Letter from Feb 21 2012

Hey there fellow citizen in the household of God. :)

-Ephesians 2:19

Ha Ha! I am happy to hear you are not freaked out (he didn't write on his usual day)  Yeah, so, we had Zone conference yesterday and afterwards we just went to the area.  So today (Tuesday) is our P-Day. I thought they would have told you, but that is okay.

I am also glad to here that Charles is well. I am also glad he has learned from mission. Mission really sets a pattern for life. Charles is POWERFUL! You can tell him I say hi and that I say he is POWERFUL!

I love mission, especially this mission. Crazy things happen for sure. You can also really see the hand of the Lord in your life. Mission just helps you to open your "spiritual" eyes. With the talking to people on the khombi, I just really want to be someone who can reach out and speak, have a conversation with, and just gain a relationship with anyone and everyone one. I want to be a blessing to everyone I meet.

I have kind of stopped taking pictures. With the companion I have now picture taking is just...dead. I am hoping I will be more excited about pictures next transfer, but I also want to make a goal of taking photos now so I can get back into it. I am very sorry. I know you like photos and I have even gained a testimony of photos now. I like them a lot more now. I hope I will get back into it soon.

Thank you for sending those "dearElders" I will look out for them.

I will definitely be thinking of Grandma and Grandpa. I will pray for them and also Aunt Ruth. Thank you for letting me know how they are.

So, like I was telling Jordan, Domboshawa is POWERFUL! We are so excited and feel so blessed! Working in the area has been limited because of the Typhoid campaign. The campaign takes half the week (sometimes more) and half the day. Also, in Domboshawa it takes us an hour and a half to two hours to get to the area. But the area is doing great though! We are finding a lot of POWERFUL people. But like I was saying, the organization of the Branch was done on Sunday. President James (amazing and wonderful man, a true choice spirit of God and second counselor to President Dube) has been involved in the creation of the Branch and he was the one to come Sunday and organize the Branch. Woah, God really does call men. The man called to be Branch President is President T.  What was amazing was that President T did not have the Melchizedek Priesthood or the Aaronic Priesthood; also, he is a drinker (Word of Wisdom issues). He has been a member for only a year and he has never been a strong member. What happened is that President Dube and President James had a training and interview for all priesthood holders and their wives on Saturday. It came to a point were they interviewed everyone...or that was what they thought. They did not feel right (Presidents Dube and James). They asked if everyone had been interviewed and they were told yes. They still did not feel right. So they went out to where everyone was gathered and found President T (at the time Brother T). He asked if he had been interviewed and he said no. You see, what happened is that President T was not planning on going to the training/interview because he did not even have the priesthood (because the meeting was for priesthood holders), but his wife dragged him there. After the interview with President T President Dube and James Felt the spirit strongly. They knew it was to be him. When they called him back to interview him and extend the call it was then that they found out that he did not have the priesthood. Ha Ha! So on Sunday he was called as the Branch President and he was given both priesthoods. It was an amazing experience and I felt so blessed. God, not men, really does call men in this church. I believe that President T was called because of his wife. Sister T may be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, member in Domboshawa. She does too much. When I saw President T take his seat at the front I said to myself, "he looks like a Branch President." He has struggles, but he has a lot of love. He and his wife have been married 22 years and even though he drinks he has never raised a hand against his wife and he has never raised his voice to her. He is a family man. He has love. I know he will be a wonderful Branch President.

We have to work with the members. They did not like President T being called. Every member knows about his drinking problem and they did not like that he was called when he did not have the Priesthood. So as missionaries we are planning to visit all the members and talk to them about the situation. To let them know he is called of God and he needs their support. It is just like Paul. He was a murderer, but God still called him. Even Alma the Younger. He fought the church, but he was called.

I love you all so much. I know this church is lead by the Godhead. By revelation.

Love you like nuts!
Elder Tom