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Friday, October 14, 2011

Week 72

HELLOOOOOO FAMILY!!!!!!!
Well things here in Mozambique are heating up. And I literally mean it. Ha-ha. The temperature just keeps climbing and climbing. This past week, almost everyday was over 100 degrees. And here in Munhava, we do lots of walking. We don’t teach a whole lot here. But that’s alright.
There are lots of inactive members in Munhava, and we try to help them out coming back to church. But lots of the time, people are not home and we go and find more members to help out.
So yesterday in sacrament meeting, there was a mom and like her two or three year old kid. The kid would grab his mom’s purse, and say “Vamos”, or “let’s go”. The mom would grab the purse back and make the kid sit down. And like 2 minutes later, he would do the same thing. It may seem pretty dumb, but while it was happening, it was so funny to see.
So last Monday, we had a 2 zone activity at the beach again. It was so fun. Elder Bonini made some killer steaks and they were so good. We had mashed potatoes and corn with them too. We even wrestled. I went in for a few rounds and did my fair share of wrestling. We have an Elder Petersen, one of our zone leaders, who was a state champion in wrestling in Utah. He wrestled too and of course he won his matches.
We just drew a big circle in the sand and the first person to touch outside of the circle lost. We had to be careful of the wrecked ship on the beach. After we did our shopping at Shoprite. For the trip home, we took a teca pela home. All it is is little hunk of metal on three wheels. And with the roads to the house, I really got scared.
Ha-ha. I can ride chapas, walk down the ghettos of an African city, or anything here in Mozambique, but a tcho pela I will never ride again.
I have started running here in Mozambique in the mornings. We live next to the beach so it is very humid here, even in the mornings.
Since I have like 7 and half months left, I need to start. Ha-ha so we invited the Bingham’s over this past week. They are going home this week. They are a couple who have been serving here. We made and ate tacos. Oh man were they good. We just sat, ate, and talked to them for awhile.
So last Friday we left our house at 8:30 in the morning, and we didn’t get home till 9:30 at night. We didn’t even go home for lunch. It was a very long day but well worth it. We did it because a member, Nicole, who speaks English, and is from Zimbabwe, is having problems. Her mom gets home at 8 at night from work. So we sit with them. And her mom is a very intelligent woman. We went over the plan of salvation a little bit. Then at church, she even came!!! The mom is reading the book of Mormon and Nicole told us that the stuff at home is already getting better.
I went on a division with the previously mentioned Elder Petersen last Saturday. He is so funny. We had a blast. I walked in his area of Beira 2. So it was good to get to know a little more of his area. The whole time we were just having a good time. It was a very fun division.

Yeah I do remember where a Lakeland hill is. I actually really wanted to move there until we found Bonney Lake. Is Bella just getting fat?
If she is, that’s not good. Ha-ha.

The Internet is bad today. I can’t send pictures. Sorry

Other than that, that’s about it. Have a good week everyone and I Love you all Elder Sirrine

Week 71

Another vacation? I wish I could go on a vacation. I have worked every day for over 16 months. But for sure, we will have to go to Reno. I love going to Nevada. My teeth are fine for now. We will see later.

Last pday was on Tuesday. So right after internet, I get a call from the zone leaders telling me to drop everything and that I have to go do my visa. So they pick me up and we go off to immigrations. The Boninis, a Brazilian couple, meet us there. There are a few more elders there. So we wait, and my time to do all my stuff comes up. Since I did my visa in Maputo, and I didn’t get some card thingy for my visa, I had to wait for the women in charge to come. So we wait for like an hour. We then get info, she wasn’t working that day. So we wasted like 3 hours of my pday there for nothing. I ended up going on Thursday and getting everything done and right. That same P/day I went back out to Manga for training from a guy from South Africa. He told us on how we need to get seminary and institute going here.

We were talking to a girl about her school. I knew the schools were bad here, but she told me how bad they really were. The teachers don’t teach really good things here. They aren’t even provided food here. The school system is so bad, that they can’t even offer their kids food at the school. They have places on the side of the road for food, but they don’t offer a whole lot for them.

So we were on a chapa this week and we were sitting on the very back row of four rows. This heavier set woman gets on the chap and sits on the row in front of us. This guy sitting next to her turns around and says in English “this lady is really fat". At first I couldn’t believe he said that in English. The people here are very blunt to people, but I was still a little surprised.

So every Friday, we leave the house at 8 in the morning and don’t get back till like 6 or 7 at night. We are out for a very long time on Fridays. And since we don’t eat lunch at home then, we eat out. This past Friday, my lunch consisted of a bag of chips, and a whole liter of peach juice. Hint of warning, NEVER DO THAT FOR A LUNCH. It may sound good at the time, but don’t do it. You will be sick all day from it. I have learned my lesson about it.

Other than that, that’s about it. I love you all and have a good week.

Elder Sirrine

Week 70

Yeah I am already here In Munhava. I live with 5 other elders. 4 work in Munhava, and the other 2 work in the branch of Beira 1. The thing is from our house we walk 20 minutes to go catch a chapa, and they take another 30 minute chapa ride to our area. So we take almost an hour to go to our area and then do the same thing back. It’s crazy. We take almost 2 hours every day to go and get back from our area. The area here is still confusing. There are so many twist and turns that I get lost in like 5 minutes. We do a lot of reacts here, or help baptized members get back to church. We only have like 3 real investigators.
But it’s better to help members come back to church than have an investigator...

But I have a funny story before I left Manga. So we are going to a member’s house and we are on the bikes on a little trail. There is a chicken and her chicks. They scatter and one chick runs in front of my tire. All of a sudden I feel something kind of heavy hit my foot. I look back and it the chicken I thought she was running away and hit me. Elder Johnson told me the chicken flew and ATTACKED me!! I was attacked by a chicken!!!

To get to an investigators house here in Munhava, we walk 30 minutes to get to an investigator. We almost walk into downtown Beira. It’s crazy.

