12/17/13

Dear Family,

 

Well i am here to prove science wrong!!!! Not really but we lost our internet connection to the main office in Liberia. So maybe they got struck by lightning.

 

The week has been very sweet got to finally reach to other counties. SO sweet. We went on Exchange in both Kakata and Harbel.( Bush!!!!) I will tell you more about it in my next email.

Well i am preparing my instruction for tomorrow for our christmas Zone Conference. If it is good or not depends on how long this email is. You know i absolutly love you to the end of the world and back but just know this is important for the missionaries here in liberia, and is very important to me.

I love you so much and cant wait to talk to you on Christmas. You know it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I would love to talk in the morning time for you all in Las Vegas so just give me a good time probably like around 5-7pmliberian time and i will do my best to call you.

Love,

Elder Skouson

(the White African)

12/9/13

Dear Family,

I am trying to write my weekly letter to you and all I hear in the background is a Big LOUD BAGPIPE. Don’t worry Elder Heszeltine is playing Christmas Carols so that better than the three songs they know in Nauvoo. - Play a Bagpipe, go to jail!!!! It’s really quite amazing actually. In a loud almost obnoxious kind of way. Haha.

Christmas Season is setting in here in the Mission Office. We have been setting up Christmas Decor all over the Office. President put up a poster with all of the title Jesus Christ and it really sets the tone and reason for the Season. President invited us to stay with him and Sister Kirkham overnight on Christmas Eve and Join them for Christmas. How cool is that!!!! I love the both of them so much. They are just absolutely great.

Well I can’t remember if I said in the short email I sent last week but we did get to eat Goat. I was the lucky candidate who ate the Liver which is very rich with Livery-flavor. We truly were fed like Kings. The man who fed us his name is Bro. Bryant. He is all into the whole because we are APs we should be treated like kings. He gave us soft drink after soft drink and plate after plate of food. He is a Loma man, from the Loma Tribe, which means He loves a soup called "To-Bo-Gee" and beans which can most of the time make your stomach run or give runny tummy. I don’t think I have been that full in a long time. Which the after affects are just always so much fun. But it was a great Thanksgiving to be had not on thanksgiving.

We again we privileged to instruct throughout this week. Most of the time gets nervous but starting to get used to it though so that is good. I love to be able to assist president with things to help the mission run smoother. Now the fruits of my labor have turned from recent converts to help others to have more quality converts, if you know what I mean. But this doesn't mean we have totally away from Liberian just not as much time working with investigators. Got to love the missionary work here in Liberia as well as all around the world.

I have been thinking about it lately of how bad a missionary I was back at home before I came on Mission. I was so scared to share the gospel I really wouldn’t just in case they would ask me a question I didn’t know or talked about something that I wasn’t aware of. I kind of kick myself for thinking these things. My mind refers to the title "you know enough".

Now that I have been a missionary for over a year, testifying to people every day that Jesus is the Christ, It’s easy just to tell people what you do know and what you have a testimony of. I know I had a testimony of Jesus Christ and about living day prophets and the Book of Mormon. I think about the people I could have helped if I had just been a little bit bolder about my testimony. I seemed to think a testimony is something in needed to work on by myself and never let it come out, or only come out during church and maybe youth activities, when others had a similar testimony so they would understand. Which no doubt I did need to work on it by myself at times, but the amount I share it needed to be different. I'm not going to dwell too much on regrets though Pres. Utchdorf told me I should avoid negative feelings and thoughts of regrets. So I guess I can take what I have now and share it with others. There are so many reasons for a mission. One big impact I have seen in the last week has been what I am talking about now. Being confident enough to bear my testimony really to any person or place I go.

As we walk down the streets of Monrovia many time people will say under their breath to a friend, " Dat Latter-Day Saints there-oh." Nobody here (unless they are American knows what "Mormons" are. My heart starts to pound small and we ask how do you know us?? They will usually say that they have sat down with missionaries before and it provides a great conversation and most of the people want to have a chance to sit with the missionaries again. This is always one of the small moments were we are able to bear a quick but heart-felt testimony to them and tell them to come to church. Liberians are just so excepting to the Gospel and we love it even more when they accept the Restored Gospel.

