Hello All! Elder Jesse Sumrak, reporting in on a rather busy but wonderful week. Tuesday was the big day, and we were up and at the gym to get pumped for the sweet/long day ahead of us. We went with President and Sister Ostler and crossed on the sea coach boat, which was a dying boat this time, and I'm surprised we even managed to cross the bay. We arrived at the airport and only had to wait a short time before our 17 missionaries arrived (the 18th to arrive later in the week, Friday). They were an excited bunch of African missionaries, 9 sisters, 8 elders, and only 1 American. We managed to get them all on the buses and then we didn't all quite fit on the boat, so my companion and I took the last boat with 2 of the other missionaries, after taking the opportunity to already help them adapt to Sierra Leone and buying them both some ground nut cake :) . We all managed to fit in the cars/trucks/buses, waiting to pick us up this time, so we got to the compound very early, and Elder Nwosu and I ran around trying to feed and direct all the missionaries and their luggage and prepare the sisters living quarters and everything, and we were successful, and actually got to bed by like 11:00 this time, instead of 2:00 haha! So, Success for the Tuesday!
Wednesday, we were up early to start getting people ready, and I even managed to squeeze in 30 minutes of crunches after preparing breakfast for them all. We had already arranged food for the sisters, but just had to make some Peanut Butter jelly sandwiches, prepare the apples and boiled eggs for the elders, and bam don don. NO wahala. The orientation and everything went well, and my companion and I got to instruct the group briefly on the 12 week training cycle before we had lunch. We also got to instruct the young lads and ladies about subsistence and we were very direct and specific. We then went up to the office and had to work on getting everyone off to their right areas with phones, area books, maps, and all the like; exhaustion, and then satisfaction as we finally got to rest in the evening; and we hoped Thursday was going to be a nice and normal day, but boy were we wrong.
In the morning, a Z. showed up because he was departing for a Nigerian mission, so we got all his bags weighed and did a brief orientation with him before sending him on off. Went back upstairs to find Elder Clawson and Wootton had arrived (going home) as Nwankoko and Otubu had also the previous day. Wootton was absolutely dead, haven gotten some illness over the weekend that he had not recovered from, and the poor guy looked like a zombie; and would lay on that couch in our room pretty much consistently until his departure Friday afternoon; poor guy :/ rough way to go home. We did a quick weekly planning and then took Elder Clawson to the wood market so he could get his goodies and souvenirs to take home. Well, that place is always busy and crazy as mess, but we were able to get him all those things and then race back to the office. We then had a hard time deciding whether we would tote Wootton's life-less body up the mission home for the departure dinner, or to just leave him and let him rest, which became the verdict.
So, Elder Clawson, Otubu, Nwakonko, and my companion and I ran up to the mission home to have the departure dinner. President Ostler handed out books from his library to the departing missionaries, and even gave me part of some workout book haha, they all know me so well. We had a great time enjoying our last evening with 3 of our 4 departing missionaries and really enjoyed some fun conversation with the Jests, Kanzlers, and Ostlers as well.
Back down to the office we came and we were pretty tired, but not Elder Clawson and I, what started off as a pushup challenge turned into a full blown 40 minute workout haha to remove guilt and to get him flexed for tomorrow ;) Well, for the first time in my life, I reached 100 straight pushups; well, I lie small, I got 98, but I was in tears but just couldn't manage 2 more :( but its all good, maybe next time haha, so we had a great time working ourselves into a nice peaceful sleep, until I noticed Nwanokoko had no pillow; must have left it at his last apartment, so I ditched mine to him and slept with a sheet haha, bad mistake for my back, but blessings are better I believe :)
Got up in the morning and we had a testimony meeting for the departing missionaries and Elder Wootton was able to stay half conscious for the meeting and it was a great spiritual meeting. I admire all of these Elders and I'm really going to miss them. Elder Clawson and me had become very close on mission and he was kind of like my mission father figure haha (he is an older guy) and I really love and respect him. Very humble guy and I know he is going to do great things! We then rushed over to a zone leader training meeting in which they instructed the district leaders and sister trainer leaders and rushed back for the departing missionaries.