So our front door has a glass window. And it broke because of the wind. So we had someone fix it. Never work with a mozambiquan and money. It’s the biggest hassle in the world. And because we are white, they think they can rob us.

The reason why I am writing on Tuesday is because on Sunday, the worst holiday in the world happened. It was when the mozambiquan started their fight for independence against Portugal. Yeah, Portugal treated mozambiquan bad, but Mozambique was a really nice country back then.
But now not so much.

That’s about it. Have a good week everyone. I love you all.
Elder Sirrine

Week 69

Transfers!!!!!!!!!!!! So I am being transferred. I am going to Munhava, which is still Biera, with Elder Sessions. We were in the MTC together. It should be an adventure

So we were on the main road in Manga, going to Vascos, the wood guy.
And we turn to a side road. We see a mission couples truck stopped. As we get there, Sister Bingham gets out of the passenger door. We go to shake her hand and I see this 20 something year old women in the backseat. She waves to us and I give thumbs up. A little farther on the road, they stop again and get out. Theirs kids, and they do something and she screams out "Oh my gosh", which made me happy to hear. Once at Vascos, Elder Bingham is translating. He has her pick up a little log of Ebony wood and she yells "Holy cow!” i just loved hearing an amreican accent, not a British.

We have an investigator, Candida, who told us a story. Our church is the first church she has gone too, which is very rare in Mozambique.
She said before coming to church, She was always mad at people things at home were horrible. But since going to church, everything has gotten better. Now the guy she lives with, when he gets home at night, picks up the book of Mormon, calls the family over, and they read together as a family. I will miss them for sure.

Julia an investigator gave us her English homework to have us help her with it. We look at it, and it was RIDICULOUS!!!!!The teacher just copied and pasted it. There were articles and questions about stuff she didn’t have. It was crazy.

We have an investigator named Luisa. She has one special quality. She loves her kid. She plays with her, and she doesn’t beat her child which is rare here in Mozambique. That’s one reason why we still sit with her, is because she is a rare mozambiquan adult who loves and doesn’t beat her child, which I love.

We had to catch a chapa this week. When we got on, we couldn’t see the cobarador, or the guy who collects the money. We get off, and we had to pay the driver. Now he doesn’t have to pay anyone for working for him.

Have a good week, wish the Walsh's good luck on the business, and please update the blog. I love you all Elder Sirrine

Week 68

Hey everybody, Things are going great here in Mozambique.So I told you all about Nacha who was baptized a few weeks ago. Well, she has a calling now, already. She teaches the teenage girls. She is 15 and she teaches 16 to 18 years old. It’s amazing how a little girl like her is already teaching girls older than her. She is one of my favorite people here. I love her.We also marked another baptismal date with Laurinda. She is in her twenties. She has been in and out for awhile but she is doing great now. She will be baptized in October and I won’t be able to see her baptism which is sad.So last Monday, we didn’t leave the house. We did a deep house clean. Right outside the window of my room, I cleaned the dust off. There was like an inch of dust on it. I cleaned out the filters in our a\c, which were never cleaned before. And oh my gosh. They were worse. After cleaning them and putting them in, our room is FREEZING!!!!!! I never have been so cold here in Mozambique.At some member’s house, he was like “wait a minute I will be right back" so we keep talking to his wife. He comes out with the same exact shirt she is wearing, and says “The Elders always wear the same clothes and so will we." They are this old goofy mozambiquan couple. Ha-haSo there is tons of new callings in our branch. I’m excited for the people.We went to the church for a lesson. We got there early. So we ended up laying on the cement waiting. I fell asleep while waiting. Well, not asleep, daydreaming. It felt nice to lie on some cement. We have an investigator named Candida. We are at her house, and she tells us of her blessings she has received since sitting with us. Her boyfriend has a legit job and now they can finally work on getting marriedSo there is a kid, whenever we pass by him, he wants to fight us. He is like three. So I always get off my bike and we "wrestle". It’s so funny. He only goes up to my knee in height. He swings his arms and when I pick him up; he gets this big old scared face and laughs. It’s hilarious. I saw a turkey get chased by a teenager and it tried to fly away. It’s this huge male turkey. But with humans, it’s scared freightless. I played "goldfish" for the first time with some members today. It was the first time in years that I played. I felt like a little kid, ha-haWell that it, have a good week. I love you allElder Sirrine

Week 67

Another Week down in Mozambique. I have started my 16 month of my mission already. Can you believe that?So in our backyard, we have a bush right. So we go back there, and this chicken bolts out and starts freaking out and it crosses into other people’s yards. So were like "what the heck". We look out under the bush and we see 6 eggs. The next day a different chicken is in the bush. WE looked at the eggs yesterday and there were 16 eggs in total. The owner of the chickens came over yesterday to get them. He told us all of them are fertilized so we could not eat them.
So at an investigators house, Laurindas, her daughters tried carrying our backpacks. Our backpacks are really the same size as they are. They try carrying it and they can barely hold it. It was so funny to see. Ha-haSo something bad and good happened. So we bought some food on the side of the road. We go a little way off to eat it, by a member’s house. Were eating and the female member tells us to come over. So we go. She tells us she is super sick. And they have pretty much nothing which is the norm here in Mozambique. So we give her a blessing and say were going to return the next day. So we go there the next day. She is just covered in a Kapalana, which is a cheap sheet of fabric. Her husband, who is a member too, is freaking out. Malena, the women, is suffering. So we take her to the poor excuse of a hospital. It’s just full of people. But being white, we got bumped up to the front of everyone. She gets checked by the "doctor". And is given medicine. We go back on Saturday and someone is on their roof. It’s the owner. He is replacing their roof for free. And Malena is up and around smiling and acting how a person should. That was a miracle her recovery.So I went on a divisio. I got to go to Inhamizua. My first time walking there. It’s out in the woods. But it’s very beautiful. So one guy, Pinto, this really old guy, who is 68. His family members are all dead. He was supposed to go to South Africa to go to the Temple on a caravan from the district. But the district messed up. Instead of 48 spots they only got 27. So he got bumped from the list. But later on, Elder Crriea form Cape Verde, Who is also the branch president of Inhimizua, was doing everything he could to help him go. Nothing was working. But later on in the day he gets a call from the district presidency, saying Pinto is going to the temple and they are taking someone off the list. I think the only reason he is still living is to go and get sealed to his family in the temple.This week I have seen so many blessings. May all of your weeks be filled with them too. I love you all

