12-20-2010

So ya my new area is awesome! and even just this past week was way way way sweet. And i've gotten one of the sweetest comps i've had so far. Man we are having fun. And ya i live in a place called yaya. My area is upperhill. And guess what, im serving in a ward now. No more branches or branch presidents, now its wards and bishops. Esh i couldnt belive how nice the chapel is. And the fact that they had a chapel is alone shocking. And ya so i freaking love my new area. Esh the members are awesome and they love the missionaries. They give us tons of referrals. And even on saturday there was 2 baptisms and 5 confirmations. So ya the work here is very very good, not like my last two areas. Speaking of my last area, fetch that sucked i left a baptism there. but its good. Ya so anyways nairobi is nice, very big, and i asked my comp about theft, and he just told me not to worry about it. It doesnt happen very often. So ya by the way my new comp is elder Jimu, from zimbabwe. He was way freaking sweet. And i thought i told you about elissa. Im gonna send home a punga, and you just have mike or someone holding it, and staring at any boys who come over and while he is staring at them he has to have a crazy look in his eye like he is going to do something crazy. Sawa?. Oh ya by the ways im living in a way nice flat. And im living with 2 other elders. And they both are cool so its been pretty fun. So i dont have much time so im gonna go,

love, matt

12-13-2010

Hey guess what? im being transferred tomorrow. Me im going to Nairobi. Upperhill area if your interested at all. Me i will be right by the mission office, in fact im told i will pass by there everyday. So ya ill be on another 8 hour bus ride, i really dont like those. And my district is just 4 missionaries, me my comp and two sister missionaries. And the two sister missionaries are the ones from my mtc group so im excited it should be fun. And my comp is suppose to be way sweet, so its sounding like a pretty sweet deal. So ya 6 months here and now im leaving for the big city of Nairobi. Not my first pick but ill go where the lord wants me to go. And ya me i hope i go to mombasa before my mission ends. Maybe even die there. So ya me im pretty excited. but kinda sucks to leave though the people here are awesome, and the members are way sweet, i will for sure miss them. Oh by the ways im kinda pissed about this but last week i let a member take some pictures with my camera, and while he was playing with it he deleted all my pictures on there. So ya kinda pissed about that, i dont know what he was doing they are all gone. So ya now i've been trying to scrable around getting pictures of places and people. But still gosh i cant believe that. Even my baptism photo's are gone. So ya anyways other than that things are good. By the ways we had a baptism set up for next week, really sucks that im leaving, the girl we are teaching, is what you call the golden investigator. Gosh sucks that im leaving. But as long as she is baptized me im happy. By the ways many people (who i dont know) have invited me to there christmas party here, so it could have been fun to stay here. Gone to alot of christmas parties. Oh ya also i was texting kirk or elder smedley (the one i went to high school with) the other night and he tells me that he is coming to kitale. So it sucks i just missed him, it could have been way fun to be in the same district. And ya about the missionaires here. All i know is we had upper 80's when i got her and now were in the lower 70's and its still dropping and will continue to drop from the sound of it. Tons of area's are closing like crazy. It sucks they are planning even to close more area's the next two tranfers if we continue only to get 1 or 2 missionaries to replace 5-7 missionaries. Anyways ya mission is good Me im kinda scared to go to nairobi i hear more missionaries get robbed there. So ya just dont want to think about that. But its cool, me now i can say that white people scare me. I dont know what to do when im around them. So anyways the bike thing im just leaving it here, and moving away a few huge miles. So ya ill tell you how nairobi is next week. so kwaheri, tell grandma woffered her i love her. And also please please tell grandma jackson to be careful and that i love and miss her. Sawa kwaheri tena.

-love matt

12-6-2010

I had cocoa yesterday. I dont know the need of the people to bring out the cocoa in the summer time but whatever. And yes the bike thing, me and elder obinna have been laughing about all week. We keep joking about it. And i assure you there is nothing to worry about. Me i just have been having fun with it you know. Im going to see whats the dillo (mest) tommorow. I might have to go to the police station again but not sure. But hey not a big deal. I just think its funny cause he chose me cause im white. But just so you know people here dont have lights, decorations, christmas tree's or anything for that matter. All they do is have a big party on christmas, and eat chicken. Which i will be happy to go and party with them and eat chicken. So something else, i want to thank you for your prayers in fact everyones prayers. Cause something as a missionary you come to learn is the power of prayer. I know the lord blesses me cause of them. So me myself now want to tell you about last week. So ya we live by some mountains and i've never been up there. And me i wanted to know whats up there so i was asking a member. And she told me to not go up there its dangerous. That people who go up there dont come back. And upon hearing this you know what i did...... i went up there. And wow its way nice up there, it looks over webuye, and you can see far, you can even see uganda. So ya its pretty awesome. And to make things better, we found people to teach! like tons! like wow we could spend the whole day up there teaching people. So ya im pretty exctied and im glad i went up there. We are going back again this week. Should be some good stuff.
So ya like i told the ap's were here last week and i think i figured out why, i think they want to close our area. They told us they need to close 2 area this transfer, and i think they targeted our area as one of them. That would make 7 area's closed in the last 3 transfers. All cause we are not getting missionaries and we losing them like crazy. And the ap's told us we are only getting 2 next transfer and we are losing 5. So ya our mission is getting smaller and smaller.

Now im sending home a punga which is a small sword, and whenever boys come over to the house i want mike or someone of large stature to wear it and to stare at them like they might do something crazy sawa? So ya im just kidding about that but really im gonna do it.......... and please dont worry about the police nini, i've got the lord on my side. So ill talk to you next week..

love matt.

12-1-2010

Christmas there sounds alot better than christmas here. Snow and everything. Ha i can say there is no snow here. So ya its summer now, and it feels nothing like christmas at all. Its getting hotter and people around here give us cocoa. I dont know whats up. But esh they expect us to drink two cups each. So ya christmas here, doesnt feel like christmas at all. You know girls around here shave there head or cut it way way short. And me i really dont like it, it just doesnt look right. I like girls with long hair, and now i know that i will take care of my wifes hair, cause if she deciedes to shave it esh no ways it will cause shida's. Anyways kinda intersting week. We had another elder come home with us last wed. to work with us a couple of days since his comp. Had to leave the country cause his visa was expiring and they had to renew it. Anyways while those elders were out of there flat, there bikes were stolen. And on friday we got a call and were told that the bikes were stolen and the night guard that watches the compound at night is saying the missionaries stole it. So the next day we go to kitale to the elders flat. And by that time the other elders comp who left the country just returned. And so we were all together. And We had the chief of security there and a whole bunch of other people. and they asked the night guard who stole the bikes. And first pointed at the missionary who had been out of the country. And then he pointed at me. And he said that these ones are the ones that stole the bikes. So ya im being accused of stealing other missionaries bikes. So ya since saturday i've been in kitale dealing with this. We have been the police station and waited there for hours. Finally they took statements from me, two elders, and the nightguard and another guard. So ya thats whats i've been doing this week. But since one of the kitale elders was with us and the other in tanzania i dont think so. They guy is a drunk who keeps changing his story. I dont know whats going to happen, me i was sick of kitale so i came back to webuye today. Kinda bogus, we will see what will happen later this week. I might have to go back to kitale and see whats gonna go down. but you know me and the other missionary have just been laughing about this. Cause that night guard is just making up a story, and it keeps changing. The police want to lock him up for a couple of days until he remembers perfectly what happend. So ya thats been the highlight of my week.. Being accused of stealing bikes, and sitting in a police station. So with dealing with all that i was sick of it, and decided i was going to buy a burger in town, where all the tourists are. And esh its way way way expensive there. But me i didnt care i got a burger and esh i was one the best things i've ever eaten. So ya anyways the mission pres and the ap's came to kitale yesterday. And we got to have a famliy home evening with them last night it was nice. By the way you know david's pizza in kaysville, well that my mission presidents brother. And he told me last night that there will be a free pizza waiting for me when i go home. So ya it was fun last night, but crowded. There isnt enough room for all the elders in the kitale flat. so esh we all were cramped together last night when we were sleeping. So ya its been fun, the ap's wanted to see our area, so we took them and showed them around, they came looked at the area and the flat, not sure what there going to do. They might close it down. They have closed down 5 area's in the last 2 transfers. We are loosing missionaries like crazy and we are not getting any. So esh our mission is getting small. Like way small, we really need alot more missionaires here. Oh i talk to the ap's and odds are that me im being moved after this transfer. Im hoping for mombasa. I really want to go there, but we will wait and see. But anyways our ap's both are way sweet. So ya thats been my week and its getting late so i gotta go. But i love you and miss you. And i hope i dont have to go back to kitale and deal with the bike. But ill let you know how it goes. so ill talk to you next week
-Elder Jackson