Well now I am just talking now I love you very much and tank you plenty-oh for the support you always give me. Oh and thank you so much for sending me those 4 packages!!!!!!! I haven’t opened all of them yet but I have received them all!!!! WOO HOO my family really does love me plenty. Haha. You guys are the absolute best family I could ever ask for. I keep praying that someday your bodies will be back to normal and healthy.

Love, Your son/Brother

Elder Sousing

(The White African)

P.S. Quote of the Week: "Work until your ears ring!" Henry B. Erying’s Father

P.P.S. Here is my letter to President Kirkham.

Dear President Kirkham,
I would first like to thank you for the opportunity to give on instruction on How to Receive and apply Correction. I already have some ideas that I would like to use inside this presentations. I think this will give me an opportunity to understand how I need to receive and apply correction that others give to me.
Well this week was a good one as usual. We didn’t have a whole lot of time in our proselyting area this week but still had a good number of investigators come to church. Of course, baptism and confirmation is a big step in the conversion and the ultimate goal for our investigators is to attend the temple, but I feel as though church attendance is just as important. I guess this kind of goes back to our fundamentals, Revelation through Church Attendance. When investigators come to church it truly is a sign of how willing they are to follow through with commitments and really prepares them for big commitments such as Baptism and Confirmation.
This week as we saw many of our investigators come we were able to see which investigators are really progressing. One in particular Patrick Toe is doing exceptionally well. He recently with the last couple of years has come from Ivory Coast. He speaks manly French but is starting to know English pretty well. This last week we haven’t had the chance to sit down with him due to both his and our busy schedule. Nevertheless he was there about 5 minutes before church began. In talking with him after sacrament meeting we made an appointment with him after church and began to think about who could come with us to teach him. Thankfully we have many men (who just received the Melchizedek Priesthood) who can speak French and fluently. We ask one member named Wilson who came with us and followed up with Patrick about the Plan of Salvation in really a way that we couldn’t do, because our French is so rubbish. We then talked about the Word of Wisdom and The Law of Chastity both of them he has committed to himself that he will turn away from them and repent. We know that these things won’t be a hard thing for him because he has so much Faith in Jesus Christ.
President we have already seen some of the effects on the new emphasize of the Fundamentals. Zone Leaders have begun to train on focusing on a specific fundamental during their exchange with District Leaders. This already has begun to show missionaries that the way we can be successful is going back to the basics. The feedback from people seems very positive. This was very inspired to discuss in our mission council meeting.

It’s wonderful to be just a part of the missionary work here in Liberia and see all these wonderful miracles if we just let ourselves to be molded by the hands of the Lord. I guess that’s really what it is all about. If we are willing to be submissive and flexible with willing attitudes the Lord can truly work through us with no resistance. Not saying I am there yet but I am trying hard to be there.

Love,
Elder Skouson

12/4/13

Dear Family,

First I must beg for your forgiveness as I didn’t write this last Monday. Here at the office throughout Saturday night even until Sunday morning there was a big lighting and thunder storm, which really kept us up through the night because it was very close and loud. As 6:30 rolled around we got up and prayed and headed to the bathroom when all the lights in the building flashed on and it seemed as if outside was just lite up with a super bright light. At the exact same time the roar of thunder cracked in an ear deafening way. After the light had dimed and consciousness came back we realized that the building had been struck with lighting.

This was all a big detriment to us as it had zapped the internet satellite on the top of the building, so needlesstosay we haven’t had internet since Sunday morning. So sorry ya.

I just going to briefly sum up cause I aint got too much time.

This week was good!

Love,

Elder Cowskin

(The white African)

hahah sorry but I really need to go enjoy the letter I wrote to President Kirkham. I love you all and don’t worry I am doing great and I am healthy!! I love you all.