Elder Sirrine

Sorry no pictures, I don’t have my card reader

Week 66

I probably need 36 size pants just to be safe. Where did you send the package to? The pants could just be normal church. Just a few pairs since I have 9 months left. Thanks mom.So this week has been a good week. One major thing happened this week. We got stormed by major rats this week and my hand got bit. I have this huge gash in my hand and I spent 2 days in the hospital. And now I have a got a bandage over my finger and can’t bend it......just kidding! The hospital and rats never really happened, but my hand is covered in a bandage. Another elder was cutting a carrot for lunch and it fell. I intensively went to grab it and so did he... with a knife in his hand. And my ring finger on my left hand got slashed. We don’t trust mozambiquan hospitals so we cleaned it up ourselves. Now it’s all bandaged up and it’s healing pretty well. I'm taking off the bandages on Tuesday. But don’t worry about me, I’m fine.So we had our baptism last Saturday with Nacha. The font wasn’t filling up, but really slow. We ended up taking a hose from outside and using it to help feel the font up. One of the only real fonts in Mozambique.... wasn’t filling up. That’s how bad some of the better buildings are. Other than that, the baptism went great. I was able to conform her on Sunday. After, she was smiling ear to ear. It was one of the best feeling moments of my mission.I saw part of an American football game, well a part. It was the Ravens vs. the Redskins. The skins are looking good.We played a Mozambiquan game where you throw back and forth a little ball, and try and hit the person in the middle. It’s kind of like monkey in the middle mozambiquan style. It was actually pretty fun. Ha-haWe got to hold legit hippo teeth in our hands. There is a guy who does stuff out of hippo teeth and he had 4 HUGE teeth in his hands. I dint get a picture but I never thought I would ever hold a hippo tooth in my hand. But I did. Score!!!I was also able to buy legit soft serve ice cream for the first time in my mission. It was so good. I really have not had a lot of ice cream on the mission so it was really good to get some in the stomach. Ha-ha.There has been lots of drunks here lately I don’t know why. We love messing with them. Last night one was so drunk, he couldn’t even respond to us. Usually they can respond alright, but this guy was gone. It was so funny. Ha-haThats’ about it. I love you all and have a good week.Elder Sirrine

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

Monday, June 20, 2011

Week 57












Hello family,
Everything is going good here in Mozambique.




So something weird happened last week. So I took a nap on pday. Once I woke up, I got up. I immediately fell down and couldn’t get back up. I had ultimate vertigo. I was just sitting there for about 5 minutes before getting up. It was really strange.
Last week, we also played basketball with a few other districts in the zone. It was really fun. We played at this old school that looked like independence hall. The owner was this old drunk Portuguese woman. She was hilarious. The basketball court was crap though. There were potholes in the court; the rims were bent and no nets. But besides that, it was really fun. We all had fun.
This week, I also did something for the first time on my mission. I had to knock a door. Yep, over a year on the mission, and I finally hit a door. When I did it, it was really weird. I had no idea what to say. But once you get talking, and have help from the Lord, it gets really easy. The guys name is Orlando, and he is a cop here in Manga. He is a pretty intelligent guy for being a Mozambiquan. We will see how he progresses and ill keep you up to date.
We have a newly baptized member here in Manga that looks just like Will Smith when he did “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”. But the member is a lot darker. The members name is Marques Vaz Marques. The thing is here in Mozambique, The parents always give their names and the grandparents name to their Children to keep their name going.
Last week, one of the Elders, Elder Mckell, made a jumboliah shrimp soup. It was heavenly. Since we are so close to the ocean, all the shrimp and fish are so fresh and that makes them really good.
There is a member whose life wasn’t doing well. He wanted to leave the city and just leave everything. But we talked to him last week to try and help him. He said her had been thinking and praying a lot. He told us he decided not to run away from his problems and now he is preparing to serve a mission. That’s really an amazing story to me.
We had an old investigator who I never saw at church, at church yesterday. We had a nice long talk with her during the week and I guess she changed her mind and perspective on everything.
I persuaded an investigator that mom was a chicken and dad was a human. I told her that Elder Christensen ate her. So I pretended to cry. She starts tearing up. Then we told her the truth. Her face was classic. I will never forget it.
We had a baptism on Saturday. David was baptized. I think I have already told you all about him.
We had the chance to have a little party at an investigators house. Her boyfriend was going back to sea to fish today, and he wanted to party with us. We had rice, beans, fish, and a mozambiquan dish called matapa. It’s a type of plant that they cut they leaves and boil them. I don’t like it but I wasn’t going to deny the food. It was fun.
I see lots of goats here. and tons of huge spiders and bats. Because of the war that was here, there are not tons of animals here. But the government is trying to bring back the animals. There are some reserves in this country.
I think the stuff I wrote in the email is fine. If you want to send anything else, please do

I love you all
Elder Sirrine

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Week 56

Thanks for the pictures. More would be nice! With pictures from me, we have had to go to another computer place for two weeks, and I can’t send pictures. So I will once we go to our normal place.
Sorry!!!!!

So this has been a good week. I saw this old woman wearing BANANA IN PAJAMA pants. I haven’t seen anything about that show in years. I remember loving it when I was younger and watching it every day. Ha-ha

I have had some more bike problems so that’s been costing me a pretty dime this past week. One time, my chain locked up and we were stuck.
But this random like 80 year old man walks up. He has this bag of tools with him. He fixes my bike. He was coming home from a funeral.
We sit with him and tells us his story. His family all died in a cart accident like a week before. All his kids were adults, they had their own kids. and his wife was there too. They got into a accident on the highway that killed all of them. 17 family members were killed. So we taught him about the plan of salvastion and it helped hiim alot. It was very sad but shows you that Heavenly Father send the right people to missionaries to teach. I think we helped him a little bit.

