Soccer

 

Elder Ngobi arranged a soccer game for the missionaries as part of their
P-Day activities. It was a community affair. It involved the missionaries from
several districts, members from the Duala Branch and the community.
Lots of people showed up to play 1 1/2 hours late - Mormon standard time
coupled with African time. Vendors came to sell water, treats and
homemade food. It truly was a party. The game was played on a
regulation size field with goal posts cemented in the ground and a
referee with a whistle. This was serious. The field as you can see in
the pictures was dirt, weeds and pretty rough.
There were tons of children watching and waiting to get out on the field
at half time and at the end.
Not sure who won but everyone had a great time!!

(Elder Zaugg is in the middle of the picture, where the two American Elders

 are standing together. He is the one on the left)



 

Brewersville Elders -

Kouao, Dahlin, Nabende, Dlamini, Pentreath, Osayi, Ngobi, Zaugg, Smith 

(pictures and captions courtesy of the unofficial Liberia Mission blog at

http://liberia-monrovia-mission.blogspot.com/2013_04_01_archive.html )

French Toast, 4 Starbursts and M&M's

Family!!

Thats soooo cool that Braden (Garrett's friend from Utah)  got called to Taiwan!! I'm super excited for that kid!  He will do great. How was he when he opened it?? And  Keatons call! thats crazy.(Ghana Accra mission) He'll love the Ghana MTC and He'll love Accra. The airport is a little sketchy but its a great experience for sure. (Keaton is from Garrett's ward in Utah).The mosquito patches that we got from Mike work way good. I haven't had a single bite since being here. I replace them every morning after I shower. They are genius. You guys can continue to write long emails as well on here because I found out that I can print at some of the internet cafes. So I can just print your emails and then respond in letters. I'm glad you finally got my letters. I didn't want to make mention of them because I wanted it to be a surprise when they arrived! so I'm glad you got them! and no I haven't received any packages or letters yet.

So remember when we were talking about how I probably wouldn't have to speak in church very often because of where I am... yeah they do missionary Sunday every 3rd week. This is where the ward and full time missionaries take over the whole meeting. Guess what I got assigned to do... Elders Quorum.  Wasn't the most exciting thing to hear on Wednesday night. You could say I was a bit taken back. I was supposed to teach on the topic Come into the Temples from the Lorenzo Snow book which is chapter ten. I wanted to make it a good lesson, so every personal study from Thursday to Sunday I studied and wrote down questions to ask and highlighted parts in the book. I was nervous that I wasn't going to be able to take up the whole time, because back home there really is no participation in the class. When sunday came, I studied and went over it in my head so that I would be able to present the lesson with perfection(; When it came time for me to start, I had 45 minutes left for me to teach. so I started out and we started reading the first two paragraphs on the first page and we discussed them, then we read D&C 110 which enlightened us a little more on the second paragraph. At this point when we finished D&C it had only taken up 10 minutes. I started sweating a little. Then one man had a question so another guy answered it in the class. Then someone else made a comment and needless to say the lesson went great!  I closed with my testimony about the temples and that was that. I'll teach Elders Quorum every 3rd Sunday if it goes that well. (:

So I'm 19 now!! Friday was just like every other day... teach lessons... teach lessons.. and teach lessons...But to start my day off, I decided to enjoy myself a little and make my favorite food... French toast (:  I made it for breakfast and dinner. It was a good moment. I took a picture so that I could show you guys! But I think I'll have to upload photos next Monday.  Also on my birthday Elder Smith gave me a coconut, Elder Dahlin gave me 4 starburst with a delicious treat that I can't remember what there called, and Elder Pentreath gave me M&Ms... Its hard to save food here. I almost ate all of it that evening. I had will power though and stopped myself.

Saturday I was able to have my first baptism.  He is ten years old and has two cute little puppies. I was worried that I would screw up his name during the prayer. When he first told me it, I couldn't understand him because little kids here don't speak very clear all the time. But to this point in my mission, we have had 5 conversions so far. The mission is growing rapidly and we are suppose to be getting a lot more Elders in the next coming transfers.

I want to say thank you for having me grow up in the gospel and being able to know these things from when I was little. I'm grateful that Dad and Mom lived their lives in the gospel and got married in the temple so that we could be a family forever. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have the gospel as my background. I think I would be lost and unhappy. I walk the streets everyday and see people who don't know about the gospel and I want to share it with all of them. I know what they are missing out on and I want them to have this same joy. Growing up in the Gospel has been such a blessing being able to feel peace and happiness. Knowing that through Jesus Christ,  I and everyone else, are able to make it back to our Heavenly father. I really am so Thankful.