We took Elder Nwaonkoko and Otubu to the boat dock to see them off, to find out the last boat got cancelled, so somebody had to also rush to bring Clawson and Wootton there on time. We got to say our goodbyes as they boarded their boats to go across the ocean to their awaiting planes; Farewell to those great missionaries, we love and miss them very much! Well, we slipped into exhaustion and returned home to almost a quiet apartment;and then tried to go teach a lesson and got bounced, and then retired to go do follow up calls, and take care of Elder Jest and his new companion who showed up. Will our apartment ever be normal again? Haha
Well, Saturday we had another busy morning, but eventually got out the door and got to go and teach a couple lessons! Which was really sweet and we enjoyed being able to go and share the gospel with some wonderful individuals, despite our unrecuperated strength. We returned in the late afternoon for the ward scripture program in which we discussed 2 Nephi, and Elder Nwosu and I had to ditch early to start follow up calls; not easy now that we have 6 sister trainer leaders to follow up and 5 zones; That takes a lot of time haha, didn't even finish them until 10:15 Sunday night!
Sunday was great and we actually had 4 investigators in church, which is pretty sweet considering we had 5 lessons hahaha :) We will get this work going the right way :) I have faith. It's the Lord's work! It will be done in the right way! I was listening to something, maybe Go Forward with Faith, not sure, but it talked about it's the Lord's work, not our work; Yeah! Gordon B. Hinckley when he was called to be Stake President and asked many members to donate more to the cause of the Saints and ah, it was just sweet and I listened to it last night, and it really gave me hope for the future of Sierra Leone. It's the Lord church, it's his work, its going to end up perfect, we just have to do our best to help it get there, but we need not be frustrated or demoralized, because it's a PROMISE and it's going to get there!
Well, we got to find a family last night, which was so sweet to sit down with Mama, Papa, and the children (all over the age of 16) and wow, I love teaching families hahaha. Today was sweet, got to play some football in the hot sun until exhaustion beat me down this time. This morning I did pop out a solid 18 on the bench father, so I am ever improving haha, more and more every week! Taking over haha, were really excited for this upcoming week for the multiple sweet projects and assignments we have been given, so here we go, hope for the best, hope the internet comes on so I can finally send this; love you all!
Love,
Elder Jesse Sumrak
ELDER JESSE SUMRAK
Monday, February 24, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Elder Sumrak's Poetry
Serving in Africa
We come to teach what we know is true
Preaching up and down mountains is what we do
Forget about life and everything you knew
For two years its just the Gospel and you
Trials and afflictions is what to expect
Study and pray and let the Spirit direct
The clock clicks by faster than you think
Back home it's a life time,
Out here it's a blink
Letters come and letters go
How much they mean they'll never know
Take my doxy and sanitize my hands
Serving in African that distant land
I named him papa
And it was done
Auntie’s sister married dad
I called her Mom
The best I had
Mum and papa had a son
That’s my brother
He is the one
Brother had a little brother
No not me
It is another
Little bro had an older bro
Now that is me
Wouldn’t you know
Now we have an older sister
But big bro does not
Because he kissed her
Grandma had a grandbaby
You best believe
Don’t look at me!
Wasn’t little bro or I
Left one guess
I’ll let you try
Now these branches are grafted in
With a Mormon promise
We just done begin
This is the mighty Sumrak Clan
Alone we fall
United we stand
Sumrak Clan
Father’s father had a sonI named him papa
And it was done
Auntie’s sister married dad
I called her Mom
The best I had
Mum and papa had a son
That’s my brother
He is the one
Brother had a little brother
No not me
It is another
Little bro had an older bro
Now that is me
Wouldn’t you know
Now we have an older sister
But big bro does not
Because he kissed her
Grandma had a grandbaby
You best believe
Don’t look at me!
