"I might [never go shopping again]"-How to Train your Dragon "[All] I see is a big white blob"-Return of the Jedi "You are [dropped]"-Terminator "You'd find more cheer in a graveyard."-Two Towers

Okay, so after today, I might not buy much again while here in Zimbabwe.   I am planning to get my last few things for my family today, and to get my last few things to eat during my stay here, and then I will be good.   It is weird to think that it has come to this time, but it is also cool.   I am so excited for the next few weeks.   

Anyway, there is a part of our area called Gimboki and it has this super light colored sand and so when you go walking there at Noon time, you just get this big old glare into your eyes and you feel like you are gonna go blind, or maybe like Han felt when his eye sight was coming back to him while on Tatooen.   It is a really big area, and we don't get there much, but man it just burns your eyes.   

Okay, so when missionaries stop visiting someone to allow them time to decide they want to learn about the gospel not be dragged to it, we commonly call that being "dropped".   Well, we have dropped a lot of investigators this past week.  And the past several weeks.   Like over 30 of them.   We took over two areas, so some of them are ours, some were ones that were left by the other missionaries, and they all wont come to church, read or pray.   So yea, we have moved on.   I have limited patience as it is, but especially now.   

Maybe not more cheer in a graveyard, but probably faster songs.   We sing hymns so slow out here.   It is irritating, when I know the tempo that it is supposed to be and they are two and a half beats behind where they are supposed to be.   How slow do we have to sing?   I can't take it!   I just wish we had a piano that could play the tunes and then the people would know what they are supposed to sound like.   

Anyway, the area is okay.   Small teaching pool, but we are working on that.   Got six new investigators, and four people came to church.   That was nice.   Now to get more of it to happen.   Yesterday was the farewell of a young man who is going to his mission, they only give a testimony, both for leaving and for coming home.   Do you think if I told that to Bishop Dunn, he would agree to it?   

My companion is doing great.   Things are well, we are getting along, and that is great.   A member on the area keeps on telling me when ever he sees me exactly how many days I have left.   Number one, I already know, and number two, at least he hasn't gotten it down to how many hours.   

"Being honest is more then just not lying.   It is truth telling, truth living, and truth loving."

-I can't remember which General Authority said it.

Okay, I know that I had another quote to go along with this, but much like the main character played by Robin Williams in Flubber, I am a little slippery minded.   

But what a wonderful thought.   Are we telling the truth because we have to, or because we want to?   Are we not stealing because we might get caught, or because we respect what is not ours?   Are we being honest, or are we honest people.   My coaches always told me that integrity is who you are when you think no one is looking.   I know that it is important to be honest and do what is right in all that we do.   

"I don't think he knows about second breakfast Pippin."

"Still traveling by mail, eh mister cheap-o? Its not a money thing, I have a plain phobia."

'This my friends is a pint. It comes in pints? I want one."

"The humans are getting fatter so as to be able to overpower us easier, also they are wearing less clothing to make it easier to strangle us."

I love you all.   

"First rule of leadership, everything is your fault"-Bugs Life "[We] work out"-Megamind "[Turn] it on."-Gnomeo and Juliet

Okay, so we had MLC this past week, and that was cool.   One thing that President really emphasized to us was that as the leaders we are the ones responsible for all that happens in the Zone.   Talk about pressure.   But it is nice, cause I need all the incentive to work that I can get.   People in the area are counting down for me and are always commenting on how little time I have left, like I have one foot in the grave already.   It is sometimes difficult to get going, but the instruction from President on working hard to be a productive area has given me something to shoot for.   

Andrew's new Mission President and Zone Leaders 

So this past week Elder Chibanda and I have started to go to the gym with Elder Merritt and Mujeni, and the gym is pretty fun.  But my worst decision was to do legs on the day we are going to go hike Mbvumba mountain, again.   Yea, that place where I said I would never go again, we are going there today, and I blasted my legs.   So that might be rough.   The only down part of the gym is that they play really bad music and music videos there every time.   The funny thing is seeing the "Carrots" there, as my companion calls them.   The people who only work on their arms and chest and ignore their legs to the point where their arms are huge, like could rip me in half, and their legs are just so small that you think they might buckle under the weight.   But I wouldn't go calling them a carrot to their face, cause like I said, they could rip me in half.   