Dear President Kirkham,

I have realized some things in these last couple of days. First off about fasting; making a physical sacrifice in order to receive spiritual blessings. Yesterday as me and my companion joined in the church wide first Sunday of the month fast I asked myself, “Why am I fasting?” What is the real reason why I should take part in this fast? Am I just starving myself because that is what everyone else does or am I fasting with purpose? I had knelt down the night before asking heavenly father while I fast to grant me with the blessings I needed or at that point felt like I was supposed to receive. I realized something through-out my day as my body was tired and hungry, that we can fast for specific reasons but it is still our Heavenly Fathers will on what we receive. Ever since I have come into the office I have been praying that I will be able to retain more information, remember names and faces much easier, and to be able to ask the right questions to get the desired answers. I look back on it now and I have improved on each of these things I just haven’t realized it because it has been maybe a slower process then I first had expected.

Yesterday as we were following up the situation between Elder Conners and Elder Jemba with Elder Zolo and Elder Ngobi I realized I was being very lenient. They hadn’t done anything to resolve the situation even after we had told them to.  I found myself just trying to tell them in a not direct or uncomfortable way. I was just very lenient. After talking to my companion after the conversation he reminded me that Leniency is not Loving. I was trying to be as loving as I could I thought but I realized that I wasn’t truly loving them because I was lenient. My question then I had towards myself was, “Do I love people enough to not be lenient to them?” I have never wanted to be in the situation where I was just too mean or angry at a person to love them but I guess it’s kind of opposite for me. I’m just too nice for some peoples benefit. Makes me think about what Elder Dube said this last week about what a leader does. “A leader is someone who takes a person or a group of people from one place to another.”  Thinking back on the conversations I had with the Caldwell Zone leaders helps me understand what exactly I need to do to truly help people. This is really a change that I need to make. Improvement requires Change. So hopefully I will be able to help people by “Truly” loving them enough to say the things that are needed to be said.

This week my companion and I had many service opportunities. One of them was being able to give priesthood blessings. After Bro. Kessellie turned into Elder Kessellie and was set apart as a full-time missionary he had the chance to give a blessing. Sister Muzambi was not feeling very well and so we traveled to her apartment to give her the blessing. This was his first one so we guided him on what to say when you anoint the person with oil. The blessing that Heavenly Father wanted Sister Muzambi was very direct and clear what things she needed to do not only for her body but also her companionship. This was a sweet time for all of us as we used the Priesthood power to perform this blessing.

President the work is going great!! I love the opportunity I have to be serving with Elder Pentreath. He is a great help to me to learn things that are going to help me in the future as well as now. Thank you as well for giving me this opportunity to be one of your assistants. I hope we will be able to assist you in the best way we can! President thank you again.

Love,

Elder Skouson

11/18/13

Dear Family,

 

What do you know another busy week!!! Gotta love being here in the office! To answer you question i have no idea how long i am going to be one of Presidents Assistants. Elder Pentreath and I were trying to work it out but it all depends if President keeps Elder Pentreath here for another transfer or if he is going after this one. Either way i will probably be here for 2-4 more transfers or like 3-5 months. Woohoo!!! I love being here in the office with all the great people we get to work with.

Well we have seen some of our own miracles come in and out of here in the office this week. Wednesday our brand new baby missionaries came in from Ghana. Woo. No these Elders werent babies at all. Elder Sanders, Gunnell, and Backman arrived at about 5:00pm and we are in charge of them having a great first night in Liberia. We feed them some great rice and stew with some legit BBQ sauce and tasted amazing. We then talked and planned with them so that they would be able to have some down time and write in their journal.

 Everything in the mission gets better when new missionaries arrive. President sees the wonderful impact new missionaries can have on the mission and so he takes this opportunity and magnifies it. He calls the best trainers to train these new missionaries and puts them in the best apartments. You really can notice a difference in ever part of the work. And these missionaries are totally prepared for the job. Its no small thing to be here on mission especially in Liberia. In this mission because it is so young, you learn to be flexible. Each apartment is lacking reliable resources which really can effect the work. Such as water, power, Natural gas etc. So when you arrive it can be a little bit weird when the first time you try to open the tap and no water comes out ( or its different colors). This is why I love the missionaries here just because they are able to adjust and quick. It is so sweet.

