Reminiscing and Hoping

Jan. 12, 2015

Seeing Rodrick (and his brother Chifundo) again. Too good.

Out to Chinese in Lusaka! I love all of these sisters.

The Malawi STLs. 

Yes, our height difference is cartoonish.

Sister Falco is a doll. Every time we reunite I just am the happiest.

My sister and friend Priscilla. She is almost a year in the church (in Feb) and she gets her mission call soon!

Darling People,

This week was absolutely lovely because I had the blessing to fly to Lusaka with Sister Dlamini and the Blantyre zone leaders and attend Mission Leadership Council. Every single moment of that two day meeting was pure light. I don't know how I got so blessed to get to be apart of it. When I sit in that room with the other leaders of the mission I feel like a mouse among giants but oh, how wonderful it is. President Erickson picked us up from the airport and on the way back to the mission home he said, "The Lord commanded his disciples to take up their cross and follow him. You are doing it." The Spirit just filled me--it was a good way to walk into MLC.

Being with the other leaders was just so exciting. I got to see Sister Falco and Sister Quaye from Lilongwe and I could hardly suppress my smiles. Sister Lyon and I were the only STLs that were the same from the last MLC. It is just so amazing to be in a room full of such choice people. The first question that President asked was, "What does it mean to you to be apart of this council?" It means the world to me. I feel the Savior's trust in me. I feel like he is calling on my to be bigger than I am. It's the best feeling in the world.

One of the sweetest moments of that council was talking about our mission goals for the year. The one we discussed for a long time was our baptismal goal. With all the numbers from last year and with our vision for what we want Zambia and Malawi to become, we came to set a goal of 750 baptisms. That is a virtual district in one year. As a council, we all knelt down and asked Heavenly Father to accept our goal and when our knees hit the floor it felt like a ripple went through Zambia and Malawi--this is the beginning of something great. It is going to take a lot more obedience and effort and prayer and coordination but I know we can do it. And I know that in that room there were heavenly hosts there to say, "We, too, will help."

The Blantyre zone leaders called on us to do a role play for their part of the council (basically you act out a lesson to practice how you will teach in real life). That was a good reflection of how much I have grown on my mission. I got up there with my companion and taught the Assistants to the President in front of all the zone leaders, sister training leaders, and President and Sister Erickson and I just felt confident. My confidence and ability to listen to the Spirit and teach has grown so much.

Testimony meeting was also sweet. Every single time I bear my testimony I say, "I love being a missionary." It's true! I feel it all the time. I love this. This time is such a blessing. I loved what another Elder said, "God did not call us to be leaders because of any merit to ourselves but he called us to make something of us." I am eternally grateful for a God that sees my eternal potential and now my current weaknesses and flaws.

On the way back from MLC we had a 4 hour stop in Lilongwe before our bus left for Blantyre so I GOT TO GO BACK TO MY OLD AREA. You guys. I never thought I would ever be able to do that (or at least not until I came back to visit my mission some day). It was surreal driving through Lilongwe. I know it was only two months ago but it feels like forever. I got to see Rodrick, my recent convert, and Priscilla, my Malawian sister who taught with us all the time. It was the happiest thing. Little tears filled my eyes as I walked through my area again. When Rodrick opened the door and saw me he screamed and it was adorable. It was bittersweet because though it was wonderful to be back, it wasn't the same. That era of my life is over and I can't go back and experience the same light that once was there when I ran around being a crazy child with Sister Orr. It just reaffirmed to me that I am in the right place here in Blantyre. This is where I am supposed to be and I wouldn't be who I am right now without the challenges that Blantyre has presented to me.

We basically lost all of our investigators in the past two weeks, not from being gone for three days but just because none were progressing and so many just down right rejected us. Even the two who were preparing for baptism and were just golden suddenly moved away without telling us. It was a good thing I was full of hope and optimism for my area after MLC or it could have been really discouraging. 

BUT we pressed forward and yesterday we found the most perfect family ever! It was so exciting! This is something I have waited for my entire mission. I had to pinch myself to see if it was actually real life. We sat down with a mom, a dad, and two kids, they all spoke English, and both parents have good jobs. I just wanted to burst into tears. I have been praying so hard for my area to be rekindled. Teaching them part of the plan of salvation was so full of the Spirit. I can't wait to go back to this family and teach again.