I ate tomato soup for the first time. I will never eat it again in my life. It was flipping discusting.

Yesterday the energy was gone all day. SO no one had it. At about 8 at night on the way home, it came back. You just hear all the kids screaming in joy that there is energy again. Thats how important it is here.

We taught a class at the church on how to help the teachers teach better. Mozambicans have to put in their opinion. They think they have too. They didn’t learn anything.

So this week, Elder Park, Who I live with for three transfers in Chimoio and living with again, taught me how to make pancakes. I will perfect them now and be the grand champion once I get home.

And mom, did you get that email about the package?

I love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 55

Well I’m glad Michelle had some fun doing the Ballroom dance. I am glad she was able to find a hobby during high school. Once I get home, we will go to snoqualmie. Does Dad not work on Saturdays anymore? If he is still working at Swissport when I get home, maybe he can hook me up with a job.

So there is a family of three we are teaching. Their names are Ana, Nasha, and Isabel. Ana and Nasha are doing great. They’re coming to church, reading the Book of Mormon, and keeping all the commitments.
Isabel, on the other hand, sat with us a few times, came to church one time, and then entirely quit on us. She was avoiding us, not coming to church. A few weeks ago we were able to find her at home. We had a nice long talk with her. Than 2 Sundays ago she came to church. And she started sitting with us when we marked with her family. She is reading the book of Mormon, coming to church and everything. She said she thought about what we said. And she repented of her sins she committed, and wants to come closer to Christ and God. She said only through sitting with us and learning, will this be possible. That just shows how much the Gospel can change someone’s life.

If the gospel can change a stubborn people like the Mozambiauans, than the gospel can change anyone. For everyone at home, remember that. The gospel is here to help us, not to force us to do anything. Only through change can we truly become true Disciples of Christ. When we go to church, we need to go there with the mindset of “ok, how can I change from what I learn". We need to learn and just not hear. In all truth, we are like little children to god. Things enter in one ear, and leave the other. We have to learn with a purpose of changing ourselves. We shouldn’t go to church or read the scriptures without willing to change ourselves. We learned about something like this from the AP's in a training we had last week. This is just what I learned from them

We were at a member’s house last week, and at his neighbor’s house, there were three women. The one in the middle was getting her hair braided and her bushy armpits done. So just imagine the woman sitting down with a women behind her braiding the one women’s hair, and a women in front of her pulling her armpit hairs out. Elder Christensen and I couldn’t help but laugh.

The 2nd of April was Children’s day here in Mozambique. So all the Elementary schools had little parties. And one of our investigators has a little 6 year old kid. He saves all the food and drinks he got for us because we marked to sit with his mom that day. So we get there, and he tells us he wanted to party with us. So we had some cookies and some sodas there. The people here love the missionaries so they give us food. We had the little kid, Eddy, eat like all the cookies but we ate a couple.

I also got that chess set I told you about. I won’t send pictures because I want to surprise you when I get home.

Last week we went to Six mile. It’s this old abandoned Portuguese resort. There was a manmade lake that had old rafts, and little houses. The reason it was abandoned was because the road to it would cost too much to pave and nobody wanted to go out it. It probably is six miles from the road. Ha-ha.

I was busy this week so I will take pictures of the apartment this week.

Well that’s about it. I love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 54

One year DONE!!!!!!! This time next year I will be at home. If all things go right, I will leave May 28th because that will be Monday because of the leap year, and I should be getting home on may 29th at night. So this time next year I will be at home. YEE-HAH!!!!!!!


We have one investigator marked for baptism. His name is David. He is 21. He reads the Book of Mormon. He actually understands it. The Book of Mormon is very hard for the people to understand. But with David, he teaches us what he read instead of us teaching him. He is one of the few really intelligent Mozambiauans I know. He will be a real help in Manga. He will be baptized June 18th.

Tell Michelle congrats on almost being done with school and seminary.

So last week we went to the Manga 2 chapel to with a film on President Monson. We were just wearing P-day clothes. And we were riding our bikes to the chapels. And my legs are pale WHITE!!!! I have never felt so pale in my life, just riding along by all the very dark Mozambiquans. Ha-ha.
We watched on the lord errands. Really good. You all should watch it sometime.

We were walking along this market, and we see these goat heads. They weren’t connected to the body. So we buy them and just boil them for about 5 hours and eat them. FYI, don’t eat goat head meat. Very bad!

I have had lots of stomach problems lately. Everyone in our house has stomach problem. Along with stomach problems, I have had lots of bike problems. Everyday I’m getting something fixed. The bikes here are from India. And aren’t good at all.

For my one year, we went to that Portuguese restaurant. I had ice cream too. Oh man it was so good!

At a member’s house, all of a sudden these turkeys got there. The male was huge. He puffed up at us. No wonder why they have so much good meat. Ha-ha

Our new Branch President, Chikala, is moving our branch forward. He has been giving people tons of new callings and getting the branch mission going. He is a returned missionary that served in Mozambique.
And he is hilarious.

The weather here is flipping HOT!!!!!!! The other day it was 119 degrees with 100 percent humidity. Than at night its pouring rain because we’re right next to the oceans. It’s flipping crazy ha-ha.

Have a good week everyone and love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 53






So I hear you’re in Disneyland. What’s with all these vacations when I’m not home?

Things here in Mozambique are going good. We had one baptism last Saturday. His name is Inocencio. He was taught for almost a year. But on Saturday he was finally baptized. You could see the joy on his face when he was baptized. But there really are not a lot of other people getting close to baptism. The Mozambique people are very hard headed people and very hard to change there ways. So sometimes the work here gets really hard.

