Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I am ALIVE !!!


This is me on peace island which is in congo town, we were on zone interviews that day and my companion is the zone leader. peace island is a volcanic hill in the middle of a swamp. it is pretty cool. the trees and stuff behind me is my area of gardnersville.

A day in the life of a Liberian missionary - letter #2

…dont worry i am to busy to think about you guys all of the time. i only have enough time when i try to sleep in the freakin heat.

we got a freezer but we have no electricity until we take the generator outside and fire it up. but gas is so expensive here that we only run it for an hour or two every night. so my drinks stay somewhat cold.

the other people in the taxi are my companion who is almost as big as me and anyone else that the driver will pick up on the way to were ever we are going. the other day me and elder balulwami were stuck in the back with the 2 biggest black women i have ever seen. it was an extremely tight fit. most of the cars are the size of the little red tercel clown car that i crashed only a 4 door. i have no idea how we all fit in there. the condition of the cars are worse than the s-10. many of them hardly run and i usually get my nice white shirt all dirty in the nasty taxi.
i am in the nicest apartment in liberia except the couples one. we have no running water and out own generator. we get up every day at 630 and study and shower with a bucket and then leave around ten or eleven to make it to gardnersville to preach and teach. our main goal is to keep the recent converts and get people to go to church. i baptised 2 people on saturday. one little 14 year old girl from my area and a 30ish man from the paynesville branch. it was an amazing experience and i had to use my own clothes because there was no way i would fit into the little jumpsuits they have here. we even have an indoor baptismal font in paynesville where we do all of our baptisms.

my apartment is in paynesville but i have to walk through red light which is undescribable. it is kind of like the flee market except everyone uses a wheel barrow to carry all thier goods and everyone is yelling all the time. it is the worst intersection in liberia and this is the local point for buying anything. we are not allowed to go there after dark because i am white and people think that i am a walking bank.
it is wierd to have everyone staring at me all the time and all the kids always run up and yell white man white man!! the other kids are scared because they have never seen a white man before. it is so cute! the people here are very nice and anyone will listen to your message then say they arent interested. which is why we have such a problem with people coming to church and keeping their commitments. owell we are doing our best.

the other 2 elders in my apartment are great. elder ukpong is from nigeria and is hilarious. elder muthwa is from south africa. no he doesnt know the stake presidents son. when we have nothing to do we play monopoly and it lasts a very long time and is intense.

i have met all the other elders in liberia. elder seawright says he never writes anything to his mom and elder rogers says his mom would beat you any day in the worrying contest and i told him he has no idea. today we had our last super p-day with the petersons. they are so amazing. i want you to get in contact with them when they get home. they have a bunch of clips of me and you should see what i am eating lol.

love you and i am focused on the work dont worry.
love
elder lamb

May 26 - 1st letter

mom,

thanks for the course on how to write letters lol.

president squires comes to liberia every 3 weeks so that is when i get letters and can send out letters. so if you onle get 1 every 3 weeks that is why.

i am doing fine and finally learning the peoples names here. most of the ward loves me and they cant believe i came over here to serve them lol. i was asked to give the gospel essentials lesson and actually did a great job. my companion is great and is trying to teach me all the things i need to know lol.

on saturday we had a goodbye fireside for the petersons. it is so sad to see them go. i just wish they would stay with me for the next two years.but they are leaving and you should get together with them and watch the movie of the fireside and the delicious food i was eating. by the way snails dont really have a taste but they are wierd to chew. yes i did eat them and i have yet to get sick.

we even got a freezer for the apartment so we can try to keep some things cool.

i am doing fine and i try to stay busy and read the scriptures and other church materials instead of thinking about home.

love
your son
elder lamb

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Picture with Pres and Sister Squires


Elder Lamb with President and Sister Squires at the Mission Home in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Monday, May 19, 2008

PO BOX

if you want to send a package there is a flat mail rate box at the post office and it is like 30 dollars ($37). i dont need anything yet so dont worry but you mail it to a po box in freetown. i am not sure the address so you will have to ask president or sister squires about it.
The address is:

Elder Spencer Lamb
PO Box 263
Freetown, Sierra Leone

I know that DHL has a BIG box that costs $340 to mail up to 55 pounds and it arrives in about 5 days. Not sure on the time frame of the mail - but that is a lot cheaper!!! Maybe I better send his Christmas presents NOW so he will get them by December??

Met the Petersons

The petersons are amazing. they picked me up from the airport and they drove me too my apartment and explained a lot of things for me. they leave in 2 weeks and i hope you contact them and they can tell you about the area more.
Note: The Petersons are from Salem and apparently are just as Spencer described "AMAZING"!!!

