This Is Africa

Well this week was a roller coaster my goodness. 

But before we get into my week I wanna shout out my boy Jayson getting called to the Nicaragua Managua South Mission.  So sick!  

Saka yeah this week started off just stellar and we had like 6 lessons on Tuesday which was dope.  Super spiritual thing too.  So Brother Mupamba, a recent convert of almost 6 months is my favorite person ever.  I think I have mentioned him before but we meet with him a lot because he's just super deaf and he needs help reviewing what happened at church and just because he loves us. But yeah so we met with him and at the end of the lessons and he told us about how he wants his family to join him and to be baptized and become members and especially his wife.  And I felt prompted to share the scripture in 1 Nephi when Lehi sees the vision of the tree of life.  And I had him read the scripture where Lehi says that the fruit of the tree was very desirable and made him happy.  And I related it to Mupamba and his wife and kids and he like paused and was like, "Anderson, you said this thought would be small but that wasn't very small." And now he is super motivated to get his whole family baptized and we are probable going to give his wife a date this week.  It is so sick to have the spirit bring things like that to my remembrance.  I have been studying the Book of Mormon recently and like breaking down each chapter during my personal study and it has payed off a lot. 

But yeah so after just a super good day, we woke up the next day and did our usuals around the house and then right as we got to the area, we got a call from one of the senior missionaries in charge of the cars and he was like, "So yeah Elder Anderson I have a new car here for you to pick up today."  hahahaha guys I was so happy it was insane!  So now we are straiiigghht whipping in a brand new Nissan Almera hahaha. The only down side is that it is an automatic so now I have no clue what to do with my other hand.  But man the car is so dope.  It is super quite and rides way smooth and has amazing gas mileage so it has been making our days way easier haha.  There is a God lol. So this kind of threw off our whole day and we ended up only having one lesson so that sucked but so worth it. 

Saka your probably waiting to here the decline of this coaster so here it goes haha. So yeah my comp Elder Thompson woke up on Thursday and felt kind of sick but then we got to the area and he was soooo out of it so we had a short lesson and then went home for the rest of the day.  And then the next day we went to the doctor who gave him the most ridiculous diagnosis and prescribed him with like 3 different medications haha.  So to support the stereotype, doctors here are super jing haha. But yeah so then we came home and spent the rest of Friday at the house.  And then even on Saturday and Sunday we had to come home early because he has been sick.  And even this morning he is still a little out of it but he is getting better.  We still have no clue what is wrong with him but the doc said he doesn't have malaria so thats good. But yeah during all this down time, I read like half of the New Testament hahaha not even exaggerating I was cooking thru that thing.

Saka yeah we had only a few whole days in the area and weren't able to teach that many people.  Our indicators were way down but we still had investigators come to sacrament meeting and I think we already have 4 people lined up to be baptized in April. 

Well honestly not much else happened.  I hate to have a short email this week but it really was just one of those weeks.  The church is still true though lol.  Missionary work is so fun.  Walking around the thick of Africa just mad chilling with these guys.  Rarely see white people and I love it. Crying repentance on the daily and having a blast.  Love you all.  No pics this week but I'll take some to send next time.  Guys. Zimbabwe is so sick hahaha Alright stay bho.

Stay Steady Grindin.

-Elder Anderson

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

3 Months!

Well as you can see from the title it has been 3 months!  So crazy.  I'm finally done with 12 week training.  My goodness I'm so happy to be done with that.  But I am excited for the upcoming transfer!  We got the news yesterday that I am training a new missionary named Elder Thomas!!! Gonna be so dope.  Elder Till left this morning to Kwekwe and he will be the district leader that side!  But yes I will be a trainer in the same area in which I was trained, Marimba and Mufakose.  I'm happy I get to stay in the same house and I don't have to pack up and head out.  Also, I have been assigned to drive!  So I think today or tomorrow someone will teach me how to drive stick.  Lol as if that wont be the most embarrassing thing ever, getting taught how to drive, pffff.  But it will be good! Hopefully I will be able to spend all my first 6 months in this area because I love it!  The members here are so cool and the area has a lot of potential! 

