December 31, 2012 - Inhamizua

December 31, 2012  

      Well Have fun up in Utah!  This week was super hot and it's only going to get hotter. Carl B. Cook of the Seventy is coming here Saturday and we will have a big zone conference. Tonight we are just staying home and doing weekly planning. Other good news: my comp knows how to make shakes that taste just like butterfingers! And I still have Captain Crunch left. It's going to be a good week.

       Some bad news: I have to find a suit jacket to wear before Saturday because mine is in Maputo but it's possible.  Oh so you want to hear a sad story? The other week in Shopright we are walking down the isle and all of the sudden this song in English comes on right, so I start singing and was all happy until I realized it was Backsteet Boys and then I was ashamed and embarrassed!   This week I heard a country song! I really think it's the only one I have heard since  have been here.     

         Missionary work is going well. We have a lot of new families and we have a lot of stuff to do in the branch trying to get everything organized. I'm walking in Manga 3 for divisions this week. So who else is getting their calls from RV?

           It was way nice talking to everyone on Christmas and thanks for the horchata - it's way nice with oatmeal.

                                                     Elder Bigelow

December 24, 2012 - Inhamizua

Hey ,

        Things are going good. I'm super excited to get to call tomorrow and it will probably be around 6 in the evening my time. I'm not sure exactly how far into the future I am for you guys but it should be good I hope. [9:00am Arizona/Utah time]

       This week was pretty crazy and we had a lot to do. Elder Hoffman was sick Wednesday so we couldn't go out and work but other than that it was nice. He is going home in 3 weeks! Super crazy! These next 3 weeks we are just going to work work work. We have a lot of things we need to do with the branch as well with 2013 right around the corner.

        Saturday we had the Inhamizua Branch Christmas party. I will have to tell you guys all about it tomorrow. Weirdest funniest ward Christmas party ever! it was way fun. Nothing ever works out as planned here and improvising is always needed.

       I feel like my Portuguese is getting even better because I talk to elder Nascimento and Vestia in our house a lot who are native speakers and they help me a ton and I try to help them with English.

       This morning I saw and talked to Maria, the lady Elder Ostler and I baptized my last week In Manga 1. Whenever you have a hard time on the mission it helps a lot to think about the people you have helped and the difference the gospel has made in their lives! It made we way happy. And an investigator Elder Ostler and I starting teaching in Manga 1, Faustinho, is getting baptized Saturday and I should be able to go and watch.  

         Our area is starting to pick up but we just have a lot of brand new investigators right now. Manga has the group marriage in January but our investigators were either not ready or didn't want to do it so we aren't going to have any marriages but we found 2 or three nice couples the last 2 weeks so I'm excited. We are just going to try to help them get married. I think we have yet to meet and actually be able to sit with a married couple in Inhamizua.

          Thanks a ton for the package and presents! Can you try to have Anne and Wes and Grandma at the house when I call? If not it's not a huge deal but I only have 40 minutes between everyone so I want to make as few calls as possible.

         It's cool being on the mission during Christmas because it's a lot easier to remember the true meaning and focus!

                                               Love you guys,

                                                                   Elder Bigelow

December 17, 2012 - Inhamizua

December 17, 2012

MY 20th BIRTHDAY! 

Hey,
               Well I think we might have to swim home! It is raining super hard here in Beira. It was pretty fun getting here though.
               I was going to skype but it was only for 30 min. on Sunday and it would be at like 5 in the morning for you guys so I think I will just call on Christmas instead. I will try to call you guys and Ransom at least but I don't know how much time I will get. Thanks for your numbers and I will just let you know Monday which time I will call at for sure.
              Church was good yesterday. It didn't rain so we had a lot more people. A lot of our investigators didn't come but we found and taught a new family this week that actually came and seemed way interested. The Manga and Beira zones are going to start doing group marriages every month. One month in Beira and the next in Manga. January is our turn and we are trying to find people who want to do it from our area but so far no luck. There are certain requirements and they have to get all their documents ready by a certain date but we are going to invite this new family this week to get married on the 25th of January, baptized the 26th and confirmed the 27^th! So hopefully it works out. My companion is in the branch presidency and so we have been doing a lot of work with them this week.

We are going to have a big Christmas party Saturday so today we have a ton of shopping to do. Time is going by super fast! it's almost 2013 but the world is supposed to end the 22nd? Colton said people are freakin out in Argentina because a lot of people really believe it down there.
             I saw a big lizard this week that was orange with a blue head! It was at one of our investigators house. He wasn't even scared of it.  I asked him what it was and he just said “salamander” but I think he might need glasses. Super weird - people aren't scared of those things but are deathly scared of Chameleons. 
      Last night we didn't have energy (power) till like 3 o’clock in the morning. It's super funny when energy goes out here because when it comes back on you can hear everyone cheering. This week should be pretty interesting and full of contacts trying to find new families.
        Thanks for the package and all the emails! Hope everyone has a great week!
                                                                   Elder Bigelow

