Mountainside Tracting - May 20, 2013

I officially hate the keyboard that I am using right now. The keys are really worn out and hard to push. They sound like a thunder storm when I use them. With each key stroke the whole internet cafe echoes. I thought I would throw in that little tidbit for color.

Now to my email :)

Elder Tracey and I are getting along very well. The best part is that if there is ever any conflict, we both try to resolve it quickly. We just do so much better when we are happy and are really good friends. All in all, it is an awesome companionship.

This week has been awesome as we have been really trying to find the best of the best that will help this ward. We have seen a lot of blessings come. One of my best mission experiences to date happened this week. This is what happened.

Elder Tracey came up to me one day and said, "I just had a prompting that we need to visit someone".
ME: "Alright let’s call them and go see them right now”.
Elder Tracey: "Well we would, but I can’t figure out who it is that we are supposed to see".
Me "Alright let’s figure out who it is”.
Both of us conversed for a little bit then both decided that we should pray and look for a prompting. At first we prayed together and neither of us got an answer. Then we said our own private prayers.

As I was praying I got a prompting that we should go visit someone named George. As soon as I got that prompting I wondered “who in the world is George, I don't even know a George”. I said OK and ended my prayer.

After I walked out, Elder Tracey and I looked at each other and we both just said "did you get George?" It turns out we both had a prompting that we should meet with a man named George. Apparently George is a guy that Elder Hall and Elder Tracey dropped last transfer (about 8 weeks ago). He just wasn't committing to anything and he would consistently cancel appointments. We called him up and he answered. He was happy met with us and now he is taking all the lessons again. I really appreciated that experience.

George is a perfect investigator. He really is everything that you could ask for. He is good at speaking English so we can converse easily. When we talk about the gospel, he understands every little bit. He is just really very quick. Not only is he smart, but he has a very steady job. This is key since we don't have to worry about him having leave due to running out of money.

This week we had two baptisms. We baptized a man named Shebon and a man named Hillary. Shebon is a very powerful man and truly investigated the church through and through until he knew that every aspect of it was 100% true. He has been investigating the church for about the past four months. To have the opportunity to be in the area when he finally got baptized was just such a cool experience. I really appreciated seeing him get baptized because he will stay strong. I know that he will never leave the church because his testimony is so strong.

Hillary getting baptized as well was another rewarding experience for many reasons. To start Hillary is 19 years old and just about to finish his third year of university. He is a very smart young man. He already has a strong desire to serve a mission. He already is planning to turn his papers in once he hits the one year mark after his baptism. Seeing someone so excited about the gospel and already have such a strong desire to go on a mission just really makes me smile inside. I really see how people change learn to love sharing the gospel as they learn more and more about God.

Elder Tracey and I were looking over all the recent converts to the Church in our area and we realized that a lot of them are young men and young women that still live with their parents. We noticed that a large majority of these young men and young women's parents and other family members have yet to be taught about the church. We also noticed that these young men and young women (there all at least 19 of them) have large families that need to learn about the gospel. We thought it would be a good idea to start meeting all these families and start teaching them. This is a whole lot easier to visit and have the adult child welcome you in the door and introduce you to their parents than knock doors.

Elder Tracey and I have just started this new teaching method and began with a young man’s named Billy’s family. It was so much easier. We showed up at Billy's home and he gladly welcomed us in and introduced us to his family. We got to know them and shared a message. We were gladly welcomed back for another appointment in the near future. As Elder Tracey and I left this home, we really realized that this is what the ward needs. There are a lot of members in their 20s, still living with their families who are ready for the gospel.

We still need to tract at times. On Friday we decided that we should tract a new area that hadn’t been touched in a long time (about 9 months). It was such an awesome experience. The area that we tracted was horrible because all the houses were built on this huge mountainside. As we went from house to house it seemed it was always uphill. As Elder Tracey and I went to each home, we began to realize that this area had really just been prepared by the Lord for the gospel. All of the people were so welcoming. Almost every single person we taught had a large family that was ready and happy to learn about the gospel. It was an awesome experience.

One of the best people that we found was a man who initially it seemed did not want to meet with us. His name is Charles. Charles is 41 years old and has four sons that are 19, 14, 12, and 10 years old. His wife doesn’t speak any English and is a woman who grew up in a true African village. As we sat and talked with Charles, he at first he didn’t seem to want to learn. As we just sat and talked with him and joked around a bit, he really opened up.

Charles is struggling to make enough to pay for all his kids schooling. He will always pay for his kids schooling and food before he provides anything for himself. He is a remarkable man. He works day in and day out to serve his family. He is just excited about being alive and able to have a family. As we sat and talked with him we began to realize that he has a deep respect for God and loves to learn more about Him.