This week when we were at MLC we had the office Couple print us a list of all the people who are in the Branch, well over 200 people in the branch, but just over 100 attend on Sundays.   So we took some time to call people and try to set up appointments with them.   I got so tired of hearing the message that the phone was unreachable or turned off, or busy or some such.   Turn on the phone, and talk to us.   Me and my comp were just tired of it.   We are working through the list a little at a time.    

We have a young man going on his mission next week, this Sunday is his mission farewell.   Tatenda, a super great guy, we work with him a lot to get things done.   He has been hit as of late by anti Mormon doctrine we have had to get him away from, all from his "friends" who "want him to know how to answer hard questions when he gets on mission" and it is just irritating.   Stupid anti stuff too, like not the difficult things I heard when in Cali, just simple misunderstandings of Doctrine.   The guy will do good on his mission, just got a few more days before he is gone.

"A man and a woman, united in marriage, have a transcendent power to create happiness for themselves, for their family, and for the people around them."

-Henry B Eyring

"We were not placed on this Earth to walk alone."

-Thomas S Monson

I have a wonderful family back home.   I have seen some pretty bad family relationships out here in the past.   A husband who "lords" over his wife and treats her as property, a wife who is determined to rob her husband of his authority, parents who mistreat children, and vice versa.   It is hard sometimes, especially when we are trying to teach them that the family they have can be together for eternity and the one spouse looks at us like "are you nuts?" or "get out of my house right now" because they don't really think a forever marriage is something they want.   I am glad that I grew up in a happy home, with a wonder family.

God intends for our families to be happy and to be forever.   We have to help in that.   We have to put in our effort to get that done.   I have seen great families who have put aside cultural views to take up the gospel culture and have prepared for the Temple with all faith and are certain that one day they will be eternal, and sealed, and that they will be able to be together in the Celestial Kingdom.   That is the kind of way we need to live, with the end in mind.   The end in mind is the Celestial Kingdom, and family for eternity.   NO EMPTY CHAIRS!   

"Alright, I'm in, but I don't want nobody calling me 'son' or 'sport', okay, you chose me, so you respect the skills.   What ever you say slick."

"Aye, whey shouldn't we choose?   But she's the Princess.   Well I didn't choose her."

"Standard issue Neralizer."

"Mordou or not, I'II avenge your mother, but I'll not risk losing you too."

I love you all.       

Okay, so we had MLC this past week, and that was cool.   One thing that President really emphasized to us was that as the leaders we are the ones responsible for all that happens in the Zone.   Talk about pressure.   But it is nice, cause I need all the incentive to work that I can get.   People in the area are counting down for me and are always commenting on how little time I have left, like I have one foot in the grave already.   It is sometimes difficult to get going, but the instruction from President on working hard to be a productive area has given me something to shoot for.    So this past week Elder Chibanda and I have started to go to the gym with Elder Merritt and Mujeni, and the gym is pretty fun.  But my worst decision was to do legs on the day we are going to go hike Mbvumba mountain, again.   Yea, that place where I said I would never go again, we are going there today, and I blasted my legs.   So that might be rough.   The only down part of the gym is that they play really bad music and music videos there every time.   The funny thing is seeing the "Carrots" there, as my companion calls them.   The people who only work on their arms and chest and ignore their legs to the point where their arms are huge, like could rip me in half, and their legs are just so small that you think they might buckle under the weight.   But I wouldn't go calling them a carrot to their face, cause like I said, they could rip me in half.    This week when we were at MLC we had the office Couple print us a list of all the people who are in the Branch, well over 200 people in the branch, but just over 100 attend on Sundays.   So we took some time to call people and try to set up appointments with them.   I got so tired of hearing the message that the phone was unreachable or turned off, or busy or some such.   Turn on the phone, and talk to us.   Me and my comp were just tired of it.   We are working through the list a little at a time.     We have a young man going on his mission next week, this Sunday is his mission farewell.   Tatenda, a super great guy, we work with him a lot to get things done.   He has been hit as of late by anti mormon doctrine we have had to get him away from, all from his "friends" who "want him to know how to answer hard questions when he gets on mission" and it is just irritating.   Stupid anti stuff too, like not the difficult things I heard when in Cali, just simple misunderstandings of Doctrine.   The guy will do good on his mission, just got a few more days before he is gone. "A man and a woman, united in marriage, have a transcendent power to create happiness for themselves, for their family, and for the people around them." -Henry B Eyring "We were not placed on this Earth to walk alone." -Thomas S Monson I have a wonderful family back home.   I have seen some pretty bad family relationships out here in the past.   A husband who "lords" over his wife and treats her as property, a wife who is determined to rob her husband of his authority, parents who mistreat children, and vice versa.   It is hard sometimes, especially when we are trying to teach them that the family they have can be together for eternity and the one spouse looks at us like "are you nuts?" or "get out of my house right now" because they don't really think a forever marriage is something they want.   I am glad that I grew up in a happy home, with a wonder family. God intends for our families to be happy and to be forever.   We have to help in that.   We have to put in our effort to get that done.   I have seen great families who have put aside cultural views to take up the gospel culture and have prepared for the Temple with all faith and are certain that one day they will be eternal, and sealed, and that they will be able to be together in the Celestial Kingdom.   That is the kind of way we need to live, with the end in mind.   The end in mind is the Celestial Kingdom, and family for eternity.   NO EMPTY CHAIRS!    "Alright, I'm in, but I don't want nobody calling me 'son' or 'sport', okay, you chose me, so you respect the skills.   What ever you say slick." "Aye, whey shouldn't we choose?   But she's the Princess.   Well I didn't choose her." "Standard issue Neralizer." "Mordou or not, I'II avenge your mother, but I'll not risk losing you too." I love you all.    

