"When we went to say goodbye to Christina and Sis. Woode, Sis. Woode cried a little. She really was like my grandmother. I felt a little uprooted the first two days in the new area, but we have a LOT of work ahead of us here....so I just dived into the work."
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| Elder Doggett, Agartha, Elder Kirumira |
Dear Family and Friends,
CHAPTER 2, Green Hill. My new area really personifies its name. This place is green and there are hills. It's a branch of about 75 members, and most of the auxiliaries are filled. There are about 11 big families. I'm excited to get working with all of these missionary tools at my disposal. I've been put with Elder Kirumira, from the capital of Uganda. He's a transfer behind me, and he's been here his whole mission so far. He's been through some [challenging conditions] and some rough stuff, so I'm trying my best to show him how missionary work is supposed to be, like Elder James did for me. He's a chill guy though, we get along well already. His favorite movie is The Sandlot, so that's fun, ha,ha. I taught him how to play "My Team/Your Team". He thinks it's hilarious…..and he calls all the obrunis on my team.
Leaving Ntranoa was a little harder than I thought it would be. I had gotten so close to all of the members in my 6 1/2 months there. When we went to say goodbye to Christina and Sis. Woode, Sis. Woode cried a little. She really was like my grandmother. I felt a little uprooted the first two days in the new area, but we have a LOT of work ahead of us here in this branch, so I just dived into the work. Elder James has stayed in Ntranoa to train a Ghanaian from Kumasi, Elder Quaisie.
My first day here, we ran into this American guy from Connecticut. He called us over and asked us to "teach him something about God", haha. This guy was not serious. We said a prayer, then I asked him if he had any questions for us, since he obviously knew who we were. He said he was friends with the Robert C. Gay family (the Seventy), and he just wanted my opinion on a few things. "So you don't drink coffee. What's up with that?" I just rolled my eyes inside. I briefly explained to him the Word of Wisdom and why we practice it. Then he said, "I think it's better that I drink one cup of coffee in the morning than a Mormon who drinks 5 Diet Cokes throughout the day." I started to explain more, but he wanted to move on. He wasn't trying to understand, he was getting to something. He asked a few more questions, then finally he said, "So how do you feel about the priests, or whatever, not allowing black people to join until 1978?... There's obviously something wrong there." I explained to him the best I could my own personal understanding of that declaration. But he just wouldn't have it. He was so hung up on the idea, he just wanted to see what a white guy would say about it. Then he started throwing his personal accomplishments in my face, his degrees, his philanthropy work in Ghana, all the awesome stuff he probably doesn't do. He just wanted to discredit me as a person. It was just funny to me to watch the….pride flash all over his face. Then he tried to get us to 'convice him to join the church.' I told him, "Then that is where we have a misunderstanding. You obviously know missionaries, and you know that's not our job. We are here to share the gospel with those who will listen." He just laughed and let us go on our way. The next day I was reading in 3 Nephi, around chapter 24 or so. Christ was teaching his disciples about the work they needed to do. He warned them that many will not believe, though man may declare it to them. That brought my thoughts to this guy. He has obviously had the truth declared to him again and again. He is close friends with a Seventy's son, but he simply refuses to believe it. Call it pride, call it prejudice, what have you, I don't know. But he simply won't believe it. It's kind of sad, really. Elder Kirumira said his trainer warned him about this guy. When his trainer was with a white guy, he did the exact same thing.
So this Saturday we had a baptism! Elder Kirumira and his former companions have been working with this girl for months. Her name is Agartha. When we were finalizing the preparations for her baptism, we told her she could choose who will baptize here. The next day, she said she chose me! I said, "Hey, it's not because I'm obruni is it??" She just laughed. I was pretty surprised. She had just met me two days before; I thought she would choose Elder Kirumira, or at least some branch member, because she has been coming to church for months. Either way, though, it was a sweet baptism. There was a ton of branch support, which is really comforting to me for the future of this area. The branch mission leader took care of everything too, which is exactly his job. Everyone played their roles perfectly. Agartha is missing her left arm just below the elbow, from a car accident that killed her mother in 2007. So she had to kneel in the font for her baptism, to make it easier for her, and for me. But she is a sweet lady. She's around 24, and despite her condition, she's a really happy soul.
We went to both of the BYU-I concerts this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. Agartha came with us to both of them, and she loved them. Both of the performances were so brilliant! I really miss first-world entertainment. It trunked me out a little. It reminded me of my high school days in choir and in the musical, haha. My old days with that huge hair. :) I saw Gregory though! And as we talked, we found out that one of his comps on his mission was in Elder Kirumira's home ward. It's seriously a small world we live in.