So for the next couple days I honestly have no idea what is going to happen.  Because of the transfers, and the uncertainty when the new elders will get here, not even our zone leaders know what is going to happen.  So from now on, I'm just playing everything by ear.  Hopefully the new guys will get here on Wednesday so we can get to work! 

This week we were teaching a girl named Kudzi and she's like 19 or something and is super smart and she is really interested in the church but her parents are super Roman Catholic so they are very strict and make her go there.  But the other day during one of our lessons, we asked her if she believed the Book of Mormon was the word of God and she said yes and explained how it told her things she needed to know right then and is already teaching her so much!  We are really excited for her!  Her cousins are members and they told us they have ideas how we can soften the hearts of her parents so we have a lot of hope for her.

So there's this guy named Nodia and for the longest time we thought he was a member because he works for the church and we have seen him at the mission office a few times. But the other day he came to church and was like, "Okay guys.... so I need to get baptized."  And we were like "..... wait what?!" hahaha and then we found out he wasn't a member but really wanted to get baptized because he knows this church is true and he said he wants to get married and then baptized on the same day with his wife!  So we have 2 more baptisms added to our plans for this next month!  Super exciting! 

We also had a referral from some other elders in the mission a week ago, and one of the days we didn't know what to do and I suggested that we could go see this referral and Elder Till was like ehhh okay why not.  So we go to the address and find her and her name is Mary Dowa. And we got to know her a little bit and she said her sister got baptized in another city like a week ago.  Then we started to share a spiritual thought and we somehow got to the topic of prophets and she was like, "Oh there are wayyy to many prophets here and they are all false and there is so much confusion today in the world" We then went on the tell her that there is only one true prophet and she totally accepted the idea and asked who it was.  Then Till was like, "We wont make it too easy for you but we want you to find it out"  And then I asked her, "So when you find out who the true prophet is, what will you do?"  And She said, "Well of course I would follow him"  (Inspired answer amiright?)  and then she brought up the topic of baptism and she was asking about that so we answered her questions and we were getting so excited about her and then out of nowhere she was like, "So yeah next week I am going to South Africa for a month.  and I am usually only in Zim for a week or two at a time."   ....... dreamz crushed haha.  But it was such an inspired lesson and she was actually praying right when we got there.  So I really hope this one works out and then the future missionaries will teach her.  Really cool to see how the Lord has prepared people for us!

Well this concludes my thoughts for the week.  Hope you all had a wonderful week and that everything is going great.  Love you all and you all continue to stay in my prayers

Stay steady

Shakanaka

-Elder Anderson

SAHARA

No, I was not in the Sahara Dessert but it was freaking hot this week.  I still have no clue about Celsius so I'm not sure how hot it was but it was hot.  Even when its overcast, its hot haha. Ahhh man I love it.  Sweating like nobodies business haha.

This week was just short of super frustrating haha.  We had so many lessons planned and had countless inspired ideas and scriptures planned for our investigators and we barely had any lessons this week.  The majority of the lessons were with very active recent converts so they weren't too exciting.   We had days where we would have lessons fall through and even try all our back-up plans and even they weren't around.  And Saturday was the worst day because we had like 8 lessons planned with 9 backup plans and we only had 3 lessons, two of them weren't even planned.  It has been so frustrating setting up appointments with tons of people and then having a lot planned for them and they they aren't around or they are too tired or are busy cooking sadza, (which is the most consistent excuse we hear haha).  But nonetheless, we are still trucking and trying to find new people to teach.  I think yesterday we went through our investigators and dropped like 5 of them because they were never around and its becoming a waste of the Lord's time to try to see them. 

