Tuesday, June 27, 2017

This week we had quite a bit of fun because of some cool activities and such. Sadly this is my last week with Elder Francis (on the mission, we have already planned a ´Murica bro-cation´ filled with guns and food and motorcycles for when we are both back). Thankfully this will be an awesome last week with him.

Anyway, yesterday was not a holiday but Sunday was Mozambique Independence Day.  That means everything, but the bars, shuts off Sunday and then Monday EVERYONE was hung over and the shops and such didn't open again so we had to move our P-Day to today.

This week we threw something kinda like a Stake dance. It was super funny. We played musical chairs... I lost, 3rd place, still upset (though I lost to 2 other Elders) but didn't rip a pocket off again. We also did the Limbo, well, I held the stick. It was super fun. Elder Francis made his beloved cake (simple, american recipe with a third or half the required sugar) and everyone had a blast.

Elder Francis and I didn't have any interviews but our District did. I had to do interviews which is always fun. While waiting for the second interview however we (Elders Lima, Wattyne, Bakker and I ) tried explaining Hangman to the people waiting. They were horrified that we do something as inhumane as hanging someone by their neck... So Elder Bakker erased the hanger set up and drew tires and gasoline... We played ´Pneus´ (tires).... Where we drew the person above tires then lit them on fire.... They loved it. I think we started a new trend here.

Well... That's it that I can tell you guys about. Oh, I was sick for half of yesterday, but I am alive still. I am making things short, again I know, because I am getting transferred in 4 days (bit early) and I have to present a training at the next zone conference....with the mission president. I have a lot of prep to do.

Até a proxima!

Elder Howell



 Conference with my new mission president, President Senna. 


 Beer tower... They like that 2M (the governments beer company beer)


 Kids with awesome bottle cap shooters



Pneus game

Monday, June 19, 2017

The Baptism of Rose

This week was the baptism of Rose! She is that crazy good investigator (now member) that I talked about last week. The family calls Elder Francis a dog because of his height.. and me Elder Elley because they can't say my name. Everything at the baptism ran very smoothly which was a nice change. Her brother Junior will probably get baptized in 2 weeks.

**Rose in all white, with her daughter, her mom and brothers

Other than that we had some fun this last week visiting with a member to make Badjias for a family night. We prepped and cooked all of it with their help and it was super good... We ended up making a bit of a mess, smelling smokey but in the end we made over 300 badjias. YUM. That was super awesome and I totally plan on making them when I get home for people to try.

With just 2 weeks left this transfer we are really pushing to get people going but with sometimes a 2+ hour journey to the chapel it can be really hard for people. There is a chance that we can start a ´Mozal group´ out there. That would mean tiny little branch like thing... Not sure if it will happen while I am here but it could help a lot.

Thanks for all the email and photos, I love each and everyone!


Elder Howell










Monday, June 12, 2017

A Little Bit Muddy

This week was pretty boring, so this will be short. I ended up switching around a lot between Mozal, Matola and Liberdade (cities in the the Matola Zone) to do interviews for baptisms or have them done for my investigators. That being said, we didnt have lots of great time in my area this week.

Rose is our best investigator currently. She is 22 (birthday last thursday, we made cake). She is awesome, super smart and actively progressing. Her baptism will probably be the 24th because her brother has been progressing well too, but needs a little more time to finish the required lessons. They were both at church and things will go super well with them soon!

We got a bit muddy this week, but I did end up escaping and power hosed down. Fun time.

Until next week (hopefully more exciting than this week)

Elder Howell






Monday, June 5, 2017

Random Service Project

This week was really pretty boring. We are having some difficulty getting people out to church in this area. Some people live 1.5 or 2 hours away from the chapel, that is if they can get a chapa. Some also don't have the 15 cents they need to pay for a chapa. It makes things very tricky. That and people just not being home has made our week challenging. Walking/chapas for 3 hours to find no one home can be super discouraging.

Thankfully we got to take some frustration out on a poor old tree with a hatchet and a machete. There is something super satisfying about random service projects... and satisfying about seeing a tree fall over! Especially when it narrowly misses your camera!

Thats pretty much it for the week. In two weeks we should have a good baptism with an awesome investigator. Her name is Rose. She loves our visits, reads everything we give her and even takes notes to read over later during lessons. Probably the smartest person I have taught thus far. Very high hopes for her!

Love all of you!


Elder Howell