Dear Family,
Simply this has been a sweet week!!!
This is kind of how our week was!!! This is a part of Elder Pentreath's email to president about a women and her family that we are going to start teaching:
"This week's been great. Straight after coming out from our interviews with you we went out to buy something to eat and we prayed together that we would find a family. So we went and bought a bowl of 'fried beans' from the Lady who sells on Redemption Drive, the road just outside the Office, which heads down to the Beach. So we started speaking to the Lady, asked her name, asked if her last name was her family's name or her husband's; it was her family's because 'he hadn't given her a ring yet'. We asked if her man had paid her dowry though and she very strongly said 'oh, yes, before we moved together, absolutely!' Elder Skouson and I felt that this meant that she deserved more of our time and so we've been buying food from her ever since. We've learnt that they are very strong in the Lutheran church on 14th Street, but after meeting with them after church on Sunday they informed us that their church had been closed down on Saturday because they hadn't paid the rent so they don't have anywhere to go to church anymore. I don't have anything against the Lutheran Church, but this news made me pretty happy and we didn't lose any time as we excitedly told them 'well that's no problem, you can come to church with us next Sunday'; sounds a bit insensitive now that I'm writing this, but the spirit was there and we feel it went down well. From further asking of questions we learnt that the whole family came to the Gayes wedding; know the family very well and have seen the changes each of them have made. Sister Yargbo attends night-school with a Relief Society Sister who lives in the house right outside the office as well, so we're really excited for this family's future!"
We are truly excited for this family that we are starting to teach. Heavenly Father has blessed Liberia I wish you all could see the miracles that happen every day here.
We had the opportunity today to do something a little bit different. We were privileged to take a tour of the old abandon Mamba Point Hotel. This place has always been an eye catcher because it is at the top of the only hill in Monrovia. During the war the rebels came in and took everything from the hotel and used it as a base for a battalion. We saw a before and after photo which really is kind of sad to see what Liberia used to look like before the war. We paid the guard 100Ld which is like $1.15 US. and climbed up 9 stories to have “a moment that takes your breath away”. As we learn from Will Smith “it’s not about the breaths we take but about the moments that take our breath away”!! What a moment/view that really did. Liberia is beautiful!!! I love it so much. I will try to send some more photos. But sorry to say photos just can’t do it justice. My fear of heights came back to me for a couple of seconds. Haha what a cool experience we had today.
Dear President Kirkham,
Thank you President for emailing me.
We have really tried hard this week to implement what you have instructed us to do to have a model proselyting area. After our interview last gone Monday we found just what Liberia needs- A Family. Elder Pentreath explained the whole situation in his email. It is just wonderful to see that when we truly look for someone he just can simply put people in our path; we ourselves just need to open our eyes. This work really is divine and i am glad i have another year to enjoy the work we do here in Liberia.
On Wednesday we were able to go on an exchange with Elder Zolo and Elder Ngobi in Caldwell New Georgia. Elder Pentreath went out with Elder Zolo and I went with Elder Ngobi. Before our exchange we planned on what would be the purpose of this exchange. We wanted to focus on having good members in each lessons. To have the member be taught as well as the investigator. Also to have evaluations with your companion often. Elder Pentreath and i find it very successful to talk about the lesson we just had while walking or going to the next lesson. It really brings unity in our teaching. We know when one person should stop and the other start. We wanted to get this same attitude in teaching for Elder Zolo and Ngobi.
The actual exchange was great and we really had a good time with these elders. Elder Ngobi is a great teacher who may be quite any other time of the day but really you can see him open up when he teaches people. This for me just goes to show how much love he has for his investigators. We had a great experience in one lesson we taught together. The girl we were teaching was really not saying anything in the lesson. Come to find out her aunt has been discouraging her by telling her false things about the church. Once we could understand why she was being so quite and uninterested, Elder Ngobi bore one of the most powerful testimonies i have ever heard. He talked about how Jesus Christ was disrespected and hated for doing nothing wrong. He bore his testimony on Joseph Smith how he had come to know the truth and how always he would be laughed at, persecuted, and even killed for the things he knew were true. He boldly bore his testimony to her in the most loving spiritual manner that we all could feel the spirit. As he finished she committed to pray about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. The way that she looked at the church change not because of his testimony but by hearing and feeling the holy Ghost bear witness to her that this work is true. This lesson that i had the opportunity to be a part of really strengthened my testimony and helped me see just how truly important this work and that no outside force could ever stop the progression of this work.
Elder Ngobi and I had a wonderful time teaching and talking with each other. He is really a great example to me as a leader. I have learned things that i would like to improve to become a better leader. He is a great example of leading by example. We had a great exchange which we were able to give training and receive training. Haha its really great how it works like that.
Being a missionary has taught me so many things. It has shown me the importance of things too. I am just thankful everyday that i have this experience in my life to help so many great people, whether a missionary, member, or non-member. I love it them all. And we can all learn from each other. That's why heavenly Father puts us in groups we call families because when you are close to someone you automatically love them. In this love there is much learning involved. Thankfully my parents love is unconditional and they were able to see past the bad and seek the good that i did and complement me on that. My mother goes into surgery tomorrow. I know everything will work out just fine but i guess why this email has turned to my parents. I pray for them continually but i know that you ask me about my family and so i just wanted to give a small update. Thank you for always being so loving to me and helping to understand and see the bigger picture.
Love,
Elder Skouson
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