Pot-hole City

   This week has gone by really fast. I drove down to Kampala and back this last week. Kampala is crazy. You have to be really alert there. I wonder how my driving will be when I get home, I might also be a crazy driver. The road going to and from Kampala (especially as you get close to Kampala) is awful. The road is really narrow, (there is only enough space to fit one car on the road at a time) and you have to be careful not to hit the other vehicles. On top of that there are tons of pot holes on the road too, A TON OF THEM! You can't drive 10 feet without passing at least 3 potholes.

   This next week will be nice though, We are preparing like 10 people to be baptized over the next two weeks, which is exciting. We will be busy preparing these people but it will be a nice experience.

   I hear a lot about Luna. Do you think she will freak out or anything when I come and she see's a new person? Or is she usually friendly around new people?

   I am also looking forward to mother's day. Isn't it strange that I still have yours and Dad's phone numbers memorized even after a year and a half? I don't think that I will have any difficulties calling.

This year the mission president has changed the time that we are allowed to call from 2 hrs to 30-40 min. So it will be a slightly shorter call than before. That will also be the day that I will watch general conference, so overall I'm just looking forward to that day.

-Elder Grilliot

Miracles Do Happen

   From the beginning of this week until now everything has been going really well. Gulu really is a great place to serve. It is a beautiful place, with many humble people. The branch here is doing really well. For Easter Sunday we had a lot of investigators and Less-active members come to church. Sacrament attendance is usually steady around 100 to 110, but this last Sunday the Sacrament attendance was 140! It was really cool. A very spiritual sacrament meeting. I really like the branch president here. He is a very smart guy and he's a returned missionary, so he knows generally how the church is supposed to be run. Most returned missionaries know how the church is supposed to run, going on a mission is really what trains most of the church leaders in this side of the world.

   We had a really amazing experience this last week. We were tracking in part of our area on Thursday, when we ran into this nice old lady and her two children. We didn't have enough time to teach them, so we just set a return appointment with them for Saturday. That Saturday, our schedule was really busy. We were to do Zone conference, the A.P.'s and the mission president were coming up to Gulu, and our whole day after zone conference zone confrence was super packed with appointments. Our original plan was to meet this lady and her family at around 5 o clock, but because of the time zone conference ended we didn't know if we time. we had to move some of our appointments around but we were unable to tell if we were going to be able to see here on that day. We gave her a call and she assured us that she would be around all day and if we found time to visit she would be there. That day our appointments were super packed but somehow we managed just in time to finish all of our plans by 8 o clock, so we headed off to see that woman and her family. It was a really powerful lesson about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was really strong as my companion and I testified about the truthfulness of the Prophet Joseph Smith and of the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson, she paused us, and told us two things. The first is that her Uncle is also a member of the church, and when she gave me his name I recognized him as the patriarch of the Kampala Stake. The second thing is that, that very morning she had prayed to God that if we (My companion and I) really have a message from Him, that we come today, and that if our message is not from him, that we don't come today. We honestly (from the schedule that we had that day) should not have had time to visit her, I don't know how it happened but somehow we managed to get time to see her that day. It was a miracle. We gave her a baptismal date, she came to church the next day and is now progressing very well. The Lord truly blessed us.

   Everything here is doing great. The lord is blessing us, and I can see it in my life. Love you all, and wish you a great week.

-Elder Grilliot

Dinner Appointments Every Night in Gulu!!

   This has been a great week for myself. Gulu is a blessed place. I have never seen on my mission what I have seen here. First of all. We have a dinner appointment every night. EVERY NIGHT! I normally am lucky if I can get 2 in a month. The members love to feed the missionaries, and we are always being fed by members. Another thing is that the members are constantly giving us referrals. In this last week alone we received 19 member referrals. That's a new record for me. I have never seen so many cool members before. There are a ton of young single adults in Gulu as well (there are like 7 or 8 that are preparing for a mission) that always are working with us to see investigators. There is no shortage of members to work with us or to fellowship the investigators. The people here are so humble and nice.

