Joy in Service and Games

Mother! That is so awesome that you got to speak to Elder Flaments
mom! I am really loving the Elder and we are getting along great. The
work is slightly slow and frustrating right now, and my district
duties subtract quite a bit from our area unfortunately, but the Lord
has a purpose for everything, so I just do my best everyday and try
not to look TOO far in the future ;)

and yes...I do love grilled corn...just please imagine me straight off
Nacho Libre eating corn "GET THAT CORN OUTA MY FACE!"
oh how I love Sa lone!

So, we did manage to fit both new Elders in the apartment and it's not
too tight. I had to do quite a bit of shopping and stuff in
preparation for them but all things are taken care of now. Beds made,
shelves on the way, and nets and what not are here. new spoons, bowls
and what not...not too bad. it's a lil crammed but I love all the
Elders in my district so its a pleasure to be serving in the apartment
with them. They are all great guys. and putting a 50 lb tank on your
lap? you just hoist it up there and try to get your leg on the bike
without ripping your pants, and then you just don't have anything to
hold on to ;) but no bad, the Lord holds on to us.

Yes, I am responsible for the apartment and all the tish that goes
down inside...the zone leaders stay a couple miles away so they don't
really have anything to do with it :/ but, more more about that later.

That is awesome to hear about the IWA soccer team. congratulations to
them!:) and yes, I did get to play a brutal soccer game today. We
played the Fagoya area team, which are pretty competitive and actually
practice and play games together and what not, so they play really
well, and we are ....well just a bunch of white scrubs to be honest.
but, we took the lead early on, I got a lucky shot off the wooden post
(yes, I did partially break the poor bamboo stick) but then from
there they just destroyed us. but, got a pretty sweet header in the
2nd half, and there were literally probably 200-300 little kids
watching, because they had just let out the schools around haha and
they all were just screaming PUMWEEEEEE!!!! it was hilarious :)

oh and yes, I remember the guy you visited with the sister missionaries,
his freaking dogs were going crazy
and were jumping all over my face. so nuts! oh, along with that...yes,
we do have to put up with a lot of junk. I can't tell you how many
women this week just lifted their shirts and started breastfeeding
while we try to share a spiritual message....gosh, a woman did it
yesterday while I was doing her baptismal interview....and it WAS HER
SISTERS CHILD! but, enough of that! haha we missionaries have talked
and we didn't think that was possible...but okay

On to the week... So last monday we went to family home evening with
the Gweyne family which was awesome. We almost couldn't go because of
all the district needs to take care of...rope, new keys to be made,
detol, buckets, bowls and what not, but we managed to get out of town
on time to make it. Great lesson from the father, Brother Gweyen, and
then a fun game with the family that I so want to play back home. You
have a plate and you make a mountain of flour on it, like a little
hill, and then you put a coin on top, or a cookie or something, and
everyone has to take a knife and cut out the flour from the tower
(like jinga) but, if anyone cuts and the coin falls, then you have to
use your mouth to go into the flour and grab it with your teeth, so it
is hilarious because everyone gets flour all over them and gosh my
whole face went inside and ah good times :)

Had a great lesson with an older woman named Nancy this week. We were
talking to her and asked her what she was expecting from our visits,
what she wanted to know...so, she responded..."well, I just really
want to know God's plan for my salvation...." so...you want us to
teach you law of tithing right? hahaha it was a great lesson and she
was so happy at the end. she was so happy to learn her purpose and
everything, it was awesome :)

Well, Wednesday morning was complete madness...probably one of the
craziest stories I have on mission so far and so funny and weird at
the same time. So, Brother Vandi called me this week and told me a
plumber would be calling to arrange a time to fix some leaks in the
house, so this man called and said his name was Michael. We talked for
a couple days before we found a time for him to come, so I gave him
instructions to the house and he came. When he arrived at the gate, I
thought he looked super familiar, but Elder Weller said oh that's the
plumber. So, I went out, greeted him and took him inside. I showed him
to each of the leaks in the house in both bathrooms and the
kitchen...upon showing him the leak under the sink...he inspects
it...then turns and asks me, "would you like me to clean this and
paint under it?" Elder Weller and I were like huh? and he was like
never mind. So we asked him where was his tools...and he said he would
go get his paintbrush...yeah, he wasn't a plumber. he was a painter.
So we freaked out and had no idea what was going on, called Bishop
Marcus and he said he just called the plumber and the plumber said he
was in our house (um...he was in someone else s house) so we still had
no idea what was going on. Upon telling the man we called for a
plumber, we came to find that nobody had given him our number, nobody
had called for a painter...he then pulled me aside and apologized for
missing his baptismal date...then I recognized him! MICHAEL JOHNBULL!
A great guy we had been teaching at the football stadium who left to
go village and we never heard from him again...so have no idea how he
got to our apartment or anything, but I know the Lord aided in it. He
came to church and we are teaching him again... :) MIRACLE

...but, the madness wasn't complete...no not nearly. eventually the
plumber did come. We showed him the leaks. He started installing
handles on the toilets. We told him we don't want handles...we want
the leaks fixed. we leave the room. we hear banging. we come back. he
has used a hammer and chisel to bust a hole through the entire wall
to the outside. Why my friend, why did you do that? are you trying to
get to the pipe? No. I was opening a hole so the water could drain out
of the room through the hole. Is that fixing the problem at all?! I
TELL YOU IS THAT FIXING THE PROBLEM AT ALL?!!! so I vexed and called
Marcus...the next day just got worse....

The next morning the plumber showed up around 9...followed by a
tiler...followed by a carpenter...followed by more
carpenters...followed by an electrician. thank goodness Marcus showed
up and started directing them because I had NO idea what was going on
at all. So nuts. Then, Marcus leaves at 10 and asks me to stay until
12 so he can get back into the apartment, and also the carpenters if
they beat him back...so we do, and elder Flament and I just clean up
the place a bit and take care of some things. I hung some new clothes
lines in the back, swept the whole apartment, washed all the dishes,
organized the book shelves, did anything I could think of, organized
the area book, went through records, conducted weekly planning, made
lunch...yeah, Marcus kept us waiting until 3:30...I was so peeeved. as
soon as everyone got out the door by 4 we ran to our area quick to try
to salvage a destroyed day and managed to fit in 3 lessons, but
gosh...I don't know what I am going to do with free time one day...its
maddening! MADDENING!!!

Got to do my first interviews with people this week which was just an
awesome and amazing experience. Met some sweet people and its so
amazing how people just open up and tell you so much about them and
everything they believe :) so sweet! I got to interview 7 people this
week, and unfortunately one did not pass yesterday, and I had no idea
how to let her know, I had never done this before, but the Spirit was
able to touch her heart and she wasn't upset, but accepted she had to
see someone of greater knowledge and understanding :) so, it was so
sweet to have the Spirit there in that interview and be able to
comfort both me and the young lady. The Lord loves his children, he
doesn't want to see anyone upset! He loves us and will bring us
comfort, as long as we seek it and do what it takes to obtain it.

