june 18, 2012

Well, right now I am having quite a fun time. I just got back from a Zone activity, and it was pretty fun. We went to a dam here in Bulawayo, and it was fun going with both Zones. We had a braii, and some Mazoe as well, so it was an all around good time. We just had a baptism this weekend, Brother and Sister Shoko. We were really excited for them, so that they can be able tom help the branch grow. The branch I am working in was opened just about 8-10 months ago, and so almost all members here in emganwini are recent converts. We are meeting in a meeting house, and the font is a portable (see pictures of set-up). It is pretty cool, and fun to help this branch grow. Elder Dragon and I have been doing alot of sifting through our teaching pool, but our prayers and fasting for the part of our are called Island have really helped! We found a few people there who we feel are really prepared for the gospel. We started teaching them this week, and one of them even came to church! We were very excited and were able to help answer questions and concerns. The trick we face now is to find people we can consistently take with us to see them, as there is but one member family in Island. However, they are really seeming like they will be both willing and excited to help in this area when they can. We have high hopes for Island and hope to really get these people used to missionaries, and willing to let us into their homes to save them!

Well, we are low on time this week because the activity took extra long, so I will jump to questions.

Aunt michelle:
SO what  kind of food do you cook and eat now?

Cajun chicken, lemon bars, lots of good stuff. (see pictures) also, last night we ate guinea pig and rabbit.
And  it sounds like you have moved several times? how many now?  and how offten are you expected to move ?

third area now. It depends between missionaries. Some move alot, some little. 
When you say its cold there about what degrees? 50s  and where does it come from  like is  it coming off the ocean?

I don't know numbers, because I haven't ever looked at a thermometer. But it is partly because I am adjusting to the climate. It still isn't Utah Cold, let alone minnesota cold =P I know not from where it comes, but you can see where I am if you type in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe into google maps.

I love you all so much!

stay well,

~Elder Williams
-- 

working with vaccines... June 24, 2012

It has a charm to it!
"Yea, lucky charms. . . cuz their fruity. . . like you"
Oh, what a wit you have! *scratch*
crap. . . we ran out of animation money. . . =P

Well, hello there everybody, it appears as if I didn't get to spend as much time emailing last time as usual, I was just writing, and the guy comes around and says that the shop is closing in 5 minutes. . . I mean, really? well, whatever. Them's the beans.

This week has been quite annoying, but nice; we spent 2 hours a day, tuesday through friday, at a clinic volunteering to help with the measles campain going on. 1.9 mil children were vaccinated here in Zim this week against either measles, polio, or both for free by the gov't. It was a great opportunity for service for us, (we had helped a little to notify people the week before) and so we got to see lots of little children screaming in terror as they see a child in front of them screaming in terror because somewhere one saw the small needle and decided to start a chain reaction amongst toddlers. . . =P well, they are all a bit healthier now! good stuff.

The area that my companion and I are starting to work more in (Island) is responsible for most of our promising investigators at the moment. We still have only checked one street (due to time constraints these last 2 weeks), so 20-25 houses, and we are progressively teaching 7 people across 4 houses. It is really crazy, and we have decided to move a large portion of our efforts to this area to really get a stronghold of members there. The member family that lives in Island, the Sibandas, are really excited to help out and are probably going to be fellowshippers for a lot of people in the next while. . . and they seem to be loving it! Our Branch missionaries have been wanting us to help them out with learning to teach, and so we have been having kind of a class for them (and other members) every saturday (It has only happened twice now), and they are loving it. We have been helping them understand how to teach, and doing lots of role plays to help them learn. We have our own BMTC (branch missionary training center). Our BM's are also wanting to help more with missionary work, so we are seeing it really help with our investigators; We have, however, had to drop a lot of people this week who have not been willing to prioritize church.