"I don't mind [driving] but what [they're] doing is suicide!"-Attack of the Clones "I'm tired"-Monsters Vs Aliens "Why is the [Zessa} always gone?"-Pirates of the Caribbean

Okay, so as a Zone Leader I have to drive quiet a bit.   Anyway we went to Harare last week for a Zone Conference/Mission Tour with Elder Ellis and well it was great.   Anyway, driving home was interesting.   We are driving along, going maybe 120-130 K's and this car with Mozambique plates comes flying along and starts to pass people and he has this semi-truck coming his way and he runs the other car in our lane off the road and almost gets killed, and he did it so many times it was nuts.   Most people don't have a drivers license cause it is super hard to get one out here and so most people just drive without one, and they definitely don't know how to drive, so it makes things interesting for me.  But I am still alive and kicking!

But I will admit that I am tired, a lot of the time.   I don't know why, I just get tired.  Maybe it is the 33 degrees that is killing me, but I just get super tired, but it is at all the wrong times.   Like I look at my watch and I am tired at times when if I was there in the States, I would be asleep.   But  feel awake at times where I would be awake in the states even when I am getting ready to go to be here in Zimbabwe.   I don't know, is there such a thing as reverse jet-lag?   Maybe my body is getting ready to get back into the states.

Okay so out here electrical power is Magatse, but it is commonly called Zessa because that is the company that supplies it.   So out here in Dangamvura there is almost never a day when we don't lose zessa.   And it can be all day.   Gone from 7 in the morning to 10 at night.   It is rough.   I don't know how they lose it so often, but they do.   Sometimes it is good, and it stays for the entire day, but it is not very often.   It seems to only be Dangamvura.   Sakubva, Chikanga, Hob House and the other areas have zessa almost all the time now.   Not us.  

Anyway, the area is in need of some work.   Trying to get things to happen out here but it can be a little slow sometimes.   We got four new investigators this week, but none of them came to church on Sunday.   We have been trying to get the members to give us referrals but that hasn't happened yet.   So, we are just plugging away, and well, at the very least we are "laying the foundation of a great work"!   

My companion is great.   A little quiet sometimes, but he is super smart.   He is a hard worker and he just loves the work.   He has only been a Zone Leader for a few weeks, he got ET'd there middle of last transfer, and so we are both sort of new to it, but he has gotten the hang of it really well.  

"[On Easter] we celebrate the gift of victory of every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced- to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins"

-Jeffrey R Holland

"The Savior accomplished the Atonement, which resolves the most terrible burdens that can occur in this life, He did it for you. He did it for me. He did it because He loves us and because He obeys and loves His Father. We will be rescued from death- even from the depths of the sea."

