Training, reputations, robbed, quality conversion

The week went well. We had a "district leader’s training" meeting about different topics. I was given a lot of insight of how I can best conduct a baptismal interview. The "Assistant to the President" giving the training told us how nervous the other person is compared to us being very relaxed. I raised my hand and told him, "Actually in my first interview, I was probably more nervous than the person I was interviewing..." But the first time of anything is usually a little nerve racking. Confidence comes with time and experience.

I've been getting a little sick lately. Just body aching, sore throat, some congestion. No fever though. That's a good sign. So I'll probably just wait it out. First time on mission that I've actually felt sick though. Unless you want to count diarrhea. That's just a weekly thing though...

We met a guy this week who seemed welcoming. Later he informed us that "one of the Elders" got his daughter pregnant out of wedlock and he was not happy. As the story unfolded I realized it was one of the members, not a missionary. Anyways, long story-short, he was blaming the leaders of the church. He said, "They knew they were staying together. Why didn't they separate them?" After a long discussion and a lot of gossip, he said we were welcome to come back any time to discuss the "word of God." So I felt good about that. The least I can do is try and save the church's reputation. I said, "The next time we come, we'll talk about the church, not the people in the church." Hopefully something good will come from us meeting him.

The missionary couple here, Forbes, are awesome. We usually go to their house every Monday and they cook lunch for the whole zone. Then we watch church DVD's and sometimes I e-mail from there. They took us last week to find a good fishing place. Well we found a place, but the fact that we didn't catch anything would suggest that it wasn't a good place. The view was nice though. And we enjoyed the day together on the Nile.

Just lately I haven't been hearing from anyone other than you. It might be because I've slowed down sending e-mails myself. I had a lot to say when I first got here, but most of my excitement and stories have shifted to spiritual things I think. I don't think I have that in common with most of my friends. I guess that's my own fault...

I woke yesterday morning and got ready for church. I usually never carry money on Sunday's, because there's no reason to. But I remembered I was going to pay my fast offering. I knew I had only one 20,000 shilling note left. I went to get it out of my wallet from the shelf next to my bed. But it wasn't there. And I noticed the credit cards had fallen out, lying next to the wallet on the shelf. I figured some of the Elders were just playing around with me. I played along with them, but soon realized it wasn't them. It couldn't have been a thief, or else he would have stolen more things from the house. It played on my mind all day yesterday where that money could have gone. I'm pretty particular with money, like most people. I knew I had 20,000 left!

Last night when I came home Elder Ray was looking everywhere for his back pack. No where to be found. This morning my companion realized his CD player was gone out of his suit case, Elder Metemi couldn't find his digital camera, and Elder Ray saw that he was also missing 20,000. Yea, we were robbed. How, I have no idea. When, I'm not exactly sure. Our house has bars on every window. We put big pad locks on the doors when we leave. The yard is fenced in. And the main gate has two pad locks on it. We're the only ones with keys, except for the assistants in Kampala. And why would a thief take only those things? There were two other CD players sitting in the open in the main room, but the thief decided to only take the one hidden in my companion’s suit case. It makes no sense.

Since day one I always said that the only thing I care about is my camera. So I just feel bad for Elder Metemi. Not only is his camera gone, but all his pictures! I think he had over 200 on his memory card. Memories lost... That's stuff money can't buy.

Other than that everything’s fine. We had another baptism yesterday. There were so many at the service that people had to stand, even flowing out into the hall. That was a first for me. Especially to wait that long after church on a fast Sunday. I was happy to see that. It was also one of the few services that went smoothly. Didn't mess up on the words, first dunk was good. It was nice. Morris Dilla Bongo. He lives in my area, but the sisters were the ones teaching him. Kind of a weird story, but I think it was suppose to work out that way.

I remember in soccer, sometimes we would score goals that weren't really "pretty." Just kind of lucky I guess. I forget who said it, maybe my freshman coach, but he said, "People don't ask how, they ask how many?" I think it applies well there in a way, but I have a feeling that that saying won't apply well with the Lord as we discuss my converts at judgment day. Success in our callings doesn't come from "how many" but "how." Like mom said, "Go to the activity even if there is just one person." Basically just opposite of what my coach told me.

Have a good week.
ZAC