He refuses to work on Sundays no matter what the cost because of his deep love for God. This is extremely unusual for Ugandans because most have such humble circumstances that they have to work continuously to survive and to put food on the table. Charles knows that if he gives up Sundays, all will work out in the end.

As we taught Charles he became a better and better person in my mind. He just turned out to be such a remarkable person. He committed to come to church on Sunday.

When Sunday rolled around, he not only came to church, he came 40 min early. He sat and read the pamphlets that we had given him as we taught him the past two times during the week. He happily stayed during the sessions and he fallowed along in his bible as the speakers gave references to verses in the bible. The speaker might say, “I’m now going to read from Mather 16” and Charles would look at me and ask me to flip my bible to that chapter. He would take it and follow along as the speaker read the verse. He is just such an awesome man. I really can’t say enough about him hope that he continues to progress the way he has been so far.

Charles has been prepared for the Gospel. I really love this guy. He has no desire to do anything but serve his family and come closer to God.

I’m just about out of time and I am pretty tired of this keyboard. I think that everyone around me is pretty tired of this keyboard as well. I have to go.

I love you all

I appreciate all the emails from everyone. You all are awesome.

I miss you all and hope all is going well for each and every one of you.

The church is true

God loves us.

The Book of Mormon is True

Sincerely, 

Elder Bitter/Steve

Helping Stella -- May 13, 2013

Good Morning. It is nice to be writing another letter home.

This week has been nice. My companion and I have really been trying to find people in the ward that have stopped coming to church. We have been giving them good friendship so they will develop a desire to come back to church and renew their baptismal covenants. In addition we have been looking through all the people taught by the past missionaries and have been trying to determine which ones are really ready for the gospel.

This has been an interesting experience in spending so much of our time finding the less active and spending less time finding new investigators. I really struggled with this for the first week. I was kind of confused because I knew that a missionary’s job was to bring people to Christ and that meant finding new people to teach and helping them to have a spiritual confirmation of the truth. In Entebbe I learned that it is not all about finding new people. I want to talk about a member of the Entebbe ward whose name is Stella.

Stella has been a member for about five years. A few months back she was offended and left the church. I don’t know what happened and don’t think it really matters. What matters is that she left. Elder Tracey and I have recently decided that we would focus on just two or three less-actives at a time and help them in coming to church again and to have the faith that they once had. Stella was the first person we started to really focus on.

When Elder Tracey and I started teaching Stella, she seemed kind of angry and frustrated to see us. The only reason I think that she let us visit is because most Africans are afraid to say no to anyone for fear of offending. At first, her desire to meet with us seemed low. It was amazing to see how she has changed over the past week or so. At first she really seemed irritated but as we continued to call her and ask if we could come meet with her, she softened. The answer on the phone changed from a, “sure”.... to a happy response that went something like, "today?!? what time?!? ok ill be ready". Elder Tracey and I have not really done that much. All we have done is visited, shared a spiritual thought and invited her to church.

After a few invitations to church she eventually decided that she would come. She came to church this past Sunday. It was a really cool experience and showed me that our job as missionaries is to bring people closer to Christ. Our job is not only to find new people but also to help those who have fallen away and bring them back. Seeing someone come back is one of the most satisfying things in the world. When Stella came to church again, it brought a wonderful feeling to the church service. It is very important to bring the lost ones back.

Elder Tracey and I have really been trying to try and find the people who are not only ready to hear the gospel but will also help this ward grow. I truly believe that everyone is ready for the gospel. Some will take it slower than others. This is OK and is kind of like eating. Some can eat really fast and some can barely eat two bites in five minutes. Either way, everyone needs food in some way or another. We are not too worried about how long a person may take. We are more concerned if they will be a support to the ward or a burden to the ward. We are really striving to find the people that will help this ward grow.

We hope that this will not only help the ward become strong again but also help the missionaries in this area in the long run. We believe that if we find people that will be a support to the ward that in the long run they can help us and the future missionaries find all of the less-actives and bring them back.

Time to change topics.

The people in Uganda are awesome -- especially when it comes to helping the missionaries. There are two young men in this ward that are truly a blessing to us when it comes to missionary work. One is named Billy and another named Jimmy. If it was not for these two young men we would not be able to accomplish any of the things that we have been doing lately. I know that these two guys deserve more blessings then I can imagine. If not for them, we would not be able to visit half of the less actives that we have been visiting. We would not be able to visit as many people in one day because they help us find short cuts through trees to all of homes. These two young men are both preparing for missions and to be honest I think they are more than ready. Wherever they go on their mission, their areas will be blessed by them. This is because they both know how to work extremely hard and they both have such a strong spirit with them.

