Mid-Week Email

So I actually didn't hear from him until Thursday of last week, so I have more of an excuse for why I'm so behind on this post ;) He was in Bloemfontein for a zone activity which they got to play soccer and rugby, which he said was a lot of fun! South Africa actually has one of the best rugby teams in the world so it's a pretty big sport there.

"This is Elder Chapmen, He is awesome. He is from Ccali but is Tongan so he is obviously huge so he lifted us up like we were a bag of feathers."

He had an awesome story about being put in the right place at the right time for the Lord's purpose that I want to share: " I had an awesome tender mercy this week. My companion and I were looking for this women named Louise but we couldn't find her house. It was number 15 and no where to be found. We found number 14, number 16 but no house number 15. the struggle was real and it was around 95 degrees and we were walking around this neighborhood trying to find a seemingly nonexistent house. Well we never found the place but not all was lost. We met a wonderful ma named Claudette. She makes these things called koeksisters which are like twisted donuts. They are delicious! We started talking to her and she all the sudden opened up to us and told us about how her mother just passed away and how she has been struggling with that and all the other things going on in her life as she struggles to raise and maintain her family. We were able to share part of the plan of salvation and how we are able to see our loved ones again. You could tell that she was touched by what we said and we were able to sit and teach and talk for a bit. It was an amazing experience because we may not have found who we were looking for but I know we weren't there by mistake, the Lord places us in places and specific times for his purpose. We need to find out why we are there and what he wants us to do, I am thankful we were able to find this amazing woman that was definitively who we were supposed to find."  There are a lot of times in our lives where we are placed somewhere or put through something and we may not understand why, but there is always a purpose and it will bless you and someone else because it is the Lord's planning!

"The toilet seat is in the Bloemfontein elders boarding. it says Aim High... so the previous elder their got a Dear John by his girlfriend so they put her picture on the seat and wrote aim high!! haha too funny. Other elders will burn pictures and make a grave to bury them but this one is top class."

"I shared in my mass email but I want you to do your own ponderizing about it. 1nephi21:15-16

He has graven you upon his hands and your walls are continually before him...." I was having a hard week (again, haha) and he sent this to me in a personal email after he had talked about it in the mass email, and this is what he said: "So I finally got to watch conference and although I don't have a lot of time to talk about it this week I did want to share my ponderize scripture of the week is from 2 Nephi21:15-16 which read "For can a women forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb; yea they may forget, yet will I not forget thee o house of Israel. I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

As I read and re read this scripture I have found new insight and understanding going beyond my first instinct. I first thought on it is for a mother to forget her child and then how Christ will not forget us. Then I thought of how we are graven on his hands. Every time that Chrsit looks at his hands and sees those marks left by the nails he was hung by, He remembers us, they were for us. We are literally  engraved upon His palms. I looked at what was ment by "forget" I came across the word forsake which was tied to it in another verse. so I re read again this time replacing the word forget with forsake. He will not forsake us. He will never forsake or abandon us but yet he says thy walls are continually before him. What does that mean? I thought of what kind of wall they were talking about. We all have walls in our lives that hinder us from going down the paths we desire, these are the walls I think Christ was talking about. Our emotional, physical walls, our trials and hardship, or sadness and grief. These things we don't have to face by ourselves, our walls are continually before the Lord and He will help us climb over each and every single one of them." As I was thinking about his interpretation of it and how I was feeling, I just had an overwhelming feeling of peace come over me. I am not going through this alone! Christ truly felt this physical and emotional pain and sadness that I am feeling. It's an incredible thing to know that no matter what, we are not alone.

"So this is just a super cute baby that I fed and got to hold a bit, cool guy named Quinton. :) I like babies, until they start to cry or stink then I am not a big fan...."

"Just a picture after church of sister dah and her boyfriend spho"

"I hate how little time I have to talk to you and I can only reply shortly :( but its better than nothing so I cant really complain. I know things have been really hard this past week and that you are struggling. even though I am not there I know that you are trying to make everyone see that you are okay but the second you are behind close doors you start to cry. Babe I dont know what to say to help or what to do, there are only two things that I know for sure. First I know that God does love you, even when He seems to be punishing us or putting us through challenges we dont deserve, He does love us. and Second I love you. In this life those are the two things that I can say I know 100 percent with all my heart. I know I love you I dont know how things will work out, I dont know so much but that I do know. 

When you feel empty, maybe we can fill it with something? Dont ever give up, I have never seen you give up on anything and you never gave up on me so dont give up on yourself, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually dont give up on yourself, its not who you are. I know you can do anything you put your mind to! I know you arnt what I think you are. You are so much more than I could ever comprehend at least not now. You are a daughter of God, do you know what that means!?!? its incredible that the most supreme being in the entire universe has you as His child and you being His child are entitled to divine worth value and confidence! so yo are so much more than what I think you are because you are truly brilliant and authentic and unique and ah I cant put it into words but you are so great and I wish the world could see it, I wish we all could see for just a second the kind of person we are in the eyes of our eternal Father.

with all the love humanly possible, Yours

Elder North"

"Past a sign, welcome to faith city. The Ironic part is this sign is at the boarder, which is a colored area, (coloreds are people who are half and half, like one black parent and one white so they are tan I guess) its the most dangerous place in Kimberley I think and so its kind of funny. Maybe its you need faith to enter I don't know."

"This is Gratitude, she stays with Liberty who is less active. Gratitude isn't a member but we have shared some lessons with her as we meet with Liberty. I put on her headband and posed like we were bffs."