Hey!
So this week has been officially nuts. It went by way fast but it feels
like we got nothing done. It already feels like a year since I talked with you guys. The Orphanage trip was wonderful. It was a lot of fun. We traveled out there in 4 trucks jam packed with missionaries. It was
funny to drive out of the city because all the people would stop and watch as a convoy of trucks loaded with muzungo’s (a racist term for
white people in dialect..) rolled past them. But we showed up, did a
little cleaning and then played some games. Every one had a job. I was
suppose to be over doing the music section but the other missionaries had it covered so I gave my service by fixing a swing set made out of cut up tires and chains. It was a good day. The kids seemed to really have enjoyed it. I did have mixed feelings however. I’m not going to lie, but the kids there at the orphanage, have better lives than a lot of the kids in our area. They have nice beds with mosquito nets, clothes,food, games, chairs, even decorations set up for Christmas. The kids in Munhava don’t really have beds, or mosquito nets, sometimes no food and most of them don’t even have power. The orphans were pretty well off. But the activity itself was a huge success and the kids loved it.The missionaries had a good time too. After that we went back to our
houses and I crashed. I took an hour and a half nap, then we all headed
back over to the church to hang out as missionaries. It was really fun. Alot of people played board games but I just ended up hanging out with
Elder Tarwater who is up in Morromeu right now, and so I don’t get to
see him very often, so we just hung out for a while. Then we did a white elephant present swap thing. It was super fun. Everyone got in a circle and put their presents in the middle and one by one we either picked a present from the middle or stole someone else’s present. A lot of rules and stuff but it went super well and a lot of fun. I ended up
with an electric fly-swatter. I think Elder Buckner likes it more than I do though. I’m not complaining because anytime there’s a bug in our
room he takes care of it. Then after that, we ate dinner. Everyone
made something and we had a pot-luck kind of thing. It turned out good. I made Congo bars. I’ve become known for them by now in the Beira zone.
After dinner we got to watch a movie. We watched It’s a Wonderful
Life. It’s super old and in black and white, but honestly one of my
favorite movies ever. It was so good. I liked it a lot. When I get back I think I’m going to buy it. I’m not sure if I liked the film so much
because I haven’t seen a film in a while or because I’ve turned into
some weird missionary or whatever, but I really liked the movie so it was a good Christmas. Then on Thursday we had Zone Conference. That was
good. President came up and all went well. Took the whole day though. It was super long. Longer than normal, but good. Then today is New-Years. It ought to be fun but not too exciting. We’ve got to stay in our houses tonight so we’ll end up playing more board games, I’m sure. Then tomorrow we’re meeting over at the church to eat as a zone and play some games too, then its back home for the rest of the night.
So that was our week. Good but busy with meeting and what not.. I also gave my first blessing in Portuguese. It was hard getting to the guys house though. We got owned. It was a pitch black night so we couldn’t see anything and this guy lived way out in the Mato(Jungle). We’ve been walking a long and all of a sudden one of us would sink shin deep in to a thing of mud. We weren’t wearing our boots either so we got pretty muddy. Elder Buckner was walking behind me and hit a pretty big spot and was falling so he reached out, grabbed the back of my pack to steady himself, almost throwing me in too, so I promptly shook him off and tried to get away from him as fast as I could so that I wouldn’t go down with him. After a couple steps I her “ajuda, ajuda” (help, help) and I look back to see Elder Buckner a foot shorter with his right leg, almost up to his knee, buried in mud. I just started laughing while he dug his way out. It turned out to be a fun night. But we finally got to the guys house so it turned out good. So that was our week.

It was super fun to hear from the Wynn’s. It’s crazy to think that
I’ll have a 1 year old cousin by the time I get back. I also got
Nana’s package just the other day so that was nice. I loved it.
Hope you guys have a fun new years! Love you and miss you!

Elder Okazaki