11-22-2010

So ya i have seen elder smeldly when he first got here. He is in mombasa, and ya there are monkey there kabisa. I know of one elder who, trapped one in his flat and killed it, then ate it. He told his comp that its what he eats in his tribe. But ya that the place i hope to go to next or someother time in my mission. Its hot there like dar es salaam. And for some reason i just seem to like the heat. Its just nice.
So ya mozambique is having problems not recieving missionaries too? Our mission this last transfer was 5 missionaries going home and 1 to replace them. So we ourselves are having problems like that. and its been this way for the past couple of tranfers. I only know of one guy who has extended his mission. but i dont know if others will. We have alot going home this and next transfer, so i hope we get alot. But prob not, the mission is getting smaller and smaller. They have closed a few areas because of the lack of missionaires. So ya we do need some. So ya mission is going good, and its a bummer about the christmas thing but these things they are just there. So ya you know something bummed me out this week. So since i've got here, i've been working with a branch missionary, and helping him get ready for his mission. And he 23 and was planning to go next year. And then Saturday he was telling me that he has a wife, and a kid. And me i was like WHAT! And he is like ya i do have. So ya me i just kinda looked at him, didnt know exatly what to say. Evetually i asked if his wife was a member he said no. So now this week, we are going to his house to meet his wife and begin teaching her. And what began as preparing him for mission, has turned into, preparing to go to the temple with his wife. Esh really supised me. cause i've been to his house and no wife. But ya again these things they are just there. So ya now me myself must go and do the laundry again. Woho washing clothes by hand is not that fun. And i cant wait till i have the luxury of a washing machine and a dryer. Esh you truley dont know how lucky you guys are. These people have to do it there whole lives, while im just going to be struggling for 2 years. I hope you have a good week.

elder jackson

11-15-2010

Speaking of waiswa, that guy i have respect for more than most missionaries that i've meet. He is the only member in his family, and is on a mission. And also his dad died, a couple of months ago, and he decided to stay and finish his mission. I dont know the guy is just powerful and awesome. But ya also my comp, he is the only member in his fam. and he has never recieved an email from him mom or his dad. And he is about the finish his mission next transfer. Esh both are powerful guys.
so i gotta tell you about my new favorite sport. Not soccer sorry. But the sport i like is wrestling. Just like the one we used to watch years ago. People love it here, and usually at members houses who has tv's its on. And im proud to say that im a fan. And will continue to be. And if you do send me a package, send me a john cena shirt for me. The people here will love it. I didnt like it at first but wow it really grows on ya. And also my socks are holy, not holy holy but like full of holes. Ha and my shoes are beat i hope they make it to the one year mark. But those i will just buy new ones. So ya wrestleing is awesome. So grandma and grandpa are coming for christmas, does that mean i get to talk to them?! i hope so! also its not fair to grandma wofferd and potty, so can you send me there number, so i can call them and talk to them for a few minutes? Speaking of grandma wofferd, she popped in my head going home yesterday, and it made me really miss her. I can remember when i was 8 and we were at her house and she held me in her lap for hours. And it just makes me sad that i have not been able to be around her more often. I hope she know how much i love her and how much she means to me. And it means everything to me that she is supporting me. I cant wait till i get to see her again.
So things here are not so bad, but ya the baptisms are not working out like i had planned, but im still working on them. But this week was good, anyway we went to visit a less active with the senior couples and we meet her two sons who are not members of the church which we started teaching them this past week. And then we meet our second counslers, daughter who just came home from school, and we are going to start teaching her this friday, so its been a pretty awesome past week for us. We have been meeting alot of people, in fact i contacted a guy, and we just had an appointment with him, and wow he was excited to hear what we were teaching him. He was writting down every scriputure we were giving him. And wants us to come back again this week. So im glad that i did stick around for another transfer. And christmas is next transfer, the very first week, to be exact. Its on the saturday of week one. And i think i will be moved by then. So i dont know how that will work with me calling ya. We will have to wait and see.
So ya even me myself and very excite to talk to everyone, its been a while, and ya christmas is not that far away. It will come before you know it. Esh like i always say time just flys by . Oh by the if you havent guessed, im still in webuye, miskhu, area. Its ok, ill be here for 6 months but thats ok. So now one task for me and my comp this week, is to buy a pig, which i think we will do tommorrow. And i dont know if its us that will slaughter it or someone else we will see. So ya its going to be a pretty exciting week. Oh by the ways its maxie boys birthday tommorow, just thought i should share that with ya. So all the mizugu's out there send him a happy b-day email. Also something awesome tommorrow i get to watch the sound of music with the couple missionaries. The week before we gotta watch fiddler on the roof. So its been pretty awesome. of course the call the mission pres. to see if its ok. But ya thats going to be my week, i hope you yourselves all have a good week. So me myself im out peace.

love matt.

11-8-2010

So i went to bungoma today that was fun, except everyone bugging me cause im the white guy. Some guy tried to get me buy viagra, like he was really determined, dont think i've ever laughed so hard.. But ya the people here. Ha ya some do have a problem with the word of wisdom, but most people i have taught who are not bogus, have given up whatever they had a problem with, majority tea. Freak kenyan love tea kabisa. But ya its good, i have been working with a lady since the first day i got here, and she has a few problems one being tea. She loves tea and doesnt see why she should give it up. And she is afraid of the book of mormon and has refused to take it until this past week. Man we had an awesome lesson with her. We had to show here some connections between the book of mormon and the bible, and wow all i can say was awesome lesson. We gave her a copy of the book of mormon and she told us she is going to read it. But ya awesome. And tithing, no one pays tithing here. most of kenya and all of tanzania rely on the church. Most of the members dont pay tithing and ya not good. But ya anyways most of the people give us the chance to share our message. Very few will not let us come and teach them. But i gotta tell you about a guy named jackson. We meet him through a member, he was visiting her. And we visted her at the same time. And we talked and insted of doing the normal restoration, lesson. We gave him a book of mormon, and explained a little about it, and assinged him to read enos. And the next time we met him, he told us he read it, and he explained to us what happend. And he told us that the book is good, and he wanted us to give him more to read. He also told us he started reading it from the begining. And so we did, and when we meet him again this past week, he told us the book is true and he wants to be baptized. Awesome. Im excited to see him again this week. We are for real going to start to teach him the lessons this week. But ya about this week, its transfers and i havent heard anything which means im prob staying, with my comp another transfer. But its okay the guy is way cool, and actually a pretty good missionary. He really proved it to me these past two weeks. But ya i dont know for sure but most likely i will stay another one.
love matt.

