December 30, 2013 - Matola

Hey

    Well this week was awesome! I don't remember everything I talked about on the phone but we had zone conference Tuesday and had a training that seriously will help more for the rest of my life! It is super nice having the man over Franklin-Covey in Brazil as your mission president! I really want to take a ‘7 habits’ class in college. He always shows us videos and things from Franklin-Covey that I know businesses and other people pay bank to see!!

     So we had the training in the Matola chapel and ate a super nice lunch and afterwards we all went over to the mission office for a Christmas party where every district did skits. Some were way funny. We made a video that was super funny. I will have to bring it home with me. Our dinner was real Christmas dinner that the senior couples made.

     Well sorry I don’t have tons of time but I bought a nativity set today so I pulled out personal money, sorry, but I think you will like it a lot. Our area is going good. We have 2 families now working on documents and we found a sweet new family last night. They have 2 daughters: Chelsea and Psych! 
     Love ya guys! Thanks for the fry bread recipe.

Elder Bigelow

Zone Christmas Party

I took this from President Kretly's blog. It is the Maputo zone Christmas party. President and Sister Kretly are in the center. Ryan is toward the back on the left, the framed picture on the wall is touching his head. See him? We had a great talk on the phone with him this morning! He sounds great!   -Marian

December 23, 2013 - Matola

Merry Christmas!!!

     Well it really doesn’t feel much like Christmas when it is super hot, but Christmases on a mission are awesome! You are focused on your purpose and on Jesus Chrust all the time. I have never had a December go by so fast in my life and I probably never will again.

     This week was super nice. My new companion, Elder Jarvis, is awesome. We worked super hard and were able to find 3 new families to teach. We also helped Abreu get some of his other

documents for marriage. They want to get married and baptized February 8th. As a family they have already almost finished the entire Book of Mormon. They are already halfway through Mormon. And did I tell you one of their daughters is named Beyonce! Super nice. They are progressing super well. 

     Also this week we talked to Andre and Maria about baptizing their other son, Stenho. When we baptized them they wanted to wait for him to be baptized because he has to go out and live by himself at school in a super small town outside of Matola until he can transfer to a closer school. But he is only going to be gone for like a month in February so we are going to baptize him next week. This week we taught a law of chastity lesson to a couple who had a bunch of doubts and Andre and Maria came with us. One of the best lessons I have been in on my mission! Having members who have sacrificed, repented and changed bare their testimony invites the spirit so much into lessons and our recent converts love teaching so its a win win win situation.

   Yesterday we watched the first presidency Christmas devotional and after that all of us missionaries here in Matola and the Kretlys did a small Christmas presentation  with songs and narration for all the members. Tomorrow we have zone conference and I will call home Wednesday.

     Mom can you please send me the recipe for Navajo tacos? Thanks and also Saul and Kristi’s email address and can you guys forward me Holden’s letters. I still haven’t gotten any, 

    Thanks. Talk to you guys on Christmas!

 Elder Bigelow

December 16, 2013 - Matola

Hey guys !

   This week went well. We started teaching a guy with real dreads but he didn’t end up coming to church. But we will keep with him this week. Transfers went well: Elder Ebmeyer got transferred to Matola 2 and I got a new companion who is coming today from Magoanini, another area here in Maputo. He is in his 3rd transfer and is also from Provo. I am excited and really want to help our area take off. I am just staying as district leader again.

    This week we had a miracle happen! We have been working really hard trying to get Abreu's birth certificate but he needed a number on one of the documents he had lost to get it from the register in Maputo. So we went to like 4 places trying to look for this number or anywhere that would have some of his records and nobody was helping us. They all just kept sending us in circles it was always somebody else’s job. Finally we said a little prayer and were sent to an old guy in the criminal records department in Maputo. You have to know that all the files here are paper and by hand - no computers. Anyway, we paid him about 5 bucks and he went and found Abreu’s primary school records so we could find the number to get his birth certificate!!! It was super crazy. 

    As far as calling for Christmas goes, I can call on the 23rd or the 25th at whatever time is best for you guys. Just send me an email next week saying what time is best and I will call then.

   Elder Lake, my companion in the MTC, is the branch president now in Inhamizua and I talked to him this week. It sounds like inhamizua has changed so much. In January they are going to have 5 or 6 couples that are already members get married finally and become worthy. Most of them I knew when I was there. It made me super happy to hear about how well one of my old areas was growing!

   Thanks a ton for all the help with school stuff and don’t worry, I am staying focused! I get sad every time I think about how fast the mission is going by. This transfer seemed seriously like no time at all.

     Well tell everybody I love them and thank Gramma again for the eggnog she sent. Super good!

  Love ya all!

    Elder Bigelow

December 9, 2013 - Maputo

Hey well this week I have a little more time so I would send pics but my computer won't let me so It will have to wait till next week. The zoo was cool but the only things they had were crocodiles and monkeys. They used to have a hippo but I guess it died. But it only cost about 20 cents to get in so it was way worth it! We just bought live chickens on the side of the road and threw them in to the crocodiles. There aren’t really rules here like there are in the states.

    This week we found 2 new families that came to church and it was a good week! This week we are going to help Carla and Abreu get some marriage documents in Maputo. He got robbed and got all of his documents stolen.

