Conference!

I was at another U23 team camp, so I'm a little behind again on letters. It's insane that it's already April! Only three weeks left of school until the semester is over and a little over two months until Mikel comes home! It almost doesn't even feel real that he's coming home. It's like this figment of my imagination that's never actually going to happen.. but it's close! I've gotten to the point though where I'm so tired of emailing. Not because I don't love hearing from him and telling him about my week, but because I would so much rather just tell him in person haha. Almost there though, so I've just gotta push through.

March 27th

"We had a great visit with an investigator named Auspicious.  She related to us how everything that happened at church last Sunday applied directly to what she was about to go through. At church I gave a talk about how the Book of Mormon had helped me find peace in life's trials. Then in the gospel principle class we spoke about the Holy Ghost and how we can receive answers to prayer. We spoke of the spirits role in our life. In Relief Society they spoke on prayer. That week, Auspicious got a call from her family saying that her brother is sick and because of the medical expenses they will be unable to pay for her school or food any longer. She was told she must find a job. She didn't know how she would be able to do that with her busy class schedule and so late into the semester. She was flustered, upset, and scared. She then remembered church and then started reading the Book of Mormon. She came across 1 Nephi 3:7 which tells us that God gives nothing unto his children unless he provides a way for them to accomplish it. She explained to us that after she read this she was calm. She got a call from her brother asking if she was okay with everything. She could honestly reply, yes, everything is fine, God is in control. She then just went on with faith. Not knowing how she was going to buy food for the month she moved forward. Trusting in the Lords promise. She then received an email the next day from a company she did an internship over a year ago. The email stated that they would like to pay for her tuition and also give her grocery money. She had not had any contact with this company for a year. She had told no one of her failing circumstance. It was a miracle to say the least. After that she really knew that God is in control and that he loves us. He will provide a way, if we just keep our heads up and trust in him, all will work out in the end." 

Rugby game! Free State Cheetahs vs the Sharks

"Rethabile was in Kimberley this week so we were unable to teach her but I think she is coming back today and we will get right back into it.

Nothing to crazy has been going on, just living life as a missionary! 

Today for P-day we went and played volleyball with Auspicious and some of her friends it was pretty fun, next week we will play soccer against them. 

I got letters!!!! from Hailey, Grandma Marry, and Taryn!!! 

Thank you! sure way to make a missionaries day!!!"

April 3rd

"Conference Week!! Well sort of!  Because of the time difference we can not really watch conference live. for example the Sunday pm session started at 10pm our time and would end at midnight, but we have been able to watch the Saturday session and boy was it grand!!

I loved the very first talk I heard by president Eyring about how "the best technology can never replace revelation" I have noticed this on my mission. We don't have a lot of access to technology like other missions because of safety issues so we do not use ipads or tablets of any kind. 

I have noticed that people these days don't want to study and find answers for themselves. we simply google, yahoo and bing our way through. I think this causes a bit of a problem. When you really search for something by turning page after page. book after book, person after person, looking, searching, discovering and ultimately finding, you actually come to ingrain into you very soul the truths of life you have been searching for. thus The best things always come out from the hard things. We find more our selves as we dig deep and keep digging. We gain an answer and understanding that will never fade a way. We allow the spirit of revelation to fill our minds eye as we seek for the direction and council of the Lord on who we should proceed. We are becoming a lazy generation "smart phones and dumb people" People who don't know how to find answers from God anymore because the alternative is easier, quicker, and mostly reliable. but is that good enough for you? only being mostly reliable. who has ever heard of a company slogan like that?  Choose us, we wont let you down.... most of the time! Have you ever heard a coach say its okay, we gave it 80 percent. NO! almost, and mostly and sometimes is not good enough, at least not for me! I constantly tell people, I may lie, but do you know who will never lie to you? Only God! at the end of the day, He is the truth and the light! If we are looking for truth or light in our life then we should turn to the source of all truth and of all light."