Something I learned at MLC is that the baptismal invitation is not there to actually set a date or have them say yes but it is there to let people know your purpose. Even if you know for a fact that they will say no, it is part of our responsibility as missionaries to invite in the first lesson (or second) to let them know our purpose. Malawians are always open to Bible studies but when they know that we are there to help them make a covenant then it shows us quickly who is serious. 

Well, life is glorious and I am a happy little child here in Malawi serving the Lord. Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Proctor

Monkeys are Getting Married

Jan. 5, 2015

My two Zulu ladies.

Yes, I am gaining many African skills including carrying my scriptures on my head as I walk. It's a work in progress.

Darling Family,

So I guess when it is both sunny and raining at the same time (my favorite weather) South Africans say that, "monkeys are getting married". These are things you learn during rainy season. Also, when you are put with two zulu sisters.

So, I feel like I say this every other week but I got a new companion. I think Heavenly Father is trying to teach me something because sometimes I feel like I'm getting whiplash with all of these sudden transfers. But at the same time I am at peace, I am still happy, and I am so blessed to be here. I say two zulu sisters because Sister Komiha got sent to Lusaka and Sister Griffus was moved to the other area in Blantyre so Sister Mntungwa (Zulu) and I were left companionless. Sister Mntungwa's companion is having visa troubles so she has been with my new companion and I for the week. 

My new companion is Sister Dlamini from Joberg, South Africa. She was called to the Liberia mission and served two months there and then because of the ebola crisis she came here. She is 25 and so short and kind and loves to laugh. She is the second best table tennis player in South Africa. She calls everyone "dear" and she is about the same age on mission as I am. She is also pretty quiet so I am taking the lead quite a lot. But I love her already.

We were walking in our area one day and I saw this guy getting out of his suburban and I about passed him when I just had a feeling to stop and talk to him. He said, "Are you Mormons". No one in Malawi calls us Mormons so we were surprised and said yes. He went on to tell us that he lived with a Mormon family for a year in Arizona in 2013 and learned a lot about the church. His wife even went inside the temple for a temple open house. It was a pretty cool orchestration because how many people in tiny Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, have been to America and further more lived with Mormons. Probably one guy in all of Malawi.

We did more visits with the Relief Society president and counselor on Thursday. They are sweet people. Before we left, we had a small testimony meeting just the five of us and the spirit was so strong. We may not be having a ton of success in our area but we surely are fulfilling the calling to help establish and strengthen the branch. I am coming to love Ndirande branch so much.

Opposition is continuing to hit hard. It's funny how there can be two areas in one branch and one area can be thriving and the other can be suffering. The Elders have about 14 investigators a week and we have about 2. It's a good thing that the Spirit regularly reassures me with hope or I might be tempted to get discouraged. I do have to admit, after a day of walking in the pouring rain and calling every person I could think of and knocking every door I could think of and having every single person say no I shed four tiny tears, but Sister Dlamini gave me a hug and we continued onward.

Something that has really helped me is keeping a small, pocket-sized notebook on my desk and every day I write a page of things that I am grateful for. This is one of my new year's resolutions--to write in that notebook everyday. I was inspired but a friend of mine to start it. Even on days when everything seems wrong and hard and impossible there are a million things to be grateful for. If it is at all raining, no one comes to church. Like literally there were 20 people at the beginning of sacrament meeting. But Alinafe was EARLY, he bore the sweetest testimony, and he received the priesthood. That is enough to make a sour day sweet.

And you know, at the end of a long day of walking in the rain and no success, the fact that we actually had water and it was actually hot was a great blessing too. I will never take advantage of water again. It's the little things, my friends.

Wherever you are, look for all the good things in life. When you change your focus, all of a sudden life is good no matter what.

This next week, Sister Dlamini and I fly to Lusaka for MLC and it will be such a spiritual refresher. I can't wait!

Love you all,

Sister Proctor

Christmas linali bwino

Dec. 28, 2015

My darling Sister Falco.

Blantyre seestaz (yes I just spelled that word that way)

My awesome district--we have the zone leaders and the sister training leaders. It's a powerful group.

Being silly with Agnes and Watipaso Chirwa. Love those two.

Looking smart on Christmas morning.

Cooking with Agnes and Joyce Chirwa. Those two crack me up.

Darling Family,

This has been one of the sweetest, most wonderful, hardest weeks of my mission. I can't even describe to you how joyful all the days leading up to Christmas were. Tears were practically always threatening to come because my happy cup was overflowing. I could count this Christmas as possibly the best of my whole life.