December 10, 2012 - Inhamizua

    Well This week went pretty well. A lot of stuff happened. I got kicked out of my old house on Tuesday morning and took a taxi to my next house which is really close to the Manga chapel. My old house is way nicer but I have had awesome luck with houses so I can't complain. We went out to Inhamizua and started working Tuesday afternoon. It's about a 30 minute chapa ride each way so we usually leave earlier and get back a little earlier so that we don't miss the last chapa to get back that leaves at about 20. Tuesday night we had no power all night and it was super hot. We are getting into the rainy season and it's pretty crazy.  
        So President and Sister Kretley came up Friday and we had a huge Christmas party with us and the Beira Zones. We had an awesome training that helped me a ton, ate a ton of good food, had like a talent show thing and I got your package!  Yesterday I got to have an interview with president which was way nice. 
      Inhamizua has been a branch for a long time and has a ton of inactives. We are trying to really find some new families to teach and baptize. That one guy Elder Largent and I talked to back in October never really went anywhere. Yesterday it rained a ton!! We had to where rain boots to church. Manga was practically all underwater but when it rains usually a lot of people don't show up to church. We started Sacrament meeting with 5 people and that may or may not have been including me and Elder Hoffman. But by the end we had about 25. Usually the attendance is about 70ish I think. Our branch meeting is only two hours long, which is weird, but I'm excited to be working with Elder Hoffman out there. He is a way cool guy. I spoke in church yesterday - the 1st time since Luaha when I had a Macua translator. I got asked Saturday night and I talked about the Plan of Salvation and focused on the Atonement. I just felt like I was teaching a lesson. My comp ended up speaking too because our speakers didn't come.
    By the way, I only opened a few presents from your package - like Buffalo sauce!! way nice and the photo album because I knew what they were  - I didn't want to have to buy sauce this week. 
     Elder Ostler is still walking in our old area and a branch missionary, Isaias, walks with him every day. He is the Manga branch mission leader and a way cool kid - I have a lot of respect for him. Mozambique has the coolest jovems (youth) ever. This place is really going to take off when they are older because their generation is not so rooted in a bunch of false traditions and a lot are going to serve missions and come back and help the church here a lot. I really think I will be here when the first stake gets organized! Super excited.
       I don't know if you guys know the Kretley's blog and I don't know what it is but you should try to find it it's way nice. The Beirra Zone last transfer had an idea for group weddings and baptisms and each dupla helped a couple get ready and they had 8 couples all get married on a Friday, baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday!! Coolest idea ever and they are going to start doing these every month or every other month here.
                  Scripture of the week - my new favorite - John 16:33
           Elder Bigelow

December 3, 2012 - Manga

Dec. 3, 2012

Dear Family,

           Well another 1-transfer area. I'm way sad. I thought for sure there was no way I was leaving and I'm going to the one area I never would have guessed to go and thought for sure nobody was even moving there. But I prayed to be happy with whatever happened at transfers and  I'm just going to make the best out of it.  I need to start taking pics with everyone in my 1st transfer in an area because I don't have very many pics with people again but I will try to get some before I leave - probably tomorrow. I'm going to Inhamizua which is in between Manga and Dondo but my house is in Manga still. I will switch houses but they are not too far apart. There are only two missionaries out there and one is Branch President.. We have to take chapas out there everyday! I'm going to kill my new comp, Elder Hoffman, (don’t worry - it just means that this is his last transfer before he goes home.)  That means next transfer another comp. I have never been with a comp. for more than one transfer. Elder Ostler, my comp right now will not even get a companion. There is not enough missionaries and I don't think I was expected to move until like just barely. I think he is just walking with ward missionaries in our area.

This week our baptism went great. Maria has a way strong testimony and a lot of friends in the church. I will send pictures.

         Well it's going to be a way crazy week but I'm excited. President is coming for zone conference Friday and today all the missionaries are going to the beach to bask before everyone gets transferred. I already have as many areas as a lot of people have their whole mission now and I'm only in my 5th transfer! I have come to expect the unexpected and just go with whatever happens. I have to learn my next area quick because I should show it next transfer.  I will tell you all about Inhamizua next week but I have already walked in that area before and seen their chapel and stuff.  It was a while ago when I was still in Nampula and we were down here for that conference - I think I already wrote home about it. Thanks for all your letters.

                                      Love you guys,

                                                         Elder Bigelow

November 26, 2012 - Manga

Hey Everybody,

Nice - that's way cool Holden is going to the Philipines! Is he speaking English or Tagalic? My companion’s brother just got home from serving there this week.

This week was pretty interesting. We went on 2 divisions which were nice and found some new families to teach that actually came to church. This Saturday we are baptizing a girl, 27, named Maria who is way cool. She has a strong testimony and I'm excited for her. Transfers are in a week and my comp will probably leave and I'll show my area to a new companion. The power has been on and off for the past couple of days and it's super hot here! It's super weird having summer in December. AC is my best friend - we love chillin together! Last night we didn't have energy all night. A crazy storm came through and it rained super hard and a ton of lightning and wind. Our roof was leaking like crazy and our front room got a ton of water in it! So we had to stay up and try to get all the water out but we got it all and it should be good now. Sometimes having no carpet is blessing. Thanksgiving we did divisions and so we didn't really have time for a big lunch and we were going to make Thanksgiving pancakes that night but we had no power.        This next moth is going to be crazy - I'm way excited. Zone conference with president on the 8th and then Christmas and New Years!  I can't believe how fast time goes when you are serving a mission! It's pretty crazy. 

What else happened? I found a cool coin from Malawi and we found an awesome couple married in the register that we are meeting with tomorrow. Me and Elder Barros were in his area teaching this guy the restoration on Wednesday and we explain the restoration and during the whole thing it seems like a normal lesson. Then when we were almost done we asked him if he understood this one part and all of a sudden he starts going into detail about stuff we didn't even mention! So we look at each other and look at him and Barros says “ You’re a member aren't you?”  He was and he has the Melchezidek Priesthood but has been inactive for years. So we talked to him about what happened and Barros is trying to help him! The guy had photos of our mission secretary, Tualufu, when he served and a bunch of people I knew in Dondo and some members here when they served. It was crazy! Yeah, I learned a lot this week from walking with other missionaries and it was way fun.

We took a train into Beira or the main part today. It was pretty cool and actually cheaper than a chapa. But  thanks for all the letters - everything is going great!

                                                                                         Elder Bigelow

November 19, 2012 - Manga

This Week in Africa:

            We had a big district conference (like Stake Conference) with all of Beira this weekend. It was good and Sunday we had like a video broadcast for the whole South Africa area where Elder Christopherson and President Monson talked. It was way nice but we only had one investigator at church because it takes 2 chapas just to get there from Manga.