"this is a super nice turf that we play at in Bloemanda every saturday morning and most mondays."

Elder Mbangi

"Dancing a little too hard and whoops..." hahahaha

"I also learned something this week while teaching! Its cool when you are asked a question and you know the answer to something you never thought about. 

We were asked this week if you could change the mind of God, it was an interesting question and we wanted to understand more. so we said, why do you ask? Their is a story the the book of Kings in the old Testament of the bible of a man who is told by the prophet that he will soon die. The dying man prays to God that he might live longer, God grants the prayer and extends the life of the man. Thus the question, was the man able to change the mind of God? My answer was no, we can not change Gods mind. God is bound by law though. laws that even govern us. for example. every action has a reaction. one of newtons laws (slightly shorted) 

God wants to bless us, we are his children and He wants to give us all He has. but according to law He can not just give us blessings. we first need to act so that God can then re-act. We learn through the scriptures that to every act their is an affixed punishment or blessing. It is only upon the action of faith in which God can bestow us blessings from on high. He wishes to flood our lives with the showers of heaven but is held back by the lack of acting faith on our part. without us acting God can do no work. (Ether 12:12) We know that Faith is an action word. We can just say we have faith we need to show it (James 2:17) 

The man did not change Gods mind but simply allowed God the opportunity to give Him blessings He was already prepared and wanting to give. "Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." (LDS Bible dictionary- Prayer)

To check out conference or more about our church click below.

https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

Wow prayer is important right! just a cool thought to me though that God is bound by law of action and reaction God never punishes unless we act against his will. He is always watching and waiting to pour blessing upon us as we choose to follow Him."

We got to go to a museum!

"This week we put a women named Thuli on a baptismal day, we are hopeful for her to progress and start coming to church. After we taught the restoration of the gospel she was eager to accept her own copy of the book of Mormon. 

Auspicious was able to come to conference this week which was awesome. We talked about how we would be guided by modern day prophets and apostles. We should prepare ourselves to receive guidance in our lives and get answers the questions. She prepared a list of 10 questions that she wants answered. sadly I am not allowed to see her list and they are questions pertaining to her personal life. She received on answer and I pray she gets more through the coming sessions of conference.

Have a wonderful week, and beautiful Easter!!!"

I'm super excited to listen to conference. Due to games and travel I wasn't able to listen to it except for the Sunday afternoon session. I love conference and the spiritual nourishment it gives us every 6 months! 

Videos!

I'm going to combine two weeks in one again because I'm a slacker. I forget how busy fall season gets, especially when we're traveling as much as we do. Trying to keep up with school is stressful! But I love being in season and getting to play every weekend.

September 5th

"I am beginning to think that every week on mission is a fantastic week..... ya..... life is good....tough, but good.

So where oh were to begin? We are teaching quite a few people who have baptisms lined up. The best part is our recent converts, especially Bolelang, and Liako are bringing their friends to church. Liako brought Lerato who was baptized awhile ago and has now brought her other friend Fidlia who will be baptized next month, Liako is a power member, and Bolelang brought 3 of her friends to church the other day, it was incredible! I love it! It makes our job as missionaries so much better when we got members helping us out. We really contribute so little if we are the ones carrying the members but when the members carry us we can do wonders.

We had MLC this week which was just awesome, it feels like it was two weeks ago because of how busy we were. It was awesome to sit with our mission president and to have an amazing discussion about how the mission is doing and what we could do to improve. We came up with specific points that we should carry through the mission as our new culture. I love our mission president, talk about one inspired dude. He also gave us quite a bit of marriage council which of course is always fantastic and much needed. haha. One of my favorite ones was. "We were given two ears and one mouth for a reason" listen more! Apply that not just to marriage but everything :)"

"There is a whole lot of expectation getting placed on Lesotho and now the whole mission is watching us closely. We are trying to make this place the burning heart of the mission. It's a lot of pressure but the good kind. I have not been this busy, hard working, and tired in a long long time. We go on exchanges with the whole zone, their are four other areas, three of us are in Maseru including us. One in Masionkeng, one in Leribe (2hrs away by themselves and meet in containers.) Mission is hard but so amazing.