PS - Apparently he didn't travel with the Mission President by car to Liberia - They rented a boat to take them back across the bay (faster than the 4 miles an hour ferry) and then flew to Liberia. - Hey I am just the mom in America, what do I know??

Everything is fine here in Liberia

Mom,
everything is fine here in Liberia. my companion is named Elder Balulwami from botswana. he is a great guy and is teaching me a lot. my area is one of the largest in the mission and we ride in a taxi packed with people from the apartment to the area called gardnersville. it about the same as driving to provo from home. imagine putting 4 people in the back of the camry and 2 people in the passenger seat lol. but dont worry there have been no accidents involving missionaries and the lord is watching over us always.
I got to meet a elder Cooke from arizona on saturday. he told me a lot of things that i need to remember and he leaves in a month. he is a very funny guy and he got dear johned about 4 months in.
The food here is spicy but very good. we actually get a lot of FM's ( aka free meals ) the people here are very nice and all the kids either love me or are scared because i am white. kickball is big here and i got to play on saturday while sister geygeh was cooking. all the kids are really good but we still wupped up on them a little.
I almost got a sunburn but luckily the clouds came and i just tanned like i always do. the rain here is insane. imagine god dumping a million buckets of water right over you. but if it rains people are very nice and always invite us inside. luckily it has only rained 2 times and both of them were at night so we have lucked out so far.
the rainy season is almost here. it is the coolest time of the year and i am excited cause it is always so hot here.
everything is fine and i have taken a bunch of pictures of things but i forgot to bring my camera cord to the internet cafe here so no pictures this week. sorry, i know i am retarded.
how is jenny doing? i am very happy that she got a new job and is buying a car that will get 4 times the gas mileage of the suburban.how is dad? has he found a job yet? send me a picture of the broken roof at the property.all is well and i cant believe i have been gone for almost a month now. when i stay busy the time just flys by and i love it. when i get spare time my mind starts wandering and worrying about you .

anyways im out of time. if you want to get up at 3:30 on monday mornings you can instant message me for a little bit. if not no worrieslove elder lamb

Friday, May 16, 2008

Letter from Mission President

Apparently my computer doesn't like pictures that the Mission President sends me because he sent a picture of Spencer with him and his wife - but I can't get it to work. I sent an email asking them to send it again, but haven't heard from them. I was told that President and Sister Squires are probably taking the Elders by car over to Liberia. Because of luggage and other things sometimes when they are dropping off Elders they drive them there. It is 10 hours by car with 3-6 check points. (However the Mission Car is marked in BIG BLACK letters Missionaries and
then it states Church of Jesus Christ of LDS).
If/When I get the picture I will post it!!

DATE May 15, 2008

Dear Brother and Sister Lamb,

Here is a picture of your son as he arrived at the mission home. We thought you might enjoy seeing him with me and my wife. We are pleased to have him here in Sierra Leone.

You can probably expect that he will experience some homesickness as he adjusts to mission life. Not only is there the normal adjustment of leaving behind family, friends, sports, etc. but here there is the adjustment of living in a developing country as well. You should also know that English is spoken differently here and often takes time to understand. Many still use their tribal languages, which require an interpreter.

Your son will find the food and living conditions much different. We work diligently to keep all missionaries happy and healthy. There is a water filter in each apartment so they can drink purified water. Most of the time, an apartment will hold 4 missionaries with one companionship per room. They have single beds, a bathroom, table and chairs, and not much other furniture. Apartments meet their needs but are not what those from the U. S. A. are used to. He will however, adjust to all of this and come to love his companion and the people as we have learned to love them!

We admire him for choosing to dedicate this time to the Lord. We know He will bless him in this great cause. We look forward to getting to know him better.

Missionaries love to hear from both families and Ward members. We encourage you to write often. It always gives the missionaries a lift to get a letter from home. It is easy to send it through the church pouch by addressing it to him at the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission. Send the letter to 50 E. N. Temple, SLC. Utah, 84150. He should have informed you of the newly created procedures regarding the pouch, all letters must be an individual sheet of paper folded into thirds, taped together, and having the address written on the outside of the paper in order for the letter to be sent. If not as described, they will return the letter back to you. This is due to certain restrictions put on the pouch system by the governments of the various countries to which the pouch is sent. You can send a normal letter directly to us by addressing it to him at the Sierra Leone Freetown Mission, P.O. Box 263, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. We hold the mail here for them until someone goes to his area. That may not be until Zone Conference. Of course he may use email, which they are allowed to do in this mission.

