Yeah Bho

Well we had 4 baptisms on Saturday hahaha so sick.  It was honestly such a cool experience and this week was so cool.  Buckle up.

Alright so first I want to talk about how funny the baptism was.  It's kind of a long story so hopefully you will all be able to bear with me while I explain our Saturday.

So the story starts on Friday night during the baptismal interviews.  Since we did the 2 last week for the married couple, we only had 2 more to do this week.  So the first one went great but the second one was another story. It was for a girl named Majambu and she has white skin but is still African (Its like a rare condition that a few people have here.  You'll see what I mean in the pictures I will attach).  And we have been teaching her at a members house because the members told us that Majambus mother is super strict and that we shouldn't talk to her until they did. But we were told we had permission to teach her and everything.  And when we gave her a baptismal date, the members told us that her mother was okay with it.  So we continued not thinking anything of it.  Then came the interview and right as we were about to leave, the last thing we needed was the signature from the mother.  So we went into the house and right as we entered, we could just tell that the spirit was NOT there haha.  It was so eerie.  And then we met the mother and the first thing she said was, "So you were about to leave without getting my permission?"  And then she just gave us mad fire for not asking her but we thought the whole time that we had permission.  So she was super upset with us and told us she needed the night to think about it and that we should come by in the morning to see her and see if she was okay with signing the paper..... So she said to come at around 12 and then when we left, one of the sons came out and said, "guys you need to come early at like 8 because she wont be here at 12".... So as stressed as we were that night, we still slept and got up early Saturday morning (the day of the baptism) to leave the house by 7:30 to get there on time.  And when we got there right at 8, she wasn't there..... So we were freaking out because then we wouldn't be able to baptize her so we told the family we would come back in an hour to see her.   And then when we came back, she still wasn't there... So we were talking to Majambu and she said that last night after we left, the mother said that she gave the aunt permission to sign the papers.  So then we went to the aunts house and got her to sign the papers and we didn't even see her sign it.  So then we called the district leader to ask if it was okay and he said we needed to talk to the mother to find out if she was still okay with it.  So then we went back to Majambus house at around 12:30 to see them mother.  And she was there!  And her attitude was completely different.  When we got there, she was actually getting ready to go to the baptism.  Complete 180 degree turn with the mother.  So she told us it was okay that the aunt signed it and then we were okay to do the baptism.  So we originally planned to do the baptism at 2:00.  And at 2 only two of the people we were going to baptize were there, Majambu and Nokutenda.  And Noddia and Jesca weren't there (the married couple).  So we waiting until 2:30 and then Elder Thompson and I left the church to go to their house.  So when we got there we saw Noddia laying on the ground in his work clothes, working on a kombi hahahah. And he was like, "Ohhhhh Elders!  I lost track of time!  Gimme like 10 mnutes!" hahaha so then we waited and then drove them back to the church and we started the baptism at 3:00 hahaha.  Meanwhile, the relief society was having a party/celebration thing and were just buuummmppiinngg zimdance music hahahha.  So we told them to turn it off but for some reason they thought we told them to turn it down so during the baptismal service we had Winky D playing in the background hahaha. But we finally started the service and oh I forgot to say that Noddia and Jesca said they wanted me to baptize them and it was so humbling. So I got to dress in my whites and I baptized all 4 of them.  And after Noddia was baptized he was sooo happy and I gave him and hug and when we were changing in the bathroom afterwards he wouldn't stop talking and he was just so excited.  It made me so happy haha.  And after the service, despite all the quirks and crazy things that happened, we talked to Majambu's mother and she said, "Thank you so much. You guys did a great service for her it was great." And her heart was so softened.  It was amazing to see the spirit work in her.  And then we got some great pictures and then called it a day.  At the end of the service, the 4 that got baptized bore their testimonies and they all did a great job and were so happy.

Super rewarding day. 

So then came Sunday and we did the confirmations and I personally confirmed Jesca and it was so cool.  My first time.  And it was awesome.  My comp didn't know how so I did that one and then other brethren did the rest.  Spiritual for sure.

So now there excitement level has gone down.  We have no baptisms planned for next week but in april we should have a few!  Super cool.

Also, at church we had a new investigator come and then after church, we went to her house and she like interrupted the lesson and said something in shona.  And then the husband said, "Yeah so she wants to be baptized" hahahhha we were like.... uhhhh okay sick! hahahha so cool.  But that family still needs to be married and they have troubles with a couple commandments but I will update in weeks to come. 