This is so unlike any area that I have served in until now.

   I am also feeling much more comfortable with my driving now. Today for P-day we drove about an hour and a half to Murchison falls national park (I went there last year when I was serving in Lira). The drive was really rugged (the road has tons of pot holes and it's really narrow), but I drove it pretty well.    Don't worry about the driving. I'm being safe and obeying every rule regarding the vehicle. The lord will protect me so long as I obey Him.

   This last Sunday we had 2 baptisms. One of them was the wife to the branch's Sunday School president. The other was the younger brother to the branch mission leader. It was a really nice baptismal service, and afterwards we had dinner with the Sunday School president and his newly baptized wife. They cooked us a really nice meal which consisted of fried pork, cabbage, and cassava (kind of like a potato). It was some of the nicest pork I've ever eaten.

   Don't know what else to talk about, but just want yall to know that I love ya, and care about ya. Take care!

-Elder Grilliot

Gulu is Awesome!!

Question answering time!

   Being a zone leader is kind of nice, it is a really good opportunity for me to learn to be a better missionary and person. Yes as a zone leader I do drive a truck and since my zone leader companion doesn't have a drivers license I'm the only one authorized to drive the truck. Driving isn't so bad, it took me a few hours to get used to driving on the left side of the road, and driving while sitting on the right side of the vehicle (I still sometimes accidentally turn on the window wipers when I am meaning to turn on the turn signal). Driving in Gulu isn't so dangerous except that there are tons of motorbikes that drive around the road like drunk insects and I have to be super careful not to hit them. I haven't driven in Kampala yet, but at the end of this month I will be driving down there for Mission Leaders Council, so that should be one heck of a driving experience.

   My new companion is from Malawi, he's a pretty cool guy. We get along pretty well so far. In my apartment we have 4 Elders (myself) my companion, (Elder Lombola) My zone leader companion (Elder Vihanga from Namibia), and his companion (Elder Dlamini from South Africa). We have a really nice house that we live in and there are 4 other missionaries from Gulu Zone that live just next door to where we live. It's pretty fun to have the 8 of us missionaries living just next to one another. The missionaries living next door have a washing machine in their home which is pretty convenient, I feel blessed to have one around to use. Water usually never go's out here so that's not a big worry in our homes, but power go's out like twice a week and usually stays out for the whole day.

   The work in Gulu is awesome. It is known as one of the most fruitful areas in the whole mission. The church has only been here for like 6 years but there are two branches here (one has a sacrament attendance of around 110, the other is around 70). The branch that I am in is the original branch for Gulu, and it might split in the next year if it continues to grow (it is not part of a stake so it can't gain ward status, only just split into more branches). The people in Gulu are pretty humble, and the Acholi people make education a priority (even if they can't always afford it) so there are many people that speak great English. Many people are farmers but also there are lots of teachers here, and boda-boda drivers. There are also a lot of stores, and places to work at within Gulu town.

   Dad asked me a question about if I ever go to visit other provinces around the northern part of Uganda. No I don't go to Lira (it's its own zone), but there is a group that has formed in Kitgum (a town about 2 hours north of Gulu) which we are expected to visit from time to time until the group is large enough that the mission president decides to send missionaries up there and to turn it into a branch.

   And yes mom, I am taking my malaria pills.

   Love all you guys, and I pray for you.

-Elder Grilliot

Transferred to Gulu and Being Zone Leader

   All of this last week we have seen miracles come into my area. we have been very obedient and super hard working, and the hand of the lord has blessed us. We have quite a few ready for baptism over the next few weeks, and some good ones progressing too (including a family that has come to church for the last three weeks). The ironic thing though about it all is that we received transfer news this morning, and I'm going to be transferred to Gulu on Wednesday. 

   Yep, I'm going to be transferred back to the village. Gulu is an area pretty similar to Lira (where I started my mission), except that the church has been established there a few years longer. They have a lot of mud huts there and they speak Acholi, which is an almost identical language to Langi, which is spoken in Lira. As much as I am disappointed that I am leaving Lugazi I am also excited to go to Gulu, I have heard a lot of good things about the area. I have also been called to be a zone leader there which is kinda exciting/ humbling. I hope that I can do a lot of good while I am there.

