The Spirit broke our car, got us covered in fleas, and took us away from civilization. :)

So this week was great. I am still trying to learn this new area. It is quite large but I am kind of figuring it out. I can get some places at least. So on Tuesday we were trying to get to our branch president's house and neither of us had been there before so we got lost.... We kept trying to call him and find out but it wasn't working and we were after the manner of the chicken without its head. Directionless. So we were stopped on this road trying to find out where to go, but then when we wanted to go, the car stalled and then completely shut down. The engine wasn't turning over, the dash had no lights, the horn didn't work. The battery was completely gone. But even though we didn't have really any means of fixing the problem, we had no jumper cables, and we didn't have any one to call, I wasn't worried. I just reclined my seat and closed my eyes. It felt like I was just waiting for something. My companion tried to start the car to no avail. After a few minutes he asked if I would go and look at the engine. So we popped the hood and I stared at the engine as if I knew what I was doing. The battery looked fine and still nothing was happening. So as we were going to try and push start it. A man walks up and asks if we need any help. We gratefully accept and he assesses the problem. Then starts talking and wiggling things in the engine. One of the wiggles works! The car lights back up and we get it started. We thank him and introduce ourselves and ask if we can share a message with him and his family.


He readily agrees and lets us in(We had "broken down" a few meters from his home). We greet his family and let them know who we are and everything. Then we watch the Restoration DVD with them. They definitely felt the Spirit. They all accepted the invitation to be baptized and they asked if we can come again so he can watch it again. Was it an accident that we were "lost" and our car "broke" not even a few meters from his home? I don't think so! He is incredibly prepared, intelligent and full of faith. he came to church yesterday and will be a future leader of the church for sure.


We are looking to split our branch and we had a few minutes and decided to look for a meeting house. We drive around a bit and pull into a place and a guy walking in says, "The house is for rent." My companion and I just look at each other and like, "really?". It just seemed too perfect. So we go in and they take us around the house which is almost perfect for a meeting house. The great room is big enough for Sacrament Meeting, there are a number of rooms and bathrooms and it is on a large plot and it is pretty central to the area and easily accessible! Then when we get back in the car and we see our pants, they are covered in fleas! As we walked through the yard we must have been silently attacked! So we jump out an start swatting and hitting and doing funny jigs to remove them. Luckily we did and I am flea free! So not everything about the house is perfect but the fleas can be removed. Plus it was kind of funny. I have never been attacked by a flea army before. Have you???


Also we have this organization here called Mothers Without Borders. Which is essentially a program that helps orphans get an education and a place to stay and to learn. Our Branch President is a big part of it an he is the legal guardian for the children and we have been given permission to teach and baptize 8 of them. Many people who work there are members of the church. We had started teaching them on Sunday and we wanted to teach them during the week. But this place is far and out of the normal city. So we drive out to this place and we go into the bush and out of the brush emerges these colorful buildings and groups of children. We drive up and they all come over and they talk to us and they are so excited and I am just in awe of how wonderful this place is. They give us a tour and they show us all the cool places and everything that these kids get to do and where they stay and eat and everything. One of the workers is an RM from Congo and he works there with his wife and they are cool awesome people. He is a painter and a very good one at that. I am going to buy some of his paintings. They really are amazing. I will have to take pics of them or send them home so you can see.


But anyway, we gather all of the children and we watch the Restoration DVD with them and after we answered questions about who God is. About prayer, Joseph Smith and about life and blessings. The questions were amazing and I was so happy that I could be there to share with these orphaned children, that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them and they can feel his love as they pray. How they can return to Him someday because the Church was Restored through Joseph Smith. Although we only have permission to baptize 8 of them, I know that the rest will someday join the church and be forever different because of the Message of the Restoration, that we shared with them. It was one of the best experiences to see the faith of children, who have so little, accept the truth and let it light their eyes with the knowledge that they were Children of God. So AWESOME! Things are going great and I am excited to see what difference I can make in this area! Lets do it!