Nice picture at the equator ;)

Woo-Hoo For The Equator!

June 25, 2018

This week for P-day we went to a nice cool look out over the Great Rift Valley, and there was a big letter thing there that we took a picture at. The letters were E-M-C, and I figured since I've crossed the equator like a billion times, but haven't ever had the opportunity to take a pic there, I will lie and say the picture I'm sending you is at the KENYAN EQUATOR!!! Cool place!

This week was pretty good. A cool thing that happened was, we went to visit one of our investigators  who is the wife and mother to a member family. She just recently told us that after all this time she was finally ready to follow her family and change denominations. As it was a difficult decision on her side, she wanted some time to say goodbye to her church and her fellow members. As we walked into their home this week, what did we find? 4 of her pastors! And to make it even better, they each had their Bibles open. Let me teach you a little lesson about Kenya. If you are a missionary and you see a pastor with his Bible open, you better be locked and loaded because pretty soon it's gonna be guns a'blazin. We sat down and I kinda felt like Doc Holliday in this situation:

Man- You're so drunk you're probably seeing two of me..

Doc- I got two guns. One for the both a ya.

One gun bein' the Bible, the other gun bein' the Book of Mormon... But the conversation began, them giving us some interesting looks, us killing them with kindness, and an interesting thing happened. Every time the pastors would start going off on something, the rain would start POUNDING on the metal sheet roof. But when we started opening our mouths, the rain would subside, and we could say whatever we would like without worrying about yelling for someone to hear us. We took it as a sign of, "Well boys, this is an opportunity to teach for you, You oughta take over the lesson here."-God. So we did, and the discussion got very spiritual, and then as we were wrapping things up, what happens? The father (member of the church) bears the most powerful testimony on the Book of Mormon ever. He shares scriptures from the Bible and all the men were just so interested in what the BoM had to say. So now each of them has a copy, and we have 4 pastor investigators from the _______ church! Haha! I won't say the name of the church, but it starts with Fri and ends in the word underlined... But it was a cool experience. And remember the lesson from Tombstone please. It is very important for us to understand that in the church we got "Two guns, one for the both a ya". 

ITNOJCA. 

Love you

Elder Fraga

California Dreamin'

June 11, 2018

Well, I can't say I didn't see it comin'. kwanza, labda mtu kujua kiswahili, si utacema neno apa, na pole sana, kiswahili yangu ni kati kati kabiza. mimi ni huzuni sana. uwe na wakati mwema dada yangu. utayenda dunia mbale na yumbani yangu. lakini hakuna shida kwasababu ninajua kwa siku mingi sana. safari njema. mpake tuku tane tena. 

I think I'm done venting my emotions in Swahili... and I guess I was only saying things that were nice... It just depends on the tone you say them in... Whatever. 

Things are cool, the area is good, I like my new comp. Today we went to a nice mall. I bought some starburst and Old Spice Fiji deodorant. it was kind of like finding a gold mine, only a lot better. 

I don't have much to say today. MLC was good. We have zone conference this week and I heard that Elder Palmer of the seventy is coming, so that'd be cool. 

More to report next week! 

Love you!

E.F.

PS have fun in California AA

Prepare!

 June, 4, 2018

Thanks for the great emails this week! I was really happy about the update on things! This week wasn’t bad. Transfers were just a couple of days ago, and I have been informed that I will be getting a new companion (because Elder Mahanzu finished his mission). His name is Elder Ntlebi, and he is from South Africa. I’m excited to see how things go with him. This coming week we will be heading to Nairobi for another MLC, should be good. I know that it is just so crazy that the time has passed like it did. Maybe in the heat and excitement of Elder Mahanzu finishing his mission, I came up with a coming home playlist... Haha, so as I have only four months left, here are some songs that you can listen to, to prepare: 

Goin' Home- Dan Auerbach

Space Song- Beach House

Welcome Home- Radical Face

About Today- The National

Grown Ocean- Fleet Foxes

Blue Ridge Mountains- Fleet Foxes

October- Helio Sequence

Salt Lake City- Beach Boys

Fun Times in Babylon- Father John Misty

Time Of The Season- The Zombies

Switzerland- Daughter

Now, by me doing this, there is no need to think that I am a sleepy missionary... I am alive in the cause! Though we face much discouragement, and persecution, I do enjoy being a representative of Christ. There's a phrase in the scriptures that has always caught my attention. There are multiple verses where Christ says, "Take up your cross". What does this mean for you? I’ll tell you what it means for me. It means we follow Christ through THICK and THIN. We stand by him in the GOOD and the BAD. I have heard so many times people ask something along the lines of "Why doesn't it get easier?" When we adjust our sails to meet God’s will, it seems we are sailing straight into the storm. When we pass through affliction, it should come as no surprise. That is in a measure, what we came here for. It’s is a difficult thing, if not impossible, to actually comprehend the atonement. It’s impossible to really understand how Christ suffered for us. One thing I was thinking about is that along with having suffered for each of our sins, he also suffered for our pains and afflictions. Every time you might have suffered in His name, or for His cause, not only has he seen it, but, he has felt it. Perfectly felt it. And he knows what we have  been through for him, and perhaps that will be accounted for at the day of judgment.

But yeah, I’m outta time! We'll talk next week! 

Love you!

Elder Fraga

Hemingway Part ll

May 28, 2018

So, upon further life speculation, I have been considering a different course to be taking when I arrive back on American soil. I had in the past expressed my own desires to get into the field of psychology. When I did that, I was shot down pretty hard core by people from pretty much all over the world. Since then there has been a lot to think about. Currently, (and I’m sorry I don’t really have a whole lot of time to tell you about these things)  I’m thinking about majoring in literature, and minoring in philosophy. Now that may be a pretty whacky combination... But I have already started planning a book to write when I’m home! And- now this is the really, really crazy part- I’ve got some pretty deep ideas to write about, and I believe that it could even win the Nobel prize or something, because seriously it is life changing. I’d share some stuff about it, but I don’t want anyone to steal it and take credit for it before I’m done... And I know, I know, I know, you think I’m crazy. BUT I promise the more I have investigated this stuff, the more I’ve realized that this could be legit stuff! NO JOKE! Obviously this could lead to becoming a writer or something and, blah, blah, blah, people will probably talk me out of it anyways, but it’s okay for now. We can worry more about my future when it actually gets here!

Anyways, that’s some of the stuff that I got this week. Kinda short. Next week we'll find out who my new companion is, because Elder Mahanzu is going home. But yeah! Love you all! I hope everything is super, super good for you! 

elder fraga