So the guy we met that said he was taught 3 years ago by missionaries was a total disappointment.  He believes he does all these miracles and that he always sees visions and things.  Sooooo.. now we know why the other missionaries dropped him lol.  But we might see if we can help him. 

Also finally met with a less active this week who is 17 years old and he told us he doesn't want us to keep coming because he is a prophet of his church.... hahaha man the craftiness of man is a fist sometimes.  Blinding all sorts of people.  As the Bible says, "deceiving the very elect".   

Missionary work in Africa is something else.  It is so fun!  Love it here so much and can't wait to write in my journal every day to record all these crazy stories.  Every day holds its unique experiences that make the days fly by. I've already been away from home for 4 months. Like... What? hahaha.  Time flies when you're having fun.  Having fun and being happy are the two most important things in life.  Comparable to the 2 great commandments that Jesus taught. hahah kidding but still.  Love you all and hope you all had a great week in Zion.  You all stay in my prayers.

Stay Bho

Stay on that Stay Steady Grindin

Be Happy.

Yeah Bho

Cordially

-Elder Anderson

from left to right, Majambu, Nokutenda, Jesca, Noddia, (and their daughter Chirsty who is the cutest girl I've met)  

Majambu's mother is the one closest to me, and then sister Mkandla is the mother of the family who fellowshipped Majambu. 

My boy Tapiwa.  He was posing so I jumped in lol. 

My best friend Joe and Tapiwa again. Joe is so dope.  He's way chill lol and we always talk for a little when we walk by his house. 

 Some pics with me and my comp.  He has the good pics on his camera but he isn't able to send me those.

A member gave us some Zimbabwean cucumbers hahahaha

I Speak of Promised Lands, Soil as Soft as Momma's Hands...

Zim is truly the Promised Land.  The title of this email is a quote from a song by Chance the Rapper so not my own words but the flow was nice.

Alright This week was super cool.  Hopefully I remember everything dope that happened.  I tried to make a list before I came to the internet cafe but my mind was racing. 

Well to start off, I'll give an update about Noddia and Jesca.  So we had them planned to be married and baptized on Sunday (yesterday) but when we got the church, the water wasn't working so we couldn't fill up the font... Soooo we rescheduled it to next Saturday.  We still went through with the wedding and it was so cool to be there and they asked us to be the witnesses and I think next week, I'll be the one to baptize them.  I would be honored out of my mind.  But yeah these guys are so cool and they were so happy when they got married and they are very excited for the upcoming baptism!  And on top of that, next Saturday we have 2 more people being baptized.  So a total of 4 on the 18th of March!  So sick.  And then I think we might have a few more for this month and if not then they will all carry over to April! 

So my companion Elder Thompson is pretty chill!  Its cool being with another American and he has a lot of potential to be a great missionary.  Already improving.  I'll attach a picture

The weather recently was been actually kind of cold.  Maybe because I'm just getting used to the temperature here but I woke up in the middle of the night one time and I was legit cold and like shivering haha.  Its been nice though.  The people here all wear coats and like bundle up in blankets and its only like 50 F.  haha weeeaaakk.  But yeah we have just been enjoying ourselves walking around in our short sleeved white shirts and it feels so refreshing.

Alright first cool story!  So we had planned originally to meet with Dorcas, one of our investigators the other day and when we passed by, her children said she wasn't home.  So we went a little down the street to one of our other investigators, Tatenda, and the family said he wasn't home. So we turned the corner and walked a long way down the street, on the way to another backup plan and then heard a whistle and as we turned around we saw Tatenda with the member we usually teach him with and we were so relieved haha.  So we taught him a powerful lesson and gave him a baptismal date!  And if you think the story isn't cool enough....buckle up.  So during the lesson, there were some kids walking by the house and they saw us teaching and started yelling "Murungu!" at us for like 5 minutes, while we are trying to teach and it was super annoying and then Tatenda told them to go away.  Then out of nowhere Dorcas came walking up and said hi to us and told us that we could come teach her after the lesson with Tatenda.  So afterwards when we got there, she told us that she was actually asleep in her room and that the children that were screaming "Murungu", woke her up and she came outside because she knew we were the only murungu's in Mufakose hahaha.   Mannnnn it was so crazy.  So at first we thought we weren't going to see either of them and then one thing led to another and we saw both.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Next story. So the other day we didn't have lessons planned for a good part of the day so I told Elder Thompson that I wanted to use the time to proselyte in a part of our area that I had never been.  So when we got this area, we started walking and I saw a guy who was doing some yard work outside and I felt like I should talk to him so we stopped and introduced ourselves and asked how is day was and then eventually, I was like, "So have you ever seen guys like us before?" and he said "Yes..... what are you a prophet?!?" hahaha I'm like no dude I just wanted to talk to you haha.  Then he went on to tell us that he was taught by missionaries 3 years ago and then they just left and never came back.  So we scheduled an appointment and he was pretty interested and he remembered a lot about what the elders taught him.  So Bho.