Thank you for sharing him with us! We are sure he will be a great missionary! We do love our missionaries. The Lord’s hand is on West Africa today. This is a special mission; we know he will come to love it.

Very Sincerely,

_President Phillip L. Squires Sister Barbara Squires

Nope - your eyes okay

Who knows what these pictures are??

I am assuming this most be a very good friend Spencer made at the MTC. I emailed and asked me to tell me who he is. Bo is a city in Sierra Leone so I am going to guess that he is one of Spencer's companions that is from Bo. The pictures are a 'bit' blurry. This morning when I got the email, Casey was looking at them with me. I asked him if he could see them. He said 'yes' (like I was crazy). So I said "really? They give me a headache because they are so blurry." He then said "Oh, they are blurry - I just thought you couldn't even see them."

This is the email that Elder Bokhutlile Mogotsi sent me: Elder Lamb asked Me to send you the attached pictures, they happilyleft mission office this morning to Liberia were he is going to serve. Best Regards Elder Mogotsi

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I'm going to Liberia

May 14, 2008 - 2nd email

sorry i cant call until christmas. sister squires took my debit card cause i will never use it and i didnt want it to get stolen.

i am serving in monrovia liberia in the gardnersville area. my companion is from botswana so we will see. off to bed so ill talk more when i can.


I am in Sierra Leone!!!

Apparently he still likes the word "freakin". The email I sent him Sunday was only 3 pages - so that is why he told me not to make them books.

mom,
i made it on another plane ride alive. the airport in lungi is freakin tiny. we didnt get to ride the helicopter because it is broken. so we rode on the 5 mile an hour ferry across the whole bay. it was a very weird experience. everyone is crazy and trying to steal your stuff so you have to watch it closely. i still have everything so dont worry. we talked with the president about stuff and he just started interviewing. he hinted that the first 6 he called are staying in sierra leone and i was the last name on the list so i am sure that means i am going to liberia. there are 2 brand new branches that they are starting there so maybe i will be in one. i was dissapointed you didnt email me. i like to read your emails but dont make them books like the last one lol. i can recieve and read emails from other people and i will most likely still use gmail cause president squires said it is ok cause it is 5 times faster than the lds one. tell everyone to write me in the pouch mail. it is the fastest and the cheapest. sister squires is going to explain how to send packages later today so i will inform you when i know. i am doing fine and its just as hot here as it was in Ghana. freetown is on the side of a freakin mountain and its a scary drive in the dark. i am safe and i will get on the ferry and go to the airport again on friday to travel to liberia. send me a email when you get this and maybe i will get to see it tomorrow but probably not. tell jenny i enjoy reading her emails and that i want a freakin letter sent through the post mail service. the regular mail never got to me and i have gotten no letters except the dear elder one. please tell everyone to write. i could really use the support.
president squires is a great guy and i know he loves all the missionaries and will take good care of me so dont worry. they even have macaroni and cheese here lol. the ocean is beautiful and greg would love it here becuase everyone drives a four runner lol. well i have to go so please write i need it.

love always
your elder lamb

Sunday May 11, 2008 - Email to everyone

hey everyone,
sierra leone is so hot!! i went teaching yesterday and it was amazing! sorry i dont have a lot of time to email so i just have my mom send this mass one out for ya all. my accent is getting better and i can actually understand the people now. i love the work and i wish i had a pair of earplugs because all the elders stay up til midnight talking about soccer right outside my door. i leave for sierra leone/ liberia on tuesday and i am way excited to finally get out of the mtc and serve people. you can all write me through the pouch mail service for sierra leone. i need letters so please send me some! and my nickname here is the lamb of God lol. i am the biggest on in the mtc and it is funny to dunk over the little african elders lol. anyways back to work so til next time sing hymn 152 for me.

love always
elder lamb

Sunday May 11, 2008



Happy mothers day mom!!
i miss you a lot and i just wish they would let us call from the mtc.


my accent isnt that good yet but i understand everyone really well now. yesterday we went out for the first time and i had a lot of amazing experiences. i taught a man who was really interested and i saw him reading the book of mormon i gave him and it made me so happy. i didnt really sweat that much and i had a great time and stayed busy. we get to go back to the area again tommorow and follow up on what we did and refer the people to the local missionaries. one is named elder olsen from lehi.

