The Good. The Bad. And the Ugly.

Wow the week went by fast! It's an absolute downpour of rain right now here, which is super nice cause its been super hot all week. It was a pretty good week and I'll try to sum it up as best I can!

 THE GOOD: We had a lot of success with appointments this week! It's kind of hard not to feel guilty about it, but we are literally handed baptisms. We had 3 people alone this week randomly come up to us and say "hey can I be baptized?" So that's nice. It's super nice that there is rain now. It looks like a tropical storm outside. It was raining so hard that the streets were flooding, and I wanted to take a video on my camera but I didn't know if I should!

THE BAD: I have been very homesick this week! It's been a difficult week, but I am trying very hard to fight the homesickness! But I make it through each day which is good! Well because of the rain, all the bugs go inside our house. YUCK. I've never killed so many bugs in my life. It's really gross, but I have found that I am getting used to it as the weeks go on! Also, it's really hard to teach here. Like people don't understand. Almost all missions you have to work to get inside someone's home and to teach lessons. Not this mission. The problem is in this mission, EVERYONE lets you in and will let you teach them, even for an hour. So you can burn yourself out really fast teaching 8 hour long lessons a day. Some people may think that missionary work is so easy here cause no one rejects you (in a month being here I have been rejected 3 times) But it is not like that. The key is finding people who are serious about what we are teaching. People are serious, if they show up to church. If they don't, then you are usually wasting your time with them! So the culture here is way different, like people actually want to meet with you. It's not like the US where people avoid you. So missionary work is hard just cause you have to really plan your day and decide who is actually serious and who isn't.

THE UGLY: I mentioned earlier that because of the rain, there have been a ton of bugs in our house. Well when we got home last night, I went into the bathroom and there was a HUGE spider. Bigger than any of the ones in Washington. I saw that there were a bunch of eggs on its back, so I was like that's not good, I have to kill it before the eggs hatch. So I got a long pole and smashed it. And yes, it happened. It killed the big mamma, but yes, the egg sack exploded and millions of baby spiders went everywhere. It sucks. So all day today I've been finding baby spiders everywhere. Like they spread fast. I have killed so many crawling up my leg and on my shirt. I smash them all the time on the floor too. It is bad. Ha ha but I guess that's Africa for you!

What I pray for every day is that the sacrifice will benefit all those around me. Homesickness kills. It really does. Nothing is harder to conquer than the mind. Satan plays so many mind games on me it kills me. But I keep fighting and praying everyday. Everyone who has emailed me told me it takes 3 months or so to really get away from the worse of the homesickness! I heard the bad bad stuff goes away around 3 months, but comes back around 10-12 months, cause you realize you are only half way done! I am trying though, and praying so so so hard. I thought basketball was a mind game, this is a whole other level.

My District

My Zone Leader... he had to come help us with a situation. The missionaries from the other area forgot their phone in a comvy and we had to try to get it back! They were gonna make us pay money for it, but we wouldn't and a few of them were drunk lol. But after an hour of arguing we got our phone back free of charge and set up appointments to teach them. hahaha

You can see, that when a white man pulls out a camera, more and more kids show up. 

Look how each picture there are more and more kids

Not a "little" bug.

Selfies, and me making sahdsa for the first time at a members house!

"I'm starting to like the food, some of it"

This week went by very fast! I am still trying my best, but it is so so so hard to adjust to the life here. Each day gets a little better! Well the water finally came back on lol. Took 5 days but it came back! But guess what happened when it came back on. Yes, a pipe broke at our house so we still couldn't get any water. yay. A day later though the people came and fixed it which was nice!

We played soccer today as a zone, and I realized how much I hate soccer haha. I enjoy the running around but it is pointless cause all the Africans want to do is play 1 on 1 games and try to break ankles and not pass the ball. Sounds like normal haha.

But it was a solid week and was very hot, but cool. The weather here is really wack. For example Thursday, we woke up and it was pouring outside. There wasn't a bit of blue in the sky. I went inside and did 2 hours of study and came back outside, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was so so so hot. Later that day I went in to a 45 minute lesson, and came back outside and clouds covered the sky and it poured for the rest of the day.

It just takes time to adjust, but I am starting to like the food, some of it lol. I hope everything is good back home. I am making this short cause I have so many emails to read I need to get to those!

