Mission Blog

done by Ashley's mission president:

http://johannesburgmission.googlepages.com

Will be updated with new pictures and messages randomly so keep checking back...enjoy!

Every member a Missionary...

This week we had a great experience with a new investigator Lesego. We just met her a week ago, Sunday. We were teaching her friend, Ronald. We were there to give him the Book of Mormon because he loved church earlier that day, and couldn't wait to get it. Anyway Lesego sat in with us, and I just thought she was already a member, because two of the people who live in that house are already members, and she basically helped us teach and explain things. She just got it. The Book of Mormon made sense to her. I seriously thought she was already a member that i just didn't recognize, and at the end of the lesson my companion asked her if she would like her own copy of the Book of Mormon, she was so happy and said she would love that more than anything! So we gave her her own copy, and went back to check up on her and Ronald's reading on Saturday. When we asked her how her reading was (we asked her to read 3 nephi 11 and the introduction) and she said it was great and that her favorite verses were 33 and 37 which say that we must be baptized to saved in the kingdom of heaven and the importance of being baptized, and then she said, so i know I need to be baptized, but I think I should visit the church first! And then she said how while she was reading she realized that she didn't need to suffer, she could be happy because somebody had already suffered and died for her! WOW! I seriously was blown away, I almost shrieked I was so excited! How often does that happen? Rarely!! My joy was seriously so much. I could hardly contain myself and sit through the lesson. It was wonderful. Talk about a golden investigator! So we put her on date for the second week of October! And then she came to church yesterday and loved it. She is amazing. Future Relief Society president for sure! After the lesson Sister Kubheka and I marveled at how little we do. We as missionaries really don't do anything. The Lord prepares his people and then brings them to us. We were there to teach her friend, but there she was ready and waiting. Missionary work really is amazing. We see miracles on a daily basis, not all are as amazing as meeting Lesego, but we still see miracles daily, and daily I am amazed at how much the Lord truly prepares his children, and then leads them to us! On that note, the Lord is preparing his children not just here in Botswana, but everywhere. So I would encourage each and every one of you to pray for those missionary opportunities and then have the guts to follow through, and just as I have said, the Lord is preparing his people, and when you meet those people you won't have to do much, just open your mouth and share your testimony and invite them to meet the missionaries, that is it! So please, just pray for those opportunities and then have the courage to open your mouth and share what you know. you will be amazed at the difference you can make in someone's life! And you will be so much happier and experience true joy just like it tells us in D&C 18! That is my story for the week! Other than that, I am just working hard and trying to love and serve these people the best i know how. Thank you for your prayers and your support in my behalf. It is appreciated.

And the latest from Sister Barber:

This week was a GREAT week. It really was. We were busy all week! The only bad part was that I was sick, we had to cut Friday short because I just could not go any farther, but that actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the appointment we had to reschedule when we went back we ended up teaching two new investigators with him. My companion says that me needing to go home that night was not a coincidence, she does not believe in coincidences at all. I am definitely starting to realize that there is no such thing as coincidence, but God has a plan for everything, and is really leading and guiding us, and protecting us, every day.This week we had 5 people get interviewed for baptism! Yay! One will be baptized on the 23 Aug, and the other four on 6 September! It was great. I am so happy for all of them. It is amazing to see the changes that have come to their lives as they have accepted the gospel. This gospel is great, it is true, and it really does change people's lives. I am thoroughly convinced that through us, the Lord saved the life of one of these people. This man was completely lost and confused, and wasn't sure he should continue living, and then we knocked on his door and changed his life. Now, he cannot wait to be baptized, and start his new life! He is amazing, every time we go to teach him, we walk out of the lesson and just look at each other and say WOW! what a change. He really has changed so much. It really is remarkable what this gospel does for people. I am glad I get to be a part of this great and marvelous work.This week for District Meeting we have to present our are reports (how our areas are doing) in a creative way, so this morning in companion study, Sister Kubheka and I wrote ours. I think it is great, I will share it with you, but first we changed the words to Joseph Smith's "Standard of Truth", so first I will write what he wrote, and then what we wrote, so you can see how we changed it to fit our area. here goes "Standard of Truth" Joseph Smith The standard of truth has been erected; No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progessing; persecution may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldy, nobly, and independent, til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, til the purposes of God shall be accomplsihed, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.
Ok and here is ours: "Standard of GWest 3" The standard of G West 3 has been erected; No uninterested investigators can stop the work from progressing. Doors may slam, Fluffy may chase, and the Jdubs may defame, but Sister Kubheka and Sister Barber will go forth knocking, shambocking, and teaching, til we have tracked down Mashumba and Immanuel, baptized Morris and Ezekiel, and put Tefo and Kabo on date, til the purposes of finding Father- led families is accomplished and President Poulsen shall say 'You have been transferred to open Francistown'.Haha...We enjoyed writing that, and just to expalin some words so you understand it: Fluffy = a dog of a family we are teaching that is way too hyper active and scares Sister Kubheka. Jdubs = Jehovah's witnesses. There are way too many of them here. shambocking = verbal beating :) making investigators feel quilty for not keeping their commitments ( with love of course, always with love) Mashumba, Immanuel, Morris, Ezekiel, Tefo, Kabo = investigators that we would love to see progress a little faster, basically they just give us trouble, but we love them and continue to teach them anyway :) Father-led families = families with a mother and father Francistown = town in northern Botswana where there are not any missionaries yet, but there is a growing branch, and we are dying to open up the area.
Well, that is our little presentation, we are very proud of it, and cannot wait to share our wittiness with the district at District Meeting. I hope you also enjoyed it, and got a little idea of how the work is moving along here. Mission is great!

