So the weather played a trick on us last week with that rain! I thought the rain season was coming early but nooo. Its been so hot this last week, my back just gets drenched with sweat! But that doesn't stop us! Neither does the sore feet from hiking 6 or more miles a day! But if the hiking doesn't kill me, the smell of all the burning trash might. Everyone here just throws their trash everywhere and they burn most of it and the smell of that burning trash haunts my dreams. One day my clothes smelled of it the whole day! Oh the mosquitoes are trying to kill me too.. I hear them buzzing outside my net all night and i woke up with my first bites the other day! Only 3 so far though so I'm fine!
So on Monday after emailing we went to a restaurant that attempted to be like an American restaurant, but nice try! I actually liked it a lot though because I love the Malawian foods and flavors so the mix of American/Malawian was a nice combo. I also bought a hairclipper on monday and shaved it all off! I look like I'm 15 again but it's so nice to have buzzed hair! It was also really funny when I cut it I shaved weird patterns in my head so i had tufts of random hair everywhere but I didnt think to get a picture sorry!
Tuesday we had Zone Meeting which pumped me up and was really spiritually uplifting. We practiced with the Book of Mormon and I just love that book. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I promise anyone who reads it and prays to know if it's true, will know! That night I got to try nsima for the first time! It is a meal made out of maize where you make it into almost a texture of mashed potatoes but firmer and then you use your hands and roll it in your
fingers then dip it in beans or sauce. I was terrible at roling it and it just got all over my hands but it was still delicious! I think Malawians are good with it because their hands are really clammy (you shake a lot of hands as a missionary) so they have moisture to wick it away so it doesnt stick, but my hands are as dry as the grand canyon (Im not in school but I still know how to use similes) so it just sticks to them. I can't eat it in public or I'll be laughed at haha.
On Wednesday we really saw the Spirit direct us in our tracting! The elders that used to work in our area told us a week ago about some appointment we had but we never wrote it down or knew where it was but then we knocked on a gate and it was the lady that we had an appt with and she was expecting us! We have experiences like this all day everyday but this one was pretty cool to me! I also decorated my planner that night so I guess that means Im a real missionary now since it seems every missionary has stuff taped to the front of theirs.
Thursday I made my first meal our on mission! I actually really enjoy cooking! Usually our flat mate, Elder Hunter cooks and he is an amazing chef. He makes us pizza and peach cobbler and such, but unfortunately
he and his companion decided we aren't all going to cook for everyone anymore..Is he trying to ruin my mission or something? So on thursday the tiredness from the work really hit me but we pushed on and I have these flavor powders for water that my companion and i guzzle to get energy haha.
On Friday we had some awesome lessons and have a progressing investigator finally! Our teaching pool is a puddle right now so we are trying to find more and more people and soon it will be a great big pool!
On Saturday our branch president invited our district over for dinner (my first dinner with members on mission!). They fed us rice, beans, and chicken and chipatis! He and his wife served missions in Kenya so they made chipatis which are a Kenyan dish i believe because we have a Kenyan in our district that is dying soon. {He actually is from Rushtons first area, Kilungu Hills}
On Sunday I found the bug bites and then forgot to take my doxi pill (anti malarial pill), so when i remembered I forgot, I took it right away {in sacrament meeting haha oops} but I hadn't eaten for a few hours and I learned the hard way that you can't take that pill on an empty stomach... I felt like vomiting but luckily I had a Clif Bar in my bag just in case so that was lucky!
So just some stuff: We only drink whole milk here and for anyone who knew my feelings towards milk before mission would know that is pretty much my worst night mare.. I would only drink skim milk at home and even then very rarely. But I actually kinda like the whole milk! Mission is changing me already!
And while I'm talking about milk...
During lessons, mothers will just start breast feeding their babies RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU without covering up or anything! It even happened in one of the classes at church hahaha. Luckily I have seen it coming and have been able to look away in time so I haven't actually seen and I hope I never will have to!
Well I'm loving being a missionary more and more everyday!
The Church is true!
Love you!
Elder Grant Alan Hiltbrand