A week of Juggling and Miracles

Another Week of Baptisms!

Hey I hope everything is going well back home!

So before I start,

Fun Fact of the Week!! Juggling:

So recently I have been trying to teach myself to juggle, since on the way to Kingston and Porter is about an hour walk on dirt paths, so I have some time... and decided to us some of that time to juggle! Haha But anyways I have improved so much now haha I can almost juggle three. Cool thing about this though is that I thought in my life I would never be able to juggle and now with a bit of patience persistence and practice, I now have hope haha It just proves that nothing is impossible if you put enough work in it!

Anyways for the week!

Tuesday:

So today we actually spent most of the day contacting! Our area is huge so we decided to contact in this area called Chipindura! We met some cool people there and it was actually quite of a success! We taught a couple of lessons and had some return appointments!

Wednesday:

So today we met with Tinoasha (Don't know how to spell it..) But he was one of the people we found yesterday! He had quite a bit of questions for us like "Is there life after this one?" So we obviously taught about the Plan of Salvation! It was such a good discussion! After that we went to Porter and found out contunuing bad news that the community had to move out by Saturday... It was very sad to hear that. also on another note, while we were there in Porter we were walking and heard this buzz coming our way, then I saw the people we were with get down on their knees! And good thing I fololowed suit because this huge swarm of bees past over our heads! It was actually kinda cool! haha

Thursday:

Today we met this guy named Jimmy... Haha and boy did he love to talk! But we had such a great discussion and I bore my testimony that was so strong! You could definately feel the spirit! Haha after about an hour we set up an appointment with him fornext Tuesday! Also going to note, people think I look older here, like 23! (But only if I'm in my mission attire) Haha and I'm fine with that... But just saying also love it here cause people think I'm 23 instead of 16

Friday:

So yeah this day we basically interviewed the whole day because our zone had so many baptisms and my companion is the district leader, but you know that's always a good problem.

Saturday:

So today was the day that we had all of our baptisms! Elder Luvuno and I had 4 people to baptize, sadly though two couldn't get baptized that day because of the whole situation of moving out, but I'm sure they will be baptized! So we had 4 baptisms and Elder Ray and Ambanya (also in our ward for missionaries) had 12 that day! So 16 people! It was awesome! I baptized 8 people that day and it was such an amazing experience! But the sad part about that day was later we went to Porter/Kingston and it was so sad to see how empty it was. Most of the people left by that time and the only ones there that could stay were people that had offical documents of proof that they could stay.. yeah pakaiba... (Hard life)

Sunday:

So something awesome and scary happened today!! So 3rd hour it was the beginning of the class and one of the presidency just hands me a talk about bringing in less actives and nonmembers to the fold.. So I didn't know what was going on so I started reading. After only reading the title the sub title and the first two paragraphs, like 30 seconds worth I hear him say that Elder Parco will be giving the lesson for today! I was thinking, "What!?!" But today was proof that the spirit guides because I gave one of my best lesson that day and the spirit was so strong in the room! So yes through the spirit I did just give a 40 minute lesson with only 30 seconds of preperation! It was cool!

Monday (Today):

So this cool experience just happened! When I was waiting for a computer to be available outside the internet place, there was this group of men just sitting outside and one called me over and asked what my name was and I told him and also said that I was a missionary and we share the gospel, then he was like,"So why aren't you sharing right now?" So I taught them the Gospel of Christ and we had a great discussion and the guy seemed genuinely interested and I got his number and information and invited him to church! It was such a cool experience! haha and I didn't feel scared at all! Man what an awesome experience to happen!

Well that was my week! I hope everything is going well and I love you all!!!

Elder Parco

A week of Miracles

So before I start off with this letter I am just going to answer some questions and write about what my mission life is like.

 So first off yes I do happen to wash my clothes by hand which really isn't bad at all! Elder Ambanya, one of the Elders that we live with is from Kenya and he basically taught me how to wash my clothes efficiently and effectively so I'm starting to get the hang of it! And it takes about an hour or so to wash the clothes. And also no we don't have a maid... but our mission president decided that all of our apartments in Bindura are dirty so yeah I guess we have maid then cause on the 28th people are coming in to clean our apartment.. so yes no...

And walking.. if we are not teaching we are basically walking, our area is huge! Half of our area is far away where there are like villages and dirt paths to get to them so yeah we walk a lotEpecially when we plan a day to go to Kingston, it is about a hour walk just there. 

And most of the day we are teaching, but if we don't have anything really going on, we visit recent converts or less actives and if we don't have any planned for that then we contact... but usually people here are very inviting and don't have much time schedules so we can usually find someone to teach at the time or to check up on. But yeah it is very nice actually.

 And also I found out that our area is mostly Shona since we go to the villages and yeah I do have opportunities to teach because if we don't go to Kingston then most people can understand English so I just have to talk slower so they can understand, because even if I were to talk to someone that knows English very well and I talk my usual way, they still wouldn't understand me... so our mission president always says speak in Zimbabwe English.

