White Rhinos

This weekwas my last zone conference. On the way down to zone
conference, we passed by the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, which is a
sandveld of the Kalahari desert! It was a lot of fun. We saw some
giraffe, a kudu or two, some white rhino's some zebra and springbok,
and a dung beetle rolling around a huge ball of dung. The rhino's got
exceptionally close to us in our jeep. It was great. It was nice to
go before I leave. I enjoyed it very much. I was just disappointed
that there are no elephants in that reserve. Maybe next time. But it
was fun, we all enjoyed ourselves. Then we traveled down to Gaborone
for zone conferece. It was great as well. They were talking about
their goals for next year, and it was sad to realize that I wouldn't
be a part of that, but the mission is going to continue to do well.
Those new sisters don't even realize how much they have to look
forward to. Zone confrence was good, but I missed my area and my
people. Zone conference hit us kind of hard, because we missed three
days, and when we got back it was Saturday evening, so we didn't
really have time to invite people to church, and it showed. We only
had around 70 people this week, and from our area there were only
eight investigators that showed up! Eish, leaving the area is not
good. But the ones getting baptized on Saturday were in attendance.
I am very excited for their baptisms! It will be so great! We should
have 3-5 people from our area getting baptized this Saturday. I say
three to five, because I am not sure if two kids will be allowed to
get baptized by their parents, but we will see. Hopefully. So, this
week will be a great one. I look forward to these last two weeks here
in Francistown. Gosh, I am really going to miss this place. I can't
believe it is almost over.

Pictures from Baptism

Roots

This week was good. It was a little hectic. There was a huge storm
on Friday evening that destroyed a lot of houses and uprooted a lot of
trees, and destroyed most of the billboards around the town. None of
us, the missionaries, or members were affected. It was pretty crazy
driving through the town on our way home and seeing the damage.
Botswana is not used to storms like that I guess. It wasn’t even a
bad one compared to the storms we get in the Midwest. But it did alot
of damage here for these people. Especially the ones living in
poverty. So, that was the most interesting part of this week. We
also finally got to watch general conference, and one of the speakers
talked about being rooted deep in the gospel. And that applied so
well to what happened the night before. Those huge trees were blown
right over because they were not deeply rooted. I hope the same would
not happen to us as Satan sends his storms and his mighty winds. It
is so important to be deeply rooted in your faith. That is one thing
I learned from this storm. The church was full again this week.
There weren’t enough chairs again. The kids were sitting on the
floor. Gerald needs to split again. I think there were 126 people in
attendance this week! It is so exciting to see that the excitement
has not yet died off, these people are dedicated. I love the work
here. It is a very exciting time to be here. I have holy envy for
the sister that gets to replace me, that will probably be entering the
MTC this week! Lucky girl!

Rain

Another great week has come and gone here in Francistown. We have a
lot of people progressing towards baptisms, hopefully, if all goes
well, I will get to see four or five or more on the 20th! We are
working really hard for that. We have some good, dedicated people we
are teaching. Well, it did rain this week, which is great for
Botswana, but bad for the church. People here are afraid of rain, and
stay in their homes when it rains, and it was raining Sunday morning.
When sister ChirChir and I woke up, we both said...."Oh no!! People
won't come to church!!" And we were only somewhat right. We still had
a good number of people come out and join us. It stopped raining
right before church started, so more came late. But in sacrament
meeting, we had around 60 people. Which is about half of the people
that came last week. So,the rain stopped alot of people from coming,
but we got to see who the dedicated people were. Church was just
better this week. It was less hectic. I did a lot to help the Relief
Society group leader get more organized, and we had a much better
class this week. It also helped that we got Gospel Principles manuals
this week to use as well. So, the work is going great here. It is
very exciting. I wish all of you could be here to experience this.
We are making history. Francistown also became its own zone. So, now
there are three zones in Botswana; when I came on mission there was
one! Now, there are three! This mission is completely different from
the one that I came to a year and a half ago! Wow, and the changes
are so exciting. So, that is the news from Francistown. One more
thing though, we had a very interesting Friday evening. Sister
ChirChir and I were walking form a member's home to our car, and as we
were passing by this house, the little girl wanted to greet us. The
only problem is, that their two HUGE dogs, also wanted to greet us!
When they came barking to the gate, I immediately went to the car, but
my companion stayed outside the gate in the street to greet the little
girl. Well, the dogs beat the girl to it. Sister ChirChir got
attacked by these two huge dogs, and bit on both arms, and her left
hand! It is really a great thing that it was raining earlier, because
her rain jacket saved her forearms from major bites. But her hand got
bit pretty bad, you could see the bone on the pinky finger! She is
fine now, but dogs and missionaries don't mix. So, that was an
interesting experience we had this week. But don't worry, she is
fine, the dogs had their rabies shots, which we were also grateful
for. Well, I am hoping for another good week here on mission, but I
know it will be because we FINALLY get to watch general conference!!!
Only a month late!!! But i am excited to listen to the prophet and
apostles. And I hope everyone else is as well!!

No room

Well, another great and exciting week has gone by here in
Francistown! The new branch I am working in, Gerald, is exploding,
seriously! The first week, last week, we had 85 people in
attendance,and this week, by my count, we had 134!!! I still don't
know how we all managed to fit. People were sitting outside, and
standing outside. The field is truly white here in Gerald, my mission
president was right. It is just too exciting to witness. It was
funny because after church my companion and I were talking, and were
amazed with the number of people that came to church, yet we were
talking about how many people were missing in action. There should
have been so many more than that, so I really don't know what we will
do next week, because we anticipate even more to come. We are having
a meeting today with President Pouslen, over skype (technology is
amazing!), to discuss the options. The Lord really has His hand in
the work here, and I will be forever grateful to be a part of it. I
really can't take any credit for any of the good happening here. I
just get to be the lucky one to see it progress so quickly. I am sad
it will only be for six weeks. The branch president here says they
begged and begged for missionaries for over five years! Now he has
ten missionaries, and not enough room for all the people that want the
blessings of this gospel. These people have been waiting for this for
a very long time. Patience, it is all about patience, and then when
we continue in faith, and patience, the Lord really blesses us, and
there literally will not be room enough to receive it, just as He
promises in malachi. I have literally been able to see this promise
fulfilled, there literally is not room enough to recieve all of these
people that are ready and willing to accept this gospel. So, next
week I should have more updates about how we are going to handle the
blessings here in Gerald. But until then, I will just continue to
work hard, and do the Lord's will in the Lord's way.

Standing Room Only

So, I made it to Francistown and I am loving it already. The people here are even more wonderful than the people in Gaborone. We have been assigned to open the new branch, and a new area, with a total of no investigators to start with. Sounds like fun, huh? It really was, except for the fact that it was 41'C! So stinking HOT! But we went and met everyone in the neighborhood around the church! I think we know almost everyone already in the neighborhood by name, and are teaching more than half of them! We really worked very hard to meet people and invite them to the opening of the church in Gerald! And it paid off! We had 85 people in attendance this week! That is more than was in the branch in main town, they had 80! There was standing room only in the little house that we meet in! People just kept coming and coming, as I was giving my talk I had to almost yell so everyone could hear me. It was so great! How many branches have opened, and had 85 people in attendance the first week? Not very many I am sure! It was very exciting! President wanted the branches to split in four months, but they may need to do it before then, or get a bigger building. I don't know where we are going to fit all of these people. It was just a great week. The main problem I forsee we will run into is that people here cohabit too much, because they cannot afford to get married, so they just live together. Seems to be a huge problem. But we will find those that are married, and ready for this gospel! Or we will get them married and then baptize them. This past Sunday there were 7 baptisms into the branch! It was great. The work is really booming here, and I am very grateful to get to see this part of Botswana before I head home. So, that is Francistown. The work is great! We went from having no investigators and in one week, we have about 30. The church is true, and the work is great.

New Area

Ok, I have to make this quick because I don't have much time, I have to head up to Francistown! Woohooo! Yup, I got transferred up north, to francistown! They are splitting the branch up there, and this time they are sending sisters! I have wanted this my whole mission. I am very excited. It will be a great last seven and a half weeks! President told me we need to work diligently because he wants to split the branches again in four months, and then again in another four months, and then create a district then, and then a year from that, so in less than two years, he wants Francistown to beocme a stake! Eish....lots of responsibility these last few weeks. No room to get trunky :). but I am excited, but that is all I can write today.