      Andre is Uncle Donovan’s look-a-like here in Africa! Tell me if you think so. I will send pics of the wedding last weekend. 

    This weekend we are going to sing in a Christmas program the Kretlys are doing and next week is transfers! I have no idea what will happen. By the way, I think I am just going to call, not skype, on Christmas.

      That is awesome Dad doesn’t have to wear a cast.

        Tell everybody hi and thanks for looking into school for me. 

 Love ya guys!

 Elder Bigelow

December 2, 2013 - Matola

     Hey sorry this week is going to be super short. We are in Maputo and still have to run back to Matola. But the wedding and baptism of Andre and Maria and Jr. was awesome. Samuel and Maria were padrinhos (godparents) and Samuel baptized them !! How neat is that? Abreu and Carla are going good. We are going to help them with documents soon.

     We just got back from the Maputo zoo that only has monkeys and crocodiles but we fed them chickens and I got it all on film.

      Hey I super need your guy’s and Ransom’s help with UVU info. I do not want to go back to ASU and Elder Awbry just got done applying there so maybe we could room together. But I have no idea how to know prices or how to apply or transfer grades or anything and I don’t want to come home without at least an idea of my future life. Thanks love you guys tons

     Elder Bigelow

November 25, 2013 - Matola

Well this week has been pretty nice,

  Tuesday I got to go on divisions with Elder Williams who is the Matola zone leader. We were in the MTC together and so it was way fun. We had 3 full families at church and as a district we got ten families and our frequency at church was 190!! I think that is a new record for Matola! Super pumped! Our water situation still isn’t the best and washing clothes by hand is quite the experience but this week I will try to pay somebody else to try to fix it. President shut down our idea of getting a new house because our location now is like perfect.

     Ok, so let me tell you guys a super cool story about a family we are teaching right now, Carla and Abreu! So we will start off this story way back in the 90's when Carla lived in Zimbabwe and went to our church with some people in her family but was never baptized. So she is from Mozambique and comes back and hooks up with Abreu but was never able to find the church here. Then she moves in with her family to Taxlom, right next to Samuel and Maria. So she talks to Maria and finds out our church is here but doesn’t think her husband will accept. And then she left to visit family in South Africa for like 3 weeks. So get this - while she is gone, without saying anything about the church to her husband, Elder Mendes (who left last transfer) invites him to church when they cross on the road and he came. So we talk to him at church and sit with him that week - 1st lesson - accepts baptism!! And we left him a Book of Mormon. The second time we go back he is halfway through 1st Nephi and has talked to his boss about not working Sundays and we finish the restoration. Third lesson Carla is finally back from South Africa and blown away that her husband has already found the church and he is in 2nd Nephi with an answer that Joseph Smith was a prophet and they both just want to get married and baptized!! With Samuel and Maria with neighbors and friends!! Pretty legit! The Lord really does prepare people to hear our message! 

   Andre and Maria are finally getting married and baptized with their son, Jr., this weekend and they are super excited. Their interviews went super nice! They have really strong testimonies and are going to help us teach some lessons this week. If you guys want you can write them emails this week and I can translate or google translate or something. They are seriously an amazing family. I will send pics next week.

   Thursday we are all going out to eat pizza for Thanksgiving - at least everyone in our house.

    Hey, I got your package!! I almost cried when I got Gramma’s eggnog mix - give her a big hug for me! The letters were super nice!! And trust me, I will put all that candy and sauce mixes to good use! Sorry I couldn’t wait until Christmas but I don’t know what I would do without the socks that were in there. Thanks everyone!

    Well, tell everyone ‘hi’ for me!

    Love ya guys!

Elder Bigelow

November 18, 2013 - Matola

Hey guys,

  Hey can you please forward me Holden’s emails? I still have not read any of them.  And also I heard the Houstons are moving. Can you get me their email? And also I am not sure if we ever gave them back the Rosetta Stone language computer program I used before the mission. If it is still at our house can you give it back to them? I think Ransom might have borrowed it after me. Thanks.

   Well, I got Dad’s email and wrote him back. Hope everything goes well on his surgery and that is awesome he is getting Saul’s old truck!

  This week went well. We finally found some new families. The neighbors of Samuel and Maria are awesome. She has been in South Africa and is coming back today, but he has come to church twice and is reading in the Book of Mormon. Apparently she lived in Zimbabwe and got to know the church and has been looking for it here so we are really excited about them. Andre and Maria are finally getting married and baptized on the 30^th, next week.

   Tell Colton Edwards ‘hi’ for me. That is crazy he is already home. It’s good to hear that all the missionaries in the Philippines are doing fine. Who did Reagan marry?

   Tell David ‘hi’ for me. Does he have his own email? I want to write him his own letter so, if not, I will just send it to yours next week.

  We might get a new house! One that is pretty close to ours right now actually. But I have kinda gotten used to bucket showers and am learning how to hand wash clothes. It takes forever haha but all the people here do it like everyday. It's pretty much a part of their culture. It is pretty funny how they dry them. They just beat them against a giant rock. Maybe one day I will try to film it.

      Did you get that letter from President Kretly I sent about the dresses? What is the situation with that? We need a lot of big dresses because we have quite a few small ones but some of the women, like Maria, are kinda big here and she was sad none of the dresses we had fit her. But they are going to rent one.