It is remarkable to see the hard times that these people face and how much it prepares them for the gospel. I truly believe that the lord has prepared these people for the gospel. They are so humble that the gospel and learning about Christ and the Father is the only source of light for them. They look forward to every minute of learning.

A perfect example is from this past Sunday when we were singing hymns during church. The power went out so did the lights and the music from the key board. We became an acapella choir. The people here did miss one beat. Everyone smiled and then began to sing louder, and louder, and louder. It was a cool experience. I loved it.

Well that's all for this time.

I love you all.

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter/Steve

Mystery Transfer Out of Rwanda - May 6, 2013

I have a story for you all.

This past week was transfer news and we found out if we were staying in our old areas or being shifted to a new area. It is always exciting to find out this kind of news. Last Tuesday we were anxiously waiting for transfer news to come. You never know what is going to happen. Elder Terry and I were walking to an appointment and Elder Andres, a senior couple missionary gave us a call. When I answered the call he responded, “Hi Elder Bitter, may I speak with Elder Terry. I handed the phone over to Elder Terry and Elder Andres then told Elder Terry to walk a little ways away from me so that he could speak to him privately. This was really weird because that had never happened before. I wondered what in the world was going on.

The conversation ended and Elder Terry relayed that Elder Andres just told him the transfer news but said that he wasn’t supposed to tell me. I was dumbfounded. We then continued on with the day and I was just wondered why I couldn’t know the transfer news. It was really getting on my nerves and I was wondering why I was not good enough to know. After a little while I just got over it and stopped worrying. It ended up being a really good day over all.

That night was possibly the last night that Elder Terry and I would be together so we threw ourselves a little party. We cooked all the food we had left in the apartment. We made pancakes, oatmeal and mashed potatoes. It was pretty awesome. After we had eaten we were still just chilling and the phone rings. We thought that it might be the Assistants calling to give us the transfer news -- rather, give me transfer news since Elder Terry was already in the know. Once again I pick up the call and it’s Elder Stefenhagen who is just another missionary in the area. Elder Stefenhagen was in a foul mood and asked to speak to Elder Terry.

At this point I was convinced that no one wanted to speak to me. I continued eating I gave the phone to Elder Terry. Elder Terry then speaks to Elder Steffenhagen and I hear my name over the phone. At this point I was wondering what was going on or why Elder Steffenhagen was bugged. I needed to know what is going on! Elder Terry then hangs up the phone and says that Elder Steffenhagen just got called by the Baileys and they told him the transfer news as well. Talk about a serious communications leak in the system. President Jackson and the Assistants are the only ones who are supposed to know the transfer news.

Elder Terry looks at me and says, “Well, I think it’s getting late and you really need to know the news or you might have some travel problems. He said, “Elder Bitter, you are getting transferred. You need to pack your bags because you will be boarding a plane soon. Well apparently I was sent a plane ticket for the next morning. The only reason that he hadn’t told me was because Elder Andres committed him to secrecy. Once he said that, I went and packed my bags. We stayed up talking for a little longer then packed it in for the night.

The next morning (Wednesday) I patiently waited for the AP's (Assistants to President Jackson) to call me with the transfer news. I expected a conversation like, “Hey Elder Bitter, you need to pack your bags since you are leaving on a flight in 3 hours” (or something like that). One hour goes by and they don’t call, two hours pass and they don’t call, the third hour goes by and they never call. Elder and Sister Baily show up with their truck to take me to the airport. At this point I still don’t know where my plane is taking me and I definitely don’t know about my new area. I hop on my plane and it takes me to Kampala so part of the mystery is solved but still do not know where in Uganda I will be serving.

After landing I went to the mission office with no phone and just my suitcase. No one is there so I wait for the APs or President Jackson to show up. It turns out that the APs were doing new
missionary trainings with President Jackson at the time. Time goes on and I wait: 30 min, 1 hour, two hours, and so on until about 4 hours pass by. The APs finally show up at the mission office where I have been getting older. They start talking to me like everything is normal. I eventually cut them off and ask them when I am going so I can find out my new assignment (it’s now 7pm Wednesday evening). They were shocked that I did not know my new area. I just looked at them and said, “You never called anyone in Rwanda to tell them their new areas. The only reason I got on the plane is that I received a plane ticket by email and the Baileys gave me a ride to the airport.

The APs just looked at each other with a look that said “whoops, messed that one up”. hahaha
I finally found out my new area assignment – Entebbe, which is about 20 miles south of Kampala. To put a long story short, the APs told me that Entebbe is an area that needs to be fixed. It got really messed up about 6 months back and my job is to regain the trust of the ward and get this area back on its feet. I’m the new District Leader of the area and have responsibility for one other set of missionaries.