11-3-2010

Esh too many people are dying there as well. Alot of people have been dying here. Although the funerals here a little different than there. I think the attendence is about 1 to 2 thousand here. Even if the people dont know them they show up to support the family and the community. And they have some cool drums playing and tribal stuff, pretty sweet. But now sweet that there dead. But esh those kids in primary ha make me laugh? Well to answer their questions 1. i have not seen a lion. 2. And ya i do see many monkeys although there are many more in a city called mombasa which i hope to go. 3. and 4. I hate snakes, but i have seen some, small ones and a big one. So you just tell them i dont like snakes but i have seen those ones. So how was halloween though? of course they would move it in utah. But not here, i dont even think they celebrate it here. But ya to answer your questions, a matatu, is the van that we use for transport, we called them dala dala's in tz. And a piki piki is a motorcycle. We ride those alot in our area. Like alot, our area is bush and there are not many other ways of transport through there. Oh ya the motorcycles here, are bogus. they are just in my comps words, chinese toys.
And ya i've given up on the pictures here. it takes a long time and never works. So i just kinda gave up on that. But ya of course im skinner than when i went out. But im not sick. i eat well, very well. And not to mention i work out every night. 100 sit ups, 50 push ups, and lift weights. im just fine. I get fed everywhere i go, and i know how to cook, im not starving. I am always full whenever i eat. But you know my week was good, we saw conference. my favorite talk was elder hollands talk. he always gives way powerful talks. and on saturday we watched the saturday session, and it was me my comp, branch pres. and the senior couples. That was it. No one came, kinda sucked. But at least conference was way good. But on Sunday everyone came, like everyone. Even this one girl who is less active and i've been trying to get her to come and she wouldnt. and then this past week she came. Man i was excited. i couldnt believe it. And those baptisms didnt happen cause of conference. but they are happening this week. on saturday. So there is something that im looking forward too. Since transfers are next week, im glad that i will get to see them. Cause im pretty sure i will be going . but if not thats okay, im okay to go another transfer here. so the work this week has been good, we found a less active and he wants us to teach his wife. And then we found another less active who is a pioneer of the church here. he was baptized in 1999 and he moved away from the church. but now since the church is closer he wants to come back. And the guy is way cool. he nows elder Sitati of the seventy. You just look in the ensign and you will see his picture there. but ya this week has been turning out to be awesome. and i know it will finish awesome. but mom im sorry not alot of time so now me myself must go. I thought kitale is closer, but me for sure i dont know. i do know that they both are pretty far away from webuye. And it takes about 2 hours to get to either one. And ya we go to kitale to email, cause we have ddm here. Every tuesday night we come to kitale spend the night and then the next morning we go have ddm. And we use matatu's to get to kitale and eldoret. Esh thats far for a piki piki they would charge us alot of money to do so. but we do ride piki piki when we are in a part of our area called ndvisi. It is all pretty bush out there, and not alot of matatu's. So we just use piki piki's cause they take us to the place we are going. Its a little nicer. But esh they are very dangerous. And the chicken, we didnt butcher it cause we really dont have a place to do it. But doesnt matter we are going to buy a pig, or a goat and butcher it somewhere, not sure where yet. but thats the plan for this week. My comp likes to have every kind of meat in the house. He wants chicken, beef, fish, goat, and pork. The guy just simply likes meat. But ya we are hoping somehow to have all of those things in the house.
but ya i go, so ill talk to you next week, i love you.

love matt.

10-27-2010

We were not able to have the baptisms because our dl was unable to come and interview so we had to move it to later. But its okay the people they dont mind. So elder Mdlalose says hi. We are finally going to watch conference on saturday and sunday. Im pretty excited for it, i dont know how long ago it was, but its just arriving here. So anyways its week 5 and the transfer is almost done, cant belive it, it went by so fast.. So anyways this past week has been pretty good. We bought a chicken on saturday. Alive. ANd then we went and had it slaughtered and then we had it plucked and its insides taken out. And then we cooked at ate it. It was pretty good, but now we are thinking of buying a goat or a pig. I thought it was funny though that we bought a chicken. Also yesterday, on the way to kitale, we were in a matatu. And this drunk was talking to me and i was bored and wanted to mess with him. So at first he was speaking english to me, and then i started speaking swahili to him. Then he asks me if i know swahili and i say no. Then he keeps takling to me in english and i keep talking to him in swahili. Then he starts talking in swahili and i switch back to english. The guy was just flat out confused. I couldnt help it, its funny. This continued for a few more minutes, and whichever language he would talk to me i would not speak the same one. The guy finally gave up and just spoke swahili the whole time and i was speaking back in english. By then the guy got mad and stoped talking to me, ah pretty funny just to mess around with him. Now i havent seen any other animals, but i've seen alot of other stuff, including stuff that i dont ever want to see in my life again, nor should anyone see in their life. But yes i have run into the maasai or however you spell it often. They are actually everywhere. But you do know that everyone in africa has a tribe. They may not live in the village but they are apart of the tribe and can go live there if they wish. Even barrack obama has a tribe here. He is a louya. Did you know that barrack in swahili means blessing? Im not sure that you might agree with that though. And i dont live that far away from barracks grandma. She is only a little ways a way. But i dont know i think there are over 40 tribes in kenya including the maasai. And they all have their own language. Sometimes people dont greet me in swahili but they greet me in their tribal language. So i've had to learn some tribal greetings. But just so you know if i ever run into barrack i will be able to greet him in his mother tounge of louya. But anyways a cool thing this past week was we went and found another investigator with a member named james. He took us and it was awesome. The guy only has one leg and struggles a little, but he is awesome. He has good understanding. We were able to teach him the restoration, and had him read in the book of mormon. It was just one of those lessons that are hard to describe but awesome. You just have to be there for them. But anyways he wants us to come back this week to teach him more, which im pretty excited for. But his pastor at his church heard about us and wants to meet us, so we will see how that goes as well. We left for him a pamphlet the testimony of josesph smith to read. I just hope he did. But anyways this week has been pretty fun actually. Going here and there teaching. Esh we rode tons of piki piki's this week. We seem to be riding them more and more, and they actually are kinda fun. Oh i wanted to tell you about the activity the relief society had here. They invited us to come and share with them, and plus there was going to be some less active mama's there, so it was good. But anyways the activity they had was kinda a cooking thing. They got all together and they showed each other how they cook different meals, what they use, what helps them when they cook. Kinda nice to learn some new stuff since i cook my own meals. But anyways the activity was good, at the end we got fed of course. ALOT OF FOOD. freak it was like 3 pounds of food each for us. When we got ours i look at the mama and i said mama we are only 2 here, we are not 4 we are only 2. And she says ah this yours we cooked it for you. You just finish it. And man it was alot of food. But you know i did struggle but i did finish it. Ya pretty proud of myself. But anyways all the mama's there took more food then us and all of them finished quick. I was just flat out amazed. Even this small small mama, she freaking ate everything. But anyways ya it was good, and we were well fed.
-love matt

10-18-2010

So ya still i hope for the best for utah state, just hope they can win their homecoming game. So here has been pretty busy for me. We have been working alot, and now we have 3 people who are going to be baptized on saturday i hope. But our DL is in nairobi right now for a big meeting with elder holland. Pretty cool. So he doesnt know if he will be able to come interview them this week. But its ok, all of them are excited, and i know they can wait. And ya even now we are working tons with the people in our branch. Everyone is getting us a referral, and are going to help us teach them. Im pretty excited. So ya now i;ve come the relization of my comp. Before i thought he was lazy and didnt care. But this week did a 360. Especially with the lesson we taught yesterday. Wow you could just see that he cares and how powerful he is. It was way sweet. Although i dont think we will be together for long. i think at the end of this transfer he will leave because he has a girlfriend really close to us. And its making president nervous. Oh ya this morning we have had tons of guys over at our flat repairing things. Like our water heater broke and doesnt work. There is a short with the electricity which makes the lights go out every 5 minutes. So ya just had the power go out for 10 minutes just now. Ah its bogus, thats why i was unable to email last week. The power never likes to be on when i need it to be on, but ya nothin i can do about it. So ya We had those guys over and they fixed it, kindof, their coming back to make sure everything works. And then we have to pay them. its the worst part. Ha im not sure if the working fund will cover for us but we will see. I hope it does. I know you know that im getting sick of kenyan food. I want some american food. But that wont happen for a while. So did mom send that ensign with conference and priestood. I dont think i will be able to see it here. We are way too far out in the bush for that. So im relying on that ensign to know what was said. I know it was good stuff. So im sorry but this email must be short i dont know if the power will go off again or not. I better not risk it.
I've told you that there are some shops named after texas. All i know that texas is being represented over here in africa. I think its pretty cool.
-love matt

