Happy to Serve!!

NOTE FROM MOM:  Last week Elder Sumrak asked anyone to write
him and tell him why he loved Alma 17:26 so I gave him my best guess.  This
is his reply:

Well mother, your guess was very good, but to be honest I hadn't even
thought anything about the water but that actually applies
perfectly!:) you definitely win for the most in depth study and
answer, BUT the answer is because: Alma 17:26 says "LamaniTISH"
hahahahaha oh, I have no idea why I am so easily amused. I'm so mature.
but, i did think it was funny because it isn't really necessary but
just oh so awesome!

Glad that all of my letters got there okay, I had
some extra free time one Monday night so I sent a lot to some old
friends who I miss. 3 of them got mission calls and 2 of them are
going to Virginia on their missions so I thought it would be cool to
start writing them. Wow, a snow day? that is super sweet. I had a 15
minute discussion with Elder Etuk about what snow was like yesterday.
We were watching the PMG district training dvds and he asked me what
the snow was like, so I spent a while explaining, and then he was
confused that we had a north and south america...and it had to be
explained that AMERICA and the United States of America are different
hahaha...that took a very long time for some reason...I'm not sure if
he ever quite understood haha

Thank you for gathering those addresses and sending those letters
moma, i hope they are all still friends with me on Facebook so it
shouldn't be TOO big of a problem I hope. I love and miss you Lauren
Byrd :) hope you get my letter soon!

So, got the WEIRDEST mail the other day momma. Got a big envelope from
Norfolk, and it said "found loose in mail" and inside the envelope was
a smaller envelope and inside that envelope was half of an envelope
that I had sent to the USA, and inside was 10$? but, I never sent 10$
so did I just get free money?

Also, thank you so very much to Grandfather and grandma and Aunt Deb
and my mother for the wonderful packages I received this week. I hid
all the food from the other Elders so I could share it with my Sa Lone
boys and they loved it so much today haha :) Saidu and Idrissa loved
the protein bars and were very grateful so thank you so very much. All
of the letters and cards were just awesome, as well as all of the
pictures, and I just had such a great tuesday night looking through
all of them. Thank you so very much for all the love you have for me
and I love you all so much. The pillow case was just awesome and I
immediately threw it on my pillow and it always gives me a good
smile before I go to sleep :) thank you so much for that, the
sentimental things mean more then all the other things in the world!
Thank you all you wonderful cousins for the letters you wrote me for
Thanksgiving, and thank you so much Quinn, because I had like 6-10
notes from you haha you are the sweetest and I love you so much!
Thank you also to the 2nd grade class at Isle of Wight Academy who
sent me the wonderful Christmas cards! I have written a letter to the
class and I hope it will get there in the next couple weeks :)

So, awesome experience with a young man this week. Came to teach him
Tuesday and he admitted he had a problem with the law of
chastity...and he wanted help quitting his pornography addiction...the
next day I asked him how it went and he said he was able to overcome
it, but then he said it was really hard, so I told him to bring me all
the cds and pictures in a bag, so he brought them all out and I
snapped them all in half and took the bag and threw it in a dumpster
along the way back home...ever since he has just been loving the
church and the spirit, going to seminary, institute, young men
activities, church :) ah its great to watch the gospel change lives!

So much hiking this week! we are teaching a group of people up PAST
Treeplanting. So about, an hour hike from the apartment, geeze my
calves are still burning today. But, if they come to church, I will do
whatever it takes to go and find them and teach them haha because
those are the people who can and will be converted to the gospel!

Went on an exchange with Elder Aluka earlier this week, another
Nigerian, which was a pretty food day. Lots of lessons and teaching
and sweet people. He is a great guy, with a very different style of
teaching from me haha, and it was fun to serve with him for the day!:)

So, Saidu Conteh finally obtained his passport this week! so, he is SO
excited about that and came and showed me today. congratulations to
him, he is planning on sending his papers at the end of this month
with 3 other ward missionaries, idrissa, george, and patrick.

Saturday was a great baptismal day! two upcoming priesthood holders
were baptized, Sullayman  and Edward  were baptized into
Mount Aureol and I was able to baptize Edward :) it was really sweet
because we have been teaching Sullayman since like beginning of
November, so it was great to see him finally accept the gospel and
commandments and he was so happy and his testimony was powerful!

Church yesterday was great and stressful like usual. Showed up to
church 30 minutes early to find that there was no bread and little
water and that the hymn books were all locked in another bishops
office...so, we started sacrament with 40ish people and only 5
hymnbooks, but fortunately, tons of members filled in before the end,
and we had close to a 100 again, which was super sweet! had 14
investigators in church yesterday, which is another record for us here
at Mount Aureol and also a tish load of work this week hahaah! I like
to see my progressing investigators everyday of the week to continue
with assignments and the spirit and all the teachings and gosh its
impossible to see 14 people a day haha, but it will keep us nice and
busy and we will always have someone to teach, that is for sure.