My new companion is Elder Tracy. He is an opera singer and apparently is pretty good at it. He was going to be on ‘America’s Got Talent’ but his mission report date came before the day he was to perform. I really like this area. The ward has a lot of fixing that is needed and a lot of trust building to do. I have a feeling that I might be here for a while until we can get it all rolling again. This is my new home :) My companion is awesome and my new area is good.

I know that this will be a good experience. I know it will take some time but that it will be good as new in just a few months. :)

I love you all and hope that all is well. Sorry this email didn't talk a whole lot about our investigators. Now I don’t have any in this area. We are just working hard to get it going and building up some steam.

This will be an amazing area and I am happy to have the opportunity to serve here. :)

I love you all.  I look forward to calling home.

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter

Rwandan Taxis Are Amazing - April 29, 2013

Hello! Well this new emailing system is really weird. I am writing this letter in a chat box. It’s really confusing.

Well this week has been pretty good overall. I really enjoyed the entire week. This week is the last week of the transfer so we will find out transfer news on Wednesday. I will learn whether I am staying or going. I really hope I get to stay! Rwanda is really nice because the people are awesome. The people in Uganda are awesome too. So either way, it is all good :). The weather is cooler all year which you all know that I love COOL weather. In Rwanda I don’t sweat to death every day.

The week has been pretty uneventful. But I will run through the week; however, I will tell you some stories from the past that I have not related thus far to keep things interesting. We had a pretty good week in comparison to the past few weeks. On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to visit a lot of the recent converts which was cool because I really enjoy getting to know all the members of the branch. I like knowing where they live and what they like to do, etc.

On that same day, we saw one of our recent converts who is named Viatear. He is jolly and a go-getter. He is like a little kid in a grown body. One of the best things about teaching him is that he really understands everything that you teach him. It’s pretty cool to see how people once they have the Holy Ghost progress in the gospel. But an additional blessing is watching how fast they begin to learn new things. For example, many of the members when they are baptized do not speak any English at all. But over time, the Holy Ghost helps them grasp the language.

I will relate one really funny thing about Viatear that shows how young he is on the inside. When we got to his home, he was so excited to show us his new talent. His talent was using his hands and turning them into a flute. He was pretty skilled at it. He did it in the weirdest and humorous way I have ever seen. I really laughed a lot when he did it. He mashes one of his palms against his mouth and then he places his other hand over that one and by moving his fingers around and shifting his hand around he is able to make different flute noises. He can play a song or two. It was pretty weird and funny at the same time!

On Wednesday, we were able to see a young man named Joseph who is an awesome young man. Well I shouldn’t say young man because he is about the same age as Jon (27). But he seems really young. He is about 5 feet 2 inches. Even though he is small, he is the coolest of guys. I really love this guy. He just smiles and welcomes us all day long. This is such a nice feeling.

When we call him with the little kid from Rwanda we know, we ask him if we can come to his home with a translator. He always says, “Neago you greeno!” This means, “Yes, you come.” As we arrive, he is always standing outside (he is a guard) waiting for us greeting us with a nice warm handshake. This means so much.

After we arrive and go into the place where he works, we talk and teach him. We use a translator of course since my companion and I don’t speak enough of his language to actually teach in his language. But one of the coolest things is seeing this guy just smile, learn and love every moment of it. He is really a remarkable guy. I always look forward to seeing him.

On that same day, we also had the opportunity to pick up two new investigators which was awesome. It has been a long time since we have had new investigators who are truly serious. We met a man named Deodonnie and a man named Repone. Both of them are just so happy to learn about the gospel. Their hearts are open and ready to learn. I love teaching people like that! It’s so rewarding! :)

I have wanted to tell you a story about the taxis here for a long time. I just kept forgetting to do it. Now I can. The taxis here are something else! The taxis in Africa are small little vans that the Ugandan’s and the Rwandan’s have stripped and welded their own seats in. These little vans are used to the extreme! There are four rows for passengers. The front and passenger seats are made of makeshift metal benches.

Well this van when it is being used correctly should seat 7 maybe 9 give or take. But when they have transformed it into a transporting sardine can, it can easily transport 20 people. These vans when packed to the brim, which is often, literally sag in the back. Hahah!

Another funny thing about these vans is that they have been painted up in some type of theme. The driver of the van is pimped out to match the theme. Each van blasts and I mean blasts music that seems to follow the theme. Today we got in a taxi that was all painted up like a bunch of different people that rap like Little Wayne, Eminem, Tupac, Soulja Boy, 50 cent, Biggy Smalls, and so on.