Had a great opportunity to take Elder Woodhead on an exchange with me
on Friday! and first, we went to the football stadium...and everybody
was leaving for lunch break and saw us talking with the security
guards trying to get in, so of course was curious. when I realized I
was surrounded by 30 + people (no exaggeration) I took the opportunity
to invite everyone to come to our Easter program on Saturday and man
they swarmed me and took all 50 of my invitations haha! geeze, so I
hope they come on Saturday! Was a really big self-esteem boost because
I heard them all complimenting my krio and mendes as they walked off
:) it made me smile :) I need that sometimes...

After going inside, Micheal was busy, so we couldn't see him and
decided to leave. When leaving, (this one is for you Katie Cutler :) )
a chubby short Chinese man came running out of one of the buildings
and pointing at his camera and Elder Woodhead and I...he wanted a
picture haha, so we went inside the stadium with him to go and take a
picture and it was just hilarious. He was running ahead of us, just so
excited, and nobody could understand him, but the security guards
tried. We took a picture with him, and then the security guards wanted
in on the picture too so I just have a lovely picture of me and Elder
Woodhead, a Chinese man, and 2 big black security guards...probably
the oddest thing you will find haha :) so great!

Well...on to stressing news, because of internet tish, I haven't been
able to read president's emails for 3 weeks now and was just informed
yesterday by the couples that in 2 weeks my area will be redrawn -
absorbing other areas and losing areas - and I will have to draw the
new boundaries for Messima 1 and 2 again...ahhhhhhhhh but, it's okay. I
know that the Lord will help me and my weaknesses and inadequacies. :)
because I have absolutely NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING! haha :) but, its
okay. I have faith :)

Got to give a talk in sacrament yesterday and I did it on the voice of
the Lord and how we can recognize when God is trying to talk to us. It
went really well....being that the church here is English, I struggled
to do an all English talk and have everyone understand...but I
hope someone gained something from it...I pray

Well, my dear family and friends and everybody, I love you so very
much and wish you all the best. I know that this gospel is true. The
hard times are for our good. I welcome the challenges with a smile and
try not to let them beat me down. Sometimes they can wipe it off my
face, then I just remind myself of my purpose and my capabilities and
I'm back on track. I know that God lives and loves us. I know Jesus
Christ died for all of our sins...I know it better than if an angel
came and told me...of that I am certain. I can never deny the
truthfulness of this restored church or gospel. Farewell my loved
ones!

Love,
Elder Jesse Sumrak

Mormon Times Video of Sierra Leone

Mormon Times Video of Sierra Leone

Settling Down in Bo

So great to be able to sit down and talk to you all
again...stressful since internet stinks and I haven’t been able to read
my mission president's emails in like 3 weeks...but, its all good, I
keep sending him stuff haha

The district leader work is going well. I haven't screwed anything up
yet ;) I have been very busy just cleaning up some stuff that
needed to get done, which is going okay. Got a
plumber on the way this week, someone to retile one of the rooms, and
the carpenter should be coming, so this week will be a bit busy. Had
to go get cooking gas on Tuesday morning so that was fun riding around
town on a bike with a big 50lbs weight of cooking gas on your lap ;)
then, Thursday had to go get generator fuel early in the morning and
that was fun as well...

Elder Weller and I worked for a while one night making the chore
roster for everyone, and now just getting some necessities for the
apartment today, so it keeps me busy...but, I didn't get to do any
interviews this weekend :( they all were referred over to President,
but I get to go and do one tomorrow for the zone leaders, so I am
super excited to go and do that :)

I had to give the District meeting instruction on Tuesday which was a
surprise I found out about that morning but it went really well. I
gave instruction on Christ like attributes and we all discussed about
the ways we can become more Christ like. I prepared the instruction for
tomorrow today about Teach People, Not lessons, focusing strongly on
listening and asking inspired questions, so we will see how it goes :)
Wow, no boxes or anything yet, but thank you so much mother. I hope
they come soon, but I am doing pretty well now! So, don

’t you worry
about me, everything is going sweet :)

And a lot of the African missionaries don’t have family to write them,
so they get to write friends and bishops and what not so they always
have people to write to, and now EVERYONE is allowed to e-mail anyone,
and I don’t think its just for our mission, but I really just like to
write letters personally anyways :) though, I don’t have much time,
but then again, I only have an hour in the café as well, so really
only time to email parents, brothers, and then mission president. But,
that is great! I will start writing Saidu emails when he gets out on
his mission. I heard he is waiting for his mission call so I am so
excited for that boy

Wow, Brandon Privette! I sure love that guy. He is a great guy and that
is so nice of him to buy dinner for you. What is he up to these days?

And that is such a sweet baptism! Wow, see the missionary work moving
forward there, so proud of the sisters. That is so great and so happy
for that couple. The Mormon world is so incredibly small, just like
Elder Hovley just moved into my apartment and we both know and are
great friends with Haley Beckstrand, who was in my freshmen ward at
BYU.

Hahaha oh momma, no, what you need to do is start looking at which
mission you are going to serve ;) haha I’m just teasing you momma, you
better not leave or do anything before I get home.

And mom, want to know something crazy!? I just got your dear elder
from February 24, and you talked about being grateful for all the
premortal gifts we had. Well 2 days later, on February 26, our entire
zone conference discussion by the Roggias was on the exact same thing!
Isn’t it crazy how the Lord works and you and I and the Roggias are
studying the same thing!, because the morning of the conference I was
studying my patriarchal blessing and even wrote in my study journal
the same impressions from the things I learned. So sweet!
And mother you are so sweet! I talk to you sometimes too haha, but I
took lots of pictures at that field for you that day, and we even
played there today as well. But on to the week!!!!!

So, Sierra Leone, going great! What a busy week we had. So, have a
bunch of young missionaries in the apartment which is going great. We
have 5, all from the same MTC who have been on mission 6 months now.
So its Elder Weller, and I, the old men and the other guys Elder
Woodhead, Penia, Hovley, Stanford, and Flament, who are all 6 months
on mission and then the new picking from Ghana Is coming on Tuesday,
So we are all eagerly awaiting his arrival.

