There were several pictures of the Elders and they are always looking down at their feet. Spencer said that Sister Wire likes to take lots of "natural' pictures and they never know when she will be taking a picture - thus some of the seemingly random pictures :)

Monday, September 29, 2008

Lesson for the Day: Stay Away From The Edge

hey bloggers,
how are you all doing this week? some letters would be nice (hint hint), also christmas is coming up and it takes 2 months for things to get here. another big (hint hint) anyways the work is great this week. we have a few new families who are doing great. they even came to church so i will make sure to see them this week. they are amazing and i love the people here.
garndersville is like my home ward now. you could blindfold me and i could show you to almost any members house. i love it. except the 5 swamps where my new shoes get wet and muddy. but this is the lords work and who cares about shoes anyways.
i have been struggling with my new companion a little. he chooses to read his scriptures and let me do all the teaching and when i do force him to come in he teaches a different lesson and i feel like he is just ruining what i was working so hard for. but maybe i am the one messing up and maybe the lord just needs to give me more patience. we could all use a little more anyways.
my mom sent me a nice email on living on the edge. i was just studying in the book of mormon. 1st nephi chapter 8. i was thinking about the river that represents hell. i think of the snake river how it bends back and forth. then i thought about the little sins that are closer to the iron rod. the ones that dont take very many steps to fall into the river. where the river is so close to the rod that you have to hold on for dear life or you will fall in. i though about satan and how he makes those places more dark and tempting. so stay away from the temptations and study your scriptures. just an insight i had.
i got plenty of letters from my grandma pay and one from my grandma lamb and of course my uncle neldon who always writes. one from kayla and that was about it. no package this time. maybe next time president comes. i love to read letters and i love to write anyone back.
we had interviews with president squires and i loved mine just like i always do. he is such a great man and i hope to keep in contact with him when i get home. he is amazing.
i love the work and the people here. the river bends really close to the rod with the law of chastity and many people have a problem with it. we see many less active people who are too ashamed to come to church because they know that the members know. i am still working with the home teaching and now one of my new goals is sacrament meeting. the spirit just isnt there and there are many little things that need to change. so i have plenty of work to do. dont worry i dont even have time to worry about the stupid cares of satan and the world. let the people in the large and spacious building call the white man a devil. i am used to it now and the gospel must go forth. thanks for all that all of you do. i love to hear from you and at least write me a letter for christmas or something.
love
elder lamb

Monday, September 22, 2008

Pictures of Spenny Boy!!

Elder Lamb
and
Elder Lauti

Pictures by Sister Wire - love her!!!


















Meet the new companion.....

Meet Elder Tuvaifale - This is Elder Lamb and his new companion Elder Tuvaifale. When you watch the video - watch Elder Tuvaifale's face at the end of the video - Amy and I got a good laugh!! It is really hard to see - but it cracks me up!!

Changes teach patience - hopefully!!

hey everyone,
this week has been slow. elder mogotsi left on sunday so it was just me and lauti until thursday night. the branch missionaries didnt come so it was me and lauti covering 2 areas. it was tough and little was done in gardnersville.
thursday my new companion elder tuvaifale came. he is from samoa and lets just say the tools in the shed could be sharper. but i know the lord directed him here for a reason so we will do amazing things. he is smaller than me so no worries there ha ha.
this week the relief society presidency actually went visiting teaching. it was nice and one of the sisters they visited even came to church. she hasnt been for months. so i can already see small improvement. next week is home teaching.
elder lautis new companion is named sadare. he is from nigeria and he is cool. we get along good.
i used up my first pair of shoes. so today we went shopping in red light. i found a brand new pair of very nice shoes and talked the man down to 7 US. they should work out great.
the people we have been visiting are doing better. we have one baptism for this saturday. he is 9 and his parents and family are all very active so we have no worries for him. he is a very smart boy and can tell you exactly what happened to joseph smith. his name is leeroy. he will be great.
the rain is still pouring outside. it just started up again now. maybe it will stop so i can proselyte dryly tomorrow. ha ha probably not.
owell the work of the lord must go on.
President Squires comes on friday so i should get letters and maybe a package. hey speaking of letters you all should write me one ;) thanks for all that you do and dont worry about me i am doing great and loving working hard.
love
elder lamb