Wasn’t little bro or I
Left one guess
I’ll let you try
Now these branches are grafted in
With a Mormon promise
We just done begin
This is the mighty Sumrak Clan
Alone we fall
United we stand
Monday, February 17, 2014
Big Transfers Ahead
Hello Family! I am on a little bit early today. Its that part of the transfer again, and now have just begun my 15th transfer...so, that is crazy to think about, but its all going well. Transfer movements are in the process and missionaries are flowing all over the country, and miracles are happening to allow them all to go smoothly, so the Lord is hastening his work...and our drivers :) but, all is well. Had a surprise last week...2 more missionaries are joining our group, but won't arrive until this weekend, so right now we have 18 coming in tomorrow, 9 elders and 9 sisters, and then 2 more on the weekend from the USA, so we are having a great time trying to get all that sorted out, but small small. Schedule for the week: Tuesday - pick up missionaries, Wednesday - orientation - Thursday - dish out the missionaries/farewell dinner for departing 5 missionaries Friday - Dish out the elders who have finished their missions Saturday - hopefully teach teach teach! Next week: Zone Conferences ALL WEEK....Needless to say, lots of work and its great and sweet, but boy am I missing teaching and what not..small small, ministering in all sorts of different ways :)
The past week was nice and crazy, receiving the transfers news, preparing the movements, revising the sheets, preparing newsletters, and whatever other mess that we get ourselves hooked up in...oh, but its wonderful :) I love getting to be with President and discuss and be a part of this great work on a broader sphere, it truly is a privilige!
Not too much went down this week though... Elder Penia left us this morning :( so, we are all going to miss him, and especially his cooking in our apartment...and my haircuts haha. Saturday, we went up to Hill Station and got to witness their massive baptism, with an Elder who is going home this week ending his mission with a bang and had 14 baptisms for his area haha, it was pretty sweet, and I can imagine he might have got tired in that font, but he made zero errors, no repeats, because he is a boss :) of course.
Concern of the week brought up by investigators...1 Corthians 15...women covering their heads...well my friends, women do not need to cover their heads, "Excuse me, is that biblical?" After my companion tried to explain to them the scripture, I felt inspired to read more of the chapter and came across I believe V.15...women have hair, which covers their head :)...to which all of our investigators were greatly content with that answer and many strangely said that was a testimony to them, since nobody had ever been able to explain that scripture to them before...um...broski, just read the rest of the chapter and ...well, that is my little sphele, excuse me :)
Not to much to say though, I love you all and everything is going well out here, I studied a sweet story in the Old Testament yesterday morning, about how King Zedekiah did not believe in the words of the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah because their prophesies seemed seemingly contradictory, but almost impossibly came true, to the downfall of him and his family. Just sweet to see even the craziest of prophecies come true :) I love the scriptures so much, and they bring me so much peace in even the greatest times of turmoil. The Savior is so generous and sweet to us and continues to feed our starving spirits with modern day prophets and revelation, and I am glad that my feast will never end, though sometimes I just want to try everything on the table, just got to be patient haha...well, off to work on more and more projects. life is good though, love you all, enjoy the week!
Love,-
Jesse
Elder Sumrak
The past week was nice and crazy, receiving the transfers news, preparing the movements, revising the sheets, preparing newsletters, and whatever other mess that we get ourselves hooked up in...oh, but its wonderful :) I love getting to be with President and discuss and be a part of this great work on a broader sphere, it truly is a privilige!
Not too much went down this week though... Elder Penia left us this morning :( so, we are all going to miss him, and especially his cooking in our apartment...and my haircuts haha. Saturday, we went up to Hill Station and got to witness their massive baptism, with an Elder who is going home this week ending his mission with a bang and had 14 baptisms for his area haha, it was pretty sweet, and I can imagine he might have got tired in that font, but he made zero errors, no repeats, because he is a boss :) of course.
Concern of the week brought up by investigators...1 Corthians 15...women covering their heads...well my friends, women do not need to cover their heads, "Excuse me, is that biblical?" After my companion tried to explain to them the scripture, I felt inspired to read more of the chapter and came across I believe V.15...women have hair, which covers their head :)...to which all of our investigators were greatly content with that answer and many strangely said that was a testimony to them, since nobody had ever been able to explain that scripture to them before...um...broski, just read the rest of the chapter and ...well, that is my little sphele, excuse me :)
Not to much to say though, I love you all and everything is going well out here, I studied a sweet story in the Old Testament yesterday morning, about how King Zedekiah did not believe in the words of the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah because their prophesies seemed seemingly contradictory, but almost impossibly came true, to the downfall of him and his family. Just sweet to see even the craziest of prophecies come true :) I love the scriptures so much, and they bring me so much peace in even the greatest times of turmoil. The Savior is so generous and sweet to us and continues to feed our starving spirits with modern day prophets and revelation, and I am glad that my feast will never end, though sometimes I just want to try everything on the table, just got to be patient haha...well, off to work on more and more projects. life is good though, love you all, enjoy the week!
