Fwd: Rain and Shine

Hello!

What another great week in Grahamstown. It was really rainy, but yet again, the Lord has blessed us with sunshine when we need it! 

Saturday we had the second leg of our branch Barcelona vs Real Madrid game and we had about 18 of play. Barcelona won the first leg 2 weeks back, and we got beat this Saturday past. So the decider, and Elder Chapradza's final match will be in two weeks time! 

Sunday morning was also a great shining morning, and we had great people come to church!

We are really excited about a boy named Lihle. He is 17, and has come to church three times now! We spoke with him and his mother last night, and had an amazing lesson with them. His father passed away about 10 years ago, and she has really been struggling to provide for the family. She has had to take different jobs including becoming a Sangoma, or traditional healer or witch thing. We shared with them the amazing lesson on the Plan of Salvation and felt the spirit really strongly!

This coming week will be a great reunion as we have stake conference on Sunday! I am very excited to meet and see some of the greatest people I was with about a year ago!

The work is moving, and i love this gospel so much!

Love you all!

Ndiyakuthana!

Fwd: Valentines Kiss

Hello!!

This week was amazing! The Highlight was 16! Sixteen investigators attend church yesterday! It was truly so amazing! 

The Lord was very merciful this week, and we are so grateful! On saturday night, as we prayed, we pleaded that He would help all those people come. And in the midst of a rainy week, (which is a missionaries worst nightmare on a sunday morning.... people dont come to church), It was so sunny. Very hot. And then from there it just got brighter and brighter as people kept flooding into our small house renovated to a chapel. 

Another wonderful blessing from Heavenly Father was being able to play with and kiss this sweet giraffe named Gambit! It is a playful, semi-tame, adorable giraffe. AHH it was sooo amazing! Touching a real life, wild (but tame) giraffe!? IN AFRICA? Like what the heck!! AH it was sooo amazing! 

We have some of the greatest people progressing. One is named Phome. Her family is being taught in Joburg, and she moved here from school, and we were soo excited to continue to help her! She came to church, loved it, and is gaining a super strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. We used it, and the bible together to teach the Plan of Salvation, and seeing the dots connect was just so beautiful. The spirit was present, and we pray she will continue to progress to baptism.

This church is true, and the Lord loves us all. I love you!

Elder Ivins

Fwd: Grahamstown: Demons, Soccer, and a whole lot more...

Well, It was my first full week in Grahamstown.. And it was truly amazing. It was full of crazy, fun and spiritual experiences.

Our wonderful investigator, Sivu, is progressing well, and finally accepted a baptismal date! It was very exciting for us, but more so for her amazing mother, Siphokazi, who has been a member for a while. Her son, Khanyo, who is 12 is also not a member. We are really excited for him, and Sivu, to both be baptized in the coming months!

One of the highlights of the week was a soccer game we organized on Saturday with the branch. We had loads of people show up, and even better they brought friends! we played for about 2 hours, and were so dead after. We finished with nice refreshments, and cleaned the chapel. What was even better, was seeing 3 of the investigators who played soccer, come to church the next day! It was so powerful!

The most interesting part of the week was something that hasn't really happened my whole mission; and that was encountering the demon on Wednesday.... From last Saturday, Thandazwa, one of our amazing sisters who was interviewed for baptism, told us that her daughter, Somila, who is about 13 or 14 was possessed...(she will randomly freak out and scream.. all through the night, or at school, etc.)

 I didn't actually hear that part, but Elder Chaparadza did.. but now on Wednesday.. we were reading in Alma 36, about the joy Alma received as he repented.

As we were reading, out of no where, came this incredibly loud, and empty scream. The reason I say empty is because it didn't sound like the scream of a person, but just empty... It didn't ring in your ears, but in your head.... As i tried to first figure out the situation that was going on, I looked up, and saw my companion standing next to me asking for my oil.

We asked for permission to give her a blessing and they agreed, but all stood far away, because when people try to pray for her, whether hands on or next too she will freak out and get very violent. They were all terrified, but with faith in the Priesthood we hold, we laid hands and pronounced a blessing by the Authority of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was short and powerful, and very interesting. All went quiet, and we sat. We finished and closed. 

As our fellowshipper was praying, my companion kept an eye open watching her, and I guess she was acting as a snake.. whirling, and making weird motions with her head and body. After we left, they said it continued to get worse and we still aren't sure what is going on. 

But, by reading the Book of Mormon daily, as our former prophet declared, it will draw us closer to the Savior and bring the Spirit more into our lives, and I have seen that immensely.

I know this gospel is true! 

Love you all so much!

Continue to smile, and be the best!

Elder Ivins