Sweater, Polygamy and Conference!
So this week has been short because of meetings and because of Conference. But on Friday we had a lesson with Alfred and Florence. They are doing really well and we followed up on the Word of Wisdom because Alfred smokes. He used to smoke a pack a day, but is now down to about three a week! Which is awesome. But we taught the Law of Chastity which includes only having one wife. He didn't say anything through the whole lesson even when we asked for input. Then at the very end, a member of the Branch Presidency, we were at his house, asked if he had any questions and he said, "Yea I have one very big question." My heart sank! We were so close to having no problems! He continued, "I have another wife..." Which isn't a question, by the by, but it still floored me. We found out they are separated and everything but he has remained married because he has been providing for her and the eight children he had with her, so I told him he needed to get a divorce, if he and Florence wanted to get baptized. Wow, that was weird, before I knew what I was doing I had already told him to end a marriage. I never thought I would have to do that!
Also this week was a pretty bad week for power, it would come late at night and leave before we woke up, so I ran out of ironed shirts and I couldn't iron a new one... So I put on a shirt but it was horrendously wrinkled. I didn't want to leave the house like that so I put a sweater over it. I know, right?! A SWEATER! In AFRICA! I was equally appalled at the thought but even more appalled at the thought of the wrinkly shirt, and you know what? It wasn't that bad. I didn't over heat and die or anything! It was a pretty nice day actually, or maybe I am just getting used to the heat... either way the thought that I wore a sweater in Africa is still strange.
Then one night we actually had power and so we started cooking quickly because we didn't know if it would go or not. And I started making Sadza, which is the staple food here. Then an Elder Mubwanda walks in, who is a native Zimbabwean, he looks in the pot and asks what I'm making, I tell him, he asks again, I tell him, he asks again. He was shocked that an American was making Sadza but I wanted to learn how so I decided to try! He told me to tell him when I failed, which I didn't! I totally succeeded, everyone I am officially African now!
Then on Saturday and Sunday we watched Conference on DVD because Africa at large doesn't get the broadcast so well. I had seen the Sunday Sessions before but the Saturday and Priesthood sessions were new. And I loved them! Oh wow I was enjoying them so much, it felt like Christmas, except better. We watched the Sat. Afternoon session last and I loved Elder Holland's talk. I started scribbling notes so fast but I just stopped because there was no way I was going to get it all. I want to watch that talk again, it was epic! I cannot wait for the Ensign so I can read it over and over again!
Anyway that was the week! Thank you all for the love and support!
Love,
Elder Gay
Monday, April 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
April 20th letter
This week has been busy and not busy at the same time. Any way we've been preparing some people for baptism, Edith just barely passed her interview on Sunday and will be baptized next Sunday. We had some service projects on Thursday where I peeled maize. My thumbs are a tad sore. But we were talking to some non members who seem interested about the church. Then they fed us and they made us eat every last scrap. That is common here, you need to eat everything offered or you will just offend them. So I got very full.
On Friday I went on exchanges with another Elder in his area. We had a very good day, teaching people who seemed very excited about learning, and we worked together well. The lessons just flowed really well. Apparently the investigators could notice, because we were teaching an investigator about the Book of Mormon(I love teaching about this book), anyway towards the end of the lesson she told us that the Lord had sent us to her that day. Because she was going to be at school but decided to stay home to study. Then she said, she just loved having us there, and that we were "shining with the Holy Ghost!" Guess what everyone, I shine now :) That lesson was so sweet though!
Anyway as we were walking to another lesson, a lady called out and I replied in Shona(the local language), her jaw dropped like i had insulted her heritage. "You speaking shona?!" she yelled. So we went over and I greeted them all in shona and they were very impressed apparently because they just went off in Shona. I had to tell them I only spoke a little. We were talking a little about the church and what we do, when one lady comes out and starts telling us about the Nebuchadnezzar's(sp?) dream. When her sister looked at her in shock and said, "You are sharing with them? We want them to share with us!" Oh man I started laughing so hard so we told them where the church is and set up a time for us to visit. I enjoyed those exchanges.
But Sunday was Independence Day. Where the Zimbabweans won their freedom from England aka the whites. So all weekend they were celebrating and feeling kind of anti white feelings which was fun. Nothing happened but the members warned us that we might want to go home before it got dark.
And this last week the primary kids got locked in their room because there still weren't any handles. I had to pull out the leatherman again.
