Elder B in Zimbabwe: Rain, Sadza and 4 Baptisms!

Welcome one and all. First things first, I sincerely apologize for the lack of creativity in my title for this weeks email. Just put it aside and keep reading haha.

Okay so this week it basically didn't stop raining. I think today is our first day of no clouds and Sun. It actually got pretty cold too! Like I was shivering at one of our lessons one day haha. The tiny umbrella I have works good enough tho. It sucks when we forget them and then just get soaked all day when we walk to the next appointments but its nice to take a mid day shower. I'll attach pictures bellow because honestly it rained sooooo much. Its not normal how much it rains here.

Also, I ate a lot of sadza this week! And oh my goodness it is my new favorite food. It is so simple and so good. It is basically just made out of flour but it tastes like cake oh my goodness. I crave it everyday haha and there's a place in our area where you pay $1 and get a huge plate of sadza, beef/chicken, and veg. What a steal am I right? And we had sadza at some members homes this week. Ahh it was so good. I have a bag of mili meal at our place but I'm scared to try and make some.

Alright yes we had 4 baptisms this week! 4 children, ages 9-13. And they all have good fellowshippers who will keep them active and we are very excited for them! I'll attach the pictures. These kids are so cool! They barely speak english so it was a struggle to teach them but it is cool to see the desire in young kids to be baptized and be members of the only true church! And, we have another baptism scheduled next week and another the first week of February. whaaat. Super cool. We also have some new investigators who already came to church and show a ton of interest in the church! And on top of all that, we had 10 investigators at church! (4 of them got confirmed but we still counted them haha) A lot of hope for the coming weeks. The only thing we are struggling with is finding new investigators right now. But both our wards made ward mission plans for this year and they should help us work more with the members to find investigators through referrals because it is way more effective than finding on our own haha. All good things mhmm. Bho Bo

For this weeks, "The Most African Thing I Saw This Week", we got a good one. Get this... 3 guys, sitting on a super nice couch, outside in the middle of a field in the pouring rain, using one umbrella, passing a joint around hahaha....... at 9 in the morning lol. Ah man when we drove by I was dying it was the funniest thing.

In other news, I got the freshest of haircuts this morning. We go to this guy in our neighborhood who cuts hair in this little wooden shack that is falling apart haha. But to our surprise this guy actually knows how to cut murungu hair. And it only cost me $2. Another steal. The other elders are jealous haha.

So because of all the rain this week, and the intense humidity, we have mold in our apartment. So thats dope. But we are gonna buy some bleach tonight and try to kill it all. Africa right? hahaha

So I'm starting to learn a little bit of Shona! I can only say greetings and stuff but its a start haha.

We got a new ward mission leader in the Marimba ward and I still don't know his last name. But he has sick dreads and he's super chill. The other day he was listening to reggae music after church and I told him to make me a list of all the music he listens to so I could look them up when I get home. He's a G. He called us the other day and we didn't recognize the number, and we answered and he said "this is brother (some african last name)" and we were like "who?" and he said "Guys its me, the Rhasta man" hahahaha So now we have his name in our phone as Brother Rhasta Man.

Funny story. Okay so yesterday at church Elder Till and I were looking for the ward mission leader and then I heard an English voice say "wow you are tall".... So I look down and see this chubby white kid in a suit and tie standing there staring up at me.... So many thoughts and questions rant through my head and it was like time just stopped. I looked at Elder Till and was like what the heck? hahha and he looked at the kid and said "Where are you from?" The kid was like, "Uhhh Zimbabwe" and we were like what the heck.... And then he went on to tell us he was visiting our ward with his parents because they wanted to see some friends. The whole time I was just thinking how funny it was that I was so unimpressed to see another white person. hahaha I'm thinking like "Why are you here?" hahaha instead of greeting him ahh man I'm too used to seeing black people. Sometimes looking in the mirror takes a second for my eyes to adjust lol.

So we are teaching this guy right now and his name is Benjamin and he is a dedicated 7th Day Adventist.... but nevertheless, he is a good investigator. And yesterday in our lesson he was super determined to prove that his church was true and to prove us wrong and correct us on things and then we showed him all these scriptures in the Bible that show that he was wrong and he kind of sat back in his chair and just thought for a second and then I was like, "Listen, in the end, one of us is right... and one of us is wrong....would you like to figure out who is right?" haha and Benjamin and his brother looked at us and said yes and then the rest of the lesson was a lot smoother haha. Good time.

Also the other day we had a lesson with an investigator that isn't progressing and we asked her to say the closing pray and she said no and wanted us to do it and said, "Why can't you guys just pray?" and I was like, "Alright, so why do we pray?" and she said, "To get answers" and I was like, "So my companion and I have already gotten the answer that we want you to get as well. That is why we are here teaching people for 2 years. And that is why we want you to pray." and just shut her down with the spirit and then she was humbled and offered to give the closing prayer and then she goes on to give this 5 minute long, super scripted prayer and said the same things over and over again. hahaha ahhh very anti climactic but still kind of a cool moment. We have already taught her how to pray but I think we need to again.

I absolutely love the people here. They are too nice. Like we offer to help with stuff around the house when we come for lessons and they always say no no no its okay its okay. And they do so much for us! Last week during a correlation meeting with the ward mission leader, after we were done, we were about to leave and them they stopped us and made us a super nice plate of sadza and chicken. and we tried to say that they didn't want to be an inconvenience and they were like no no no sit down and eat! hahaha it was awesome. Love these guys.

I continue to be reassured every day that Zimbabwe is exactly where I am supposed to be and exactly where God wants me to be. Can't wait to see the people here that I am specifically meant to teach and continue to be guided by the spirit in my efforts. We taught the Plan of Salvation a lot this week and my testimony of this plan has grown so much. This plan is perfect and so cool. I always am so grateful that I am eternally sealed to my family and that I get to live with them forever. I love that our Lord and Savior, even Jesus the Christ allows us to live with Him and our Heavenly Father forever and that he suffered so we don't have to. The whole plan makes so much sense and is so amazing. I love you all and want you to know that I know God has a plan for us and we all chose to accept this plan before we were born. We all knew that this was the right way and the only way to reap the rewards of eternal life in heaven with our Heavenly Father. I know this church is without a doubt the only true church led by Jesus Christ himself in these latter days. I love you all and pray for you often. Hope all you wildest dreamz come true.

God Speed.

Bhoo Bho

Sharp

-Elder Anderson