Waterfalls and Gratitude

Hello, Dear Family and friends. Another exciting week here in Sierra
Leone :) So, I just got my letters and dear elders this afternoon, so
everyone that sent them I have not had an opportunity to read them yet
but I am so grateful that you sent them :) I know one is from Jeff
Leavitt and one is from Katie Cutler so thank you guys and I love you.
I got 12 letters! more than the whole apartment combined hahaha so I
love you guys so much. Your letters cheer me up and really make the
day bright. The mission is great! Life is great! the gospel is great!
and you guys make it Great(er)! So thank you so very much. I love you
all :)

So, on to some of the super sweet things of the week. One of the days
Elder Ngerem and I were going up the mountain and the taxi was playing
like loud rap music, but Elder Ngerem and I had the lil radio thing,
so we were both listening to that in the front seat, and the driver
looked at us, and asked if he could plug it into the stereo. We were
like sure, So the whole taxi ride everyone got to be edified by church
hymns and church talks :) so that was a really fun experience haha.

This week I studied Helaman 5 a lot, and gosh I love that chapter so
much! The church hardly ever talks about that chapter but it is so
amazing. So many awesome things happen at the end of that chapter.
Everyone should read it :) I love it so much.

We have a possible 6 baptisms coming up this Saturday! An assured 4
that have already been interviwed :) and 2 more possibly this week.
Gosh, I am so excited! Mostly, because these investigators are ones
that I was part of the conversion process since the first lesson. So I
am super excited because I didn't just come in at the end, like
before, but now I got to help along the whole way in them finding
their testimonies :) It is going to be sooooo sweet on Saturday :)

I am glad to hear that Grandad is doing okay. I was really worried
when I read the beginning of Grandmas email but I am so glad to hear
that you are both doing okay. I love you both so much and pray for you
guys everynight :) I love you guys and all the memories we have
together. Thank you so much for being the perfect example for me in my
life!

So, I got Saidu to take me to somewhere where I could get my shirts
fitted, because they were SUPER baggy and made me look all chubby and
what not. Well, I got my measurements taken and everything and asked
him to just fit em a lil bit, but I just got them today and WOW they
are so tight hahha, no room for my chest to grow. The african elders
love it, and want to go get theirs more fitted, but gosh my chest
feels like it is going to burst haha, so i may take them to go get
loosened some time this week but hahaha :) just can't be perfectly
happy. Too tight, too loose, no in the middle. On the plus side, it only
costs 2$ :)

I bought me and my companion Real Madrid jerseys this week and we are
going to get them customized to have one of our investigators names on
our back. He is a big footballer and he is super good so we are trying
to earn a little of his trust for a little price since we really love
the guy and want to see him progress further in the church. We can
only hope and pray and do our best though :)

So, I have been trying to exercise a little bit more so me and some of
the Elders go out in the morning and run the hill in our compound.
Geese, it is truly amazing how quick you can fall outta shape. I can
still run pretty good and lift okay, but not nearly as good as the
week I left. Only takes 2 months of being lazy to fall out of it :/
But, I put the Lord first. 2 years of mission. I got the rest of my
life to workout haha, but for now I do my best. Not easy to eat
healthy though...when you got food you eat it, no matter what it is
hahaha :)

Oh and momma im not starving or anything silly hahaha I have plenty of
food, it just is really nice to have american food you know? We have
rice and Gehrie and tons of it! enough to feed us for years. That just
gets really old really quick if you know what I'm saying :) So if you
can't send any boxes for the rest of my mission, i will still survive.
But, you are very sweet my loving mother :)

So, I was reading some of your questions and I thought I would answer
them dear mother. Church ends at 3:30 for us, and we usually do
meetings and try to see everyone real quick at the church, but we just
go with the flow. We went out last night for a lil bit after church
but they want us home by like 7:00 - 7:30 for safety reasons and to
get away from malaria. So, we do the best that we can. So we usually
try to proselyte for just a little bit on Sundays. But, speaking of
which, we convinced a young man to take his mission papers out
yesterday, so we were so happy for that :) his name is George and he
is a great guy!