10-4-2010

Well things back home sound really nice actually. Im glad Davis beat Viewmont, always need some davis pride. So ya we do have zone conference this transfer. We are going to eldoret on wed. for it. So ya kinda weird im starting my third transfer here. ya im back in my area after 2 weeks. All the people at church were asking me if i got lost By the way i got my new comp. his name is elder Magero. he is from Kenya. And he actually has family close to where we are. So ya he speaks swahili and that is very nice. He is very tall and skinny. And very laid back and chill. He is not to excited about anything. But he saw our type of area when he took the long bus ride from nairobi and he doesnt like it. Its just too much in the bush. He says that he wants to leave. And he really seems sure that he will next transfer. But we will see. So ya the area im in, is actually one of the hardest, cause its in the bush. The area thats similar to mine is called Chyulu and i wouldnt be suprised if i go there after this area. But me i dont mind the bush. Im actually getting really used to it. Like the mud houses with the tin metal roofs are now pretty sweet. You know peoples kitchens are sepreated from their house. Usually its like a small tiki mud hut, next to their house. and there they do all their cooking. So ya its good to be back in my area but sadly im going leave again this week cause of zone conference. We have to leave wed. to get to eldoret and then we stay at the zl's flat. The only bad thing about this area is how much you travel. We get 2000 shillings at the end of the month to make up for transportation. We really do travel alot and it ends up costing alot of money.But he is a cool guy. He even made a big dinner for me on saturday night. He is a good cook kinda like all kenyan mama's. But something i found out is that Tanzanians are better cooks than kenyans. Just from what i've experienced. One of the things i miss most about my last area are the mwingira family. They had us over every friday night for a DA. And wow that mama could cook. And not to mention their families is one of the coolest families i've meet on my mission. So even last week i got a letter from a member in my last area. He was wondering how i was doing, and told me what he was doing back in changombe. I miss that kid alot. So im excited to watch conference. I dont know when they will do it here, or if they will, cause i wont lie our area is out in the middle of no where. The president doesnt even come out this far. So ya i know what he was talking about for more missionaries. Out of the 6 missionaries that left last transfer only 3 came to replace them. They even had to close down one of the area's. We even loose 5 more missionaries at the end of this transfer. I dont know what were going to do. Slowly we are decreasing in missionaries. We do need more, and i hope we do get more. So its andrew's birthday on Sunday. And i want everyone who reads this to email him, write him, or contact him somehow to tell him happy birthday. And his comp better buy him a cake. I did when it was elder mkhabela's b-day. Speaking of elder Mkhabela, he is now with my father. Kinda cool my dad, and my step dad are now working together. Im going to text them this week, to with them both a happy 1 year mark.

So ya i cant believe we beat BYU finally. And i wasnt there for it. Still way awesome though. And bronco fired his defensive cordinator. Ha funny, always blaming others. But prob someone needed to be fired, i bet the university was pissed. So ya 31 to 6, I cant believe it. ha i wonder what the byu fans there were like. Prob couldnt say anything. Now when byu plays utah and tcu, thats just going to be flat out sad. But wow nice. It was on espn, thats actually way sweet. Anyway football season is killing me, i just cant believe im missing it.
-love jack

9-27-2010

So ya this week was not bad for me. Just in a threesome still. Waiting for my new comp. In fact im waiting for the call right now to tell me who my new comp will be. I hate waiting, i just want to know. So davis beat northridge eh? that pretty sweet. I just met, well kinda met some kid from bountiful in the mission. He is serving with my father in chyulu. In fact he knows a girl i know from over there. So ya there is big change in the mission. Zone conference will be held every 12 weeks. And mission pres. interviews will be every 12 weeks as well. And there is a leadership training everymonth for zl and dl's. And there is a training for trainers every two months. I think they are trying to take off some of the loads from the mission presidents. Oh ya this is church wide, not just our mission. At least thats what im told. So ya big changes for the mission. So another thing that i found out about the relief society here is that they are the ones who remixed hymn number 7. Isreal isreal Got is calling. Ah they remixed it big time. But it actually sounds pretty cool. Before i leave here im going to record it so you guys can hear what its like. So ya i dont have much to say today. But i will tell what happens next week with the transfer news. I just talked to my DL and he says that no one has called him that the ap's have not called anyone. So i guess there holding out to build the suspention. . Nita onana

8-20-2010

This week was not the best week for me but it was ok. First i killed my first missionary last friday. yep my comp elder Lemma is now home. He had to leave early for school. So i have to finish the rest of the transfer in Kitale, in a threesome. Which is not all that great. But at least the guys im with are cool. So ya ill be working in kitale for almost 2 weeks. Which means i wont be in my area for that long. I had to go to church in kitale yesterday, and it was weird not being at the church in Misikhu. Its also kinda werid not having a comp. I wont get my new one till next week...... and the power just cut there again. it went off when i was emailing elissa too. Gosh the power here sucks. So if Stockton want to go on a mission tell him GO! Mission is one of the best decisions i've ever made. I've never ever regreting going. Once you start serving the people and seeing them light up when they understand the gospel makes the mission worth it. I know if he choses to go he wont regret it.
So ya this past week was kinda crazy for me. We had 3 days of teaching in our area until thursday in a middle of a lesson we got a call from our DL. And he told Lemma he is leaving the next day. So we had to hurry home and he packed, then we had to go get a bus ticket for him to go to nairobi in the morning. The Kitale elders came down to our flat to spend the night so when lemma left i wouldnt be alone. So crazy day and we put him on the bus the next morning. Then me and the kitale elders headed back to kitale. Where i went and worked with them in their area. which is different since they are in more of a town rather than in the middle of no where. Im not sure if i like to serve in a bigger place its all pretty hecktic. But i know i will, ill end up in Nairobi sooner or later. All missionaries serve in Nairobi in their mission. But as for right now i know im not going to Nairobi. So ya something cool that happend, was in kitale. We went to see a less active guy and see how is was doing and if he would come back to church with his family. And it was a really nice visit. We taught him about prayer, and family. And im glad i was able to use an example of us as a family praying together. I challenged him to pray as a family and you know what he did. i saw him the next day and he told me he did. and to make it even better at church sunday he came with his whole family. It was way awesome to see that our efforts were worth it. The guy is a really powerful guy, the whole family is, and im way happy to see them come to church. Oh by the ways the kitale elders use bikes alot in there area. Not like the bikes at home, they are really big and heavy. And they only have two and guess who got to ride on the back of it? Me of course. I got to sit on the metal part over the back tire, and the roads here are not the best, really bumpy. And now lets just say my butt is not feeling the best right now. Although today i made it a little better, i got a blanket and used it as padding. But still not all that great.
Oh so by the way ya, im slowly forgeting math. I think ill be taking the same class as zach is. Cause all that is just going out of my head. Especially my english, lets just say its not good. It helped when i was teaching english class in Dar. But now that i no longer do, the english is going. The kenyans and Tanzanians dont speak english quite like america does. Its alot more messed up.