I only have one scripture this email because I forgot to write some down during my study time during the week.
Alma 13:24 Angels are preparing the hearts of people

This is why the duty of members is important. They are the key to keeping converts in the church. They have the power to build a strong relationship with them so that the convert can feel happiness and peace while attending church. Members also need to refer people to the missionaries. When a member refers a friend to the missionaries, it helps a lot because the referral already has a friend in the church. The friend is able to attend all the lessons, answer any questions when the missionaries aren't around, and are able to bear strong testimony of the truth. When an investigator sees just a normal everyday person bear sincere testimony of what they know to be true, and not just the missionaries all the time, it may be the key to them becoming converted. Members in missionary work is key. We all need to improve on assisting the missionaries by befriending new converts and making sure they feel welcomed.

And Candice! Congratulations on Graduating college and becoming a professional! (; Go make money! You have completed your mission. How do you feel now that you have accomplished it? I am proud of you and so excited that you are finally finished!

Tell the little ones that I saw a monkey climbing in the tree the other day during a lesson but I wasn't able to take a picture... they run away to fast.

I love you all and miss you guys!! send pictures(: and keep writing letters!

Love Elder Zaugg

Happy 19th Birthday

Tub Scum

Family, I love you guys!
Keep sending letters! I havent received anything yet. no packages or anything...
but continue sending letters because I hardly have time to read emails only to send one! and send peanut butter!! its expensive here! I should have packed some like mom said.  but you can get quite a bit of American food, the problem is that the price is outrageous on these products and we only get 140 a month...

here comes story time

So ever since I arrived at our apartment, we haven't cleaned anything. So today was the day we decided to clean. My companion asked me which one would I like to clean, either the bathroom or the room. Me being nice I was like, oh I'll clean the bathroom since it has a few more things to do. So He cleaned the room while I did the bathroom. Now when I first got here I looked around and in the bathroom and everything was stained. The bath tub had nasty black stains and brown streaks all over the place, so did the tile on the wall. so it was pretty gross because you have no idea what any of this stuff could be. Anyways I start cleaning the sink and around the faucet then I move to the tub. Now this I thought was going to be easy...... I thought wrong. I take one swipe of the rag on the side of the tub and all these black and brown marks that I thought were stains for the past 4 weeks, were built up scum. My companion came in and started laughing and I asked him if he had ever cleaned this tub before. He said that when he was in training he cleaned it once but not very good... well thats obvious. haha You better believe I cleaned this tub after I saw that! I cleaned for a good 30-40 minutes and made this thing look like new. My mother taught me well!! (; Our tub is actually blue now and not black. Its cool how a little cleaning makes things look so nice.  I took a before and after picture and it is incredible. I'll try sending them over one of these times!

Okay, so there is something that I have found out about a mission... It makes you dream weird weird weird dreams. Just the other night I woke up from a dream where I was on my mission in Japan teaching a family in Japanese. I was so confused at what was real or not. I just went back to bed and tried to forget about it. Another dream I had was I was back home doing all the things that i would normally be doing if I were home and when I woke up I realized where I was and it was a little disappointing. I love my mission and all, but that dream was too real so waking up from it was terrible. A mission is an awesome experience though(:

Before I forget! Tell parker that I am way excited for him to leave this wednesday!! He'll have the best time on his mission! I can't believe he is already leaving. Time really has been going by super fast. lt is already pday again!!! The weeks and days all go by way fast when you are on your mission. I don't know how it is for you guys back home, but out here time goes by fast. And I am not complaining (:

I lied last email... I didn't end up getting my first African hair cut on that day. I actually did that today already. My hair was LONG!!! It was growing over my ears like I was growing a shag or something. I would be riding the bikes to our area and my hair would just flow in the wind and everyone just stares as we go by. I would have to comb my hair back over after every bike ride. I think its coming close to two months of not having my hair cut now. The last time kendra cut it was the week before my farewell im sure.

