Week 9: There and Back Again...

Sent: 5:53 PM (CAT)
Received: 8:53 AM (MST)

Week 9: There and Back Again

To be honest, the subject line is only because I'm listening to the Motab rendition of The Lord of the Rings theme. And yes, I am still a nerd and proud! 

Anyways, this week has been a wonderful one! I've truly gained a better understanding of my calling and of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He truly is the only way that we are able to overcome the evils of the world, and I know that all it takes is for us to enable ourselves to fully believe in His power and Atonement. We are actually doing the 25 Ways Over 25 Days program that the Church is putting on again this Christmas season. I would encourage you all to look into it! It's a great way to prepare for Christmas, as well as to do things that the Savior did and gain a better love and understanding of Him. 

This week's email is going to be mainly focused on highlights and a lesson that I learned since we are about to have a Family Home Evening training for our branch to become more active in doing that. 

The lesson I learned was about how there are times where we feel completely tired and unable to move forward in our tasks. However, the Lord sees it differently and encourages us to keep being diligent in His work and our lives. We can see this in the Book of Mormon. In Helaman 5:4, Nephi is weary, and so he gives his life to preach the word of God. Later in Helaman 10:4, the Lord commends Nephi for his dedication despite how he felt. It really stood out to me because more often than not, we are our own worst critics, but we can know that God truly does love us and sees us for who we are and what we do! 

As for one of the highlights this week, we went hiking today! I have now summited a hike in a foreign country! I think it was called Mt. Gali. I'll attach photos below. 

To wrap it all up, I am loving the work here! It is a great challenge and I love being able to overcome any challenges that come our way! This work is wondrous and the Church is as well! 

We have a shwanky District office now! I was talking about how the pinnacle chip was flawed, but no one seemed to listen.

I climbed a mango tree with Egide on the hike today.

Majestic View

Majestic View

Majestic View

Majestic View

Elder Kramer with a baby goat.

I hope that you are all doing well, and that you know that I love each and every one of you! 

(Also, Happy Belated Thanksgiving!)

-Elder O'Hagan

Week 8: It's Never Game Over!

Sent at 4:21 PM (CAT)
Received at 7:21 AM (MST)

Week 8: It's Never Game Over!

Hello everyone! Sorry for the lack of email last week! 

This week has been a good one for me! While not a whole lot went as planned, we truly got to see the Lord's hand in being diligent and faithful in the work!

Monday: We went to the Genocide Memorial again today with the new missionaries  that came this transfer. Other than that it was a regular P-day. Also, Happy Birthday to Mark and my grandmother again!

Tuesday: It was a pretty good day. Only thing that really stood out is that sometimes there will be many distractions in a lesson, and it's less about saving that one in particular, but preparing the next visit to make it a good one!

Wednesday: I had an opportunity to give another training in District Meeting! I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. For some reason teaching other missionaries is more daunting than teaching people we find everyday. Anywho, it went well, or so they tell me :)

Thursday: Today was awesome because I had some personal breakthroughs with the Book of Mormon! It truly is so spectacular how this book came to be and that we can have it in our lives. I thought a lot about President Nelson's talk this past Conference regarding the Book of Mormon, and I encourage you all to do the same! 

Friday: I don't know why, but being a missionary seemed to be surreal for me for a while, but now I'm really beginning to become comfortable with this calling and I look forward with confidence! Today we met with one of our investigators who is close to baptism named Benny Dolantine. She has a sincere desire to serve the Lord, and has even had becoming a missionary for our church as a motivation for being baptized. She shared her testimony with us that even if she is not supported by her family anymore that she is willing to do everything for Christ. This really stood out to me and reminded me of why I came out here. There are many prepared by God, and they need us to be able to be there for them to progress in knowing the truth we know.

Saturday: Two really cool things for today! 1) We got to watch Tour de Rwanda pass by our chapel as we were street contacting and having coordination meeting! It was brief, but still really cool!! 2) I won't go into too much detail since this one is somewhat personal (sorry folks), but I have found someone who I have been personally prepared to teach! All I can say is that I am really happy, and that the Lord gives us trials and experiences in life not only for our growth, but also to help others overcome those things with our support and the Lord's love! :)

Sunday: Today was really nice! We had a multiple Stakes Conference for the entire Africa South-East Area! We heard from Tad R. Callister, Bonnie L. Oscarson, Our Area President Kevin S. Hamilton of the Seventy, Carl B. Cook, and Elder Andersen of the Twelve! It was very nice to hear them talk specifically to the needs of our Area over the broadcast. They truly are all wonderful leaders and are inspired in what they teach us. 