Last week, we went to the Grande hotel. It’s this hotel the Portuguese had when they were here. It was probably like from 50 to 100 years ago. It had very European architecture, and it used to be a really good building. But now it’s full of Mozambiquans and its so run down. The people don’t take care of the building and it is pretty disgusting. So it falling apart. I would have loved seeing it in its heyday.

I also killed a chicken this week at a member’s house this week. We were going to eat there. And here in Mozambique, they eat a lot of chickens. So I stepped on its feet and wings, grab its head, cut off some feathers, and cut its head off. Blood got everywhere. On my shoes, my arms, my shirt. And when people say chickens still move after their heads chopped off, it’s very true. But the food turned out really good. It was chicken and rice, with a type of gravy thing. It was really good.

I have had lots of stomach problem and the worst diarrhea of my mission this week. It’s been bad. I am trying to get better.

And remember mom, the chess set I told you about with the African animal pieces, that will be done next week.

I hit a year on this coming Thursday. I can’t believe how fast time has gone by. So I’m almost over the mountain and going to climb down

Well that’s it, I love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 52





Hello Family,

Chicago? Wow, never been there before. With Aunt Karen, I am sure you will have a blast going there.

The weather here has been hot lately. But hopefully it starts cooling off here a little bit. I would love to have some rain!

Sounds like the family have been busy little bees.

So things have been going good here in Africa. Last P-day, we had a zone activity at the chapel. The chapel has a huge lawn there. So we took off our shoes and socks, and played ultimate Frisbee. My team SMASHED on the other. My feet were so sore because it’s the first time I have walked in barefoot in a year. Ha-ha. Funny right. Than we had some food from Cape Verde.It was corn, beans, and vegetables made into a soup. We all just sat around, ate, and talked. Than we played a soccer version of monkey in the middle. You make a circle of people, with someone in the middle, and you kick the soccer ball around. If the person in the middle somehow gets the ball, the person, who was defending it, goes in the middle. That just continues. It was so fun.

I had to fix my bike last week. The axle part in the back tire got JACKED up. But luckily it cost only like 60 meticals to fix. I was worried it would be more. Elder Christensen had the same problem. We were just riding and it happened. Luckily we were by the bike place to fix it.

So we have a new member that said he wants to serve a mission. The cool thing is, his brother is on a mission in South Africa, and his sister is waiting for her mission call to get back to Mozambique. So if he goes, there will be 3 members of his family on missions. That’s what Mozambique needs is more native missionaries.

Last week, I made fried chicken, rice, and potatoes. There was a missionary leaving to go home so I made it for him. It was really good. I realized out of the 7 transfers I have completed, 4 have had missionaries going home. The last three there has been one. So I have gotten really trunky for home. Ha-ha.

We had training on Saturday. President Spendlove is so smart. He taught us allot. We also had transfers. I am staying here in Manga with Elder Christensen. I am glad to be with him again.

In my district and in my house, I have done the most time on the mission. I am the second oldest missionary in the zone. That feels really good. I don’t feel like a new missionary anymore. Ha-ha. It’s a really good feeling.

While waiting for an investigator, this drunk guy came up too us. He was speaking in English. But the funny thing is we got to him to start dancing and singing in the road. It was one the funniest things I have seen on the mission

Well that’s about it, I love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 51



It was really sweet to get to talk to you this weekend.

So this past week a few things have happened. For example, yesterday we were at an investigators house. And her Dad was walking around with no shirt, wearing like sheet or something. And he is this huge guy with a big old gut. He was rubbing his belly and stuff. Not a pretty sight but funny to see. Ha-ha

We were able to make lasagna last week. Oh man was it good. I felt like I was at home since it was so good. Ha-ha. But it won’t ever beat lasagna at home.

At another investigators house, we get there. And there is this guy that’s drunk trying to talk English with us. Then he starts singing to us. We are like, whatever, we won’t pay attention. Than about three quarters of the way through the lesson he comes back out, NUDE, and leaves. We don’t know what happened to him. Ha-ha.

We also had to clean the chapel last week. I cleaned the bathrooms. If you think you have seen a bathroom, just wait till you see a bathroom in Mozambique. It’s HORRIBLE!!!!! So disgusting.

When we are coming home every night, we get attacked by dogs. So the other night, before we get to the area where we get attacked. We pick up these stick. Then we go and they start coming. And we hop off our bikes and start attacking them with our sticks. They start running away with their tails between their legs. There were about 4 or 5 of them. We beat them all. It was actually pretty fun to do it. They never have attacked us again. Ha-ha

Well that’s about it. I love you all have a good week, Elder Sirrine

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Week 50

Hooray! So happy to hear about Osaba Bin Laden!

So this week has been a good week here in Mozambique. But we got some bad news this week. One of the members, who lived in Angola, passed away this week. Her name was sister bête. All the missionaries knew her. She was from here in Manga. She even served a mission in Kenya and spoke English. She lived in Maputo, working in the mission home. I got to know here while I served in Maputo. Her funeral will be this week.

This week we also made a broom from palm leaves. It’s amazing what Africans do here with what limited resources they have. I would have taken some pictures, but it was raining and I left my camera at home. Next time I will bring it.

We went as a house to a senior couple’s house this past week. They made us shrimp, fettuccini, and green beans. It was the best food I have had in 11 months. It was so GOOD!!! I couldn’t eat anything for about 2 days. No joke! I was stuffed like sardines in a can. Ha-ha

We also had the chance of seeing price Williams wedding. We were out eating, and it was on the TV. So we stayed there and watched a little. It was weird, those types of weddings. Ha-ha

It’s been raining like crazy here. Everyday it has been raining.

So there was this investigator that said he "read" the first chapter in the book of Mormon. So we asked her what she learned. So she tried to explain. We could tell she was lying. So elder Christensen asked her about the cavallo branco, or white horse that Nephi. So she is like yeah Nephi had a white horse that he took care of, and all that stuff. Than we ask her sister, who actually reads the book of Mormon if she remembers a white horse. She said no. Just think, I’m laughing the whole quietly, with a book in my face. Then when the sister says no, I just couldn’t hold it anymore. I was laughing so hard. Ha-ha.