With the area split, and Elder Standford already being here, Elder
Flament, Stanford and I proselyted both areas this week, which was
super busy and fruitful. It was a super nice surprise come Tuesday
morning when the zone leaders informed me NO, the President was not
splitting the area, so I needed to go and redraw the lines for
the area was like uh, WHAT, but I got it together, got some maps
out, and got the job done with Elder Jones. Not bad!:) Did it as fair
as we could, but gave the other missionaries some of my favorite
recent converts and the best investigators in the world! I’m going to
miss them :( but it will be cool to see them at church still! We had
a total of 12 new investigators about 15 people contacted, and 9
investigators in church, so the work is just going to continue to
grown and flow forward here in Messima due to this split. The
President is truly an inspired man, there is no accidents in the
Lord’s work ;)

Elder Standford is a great guy who just left my boy Elder Hill in
Freetown, he is a great missionary and I have learned many things from
his teaching and his example. Elder Flament, my new companion, is a
big awesome guy from England. His accent is super strong and he is a great guy! We have all enjoyed being a
giant missionary task force this week, because our mission leader
Sonaldo proselyted with us everyday this week! He is so good :)
Sonaldo has such a sweet story. The boy is so humble; he is sitting at
our apartment right now just doing our laundry. He is trying so hard
to push the work forward here and prepare for his mission. He is just
full of love for the people and for the work, but so shy in talking to
people, so we are working super hard with him. He told me his story
yesterday and it was so sad.  He was born in Liberia and when he was
about 3 or 4 years old, the fighting broke out. He was sitting outside
and the guns started going off and as his mother came to pick him up
she was shot multiple times, as was the father as he ran to the aid of
his mom. He was spared and a woman took him and a bunch of the
children and got in an ambulance with them and escaped to Sierra
Leone. His whole family and all his sisters were split, and he still
hasn’t found most of them. Some went to Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea,
Sierra Leone, and ahh its just so sad. He didn’t get to finish the story,

So I will hear more tomorrow! but gosh,
its just so sad, it’s not easy at all.

But, on a brighter note, we are teaching this one boy, and we invited
him to read the Book of Mormon. He made it to 1 Ne 5 and I asked
him what he learned. Surprisingly the boy sat there and told me detail
by detail the whole account of Nephi up to chapter 5. Like, as detailed as,
yeah, they went inside to Laban to get the plates 3 times and then
Nephi went alone the last time and God delivered Laban into his hands
and geeze this boy is like 10 or so haha and is so small but he
understands so much. It was so sweet.
All of us missionaries were looking at each other like, whoa, this kid
haha

Got into a bike crash on Thursday morning, but fortunately did not
have the gas in my hand, Elder Jones did. It was hilarious haha. I was
just riding along, driver missed the turn, turned around, dodged a kid
he almost hit, sending him into the other lane, and then the bikers
just ran at each other without either trying to dodge each other for a
good solid 3 seconds before a head on collision, sending me off the
bike, but fortunately landed on my feet, so sweet, and just dropped
the money on the seat and walked off before the bikers even started
yelling at each other, then Elder Jones and I laughed our faces off
for about 10 minutes. So funny, oh Sa Lone, oh bikers, they no de get
betta sense.

Weirdest thing! It poured like 3 times this week. It was crazy. RAIN!
Haven’t seen that in months. It was so cool and refreshing though, and
although the humidity returned 2x as much, it was so nice!:)
Yesterday was the HOTTEST Sunday on mission haha, the meetings were
just miserable in church for everyone. Children were crying just
begging their parents to let them go outside and everyone was just
like dead, just passed out because we were trapped in a Sauna! So
nuts! But, always a good experience if you know what you’re looking for
;) thank goodness for the blessing and miracle of the sacrament!
But, that’s about it for me this week, I love you all and miss you all
so very much. I know this gospel is true and love it so much! Have an
amazing week! Love you momma!
Love,
-Elder Jesse Sumrak

HOT!!

Momma! wow, thank you so much for going and getting me that camelbak,
and so quickly too haha! thank you so much :) I will put it to some
good use, that is for sure. March is the hottest month of the year
apparently, and I believe it...every night this week it was above 90
degrees when I lay down in bed to go to sleep. or attempt to sleep.
really, you wake up feeling more exhausted than when you went to bed,
you're just drenched and feel disgusting, but whatevs, such is life!

And as far as musical numbers, not really. we have done the Christmas
program, and we all sang a couple different songs, and I think we are
going to do something along the same lines for this Easter program
coming up soon, but I will let you know more :) and yeah, singing
wasn't really blessed through our posterity haha, except for you, we
are all kinda pathetic!

And yeah, ripped my pants, but I got plenty! Usually, I only wear 2
pair of pants in a week, yeah, gross right? but, that is the way sa
Lone missionaries roll, who are we trying to impress? they are nasty
as soon as we walk out the apartment anyway. but, no I don't need any
more pants, I got enough for a good while. The bikes...well, they go
very very fast haha, but, all of their speedometers, odometers, and
gauges are ALL broken, so I don't know how fast they are going...too
fast to be honest haha, but we just pray and hope for the best!

And I never see missionaries from other churches proselyting really, but I
have taught a couple from some born again and catholic churches! they
love to invite us over and try to "talk" to us and think that they can subtlety
convert us or something. It's quite amusing. and as for the
pope...yeah, love testifying of the restored gospel to some of our
catholic investigators as for reasons we all know ;) haha

haha and yep, I will hit 9 months some time this week, crazy, this was
the quickest transfer of my mission so far, and gosh its pretty scary,
it needs to slow down forreals because I don't know where the time has
gone!

But, on to the week...Ill just start with the biggest news first, so
I'll start with yesterday!
The apartment was BLAZING hot so we all decided, NAY, we are going to
enjoy. so we all took up our mattreses on to the roof and our nets and
everything. and while we were setting up we got THE phone call.
transfer news...dun dun dun! and....Elder Jones, Elder Coffie, and
Elder Symons, the 3 oldest guys in the apartment are all leaving, and
now there is going to be 8 white guys in the apartment. My area has
been split into Messima 1 and 2. I am receiving Elder Flament from
England, and the guy is a boss so I am super excited to work with him.
He is actually in the internet cafe with me right now sitting beside
me....bo is hot as tish you know? and then
2 new missionaries are coming to work on
Messima 2. so, I will have to show them all of the area and
investigators and everything and ah, just a little overwhelmed at the
moment, but I will be okay, I hope so at least. Also, to top it all
off. I am now district leader, so a whole new bunch of responsiblities
and priorities to take care of but I know the Lord's promise in 1 Ne
3:7 and he wouldn't ask me to do it if I wasn't able...yeah, thats
about the only thing thats keeping me from mentally breaking down
right now haha. but, no worries, everything will hopefully work out
like it is supposed to and hopefully nobody dies along the
way...yeah, i won't die...

but...enough of that suprising news...so, we ended up sleeping outside
last night and it was THE best sleep I have gotten in 6 weeks. So cold
and ah so good. we all woke up just feeling amazing and well rested
and just bouncing off the walls for once. Though, the dew did have us
all rather wet, we were very optimistic. spent the rest of the morning
cleaning and preparing a new room, tishload of stuff, for the 2 new
elders who are coming this week.