Yesterday was Zone Conference. Yay Zone conference! Anyway I really learned a lot and especially from a mssionary who is leaving at the end of this transfer. He bore his testimony and I was almost floored by the power of it. Oh man, all I could think was, this is what a real missionary is. I was amazed and still am, I just hope I can have part of the impact he has had on those he has taught and interacted with. Wow is all I can say.
We sang our Zone Song, 284 If you could hie to Kolob, it actually went pretty well considering that we didn't know we were supposed to sing something. This morning we had a borrowed a car to take chairs from the stake center to a Sister's house where she teaches Seminary. There were no chairs and they have been sitting on the concrete floor of an unfinished section of her house for all of their lessons. So we thought we would try to help out, she was very grateful and it reminded me just how many advantages we had back home, like chairs.
Thank you for all the love and support!
Love,
Elder Gay
On Friday I went on exchanges with another Elder in his area. We had a very good day, teaching people who seemed very excited about learning, and we worked together well. The lessons just flowed really well. Apparently the investigators could notice, because we were teaching an investigator about the Book of Mormon(I love teaching about this book), anyway towards the end of the lesson she told us that the Lord had sent us to her that day. Because she was going to be at school but decided to stay home to study. Then she said, she just loved having us there, and that we were "shining with the Holy Ghost!" Guess what everyone, I shine now :) That lesson was so sweet though!
Anyway as we were walking to another lesson, a lady called out and I replied in Shona(the local language), her jaw dropped like i had insulted her heritage. "You speaking shona?!" she yelled. So we went over and I greeted them all in shona and they were very impressed apparently because they just went off in Shona. I had to tell them I only spoke a little. We were talking a little about the church and what we do, when one lady comes out and starts telling us about the Nebuchadnezzar's(sp?) dream. When her sister looked at her in shock and said, "You are sharing with them? We want them to share with us!" Oh man I started laughing so hard so we told them where the church is and set up a time for us to visit. I enjoyed those exchanges.
But Sunday was Independence Day. Where the Zimbabweans won their freedom from England aka the whites. So all weekend they were celebrating and feeling kind of anti white feelings which was fun. Nothing happened but the members warned us that we might want to go home before it got dark.
And this last week the primary kids got locked in their room because there still weren't any handles. I had to pull out the leatherman again.
Yesterday was Zone Conference. Yay Zone conference! Anyway I really learned a lot and especially from a mssionary who is leaving at the end of this transfer. He bore his testimony and I was almost floored by the power of it. Oh man, all I could think was, this is what a real missionary is. I was amazed and still am, I just hope I can have part of the impact he has had on those he has taught and interacted with. Wow is all I can say.
We sang our Zone Song, 284 If you could hie to Kolob, it actually went pretty well considering that we didn't know we were supposed to sing something. This morning we had a borrowed a car to take chairs from the stake center to a Sister's house where she teaches Seminary. There were no chairs and they have been sitting on the concrete floor of an unfinished section of her house for all of their lessons. So we thought we would try to help out, she was very grateful and it reminded me just how many advantages we had back home, like chairs.
Thank you for all the love and support!
Love,
Elder Gay
Friday, April 16, 2010
Mon April 2nd Letter
Dear Everyone!
This e-mail might be a little shorter for reasons to be revealed later, but know that everything is going really well. Well our Zone leaders were in another accident this week. They hit a woman's arm with their side-view mirror which broke into the side window and it shattered. The Mission President is very not happy with them. Two accidents in less than a month... wow.
We had some pretty good lessons this week, and gave out some more Baptismal dates. Garikai Chizanga and Brian Nyabako were both preparing to be baptized this week and Garikai chose me to baptize him, which kind of peeved my companion, because he'd been teaching him since December.
On Thursday we were contacting people and telling them they should come to church. I contacted this huge group of drunk guys(it was 1 in the afternoon) which was sweet. My companion started contacting this guy who promptly held his hand, which sounds weird I know. But here it is very normal to see guys holding hands, not because they are gay, just because of a culture difference. My companion was freaked, he tried to contact him still though. I was laughing at him the whole time, mostly for the hand holding, but also because he didn't know I had already contacted him! Hahaha
Then Friday morning I woke up and was not feeling good. I had some fun bathroom visits, no vomiting, just the back door(and yes I think you did need to know that much). I didn't eat anything but we still went to our area, you know because of "Forget yourself and go to work!" right? We went to our first lesson and we walked in and there were eight people there. This guy had his whole family there. It was sweet and I was feeling okay at the time. But then I stood up... But I refused to go home. We still had appointments and I was going to them! We met with a few more people, and I started breathing heavier and my lips and fingers got tingly. The nausea just increased and finally my companion "forced" me home. I didn't put up much of a fight. I got there and I crashed on my bed. My companion called Sis. Dube and the Assistants came over. I got a Priesthood blessing and then they took me to the Hospital. Yay African Health care! Anyway I have an infection. At the hospital I had a fever of 38.8 degrees Celsius, which if you do the math is approximately 102 degrees Fahrenheit, yay fever! I'm still not feeling super awesome, and that is why this might be a little short today, but I am feeling a lot better. But the medicine they gave me I have to take with meals! What kind of doctor prescribes a medicine that requires meals to some one who is nauseated! Who I say?! But I'm gaining the weight back and things are going back to normal!
