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Monday, August 22, 2011

Week 65



So whats the down low on the package my dearest mother? So its been a normal week here in Mozambique. Normal to me, maybe not to you all in America haha. So this coming Saturday, we have a baptism. Her name is Nacha. She is a person who participates in every activity that the church has. We wanted to wait to baptize her cause she is only 15, but both Elder Johnson and I couldnt wait to baptize her anymore. So on Sturday, the 27th, she will be baptized. I am very excited about that.So last Sturday the city of Biera "Fez ano", or its birthday. As we were in our area, there is drunks everywhere. Were not even in the city of Bira. Were right iutside. Some guy offered us wine. So Iask for it, and he gives its to me and I just throw all his wine all over the ground. And we just left. He just bought another one. I tried to help him quit, but being a stubborn drunk Mzambiquan, Ele nao gusta quando nos lancamos o seu vinho no chao. But oh well. You got some translating to do. haha That same day, a member from Chimoio came to Manga because her nephew died. She came to our chapel expecting to find me there. And she did. The first thing she told was I am looking pretty skinny. haha. That makes me feel good. haha. I just talked to her for like 10 minutes. Really good lady. We had Mormon helping hands last saturday. We went out to our area and we cleaned out " the sewer". it probaly had never before been cleaned. At least in years. I t was horrible. It was the worst smelling thing i think i have ever smelt in my life. It was bad. But the activity was good. Nine branches here did it. So it was really cool to have everyone together.So as we are riding in our area, These random kids come up yelling "Sirrine,Sirrine". I dont know them. but it was just so funny how they did it. haha. I will never forget it. haha.We had another training with President Spendlove last week. And an Elder in the house decided to play a joke. Elder Rios from Brazil. He loves to joke. Us 2 always joke together. He decided to be serious. He was playing it for 2 dys. Then all of a sudden he stops and just jokes around. I was actually suffering. haha. But he is so funny. I got a drunk guy to dance and sing. haha, We went to the monkey cemetery last week. We hitchhiked some rides. We didnt wanna pay for the chapas out there. We actually got rides there and back . At the start, we didnt see any monkeys, but as we leaving, there were some headstones around the perimeter, and we see a monkey. It leaves and we go monkey hunting. We find like 5 monkeys up in ther trees. One got like 5 feet from us. It was so COOL!!!!!!!!!Well thats about it. I LOVE you all. Please update the blog Jacob or Elder Sirrine

Week 64

I took worm medication...... for the second time on the mission and I am felling fine now. So there is no need to worry about my stomach.Sounds like you all had fun in Utah. Once I get home, we are going to go to Utah. The first thing I want to say is Mom, I think we need to start my college papers. I think it’s best to start them now since I go home in 9 months or so. So please start them. Apply for both Provo and Rexburg when you do it. Thanksso last Monday, we stayed at the house. I live with 5 other elders. And we have a little house behind ours called a " Dependencia". We climbed up and we played "UNO" for like 4 hours. It was so fun. I felt like a little kid.We had district conference yesterday. All of Beira, Manga, Inhamizua, Dondo, Balanca, Everyone. It’s one district. There were probably like 500 people there. The district presidency spoke about love at home. And President and sister Spendlove both spoke. We had tons of members and Investigators who there and had the chance to watch it. It was really good.We started teaching the grandkids of a member this past week. We were talking to the grandma and she told that the very first lesson ever taught in Mozambique was taught at her house. And we were there. That’s sweet that we are teaching them. Remember how one time I told you all about when we told someone 1 Nephi had a white horse in it. Well we pulled it on people this week, twice to them. And both times they fell for it. So this week we will probably drop them. Here Mozambiquan play a game where they flick marbles at other ones to try and win. There actually pretty good. Ha-ha. I tried but it didn’t work. Ha-ha. I need to practice.That’s about it. I love you all. Have a good week. Elder Sirrine