Love,-
Jesse
Elder Sumrak
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Love to Teach!
This past week was amazing! We got to go out and teach teach teach and find find find and testify and I just felt the spirit so much and it just made me so happy and I felt like a normal missionary again, and it felt so good, but I am diligently doing my calling as well and I know that this is what the Lord has called me to do and will fulfill my calling, and enjoy the proselyting when opportunity permits...but, boy did it permit this week!
And yes...preparation for new missionaries has officially begun and we will start the chaos big time on Wednesday when we receive the transfer news, so that is when the real excitement and Ibuprofen popping begins! woot woot! can't wait :) seriously, it is so stressful, but it is almost fun sometimes haha I love being a part of it and getting to help out, so I am not complaining at all to be honest.
I think we have 18 missionaries coming this time around, next Tuesday, and 9 of them are sisters, which actually makes my work a lot easier haha, but still with this many missionaries it is always exciting for transfer time, new areas and swaps and apartments and the like and oh it's so cool to watch the Lord hastening His work...I am witnessing it and being a part of it everyday.
I haven't met the couples yet, but I did see the new ones today in a passing truck and got to wave to them...they looked a little bit overwhelmed...welcome to SA LONE!:)
hahah that made me laugh so hard about father thiefing my soccer shoes :) I can understand him being a little jealous...tell him to get the same and we can match!
So, Tuesday this week we had our mission leadership council with President and all the zone leaders and that was super sweet! we talked about treating people as agents and not objects, and then discussed and worked on resolving many mission concerns, but it was really pleasant and is helping me. Something I have been focusing on now is principles that govern my actions. I am obedient, but what principles inspire my obedience? Is it obedience for obedience sake? Or obedience bcause I love the Lord and his children?
Wednesday...a FULL day of proselyting and boy was it sweet, ah we got to teach so many great lessons and it was such a great day of feeling the spirit and teaching the Lord's children, oh boy I loved it so much :) what a sweet relief and break ah, it truly was a great refresher. Thursday we were mostly busy in the office :/ but Friday and Saturday we got to get out more and teach teach teach and ah, I am so happy we had such a great week 5, beause week 6 last transfer we had 3 lessons...I hope we can manage more than that this time, but transfer time is crazy ahhaha!
Today was pretty sweet, as we cleaned the apartment after a good morning gym session, and then we all made our way over to the National Stadium, where they have basketball, tennis courts, pools and everything. So, we went to go play basketball, but you know me, I packed a futbol, so I got a bunch of Sa Lone boys coming off school and some Return missionaries and we played some sweet futbol, even though the bobos were bugging the heck out of me haha, they just can't seem to comprehend a white man playing futbol and speaking their language...(it's a part of town where missionaries don't proseltye) so I guess that's why haha...well, then we went to Freetown Mall and I spent boku money on some supplies and sweet food for my cooking adventures. I had run out of razors, and these Sa Lone ones are tearing my face apart haha, but small small, my skin has gotten tougher now, so what doesn't kill you makes you (no not stronger) stranger...yeah that one :)
Well, on our way home, got a pleasant call while we in the taxi...2 of our missionaires were detained at the US Embaassy for taking pictures of the embassy...so we rushed home, didn't even shower, threw on our shirt and ties and rushed up the mountain with their passports and got them released...not going to say any names...but my my my :) still love them, but now enjoying some sweet email and life is pretty good right now....so no complaints with me...busy busy, I love you all boku, hope you have a great week!
Love,
Jesse
Elder Sumrak
And yes...preparation for new missionaries has officially begun and we will start the chaos big time on Wednesday when we receive the transfer news, so that is when the real excitement and Ibuprofen popping begins! woot woot! can't wait :) seriously, it is so stressful, but it is almost fun sometimes haha I love being a part of it and getting to help out, so I am not complaining at all to be honest.
