JAMBO!
Me and the Sisters who arrived in the mission with me.
If you have no idea what that means, you are about to read the craziest email you've ever read... So imagine this. You are little old me, brand new missionary sitting at the airport waiting to get on the flight to Pocatello. All the sudden you get an email. The subject line says, "Next teaching area." You get super excited because you get to find out where you are going to be going first! You open the email and it says your teaching area is... "Swahili 2". ... Huh? Yeah. That was my first reaction. I was called English speaking? This must be a mistake. You decide you'll figure it out when you get there. You get to the mission, meet your mission president and go to the mission office. At dinner, you finally have a chance to ask president what the heck Swahili 2 means. He looks at you dead in the eye and says, "Yeah, so your'e going to be learning Swahili, and you have to teach yourself." I was sitting there just AMAZED. I knew this was going to be the most insane crazy opportunity I've ever gotten.
And boy, has it been. So you're probably wondering why the heck there is even Swahili speaking missionaries in Southern Idaho. Well, there is a HUGE refugee population here, and they noticed that there was no one to teach them in their native language. So, there I was, the newest missionary in the Swahili district!
It sounds crazy, but it seriously has been the best few days ever. I have met so many amazing people. The first people I ever visited were two girls, Sofia and Batina, and their mom, Mwoibola.
Me and Batina
The mom is a single, pregnant mom, and she only speaks Swahili along with her children. When we went there for the first time, I couldn't really say much, but my companion, who is Sister Hyde, one of the best people I've ever met, would translate a little bit for me.
Me and Sister Hyde!!
We teach Sofia how to read by reading out of the Book of Mormon, and I got to play with Batina. The second time we visited them, Batina ran up to me yelling, "Rafiki!" which means friend in Swahili. She's the cutest. ALSO! WE TAUGHT SOFIA HOW TO RIDE A BIKE!
She was so so scared, but she did it!! The whole time I was yelling, "Mzuri Sana" which means very good! They really love when we come over.
Me, Sister Hyde, Maria, Sakina, and Faraha
I've gotta tell ya. The gift of tongues is REAL! I've been here like 5ish days and yesterday we taught the entire first lesson in SWAHILI! I bore my testimony and even prayed in Swahili. I got to teach just as much as Sister Hyde did and it was so cool. Seriously, it's such a fun language. Here's some of my favorite words:
1. Nakupenda: I love you
2. Nimechanganyikiwa: I am confused
3. Mbinguni: Heaven
4. Kanisa La Yesu Kristo La Watakatifu Wa Siku Za Mwisho: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
5. Takataka: trash
6. Mungu: God
There are so many fun and long words, it's insane. The people are also so amazing. They all invite you in every time you come over even if they don't know who you are. They are so inviting and humble.
I haven't eaten any crazy foods yet, but the most insane food-related thing that happened happened on Friday. We went over to a family's house and were going to sing songs in Swahili with the kids. We walked in, and on the counter were HUGE bags of tons of dehydrated fish . . . like TONS of bags. They apparently buy the fish from Africa and then sell it to all their friends.
My district is only two elders and two sisters. We are small, and we are the only Swahili speakers in the mission. It's crazy. The two elders are Elder Pitcher (who's insanely good at piano and makes up arrangements on the spot), and Elder Lundgreen (who is literally a Parker Buhler carbon copy... shout out Parker!) They are so much fun. We are all working on opening a ward in Swahili, which is so cool because then it will bring so many more people to the gospel.
Me at the canyon with my Kitabu Cha Mormoni
This week I read in D&C 6. One of my favorite verses (other than the end haha) is verse 21. It says, "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the same that came unto mine own, and mine own received me not. I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not." I love this scripture because of the last line. We know Christ is the light of the world, but we need to receive that light. If we allow ourselves to live in darkness, then we will not be able to see the light of Christ. But, if we live like he did, we can more fully accept that light into our lives. Inspiration and revelation come when we seek to do good and put ourselves in a position to receive it.
Anyway. That's about all the news I can think of right now. I love it so much out here and wouldn't ask to be anywhere else in the world.
Nakupenda!!
-Sister Copeland
No comments:
Post a Comment