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| Parliament building tour and us with our tour guide who we had our awesome discussion with. |
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| Adventures in Lusaka--on the plane with Sister Orr, |
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| All the Sister Training Leaders in Lusaka. |
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| President, Elder Jorgensen (old zone leader), and Elder Payne (my new zone leader) braiing (African BBQ) it up. |
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| A giant, face-sized steak. |
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| Sister Ntuli leaving us. I love that girl. |
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Hospital:
Our investigators were in the hospital with Malaria and so we took our
branch, President Mitambo, and his wife to visit them. There we shared
with them 2 Nephi 2:1-2 about how the Lord will consecrate our trials
for our gain and we talked about how God has a purpose in all things. I
have a testimony that we met these investigators at the exact right
time. They needed our help. What are the chances that two in the same
family get Malaria at the same time? That doesn't happen very often.
They are now home and recovering really well. Goodson, the man, is so
excited about everything he is learning and is already talking about how
he can be a tool in helping the church spread in Malawi and how to
establish Kalambo branch to be a center of strength. He is extremely
learned in the Bible and he told us that our little pamphlets are like
primary books to him so it's been fun to step up our game and come
prepared with scriptures and boldness. He and his family are golden.
Police
Station: On Tuesday we were turning into the place we usually park on
the side of the road entering our area and we got in a small accident.
This guy wasn't paying attention and decided to pass us on the outside
shoulder right where we were turning. I think his brakes were also
mabvuto (a problem). It was such a cultural experience to see how the
whole community around the crash reacted and how the police handled it.
First off, someone had to go pick up the police because they didn't have
a car of their own. The police hitch hike here in Malawi. Then we drove
them back to the station and seeing them take a piece of printer paper
and write down such an unofficial statement was so funny to me. They
were going to make us pay the fine even though it was the other guy's
fault so we got a police woman who is a member of the Lilongwe branch to
come with us. I can't even describe to you how interesting the whole
situation was. One police officer even called us and we thought he was
giving us an update on the final say of the fine but then he asked if we
could, "Share me a Bible". We find teaching opportunities everywhere.
Everyone was ok and our truck didn't suffer too badly.
Airport:
We picked up a new sister! Sister Ntuli is now home in South Africa and
so now Sister Falco is training a new sister from Kenya (woohoo!)
called Sister Muthengi. She is super cute and I am excited to get to
know her.
Malawian Mother's day was this week
and that was also a funny cultural experience. It was very different
from the American Mother's Day. Everyone had work off and there was a
huge political celebration with a ton of women dressed in the same
chitenges. As we waited for an investigator the TV was on and we even
saw President Dr. Arthur Peter Mutharika speak to the nation about how
Malawi honors mothers and womenhood and how they have equality between
women and men in the work place.
Saturday we
had a ton of appointments to make up for the lack of lessons the rest of
the week and our path was so clearly directed. As we were walking to
one lesson this man on a bicycle asked where we were going and we told
him and he asked if we could come visit his family. So because we live
by Africa time, we followed him back to his home where we found a house
full of children of various ages ready to be taught. We sat down right
there and taught the plan of salvation and he kept clarifying to his
kids and telling them as if he already knew what we were saying is true.
It is so exciting to teach families because that is what this gospel is
all about. Then, in the afternoon we sat down in the market to eat some
mangos (mango season is on and we eat them all the time. They are about
$0.04 each) and this guy just opened the door right next to us and
started inquiring about our beliefs. And then he ACTUALLY came to
church. It was so cool. Heavenly Father is so acutely aware of us.
Something
I studies this week is how we gain access to God. It is a topic in the
Topical Guide. And it was amazing to me as I read verse after verse how
so much of it depends on our willingness to receive. God is so eager to
bless us with revelation and amazing spiritual experiences if we but
have the desire. WE are the ones that put up the pavilion or the
umbrella that block all the blessings that are raining down and WE are
the ones that can take down our walls and let Him in.
Little details:
-It
rained on Friday night and then much of Saturday and it was so nice! I
love walking in the rain and we even went on a run in the morning. I was
in heaven. I love running in the mornings.
-They already put
Christmas decorations up in stores so I guess Malawi has been hit with
the commercialism of Christmas too. I didn't expect that.
-We
asked our recent convert to give a closing prayer in a lesson and he
said, "We know with you nothing is possible". Oops. English is mabvuto.
-I
have decided I have acute narcolepsy because I have energy all day but
when I get into the room and I am writing in my journal at night I can't
stay awake for my life.
Oh! I almost forgot.
This morning we got to tour the Parliament Building and it was so cool
to get to know how the government of Malawi works. We got to go into the
chamber where they meet and it looked quite similar to the one in the
US. But cooler than that, after asking all of our questions, our tour
guide turned to us and asked questions about the church and we discussed
for like 30 minutes about our beliefs. It was amazing. AND he stays in
our branch boundaries! Perfect orchestration. Our Elders will love us
for this referral. He's prime.
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