Difficult Week but New Missionaries Coming!

         This has been a difficult week. Elder Cobabe and I have struggled a lot this week in progressing people. Some of our most legit investigators moved away this week, or decided to that they no longer want to be baptized, which was very disappointing. Seeing such a lack of success kind of put us down, but at the same time pushes us to work harder.

         Sometimes I feel as though I have spent way to much time in Lira. I kind of just wish that I could see more of Uganda, instead of being stuck in the same place for so long.

         We met a pretty cool family this week. The father is a teacher at Lango College, and the wife owns her own business. They seem to be a pretty solid family (with 3 kids) and I hope that they progress well. We met them while tracking, and they all accepted a baptismal date within the first visit. I have a good feeling about this family.

      This mission is growing quickly, this upcoming transfer were going to get 19 new missionaries. That's a new record for the mission. Were also sending out a lot of new missionaries, in the branch that I'm in there are 5 people preparing to send in their papers this month. I wish I could see what the branch is like in 2 years with all of the missionaries from Lira returning. I think that in Lira there's about 15 missionaries out right now, the branch is going to grow so fast once they all come back.

      Thank you all for all of your love and support. Keep the people in this Country in your prayers, they need the Gospel more than they know. 

Finding a Friend

May 20, 2013

As far as missionary work is concerned this was a very powerful week. My companion and I have been blessed by our efforts this week, and I can see the blessings that come through obedience and hard work. Elder Cobabe and I had been struggling this transfer so far, we've meet a few good people but not very many, and for the most part we were just having a difficult time getting anything going. However this week we sat down as we were planning out the week and we just brainstormed effectively. We thought of dozens of Ideas of how to get referrals, and how to get results this week and then we just put them into action. I was as obedient as possible this week to all of the mission rules and standards, and felt an added bonus of the spirit. As Elder Cobabe and I worked this week we felt the arm of God with us at all times, and by the end of it all we had an amazing week. We had 12 investigators come to church this Sunday as well, which is the highest that I've ever seen. Elder Cobabe and I just felt like the hand of God was with us the whole day.

    During this week we had another great blessing happen. Elder Cobabe and I were walking along when these kids came up to us and started bugging us (asking for money and sweets), but rather than just ignoring them I decided to try to turn this into a finding opportunity. One of the kids (like 8 or 9 years old) asked us "where are you going", so I responded "were looking for someone. Do you know where the old wise man is who lives around here? The one who drives a car and lives in a big house?" (or in other words I just asked do you know where this elect investigator stays). One of the kids seemed to think he knew who I was talking about so he jumped up and said "follow me". He lead us about a quarter of a mile down this long dirt road in the middle of all these trees and bushes until we
ended up at this large compound that I had never noticed before. We knocked on the gate and It was answered by the guard who noticed us and immediately was like "oh missionaries huh? I think that he's been waiting for you, come on in" so we walked into this enormous compound where there was the most beautiful house (It would look fancy if you found it in the States, let alone Uganda). The Guard stopped us at the gate and said "let me make sure it's OK for you to come in". The guard walked in and moment later came back out saying "follow me". We entered into the house and noticed that the inside was even more beautiful than the outside,  paintings everywhere, the floor and walls were an untainted white color and in the main room was a giant chandelier hanging over a very large, well-dressed man sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. We sat down across from the man and we introduced our selves to him, curious as to who this man was. After introducing ourselves to him he put down his newspaper and looked at us studying us for a while, and then looked us in the eyes and told us "I am the chairman or the Catholic church in Lira, what can you teach me about Christ that I don't already know". BOOM! That caught me off guard. Immediately my Companion and I  began to say a silent prayer in our hearts, and said "Our aim is not to teach you something new about Christ, but to share with one another what we know about Christ and help to build up a stronger relationship with Christ". We opened up to 3rd Nephi: 27 where Jesus talks about his gospel and we just bore powerful testimonies about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was deeply impressed at the Book of Mormon after that so we explained a little bit about it (where it comes from, and what it is about). We even gave him one to keep as well. As we were getting ready to go he said to us "Any time that you guys want to pass by again don't be afraid of coming by". It was a pretty cool experience and proves to me that the spirit that the Book of Mormon has is powerful enough to soften hearts, by just reading it. Also the missionaries have a new friend in Lira, and his name is Minister Ogwal, the Chairman of the Catholic Church in Lira.
-Love 
Elder Grilliot

Caught in the Act and Pascal the Chameleon

My comp. hid and got this of me for you, I love you mom!

      

This has been a good week. It was good to talk with home and touch base with my mom this mothers day. One thing that us missionaries sometimes forget is how far away home is, but when you haven't talked to any family in about 4 months you realize that time moves on and it separates us more than distance ever will.

       My companion (Elder Cobabe) and I found a chameleon this week. We named him Pascal (after the movie Tangled), and he's awesome, he changes colors and stuff. He lives in our compound and we see him climbing around in trees and branches within the compound all the time, so he's like our pet in a way.

      Anyways love you guys have a great week.

P.S. I apologize in advance for having such a short post this week.

Staying in LIra and Finding Simon

       Dear Framily and Friends,

 There are just somethings that I love about serving in Uganda. I love the diversity for one. You can get missionaries from all over Africa serving around you. I've met people from Kenya, South Africa, Zimbobwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Madagascar. It's pretty sweet having such diversity, and so many different cultures in one place. Hearing stories, and making friends with people all over Africa is pretty sweet.

        We had transfers once again and just like before I'm staying in Lira, except this time I'm also keeping my same companion, Elder Cobabe. So basically no changes for me.

        Elder Cobabe and I have met some pretty awesome people this week, who I am excited about. One thing about this mission is that (especially in these younger branches like in Lira) we are searching for specific kinds of people, ones who will strengthen the branches and help to stabilize the branch. Basically the most important thing that the branches need are families, complete families. Father, Mother, and children. And It's a bonus if they have a steady job and are well educated. That's why Elder Cobabe and I felt so excited this week when we met someone named Simon who has a family of 5, has an excellent job as a building supervisor  and is just an all around cool guy. He accepted a baptismal date the first time that we met him and he's just a very elect guy. He's exactly what these new branches in Uganda are looking for. It's so difficult to find a complete family and baptize them but when you do It's just awesome.

     Look forward to calling you guys Sunday. Can't Wait!

Love 

Elder Grilliot