I ate Chicken Feet - and I liked it!

This week was Botswana Independence Day. On the 30th. Which means most people went home to their villages and the cattle posts. However, some people did remain. Most that did were drunk the whole weekend though. Which made missionary work slow this past week. But we endured it well. We did meet some promising people. However, there weren’t very many people at church because most were still at home. So, it was an ok week. The four people who got baptized last week all stayed in town for their confirmations. That was great! Well, we are working hard still. This weekend will be an exciting one for us here in Botswana. An area seventy, Elder Bricknell will be here in Botswana giving the Saints here fireside on what they must do to become a stake! It will be very exciting. I am really looking forward to it. They are going to make a goal to become a stake in June. So, I will miss it, but I am very excited for them. As missionaries in my second transfer we made a goal for Bots to become a stake in the next two years! And we are going to achieve that goal! I am so excited for them. Um…other than that, it really was a pretty slow week because of the holiday. Hopefully this coming week will be more exciting. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your prayers.

Always Smile

This week we had four investigators get baptized! One family. The Pelaelo family. Consisting of a mom with her two children. The father passed away three years ago. They were all very excited to be baptized, but they were so afraid of the water, especially because it was cold. The little girl, Kwangu, she is ten, and she cried coming out of the water. But afterwards, she was all smiles. And the mma was very scared as well. She felt the water, and did not want to go in, but she did, and afterwards , she was also all smiles. Africans are afraid of water. Especially this family. But they did it, and we were very happy for them! And they were happy to each other. And I am positive their father/husband was also very happy for them. And he wlll be even happier when they can go to the temple and be sealed together. They will be an eternal family soon! It was a great feeling watching them be baptized. Very great. The other investigator of our being baptized was Kaizer Moatshe. Kaizer, all on his own decided this year, 2010, he was going to change his life. He quit smoking and drinking in January, and then in June he met the missionaries. Coincidence? I think not. So, he was baptized on Sunday as well! It was also very great! He was so happy. He has made so many changes in his life. And more are yet to come. He is a great man, and will be a good priesthood holder. It was a great day yesterday. I was little disappointed at church because our investigators that we were hoping would make it, didn’t. We still had seven investigators show up! Which is great, but so many others that did not make it . I was a little discouraged during gospel principles, but then once we got the Pelaelo’s and Kaizer ready for their baptism all was well. I was so happy! It was a great day, and hopefully the others will show up next week! They better! They just don’t realize what we are offering them! But one day, they will, and they will wish that they had listened to us earlier. So, the work is going well. We are working hard, and striving to bring as many souls unto Christ as we can. My only complaint, is that it is stinking HOT here! So hot! My legs were dripping sweat as we were teaching a lesson yesterday! Eish, summer in Botswana is here, and it is no joke! But don’t worry, I put on my SPF 100 sunscreen every day J haha. Seriously though, I do. Alright thanks for reading. Have a good week. Remember to always smile.

24 baptisms on the 24th?

This week was another great week. We are extremely busy these
days. We have appointments every hour of the day. Not much time to
do finding on our own. Yet we are still teaching new people every
week. Why? Because the Lord is blessing us, and our members are
doing the finding for us. Just the way it should be. It is really
exciting. Seriously, this week our recent convert, Brother Zhou!!!
Called us and said, come to my house, there are two people here who
want to join the church! So, of course we went, and we put them on
date for the 24th of October  These miracles amaze me every day.
This week while planning we were discussing all of the people we are
teaching, and we decided we would put most everybody we are teaching
on date for the 24th of October! We already have eight people with a
baptismal date of the 24th of October, and we are planning on putting
on 9 more this week! So, we should have 17 people preparing to be
baptized on 24th of October. And we shared this in district meeting
this week, and the district is excited about it, so they are also
going to push and put everyone on date for the 24th of October. So,
as a district our Big Hairy Audacious Goal is to have 24 people be
baptized on the 24th of October. How cool would that be! That is the
goal, but realistically, it might not happen. But on our side with 17
people on date for the 24th, we are bound to get a few out of it. The
goal we turned into the mission president for the month of October was
3. So out of the 17 plus people with a date for October, we should
far exceed our goal! Exciting, huh? I’m sure your prayers and
support will help us to achieve our goals! We are very excited about
the work! Coming into this area, everyone told me it was a dead area,
and they had considering closing it at one point. Really? This is an
amazing area! The best area I have been in! So much potential in
this area! I really think I will get to see my goal of seeing 20
baptisms before I go home. On this coming Sunday we will be having 4
of our investigators getting baptized! We can’t wait! The work is
great. I am loving every minute of it. On a lighter note, this week
my companion made fish this week, only the entire fish! So, I ate
every part of it, the head, the eyeballs, everything. Interesting.
Not too bad. So, that was this week. Thanks for reading.

Be the Lord's Hands

This week was great. We had 13 investigators come to church this week! I think that might be the most investigators I have come to church in a single week! We were excited, yet there were still some investigators that normally come, that were not in attendance. So, we are hoping that next week will be even better attendance at church. Our gospel principles class was very full. It was very exciting. But not as exciting as after church. After church the Elders had two baptisms in the family ward. One was of an eternal investigator, Boitumelo Bakoko. He has been coming to church with his wife for the past 4 years! But never would agree to be baptized. Until yesterday! He did it! And he was so happy, and one year from now, they are preparing to go to the temple to be sealed and become an etenal family. That is the way he put it in his testimony! It was awesome! Everyone was so excited for him!!!! And then in the Singles ward, we had a university student, Refilwe Kabelo, be baptized! That was very exciting! She was very happy to be baptized. She knows the gospel is true, and she is doing great missionary work already. Recent Converts are great. They are all how member missionaries should be. They are so exciting to share the gospel with everyone they know. You can see it in their eyes, and hear it in their testimonies! I think if everyone thought back to the time they were truly converted to the gospel, and started to live that way again, then member missionary work would be what it is supposed to be. Members are crucial for the success of us full time missionaries. Without members the people we find and baptize walk in the front door, and out the back door unnoticed! And when that happens, it is sad. But seeing new members excited about the gospel, that is something that is far better than any feeling I have ever felt in my life. The church is true! If you don't know that, pray about it, find out for yourself, and then please go share that knowledge with others! The blessing you will receive from sharing the gospel with others is unbelievable! So, don't be afraid, just go out there and share your testimony! And I promise the Lord will bless you, and your life will be happier and more peaceful, and so will the lives of those people that you bring to the gospel. Go and be the Lord's hands this week!

2 transfers left

This week another transfer starts, which means I only have two
transfers left. The time really went by way to fast, but a lot is
going to happen these last two transfers. It will be a big couple of
transfers for sister ChirChir and I. This past week we put another
potential priesthood on date. We gave him a baptismal date for the end
of October. That was really great. The only problem is he has
serious Word of Wisdom issues. But we are really going to help him to
overcome those. We had a great lesson with him yesterday. He really
wants to change his life for the better, and we are just what he is
looking for. He read the conference Liahona from 2007,and one of the
talks really changed his perspective. Elder Hallstrom talk entitled
Do It Now, really got him excited to change. He knows he can do it,
and he will. So hopefully we can really help him to change, and he
will be baptized also before I go. Other than that. Not much else to
report on. We are just working hard, and I am just really trying to
stay focused on my purpose here. One of the hardest things in life is
to learn to master yourself, especially your thoughts. Controlling
actions has always been pretty easy for me, but controlling my
thoughts is ridiculously difficult. Hopefully before I go home I will
be better able to control my thoughts, but self-mastery is quite the
difficult thing. But I know it can be done, or the Savior would not
have encouraged us to become perfect. So, perfection is possible.
But it isn’t easy. But one day, I am sure I will get there, if I
continue to work hard at it.

The Heat is On!