Brother Ncube once again skipped out on church, but the rest of his family came. When we went to see them last night, he was telling us that he had been reading from the apostle paul that if a man's wife followed the commandments, her husband didn't have to (in essence). Naturally, we were pretty shocked that that interpretation held any water in this man's mind (he is an intelligent man) and he really wasn't wanting to listen to us. He said the following about 20 times: "I know what you say is true BUT . . ." We had been feeling that he has been progressing pretty well until just recently, and now I feel we have discovered his concern: He will not change. He refuses to truly pray to ask for the truth, and won't change the way he prays, or believes. We decided it was best to let him go for now until he is willing to change and really know what the truth is. The rest of his family, on the other hand, had been obviously feeling the spirit that was strong in the room during the lesson last night. It remains to be seen whether Sister Ncube and the daughters will be willing to change and progress without the father, or if they will help to change his heart, but for now, teaching a person who won't listen is like trying to break down a building using your bare fist.

Someone we have just recently started teaching (in Island) is sister Dzuke. She is an older mom (and roman catholic) whose husband passed away last year, and who we feel is an answer to prayers and fasting. When we first met her, we gave her a restoration pamphlet and set an appointment. When we came for the appointment, we found that she had already read most of the pamphlet and had questions about Joseph smith. We taught the first part of the restoration, and gave her a book of mormon. Upon returning for the second lesson, she had read the introduction of the book of mormon, and finished the pamphlet. She again had more questions. Yesterday, we were able to bring Brother and Sister Sibanda with us to the lesson (which made a big difference over a branch missionary) and taught about the Book of Mormon; true to form, Sister Dzuke had read the testimonies and read more from the book of mormon. As we continued teaching, the spirit was very strong. She had not come to church (rewind, sorry) and when we asked what had happened she said: "I came by on friday to find the church and was not able to, so I wasn't sure how to get there." From there, I just knew that if she had been able to find it, she would have come (as cheesy as it sounds, it is true). The Sibandas promptly told her where the church was, and offered to pick her up on sunday (he has done this with each island investigator so far, and will soon be coming to church with a herd of converts!). She was so excited to hear that.
She also shared a story: for the longest time in her life, she always has bad dreams; people at her church have helped by prayer and fasting for her, but all to no avail. Then one day, she was just finishing bathing, and two white missionaries from the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints come to her home, give her something to read and set an appointment to come. She prepared for this appointment, and on the appointed day, they came, taught her a little, and voila! No more bad dreams. Gone. None. Zvakwana. That was last week.

We have high hopes for her, as she really carries through with her reading and always has great questions.

Well, that is all for this week, my comp and I are still making NICE foods. It really is Q. (for those of you who don't know what Q is, you will find out one day =P it is the thing I miss the most, and it applies to everything: either Q, or not Q)

On to questions 

Grandma Twila
Is it rainy now along with the cold?
it is rainy during/ right after the hot season.
Is the landscape much the same there?
fairly flat. Mutare was mountainous, but the rest of Zim is pretty much flatlnds.
Are you in a rural area?
I am presently in Bulawayo, which is the second biggest city in Zim, right after Harare.

I love you all, and hope that more of you will write me, because all of you can =P
Take care, 
~Elder Williams
-- 
Remember: Pray always, and look to the Lord. Write often, and live life to it's fullest.

Doubt is the seed of failure. ~Taggart Williams

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. ~God (D+C 6:36)

needs if you are wondering...

the only things I need right now, that would be very nice to have would be:
another small bottle of lavender oil,
and a dream symbolism book. I would find lots of use for this, and If you could send me one, that would be awesome! (for many reasons, just the most accurate/best one you can think of =P)
I love you mom!
~Elder Williams