Then Sunday, the entire city of Harare had no water. We carried water from the chapel, they have a well, to our house, so we could have drinking water. That wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but we managed and the water came back this morning, a little bit anyway. Also on Sunday we taught this woman named Angela, her boyfriend is a member. Anyway she is very funny, she has told us to go to H*** a few times. And I think she is kidding. We didn't end up singing this week, because Devilias got sick on Sunday but hopefully next week we will. We baptized Garikai and Brian yesterday and they both bore pretty awesome testimonies too.
But the church got vandalized and robbed. Outlets, door handles, stove elements, electronic devices and just really random things were taken. So they are looking into upping the security. But during the baptism, we could only use one door because the handles were gone and you couldn't open the other one. During the closing hymn, the door shut! We were locked in and with out handles. I got my multi tool out(leatherman) and I went to work. I got it open and it was promptly closed by a ten year old who was trying to get in. So I had to do it again. I started laughing pretty hard.
That was my week! Thanks for all the love and support!
Love,
Elder Gay
This e-mail might be a little shorter for reasons to be revealed later, but know that everything is going really well. Well our Zone leaders were in another accident this week. They hit a woman's arm with their side-view mirror which broke into the side window and it shattered. The Mission President is very not happy with them. Two accidents in less than a month... wow.
We had some pretty good lessons this week, and gave out some more Baptismal dates. Garikai Chizanga and Brian Nyabako were both preparing to be baptized this week and Garikai chose me to baptize him, which kind of peeved my companion, because he'd been teaching him since December.
On Thursday we were contacting people and telling them they should come to church. I contacted this huge group of drunk guys(it was 1 in the afternoon) which was sweet. My companion started contacting this guy who promptly held his hand, which sounds weird I know. But here it is very normal to see guys holding hands, not because they are gay, just because of a culture difference. My companion was freaked, he tried to contact him still though. I was laughing at him the whole time, mostly for the hand holding, but also because he didn't know I had already contacted him! Hahaha
Then Friday morning I woke up and was not feeling good. I had some fun bathroom visits, no vomiting, just the back door(and yes I think you did need to know that much). I didn't eat anything but we still went to our area, you know because of "Forget yourself and go to work!" right? We went to our first lesson and we walked in and there were eight people there. This guy had his whole family there. It was sweet and I was feeling okay at the time. But then I stood up... But I refused to go home. We still had appointments and I was going to them! We met with a few more people, and I started breathing heavier and my lips and fingers got tingly. The nausea just increased and finally my companion "forced" me home. I didn't put up much of a fight. I got there and I crashed on my bed. My companion called Sis. Dube and the Assistants came over. I got a Priesthood blessing and then they took me to the Hospital. Yay African Health care! Anyway I have an infection. At the hospital I had a fever of 38.8 degrees Celsius, which if you do the math is approximately 102 degrees Fahrenheit, yay fever! I'm still not feeling super awesome, and that is why this might be a little short today, but I am feeling a lot better. But the medicine they gave me I have to take with meals! What kind of doctor prescribes a medicine that requires meals to some one who is nauseated! Who I say?! But I'm gaining the weight back and things are going back to normal!
Then Sunday, the entire city of Harare had no water. We carried water from the chapel, they have a well, to our house, so we could have drinking water. That wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but we managed and the water came back this morning, a little bit anyway. Also on Sunday we taught this woman named Angela, her boyfriend is a member. Anyway she is very funny, she has told us to go to H*** a few times. And I think she is kidding. We didn't end up singing this week, because Devilias got sick on Sunday but hopefully next week we will. We baptized Garikai and Brian yesterday and they both bore pretty awesome testimonies too.
But the church got vandalized and robbed. Outlets, door handles, stove elements, electronic devices and just really random things were taken. So they are looking into upping the security. But during the baptism, we could only use one door because the handles were gone and you couldn't open the other one. During the closing hymn, the door shut! We were locked in and with out handles. I got my multi tool out(leatherman) and I went to work. I got it open and it was promptly closed by a ten year old who was trying to get in. So I had to do it again. I started laughing pretty hard.