This week was good. We set baptismal goals for the next four months. We set BHAG goals (BHAG stand for Big Hairy Audacious Goals, ones that will make us stretch) the goals we are going to try and achieve, and then realistic goals (based on baptisms in the area in the past. And for the next four months, our BHAG goal was 35, our goal is 24, and the realistic goal is twelve. We have 7 people with a baptismal date for September, so we are feeling pretty confident that we will have seven in September, and already have half our realistic goal achieved! The realistic goal is the one we turned in to the mission president, so if things go according to our plans, we will have 200% goal achievement, and everyone will want to know how we did that! It will be awesome! Sister ChirChir and I are working very hard to acheive these goals. But the moment we set them and got all excited, people started ditching their appointments. It was hard not to get discouraged, but we are working through it, and still are confident that we will meet our goals. Like I said last week, I would love to see 20 more baptisms before I go home. And I know I can do it. It will take a lot of hard work, fasting, and prayer (formula for success), but I know we will do it. Botswana will be one step closer to becoming a stake! Unfortunately, I do not think I will be here to see Botswana become a stake. I fear it will be early next year, but I am still excited for when that happens! That will be the best. Botswana is on fire.....literally....it is HOT here again! Eish, summer is coming!

finally.....after 5 years!!!

Dumela all. Sorry there was no post last week. We ran out of time emailing, so I didn’t get the chance. And last week wasn’t very exciting. But this week was VERY excited, and a lot happened. I don’t even know where to begin. First, we had Mission Tour. And the speaker was Elder Dale G. Renlund of the 70 and area presidency here in the Africa Southeast Area. It was great. Really great. He and his wife really taught us a lot about what we need to do to perform miracles for the Lord. He says if we do the best that we can, and keep improving and progressing daily, then the Lord will make up the difference and we will be able to perform miracles for the Lord, but if we ease up, become content, and or fall backwards, then we no longer qualify for the help of the Lord, and will, of course, not perform miracles. It was just really great. We learned many other things from him on how to become more effective, better missionaries for the Lord. Also, Elder Renlund was able to go teaching with my District Leader and his companion, and they planned to take Elder Renlund with them to their eternal investigator, Brother Bakoko, he has been coming to church for 5 years with his wife, but would never agree to a baptismal date, until this week! Elder Renlund went and visited him, and now Bro Bakoko will be getting baptized one the 12 of September, and Elder Renlund will seal him and his wife together next September! Wow, we were so very excited to hear that. I am glad that for most people it does not take a general authority to get them to commit to living the gospel of Jesus Christ! But I am so glad he was able to help out Brother and Sister Bakoko. Yesterday, on our side, we had a husband and a wife get baptized! Yay! It was amazing! David and Rose Gwazarira were baptized! It was so amazing to have a husband and a wife be baptized together! Wow! It was simply incredible; words cannot really describe how that baptism was! It was very very special. They were so happy, and they are also planning on going to the temple in a year from now, if they can save enough money for it. Wow. David and Rose are amazing, David met the missionaries sometime last year and took a pamphlet, actually from Sister Kubheka and Sister Farrell, (thanks JaLeen…and a side note for you, Brother Tekane has a stake calling in the Young Men for Bots! Seriously!) and then David saw Sister Lyon and Sister Toya a few months back, and they started teaching him, and I got to finish up the teaching process, and now they are baptized and planning on going to the temple! It was wonderful! Wow, like I said, I can’t describe it, it was awesome. I can’t wait for the other families we are teaching to also get baptized. We have set a goal to see at least 20 more people be baptized from our area before I leave. I know we can accomplish that. The Lord is really leading us to some great families. So, that is how the work is over here. Other than that, it is really starting to heat up. My companion says how hot it is, and I just tell her to wait, it isn’t hot yet, just like everyone did to me last year. Haha. Botswana is hot my friends. Very hot! It is on fire! I really love it here.

The Lion's Church

This past week, we had eleven of our investigators come to church! It was great. We had prayed and fasted for more investigators to comet to church and progress, and this week it happened. Yet, we still were a little disappointed because two of our progressing families failed to make it to church. But then I realized we had eleven others at church feeling the Spirit, so all was well again. But I was sad for the people that missed. So church was really great yesterday. This week we had a very interesting experience. One of our investigators invited us to go to her church service with her on Thursday. We jumped at the chance. Her church was called Lion of Judah, and the pastors are twins from Ghana. And the whole experience was interesting, to say the least. First interesting thing, they had microphones, yet they met in a small little room, like a conference room in a building. Not very big, no need at all for microphones, and the pastor or prophet or whatever they claim to be yell into it! I just really felt there was no need for that! Also, they sing and dance. And when it is time to pray, they all pray at the same time! And the pastor decides when they finish their prayers, but listening to the pastor and the people next to me, they don’t say anything of substance, and they are all praying at the same time. I am sure they confused God, I was certainly confused anyway. Also this guy, one of the twins, was prophesying that the people who were there would not die until it was their time, until God decided it was their time to go .. I was thinking, wow what a prophecy. I could have told them that. Haha….it was just all so interesting. Everything about it. I did my very best to control my laughter. One thing I know for sure is that the Spirit of God was not there. They were feeling something, but it was not the Spirit. It was the loud speakers, but definitely not the Spirit. His sermon was confusing. To this day, I don’t have any idea what he was trying to say. Going to the true Church yesterday, made me so grateful to have the truth. I learned something at church that will stick with me. Going to the church, really made me realize who true the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is! And I am more grateful than ever to be a member. And it made me want to go out and continue to share this message with others, so they will no longer be confused. Be grateful to be a member of Christ’s church. Be grateful you are not confused. I certainly am.

It's a nice walk!

Eish, you know. Great things happen every week, every day. I know they do, but then I come to sit down and write an entry for the blog, and my mind goes blank, and I can't seem to remember what happened during the week that I could report on. Ha. I must be getting old or something. This week was great! Can't complain. Sister ChirChir and I had the opportunity to walk from the church to our area. Alot of people are complaining that they don't have transport to get to church, so we encourage them to make the sacrifice and walk. We thought it would be a good idea to experience that for ourselves, and we got the opportunity on Saturday to walk home with a few of the investigators children after their primary activity. And come to find out. It really is not that far, and the walk is not hard. It was actually a lot of fun. So now, when people complain about no transport, we can tell them the walk is nice, and that we personally have done it ourselves. So, hopefully that will take care of some of the problems we have getting our investigators to church. It was nice to see what they experience. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be in a walking mission, but then I think how grateful I am for the car, and how much more missionary work we can do because we have a vehicle and can get between appointments much quicker. The great father-led family we are teaching that I am sure I have mentioned, Makesure and Balemogi, are doing so well. They all came to church yesterday, except Makesure never made it in because the youngest, the 4 year old daughter, Mpho, was refusing to go in, he didn't want to cause a scene, so he took her home instead of coming him. We told him later that night when we were teaching, not to let that happen again, that we would sit outside with her. But we were so proud of them for coming. Next time,they all will actually make it in the building! It was great. We got to church early, as usual, and we already had 2 investigators there, and a less active that we have been working with. Church was great yesterday. Fast Sundays are always great though. So, other than that, I can't think of much else to report on. Except I do have a few updates for JaLeen FARRELL, haha. The rest of you may not really care or know who these people are, I but know JaLeen will appreciate these updates. So, JaLeen, I did get your DearElder letter. Thanks, I appreciated that, and I thought this would be the best and quickest way to give you some updates. So here are a few, and maybe...just maybe, I will send a letter with more,but we will see about that one...you know me :) But here are some updates for you. Kgosi Mothei, the less active you worked with for a while, he is engaged to Maipelo. They will be getting married in January! They are doing so well. He is doing great, and changed completely. Also, Brother Tekane baptized Matla last month! And now he witnesses every baptism we have this side! He is doing great! Bro Sima is going to England on his mission, and Mosupi is going to New Zealand! They are very excited for that, and so are the rest of us, and Dorcas is expecting her mission call any time! So, there are a few updates I thought you would be interested in. Thanks for the letter. Enjoy home! I'll be joining you all too soon!

Only 3 transfers left

This week was alright. It ended very nicely. A young man I had taught in my previous area, Kabo Gugah was baptized in the singles ward. It is nice that the wards are so close, because I was able to attend the baptism the Elders were having in the family ward, and still make it in plenty of time to see Kabo get baptized in the singles ward! Kabo is a great guy. His friends are all members, and it is about time he joined them. That group of young single adults is great. We call them the Mmopane Saints. They live in the village of Mmopane just outside of Gaborone, and more and more of their friends keep getting baptized. Karabo Tshekoyakgosi was baptized in May, and now Kabo was just baptized yesterday, all from the influence of a few great saints. So, the Mmopane Saints keep growing, and they keep spreading the gospel. Which is just so remarkable to see. I miss Gwest. But Broadhurst is great as well. I am really enjoying the time I have had here in Botswana. It is the best place on earth. I am not sure if I will be able to leave. I was telling my companion yesterday, that they may just have to kill me and send me home, because I am not sure I will willingly get on a plane to leave this place. It is such a wonderful place, and the people here are so amazing.