Despite the rough times this week, yesterday was a good day.  In the words of Spawnbreezy, "Its gonna be a good day after all".  At church we had 8 referrals from the ward, we scheduled 3 appointments with new investigators who all want to be baptized and we even had a lesson with a new investigator during one of the blocks!  It was a refreshing change of tone for the week.  Its always really cool to see someone bring a friend to church and then they ask us to teach them and they're excited to learn more.  The work with the help of the members is crazy good. 

On top of a more than wonderful day at church, right after the third hour we went to the Muchekwa family's home and they showed us how to make sadza!!  This is the same family who cooked my first native plate of sadza.  And it is actually super easy to cook, but its tough on your arms.  I have mad respect for the mamas that cook it every day!  They're freaking strong haha.  I'm excited to make some for all of you at home.  So good. While, we are on the subject of sadza, I feel like I'm missing something when I go a day without sadza.  So its progressively becoming my staple food as well haha.  That's all I'm going to eat in college.

So I love the wards we serve in.  Every member is always happy to help us with lessons or to introduce us to their friends and they are so loving and helpful.  The second counselor in the bishopric is Brother Chikenge and he teaches with us sometimes and he's so dope.  The other day when we were walking around trying to find someone to teach, he was asking me about what music I used to listen to and to my surprise, we found out we listen to the same exact music and I was so happy haha.  He's super chill and he's a powerful teacher.  All the people here are powerful. 

Funny story. So the kids here love talking to us in English, even if they just scream the word "Yes" at us, they find joy and excitement in the experience of talking english at a white person.  And usually a group of kids will see us and then they form a circle and decide to volunteer someone as tribute to be the elected on to utter some kind of English words to us.  So the other day it was the same old story and the elect one came running at us and right as he was about to say his first English words to a white man, I interrupted him and said, "Ayyyee murisei shamwari?!"  (which means how are you my friend). And the look on his face was priceless, he was so confused hahahaha and his friends were all dying laughing haha Elder Till and I were also laughing pretty hard.  The kids sometimes will be like, "ahh you arent white, you speak shona!" hahah I love the kids here.

So next week we have 1 baptism and the following week we might have some but I'm not sure.  We had a lot of people planned for the 18th but they were either never around or they wouldn't come to church.  Rough.  But yeah the work is progressing slowly right now. 

Okay so to clear any confusion I find it fit to explain to all the readers that missionary work here is straight up different.  For example:

-Baptisms are easy to find but less actives are simultaneously abounding 

-I teach 90% of my lessons under mango trees

-We never call to confirm appointments because most will say they are busy or will want to reschedule so we just show up haha

-We don't place Books of Mormon because people will just take it and then throw it away or something so we give pamphlets instead

-We are authorized by Pres. Mkhabela to leave the area at 6 if we have no appointments

-Minor disobedience issues are usually not a big deal to President because even he wants us to have fun.  Although he still gives fire if missionaries get out of hand.

-Everyone says yes so its hard to find out if people are jing or straight.

-We lose power about once every two weeks

-All the cars are falling apart

And many more things that I couldn't mention at this time.  Africa is amazing but just different. I love it.  Its also funny because some of the things in Preach My Gospel weren't made for Africa haha but its okay.  President still wants us to be PMG missionaries and its still possible but things are just done differently here.  Its so cool!

This morning we didn't have power and it cut out midway through us doing laundry, so I used the cleanest water I had and put some soap in a bucket and washed my hair and that was my shower for today haha. 

Also, we had 122 contacts this week.  Whaaattttt yes 122.  super cool. 

Well this concludes Weekly Update from yours truly.  Sorry I don't have any cool experiences or pictures this week but times are difficult in the area!  We have had progressing investigators that all of the sudden dont understand anything and are having all of these questions and concerns so its been frustrating but we are looking forward to this next week.  Mission is good.  I love you all and like always, you stay in my prayers.  All is well in Harare.

Stay Steady Grindin

Shakanaka  (Its all good)

Tonana   (See you later)

Cordially, 

-Elder Anderson

God is Great, Sadza is Good, Africa is Crazy!

