Office, Office, Office, Civil War/Rebellion!
What's up, everyone? The title says, office, office, office, because we were in one office doing a lot of work this week. Sadly, we had 5 missionaries get transferred to other missions because of visa issues this week. It is sad to watch because they had all been out for one year and could not get their Visa issues solved, so they were reassigned somewhere else in Africa. 4 were African Missionaries and one from Tonga. It is hard after one year, because the language is starting to flow and you are in the groove of real work and have built relationships and know all the missionaries in the mission and the rules and everything else. So, we were sad to have them go. In addition, Ethiopia is in a bit of a tumultuous time. My guess is that you are not aware of what is happening, so let me just give you a brief overview. Civil unrest and a looming civil war/rebellion have caused us to be on evacuation alert. However, in the capital, we are still relatively safe, other than learning that several of the members of our church have been taken and conscripted into the army to go fight the rebel forces. That is causing some alarm among the Ethiopian people, as I am sure you can imagine. This conflict has the possibility of growing larger than the 2022 war, when the church evacuated all missionaries to Kenya, and over 600,000 people were killed. I know what you are thinking; I never heard about this! Can you imagine a US conflict where 600,000 people were killed in one year? This would make world news in the US! This conflict is different than the 2022 conflict because 7 rebel forces have joined together, which is different than in 2022, when only 3 rebel groups combined forces. As you are aware, these conflicts produce more than war. They create fuel instability, civil unrest, food scarcity, and poverty that is already extreme to escalate. Please pray for Ethiopia and especially our church members. We are working on doing our work like normal; however, there is an underlying knowledge of what is happening around us. I would appreciate any of you who are fasting this Sunday to please include Ethiopia in your fast. I am including a map below so you can see where the conflict is and how close it is coming to the capital. The conflict is the area in the red. There are also some reporst that it is in the Gambela region of South Sudan. This is an area that I recently served and is now closed to missionaries due to safety concerns.
BUT LET’S JUMP IN!
Sep 29th
Lots of office work today. We had our weekly office meeting where everyone who serves in the office is there and just talks and does the important boring stuff. We had a lot of problems and issues that we had to figure out. Also, because Elder Van and I are the AP’s in the office, one of our jobs is to call all the Elders at 7:00 pm and make sure they are locked in their apartments. With the new conflict, there are STRICT orders to be inside by 6:00 pm. President Tandoh explained that this is so we know where everyone is in case something needs to happen after dark. The internet and phones have also had some issues, but I have no idea if that is because of the conflict or because it is Ethiopia. 😊
Sep 30th
Hopped over to Ayat really quickly in the morning because we had to talk with the ZLs over there about some stuff. (That is a section of the mission close to the capital city). After this, I had an interview with the Mission President. We figured out how the emergency exchanges will happen with the 5 missionaries leaving for Visa issues. After we got this all figured out, I went out on an exchange with the Beklobet Zone Leaders.
Oct 1st
Lots of finding on exchange hahaha, and honestly, knowing my ZL who I was on exchanges with, Elder Dadzie I spent some time teaching him all I know after that exchange ended, and we had some missionaries in the house because the main emergency exchange will take place tomorrow. It is always fun to have a group but also a little crazy.
Oct 2nd
Lots of lessons canceled, but it’s ok because we had quite a bit of office work, so we ended up doing that.
Oct 3rd
Honestly, the same. Had some lessons with our progressing friends and then played frisbee with a bunch of members. Kinda getting good at throwing frisbee. It may seem like just a game of frisbee, but these types of things are what I was talking about in my last email: the importance of connections with all of our members.
Oct 4th
Today was the weirdest Sunday I have ever been a part of, and that includes my Fast meetings in the US. We had fast and testimony meetings, not conference, because we have conference a week later after all the talks have been translated into Amharic. I was sitting up in the corner by the piano because I play the piano every week, and it is a large branch, and we have a good turnout every Sunday. But then suddenly, during the sacrament service, people just started standing up and preaching. Then an older couple would not be quiet.... like they were really loud. I was thinking, what is happening here? Maybe we need to have a reverence lesson. 😊 But overall, it was fine, just crazy and an experience for the books.
Oct 5th
Today is P-Day; we are going as a district to lunch for one of our district members’ birthdays this week. (See picture below) So, we will do that and then play some frisbee and then hopefully just get some rest 😁
Anyway, that was the week! Not too exciting, except there is a whole war going on. Nothing to be afraid of; we will continue to push forward with the message of Jesus Christ, but I’m more worried about the church if we leave 😔. We do a lot here. If you have not been able to understand through my emails, right now, with the church being so new in Ethiopia, a lot of our work is in strengthening our existing members and getting them prepared to lead in their country. Being and working here is really the new frontier, and it is interesting every day. I love Ethiopia and my people. Please pray for peace, an end to this conflict, that level minds can take over, and that the people of Ethiopia might experience some calm and prosperity. Only through our Savior Jesus Christ will this happen.
Anyway chow!
Elder Frasier
Below some happenings in the mission this month.