          Things are going good. We are looking for a ton of new people and had to drop a few this week because they weren't reading or coming to church. We went on 2 divisions this week. For one division I showed my area to Elder Gomes from Cape Verde and for one I walked in another area. We have 2 more divisions this week. It was way nice to see all the other missionaries at the conference and we even saw some of the members from Dondo. As far as crazy stories we had a drunk guy totally wreck a lesson yesterday and Tuesday we were walking with a ward missionary doing contacts and this someone came up from behind us and started hanging on us in the middle, right? and I thought it was Isaias the ward missionary so I was like ‘what the heck’ and turn to say something and it was a super drunk old lady! So we move and she just kept following us around so we ended up having to run away from her and she chased us for a little ways.

     Maria should be baptized December first which is exciting. She has a strong testimony. And Francisco should be able to get married this month or the beginning of next month.

        I'm getting a haircut today and I'm super scared. You are a lot better at cutting hair than the people here, Mom. I think it was yesterday we took a chapa and the guy who takes all your money and opens and closes the door (they have a name here but it's in Portuguese) but anyway he was only like 13 and it was way funny - he was trying to get everyone to pay but nobody took him serious. But he was way good at his job and just the way he said stuff was funny. He was already pro.

       I have no idea what we are going to do for thanksgiving but last night we had a ton of cake and stuff because it was one of the elders birthday. And we had pineapple Fanta which is way good in a bottle. 1st time I have seen it in a bottle but I don't even think that it exists in the States. Have you guys heard where Holden is going yet? That would be crazy if he ended up coming here! I will talk to you guys more next week.

                                Elder Bigelow

November 12, 2012 - Manga

Dear Family,

          This week was disappointing.  We had some good lessons with people and found some cool new families, but nobody new came to church. We left early to pick people up and still nobody came. It's so hard to get people to make church a priority.  Any little thing comes up and they won't come. We are really looking for better ways to help people come. I know once they come they will feel the difference and feel the spirit. Our church is one of the only ones here that doesn't dance, play rock music or cast out bad spirits.

        I'm learning on the mission though to not get discouraged or worry about things out of our control. You just have to worry about yourself and what you can do while looking for the joy in journey.

          We have 1 progressing family who are way awesome and Maria, a girl who is about 27, we are going to baptize on the 1st. And a really cool guy named Francisco who is super close to getting married. I'm way excited for them. Yesterday in church we watched the priesthood session of conference which was way nice.

         I'm going to go home and be a pitcher because I'm getting way good at hitting down mangas with other mangas because I'm learning from the best manga throwers in the world. I probably ate like 20 mangas this week. The transfer is already half over which is crazy! I'm going to have so many crazy contacting stories by the end of my mission. I need to start writing them down everyday in my journal.

         We have a way nice branch and I love the members. They are helping a ton and all of them are super excited about missionary work - it's awesome. This month we should have a couple of marriages. And in December, too, but we will see what happens. We spend a ton of time trying to help people see the importance of marriage and help them and I think I'm going to actually see some happen in the next couple of transfers.

         I heard Holden turned in his papers! You guys will have to let me know where he is going - that's awesome. And pretty soon it will be David and Hayden's turn.  Keep me updated on Round Valley mission calls and tell David to get the heck better!  I can't believe Conrad is already 5 way crazy and Rans and Katie will have another boy when I get home! They should name him Tualufo. Just kiddin but it's funny to hear all the crazy names here. Either they are way common like Joao or super crazy. We met a couple who named their little boy Pinkie yesterday! Or some people just have some random English word for a name. 

            Tender mercies are everywhere even though sometimes they may be hard to find but you just have to be looking. I'm so grateful for this Gospel and for the Plan Heavenly Father has created for us!

                                                    Elder Bigelow

November 5, 2012 - Manga

This week we brought a white guy to church. It was one of those old guys who's parents are from Greece.  I don't think he liked church very much. He reminded a lot of Grampa though, it was funny. At church I actually just got to go and sit through the lessons - I didn't have to go to primary or anything.  We had quite a few investigators at church but we don't have very many progressing. We are trying to get 4 couples married this month. We told them if they get married we will make the cakes for the party.

      Last night for P-day Eve we made mango pancakes with pineapple syrup! It was nice! There are so many mangos here and fruit I have never even heard of.  Last week we went to a family night with a bunch of members and it way fun. So we played a game where you take a Fanta bottle and you stack matches on the top and you go around the circle taking turns and the goal is to get rid of all your matches but if you make any fall you have to keep them. This week there seemed to be a ton of drunk people. I think Wednesday might have been a holiday because people were drinking like it was New Years.

       Contacts aren't very fun but we always meet new people and have some funny stories. We had some pretty funny lessons too.

       Mom, things I need in my package are floss picks and what I asked you last week are the only things I can think of. We were actually listening to Michael McLean on my comps iPod this week and I told him you know him!  I’m glad you and Anne and Emily had fun at that conference. [Time Out for Women]

       Manga is good.  I'm still super lost in my area but I have time to learn it. It's crazy to think back home everyone has a car and just go places whenever they want like exactly to the place! It's weird to think I had a car. Whenever we see houses with cars we contact them. Getting chapas from Manga to Beira is always crazy because there are about 100 people always trying to get on 1 chapa.

     Things are going good and I'm learning a lot. I can't believe it's already November! But the days fly by here. I think today we are going to go eat at an Indian restaurant! They make good food. It seems like every single big nice house here is owned by Muslims. It's disappointing when you are contacting. Well sorry this e mail is kinda random and short but I still have to write President so thanks for the emails.

