HI ALL! So it is now Monday and i’m finally beginning to adjust and feel comfortable here. This is hard work but i am loving every second of it. On Friday me, Karli, Taylor, Brianne, and Kerri went and helped a man named Moses (LDS member, so intelligent, we work with him on a lot of projects) visit his clients in the village of Mukono. He helps out with special needs kids and it was so amazing to see all of them and how they live and work with the circumstances they have been given. His patients had Cerebral Palsy, dyslexia, autism or other disorders that could have been prevented if proper maternal health was administered during the mother’s pregnancy. I want to try to implement more health education classes for the mothers here to help prevent some of their problems. It is so needed! Saturday night we had “initiation” which consisted of us eating cockroaches so that was fun. That video footage is priceless. Saturday was a free day so me, Maren, Elise, Taylor and Karli went into Ginja which is the city that is right by the source of the Nile River. I fell in love with that town! When we got there we got on “Boda Bodas” (motorcycles) and told them to take us to where the “Mzungos” go (Mzungo means White Person in Lugandan) so sure enough they dropped us off at the best restaurant in the city. Filled with white people and Coke Zero. And we were allowed to eat the meat. What’s better? So Saturday was a great day to treat ourselves to more than a full stick of gum. Sunday we woke up and went to church and I absolutely LOVE church here. It was so fun to see that the church is the same no matter where you go. The people were the sweetest and I teared up in sacrament because I was in the middle of all of my friends in the row and a little girl named Nakagua came and passed through everyone so she could sit on my lap. I was on cloud nine! I didn’t motion her to come over or wave to her before or anything. She was the sweetest and was so precious the whole meeting. I felt the spirit so strong during each meeting. I loved relief society and gospel doctrine class. Then we went to eat at a sketchy restaurant and I ordered a Spanish omelette that was about the size of half a dollar bill. I WAS STARVING. So I ate a pineapple haha. Then later that night we went to a “Needs Assessment” in lower Nairobi and talked with everyone about what they felt like they needed in their community. Out of our group of 25 people Karli, Taylor and I were in charge of teaching the community about Measles and how needed immunizations were necessary. We are holding a clinic on the 26-28 of May for them to come get immunizations. (At that precise time, my sister isabelle was giving her farewell speech so i was thinking of her the whole time 🙂 It was 5 p.m. here which means it was 9 a.m. at home and I was thinking of her and my family so much. I will attach pictures of us teaching it. Really quick here is a list of things I have learned here so far….
8. When you serve others, your best self comes out and you feel a happiness like no other.