Makadii Week 36!

Hello! Today I am emailing once again from Kwekwe. We are down here again for this month's Zone Meeting. We are visiting a snake park, and playing some soccer today, so it will be a fun P-Day!

This past week went well for us, and we ended up with 2 baptisms for Eunice and Obey. One is 8 and the other is 11. They are sweet kids who have been coming to church. Because of General Conference viewings this week, we have to push their confirmations to next week. We have another 4 people being baptized on the 22nd of this month, as well as a marriage! :) The Chinga family; Brother Ephraim and his wife, and their daughter Tsitsi, as well as a young girl named Tanatswa. Then, at the start of next transfer, we will have a man named Caesar, and his son Prince be baptized if all goes well. The work is going really well is Chegutu! :)

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Whiting this week which was really nice. I enjoyed being with him!

There was a big car crash just outside of Chegutu this past week, and over 9 people were killed. 4 of them were from Chegutu, so there was a big funeral during the week. It was considered a national disaster. It was big news all over the country.

I really enjoyed Conference this week. We got to watch all but the Priesthood session. My favorite talk was given by Elder Carl B. Cook, about sacrifice and service. It made me feel so much comfort knowing that my service here in Africa is the best thing I could be doing, no matter how hard it can be. Service is how me grow, and how God shapes us into the people he wants us to be. Oddly enough, in my first transfer here in Zim, Elder Cook was still the Area president. I met him first at the temple in Joburg while attending the MTC, but then got to spend some one on one time with him when he came to tour the mission back in March. I am so thankful that I got the chance to speak with him personally while he was here. He even emailed my parents after our interview. It was cool to see a General Authority actually caring about the life and service of a skinny Wyoming boy. It was especially cool to see him speak at conference.

The main theme that I got out of conference was to really trust the Savior and to give our lives to him. We can do that in many ways, and the speakers all gave wonderful examples. We do it by serving, sacrifice, prayer, and if we do those things, we find true joy, just like Elder Nelson said in his talk. 

I love you all so much, and I think about you often. You are never far from my heart. Love the Lord, and love each other. Go Pokes and Go Seahawks! :)

Prepare to Serve Website

Here is a link to a great website that has most if not all missions. http://preparetoserve.com/zimbabwe-harare-mission

Makadii Week 35!

Hey everyone!

This week has been good, and also busy busy like usual. All in all there isn't too much to report this week. It is getting very very kupisa (hot) here!

Elder Makalio and I are doing well, and the training is going great. We have extended quite a few baptismal dates this past week, so we will now be working very hard to keep things running smoothly for those investigators in the coming weeks. I hope we will be able to help them progress and prepare for baptism. If all goes well, we will have quite a number of baptisms this month! The Lord is truly blessing us! We had a good number at church this week, and some people we can fall back on. It is nice when things begin to be consistent. We will be baptizing a few younger kids this week, Eunice and Obey. It will be super great! We also have two more families, the Chinga and Tembo families, that we are hoping to baptize in the near future. Still no real answers with the Mapuranga's marriage. We will just have to be patient. :)

We had Zone Conference on Friday, so I got to drive down to Gweru with the district. I was cool to visit and see a part of the mission I haven't be able to see yet. Gweru is an awesome place, with a beautiful chapel. My musical item/performance went well, and I think everyone enjoyed it. Mostly I am just thankful I get to perform for people still. I love to sing, play and help others feel the spirit! :) I got to see my MTC buddy, Elder Scoresby for the first time in 8 months! We haven't seen each other since we arrived, so it was a wonderful reunion. We shared our last meal on American soil together; a nice brisket sandwich at Arby's in the Atlanta airport back in February! My last companion, Elder Mahlangu, has become a Zone leader in Gweru! I am super happy for him, so I got to see him as well at the conference. There are only a few missionaries that I have yet to meet in the mission, so I have almost met all of them! :)

One crazy thing, Elder Makalio passed out during the conference, but woke up after about 10 seconds. He had us all scared, but he turned out fine!