Monday, September 15, 2008

Transfers!! Waiting to meet new companion


This is Spencer with Veronica. He baptized her a few weeks ago. She was baptized a few weeks ago. She is married and has 10 kids. It is hard to tell - but it is really RAINING!!!
**the work is creeping along. as mogotsi would say this is a desert area for the fruit to be harvested. owell we are working with the leaders first to fix the problems so dont worry.
**i just met the mauldins. they are very nice. although sister mauldin is very small lol. ha ha they loved how clean our apartment was and they said my new companion will be here on tuesday. aka tomorrow! so we will see. the mauldins will be the ones in charge of our apartment and congo town also. (The Mauldins are from Darrington, Washington and they have previously served a mission in Nigeria. Besides being missionaries, they will be helping in the Church Educational System, which they have some background with in Nigeria, and some recent schooling at the MTC.)
hey everyone,
i am doing good this week. the rain has been still pouring and i am always wet. Elder Mogotsi left for freetown yesterday. i am truly going to miss him. we had a lot of great times together.
my new companion is from samoa. his name is elder tuvaifale. im pretty sure that is how you spell it. ha ha they say that i am bigger than him so i should be safe there. the taxi ride will be a lot more tight though. owell what can ya do.
the work is moving along as fast as the Lord will allow. we had to drop a lot of people who wont leave thier live in girlfriend or boyfreind. owell maybe someday they will eventually get married. it is like the people are afraid to get married here. they cant afford it anyways.
church has been interesting the past few weeks. me and mogotsi taught the young women how to bear a testimony without explaining anything about the war here. the whole ward was shocked to have 15 girls get up and share good testimonys. it was great!!! maybe they will learn.
i am doing fine and there is a woman i could carry home. she only has 2 kids which is really low for a 25 year old good looking woman. it is our little joke.
i am doing good and me and lauti have been partying in the apartment by our selves today. it is fun and liberia is good so all is well.
thank all of you for all that you do. write me a letter some time.
love
elder lamb

Do your part at Church

NOTE: He emailed this Tuesday Sept 9th - but life happened and I never got it on the blog

hey everyone,
all is well in africa this week. the rain is still pouring and i will be getting a new companion next week. i dont know who it is til saturday so maybe i will become a senior. or maybe not. anyways thats not what i am here for.
this week was tough at church. we literally had to drag the auxilary leaders into the pec meeting. lets just say it wasnt fun to sit ther are talk about nothing for 2 hours on fast sunday. but it needed to be done so hopefully they learned something. i doubt it though.
the people here keep giving excuses. so today we used the depressed aproach to send the people on a small guilt trip. maybe this way will work. i guess we will see.
anyways thanks for everything and i am so thankful for all of you and all that you do for me. keep the church strong and just do your part. it makes the church run so much better.
love
elder lamb

Monday, September 1, 2008

5 baptisms - more rain

hello everyone,
i am doing great here in africa. on saturday we had 5 baptisms and everyone even showed up on time. it was great. elder golden of the first quorum of the 70 is coming to visit liberia today and tomorrow. we will receive instruction from him tomorrow. it should be a great time. he is also coming to inspect our apartment so i had to get it all cleaned up nice. it looks very nice right now so the first person to screw it up with recieve the rath of the lamb of god. ha ha
i am doing good and the work is creeping forward. the main focus is to help the leaders run the church right before we bring a bunch of people into it. imagine baptising someone then having no one go home teaching or talking to them. ya well there is a reason that there are so many less actives in my area. so we have to take each leader by the hand and show them how it is done. it should be fun.
the people here are clueless. they dont come to church then we go visit and ask why and they make a retarded excuse. one lady told us it was because of the rain in the morning. it didnt rain.... so i get to work a lot on my patience everyday. sometimes it is discouraging but i know it is just satan trying to stop me from doing the work.
we dont have any baptisms set up for this week. elder mogotsi goes on the 14th. so i will get a new companion then. they still havent decided to make me a senior or not so they dont know who will come yet. elder ukpong will be going to replace the ap who is going home so me and lauti will be the only ones left in the apartment. it is sad to see them go but at least i will meet them again sometime.
the weather has been rainy still. most days it is around 85 and nice. other days the sun beats down on us and it is around 95. but we go out no matter what and preach the gospel.
most of the time i get to teach 2 lessons every sunday. the investigators class and either young men or young women. it just depends on who didnt show up. it is fun and the kids all love me here.
well i am out of time and i just want to say thank you to all who read this and pray for me. i know the lord is watching over me and i cant wait to see you all again.
love
elder lamb
ps i love getting letters ;)