Week 63



So we got our transfers. I’m staying here in Manga, so mom, go ahead and send the package please. So yesterday, we had the chance to help a member start his Mission papers. His name is Augusto. He finally has enough money to do his passport so now he can finally start his papers. Lots of people here are starting their papers. We also got some other good news this week. Irma Margarida got her mission call. She is going to the Porto Alegre Brazil mission. So that’s the third Mozambiquan who is going to Brazil. The church wants them to learn how the church should run.So I have had a pretty sickful week. I got some more stomach problems. I have been coming home early in order to sleep. I might have worms again. It is pretty bad and I have had accidents more than once. Embarrassing but you can’t help it!!!!!So at the restaurant we always go to, lisboeatas, didn’t have bifiinhos for like 3 months. But we go there on Friday, and they were BACK!!!!! That is what I look forward to every week is going there.We marked a baptismal date with an investigator. Her name is nacha. She is the sister of isabel that i talked about. Nacha has been investigating the church for a few months. She is a little younger, so we have been hesitating marking with her. She reads the Book of Mormon, prays, and participates at every activity the church throws. So we thought "She’s ready". So on August 27th, she will be baptized. That is the plan if everything goes right.I bought 5 new ties today. All for 10 metacias a piece. They're UGLY!!!!!So we were in our area, and we see this group of kids running yelling "n'bava"or "thief". Here in Mozambique, thief’s get burned with tires. So ask a lady what’s happening. She said someone is getting burned. So we go following the people. But once we get to the place, we see like 100 people there. But it was only a fight that goes on. It’s almost a daily occurrence her so it wasn’t that big of a thing. Ha-haWe found an inactive member that was baptized in 2003. We are teaching her again and her whole family.Well that’s about it. Until next week. I love you all!!!Elder Sirrine

Week 62

I think by next Monday, I will know about transfers. So I will inform you about the package and where to send it then.So it’s been a very eventful week. So here in downtown Beira, we found a Muslim store that has stuff from AMERICA!!!!!!!! Food from there. So I spent 550 metacias on cereal, We get 1500 a week. I have Trix, Lucky Charms, Froot Loops, and Apple Jacks. I have never been more grateful for American food.So this drunk guy came up to us because were white. He was like {Nazungo, Voces precisam de dar cada criancinha aqui um metical, porque elas tem fome} he said, Whiteys you need to give every little kid here a metical because they’re hungry. We talk to him and I eventually get him to dance and sing. It was hilarious. We also got pulled over by the police on a road for riding our bikes. They asked for documents of the bikes. The thing is here there are no documents. There was like 20 mozambiquan that passed by on their bikes. They stopped us just because were white. The people here are very racist. I can’t wait to go back to a country where racism is very low. So I have been teaching little kids some American slang. I taught them when I say what up guys, they need to respond nothing dude. Hahahaha. And now they all walk around yelling SIRRINE SIRRINE SIRRINE. Like little kids. It’s so funny. Ha-haso we went on some divisions this past week with the zone leaders. One of my zone leaders was in the MTC with me, Elder Miller. They went good. It was fun to see him again and talk about the MTC with him.I made fried chicken last week. So that was really good. We have a couple, Katarina and Domingos, who aren’t baptized, who are paying tithing. Once they get married they’re getting baptized. I got to go.I love you all and have a good weekElder Sirrine

Week 61

So about the package, Wait a few more weeks, like 2. And i will know if i will be transfered because there is a slight chance I could be transfered. Ill let you know. 14 months and a year in Mozambique. Crazy!!!!!!!!!So we got some news from an investigator. I told you all a few weeks ago about a Isabel, that decided to change and sit with us. She was avoiding us and not sitting with us. Then we had a good talk with her and she started to sit with us, came to church and doing everything right. Than 2 weeks ago she went to this other church thing. So we go to her house and her little sister told us that she didnt want to sit with us and wanted nothing to do with us. So that was very sad when we heard that. I had such hope for her.I have come to a conclusion that I have actually grown to like little kids. I dont know what happened. Before the mission I didnt really like them, But now I love them, I chase them all around. Its so fun.I am the branches piano player. the thing is, is that the piano here is a atomatic playing piano. You choose the song and it plays.Thats about it this week. I love you all!!!!!!Elder Sirrine