I think we have 18 missionaries coming this time around, next Tuesday, and 9 of them are sisters, which actually makes my work a lot easier haha, but still with this many missionaries it is always exciting for transfer time, new areas and swaps and apartments and the like and oh it's so cool to watch the Lord hastening His work...I am witnessing it and being a part of it everyday.
I haven't met the couples yet, but I did see the new ones today in a passing truck and got to wave to them...they looked a little bit overwhelmed...welcome to SA LONE!:)
hahah that made me laugh so hard about father thiefing my soccer shoes :) I can understand him being a little jealous...tell him to get the same and we can match!
So, Tuesday this week we had our mission leadership council with President and all the zone leaders and that was super sweet! we talked about treating people as agents and not objects, and then discussed and worked on resolving many mission concerns, but it was really pleasant and is helping me. Something I have been focusing on now is principles that govern my actions. I am obedient, but what principles inspire my obedience? Is it obedience for obedience sake? Or obedience bcause I love the Lord and his children?
Wednesday...a FULL day of proselyting and boy was it sweet, ah we got to teach so many great lessons and it was such a great day of feeling the spirit and teaching the Lord's children, oh boy I loved it so much :) what a sweet relief and break ah, it truly was a great refresher. Thursday we were mostly busy in the office :/ but Friday and Saturday we got to get out more and teach teach teach and ah, I am so happy we had such a great week 5, beause week 6 last transfer we had 3 lessons...I hope we can manage more than that this time, but transfer time is crazy ahhaha!
Today was pretty sweet, as we cleaned the apartment after a good morning gym session, and then we all made our way over to the National Stadium, where they have basketball, tennis courts, pools and everything. So, we went to go play basketball, but you know me, I packed a futbol, so I got a bunch of Sa Lone boys coming off school and some Return missionaries and we played some sweet futbol, even though the bobos were bugging the heck out of me haha, they just can't seem to comprehend a white man playing futbol and speaking their language...(it's a part of town where missionaries don't proseltye) so I guess that's why haha...well, then we went to Freetown Mall and I spent boku money on some supplies and sweet food for my cooking adventures. I had run out of razors, and these Sa Lone ones are tearing my face apart haha, but small small, my skin has gotten tougher now, so what doesn't kill you makes you (no not stronger) stranger...yeah that one :)
Well, on our way home, got a pleasant call while we in the taxi...2 of our missionaires were detained at the US Embaassy for taking pictures of the embassy...so we rushed home, didn't even shower, threw on our shirt and ties and rushed up the mountain with their passports and got them released...not going to say any names...but my my my :) still love them, but now enjoying some sweet email and life is pretty good right now....so no complaints with me...busy busy, I love you all boku, hope you have a great week!
Love,
Jesse
Elder Sumrak
Monday, February 3, 2014
I Love Forgiveness
Wow, that is so much crazy snow back home, I can't believe that you guys have had that much! That is insane, and I know you guys are probably all tired of it by now, but I hope that you are careful and that nobody gets hurt.
Oh, this week was so crazy and busy, but we really enjoyed and worked hard and felt the spirit continously through our busy schedule but sweet lessons and baptisms.
