Of things in Africa and Zambia... 7-29-2013

Excerpt from Domonique's letter...

As far as china goes, CHINA IS GOING TO TAKE OVER AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am only half-joking. They take care of a TON of the building projects go for malls, sports stadiums, etc. They kind of have tons of stuff all over africa. . . one day I think they may legitimately take over africa. . . like hostile takeover, but we'll see =P 

I am glad to hear that Grandma Harper is doing better. I will also keep you in my prayers for your job. 

Well, as for learning stick and such, I am doing well, just starting up the habit. I am enjoying it. The terrain here in Zambia is flat, and almost desert like. It isn't humid like Zimbabwe is, and it is hotter. I will be taking a driving test on Thursday probably to get a Zambian License. 

love, 

Taggart

Wait, Where is the clutch pedal on the computer? July 29, 2013

My hand keeps looking for the stick to shift. . . but the keyboard is flat.

I am still learning stick, but it feels weird right as I am getting going and right after I am done practicing. So, I will be getting a Zambian Driver's License probably this Thursday, at which point I will be legal to drive here!

We were able to see Peter (the Chinese man) this week, and it was fun despite the chaos of having two randomly insterted, newly set apart missionaries working with us for the day. Well, although I haven't trained anyone before (nor will I at this point), I have been with someone to teach their first lesson as a missionary. . . The difficulty with Peter's friend, Phillip, is that he wants to know the difference between the catholic church and the other churches, but he doesn't yet have a fundamental understanding of Christianity itself. We are going to be starting from square one, and will be using the church videos such as 'finding faith in christ' so that he can understand and be able to re-watch.

We also have the granddaughter of one of our members that we are going to be baptizing on the 10th of August. It is going to be exiting, because Niza is really enjoying church.

I also interviewed someone for the first time for baptism yesterday. It was an interesting experience. He is not fluent at all with english so I had to have a translator. We sat down, started with a prayer, and went over the questions. His understanding of all of the doctrines was unsure, because of the difficulty in language, unsurety of the translator, as well as his shy nature. I wasn't sure if he was ready to be baptized, so after we finished, I waited behind them for a minute and knelt to offer a prayer. I told about what I had felt, but asked if he was ready to be baptized. The warm assurance of the Spirit told me that despite my surface analysis, he was ready. After I finished the second interview, I went and told the sister missionaries that both candidates had passed. They expressed that they were very happy to hear that. The first one (the one who I was unsure about) had been coming to church now for 3 months, and had had his baptism pushed before so that he could be ready. Despite his shyness, from what I had felt and what the sisters told me, he does sound ready. The amount of clarity personal revelation brings into our lives is amazing to me. That is something that I have been able to come to understand over the course of my mission, and I continue to have it reaffirmed day by day.

Questions:

MOM

I am told that your Zone Leader is a big job/calling.  I am excited for you.  What does it entail and do you still do proselyting?

Mostly, as Zone Leaders, my companion and I make sure that the missionaries in the Zone always have drinking waters (we use dispensers), as well as materials such as pamphlets, copies of the Books of Mormons (hehe haha), We also are in charge of Zone Meeting once a month to go over training that we feel is needed for the zone. Mostly, we proselyte as normal, just with errands thrown in the mix. In all of Lusaka, there are also areas that are too far for missionaries to go to to teach while on foot without spending ridiculous amounts of transport money. We assume teaching responsibility for such areas if investigators there will progress. That is about it. 

Well, I love you all. God bless and keep you on your way.

~Elder Williams

How to drive a stick shift and why... July, 14 2013

Last monday, on my way home from emailing, I received a call from
President Erickson. He extended a call to serve as a Zone Leader in
Lusaka. This was surprising to me to say the least, and so I declined.
. . just kidding. Who do you think I am? So, anyway, I of course said
that I would be happy to serve. I am now serving with Elder Ariho from
Uganda. I am really loving him already, and we are going to have a
great time together. I am his final companion, but we are still
working hard and having a ball.

