Fu Fu and Chicken Feet

yehhloo!

thats how they say it here! haha that and many other things :) but that should suffice for now.

i really dont have much to say this week! it feels like the days go by as slow as weeks, and i hope to someday say that the weeks go by like days! haha but i am adjusting as usual! man, i am so grateful for america. that has been something on my mind a lot this past week. its probably a sign that im a little homesick at times, but i find myself dreaming about sams club and costco! haha i crave simple things like shopping only once a week for all your food! and eating meat. haha i miss that :) but i dont miss it so much that it bothers me, just that i miss it. at first, it was overwhelming because i was looking at everything in terms of 2 years. now, i just take things day by day. much easier if you were wondering :)

lets see, i apologize for never talking about my companion. silly me. his name is elder okunrobo- (oh-kuh-oh-bu). he is from nigeria, joined the church about 5 years ago and is the only member in his family. i believe he is 26. (that is a fairly common age for the african elders). he is mmm bout 6 feet! and he works very hard. he is a very successful missionary! and i am learning so much from him! we are learning together!

hmm, im starting to compile some cool stories! nothin really that interesting but definitely new! it caught me a bit by surprise this week when i was teaching the first vision to a new investigator when she lifted up her shirt and began to breast feed! haha it literally was like "two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air" -- hmm, my baby is hungry! lets feed him! haha

it really wasnt that bad, i just continued teaching with a LOT more eye contact. especially when the baby would get fussy and... ok lets just say it was interesting! haha only in africa! the funny thing is that i've seen so many naked bodies (... like seriously! at least 5 a day) but just as we pass by or something. not usually in the middle of a lesson. although i hear this is pretty common.

i had my first FM this week- free meal- it was fu fu and chicken feet! its not really bad. fu fu is.. hmm.. well its the consistency of bread dough, but it tastes like okra. you dip it in the soup and swallow it whole. ehh thats the best description i got. haha the hardest thing to eat is the bones. you eat alllll of everything. mom- can you cook chicken feet for the fam sometime? thanks :)

other than that, all else is normal! the teaching is great. we teach all day every day. here is what my daily schedule looks like mom :)

arise 6:30 and pray as an apartment. exercise for 30 min. eat bread and 2 eggs for breakfast. personal study 1 hr. companion study/ training 2 hrs. done by 11:00. about 11:45 and we leave the apt. teach teach teach till about 5:45, then we head home- stop at the market and buy our eggs and bread for the next day. be in the apt by 7:00 bc of mission curfew! then close for the day, make dinner around 7:45. then i study till 10:00 and hit the bed. we have a gen from 7- 10:30 which is so nice, we have light and fans then! yep thats my day!

we eat rice with kidney beans and tomato paste sauce every night for dinner. we vary it by adding the sauce to pasta sometimes! haha and for lunch, well we dont eat lunch. we sometimes buy little candies or bread in the streets if we are passing by. my favorite thing is called "coconut candies" which is shaved coconut and sugar melted into a cookie shape! haha its pure sugar, and very sweet- i love it!  you would too!

life is good. i find myself in prayer very often, expressing my heart to the lord. when there is no one to talk to, i always know that i can rely on the lord. i love the peace that comes from sincere prayer. just being able to get your feelings OUT sometimes makes all the difference. i never need to complain or whine in my journal- i do all of that in my prayers. haha and then i always find myself deeply humbled by the lord when i do that, just enough to get up and put on a smile- and get back to work!

the language is coming- the people we teach are getting used to me and i am getting used to them! its not so much a barrier anymore. i really cant complain about it. although i do dream of the day that i can understand every word some stranger says to me :)

its funny how the lord truly does show unto us our weaknesses. i am here in the greatest mission in the world, having the experience of a lifetime! and yet i still struggle at times. all of the things i thought would give me a hard time aren't. haha oh how funny the way the lord works :) but i am learning. always learning.

thank you all for your support and love! i thank you all so much for your letters, even though i havent received any yet. the emails are wonderful!

til next week,

-elder fairwell