This van not only had music blaring in it so loud that you couldn’t hear the person right next to you when he was yelling at you but had a sub-woofer that was so powerful that you were literally shaking in the taxi. All in all, the taxis here are really interesting. However, the plus side is that they cost next to nothing to ride in. If they did cost a lot there is no possible way that we would see all our investigators in one day. They all live so far apart. Traveling from one appointment to another sometimes can be a 40 minute ordeal and that is with a taxis and walking.

On Thursday we had kind of a sad day. One of the people in our branch named Andre who is a recent convert from some past missionaries, has a problem with alcohol. It was a really big bummer because he has always been so faithful when it comes to coming to church. Also he is always so happy and smiling when he comes to church. He loves the church but we found out he has a big problem. But it’s good that we know so that we can help the branch get it all taken care. Hopefully it does not get any worse or cause any problems for him in the future or anything like that.

On Sunday we had the opportunity to finally watch general conference. The branch finally got ahold of a copy of general conference. As a branch we were able to watch general conference which was awesome. :) It was the fastest general conference ever. It felt like it had just started then it was all over. I think this happened for two reasons. First, being on mission really makes you appreciate conference and really helps you see how amazing conference is. And second, it also felt really short because we got just a few hand selected talks. We really only watched two hours of conference all in all. This is the total amount that we will be watching is kind of a bummer. The talks that we got to watch were just awesome I really loved them.

Well in conclusion I want to just give a shout outs to a few different family members.

To all of you who work on the Weber farm who grow real crops--the onions on your farm are real onions. The average onion here is about the size of a golf ball. Haha! I can’t help but thinking of how awesome all of your crops are in comparison to the stuff they have here. So whatever magic you are working on those crops is awesome because I wish that the onions here were like the onions off of your farm. I love ya! All of you are all so fun to visit and hang with! :)

Grandma Bitter, I miss ya! I miss coming over and hanging out with you and eating some homemade bread. That stuff is the best! :) Also you better go visit my parents and keep them in line for me. Make sure that you eat my helpings at dinner time with my parents because we don’t want too many left-overs. I love ya.

Anne it’s almost birthday time! You’re gonna be sixteen and driving. That will be awesome! :) Don’t forget that slowing down in snow takes a while and that the blind spot is always the place where cars will be hiding :) I love ya, Anne!

Mom and Dad I can’t wait for Mother’s Day. It will be awesome to talk to you all and I love reading your emails :) Thanks for the great example. You all are to me :)

Jon and Sarah keep it up you are all awesome and I love you! :) You guys are the best and are such great examples. :) I hope all is well. :)

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter/ Steve

Pancake Maggots - April 22, 2013

Well good morning America. This is Elder Bitter speaking and it’s nice to be back broadcasting to you from Rwanda.

This week has been a pretty good one even though I have been fighting off some illness. I have almost knocked it out completely so life is awesome! I started out the week feeling bad physically. My whole body was pretty weak and I was having trouble making it through the day. The symptoms started with a lot of headaches and then it migrated from my head to my throat and then to my lungs. My lungs felt cold. It felt like I was in water polo again. I remember when I used to play water polo I would get cold lungs randomly. It would feel like my lungs were full of mint gum. They would get so cold when I would breath -- kind of like how your mouth does when your chewing mint gum. The cold lungs went away on Thursday and I was still a little weak on Saturday. Today I can officially say that the fight is basically over because I feel really good. No more headaches, no more weak joints, no more weak muscles and no more cold lungs! Life is awesome :) One of the cool things about getting sick is that it really makes you appreciate being healthy. It is nice to feel good after walking up a hill.

Don’t worry about my health. I am not taking any chances. There have been a lot of foods where I see something in them that does not look right. I am unhappy since I paid money for the item and then decide to toss it. I would rather be healthy then sick and stuck in bed. I am one of the few missionaries that actually take the malaria pill every day. Most missionaries don’t ever take it then they are curious as the why they get sick. Some missionaries are a bit thick. I am doing everything in my power to stay healthy and lean.

A perfect example: I was kind of tired of porridge for breakfast so I decided that I would spend a good chunk of my money and buy real flower and make some pancakes for breakfast. I was so excited. I bought real milk, real flour, vanilla, and baking soda. I make a perfect batter and then cooked a lot of pancakes so that my companion and I could just really enjoy a breakfast for the first time in a long while. Well I mix up the batter and I start cooking some gorgeous pancakes. They were just looking awesome. After cooking most of them I ladle another portion of batter in to the pan then I decided that I would watch this pancake cook from start to finish. I then see something black in my pancake and investigated. I stuck my finger in there and scooped out the dark spot. It turns out to be a lovely maggot looking thing in my pancake! All of my batter was full of these maggots and I was cooking them into my pancakes. I was really mad. I had been looking forward to this meal all week long!! It turned out that my nicely wrapped store bought flour was packed with maggots. My newly purchased flour hit the trash can at about the speed of a water polo skip-shot. The pancakes were tossed as well.