Tuesday, Elder Nwosu and I left early in the morning with Elder Penia with us as well, our favorite Samoan, who is now our permanent companion until the end of the transfer, and we all went over to Goderich district to attend Elder Evan's district meeting. The meeting went great and he did a great job instructing on humility and planning and we are benefited from it! Then, we all piled in vans and taxis with the Elders and sisters and made our way to the closest Rokel bank, where we met up with about 15 other missionaries to wait in the long queue to obtain our funds. It was great seeing all of our fellow missionaires, and even greater having our much needed restoration! After, we went down the street to a NICE restaurant, Tessa's, to enjoy our subsistence and we all enjoyed a very nice environment and even better food. My companion and Elder Weller and Lokpo enjoyed giant pizzas and most got hamburgers, and I enjoyed a grilled chicken panini, whew it reminded me of Panera bread to be honest :) after that fun experience, we hurried home and got to go out and see some of our wonderful investigators. We have one, his name is B. and we had such a powerful lesson with him this week and I really enjoyed it, because he is a big intelligent man (my favorite to teach) and by the end of the lesson he was wanting to compete with Joseph Smith haha, "well, of course I'll pray...how long did Joseph Smith pray before he got an answer" US: "well, you don't have to pray all day and all night, Joseph Smith had a desire and a question and he knelt down and prayed and received his answer." "But, how long did it take?" US: "Minutes" "I'll pray...and if Joseph Smith can get an answer in minutes, then I know I can get one in seconds!" US:...YEAH, thats the spirit!" hahaha...oh I love Sierra Leone :)
On Wednesday, we had a super fun day. The Kanzlers showed up around 8:30 to take us on the trip to Makeni to give our wonderful Sister Trainer Leader there from Uganda some advice and training. It's such a new calling and its no wonder they are lost sometimes, because there is no preach my gospel or white handbook instruction on the calling yet, so we have to manage and go help our wonderful sisters out. It was ALSO sister Kanzlers birthday! so, she packed way too many snacks for us and we enjoyed too much junk food all the way there on the 4 hour drive. We arrived in Makeni and were able to help the sisters out by fixing some of their apartment issues and fixing them up some new fans and the like. We were able to give our sister some training and it went super well, then we jumped in the car for a LONG LONG drive home. It was pleasant though, as Elder Kanzler is a former bishop, I had a great time talking to him and learning all I could from his experiences and expertise while the others slept most of the time haha. Of course, we hit our village markets and was able to talk down the prices on all their fruits and walk away with some pineapples, watermelons, grapefruit, and cucumbers...SUCCESS! Traffic in Freetown was horrendous, and it tooks hours to get through town, Didn't get home till about 9:45 or so, just time enough to close and prepare for bed.
Thursday was a busy day in the office, but we managed to get out in the evening time.we went out teaching and had a pretty bouncy day unfortunately, so I tried to contact as many people as possible and actually saw some success in that one of whom we contacted without any further communication actually attended sacrament meeting on Sunday :) it's just all about finding those who are prepared honestly, even if it seems unlikely haha!
Saturday was a bit crazy...We had our baptism early in the morning for our wonderful convert, H., and everything went smoothly and nicely for the baptism. She is such a sweet young sister, who has attended church ever since her first invitation and every single activity as well, so she is diligent and reaching out to many of her friends as well and already was fellowshipping investigators on Sunday, and even was given assignments in our coordination meeting, so we are going to work hard to build her a strong foundation and make her roots strong in the gospel :)
Saturday the Spirit comforted our hearts and allowed us to go and teach some of Heavenly Father's children, which really cheered us up and helped us to finish the day strong...Craziness in the mission right now, but its all exciting and keeps us on our toes. Finished up the evening with getting a haircut from my favorite Samoan man, Elder Penia, and he gave me a nice fresh barb and I'm feeling good and light again :) love that guy so much and we love having him here with us in the apartment.
Sunday was good, even though NOBODY we planned to come to church came, but it was pleasant in the fact that those we DIDN'T plan for did come haha :) it was fast Sunday and it was funny because I started the day with NO strength at all, and ended the day going so strong haha, it was funny, inside church I was drained, but when we went to go teach a lesson, I received so much strength and was just bouncing up the hills...but, who knows, I taught Elder Rogers, my pikin, that that is the time of the day when you reach "NIRVANA" when you no longer feel anything and you're not actually hungry anymore, so everything is sweet :) finished our fast with a sweet binge + rice dinner at our beloved Bishops house. SWEET STUFF!
Monday, today, got up early and did crunches and curls and what not, then had some sweet studies in Isaiah and also 1 Nephi 7-8. We then got all suited up to go and play some sweet football and I had a great time today, just dancing away and scoring and gosh its so funny here. Had a bunch of Jamba boys come and sit down and watch us for 2 hours hahaha...oh and then a giant Truck passed by with 30+ africans in the bed, all screaming my name "ETO!!!!!!" on the back of my shirt...oh, I love this place so much haha...speaking of football though...Manchester United...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
But, we got a sweet lesson planned today with a family man on the top of the hills, so we are excited to go and see him this evening :) This week is going to be pretty busy though, and next week is the beginning of the CRAZY week, when we receive transfer news on Wednesday, and then work tirelessly until Wednesday the next week when we dish out all the new missionaries and what not...but, 3rd times a charm, maybe I'll get used to it ;)
Oh, by the way, can anyone tell me if keeping my journal on Dropbox would be a good idea one day? We have it installed now on the computers, and I was wondering how I would keep a journal for the rest of my life...because my hand writing is wretched haha, what do you think?
