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

September 3, 2012 - Nampula, Beirra

Friends and Family,
          This week was pretty amazing. Going down to Beirra reminded me there is life outside of my area here in Nampula. We flew down on a tiny 30 passenger plane. We flew through Tete and had a 30 min. layover and then flew down to Beirra. It was awesome to meet new people and talk to my MTC group - especially my MTC companion Elder Lake - he had some funny stories. I will tell you one real quick. So Beirra has an actual grocery store almost like the ones in America, huge and with a bakery and everthing called ShopRight. Elder Lake and his comp were buying groceries and they look down and this huge rat (they get huge - I have only seen one big one but like cat size I swear) crawls out right next to them. So they look at each other and look down the isle and one of the workers just all of a sudden drops what he is doing, stares down at the rat and starts sprinting toward them. They said he just punted the rat and it flew into a pillar and just died. And then the guy just picked it up with his hands and walked off! Haha - I wish I could have seen that.
          Each place in Mozambique is so different. Everwhere speaks different dialects and have different cultures. It's like every city here is it's own mission. Transfers are next week and there is about a 50/50 chance I will leave since I have already showed my area to Elder Bradford. I will be sad to leave and I will probably never see these people here in Nampula again in my life but at the same time I am ready to start fresh in a new area. It will be hard. 
        But anyways Beirra and the conference were amazing! I learned so much. Elder and Sister Renland are amazing people and also President and Sister Kretley talked to us. There were about 40 missionaries - about half of the mission. It is so crazy to me that I have already been here 2 transfers. This transfer flew!! I have been out for over 4 months. Time is a crazy thing because I have not been here that long. After the conference I went on splits with Elder Largent to a place called Inhamizua. It takes about an hour by choppa to get out there but they live in Beirra because there are no houses out there for them to stay in. He is the branch president out there. We had an awesome 1st lesson with a guy and then went to the ward presidency meeting. On the way back though I got the front seat in the choppa and it was dark but I was just chillin. We were going pretty fast and then this guy jumps out in front of the choppa! I swear I saw his life flash before my eyes - haha - but the driver puts on his brakes for just a second and then just keeps going! I thought for sure we hit the guy - he was right in front of my faceI I didnt' hear a thud - so scary - but the guy must have just teleported to the other side and was fine - so crazy!  Parts of Beirra really do look like the buildings in I am Legend. After the Potuguese left a lot of the buildings just didn't stay maintained. Kind of the story of Mozambique. 
        Investigators: man it's hard to find people that are actually willing to do things. There are so many churches here that people don't understand how ours is any different even after we explain it many times. A lot of people just kinda say like "oh yeah the word of God is always great"  "God is great"  "my church believes in God too." It is kind of like they beleive there are tons of ways to get to the top of a mountain and we are trying to tell them there is only one. And people say things all the time here and don't mean it at all. It is frustrating at times but I am slowly learning to love even the hard parts. One thing I am trying to change is I am a perfectionist in some ways. For example I worry a lot about the past and little things I did wrong and a lot about the future too. Sometimes it is hard for me to focus on the here and now because my mind is always worrying about something. It is killing me but I am slowly getting better and learning to accept my mistakes and learn from them and move on and not worry about the future either.
      Joseph - the one guy from Congo I told you about - is an amazing person. We still have some to teach him but he has such strong faith and such a strong testimony. He has been living with one of his friends and working in his salon to pay for his place to sleep. His friend wanted him to work all the time and didn't really like Joseph meeting with us and coming to church because he couldn't work as much. Joseph knows the gospel is what he needs so he kept coming anyways and yesterday his friend kicked him out of the house. He sacraficed everything to follow Christ! He came to church even though it cost him his job and his place to live. So yesterday we helped him find a place (with the help of Augustinho, a ward missionary) to live at least for a couple of nights while he tries to figure out what to do. He even told us though that this will be a good change for him and he will find a better atmosphere to try to live the gospel. I want to see him get baptized so bad, but if I get transferred I don't think I will. He has such an amazing story. Some of our other investigators are going through some tough times. I feel so bad for them but we do what we can but the actual choice to live the gospel and come to church has to be theirs.
     The mission is crazy I have grown so much and changed so much. Fixing things I didn't know I had problems with before I left. You really learn a lot about yourself out here and as you become stronger you can help others that much more.
      My mission dad, Elder Leake, is in Maputo now but he dies in a week (or goes home). But he left his ipod in Nampula because it was old and he has some really cool stuff I have been listening to. Anyone who is married should listen to John Lund and his talks called "For all eternity" - there are about 5 different parts but it is so amazing. He is LDS and a great psychologist. For real Mom, Dad, Anne, Wes, Ransom, Katie, you guys should listen to him. It is really cool and he also has one called "the myth of perfection" - I ike a lot too. He teaches about his studies and then shows how they can be applied in the gospel and life.
       People are honestly so blessred in the United States. Good Education, for example, and things I didn't even realize were a blessing until I got here. These people are amazing - it is a different world for sure. The people deserve better than what they have. I wonder why all the time I was so lucky to be born in the United States and get a good education and family and life. It is cool helping people to see they are better than their circumstances and help them see life is more than what they have right now. The gospel is hope! One of my favorite scriptures is Esther 12:4. We can honestly hope for a better world because of Jesus Christ if we have faith in and follow him. This life is honestly just a small moment of testing. Sometimes it is hard to see the eternal perspective but it helps so much. 
       We had a crazy lesson with a guy straight from the jungle the other day. He is the father of some of our new investigators Anna and Bernardo Manguambie. 
       But you guys should print off and keep all my letters too because I have not been the best at writing in my journal. That is something I will really work on this week. A really cool talk is by Elder Holland called "The Lords Vineyard" (I think) in this last general conference. David, you should listen to his talk and Elder Eyering's too called "The atonement and missionary work." We listen to it almost everyday - it is like our pump up speech.
     Hey you guys have to keep me updated on new missionary calls from our stake. That would be crazy if someone else comes here. This place is so much different than even South Africa I have heard. And plaese send me Josh's email and Trevan Adair's.
      We met a guy from New York (the Bronx) Steve, who lives here because his family does. He sells crappy American furniture from the US and it's like gold here but He seems like an awesome guy. Hopefully we can share our message with him and talk to him. He is Catholic but we will see what happens.
        