The other day we were driving through the area and this guy just screamed at us as we drove by and said, "What are you doing to my country?!?!"  It was so weird hahaha

We were walking though town one night when we went to get dinner as a district and we walked past this guy and his eyes just got wide and he was like, "WHAT!" hahhaa he was so happy and just yelled what?! haha man these guys act like they've never seen white people before lol. 

We were trying to find shoes the other day in town and we walked past this guy who said he had size 13 for me and our district leader (and man it is so hard to find my size here) and the only ones he had in our size were like these off brand brick shoes and I was like, "My man, even you know these shoes aren't cool" hahahaha made the other elders laugh pretty hard.

So we have been praying for and trying to find more fathers to teach because as a mission we have set the goal to focus on father led families.  So on Friday we were trying to contact referrals and we had a name that was Mai Tanya, (Mai means mother, its like the nickname they give every women that has a child) and we got to the house and met Mai Tanya and her Husband who is a father and they both showed a lot of interest and really learned a lot from us and wanted to learn more.  Sick.

We had a Bible bash with this guy and it was so funny.  Every time I backed him into a corner, he asked another question that he had and it was so funny.  I was smacking him with scriptures and just melting his face with my rebuttals haha but man this guy is blinded and isn't prepared for us so we are going to drop him.  He has a 24 page document on his computer of pure internet questions about our church and some of the questions are ridiculous.  He told us he will print it out for us hahaha this guy.  He didn't dent my testimony at all though so that's good. 

So recently, I have adapted to driving in Africa and it is soooo fun haha.  Rules?  Pffff as if.  Don't worry though, I'm not stupid but weaving in this traffic is so fun!  And I've been getting way better at driving stick so its super fun.  I missed driving.  And I think the mission just got some new cars so maybe we'll get a new one.

So to end the email, we went to Lion and Cheetah Park again!  And man I got some good pictures So I'll kindly attach them. But yeah this week was so fun!  And so cool to meet people who are prepared for us. I love being out here and being a missionary in Zim.  This place is so sick haha.  I know without a doubt this church is true and Io cannot deny it.  Love you all.  Hope you had a good week where ever you are and that all of your wildest dreamz came true.  Much love from ya boy over here in Harare. 

So Bho.

Stay Steady Grindin.

-Elder Anderson

LOL, lopsided spider 

Simba.  Actually, the Tour said his name is Leo

Crocs...

Elder Thompson and I mad chillin.

Mission is too Crazy

Dude this week was so weird haha. Okay so I want to take us all through a play by play ya dig? So for some reason, in the field we start the week on Monday so therefore we will proceed with Monday.

So I think in my email last week I mentioned a little bit about Monday but to refresh everyones memory, I woke up way too early to take Till to the bus station and then said bye to him. And then I chilled with Elder Hoffman and Makalio for the rest of the day and these guys are so chill.  It was dope.

Then on Tuesday I expected to meet my new companion and sleep at the transfer house but they told me that he was coming on Wednesday so I ended up spending the whole day with Elder Hoffman and Makalia in their area called Domboshava.  And this place is straight rural.  The houses are grass huts and there are huge fields of maize.  Wish I could have taken a picture but I didn't have my camera.  And the area is huuuuge and they didn't have a car for the day so we walked so much!  And then we finally got to this recent convert to have a lesson and it was crazy.  Get ready for this story... So last week I think I mentioned how we met a new investigator named Mary Dowa who is really prepared for us but is never around.  So in Domboshava, Elder Hoffman told us we were going to see Sister Dowa and I didn't think anything of it until we got to the house and like half way through the lesson I asked if she had a sister named Mary and she was like, "Uhhh yes..." and then I asked if she lived in Mufakose, and she said, "Yeah!  How do you know her?!"  It was so crazy!  So Mary Dowa's sister in Domboshava was just baptized and really wants her sister, in my area, (Mufakose)  to be baptized!  So this wasn't a coincidence because I wasn't even supposed to be in Domboshava and Elder Hoffman just had the idea to go see this particular recent convert.  It was so cool!  so I hope this is a way the Lord is telling me that we should focus on Mary Dowa when she comes back from SA.  So cool.  So then after the lesson we started to make the long walk back to the main road and then it started just duuummmmpiinnggg rain on us. It was so funny!  And we were like walking through mud and puddles and it was pitch black outside hahaha it was so sick.  We finally got home though and all was well!