Father, you asked about how the bishop inspired me...Well, our bishop is a mortal man, a great man with a great testimony and a return missionary with a temple sealing... we love him and his sacrifice he makes for this work. But, while he was preaching at the missionaries one day in coordination, he talked about how he was so very disappointed in the return missionaries who come home and wait to come to church to even talk to their bishop...he said that shows they don't want to work, they are ready to come home and blow...so, I was inspired to go ahead and write bishop an e-mail this week :) haha
Miracle of Forgivness I see each and everyday...and as I apply it in my own life It makes me so happy to know that my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is able to do the same for me and even more perfectly. I have been blessed with a forgiving characteristic, which often has come to bite me time and time again in the past, but I would never wish it any other way. I would rather forgive and forget and be punished for it rather then not forgive at all. I truly have a testimony that if we can forgive AND forget, that the Lord will do the same for us. True forgiveness is really forgetting, being able to look at someone who wrong you and just be like, I love you, its okay. Repentance is the same way for ourselves, as we are forgiven, the pain goes away, and we can remember what happened, but the pain is gone...my I sure do love the atonement...I love you all, have a spendid week!
Love,
Jesse Elder Sumrak
Oh, this week was so crazy and busy, but we really enjoyed and worked hard and felt the spirit continously through our busy schedule but sweet lessons and baptisms.
Tuesday, Elder Nwosu and I left early in the morning with Elder Penia with us as well, our favorite Samoan, who is now our permanent companion until the end of the transfer, and we all went over to Goderich district to attend Elder Evan's district meeting. The meeting went great and he did a great job instructing on humility and planning and we are benefited from it! Then, we all piled in vans and taxis with the Elders and sisters and made our way to the closest Rokel bank, where we met up with about 15 other missionaries to wait in the long queue to obtain our funds. It was great seeing all of our fellow missionaires, and even greater having our much needed restoration! After, we went down the street to a NICE restaurant, Tessa's, to enjoy our subsistence and we all enjoyed a very nice environment and even better food. My companion and Elder Weller and Lokpo enjoyed giant pizzas and most got hamburgers, and I enjoyed a grilled chicken panini, whew it reminded me of Panera bread to be honest :) after that fun experience, we hurried home and got to go out and see some of our wonderful investigators. We have one, his name is B. and we had such a powerful lesson with him this week and I really enjoyed it, because he is a big intelligent man (my favorite to teach) and by the end of the lesson he was wanting to compete with Joseph Smith haha, "well, of course I'll pray...how long did Joseph Smith pray before he got an answer" US: "well, you don't have to pray all day and all night, Joseph Smith had a desire and a question and he knelt down and prayed and received his answer." "But, how long did it take?" US: "Minutes" "I'll pray...and if Joseph Smith can get an answer in minutes, then I know I can get one in seconds!" US:...YEAH, thats the spirit!" hahaha...oh I love Sierra Leone :)
On Wednesday, we had a super fun day. The Kanzlers showed up around 8:30 to take us on the trip to Makeni to give our wonderful Sister Trainer Leader there from Uganda some advice and training. It's such a new calling and its no wonder they are lost sometimes, because there is no preach my gospel or white handbook instruction on the calling yet, so we have to manage and go help our wonderful sisters out. It was ALSO sister Kanzlers birthday! so, she packed way too many snacks for us and we enjoyed too much junk food all the way there on the 4 hour drive. We arrived in Makeni and were able to help the sisters out by fixing some of their apartment issues and fixing them up some new fans and the like. We were able to give our sister some training and it went super well, then we jumped in the car for a LONG LONG drive home. It was pleasant though, as Elder Kanzler is a former bishop, I had a great time talking to him and learning all I could from his experiences and expertise while the others slept most of the time haha. Of course, we hit our village markets and was able to talk down the prices on all their fruits and walk away with some pineapples, watermelons, grapefruit, and cucumbers...SUCCESS! Traffic in Freetown was horrendous, and it tooks hours to get through town, Didn't get home till about 9:45 or so, just time enough to close and prepare for bed.