Long story short is that I’m trying to stay healthy and lean. :)

But that’s old news. This week was a little bit tough because my companion and I both were sick. My companion had the flu and I had my above described illness. In spite of the rough start, there have been some pretty awesome things happening this week. I am excited to tell you about them.

You remember Emmanuel and his wife Mary. When I first came to Rwanda they were living together so they couldn't be baptized. We had explained this to them and they weren't too happy about it. In the end they agreed to get married so that they could be baptized. Since that time they have been saving every little piece of change they could find. They have been pinching and scraping every last coin. We visited their home last week and they were excited as could be. He was smiling and just pumped up. After we sat down he told us how they were getting married on the 18th of this April. I thought it was great that they committed to get married and even greater that they followed through with it.

The wedding day finally came. They got all dresses up from head to toe in their best. They were just glowing. You could tell that they were so happy that they had the opportunity to be married. They had been living together for 7 years and have a couple kids as well. It really goes to show how marriage is so important. They had been together for a long time and they were living like a married couple and doing everything that a married couple would do but they weren't actually married. When their wedding day came, they were so happy and it really showed. As they were married Emmanuel swept Mary off of her feet and carried her around. She was smiling and laughing like crazy. The pictures that Elder Terry took were awesome. Seeing a simple change like this in someone’s life and how big of a difference it makes made me realize even more how important it is to get married. It is not right to just lounge around in a home with your girlfriend or boyfriend. It’s interesting to see how these people really didn't change their outward behavior after they got married. They still lived together, they still had multiple children, they still loved each other and they were still happy to be together. All that changed was they went from being a couple to becoming husband and wife. That title changed the countenance of this couple. It just goes to show how marriage really changes it all. How important it is and how it blesses people.

After the marriage they were able to be baptized. On the April 21st Emmanuel was baptized. He was able to enter the water completely prepared for baptism. Mary came and watched him get baptized and she smiled the whole time. Emmanuel fears water yet he knew how important it was to be baptized. He was willing to get into the font and be baptized. He stood at the top of the latter and stared into the water for a little while. Then he got in and looked so worried -- not because of the baptism itself but because he was about to be dunked under water (that is only 3 ½ feet deep he is like 5 foot 11 inches). After he had been baptized the biggest smile came across his face. He just seemed so relieved that it had finally happened and you could tell that he was just happy as could be. After being baptized feeling happy he then decided that he wanted out of that font. He went straight for the stairs so that he could get out. Kind of fun.

Sadly, Mary has still not accepted to be baptized. She says she knows it is true and she knows that it is important to be baptized but she is not ready for the change. I think that she will accept a baptismal date eventually and will be able to join her husband.

On Saturday President Jackson (my mission president) flew into Rwanda to visit us. It was pretty nice to see him. We haven’t seen him in a long time and I think he likes to see all of his missionaries occasionally. It was pretty cool to get to spend some time with him. Since there are few missionaries in Rwanda we get to spend some really good personal time with him. I have have been able to get to know him better and it has been a really great experience. Most missionaries get to know president really well and get to spend a lot of time with him. Before Saturday I had probably have spoken less than a 100 words to President Jackson. I just never got to have a one on one with him and get to know him. I never really got to shake his hand much since arriving. That has all changed this week. He came to Rwanda to dedicate all of his time to us. He just talked with us to make sure that we were happy and enjoying the mission experience.

President Jackson is a really remarkable man. He brings a great spirit to the room. When he walks in, you just can’t help but smile. He is a shorter and broad shouldered man from Oklahoma. He is just happy and full of energy. He is always really welcoming and always gives you a big hug when he sees you. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to finally get to know him a little bit better. The nice thing is that it isn’t over yet. After we finish emailing this letter we will get to go spend the rest of the day with him. We will study the scriptures together and other training. Nice.

I love you all.

Things are awesome in the heart of Africa. I’m healthy, happy and loving the work.

