Makadii Week 18

Maskwerasei? Hello everyone!

I hope the summer has gotten off to a wonderful start! Its sounds like things are going very well for all of you, and I hope that continues to be the case.

Things are good but very very crazy here at the moment. Currently, there is a very real economic and currency crisis happening throughout Zimbabwe, and it really started to affect missionaries this week. We have bank cards that we use to receive our allotment, which we then use to get money out of an ATM. Most of the things we buy can only be bought with cash. This week we were only able to get a small part of that allotment, but at least it was better than none. Some missionaries didn't even get any. The country is running out of cash very quickly, the ATMs have huge lines, and most of the time they don't even have money to get. It has been very frustrating for me and all the other missionaries, but we are doing our best to make it work. One thing I do know is that the Lord is watching over us, so we have no reason to worry. I'm sure that if things do get bad enough, the church will take good care of us. I do feel bad for the people here though, cause things are about to get really tough for them.

Things have been going well as far as missionary work goes for me and Elder Smiley. We even ran into Milikafu this past week when we were in the area. It was really great to see him. We are having a baptism this coming Saturday for Chengetai, Kelvin, Samantha, and Malvern. I hope and pray all goes well with the preparations this week. Chengetai is a young girl that actually lived next to Milikafu and I when we lived in the Poop house (yeah that's what I call it now), and I'm really glad that she has been progressing. It's crazy how seeds can be planted for missionaries. I'm excited for all four of them to be baptized!

On Saturday, I had the honor of performing another baptism for Chidaz and Sakala in Glenview. Her name was Kerina, and I actually helped teach her while I was there during my threesome week. I got to put on white again, and I will next week as well! I'm loving it! :) It's pretty cool to be so involved in three wards, but it is tough at the same time. I know I'm doing good things and helping these people though.

Random stuff:

1. The mission was actually using bikes right up until I came, but they don't use them anymore. I can understand why with the crappy roads and traffic. They also used to have some technology in the mission, but other missionaries misused it and now we have lost the trust of the mission president. Kind of a bummer.

2. They call Ketchup tomato sauce.

3. I heard that the mother of my MTC companion, Elder Silotile, was baptized a while ago down in SA by Elder Clark, one of our fellow MTC friends. It's pretty cool how that worked out!

4. President Mkhabela likes to joke around and say Zimbazwe instead of Zimbabwe. It kind of irritates the native guys, but I think it's hilarious! I've even started to say it myself. haha :)

5. Sometimes I wonder why we can't have beards as missionaries. All the paintings of Christ show him having a beard, so why can't we have one? ;) They also don't have any real haircut places, but the good news is that a haircut is only like $5!

6. We use a lot of pamphlets to help us teach, and sometimes the ones we receive are for a different country. Our Plan of Salvation pamphlets that we have at the moment are meant for India. It makes me laugh, and really confuses some of our investigators.

7. Members do a lot of their own gardening, and they even have gardens around the church. I also saw monkeys at church again this week,.

8. The way Zimbabweans sometimes shake hands is really weird, but I've gotten used to it. Every handshake is different, so you have to be prepared for any of them when you shake someones hand.

9. Zimbabweans are very quiet when they pray, so when our investigators pray I sometimes say amen too soon, because I can't really hear what they are saying. If I hear something that sounds like amen, I follow suit. I've done it a few times now, and I feel so stupid! haha :)

The Shona word this week is Usadaro! It means don't do that! So you can say, Iwe! Usadaro! Which means, Hey you! Don't do that! It is funny to yell at the kids sometimes :)

I love you all so much. Please never forget that. One thing that I learned this week is that the gospel isn't difficult, but it is hard. Rely on the Lord to help you live it.

Please stay safe and enjoy the Wyoming summer for me. If you aren't in Wyoming, enjoy it wherever you may be! Hauite Hauite! :)