But, as for some good news. left the sketchy cafe last monday and
found that a new store had opened in Bo town...and gosh it is amazing!
it is like half a crappy food lion and boy is it amazing! we were
running around like little girls screaming at everything and almost
crying when we found vitamin water and cookie crisp and koolaid, and
snickers bars, and pretty much everything we wanted haha, yeah, they
all blew ALL their money...I handled myself with some dignity and only
left with some vanilla flavoring for my oatmeal...but, I'm planning on
dishing out some mad cash today when I go there :)

So, also thought it was pretty sweet last week but when we had our
zone lunch we had like 20 elders there and we were having fried rice
or something with fried chicken and everything and all the bowls were
set up and...there was one piece of boiled chicken :) Elder Burton is
such a good friend ;) he knows how I like my chicken and I didn't even
have to ask haha!

The zone meeting went pretty sweet on Tuesday and we all left inspired
and uplifted and ready to go and do some work! we talked about all the
committments we had made this year and set goals about how we were
going to achieve them and everything and it was just a really good and
uplifting spiritual experience that has really benefited me and I
already feel myself growing more from it :)

And taught this one sweet lesson this week about the law of chastity
with one girl and during the lesson this little girl comes up and
hands the 20 year old girl we are teaching a handful of condoms...and
we were like uh...and just waited until the end of the lesson and were
like, umm...you probably should get rid of those. and she was like
what? and we were like uh, those things you break the law of chastity
with...and she was like huh? and we took one of the packets and were
like THESE, and she was like, i don't understand? and broke one of the
packets open and pulled out the elastic and used it to pull her hair
back and was like, they are good hair ties? Elder Jones and I left
just laughing our head off...oh Sa Lone! Oh oh sweet sa lone.

So, have some sweet new investigators, two who are
engaged, and one other, and they all want to be baptized and are just so
excited when they meet with us. Two of them were taught a long
time ago but said they didn't understand the Book of Mormon so never
thought the church was true, but we taught Book of Mormon earlier last
week and brought them both copies and when we came last night they
both said that had read and KNEW it was true now and wanted to be
baptized :) and then one was like, I know it's true already. We were
like, did you pray? and he was like, I was about to, and then I just
felt the greatest peace and happiness so I just figured that was my
answer. why do you think I ran over here so quick when I heard you
were coming to teach? I love this gospel! to which I was like, uh wow
that is wonderful :) but, still pray and ask god, okay? hahaha :) oh
the miracles of the Lord in this magnifiicent work!

We are teaching one young lady named and when we started teaching
her she was 10 1/2 months pregnant and wanted to know if she could be
baptized while pregnant. We told her sure! and then, we showed up the
next day to teach her  and she was laying in bed and they were holding
a newborn child. fortuantely, she HAD gone to the hospital that
morning, born the child, and came home before 2 haha, so crazy and
different then back home. but, the child's name is Joshua, with the
potential to be Joshua Spencer etc. (named after Elder Spencer Jones
;) ) haha, so that would be pretty sweet, and so amazing to see the
new born child...made teaching the plan of salvation on Friday so much
more meaningful indeed!

Also...ate something delicious this week that I don't think I ever ate
back home...GRILLED CORN! so yummy, I love it so much. So cheap and
extra delicious :)

Went on exchange with Elder Penia this week to his area and had a
great time with him. But, on our way home we were walking by one of
the football fields and they were having a BIG game with tons of
people watching. it was a bunch of 20 year old women playing in a
competitive school game haha and we came just as the game ended...and
next thing you know, the girls are stoning each other, hundreds of
people are rushing the field, and police are trying to break up the
fight, and a man is on the loudspeaker microphone yelling " stop this
fighting. this is not how women behave! stop this now. Anyone wearing a
jersey who has a stone will be arrested!" haha and I got most of it on
film!

had the grossest Free Meal of my mission on Saturday. our branch mission
leader told the woman that FUFU was our FAVORITE food...yeah, we both
hate fufu, its just his favorite. little punk haha so I tried to choke
it down, but gosh it was hard and I was about to have to sprint to the
woods for my life, but fortunately the women were hungry and helped us
finish it haha :)

On to a funny crappy story. Had a carpenter go to make me a wood
carving of FINN from Adventure Time and he made it about a foot too big
and man is it wowo! gosh, it seriously is taller than my knee! it is
so crazy. and had to carry it all the way home and I swear everybody
thought it was some Juju idol or something! they were all whispering
about us praying to it or something haha, curse you wowo FINN!

but, that is really all the news this week, I love and miss you all so
very very much, I know this is the Lord's work and these are truly the
best 2 years. I love mission...Take care everyone and be safe and
enjoy life. It flies by far too fast and don't let a minute pass by!

-Love
Elder Jesse Sumrak

River Baptism and sweet pictures!

So, first things first. I GOT THE CAMERA and the mp3
player and they both work great! only problem is, no cables to charge
them or plug them in :/ but, I have been using Elder Coffies universal
charger so it hasn't been too big of a problem yet :) gosh thank you so
much! I have been taking so many pictures and videos and what not to
make your present not go to waste and.you will love it when I finally get
the opportunity to send you some. Today is a little hectic because
Kenema district is with us and occupying one internet cafe, but more
on that later!

And the camelbak...yes if you could order it it would be sweet! Elder
Barth said I could have his,but he doesn't even leave until rainy
season, so he recommended I just ask you to send one now,because we are
all dying. I come back dehydrated everyday haha, my bottle just doesn't
hold enough to keep me charged all day, but apparently the camelbaks
hold 3 liters so that would be so sweet mama dear :)

Ah, i am so relieved and excited to hear about Nick. what a great guy.
he really deserves it and I know he has been working hard.
congratulations my amazing brother. the family will all be united at
the Y! and we will dominate. Can't wait to possibly have all 3 of us
brothers out there one day.gosh, will be sweet Sunday dinners, I will
tell you that!:)

and oh moma...you poor thing. but, just know that you have raised an
amazing family and the Lord isn't finished with you. you still have
much work to do, so don't think the Lord will start going easy on you
now that your kids are gone ;) your work as a mother is so far from
over, you have no idea. g-kids on the way ;)

hahaha oh mom, that story is so cute. we got a little boy to pose for
a sweet picture for us to day, with a ball by his feet, staring off
into the distant soccer field with his back to the camera...i'ts going to
say "dream big" or that is at least how Elder Stewart envisions it
haha!

haha and ya...Mcdonalds. oh my I am craving anything from America
right about now haha