On Monday night and Tuesday morning we had a combined Christmas party/devotional with Lilongwe zone. It was so exciting to see my old zone. I was just buzzing with smiles. I love all those elders and sisters so much. It was especially sweet to see Sister Falco--she has become such a dear friend. She is just one of those people you can talk to forever. Monday night we had a white elephant (too funny--these Africans mwandi!), a big dinner (I also got teary sitting down with my full plate--so many people don't ever experience this kind of meal in their lives), and a viewing of "The Christmas Carol". Yes, we watched a movie. It was weird. And fun. Tuesday was the best of all though. We were given two talks on the sacrament to study Monday night and then Tuesday we got together and had a deep discussion about the sacrament. President said he was directed away from talking about Christmas and told to discuss this specific topic. The Spirit was tangible. After discussing, some of the elders blessed and passed the sacrament. During each prayer, we all knelt together. Wow. It was amazing. The sacrament has come to mean so much more to me on my mission. 

The opposition was raging this week. Pretty much every single appointment was canceled, we had people down right stop us in the middle of talking and tell us to leave them alone, and so many gates were shut in our faces. I feel strongly that the opposition is coming from our change in focus. We used to work a lot in Goliyo and Maplot (the poorer parts of our area) but we have shifted to New Lines and Nyambadwe (the richer areas) where every house has a gate to knock and every gate has a guard to convince to meet the boss. We know that this shift in focus is important for the establishment of the church and that God will help us find success but these first couple weeks of finding will involve a lot of laughing to overcome frustration. All you can really do is laugh.

Christmas Eve we got together as a zone at the Reynolds (senior couple) and watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It's funny how much you can love people when you have known them for such a short amount of time.

Christmas was just amazing. I've never had a more pure celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. In the morning I opened my package (I LOVE YOU) and all the sisters enjoyed it and then we went to our area and visited every member, recent convert, less active, and investigator we could find. Most were at home and it was so special just to sit down and talk about what THEY could give to Christ this Christmas. I've asked myself a lot too--what gift will I give to the Christ child? We baked cake and shared some of the candy from my package and it was so sweet. One girl, Susan, who we work with a lot said it made her day because it was the only present she got. These people have so little but they love and feel so deeply.

We visited the Chirwa family (Agnes--the one going to London South Mission) and we just had a good time cooking and talking together. It poured rain and in every detail it was so different from the Christmases I've known but it was so full of the Spirit of Christ. I've never felt the Christmas spirit more than this past week. And of course it was lovely to see some of your darling faces over Skype.

I don't know if you can tell but I am really happy. Like inexpressibly so. I love this work, I love these people, I love being His missionary, and life is just beautiful. I hit my 6 month mark this past week and it's caused me to reflect on what I have learned in this short time on my mission. Here are just 5 of the lessons (sorry this email is long but I'm copying some from my journal):

1. I am nothing without God. Literally nothing can happen unless He is on our side. I can try and find and teach people but nothing can move forward without Him. He gives me my daily breath and my strength to make it through each day I wake up exhausted. He hand is what pushes me to continue walking even after every single appointment is canceled. There is nothing but my will that he can't take from me in an instant. It is only through His mercy that I have anything. I am so small but with Him I can endure all things.

2. Christ's Atonement CAN change my weaknesses to strengths. My mission has brought to my attention many weaknesses I never even realized I had. I'm not as generous, charitable, patient, or optimistic as I wish I was but something that I've seen is that as I pray for the Atonement to empower me to change, little by little I do change and that is a miracle. Change, as a human being, a life time pursuit and it is only though the Atonement that we can change to become like our Heavenly Father.

3. Seeing other people's contexts. Especially when you stay with a companion 24/7 charity is so necessary and the only way you can have long term charity for others' weaknesses is if you come to understand their context and background. On my mission, I've really been trying to stop and analyze people instead of jumping to conclusions and assuming things. Everyone has weaknesses and rather than losing patience you can love them through and help them overcome.

4. Reaching out to everyone. I thought I was pretty good at this before my mission but I was just skimming the surface of where I could be. Your eyes have to be open at all times to see the needs of those around you and how you can help and serve. At church I've learned to greet every single person and it makes you feel more involved and others feel appreciated. It doesn't matter if someone is socially awkward or popular or rich or poor, I can reach out to them and I don't have to feel intimidated.

5. I can happily weather any storm. Even just this morning we didn't have water or electricity in our flat (since yesterday) and it can be sorta rough to live this way sometimes but it's ok. I am grateful in all things. All is well in my soul even when we are rejected all day long and I'm hotter than anything and my body is telling me no. It's ok. I know in whom I have trusted. I know that with God I can handle all things. Here's to the next year of serving the Lord!

