Love Teaching People in Gulu

   This has been a nice week. I really enjoy the area that I'm serving in right now. I really like the branch that I'm in, and the people here as well. It's the will of God, but if I were to choose, I would like to be able to finish my mission from here. I've been working hard this last week, and I've been focused on the work. We are teaching some nice people, and I would love to see some of them get baptized.

   The couple that we are teaching (Isaac and Jenifer) are doing really well. The marriage thing is a small problem though. They are both willing to get married, but the wife wants her parents to be there and for her to wear a nice dress and for there to be rings. The husband doesn't have money to pay for any of that (he barely will have enough for the transport to Lira and back). It's causing a bit of tension in the family, because the husband wants to get baptized super bad, and he doesn't care about any fancy stuff at the wedding and he can't afford it. The wife wants to get baptized badly as well, but she wants to have a nice wedding, and doesn't want to have one that is unmemorable. It's just a difficult situation.

   Otherwise things are going well, hope everyone back home is alright.

Love

Elder Grilliot

   I don't know my release date but I do have a clue. My last Sunday will be on the 26th of October. That's what I figure anyway because my final transfer ends on that day. Usually they do the farewell dinner for missionaries on a Wednesday or a Thursday that week, so chances are (and I might be wrong) that I will be flying home on the 30th or the 31st of October. I will get a more accurate release date in the weeks to come.

   Good to hear the family is doing well.

Testimony of the Priesthood

   For all of you wondering I did get rid of all the bedbugs. I haven't seen them since I last had them. So you can all stop freaking out.

   I have a testimony of the priesthood this week. On Wednesday this last week I noticed in myself that I was developing a bit of a cough, but I didn't really think much of it. That evening I started feeling much worse and I retired to bed feeling a little dizzy and in the morning I really just felt awful. I had a fever and I was vomiting. I requested a priesthood blessing from my comp and then called sister squire (the mission Doctor). I went to the hospital on her orders, and the doctor had found out that I had contracted typhoid. They injected me full of this green liquid and told me that I need to come back for two more injections the following days, following which I would be taking some antibiotics for the next week. They told me that it would take up to 4 or 5 days before I would be feeling good again. I went to bed that evening early and the next morning, and contrary to what the doctors had said, I felt great the next day. Even the doctors were surprised to see how fast the fever had left and how upbeat I was feeling. I am sure that the priesthood blessing that I had received was the means by which the recovery came so quickly. I'm grateful for the priesthood and for the power provided in it. Regardless though sister squire (the mission Doctor) is determined that I stay healthy the rest of my mission, so she's going to load me up with a bunch of vitamins to last me the rest of my mission next time she sees me.

   Love you guys have a great week.

-Elder Grilliot

Mom out of all the things that have happened to me out here I can't believe that Bedbugs were the number one thing to freak you out. The bedbugs are gone. I havn't gotten bitten since. I took a nice long shower after finding the bugs. All of my clothes and stuff were washed since then and I haven't had any trouble with them since. You should consider me lucky though. Some Area's (mostly in Ethiopia) get REALLY REALLY bad cases of bedbugs. like for months. I know an Elder that had bedbugs infested in his mattress for 4 months long until they soaked him mattress in paraphine (bedbug killing spray). But you shouldn't worry about Gulu, bedbugs are not as common here. And they don't last long either.

   Isaac and Jennifer are doing alright. There is a church meeting house in Lira that I think will be accredited by the end of this week (if all go's well). So that would help us a ton if needs be.

An Elect Couple and little bugs

   Time is just flying by so fast. It seems like my mission only just begun a short time ago, but when I look at it time is just so limited now. I pray that I can Finish strong, and that I don't think of home for the next 4 months.

   The work is going so well. One of our recent converts gave us a referral last week, the referral's name is Isaac. We began teaching him and his wife (but they are not married yet, just living together) and they are one of the most elect couples that I have ever met. They are a young couple, so they don't have children yet, but they really really love each other (you can just feel it). We taught the husband, Isaac, first, and he just ate it up. He was very ready for the gospel.

The second time we visited we talked about the Book of Mormon, and this time with the wife, Jennifer, as well. Because the wife wasn't able to hear the restoration when we came to teach the first time we left a restoration pamphlet with her to read. We came back a few days later, and not only had she read it, but she took SUPER DETAILED NOTES! from a pamphlet that is like 16 pages long (and half of it is

pictures) she took like four pages of notes about everything. She was genuinely touched by the message that she read. They both are progressing extremely well. They read the Book of Mormon together when they can, and pray together every morning and evening. That's not something that very many couples do in Uganda. They both have accepted to work towards baptism, and they are doing so well right now. The only barrier right now for them is marriage, they have to get married together before baptism, but with some faith I think that things will work out. I have confidence in them that things will work out. Please include in your prayers Isaac and Jennifer. I am really praying that they can get baptized, it would help their lives so much, and it would make me super happy.

   Kind of an funny story. This week we were teaching a recent convert in his home. He lives in a mud hut, and the place that he's staying in is kind of like a boy’s home (he lives with a few of his brothers).

It's kind of a grubby place, and the foam chair that I was sitting in wasn't in the best shape it's probably ever been in. At the end of the appointment I notices a little bug on one of the fold of my pants. I brushed it off and really didn't think anything of it. We continued the missionary work for the rest of the day, without much trouble, accept that my back felt a little itchy. That night after planning out the next day's activities, I began to change into my pajamas. As soon as I removed my white shirt felt super itchy all over my back and sides, like EXTREMELY itchy. I checked under my undershirt and there were these large bumps all the way up and down my sides and back, they were way to big to be mosquito bites, but they itched like it was nobody’s business. I showed them to my companion and he kind of laughed/ was in awe. I then showed them to my zone leader companion at least he knew what they were. He had seen them on another missionary before. It was bedbugs! And they feasted on me for sure.