So then on Wednesday I woke up and got a text from the AP's that we weren't going to meet our new companions until Thursday... lol so then I had to spend another day with Hoffman and Makalio and we had a couple lessons in their area and then went home. And they taught me how to drive stick and it went pretty well. I dont really remember much about what happened on Wednesday.  This whole week was a mess haha.

But on Thursday I woke up and met up with Elder Blignaut from SA and we went and stood in line to get money from an atm for like an hour and we got right up to the front of the line and then it ran out of money hahaha.  Laaamee but we chilled and talked the whole time and now he's like the chillest Elder I know out here. But then we went to eat at Nandos, a super good chicken restaurant and it made up for the long wait.  And then I finally got to go to the office and meet my new companion!  His name is Elder Thompson from Las Vegas!  Siiiiccckkk.  And he's super chill and really just wants to get out there and work!  I'm so humbled and honored to be training! It will we so fun!  And its so dope to drive!  Driving on the left side of the road is still so weird though haha but I'm getting super good at stick so no worries.  So then after the training with President, we took two other elders to our house to spend the night, Elder Whittier and Elder Thomas.  Elder Whittier got here the same time I did and he is sooo chill.  Like we woulda been tight if we met before mission.  So we stayed up til like 1 just mad chillin.

Then on Friday we woke up and went to the office to finish our training and then I got certified to drive and then we finally got to go to the area!  The first person we saw was Brother Mupamba and he likes Elder Thompson so thats good!  Mupamba made me promise him that he would be the first person we would see when I got my new companion haha so he was more than happy when we came. But then we just went home and chilled while Thompson unpacked.

Then on saturday we had a stake activity in the morning that took wayyy too long and then we were only in the area for like 3 hours because we then had to take some pamphlets to the sister companionship in our district.  They just opened a new area so we spent like an hour driving around asking people where we should go and we finally got there and gave them what they needed.  It will be weird having sisters in my district but whatever haha.  But then afterwards we lost our sense of direction because we drove around so much trying to find them so I guessed how to get home and then found my self almost to Chitungwiza which is like 20 minutes from our house so then we turned around on the highway and I honestly had no idea where we were so I saw a sign that led us to Harare Town City Centre so we drove all the way to town and then I knew how to get home from town so then we headed home.  It was so funny!  Felt bad my new comp got to see me get completely lost in Africa at 8:30 at night hahaha but we eventually got home and all was well. Just took us like 3 hours hahaha oh well.  We'll figure it out eventually.

So then even Sunday was weird.  We went to church and I introduced Elder Thompson to the bishopric and other people and then right at the beginning of the meeting, the stake president stood up and released the bishopric and announced the new bishopric hahaha so that was weird but kinda cool!  I'll miss the old bishop but the new one is sick. Bishop Zenge is his name.  So dope. And then we worked a little bit in the area but no one was around and everyone wanted to reschedule for the week so we did so and then we went home and did weekly planning on a Sunday hahaha since we couldn't do it on the usual Thursday and then we went to bed.

For those of you that made it this far in the email, I commend you and thank you for your patience. This week was just crazy and I had no idea what was going to happen and it was so funny haha.  But this next week will be really cool.  And training will be fun to show a new Elder how its done.  It is kinda cool how easy it is for me to teach now and how I'm no longer worried when I go into a lesson but I get excited and I'm totally confident that I'll be able to answer any questions and help them the best way I can. Obviously not alone but with the help of the Spirit.  Not about to get prideful like the Nephites lol. But yeah something I want to work on is making sure that the Spirit is always the senior companion in every situation during the mission.  Love this gospel and know without a doubt that it is true and that the fullness of joy can only be found in this church.  So happy to be out here to invite people to partake of this fruit that I have found so desirable like Lehi in his dream.  He knew the fruit was good and then went back into the mist of darkness and helped others partake of the fruit of the tree of life.  That is exactly what I'm set apart to do for the next two years.  Or actually more like 20 months haha but still.  Love the work.  Still chuggin.  Love you all and like always you stay in my prayers.  Hope all is well that side.  Stay happy

Stay Steady Grindin

Live the Abundant Life

Sharp Sharp

-Elder Anderson