I hope all is well wherever you may be! It sounds like General Conference was great. I will get to see that next week, if all goes well with the connection and stuff. I always love them! Crazy thing is that I only get to miss two more conferences on my mission, it's nuts! Soon I will be halfway done!

One thing that I have really come to love here is Madora. They are these small worms that you can cook and eat. They are actually very very tasty!

It is crazy how serving in Chegutu has helped me grow. When I was in Marimba, I just wasn't in a position where I needed to know Shona, and some of the ins and outs of the work. I had Zimbabwean companions, so I could rely on them to speak and help me. When I came to Chegutu, I had to learn it, so that I could connect with the people. There are like no natives in the mission anymore, so we have to ask and try to learn all the time. I knew a little bit while I was there, but now I'm learning more almost every day. It's pretty sweet!II I'm loving it! :)

I love you all so so much! Keep trusting the Lord, and enjoying life! :)

You are loved! :)

I also heard that the Pokes beat up on the Rams down in Fort Collins. Go Pokes! It is always nice when the Pokes pick up a win, even if I am in Africa! :)

Ndinowonana!

Makadii Week 34!

Hesi! :)

It has been a busy busy week, but also a good week. As usual we had some really good things happen, as well as some disappointments. The training is going really well. I am so grateful to have a humble trainee that loves to learn. He is adjusting so well and I am enjoying my time with him. Makalio is an awesome guy!

This week I was the designated "wedding planner," for our two couples, the Mapurangas and the Chatayas. I was running around most of the week to make sure all went well for the marriages and baptisms. Buying rings, coordinating cakes and gowns! Unfortunately, even after all of my hard work, we only ended up having one of the marriages take place, and only one couple being baptized. Everything is taken care of for Nathan Chataya and his new wife Rhoda, but something unexpected came up with the Mapurangas, and their marriage and baptism have been delayed at least for the time being. We will be doing our best to resolve the situation in the coming weeks. It sucks when things like this happen, but I know it will all work out in the end. We have found some success in finding new people and families to teach, and took our number from just 4 investigators at church last week, back up to 11! We have some new people that our really promising, and we will be extending baptismal dates to them this week.I hope we can help them progress! :) As a district, we ended up having 4 baptisms with 2 fathers this week. In addition to our marriage, the other guys had one as well. The cool thing is that Elder Makalio and Whiting got to perform there first baptisms as missionaries. They did great! :) It was sure a busy, but wonderful week.

This week we also had an nice Zone Meeting in Kadoma. This coming week, on Friday, we are having a huge Zone Conference in Gweru, a place I have yet to visit in Zimbabwe. The Kwekwe Zone, Gweru Zone, and Bulawayo Zone will all be in attendance. It will be a sweet meeting! :) the cool news is that I will be singing and playing my guitar again for everyone. This time it will just be me though! I am planning to play a mash-up of a popular EFY song, and a song that I recently wrote here in Zim. I am super happy to be able to share my talents with others, I hope they like it! Also, just like always, I have been asked to be the chorister for the conference. All of my musical training back home is really helping me here! :)

The future is bright in our area and I am trying to enjoy every second that I have here in Africa! I hope all is goping well back home and that you all are enjoying the football and baseball that is happening! I love you and the Lord does too! :)

Here is some more Shona: Uno penga! (You are crazy!)

By the way, it is getting very hot here in Zimbabwe. Kuri kupisa! (It is hot!)

It isn't too horrible, but is for sure hotter than Wyoming!

Musari Mushe everyone! :)

Makadii Week 33!

Hello everyone! Ndeipi? (What's up?)

Things are mushe-mushe here in Zimbabwe, and I have enjoyed my first week as a trainer. My trainee is Elder Peter Makalio, a native of West Valley, Utah. He is one of 8 boys in his family, and has been a member his whole life. He is a super sweet, funny, and humble guy, and I am excited to be his "father." He plays some rugby and football, and his ancestors come from Tonga and New Zealand.