Zone Conferce

This week was another good one for us here in Botswana. We had zone conference this weekend, and after zone conference, Sister Poulsen went with us to our lessons. She took pictures of the families we were teaching, and she is going to put them up on the mission website, so if you are interested, you could peruse the mission website and see pictures of me and some of the families I have been privelaged to teach and get to know. That was fun to have her go teaching with us. It was kind of funny because the Elders were all very nervous about who President Poulsen would go with, no one wanted to go with him, whereas the sisters were all very eager to have Sister Poulsen come with us. I am glad she ended up coming with us though. It was great to have her join us. Zone conference was very good. It always is. We talked about keeping focused on the work, and not letting our minds wander. It was good. It was what I needed to hear, because sometimes my mind does wander. Especially during lessons, because I have taught these principles so many times, I sometimes start to think of other things. So, it was a good reminder to stay focused, and to be where your body is. Self-mastery is extremely difficult, but I know I can master myself. It will just take some hard work and diligence. But I am working on it every day. This week we were supposed to have a couple we have been teaching get baptized (by Elders of course…sisters don’t baptize….thanks for the advice Ed!) but the rra’s mother went into acoma, and so he had to rush home to Zimbabwe to take care of her, so their baptism has been postponed to whenever he gets back. That was very sad, but we had such an amazing lesson with him and his wife on the plan of salvation and on temple work. It was an amazing lesson. The Spirit was so strong. Afterwards we were all in smiles and felt at peace, even during this difficult time. The plan of salvation is a perfect plan created by our perfect Father for our happiness. We can indeed find peace in this life even during the most difficult times when we know the plan of salvation, and know that it is true. This gospel is such a comfort and bring so much joy and peace into the lives of those I am so privelaged to meet and preach to every single day. I know God loves us, and that Jesus is the Christ. And this knowledge really does sustain me through my every day life. I don’t know what life would be like without this knowledge, but I know I would experience the joy I get to experience every day!

Tell everyone I say hi and miss them...
and tell shayla not to be stupid with her scooter!
And tell blake to just get married already. Thanks.

Happy 4th (a little late)

This week I made the move from GWest to Broadhurst. It really wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was hard saying goodbye to the ward I have served in for the last year, but things are great this side of town as well. Serving here in Gaborone is different than any other mission for sisters I am sure. Because we serve in the same town between two wards the entire time. So, I will still get to see everyone from Gwest from time to time, which will be nice. Things are great here in Broadhurst. We have a couple from Zimbabwe, David and Rose, getting baptized this coming Sunday. They are great! We are also teaching a couple of other great families, so things are great this side. I look forward to the next few months I get to serve here. My new companion is Sister Chirchir from Kenya. She is great. She is such a sweet girl. She is the nicest person I have met. She is so dedicated to her calling as a missionary. We will have a lot of success together. That was pretty much the week. I am still adjusting and getting used to the new area. It is a lot smaller than my last area. So far, it appears that most of it is not as wealthy as my last area, but that means the people are humble, and ready for the gospel, the only problem we will come across is getting people to come to church, because they will not have means of transportation. But we will see what we can do about that. I should have more to report next week as I get more familiar with the people and the area. And I look forward to seeing the baptism of David and Rose this coming Sunday. Mission is great. Well, thanks for reading and have a great week, oh and happy Independence Day. I forgot it was independence day yesterday, until one of the Elders introduced himself and said his favorite colors were red, white, and blue because it was the 4th of July. So, happy Independence Day, and remember true freedom comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the best of your ability!!!

Devil's Chicken

This week I have two things to note. One, a family in the ward took my companion and I to a chinese place for dinner. I haven't had chinese food in a while. It was good. There were many things to order on the menu with interesting names and things like that, but one in particular caught my eye. It was called Devil's chicken. Yup, I had to get it, just for the fun of the name. Sister Mpho and I both got it, and it was very delicious. hehe. If you can't tell, it has been a very long time since I have been to a restaraunt. I enjoyed it a little too much. I thought it was funny anyway. The other thing that is wonderful to us here is that we had another baptism on Sunday!!! Our recent convert, Katlego Makati, who was baptized in March, baptized his best friend, Karabo Lobelo! It was amazing! It was such a sweet experience. Katlego did such a great job using his priesthood to baptize his best friend. And Karabo was so happy about it as well. During his testimony he said, "I am so happy to be called a Latter-day Saint". And he is indeed a saint saved for the last days! These kids are amazing, they are both young men, but spiritual giants. I love both of them. I see them both as my younger brothers. It was such a wonderful pleasure getting to teach the both of them. Man, it was just such a great way to spend my last sunday in the Gwest ward. And Nyasha, the less active that I talked about last week, he passed the sacrament in the Singles ward! Only, I missed it for Karabo's baptism! So, church was amazing. It was a wonderful way to end my service in the Gwest side. Now, I can move on to serving the people over in the Broadhurst ward. It will be fun. I am looking forward to the new friendships and new bonds I will make. As Elder Wirthlin said, "Come what may and love it".

Go and Do

This week was surprisingly busy. I know I said previously that the World Cup time would be slow and no missionary work would be happening, but I was wrong. This was surprisingly one of the busiest weeks of my mission. We started work about 8 o clock every day and didn’t finish until 9! Most days, we did get to watch a game. That was fun. Every day we always had investigators and members in attendance. Which was the goal. The only thing we would like to improve on is that more members bring their friends which is what we stressed in church yesterday. So, it should be another great week of soccer and missionary work. We had quite a few new people at church, who came because they came to the world cup activities. It was exciting to see. Also, church yesterday was amazing in the Singles Ward. We have been working with this less active for a very long time. He has been a member for a while, but never received the priesthood. So we have been working and working with him, to get him ready to receive the priesthood. Personally, I felt he was ready a long time ago, and have been wondering what the Bishop was thinking, not willing to give him the priesthood. But yesterday Bishop Matswogathata, came to me and asked me to make sure that I was in their sacrament meeting (They meet right after the family ward dismisses so we sometimes miss their sacrament meeting to do things for the family ward). I told him I would definitely be there, thinking he wanted me to give my departing testimony before I change wards. But as I was sitting there listening to the prelude music, I looked at the less active, Nyasha, and it hit me, that he was going to be sustained to receive the Aaronic priesthood! Wow! The bishop walked in and smiled at me, and I knew what was up. He was sustained! And then Bishop asked him to give a testimony! Which was powerful! I love this kid! He is amazing! And then, to top it all off, the priesthood was singing the special musical number, and Nyasha was leading them! Wow! It was powerful. I lost control of my emotions. It was so touching to see him sustained, bear a powerful testimony, and then leading the priesthood choir! Wow! Bishop came up to me after and thanked me for all the hard work I have put in to helping Nyasha, and how the Lord’s timing is everything. And it really is. If it were up to me, Nyasha would have received the priesthood months ago. But he wouldn’t have been ready, and wouldn’t have honored it, or used it the way God intended. The bishop is truly inspired, and did things according to God’s timing! It was powerful, and made a huge difference in the life of Nyasha. He will be a powerful priesthood holder, and a wonderful missionary, and a great instrument in the hands of the Lord as he honors his priesthood. Wow! It was an amazing Sunday! Helping less actives back to the fold and to see them progressing, is just as rewarding as seeing an investigator being baptized! Missionary work is great! But here comes my plug for home and visiting teaching. While on mission I have come to learn that home teaching and visiting teaching is the backbone of the church. Without it, the church would not grow or progress. It is so important. There are many less actives out there across the entire world, that just need a little love, support, and encouragement, that can only come from a diligent, concerned home teacher or visiting teacher! And the rewards for both are so outstanding as they both start to progress in this gospel! Really, do your visiting and home teaching. No excuses. It is really the most important calling in the church, and the most rewarding! So go, do it, and change the lives of those the Lord has assigned to you!

Ke Nako!