Rain - robberies - and more rain

~OOPS!! Sorry this one was a week late!! Sometimes my brain doesn't work :)

hey everyone,
liberia is doing fine this week. i am doing good and havent lost much more wieght. i am trying to work out every morning in an effort to put some back on. so we will see what happens.
sorry i didnt kill any snakes this week. just one more huge spider outside our door. speaking of doors. we have to make sure ours is locked with 3 or 4 locks and dead bolts now. the elders in duala were robbed on friday. the people that live around them were paid off and they let a group come and rob them. they bent the bars on elder seawrights window and shoved a kid inside. then the kid grabbed 3 cameras and all the elders money and a few cd players and stuff then snuck out. all during broad daylight while everyone was out working. so now we have to be extra careful. our apartment is better and we have a guard plus other people living around is in the same complex. they like us and know we give them extra food and stuff so they wouldnt let anything happen. also our 3 guard dogs make a lot of noise.
the church is slowly starting to change here and we are trying to make things like they should.
elder mogotsi goes home on sep 14th. i will then get a new companion. he is a great elder and has taught me a lot. it is sad to see him go but his 2 years are up and it is someone elses turn.
elder golden of the seventy will be coming to visit us next week. so we have to go home and clean our apartment today. it should be a great experience to recieve instruction from him.
i am doing good and the work is slowly moving forward. we have 5 people lined up to be baptised on saturday so if all goes to plan we should have plenty of work to do with finding more able people to teach. we try to find worthy people and it is hard here with the law of chastity problem. no worries, the lord is preparing someone and we just have to find them.
i hope all is well and i love hearing from everyone.
love
elder lamb

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Because my computer expert is in Africa....

If the videos don't work - someone let me know - please! I really don't know how come they worked today and didn't 2 weeks ago. I did the exact same thing!

Where is the Spanish Fork accent???

Sister Wire said he got cut off at the end, but she sent it so we could hear him talking "African". We put this on repeat so it played over and over and over - and Amy Lyn could not stop laughing!! He only has TWO QUICK seconds to talk - but it is so good to see him!

Video - Just for Mom :)

Weather forecast: Cloudy and less rain

hello everyone,
africa has been nice this week. the rain has let up a little and we have been enjoying the clouds that dont pour on us. this week we were able to attend zone conference in paynesville. it was so nice to not have to go and catch transport. sister wire had to use our kitchen to cook lunch and she said it is cleaner than hers so we did great.
sister squires talked about using our money wisely and what we should be using it for. then elder gibson talked about better scripture study. then elder mogotsi talked about forgiveness. but my favorite talk was president squires. he talked about how we are the pioneers for liberia. right now the church isnt running like it should. it is quite different from utah. the elders are now in charge of making sure everything is running good. it is weird to go to the relief society president and teach her. or to tell the elders quorum president how things should be done and to instruct him. i think things would run fine if the people would actually do what we ask of them. they all like to make excuses and no one ever does anything they are asked unless you piggyback them the whole time. the elders are the one in charge of home teaching, visiting teaching, teaching sunday school, primary, young womens, and whoever else doesnt come to teach. we are supposed to have p.e.c in the morning. the branch president and us are the only ones that come. the first and 2nd counselor always come late to church and it feels like the branch president and us are the only ones doing anything. but we are doing our best and no effort is wasted.
in liberia there is no address system. you just ask people to help you find someone. they say a broad area and you go search for them or have the person take you to thier house. sometimes it makes contacting hard. usually the people we contact lie to our face and tell us they will come to church then we never see them again.
me and mogotsi are trying to work hard. mogotsi is very homesick and i am dragging him out and then he is fine. as long as we get into the field he is great. when we come home he is slacking and trying to sleep so he wont think about home.
he leaves on september 15th. it is sad to know that he will be gone. he is truly a great missionary and has served and is serving the lord well. we are working hard and have a nice part member family that we are planning on baptising on the 30th.
the main problem we have with investigators is the law of chastity. whether it is fornication or modesty. they are intertwined. i am so grateful for the knowledge i gained from the church so that i didnt end up like a lot of the people here. here if you get a girl pregnant it is no problem. you just switch girls or move in with the girl.
we just had our branch mission leader released. he was breaking the law of chastity then coming to the gospel essentials class and teaching the investigators about it. so we talked with the branch president and now we are starting to iron out the problems here.
all is well and there is way to much to do. we cant fit it in the day and i love staying busy.
i hope all is well and thank all of you for everything. especially you frank for getting my dad a job and keeping my mom sane. all is well and dont worry i will be fine.
love
elder lamb

I have the Light of Christ

Here is Elder Skinny Lamb!! It is really hard to hear - so turn up your speakers. Sister Wire sent a video 2 weeks ago and I could not get them on the blog. Maybe now I will be able to. He only has TWO seconds to talk.

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Itsy Bitsy Spider......



The Itsy Bitsy Spider Doesn't Exist in Africa!!!





In response to Amy Lyn and her many questions, Spencer said: yes we have pigs. yes we have toilet paper. yes there are freakin huge bees . the spiders are freakin big enough to eat sadie




"the spiders i have seen get up to 8 inches from leg to leg. that is my guess. the wasp bee things are as big as my big toe. no bacon. just pigs and the meat they chop off and bbq."