Love you all,

Sister Proctor

P.S. The subject of the email means "Christmas was good".

Tikukufunirani Christmas Yabwino

Dec. 22, 2014

Agnes tracting with us. She is beautiful and so funny. We are pretty much best friends.

Teaching sweet Rachel and Magret in their baby house.

.All the branch primary children. The future leaders of Malawi.

Sister Browning and I eating lunch at a tiny bakery.

My cute companion and I at the branch Christmas party

Darlings around the world,

My little heart is exploding with so much gratitude for the Savior. I feel like I am coming to really know Him more than I've ever known Him before. This week one of the branch missionaries that we normally work with was sick so we went to visit her and we taught her an amazing lesson about Christ. Actually, the Spirit really taught me. It was just one of those many moments where I knew my mouth was being filled with what to say. The words that came out of my mouth were not my own. And I learned that the Atonement is much more than we ever think it is. It has been said often that the Atonement is enabling power but that only really hit me as I taught. The Atonement is not just to take us from a low state of sin back to a state of neutrality--sometimes we think that when we repent it's just getting back up to the plain we were at before--but it truly is enabling us to become as he is. Christ wasn't willing to suffer because of our sins but He was willing to suffer because of the infinite and stunning potentials that He knew we could reach with His help. Sin is just the chains He has released us from so that He can lift us higher.

As sister training leaders, Sister Komiha and I did exchanges this week and they were really great. I still feel a bit inadequate and inexperienced to teach other missionaries but I know that I have been called for a reason. I may be training and helping sisters who have double the time on mission than I do but it is causing me to stretch and grow. The first exchange was on Wednesday with Sister Griffus (from US). We laughed a lot (#sollynotsolly<--Malawians struggle with their Rs and Ls) and worked hard. We had a lesson with our eternal investigator, Ian, and it was so powerful. We talked about repentance and shared the story of Alma the Younger and he FINALLY committed to a baptismal date of January 18th. You don't even know how big this is. He is famous for being an eternal investigator. I am praying that he actually follows through. 

On Thursday we worked with Osman, another branch missionary who just got his mission call to the England Birmingham mission. As we walked about from appointment to appointment he told me his conversion story. It blew me away. He used to be a missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses but every time he talked about life after death he knew he wasn't teaching the truth. One day he saw Elders in the market and stopped them and asked what happens after we die. He couldn't let the missionaries come to his house because he lived with his brother who was extremely J-dub so he began reading everything the Elders could give him. Even when he went away for planting he would call the Elders everyday to let them know about his reading. He eventually moved in with his sister and was able to be baptized. When the leaders of the Jehovah's Witness heard he had changed churches they came to try to fellowship him and teach him and he ended up teaching them the plan of salvation. He is going to be an amazing missionary. Birmingham better prepare itself.

Friday I did an exchange with Sister Browning (from Idaho) who has only been out about three weeks. She is the sister that sort of reminds me of myself a short few months ago. We are very different people but it's still funny to look at her and look at myself and see how far I have come. Agnes Chirwa, who is going to London South (Shae's mission) came with us to a lesson and it felt like I was training the both of them. They were so nervous to begin the lesson and ask him questions but I left them hanging out to dry and they were so proud of themselves afterward. Agnes is seriously the darlingest person ever. I hope all works out with her visa so she can actually go to London and meet Sister Wood! I'll include a picture of Sister Browning and I and also Agnes out tracting with us.

Our branch devotional/party was this week and it was such a success. A ton of investigators came and there were a ton of games and everyone really got involved. The Relief Society were champions in cooking rice for 200 people. They went through all the rice to pick out all the little rocks (yes, that is something you have to do here). Ah, these African women are powerful. The best part was looking around and seeing Alinafe organizing all the primary children to play a game and Rachel and Magret going out of their way to help clean up. It's the little things that mean so much.

There was one day that was really strange this week. It seemed like every person I talked to just made me feel weirder and weirder. One investigator we were teaching, a man from Zimbabwe, stopped mid conversation and asked me if my father was a missionary. I told him my father had been one a long time ago and he said that three months ago God had revealed to him that I would come to his door. That sounds sort of spiritual but it was more on the strange end of the spectrum. Then on the way home this man stopped Sister Komiha and said, "I want to talk to your friend. She is so pretty." Ah, dese people. If only you knew how many men have proposed to me. Too many. I can't seem to blend in here.