It has been the craziest week for me. Elder Makalio, who is now known as Mhofu yeMukono (Buffalo), came in with about 20 others, almost all of which were from America. Some were from Austria, New Zealand, and Australia as well. The Elder from Austria, Elder Till, is being trained in Marimba/Mufakose, where I was trained. I felt so weird being around them, I haven't seen that many Americans is a long time! It made me feel pretty old as a missionary, haha :) Makalio attended the Provo MTC with some others, while some came from the Joburg MTC. It was the biggest incoming group since I have been here. They all loved hearing my stories and advice, and I hope that my experience and testimony can help all of the new elders and sisters. Things are changing like crazy, but it is awesome. It will be a nice change of pace to have some Americans around. Some of them even said that I don't act like an American anymore, and that I have a bunch of African in me now! :) I don't even remember what home was like at the moment, so it was weird to see all of them arrive. Things will be new, but good. The future of ZHM is very bright! :)

Things in Chegutu are going so so well, and the training has gone well so far. It sure does help that he is a humble and teachable guy! We have two marriages happening this week or next, for the Mapuranga family and the Chataya family, with baptisms to follow. The work is still moving along nicely. It is a wonderful thing to be a part of! As part of training, we are working on finding new people, and we are finding success there as well. It is pretty funny that I am now the one teaching my companion how to taura (speak) Shona. It makes me sekerera (laugh). :) 

The whole of my zone is training, save for the ZL's. There is a lot of that going on in other zones of the mission. I ran into Milikafu and Sekerere while I was in Harare. It was so good to see my old companions again! Man, time really is flying.

Seeing all of these new missionaries coming has really made me reflect on how far I have come since I arrived. All of the frustrations, lessons learned, and success that I have had have made me change so much. I can't believe all that my mission has taught me, and it has only been 8 months! It truly is incredible. I am still growing with every step, and now I get to help others on their own missionary journey. As I look back at how much I have grown as both a missionary and a person since I came, I am in complete awe of what my Savior has done for me.

I love you all so so much! I hope all continues to go well wherever you may be!

Here is some Shona for the week. If anyone is giving you a hard time just say, "Ndinoda kukurova." It means, I want to beat you up! Haha :)

Ka one! (It's ok!) :)

Makadii Week 32!

Hey guys! There is tons and tons to report, but I will try to be brief.

First of all, all of our baptisms and confirmations, as well as the marriage happened as planned this week! It was such a blessing! We ended up with 6, and the Ndholvus finally were married! :) They were baptized along with Charity, Sibongile, Phillis, and Tinashe. The Lord really helped me and Elder Mahlangu these six weeks, we ended with 9 baptisms! We are killing it! :) We also have 2 more couples who are progressing and will be married soon. We are keeping the marriage officer very busy, which is super great. There is nothing like getting a couple married and baptized! The future is still so so bright.

Today I am emailing from Harare. I received the news on Saturday that I have been chosen to train a new missionary who is coming mangwana (tomorrow)! I don't know much about him yet, but I know his name is Elder Makalio. The sheet says he is from Utah, but his name sounds very foreign. I will find out and have some great pictures with him next week to send to you! After a day of training here in Harare I will be headed back with him to Chegutu. I am staying and training in the same area, which I really sweet. We have people already in the teaching pool, and it is the perfect place to train my "son." I am very humbled and very excited! It seems like yesterday that I first came here, and now I get to help another Elder adjust to life in this crazy country of Zimbabwe! :) I am now 7 1/2 months, plus my weeks at the MTC. Time is moving, and by the end of my training, I will be almost half way done! Crazy stuff! :)

The 6 weeks that I had with Elder Mahlangu were filled with many miracles, but also many frustrations. I have learned so much more Shona, and have grown so much as a missionary. This transfer has been so so great. I will miss Mahlangu a lot, but I really enjoyed my time with him! Such a great guy. He has been transferred back to Harare. I am honored to say that I was his first Murungu companion! :)

I hope all is well back home, or wherever you may be. Please know of my love and appreciation for every single one of you! Enjoy the football and hunting seasons for me! :)

I love you all! :)

Video from Elder Baldwin