Transfer and Baptism

Well, everybody, I did it. I made 2 transfers in one area 👏! Buttttttt it doesn’t stop the momentum, I have been moved to an area called Saris. However, that will have been the longest I have been in any one place my entire mission and I must admit it was nice.  I was able to start the lessons with one of our friends Bayessas and watch him to progress to baptism which happened this week.  That was a first for me and it was wonderful!  The new area that I have been transferred to is a group.  For those of you who do not understand what that means, when there are not enough members to have a Ward (what we refer to our regular congregation size, about 300 people).  Then you are a branch.  If you do not have congregation big enough to be a branch, then you are a group.  So, yes, this is a small but growing area of the church.  However, these are the types of congregations I have served in almost my entire mission.  A matter-of- fact last Sunday was a miracle because it was the first Sunday that neither myself nor my companion had to do anything at church.  ALL the assignments were done by the members, and it was a glorious site!   Let’s hop into this week

A beautiful sunset in Addis.

June 16

Today was good! We had a lesson scheduled at 2, but while we were out walking, we ran into the appointment and ended up having the lesson right then and there. 😊 It was pretty good! After that we traveled down to an area that some of our members live in that is a little far from the church.  We had Family home evening with several of our members together! We had it at a house for members like Efa and Tadelech and their families.   It was fun and always nice to be together.

This was us with the families that we had Family Home Evening with.

June 17

Today was pretty good! Loooooots of finding! We are planning on meeting with Bayessa tomorrow because we need to fill out his form for baptism.  Some things got in the way, and we were disappointed that this did not happen.  We will work on it some more tomorrow. 

Just a normal day walking with the cows roaming the street!

June 18

Today was a lot slower but we were able to get Bayessas baptism forms filled out and got everything ready for him to be Baptized.  I am really hoping I do not get transferred before he gets baptized.

June 19

Zone conference! Was pretty lit! This was President and Sister Cowley’s last one... :( very sad but its ok. Our new mission Presidents will be here next week and spend a few days with the Cowley’s and then the Cowley’s will return to New Zealand and our new Mission Leaders who are from Ghana will be in charge.  At zone conference I was in charge of teaching one of the trainings and I think I did a pretty good job, hopefully lol.

It is rainy season in Ethiopia!

June 20

Today we had a lot of member visits and spent a lot of our time saying goodbyes! This morning we received word that my companion and I will both be transferred and we will be moving to an area called Saris! It’s an area in the city and now I've served 3 out of the 4 areas in my zone 😂😂 6 areas in under a year.... We only have 12, I think. On a happy note, we also got ready for Bayessas Baptism which will be tomorrow the day before I leave.  I am so glad I will get to be there.  One of the members will be baptizing him and it is so great to be able to work with someone for finding to Baptism. 

In the above pictures we were meeting and studying with members at church. A member from Chruch headquarters from SLC came to Ethiopia after working for the last year to get the Book of Mormon translated into Oromo. That is one of the most prevalent tribal languages spoken in Ethiopia. Amharic is the official language, but many people speak Oromo. This group of members worked with him the last week to get the final touches and help copmplete the translation into Oromo. It should be printed online in the next month on LDS.org and then on paper within the year. This is a HUGE step for Ethiopia.

What do missionaries do when we have a few minutes to mess around. Take note.

June 21

Really good day! Bayessa was baptized 🌊 and it was amazing! Everything went smoothly and he was baptized on the first try, it was awesome! Said my final goodbyes and went home to pack.

This is me and my companion Elder Lucas with Bayessa and his son who Bayessa plans to baptize soon.

June 22

Today was p day and transfer day! I Made it to saris and played some pool it was really fun! I’ll like the other elders in the house; it will be pretty chill. I’ll try and get to know the area.  More to follow next week. 

We will see how this week goes!

Love you all

My Mom had one of the families coming to pick up my old companion Elder Melling bring the new Ahmaric Triple combination in Ahmaric! It was so great to recieve this.

Here are some pictures of the apartment that I lived in the last two transfers. I will miss it here!