Well, Christmas is this week and though I am far away from home and all familiarity the Christmas spirit--the spirit of Christ--is vibrant in my heart. All Christmasy things have been stripped away. There are no lights or trees or wrapped presents or santa clauses, but my testimony of Christ has grown more than any other Christmas I've ever experienced. Malawi may celebrate differently ("It isn't Christmas without chicken and it isn't Christmas without fanta") but the reason for the season remains the same. May we all let Christ be born in us this week.

Love,

Sister Proctor

Rainy Season is Upon Us

Dec. 15, 2014

This is the year anniversary of Michaela's double jaw surgery. At last the swelling has gone down!

On Alinafe's baptism day.

Alinafe is so happy to be baptized.

Michaela wears her great grandmother's necklace every time she has a baptism.

Darling Family,

Well, first of all I want to say that tomorrow marks a year since I got jaw surgery which is insane. The time has gone fast. I am including some pictures to commemorate the fact that my jaw works and my face is no longer cartoonish (hopefully...). I can now eat all things. I don't have to blend my cinnamon rolls anymore! The human body is a miracle. A year ago I had a broken jaw and now it's completely normal.

This week I began learning how to drive the vehicle I will be assigned to drive once it is fixed. We drive giant, diesel Izuzu trucks here to get through all the crazy dirt roads. I have to say I am sort of at a disadvantage because 1. I've never driven stick 2. we drive on the left instead of the right here 3. the driver's side is on the right instead of the left and 4. I have never driven a truck or a car near this large before. And to add upon that African drivers are INSANE. So keep me in your prayers. Elder Reynolds (senior couple) says I am learning fast. He said I must have been a good driver before my mission. I give all the credit to my darling father for teaching me. Dad, do you remember telling me that an LA driver is born every 8 minutes? Well I think an African driver was born every 2 minutes. Just saying.

We faced a lot of rejection this week so we did a lot of laughing to make up for the potential tears that could have come. President has re-emphasized teaching ALL men and not just the poor ones that are easy to find so we went knocking gates in the richer part of our area. These people have big houses and cars and travel a lot and are for the most part pretty hard-hearted. BUT we saw a white guy walking his dog and I decided to get the courage to talk to him (white people are so scary, guys) and he ended up being from Germany! It was so cool to tell him how my Dad served his mission there and now I am here proclaiming the gospel. We had a long, deep conversation with him and gave him the Book of Mormon. It seems like he feels a bit purposeless so hopefully he acts on the promise I gave him and reads the book. How cool would it be to baptize a white guy in Malawi?

Rainy season has slowly come and it is the best. When it is deathly hot then the rain comes and cools everything off. It is so nice. With the change of season comes a change in life.

We are rededicating ourselves to helping this branch get more established. This week we took the Relief Society president and counselor to visit some less-active sisters and those sisters came to church! It was so exciting. Any time a less-active comes to church you do a small victory dance. We are also really praying and searching for prepared families that can help establish the church. Young single adults are great but they won't establish the church until they are bit older and get married. We need to teach people that are prepared to be branch presidents and relief society president tomorrow. One day we were just walking and then I had a feeling we needed to turn. We turned and there was a family sitting on their porch. Perfect orchestration. We sat down and taught them a lesson all together. It was the coolest thing ever. Miracles happen. I can't wait to follow up with them. 

We had MLC (mission leadership council) this week over skype and I got to see my darling Sister Orr. Today she flies to Lusaka and tomorrow she goes home. I can't believe my dear friend and trainer is going home. This morning I realized that we had a referral for my old area in Lilongwe so I had a perfect excuse to call her. I miss her so much. She's a gem.

We also had a zone meeting. My zone leaders are so powerful--Elder Mwangi and Elder Barnard. Elder Mwangi is from Kenya and we are good buddies. He was my ZL in Lilongwe too and he was transferred down here with me. So he's been with me my whole mission. Elder Barnard is from Idaho--classic farmer. The theme of our meeting was, "We invite, they commit, we follow up." Elder Barnard compared the way we commit people as missionaries as how Christ prepared us for our time on earth. He invited us to follow His plan, we committed to come to earth and follow the plan He had for us, and one day He will do a grand follow up. How will we feel on that follow up day? Think deeply on that one.