i am doing great. just learning in class a lot every day and excited to finally get out of here and stop doing practices and teach some real people. the work is pretty hard but i am holding up good. when i stay busy i dont think about home at all when i lose myself in the work. but it is the times when i am falling asleep and thinking about home and you i start to get sad. i have only gotten one letter. the one from dear elder.com from you and gma pay. i am leaving for sierra leone on tuesday at noon. so 6 am your time. i should be fine on the weight limit and if i am over then i have plenty of money to pay for the extra weight. i havent spend a dime yet so no worries. my camera should work for the rest of the mission so dont worry about buying me another one yet.

i miss everyone a lot but i am just burying myself in the work.
i cant wait to see where i am going.
i dont know when i will be able to email again so until then hymn 152 is for you guys.

love
elder lamb

How to use the bathroom


Ok, so (that was for Spenny) This is how to use the bathroom!! We found a picture of this on the internet before Spencer left. We just laughed - but apparently some African missionaries have never used a real bathroom before. I think I need to frame this and put it in my bathroom!!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Officially a Missionary!!




I know - out of order - sorry!!
April 23, 2008 we met with the Stake President, Kim Christensen, to set Spencer apart as a missionary. Bishop George Chingas and Frank and Barbara Cloward came to the setting apart. We should have taken pictures BEFORE so weren't all red eyed and crying. Afterwards we went to The Pizza Factory for his "last supper".

Sunday, May 4, 2008

TWO emails in one day!!!

i am allowed to email family and that is all. and on mothers day they dont allow you to call in the mtc so they said maybe president squires will allow it next sunday after and i am 6 hours ahead of utah time here. it is hard to stay awake sometimes but i am adjusting. tell tyler that the mangos here are awesome and that all the fruit is wierd and tastes different.

tell everyone that i love them and am doing fine. (which is another word for great here)

love
elder lamb

First Real Letter from the MTC

It took Cory's 'sharp' eyes to notice the bumper sticker on the back of the truck!
It says "paysan breton"

No wonder he is the basketball king - He is a GIANT!!



I was so shocked to get an email today!! I had heard he wouldn't email until after he left the MTC - AND pictures too!!! What a wonderful day!! And he can still talk trash to Jordan even if he is 7,000 miles away!!! I am thinking he will be the new ping pong champion in two years!


it is so freakin hot here. imagine when we went to florida only a million times worse. the food here is pretty good. we even get french fries occasionally. my companions names are elder yonda and elder kennedy. i am in the only threesome. elder yonda is from freetown and kennedy is from liberia. elder kennedy says that i will most likely go to liberia and that they have wendys mcdonalds and walmart so i might actually survive. liberia is the home of where we got all our slaves. so i am gonna be teaching the peoples family that dad probably taught on his mission.

with my luck i will probably go to freetown and have to learn krio which is hard by the way. i am picking up on african english pretty good. lamoni is pernounced lemon-knee by the way. and ether is ate-her. it is a little difficult to pick up sometimes but my two teachers are great at explaining again and slower so that i (the only white guy in the class) can understand. it is so wierd to be the minority and to have everyone watch you and try to be like you. i have made many friends here in the mtc and i am the most well liked white guy. some of the people from nigeria hate us no matter what but i am friendly all the time.

i got to help both my companions go through the temple for the first time. the ghana temple is just like anywhere else except it is harder to understand the workers.

my homesickness isnt that bad yet. i almost puked on the way to the plane but that was because i didnt eat anything with my doxy pill so i had some candy and felt fine. it sucks to ride a plane forever without watching the movie or the little tv in the headrest. i got a lot of reading in the book of mormon done though and a found a scripture for you. 1 peter 3:7. it is a good one :) i am learning so many things about the scriptures and gospel. my companions are both recent converts so i have to teach them things and try to learn for myself to.

washing clothes by hand really isnt that bad. it makes me appreciate the washer and drier but at least i dont lose my clothes like casey does. we play soccer basketball and ping pong for a hour a day. i am the king of ping pong and basketball and the best goalee here. tell king larry i am practicing every day to come back and whup him good. i am losing a little weight already and i am as dark as a mexican now. and we spend all day inside learning so when i get to the field i will be black.

i am doing my best in staying busy and keeping my mind off of home. i pray for you and the family everynight. i sent a letter to you and they get sent from ghana every friday so it should be there some time soon. all is well and i only need a few things but they are not neccesary for a long time so dont worry about sending a package for a while. i love you and tell everyone hi and that the church is the best thing that can happen in anyones life.

much love
elder lamb

ps i cry like a baby all the time now when the spirit touches my soul everyday so often