 Well I might try to send some pics today so have a great week!

Elder Bigelow

This is a building in Maputo that was designed by the same guy who did the Eiffel Tower.

November 11, 2013 - Matola

Hey guys,

   This week has probably been the longest week of my life. 1st off all the new missionaries in our district got here and it is a little weird adjusting. We were all super tight in our last house and could joke around and stuff but now it’s a little different - but things are going good.

  Also, what started out as trying to fix a leaky shower head turned into us having no water for 3 days and taking showers with our neighbors hose sticking through our bathroom window! Our pump has tons of problems, but hopefully this week we can get it all fixed. Some guy came and fixed it enough to where we have water, but the pressure was sky high, so the 1st time I turned on the shower head it exploded -haha! Add it to my list of things to fix in our house this transfer.

   Elections are going on and so this week we are supposed to buy three weeks of food and water! Nothing is really happening though. Don’t worry. I have been learning karate every morning in case things get ugly and I should be a black belt soon!

    We found 2 awesome families. One is Samuel and Maria’s neighbors who are supercool. She gets back from South Africa this week. Samuel got the priesthood last week and is seriously a super-member who is helping us a ton. He has given us a bunch of references and is always inviting people to have family home evening with them at their house! President already has a calling picked out for him and we don’t even teach them - they just teach us!

    Also we found a couple, Lorenso and Acusena, who are cool. He came to church yesterday. I wrote about them last week. Our first lesson was crazy. I asked what she was looking for in a church and she goes ‘the answer to three questions: where did we come from? why are we here? and where are we going after we die?’ I couldn’t believe it. I had to make sure she didn’t already have a plan of salvation pamphlet! But we taught it and the restoration this week to them.

   Hey that is super crazy about the Philippines! Have you heard anything about Chantz? And Ransom wrote me about the Utah thing. That would be awesome. I really think I want to go to UVU.

   Don’t worry about my health, Mom. It’s always supernice.

 Well, love ya guys!

  Elder Bigelow

p.s.  I asked President Kretly about the wedding dresses, and this was his answer:

About the wedding dresses they can send without put any costs, just need to send and put as a used dresses. Because if they put a amount the value, we pay a lot of taxes here!
Thank you for being a great missionary!
Paulo Kretly
President
Mozambique (Angola) Maputo Mission

[President Kretly is Brazilian and his native language is Portuguese. You can really tell J]

November 4, 2013 - Matola (still)

    I am sure our mission could use those dresses for sure. [A sister in our ward here in Eagar wanted to know if she could donate some wedding dresses and temple dresses to the ‘wedding planners’ in Ryan’s mission] I will write President Kretley about it in my email this week. 

  Well transfers were pretty crazy. Me and Elder Ebmeyer are staying together for a third transfer!! 3 out of the 6 people in our house are leaving and our house is getting a new elder. I am district leader again. It should be a fun transfer but not at all what I was expecting. 

    Elder Lake, my companion in the MTC is going to be branch president in Inhamizua and Inhamizua has 4 missionaries now. They need a lot of help with leadership. Amisse, the guy me and Elder Awbry helped get married is the elders quorum president and is doing super awesome, I hear. But I found out today that Pasqua’s wife passed away. Super super sad. They are only like 35, but what a blessing they were able to get married and live the law of chastity before she passed away. I am going to call him today.

    We finally got a new family to come to church, Ragina and Sadiki, who are pretty cool and we had an awesome lesson last night. We sat with a couple who he had sat with the missionaries like 3 years ago and when we called him decided to let us come by but didn’t tell his wife. They both are without a fixed church, so I felt like I should ask them ‘what are you looking for in church?’ And she thought for a minute and she asks in exactly these words: 'Where did I come from? Why am I here? and Where am I going?'  We were just like blown away! So we ask if she has ever found an answer to any of these questions and she says no. So we pull out the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and have her read the intro and she almost started crying and says ‘These are the exact questions I have!’ So we taught about the Plan of Salvation and we are going back this week. It was super nice to have a lesson like that because sometimes I feel like we have been sitting with tons of new people but not having very many great lessons. But it really helped my faith that God is preparing people to hear our message. Andre and Maria will be baptized this transfer but we want to baptize at least one other family as well. 

    And please don’t remind me about how much time I have left! I hate thinking about it! It makes me super sad sometimes. Missionary work is super hard or frustrating but I don’t know how I am going to leave this place! I don’t even have the slightest idea of what I want to do or where I want to go when I get home. Well I love ya all  - thanks for the photos.

     Elder Bigelow

October 28, 2013 - Matola

                                   A week in the Life

   God works in mysterious ways.