   We have a senior missionary couple that comes down to Lugazi every Sunday, and last Sunday they cooked a really nice tasting stew with some rolls. It was super nice. They gave me the recipe yesterday, I look forward to trying it out (it doesn't even look too expensive either. I learned a recipe for biscuits and gravy some weeks back too which I have made several times too.

   I will spend this week saying my goodbyes to the people that I have come to love here, and then prepare myself to go back to where it is super hot all the time. 

   Love you guys, have a good week!

Questions from Dad:

Is Easter a big holiday in Uganda?  Do they do anything special?  I don’t suppose they have the Easter Bunny and Easter egg hunts?

General Conference this coming weekend!  I’ll let you know about which talks were especially good.  You get the DVDs a week after, right?

   Ya Easter is a fairly big holiday in Uganda. They eat a lot of chicken, and sometimes they get work off on that day. Usually it is spent with family. 

  I think that we will watch conference in several weeks. I am getting transferred to Gulu, and in the northern part of Uganda Conference is broadcast a bit later. 

Walking and Weight Lifting

    Lugazi is pushing onward. The work is continuing

   We have managed to progress some excellent people this last week. and we are working on some families as well. We have several people that we are working on now and I'm pretty happy with what has been accomplished this last week. This is the last week of the transfer, and based on how things are looking right now I hope that I stay so that I can see some of these people get baptized.

   As Lugazi is a new branch there are several things that I get to do here that I normally wouldn't get to do in most other settings. Each Sunday I get an opportunity to pass or to bless the sacrament. I also get to train the recent converts to home teach, and I get to home-teach with them. I also get a chance about once every two months to give a talk in sacrament meeting. As well as all of that I am also serving as the 2nd councilor in the branch presidency (just kidding). Having all of these extra duties helps me to appreciate the fully organized wards and branches back home, where the majority of the church is already trained in these types of things.

   One thing I like about Lugazi is that it is a pretty small area. It's easy to reach most places (we have to walk everywhere), even if it's on the other side of town. It isn't to difficult to reach members homes, and investigators homes, the area is pretty small.

   My weight has stabilized over the last 3 months. I am no longer loosing weight nor am I gaining weight. I average around 205 to 210 pounds. We have a gym near our apartment that we go to on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, so I've been working out there. If anything I will probably begin to gain some weight back, but this time it will be from building muscle. It's super weird to me that throughout high school I always measured the weight I lifted in pounds, but now I am lifting in Kilograms. I have to make quick calculations in my head to convert kilos into pounds every time I go to lift something.

   Love you guys, have a great week!

Blessings of Having Faith

   Been a pretty nice week. Lots of rain that has been attacking us this last week. It is strange to me, when I was at home I loved the cold weather and would wear shorts in 40 degree weather, but here when it rains and the temperature drops below 70 I start shivering. I'm afraid of how my body is going to react when I get home at the beginning of November. I hope that I don't freeze to death.

   My comp and I are doing pretty well this last week. He was sick on Saturday but besides that we have been working diligently and seen the blessings that come from it. The mission had a fast this last week, and I have really seen the blessings that come from such things. We found like 3 complete families this last week, with stable jobs and stable working hours (which in Lugazi has previously been a challenge to find). My testimony in faith has grown this last week. I have been able to see first-hand how faith is much more than just a passive belief, but rather it is shown in your actions, behavior, and attitude.

   We are teaching a nice family that we found this last week, where the father of the home works with our branch president (the branch president is his supervisor). It was a nice little suprise that when we trackted into his home he read our name tags and then told us that he is working with someone from our same church. I have good hopes for this family, unfortunately though the wife's mother just passed away on Friday, and they had to go to her village for the burial. I hope that teaching them that families can be together forever will give them more hope and faith in the restoration.

   Love you guys, have a great week