His Gift FOR YOU

Ogamba ki mukwanos ne makka!
(What's up friends and family!)
I am back for another update! Things are coming down to the wire! Let's talk about it!
Tugende! (Let's go!)

November 1, 2021 Mon
Today was P-Day! I talked to makka which was great and not long after that, the District & I left to get a taxi to Ntinda for our Zone Activity!
It was so nice to see familiar faces like Elders Hachijika & Timothy, the ZLs, the APs, and meet some new ones. We played volleyball, basketball, and just hung out. I had such a good time talking to people.
After the activity we headed back to Mukono where we cleaned the apartment, relaxed, and I decided to try celebrating Dia De Los Muertos by making tortilla chips and guacamole, which was a screaming success! It was hype!

November 2, 2021 Tues
Today was not a very good day. We had some problems to take care of in the District and that was the focus on the day. It was a day for spiritual reflection and an overhaul to try to get things figured out, which took all day.
After things did get resolved, Elder Valentine needed a haircut. So we went to a barber to borrow their clippers and Elder Iga cut his hair, and it turned out pretty good. Today was a rollercoaster with a good ending, better than a bad ending!

November 3, 2021 Weds
Today we had a 5 Zone, Zone Conference with Elder Carpenter, from the Area Presidency, and his wife. It started at 8:00am and in order to beat traffic we got up before the butt crack of dawn, at 4:30am and got a taxi at 5:20am.
About half way through the taxi ride I got car sick, but kept it in my mouth the ENTIRE REST OF THE TAXI RIDE. It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I spat out everything as soon as we arrived at our stop.
We got to Kololo Chapel around 6:10am. We were the first people to arrive by a long shot. At 8:00am the Multi Zone Leadership Meeting was supposed to start, but President & Sister Chatora and Elder & Sister Carpenter were 30 minutes late, but the meeting was good!
The Zone Conference's 1st session was from 9:00am to 12:00pm. It was great! I laughed and learned (and got chastised by Elder Carpenter for calling Elder Muringa "my son", he was chastising everyone indirectly, but me very directly. It was crazy).
Then we had KFC for lunch followed by the 2nd and last session from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. New missionaries gave arriving testimonies, then old missionaries gave departing testimonies, I was among them.
It kinda hit me hard that this was the last Zone Conference of my mission, and the last time a number of these people would be around me. So I bore my testimony with as much conviction as I could to convey the fact I KNOW THIS CHURCH IS TRUE.
Then Elder Carpenter shared his concluding training. After it all I took a pic with Elder Woods and Elder Dabson, because I won't see those guys the rest of my mission. Mukono & Seeta Districts grabbed a taxi together then we went to our respective areas.
We bought stuff, then got back to the apartment at sunset 6:40ish. Then I made Tacos for Dinner! They weren't perfect, but they weren't bad at all!

November 4, 2021 Thurs
Today was good. Elder Muringa & I had morning schedule, which I have started to have him take the lead in and is going pretty good.
Our first lesson wasn't until later in the day. It was with Ibra and Tahiyah, but they were really busy when we arrived, so we postponed it to tomorrow.
Then we had a lesson with Eric at the Chapel where we reviewed the Restoration and which went well. Then we ended the day at the apartment.

November 5, 2021 Fri
Today was alright. We had planning, cleaned the apartment, but we also didn't have power which made things a little more difficult.
We had a short lesson with Tahiyah today, Ibra was busy and Tahiyah got busy so it was a short message. Afterwards we headed to the chapel, talked to Bishop and Bro Onen for a while, then went to the place Muringa did the traditional dance. We met up with Elders Iga & Valentine, then one of the greatest experiences I've had on my mission. I participated in a Traditional Dance.
It was so crazy, I had so much fun and walked away SUPER out of breath, but it was so awesome!! After that we came back to the Apartment and ended the day.

November 6, 2021 Sat
Today we were supposed to have a lesson at 2:00 at the chapel, but the guy didn't show up and then it started pouring rain so we stayed there.
We talked with Bro Onen & a member, Bro Bryan about a number of different topics including ghost stories and stuff It was pretty fun, and then Bishop walked into the chapel with a guy following behind who claims to have the Original Copy of The Book of Mormon.
This guy only believes in the 1830 version of The Book of Mormon and is extremely confused about Church History. He refuses to believe in the current edition of The Book of Mormon and yet believes in Joseph Smith, but not the Church. Dude is LOST.
In the midst of this conversation (that was honestly hilarious) our person showed up 3 hours late. I was kinda upset because he came crazy late, but also relieved because now we could leave this conversation.
The person's name is John and is a referral from Bishop. He doesn't know English so we had Brother Bryan help us translate. We taught the Restoration which went great. He is really interested and wants to join us.
After the lesson I helped Brother Onen clean up some things in the church compound. We did a few things before ending the day at the apartment.

 

November 7, 2021 Sun
Today John came to church! It was great to have him there and meet some of the members. I will say though, I was so exhausted I almost fell asleep during church.
After church we taught John about the Book of Mormon with the help of Brother Moses, and he basically said he wanted to be baptized, so we gave him a Baptismal Date! This guy is Powerful! After the lesson, the Young Single Adults were having a meeting and they invited John to come and join them. After that it was pretty chill for the rest of the day.

For my second to last Spiritual Thought I wanted to share a scripture that stuck out to me in my personal study, and that I also shared in Zone Conference in answer to a question that Elder Carpenter asked.
I can't remember the exact question, but it was something like, "What is a scripture that explains the atonement of Jesus Christ for you?"

This was my answer.

Mosiah 3:7 & 9;
"And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people...
And lo, he cometh unto his own, that salvation might come unto the children of men even through faith on his name; and even after all this they shall consider him a man, and say that he hath a devil, and shall scourge him, and shall crucify him."

Everybody reading this I want you to know something about Jesus Christ, and this is true whether you believe in and love Him or not, He suffered more than any man could ever suffer FOR YOU.

He was scourged, hated, and humiliated by people FOR YOU.

He bled from every pore FOR YOU.

He did all this FOR YOU.

And that will never change, but if you don't accept this Infinite Gift neither will you.

Christ has suffered that we may not only be saved, but changed as well.

We have the blessing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which holds teachings and truths, including Repentance, that unlock the path to Joy in this life and Eternal Joy in the Life to come.

To not unwrap and open this Gift that is freely given to you is, to be honest, dumb.

Why would you ignore an opportunity to be more happy and more full of joy!?!

Please don't ignore this gift. It is FOR YOU. Accept it, please!

Mbyogedde mulinya lya Yesu Kristo, amiina.

Whelp . . . uno mas update. Not much to say. I guess talk to my family and see what kind of stuff you can set up so we can hangout in a week or so!
Qwagala mukwanos era makka gwange!
(I love you my friends and family!)
Elder Bradford