This week the World Cup 2010 in South Africa started! KE NAKO! It was fun! We watched the opening game at the church! The church leaders were all doubting Thomases when we presented this activity to them, but it went so well! We had around 70 plus people in attendance! It was awesome! It went much better than any of us expected! People came, enjoyed, brought food, and all had a good time, and it was a great game! President Poulsen told us we had to be neutral during the world cup games, but I couldn’t help but cheer for the South Africa team. It was a blast. Man, I miss watching sports so bad! It had been over a year since I’ve watched a sporting event, and I forgot how much I love it! It was awesome! We also watched the game on Saturday between Nigeria and Argentina, and so far my favorite player is Messi from Argentina. He is good! These activities are great though. I get to watch soccer, and the members and the investigators really bond and get to know each other and are forming friendships. The best of both worlds! I am so glad president said we could do that! If we weren’t able to do these activities, than missionary work would probably stop during this month because we aren’t really allowed to proselyte during game times. Needless to say, I am having a lot of fun! At church this week we had a whole family come, that we have been trying to get to come for months. The mother has come many times, but never with the father, and this week he came with her and their child! It was amazing, and he is so excited to come to church and watch the world cup! I am so happy for them! They are amazing! I am very sad to be getting transferred out of this area in two weeks! I will finally be leaving GWEST the ward I have been serving in my entire mission! Over a year now! It finally happened, I will be serving in the other ward! Crazy! It will be difficult to leave my gwest family behind, but I am excited to make new relationships with those in the broadhurst ward and serve them with all of my heart might mind and strength, just as I have in the Gwest ward. But I think at this point my heart will always be in gwest. I love it. I love the people. Leaving is not easy. Good thing it is only across town, and I will still see these people occasionally! Well, that is the news for this week! Enjoy the world cup! Ke nako! I know I will enjoy it this side!!!!

WOW - 211 baptisms last MONTH

Well, the World Cup starts this week! Everyone is really excited
about it. Everyone, except missionaries that is. During the month of
the World Cup, we are not allowed to tract, or teach really, during
the game times. Which is pretty much all day after 1 p.m. So, we
will see how this next months goes. The World Cup will be put
missionary work on hold for a month. I am hoping and praying we find
families or individuals to teach that do not like soccer. But really,
everyone watches the world cup whether they like soccer or not. So we
will see how this next month goes! We are planning on doing a lot of
service in the morning and studying and things like that at night. It
will be interesting. Keep us missionaries here in Africa and all over
the world in your prayers. On a really high note though, our baptisms
for the month of May were record breaking. We had 211 baptisms as a
mission in May! We have been working to break the 200 mark for a
while, and this month we finally did. If we can keep the momentum,
then the world cup won’t hold us back too much! Another positive, is
that I will get watch the opening ceremonies, and the opening game.
President Poulsen said if we organize an activity and watch the games
at church with members and investigators than we can watch them. So
we rented a projector and are going to watch the game, at least the
opening game between Mexica and South Africa. That will be awesome!
If it turns out well, we will do more of them. So maybe I will get to
watch some of the games! But that is pretty much the excitement here
in Botswana. As they say here, “Ke Nako.” Meaning, it is time. It
is time. The atmosphere here is crazy, all everyone talks about is
the world cup. It will be fun.

Answered Prayer

This week was another great one. We had a lot of investigators show up to church. Which made all our hard work throughout the week worth it. They didn’t show up on time, though. Actually before sacrament, we only had one there. Look at me, saying only one, but honestly here in Botswana, having one investigator at church is a common occurrence, and I often take it for granted. Having one person’s life changing is amazing, but I was just praying in my heart as the meeting started that more would come, especially one of the families we saw throughout the week. I was really pleading with God, asking Him to bring a family to church, just one. Asking what more I could do to get those families to church, just really pleading and praying hard. Come to find out, one of my companions, the ward missionary, Sister Magibisela, was doing the exact same thing. So, the sacrament prayer was being said, and I heard the door open, and people walk in. I knew that probably wasn’t a member, because a member wouldn’t walk in during the sacrament prayer, so immediately after the prayer was offered I looked over to where I heard the steps, and I couldn’t believe it, this man, Richard, had brought his wife with him to church. It was their first time at church. The Lord really answered our prayers. I quickly tapped Sister Magibisela and showed her them, and she looked and her jaw dropped, literally. I had to close it for her. She was shocked. We both were, and we both were filled with joy as we saw them, knowing the Lord had heard and answered both of prayers. It was powerful! The church lessons were great today, we talked about baptism both lessons, which is really what Richard asked about the first time we met him! He and his wife loved church! We were so thrilled. Then after church we had 5 baptisms, 3 in the family ward, and 2 in the singles ward. In the family ward a husband and wife were baptized. I started teaching this family when I first came to Botswana, now finally, a year later, they got baptized! It was amazing. They were so happy, you could see the change in their faces before and after. It was great. Then in the singles ward, the baptism on our side was Karabo Tshekoyakgosi, (yeah, I know can you say that?!?! Hehe…I can J ) She is great. She has a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon, and her Savior, Jesus Christ. She was so happy, they all were. It was cold on Sunday, and the geyser, which warms the water was broken, so they were baptized in water straight from the hose, and it was freezing, but they were still so happy and excited, despite being freezing. Inside they were warm! It was wonderful. A great week here in Botswana. Zion continues to grow here in Africa. It is so exciting to be a part of it.

(Sorry it's late this week)

This week I got my companion from Madagascar, Sister Randriampamonjisoa. She got her visa, but it is only for three weeks, so we will see what happens, they will try to extend it here. We will see what happens. Hopefully all works out so she does not have to go back to Johannesburg. The member, Sister Magibisela, that filled in during Sister Randria’s absence, is going to stay on and we will be in a threesome until zone conference, which is next week. That will make the transition much smoother. It will be great. Sister Randria already amazes me. She learned English in three weeks in the MTC, and speaks it as if she has been speaking it her whole life. She is a black belt, and an accountant. And she is funny. We will work very well together. But it may take some time for her to be comfortable teaching lessons, but we will work on that, and the area should do great as we continue to work hard. So that is the update on that.
On a different note, we went to this man’s house, Richard Tsedi, he had met the senior couple, the Olsons, and we finally got a hold of him and went to his home to teach him. The maid welcomes us in and starts telling us how in the town she is from in Zimbabwe, the church has a bad name because of some bewitching incident that happened, and pretty much called us Satanists, but that is a story for another day, but then Richard came in, and she left. Richard was, on the other hand, very excited to see us, and the first thing he says is “I want to baptized and a member of your church!” HUH? Did he really just say that, were my thought. My jaw about dropped to the floor. I looked at sister Magibisela, and back at him, and was like “Ok…..do you know what baptism is?” and he did! He had a great understanding about baptism. He then said, “Do I have to take lessons first, or can I be baptized first and then take the lessons.” This guy was serious. We talked more about baptism, and gave him a baptismal date of june, and told him we would be working with him to help him to be baptized and understand fully the covenant he will be making, and why the priesthood is essential for proper baptism. It was an amazing lesson. Pretty much unbelievable. He is a great guy, and we can’t wait to help him work towards his baptism! Hopefully his wife and children will join on his excitement and their whole family can be baptized and then go to the temple. That is the goal. Thanks for reading. Have a great week.

Enjoy your Families!

This week was really good. A wonderful ward missionary, Sister Nonofo Magibisela, who is not even from my ward, but from the other ward in Gaborone stepped up big time to be my companion while Sister Randriampamonjisoa is waiting in Johannesburg to get her visa to come here. It was a great week though. Sister Magibisela is great, she served 6 weeks already, and knows how to be a great, effective missionary. We had a great week. We worked hard and found lots of great people. We also got this rra or husband, Dallas Bantshang, of a wonderful lady in our ward to come to church. We have been trying to get him to church forever and this week he came! It was wonderful. We were so excited and happy about that one. Other than that, sister magibisela and I just worked very hard this week, and saw good results, and are very excited for a few families that we met this week. I want more than anything to find and baptize a family. A father and a mother with their children. That would be the most wonderful experience in the world. I want that so bad, so we are working really hard to find a wonderful family that is ready for this gospel. Teaching individuals is great, don’t get me wrong. But teaching an entire family and helping them prepare for the temple would just be the sweetest experience I could ever imagine! This gospel is really about families, as I am sure you all noticed from last general conference. Families are central to this plan. They are just that important. Alright. Thanks for reading. Have a great week. I know I will and enjoy your families this week, they are a blessing from God!