-Quentin L Cook

These may sound more like Easter time quotes then approaching winter time quotes.   But we need to remember what Christ did for us everyday.   I read a talk once by President Gordan B Hinckley that said that without Easter there would be reason to celebrate Christmas, and you can ask my companion Elder Chibanda, we were listening to about two hours of Christmas music on our way down here from Mutare.   It was nice.  

Anyway, I know that the Savior lives.   I know that He loves all of us and that He died and lives for us.   I know that if we will trust Him, everything will be alright in the end. 

"We've learned Earths languages, through the World Wide Web."

"I am not a real Shark slayer!"

"You want a piece of me?! You want a piece?! No! I want two!"

"Be there if you don't want to see her sleeping with the fishes, the dead ones."

I love you all.     

"Look, I don't care whose fault it is, just get this place cleaned up!"-Shrek 2 "It's empty, see?"-Monsters Inc "Why do you lie to me?"-Men in Black

Okay, so getting to our house here in Dangamvura, it looks like no one has cleaned this place out for a while, just huge piles of clothing and things left over from the last several missionaries who finished their missions there, and it is a mess.   I have been working almost every morning to get the thing cleaned up and in a good working order.   I can't stand the mess, and I am not even done yet, but I have taken a huge chunk of it and gotten it much better.   Found so many pamphlets that it is not even funny.   Gonna off load those on the other missionaries.   That will be nice to get that all out of the house.   Then we will be mostly cleaned up.

Okay, so the area is a little slow and struggling a little bit.  In mission you have what is called an area book where you are supposed to keep all the information of the area, people you are teaching and things along those lines.   Well, the book was like empty.   It hadn't been updated in a while, and that just tells you that we have not many investigators and are in desperate need of new ones.   I hope that we will get some soon, cause I love to teach and help people to know about the gospel a lot more then I love to walk the dusty streets of Mutare and knock on doors.  

And the reason that is is because knocking on doors is not very useful out here.   You go, you knock, you get a lame excuse of why a person can't meet with you right now, you set a return appointment for the next day, you get there, you get another lame excuse, and then you repeat.   Even Elder Mckee, the Elder I replaced here told me that tracting don't really work here.   I agree with him.   Tracting don't really work.   We need referrals.   

My companion is doing great.   Super chill guy, Elder Chibanda.   He is not a man to get angry or irritated about anything, even jokers who blow us off.   Me on the other hand, I am like Morianton in the Book of Mormon, a man given to much passion.   We have taken to calling each other Iceman and Pyro, cause he is chill as can be and I am a guy given to much fire.   It is fun, I love this companionship, and he is really helping me to understand how to be a Zone Leader.   

I think the area is already covered.  

Okay, so this week we had a mission tour with Elder Ellis of the Seventy, and it was a great time.   One of my favorite things he said was when he was talking about prayer, and he talked about how we oftentimes limit the Lord because of lack of faith.   He said we need miracles in mission life, and in every day life, but we don't ask for them and we don't work for them.   How profound is that?   We don't GET miracles because we don't ASK for miracles.   It hit me like a sack of bricks.   What do we need here in Mutare?   We need miracles.   What do we need in our families to have them be safe and be protected from the evils of the world and the whiles of the Devil?   We need miracles.   What do we need in everything that we ever do?   WE NEED MIRACLES.   The Lord spoke through the Prophets in the Book of Mormon and said that the only thing that keeps Him from giving miracles is a lack of faith on the part of man.   IF we have the faith, we will have the miracles.   IF we don't then we wont.   And the Lord told us that it wont be his fault.   It  will be ours.   

I know that I have been guilty of that a lot.   Not asking for miracles.   I have resolved to ask for and then work for miracles.   And I know that the Lord keeps his promises.   Elder Ellis said not only should we believe in the Lord, but we should believe the Lord.   Believe that He can keep his promises and that He will.   Believe He is mighty unto the fulfilling of all his words.   Believe that He tells the truth.   I loved that.  And I believe that it is true, with all my heart.   I know that God does not lie.   And I know He loves us.   