But, on to my week. On Tuesday we had our zone conference, so we all
drove over to the Jaboyma chapel, which is a legit standard chapel, or
at least from the outside, the inside is still trying, and getting
close ;) we had an amazing zone conference and it was so good to see
all of my good buddies. the instruction was amazing and we talked
about our premortal life and enduring to the end and how we need to be
viewing our investigators and recent converts with an eternal
perspective and gosh the spirit was so strong and revealed to me so
many ways I can be better, and the spirit has been so much stronger in
all our lessons since. ah it was great! had some giant hamburgers as
you saw in the picture. so good! also, got my mail and box! so much
mail, i didn't even get done reading it until last night haha! So,
first, thank you momma for the amazing box. I loved everything inside,
especially everything I can use to make oatmeal, because you know I
love my oatmeal haha. Also, Jeff Leavitt, or soon to be Elder Leavitt.
I am so proud of you buddy and congratulations on your mission call.
Thank you for the box! it contains my now favorite tie! Also a thank
you to...Jeff, Mom, Jenalyn, Sis Peterson, Jen Kearl, Dad, Rebecca,
Aunt Deb, Katie, Drew, Aunt Lanae, Grandad and grandma, Saidu Conteh,
Dallin Waters, and Kristen. I am working super hard on trying to get a
letter to everyone,but its not so easy haha, not much free time on
mission ;) but, I'll try to get a letter to everyone by the end of the
month, pray I succeed and thank you so much!

Also, our area will be splitting, and that means change, that is
crazy. our area is so small and its so overwhelming to think about
that I really don't want to talk about it right now because I'm in a
good mood. but, might be training again...who knows. just want to stay
with elder Jones in our area, but I'll go and do what the Lord asks of
me.

Well, I was working out one day this week and I got 500 consecutive on
the jump rope, just thought I would randomly mention that :)

Remember those sandals you bought mother that I told you I would never
wear...well, Elder Weller has the same pair, and Elder Jones has a
similar pair, and they finally convinced me to wear mine, so I did,
and it wan't so bad haha. Sandals are so not me, but then again, is a
white man in Africa? na tru bing.

On Thursday we got our subsistence, so we all went to the bank and got
our money, then all went to a restaurant in town called Sabs. which is
a really nice legit restaurant with very expensive food that is almost
american ;) (nice = a McDonalds equivalent in cleanliness) I wasn't
very hungry and just got fries.but some other elders got the Whopper.
which is a giant bread + hamburger + bread+ hamburger + bread and so
many other things in between. so gigantic haha, o expensive! so, we all
enjoyed and had a great time with that!:)

 Found an awesome less active the other day when we were working on
figuring out our boundaries so we can tell president where to split
the area and everything. he has the Melchizedek priesthood and
he just got offended and fell less active, so we are working
on getting him back to church...and while we
are still working on him haha, he gave us a couple referrals...oh sa
lone.

So, we had exchange on Friday and I got to go with Elder Coffie to his
area, upon getting off the bike in his area, my bike man leaned the
opposite direction when I was getting off, causing me to terribly rip
my pants! yeah, that was embarrassing...so we hopped back on the bike
and rode back home so I could change haha...gosh dang it bike man ;)

SISTER KATIE CUTLER! thought it was so hilarious what you said about
the white guys, because we had a similar experience the other day
after playing football. we were coming home and we saw 2 white girls
on the back of a bike and I was jut like, whatever, don't make a big
deal out of it, first white girls you have seen in months, just pass
them and don't even act like its weird. but, we pass and they all
shout pumwee pumwee at me, which is white man. haha. so of course, I
responded the same, but gosh I don't know how to talk to white people.
the only thing that even came to my head was uh ow de bodi? usay yu
dey? haha so katie my cousin, I sympathize with you, let us suffer
together when I get back haha! Love you cousin :) Also, about what you
said about the Chinese thinking I was smart, that is so ironic because
we had just been talking that morning before about how stupid we all
felt. we don't know English anymore, or math, or anything and we all
just feel stupid. I don't know how I will go back to BYU and be
successful...only by the Lords help to be honest, which is good because
I have faith,because we are all dumb as rocks now hahaha :)

And Drew, I love that quote by Preident Monson. It was my theme for
this last transfer and I had it written on my planner. Wow, talk about
cousin unity. I love you my dear cousin. did you ever get my letter?!

So...food for the week. After the baptisms on Saturday, I got to try a
new soup,called G-block soup, which was super duper delicious! we had
it with gehrie instead of rice too, which was a nice change. Also,
when I was on exchange with Elder Coffie, I had some antelope on my
rice, which was pretty delicious actually, but a little chewy.

Mother...the life cereal...brought tears to my eyes...thank you sweet momma :)

New punishment I witnessed that I will be using with my kids I believe
as a parent. the best alternative to not beating. If your child
misbehaves, you put them in a corner and make them raise their arms
above their head for like 20 minutes haha, or if they have been really
bad, you put them in the middle of the yard and have them kneel down,
and then raise their hands above their head. LOVE IT! When i saw a
family do it I was so happy :) if only the happiness was for the fact
that they weren't brutally beating their children! I was so pleased!

On to my favorite day of the week...Saturday! we had an amazing
baptismal service. we had the service at our branch president's house on
some benches under a big ole tree. He lives out in the bush on a little
farm. so we had the service, then all made our way through the farm
land and into the woods. We went for like 5 minutes until we arrived
at the river, where there were kids playing and women brooking
clothes, but we asked them if we could use it shortly. they
agreed...so I was the first brave soul to enter the dirty river and
there were fallen trees everywhere and I was just praying there was no
snakes...parasites, diseases, worms...yeah, I'm sure there was something
like that. but, I went and found a deep enough spot, and had the most
amazing experience of baptizing Thomas, James, and Abdul. It was so
spiritual and special and I wasn't too scared, maybe because of the
spiritual upliftment, because surely the warnings of my doctor telling
me NEVER to even put my feet in a river were ringing in my ears, but
the only solution to salvation compelled me to lay aside my fear, and
become a man :) haha, it was so awesome! Even after I finished baptizing
one boy, he slipped and pulled me under haha, so it was kinda like
Alma and Helam haha! so legit!

Today was awesome! got up and brooked with Elder Weller, then went
over to the zone leaders apartment to gather for SUPERPDAY! so the
Kenema elders came to meet us and we all decorated eggs and put a
scripture on them. then, went to the field to have a Bo versus Kenema
football match which was so much fun! we, the Bo district won by a
large margin, and it was such a good time, and always a joy to see
Elder Barth and Elder Hales and Elder Edwards and even my papi Elder
Ngerem :)

Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and did an egg hunt and
shared the scriptures. then, watched Elder Penia climb popo trees and
also he tore a coconut off a tree, cracked it on a rock, then peeled
it with his teeth, and drank it in 35 seconds, it was so crazy! that
guy is an animal. he is from Samao haha, he climbs trees just like the
guy in the other side of heaven haha!

Then, we had some awesome jollaf rice until we were stuffed, then
back to the apartment, cleaned up and headed to town. now, here I am!

