Keny Armstrong family baptisms, winding down on the mission

Sorry I didn't write about Moses Ndyanabo last week. He went to Kabale district to see his wife who had been admitted into the hospital for a sever case of malaria and he never came back. We tried calling his number, but the phone is switched off. Basically he just kind of disappeared. Hopefully he comes back and resumes his teaching. He's a great guy.

Last week I found a 2GB SONY memory card for my camera. Only 50,000 shillings. I was pretty happy about that. So I bought it immediately even though I hadn't exactly budgeted for it.

Keny's wife and his nephew were baptized yesterday. And Keny was the one who baptized them. He did perfect. His nephew was fearing the water big time. He didn’t make it all the way under the first time. Not even close. The second time around it almost appeared that Keny was trying to drown him. Ochan was trying to come back out really fast, but Keny over-powered him all the way down into the water. It was successful. Keny was very happy. He bore his testimony at the close of the service, and even the congregation expressed their joy vocally as he spoke and especially when he closed. A lot of the members were part of their conversion. That's the way it should be.

I spoke with President a little about Gulu and Rwanda, but it doesn't sound like I'll ever see anyone go. It seems like the pattern is to send a senior couple first to "test the waters." Everything's kind of up in the air. A big factor is determining if the church is strong enough to accept Elders. I was thinking it was the Elders who strengthen the church. How is the church going to get stronger without missionaries? I don't know.

President has now said to me on a few different occasions that I very well have the abilities to be an assistant any time I want. But he says that, "You're better in the field working, and not running around as an assistant. You're more effective that way." It almost reminds of the time my soccer coach benched me, a starter, and then thanked me for understanding and being patient or something. It confuses me a little, but I'll go wherever I'm "needed." I'm definitely getting transferred in a few weeks from now. And now some are thinking I'm going to replace Johnston in Ethiopia. Either way, it seems that I have about one more area, and maybe two more companions.

I'm still crunching all this college stuff. I was finally able to get into my account from BYU-I and check my credit hours and GPA. I definitely have less than thirty credit hours. The only down fall on that is that I have to send my high school transcripts to wherever I'm applying again. The Winter 2009 deadline isn't until Oct.1. So that gives me a little bit of a cushion. But I've heard that the earlier, the better. I'm still procrastinating on that essay. What else is new? Let me know if you have any ideas.

Thanks for that exercise book. I'm going to print it right now. Hopefully I can get enough copies for my families that will be going.

I am happy that we've been able to start a new tradition to go to conference every six months. It seems like it's never too late to start a new family tradition. This one is good though.

I love you. Have a good week.

ZAC