"Random security check. Random my behind you always pick me."

"Both eyes open when you shoot."

"That cherry chasing dot muncher isn't even a part of this game."

"You know what the Spanish found when they came to the new world, gold mountains of it."

I love you all.

Does anyone even read the movie quotes anymore?   It is getting hard to use ones i haven't used before.     

    

President and Sister Cook

[I feel like] Rover!"-Planet 51 "Parting is such sweet sorrows."-Gnomeo and Juliet "I'm going back!"-Lion King

Okay, so my family has asked me to collect and bring home some rocks from Zimbabwe for them.   In the movie Planted 51 there is a Rover that is obsessed with getting rocks and collecting them.   I am sure I must of looked a little weird to the people who say me stopping and grabbing rocks off the ground this past week.    But it will be worth it to get the rocks for my family.

Anyway, this week was of course transfers.   I am not in Nketa anymore.   I am super sad to have had to leave it, but I suppose I did what I had to do there, and God has moved me somewhere else.   I am now wait for it, a Zone Leader, and what is even more nuts is I am now in Mutare, again!   I am finishing my last six weeks as a Junior Companion Zone Leader and I am driving again.   I can't believe it, but to top it off, I am back here in Mutare, a different area, but still, same zone.  I am excited for this last six weeks, and what will come of it.   I hope that I do well.

Anyway, I haven't got much to say about the area, cause I haven't been there, nor about my companion as we have only been together for a few hours, not even a day.   But what I can say is that our area is pretty big, and that I love Elder Chibanda. 

I am in the same Zone as my beloved Elder Merritt, the one who was with me in California.   I love it, we are actually talking about home coming talks sitting together in the internet cafe here.   I love it.  

"What we do does not always support what we know."

-David A Bednar

Too often, a person who knows something does not follow it.   Too often we are blessed with knowledge from God and we do nothing with it.   I was told in the MTC "If you believe this church to be true, act like it."   That is good advice to all of us who are members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ.   I know that all that this church teaches is true.   I will do my level best to live in accordance.  

"Hey Phineas, what ya doing?"

"I don't need a map, I have a GPS, never need a map again, thanks."

"Curse you Perry the Platypus!" 

"The sixties weren't good to you were they?"

I love you all, sorry this is short.     

[I feel like] Rover!"-Planet 51 "Parting is such sweet sorrows."-Gnomeo and Juliet "I'm going back!"-Lion King

Okay, so my family has asked me to collect and bring home some rocks from Zimbabwe for them.   In the movie Planet 51 there is a Rover that is obsessed with getting rocks and collecting them.   I am sure I must of looked a little weird to the people who saw me stopping and grabbing rocks off the ground this past week.    But it will be worth it to get the rocks for my family.

Anyway, this week was of course transfers.   I am not in Nketa anymore.   I am super sad to have had to leave it, but I suppose I did what I had to do there, and God has moved me somewhere else.   I am now wait for it, a Zone Leader, and what is even more nuts is I am now in Mutare, again!   I am finishing my last six weeks as a Junior Companion Zone Leader and I am driving again.   I can't believe it, but to top it off, I am back here in Mutare, a different area, but still, same zone.  I am excited for this last six weeks, and what will come of it.   I hope that I do well.

Anyway, I haven't got much to say about the area, cause I haven't been there, nor about my companion as we have only been together for a few hours, not even a day.   But what I can say is that our area is pretty big, and that I love Elder Chibanda. 

I am in the same Zone as my beloved Elder Merritt, the one who was with me in California.   I love it, we are actually talking about home coming talks sitting together in the Internet cafe here.   I love it.  

"What we do does not always support what we know."

-David A Bednar

Too often, a person who knows something does not follow it.   Too often we are blessed with knowledge from God and we do nothing with it.   I was told in the MTC "If you believe this church to be true, act like it."   That is good advice to all of us who are members of the restored Church of Jesus Christ.   I know that all that this church teaches is true.   I will do my level best to live in accordance.  

"Hey Phineas, what ya doing?"

"I don't need a map, I have a GPS, never need a map again, thanks."

"Curse you Perry the Platypus!" 

"The sixties weren't good to you were they?"

I love you all, sorry this is short.