Love matt

9-13-2010

So i thought i told you about where i live but i guess not. So i dont have a chapel, i havent had a chapel since i've been on mission. We meet in a house. Not a very big house. We have like 30 to 40 people at church. In fact the mama at the school we visit called lillywhite. She brought all the kids from there over 30, it took them two hours to walk to church. But i couldnt belive she brought all those kids by herself. So my flat is in the middle of the town of webuye, you would never, i mean never be able to find it. Its in the back of some buildings, its completly surrounded by buildings. And we live in the same compound as our landlord, and everynight he lets out his big freaking dog out to guard the place. And of course i've gone out to play with the dog, and i can say its a wuss. Its afraid of everything. And the milk here is nothing like back home. I've had fresh milk. Or heated milk is pretty good. But no 2 percent or anything like that. We have to drink like it is. Which it actually isnt that bad, im getting used to it. But im wondering if i will like to 2 percent when i come home. So im not sure about the christmas thing, i dont know if i want anything. Except a hamburger, i havent had one since home, or pizza that would be good. I would kill for a betos burrioto. Oh by the way im sick of ugali. I hate it, i dont know why Kenyans and Tanzanian's Like it. Im just flat out sick of it. So Anyways other than food i cant think of anything. But i hope that bank thing will work out. And for the package, i will tell you when it gets here, but i have to wait for the ap's to come cause there freaking bogus and wont send it to me till zone conference.
So today was pretty fun day. We all went to kitale last night to do an activity today. And we got to go over to the couples house the Beechers and had ice cream and watch a church movie. it was pretty sweet, by the way ice cream here is no where near as good as it is back home. But today we went to kitale animal park. And they had a bunch of different displays of the enviroment, and the guy that was showing us around let us climb all over the exzibits. Pretty sweet. They had some exzibit's from the bible. And of course i got some good pictures with them. And they let us climb and crawl over them as well. But the fun part was the animal part. They have a bunch of different or special animals. Like i saw a cow today who had a jaw misplacement, and 4 horns, with 3 eyes. Way freaky, i got tons of pics with that. And tons of sheep and goats with 3 legs. We got to see some cows from uganda with huge horns. Like bigger than longhorn horns. And also i got to feed an austridge or however you spell it. They are freaky lookin. But overall it was a pretty fun time. Also i saw some monkeys on the road today that was pretty cool. I got a picture of one of them, right before they all ran off. Man there are tons of them here We ate at the restruant there it was good, only kenyan food. I was hoping for some american foot but there is not any. There is no american food anywhere here. I think im going through withdrawls. But i got some chips and everthing was good.
So ya this past week was pretty calm and normal week. Nothing too exciting happened. On tuesday brother kisembe one of the members made us go to a village meeting to talk about a new bridge or something. And we were not really suppose to be there but we kinda used it as an advantage and started to contact people there and invite them to church. We actually found some members there that i didnt know were members. We asked them why they dont come to church and they give the same excuse as everyone else. That the church is too far away for them to attend. There are tons of members like that. It sucks they refuse to come because of the distance, which can be really hard to work with.
so i know the first thing i want when i come home if you havent guessed. I want a hamburger from wingers, and little ceasers pizza, and a betos burrioto. Those thing i will be craving kabisa. I dont ever want to see maze or ugali again.
love matt.

p.s. Bogusness never was happiness.

8-6-2010

I just got homesick for the first time in months. I miss football, and utah state. Ah im sick of soccer, what is the freaking big deal about it over here. People are getting excited about this activity they try to call a sport. But anyway speaking of homesick, my comp is getting there quick. He had a solid hard working first 3 weeks. my comp. is awesome. He is a hard worker, but it is finally getting to him that he is going home in 3 weeks. He is getting pretty excited. I dont blame him i would be pretty excited too if this was my last tranfer. And the work here is good, we have alot of refferals from members, who turn out to be bogus. But there are the one and two golden ones. The baptisms last week were intense, and guess what he had another one this week. Yep busy work, but hey i had to interveiw the lady we baptized on saturday. That was some intense stuff. We had her husband baptize her and it took him two times to do it, cause he was not dunking her completly under the water. Her hands kept sticking out. And not to mention he is kinda old and was having a rough time getting her under, in fact he almost knocked her head against the side of the font. pretty funny, but she was baptized and i dont think i've seen her husband so happy. So for you to get how this happend, it was earlier this week, and bro edmonds wife came to town, she stays in nairobi for some reason, but she is moving back with him this december. But anyway she came and they both wanted her to be baptized on saturday. She had been taught by the missionaires in nairobi, but they didnt finish. So we had to call the AP's and president Broadbent, and they told us if we go over everything with her we can baptize her. So we did we taught her for and hour and 45 minutes. And we had edmund go over stuff with her after we left. And we didnt have time for the distrit leader to come interview so i was somehow chosen to do it. It was kinda scary, but not bad. But we got her baptized and esh it was all very fast and hecktic. So we got them all confirmed yesterday. And i was lucky enough to confirm one of them. And it was one of those just go with it moments. You know when they come up to you 5 minutes before church starts and says your confirming. But it wasnt bad, i liked it, i've never done it before and it was a very good experience for me. So by the way we are in a branch. There are almost all branches here except in Nairobi. In tanzania there are all branches as well. So mom you started a quilting club well that is very old of you. but anyways if you enjoy doing it thats good. So by the way the power has cut three times in a row, it sucks you have to wait for it to come on. So i've been here a while. Im still going to try and email everyone, but if i dont its cause the power is being lame. In fact i hope i make it for this email.And now its i wanna go home. i had a dream about home. but its ok i would be doing the exact same thing. And it ok cause he is a freaking sweet comp. Im gonna miss him when he goes. But i gotta wonder who my next comp will be and what he will be like. But hey something cool that is happening this week is we are making some t-shirts. Yep that is the highlight of the week, minus teaching. Man being a missionary you get excited over things that are really nothing. Like when we go out to eat, its always exciting. But im thinking about it and man im gonna be weird when i come home. I got to confirm someone yesterday and wow that was just awesome. Again one of those missionary moments that make mission all worth while. But i gotta go,

-love matt.

8-30-2010

Yesterday was pretty awesome, we had two baptisms yesterday. And wow you can just see their faces light up when they are baptized. So me and my comp had to give talks for it yesterday and we got maybe a 2 minute notice, which isnt too bad. But when i got up there to give my talk i was just looking at the two of them and i couldnt help but smile, i just relized how happy they were and the fact that i was able to help them be that happy. Its an amazing feeling and it makes all those bad mission days worth it, it makes the whole mission worth it. Gosh i love mission. But ya they were suppose to be baptized on saturday but we had a problem. We got there and looked in the tank and the water was filthy. By the way the tank is outside. And we really couldnt baptized in it, so we had to empty the water out with buckets. (oh ya thats how we do it around here, we dont have the nice fonts like back at home) But we emptied it out, and then we had some guys with their bikes come with buckets of water to fill it back up. As you guessed it took a while. So we had to call it off till the next day. I felt really bad cause how far the people had to walk, they walk for over an hour to the church, and then i had to tell them that it was not possible today. It was really hard, but they were very understanding about it. So we had on sunday and it turned out very nice. Esh though my area is really in the bush. By the way i have i told you i hate maze? i think i have but im just gonna tell you again...... I hate maze. We are now looking for someone to come and cook for us. Cause it just sucks after a while. But hey i have another amazing food, i have to add to my favorites, and it would be chapotty's. They are awesome and seem to go with almost everything. Its pretty nice. im going to bring home some chapotty flour when i come home so i can make it for you guys. Cause you just dont know on what food your missing out on over here. Also speaking of food, i would die for a hamburger or pizza or even a betos burrito. Im having withdrawls i think, whenever i think about them i just get hungry. So hey by the way just something random, but i can hear the muslum prayers right now. That is not something im going to miss when i come home. They wake me up in the morning at 5 am. It sucks, but at least there is only one mosque in the town. If there were anymore im not sure i could handle it. And im not going to lie that is pretty funny that berkley pack didnt have a suit jacket to go up on the stand, but i've seen worse. The second counsler here came to church with flip flops on the other week. I dont think you can beat that. It looked pretty funny they were a pickish redish color really stood out.
All we have is an old old nokia. Like old, but at least it has a color screen. The phone in my last area was a green screen, it sucked. Man i miss real phones, all they have are fake phones. Like the other day i saw a blackberry and it looked legit but when you turned it on it had the nokia tone. And the tone was a fake as well as the phone. But anyways you cant get anything original around here, everything is fake. They like to sew on well known brands on jackets pants and shirts and play them off like they are oringinal but they are not.
-love matt