 

Dad to answer your question about am i getting the hang of this whole Assistant thing yet to be honest, After doing another week of training and doing different instructions, no not really but i am getting there. Hopefully someday it will just come when i am able to speak where people just understand me and i can clearly get a message across. I think this is going to take some practice though. haha i think i am too hard on myself sometimes as well. I just need to gain that confidence in what i am saying. But like i said its a work in progress.

 

Interesting thing that i noticed this week. My companion and i were teaching a young man named Wilobah about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught him how Christ had established his church and due to the great apostasy it fell. We then had the wonderful opportunity to explain Joseph Smiths first vision with a picture of the vision.( Its always cool to see every ones reaction to seeing the picture when they see it for the first time." Wow, that Jesus??) When we teach this no matter how many times i have on my mission it always strengthens my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I love to explain about The Book of Mormon. Even now as i am writing it i feel just peace inside my heart. I know these things are true and i love being on this mission to share my beliefs and things i know to be true with absolutly everyone around me. It is very uncommon to meet a stranger and not talk about anything besides the church or the Book of Mormon or what we believe as missionaries.

I met a man from India this past week, we got talking about why he was here and what he believed in. He explained he had come here for business and his wife was back at home and he was Hindu. Very interesting and nice man. I love having something to talk about with everyone. How easy is it just to simply explain something you believe in. Never did i think this back at home. I was always to worried that they would ask me a question that i wouldn't be able to answer. But now thats not the case.

 

Welll as you can see i am just enjoying my mission immensely. I love Liberia and Liberians so much. I know why they call it the best Two Years. I am just glad its not soon finishing there is just much i still need to learn here.

I love you all very much and cant wait to here from you again.

Love,

Elder Skouson

11/11/13

Wing apo, Greeting from Pocahonts

 

Big email here-oh.

 Here in Liberia is really the only mission that actually allows missionaries to ride on motorbikes. Woohooo ya lucky us. But last Tuesday the government decided to take all the motorbikes from the major road in Monrovia and surrounding cities. This means that if we want to travel anywhere we either have to take car which is very difficult because they are always packed or Walk. Just picture our old saturn with about 300,000 miles. That would be what the typical taxi looks like here. You know how there are suppossibly 3 seats in the back and 1 passanger seat up front well those each add one. There are always 4 in the back and 2 up front. Lets just say that it isnt the most comfortable ride especially when you have a bigger body compared to most liberians.

 

Because of this we have walked a lot more then usual. I think i can say i am use to walking now being on mission for a year. I really can walk all day. But we cant teach nearly as many people as we have been privilaged to in the past. President really saw this as a good thing when i first happened cause there would be a lot less accidents with missionaries and motorbikes but it is taking a toll on the proselyting time of all the missionaries with the additional walking. Just means we need to plan a lot better.

 

Well with the week.  Presidents focus with our mission right now is teaching new members the after baptism lessons or what we call the new member lessons. In other parts of the world really the ward or branch usually heads these lessons but this really hasnt been happening here due to such a rapid growth of people coming into the church.  So we have given a couple of instructions on this in the past week or so.

We had the chance to see more recent converts this week which was really good. We dont have much time in our proselyting area so we rieally try to do the most efficent thing while we are in the area being real missionaries. Hehe. We had a great lesson where we went on splits with our Elders Quorum Presidency and taught the Gaye Family. We taught them about the priesthood in action. President Williams told a story of how he was able to pray for someone in his family. Really sweet.

I go back to my first blessing i ever gave. Dad and i went to mountain view hospital for someones father from our ward. I dont remember what i said at the time but i just remeber the peace the man recieved before he went into surgery. I knew that is what Heavenly Father wanted for him at that time. Times with Dad like these i will never forget.

 

Thank you so much for the family history you sent in Dear Elder. Yes i beg would you send more about the skousens as the arrived in America.

Thank you Lynn and Mary Marrott for sending the wonderful cards and ice cream money!!!! I really enjoyed with that!!

 

I hope that you know i am working hard to learn as much as possible. I love being a missionary here in Liberia. The Hand of the lord is really over this wonderful country. I Love the gospel and all it has to offer. I love seeing such change in so many peoples lives. There is nothing i can do about where they live but how they live in the places they do.