                                                             Ficam bem
                                                             Elder Bigelow

August 27 - post script

 Hey I have more time now so I will write a little more.
       The Osbournes are awesome people. He is the uncle from Napolean Dynamite from Alaska that hunts wolverines! No joke! We looked for a chapel with them Monday night and then they took us out to eat.
       I wish I could describe the church here to you guys. It is the same gospel but a totally different church. The church is so new here. It is nothing like the church at home. At home everything is so more set up and structured and years and years ahead of the church here.  My mission is trying to help the church progress and grow and advance and it is pretty crazy but I love it. Every week we have to go help with primary! So crazy! Everyone is just in one class and the teachers are all new so they need our help a lot.  Some of the kids are crazy rebels and I feel like we are prison guards sometimes trying not to let them into the chapel where the adult class is. It's actually kind of fun sometimes. They get smarter every week though, and plot against us. One time we were in the chapel guarding the big doors not letting them out and the teachers let them loose from the primary room and it was like a mob coming at us. They dragged me and Elder Bradford had to save my life.
     I hope we find a new place to rent for a chapel soon though, the one we have now is pretty crazy.
     Dad, I was telling everyone how crazy of a driver you are and how much fun it is to go driving 4 wheelers and mudbogging with you. Nobody else's Dad even does that stuff. 
     David man you killed a badger with a baseball bat! That's crazy. How big is it?
     Tell everyone hi for me 
                                     Elder Bigelow