October 01, 2012- Almost like a phone call

hi mom im still alive

(It's always a relief every week to read that he’s alive.)

i see Grandpa got my letter, I hope he liked it.. guess what i bought today?  i bought a freakin sword! they have swords for voodoo. and i bought one. and i got that stupid family thing you wanted. and my debit card wouldnt let me pull money out…fix it please! make sure there is more than 75 bucks in the account. 150 might be better. and make sure they have the card work in benin and togo. I still need Sprite for my project…you will find out what it is in a few months... be patient.

How are the kids and why dont they send me letters? I know Wes turned off the internet, so cant smartphones run as wi fi too? i was just thinking about that the other day…I just miss them. I guess you really don’t need internet for Christmas… well i dont plan on skyping you.. i dont have a good way to do it.

i havent got a package yet from Kris and Jerine. nobody brings me mail. it irritates me. I need my mail.

As for *****, she will do what she wants. we can want for other people but sometimes they just have to grow up for themselves. I learned that. im pretty freakin smart. i hang around old people at home because they arent dumb. their wisdom rubbed off on me. young people are dumb and do dumb stuff. I get along better with old people. I started a gratitude journal and I write stuff in it I am grateful for…like good shovels…if ya gotta work ya gotta have a good shovel. Not a stick with a piece of metal tied to it…that just makes work hard. I am grateful for good tools at home.

i baptized a girl saturday. her names grace.. thats all you get about the mission for this week.

I ate a jelly sandwich. Send plum jam…figure out how to do it. It will be the last idea you think of…haha!

You asked if I was going to put up a tree this Christmas… and where am i gonna find a tree? dont send ornaments.. they dont have christmas trees here... dont send me ornaments...oreos and food is better to send and it makes me happier. dont waste any space... that might ruin christmas for the second year in a row. All I got last year was pretty much stuff for my mission. christmas stays christmas..i dont care how old i am... i better get good stuff for christmas. i dont care if im 60 my wife had better get me good stuff… i asked for a .270 last year and i got white shirts.. if your that far off this year it will be the second year in a row. ya buy 60 year olds guns... i like guns.

haha... i miss Christmas

I know you wanted a gun, but why buy a gun to have it sit two years?  Maybe that's you bday present when you come home Jan 1 2014.

how many years have grandpas guns sat... he still enjoys them.. you have no idea how happy i would be to get a .270 for my birthday… and i still have all my tonka trucks and they make me happy... times change and boys turn to men.

It's Halloween time. You should be feeling right at home with the voodoo stuff around! Lol!

every day is halloween here

I cannot imagine!  Any dried monkey heads to take pictures of for Ryan? I will make sure that's your Christmas- birthday present waiting when you get home.

AAHHH!!! that might just make up for 1 ruined christmas!!! and for the christmas just before i come home.

ya by the way im 128 pounds and loving wearing the pants with a belt cause if i dont they fall down. Joke- haha! no... i might be 140-145- pure fat, not a chance to build muscle here. I like our email chat times. It makes me happy. its really is nice to be able to do that... it makes it feel like a phone call.

well i have to go teach someone so i have to go.. have a good week.

 

Elder G and Grace...not sure which one she is...

 

September 24, 2012- Food, Glorious Food!

hi mom im still alive

i didnt get an email from wes yet. and moon pies would be nice
sometime too... the banana ones. i havent tried to use my debit card. i
got a package from grandma. She sent me freeze dried yogurt and ice cream. they are good. And candy and jerky and seeds.

I told the Stake President what you said about your plaque saying Jan 2014 and that's when you'd be home and he laughed!  He says that sounds just
like you!

it might be jan 1 2014 but it will be jan 2014. i have no idea how hot it is... maybe 80 today, not too bad. quit complaining about the cold there.. you have no idea how nice it is to live in a climate like ours. more chili powder would be nice. the freeze dried cheese was alright i put it in chili. It worked.

One thing I noticed, i dont have hayfever...there is no hay here. Basketball shorts would be nice for Christmas pjs. its too hot here for pants. Don’t put the tabernacle choir on the flash drive for music. im still a kid from east garland utah who is stuck in his ways and alwways will be. I didnt listen to church music at home and i dont here…except for Christmas music and stuff like 17 miracles and the Nashville band.

So Mom, you want a walk through Fire horse???? if you can afford a walk through fire you wouldnt be at work today. Haha! of course i want to go to burns ranch when i get home... i would rather there than disney world. It would be awesome.

ive been eating a bit better.. people keep stealing my potatoes. And yes im always tired still from the malaria. the french is still and will always be hard for me. dont send food storage instant potatoes.. you know i dont like those.. i buy them here cause its easy for me cause i know how to live within my 4 dollars a day. i can buy 2.2 pounds for a dollar. im gonna go buy sprite and chicken tonight. im working on something so i drink lots of sprite... i cant tell you what im working on but you will find out soon enough.

i havent heard from Elder Manning yet... he would really like cookies from me sent to the MTC. That would be nice if you could do something like that for him. a package would be good for him.. even if it means not sending me one..he really likes mt dew and dr pepper. and cookies. just a little something extra every now and again for him and Elder Rhodes might be
nice for them.. maybe just christmas and birthdays. they would be
happy.

we have spent a ton of money on the cyber today…gotta go. Love to all.