Someone asked us today why we don't get paid for being a missionary, she said, we teach all day every day, talk to so many people, we are doing the most important work on the planet but yet we pay to come, not get paid. She couldn't understand, I told her I do get paid, just not with temporal things like money. The early apostles of Christ were told to take noting with them and to have faith. We today get paid in blessings beyond measure. You would not believe how blessed I feel, you cant put a price tag on it. its to great... or if you know the Kellogg Frosted Flakes commercial... There GGGGGRRRRRREAT!

Also I'll include my a bit of my email to president because it adds some insight to the week:

This week was fantastic, we have had members bringing their friends in an unseen number for Lesotho. I am really grabbing hold to the new spirit in the air here in Lesotho. We cannot thank you enough for the motivation and movement you have brought to Lesotho, and for opening our eyes to the great potential for this area. Members really are increasing in trust and desire to help the missionaries, or so I feel. 

This has been the busiest two weeks of my mission since I was "green" and it is AWESOME!

Something about going till you just are so tired at the end of the day, makes you feel great. I have been really trying the past few days to increase my studies, to not just read and learn but to apply and love and enrich. It makes such a difference when you approach your studies with a strong desire to increase rather than to just do it. 

I am loving my companion Elder Shinga, he is a quite example and leader to all around him, and with a big big smile. So much to learn and always so little time to do it. He is already changing me for the better by his love for the Savior and the people. He really loves the people and they become his close friends who I am sure will not forget him. 

The Zone is continuing to learn how to increase our efforts and baptisms, but we will get there. I am excited for our ZTM tomorrow where we can really sit down and discuss about what we want, and need to happen in Lesotho and what needs to happen to get there.

We have found an amazing new investigator, she is a single parent stuck in the same desk job that she hates for the past ten years. She feels like her whole life is stuck and that God doesn't hear her prayers. We talked a lot about prayer and assured her of His love. We also talked about how she recently started looking for a new church and is now going to one different than the past. She just felt like she was missing something, even still in this new church she feels a void. She feels like God still doesn't hear her. As we were disusing about her trials and pleads for help from our Father above. I looked at her and said, He has answered you. "In the past 10 years have you ever seen missionaries like us?" No was her reply. "When did you start praying to know where to go or what to do with your life?" withing the past two months she said. "Is it coincidence that two strangers from a foreign countries came to you with a message of the restored gospel just after you started praying for it? " I suppose not was her reaction. she then began to think about the past few months and said, I think He has been answering my prayers. I am just not seeing them. She is beginning to recognize the spirit in her life and its amazing. She even came to church this week! YES! That is just a short part of our lesson with her, I am very excited to continue meeting with her and seeing her life turn around. I could just feel a love for her that I knew was not my own, I am so thankful to be serving in Lesotho right now.

Well yep life is good, we are teaching people and trying to bring them the greatest thing on earth. The knowledge that they are children of our Heavenly Father, we all are. 

Something I have been sharing a lot lately is this. is God perfect? Yes. Can he make mistakes? No. He made you right? Yes. that means you are not a mistake, you are perfect, God is not capable of making anything less than perfect. Wow isn't that just like mind blowing. we are of such divine worth!

God has a plan for us.... and guess what! I know what it is!!! It makes me smile so big and makes me so happy, I mean that is why I am here in the first place. Wow, You know what you should do? Call the missionaries, invite a friend who may not be going to church and then have the time of your life as your life begins to change. I have seen so many peoples lives completely change for the better as they come closer to Christ. His light will begin to shine throughout you and will really change you to something new, something brighter, excellent, and without compare. Only the gospel can bring such a light and change in our lives. it just does. I don't quite understand how knowing Christ makes me someone else, and changes me from the inside out, but it does. and it does for everyone. I promise. Don't take my word for it. That's the beautiful thing, we all can find out for ourselves. just give it a shot, whats the worst that could happen?"