 

                                                            Elder Bigelow

October 29, 2012 - Manga

Hey,

    Manga is in between Dondo and Beira so it was only like 30 40 minute drive. Well there are a lot of mangos and we have banana trees in our backyard! Way nice. There are 6 of us in our house and so that's way nice. We live in the same house as the zone leaders. This week was pretty fun. I left Tuesday and when I got here my comp, Elder Ostler was sick. He is a way cool guy - he is from Orem. But Wednesday we went out and did a bunch of contacts and it was a crazy day. We passed this house and Elder Ostler is all "Hey wait! I think we should knock that door for some reason!" So we did and the guy has the Melchizedek Priesthood but hasn't been to church in ten years! So we invited him back. And then we were contacting this lady sitting on her front porch and this car pulls up and like ten white ladies pile out (which is super weird by itself). They had come to talk to the lady we were contacting. They were her family from Portugal. But they all went inside except this one old lady who wanted to talk to us and was asking us a bunch of questions about the church. She was born here and her Mom still lives here but when the Portuguese got kicked out she went to California so she spoke English. Her mom is 102 years old! She was a super nice lady but she was telling us one of her sisters is Assembly de Deus, one is a nun, and one is Jehovah Witness. We taught her the restoration and got her contact info for Elders in California!! Now we just have to figure out how to get it there. When we left we didn't have any pamphlets so we gave her a 'Strength for Youth' even though she is like 80 and told her it still applies - it was pretty funny.

           Thursday we did divisions with the zone leaders and so I walked in the other area which was pretty cool. We watched conference again Saturday and Sunday because they didn't have power here last weekend. Oh and the Same day we found that one inactive member, we found another one while we were knocking houses and invited him to conference and he actually came!  I'm in the Manga 1st Branch and it is way nice! We have a real chapel and an awesome Branch President and members. It's super nice. We taught some white guys from Greece last night. They were super funny guys. They reminded me of the movie 'Grumpy Old Men' because they just argued a ton but they were brothers. It's super weird to talk to white people now but they only spoke Portuguese because they grew up here. There is one member in our area who was baptized just before I got here who is paralyzed on the whole right side of his body but he is a beast! He shares the gospel with everyone and has already introduced us to like 5 families. He invited this guy from South Africa who only spoke English To conference. I don't even know how he invited him because he doesn't even speak English. But he came and my comp had to translate for him but the guy fell asleep during conference - it was super funny.

              I'm pretty sad my area in Dondo is gone now. There are only 2 missionaries for all of Dondo and me and my comp both left. But I hope everything is going well for them up there. It's just not growing fast enough so President put more missionaries in other places that need it more. Yeah, I think Manga might actually be part of Beirra but I'm not sure. But I like it a lot here and I'm super excited for this transfer! 

            Hey have you sent a package yet? if you haven't I need blades for my Gillete razor and zebra pens. If you already have or don't want to it's cool. I don't really need them but those are things that are super hard to find if they even do exist here. I will try to put pics up on that site right now but no promises. 

          I can't believe it's already almost November! The mission is flying by and I am already in my 3rd area! Most people don't get to their 3rd area until like there 7th or 8th transfer! I am going to get to see all of Mozambique! I really want to get to serve in Maputo once before I leave though. It sounds so much different - like they have bowling and a shopping mall with an escalator that works - haha. Sounds nice but I'm liking the jungle. My area is super confusing. There are like 2 main roads and then just paths. But I'll learn it. The thing is it's a new area so even my comp hasn't explored it all. So we are just going to go explore contacting a lot this transfer.   

          Other stuff: Quelimane finally became an actual branch this week and not just a group anymore. I made hootenanies this week - way nice - but the 1st time I didn't put any milk so it was like cardboard. We have a family we are trying to help get married this month and baptize who are doing really well so that's exciting. And it's super super hot. Hey is Holden putting in his papers now? You got to tell me what's going on with other people and missions. But thanks for the emails

                                               

                                                                              Elder Bigelow

Here are a few pictures. They actually go with the entry from a few weeks ago when we went to the "zoo."

October 22, 2012 - My last week in Dondo

Dear Family, 
          
       One transfer area, Dondo, is going down to two missionaries! So three of us here are leaving and only Elder Leite will stay and get a new comp. I can't believe it! I don't have pictures with anyone and won't have much time to say goodbye, if any.  Dondo has been a great learning experience for me and there are so many things I regret and wish I would have done different, but all I can do now is learn and move on to my next area and try to be better. I am going to Manga, which means mango, it's like 15 minutes out of Berra the other direction, I think. They have a chapel! A real chapel and a lot more members. My house will have 6 people which I am super excited for. My companion will be Elder Ostler who is American. This transfer was hard but I learned so much from my comp. No matter what he was always happy and smiling! Even when I would be super frustrated and discouraged. I feel like I was pretty rude to him sometimes and I feel super bad but he was always a great example and I have told him that a lot. I am so grateful for him. This transfer I honestly learned that just as important as what we do is who we are. 
       This transfer was hard for me and I feel like at times I would just get discouraged and frustrated and wasn't  the most charitable missionary. That is one thing I have been working super hard on these last two weeks but still have a long ways to go. We can't control other people. The only real control we have is self control. The mission is more than a lifetime full of ups and downs packed into only two years.
        We got to listen to conference as a branch!! Super exciting! But I haven't seen all of them in English yet. I watched the priesthood session in English and am truly so grateful for a living prophet, Thomas S. Monson.  I loved the talks and know some of them were just for me!
       This transfer I learned so much from Elder Gergitz and all the advice he has given me. The mission is super tough but when you just step back from all the frustrating little details you remember what a blessing and a privilege it is. It's so crazy how fast time flies and life keeps just marching on. In two days I will be living in a new house and probably never see Dondo or these people again. A chapter in my life already written. Sometimes for me this kind of stuff is super hard to accept but then I just think of the chapter of my life I get to go write in Manga now.  I have learned my lesson now to take pictures as soon as you get into an area. I really don't have any with the people in Dondo and leaving this transfer is the last thing I expected. I thought I had more time here. I'm going to miss this place and I wish I wouldn't have let the small things get to me as much as they did here. This is a lesson I will try to live the rest of my life. Don't let small insignificant things bother you because in the big picture they don't matter - but how you react to them does. How you treat others matters no matter the situation it does matter.
        I have to leave the best house in the mission so my next house will probably seem super crappy.  But learning a new area and getting to know new people is always fun.  And I will soon forget about all the small things in Dondo. I'll only remember the good and have a whole new set of things to worry about. 
       Well I love you guys and pray for you every day!
                                                                         Elder Bigelow