Well, I have to run, but I love all of you so much and I know that
this gospel is true. I have felt the spirit so strong this week and
the power of the Atonement becomes more real to me everyday as I feel
and see the Savior's love. I know he loves me. I know he loves all the
children of the earth...This gospel is true. Try it, taste it, see for
yourself...Please take care everyone, i love you all! farewell. love
you momma :) you are the greatest mother!

Love,
Elder Jesse Sumrak

Life in BO

Wow! So exciting to hear about all the sweet stuff going on in the
missions in the world and also I must say it is sweet to hear about
Cristiano Ronaldo :) I hope that deal goes down! Wow, kushay to
Gabriella and Uncle Chris. Congratulations for reals! And a happy
happy birthday to you Nick, you old man you. I hope you enjoyed your
18th birthday lil bro, and probably your last one with the family for
the while, so treasure the memory and if you're not keeping a journal I
recommend you start small small now...I love being able to look back
at any day to remember what happened and everything...it's a great
blessing :) but happy birthday man!
And i will definitely write Sister Gopp today, so thank you for the
address moma dearest. It will be nice to hear from her again, but  I
guess she isn’t Sister Gopp anymore haha!
And don’t send me any t-shirts mother dearest ;) if you see anything
you like and really want to get, just stash it with my shoes back home
haha...I am leaving everything here when I go home, and these shirts
are getting torn up from the brooking board here haha, so I don’t want
to destroy anything more then I need to here :) but thank you!
Well, I have had quite the week here in Bo. I will try to fit it all
in here in my short time to email today haha. So, first, we got
Hammocks! We went to some guy and gave him some money to go and sew
some rice sacks together and make some hammocks for us. So, we finally
got them, tied rope through either end, and set them up last night.
Not being a boy scout, it took a couple falls on mine before I got a
good knot haha ;) I encourage scouting now. But, they are pretty
legit, if not very small, and I will hopefully get some pictures off
today if I get some time. Super awesome though!
We went to teach one man this week,  and he came 2
hours early to his appointment and walked about 2 miles to the chapel.
He called us so we closed companion study early and caught bike over
to him. We rode with him back to his place to see where he lived, and
he drove to the in construction Bo-football stadium. So, we pull up at
the gate and the security guards with AKs are just freaking out,
telling him that Missionaries are not allowed in, but eventually the
Chinese manager came and let us in. So, we got to enter the stadium,
which was super sweet, if not completely crappy to be totally honest
haha, but small small. We made our way around back and got to teach
him in the sketchy barracks, where he lives with the other workers
who work on the stadium haha it was totally sketchy and scary but a
sweet lesson at least. The stadium looks not to betta, but they dey
try small small. Just a bunch of Chinese overseers walking around
screaming at the Africans who are working in the most mundane of ways
on what is supposed to be a modern stadium...we will see how many more
years it takes to complete the stadium. My guess...5 years.
We made our way back to our area and took the bushiest path haha! We
had to cross fallen trees and swamps and what not, and Elder Jones
showed me where we are probably having our baptism this week...Yeah,
it looks exactly what the Doctor told me NOT to ever enter in hahaha!
Stagnant swamp water in the middle of the bush farming fields...but,
if we have to do it then we will have to do it, and I will be
moderately excited to do a river baptism while also a little hesitant
due to whatever lasting worms and diseases will plague my body as a
result. Nowhala.
I found a wood carpenter in our area and he was making a sweet (and
kinda scary) mask that probably is used for ju ju or something, and I
asked him if he could do a special project for me...he said yes. So, I
brought him the little miniature Finn, you sent me, and he told me he
could make me it. So, I am getting a foot high wood carving of Finn
done, and if it is sweet, I am going to put this man on some more
projects for me haha :) not too expensive either. $5 ;) so we will see
how that turns out. Said it should be done by March 5.
Elder Jones and I videoed a crazy thing I never had before seen until
I got to Bo...A woman feeding her child (and I’m not talking breast
feeding because I have seen more than my share of that just trying to
teach a lesson haha) but, this is trying to feed a baby who is not
hungry and will not accept the spoon...So, they put the baby in their
lap, and cup their hand around the baby's mouth, they then drain all
the mushy food in to their hand, practically drowning the child,
giving the child the only option to eat, or die pretty much, because
then they close the baby’s nose...if the baby screams or anything or
tries to throw it back up, they flick the baby on the thigh until it
opens its mouth to swallow the nasty mush. It was pretty horrific to
be quite honest, but we videoed the whole thing...so one day you will
all see this  feeding...oh my.
So, we found the roof is a sweet relief to the intense heat we have
experienced this week...the past 3 nights I have gone to sleep it has
been above 90 degress... so miserable. So we took all of our
mattresses and put them on the roof...yes, the crappy zinc roof
hahaha, but no bad, it was super cool and nice up there and we all 6
chilled up there for like an hour haha, it was a lot of fun!
Also, while dressing today, I finally tried one of my Sa Lone shirts
I bought, and when putting it on, I realized that it is a McDonald's
Manager shirt! It has a big M on the pocket, and I was so stoked when
I saw it haha, unfortunately its covered by my tag, but it is so
awesome!:) probably going to use that shirt to wear home from mission!
I have also given myself the Mende name of Tai( proncouned Tay)
which means Chicken. Some of our recent converts named me Gorjo (which
means our Father) but they said they gave me that name because my chin
reminds them of a strong man like a father :) haha, and then a woman
named me last night Batoley (people’s picking(child) ) to which I am
to respond Hopanda (take good care of it) haha so, we are always
having fun with the Mende here!
Had a rather uncomofortable lesson later this week with Michael at
the chapel. We couldn't get it, no key, so we pulled up some stones
from nearby...mine was very sharp and not so comfy, so I spent the
next hour shifting from cheek to cheek every 5 minutes just trying not
to destroy my poor backside. Geeze it hurt! But, we took some pictures
of the stones and everything :) so, another sweet memory is added to
my wonderful mission haha
We wanted to go fill the font Friday, because the other branches font
is under construction, so we have to fill our own. SO, we went over to
our branch presidents house, but he was in the farm. So we went out to
the bush farm and gosh it was awesome. A bunch of people were in the
swamp with nets trying to corner the fish and it was awesome, they
were catching a bunch haha, I was tempted to just jump in and help em
out, but knowing me, I would cause problems ;) we got the key to the
chapel and made our way back to the font...the beginning of a painful
experience.
Some branch missionaries met us there and we had a short coordination
meeting before we spent the next hour and a half filling the font...we
lower a small bucket into the well, lift it out, sift the water
through a t shirt into a bigger bucket, then dump the bucket in the
font... well, you can imagine how painfully slow that is huh? We only
made it about 6 inches the first night...but, we decided to come back
in the morning.
So, we woke up early on Saturday, ate, and then made our way out the
door. Hadn't even opened the gate before we realized it was national
cleaning day in BO! Every last Saturday of the month in BO is  a
national cleaning day, and nobody is allowed to do anything but clean
until 10:00 am...enforced by the police. SO, there are no cars out or
anything, just people cleaning their compounds and the streets...but,
we asked our district leader and he told us we were allowed to go. So,
we had about a mile or so to walk to the chapel and we dodged most of
the police blockades...but, the last one got us, and the police
started shouting at us and called us over. The conversation went a
little like this.
“you understand you are breaking the law?”
“we are going to go clean our chapel”
“you are breaking the law, we are going to have to take you down to
the headquarters” He grabs me by the wrist and starts walking me down
the street...
“Okay, let's go” I grab him by the other wrist and start walking him
towards the headquarters....
Made it about 10 feet before he says he is going to just let us off
this time with a warning, but we better never do it again...yeah, he
was just trying to scare us into bribing him...yeah, not going to do
that ;) hahaha so the Lord helped us off and get to the chapel safely.
We got to the chapel around 8...and we filled rapidly for about 2 and
a half hours...gosh we were dripping, dirty, and so sore, and the
water was barely up to the knee...and it was BROWN. You couldn't even
see your feet in the water...so our investigator
showed up and I had the sweet blessing and privilege of baptizing
him...so we enter the water, I kneel down, and we had him sit down,
and baptized him coffin style, just laying him down under the water.
It took about 3 trys to do successfully, but it was done :) and he was
confirmed yesterday in church so what a sweet baptism, if not
completely gross...because I saw worms swimming in the water...my gosh
I have so many things in my body I am sure.
Sweet weekend. Had 2 interviewed for baptism yesterday and one more
tomorrow so, we should have a sweet sweet Saturday! But, I think we
are doing river baptism... Nose goes ;) haha
Got to play football again today, and it was a lot of fun, but we
lost! But, it was a great time :) didn't even bleed today! So, that is
a success in my opinion. First time for everything!
Well, another sweet week on mission. I love this mission so much and
I am so excited to see tomorrow who will be our new mission president
in June. I am sure going to miss the Roggia’s but change...its pretty
consistent on mission. Never can really get too comfortable, but that's
life :) I love you all so very much and I know that this gospel is
true. I will be receiving all letters and mail tomorrow so I will be
trying to write you all back slowly over the next coming weeks...I
love you all. Never forget the Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and
I promise you will never be unhappy...Take care all! Farewell
-Love,
Elder Jesse Sumrak