That was my week! Thanks for all the love and support!
Love,
Elder Gay
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
April 4th 2010 Letter
This week has been full of things and happenings. I taught the principles of Charity and Love in our District meeting and that turned into our district vision yeah love! We visited a Less Active who's been a member for six or seven years. She had this cactus tree in her yard that had a lot of Elder's names engraved in it so we added our names too! It is kind of a piece of mission history. She even came to church that week too!
On the way to Dorcas' we got bombarded by children. I gave them some toys and did a couples flips, and we got a pretty cool picture! Then later in the week the same kids gave us some help finding a house, pretty sweet huh?
Our house got inspected by the Mission Mother this week and the other elders we live with freaked because they are very messy. But me and my companion weren't worried because none of the mess was ours. They, however, woke up at five to clean all their dishes and their rooms and everything else. So we passed our inspection!
On April Fool's Day, we had a service project at a less active's house. We dug the garden out for replanting! We practiced a song with an R.M. in the branch, so apparently we are going to sing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing this next Sunday... I'll tell you how it goes next week. We played some awesome jokes, because apparently it is a very popular holiday here, who knew?! Then a member cooked for us, she made us fish... I actually ate the whole thing, except the head because it tasted awful. But yea then they wanted us to sing the Star Spangled Banner, so we did and yea it was very odd.
We found out that we get a new Assistant to the President and the lucky person is....... It's Elder Lauaki and I know you have no idea who that is, but suffice it to say it is completely hilarious. And even better is I called it the day before we found out! He was kind of mad at me though. He said I jinxed him!
Conference was interesting. First I was so excited, then it was canceled because the stakes were all going to watch it two weeks from now on DVD. Then I was sad. Then we had dinner at President's House on Friday for Easter, which was awesome. Then on Saturday Conference was back on! So I was happy! Then a few hours later it was canceled and I was sad. Then on Sunday it was still canceled and I was still sad but then President invited us over to watch it at his house, so I was happy! But because of the time difference it didn't get over till midnight and we only got to watch the Sunday sessions but I was just happy we got to watch some of it!
This week, we gave out five baptismal dates to some of our investigators and two who were interviewed on Sunday, Brian(15) and Garikai(20 something) passed and will be baptized this next week! We have found three new investigators and hopefully we'll give some more baptismal dates this coming week! The work is really going and it is exciting!
I love hearing from everyone! Thank you for all the love and prayers!
Love,
Elder Gay
On the way to Dorcas' we got bombarded by children. I gave them some toys and did a couples flips, and we got a pretty cool picture! Then later in the week the same kids gave us some help finding a house, pretty sweet huh?
Our house got inspected by the Mission Mother this week and the other elders we live with freaked because they are very messy. But me and my companion weren't worried because none of the mess was ours. They, however, woke up at five to clean all their dishes and their rooms and everything else. So we passed our inspection!
On April Fool's Day, we had a service project at a less active's house. We dug the garden out for replanting! We practiced a song with an R.M. in the branch, so apparently we are going to sing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing this next Sunday... I'll tell you how it goes next week. We played some awesome jokes, because apparently it is a very popular holiday here, who knew?! Then a member cooked for us, she made us fish... I actually ate the whole thing, except the head because it tasted awful. But yea then they wanted us to sing the Star Spangled Banner, so we did and yea it was very odd.
We found out that we get a new Assistant to the President and the lucky person is....... It's Elder Lauaki and I know you have no idea who that is, but suffice it to say it is completely hilarious. And even better is I called it the day before we found out! He was kind of mad at me though. He said I jinxed him!
Conference was interesting. First I was so excited, then it was canceled because the stakes were all going to watch it two weeks from now on DVD. Then I was sad. Then we had dinner at President's House on Friday for Easter, which was awesome. Then on Saturday Conference was back on! So I was happy! Then a few hours later it was canceled and I was sad. Then on Sunday it was still canceled and I was still sad but then President invited us over to watch it at his house, so I was happy! But because of the time difference it didn't get over till midnight and we only got to watch the Sunday sessions but I was just happy we got to watch some of it!
This week, we gave out five baptismal dates to some of our investigators and two who were interviewed on Sunday, Brian(15) and Garikai(20 something) passed and will be baptized this next week! We have found three new investigators and hopefully we'll give some more baptismal dates this coming week! The work is really going and it is exciting!
I love hearing from everyone! Thank you for all the love and prayers!
Love,
Elder Gay
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