How ladies pack everything on their heads here.

Freeze dried ice cream goodness!

Chicken and Sprite...wonder why he needs to drink so much Sprite?

 

 

September 17, 2012- I Vant Your Blood!

im still alive…in that package some Excedrin and some Advil…lots and lots of Advil would be nice.

So, Ryan gets to pull weeds for getting in trouble? Haha! pullin weeds sucks.. the worse of all punishments.. really.. its bad. Did he at least hide the keys good? hes a clever little cuss... i taught him well... hes just too dingy to know to stay downstairs if he doesnt want to go to bed. if he was really smart he could get upstairs and watch your tv. i used to get in the family room behind your chair in fielding every night.

no baptisms... not for a while. i get to speak in church all the
time now. No, I won’t likely send an SD card home soon… ill send one in december 2013 or january 2014. i might ask sister leavitt to upload some pictures and send them. I hope the kids were able to find my location on Google maps last week.

feel free to send me some frosted mini wheats and some of those freeze dried dinner things, any kind. They are perfect. get more than just lasagna... change it up a lot. i havent ate the cookie dough yet but tonight i start. so feel free to send more. i havent got a package again yet.

So I got my blood checked for a Benin residence card this week. We had to go get the doctor and bring him to the mission home to do it. I think Sister Leavitt was going to send you pictures. I don’t think I will be here the rest of the mission though, but ya just never know.

its always hot here. there is never a cold day. no one in my appartment speaks English now. It’s hard sometimes. Yes, there is Halloween here…they have halloween all year round…its called voodoo. You see people dressed up for voodoo stuff all the time.

 

Elder G sweating bullets over this...he dislikes needles.

His Companion looks ill...

From Sister Leavitt’s email: The blood test can only be performed by the military police medical team...As the missionaries were called by name we had some drama, but mostly apprehension…at times it was funny and I have attached some pictures to illustrate…a picture is worth a thousand words they say.  The doctors gave them an examination, looked at the eyes, tongue and listened to their heart, then took their blood pressure, then took the sample. 

September 10, 2012- All I Want for Christmas

hi mom. im still alive.

I decided for my Christmas package I want

santa hats, caramel nougats that you make, christmas eve pjs... just cause im in freakin africa doesnt mean you get out of buying me that…and lots of kool aid. A flash drive filled with Christmas music and put the soundtrack to 17 miracles on it too…please. a los al calendar, plum jam, dinner things sue sent, combat boots, dickies socks for the combat boots.

i missed out on ouidah… last week with malaria…but oh well. I hear it freaked you out, Sister Leavitt told me that…you were never concerned if i was sick at home. I think you thought i was always faking it. oh well... im still alive.

My companion is elder rakotondrasoa. We call him Rako. there is no american in my apartment now. theres me, my malagash a French and some other guy from Africa in the Congo. As for my apartment, I will try to look for it here its by the lake. Its located at gbedjromede sainte rita. i live on the corner of rue 148 and rue 880 about 5 houses in  if you go left . with a white roof.

 

Well, send me good stuff in my next package. not a chance i will be happy with mcdonalds when I get home... and the roadhouse is still the first meal at home.  i havent lost my standards yet…

 

 

September 4, 2012- Angels in the Field with Messages

Just got off the phone with your son.  He had Malaria and called Sister Weed, she immediately put him on the Malaria pack which we give the missionaries.  He said Sunday he was really sick, then the meds kicked in and Monday was a bit rough but today he is doing great.  Don't let the name Malaria scare you...it is very common here kind of like having a very bad flu.  We keep the missionaries stocked on the medications both to prevent and take care of it.  Your son did exactly what ask them to do and he is now on the mend....I will keep watch over him...trust me.
Sister Leavitt

All better now!  Thank goodness for the Senior Missionary couples. They are the angels watching over our Elders (and Sisters as applicable).

September 03, 2012- Malaria!

So this morning about the same time that Elder G usually begins emailing, I received an email from Elder Christensen's Mom.  He wanted to make sure that I knew that Elder Gundersen would not be writing today as he has MALARIA!  Happy Labor Day / Happy Birthday to me!

So not happy about this...but it happens.  After all, this is Africa.