So about the call home, I will call home on Saturday. The only time I have to call is about 7 in the morning, your time. I will call you first than you got to call me back. We will just do what we did for Christmas. So once I call you call me.

That’s about it for this week. Until Saturday, I love you all!!!!

Elder Sirrine

On this computer I can’t send pictures Sorry!!!!!!

Week 49

Well that’s not good about Michelle. I hope she is alright.

I think it would be best if you called Saturday. I don’t want to have to fight to have to use the phone. I’ll give you more info next week.

I really missed having an Easter party. We had branch conference yesterday. We got a new branch president. He is such a cool guy. We went to his house last night and we just talked to him for an hour or so. Awesome

During third hour at church, the district president had me show my temple recommend because he was teaching about temples. Everyone was so amazed by it.

On Saturday we had an Easter activity for the district. More than 100 people came. The teenagers did a play about the protocol son and made it hilarious. I have not laughed so hard in a long time. Wish you could have seen it.

While getting on a chapa, this drunk tried to get on also. The driver forced him to get off and said “I cleaned up some vomit the other night; I don’t want to clean up more" funny to hear.

We had 6 baptisms on Saturday. That’s the most I have seen in this country at one time. It was so spiritual. They all bore their testimonies after. I felt the spirit so much and was so happy how I am helping people come closer to the lord.

We found the hardest women to teach this week. We teach than ask questions. We give her the answers but she won’t tell us them beck. SO HARD!!!!!

Last week we visited a one eyed ladies store to eat. She loves us. She only has one eye and actually cooks really good.

Well that’s about it.

Have a good week everyone I love you all.

Elder Sirrine

Week 48








Hello Mom,I’m doing well here in Manga. Things are going good with my companion. His name is Elder Christensen and he is from south Jordan Utah. So yes another comp from Utah, ha-ha. He has 14 brothers and sisters. I told him that his family should start their own TV show ha-ha. I am still with a group of six missionaries. I like it like this more than two. Riding the bikes is a whole lot of fun. We go off-roading and stuff with them because our area is in the wood ha-ha. I am like 10 minutes from the city of Beira. Manga is just a zone of Beira. I am only three hours closer to Maputo. But I am still hours from there.That’s cool you went down to California for the dole foods people. Why do you think you wouldn’t get the account with them? Are they difficult people there or something? So last week, here in Beira There is a restaurant called Piniqinue. The way you say it is like the word picnic. We had steaks there. Oh man, it was so good. I think we will be going there to eat there again.Last week, we went to the monkey cemetery here. It’s an old cemetery by our house and it has these huge trees and it’s full of monkeys. But before I took pictures of the monkeys, my cameras battery dies. But it looked like the legit jungle. At a member’s house, there was this huge cat that kept on coming in. And the member spoke in dialect to their kids to do something. The kids came back about ten minutes later with the cat dead in their head. They asked us if we wanted to eat it with them. We passed. Ha-haOne of our recently baptized members told us the story of his parent’s death. They both died within a week of each other last year. They were both sick. When he told us it, it was so sad. I almost cried for him. An investigator, Fatima, got a surprising answer to her prayer. She got the answer that all churches are true and we could go to anyone church we want. She is so stubborn that she will not pray again. So we aren’t going to her house anymore. I have a question mom. I was thinking about when I call home for mother’s day. I was thinking that I should call on Saturday instead of Sunday. It’s because six people will be trying to call on Sunday. I will give you the number some other time and stuff.Have a good week and I Love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 47

So life here in Manga is going good. Last Friday, me and my comp Elder Christensen were riding our bikes through rivers and lakes because of the rain. It was the most rain I have ever seen in my life. Once we got home, I have never been so tired physically in my life. My butt is killing me. It’s hard for me to walk. Ha-ha. Here in Manga they have a LEGIT chapel. Going to church yesterday made me feel like I was at home. Ha-ha. It was really hard for me to say bye to people in Chimoio. After being there for 5 months, you grow to love the people.The church here in Manga is so much more established than in Chimoio. I do not have a calling here. So that’s really nice not having to worry about things like that. It has rained every day I have been here on Manga. The people here are so nice. I love them already. It’s good for dad that he was able to go out in the yard and work on it. Did you get that shed yet that we were talking about, or not yet? What about building the fence in the backyard?I bet Bella had tons of fun Ady's house. How was the vacation? Was it good?To get to my area on my bike, it takes 20 minutes. Than we have to go off-roading on our bikes to all the people’s houses. I will try to get some pictures this week and I will take some of the house. Until next week, I love you allElder Sirrine,

Week 46











DDDDUUUUUDDDDEEEEEE that looks like so much fun. We definitely need to go on one when I get home.

So this will be my last P-Day here in Chimoio. So that means I will be transferred. I’m going to the city of Manga. In English, Manga is Mango. Manga is the mango producing place of Mozambique. All I heard about there is it’s really nice and I am lucky to go there. I spent 5 months in Chimoio. For what I have done in the mission, 10 months, I have spent half my mission here in Chimoio. So it will be hard to leave here for sure. My new comps name is Elder Christensen. I got to know him a little in the MTC because he came in 6 weeks after I did. Cool guy.

So this past week, we dug a new hole for garbage. It’s about 2 meters wide and 1 and a half deep. So it’s a pretty decent sized hole. The little poor kids are always getting into it and taking our garbage. It’s sad to see, but weird too. You wouldn’t see that in the States.

So we had our African leave this past week too. He was from Cape Verde. He finished his mission. It was pretty hard to see him go. His name was Elder Monteiro. He a six foot six, 220lb guy. So a big guy. He was hilarious.