CHAPTER 2, Green Hill. My new area really personifies its name. This place is green and there are hills. It's a branch of about 75 members, and most of the auxiliaries are filled. There are about 11 big families. I'm excited to get working with all of these missionary tools at my disposal. I've been put with Elder Kirumira, from the capital of Uganda. He's a transfer behind me, and he's been here his whole mission so far. He's been through some [challenging conditions] and some rough stuff, so I'm trying my best to show him how missionary work is supposed to be, like Elder James did for me. He's a chill guy though, we get along well already. His favorite movie is The Sandlot, so that's fun, ha,ha. I taught him how to play "My Team/Your Team". He thinks it's hilarious…..and he calls all the obrunis on my team.
Leaving Ntranoa was a little harder than I thought it would be. I had gotten so close to all of the members in my 6 1/2 months there. When we went to say goodbye to Christina and Sis. Woode, Sis. Woode cried a little. She really was like my grandmother. I felt a little uprooted the first two days in the new area, but we have a LOT of work ahead of us here in this branch, so I just dived into the work. Elder James has stayed in Ntranoa to train a Ghanaian from Kumasi, Elder Quaisie.
My first day here, we ran into this American guy from Connecticut. He called us over and asked us to "teach him something about God", haha. This guy was not serious. We said a prayer, then I asked him if he had any questions for us, since he obviously knew who we were. He said he was friends with the Robert C. Gay family (the Seventy), and he just wanted my opinion on a few things. "So you don't drink coffee. What's up with that?" I just rolled my eyes inside. I briefly explained to him the Word of Wisdom and why we practice it. Then he said, "I think it's better that I drink one cup of coffee in the morning than a Mormon who drinks 5 Diet Cokes throughout the day." I started to explain more, but he wanted to move on. He wasn't trying to understand, he was getting to something. He asked a few more questions, then finally he said, "So how do you feel about the priests, or whatever, not allowing black people to join until 1978?... There's obviously something wrong there." I explained to him the best I could my own personal understanding of that declaration. But he just wouldn't have it. He was so hung up on the idea, he just wanted to see what a white guy would say about it. Then he started throwing his personal accomplishments in my face, his degrees, his philanthropy work in Ghana, all the awesome stuff he probably doesn't do. He just wanted to discredit me as a person. It was just funny to me to watch the….pride flash all over his face. Then he tried to get us to 'convice him to join the church.' I told him, "Then that is where we have a misunderstanding. You obviously know missionaries, and you know that's not our job. We are here to share the gospel with those who will listen." He just laughed and let us go on our way. The next day I was reading in 3 Nephi, around chapter 24 or so. Christ was teaching his disciples about the work they needed to do. He warned them that many will not believe, though man may declare it to them. That brought my thoughts to this guy. He has obviously had the truth declared to him again and again. He is close friends with a Seventy's son, but he simply refuses to believe it. Call it pride, call it prejudice, what have you, I don't know. But he simply won't believe it. It's kind of sad, really. Elder Kirumira said his trainer warned him about this guy. When his trainer was with a white guy, he did the exact same thing.
So this Saturday we had a baptism! Elder Kirumira and his former companions have been working with this girl for months. Her name is Agartha. When we were finalizing the preparations for her baptism, we told her she could choose who will baptize here. The next day, she said she chose me! I said, "Hey, it's not because I'm obruni is it??" She just laughed. I was pretty surprised. She had just met me two days before; I thought she would choose Elder Kirumira, or at least some branch member, because she has been coming to church for months. Either way, though, it was a sweet baptism. There was a ton of branch support, which is really comforting to me for the future of this area. The branch mission leader took care of everything too, which is exactly his job. Everyone played their roles perfectly. Agartha is missing her left arm just below the elbow, from a car accident that killed her mother in 2007. So she had to kneel in the font for her baptism, to make it easier for her, and for me. But she is a sweet lady. She's around 24, and despite her condition, she's a really happy soul.
We went to both of the BYU-I concerts this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. Agartha came with us to both of them, and she loved them. Both of the performances were so brilliant! I really miss first-world entertainment. It trunked me out a little. It reminded me of my high school days in choir and in the musical, haha. My old days with that huge hair. :) I saw Gregory though! And as we talked, we found out that one of his comps on his mission was in Elder Kirumira's home ward. It's seriously a small world we live in.
That's
all for now, love you!
Love,
Elder Clinton Doggett
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