February 27, 2012

 First, Last Monday we took a vacation to Jinja (the source of the Nile). It was Elder Briggs birthday so he wanted to go eat at a members home in his old area. It was fun, they sell Dr. Pepper in Jinja! The only place in the country, so i bought a 24 pack! . Since a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper is so bulky and Taxi's are so small, it was kinda hard to carry it home, but it was worth it. I also made the sacrifice of my name tag falling off sometime in the taxi and i didn't notice till the next day. Now im Nameless....
   The rest of the week was really really good. We were supposed to meet with R and Y on Tuesday. Something happened to R, he never showed up, but we read Alma 32 with Y(i don't know if i told you last week, Y is muslim), this really helped her strengthen her faith and at least have a desire to believe.
 We met with them again Friday, we taught the plan of salvation and focused a lot on Eternal families. I think Y enjoyed it more than R! They committed to come to church on Sunday. Sure enough on Sunday, they were both there! Wow, could i say that i was so relieved! They even sat by each other (unusual for Ugandans to sit as families at church). Sunday school, R basically taught it, Y had all the questions! It was awesome! Y went to Relief Society, R came to Elders Quorum. R was asked to say the closing prayer. After church, Y's smile could have circled the world! She had the best day of her life! They asked that we come to there home that
evening. We did. We had planned to teach a little more on the fall and about agency and the Atonement. As soon as we got there, the spirit told us to watch "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" This was good cuz we hadn't yet taught Y about the Restoration. That went super well, and unlike a typical Ugandan, they watched the whole thing without getting up once!
 Before we started the lesson, they told us how amazing church was, R told us that the first time he had come to church, Y didn't like it. As soon as he got home, she said he was  a different man and she wanted to meet us. We have met since then. She came Sunday to see what was so amazing about it. She told us that she had a better time then she expected! R said that all day after church till we came they just sat, them two together and talked and laughed. He said he hasn't felt that good in a long time if ever! We testified that what they were feeling was the Spirit and that feeling could be with them when they recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I really think that Y's faith is growing, she absolutely loves us coming over! I feel great when im there as well.  Besides them, we had an amazing day yesterday. i don't know what im doing different or if its cuz of my new companion, but we had 14 investigators at church!!!! Wow!!! We had two full families and a part family! Plus a bunch of other people. It was the best feeling ever! Even the Sisters asked me what was going on, i didn't know what they were talking about. They said that they have never seen me smile so much my entire mission, i didn't think anything of it until they asked how many Investigators i had at church and said that was the reason i was so happy.

 The other family we had at church was P and A. They also came last week. Something cool about them is this week after one of our lessons, P asked us a question that every missionary wants to be asked. No, it wasn't "can i be baptized" (he asked that last week), it was " Me and my wife want to get married, can we do that in your church?" Heck yes  you can! We hadn't even talked to them about it yet. We set them up an appointment with Bishop after church cuz he knows more details then us. They met, but we didnt' have a chance to folllow up on P or Bishop. Its hard to teach them cuz P knows little English and can't read cuz he has bad eyes, and A doesnt' know Luganda.
 That is the exciting news this week! It was good and im excited this coming week, i hope that we will be able to set dates with them all.
 Elder Cooley

In Mukono!

It's been a few months since I, mom, updated this.  Matt is in Mukono.  He is a district leader and is now training a new missionary again.
Matt says:
Anyways, this week was good, we set some dates with a few more people, found 13 new investigators and had a whopping 10 investigators at sacrament!!! Wow! Could I ask for a better week? I Submit that I cannot!
I hope the work continues to go like this. Last night I had a real eye opener. So did my companion. We visited R and Y. They are investigators. R told us why he hadn't been coming to church for the last two weeks and then told us his entire life story. It was good for my companion to hear it and understand what africa is like. It was good for me to hear it cuz it reaffirmed my testimony and why I'm here. I couldn't help but just tell him how much I loved him and wanted to help him, but that I knew if I coudn't do anything, the gospel always would. That Jesus Christ knows every pain and affliction he has gone through and has sent us as his servants to share with him and give him hope for a brighter future! It was truly an amazing night.
I love it here! There is no where I'd rather be at this time. This is where the Lord wants me, I think I'm finally getting the hang of this mission thing.