New Post #1

Sorry for the short delay I was temporarily unable to post to this blog, but all has been fixed and there are 2 new posts from Sister Barber to read. Enjoy!

This week was Sister Nkohla’s birthday. So we decided to do a photo scavenger hunt in honor of it. That made the day a lot more entertaining than normal. We decided we would look for photos of: 1. Dirtiest child 2. Funniest sign 3. Strangest stray animal 4. Funniest outfit and 5. Prettiest flower. My favorites were the dirtiest child and funniest sign. There is this one family that has the dirtiest children I have ever seen! They are members and live in very humble circumstances, and we knew their youngest would be very dirty, so we got some good pictures of him. It was fun. That may sound rude, but they are a great family, and we love them so much, and their children may be dirty, but they are really cute, so we got some pictures of them . Also, here in Gaborone, there are lots of crazy signs come to find out  A lot of people use Gas in their homes, so there are a lot of gas companies, with lots of funny slogans. My favorite gas company name is Lovely Gas, and its slogan is Lovely Gas….For Lovely People. So we took a sign of that one, and then my other favorite one is Easigas…free home delivery…..hahhaha….this makes us laugh nearly every day. Good times. Also, here in Botswana there are A LOT of interesting stray animals, horses, cows, donkeys, goats, all roam around wherever they feel like it, and this to me, is very strange, when we jog in the morning we run right by horses and donkeys and cows, in the middle of the sidewalk, and on the streets. Quite different from back home. So, we had fun this week. As far as missionary work went this week, it seemed this week everyone ditched our appointments, which is not so fun, but the ones that we got to meet with were great. We have been challenging a lot of our investigators to read the Book of Mormon in 70 days, by reading 8 pages a day, and a lot of them have accepted the challenge, and are really enjoying it. We just had one recent convert finish the challenge, and he LOVES the Book of Mormon, and one investigator will finish it way before the 70 days is up. The Book of Mormon is powerful, it changes people’s lives. And I am lucky enough to get to see that every day. We have two investigators getting baptized this coming week, and we didn’t do anything to convert them to the gospel, they both accepted the challenge of reading the Book of Mormon in 70 days, and the Spirit did the rest. The Book is powerful. That is all I can say. If you are up for the challenge, do it. It will change your life, I can promise you that. Eight pages a day. It is not a difficult task. It can be done. If investigators who have never heard about the Book of Mormon before can read it in 70 days, I know you can too. So challenge yourself, make yourself a calendar and time line, and get it done, and see how the Lord will bless you. Go ahead. Test him. See if He will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out blessings that there will not be room enough to receive them.  Until next week.

Finally - Some new posts(#2)

I have survived another transfer! I can't believe I have been out here for three transfers. I did not get transfered, but my trainer did! So, I have a new companion, Sister Nkohla, from Johannesburg South Africa (yes she is serving a mission in her home mission). But she is great. We work so well together. We will do lots of great work together. I am very excited for this new companionship. She is already a much harder worker than my trainer was! Which is very exciting for me. This week, a lot of amazing things happened. It was a great week. They formed a new ward in Botswana, a singles ward, so we cover two wards now, the family and the singles ward, so we get sacrament meeting twice on Sundays, but it is great. The new bishopric is amazing, and so excited about missionary work, so I am excited to see the singles ward grow, and it will also help to focus on families in the other ward, and also finding families to teach. Yesterday, Sister Nkohla and I got ditched for our last appointment, so we had a little over an hour to find something to do. We were going to check on our investigators who did not make it to church earlier in the day, but then we passed this worship service being held, and we decided to go and check it out. It was just out in this field, in a tent, and some pastor had apparently come from South Africa. It was so interesting to me. There were probably only 30 to 40 people there, but the pastor or "prophet" felt the need to use a microphone, and not only use it but yell into it! Everytime he would start a new thought he would yell, and both sister nkohla and I would jump a little. Not only was he yelling into the mic, but he also had an interpreter following him around, and also yelling into his mic in setswana (the language of botswana). And to add onto the noise, everytime the pastor starting rambling on about something that was supposedly "profound" this other guy would start playing music in the background. It was quite the sight to see. It was very interesting to witness this worship service after attending the service at the true Church of Christ. It was such a difference. This pastor was trying to do all he could to drive the Spirit of God away from his sermon, and he did a very good job, the spirit was no where near the tent! Also, during part of his rambling on about nothing that made any sense, a guy in the front row, starts "speaking in tongues" and raising and lowering his arms. It was so funny. Oh man, so many times I wanted to laugh, but actually most of the time, I just wanted to hand out pass along cards, and invite all of those innocent souls to come and see how the true church worships. They would definitely feel the difference. I was glad I got to experience that. It was a lot of fun to see how others worship, and it made me so grateful to be a member of the only true church on the earth. What a blessing it is not to be confused, and to know where to turn to for peace. I am so grateful for the restored gospel. And seeing these other people worship this way, only made me that much more grateful to be who I am, doing what I am, and I pray each and every person in that sermon will have the opportunity, in this life to experience the Spirit in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Missing Post from Last week