the island... June11, 2012

Well, hello there everybody
It is now getting pretty fetching cold here in Bulawayo, not what I was expecting, and I think I am really starting to adjust to local weather conditions! so, wind + cold air double up to make it pretty chilly some days.
My companion and I are still eating nice things. . . man, he can COOK! it is really nice, and we have lots of fun with food, as well as teaching.
We are presently preparing some families for baptism, and really sifting through our teaching pool right now. There is a part of our area called island which is, well, isolated from everything else (like a 20-30 minute walk from the rest of the area, if we are already on the edge.) Last week, we decided that we were going to dedicate thursdays to just working in island. There is one member family there, and about 100 (give or take) other houses in Island. We fasted and prayed so that we would be able to fidn people there, and went on thursday. Lo and behold, despite the generally desolate feel in island, we have seen and made appointments with a few people, and also received a referal there. We have now decided to dedicate both tuesdays and thursdays there to do lots of finding and even to visit each and every house at least once. We have high hopes for Island, and will keep praying and working hard there.
The Ncube (you say this by saying Noobay with a click that sounds like a 'tisk' after the N with your lips almost puckered to make a 'U' sound. . . now you can say something in iNdebele) family that I talked about last week is preparing to be baptized on the 23 of June, so we are really excited for them, The mother and father are the ones really progressing. We had a nice lesson with them on Word of wisdom and fixed a few concerns. On saturday, we had a training meeting which will now become a regular thing with our branch missionaries. We had a powerful lesson about testimonies and the Book of Mormon. They all enjoyed it and were very adamant that we do the meeting regularly, and so we are. I really feel it is going to help them become stronger teachers, and more confident in sharing the gospel.

This week was fairly typical, but had some interesting particulars. We are really hoping and praying for help in Island, so I will let you all know how everything goes!
love you all,
~Elder Williams

-- 
Remember: Pray always, and look to the Lord. Write often, and live life to it's fullest.

Doubt is the seed of failure. ~Taggart Williams

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. ~God (D+C 6:36)

yummy food in Zim

Elder Dragon and Taggart video. They work hard...

photos of Zimbabwe food...

June 4. cold?

It's that time of the week again, and MAN is it cold! I don't know if I am losing my Utah-used-to-the-coldness, or if it is actually really cold or just a combination, but wow. I mean, not FREEZING COLD, but I can't just go with a short-sleeve anymore. I need to carry my sweater!
My new area is seeming nice so far, but the first few days I was going through Shona withdrawals. I just speak it so much (just intermixed with English. . . I almost wrote Churungu instead of English. . .) and now most people here don't understand if I say Makadini, orZuwarakorangorurisei. 
Well, my companion and I are eating nice things this transfer! We have already had some good stuff (see vids on blog) and it will continue to be good!

We had a fun week, met lots of new people. It is interesting to see the difference in culture between Shonas and iNdebeles. We have one family we are seeing, the Ncube family, who is/was Roman Catholic. We saw them on Saturday night and had a lesson about the sacrament/priesthood. We challenged them to pray that night and to sincerely ask God if this church is true, and if it has His divine authority. Sunday came, and brother and sister Ncube were there. My companion gave a note to Brother Ncube saying that it was a fast and testimony meeting, and that if he felt like he could, he could get up and share his testimony. He did so. He got up and testified about how he knew that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is the only true church, and how it has power and authority from God. It was a very powerful testimony and really made the day for both my companion and myself.

In my new are we have a bunch of branch missionaries. . . DUN DUN DUN who help! *shocked screams!!!* yea, weird isn't it? I can tell this transfer will be a fun one for many reasons, and to top it off, our mission president leaves in 3-4 weeks! so we may see some slight changes at that time, but only time will tell.

Questions: Nathan:
Are there any families that you've grow attached to?
not yet in my new area, as it has only been 1 week, but for sure in my previous areas, and for sure in the future. 
Have you met someone that reminds you of someone you know?  
well, a convert in my last area reminds me of my brother. His name is *mario and he is just a cool guy (same age as collin too. . . =P)

I love you all, don't forget to take your doxy! haha just kidding. . . please, *do not try that at home (the joking that is). ***

I'll ttyl!
~Elder Williams

*No, he doesn't wear a red hat with a big 'M'
**Joking has a tendancy to sometimes cause tail-cancer in people un-accustomed to quiet silence. use with caution
***Empty space is very deadly. DO NOT INHALE