   It's been a nice week so far. Thanks for all of your prayers. Love you guys!

-Elder Grilliot

High Centered and Driving in Gulu

  This has been a crazy week. Wednesday was transfers, Thursday too, Friday we drove down to Mission Leaders Council, Saturday we drove up from it, Sunday was church and baptisms, and on Monday (today) we had Zone Conference. I just feel tired right now.

   This time down to MLC was an interesting drive. In transfers a missionary called Elder Frakes came up to Gulu to be in the same home as me. I drove up to MLC and we did so safely, it was pretty smooth sailing for the whole way. That night when we arrived for MLC we held it at the mission home and I parked the truck next to the place. When I tried to drive the car out of the place I circled around the home next door which was abandoned (so that way I would'nt have to back out). But as I did so I drove over a tiny hill on the front lawn of the home, and in the process the car got super high centered. the front tires were not even touching the ground. Luckily my cousin Elder Bitter and his companion were there to help me out. They tryed to pull me out with their truck but to no avail. we tried to dig out the truck a bit but nothing. Eventually We took the car jack, jacked up the front wheels put a bunch on stones underneath the tires and tried to back it out in 4 wheel drive while the rest of us jumped up and down in the back of the truck to give it traction. Finally we got it out, but it was one heck of a job to do it.

   Then on the way back from MLC we had a few close calls too. The Lord was really looking out for us. The road that goes to Gulu is small and narrow. So small that if a car is moving in the opposite direction then one of the two of you will have to get off of the road.

There are also these huge busses that go flying down that road, and everything in their way just has go get out of the way. Well there was this one time when a bus was coming FLYING super fast down the road and then just next too us there was this little old lady riding her bike just off of the road. My companion was driving and he had to pull himself off of the road just to avoid being hit. For sure when he pulled out I thought we would hit that Lady, but it was a mirracle, somehow we managed to fit just barley between the lady and the bus. It was amazing. We will drive safer from now on!

Love you guys have a great week

-Elder Grilliot

My Zone at Chobe resorts

   This has been a great transfer, Alot of good memories. My companion and I are staying the same, but my zone leader companion is leaving.

   Today for a p-day activity our zone went to Chobe resorts, We got to eat an incredible breakfast and see all the animals. It was really cool.

   Mango season is ending here in Gulu, but now orange season is beginning, should be good (we will be fed oranges like crazy).

   The work is going well right now. Still trying to find out how to get people married from here, hopefully we will figure out a way soon.

   Love you guys, have a great week.

-Elder Grilliot

This is a picture of my zone in Gulu

My companion is the one on the far right.

The couple is the missionary couple for Gulu My zone leader companion is the second to last one on the right back.

(he's getting transferred though).

This is In Murchisine falls national park we went there for our p-day activity.

The Gulu Fair

Elder Scott Grilliot with huge Snake at the Gulu Fair

Bird at the Gulu Fair

Ostrich at the Gulu Fair

   This has been a nice week. My companion and I have been hard at work this week and we have received a lot of blessings from the Lord.

We found 3 families this last week (2 of the as referrals), which is awesome. The only difficulty with that though is just that none of them are married properly yet (which is common in Uganda because it can take them years to raise the money to pay dowry to the wife's parents, which is usually required before the parents allow them to be married). On top of that, there isn't a place that is credited by the Ugandan Government for the Church to perform marriages in Gulu. The nearest place would be in Kampala which is about a 6 hr drive. So either we would have to perform the marriage in another church (like a catholic one or a protestant one), which would cost us a lot of money, or we would have to pay a lawyer and perform the marriage in the judicial court (which would also cost a lot of money). We will figure out a way for it to work eventually though.

    This last week we have had a fair come into Gulu. It is pretty sweet, they have a few rides and a ton of cool crafts to buy (but at ridiculously high prices). They also had some animals that you could look at. They had a lion, a lepord, a crested crane, a monkey, a snake, an ostrich and a giant turtle. I'll send some pictures. we paid the caretaker of the animals a little bit of money and he let us take some pictures withe the snake which was pretty sweet. However while they were taking out the snake it bit one of the caretakers on his hand he stated bleeding everywhere. It was pretty gruesome, he should be alright (it wasn't a venomous snake). I'll send some more pictures in another email.

   Love you guys have a great week!

-Elder Grilliot

Best Baptism Yet!!!

   It's been a busy week for myself. We had several baptisms this last Sunday so we had to make sure that they were well prepared, and all of that good stuff. It was a great baptismal service too. It was probably the best baptismal service that I have ever been too (either on or off my mission). The spirit was so incredibly strong that I almost shed tears. The talk on baptism was given by a 94 year old man who had been a member for about 6 years. His daughter was getting baptized that day. It was one of the most heartfelt talks that I have ever heard in my life, he struggled a little to get all the words out, but his words were clear and the spirit was strong. I felt really happy about the people who were baptized yesterday, they are really strong people who will help out the church in Gulu to continue growing.
   I sent some pictures in some other emails. hope that they go through well. Love you guys have a great week.

 Me and Elder Antony (he's another missionary in our zone). He's from Kenya.

Me and our police officer friend

Me and my companion

Found this guy outside of our house one morning

Me and Elder Lombola (my last companion)

Soon to be my pig stead 

Gulu District April to May 2013