   This week was pretty crazy! So I will start off with my and Elder Reed’s division Tuesday. So we are walking in his area and we have been walking all day without a lesson when we contact a guy at his house whose wife recently died, so we are thinking ‘plan of salvation.’ But ends up he just wants to argue everything we say and just goes off on us for 30 minutes. So we just smile and invite him to church thinking there is no way we will ever see him again. Well come Sunday this guy actually shows up as we are waiting for Andre and Maria to show up early for church (to get interviewed for baptism because their baptism and wedding is scheduled for Saturday). So Andre sits right next to this guy and they start talking and as soon as we are ready to do the interviews Andre says they want to push the wedding back to the 30th of next month so his whole family could come so they don’t get offended. So we are trying to ask him to just sign, get baptized, and have the party later. And the guy from the divisions just keeps talking to Andre telling him that he has to have his whole family, it’s tradition, don’t let these white guys pressure you. And I have never wanted to just punch somebody so bad. But it’s Andre’s decision, so at the end of things he decides to push everything back. So anyways President Kretley happens to be visiting our branch for the primary program and hears about all this. So at the end I talk with him and he asks to meet with all of Andre’s family right after church. So we hear them talking and laughing and everything and at the end President Kretley comes up to talk to us and says ‘don't worry about this family, they will be baptized and married.  Don’t pressure them and when they get baptized call me because I want to watch.’ Super nice!

      Then we have a family that had a baby who was born like 2 weeks ago and they invited us to a party for when the first time the baby comes out of the house and can stay outside so we decide to go. They kept asking us if our church does a special blessing when that happens and if we bless the baby and we said no. So we show up like 2 hours late on purpose because I knew they were going to try to get us to do some kind of blessing or something but we happen to show up right before the baby comes out. And there are like 20 thirty people. So this guy stands up and announces that the missionaries (us) would be doing some kind of special blessing on the baby and everyone just stares at us and waits. We always get put in the most awkward situations!! So I stand up and just say we are not going to bless the baby but I can say a prayer. So everybody stood up and I just said a prayer. Anyways afterwards was the gift-giving ceremony so they start singing dialect music and passing the baby around like a football stacking gifts on top of it. Super funny.

    Then yesterday was seriously one of the craziest experiences of my mission. We get to our area at night and all the sudden it hits - I have to go to the bathroom super bad! But we have no toilet paper and of course nobody uses toilet paper here but us, so I am deciding if we are going to have to go home or if I can hold it or if I am just going to crap my pants. I was so desperate I was thinking of just asking somebody to use their bathroom and figure out the wiping part later! So my comp starts doing a contact and this guy blows him off and tells him to talk with this lady who is the owner of the house. And, just to put me in an awkward situation, asks her if I could use her bathroom! And she says ‘yes’ and walks us to the back of her house to an outhouse thing they all have, but most are just hole in the ground. Luckily she had a real toilet - bucket flush, of course, no seat. So I go in and still can’t decide if I want to use it. So after like 5 minutes I ask my comp for some papers from his planner. So her kids we always see on the street - they are the leaders of the china (pronounced shina) clan - that we always chase, it’s super funny - they just call us chinese until we chase them and then they just die laughing. The leader is like 4. So the whole time I can hear him just laughing his head off and he peeks in and he is like ‘the chinese is pooping!’ and just dies laughing and I am just super embarrassed. So I finish and just want to get the heck out and the lady is like ‘hey where are you going? You aren’t going to come in?’ So we figure out she lives alone with her 2 kids, so we sit outside with them and I ask her her name and her last name is Cossa which is the same as Ivan, our 2nd counselor, so I ask if they are related and they are. And she has no church but really wants one and was asking about baptism. It was a super good lesson. I really think she will be baptized, but we found her in the weirdest way ever!! There is no way we would have ever found her or talked to her if I hadn’t had to use her bathroom! I have mixed feelings about that situation! Something good came out of a terrible situation haha.

     Anyways tranfers are next week and I think I might leave - who knows - but things are going good!

      Love ya guys! Oh yeah and Brother Willis ran into Dean and Kevin fishing in Utah and sent me a picture! Super cool!

Elder Bigelow

October 21, 2013 - Matola

Another super crazy week!

     Seriously, this week was super full of stories so I will try to write about a few. First we went to funeral of one of our investigator’s sister-in-law because me and Elder Ensaldo had given her a blessing a few weeks ago because she was really sick. The hospital didn’t know what it was and she had been sick for a long time. When I gave her the blessing I asked that the hospital would be able to diagnose the problem and they did - it was tuberculosis. But then last Saturday she 

passed away so we were invited. The burial service at the cemetery was pretty crazy. They had about 500 people and it was all in Changana, the language here, and the pastor was Catholic. I love dialect songs though. But that’s not the weirdest part - we got invited to go to the house afterwards to a prayer ceremony and again there are like 500 people and we showed up late and everybody is sitting on the ground with the pastor and a few other guys up front with chairs by 

this table. So of course they walk us in front of everybody and give us chairs right up front and everybody is just staring at us the whole time the pastor is talking in Changana and singing and stuff.  So he gets to a part where he finally speaks Portuguese and invites anybody who wants to to get up and speak and right away like half of the ladies just stare straight at us. So the pastor starts saying it doesn’t matter what language it could be Changana, Sena, Macua, all these dialects and this lady just screams out “or English.” So by this point the whole crowd is looking straight at us but then finally some ladies got up and started speaking dialect again. Before they spoke they had to lead a crowd in a song and they stand up and speak. So anyways at the end we try to sneak out because they are giving everybody this fish stuff and we get caught and they get pretty offended if you don’t eat so we ate it but were super sure to drink a lot of coke afterwards.   