Happy Mothers Day

I hope you all had a great mother’s day yesterday. It was very nice being able to talk to my family. That was my last phone call home. The next time I talk to my family will be in person! Crazy. I have been here for a year! This week was crazy. It was transfers, so sister lyon and I had to go down to Johannesburg to get our new companions. My new companions name is Sister Randriampamonjisoa from Madagascar! She is an accountant, and a black belt, and she learned English in 3 weeks at the MTC. She seems pretty great, only I don’t know much about her yet because after we picked up our new companions we drove back to Botswana, only to get stuck at the border and find out that my companion, cannot enter Botswana without a visa, which she did not have because there are only a few countries required to have visas to enter Botswana. So, it was 9 p.m. and we had no choice but to drive the 4 and ½ hours back to Jo’burg! Eish! It was fun though, the mission president told us we needed to stop and by cokes. Haha. People here think coke is against the Word of Wisdom, so it was pretty funny having him tell us to stop and buy some. Coke is NOT against the WoW by the way, in case you were wondering. So, we drove back to Jo’burg Wednesday night, spent Thursday touring around Jo’burg. We took pictures from the tallest building in Africa, the Charlton Tower, and went to the apartheid museum. That was interesting. What a sad thing apartheid was. It was very eye opening. I am glad it is over, but you can still see the effects of it. On Friday morning, sister lyon and I left our greenies in jo’burg, and drove back to Botswana to see our investigators. It was quite the interesting, but very very stressful week. So my companion until sister Randriampamonjisoa can get her visa will be a ward missionary, sister Magibisela. She is wonderful, and I am so grateful she stepped up to fill the place of my companion, so that I can continue to work. It nearly killed me being away from my area and my investigators for the week! It was horrible. It is great to be back serving the people I love. It is a wonderful work, there is nothing better. I don’t know how I will be able to leave this place and these people behind!

A year!!!

This week was a week, that is all I have to say. When I sit down to write the blog entries, I can't remember what happened during the week. Sorry about that. It was just a normal missionary week. We found out transfer news. I will be staying in the same area, but with a new companion. I have been out for a year now, and I have been serving in the same ward the whole time. That definitely has its advantages. But it will make it really difficult to leave, because these people here in Botswana have really become my family. I love them. But I can't believe I have been here for a year. Time flies. Sorry this is such a short entry, hopefully something really great will happen next week and I will have a more exciting entry. But thank you for reading, and thank you for your prayers.

Key to Heaven.....

Sorry there was no post last week. Last week we had one baptism in our area, for a young woman named Daphney Motelebane. She has been coming to church for six months now. She had to come for six months because she has no support from family members. It is a actually a great story on how we met Daphney. In my first area, six months ago, we found out that the lisence plat on our car had been switched with another car in south Africa, all mission vehicles look the same so i can understand how this would happen. Anyway, so my companion and I were without a car for a couple of days while they went to get our lisence plate. during one of these we went on splists with the other sisters in our ward to their area. While two taught lessons, the other two tracted. While sister odongo and i (my current companion) were tracting this day we found Daphney ad her family. And she hasn't stopped coming to church since. Maybe we wouldn't have found her if our car had not had a problem. THe Lord works in mysterious ways. So it was great to see her being baptized. She is a great young lady, and will be a great example to her family. One day all of her family will join the church because of her example. I know it. her older sister is already taking the lessons. So, it was a great week last week. SOrry again for not posting, but I didn't get the chance to even check my email last week. And this week we had zone conference. It was great! I love zone conferences so much. We have the best mission president in the world. It was just great and uplifting. I will share one thing I learned this zone conference with you. He was telling us we need to do a better job of teaching investigators, and member for that matter, about the importance of tithing. He said something about tithing that I really appreciated. He said that they need to understand that tithing is the key to the windows of heaven. If they want their needs to be provided for, and heaven to pour blessing upon their heads that there won't be room enough to receive it, then they need to pay their tithing. It struck me at how true that is. The Lord gives us commandments so that He can bless us and take care of all of our needs, the only thing we have to do is obey, and then He will take care of everything for us. It seems so simple, yet so many people struggle with being obedient. If only everyone could realize the blessing that come through obedience, I don't think anyone would be disobedient. It is definitely not worth it. So that was one thing I learned in zone conference. I hope you all pay your honest tithe and obey every commandment, so that the Lord can bless you. It's just that simple. Well, thanks for reading. have a great week!

Oo Ee Oo Aa Aa Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang

This week wasn't very exciting. The most exciting story i can tell you about this week has to do with Brother Fulukani. We have been teaching him, his wife, and two children for as long as I have been in the area, and they were teaching him a while before that. They come to church every Sunday, but did not want to be baptized. we thought it was because the wife could not understand English very well, but come to find out this week, Brother Fulukani has not left his old church officially yet, where he is a witch doctor of sorts. Not a bad one, but a traditional doctor. Africa has lots of weird traditions and things. And so he is hesitant to join the church becuase he knows that if he does he will have to give up being a traditional doctor, because he knows it is wrong, and so now the truth comes out. Wow. He has been coming to church every week for the past 6 months, and still doing his doctor things on the side. Sometimes people are very interesting. We still hope he will be able to give up his "doctoring" and join the true church. He knows it is true and will greatly bless his family. He is just finding it very difficult to leave his past behind. I guess I understand, he has been a traditional doctor for over 30 years. That would be very difficult to leave behind. So, that is the story of the week. Don't worry, we never drank or ate anything while we were at his house :) Well, the work here continues to progress. It is a very exciting time to be serving here in Botswana. I am loving most every minute of it! Thanks for your support and your prayers. Hope you have a great week, and that you enjoyed conference this past weekend.

Happy Easter

This week three sisters finished their mission, they only sent two to replace them, so the Johannesburg mission went from 8 sisters to six sisters this week. Nothing really changed for me though, I am in the same area with the same companion, Sister Odongo from Kenya. It was sad to see them leave, but the work continues. It is weird to think I am over halfway done with my mission.
Yesterday we had two baptisms. The first was for Katlego Makati. His aunt is the relief society president and his uncle is the young men's president. They brought him to church the beginning of this year, and he hasn't stopped coming since. He is working on his duty to God award, and he wants to serve a mission. He is a good kid. He is very active in the chruch. He has many friends, and is already doing missionary work. his best friend also wants to be baptized, but just has to wait for his mom to say he can start taking the lessons. The other baptisms was for an eleven year old girl, Valentine. She has been coming to church her whole life with her aunt and uncle who is the branch president of Lobatse, one of the branches in our stake. She told us one week that she was ready to be baptized, so we started teaching her, and she was baptized yesterday as well. She was cute, she did not want her picture to be taken at all. So we had to sneak one. But she was very happy to be baptized.
So, that is the good news of the week. I hope you all enjoy conference this weekend, I am sure it will be wonderful. I am excited to watch it, but the area presidency has decided the south east africa area will watch it april 24-25 when the dvds are made, so enjoy it live. Conference is always a wonderful thing. To hear from the prophet of God and His apostles. How cool is that? Have a great week.

I love Technology.......

