Salibonani everyone!!
I hope you are all doing well! You are all in my prayers, whether you realize it or not and I'm grateful for each one of you! This week was full of awesome experiences and I am full of gratitude to my Heavenly Father! Plus the weekend came with abundant rainstorms (more on those later).
One of the biggest blessings that I saw this week was that Elder Magoha and I were getting along better. We spent a lot of time telling funny stories and I listened to him about his experiences. He is actually a really smart guy and is great to be around when he opens up. We were able to teach in unity and with the Spirit, which is a blessing in itself. For all those who have been praying for me and my companion, we have felt the blessings and I am so thankful!
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Me and the Shona Bhuku raMormoni,
bound in cool leather
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On Tuesday we went to go see Nonceba, a 22 year old girl who had kind of told us off when we contacted her, but we still managed to get a return appointment. When we got there, 3 of her friends joined her and they were actually interested. We could tell that they weren't quite ready to dive into a gospel discussion, so we just started by introducing everyone and talking about who they were and what they wanted most in life. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland once said that we don't have to plan out what we want to say because the Spirit and our friends will give us exactly what to testify of. They started talking about wanting a good family, so we bore testimony of how trying to live like Christ helps us succeed in family life. Before we knew it, we were teaching about the Apostasy, answering prayers, and got another return appointment. I sincerely hope that they will progress. I love teaching young adults because it's easy to connect with them, and I'm excited to teach them again this week! We also had a cool experience with some other new investigators. Trinity (18), Albring (16), and Elroy (13) are a sister and 2 brothers that we started teaching this week and they have had some interesting questions for us. Trinity missed the first part of the lesson on the Book of Mormon and the Restoration so when she came she had a lot of questions. Albring came to the rescue, explaining everything we had taught and then some. Elder Magoha and I just sat back and watched excitedly. Later she asked a question about drinking, and after we responded, Albring quoted another scripture that answered her perfectly. It was so awesome to watch our investigators teach each other.
On Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Goronga. He's waiting for his visa to go on his mission to Cape Town South Africa, and I actually served in his branch in Kadoma. He's a humble and cheerful elder who knows a lot for being a missionary for only 4 weeks. We had a great day together and I enjoyed his company. This week we found 13 new investigators, nearly doubling our goal for this week! The Lord placed a lot of people in our path and I can't wait to continue teaching them. We taught Andile and her mom about the Plan of Salvation, and Andile is so happy in the church. She reads everything we give her and does all her chores beforehand so that she can come to church! Oh, and she's only 12. Her mom only speaks Shona and Ndebele, which tests my translation skills but it has been a cool experience to teach her as well. Yesterday we went to go teach another woman who mostly speaks Shona. Her aunt was there and said she lives in Victoria Falls. The Victoria Falls. I think it's the first time that I've asked someone to take me back with them, which is ironic because everyone who finds out that I'm from the USA asks me to take them back with me. Haha Zimbabwe is awesome!
Like I mentioned earlier, the rain came back this weekend. At first it was only sprinkling, but we felt the full force Saturday night on the way home from visiting a member. We were walking on the road when a huge storm caught us. We were sprinting along the road, and we passed a congregation of madzibabas (a more traditional "apostolic" church that wears white robes and goes and prays in the bush) singing in a field off the road. I turned to my companion and told him how much I love our church and he was cracking up. We made it home soaked but safe. Being on a mission is definitely an adventure sometimes and I love it!
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| With former Elder Mpisa, who just returned from Mimi and Papa's mission in Ghana |
Today we played basketball as a zone at the church in Mpopoma and it was a ton of fun. And then the rain came again. Haha I forgot how inconvenient the rainy season can be sometimes.
This week I've thought a lot about charity. Moroni 7:47 tells us about how charity is the pure love of Christ that endures forever and that we will be blessed for having that love. And then verse 48 tells us that we must pray with "all the energy of heart" to be filled with this love so that we may be pure even as Christ is. I've always wanted to be more charitable, to love unconditionally and to see others as God sees them. I know that as we pray for the gift of charity, we will find greater joy in each day and we will treat others as Christ would treat them. If you also read in 1 Nephi 11, we learn that the great and spacious building (the pride and wisdom of the world) will fall no matter how many people are drawn to it, and that the love of God will remain forever. I love the gospel so much because I know that no matter what happens, what choices we make, or how alone we may feel, our loving Heavenly Father is watching over us. Have an amazing week!!
Love Elder Barlow
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