I hope that all of you are safe and enjoying life

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter/ Steve

Genocide Week in Rwanda - April 15, 2013

Well Hello World :)

It is good to be back and emailing again. It’s always nice to sit down and hear from everyone. I really love hearing how you are all doing and how well things are going. I’m glad that general conference was good. I have been hearing a lot about it and will be able to listen in myself in a few more weeks. We all get sent the DVDs of general conference. All the missionaries and all the members of Rwanda are really anxious to see and hear what was said and find out all the new good news :)

This will probably be a shorter letter. I have been sick all week and have been really weak. Running has not been in the schedule this week. I have have to save up all my energy for the day and then try to make it through the day. When I come home I close the day with Elder Terry then just go to bed so that I can make it the next day. It has been kind of an interesting and weird sickness. It has been changing a lot. At first it was a head ache, then it was a sore throat, then it was the sinuses, and now it is back to a light head ache and feeling weak & tired. The good news is that it is slowly going away. I’m not sure what it is but I must of just picked up some random bug. I am getting better slowly. It is hard to not be happy when you’re on a mission. So, Oh well :)

This week was Genocide week in Rwanda and has been tough for everyone. Before I entered the mission field I had seen the movie Hotel Rwanda. I had assumed that after seeing that movie and reading about it a little bit that I knew a lot about the events that had happened here. l was wrong. Hotel Rwanda is a watered down version of what really happened here in Rwanda. Genocide week is where everyone gathers together and tells their stories of how they survived the mass genocide. Most stories are really disturbing. Both tribes gather together and talk about all the events that occurred to them and their families. It has been really interesting to see how people have opened up to help Elder Terry and I understand what really happened to them. The main purpose of this week is to remember all the people that lost their friends and families. It is to remember what happened 18 years ago so that it never happens again.

This is such a big event and there are memorials all over Rwanda to tell the story of what happened what caused it, how it could of been stopped, the events that happened to people, and what finally ended the genocide. We decided that we should visit one of these memorials so that we could truly understand what happened. These memorials do not hold anything back. They tell of the horrors of the event and the courage shown by the people that protected others in their homes (in miraculous ways). I couldn’t help wonder how anything like this could ever happen. I came to the conclusion that Satan knows our weaknesses. He wants us to see the differences in other people, not the similarities. He wants us to see attributes where we are better and where others are worse. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this. I concluded with the thought that all of us are basically the same. We may be shorter or taller, black or white, or whatever, but yet we are all the same.

A thought came into my mind that Elder Migijima shared with me (we were in the MTC together and in our last area together). He told me that the more you understand the scriptures and the more you understand the gospel the less you see differences in color or other things. It really made me think how important the Lord’s work is everywhere in the world. Not just in Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda but literally everywhere. If everyone had the gospel and understood the scriptures, we wouldn't see any differences in others anymore. There would be a lot more peace.

This week has been a bit slow because of the Genocide Week. Most people avoid doing anything this week because they just want to commemorate and relax. They desire to help everyone understand what happened 19 years ago so that it doesn’t happen again. This week basically ended up being one of our lowest weeks ever. In some ways this is like the USA remembering 9/11 or how we celebrate The Fourth of July.

This week we finally had the opportunity to go to Danny’s home. I have gotten really use to meeting in really small one-room homes without furnishings. It was a really big surprise to walk into Danny’s home for the first time. Danny’s home is very beautiful and reminds me of a home in the USA. We were were welcomed in very nicely by his whole family. This is the first full family I have met in a long time. There are four sisters, Danny and his parents -- a family of seven! We had the opportunity to sit down and really get to know them all. After getting to know them Danny wanted us to teach him. His family said that the next time we come they will schedule time so that they can meet with us as well. It was really exciting to see them all and see how welcoming they were.

Danny is a remarkable investigator he is always inviting his friends to church and he is always very excited to learn more. He has already decided that after one year of being a member (he is not yet baptized) that he will serve a mission. He is so engaging and full of energy. I always look forward to meeting with him since he loves to learn. We taught him the first half of the Plan of Salvation (where we came from before we were on this earth and why we are here on earth). After we had gotten to that point, we stopped and said, “We are going to leave you here and let you think about what happens after this life”. He just looked at us and smiled and said, “I don’t want to think about it, I want to know now.” :) We all laughed and smiled. It was awesome. After letting him think about it for about two days we met with him again and explained what happens after this life. He loved it and was really excited to learn more.

I can’t explain how grateful I am for you all. You all are amazing people. I’m pretty sure that everyone reading this has known me at one point or another and has affected my life. You have helped me in some way or another. I owe you all for shaping me for who I am today.

I love you all

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter/Steve

Mom, Dad and Anne: I look forward to mother’s day. It’s coming up fast and we will be chatting before you know it :)

Climb a Mountain to Reach Your Goal - April 8, 2013

Hey, Hey, Hey – It’s me again :)

This was been a pretty good week and the work is really starting to just move forward. It is pretty cool to see how the Lord helps us in everything we do. :) We have had a lot of people re-surface that were kind of hiding from us. They have ‘come out of the wood work’ and have contacted us so that we can teach them and they are progressing.