     Then at the funeral we get a call from Samuel telling us his mom had just passed away. So the next day I felt like I should call and see if he needed help with anything and he tells us just to come over so we went over to his sister’s house where they were with a ton of women. So we talked to Samuel and he never told us what he needed help with so I thought maybe he just wanted to talk so we talked and stuff while all these women were in a room all talking and then we get invited in and Samuel puts chairs right in the front of about 20 women who also are speaking Changana. So I’m thinking ok this is a family meeting where they are just going to plan the funeral and stuff. I have no idea why we are here and everybody is just staring at us again so Samuel introduces us and it just gets quiet. Then Samuel is like “well can we start with a prayer Elders?” Then it finally clicked he wanted us teach, so we have sticky note pictures of the Plan of Salvation and we taught the whole thing to all these Machamba mommas . So some didn’t understand Portuguese so the ones who did translated into Changana and the spirit was super strong. The oldest one who only spoke Changana kept telling us she knew what we taught was true and thanking us. It was a way cool experience.  

     This weekend we also watched conference finally. We had like no investigators but it went well. Andre and Maria also had a family member die last weekend so he was only able to come Sunday afternoon when they showed the second session for the second time and he was seriously the only person who came so we watched it with him and our branch president on a tv.

      Things are going good! We are just having a hard time sitting with people and finding people who will keep commitments, but it has definitely been a journal-worthy week!

   Love ya guys

   Elder Bigelow

October 14, 2013 - Matola

Hey guys,

   This week was pretty normal. With Samuel and Maria baptized and since we dropped a bunch of investigators that weren’t progressing, we just marked with tons of new people which means that like 1 in every 5 marked lessons actually go through. Andre and Maria haven’t even told their families they are getting married in 3 weeks and they are a little nervous to talk with them. When we first taught the law of chastity they were super certain their family wouldn’t approve until like next year so they wanted to wait, but then after a couple of lessons and reading ‘Family Proclamation to the World’ with them they have never looked back. And he opened his process for marriage the week after his brother is getting married and his family has been planning this wedding for like a year. They have a ton of faith and I can’t wait until they get baptized. I really hope their families don’t make a huge deal out of it. But I know the Lord blesses those who put his commandments first. 

      We are going to watch General Conference this week and I am super pumped. Things are going good and we are walking with more and more members. We have some super cool members in our branch. Also the branch mission leader gave us the reference of two families that were baptized before the legal marriage change here in Mozambique, so they are inactive and unmarried but they want us to try to help them marry. It reminds me of Inhamizua. By the way, the couple we helped hitch in Inhamizua, Amiise and Pasqua, are doing super good! I heard he is the elders quorum president now! 

   Well love ya guys! Thanks for all the emails and pics.

ate manzuku

       Elder Bigelow

October 7, 2013 - Matola

     This week was awesome! Zone conference was super nice but I was in and out because Elder Ebmeyer was throwing up all day. We had the area psychiatrist come talk to us and it was really cool.

    Samuel and Maria’s wedding was super simple. They only had a few family members and surprisingly no singing. I think it was the first time any of them had ever been to a Mozambican wedding. But afterwards we ate cake and pop at the church. The whole thing took maybe an hour and then they invited us to their house where Ricardo and Lina, the last couple we baptized, helped them throw a small party and we ate lunch and listened to Bryan Adams.   

   Ivan, the second counselor in our branch and who made everything work for the wedding, baptized Samuel and Maria, and Elder Ebmeyer baptized their two daughters. Everyone showed up like an hour late for the baptism but everything went super well. They have super strong testimonies and I am super excited to walk with them to other investigators houses. He has a truck and it’s usually full of people from his area coming to church every week. He is going to help the church a lot. 

    Tonight we are going with a member family, Stelho and Sandra, to Andre and Maria’s house to have a family home evening and I promised them I would make brownies. They always try to feed us. They are super awesome. I feel like she is my mom here in Matola. I am super pumped for them to get married and baptized here in a few weeks. We have one more couple fighting for documents right now. I really love Matola!

      Samuel used the tie Saul and Kristi gave me before I left and I think he wants to keep it. And I am going to give the CTR ring they gave me to Jr., Andre and Maria’s son, when they get baptized. 

   Well love ya all! Sorry my email is kinda short. I really want to start writing better emails but we have a ton to do today.

 Foto do casamento (Wedding photo)

Foto do batismo da familia Mambero (Mambero family baptism photo)

Zona de conferencia (Zone Conference)

September 30, 2013 - Matola

    Well our wedding planning business kinda failed! Maria wanted a dress super bad and we had told her we could find her one but, long story short, we came up empty handed. Also some of Samuel's family from Beirra wasn't able to make it yesterday, so we moved their wedding to this Saturday. They are going to get married at 10:00 and baptized at 17:00 with their two daughters. We picked out super good padrinhos for them though. Padrinhos are another couple that help the couple with all the marriage stuff and are testimonies at their wedding. Remember that one video I told you guys to watch of our mission on President Kretley’s blog? You have to watch it again and look for Ivan and Claudia. They are the ones who are helping Samuel and Maria. And we talked about the law of chastity with them as well. Anyways they said they could help them find a dress and suit and stuff because my suit was too small for Samuel.

        We finally opened the marriage process for Andre and Maria. They are going to get married the 2nd of November, the last weekend of the transfer.