SO we also thought we found a new investigator. But when we got there he thought we were only there to speak English. That what tons of people think when they see two big white guys walking down the road. So we told him we are not there to teach English, Were there to preach the gospel. So we teach him about Joseph Smith and the restoration. The next time we sit with him, he tells us his sister doesn’t want us there to sit with because they have their church already. But that he will come to the English classes. So the guy was kind of weird. I won’t lie. Ha-ha

So we go to a member’s house this past week. And as we are leaving to go home, these two drunken guys asked where the church was. So we start to explain, and there like no it’s not there it’s here. And stuff like that. You all know how drunken people are. But it was pretty funny.

I also had some of my shirts taken in They were huge on me since I have lost wait. Now they fit perfectly. I love the shirts now.

We also found a new Talho, or butcher shop in our area. The meat is really good there. They have some steaks that are AMAZING!!! Too bad I’m Leaving. Ha-ha.

We also lost our keys here. So we had to get tons of new keys made. We looked for hours for them, and nothing there. I feel really ashamed. Ha-ha.

So that’s about it this week. Mom can you ask dad to ask if people from his side of the family can email me. I want to hear from them too.

I love you all,
Elder Sirrine

Week 45






Cruise when I’m here in Mozambique?

This week is transfer week. So I will let you know what happens when I email next week. This past week we were fixing one of the A/C machines in the house. And once we got it going, it shoots out things of ice at us. We all just booked it out of the room. We all got pretty scared. Ha-ha. We had someone come look at it too. His name was Formiga. And in English, Formiga means ANT!! So we all were like, what kind name is that. Ha-ha

Last Monday, we had a senior couple here. We watched movies with them. We watched Brother Bear 2 and sky high. We stayed up till like Midnight. We ate popcorn and we ate a lot of candy I got. Ha-ha. By the way, I did share the stuff with my comp.

Speaking of my comp, he got malaria last week. So we stayed home a couple days because when you get malaria, you can’t really move, you’re too weak to.

We were at an investigators house and her uncle was drunk. And he asked us where we are from. And we tell him were Americans. He then offered us pork, but said Oh Obama is your president, you don’t eat pork. oink oink. He said that because Obama is Muslim. Ha-ha. That made my day. They also offered us beer, but they were like whoops just kidding y'all can’t drink it. Ha-ha

We had baptisms last week. Carmen, our investigator, was baptized. She is 18 and a very smart girl. That’s what the church here in Chimoio needs is more young women to be leaders here. We have a lack of them.

This has been a really hot week. It hasn’t rained for week. The highest got about 115 here. It was BAD!!!!!

Well that’s about it this week. I love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 44

Isn’t it good to have Christmas in March? Yeah I got my Christmas Packages this past week!!!!
Thanks for everything mom. And tell Jamie too.

And yes I had Malaria. I went to the doctor. But they told me it’s just a onetime thing. And I will only get it again if I get bit by another mosquito. I am over it.

Things here in Mozambique are good. We caught a chapa this week. And one guy on it was SUPER drunk. He gave someone his phone to hold until he got off. He told them if they guy gave him back his phone before he got off, he would hit him. It may seem weird now, but it was so funny to hear and see.

We have 3 people marked for baptism. Their names are Carmen, Odilson and Aogosto. They are all teenagers and they are so smart. Carmen will be baptized this Sunday, and the other 2 will be baptized in a couple weeks. I probably won’t see them. Transfer meeting is a week from Friday. At the end of this transfer I will have 5 moths here in Chimoio. That will be half my mission. I will miss it here once I do get transferred.

Yesterday I gave a talk in church. One of the speakers didn’t show up. So it was a spur of the moment talk. Just like my homecoming will be. Ha-ha. I talked about why are we here on earth. People said it went good. When I was teaching primary I gave the kids some American candy. They LOVED it!!!!! They went crazy for it.

Carmen’s sister is weird. Whenever we go to her house, she is always drunk. And she always tells me she wants to be my girlfriend and go back to America with me. It’s pretty funny to hear. Ha-ha

Well that about it. Thanks for the support. I love you ALL!!!!

Elder Sirrine

Monday, March 14, 2011

Week 43

Wow another week down in Africa, where does the time go in Africa,

That’s horrible about the earthquake. I will defiantly be praying for Japan.

That’s good that you went to Utah. I know when I get home I will be visiting them a lot down there. And tell Landi good job on getting the job. I’m proud of him. How is everyone else doing?

No puppies from Bella. If she had some, they would be the cutest puppies in the world. HA-HA

So this past week I got really sick. I got...... MALARIA!!! I thought, Yeah I'm in Africa. Ha-ha. I was on the bed for 4 days this week. Barely being able to walk. It was bad. The other elders gave me a blessing. I am fine now, don’t worry about me.

For some reason last week, all the drunken people here wanted to talk to us. They were wanting money from us. We were like go away ha-ha. Funny drunk people.

Today, the mission president and a couple from South Africa are coming here to Chimoio. President Spendlove is going to teach a book of Mormon class about the Isaiah chapters in the book of Mormon. I’m so excited. Since they are coming here, and I’m the district leader, I had to get them hotel rooms and make dinner reservations and all that stuff. I felt pretty important this week.

Last week we had no energy for two days. Worst nights of my life. thats when i had Malaria. I wanted to kill myself. Ha-ha.

We also have been playing soccer in the morning. It’s been fun exercise for me. Ha-ha. I realize I’m better then I thought. Maybe that’s my new game. Ha-ha

I bought a bundle of 38 bananas for 25 metacais. That’s not even a dollar. Fruit here is so inexpensive. Maybe because Chimoio is the fruit capital of Mozambique.

Well that’s about it this week, I love you all, Ficam Forte na igreja, or stay strong in the church.

Until next week
Elder Sirrine

Week 42


Thanks for the email on the taxes. Time to party it up a little bit here in Mozambique! Whoop Whoop!

So this week has been pretty boring. Things here in Africa are growing on. Not very many things are as strange to me. I realized this month I hit double digits in how long I have been here on the mission. The big 10!