MALARIA-

Infection with malaria parasites may result in a wide variety of symptoms, ranging from absent or very mild symptoms to severe disease and even death. Malaria disease can be categorized as uncomplicated or severe (complicated). In general, malaria is a curable disease if diagnosed and treated promptly and correctly.
All the clinical symptoms associated with malaria are caused by the asexual erythrocytic or blood stage parasites. When the parasite develops in the erythrocyte, numerous known and unknown waste substances such as hemozoin pigment and other toxic factors accumulate in the infected red blood cell. These are dumped into the bloodstream when the infected cells lyse and release invasive merozoites. The hemozoin and other toxic factors such as glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI) stimulate macrophages and other cells to produce cytokines and other soluble factors which act to produce fever and rigors and probably influence other severe pathophysiology associated with malaria.
Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes, particularly those with mature trophozoites, adhere to the vascular endothelium of venular blood vessel walls and do not freely circulate in the blood. When this sequestration of infected erythrocytes occurs in the vessels of the brain it is believed to be a factor in causing the severe disease syndrome known as cerebral malaria, which is associated with high mortality.

Incubation Period

Following the infective bite by the Anopheles mosquito, a period of time (the "incubation period") goes by before the first symptoms appear. The incubation period in most cases varies from 7 to 30 days. The shorter periods are observed most frequently with P. falciparum and the longer ones with P. malariae.
Antimalarial drugs taken for prophylaxis by travelers can delay the appearance of malaria symptoms by weeks or months, long after the traveler has left the malaria-endemic area. (This can happen particularly with P. vivax and P. ovale, both of which can produce dormant liver stage parasites; the liver stages may reactivate and cause disease months after the infective mosquito bite.)
Such long delays between exposure and development of symptoms can result in misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis because of reduced clinical suspicion by the health-care provider. Returned travelers should always remind their health-care providers of any travel in areas where malaria occurs during the past 12 months.

Uncomplicated Malaria

The classical (but rarely observed) malaria attack lasts 6-10 hours. It consists of

• a cold stage (sensation of cold, shivering)
• a hot stage (fever, headaches, vomiting; seizures in young children)
• and finally a sweating stage (sweats, return to normal temperature, tiredness).

Classically (but infrequently observed) the attacks occur every second day with the "tertian" parasites (P. falciparum, P. vivax, and P. ovale) and every third day with the "quartan" parasite (P. malariae).

More commonly, the patient presents with a combination of the following symptoms:

• Fever
• Chills

• Sweats
• Headaches

• Nausea and vomiting
• Body aches

• General malaise

In countries where cases of malaria are infrequent, these symptoms may be attributed to influenza, a cold, or other common infections, especially if malaria is not suspected. Conversely, in countries where malaria is frequent, residents often recognize the symptoms as malaria and treat themselves without seeking diagnostic confirmation ("presumptive treatment").

Physical findings may include:

• Elevated temperatures
• Perspiration

• Weakness
• Enlarged spleen

• Mild jaundice
• Enlargement of the liver

• Increased respiratory rate

Diagnosis of malaria depends on the demonstration of parasites in the blood, usually by microscopy. Additional laboratory findings may include mild anemia, mild decrease in blood platelets (thrombocytopenia), elevation of bilirubin, and elevation of aminotransferases.

 

Taking a ride...

 

August 27, 2012- Surprises

Guess what??? We found out that the new senior couple going in December is from Logan. Gma and Gpa work with them at the Bishop's storehouse. 

i got your package with the new debit card and i got grandmas. you should tell her how to send packages cheap. i havent ate the cookie dough yet but i had cockroaches for dinner! Grandma paid 58 bucks. and it wasnt as big as the white ones. and no i didnt share the candy with the kids. kids dont like it here. and if you could… elder Bukasa wants to know if in the next package you can send one of those metallic oil vial things.

We had a baptism this week too. his name was gilbert and hes 17.

I am really liking Elder Bukasa, he’s down to earth. He found a CTR ring so you don’t need to worry about that. We are teaching lots of lessons.

I’ve decidied Wes is a clever guy. i use a bunch of his sayings to remind me to be grateful for home and everything there all the time.

So grandpas getting married…that will be weird for me. I don’t know her, I didn’t have her in school.  If he’s happy im happy. I will just have to get used to it.

winter 2014 starts before i get home. So I plan to work the summer and then go to school fall 2014, and the plan is to wait a bit to find a wife. im broke. It will be not so bad to save since I plan on living with you and Wes forever in my room.

So that’s cool you and Wes are going to Belgium and stuff. Good luck with the passports and that. I have seen the papers for a visa for Belgium and it is a lot. I hope you don’t have to do all that to visit.

I missed the fair. so you should talk to this new couple and ask them if they speak french. sister leavitt asked me and i dont know. It will be cool to have someone from home here.

 

The chapel here...

Gilbert

How I'm wearing my flip flops these days.  Aren't you proud?