Monday, November 30, 2015

Thanksgiving in Africa

Hello Everyone! :D Wow this week was something! It wasn't as exciting as last week but it was still good. On Thanksgiving I had a great meal! I had to be festive! So I made mashed potatoes and gravy (from home) then Elder Obiarinze helped me cook chicken and I bought some carrots which are kind of expensive but not too bad. :) It was great to taste gravy again! Even though it wasn't even close to Dad's. ;) People don't really eat much meat here so when the other Elders saw me eating so much chicken they were like "What?" but I ate it anyway :D I'm glad everyone encouraged me to be festive! I ate my meal around 9:30 at night so we might have been eating the meal at the same time which was fun to think about!


 Other than that, this week was kind of hard. We went to visit our only investigator who has a baptismal date, but when we found him, he was very very drunk. So that was disappointing. But we are glad we found the problem before he was baptized hah hah. This week was pretty trying for us, but we know that we did our part and that we are always learning to be better. I love being able to learn all the time. Everyday I learn something that will help me be a better person! It is so wonderful that God gives us opportunities to act for ourselves to be better. This week the only investigator who came was Rama who got confirmed. She is going to be very strong in the church! I'm sure she and Shandee would be good friends :) Something our mission president helped us realize is that it isn't our purpose for us to force people to come to church, that would be acting on Satan's original plan. Our purpose is to invite people to act for themselves to follow Christ. We can't pay someone's tithing for them, or repent for them. They have to do it by themselves; and if they do those things themselves, only then will their testimonies be strong, and only then will they be truly converted. 

I am glad that everyone's Thanksgiving went well! Something I realized when I came on mission is that Family is the source of pure happiness. This week I saw Rama's family outside sitting on chairs singing hymns and just laughing together. So I told Rama's older brother that this is what matters most. Being with your family, sharing memories, laughing, and just loving each other. That's what missionary work is about. It is about preparing a way for people to be sealed with their families for eternity. I know now more than ever that "God gave us families to help us become who he wants us to be, this is how he shares his love, for a family is of God." Every time I sing primary songs now I start to tear up haha. I am just so thankful for everything that we have been  blessed with. If we have families, we can always have someone there. Some people might go away and not be able to be there for you. But it comforts me to know that I have a family who loves me and who are sealed with me in the temple. For these thing I am so grateful! No matter what happens we can be with our families and be truly happy for eternity. All we need to do is follow the gospel of Jesus Christ and his commandments. If we do these things I know we can be blessed, for God has promised it in his holy scriptures, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. 

Another picture of the Temple:

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