October 15, 2012 - Dondo

Dear Everyone,
             This week. I don't even know what to say about this week! Only in Mozambique. 1st story: last week on the chapa back to Dondo we broke down in the middle of nowhere and had to wait like an hour for another chapa to come and all my frozen food I bought in Berra melted. Maybe it's not a good idea to buy frozen stuff - one time I bought frozen pot pies and they melted and leaked all over the chapa and the lady sitting next to me - I felt pretty bad.
             2nd story:  There is an old guy who lives right behind us who is like our guard. So we lock our gates and stuff every night. Well Wednesday morning we go out to work out and Elder Gergitz is like "Bro! Someone stole my shoes!" and I didn't really believe him and then my comp comes out and he is like "Hey someone stole my towel!" and then Elder Leite comes out to do laundry and he was all "Hey someone stole the soap!" I was just super happy nothing of mine got stolen, right? Until I needed my Sunday shoes. (My black ones had holes in them so I gave them away and had been wearing that super nice brown pair) but they got jacked!! So me and Elder Gergitz had to come into Berra to buy shoes! But this isn't even the crazy part - so you don't buy shoes in stores here right - people just sell them on the side of the road. I don't even know if you can buy shoes in boxes here, you just look at these markets until you find some you like that aren't too worn out. But there are places by our house that have a bunch of crappy ones so we went to check if the person who stole them sold them to this place - but they weren't there. But get this - today we went to this huge market in Berra to buy shoes for Elder Gergitz and he has this pair picked out and then he looks up and he is like "Hey what the heck?" and his pair that got stolen in Dondo Are hanging right in front of him! So we asked the guy where he got them and he said some kid had just sold them to him. haha. What are the chances of that! So Elder G bought his own shoes back for 200 metacais. He was pretty mad, but I was just laughing the whole time.
       3rd story: Today we went and saw alligators and monkeys and turtles and anacondas. Super cool. So some missionaries in Berra payed a chapa driver to bring them out to Dondo and pick us up and then take us to this ''animal reserve'' right? But it's like 30 minutes from Dondo in the middle of nowhere. Seriously we took the chapa on  

4-wheeler trails trying to find this place! So in the middle of nowhere all of a sudden this park pops out that is super run down and just the owner is there. So he let us walk around and see all the animals in cages. It was kind of like Uncle Shea's zoo up Big Lake Road. The guy let us hold the turtles and he was poking the alligators and making them snap and we fed the monkeys. It was nice and I took a lot of pics. It didn't even cost anything. We are probably the only people to go out there in like weeks haha!
       4th story: It rained super hard yesterday. Like poured and so we had only about 20 people at church. So we just all stayed in the same room the whole time and did lessons together. We had helped a member who lives way out in a place called Macharote prepare a talk for like 2 hours for church Sunday and she didn't even come.   We told one of our investigators we would come and walk with him to church because we have had a hard time getting people to come but it was pouring. But we decided to go anyway and hoped he would still come and he was sitting there waiting for us and was our only investigator to come to church yesterday! But he loved it. All the kids just went crazy and started just swimming in the puddles and taking showers in the water running off their tin roofs. It was pretty funny.
       We don't have too many investigators right now but we met with a guy for the second time yesterday that I'm pretty excited for. And Saturday and Sunday our branch is watching conference !!!!!!! So we have been inviting the whole world to come watch and see "the Prophet of God on the earth today" hoping that maybe a few will actually show up.
       We went to an old lighthouse in Berra today too, and we payed the guard ten metacais each and he let us climb to the top which was super fun.
       Transfers are next week and I am super ready for change. I love my comp. but feel like I plan and I don't feel like I know what I am doing exactly. It's super hard to manage all these contacts and decide who to keep visiting and who will just waste our time and when. And help all our members and things. So I hope I get somebody who has been here for a while. It's a lot of pressure. 

      Mangos are super good right now. 

      Oh, and a witch doctor from Zimbabwe moved into my and Elder Lopes' area! I saw a sign this week - so If I get sick or get some kind of curse or anything I know where to go! He is from Zimbabwe so what could go wrong?
         Tanner really proposed to Keeley? What? Dude we are like 19!
         This mission is crazy man. I don't even know my mission president. I have met with him once and seen him one other time. Our mission is like Maputo and then the rest of the mission. If you're not in Maputo, you feel very isolated. The church is crazy but Someday we will have a temple I bet. In the MTC, Elder Leake and I met one of the first missionaries in Brazil. He was super old but now look at Brazil and how many members they have now.
          David man you are going to go to Angola. That would be nuts!
                           Love you guys,
                                                         Elder Bigelow

October 8, 2012 - Dondo

Hey!
     Man, Dondo is a crazy place. Doing 35 contacts every week trying to find people. That one family we found that wants to get married came to church Sunday! Nice. A lot of people that I really thought would come didn't and we got some pretty funny texts of excuses like ''Hello Irmao (brother) Elders I can't come to church today sorry my pastor told me I can't have 2 churches.'' But things are getting better here - if else nothing my attitude haha. I think we will find more people though. We have started teaching a guy who's wife died and we taught him the plan of salvation. He seems pretty interested. The number of baptism here in Mozambique are going up because of all these contacts.
    Oh I forgot the best news of all! Last week we found a Muslim store in Berra that sells Mountain Dew and Pepsi and Nutella! Maybe I already told you about the Nutella, but dang - super cool!!
    I can't believe they changed the ages of missions to 18 and 19 - that is super cool. I think in Brazil and stuff they had already changed it because we have a Brazilian here right now who is only 18. The world definitely needs more missionaries. David, get ready man! 2 years! Your mission just got a lot closer. Temple in Tuscon - that's way cool. 