Pictures of their chapel

Cool looking house

Eating lunch at Chisa Nyama

Just some of what he sent to me in our personal email last week:

"thats so much like mission, you can only help people who want to be helped. I see it a lot. You know what they need in life but they dont want it even if they know they should. It also just go to show, you got player of the week not by accident, you work your but off. you dont party you dont drink you take care of yourself and you are able to perform so much better, be focused every practice. the blessings are endless.

Dont worry we will have the good kind a parties where we play silly games and go crazy on doritos and ice cream and all that good stuff haha.

you are incredible joining another committee on top of your busy schedule. you just can do everything.... im jealous haha.

I blows my mind when I hear about all the things you accomplish and how you are still just beginning, it excites me to see what we have in store.

just do what I do and dont get sick... ;) (he would always try to convince me that he never got sick, even when he was sick.. weirdo.)

We are going to have quite the list of activities to do :) thats prob one of the best things that I am looking forward to, just spending time with you catching up and hearing about all the stories of the places you went.

my lauve!
I am happy. thats just it you make me happy. I like being happy, I hope I make you happy too, lets be happy together and forever. that thought makes me smile :) a lot a lot."

September 12th

"Fam!

It was as always the best week ever!

So I guess I haven't told you much about my comp Elder Shinga, He is from Zimbabwe and amazing. He is a quieter guy but an awesome teacher and so so so humble and sincere. He has this big ol smile that’s always shining! We are really working hard together to try and lead this zone to the top of the mission. Um I don’t really know what else to say about him. But ya he is great!

So this week was fantastic we even got to go on exchanges with the AP’s So Elder Adams was with us for the day. He is amazing, really and truly an inspired dude. We taught some powerful lessons that day. We drive up to a place called Roma once a week to teach some people up there so that’s always a fun little drive.

We had a great first lesson with this new Mme this week. Her daughter has this chicken pox thing that comes around every year, but this year is worse and when they went to the doctor they told them that the chicken pox had entered into her blood stream and flown up to her cerebellum, she is currently unable to move her leges, most of her fingers. Her arms have limited capability along with minimal movement in her neck and head. We were able to share the message of the restoration and you should have seen this 18 year old girl bed ridden glow with an amazing smile as we testified of the love God has for us and that his gospel has been restored to the earth. We left them with a blessing and a smile on all our faces.

We are trying our best to just contact everyone we see. We set a new and high goal to get 35 referrals a week and to get 12 new investigators a week. Eish it’s a big number but with the Lords help I think we can do it. I have come to a strong sense of how many people we as missionaries let pass us by All over the place. We are to be as a witness of Christ in all things all times and all places. This means even while shopping, eating or doing whatever. We are ready to testify and teach the love of our Father in Heaven. As we have really been working at talking to everyone and sharing with everyone we have notice a new spirit in the work, a sense of urgency is coming through and we are hitting the ground running every day and the bed exhausted every night."

"High schoolers getting ready for a cultural celebration. The member we were with made us take a picture"

"I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Dooley this week as well, he is a new missionary starting his 3rd transfer and from north Carolina. They got in a pretty bad car crash this week so they are now on bikes. So it was a good workout for me to bike throughout the mountain kingdom.

I love they hymn Improve the shining moments. It makes me think of the time I have left on my mission. Some people my say 9 months is long but it is so so so short! I love being a missionary and I love serving my God.  I pray everyday that we may be blessed wit opportunities to testify and serve with all our heart might mind and strength and may you do the same. The church is true the book is blue!"

Time is flying!! He put a bunch of videos on his dropbox and I loved them, so I'll put a few on here :) Always makes me happy to hear his voice. It's crazy that every day is the last time I'll have to do something without him. This is the last season without him, the last fall semester, the last time I'll have to wait until Christmas to talk to him. It freaks me out but makes me so excited all at the same time!

Older video but still makes me smile :)