Monday, September 15, 2014

"What? Snake eyes? Eleven!"-Nightmare Before Christmas "Right where I LEFT you"-Pirates of the Caribbean " "Hey the showers are awesome!"-Elf "Them [fall through's] are rough"-Barnyard

Wanna know something that I can't seem to get my head around?   I hit 11 months tomorrow!   I can't believe that it has almost been a year since I came into the mission field.   It is weird.   Lots of stuff happened this time last year.   Hey mom, did you ever try to play Dead Space like you said you would?   Or did you forget?   Anyway the time is going fast, before you know it I will be home.   It is a scary thought.   But it is what it is.

You know what is really embarrassing?   An experienced missionary making a greeny mistake.   That was me last week.   Went to the ZL's (zone leaders) on P-day (Monday) because it was half way to Kwe Kwe where we were having a Zone Meeting.   So we get all our stuff and get out the door, on our way to Kadoma, where the ZL's live.   Latter that night I realize I forgot my bag, my scriptures, my Preach My Gospel, and so I didn't have anything for the meeting.   Rookie mistake, by an experience missionary.   Embarrassing.

I sit on the right side of the car when I drive and I shift with my left hand.   It is interesting, and I think I am getting better.  Tell Jeremiah that the only animal I have seen other then lizards and monkeys is a Zebra. 

The good thing is now our geaser works, we get warm water and showers!   I have missed warm water.   And showers are great.   No more bucket showers.   Running water is great.   The bad news is that lots of people have been making appointments to meet with us and learn about the gospel only to not be there or to tell us it is a bad time, or something along those lines.   That isn't fun.   For a missionary that is a fall through.   And they suck.   

The area is doing well.   We are still working on getting people to come to church, but it is starting to work.   Our numbers in Sacrament Meeting are going up, as well as our number of lessons, and Babas that we teach.   A Baba for those who don't know is a Father.   And they are very important in this mission.   We are trying to teach and baptize more fathers, and more families.   And we have a few out here in Chegutu that we are trying to get ready for Baptism.   It is gonna happen, but it will be slow.   I might have ruined white people for a kid yesterday.   The children out here like to play around, and they like to mess with me, so one of them will poke me and run off, or throw things at me and run off, and so at one point when she wasn't paying attention I crept up behind her and surprised her.   She happened to have her little brother in her arms, and the poor kid just starts to scream and cry and it was so bad.   He may never like white people.   Years from now he will be asked why he hates white people, and he will say "Elder Melot".   I felt so bad, but it was super funny at the same time.   Gonna need to buy him some candy to win back is friendship.   My bad.

Out here in Zim there is Civil Marriage which is the Legal of the Country marriage, then there is Tribal Marriage, which is much easier to begin and to end.   So church says a marriage needs to be civilly binding.   So there are members of the Church who are marriage officers who can do the marriage, or other marriage officers can do it.   It just needs to be done before baptism.   So yea, they are a little crammed for time, and tight for money, so we are gonna have the wife clean our laundry to earn some money so they can get married, cause the church marriage is free, but it takes longer, and they seem to not want to wait that long, the non church one is $20 or so.   So yea, that is how we are helping.   Paying them to clean some laundry so they have the money to get married.   It is a common thing yes, lots of people get tribaly married, cause they have Labola out here, you know "I want three cows for Mahana."   type thing, so they don't really have money when they start out to get civilly married.   

My companion and I are doing well.   His cousin is here in the mission as well.   He is serving North of Harare, in Bendura.   Anyway my comp is super excited about it.   He is 22 years old.   But he acts like a teenager sometimes.   It is funny, seeing him go from being all serious in a lesson and then be back to goofing off when we step out of the house.   I wonder if I ever act like that.   It is interesting being the "Senior Companion" to a guy two years my senior.   But it is going well.   

"A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has the power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation and it [is] through this sacrifice , and this only that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life"
Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration 

"One who is obedient to His commandments is trusted of the Lord.   That individual has access to His inspiration to know what to do and, as needed the divine power to do it."
Richard G Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

"Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the Temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings."
Thomas S Monson 17th Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I have seen lots of people out here in Zimbabwe.   Lots of struggle and hardship and also lots of joy.   There can not be one without the other.   The Prophet Lehi in the book of Mormon taught that if Adam had not fallen there would not have been any change or progression, then he says that "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy" (2nd Nephi chapter 2: 25).   There are many things in this life that are hard, and many things that are difficult.   President Watkins my first Mission President said "You're gonna do hard things everyday of your life.   Step it up, it will get better."   If we look on the bright side, if we have an eternal perspective and know that this isn't the only life we get then we can face trial and opposition with faith and courage.   I know that God has a plan for all of us, and that we are able to be happy in this life.   The song "Red Dirt Road" says that "happiness on earth ain't just for high achievers".   We can all be happy knowing that God lives and loves us, and that Jesus is the Christ, and that because of Him we will live again.

"And then Snap! Dad's leg was clean off! Oh now that's my favorite part."
"Um,  I'm supposed to build a hive for the alien queen, yea and I'm supposed to blow up things unless you need help with the hive."
"At least we have hair, yeah and all of our teeth, and at least we don't live under bridges you grumpy old troll."
"I think I'm a zombie, I keep hearing this piercing voice in the back of my mind.   It's me.   There it is again.  It's me you idiot."

I sing to the moon every night.   Usually a country or a church song for you to hear.   Problem is by the time it is night for me you are home asleep.   So I don't know if you hear.   We live in a pretty good size house.   I will send a picture sometime.   The computers here in town don't let us send pictures, so it might be a while.   I have a kitchen, and one bathroom, and one toilet room.   There are two stores in town, but they don't have very much in all honesty.   It is a city, but it is a very small city, barely worth calling it a city.   I don't hear much when I lay down to go to sleep, other then the buzzing of flies.   It is quiet out here.   I don't get many pictures, since we are encouraged not to take them into the area.   Mom this is me, when don't I sleep at night?   I have a bed, that is to small for me.   I am like the man from Cornwall, except my feet stick off the bed.   My knee and health are good, and I don't know how much weight I have lost.   I think it has slowed down now that I am in a car part of the time, but it might not have.   I do eat, I make myself dinner most of the time, cause too much Sadza makes me sick.   

Love you all.    

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