Traditions, Reunions, & Changes!

Well, hello there dear family and friends! Well, to go down your
letter momma -  the rats are quite small really, but I have seen some
big bush rats about the size of a football here as well ( and I would
love to say that is an exaggeration...but no, no its not ) But, the
ones in our apartment are pretty small :)
Giant spiders haha? We smash em of course. The old days of running to
get toilet paper is over, you just smash 'em with your bare hand of
course, and pick em up and throw 'em out the window.
And what do you mean your next beach trip will be with me?! Are you
guys not planning on going this summer? Don’t ever skip beach trip!
Even if its just you and dad!:) we've got to keep the tradition alive. I
already decided I am going to continue to go to Nags Head with my
family for the rest of my life. I was inspired by an Ensign talk I
read and it said something about what is more important? Paying off
your car or redoing your bathroom, or taking your family on that small
vacation tradition every year that they will remember forever...I pick
the latter. I love that tradition greater then everything in our life
and I wouldn't trade it for the world :)
Coping with the many dialects...well here to be honest it is really a
little overwhelming, and its exhausting trying to remember and learn
it all so I'm really not trying anymore...if I absorb anything its just
going to be naturally and by repetition because I will not waste any
of my time or energy trying to learn it haha
Well, its hard not getting letters from you guys but I am doing okay.
I will get used to it haha, only getting letters every 3-4 weeks or
so, but like I said, I am expecting on next Tuesday, so that will be
super nice!:) That is when we have our next zone conference, so I am
happy to see President and Sister Roggia again! Miss seeing them so
much throughout the week.
Well on to my super sweet week in Messima Bushy, BO! So, we started
last week by waking up early Tuesday and going on down to the
transport station. We met up with the zone leaders Elder BURTON and
Elder Stewart, yeah that's right my boy elder Burton :) he is sitting
in the cafe right beside me emailing right now, so good to see that
guy again! So, the 8 of us elders got in a poda poda, mashed in nice
and tight and we made the hour long trip to Kenema to go to our Zone
Meeting. Yeah, its weird, there are 2 zones in Bo, and our zone
includes a district from Kenema, so we get to go to Kenema for zone
meetings, and Kenema comes to us for zone conferences haha, no bad.
The trip was super fun and we got to go see tons of stuff on our nice
and bushy drive :) we took tons of pictures and stuff so when my
camera finally gets here and I transfer all the pictures I can send
you all lots of pictures and videos hopefully. But, the drive was
really nice, except for my dead butt from sitting on the window/seat
the whole way haha, but it was cool. Kenema is really sweet, but is
even bushier then Bo is.
So happy when we got to the Elders apartment and I go to see my
favorite ELDER HALES! Yep, so happy to see that guy! And got to see
fellow MTC Elder Edwards, and my PAPI Elder Ngerem, and my grandpapi,
ELDER BARTH! So awesome to see those guys :) but, they are having
CRAZY thief problems in their apartment. They haven’t slept all week
because every night they have had people sticking their hands through
the windows, stealing anything they can get their hands on. They now
have some brutal traps set up, such as nail boards under the windows,
they all have metal pipes underneath the windows, so if they see a
hand they can grab it, and use the metal pipes to smash it hahah,
But, the zone meeting was really nice and Elder Burton
and Elder Stewart gave us a great message and instruction about
recognizing and trusting the hand of the Lord, the holy ghost, in all
that we do. It really has helped us in our area as we have turned to
the Lord in prayer and have received our own personal revelations for
our area :)
After the zone meeting our apartment went down into Kenema city,
which is just one long road pretty much, and they have a super nice
hotel there that serves food, so we all went back to the serving area,
which is a nice breezy shaded area outside with a pool on the side and
even a pool table and everything, and we got giant hamburgers for BOKU
money! But, it was delicious and we all enjoyed together, then we
caught Taxi all the way back home. And I had Elder Weller literally
sitting on my lap for the whole hour drive, so my leg was dead when we
got back, and we were all exhausted...we all collapsed when we got to
the apartment, but always to the work, we managed to pray for strength
and get up to go teach the gospel for the end of the evening :)
Elder Jones and I caught bike over to the chapel to go clean the font
and start filling it for the baptism on Saturday...but, problems arose
quickly. The pump was broken, so we cleaned the font for quite some
time, and then prepared to start bucketing the water from the nearby
well to the font. Well, Elder Jones got the first bucket and then I
got my opportunity to do my first bucketing from the well. So, I threw
the bucket down the well and lowered it with the rope, then began
pulling the bucket out of the deep 25 foot well....and then the water
weighed too much for the rope, so about halfway up the rope snapped,
and we were like OH OH! NO! And I was like wow, first times a charm :/
but a branch missionary showed up and the guy just takes off his flip
flops and jumps in the well haha and starts climbing down just by
pressing his hands and feet to the side of the well, so he climbs all
the way down while I have my eyes closed praying he doesn't fall and
die, and Elder Jones is taking pictures. And he manages to stick his
feet in the water to get the bucket...but nothing. Too deep :/ so we
lower the good ole rake head down on a separate rope to give to him,
but the well is too narrow and he isn't able to turn the rake upside
down to grab it hahaha so, total failure, so he climbed on out and we
gave up for the night. Oh boy...
Well I learned a fun Sa Lone favorite here, they call it draft. And
its played on a checkerboard, but you use a 10 x 10, instead of 8 x 8
and ah its so much fun. Its just like checkers but you can jump
backwards and kings can do all this crazy stuff, and you HAVE to jump
or you lose your man, and ah its just a really fun change up on
Checkers, and everyone here plays it . Elder Weller taught me it and
destroyed me over and over the first night, but I caught on quickly and