The happiest part of the week was our baptism of Alinafe aka Moroni. He was just glowing the whole time. After he was baptized he bore his testimony about how he's been taught by three sets of sisters and how he truly salutes our faith. He said how much he knew that the Book of Mormon was true and the church was true. It wasn't like your standard recitation but was sincere and so sweet. I am so happy for him.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Michaela Proctor

Turning Point

Dec. 8, 2014

Alinafe, who had to bury his Book of Mormon because his father didn't want him to have it. He was baptized.

No fancy signs for the Church on this tiny chapel in Malawi.

Sister Proctor in front of her branch buildilng.

Darling Family,

This week has been wonderful and hard and exciting and trying all at once. So many experiences have shown me where I need to improve as a missionary but so many moments I've thought, "Is this real life?" I live such a blessed life as a Malawian missionary. This place is the promised land, solely because of the blessed people.

We had zone conference this week and it was definitely challenging. I think as a missionary, and I guess as a human being, you find that there is a never ending list of things you can be better at, but the good thing is the Spirit gives you hope in your potential to become great. President Erickson talked about how are job is not only the ABCs of missionary work (find, teach, baptize) but we also have to put equal focus on the DEFs (reactivate, retain, get people to the next ordinance). Sister Erickson entitled her lesson, "How to have our strength faithened," a play off of the guy in General Conference that mixed his words during a prayer. She emphasized how we need to draw strength from the Lord and have faith in His strength. Often times I get overwhelmed and I wonder how I can do all of these jobs on my own--missionary work has so many facets--but when I remember that this isn't my work but it's His and it's only in His strength that I can do anything, I am at peace with the load I am called to carry.

As STLs, Sister Komiha and I taught the zone about obedience. It was so powerful. We had studied for multiple days on obedience and had so many scriptures and points to talk about and then when we actually taught the Spirit just took over and used us to help everyone understand that obedience without willingness means you won't get the full blessings. I wish I could describe it well but it was great. I love teaching. I think I get it from my parents and grandparents and great grandparents :)

So from the emphasis on reactivation and retention, Sister Komiha and I met with the branch president, President Matale, and the Relief Society to make a game plan on how we are going to work together to bring people back. I guess there are like 400 people in the branch but only 70 come. We definitely have a lot of praying and finding to do. Africa has no addresses or even street names so it will take miracles. Our meeting with President Matale was so inspired. He has such a great vision for the branch. He also served a mission so he understands so much about what needs to happen. I am so excited for the coming weeks where we are going to search out these 100s of people. I really feel like I am in the right place.

We had many perfect orchestrations this week including when we got lost (yes, we are both new to the area) and ran into this woman who went to our church for three months but got married and stopped coming. She said she felt at home when she came to our church but the tradition in Malawi is when you get married you follow the husband to whatever church he goes to. She hasn't yet joined his church so we were directed to her and the exact right time.


We also began teaching these two adorable sisters, Magret and Rachel. They live together in a postage-stamp-sized house (literally one room about the size of our mud room) and from the first time we taught them they had such great desires. We taught about baptism and they said they didn't feel good about their infant baptisms in another church. Rachel asked, "Where can we get this baptism you're talking about?" and before we could answer Magret said, "I know. These people have it at their church." Sister Komiha and I looked at each other like, "WOOHOO!" The next time we taught restoration and they expressed how we are helping them to know God and they feel so good. They loved church. I'm so excited about them! They'll be baptized the beginning of January.

I'm also just so excited about Alinafe. He's the guy in the picture I am sending. He is the one that is like Moroni and buried his Book of Mormon so his father wouldn't throw it away. He'll be baptized next Sunday. I wish you could just spend two minutes with him and feel of his amazing spirit. I really think he'll be a missionary as soon as he can.

Sister Komiha is a fireball. She is so hard working and talks to everyone. She's definitely challenged me to become a better missionary. She was a pro soccer player before her mission and almost played for the Zimbabwe team but then she came on a mission instead. Also, she didn't know her Mom was pregnant when she left so about three months into her mission she found out she had a baby sister. That was a shocker! Ha! So after 15 years her mom had another baby. I love Sister Komiha a lot. We are still adjusting but I feel like we are together in this area for a purpose.

So yeah, I feel like I've hit a turning point in my mission. I thought I was a dedicated, hard working missionary before but this week has helped me see how much more I can do. My attitude has changed, my focus has changed, my study has changed, and even my prayers have changed. God is shaping me to be something I never had supposed I would be. And I like it.

Love you all so much!
Sister Proctor

P.S. These pictures are just some from our meeting house. We meet in a tiny house that barely fits us all. The picture of the three of us is my companion and Enala (17), one of the recent converts who is so sweet