Thursday was a busy day in the office, but we managed to get out in the evening time.we went out teaching and had a pretty bouncy day unfortunately, so I tried to contact as many people as possible and actually saw some success in that one of whom we contacted without any further communication actually attended sacrament meeting on Sunday :) it's just all about finding those who are prepared honestly, even if it seems unlikely haha!
Saturday was a bit crazy...We had our baptism early in the morning for our wonderful convert, H., and everything went smoothly and nicely for the baptism. She is such a sweet young sister, who has attended church ever since her first invitation and every single activity as well, so she is diligent and reaching out to many of her friends as well and already was fellowshipping investigators on Sunday, and even was given assignments in our coordination meeting, so we are going to work hard to build her a strong foundation and make her roots strong in the gospel :)
Saturday the Spirit comforted our hearts and allowed us to go and teach some of Heavenly Father's children, which really cheered us up and helped us to finish the day strong...Craziness in the mission right now, but its all exciting and keeps us on our toes. Finished up the evening with getting a haircut from my favorite Samoan man, Elder Penia, and he gave me a nice fresh barb and I'm feeling good and light again :) love that guy so much and we love having him here with us in the apartment.
Sunday was good, even though NOBODY we planned to come to church came, but it was pleasant in the fact that those we DIDN'T plan for did come haha :) it was fast Sunday and it was funny because I started the day with NO strength at all, and ended the day going so strong haha, it was funny, inside church I was drained, but when we went to go teach a lesson, I received so much strength and was just bouncing up the hills...but, who knows, I taught Elder Rogers, my pikin, that that is the time of the day when you reach "NIRVANA" when you no longer feel anything and you're not actually hungry anymore, so everything is sweet :) finished our fast with a sweet binge + rice dinner at our beloved Bishops house. SWEET STUFF!
Monday, today, got up early and did crunches and curls and what not, then had some sweet studies in Isaiah and also 1 Nephi 7-8. We then got all suited up to go and play some sweet football and I had a great time today, just dancing away and scoring and gosh its so funny here. Had a bunch of Jamba boys come and sit down and watch us for 2 hours hahaha...oh and then a giant Truck passed by with 30+ africans in the bed, all screaming my name "ETO!!!!!!" on the back of my shirt...oh, I love this place so much haha...speaking of football though...Manchester United...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
But, we got a sweet lesson planned today with a family man on the top of the hills, so we are excited to go and see him this evening :) This week is going to be pretty busy though, and next week is the beginning of the CRAZY week, when we receive transfer news on Wednesday, and then work tirelessly until Wednesday the next week when we dish out all the new missionaries and what not...but, 3rd times a charm, maybe I'll get used to it ;)
Oh, by the way, can anyone tell me if keeping my journal on Dropbox would be a good idea one day? We have it installed now on the computers, and I was wondering how I would keep a journal for the rest of my life...because my hand writing is wretched haha, what do you think?
Father, you asked about how the bishop inspired me...Well, our bishop is a mortal man, a great man with a great testimony and a return missionary with a temple sealing... we love him and his sacrifice he makes for this work. But, while he was preaching at the missionaries one day in coordination, he talked about how he was so very disappointed in the return missionaries who come home and wait to come to church to even talk to their bishop...he said that shows they don't want to work, they are ready to come home and blow...so, I was inspired to go ahead and write bishop an e-mail this week :) haha
Miracle of Forgivness I see each and everyday...and as I apply it in my own life It makes me so happy to know that my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is able to do the same for me and even more perfectly. I have been blessed with a forgiving characteristic, which often has come to bite me time and time again in the past, but I would never wish it any other way. I would rather forgive and forget and be punished for it rather then not forgive at all. I truly have a testimony that if we can forgive AND forget, that the Lord will do the same for us. True forgiveness is really forgetting, being able to look at someone who wrong you and just be like, I love you, its okay. Repentance is the same way for ourselves, as we are forgiven, the pain goes away, and we can remember what happened, but the pain is gone...my I sure do love the atonement...I love you all, have a spendid week!
Love,
Jesse Elder Sumrak
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