"I think he's trying to speak to me I just know it! Look you're really cute but I don't know what you're saying!"-Finding Nemo "It's like billions and billions of helicopters."-Madagascar

I am here in Zimbabwe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    Just wanted to say that one right off the bat.   I am learning Shona, the language of the people who live in the area that I serve in.   Not required by mission, in fact we try to teach in English, but it is hard to communicate with a lot of the people in English, so my Companion Elder Njuguna is teaching me.   I am beginning to pick it up, in bits and pieces but it will take a while before I am fluent.   You have never seen so many stars in your life.   Think of the farthest into the mountains you have gone, on the clearest of nights that you have looked up at the stars and thought "boy that is a lot of stars."   I am pretty sure that Africa has you beat, by a mile.   I have never seen so many stars in the sky, none of them which I recognize.   I think I might have seen Orion's Belt, but I wouldn't bet  on it.   

The people here are great.   Christian down to the last one of them, as far as I have met.   They are so kind and friendly, a little two kind and friendly in fact.   They will promise to do something because they don't want to make you mad by saying no, and then they wont do it.   But they will fess up to it next time you see them, which is interesting.   We have a nice chapel with a very nice fence around it.   Everything has fences or walls with spikes or glass shards on top, to keep people or animals out, I am not exactly sure which, so I just go with it.   I am serving in the Mkoba 2nd ward in the Gweru Zone.   With Elder Stimpson who was my room mate in the MTC in my District.   Which is really cool.   Lots of children here, they call me "white-y" and either stare and laugh at me or stare and then run away from me.   It is weird.   We ride around in vans called KOM-B's which are hugely over crowded and they drive worse then almost anyone in California, and I can say that since I was there.   It is not the best place to be six feet tall.

My Companion is Elder Njuguna, who is from Kenya.   He is a great guy and he is a good missionary.   We are living with two other missionaries, Elders Jakopo and Elder Seboka.   They have like the most fun in the world, they wrestle around like they are brothers fighting over the last cookie, and they are super nice.   Elder Njuguna has had me teach  lot of the lessons so that I can learn how to talk at a speed that the people can understand me, since I talk faster, apparently, then they are used to.   Which is fun, but also difficult for me, I feel like people don't understand me very well, and most the time I don't understand them.   I feel like Marlin getting ready to get out of the EAC.   But it is fun and I am learning it okay I guess.

I know that we are all Gods children.   It was interesting to see that the Church and Gospel really dosen't change when you go to another country or even continent.   You are always told growing that it doesn't but getting to see it for myself is another thing entirely.   I know that these people who I am working among are God's children as well as the rest of us.   I know that God loves all of us and that as we recognize His love we can be happy.   These people are so happy, even when it seems they have very little as far Worldly things go.   But they are happy, especially the members, because they know they are God's children.   And I know it two.   I know He lives and that He loves us.

Ma Swera Sei  (good afternoon.)

I love you all.

"I trained all those would be heros, Odisious, Persious, Thesious, a lot of ouses"

"Enormous wooden horse, two Greek!"

"What were you thinking?   I thought if I had an idea Eep would like me, plus I thought it would kill your mother."