Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Week #12 - He Says

Dear Family,

Well the internet has been terrible and my computer is dying, other
than that life is really good.  We love our mission and are grateful
for the new mission president they are so busy trying to figure
everything out, they are wonderful and we love them.

July 1-7, 2013

The work continues to roll forward in the Freetown East District and we
 continue to see miracles happening all the time.

 I met with President Kpullum on Tuesday night and did some training on the
 title of president, which especially applies to the branches and the
 counselors.  They generally call the entire branch presidency president.
 The temple trip is progressing and we have scheduled a fireside for July
 28th for all that will be going on the temple trip, at which time we will
 cover exactly what they need to do to be prepared.  President Kpullum is a
 very good man and is very involved in the District.

  Wednesday afternoon I continued my training with the Kissy 1 & 2 branch
 presidencies.  We covered how to conduct a Sacrament meeting, proper
 way to perform ordinances and who should be called president.  The
 training is being received very well and they want to continue the
 training.  I'm very impressed with their desire to do things right and
 the Lord's way.

 We delivered cooking gas tanks to the Wellington Sisters, the Grafton
 and Waterloo Elders, plus got a new shut off valve to the Allentown
 Elders.  The Kissy Elders pump broke and we got them a new used one.
 Pumps continue to be a problem and are breaking fairly regularly,
 that's missionaries source to have clean water in their apartments.

 Saturday was a wonderful day.  We started off with our employment
 class and Sister Kamara the teacher was not feeling well, so Tommy Abu
 and I gave her a priesthood blessing and when we saw her later that
 afternoon she was feeling better, the power of the priesthood.

 Then we went to the Wellington Chapel and witnessed 4 baptisms,
 Elder's Ngerem and Narteh had 2, Sister's Owusu and Kioko had 1 and
 Elder's Nickle and Animba had 1.  The reason they all took place in
 Wellington was that the Kissy Chapel font was not working.  All in all
 it was a wonderful service and lives were changed and they were all
 adults.  The spirit was so strong and we were glad to be part of it.

 Our adventures continued as we spent the afternoon working with
 Sister's Owusu and Kioko.  We walked 25 minutes in the pouring rain to
 get to an appointment, our umbrellas were way to small and we were
 soaked.  We then took part in a discussion on the commandments and
 read from Mosiah 13 and had the opportunity to share our testimonies,
 it was a time we will always cherish.  We sat outside of this sweet
 sisters home in rain pouring down (we were covered), little chickens
 stepping on our feet and we felt so good, the sisters were terrific.

 From there we drove back to the Kissy Chapel and witnessed the annual
 seminaries and institute graduation.  President Kpullum presided and
 talked, Bro. Charles talked and gave out special certificates for
 attendance to many of the youth.  There were 143 present and that was
 mainly youth, not many parents in attendance, an area that needs some
 work.  Overall it was very impressive and there was a very good spirit
 felt.  All branches in the District were represented.  All in all a
 great day.
Helping the young men tie their ties!

  Sunday started early and ended late. We dropped off a pump to the
Kissy apartment. Then drove to Waterloo and were there for their entire block. They had 114 in attendance, which included 17 investigators. President Thomas 1st Counselor in the District Presidency was present and was quite impressed with all that were there, but very concerned about where they were meeting and most in attendance standing outside. They had 2 babies blessed (one being the son of Richard Carlos, it was his first time and he did great, he's the 1st Counselor in the BP), 1 confirmation, 1 received the AP, a new executive secretary called. In spite of the poor conditions the branch is growing and functioning to the best of their ability. I spent about 25 minutes training President Kamara on callings and then we discussed the need to get the chapel up to a functioning level, he's a good man that wants to do the right and is trying very hard. We then went to the Kossoh Town Chapel and met with President Sesay and invited him to give the opening prayer at the devotional next Sunday and he was very honored. We then met with the Elder's who were teaching a discussion. From there we drove to the Wellington Chapel where I met with the new branch presidency and did an hour of training where I covered the title of president, how to conduct a Sacrament meeting, proper way to perform ordinances and different roles that each in the presidency has. Another powerful meeting where I was able to teach from the handbook and emphasized how they needed to do the same with their branch leaders. A great group of men, once again wanting to lead properly. We ended our day at the Kissy Chapel where Sister Kanzler participated in the District Choir practice, preparing for next Sunday's devotional. The weekends are very packed and we are grateful to spend so much time with the leaders, members and FT missionaries. This truly is a special time in our lives and we cherish the chance to serve the people of Sierra Leone. The gospel is true and we love our Savior.

Tommy Abu and his daughter. He is the man we spoke to regarding the civil war.

We love and miss each of you and pray for you daily.

Have a great week!

 Elder and Sister Kanzler, Grandma & Grandpa & Scott & Robin

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