    Wednesday was a holiday here which is always crazy. Dia de Paz  or Day of Peace but everybody just got wasted. They had a parade in front of our house. There were a ton of drunk guys trying to fight right outside our house on the street, but they were super drunk. They just took off their shirts and tried to act all tough but they couldn't even see straight enough to hit each other - haha.  Contacting that day was pretty tough but we got our goal of 5!

    Last week we played indoor soccer with a bunch of the other missionaries - super fun - and today we are going to play basketball.
    Things are going well here. It's super hot and we have a pool so that is always a huge temptation. But I haven't given in yet. I just go read the scriptures.
    Can you send me some more recipes please? Simple things. I am tired of eating the same things every week. Maybe banana bread, super good pancakes, yeah - maybe banana pancakes! Hootinnannies, fajitas , and other delicious super fantastic food that is easy to make! 

    And I have a random question - is there a place called Pine Knoll close to where we live? I saw some guy with a Pine Knoll shirt and it sounds super familiar.  I am waiting for the day when I see somebody with an ASU or Round Valley shirt here - I am going to see one - I know it.
                     Thanks for all your letters.  Hope everything is going good. Tell grandma hi for me and tell me more about conference please. I don't know If we will get to watch it.

                                         Love you guys,
                                                                   Elder Bigelow

October 1, 2012 - Dondo

Hello America,
     We did a ton of contacts this week! Pretty crazy. Just talked to
everyone. But Dondo has a ton of churches! A lot of Catholics and
Jehovah Witnesses. Just trying to find people that are really willing

to act on our message. Thursday we had 3 lessons fall through so
we were just doing contact after contact and nobody really seemed too
interested. So I was thinking to myself 'what the heck nobody is
ready for our message' but, seriously, the very next house we call
"Licensa!" which is like "excuse me" because you never knock on doors you just
stand outside their yard and call , but this lady comes out and so we
ask if her husband is there and she invites us in (we never go in
people's houses - everyone just has lawn-chairs and we probably have 99%
of our lessons outside). So her husband comes and we share a brief
part of the restoration and ask for their number, gave them a pamphlet
and they promised to read it and so we told them we would call them
and set up a later day to meet again. She just looked straight at me
and said "We are ready for your message!" So we went back the next day
and the whole family was outside waiting for us and excited to learn
and we taught the restoration! Super cool - usually people will give you
their number but they are super surprised and annoyed if you
actually call them and don't really want to meet. This family didn't
come to church but we are definitely going back tomorrow.Super
excited about them!
     So crazy that General Conference is this weekend! I went to the
last one right before I left! Six months - I can't believe it! This week
we made some good goals and so we will see what happens. Hopefully we
can get some of our lessons we have to actually come to church. I am
learning so much here, though. Our contacts are getting way better. We
just go straight into the restoration so people don't think we are
just like any other church. We explain about prophets and priesthood.
So we see a little better who is actually interested, but it's still
hard to tell sometimes. People have such a different way of thinking
about God and gospel things here. Because everyone just starts
churches to get money! Honestly you will walk in the middle of nowhere
and there will be a hut with a paper hanging on the front it
that says something like: "Evangelical Christian Mission Fire Baptist Church of
the 13 Apostles." What? Haha! It's cool to ask the question to people "do
you ever wonder why there are so many different churches? Because we
can help you with that."
     My Portuguese is improving - just not super fast. Elder Lopes is
helping me a lot with my language and teaching and when I don't know a
word in Portuguese I have to try to explain it in Portuguese. We are
only going to teach seminary once a day from now on so we have more
proselyting time. This place really needs it and maybe we can find and
teach a guy who can teach seminary for us! I am learning a lot about
the Old Testamant by teaching it, though.
     I know that we really do have the priesthood on the earth and
that Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God. Thomas S. Monson is a
prophet today. Our message really is special and really can and will
change lives of those who accept it!
     What else happened this week? Primary yesterday was nuts. It
was just me and this lady. So she looks at me and says "Elder, help! I
didn't prepare a lesson." Flip? What do I do? The kids were just going
crazy, so I had them teach me Head Shoulders Knees and Toes in
Portuguese and then I taught everyone in English. It was pretty funny.
     We saw a monkey yesterday but it was just a pet and nobody was
there so we couldn't go play with it. But the other elders had an
investigator with a monkey and they would play with it but one time it
stole 5 meticais and tried to eat it!! Meticais are bigger than
quarters and they thought they killed it because it was choking but it
finally coughed it up.
     This place is so crazy. It's nuts to see the differences. I know
going back to the US is going to be as big or a bigger culture shock than coming
here! Electricity is crazy here - it goes in and out all the time! And we
don't have water when the power goes out so you always have to keep your
water bottles full. It has been super hot and humid here lately. It's
ridiculous! It's like Phoenix but humid.
     That's awesome Kariah and Dustin got sealed! We are helping Lyno, who is one of
our priesthood holders here, to prepare to go to the temple. Super
excited for him and his wife. They have to go to South Africa. We are
so blessed to have temples close in the United States. It is not an
easy thing for people here and not a lot of members have been.
     So I have been reading Alma in English and Mosiah in Portuguese
this week. Alma is such an amazing book. I have a book for classes
that helps explain more and has quotes and talks by apostles and
things in it and that helps a ton.