So I got my new companion this week. His name is Elder Baldwin. He is from Sandy Utah. 5 of the seven companions I have had so far have been from Utah. Utah is for sure the missionary factory. He is about 7 months ahead of me in the mission. So once he goes home, there is only 2 other groups of missionaries who go home before me. He goes home in October, than elders go home the end of January, The beginning of March, Then it’s my group of 13 Americans, and 4 natives that go home. Yeah, I will go home with 17 people. Elder Baldwin is funny. It’s weird speaking so much English after speaking pretty much Portuguese for 3 months. Ha-ha. We also taught family night last week at the church. The teenagers’ here are amazing. They are so willing to accept the gospel. That really does amaze me.

We have an investigator name Azetona. Azetona in English is olive. So when we started teaching her I accidentally called her Olive in English instead of Azetona. But luckily she doesn’t speak English so she didn’t understand me.

We were also at another investigators house, Arlete. Then her 4 year old son came up with only a shirt on, and no pants. So I ask " Onde esta suas calças", Or "where are your pants". And he says "Eu estava cagar" or” I was pooping". We started busting up laughing. It was one of the funniest things I have heard in a long time.

Then we had to chase a cat out of our yard. All six of us. It almost killed us. It did not like us one bit. But it left soon after. So it was quite an adventure.

Yesterday a newly baptized member bore his testimony. He said that when the missionaries first started teaching him, he didn’t want to come to church and he didn’t want to read the Book of Mormon. So the missionaries stopped teaching him. And when Elder Bene and Sirrine came back to teach him, something in him changed. He started to feel the spirit, he wanted to feel it all the time, and he started to read the Book of Mormon, and started to come to church. Now he is baptized and is the YM president. So he thanked me over the stand for helping him come to church and to one day live with Heavenly Father again. So that made me think that I actually helped someone come closer to his Heavenly Father and live with him again.

Yesterday at a member’s house, I saw part of "See Spot Run", Look it up, it was filmed in Seattle. So it made me miss home a little bit.

Well that’s about it, I love you all

Elder Sirrine

Week 41

Hello my peeps on the other side of the world!

How it be going? Things here in Chimoio are GREAT!!!!!! I haven’t had a companion all week because mine went to Maputo, so I haven’t really walked in my area all week. But 3 people from my area were baptized on Saturday. Their names are Jose, Ivete who are brother and sister, And Piadade. Her sister was one of the first people baptized here in Chimoio. So it was really great to see them baptized.

So this whole week I walked in the city with Elder Russon and Elder Woolf. Elder Woolf just got here to Chimoio this week. And I already lived with him when I was in Maputo. And Elder Park, who is one transfer behind me, has lived with him before also. So when he got here to Chimoio, us two went to go get him. And the first things he said were `of all the elders to come pick me up, you two did` he was just kidding around. He is so funny. We will have 5 Americans in the house. My comp will get here today. There will be 4 from Utah, one from Washington, and one from Cape Verde. There islands off the coast of Africa that speak Portuguese.

During the week we visited Irma Filomena. She has had a hard life. Both the husbands she has had have both died, and some of her kids have too. She has been in about 9-10 different churches but she said she felt empty in them. Than when she started coming to our church, she felt happiness, peace, calmness, and joy. And she thought how these elders, still really young, teenagers, could take two whole years out of their life, to be on the other side of the world, away from their families, away from everything, just to preach the gospel, and was amazing. And how we put our needs in front of others. So that got me thinking of why i am here in Mozambique as a missionary of the Lord. She was baptized 2 weeks ago with her grandkids. She is so nice and loves us a lot. She also always gives us corn on the cob. Or in Portuguese its maça roca. It’s oh so tasty. It’s so much better here than at home because its allot more fresh.
Last Monday night we had an investigator get mad because I told him we wouldn’t be able to pass by his house this week because of the transfers and how I wouldn’t be walking in my area. And he lectured us about making sacrifices. And I was like We passed by your house to tell you this. Don’t you think this is good? And we are taking away 2 years of our life to be here, were away from our families and everything. We are on the other side of the world. This is a huge sacrifice. So that kind of humbled him about it. He still came to church yesterday.

There was this kid at a lesson, and I told him to come sit near me. And he said Nao quero, or I don’t want too. He was like 2. It was so funny. I couldn’t help but laugh.

We also had one of the mission couples up here last week. They are the Binghams. There from Idaho Falls, Idaho. They are so cool. They took us out to dinner. AWESOME!!!!

We had to break into our own locks this week at our house. All the Elders got home at the same time. And for some reason the locks were messed up. So we took an hour and a half to get in. It was Ridiculous. Ha-ha.

At ShopRite, where we get our food, I found some Frito chips. Like LEGIT!! They were only 35 metacias. They were so good. I loved them

Last night we had a drunken lady talk to us. She was soooo WASTED!!! She didn’t make any sense. She was asking us if we knew where her house was to help her get back there. So we asked her if she was lost, and she said no, my house is right here. We thought why she is asking us if we know where her house is. It was kind of funny too. Then we got this random ride home. It took off 20 minutes of our commute. Ha-ha.

Now answers to questions- Groceries aren’t that bad here in price. There a little more expensive than Maputo because we kind of far from it. But really not bad. The weather here is so crazy. It could be 119 degrees with 100% humidity, then the next day its pouring rain for 3 days. Then really hot and humid. So weather here is a little weird. Ha-ha.

And no, I will never go to Angola. From now on the church will send elders directly to Angola from the MTC. And they will serve their missions there. I think Angola will have its own mission. It will probably be called the Angola Launda Mission. But who knows. I will always be in Mozambique for my mission. I know Launda is one of the most expensive cities in the world. And they use the Dollar there also. It’s built to hold 1 million people but 8 million people live there. That’s crazy.

I emailed Opal.
Can you update the Blog? Thank You!!!

That’s about it for this week. I love you All!!!! FICAM FORTE, Or STAY STRONG

Love,
Elder Sirrine