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".