Elder Cazier

** { } means they are not Cayden's words

{Before he left each Grandpa gave Cayden one of their personal ties for him to wear on his mission.}

{Tie from Grandpa Mathews...}

{Tie from Grandpa Cazier...}

{I believe this is his District...}

{I think this one is for Branson who wants pictures of 

all the animals... I think he was hoping for elephants

and lions LOL}

{Dead Scorpion}

Zimbabwe $1000 Bill

Filthy avocado..... So I thought. Actually it's an un-ripe mango. I thought they were avocados but a member told me they are mangos!  There are like millions of mango trees here. 

This one is at our house!

Millions of frogs at night.

{His t shirt has his district on it! Mpopoma District}

{A member in Zimbabwe (Vicky) is now friends with Ryanne

on Instagram.  She sent these pictures to Ryanne with 

the following:

Vicky: The missionaries are at my place. Made sadza for them lol.

They have fully adjusted to their new home!!"}

No Water, 20 Questions and an Outback Walk!

Wow. Well a month has passed. I don't know if that went by fast or super slow lol. But I have around 22 1/2 months left!! This week was good, and not good. It was tough and very very very hot. And I wore a long sleeve dress shirt all week cause my mosquito bites are so bad i was embarrassed. All the Africans love pointing out that white people taste better then black people for some reason haha. Well to say how crazy this week has been, in summary ill just say that we have no water. lol. Since it's been so hot and there is no rain they shut off all the water for a few days. I have never been more thirsty in my life. People are walking miles to the nearest water source to get water. And its gross water too, very brown and green, but that is all they can get. Walking here today, we saw a crowd of people and they were standing in 6 foot deep holes in the middle of the weeds. They had dug these holes to get water way under the surface. It kind of made me feel very lucky that I don't have to do that to survive back home, that I can just turn on the water and let it run forever with no worries. So that has been a struggle! The electricity turns off randomly as well, which stinks but you learn to survive! We had 3 baptisms on Saturday, which was awesome to see! Had to get to the church 4 hours before the baptism because the water pressure is so low that's how long it takes to fill up the font to knee level. I feel like I am adjusting but things are still very hard! I have found that I want to go home most in the morning, right when I wake up. And if I can survive the first hour of the day, the rest of the day is great for the most part! Its been really hard because I wake up at 5 every day. Curse you dad for those early morning walks lol. But things are getting better! I miss you guys so much and home, but there is work to be done in Zim. As much as home sounds nice, I know that I must be here, cause the people need me. Love you guys. Elder Cazier

 1. Sydney. Are you able to shower? If not, how do you keep clean and how often are you able to bathe or shower?   I can shower when there is actually water, but the water pressure sucks. 

2. Branson. Have you seen any cool animals while you were there?   I see lizards everywhere, termites at night, and dogs as well. 

3. Dad. How often are you able to eat? Meaning are you getting three meals and can you maybe list what you eat during a typical day?  I don't eat very much, I have a bowl of cereal in the morning with nasty milk, not sure if it is even from cows. And all they have is corn flakes, no other cereal. I don't normally eat lunch, maybe a few ginger biscuits, which are like small cookie things, basically no calories. And for dinner we eat at a members house normally which is sahdsa and lettuce. Very hard to swallow down but i am starting to like it now! 

4. Dad. Do you sleep with a mosquito net? And do you have bug spray that you use?  I have ants and cockroaches everywhere in my house. I am now sleeping in a mosquito net cause if I don't I get eaten alive. its very hard to sleep with it though, imagine sleeping in a spider web and there you have it.

What i have to clean off my food before i eat lol

5. Syd. Do you have running water in your house? Including water in your toilet? Are you able to drink water anywhere?  I have running water but it is not there now haha. Water pressure is very weak. You will all be proud, i had 3 sodas. When you haven't had anything to drink in 2 days, and a member hands you a coke you kind of have to drink it. The carbonation destroys my throat but i drink it anyway! 

6. Syd. Are spiders the grossest bug you saying? Or abusing other crazy in sacks? There are spiders everywhere and they are huge. Imagine daddy long legs on roids.

