Makadii Week 16

Hey friends and family!

I hope all is well back home, and that you are enjoying the start of summer and the end of the school year! I'm glad that the weather is warming up for you!

Things are going well here in Zimbabwe, at least for the most part! For most of the week things were going well in the area, with all investigators preparing for baptism. Then came the weekend, and so many things fell apart. Luckily, out of the 7 we had hoped to baptize, 4 of them still happened! I'm just trying to be thankful for even the small success we were able to have. I always say, any week with a baptism is a great week, regardless of anything else that happened. After much craziness, we were able to have one couple married and baptized, along with 2 others. The couples names were Blessing and Lisa, and the other 2 were Prince and Hillary. Even though it gave me much stress, things still worked out, and I'm grateful for that! If all goes well, we will have a few people being baptized in the coming weeks, including the 3 we lost this past week.

Some random things:

1. It is incredible to me how many times a missionary shakes hands with someone. It's getting pretty old actually. Haha :)

2. Winter has finally started and I'm loving the cooler weather. It makes me feel more at home!

3. Sometimes kids think I'm Chinese. It didn't really start til this week, but I'm not sure why they think that. I don't look Chinese at all!

4. Plans on a mission can be totally turned around. This week has shown me that for sure. Just have to let it go and do your best!

5. Zone Meeting this week was good, just like always.

6. A correction about the schools here in my previous email. It's A level and O level, and the others are Form 1,2 ,3, etc.

7. During any meeting, the members here always stand up for the intermediate hymn, and they sing very loud, with no help from the piano.

8.My mission diet has recently consisted of a lot of PB+J, Sadza, Rice, Eggs, and cinnamon sugar. Not bad eh? :)

9. Zimbabweans are actually pretty short for the most part. I am taller than most of the people here.

10. There are no car washes anywhere, and the only vacuums that I've seen are at the churches. Most places don't have carpet, and most buildings are just concrete or brick.

One thing I've really noticed this week is that this truly is the Lord's work, and that we are truly just instruments in His hands. We find people without planning it, I teach or share something that one person or family needs without much thought. The spirit is really with us, and is the only reason we can find success. Each day brings something that we had not planned for.

We are heading to the lake again today for some soccer. I hope I play better this time! I've also been running a lot more in the mornings. I always feel so much better after!

I love you all and hope you are doing well. Please keep me updated with anything big going on in your lives. Know that I am doing my best, and staying safe here in Africa! You are always in my prayers. :)

Stay sweet til next week!

Also, my old companion, now Brother Melvyne Milikafu, was able to be there for the marriage and baptism on Sunday! It was so great to see him again. He was my companion when we started teaching all of the people that were baptized this weekend, so I'm glad he was able to see it happen. He is still as crazy as ever, he just doesn't have the name tag on anymore