was able to beat him the next night ;) but he is pretty good, so only
once haha
They also have another game they call Ludo, which is just like
Trouble, but you just roll the dice instead of bouncing it , that one
is pretty fun as well.
Valentines day was nice...I guess. We all just talked about our
dates, looked at pictures, and drank hot chocolate and were nice and
trunky for a good hour or so ;) but, now that's all over and we're back
to work haha. We are quite silly. A puppy came into the apartment and
Elder Penia literally scared the poop out of it...we were not too happy
about that. Not too happy at all...
We eventually and successfully did have the baptisms this Saturday,
which went very well :) We showed up at the new barracks apartment to
have a combined baptism with the district leader, but the battery to
their generator to pump the well was dead, so we cleaned the font, and
I hand pumped water out of the well, and a ward mission leader went to
our chapel and got the battery and brought it back...so, eventually
the font was cleaned and was filled deep enough to do baptisms. We
had 2 young men being baptized, Maxwell and Matthew.
Elder Jones baptized both of them and it was super sweet :)
Elder Coffie and Elder Penia baptized a family of brothers and sisters
of about 7, which was really nice. So, a successful Saturday morning!
More wonderful souls are returning to one day live with their loving
father in heaven...now they just need to endure to the end ;)
Well...Church was interesting. The woman who usually conducts wasn't
there, and the branch presidency sat around after giving the
introduction before realizing that she wasn't there. So, panicking
slightly, they caught my eye and asked me to go and conduct...so, for
those of you who know me and my musical rhythm...I have none, (only
when it comes to guitar hero) so, it was a bloody and painful musical
session for both me and the branch on that fateful Sunday. I got up
and did my best to swing my arm right haha but, I didn't even know the
crazy hymns they were choosing (since African favorites are NOT the
American favorites haha, you come here and sing those backwater songs
you never even heard about.) But, we all suffered through it together,
and I did my best and it was funny to catch the eye of the old women
who would just smile and laugh and even my investigators who it was
obvious to that I had no idea what I was doing...but I tried my best
:) had a good number of about 60 or so in sacrament, and even had 10
investigators! So, we are doing our best to push the work right along.
They even asked me to teach primary haha, but I refused and told them
I needed to stay with my companion oh that would have been too big
of a journey for me!
We are planning for 2 baptisms this Saturday. The boys both were
interviewed yesterday, so we are very excited, and then planning for 2
more the following week, so we are doing our best to just meet all the
appointments and get all of these wonderful people prepared, but gosh
the time is short and the sun is hot but we are going to work hard to
do our absolute best :)
Today was SO much fun! We went over to our area and our whole
district of 8 showed up to play some of our investigators in a
wonderful game of football. We even got like 30 pictures of the game,
so eventually I will be able to send them to you all, maybe even today
if the connection improves shortly. But, I didn't play too great,
because we were playing on straight dirt, but we came together and
actually won the game! They were pretty good too, but I think God just
always helps his servants in the end ;) we were down 3-1 at half time
but came back to win 6-5! Our poor investigators and soon to be recent
converts. Hope they still love us, but we invited everyone to church
so I hope they all come!
But, I am so exhausted and my eyes hurt so badly from the hot sun and
the bright pitch, but it was great fun to play again. Elder Stewart
and Elder Jones are good, so it was great playing with them, and Elder
Burton, Coffie, Symons, Weller, and Penia try ;) so it was lots of
fun!
Spent all last night with Elder Weller on the roof writing letters
and just chilling drinking hot chocolate and talking about good ole
missionary work. It is surprising how much I really have changed since
I came out on mission...The Lord is changing me and I don’t even
recognize it half the time :) I love you and miss you all family and
friends, but the Lord is giving me strength to continue on and be
strong in the work.
I love you all so very much and I hope you all are doing well. Know
that the Lord can take the dullest of blades, the rustiest of
instruments, and the most broken pieces of wood, and make the most
beautiful masterpieces out of them. I was completely inadequate and
still am, yet the Lord pushes the work right along through me, even
when I am completely incapable and oblivious...Funny...I just realized
it when I was talking to Elder Weller last night, because word had
spread to everyone about how down I was at transfer news long ago
back in Mt Aureol. So, I explained my story that I didn't even
remember had happened until I was reminded. Upon finding out that
Elder Burton was leaving me and I was going to stay in the
area of Mt Aureol, where the work was stagnant,  and I just felt
 like I was not helping with anything...When
the transfer news came and Elder Burton was so excited to find HE
would be leaving, I immediately retreated to my room and shut the door
and knelt down and began to pray to God...I was upset, angry,
discouraged, and I prayed that the Lord would help me, I had no idea
what to do, no idea how to fix the area, no motivation to continue at
all...Elder Burton apparently had opened the door and heard me praying
and left. I had forgotten. I didn't even realize until last night ALL
the blessings that the Lord gave me after that prayer. I took over the
area, a new missionary was trained, many people were baptized, the
members became strong and active, the presidency and auxiliaries all
started working, conversions were raining in like a waterfall, and
everything was perfect...and it wasn't me that did it. It was the
Lord...I encourage everyone to look back on their own lives at the
many ways the Lord has blessed you. Look hard, and I'm sure you will
find blessings the Lord has given you that you have failed to
recognize thus far. God truly loves us and hears our prayers. I, being
a useless tish am living testimony of that. Even miracles have come
through me, and I know that I am only an instrument in the Lord
hands...I love you all... Farewell till next week!

-Elder Jesse Sumrak