Sorry there was no post last week, but I ran out of time before I finished and sent the post to my sister. So, I will recap on two weeks today. What I wanted to say from last week was how exciting the work is here in Botswana. We had stake conference last week, and we watched a live video feed from South Africa. We are still in a South Africa Stake, but I know that will change very soon, because at this stake conference here in Botswana anyway, we had over a hundred more people in attendance than they did in South Africa. The chapel, and cultural hall were full. there was not an empty seat. We even had over flow in the Relief Society room. Every chair in the building was being used, there was standing room only. All of the missionaries had to stand, and there are now over 30 missionaries in Botswana, and two branches in Botswana weren't able to make it becuase of the distance to travel! So, needless to say, the work is progressing at an ever increasing rate. One branch that just opened in a village, Kanye, at the first of this year, brought 59 investigators!!!!and the only members they have, which for now is 7!!! Wow! The work here is just amazing to see. I have seen so many changes already in Botswana since I have been here. I am praying they will become a district, if not a stake before I go home at the end of this year. They need it, they deserve it! That was my main update from last week.
This week was good, we had two more people interviewed for baptism, they will be getting baptized next sunday. One is an eleven year old girl who has been coming to church her whole life with her aunt and uncle, but never got baptized, and now she is ready. She is quiet, but she is good, and knows she is making the right decision. The other is Katlego, he is 17, and the nephew of the relief society president in the ward. He has been coming to church since the beginning of this year with his aunt and uncle. And he desires to serve a mission! He is a good young kid, and will make a great missionary one day, baptism is just the first step in his goal of becoming a missionary. He has a very humble testimony, and it has been great to teach him.
An update on the family we gave the Elder Watson book of mormon to....Well, right now things are shaky..It is not having quite the immediate effect we were hoping for. This family is great, but when we leave the house, something happens and they don't read the book of mormon. So, it is not quite working as we had hoped, yet. We still have faith that it will change their lives, we just need to be a little more patience, and exercise a little more faith, and pray even harder for them to accept this gospel. Satan is working very hard to keep this family from progressing! So, please keep them in your prayers. We won't give up on them yet, I know that book of mormon is powerful, i just hope one day very soon they realize that as well.
Well, thanks for reading, and thanks for your prayers in my behalf. Enjoy your week. Enjoy March Madness.....but please, don't give me any updates....they are distracting :) ok....maybe just a few would be alright! Thanks! Enjoy it double for me!

sidenote: Ashley told me she will have a 3 week delay before they will get conference, so ocnference week if you would send her a little snippit on your favorite talk, or what you got out of conference I'm sure she would LOVE it.

Faith

This week was Zone Conference. It was great. We talked about how we need to have more faith in the work. I have been thinking alot about faith lately and what it actually is. And I have decided through scripture study and prayer that faith is more than just belief. It is actually very deep and implies alot. So, as I need to apply more faith in finding I need to do ALOT. I was reading in Mormon the other day about faith. I believe it was mormon 9. When it talks about miracles and things like that. and twice he says we must believe, NOTHING DOUBTING. So, that is what started me thinking about faith this week, and then it happened to be the topic of zone conference. It is great how that always seems to work out. So, in application to my missionary work, and you can apply to your lives for whatever situation you are in, but in my case, involving missionary work I decided that often time we pray for things, to find wonderful families to teach especially, and we pray thinking we have faith, but then after the prayer, we go to work, and start letting doubt creep in. Saying things like...there are not families home at this time, these people wouldn't be interested, etc.....lame doubts like that, and that is not FAITH. Doubt and faith do not exist in the same sphere, it is impossible. So, in order to have faith we need to doubt nothing. When we ask God to bless us with things we need to trust and actually believe He will give it to us, doubting nothing. I am sure Joseph Smith had no reservations or doubts when he went to the grove to pray, and he recieved his answer. We can have the same answers, if we will pray the same way he did....with FAITH, nothing doubting. Well, that was my lesson for the week that I thought I would share with you. Just take sometime this week to evaluate your faith, do you really have it? If not, fix it, start trusting in your Father in Heaven, and really believing He will answer your prayers. Because He will, if you let him by not doubting. Sometimes it just takes some patient perserverance, if you know what I mean. Well, the week was good, we worked hard, and have FAITH that the Lord will bless us for our efforts, that He will begin to trust us and lead us to those families He is preparing to receive this gospel. Thanks for reading, thanks for your prayers, they are much needed and appreciated

Way to go Red Devils!

We had another baptism this week. Boipuso Mogale was baptized. She was brought to church by a friend, and wanting to make a change and make her life meaningful this year, and she chose the right way to do it. She is great. She was so excited to be baptized. She has such a strong and sincere testimony. We started teaching her beginning of this year, and she progressed so easily, and was more than ready to be baptized yesterday. One of those "golden" investigators as people call them. But once again she proved to me, that we do nothing as missionaries, and the investigator who let the Spirit teach them, and recieves that witness for themselves are the ones ready to make the commitment. With very little help of the missionaries. I wish all investigators were like that, but unfortunately most are stubborn and hard hearted. So, I am grateful when the ones like Boipuso come around. It is just wonderful to see. So, that was the highlight of the week. But another wonderful highlight of my week, which has kind of distracted me ALL week and held me in suspense, was whether or not my basketball team, the Springville Red Devils won the state title, and I was so happy to find out this morning through my sister, that they DID!!!! So, I just want to say congratulations to all of my Red Devils!! I am so proud of you! I wish I could be there to celebrate your hard work with you, but nevertheless, know that i am celebrating over here in Africa, and that I am very proud of each one of you! so congratulations!! You guys earned it! RED DEVIL PRIDE! and Thank you for letting me be a part of your program!

Live Up To YourPotential

So, I am sitting here trying to remember something great that happened this past week that I could share with you. But I can't think of anything out of the ordinary. It was a good week. We worked hard, and we were blessed for it. We have a good teaching pool, and we get to meet lots of great people daily. Such is the wonderful life of a missionary. But actually one thing I focused on this week that really made it a good week was trying to become more childlike in my service as a missionary. Not childish, but child like. I really focused on becoming more like the Savior in my thoughts, words, and actions. Towards everybody. It really made a difference. The week went well, and we met lots of great people. Focusing on becoming more trusting in the Spirit, as a child trusts their parents, really is something. It is not easy at times, but if I just trust the Lord to lead me in this work, guess what? Things go better, and it is a lot more enjoyable. Imagine that? Something I have always heard but never really understood until mission is that we need to be independently dependent on the Savior. Does that make sense? We are in charge of our salvation, completely, independently, but there is absolutely no way to gain salvations without the Savior. I think, or what I have learned is that to be totally independent and free and in charge of our lives we need to be totally 100% dependent on the Savior, and His gospel, and His teachings. Without Him we are nothing. Literally nothing. But with Him we can become everything, even Gods and Godesses. Well, anyway, those have just been some of the thoughts floating around my head this week as I have been striving to become more childlike in my service. So do something for me, think of a child and all the ways they really trust and dependent on their parents, and then try to emulate that in your dependence on the Savior. It will make a difference. Try it. The Lord will bless you for it. This life is much easier if we have divine help along the way. Well, hope that helps some of you out there. Thanks for your prayers. Have a great week. Remember who you really are, and live up to that potential.

Truly Committed

This week we had a young woman, named Tshwanelo Ratsatsi get baptized. She has been coming to church for about a year now, and she was finally ready to be baptized. :) she was very excited. She was so happy afterwards. She is a great young girl. She lives far from the church, so in order to make it to church on Sunday she saves the little money her father gives her for transport to school, and walks to school, which is also very far so she can make it to church on Sunday! She sacrifices so much to make it to church. I know the Lord will bless her for that. I was excied to see her baptized. It was a great feeling. For the rest of the week, it was HOT! I know i've said it before, but this week was extremely hot. I think it is the hottest it has been since i've been here! I'm not sure the temperature, but trust me, it was HOT! We were just sitting in lessons, in the shade, nonetheless, and sweat was dripping down my legs, uncrossed, just dripping. it was nice, just kidding, it was miserable, but while you are teaching lessons, you really don't realize how hot, it is, but once you are done teaching you realize that it is so hot, and wonder why you are not in the air conditioned apartment. But then you teach another lesson and remember why you decided to leave the apartment, teching the gospel is worth it.
Ok, so update on the book of Mormon from Elder Watson. We did give it away this week. It was a powerful lesson. We gave it to the family that first popped into my mind when he was giving away the book of mormon. The Kgosietsile family. The rra is trying to quit smoking, and is doing well, the mma just broke her leg, and is at home for two weeks, and they have two daughter in school. WE jsut felt like this was family that needs this book of mormon because they are each struggling with different things, and the Book of Mormon will help them. they really appreciated and were blown away by the testimony of young eight year old April. the spirit was very strong as we shared her testimony and ours with them about the book of mormon! The mma is very big into religion, but she has come to realize that the bible is incomplete, so this was perfect because the book of mormon fills in those gaps...she is excited to read it, as is the rra, for he believes and has the faith that this will help him to quite smoking. He said he would take it everywhere with him and when he has a temptation he will read from it! so, it is looking good so far. they just have to read it, and pray about it, and then come to church. i am glad we gave it to this wonderful family. i pray and hope you will continue to pray that this book will change the lives of this family. They are a special family, and i love them very much, and want the best for them. One more thing about this family. Kgosie, in setswana means royalty, and so this rra is the leader of his tribe, and he will be able to influence his whole tribe as he becomes converted to the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
I hope you all have a great week, thanks for reading, and thanks for your prayers. Love ya all. Oh, and way to go springville, keep it up, you have lots of fan over here in Botswana as well, I keep telling everyone about my team and how well they are doing! So keep up the good work.