       My favorite scripture to share with people though is 2nd Nephi 26:24-28

     "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him.  Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.

     "Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying; Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.

     "Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.

     "Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.

     "Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden."

      I found Nutella this week! and ate a hamburger a couple of weeks
ago! Pretty exciting. There are Muslim stores here in Berra that have a
lot of American stuff.
     So who else is leaving from Round Valley to go on missions?
Colton's brother Kelton is getting his call probably this week if he
doesn't already have it. I want someone else to come here with me.
Well the computers are super slow but maybe I will try to send more pics.
I got some good ones! Like lions tigers elephants giraffes alligators -
haha -  but I really do have some of monkeys and a chameleon so almost
as good!
    Thanks for all the letters and prayers.
Ate proximo semana

Elder Bigelow

September 24, 2012 - Dondo

Bom Dia,

        This whole week was just crazy! We taught a bunch of first lessons to people and I thought they went well but only one came to church. We have no solid investigators at all right now so it is pretty hard. We had one guy pass the baptisimal interview and we were going to give him a date for baptism for Saturday or in two weeks but we went there yesterday and he said he won't commit because he wants to live with his girlfriend before they marry in the register. Africa has so many false traditions! Their culture is so different. To find people married in the register is pretty much impossible and even when we do they are usually only married in the register because they are super strong in another church. People just marry traditionally. It's not even that hard to marry in the register first but nobody is willing to do it.

     My Portuguese is still not very good and it makes it harder.  It makes communicating with my comp super hard, too.
     This is going to be a hard transfer. I feel like I am going to have to step up and lead and I don't really know how to be a missionary or plan. Preach My Gospel is going to be my best friend. We teach seminary twice a day which takes up a ton of good proselyting time. We have just been going to the rich parts of town and by rich I mean actual houses and some actually have cars. It is pretty crazy - the nice houses here would be crappy back home. But the people who actually have alright houses are the ones who are most likely educated and possibly married or have the money to get married. 
    A huge problem with the church in Dondo is that we honestly have no leaders. People in the past have just taught and baptized a ton of youth and not a lot of families. like our church attendance yesterday was 70 but well over half were youth or little kids. Nampula was a lot bigger than Dondo and actually I think a lot poorer. Nampula had a small city city and then a lot of poor poor outskirt areas. Dondo actually has some alright houses and it's not as crowded. Small town. A lot of the people we pass on the street we have already talked to or say they have already talked to missionaries.
      Earlier this week we contacted a lady who really wanted to hear our message so we marked a time to come back when her husband was there but we went back and he hated us! Totally just went off! But luckily I have to really pay attention to what people are saying to understand so I just tuned out and couldn't understand a lot of what he said! But he kicked us out of their house. We tried to explain our message but it was crazy. People here are usually way nice. The hard part is finding people who are actually going to do something because everyone says they will and will listen to you. I think that is the hardest part - sorting through and finding people who really want it and will progress and not wasting time with people who just want to listen and not do anything. This mission is so much different than missions where the church is strong. Like in the States you would love to baptize youth or spend a lot of time helping people but here we are trying to look for the elect that can be leaders because that is how we can help everyone else by helping the church grow so it can help youth and others in the future. Wait - I said in the states missionaries would love to help people like that's not what we do here. That is not what I meant - what I meant is we are really looking for the elect who are ready. Trying to find leaders who are really going to benefit the church right now so that the church can strengthen.
      Joseph in Nampula got baptized Saturday!! Super happy about that. Right now we are in Beira. We come down here on P-days to use computers and stuff. We are going to play ping pong with other missionaries in the Beira chapel today which will be super fun.  We just walk everywhere in Dondo because they don't have chapas. 
        That's cool Dad and Ransom made houses. I hope they work out for them to sell. That is crazy Laci is getting married. Ask if she knows an Elder Martinez from the Valley because she said she knew someone here and it might be him.
         Thanks for that quote last week from President Hinckley:

"Rise to the great potential within you.

  I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity.

  I hope you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve.

  I hope you will simply do what you can do, in the best way you know how.

  If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass."

  I'm just going to try my hardest the best I know how to help this area.
         Tell Dad to take advantage of his proselyting area because people there are usually married, he speaks the language and they will actually tell you if they are interested or not and not just always say yes! haha. And he has a ward and leaders to help him!
        Tell everyone hi for me! I will write you guys next week with any crazy stories I have. The other area baptized a really cool guy named Paulo and I think he will be able to help a lot.
         Oh I forgot to say we have mango and guava trees at our house!! Super nice!
                            I love you guys
                                                           Elder Bigelow

