---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>
Hello! This week was awesome! It went by really fast and had a lot of laughs and great smiles.
As it is starting to get really cold and snowing home, here it is getting hotter and hotter. yesterday at church was the hottest and we had 100 people there\\! Most it has been in months! so that was awesome!
Earlier in the week i went on exchanges with Elder Bozer! my companion from the MTC! It was really fun to be with him and see how much we have both learned and grown in the couple months in the field compared to what we thought we knew in the MTC.
We had a lot of stuff to do before the baptisms on Saturday. we had a great tender mercy from the Lord in finding baptismal clothing. The other elders had a baptism earlier in the week, and the font didn't work, and they couldn't find any clothing. We went again on Thursday to look, and we thought we were in trouble because they couldn't find any the day before. But then we opened a closet and found 2! and they were the exact sizes we needed! It was really cool!
Then on saturday we had to move the baptism to 830 because of conflicting events throughout the day. So at around 5 we got up to get everything ready, and when we got to the church in kwama kxaki to fill the font, and it was half filled, with old smelly, green water, full of bugs. HUGE cockroaches, spiders, and ants. we didnt know what to do, and called some people and the font wasn't even draining. so we did our best to hang from the glass and scoop out as much as we could, then fill it up the rest. The baptism was really great! Elder Watson baptized and then confirmed Nozi sunday, and then I was able to baptize Lisa and Elder McCarroll confirmed her! The spirit was really strong and they both have great testimonies! It is so great to see the whole process of them coming to the church. Lisa from her aunt, and being able to see her start from lesson 1 and not be baptized, and also Nozi, who was very stubborn but finally realized it was true. But after the baptism, the font wouldnt drain, and President Zitshu, the Branch president asked if we would stay till it was empty, so no one would fall in and drown, or anything. We couldn't figure out the drain, so we decide we would take 2 gallon buckets and scoop out the 250 gallon font. It was SO HOT, and we got so sweaty and wet and man, it took about 45 min.
This week, also was ruined by me and elder McCarroll having fleas, either from Cleary boarding, and also from Motherwell.. so it has been not fun at all having all of them biting us and everywhere. i think we are getting rid of them, but still awful.
We are working more with the members to introduce the Light The World initiative. which is really well! They are all soo kind and loving. I love them here and growing closer to them is so much fun. some families we saw this week were the Mgwanqa family, and the Flekies and Willies. we will be seeing more this week! Hopefully they make food as well ;) hahaha.
I love learning more about the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. Teaching about it and prayer builds my testimony that it is true everyday. I love the gospel and i can see the blessings it brings to peoples families here everyday!
I hope all is well and everyone is great! Thanks for all the pics and emails and love and support. Keep being amazing.
Love,
Elder Ivins
No comments:
Post a Comment