Africa is quite the experience.

Hello yall,

     Africa is quite the experience.  The people are cultural, the food is exotic, and the mosquitos can't take a hint.  I'm starting to get accustomed to the lifestyle here and I'm truly understanding why I was sent to this part of the Lord's vineyard.  My companion and I are working harder than ever to strengthen and edify our area, and we find that the Lord blesses us in ways that we do not expect.  

       One of the biggest challenges we have is getting people to church.  We have no problem finding people to teach, it's just that keeping the commitment of attending church is something that a lot of people find trouble with.  Whether its work, being busy, or even the rain (probably the most common excuse here, because people here hate the rain), it takes extra effort getting people to church.  We have been working hard to encourage people about the spirit that they will feel when the go to church, and that they will receive answers to their prayers.  We are always reminded that agency is a big part of missionary work.  As missionaries, all we can do is invite people to repent and come unto Christ.  We are diligently searching to find those who will choose to accept the gospel and live it.  

      So this month, we had the first counselor of the Area Presidency and his wife, Elder Ellis and Sister Ellis, come visit the Uganda Kampala mission, and we had the opportunity to hear him speak at our zone conference.  We were indeed spiritually uplifted and we finished that conference determined to work harder than we had been before.  Something that he talked about was in one of Russel M. Nelsons talks about how he received revelation for how to fix a heart during surgery when there was no one in the world that knew how to fix it.  Elder Ellis would keep telling us, "God knows heart surgery!"  He went on to explain that if God knew how to fix a heart the way nobody knew how, wouldn't He know how to hasten missionary work, wouldn't He know how to get people to come to church, wouldn't He know how to help our investigators feel the spirit.  God knows everything, and as His missionaries, it's our duty to seek for His guidance and seek for that revelation to help push the work forward.  

      On a more humorous note, the people here in Kajjansi and around Kampala, speak a language called Luganda.  We are trying to pick up on the language but since our mission is english speaking, there is no motivation to be fluent.  So when we work with the locals in the work, whenever they converse with each other in Luganda, we know that they don't want us to hear.  So, what my companion and I do is speak Pig Latin to each other,..... works like a charm.  They have no idea.  

      I love being a missionary and I'm continually learning more about myself every single day.  I'm continually strengthening my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I'm working hard to share that testimony with as many people as I can.  There are so many people that are waiting to hear the gospel and I have the opportunity to be the messenger.  

      I love you all.  Have a good week and know that with God, anything is possible.

Elder Wilson

some pics of the view, and my place of residence.