September 17, 2012 - Dondo

September 17, 2012

Bom Dia Famila,
          Tranfers were good! I left Thursday and flew through Tete and then down to Berra. It was hard to leave but I was super excited at the same time. An elder that just got here from the US took my spot in Nampula but I have not met him. I'm sad I didn't get to see Joseph baptized. He should get baptized this Saturday. The mission is a pretty crazy experience. You do a ton of work and see little success but the success you do see is amazing. For example, I was in Nampula for 12 weeks and saw 1 baptism in our area and he had already been being taught before I got there. But Joseph will be soon. We were in the finding stage most of the time and that is super hard. Everybody here says they will meet with you and come to church when you invite them but nobody means it. So frustrating. Everybody we contact says the exact same things. It's getting pretty old. Nobody says what they really think or mean - they just say what you want to hear. They think it's nicer to lie to your face and say they will do stuff and then not do it than tell you no.
       But I'm not sure if I told this story about Joseph so I will today. So he lived with some friends and worked at their hair salon right. But they were a bad influence on him and didn't want him to miss work to come to church or meet with us. But he did anyways because he really has a testimony. They ended up kicking him out of their house and firing him. Because he is a refugee he had nowhere to go and he can not legally work here in Mozambique. He came to us in tears and asked us to help him find a place to stay. We found a member who is letting him stay with them now. His faith is truly amazing. He sacrificed everything because he knows the gospel is true! But he has been blessed for it. So there is a refugee camp about an hour chapa ride from Nampula and he had an interview the next day to get papers to be legal here in Mozambique. We had been praying and he was praying that everything would go well and that he could pass his interview. Well he had no money for the chapa the night before and so he asked us for money - but as missionaries we can't give out money. I felt so bad but he said it was ok and he prayed for help getting enough money to go to his interview. The next morning he walked to the bus stop to catch a chapa with no money and some lady who used to go to the salon he worked at asked him what he was doing. He explained and she paid for his chapas there and back!!!  On top of that he said the guy who did the interviews came up to him and promised him he would pass and he did! So now he is just waiting to receive the actual papers.
      But Joseph always brings friends to church he says he wants to be a missionary so last Sunday he brought one of his friends, John, to church. He loved church and came up to us and told us he wanted to meet. So Tuesday we sat down with him and Joseph together. One of the best experiences of my mission by far! He is from Congo like Joseph and is probably 40 or 50 years old. He told us his whole family - his wife and kids - were all killed in the war in Congo. He was a pilot before he came here. Super sad and so he fled and has been living in Nampula as a refugee for about a year now. He can't legally work and just has a super tough life. So we taught him part of the plan of salvation and promised he could see his family again and shared some scriptures. He just started crying. The spirit was so strong and he looked at us and said he really believed that God has a plan for us and that someday he is going to preach the gospel. I have a picture with him.  I really hope everything works out for him. I wish I could have kept teaching him. But Elder Bradford will. Joseph bore strong testimony about how the gospel has helped him and it was a great lesson. Teaching people that truly want it is the best feeling in the world. but finding people like that does not happen very often. Finding people who are really going to act is hard but when you do it is all worth it!
       So Dondo is about an hour chapa ride from Berra. about 20 minutes past Inhamizua that I told you I went to with Elder Largent after the conference here in Berra. Pretty small and poor and jungly. I am excited though. Our house is HUGE - at least for Mozambique. It is like a mansion. By far the best house in Dondo. The chapel is the bottom floor and we live in the upstairs. We have a pool in our backyard for baptisms. Dondo is not even a branch it is just a group. There are about 60 coming to church every week but there are not many worthy Melchizedek priesthood holders that come every week and so we are really struggling with leadership. Most of the members are youth or inactive.  But we are determined to work hard and find potential leaders.
             We had 1 investigator at church Sunday! We have some work to do for sure haha!! My comp only speaks Portuguese so I am learning! He is always super happy - it is awesome! He and Elder Leite are both from Cape Verde and then there is Elder Gergitz from Utah. This is going to be a crazy transfer but hopefully we can turn our area around. 
            We teach seminary twice a day Tuesday through Friday. Elder Gergitz teaches Relief Society. Elder Lopes teaches gospel doctorine class and Elder Leite and I taught primary on Sunday.  For two hours! Super hard! I had no idea what to do and kids were crying and running everywhere. It was worse than Nampula. Pretty funny. They never take me serious because I don't speak good Portuguese.
              Friday I caught a Chameleon - it was legit! People here are deathly scared of them though.  It is the weirdest thing! It was tiny. It looked just like the one on Tangled but everyone was running away and telling me that if it bit me I would have to go to the hospital. 
            I took pics  but I will have to send them next week. 
            I stopped taking Larium and I feel so much better it's crazy.  I will just have take Doxy instead everyday but everything is good.

          Friday I came with Elder Gergitz to Berra for an internet conference about training with President Kretley. It was pretty cool.
          I am super excited to do my best in Dondo Thanks for all your letters.
                I love you guys,
                                  Elder Bigelow

September 10, 2012 - Nampula

I AM GETTING TRANSFERED TO DOM DO!
          I just barely found out!  Shoot - I am so excited and nervous! I really hope I showed my comp everything and everyone I knew here. Dom do is right outside of Beira but it is like a small jungle town. I hear there are monkeys everywhere. I don’t even know what to say or think right now, I’m so excited.  My new comp will be Elder Lopes - he looks native so I might be forced to really learn Portuguese the hard way - which is probably what I need. I’m kind of scared. If anything has come out of Nampula I have definitely learned a lot. I have just been a nervous wreck this week and I think the Larium is really messing with me. I am never going to take that stuff again. I bought a nice camera and have been trying to get pics with people and places but I wish I would have done a better job taking more. I will leave in 2 or 3 days. 
        We have had some good lessons. I am sad I will not see Joseph be baptized. But dang it will be nice to start over in a new area. I will just be hard to stop worrying about everything here.  Elder Bradford has been a great comp and really helped me a lot. Missionary work is crazy.  There is nothing better than the feeling after a good lesson but nothing worse than the feeling after a bad one.
       This week Elder Bradford was sick for 2 days so we didn't get a whole lot done. Next week I will be emailing you from Beirra probably.

         My companion will be Elder Lopes. He is native so I will be forced to speak a lot more Portuguese. I have loved Nampula and will try to take more pics before I leave. President called and said my job is to really help Elder Lopes and to be exactly obedient to Preach My Gospel.  I will miss these people. I  made a lot of mistakes here in Nampula but I have learned so much and really tried to work right and work hard.  Change is going to be exciting but hard. I know it is what the Lord wants so come what may and love it!
     Today we might buy some lion claw and I think I am going to leave some money here so the elders can have some people make a nativity set out of this sick wood. They have some amazing African sculptures here in Nampula and I thought you would love one, Mom.

     What is up with Anne and Wes?  I have not heard from them one time out here!

     Tell Dad and Ransom good luck. I hope everything goes well for them. I love all you guys and thanks for the emails!

Elder Bigelow