Makadii Week 57!

Yebo! Zvirsei shamwari!?

Hello again from Harare, Zimbabwe! This first week in my new area and calling has gone pretty well. I have never served in a place like Eastview, it is very crazy and still under a lot of development, but I know that we will find some success. Not sure for how long I will be here, but I am excited for the time I will be given. When we got to our house on Monday we had no water for 3 days, I am glad it was resolved. :)

We actually have a baptism and marriage coming up for a woman named Tendai, next weekend on the 18th, if all goes well. The previous Elders were teaching her, and now we are just finishing up the lessons and commitments. She loves church and loves us, so it was a blessing to have someone so strong already in our teaching pool. The man she is marrying, Br. Tambanda, has been a members for a while along with his family. Tendai has a powerful support system, which makes our job much easier. We have been working with a few other investigators that were being taught  by the previous elders, and we have been trying to find some new people as well. There are some promising referrals and contacts that we had this week. We will see how things progress.

We share a house and a branch with two other Elders, Elder Koch from Denmark who is like 6'8", and Elder Dixon from Utah. Our branch is called Damofalls, and it includes a few different suburbs. We have a meetinghouse, and I am back to baptizing in tub. Oddly enough my trainer, Elder Milikafu, was one of the first missionaries to open the branch there when he was being trained back in 2014. Kinda cool :) We are part of the new Harare East Stake that was created at the end of last year.

Elder Bamutesiza and I are both new to the area, so we are whitewashing. We have really had to rely on members to help us find our way around, but it is getting better. There are so many twists and turns and crazy roads in Eastview. We actually have a sweet truck to use in our area. It is my first time driving a truck on my mission! His name is Ranger Rick. :) It is very useful to have to transport stuff for the zone and to use on the muddy roads.

Elder Bamutesiza is an awesome guy and is still going strong with 5 weeks left to go. I am glad to be with him, and I know we can do some good things together. He is from a place in the middle of Uganda, was baptized in 2011, and is the first one in his family to serve a mission. His parents aren't members, but his siblings are. He is the 3rd born out of nine! He has served in many parts of the mission. I am on the opposite side of Harare than I was before, but I now know most of Harare really well.

We have MLC dinner tonight and our meeting tomorrow, and it is better now because I don't have to sit on a bus for 6 hours both ways. I do miss Blues, but I don't miss the Bravo bus. Haha :) I am excited to be back in Harare though. I am hoping to get the chance to visit my converts and friends in Mufakose/Marimba one of these P-days, so I am excited for that. It has been 8 months since I left that place! We are going to play some basketball today with some other Elders at the Mission office, should be nice.

By the way, our washing machine is really sweet. So happy to have it. :)

I turn 21 this week on Wednesday. Can't believe I finally hit the 21 year mark! I hope my baking turns out ok. I am going to try it out! Crazy thing is, this is my last birthday on my mission. I was in Harare last year on my birthday, and I am now here again. Thank you to all those who sent emails and well wishes, it means a lot. :)

Love you guys! Wishing you the best! Enjoy March Madness! Go Pokes!