Pictures from Bryan

Bryan, the animal nut, thought this was a cute picture - the duck sleeping on the goat. My nieces should like this picture :-)
This is an LDS Chapel in the deep bush. It looks beautiful!
This is boys being boys, I think. This is still in the bush.
Bryan said this was one of the "coolest" families he has ever met. And they always fed the missionaries.
This is the scenic view of the walk to their area in the jungle. If I remember correctly they had to walk for an hour to get there.
One day they all decided to don their muslim gear and go for a walk. Click for a closeup on their decorative artwork :-)
Villagers on their way back from the coco fields. Most of these pictures were taken when Bryan was in "the bush." Note the mega-bundle on the woman's head.....yoweee.
The road are so bad that they have to walk through deep mud. They wore boots instead of their regular shoes.
These are cocoa beans.
This is the way they went to get into the jungle to help the villagers with their harvest. Notice the machete in one hand.

An excerpt from this week's letter about his new companion. Bryan said he came to the mission field with almost nothing - after reading this you will know why.....

"My new companion’s name is Elder Balyejusa. He is from Uganda, home of my former companion, Elder Katamba. He reminds me of Elder Katamba a lot, the way he talks and his mannerisms. He comes from a big family of 10. All are members of the church. His father found the missionaries in ‘98 and they have been members ever since. He is 21 and is the fourth born in his family. His eldest brother and sister served missions in South Africa and have since returned. He has another older sister who is serving a mission in Salt Lake City and will return this April. His younger brother is also serving a mission in Ghana, but on the Cape Coast side. He came three weeks before my companion came. So they will get home right round the same time....which is cool. The others of his family are preparing to serve a mission. His mom and dad are both still living. He sure does miss them right now. When the ap's dropped him off he started to cry. I didn’t really know what to do. I just put my arm around him, he’s a really cool guy. We went out proslyting and met all of our investigators. Because he is an African...when they look at him they start speaking in the local language twi or ga or something else, and when he doesn’t know what to say it brings up a lot of questions and everything. Two of my investigators made him cry too....they just kept asking him how long he had and kept telling him to forget...that he'll be here forever and stuff like that. Which is the same thing they tell all of the greenies when the come...but I think it was just too much for him. But now he's starting to get in the groove and to be a little more at ease. In his testimony yesterday at church he even said that it was only his 4th proselyting day and that he misses his family very much but he's here because he knows the church is true. He really does have a strong testimony. As long as he knows why he is here...he will do fine. His teaching and missionary skills will definitely improve and everything will fall into place. The first 2 weeks are definitely the hardest.

I kept trying to remember back when I was that new and try and remember all the things I take for granted now. Like....the greetings and common words in twi....I can remember how exasperated Elder Mullaney got when I kept bothering him about common words in twi that I didn’t know...he'd tell me and then I’d forget them right away and have to ask him again. And the way I always felt awkward....especially when the first thing people ask when they saw me is "Oh, where is so-an-so, where did he go?" (the missionary whose place I took) and also how all of the people at church and the investigators rely on the one they know to talk to and visit with. It’s a lonely time. But it passes quickly. I really don’t know where the time went, and I don’t know how it will go in the future....but I’m very very grateful to be here. It’s such a good place and time. I’m in the groove. I’m doing what God wants me to do, and I’m meeting who God wants me to meet. It’s comforting. "