First Email from Rwanda!! (October 5th, 2015)

Hello! I am in Rwanda! It is awesome here. It feels like I haven't written home in forever! It sounds like General Conference was awesome. I haven't seen any of it and won't see any for about 3 weeks. They have to send it to us on DVD for us to watch it. I did hear the 3 new Apostles that were called. I am excited to hear from them. Anyways... My last few days at the MTC flew by and I learned so much at the MTC it is crazy! The food here is in portions not all you can eat, but there were four meals a day so plenty of food. Our last day at the MTC (Monday) we had infield orientation and then packed our bags up. I also got a haircut from one of the other Elders. It wasn't very good, but it still works. haha. Then the next day we woke up at 4;30 and got our bags ready and weighed. I went back and forth like 20 times to the scale, but I got it all good. Then we took of to the Airport. Brother Machi drove us and gave us a ton of riddles to figure out. He know so many and I learned a lot of new riddles that I will have to show you in like 2 years. Then we got to the airport, said goodbye to the Elders going to Durbin, and got the rest of us checked in. I am going to miss some of the Elders going to Durbin. They are great people. 

There were two different flights to Uganda. One went to Kenya then Uganda. The other went straight to Uganda. Luckily I got the one straight to Uganda. Half of the missionaries went on the other flight. They had a lot of trouble in Kenya and actually lost some luggage. They also had to delay the flight because of the missionaries. haha. Our flight was good. Elder Casperson taught the first lesson and gave a book of mormon to the lady sitting next to us, so that was awesome to see. The flight was only 4 hours so really short now that I have flown to Johanessberg. We got there at 7 at night and went to the apartments where the AP's and some other missionaries stayed. We all just slept on the floor that night. It was really humid there in Kampala. Was sticky from the Humidity right when I stepped off the plane. The next morning we went to President and Sister Chatfields house and had breakfast. Very delicious.... Then we had some training from different senior couples and then we had lunch. President Chatfield is an awesome man. He is a cowboy, very motivational, and also hilarious. Then we got our area assignments! I was one of the last to get mine and when they said Rwanda I was pumped. Also the driving in Uganda is insane. SO many boda bodas flying around it is scary.

After we got our assignments we went back to the apartments and met a lot of new missionaries coming for transfers and stuff. There are a lot of cool missionaries in this mission. Then after we greeted everyone. I went out with Elder Mugisha and went contacting for the first time. It was a cool experience. The kids would follow me and Elder Oliverson and say Mzugu over and over. Mzugu means white person. They are hilarious. The contacting went well. It was very interesting. We stayed out until it was dark. Then we went back. That night I slept in an actual bed, which was good. I could only take One Big bag and a carry on. so I had to leave some of my stuff in the mission home. Then I met Elder Myers and we went of to the airport. Elder Myers was the only one to go to the Provo MTC. He is an awesome kid. He plays rugby and ultimate Frisbee.

We arrived at Rwanda and met some of the other missionaries. I met Elder Empey. He is from Idaho Falls, a Zone Leader, has only a couple transfers left, and is an awesome guy. Our apartment is nice. It has a small gym, maids, and a washing machine so it is really not to bad. Everything after this though will all be down hill, but I will enjoy it while I can. haha. We stay with two other Elders. Elder Anderson and Elder Ngwanya. We also have a car, but only because our area is a 20 minute drive away from our apartment and Elder Empey is a Zone Leader. We park the car at the church and usually walk from there. On Thursday we taught a few lesson and went street contacting. I met a really awesome family. There names are Dieue Donne and Karen. They have a little baby too. The people here are really friendly. There are 3 Branches here in Kigali. Mine and Elder Empey's branch is the Kigali 2nd branch. It is probably the weakest of the three, but we have a few baptisms coming up in October. On Friday we had to run some errands before lunch, but after lunch we got to work. We taught some lessons and went street contacting again. It is hard to understand the English here and they also speak another language here so it is sometimes hard to communicate, but I am starting to pick up on how they talk.

On Saturday we had a normal day, but there was a branch activity and they were playing soccer. It was really serious game. There was a referee and everything. It was a blast and I actually scored the only goal of the game! It was awesome. The people in the branches talk about me know. It was awesome. Then on Sunday we had church at 10. It was different. There is someone that translates everything. I bore my testimony during sacrament. Sunday School I honestly couldn't understand anything even with the translator. Priesthood went over 25 minutes because the Branch President likes to talk. Then we went out and taught a guy that was in the country side. Here in Rwanda the people always offer a drink of some kind. This guy offered me milk and not knowing any better I accepted. It was the most disgusting thing I have every tasted. I am blessed not to have thrown up! haha. The worst part is he refilled my glass... Man it was gross, but I learned my lesson haha. On P-day we did laundry, played pool, got groceries, took a nap, and emailed. 

Overall it has been really awesome so far. It hasn't been easy, but it has been good. It is the rainy season here. It has rained everyday since I have been here, but it only rains for short periods of time. It rains then it is sunny. Then it rains then it is sunny. It is weird having to cook and buy stuff everyday, but it is good to learn how to. It hasn't been easy, but it has been great here in Rwanda. That is all I can think of right now. Love you. Thanks for the letters.

Elder Beck 

ps...no pictures as his internet connection was too slow!