We drink mostly water, but sometimes buy sodas, like
coke bottles or sprites, and make sure they are glass so nobody
refilled them ;) i would love flavor packets, the ones you sent me
were great! we buy some here but american stuff is so much better
hahaha. My clothes are okay. They will hold up for a while. They get
dirty. and handwashing is not the best. But we endure :) American food
is here. Like cereals and stuff, haven't seen Special K though, but it
is EXPENSIVE! for Sierra Leone at least. Where as 4 bananas are 1,000
leones. A box of Corn flakes is 45,000! so very very expensive food.
The olympics are on on a couple televisions, I try not to pay
attention though, but when you are stuck in line at the bank for an
hour and fifteen minutes your mind starts to drift hahaha :) but its
all good. I have seen a monkey. They sneak into our compound to steal
bananas from our banana trees hahah. Sneaky lil monkies. And we have
one in our area too. Some people keep it on a leash and we go and
visit it and feed it snacks. It loves gum, and then if you give it
more food, it tries to eat it with the gum, it is rather entertaining
:)

So, after I saw the doctor she did say I was doing strong. And I feel
strong. Life is great here and my body is holding up well. To be
honest though, I know this mission is going to realistically take years
off my life...the sanitation and just the smog is enough to slowly
kill a man, but I pray and I know the lord will provide for me :)
Speaking of which, but no need to worry mother, there is a mild
cholera breakout somewhere around here the doctor says. So she just
warned me to be extra careful, but I know the Lord will take care of
us missionaries. She says its not too bad anways, we can live ;)
hahaha oh the Lord truly loves us missionaries. I can feel it
everyday. I love the Lord and the help and guidance He gives me
everyday. How could this gospel not be true. and if it is true, then
what else matters? and for thomas and Laura and Jen and Katie and
Rebecca....."We respect all decisions" :)

So, ummm....yesterday was a very neat experience. We rushed up the
mountain in the morning through the pouring rain, I'm talking like
waterfalls were coming off the houses and what not, and we went to
gather our investigators. We had to fill out 2 boys forms for their
baptisms real quick before their interviews at church, so we split up
with the branch missionaries and went to go do it. So, I am filling
this boy's form and he reminds me that he wanted to change his name to
a christian name in the church. and We had agreed that that was okay
for him to do, but I had forgotten about it. His name is Mohamed so he
wanted something else to be known as in the church. So, I asked if we
could kneel and pray and ask for inspiration in choosing one. We prayed
and we came up with the name Jacob, but he said that he liked it alot,
but his stepbrother had that name, so the branch missionary suggested
ISSAC, and he really liked it so we wrote that down, but then Elder
Ngerem and Saidu showed up and Elder Ngerem said he fasted about it
and it was supposed to be Peter, so we eventually sided on Peter
hahaha and that is what he will be known as now once he is
baptized...so yeah...very interesting :)

Also, had the opportunity to ordain someone to the office of teacher
in sacrament yesterday. didn't know that was done in sacrament...but
we did it anyways. I had no idea what to say (once again) but with the
help of the Holy Ghost I was able to say the appropriate words and was
able to pronounce a blessing on him as well. The influence of the Holy
Ghost is so strong in my life :) I am truly grateful!!:)

This was such a great week. I am working very hard and trying to do my
best. The mission is very hard, but is very rewarding. We had super p
day today and went to the museum and then came back and ate and
watched the Other side of Heaven. Didn't get to finish because I loved
you guys so much I got my companion and others to leave so we would
have time to email, but my time grows short. I love all of you soooooo
much! Have an amazing week and I am forever grateful for you for
taking time out of you busy schedules to send me even the smallest of
messages. You will never know how much it means until you have nothing
;) I love you all family! Have an amazing week and life! I love you
friends! I love you grandparents and I love you fellow cousins serving
missions. I wish I had time to write you guys invidually,....I am
really trying my best! Farewelll :):)

-Love Elder Sumrak