What more can I say after such a divinely booming way of titling a weekly email. My goodness i think I might as well just slap my name on this and send it off. haha kidding. I hope you all had a wonderful week and hope some of you are still celebrating the triumphant victory of my New England Patriots.

First thing I want to say is that I met a General Authority this week!  Elder Ellis of the 70 was in Harare this week doing a Mission Tour and going to the different zones, for zone conference and he came to ours last Thursday!  We all got to shake is hand and introduce ourselves to him and to my surprise, this guy is straight up from none other than Burley Idaho.... what... are the odds haha super cool!  But yeah at the conference we received training from Elder Ellis and his wife and from our beloved mission president and his wife.  Elder Ellis completely broke down who God is and what he does for us and it was so dope.  And then he expanded the roles of us, the Holy Ghost, and God and then related all of them and it was super cool.  He then discussed exactly how the spirit works and totally simplified and went really deep into how it works, how we can use it and how we can always be ready to fell it.  This guy is amazing.  And then he left us with his witness that God lives, Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith saw God and His Son, and the Book of Mormon is true.  And it was so powerful to here those words uttered by someone of his respected position.  We here these testimonies all the time from apostles and the prophet in general conference but to be in person and to be working so closely with a general authority made it way cooler.  His wife and Sister Mkhabela gave great talks to but I want to talk about what President Mkhabela said.  He advised us to focus on two things.  Trusting in the Lord, and being happy.  He showed us how many times in the scriptures it talks about happiness and trusting in the lord and being not afraid but of good cheer. Really cool.  Plus, I'm pretty sure he used the exact words of the one, and the only, Bob Marley by counseling, "Dont worry, Be happy"  wow.  The scriptures basically tell us the same thing.  Bob Marley was an inspired man... haha kidding.  But yes that phrase, "dont worry, be happy" is almost always in me head now and I have been so happy recently.  This conference was dope. 

On top of the conference, the work is also dope.  This week we had 2 baptisms!  Shylet and Joyce!  Two sisters that are going to be strong members!  Elder Till got to baptize them and we both participated in the confirmations yesterday and it was so cool to do that.  We didn't give the blessing but even just being in the circle we were able to feel the spirit.  Always cool to worthily use the power and authority of God amiright? 

So Joyce is a super funny woman and always jokes with us and is super sarcastic so the day before her baptism we stopped by her place and asked if she was ready and she was like, "guys I'm sad because I'll be busy tomorrow and wont make it" and then after we felt super bad for a minute she told us she was joking hahaha. So at church yesterday, I saw her and said, "Look, so we found out that we have to baptize you again because the way we did it wasn't correct" and then she was super concerned and started asking me questions about it and I told her I was kidding and she started laughing so hard hahahaha it was awesome and then she was like "Ahhhh Iwe!" (Iwe means "you") hahah got her. She's so funny. She always messes with us.

We have a by week this weekend for the 11th but on the 18th, we have already 1 baptism scheduled with the hope of giving that date to 4 or 5 other people!  Our goal for this transfer is to have 12 baptisms and so far we are at 7! And its only half over! So exciting!  

Alright story time.  So we have been teaching this man named Alfonso, who was actually started taking lessons with Elder Till and his previous companion before I got here.   I'm still not certain which church he goes to but he is very Christian and believes only in the Bible.  And he is a hard investigator. This guy has so many questions and ideas that are pretty far off but he has so much potential!  In the past couple lessons we have been able to slightly confound him with powerful verses in the Bible (that he strictly believes in) that contradict his own ideas.  Pfff these guys just dont get it sometimes.  But yeah Alfonso is continuing to progress slowly and last lesson he said something so cool!  Towards the end of us reteaching him the Restoration lesson, he said, "yeah maybe you guys are a sign from God that I need to join the church and maybe this is my chance to accept your message."  .......We like had to check our ears if we heard him right hahha but sadly these profound words were followed by a lot of "maybe's" and him doubting his thoughts which was slightly disappointing but he continued to say he wants to find out if it is true and we told him the only way he would find out is if he read the Book of Mormon and prayed about it and then committed him to do so.  This guy has mad potential.  Exciting!