After church I took about 7 investigators and 7 recent converts up into
the mission office and we all watched the restoration together. the
spirit was so strong and I know that everyone felt the truth of the
message in that wonderful short video. I know with all my heart that
Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he did see God the Father and
Jesus Christ. Its so true, and by the way I feel in my heart, I could
never deny. Forget which apostle talked about it, or prophet, but its
so true that the spirit communicating with your spirit has a greater
impact upon you than even if an angel visited you or a miracle
happens. It's so true.

Well, one of our investigators at church was a young lady of about 20
in a wheelchair...from Cassava farm, which is bushy and farther than
Treeplanting on the top of the MOUNTAIN! so, she comes to church and
her wheelchair is just completely destroyed from the road. The two
front tires are absolutely destroyed and the two back wheels are just
caked in dirt and tish, so the only way to wheel her around is like a
wheelbarrel sort of :/ ah, not easy and none of Sa Lone is really
handicap friendly, so to get her in the chapel we have to pick her up
and lift her up 3 flights of stairs haha, but she really enjoyed
church and it was awesome to see her there :) she called me over after
church and told me that she wants to be baptized haha, so I told her
we would be coming Tuesday :)

Well, upon leaving the chapel, we were walking down the road after our
meetings and I noticed that Mary, the girl in the wheelchair, was
being pushed by her older sister and they were struggling big time. I
noticed someone from church walking beside them and so just
assumed he would help them, but after walking down the street, the
spirit prompted me to turn around and check on the girls, to find that
the two girls was struggling to maneuver the wheel chair down the road
all by themselves.

Elder Etuk and I ran back to help, to find that they were going FAR to
go and get taxi to go home...so Elder Etuk and I took turns pushing
her like a wheelbarrel down the road haha. yes...down the middle of
the crazy african road with crazy african drivers and crazy crazy
tish. Pushed her like a good mile haha and then had a ferocious uphill
battle trying to get her up to the place of transport, oh boy, we were
just SOAKED in sweat haha, but we LOVED the opportunity to give
service and just to see the smile on that girls face as we left made
it all worth it...I can feel in my heart and my very soul when we give
service we are literally in the service of our Heavenly Father and
Jesus Christ.

Last night the assistants called us up and asked us to come spend the
night at their apartment, since they have an extra Elder, Elder
Richards staying with them, and they were leaving at 5:30 in the
morning to travel to Bo for a conference. So, Elder Etuk and I went
over for a pleasant little sleepover. We played black jack with some
Werther's orgininal toffees and that was a lot of fun haha :) gambling
elders? aren't we great? then, got to sleep on a bed with a sofa seat
cushion as a pillow. Woke up and took Elder Richards back to our
apartment in the morning and cleaned up the place super well :)
Apparently there is a rumor that Elder Curtis from the area seventy
presidency is coming and is checking elders apartments so we are
making sure everything is looking good! but, we get to go hurry back
to the assistants office to let all the East End Freetown Elders in
haha, they are calling me like crazy!:) they are all coming to spend
the night for the big bi zone conference tomorrow. super excited to
see some of my MTC and good friends on mission. Soon I will start to
see my good buddies go home :( before, elders were just leaving who I
didn't even know. Now, these are the ones I have come to know and love
leaving me...haha going to miss those guys. Kusheh to their two years
of service.

Also, a thank you thank you to Rebecca Cutler. Rebecca! I just found
your christmas card while cleaning my suitcase!:) Wow, thank you so
much my sweet sweet cousin and thank you family for the gift. you are
all so very sweet to me and I'm so grateful for the letters you all
wrote me in advance, they have always come right at the right time!:)
and Rebecca, I have no idea about the whole santa noah symbolism
thing, but I must agree it is pretty awesome!

Oh, everybody, I love you so much! I feel my time in Mount Aureol is
coming to an end very soon, and I will be moving on from the place of
my birth to somewhere very strange and new. I hope at least. I have
been here for quite some time. Great to hear how wonderful your
missions are going Katie and Drew. You are both wonderful examples of
amazing missionaries and your testimonies and experiences truly keep
me motivated and inspired. you both are amazing :) jealous that you
guys will both get home close to each other and I will follow much
later...try not to exhaust your stories before i get home! ;)

Everyone, have a blessed week and I love you all so much, hope your
week is full of miracles and blessings. I assure you as you press
forward with faith that the Lord will answer your questions and you
will see miracles in your life. As hard as it gets, never give up,
because He never gives up on us. I know that's true in my life. I have
no idea where I would be without the Atonement in my life. Sheesh...I
don't even want to think about it. I know that God Loves each and
every one of us personally. We all have the potential to become like
God. He made us in his own image...Tish Darwin...Farewell my wonderful
family and friends! I love you all

-Love,
Elder Jesse Sumrak