The week it started out awesome and pretty much ended the same way. I’ll start by telling you about Emanuel's family. They live about two hours away so when we visit them we have to dedicate a lot of time. We begin by walking for about 45 minutes to a bus stop. Then we have to take a 15 min taxi ride to another bus stop. After that bus stop we have to use our ‘Footsubishis” (Uganda slang word for “I don’t have a car so I have to walk on my feet instead of driving a Mitsubishi car”). All I can say is that my companion deceived me on how much we would have to use our Footsubishis. I asked him how far away do these people live? He said just a few minutes from our last taxi stop. In my mind, a few minutes is a 15 minute walk. Oh man, was I deceived. The walk was not a walk -- we climbed a mountain to get to Emanuel's home -- back hunched over, leaning forward, trying to keep traction in my nice church shoes, as we hike up this mountain. After about 20 minutes of this I thought, “holy cow, how in the world can anyone walk up this everyday”? This house was literally on the peak of a mountain. My companion just kept saying, “We are almost there.” I would just kind of smile and say, “OK, good”. I could of sworn I was on a scenic hike. In the end, we hiked this mountain for about 35 minutes at a very quick pace. When we got to the top it was a remarkable view. It was just absolutely stunning and looked over the whole Kigali area.

After we had reached the top, it made sense why this family would hike this trail every day. The view and surrounding peace up there was definitely worth it. Once we had gotten to Emanuel's home, we caught our breath, entered and taught them. As we sat down they were just glowing with excitement. I was really confused as to what was going on. They looked at us and said that, “we can now be baptized.” Previously they couldn’t be baptized because they still weren’t married. We were waiting for them to sign up for a marriage license and get married. After their comment, I just smiled and said in a nice way that they would have to be married before they could be baptized. After I had said that, he just looked at me and smiled again and said, “I know”. :) By the way, this is all through a translator. I then said, “So what’s going on? What is happening?” He then smiled at me and said that they had gone to government and were approved for marriage. They be married on the 18 of April.

I was so happy I felt like jumping up and just screaming GO EMMANUEL AND MARY!!! I was so pumped up. To put this into perspective, the people here consider gaining a government approved marriage as being kind of useless. They consider living together as a marriage. Getting someone to do an official marriage is nearly impossible. Needless to say, we set a date for baptism date for the 21st of April. They will be baptized in two weeks! I can’t wait to see their marriage and baptism a few days later. I can’t explain how excited I am for them. Marriage is a cool thing. Being baptized and getting married in the same week is an awesome thing.

Success number two for the week is a guy named Modest. He has been a hard person to get ahold of and has been avoiding us. We stopped trying to meet with him because he kept canceling at the last minute and would mess up our plan for the day. He just called and set up an appointment with us. Even better is that he actually came and met with us. Neither of us thought he would show because he had cancelled so many times before. After we waited for a few minutes he showed up all dressed up from head to toe in a really nice suit. It was even more surprising because he isn’t wealthy by any means. He lives in humble circumstances by Rwandan standards. After we had taught him, he started asking a lot of questions about the church, about Joseph Smith, and was really showing a great interest. We answered his questions and he indicated that he wants to meet again. I am excited.

One of my favorite things is when you have given up on someone and put them on hold, and then they contact you and tell you that they have been doing some reading and want to meet. When we meet I see that they have been progressing by themselves. It makes me feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel and hope for the person. It is one of my favorite feelings to see someone with no interest whatsoever grow into a person with motivation and a lot of interest.

This thought is completely off topic but it’s kind of cool. If you truly read the Book of Mormon and study it, the truthfulness cannot be denied. Everything just fits perfectly. If every person were to just read the Book of Mormon slowly, truly pray and ponder about what it is saying, will find that it is true -- for sure. This is something I have really learned as a missionary. If I just read slowly and really try to understand the scriptures (and really pray about it) they become as real as life and the truth is known.

Back on topic. The last person I want to talk about is an investigator named Danny. He is the best investigator I have met. He wants everyone in the world to hear our message. He is always bringing his friends to meet with us and to church. Danny is going to be the best missionary. Every commandment or doctrine we teach him, he just says, “no problem, I agree and I’ll pray about it and find out if it is true or not”. He wants to share the gospel with friends. He wants to know if it is true and he has hope. He is just such an awesome guy.

I love being on mission. It’s a great learning experience and it teaches me a lot. I know that anyone who goes will learn a lot :) ---so everyone go on a mission!

I am sorry this letter is a little shorter than the rest. I wrote longer personal responses to all the family members today :)

I love you all.

Sincerely,

Elder Bitter/Steve