8/23/2010

Things in utah sound pretty fun. Especially with the rodeo and randolph. Im missing that place and grandpa and grandma alot. I want to go to a rodeo. There are no rodeos back here, its to bad . The bugs dont bother me. But anyway to get off this matter. I had zone tour today with f. michael watson of the seventy. He is a powerful mizee. He and his wife both gave us a powerful trainings. You could really feel the spirit there and also President and sister Broadbent they both very powerful. . I can tell he is loving it, i still dont think i've seen him without a smile on his face. He is a pretty awesome guy. And do you know he writes back everyone who emails him. Still cant belive that. It was a very good zone conference, i enjoyed it. And sadly it was the last for my comp. He gave his farewell testimony today and it was good. I can say Elder Lemma is way sweet, i love that guy. You would never know that he is going home in 5 weeks. He works way hard and is just a good missionary. In fact alot of missionaries are going home. And even more the transfer after this one. Which means were going to get a whole bunch of new missionaries. Pretty cool stuff. So ya since my comp is leaving this tranfer its obvious that im staying here. Likely im going to be in this area 6 months. It seems everyone has to do 6 months here before they can leave. But im still cool with that. So ya this past week was pretty crazy with all the new elders coming in. We showed them around kitale and other places. Im still showing elder lemma our area. Which doesnt really matter since he is leaving in a couple of months. But something im looking forward to this week is a baptism. Its always good, our invistagtor is solid. She understands keeps commitments and comes to church. Freaking awesome! Im loving it, she is going to be interviewed wed. and baptized on Saturday. Im pretty excited. Oh by the way im in eldoret today. Its very cold here but the computers are fast, im wishing i would have brought my camera cord so i could upload pics for ya. I tried last week, but it took an hour to load one and then it told me that there was a problem and the picture didnt upload. Esh the computers in the bush are not all that good. So ya things here on mission are great. I can say im making the best of it. So now im gonna go, but i love you and miss you kabisa. Have a good week..

-elder jackson

8-17-2010

First the bugs dont bother me all that much, i find them crawling on me from time to time. They are like tiny tiny cockroaches. But i switched beds yesterday since Elder Munastsi got transferred i hope it helps. Ya it sucks though we only had 1 transfer together, the aps need to stop doing that to me. But as it turns out Elder Munatsi is leaving me and going to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Im freaking jealous of him though, i want to go back there.But my comp is cool, and i just actually talked to him on the phone, and he is excited to come. Although this is his last transfer before he goes home, so im the lucky one who gets to kill him. I didnt want to kill anyone on mission cause i know they are going to make me super trunkie. But these things they are just there. So ya i know im going to be here for at least 3 more months. I dont mind though i like this area, and the members they are okay. Yep it sucks to see elder munatsi go, im going to miss that guy alot. So anyways thats good you and dad are doing your home teaching. Thats what were trying to get our member to do, but they are really struggling with it, they just cant seem to visit them for some reason, and its really frustrating. But cant make them do it, just encourage them. Oh by the way im emailing you today cause we had no time yesterday. We got the transfer new while we were in kitale, so we had to go home pack elder munatsi's stuff and go back to kitale cause thats where the bus leaves. Esh it was really crazy, the ap's dont give us enough time to do stuff it sucks. So ya now i get to show lemma around when he comes, which doesnt really matter since he is leaving this transfer anyway. But i have a feeling im going to get to know my area really well, cause i think im going to be here for a while.
So ya i feel for andrew, i emailed him last week but i know he can get through this, he is tough kid. And wow i miss that kid alot. And it does make me mad that he has a bogus comp.i would beat the crap out of him. Im way happy that i have not had one yet. And im praying that i dont get one. So the new couple for our area just got here. And wow they are freaking green. They know nothing about kenya, they still think its like those commercial ads of starving kids you see on tv. Its pretty funny though they ask you all these question about kenya, or they ask you how to say something in swahili. I feel bad for them they only get a week to learn there area before the other couples go home. But they are way nice, and excited to be here. They are elder and sister beecher, from Orem. Im kinda glad the other couples are going home, cause that guy was just getting grumpy. He is always grumpy, you never see a smile on his face, and he never really looks happy to see anyone. But he is still a good guy. So mom now im just sitting in kitale with elder Ravelajona and elder waiswa all waiting for our comps. It sucks i have to wait till tomorrow till i can go to my area. But i think we are going to get some food in a little bit, so i better go. Love ya and miss ya kabisa. So ill talk to you next week.

- Elder Jackson

8-9-2010

So ya the great circumcision ceremony is alot more weird than i thought. But ya i did get a video of a big group of people chanting. Esh kenyans love cameras, this once guy saw i was filming him and he started to dance like crazy. So they do the ceremony out in front of there house. And before they do that they sacrifice a cow and he takes it home to his family, then waits outside till they come. And its not just the guy with the knife, its a whole bunch of people. Boys and girls, of all ages come to see. Its all some weird stuff, im really glad i didnt have to do it the way they do it around here.
And the Elections were okay. the people voted yes for the new constitution. Out of the 40 million people in the country 12 million were registered to vote. And out of the 12 i think 7 or 8 million voted. but there was no violence, the streets were empty though. No one was out. We were in Kitale that day and it was pretty much empty. We didnt go out and work that day cause we were not suppose to. But ya everything went well, and the people are excited for the new constitution. And they voted yes to the new constitution. It was like 5 million yes, and 2 million no.
Im scared to come home. Im to used to Kenya. Im so used to poverty its just sad. Whenever i see something nice, like a car or a phone i just look at it and cant believe what im seeing. But Speaking of kenya i've been blessed with bed bugs here. I have bites all over me, but i can say also that im used to them, it doesnt even bother me at all.

So today though, im 6 months out. Pretty exciting stuff. Me and some MTC buddies are going up to waterfall in our area today in celebration for it. And were burning our ties tomorrow night. Ill make sure i get some pics of the waterfall, its suppose to be really cool. But ya do you still want to climb mt. Kilominjaro? i promise if you would have saw it like i did you would have been here already and started to climb it. Ah it looks fun. But anyways dad i better run for today. I hope all goes well with the extreme makeover.

-love matt

8/2/2010

first off i just wanted to say im sorry you have to eat corn. You wont believe how many times i ate this past week. And to answer your question i've eaten corn in two ways. First of course on the cob like we all know. Then the other one they pluck it off and mix it into beans. I cant remember what they call it, its some crazy name. Ya so when i come home i dont want to see corn for at least 6 months. So ya about the kilominjaro pics. They were from the plane, Dar is a few thousand miles away from kilominjaro. But the pics i have are actually really good. Its cool though it comes up above the clouds, its really high up there. Im sure if you would have seen it, you would have def. wanted to climb it. Even i was like, esh that looks fun.
So something i've eaten this past week that was good was guava. Have you ever had the juice in the stores? Well its nothing like the real thing. It legit, its good. All i can say is go find a guava and eat it. Also i've been making alot of chips mayai and i can say that im getting pretty good at it. Did you guys ever figure out, how to make it? Its kinda unhealthy by the way. But what you do is skin some potatos, then cut them up into large fries. Then put some grease into a frying pan(alot). And soak the fries in there till they are crisp. Then take them out put them into a bowl or something. When you made some fries what you do, is take the grease out of the pan, then put the fries in (pan should not be big). Enough to cover the whole pan. Then crack some eggs, in a cup, stir them up real good. Finally just pour the eggs over all the fries evenly. You want enough eggs so you can cover all the fries. Then you just cook it. You need to flip a couple of times. But ya really not hard to make, so if you ever get bored one day, try it.
So ya i gotta tell you about the circumcisions that are about to happen. 14 year old boys get lined up and a really scary guy with a knife comes and cuts. The boys are not allowed to show pain or any other emotion or else they are not a true man. Its some intense stuff. They have been getting ready for it by running up and down the streets with whistles, bells and chanting. Im gonna try and send you a pic i took of them chanting, but these computers here suck, they dont like to upload the pics from my camera, it sucks.
But ya we have some elections this week. The elections are for the new constitution. There have been many people who are on the yes team and many on the no team. They drive around in their trucks with huge systems and play music and tell the people to vote yes or vote no. its pretty cool. I want to get the t-shirts they have. They have a yes green t-shirt, and a No red t-shirt. They are pretty cool, and im trying to find them. The elections are on Wednesday. We are not suppose to work that day, and are encouraged to stay home. But as for us we will be in Kitale aka Kirtland that day. So we will have to see what happens, i dont think there will be any violence but you never know these things. There have been a few incidents around kenya. Including someone getting shot, and there was a missionary there who witnessed it. But ya thats only in the bigger cities. It shouldnt be bad where im at.
But anyways dad, the work here is good. And we are getting a bunch of referrals, like alot. We recived two today already, its hard to keep up. But ya mission is still very good. This transfer is getting close to the end its kinda intense stuff.