7. Dad. Is the area you're in a city like Pasco? In the sense is it an urban area or a rural area? 

8. Sydney. Do the people there have domestic animals? Like cows are dogs or cats like we do?  People have dogs and cats, but nothing else. No livestock except chicken running in their yard. They call it road runner.

9. Branson. Are there tall buildings like skyscrapers and stuff?  I am not serving in the city, I am serving in 2 towns, mpopoma and i forgot the other one. I can see super tall buildings far away in the distance.

P-Day Outback Walk

This is how they fish here. Asked the guy if i could take a pic! Thought it was pretty sweet. 

This is a pic of an abandoned mine shaft! I was too scared to go inside, 

it was pitch black and tons of cobwebs.

Week 1 in Africa

Wow what a week. Seems like forever since I last emailed. I havent read anyones individual emails yet, but i will after I send this message. 

Missionary life is hard. Very hard. Much harder then i expected. I am trying my best, and everything is coming pretty good, except for a few things. I can understand why people lose weight here. Ive probably lost at least 3 in 5 days, just from stress and not eating. Like I never eat. For breakfast, I normally have two slices of bread, some sahdsa for lunch and maybe something for dinner if a member feeds us. But the real problem, is i dont know how to eat certain foods members feed us. My third night here, the bishop fed me and my companion, and it was fish with sahdsa. And not just fish, but it looked like a trout that had been thrown on a grill and then tossed on my plate. And they eat the whole fish. EVERYTHING. Like they start with the tail and work their way down to the head, bones and all. I couldn't eat it. I started gagging when I tried to take a bite, and evryone was watching me. I felt so bad. It was terrible. I felt sick all night. My companion is elder Ngobi, hes from Uganda. I'm being honest when i say i cant hardley understand a word he says.  The first 4 nights, I got about 2 hours of sleep a night. I was beat. The house I stay in is apparently one of the nicer ones, but it doesnt feel like it. AT ALL. There are spiders, huge spiders evry where. There are cockroaches and ants everywhere as well. I cant eat a slice of bread with out eating ten ants, no exageration. When I sleep I have ants crawling all over me. It is very hard to sleep. The whole mission is hand wash clothes only, which i havnt done yet but will later today. So the first night I got here, I arrived at the transfer house at 11 at night, and guess what. No electricity, no running water. It was a very very difficult experince for me. it is very hard to ajust here, and numerous times cominghome has felt like an amazing option. I am covered in mysquito bites from head to toe, and itch like crazy. here, i have used the bathroom twice, thats how little i eat. I feel sick everyday, but am slowly getting better i hope So i got sent to Bulowayo, The furthest zone in my mission. And apparently its the hardest area to understand accents. I figured that out pretty quick. Its been tough, and there are like no laws or restrictions here, so its crazy. its like nothing you could experince in USA, no matter where you go. All the little kids think its crazy that i am white, any road i walk down all i hear is "keywah" meaning white person. Its been a crazy crazy time here, but i am needing lots of prayers to make sure  i stay out and am safe. Please eamil me suggestions for how to survive and  how to cope with foo.. Love you guys E. CAZIER

                      

I forgot to mention that I was the only zim guy on my plane over. Its crazy how the Lord blesses you, cause i got lost in the South africa airport. And litteraly missed my plane. I talked to so many people asking where to go, and they would just look at me and keep walking. I just prayed and guessed which way to go, and was right! I like had to run to catch my plane, and was praying so hard i would catch it. I knew i was too late, so i was praying like crazy. by some insane chance, my plane boarding time was delayed 20 minutes so i barely made it. wow. What the lord does for people who pray!

Yah my misson is tough. So so so tough. I need some advice. The people here are super poor. im not joking when i say that their houses are smaller then living room. Like that is a large house in zimbabwe. In visiting about 40 houses, 2 of them have been the size of our living room. In about 150 people weve talked to, ive only been rejected once. Its not a problem getting into peoples houses obviously, the problem is getting hem to focus and listen. Everyone knows about god and how to pray. Havent met someone who doesnt yet. One thing that is crazy, is no women wear bras. And even to church they dont. Had a lady feed her baby right next to me in sacrement meeting lol. I was just sitting there waving at the baby and she pulled down her shirt and started feeding haha. Im also like the only white guy here. Everytime i see the other white missonaries it feels like home more lol. Miss you guys alot. Miss Ry, Dad, and Mom Elder Caz