Sorry it's late this week

So this week was a little more exciting than last week. As far as the Jo'burg mission news, there are great changes. Like I told you last week, two zones of our mission are going to now be in the Durban mission, which is great, and with the changes, there is going to be another zone in Botswana! Two zones in Botswana now! With right around 40 missionaries in the country! The changes I have seen in Botswana since I have been here have been miraculous. I have seen three new areas open and the number of missionaries in Bots doubled!!!!! It is very exciting for this little country of just over a million citizens!! With two zones and so many missions in the country I am hoping to see Botswana becomes a district, if not a stake before I leave. That would be amazing, and the greatest miracle of all. Right now, Bots is part of a Johannesburg stake, and they only get to see the stake president like every three months or so! It would just be wonderful for these saints to have local leadership! That is our goal, is to have bots be a stake in less than two years, and so far, it looks like our prayers will be answered. I talked to Elder Watson about it at dinner and he said it was close. So, it is close, and I can't wait for that to happen.
As far as our personal missionary work goes, it is great. My mom asked me this week if we had given away the Elder Watson Book of Mormon yet, and we are prayerfully planning to give it away this week to a wonderful family. The Kgosietsile family is their name. They have two daughters. The Rra (father) works very closely with the president here, President Khama, and the Mma (mother) is an accountant. The rra is trying to quit smoking, and is doing very well. The mma is very strong in her church, but this week she broke her leg, she will not be going to work for two weeks, and we went and sang hymns with her the other day, and both sister odongo and I feel this family may be the one that needs the Book of Mormon with the testimony of the eight year old. I feel it would greatly help both the mma and rra to accept this gospel. So, pray for that to happen please. And I will keep you updated on how that goes, and if the Book of Mormon will help to convert this wonderful family. So that is the news on that.Thanks for your prayers in my behalf, they are greatly appreciated. This work would not move forward without prayers. So, we all thank you here in Botswana.

No email from Sister Barber

this week.....but I did get a link to her Mission President's website where there are lots of pictures of the mission and some of Sister Barber. To check it out go to:

http://www.johannesburgmission.googlepages.com/

Enjoy! Until Next Week -

Mission Tour

This week was GREAT! We had mission tour this week. Which is basically a zone conference except a general authority presides. We had Elder Watson who is in the area presidency and 1st quorum of the twelve with us. Monday night the sisters got to go do dinner with President and sister Poulsen, and Elder and sister Watson. It was fun. I got to sit right across the table from Elder and Sister Watson, so I spent Monday evening chatting it up with a general authority. Haha...It was fun. He is pretty funny. Then tuesday was the conference with him, which was also amazing. At one point he said he had a "test" for one companionship. He took out a book of mormon and said this copy was special. His eight year old granddaughter who had just recently been baptized had written her testimony in it, and he wanted one companionship to take it and give it to a family that would then be baptized. My companion and I quickly volunteered for the "test". But now I am a little worried about finding the right family for this Book of Mormon. So, if you want to pray for my companion and I to find the family that that Book of Mormon is supposed to belong to, we would greatly appreciate it. We know that Book of Mormon is meant to convert a whole family. Now we just need to find them,a nd we need your prayers to help. So thank you for that. Also this week we had two baptisms. Gomolemo Bantshang was baptized in the family ward. He is 14, and his mom is a member. He is a very bright 14 year old, kind of how I imagine Joseph Smith was at that age. While bearing his testimony he said he was hesitant about being baptized for quite a while because he thought he had to know everything, but then he decided that that was not faith. He was very happy to be baptized, and we were happy his father came! The other baptism we had was in the Singles ward. His name is Thuto Motshwarapitse, yeah try and say that one :) He has been coming to church since he was 12, for like 10 years now, off and on. His older brother used to bring him, but now his older brother his less active, but Thuto finally decided he was ready for the commitment. It was great to see him make that covenant. He was also really happy. It was great. Then yesterday we also had a fireside for the ward. It was wonderful. We have been really concerned about the unity in the ward, so the ward mission leader got us a fireside, and it was great! Everyone really enjoyed it, and we had a great turn out! We were expecting no more than 30 families, because we were going to give each family a BoM to give to someone, but the BoMs ran out before every family got one! It was great! We based our fireside off of President Hickley's talk "Feed my Sheep". You havn't read that talk, you should. It is very good. It says how every member needs a friend, a calling, and nourishment. So that is what we talked about, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and the bishop was really pleased and asked if we could do a follow up fireside ina couple weeks. So, that is good progression. This really should help the ward, which is what we have been praying for. So this week was great. And I am looking forward to another great week. Thanks for reading, and thanks for your prayers. We hope to find that family that needs Elder Watson's Book of Mormon very soon!!! I'll keep you updated.

It's up to you....

The first week in my new area was successful. It was great actually. I miss my old area like crazy, but I beginning to already love this new area. We are teaching great people. We also met a lot of great families this week. I love teaching families. The best lessons are always when we are teaching families and both the mma and rra (mother and father) are interested and feel the spirit. This week I was working on having the right attitude when it comes to the work. I get frustrated sometimes when it is like over 100’ outside and people don’t keep their appointments with us, and our back up plans aren’t home either. It is hot, and I get a little frustrated trying to think of what to do. So this week I decided to change my attitude no matter how hot it was. And the results were amazing. I decided when that happens to turn it over to the Lord because there must be someone He wants me to meet, or something He wants me to do. So whenever that happened this week we would pray and ask God where we needed to go, and we always find someone who needed to hear our message. There was one day, I believe it was Wednesday we only had 2 appointments scheduled all day, which meant a long day in the sun, but it was a great day because we kept the right attitudes and looked for the opportunities that were put in our path, and we ended up teaching some great people who really needed our help. Then on Thursday we had a full day of appointments scheduled, one lesson every hour all day, but guess what…not a single one of those people were home! Should be frustrating, right? But it wasn’t because we met some people who really really needed to hear the message we were sharing. So it ended being a wonderful day. It really all comes down to our attitude. We can be positive and look for the good in every situation, and allow the Spirit to lead us, or we can get frustrated and annoyed, and not be as productive all day. I am choosing to be productive and to follow the Spirit, and to find the good in every situation. That is my choice. I hope all of you will choose the same. Know that God has a reason for everything. It is just up to you to turn to Him and allow Him to show you that reason, or you can complain and miss the opportunities that are being presented to you. Well, those are my thoughts this week. I know without any doubts that Heavenly Father is aware of us, and is willing to lead us in this journey through life. We just have to allow him to. I hope you all CHOOSE to have a great week this week, no matter what.

Stretch Yourselves!

I am trying to think back on this week, and I don't think much exciting happened to report to all of you. I did get transferred.....kind of. And the new area is nice. I am glad i will still be in the same ward. Oh wait, i did think of something really exciting to report on. Yesterday my new companion, sister odongo (from Kenya) and i got to go to Kanye, and be there when a new branch opened there. It was so exciting. The Spirit in the house they will hold church was so powerful. The elders only had ONE day to work, because they arrived there Thursday afternoon, and had to plan and get everything sorted, then we had to be in by 6 pm for new years, so they may have worked a couple hours, i dont know, but friday they couldn't work because it was new years, so saturday was the only real day of working, and there were around 15 investigators there! It was amazing. I am so excited to see this new branch grow! That was definitely the highlight of my week. The church is really growing here in Botswana, since I have been here 2 new branches have opened! It is exciting, I am grateful to be a part of it!
So for new years, people here go crazy with fire works! Everyone shoots them off, it is crazy, we stood on our balcony and didn't know where to look because everyone was shooting off fire works. It was cool. So, happy new year, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and i hope you enjoy 2010 even more. Make sure to set appropriate goals that will make you stretch! Maybe, doing one random act of service a day, or reading the Book of Mormon in 70 days....those are just a few suggestions I have already given you, but thought maybe i would remind you of them....well have a great week, and an even better year. Make every moment a worthwhile one :) Miss ya all!