Makadii Week 22

The 5 month mark has come and gone this past week, and time is moving both fast and slow. It's tough for me to tell! Some days go by fast, others very slow. That's how it is for everyone I think!

This week was full of many many things, so I will do my best to talk about all of it. As a missionary, life is never boring! :)

Last Monday, we spent hours playing basketball at the mission office. Mostly it was Elder Gordon and I, and also the AP's. A few others joined us as well, but most of the native guys played soccer. I played soccer for a little while before playing basketball, and scored a goal! I am also proud to say that my 3 point shot was falling, even though I haven't played basketball for real since I arrived. It was such a blast! Elder Gundani, one of the AP's, and I were on fire. We called ourselves the Splash Brothers! He was Steph, I was Klay. I was killing it, which was a pretty big surprise to me. It's nice to know I've still got it! :)

We had both District Meeting and Zone Conference this week, and they both went well. Elder Gordon is adjusting much better than I did, at least as far as I know. He is doing well from what I've seen. Being a DL is going well, and as I look back, Milikafu did such an amazing job in preparing me for it. It hasn't been a tough change at all. My song with Elder Brooks went really well, even though we messed up a couple times. I received many compliments after the conference, and I just hope I was able to invite the spirit, and to also put smiles on the faces of my fellow missionaries! I think I did that. :) I'm super glad I got my guitar, because it has been an amazing stress reliever! I'm getting better at it too!

We also had an awesome dinner appointment with the Chaya family on Tuesday. They aren't in our area, but it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up. The father was baptized in 1980, and served his mission in Zimbabwe in 1981. He was the first Zim native to serve a mission, and he told us some pretty cool stories! When he served, Zimbabwe was part of the South Africa Joburg Mission, and the whole of Zimbabwe was just one Zone! Pretty crazy how things have changed. He didn't even go to the MTC, and his nametag had the old church logo on it.

The crisis is still very real here, but Elder Sekerere and I were both able to get all of our allotment out of an ATM this week. We are very blessed!

Things have been going well in our area, and we are very thankful for the success we have been able to find. We are still really struggling to get our investigators to come to church. We have really focused on teaching the importance of the Sabbath day this week, and we hope the spirit can help them feel just how important it is for them to come. We do have a few investigators that are coming, and we hope and pray they continue to do so! Church attendance and marriages are the toughest things for missionaries here, for sure. We won't have a baptism for a few more weeks, toward the end of the transfer. We are now 2 weeks into the current transfer. We also ran into my father, Milikafu, again this week. I got to give him a big hug! I always love seeing him. I miss him tons!

We are having a braai/bbq cookout today at a place called Cleveland It is cool place, and last time we went, monkeys came and tried to take our food! haha :) It will be nice to have a nice bbq for the 4th of July, even though I'm in Africa! Even though Zimbabwe will always hold a special place in my heart, the USA will always be my home! God Bless America! :) Please, please, please know that we are so lucky to be citizens of such a wonderful place. You really don't know just how good you have it back home. Never take it for granted. Ever.

I love you all so much, and I hope summer is going well! Enjoy every minute of it for me! Good luck to all the US athletes in the Olympic Trials and in the Rio Games!

All the best...