-Love matt

7-26-2010

The official name of my area is Misikhu, but the town i live in is called Webuye. It just a small town, but we live really close to a Barclays bank if you ever heard of that bank. And everyone knows us and its actually pretty cool. Also my area is north kenya, im only like an hour away from the boarder of Uganda. My comp does not speak swahili. Although he does know Zulu. So this past week, was pretty cool we had zone conference. We had to go to eldoret which is like 2 and half hours from where we stay. It wasnt too bad of a matatu ride, but we got there and we just had fun. We had almost all the missionaries from the zone come to ZL's flat the day before zone conference. And i got to see some MTC buddies there. So ya we spent the night at the ZL's flat. And the ZL's are way sweet by the way. i forgot my blanket and its freaking cold there. Luckly Elder Frost, and Elder Munatsi shared theirs with me. So Zone conference was way nice. I can say i dont think i've ever attended a meeting where you felt the spirit so much. President Broadbent is powerful. I can say he is going to be an amazing Mission President. And i like how excited he is to be here. I dont think i've ever saw him without a smile on his face. And his wife is just as nice, and she gave a powerful training. It was just a way nice zone conference. And wow our zone conference is huge. Well im not sure compared to other missions, but i thought it was big. We had like 22 missionaries there. Im used to 8 people from my last area. But ya i got to see more MTC friends. i got to see the sisters that were there with me in the MTC and they were excited to see me, they told me that i've grown alot since the mtc. Not really sure what that means but anyways it was good to see them again. So after Zone Conference we went to Kitale, to where Frost and his comp stay. And the road there was miserable. Holes everywhere. And your packed in that matatu, it kinda sucks. It took two hours to get there, and it should not have taken that long. But the time we got there i was tired and didnt want to ride in anymore matatu's, so we just spent the night there. So although matatus are bad, i still dont think there as bad as Dolla Dolla's. At least in Matatu's you get to sit, but in dollas id say 70 percent of the time your standing and packed in there way too tight. But you know its all just one nice experience ill have, and get to tell everyone about when i get back. Oh by the ways, matatu and Dolla drivers are insane, they drive crazy, it can get pretty intense sometimes. So anyways im not sure if i told you, but in my area i get to ride tons of piki piki's or motorcycles. Like alot, there actually pretty fun. Our area is too big to walk it, and no matatu's go to most of it,so we have to get a piki piki. So anyways thats it for this week,
So finally i want to tell you about the "kitale remix". The members here like to change the way the hymns are sang. Like not change it little, the change the way the song is sang. I tried to sing along with them but its just not possible. I think its pretty funny, and actually one of the songs they remix sounds pretty cool. I only wish you could hear it. But my comp was mad yesterday, cause they ruined one of his favorite hymns. We tried to correct them by singing loud and showing them but that didnt work. So after a while we are like we cant correct them might as well join them. But you cant sing with them cause they just twist the song in ways you dont know. So all you can really do is remain quite. Pretty funny stuff.

-Love elder j.

7-19-10

Kenya is good, but its very cold, i need to go and buy a hoodie or jacket this week when i go for zone conference. Cause i often find myself freezing, i never thought i would be cold in Africa but you just never no these things. So ya sorry i was no able to email yesterday because the internet was down. It sucks the internet goes down to often in Africa. But anyways this past week went good. Im getting to know my area suprisingly. And our investigators are cool, are member are doing a good job with giving us referrals. But ya here is a little story from last week. We went to teach this old man who is not a member of the church but his wife is and want him to be taught. The only problem is that he doesnt speak english. So we went and saw him and his wife wasn't there but he was. So he invited us in and we kinda just sat there a minute in silence till i couldn't take it anymore and i started talking to him in swahili. Just simple things, then i started teaching him in swahili. I taught him a full lesson, and im not going to lie the lord did help me out cause i dont know that much swahili but i somehow taught him in swahili and understood him. Im not sure how i did it but it was a neat experience for me the lord truely helped me there. And the guy wants us to come back and teach him again. But ya just a little story for ya. So ya the people in our area love to feed us, love love love to fed us. We eat like 5 times in a day some days. In fact sunday we went and taught some two people for the first time and after they gave me and Elder Munatsi a full loaf a bread to eat there. Just bread thats it. But its all they have so you have to eat it all. But ya so far me and Elder Munatsi are having fun and working hard. Im loving serving with him its really fun. So ya our flat is okay its not as a big as my last one but its got some good security. Our landlord lives right across from us and they watch it while where out and they have a dog come out at night so its pretty good.
So anyways right now is the season for maze. Maze is just corn. So we having been eating it like crazy here. In fact we got fed maze at our appointments for today. They even gave us maze to take home. We had maze i think everyday last week. I can say that im getting sick of it, but its only starting. So i must learn to love it. So ya maze maze maze maze maze maze everything is maze. Elder come and eat some of my maze. But anyway i had some ugali here its different than it was in Tanzania, it acutally has taste to it. So its actually pretty good. And im not sure if i mentioned this last week, but there is no chips mayai here. I had to make it myself. im not the best at it but im slowly improving. I make it alot so by the time i come home ill be a pro at it and ill have to make it for ya. So ya zone conference is this week, im excited i get to see some MTC mates. Im excited to see them. Ill have to tell you how that goes. But ya thats it for this week im going to try and upload some pics here but its kinda slow so ill have to see if it will cooporate with me..

-love elder Jackson

7-12-2010

Hello from Kenya,

So first i wanted to say that i saw Kirk or i should say Elder Smedley. I had to spend the night at the ap's flat before i left the next morning. And wouldnt you know it they came in with kirk. It was cool seeing him again. Although he looked kinda nervous. Doesnt suprise me i was scared out of my mind when i got here. It was kinda bad though he had a guy from kenya who is going on his mission the next day stay with us and he talked to kirk all night. He was so loud, even me i told him to shut up like 6 times. Esh that guy came in at like 230 in the morning and woke everyone up and just started so say good morning. Ah he is crazy. But anyways kirk is going to Mombasa, its like an 8 hour bus ride like me. Luckly for him he didnt have to go alone, he went with Elder Nkohma. He is a really cool guy. So ya my new area is called like Misikhu, we live in a town called Webuye. My area is out in the middle of no where. Its a bunch of farms and corn and fields. And alot of mud houses. , we were actually in a part of our area the second day i got here and there was litterally nothing there. Just corn fields and tree's. Its alot different from my last area. Im still adjusting but ya its good to have some change. Crazy i've now seen mud houses, i cant believe people actually live in mud houses. And the first day here i saw some monkeys. i was pretty excited when i saw them. Now all i have to do is catch one and care for it till i come home. Man i want a pet monkey. . Now all i have to do is see a lion. So ya im now serving with my mtc comp, elder munatsi. he is cool im excited to do the real missionary thing with him. Our area is like 2 hours away from kitale. So we get to have sleep over at missionaries flat every week.So far the people i've meet have been way nice and way cool. And all the people here speak english, its way nice. Although i use swahili alot still. Our new flat is good, except i think we have some bed bugs. Not all that fun. But im slowly getting used to this area. It rains alot here, i think its rained everyday since i've been here. And by the way im freezing here. Im so cold, i have to use a blanket unlike dar. its a huge difference from dar. im going to have to get used to this weather. But now im scared for when i come back to utah its just going to be flat out cold. But ya the church building here is not actually a church building. its just a small house. So kinda like my last area. And i had to teach the young men and women yesterday. And my comp tells me that we have to teach something every week. But the members seem to be cool. By the way i met a guy down here who sounds exactly like michael jackson. And he is the choirister. Esh its way funny to hear him sing. And when your talking to him it like your hearing micheal jackson. Its funny. So by the way i was in the most southern part of the mission and now im in the most northern part. Quite a long distance to travel for a transfer. an hour and half plane ride, followed by an 8 hour bus ride. But anyways i gotta go, so i love you and i promise ill send pics next week, i forgot the camera today. So ill see you.