    Half our ward calls me Elder Biglove now because one of our recent coverts can’t say my name so he started calling me that and now all the kids and like half our branch call me that.

  Tomorrow is zone conference - super pumped!  Things are going good! 

       love ya guys

 Elder Bigelow

September 23, 2013 - Matola

Sounds like you guys had a super crazy week. Our week was good. Samuel and Maria are gettin hitched on Saturday so of course they are freaking out about all the details but its all under control. People in this mission could seriously go home as licensed wedding planners! 

    Transfers were pretty low on changes. The only one leaving our house is Elder Fontes who is going to be branch president in Maxixe. Elder Ebmeyer will be my first companion I have had for two transfers in a row. But I am super pumped to stay. We found an awesome family last night . This week we had seriously like every single new lesson fall through. We were looking super hard for new families and last night we had a super awesome 1st lesson with a couple and the wife’s sister. It was pretty crazy. We started with the plan of salvation but then we started the gospels and ended with the last half of the restoration. Sounds pretty crazy but surprisingly it flowed pretty well. Crazy how these things work. Any way today I think we have to go to Maputo to get wedding dresses. So I love you guys.

   Elder Bigelow

September 16, 2013 - Matola

   This week was super ridiculously awesome! Andre and Maria got their certidao and so now they have all their documents and I went to pick it up and yesterday at church I gave it to him and he was smiling and showing everybody! We went to open the process this morning but Maria couldn’t get off work so tomorrow. Samuel and Maria are getting married in two weeks and are just going to sign at the church and have cake and have a big party to please their family later. They just want to live the law of chastity. Her sister just moved in with them as well and doesn’t have a husband. She came to church and loved it so we are going to baptize her as well!

    Yesterday in church I missed a call from Inhamizua so I knew somebody had gotten baptized or something so I call Elder Awbry, my last companion in Inhamizua, and you will never guess who got baptized!! 2 Mac the Rapper!!! And their frequency was 130 and they are leaving the crappy house chapel and President is paying for buses to go pick them up every week and take them to Manga while a chapel is getting built out in Inhamizua!!!!!! And the missionaries are no longer part of the presidency in that branch! I couldn't stop smiling all day yesterday!

   We also have a family, Raimundo and Sara, who we found at the beginning of the transfer who are doing super awesome. They missed church yesterday so he could go see his father-in-law and present the idea of marriage as quick as possible to live the law of chastity. Yesterday he calls me like almost crying, I thought it was her, but it was because he was so happy that their family is going to support them in their decision! So they are going to try to get all their documents by the end of this month! He is next door neighbors with his brother and they hadn’t talked for like 7 years because they went into business together and something happened, but last week his brother came and apologized and asked to Raimundo to work with him again! So now he will have money for documents! Ever since we met him he has been praying super hard for a job!!! They are already almost done with 2nd Nephi.

    Well transfers are next week and I am really hoping I stay to see all these families get baptized but I am down for whatever.

    Write you guys next week with transfers. Love ya guys! Tell Autumn congrats for me!

Oh and Bobo talked to me Saturday and said he was going to church and we talked for a while. It was super nice but I couldn’t get a hold of him yesterday to see if he actually went.

    Elder Bigelow

September 9, 2013 - Matola

This week was pretty crazy. We finally opened Samuel and Maria’s
marriage process and will do Andre and Maria this week for sure! 

     Wednesday we did divisions and I walked with Elder Reed who is new 

in this area and we had a lot of lessons fall through but we were doing contacts door

to door, something we don’t do a ton of in my area because its super
open and things are pretty spread out, but we knocked on one door and
this old guy who was wearing safety goggles was there and we ended
talking to him and turns out he was the first branch president in

Matola in like 2003! He had some kind of memory loss disease but he
showed us a ton of pictures with him and missionaries and members who
are still in our branch and we got to talk to him for a while and
invite him back to church but this week he wasn’t able to make it.
       There is a new mission rule that every time we teach a commandment we 

have to have a member present. It is going to be hard getting this to happen
but it will help a ton.

     Well I know my last couple of letters have been kinda lame but I
will just share a quick experience that was pretty cool I had this
week. So remember when I told you how Bobo who was baptized in
Inhamizua moved to Nampula and went inactive so I felt like I should
tell him to read 2nd Nephi 31 and invite him to church? Anyways he
went and called me and loved it and said he was going to go back but after
that one Sunday he never went back again so I was super sad but this
week I tried calling him but no answer. But I felt like I should text
him again and send another scripture. The problem was I had no idea
what scripture I just knew I had to send him one. So I prayed and just

asked ‘if I really am supposed to send him a scripture please show me
which one’ and opened up my BOM to Moroni 7. And I was like ‘ok this is
a good one I guess I will send it’ but then I had a feeling it wasn’t
the right one and keep looking. So I went backwards and felt like I
should read Moroni 6. You have to read that chapter and tell me it’s
not the perfect scripture to invite someone back to activity in the
church! It was super cool. So I sent him a message. So far he hasn’t

responded but I really hope he read it.

     Today we went bowling. Our week was super nice just trying to find
new families that will progress but right now we have 3 that are doing
super good.