Week 60

Estou muito bom. Estou a ter uma maravilhosa expiriencia aqui neste pais. Obrigado.That looks like a Google translation. Ha-ha. At first, that didn’t even phase. I read it like it was nothing to me. Ha-ha. That would be fine if you wanted to write in all Portuguese. Ha-haSo this week I got my new comp. He is Elder Johnson. He is from a small town in between Rigby and Idaho falls. Finally not someone from Utah! HAHA. He is in his thrid transfer but he is still trying to participate in the lessons. He is speaking pretty good. Its good to walk with a fellow Northwesterner for once instead of someone from Utah. hahaSo yesterday we got some news that a member from Maputo got his mission call. He is going to New Jersey. Yes, America. He is the first Moambiquan that will ever serve a mission in America. His name is Akiyah. I have only met him one time but I don’t really know him all too well. The church is starting to send Mozambiquan out of Mozambique and letting them get to know how the church should run. So I am really happy they are doing that. Yesterday there was this little kid telling me he loves me in English. The thing is here in Mozambique they have lots of American movies that have Portuguese subtitles. So with the bad teachers they have here that teach English and the subtitles, they have a very low vocabulary here I thought it was a little funny hearing the kid say that. We were able to sit with an investigator and her boyfriend she lives with for one of the first times. His name is Antonio, so we talked to them ALOT about marriage. The women, Mariazinha, has been coming to church for awhile. They have 2 kids together. So we are trying to help them get married so they can be baptized together. I had one of the best things of meat in this country this past week. It was from Lisboetas. I told you about there when i called home for mothers day. It was really good. Thats the first thing i wanna eat at home. A nice big fat steak. oh baby. hahaSo last week was the 4th. We grilled up some meat and threw some baseballs around. We have a grate to protect our house and it curves out. These kids were climbing on it and we went upstairs and just poured water all over them. They freaked out. It was so FUNNY. Somehow they had some baby rats in a little bottle. When they got wet, they left it at our house. We didn’t want the rats so we drowned them. After they died, we dumped them out to let cats eat them. The thing is, 2 days after, we found two dead cats in our backyard. We put bleach in the bottle. We think the cats died from the bleach. So two elders here buried them. The 5th of July is the Dia de Independencia, or Independence Day of Cape Verde. That’s a country of islands off the coast of Africa that speaks Portuguese. We have a few in our zone. So we celebrated that day with them. They made some food from there. It was good. We got to sing our National Anthem because they wanted to hear it and it was ours the day before. It was great. Ha-ha.Could you send pictured from the 4thWell that’s about it. I hope you have a good week. I love you allElder Sirrine

