Hello All!!
This week flew by! All of it was so fun, and my birthday was the best one yet! It started with a great morning and breakfast with the elders, and was a fun full day of celebrating. Birthdays are rare. you only get 2 a mission. So, dang! Hahaha I opened my presents, a fun a hard puzzle from lizzie, and a fun shirt, a new hack, tie, and even elder gibbons got me a bionacle!! SO fun!
We got KFC, Pizza, and the elders organized a surprise birthday party for me that night, with some of the most food in a dinner here. It was amazing!
We had some great lessons this week, and some hard ones as well. The norwood girls, Esethu, Bonisiwe, and Londi are struggling, now having a hard time accepting that ours is the only true church. We talked a lot about agency but dont feel God has answered them. They know our church is true, but think that theirs is also true. We worked with them and they are going to come to church next week, but unfortunately had school yesterday and couldnt come.
A great move forward this week was with a brother named Lawrence. He is from Zimbabwe, and we gave him a bom tuesday. On friday, he had read the intro, testimonies, and chapters 1-5 on 1 Nephi. He also read moroni 1-8. It was amazing! I could tell that just by him reading the book of mormon, his testimony was changing. I loved it! He feels God has yet to answer him, but agrees with what we have taught. Both him and his wife Grace accepted baptism, if they come to know it is true. They feel that their old church had authority to baptise, but they do have real intent to find out. We fasted for them this weekend, as well as for some other investigators, and we really hope and pray they will progress till baptism in the next couple weeks!
This really amazing family we are teaching came to church, well the brother and Tata came. The lesson was hilarious with them. The tata loves the BOM, and says it is "SPICY" unlike the bible. And every word is from God. He is a pastor is his church, so we will work with him on that, and that may be the problem we see, but the family is so nice and amazing. We sing Hymns for them, then they sing a xhosa song for us! It is soo fun! Tata was doing a funeral saturday, and he said that he would use the BOM this time instead of the bible! We gave him mosiah to read, where it talks about how death has no sting, because of Jesus Christ. He used it and i love it so much, how this man is teaching all his congregation that this "book" is the best thing he has ever read!!
Well this week had a lot of hype for the Merrills in Mthatha! We bought sooo much food and got the boarding the cleanest it has ever been. I ran all around mthatha sat morning looking for dumb tortilla chips. no go. It was rough. Sunday morning we got up extra early, and started the pork and beef. Made the rice, and tortilla dough. A Cafe Rio treat! We got to church early, and made sure we looked the best we ever did. And then?
We waited. and waited. after each song we would check. nope. After each confirmation? no. As i played the music i would look out at every car that passed.... NONE
We got really sad. Pres Boateng was even gonna have them speak, but they no showed so elder paskett got called up to give a random talk. haha.
After Sacrament, I shot P. Merrill a text, saying Hey is everything okay? are you still gonna make it today?
He responds. We are coming next week! We dont leave Cape Town until Tuesday!
DAGGER. HEARTBREAKING. TEARWRECKING.
Well, we went home, and divulged in food. AMAZING. but sad, we had nice dessert, a short nap, and then had a great sunday night teaching!
Well It was a great week. They are long, but fly by. Each day is so fun to teach and have with the amazing and perfect people of Africa. This gospel is perfect and so are you all!
Love, Elder Ivins
(so.. the reason i borught up a gun in the subject? well....
on friday we were at the garage cuz elder Kyles needed the toilet. While he was in, Ntsindiso and I were messing around in the shop, and there was a toy gun, with candy in it! I started to "shoot" everyone in the garage. Elder Kyles came out and we were about to blast, but It was really funny, and everyone was laughing and pretending to get shot. Then this one guy, huge. really tall and yoked opened up his broad shoulders, and walked towards me. I was like, whats dis doing...
the closer he walked the more i shot. It was really funny. Then he opens up his coat, and reached his hand to his left side of his pants, and pulls this gun. a REAL one. He says, "Now this is the real thing" While he stares me down. Inside i kinda freak out, but then was like, nah we dont wanna get shot! so I say to him, "Yeah, but mine has candy in it...." HAHAHHA It was so funny. This guy was like what??? Then we just put the gun down and walked away. hahahhah so be careful, you never know who has a gun (including me....)
🔫
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