Area: Zimbabwe, Bulawayo/Nketa
Companion: Elder Gagon
My POWERFUL Family,
First of all, YOU SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT THE ZIMBABWEAN MONEY! (we went to a charity event that sells authentic African goods) Ha Ha! Do you know how hard it is for me to find crisp new money. I was wanting to collect one of every note and frame it. So I am guessing I will be on my extended transfer for next year, so...next year buy one crisp note of every kind for me, okay?
Ha Ha! Okay, now that that is over, my week was fantastic. I did some soul searching though and I feel like I am making some progress. The burden is becoming lighter. The journal is not going well. I think I only wrote two times this week. I am having a bit of a challenge with that one. Thank you for the inspiring and lifting words. I can feel the power and love of your prayers.
As for the miracles and blessings I have received this week, I will begin with one of my favorite blessings. Elder Wae used to work in this area and since this his last transfer (and week) he requested to visit the branch this last Sunday (yesterday). The branch invited him to come up and to bear his testimony. That was a blessing to me. Elder Wae is one of the closest friends I have and these are my last moments of mission with him. I bore my testimony immediately following his. The spirit was burning inside me.
Well, I was able to witness a couple of POWERful experiences/miracles. This week we were referred to two random guys around the age of 22 or so. We met with them during the week along with two more of thier freinds. The lesson was good and they were somewhat interested. They even agreed to us walking with them to church. We planned on visiting them before Sunday. When we came for the appointment they were not home, but we found there sisters. They eagerly welcomed us to teach them. We found a responsable male and agreed to share with them. They accepted the message and invitation to be baptized. We shared how we were planning on walking with thier brothers to church and they said they would love to join. On Sunday, we again only found the sisters. Though, the sisters were prepared and ready for church. So the referrals were not POWERFUL, but the Lord was able to lead us to prepared investigators through them.
Another miracle was the visit we had with sisters Mi and Li. Mi was the one who randomly came to church last week when we only had one lesson, the one we found through the man calling out to us on the street. Our first visit with them this week both sisters were very interested. We had finished sharing about the Restoration. After testifying of the messages truth mi asked, "How can I know if this is the church for me?" We then explained that that answer would only come from her Father in Heaven and that she must ask him in faith and receive her answer by the power of the Holy Ghost. Our next visit was planned for Friday night. We pulled up with a member and knocked on the gate. No one came out. Seeing that we had arrived late and it was 8:30 we assumed they had retired to bed and we left.
On Sunday, we found that neither Sister Mi or Sister Li had come. We planned on visiting them that evening to find out why. We stopped by earlier to let them know we would be coming. They were not home, but the mom came out. The mom does not speak any english so I attempted to speak to her in broken Ndebele. It sounded like she was saying Mi went to her church and had not yet returned. We were a bit saddened, but told the mom we would come back later.
Upon reaching the home that evening we knocked and...no response. When we were about to give up a khombi dropped a load of people off on the main road. I saw someone running our way. It was Li! Yo! The Holy Ghost placed us at her door right when she was coming back from...wherever. We greeted and Sister Li welcomed us in. We found out that the family had been waiting for us Friday night. Even Mi's parents were there. Apparently, we did not knock load enough on the gate, because they waited up until past 9:00pm. We had also called, but we found out we had been given the wrong number. We also found out that Sister Mi had not gone to church at all because her mother had her go home with her for the weekend. Sister Mi even walked in at the end of the lesson.
The most POWERFUL experience during the visit was when we asked Li if she had prayed and if she got her answer. She said yes! We asked how she received the answer and she said that she just felt it. Yo! These two are POWERFUL. Sister Mi shared with us that she thinks she is getting her answer, so we shared a bit about how her answer will come. We are very excited for them.
The last miracle to share is that Brother D is back! We had found him our first week together, but he went to South for exams. When we passed his home we saw the lights on. We knocked on the door and he opened and welcomed us in. He had arrived Saturday evening, so we just caught him home on Sunday. He had some questions about the Book of Mormon and how he can get an answer to prayer. He actually told us, "Right now I am looking for a church to attend and if I can get an answer from God that would be best." We are excited for this baba.
Well, I will just leave those experiences for now.
I just downloaded the talks off of the church website. They are in mp3 format so I can play them on my speakers.
To be honest I do not think I can think about voting. I do not want to think about other things than the work, you know. The only thing I can say is vote for the MORMON! Ha Ha! I do not want to vote until I am no longer on the Lord's errand.
Some of the members told me about the hurricane. Signs of the times, neh? Do you know if the church has some clean up crews there? I have not heard from Elder Miller yet. I sent him a message.
Yebo! Hopefully we will skype again. This Christmas will be different this year. The whole mission will not be together. Do not worry about emailing president. I just do not want you to worry him. The mission president has a lot to deal with and I do not want my self or my family to add to the much stress he already has. So if you want to chat with President Cook that is cool. Just help him by not worrying him about things. Does that make sense? I was not sure how to word that.
The African charity, city creek, what what sounds like a wonderful family tradition to start. Even the other thing sounds POWERFUL!
The work and my companion are POWERFUL like nuts! Elder Gagon is from Provo, Utah. He was going to Utah State for college though.
Now for my package. I tried sending my first package today and they refused to send it because there are fragile things in there. They told me I have to do it the expensive way which I do not have the cash for. So I am going to wait for President Cook to come for Zone Conference and I am going to give that package and maybe another to him to send in Harare. I am sorry. I wanted to get this package to you before your birthday, but it probably will not happen.
Well, I love you all like nuts! I look forward to next week. No photos this week. I had to go to a internet cafe that i cannot put my flashdrives and memory cards in. So next week for photos. May the Lord bless you in you lives. Remember, loose your life in this life so that you may gain your life in the next life, if you hold on to you life here (caught up in the world and do not live the gospel) you will loose your life in the next.
Keep the Faith
L O V E like a DISCIPLE of JESUS CHRIST
Elder TOM
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