Week 59

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!! Happy 4th of July. Here in Mozambique all the American Missionaries are representing their country in wearing patriotic ties. This time next year I will be blowing stuff up. BOOM BABY!!!! We were talking to an investigator last week about how are country came into existence and talking about The National Anthem. It made me a little trunky. Ha-ha But before we know it, I will be home blowing stuff up.It was transfers. I will be with Elder Johnson. He is going into his third transfer and I am going into my 9th. So he is still a little new. I have seen him a couple times. But I really don’t know him. I will give more info next week.The weather has been decent here. It’s not too hot but it’s not really cold. So it has been some good time.Something happened for the first time to me. So we get to an investigators house and he is there waiting for us. He was waiting for us to tell us he wouldn’t be able to sit with us. Normally people just leave without telling us anything. In over a year on the mission, this is the first time this has happened. One of our member’s sisters has had toothaches. So we go in to talk to her about it, and her cheeks are just swollen up. I felt so bad for her. She couldn’t eat for like 3 days because of the cheeks. I found my new favorite meal. Beans and Bread. Since being in Mozambique, my quality in the taste of food has lowered so much, ha-ha. I love eating it so much. And I ate something for the first time this past week. Toasted bread. They don’t have microwaves here. So you get a pan on the heat, get a rack thingy, and put a lid over the rack and pan. You wait a minute or two and you got toast. Here you have to adapt or die. Ha-haI also cut wood for a member so they could sell it on the side of the road and sell it. The axe has a solid metal handle. I got blisters all over my hand from it. It was worth it to get them from helping a member out. They are old people.Last week we basked at dondo. We have six elders there. And its like 45 minutes from manga. We parteid there a little and watched Emporers new groove. Favorite disney movie. And a bat flew in and we killed it with a broom. hahaWell i got to go get ready for our BBQ for the 4th, Have a good week, I love you all

Week 58

I would love if you came up to clean the house. That means I would get to see you. The tub is stained black like that. We have tried cleaning it for many many hours.At least Michelle got a job that she will get money. That’s always a plus. White water rafting is so fun. I went with the YM in 07. That was so fun. That relay for life sounded fun. Pictures would be really nice and always do well. So this past week has been a good one. We were kicked out of two different houses. In both houses the dads came and said they didn’t want these at night. So we have to mark with them in the morning. We tried talking to the dads, but being stubborn Mozambiquan men they are they wouldn’t listen to us. But oh well, we still are sitting with them at least.We had our zone conference last week. It’s always so sweet when President and Sister Spendlove come up. They are so funny. President has a book of Mormon class every zone conference. He makes it fun and involves everyone. He taught that there are only 2 paths in this life. It’s the path of the Lord, which leads to Eternal Life. Or the path of the Devil, which pretty much leads to damnation. The only way you can be on the path to Eternal Life, is to enter into the one true church, be baptized and keep the commandments. We have to move our lives in order to walk on it. It’s a straight and narrow path. Anyone else is walking on the path of the devil. Whether you’re learning from the missionaries or whatever, you still are walking on the path of the devil. We are here to help people know of the path of Christ and to show it. But you have to be baptized in order to be able to walk on it. We have an investigator named Julia, whose dad kicked us out, who has the hardest life of anyone I know. She is verbally abused, no one in her family has respect for her, and she does everything at home. She cooks, cleans, anything you can name. It makes me so grateful for my family. The life here is very hard. We had a zone activity at the chapel last week. We made pancakes, we played football, and we watched the movie BOLT. That movie so funny. The first time I have seen it, I loved it.The lady a few weeks ago who fed us, her husband got 2 blocks of frozen fish. Did you know they have flounder here in Mozambique? But we were teaching them and as we were leaving, they gave us this big bag of fish. We grilled it up and ate all the fish. It was so good. And the next time we visited them we pilares. You have this big heavy stick and you have a bowl type of thing. You put rice, corn, or really anything in the bowl thingy, and just pound away. It’s fun.The 25th of June was the Independence Day here in Mozambique. There were drunken people everywhere. We couldn’t go anywhere without finding some drunk guy on the road. They party it up on their independence day. We were with the zone leaders showing them a house, and as we were walking back to the chapel, we cross the railroad tracks by a police headquarters. I guess they blew a whistle because they were taking down a flag. We didn’t hear with all the cars and people. They come running to us and are like you don’t have any respect blah blah blah. So they took us inside the station. And were like don’t you come from a country with a flag and don’t you have respect. We almost got arrested. We calmly calmed them down and told them what happened. It was weird.Last night going to a house, these kids threw a bottle at a light post. Being as bad as they already are, the wires started catching fire, but nothing really happened after. Kids here are not very smart. Ha-ha.Well that’s it. Have a good week. I love you all. Thanks for the support every week.Elder Sirrine