Well love all ya guys
Elder Bigelow

September 2, 2013 - Matola

Highlights from this week - usually when we ask for rides we have to wait a long time until somebody will stop but this week everyone I asked gave us rides. Today we are going to KFC because we just got money in our accounts and are opening the marriage process with Samuel and Maria. We picked up old investigators who are already married and have no church and they accepted a baptismal date and came to church (the only reason they were dropped is because they didn’t come to church).  We are going to baptize a girl that is 17 because her family has been taught and everything but were dropped because they never came to church, but she still comes every week. 

         Things are going good and we are finding more and more families. Doing a lot of contacts. Time is flying by and I hope I stay here in Matola for a while. 

    Love ya!

                 Elder Bigelow   

August 26, 2013 - Matola

     I just got the best phone call!  The Beira zone leaders have Samuel’s birth certificate in their hands and are sending it to Maputo today! Holy smokes - we waited forever to finally get that thing! And Andre’s brother is also sending his this week! I know I have been saying this for like the last month but its finally really happening and so both should be married and baptized the last weekend of the transfer!

      This week was super nice! We got a new presidency yesterday in our branch and I am pumped! Our president already wants to have a meeting with all the missionaries. And this week we watched ‘The Work of Salvation’, the first presidency broadcast, and it is super powerful!! So it was a few weeks late and I don’t think our mission will be using ipads anytime soon but it was nice.

   And two nights ago we were way out in our area and walking along the highway to the chapa stop and this huge truck almost stops and then just keeps going and I told my comp ‘Hey that was President Kretley, I swear. But maybe not, he just left.’ Then like 5 minutes later President and Sister Kretley pull up right next to us and give us a ride home. They were on their way back from South Africa. And they gave us Snickers!! Sister Kretley had a volleyball she said they are going to give to all the kids out in Luaha. [Luaha is that little tiny village up North where the missionaries would go for a few days at a time and camp out. Ryan got to go not very long after he got to Mozambique and he just loved it!] President Kretley is going to go out there soon because missionaries stopped going right after I went. 

   Well love you guys! Tell David good luck in school for me!

                                       Elder Bigelow

August 19, 2013 - Matola

Hey guys,

    Our week was pretty nice! We found 2 new families and one of them came to church. The missionaries in Beira helped us get Samuel's birth certificate and should send it today so we should finally be able to open the marriage process, but Andre's birth certificate will be more complicated than we thought. The register, which is super far away, doesn’t even have a fax machine, so his family has to go get it and then send it, which could take a while.

    Tell David he is crazy! haha! 19 stitches! Tell him to start getting ready as well, because here in no time he will be leaving to serve his mission. Time is flying by too fast!

     I am super happy for Tanner and it's great they got married in the temple!

    This week we did a Mormon helping hands service project in Maputo and cleaned up one of the busiest roads in the city. It was way fun and a lot of people came.

    Well love ya guys!  I don’t have a whole lot to say this week. Can you guys please send me more easy recipes? We do house meals so I have to cook for 6 missionaries once a week.

        Thanks

Elder Bigelow

August 12, 2013 - Matola

Hey guys,

    Transfers were super crazy again!! Me and Elder Fontes have been asking to stay together at least one more but we had like 15 new elders arrive last week. I am training here in my area Elder Ebmeyer from Provo and Elder Fontes is staying here in the same house but is training in a different area. Also elder Ensaldo is training here in our house so we have 3 new missionaries in our house I am pumped. I have never even lived in the same house as a brand new elder so it is pretty funny seeing what they think about things. It feels like just last transfer I was in their shoes up in Nampula. 

   Dondo opened back up!! 2 elders went up there. This week was district conference and Elder Cook from the seventy came Saturday and I saw Fatima. Sunday I saw a lot of people from Maputo and President showed that video of Elder Anderson and all the couples. I almost started crying! It helped our investigators a ton. I have the coolest mission in the world! Our 2 families are doing awesome if it wasn’t for stupid marriage documents they would already be baptized, but we are still waiting for documents to show up. It was awesome last night, me and Elder Ebmeyer went to teach Andre and Maria the 10 comandments and they asked about tithing and said they wanted to know how to pay so they could start. So we taught them and they were super happy and said they want to start now to get the blessings. Also Samuel and Maria asked us about tithing this week and said they want to start paying. We need to find a lot of new families - we have been finding and dropping a lot.

     Monday I got to be the cobrador in our chapa (the guy who collects the money and calls out the stops). Our chapa didn’t have one so I went up to the front and I knew everybody was going to start laughing and they always say stuff in dialect and do weird things so I started calling the stops and saying stop and go in dialect and everybody was just bustin’ up. It’s so funny how chapas are such a part of culture and everyday life here. I was hoping to get our ride for free for collecting but the driver still made us pay!!

    That is super crazy Colton and Brandon are comps!! Well everything is going great. I finished my journal this week so I am starting another and trying to do better writing all the stuff that I don’t email home so  don’t ever forgot all the crazy stuff about this place.

    Well, love ya guys!

  Elder Bigelow

August 5, 2013 - Matola

This week has been busy busy,

   We were running around all week trying to get everything ready for the wedding of Ricardo and Lina and their baptism with their daughter Dercia, trying to do wedding documents for 2 other families and going to and from Maputo because my companion was sick.