Overall, I am loving the work that I'm doing here in Rwanda. It may not be the easiest all the time, but the trials we go through are truly for our benefit. After all, it is after the trial of our faith that the blessings come into our lives! I love you all so much, and I hope that all is well with each and every one of you as you go day to day doing your very best! I invite you all, whether you are a member of the Church or not, to see how the gospel of Jesus Christ can truly elevate your life, and also to read the Book of Mormon! It contains answers to the greatest questions you have about life, I can promise you that with all of my heart!

So, I don't have any photos this week. Here are some funny and interesting things that have happened instead!

1. My name has managed to be said in so many ways that I've lost track. The best so far has been O'Hangwei though!
2. Someone has named their newborn son after me apparently. The name is Mugisha O'Hagan.
3. Every seems to think I'm French or a Jehovah Witness. 
4. The children here are the highlight of my day! They will just come up to us and give us fist bumps with the biggest smiles on their faces! 

I'll be sure to send photos next week! Also, if you have any questions about what Rwanda is like or what specifically I'm doing, feel free to ask away and I'll answer as many as I can in next weeks email! 

It's Never Game Over!!

-Elder O'Hagan

Week 6: The End of a Transfer...

Sent at 4:40 PM (CAT)
Received at 7:40 AM (MST)

Week 6: The End of a Transfer

Hello all! 

This weeks email will be much better than last weeks. I can promise you that! I've really grown in my faith and testimony this past week and I have a newfound appreciation for this Church and our Lord.

Monday: There isn't much that happened because it was P-day (and I usually just go grocery shopping and study for most of the day) but we did find a DVD in our flat called "Pioneers of Africa". It talks about the development of the Church in Africa and is truly inspiring! I believe that you can find it online, and I highly recommend it if you want to get a better feel of what I am experiencing here in Africa.

Tuesday: HAPPY BELATED HALLOWEEN! Even though they don't celebrate it here I still dressed up! ... as a missionary! Anyways, today was really awesome because I had a successful phone call in Kinyarwanda!! This language is not easy, but it is really cool.

Wednesday: We had Zone Conference with Elder Palmer of the Seventy! It was a truly amazing experience that I'll never forget. It's not often that you get to spend a day learning from (and eating lunch with) a general authority. One interesting thing that happened was that we had three generations of missionaries from one family in the meeting. Elder and Sister Wright (Rwanda Senior Couple), their daughter and son-in-law (President and Sister Collings), and their RM son (Conner Collings). It was really nice to see how missionary work becomes multi-generational and I hope to see that happen in the future in my life!

Thursday: Today I really studied out what faith is and I gained a stronger testimony on how through faith the Lord provides miracles. One of these came through a blessing I was able to give one of our investigators to help her diligently pray to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I won't go into detail, but it truly was by the Spirit that this took place. The second thing that happened miraculously was that we taught a full lesson to a family where each person speaks a different language. They have French, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda! It was interesting for sure!

Friday: Nothing really profound or special, aside from the fact that Hymns are powerful!

Saturday: This was the craziest day of my mission so far! We (mainly Elder Driggs) had planned a Branch activity called Cultural Game Night (CGN). In it there were four countries represented (Kenya, South Africa, Finland, and America) in games, food, and how the gospel got there. It went way better than planned! We had attendance of 120 people! 20% of which were investigators or non-members! This is awesome considering we normally have sacrament attendance of 60-80. However, this meant that we were running all over the place to run everything, and that I was in the kitchen pumping out food with the missionaries and some of the members. 

We also had a powerful baptism immediately after for Mucyo Joseline who is also Redempta's daughter! It was amazing to see the love and bond they had as a family during the ordinance and I know that they will truly be powerful members of this Church!

As for this transfer, it has truly changed me as a person. While I am still the same in many ways, I've gained a better understanding and testimony of this Church, The Book of Mormon, and that Jesus Christ knows each of us and loves us fervently. I hope that with this next transfer I will be able to become a better teacher of the gospel as I study and apply His teachings. 

I am forever grateful for the love and support that you all have for me and other missionaries. I can feel it each day and I know that it truly helps further the work! I hope that you all continue to brighten the lives of others, and that you can all know that the Lord loves and cares about you, and that I do too!

Event Turnout

Mucyo Joseline Baptism

The average view in Rwanda this time of year

Never Give Up! Never Surrender! 

- Elder O'Hagan