"This week was GREAT! I had such a wonderful birthday present! Our mission president's wife talked President into letting all of the sisters go down to South Africa, to do a session at the temple, and to visit a lion and rhino park! I love her. It was wonderful. So on my birthday, I got to visit a lion and rhino park, and see lots of amazing animals, and got some amazing photos, and I also got to pet baby white tigers! It was a blast. It was a great birthday here in Africa. And then this weekend was general conference, so my birthday week was pretty much the best ever! Wasn't conference great? I realized something though, conference is a totally different experience here on mission. All of you returned missionaries I am sure know what I am talking about. But I'll explain for those who don't know what I am talking about. Normally when I would watch conference I would look for things would benefit me and help me. But this time it was totally different. Don't get me wrong, I learned plenty of things will benefit me, but pretty much the whole time I was thinking about our investigators, just wishing they had been there to hear it, and so grateful for the ones that were there."
"And every talk, for me at least, seemed to apply to my missionary work. I just kept thinking how the talks were given for my different investigators and their needs specifically, and how they were missing it! But not to worry, I will make sure they get a copy of the Ensign. So, this conference experience is one I am sure I will never forget. To me, the underlying message for me was to aim high, to do better, and be better, do all you can to achieve the impossible. For me, that is what I most took away from this conference. It was great. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did, and remeber to heed those promptings you received during conference. Til next time! Love you all and miss you all. Thanks for your prayers in my behalf, they are greatly appreciated.

Oh, and P.S. I want to say congratulations to my wonderful cousin! You know who you are! That is wonderful! I am so happy for you and your family! Love you!"

Sorry for Delay

My internet version was recently upgraded and I can no longer copy and paste from my email to the blogger. As soon as I get it figured out I'll have Ashley's post up. . . . hopefully today.

Part I

This week's email was a little long to make up for last week, so it's in 3 parts, Enjoy!

"This week I learned quite a lot from an investigator we are teaching. Her name is Rebecca Mangisi, she is an older retired lady, late 60s i believe, and we have been teaching her for a while now. She is just amazing. She has gained a testimony of the gospel and the things we have been teaching her. The reason we have been teaching her for so long is because she is, or used to be, a seventh day adventist (meaning she strongly believes the Sabbath day is satruday) and we didn't want to force her to change, but we wanted her to gain that testimony for herself, so we when we explained about the ten commandments and the sabbath day she would accept it because she already has a testimony of the gospel. And that is exactly what happened this past week. She gained that strong testimony of the gospel. She opened her heart and allowed the Spirit to testify of the truthfulness of it, and she came to both sessions of stake conference, and loved them, and she actually ended up asking us about the sabbath day, and said she doesn't have a problem with it anymore. AWESOME."

Part II

"Just what we were praying for! Anyway, the reason I share her story is because this week while were teaching her she said some wonderful things that relaly taught me a lot, and I want to share them with you. They really made me think and recommit myself to living the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I was just amazed at how the Spirit really does the teaching, and I don't do anything....at all. I really don't. But anyway, I wrote down some of the things she said, and from her words, I am sure you all will be able to tell how wonderful this little old lady is. First she said that she realizes that 'the gospel has to change her. Accepting Jesus Christ means changing your life.' She continued to say, 'The gospel should be a part of my life. At church, at home, at the shops, everywhere.' Then a couple days later she said in reference to the scriptures 'I don't want to just study, but I want to live it!' I wish everyone understood these things the way she does. She is completely right, the gospel should change us. When we accept the gospel of Jesus Christ we accept all of it, and that includes repentance which is changing, leaving behind all those sins that we enjoy so much, and changing to become a better, more Christ-like disciple."

Part III

"Also, this gosple shouldn't be just a Sunday affair, or just a Christmas/Easter affair, but it should be including in every part of your life, the way you act, the way you dress, the way you talk, the way you think. If we are true disciples of Jesus Christ we do as King Benjamin said, and learn to control our thoughts, words, and actions. We should stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places! And lastly, what I learned from Rebecca this week is about the importance of applying what you read and study from the scriptures into your daily lives. She realizes that study of the gospel is not enough, but then we need to act. We need to apply what we have learned to our lives, and become better people because of what we have studied. That is so true. so there is some food for thought for you this week. I hope you enjoy the word of Rebecca Mangisi as much as I did. If you really ponder them, you will realize how important these things are that she taught me this week. I am grateful to be here on a mission and to have the opportunity to learn so much about this wonderful gospel. There is no university in the world that will teach you what a mission will teach you. Well, thank you for reading my blog. I hope you all are doing well, and I hope you all listen to general conference this weekend with your spiritual ears and not with your physical ears! Enjoy listening to the apostles and prophets this weekend, I know I will."