I love you all, even if you are enjoying Lake Tahoe without me. Its alright you all need it very much. I will need it sometime next year.

Love,

Elder Skouson

(the White African)

11/4/13

Salah Mali Com, (hello from all the Muslims here, just a little Arabic)

Thank you for sending me the quote from President Monson about giving thanks. I love quotes now, Like Crazy. I have started this new thing to help me be better in writing in my journal every day. Anytime during the day when i hear a quote or somebody saying something that i like i write it down in my planner and when i get back i write it in my journal. Sometimes they are just Liberian sayings or phrases and just funny things that people say but its something to write about. New accomplishment: i have written in my journal every day this week!!! Ya sorry to disappoint you mom but i havent always been the most consistent in doing this but that is what is great about repentance.

For the first time in a long time i am not only using my planner to look back on as a reference of what we did this week. I get to use my journal as well.

My companion and I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with two missionaries Elder Nabende and Elder Morrison. I was privileged to go with Elder Nabende. E. Nabende is from Uganda. As we were walking together he was telling me some of his tribe traditions which are really kind of weird. They have to deal with Circumcision and dancing and really I don’t think it is appropriate to talk about over email. But after walking for a while we met up with his Elders Quorum President, President Biah, who was going to be our member present in the lesson. We walked a little bit further to go and meet the man we planned to see. His name was Elijah. He was about 38-40 and he has children and a woman not wife which happens too often here in LIB. Now Elijah has been coming to the church faithfully for over a year now. He isn’t baptized because he isn’t married. We planned on teaching the importance of living the Law of Chastity. Pres. Biah started to teach how he has a family and how they were strengthened just by keeping this law. I started to just be a normal lesson when i look at Elder Nabende and nodded that we need to make this lesson cater to his needs.

A couple of minutes later his son Darius walked in from school and sat down and listen to us speaking. I could tell Darius was a good kid but the way he looked up to his father. After a couple minutes he went inside to go and change out of his school uniform and go a play football with a couple of other kids. We took this advantage to speak to Elijah about his son. He looks up to him with great respect as a good father and he will do anything that his father tells him too. We went on to say even by the examples he shows he will follow. If you drink then he will drink, if you beat your children he will be his children, if you dont get married he will do likewise. This really put a spin on the lesson. I began to tell about my wonderful parents who have taught me things that they probably don’t even realize. I think it got a little stuffy or i got a sudden cold because my eyes and Elijahs eyes began to swell and tear up. I continued to tell how great my parents are and how he is such a great example to his son already.  That point when we talked about he could start now with going and talking to his soon to be wife about marriage preparations.

I learned a lot from this experience with Elder Nabende. He taught me a lot and even the things we experienced together really strengthened our testimony of the gospel and missionary work. Its lessons like these that you just want to keep working for. I love this work. Sure its challenging but to be honest it is way more rewarding than anything else.

One quote i have in my Journal this week is this,

"Effective Missionary Work is always done in Love"

This one really helps me to understand that we should "Never let problems to be solved become more important than a person to be loved!" -President Monson.

I like both of these quotes; they help me to see the importance of love over anything else. When we love we are able to lead. I have seen this throughout the times where i have been given the chance to lead on my mission. I love mission!!!

President Kirkham is a great example of that. Working with him very closely has taught me many things. His example how he deals with individuals as well as the whole group is just inspiring. He really loves us missionaries and cares what the best thing is truly for us. It’s been interesting to be a part of the transferring process to see how much actually goes into it all. Heavenly father knows what is best and President Kirkham very much seeks his inspiration and guidance to help his missionaries.

I hope you know i love and care for you very much!!! I know everything might be a little bit difficult right now but i also know Heavenly father has a plan for each and every one of us. Through obedience to his commandment we will be blessed in all things.(Mosiah 2:41)

I love you!!!!

Love,

Elder Skouson

 (the White African)

View from the Mission office

Yup just the view i have to see everyday from The Mission Office. Just kidding isnt it sweet!!!!