The hard thing about this mission is marriage.  The cultural way to marry someone is by the man paying he wifes family a crap ton of money and then everyone recognizes the couple as husband and wife.  I think the whole process is called Lebola. (Not to be confused with the deadly disease Ebola lol)  But yes we find a lot of really strong investigators who desperately want to be members but they aren't legally married and the family wont budge when they try to set up a legal marriage, even when we offer then the free service that the church can do.  It is a struggle and disappointing because we have at least 10 families that we teach right now, that all have to be married before we can baptize them.  But when we tell them this, they suddenly are no longer interested.  Its hard but nonetheless we are continuing to "teach repentance and baptize converts"!  Which is our mission motto basically.  haha so despite some struggle, all is well.

So the mold in our apartment came back hahaha.  its freaking everywhere but we are getting it taken care of this next week I think. 

My comp is so dope. Last night we got home and had a discussion about super deep doctrine and it was so cool.  And we are getting to be really good friends and I'm growing to love that guy.  So in Shona, "Pakaipa" means dangit or something like that and Elder Till says it so much that everyone in our area and most people in the ward call him "Pakaipa" hahaha its hilarious

I have eaten Sadza so many times this week.  Elder Till and I found a little shack in a big mess of shops in our area that sells a sadza dish for $1 and it is so amazing.  Sadza is so good.  My mouth is watering as I'm writing about it right now haha.  Man its so nice.  I think we are going to have a member teach us how to make it so I can make it for the fam when I come home! 

Here are some Shona words for your entertainment

Maitabasa - Thank you

Murise - How are you

Tonana - Good bye

diri Bho - Its okay/ I'm okay

Mamoca se - Good Morning

Masuera se - Good Afternoon

Its fun the speak a little Shona to these people because they all laugh at us all the time haha. And then they don't understand us when we speak english so they tell us to speak shona and then they laugh at us again hahahahaha ahhh man its funny though. 

Sorry I don't have powerful conversion stories or super spiritual things that happened but trust me the work is progressing and we have a lot of hope for the future.  Being a missionary is so cool.  My full time job, with my only break being Mondays, is to invite others to change their lives and come unto Christ.  During the Mission Tour Conference, Sister Mkhabela said that we know more about Jesus Christ than anyone in the world!  How amazing is that?  Its so fun to walk around with that knowledge that we are right, that this church is true, and that we KNOW Christ and proudly wear him on our chests every day.  It makes me laugh when people say we are wrong haha. I love being a part of this work and seeing the spirit work within the people we teach.  It is also cool the see the reward and blessings from following the promptings of the spirit and to feel my mouth be filled with the words the Lord would have me speak.  For me, the presence of the Holy Ghost in my life is directly related to my happiness.  And right now I am incredibly happy and I do not want to leave this place.

I love you all and you all continue to stay in my prayers.  May we all constantly build our testimonies and continue to learn more about God and Jesus Christ.  Because how can we have faith and trust in someone we don't know?  I want to leave you with my testimony that I know without a doubt that this church is true and is God's kingdom here on Earth in these latter days.  I know that the Atonement is real and I have felt it in my life.  I know that Jesus is the Christ and that God lives and that they love us so much and everything denotes their presence and this divine love. 

Again. Love you all.

Stay happy.

Stay Steady Grindin'

Bho Bhoo

-Elder Anderson

Okay picture time.

Joyce and Shylet!  the newest members of the church!

So this is Mama again on the far left but the guy on the right by Till is the Ward Mission Leader in the Marimba Ward.  He's the one that told us to call him Rasta Man lol this guy is so chill.  Also, his fiance is Joyce,  the one being baptized that is standing closest to me in the picture

Just a typical thing we see here lol.  This is how the kombis fit so many people in them, just shove them where ever they'll fit.  After took this picture, the guy opened the back and waved at us and gave us a thumbs up haha