Now, as a Zone Leader, I will be needing to drive, so it was a good
thing my liscense was stolen way back when in Harare. Because of that,
and because my parents cannot get a new liscense for me while I am on
the other side of the world, I am needing to get a liscense here
before I can drive. That means that I am needing to go through the
ENTIRE process to do so. This week we were able, amidst all the
confusion and chaos of 4 of the Elders in the Zone being evicted on
wednesday (out of no fault of the mission-just the landlady who kindly
offered us 1 month of free rent because of our inconvenience. . .
hahaha yea. We decided to make different housing arrangements
instead), to get me a provisional liscense; the equivalent of a
learner's permit. So now, while the zone is minus a bus (we drive a
hiace-a nice 16 seater), we are trying to get me legal, and get
accustomed to driving a stick-shift. I have driven stick shift once on
the road, and it was when I failed a mission 'road test' about 19
months ago. . . so YAY! I am going to learn / become accustomed to
stick! No fears though. God provides.

So, this week we also had a baptism. Sister Charity was baptized and
confirmed by her husband and it was powerful.

We also moved into a new house with the housing switchup. So, we now
live in a part of our area (which covers most of the city Lusaka)
rather than a 45 minute drive away (which was really fun without a car
of our own. . .).

On Friday, we had Zone Conference with President Erickson (his first
here) which was awesome. Following which, I was able to have an
interview with him. I really like him a lot. It is interesting to
serve under 4 different mission Presidents and see the different ways
that they do things. So far though, I can say that I like/will like
each MP more than the previous one. President Erickson is awesome. I
am so exited to serve under him for the next few months.

This week was sweet and Elder Ariho and I are going to have a good
time as the coming weeks bring more challenges and fun, and hopefully
we can begin driving. . . today. We'll see.

Love you all. Keep well, use preservatives, but keep good taste in mind!

~Elder Williams

-- 
Start Strong: Finish STRONGER!
~Taggart Williams

To feel the Spirit and know it... July 2013

This week was a good one!

I am going to share about a lesson we had on sunday after church.

My comp was busy getting things finished off with getting the baptismal record finished off, and our investigator samson was waiting for us, so I grabbed Elder Hansen (works in the group attached to Ndola branch, they meet with us 5th and 1st sundays) who's comp was also busy, and we taught Samson. It was not only a powerful lesson, (my first time teaching with Elder Hansen-from SLC, Utah) but also it was totally inspired (even elder Hansen being there).

So, we begin talking to him about his questions. He had some great questions, and we gave some powerful answers. Then we continued on with the first part of the Restoration (focus on prophets). To close off, we emphasized on personal revelation, and the Spirit. He asked how he could recognize the Spirit, and we explained, shared some scriptures, but he wasn't satisfied. He wanted to be sure that he could recognize the Spirit. Elder Hansen (as he later said he was directed by the Spirit to ask this specifically) asked if there was ever a time that he (samson) had been listening to music and felt just a strong feeling. I had the thought come *crap, he is going to bring up some random rap song or something not even related to the Spirit*. Samson thought for a second, and said "Yes, there was one movie I watched about a missionary (the other side of heaven, fyi), and at the end, they sang hymn 152 and it really hit me hard." We then testified to him that that had been the Spirit.

While later talking to Elder Hansen, he shared about how he had pretty much the same question about recognizing the Spirit before he got baptized, but the missionaries were unable to answer him. He connected with samson and was given the question to ask, however 'out there' it may have seemed. It was the perfect question, from the best person, to the one who needed it.

Well, things are great here.

Today, we are going to the trade fair (which is like a state fair, but international rather than state), so it will be fun. I will let you guys know next week! 

questions:

Grandma Twila
They are really starting the push here to get members involved in missionary work.  Do you still do tracting there? Yes  How much are you able to

   use facebook, twitter, texting, etc, or do many people have those devices?

Not here. At the moment, we don't use them at all. 

Love you all, take well!

~Elder Williams

--

Start Strong: Finish STRONGER!

~Taggart Williams