Veronica is baptized!!!!

hey everyone,
the computer is being retarded today so this will be short.
i am doing good and we just baptised veronica. she is doing great and the gospel has truly changed her life. she will be a great member.
i am doing good. i got a little sick yesterday and threw up. after a good nights rest i felt much better.
the work is moving along great and i am enjoying working with elder mogotsi. he wants to work hard so he can forget about going home next month and i want to work hard so i can forget about home so we get along great.


the work is moving forward heavy rain or hot shine.
all is well and sorry no more snakes this week. but we did get mouse traps and we have killed 13 so far.
i am fine and thank all of you for the support. i love reading your emails and letters.
love
elder lamb

Monday, August 4, 2008

The Mighty Snake Killer

hey everyone,
all is well here in africa. i guess i will tell the best story first. so we went to visit a member family for no reason. we just felt like going. so we went there and when we got there in the rain. everything was out on the porch. it looked like they were moving. so we found sister dougba and asked her what was going on. she said that they had snakes in the house. so me and elder mogotsi went in to see of course. brother dougba was inside filling a hole with rocks. so we started helping him. then i was just looking around and made sure there were no snakes. so i took a wire hanger and started checking for other holes in the floor/wall. so i was just walking around with the wire and flashlight in this little bedroom. so i found this tiny little hole. like the size of a dime. so i jammed the wire in the hole and out came a snake. so everyone but me and mogotsi screamed and ran outside. i grabbed the big machette and chopped it in half. then we stuck the wire in again and another one came out so i chopped that one too. then no more came out and we scooped the dead ones outside. then we bought some cement and fixed all the holes in the house. they were just little snakes like a foot long. but i am pretty sure they are black mambas. which if i remember right is very deadly. (he said they were babies and if they would have came at him then he would have run) so we helped this family out. then yesterday was fast and testimony meeting and sister dougba bore her testimony and told the story of me and mogotsi chopping snakes and saving their family. it was funny cause everyone just stared at us the rest of the meeting.

the rain has held back all week and it only rained on saturday. it was nice and we have been teaching a lot of people. we are planning to baptise veronica on saturday. i am very excited because i am the one that contacted her and invited her to learn about the gospel. she is the golden investigator that every missionary dreams of. then we will probably have a few more people at the end of the month. umaro who we baptised a while ago is doing great. he passes the sacrament every week and goes on splits with us and helps us teach some of his friends. he will be an amazing member. we are doing good.

all is well and i just met with president squires and had a great talk. elder mogotsi's b-day was on sunday so the wires brought us a nice big chocolate cake to eat. it was amazing. hopefully the generator gets fixed today so that we can have light and electricity. i am doing great and i love the work.

transfers are on wednesday. no changes to our apartment. we will get 2 more white elders in liberia though. elder seawright and sesay will be training them. then in september mogotsi goes home so we will see what happens to me then.

all is well and thank all of you for everything.
love
elder lamb

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Don't have a clue....

I don't have a clue about this blog stuff and was so excited that I figured out a slideshow - but the pictures are really small. So I think I have figured out how to share them through an email - so if you want to see them BIGGER - and who wouldn't want to see the spiders and food? - email me and I will email you a site you can see them at (even if you are a lurker - I am happy to share the pictures - just let me know)

~Tracy
:)

abcslamb (at) SFCN (dot) org

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Missionaries can really clean their plates!!!

Hello Families
To say the missionaries enjoyed their Chili Size and chocolate cake is an understatement as you can tell they even licked their plates clean. Elder Lauti said if I had a chocolate cake laying around anytime! He's in luck his apartment (Spencer's apartment) is the only apartment with a birthday soooo.... I'll be dropping off cake instead of cookies this time. These young men ate well cleaned up and were so grateful with amany thanks and smiles of appreciation. Love Sister Wire

Navajo Tacos and Chocolate Cake!!

Elder Lamb and Elder Gaxiola
Hungry Elders
Feasting on the Scriptures
Skinny Elder Lamb - Where is all his fluff!!

Guns..Farmer Tans...and splits - Oh my!!!


hi this is my favorite notice Elder Onouha is showing his farmers tan with his Elder Companions, I'm sure you spotted the Elders doing the splits. These Elders are happy, Joyful and wonderful men!!! You've done a great job! Love Sister Wire


Elder Gibson, Elder Lamb and Elder Gaxiola doing the splits


Elder lamb, Elder Gaxiola and Elder Gibson showing off their guns??

I laughed so hard at these pictures!! I don't know what makes me smile more: Elder Gibson showing off his "tan" leg, Elder Onouha showing off his tan, or how funny they just all look. It is kind of like Charlies Angels goes LDS. Sister Wires must be amazing to get them to pose like this - or they are just crazy missionaries.