    The wedding was super nice!! I honestly want to invite a bunch of members from here to come to the states when I get married and throw my party and dance and sing. It is probably one of the funniest things to watch. I can’t even explain it but I took some videos. The funniest part is the ceremony they do to give their gifts to the couple afterwards! I was like on the ground laughing the whole time! They go in families and everyone starts singing and they all dance their way to the couple to give them the gift and scream and yell and then put the couple in chairs and lift them up and throw them around - it’s crazy. Ricardo’s parents are super old and speak mostly dialect like the picture perfect old Mozambican couple and they were party animals! The videos I have of them dancing are super funny. They got married at the church and sang and signed the documents and then went to their house and had a huge party afterwards. Then at like 7:00 that night they were baptized.

  Their baptism was pretty crazy: so the zone leaders called and told us the font was slowly draining and they couldn’t stop it and there was no more water in the chapel. The water was already super low and it was like 40 minutes til their baptism. They like to show up late for everything so we stopped by their party again which was still in full swing and told them we had to go quick because next week is district conference, so their baptism was now or in two weeks. Anyways we get there right on time but there was only a little bit of water, so we had to do the baptism on our knees. So my companion tries to baptize her first,  but even on their knees there wasn’t enough water. So I went in and held down her legs while she was baptized sitting down! And then my companion baptized him sitting down. I baptized Dercia, who is only 8 so she could do it kneeling down, but it was pretty crazy.

    On Sunday I had to translate for a couple from the Philipines who just moved into our branch - super hard to listen and talk at the same time.

    Hey did you guys get an email from President Kretley? You have to watch the video on his blog. (presidentandsisterkretly.blogspot.com) I can’t watch it for some reason, but the couple we baptized in Maputo, Aderito and Fatima are in it!!

    This week is going to be crazy. Transfers are next week, we are getting 16 new missionaries this week, and district conference is next weekend. We are opening the marriage processes of the two couples this week - I know I said that last week but we worked super hard and didn’t quite get it all last week.

    Well, love ya guys! Tell Anne and Wes congrats for me, I am super excited for them and Hyrum.

 Elder Bigelow

July 29, 2013 - Matola

This week was nice,

     Yesterday President Kretly dedicated the new chapel and we had 4 complete families and in total 16 investigators at church! We are trying super hard to open 2 marriage processes this week and we have a family getting baptized this weekend. Our area is going super nice. We also have 30 references to contact this week and we just got one from a member that his sister and brother-in- law are super interested, have no church, are married in the register, and loved the open house! I love Matola!

   This week me and Elder Fontes started something called a 40 day attitude or behavior fast. So you fast for one day about things you can do or change to have the spirit more. Then you write a list - we did personal lists and one as a companionship - and every morning you promise to try your best to do or avoid all the things on your lists in your prayers and ask for help. Then every night you go over your list and report on how you did and how you can change and thank for the help the Lord gave you. It is super hard, but I am already feeling a difference.

   Samuel and Maria - we found them like 2 weeks ago but they are super prepared - we talked about documents and marriage with them and then we were super busy with the open house and lost our phone and didn’t get to visit them for like days and when we went back they had all of their documents sitting on their table asking what they needed to do next!! I was blown away! Getting documents is a lot of work.

    Well I love you guys and am glad everything went well at the reunion. Tell Anne to send me tons of pics of my new nephew when he comes. Did they decide on Hyrum as a name?

    Elder Bigelow

July 22, 2013 - Matola

Hey ,

    Well the open house is going great. It will last all week. We are just doing tons of contacts and inviting them to come with us to see the church but it’s not as easy as it sounds haha. We have been walking to our area from the church which is like 20 minutes walking and then hitch-hiking and inviting whoever takes us to come in and it’s been working. The first car that took us were all Muslim so you can guess how that went, but the second car was a super nice couple who came with us. There are about 10 big banners inside and we take the people around and show them all the banners that are about the restoration. It’s really awesome and the spirit is super strong.

     Also Bobo, the guy I baptized in Inhamizua, remember how I told you guys the week after he was baptized and confirmed he left to Nampula and I was sad because he will make an awesome leader? Well he went up there and never really went to church. I can understand it would be super hard not knowing anybody and him and the missionaries could never meet up. Then he changed phones and so I couldn’t even call him and I was super sad because I thought for sure I would never be able to get a hold of him again and he would just stay inactive. But then I remembered that we taught his friend in Inhamizua as well so I called Inhamizua Elders and they got me his friend’s number from the area book and he had Bobo’s new number. So last week I called him and he didn’t really seem too excited and had not been to church, so I invited him but it was kinda iffy. So later I felt like I should text him 2nd Nephi 31 to read, and he texted me back and told me he read it and was going back to church on Sunday. So I called the missionaries and had it all set up and he went and he called me afterwards super excited. The missionaries are going to help him get the priesthood and are super excited because they think he will make a great leader as well. And his family is moving up to live with him as well in Nampula so they can be taught by the missionaries.

    Things are going great. We should get tons of references from the open house and we have 3 families who are doing great. I am super excited. Today we played soccer with a bunch of youth from the Matola branches. It was way fun. Well sorry I don’t have a ton of time to write but tell everyone hi for me at the reunion. Love ya guys!

 Elder Bigelow

 Matola Chapel

President Kretly at open house

Bunch of goofy Elders!