Tear Gas - April 14, 2014

I feel like my mission is a runaway train! I just wrote yesterday! LOL!

This past week was a week that I won’t forget. Over the past few weeks Elder Stewart and I have been trying to really seek the Spirit in EVERY lesson. We wanted to teach as the Lord teaches which means that we needed to follow the prompting of the Spirit and not rely on reciting of lessons. Well this week the extra effort and work really paid off.

We have received countless blessings from changing our approach to teaching. We were constantly able to find the people that we needed and they wanted to learn. This Sunday we had more investigators at sacrament then I have had in a long time. The best part is that a quarter of them already have baptismal dates.

The others are so focused and progressing, we really feel that they will accept the gospel of Christ. This Sunday, Kabowa DL and our side saw the best results for the work in a VERY long time. I know that the Lord really gave us this one. And I know that we couldn't have done it without him.

Missionary work is so cool. Seeing lives change and improve through the gospel is just remarkable. I know for a surety that the Church is true and that it is the only church that is led by a true and living prophet. How lucky to be a part of it. More than ever, I'm ready to do what it takes to make sure that I do all I can to make a difference in the lives of Ugandans. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve in this mission and the tests and trials that come from it.

This week everyone that could, came to church. It was so cool to see them flooding into the church, smiling and ready to learn about the Gospel. I only have time to talk about three people. I want to focus on: Prosper, Jimmy, and Robbin.

Let’s start with Prosper. Finding him was a blessing all on its own. As we were tracting a few days ago, we were trying to find someone new to teach. We found Samuel. We sat down in front of his house and began teaching him. He didn’t show much interest in the message but as we were finishing the lesson, a random man kept staring at us. He appeared to be listening to what we were saying. As we finished, we greeted this man and yes it was Prosper. We chatted with him for a few minutes and then invited him to church. We also set a date to teach him.

When we were able to meet with Prosper in his home, we discovered that he is a great guy. He has a home here in Kabowa and another home in Masaka about 120 km away. As we visited, we found out that he has a family (with a wife) and that he wanted us to share our message with them as well. He is pretty independent as far as his work goes, so he is available most anytime which is so nice. After teaching him in his home, he came to church. He took notes and then said, “I am ready to know more and continue in this church.”

Second person: Jimmy wants to get married to his wife in the church and has asked us to teach them when she comes back from her village. He used to smoke and it was a struggle for him to quit. Since we have been teaching him, he has been able to quit smoking! It has been two full week without a smoke. He told us that he is no longer tempted. This is awesome!

Jimmy is just full of the Spirit. He is a bit older and free every Sunday. He reads the Book of Mormon regularly. He calls it "his movie". He told us that as he reads he understands and feels the emotions and messages as if they were a movie. This is so cool because in Uganda it is hard to find people that can read well enough to understand the scriptures.

The best part about Jimmy is that he is willing to do whatever it takes to be baptized. All he really has to do is get married. Hopefully, once his wife returns from her village, they can get married and he can be baptized and then we can start to teach his wife as well.

Lastly Robbin. He is the son of a very well-known man in Kabowa. Robbin is living alone and a cool guy. The great thing about Robbin is his desire to change. He used to be addicted to drugs when we met him. He has not used drugs for quite some time. Thankfully, his addiction was to some of the milder drugs instead of heroin or something like that.

However, he was addicted and he was stuck until he heard the gospel of Christ. Now that he is off drugs his entire countenance has changed. You can see the light in his eyes and he is just so happy. He is really looking forward to becoming a member of the church. He walks around and warmly greets everyone at church. What a miracle to witness. Attending church has really helped him because now he has good friends.

For all of you that endured this entire email, now a story. This week my companion and I experienced tear gas for the first time. Luckily we were not right in the middle of it. We were a few yards away from the center of the commotion. The police were pretty aggressive throwing the tear gas canisters. I can now positively attest to the fact that the stuff works. I was so grateful not to be in the center of the chaos because even where we were I got it in my eyes nose and throat. Coughing, tearing, sneezing was the result. Hahaha. That’s my crazy story for the week!!!! Well family, I hope that all is well and that life is great! Sure love ya all!!!

Love you, J

Elder Bitter