Now their is some more scriptures I want you guys to read

Matt: 21:21 Having faith with no doubts, you can do anything
Matt. 22:22If you believe, whatever you ask in prayer you shall recieve

I've known that if you have faith anything can happen. but when you study the bible and actually pay attention to what can happen if you have faith... you can do anything that is righteous. You can be healed of ANYTHING and i mean ANYTHING if you have faith to be healed. Faith is the most important thing that we all can strive to improve. We need to always exercise our faith, because the bible tells us that faith without works is dead. Exercising our Faith will make it grow strong and we'll be able to do anything.

I love you all so very much and can't wait to recieve these emails in letters so that I will hear how you guys are doing and be able to reply! Love you all!! Tell the little ones to play lots for me because Uncle Garrett doesn't get very much play time.

Love Elder Zaugg

I LOVE AFRICA!!!!

Yummy Chicken Feet!

Family!

     Today marks my 1 month mark!! only 23 more to go and only 23 more times to wear my fast sunday tie!! Sounds like conference was good! But we haven't seen it out here yet, so in the next couple of weeks we will be seeing it. You all sound good. And yes I'm eating enought... you will not have to worry about me starving in Africa. The moms here definitley take care of the missionaries. We have meals all of the time... Like yesterday, we had 3 of them... and the last two were right after another and my comp made me eat the last one by myself because he didn't like beans.... haha so you could say i might not be coming back skinny... I'm watching what I eat for sure though so I don't put on the pounds! There was a time I remember mom saying that she is taking care of all the missionaries and feeding them so that when I went on mine other mothers would take care of me... well her wish came true. Her son might be coming home 15 pounds bigger because of all this Rice!! I don't understand how Africans can eat rice everyday and not get sick of it... its the same everyday. And they get excited to eat it!  Its like God has blessed them with the ability to make rice taste different everytime they eat it... its incredible. but all these guys are ripped out of their minds to. At least most of them. I never thought I would see an obese African while on my mission because there really is no kind of food that would make them over weight. Well, I saw my first obese African and I was in shock.... my companion was also. I love my mission.
     The weather here is hot. Sometimes we will get a rain storm and it will cool down to around 80, but other than that... its hot all the time. I'm getting used to it and it doesn't bother me as bad anymore which I am thankful for.
      On monday this last week we went to presidents house to enjoy some mangos and rice. his wife brought out a huge bowl for 5 of us.... the problem is, all 4 missionaries had eaten before haha we were so full that we had to just focus on choking it down. During this meal though, I was able to try my first chicken foot. lets just say, I will be making some for you guys when I get home! They actually have a really good taste to them. and I'm not sure if thats because I'm in Africa and we don't get a variety of meat around here, or if they actually taste good. But they weren't bad at all! so prepare yourself for some chicken feet when I get home! 

 

And when we were at presidents house, he took us to his garden and showed us what he had... He had corn that he gave us!!! I was super stoked to have some corn! But the corn stalks that grow in Africa are not your average corn stalk. These things are ten plus feet tall. Its amazing to see what kind of things grow around here! They all get to be extremely big though because of the moisture and rain. one more thing! I am receiving my first African hair cut today, so I will be sure to take pictures! they only use a razor blade and a comb, so well see how it turns out!
     Yesterday I was able to give the Holy Ghost for the first time on my mission! I was a little nervous but it went good. I only messed up the prayer twice...  just remember to say authority when you are saying the prayer. I totally spaced that word once it was my turn to do it. know one can hear you when you say it because the generator is so loud and we don't speak into a microphone when we use it  so It wasn't awkward at all! But it went good after that, its amazing to see how the spirit guides you and lets you know what to say. The mission has helped me grow closer to my Heavenly Father through all my experiences. Good and bad. I study the bible so much and am starting to memorize/know where scriptures are so that I can use them in lessons. Its just amazing to see how much the spirit really is in your life when you are on a mission. There are a couple of scriptures I found that I want you guys to read, I thought they were good when I came across them.

Matt 12: 36-37 this will help anyone stop gossiping, cursing
Matt 4: 18-22 just missionary work and how they instantly dropped everything to be fishers of men
Matt 6: 8 Our father in heaven knows what we need before we ask
Matt 6: 31-33 He knows what we are in need of and will help us if we seek for righteousness.
This scripture made me think back onto when we were experiencing that really difficult trial, but we stayed faithful in the gospel and did the things we needed to like going to church, studying the scriptures, and following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. If you guys have time and can read these, that'd be great! Ill try to print here and write letters back answering your questions in a letter so we'll see how that goes. Its only 20 ld to print which is like 5 cents so it wont be too bad.