Sorry so long...

We have been waiting for our internet connection to be re-established after our summer in Iowa: but we are up and running and here are the last 2 updates from Sister Barber:

This week was great. Just so you all know, I am going to be famous here in Botswana very shortly :) My companion and I and a set of Elders here in Botswana were interviewed by BTV (Botswana TV) about missionary work. So, I will be on TV here in Botwana sometime this week. They asked lots of weird questions like why we dress the way we do. Maybe that was the only weird one, the rest were pretty legit, like why we would leave our families to come and do this, and why are we called Elder and Sister, and what we do as missionaries. It should be good in spreading the word. We are hoping this will open more doors for us. This week was also sad. We had a group of 4 cousins that live together that were scheduled to be baptized on Aug 23. We visited them this week, and we could just tell something was wrong. We asked what it was, and they said they didn't want to come to church anymore. They said they don't feel like church is important to them right now, and that they will start going when they are older. It was heart breaking! We didn't buy that was their real reason, but they wouldn't open up as to the real issue. But one of them, the male, Tefo, did come to church this week. So hopefully he will continue to do what he knows is right, get baptized, and set the example for his cousins! But it was so sad. I was devastated! I didn't even want to go to our next appointment, but I am glad we did because that lesson was awesome! It was two sisters and they read many chapters from the Book of Mormon, when we only assigned one, and they are really excited about the gospel that they have learned so far. So it was just the pick me up that we needed. Also, the Lord is great, because even though we dropped those four people, we invited three others to get baptized, and they accepted. So, the work is still progressing, and people are still being prepared. It is terribly sad when someone chooses to not act on what they know is true, but it is also very rewarding to extend an invitation for someone to be baptized, and see they are excited to work towards it as they accept the invitation. Yeah, those were the main things I remember about the week. So many things happen in a week, it is hard to write them all. But know I am doing well, and the work here is progressing. I am so grateful to be here in Botswana, where the people are prepared for this message.

3 more Baptisms set

This week we had some great experiences. We have this one family, the Kgetsi family, that is really progressing nicely. We went to teach them this week, and the father (or Rra, as they are called here) had his cousin over. We taught him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon, and it was a neat experience because Debakaone and Leano (the Rra and Mma) were telling his cousin that he really needs to listen to our message, read the Book of Mormon, and then pray to know if it is true! It was great to see them bear their testimonies about the Book of Mormon. It was just a neat experience to see them teaching others what we had taught them! The other really neat experience happened yesterday. We went and taught this man, Mogogi and his fiance. When we sat down and started he had lots of questions about prophets, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon, he was very skeptical. He wasn't buying it, and just figured we were false prophets. But once we starting teaching and testifying, the Spirit really resolved all of his concerns. It was amazing, we really didn't do anything, the Spirit really worked through us to resolve all of his concerns, and he felt it so strong. When we were finished he said he was definitely going to read the Book of Mormon, and asked when we were coming back before we even got around to setting up another appointment. It was probably the best lesson I have been yet. And I decided that was because he asked questions, which invited the Spirit, and the Spirit was able to teach him and resolve all of his concerns. It was wonderful. I wish you all could have been there. This week we also commited three people to baptism, and we are hoping to commit three more this coming week! The work is progressing so well. I am just so lucky I called to this mission where the people are so ready for the message we have. My companion and I express our thanks to our Father in Heaven for sending us to this mission daily. We really are so fortunate, and it really is the best mission in the world!
Sister Barber

Diamond Mines!

This week went by so fast, time just keeps picking up speed, I kind of wish it would go back to those first two weeks where time seemed to be crawling! This week on Wednesday we took a trip as a zone to see the Jwaneng Diamond Mine. It is the largest Diamond Mine in the world! It was cool. It was an underground mine like I was expecting, but it was this big pit, kind of like the grand canyon in a way. It was cool. The trucks they use to haul the rocks out of the pit are the biggest trucks you will ever see in your life. The tires are taller than a one story building! Huge. If I could load pictures I would, but I can't so you will have to wait to see until I send pictures home, or I get home. But trust me, these trucks are massive! I once again decided that diamonds do not attract me. I don't need or even want one. I would much rather spend my money on something more useful. They are pretty sure, but they aren't worth as much as people think they are worth. So that was fun. And on the way to the mine, I saw my first monkey! FINALLY! I thought for sure I would have seen many monkeys by now, but I hadn't until wednesday, and I only saw it for a second! But I did see it! As for the work this week, it was good. We tracted into a lot of families. One of our goals as a mission is to convert families (father, mother, and kids) And we found quite a few this week just from tracting,so that is great. And one of them came to church on Sunday! It was great! Well, that is all for this week, hopefully more exciting things will happen this coming week that I can report on next week. I still hope all of you are making right decisions! Oh, and I have heard how great Springville girls are doing this summer. My mission presidents likes to give me updates! So know that there are people over here in Africa keeping track of you, and we are so impressed with how your summer went! Good luck this season. I wish I could be there to witness it! Keep working hard! I brag about you girls all the time!
Sister Barber

Address Change

The PO Box address has changed as of this week, so please take note:
P/bag 351 #272
Gaborone, Botswana

Also packages will get through quicker if marked "missionary supplies".

Until next week -