P.S. Everyone speaks english down here, its really nice. And when i speak swahili they get really excited and say this mizugu knows swahili. the people like it when i speak swahili.

-Elder Jackson

7-5-2010

Some intense stuff happend this past week. But to start off, if you want your mouth to drop to the floor you should come and attend some fast and testimony meetings here. I can say i've heard and seen it all. Some things are just like why? but its good, they dont totally understand but they mean everything in a good way. And yes church is conducted in english but they occasionally trail off in swahili. And by the way i took my worm pills, and if you dont have worms you dont have any serious side effects. But as for me i took the nini's and the next day just sucked! I was hurting so bad. It felt like something was trying to tear its way out of my stomach. Not fun at all, i was in pain the whole day. But i was ok after. So i think i had worms. But a side effect everyone has when they take it is a metal taste. Your mouth tastes like metal, everything you eat drink taste like metal. Including water, water was the worst. All i know i used to enjoy food, but when i took that it just wasnt the same. Not good, im not looking forward to taking it again. Its suppose to be every six months but they gave it to me early. So ya i was not able to email yesterday cause the internet was down. Always sucks! But ya today im saying my final goodbyes to the members. Im leaving dar tomorrow. I fly out tomorrow morning, and then prob will be put on a bus for 8 hours to get to my area. Not some fun stuff. Im headed for Kenya. To a small village called Kitale. Im going to be with my MTC companion. Elder Munatsi. Im excited and nervous. Im not happy to be leaving elder Mkhabela, he is an awesome guy. Im gonna miss him , he is a good missionary, and also he has become a very very good friend. I hope he makes it to salt lake one day so i can see him in my home town. But im still curious to see what will happen after this transfer. There is some talk that my group might be training. But you never know. But as for my tranier, elder Machanzi he is going to kenya as well. He is going to a place called Chyulu. Its like out out out in the middle of no where. you get to ride whats called the Iron horse. Which is a very big and heavy old bike. So im not sure if he is happy about that, but ill see tomorrow. It kinda sucks to be leaving but still good to go to a new area. And also everyone speaks english in kenya so i wont have to worry so much about the swahili thing. Cause esh its tough, especially in changombe. Im going to miss it like crazy though. But ya this past week was amazing. I know the lord helped us this past week. We found two people seeking the gospel. And both are amazing. One is a muslum and to turn to christianty is a very big thing. But he has a desire to learn more. You should see how he looks when we taught him. Its just one of those excitement and happiness. Although we have to get permission from president broadbent to continue teaching him. Cause you have to make sure that everything will be alright for him and his family. Muslums frown heavly on another muslum changing to christian. But he doesnt care, he wants to know more. And esh when we teach him you can just feel the spirit. Its a undeniable feeling. I love those moments. It has helped me stengthen my own testimony. And now i can say without any doubt that this church is true, and the book of mormon is true. And i know if you read and pray about it, that the holy ghost will tell you whither its true or not. But as for me im loving serving the lord, and have never regreted it. . Know that i love you, and miss you alot. And i cant wait till i see you again. So ill talk to you next week in Kenya!

-Love Elder Matthew Edward Jackson aka "jack"

6-28-2010

So ya things here in africa are hot. And only getting hotter. And esh my area is tough, but its good to have some hard challenges once in a while. But ya were still working hard and mission is good. So my mission president comes next week. It should be interesting to see what he does the first few months. Have to sit back and see. But i think he will be a good mission president like president taylor. So as for me this week, was an okay week. I can say mission can be tough sometimes. So this past week i went on exchanges with my trainer. I got to go to ubungo to teach with him. It was good, it brought back alot of good memories of my first transfer. By the way the new president is coming next week. And this week is the last of this transfer so we will have to see who will get transfered. If i dont get transfered i will hit my 6 month mark in my first area. Which im cool with that Changombe is good, but its really tough work. My area is hard, but i like it. So something interesting happened today after we got done cleaning the flat. My comp was about to get in the shower and this lady knocked on our door. I answered and she didnt speak a word of english. But she asked if she could come in and i was like no. And she was asking where the mama was. And i was like there is no mama that lives here. And then she asked what time the mama would be back. And i again said that its just me and my companion that stay here. So she just kinda looked at me irritated so i said goodbye and slowly shut the door. Esh it was kinda akward. So ya also something weird that happened today we ran into a American. He was from Miami. Still not sure why he was here, but he says he has been here for a month doing something. But he was a cool guy, i hope we get to see him again. By the way he sounds way funny. I had a hard time understanding him. But it was cool to run into another American. Dont see many of those running around. So they are planning on opening up new area in TZ. In fact i think they are planning to make it its own mission. I think that its going to happen while im on mission. Its the swahili, many many many people dont speak english just swahili. So i think that they will start teaching in swahili soon. Im not sure though just my thoughts on this. They have had some church people come and check it out and interviewed people about the english problem. So anyways Kirk should be coming next week i belive. I think i know where he is going to be born but we will have to wait and see. And by the way im excited for uncle john. Im glad that things are starting to go good for him. I hope his business will continue to grow. So ya i dont have much time today sorry, we are going to teach this awesome lady. We taught her last week, and it went very well. Im excited to teach her again. She has a small family, husband and a child. So ill have to tell you how this goes next week. So ya also next week transfer news, man thats always some intense stuff. Ya and i heard about USA losing to Ghana. Alot of people came up to me and told me. I was like ya thats cool. I think they wanted a different reaction from me. So ya thats cool Jessica T came to hang out with you guys. I wished i could have been there to hang out with all yall. Ya there is some southern accent for ya. I told that to one of our investigators who thinks he has an american accent. It doesnt sound like one, at all so i gave him the example of the southern accent and he thought it was weird. So as for me i gotta run to a appointment. Im excited to teach it the lady is awesome.So ill have to write you more next week. So i hope you have a good week, and ill tell you how things go down. Kwaheri

love, Elder Jackson

6/21/2010

So Anyways next week is week 6 of this transfer which means ill be done with my third transfer. Crazy stuff, my comp is approaching 1 year in a couple of transfer he will be there. As for me im excited to hit my six month mark. So this week was not the best week on mission but it was okay. So it was one of those weeks where for some reason everyone just blows off their appointment with you. It was tough, it was everyday on last week, one after the other. It kinda sucked. But luckly in the middle of the week, an awesome lady in our branch (mama Mfundo) saw us and let us come in and she cooked for us. She made us tons of food, and i can say it made me feel a little better that we were having a bad week. But esh that lady is awesome, we challeged her to find someone we can teach and she accepted and started right away. She walked outside and started contacting people. I was laughing way hard, esh she would make an awesome missionary. But i know that she will give us someone when we come back this week. Awesome lady, i love her, she is just an awesome person. Esh i love her, she tells me that whenever she sees me, that i remind her of Michael Jackson. Im not sure why, maybe just the name. But i can say that it was all bad, we had an awesome lesson with a guy named junior. He was the one me and elder mkhabela taught how to pray. And when we came he wanted to show us that he had it down. So it was way good to hear him pray, ah just felt amazing that i could help him do that. So ya that lesson was awesome, he told us he got his answer when he prayed about the book of mormon and the church. And he told us that he knows its true. Freak i love those moments when you are teaching. In fact i love teaching, i never thought teaching would be so amazing. I'm so glad that i get to go out and teach someone the gospel. And its even better when you see the changes in the persons life. So esh mission is awesome. I love it. I never thought that it would go so fast though, i guess its true though when they say that time flys when your having fun. So anyways i was complemented on my swahili a few times last week, i guess im picking it up now. I can understand what the people are saying it cool. So ya pole, this email is going to be short cause i got my camera and im going to put some pictures on flickr since i havent done that in a while. So i hope you have a good week this week, and i know that this week will be good for me. So kwaheri, Siku njema. Elder Jackson