     Its cool to hear how many people are getting mission calls. The lord has truely quickened the pace and is making his work move along. Keep encouraging young men to serve missions. Its rough, but it shows your faith and helps you grow to become a better individual. Even after just a month, I know that I will be different spiritually once two years is up. And don't worry, I still am the same brother with the same personality!!! haha nothing has changed except my faith in the church and my testimony. The church is true and no one can deny it once they have found the truth. Continue to do your own personal study at home because it really does strengthen you and help you grow. Study both the bible and the book of mormon!
     How was your guys Easter and April fools? I was trying to plan some kind or trick where I could say I came down with Malaria twice or something like that, but I forgot to do it once I got to the Cafe... so you guys got lucky. But how is Braden doing by the way? Has he recieved his mission call or anything yet? I was just thinking about him the other day and was curious.  Another thing is that I heard The DHL in the bottom of BYU in SLC sends packages to missionaries for half price.. I don't know much about it, so maybe its something to look in to and see. I love and miss you guys each and everyday! Its hard not to think about home and American food  but a mission is sweet! I love you guys!!!!!

Love Elder Zaugg

Electricity and Spiders

     Ok so I can't reply to your email since I have so much to say and so little time. So I will look forward to the letter and reply to it through a letter or something!  Life in Africa is sweet. It makes you realize how much you take for granted.... Electricity 24/7, variety in food, queen size bed, no mosquito net, no HUGE spiders, paved roads, orderly traffic that you feel safe in, and much more that I think of right now...
     The Electricity situation... We have electricity on from 7 to 10:30 which helps a lot. we use a generator that is in a shed behind the zone leaders apartment. That is one thing that is so useful... Electricity helps with everything. When you don't have light in the morning to study, its by flash light. I love all the things we bought though! Like that lantern flash light we got at sportsmans works like a champ! It lights up the whole room so we can do our daily planning until the gen turns on. And that fan by the way... Its amazing to sleep with! I actually get cold at night and sleep with my blanket... weird I know. You think me being in Africa I wouldn't have to use a blanket.. but nope. I definitely don't hate being cold in Africa. haha It helps get through the night! and thats another thing... at night we are suppose to take in our pillows that we put on the weight bench to make it soft for us, so that the dog won't get them. Well, one morning around 4am we woke up to the sound of a dog getting beat... yeah when your in Africa and you hear these sounds... not the best way to get woken up. But once I realized it was I dog I went back to sleep. We woke up the next morning and we got told what had happened and we felt bad. We couldn't find the dog anywhere.... we though it was dead. After proselyting we came home and it was happy as can be! I don't understand how this thing still walks straight. Its been beat too many times!
     So this week we had to have a coordination meeting with the branch mission leader at the church on Tuesday. We went there and they didn't show up, so we sat in on the Book of Mormon class instead. Before we went to the class though, we went to use the bathroom. The church isn't very big and has no running water. So these toilets you have to use a bucket and flush it that way. Anyway, we walk into the bathroom and there are two stalls. My comp passes the first one and goes to the second one. When I opened the stall door, on the side of the wall, I saw a spider the size of my hand go running to the back of the stall... Yes this is my first spider incident and I hope it is the last.These spiders are ridiculous. But once I saw this thing run, I didn't have to use the bathroom whatsoever anymore. This spider could have been in a horror film... It was freaky. especially being in a stall in the bathroom. You better believe I check around the toilet whenever I use it now. I dont think I will ever be a spider fan.
     Another interesting thing happened to me during personal study this week. As I was sitting at my desk that faces the closet, I was pondering in one of the trances where you just stare at something and think. I was staring at the back of our closet, when I saw something crawl across the wall.... for a moment I thought my imagination was really good, but I stood up and walked closer and I saw what looked like to be a spider leg... It was massive. it then ran behind some clothes... I shined the flash light in and around the closet, and to my amazement, it was a gecko. It freaked me out when I thought it was a huge spider in my closet haha we still haven't caught it either. Its wandering around our apartment somewhere.
     I have more I want to say, but I have to go! so I will write it in a letter and send it to you guys! Could you send more stamps? I will answer this email when I get it in the mail! I wasn't able to read it because of time so please send it! I love you guys so much!

Love Elder Zaugg

I LOVE AFRICA