A Week of Miracles!

So this week! Man I can say that so many cool experiences happened! It was so crazy! And most of these are experiences I put in my journal, so it's about to get personal!

Wednesday: Ups and Downs

Man today was definitely the epitamy of missionary work! Both ups and downs, but to start of We had a good discussion with Bro. Stalling!.. But then we lost an investigator!... Bro. M. It was so hard! So Bro. M, all he was looking for was a way he could be healed from his sickness because he was diagnosed with HIV and it has been deeply affecting his life..It was very sad, the whole time I was thinking, "THE GOSPEL WILL HELP YOU AND CHRIST KNOWS WHAT YOUR GOING THROUGH!" And Apparently that thought wasn't enough for him, he has such high motivation to be healed from his sickness that instant! And another pastor was telling him that he will be healed if he goes to their church. It was a bit frustrating because well.. how do you answer him?? The best that I could do was to bare my testimony about the truth of how God helps us through our struggles and that he can help you through yours. But after that I had nothing else to say.. I just pray that he will come back to investigate the church because I know for a fact that he felt the spirit in that discussion.. And also just to add on to the disapointment, we met with Sister Juju and she was saying that the government was forcing thier whole community to move to an undeclared destination so they can start farming... man "pakaiba" "Life is hard" So to pile it on, we also had that experience. But here is the great thing about missions, it has it's downs, but it also has its ups! And to start off... I had some good fruit!  They call it something like bo bo and it is kinda like cantalope but less sweet and, well IDK how to descrbe it you would just have to try it! Anyways that was some good comfort food after the down. But TODAY WE HAD A MIRACLE! So before we headed on our journey home, we were trying to find out where a boy named Casper lived, so we talked to someone that was outside thier hut and we met an older man named Bro. S! We talked and told hime that we were going to share a message but then he stopped us and said something like, "I know you guys. I used to be in your church!" Then he continued saying hw was a member back in the 1980 and he bore his testimony about Joseph Smith and the church being true, but he didn't go to church because he moved from Harare and went to another church with him family and didn't know that our church was here. It was an absolute miracle that we met him! And to top it all off.. Bro Casper randomly showed up so we then taught him a lesson. A double miracle! Then Sister Pene showed up while we were walking back! It just comes to show that in the Lords work there is no such thing as coincidences! Haha then we got home and Ambabnya bought a road runner.... or otherwords... A LIVE CHICKEN! haha it was a crazy day!

Thursday: Remember the Happy Girl

So I don't know what it was but today I was in a bit of a down mood. Idk if I was frustrated or what but all I know is that I didn't want to talk or feel like doing anything that day. I mean we had good lessons and had a great discussion with the Simbas and Bro. Matthew but something just wan't there. So bummer mood right? But then something happened... As we were visiting with the less actives or going around to people to teach, we stopped at Sister Moyo who is an investigator and always loves when we stop by. But while we were talking to her concerns, a customer stopped by. (Since Sister Moyo sells firewood) a boy and a girl. And it was that girl that made the difference in my day. (haha) She cam with an ear to ear smile greeting all of us with such a joyful gleem to her and she had a short conversation just being so happy and positive and commenting on how we were doing Gods work. And it reminded me of something... It reminded me of the joy I should be having in my life, and her example reminded me of the kind of missionary that I wanted to be. It reminded me of who I can be and the potential that I have. That girl lifeted up my spirits that day and in my eyes she was an angel to me. She showed me and reminded me what I wanted to be in life. Now everytime that I am in a down mood, I'm just going to think "Remember the Happy Girl"

Today/Monday: Our Hiking adventure!

So right now I am pretty exhausted! Cause well we went on a hike today! Up a mountain!! Now it was a smalller mountain but it was a 2 hour walk just to get to the bottom of it and 1 hour up!! So it was going to be 6 hours total! But yeah It was such a beautiful sight! And I got some great pictures of the trip!! Also note... I only had one water bottle and by the time we got to the top, it was gone. But anyways on the way down we met this family that lived just on the bottom of the mountain and they were so nice! (Also have a picture) But anyways we were headed back from our long journey so far and we really didn't know where we were going...We were on the right path but somehow we got off... And at this time Elder Ambanya and Elder Ray wanted to meet us somewhere so they could drive us back. And also note, all of the roads here are dirt and have many bumps and potholes. So I was with Elder Luvuno, Elder Elder (yes) Bro Prosper and Elder Sakala. And well we took a wrong turn... so we kept finding people to ask for directions. And well finally we didn't really know where we were but we finally saw the town in the distance so we decided to walk there... arcross a feild with no path. And heres the miricle.. cause right when we got to this dirt road Elder Ambanya and Elder Ray were there with the car! It was so incredible! They said they just stopped because they were trying to figure out where they were and was wondering if they needed to take a right or a left! It was so amazing cause man did I need water and was I tired! 

Well that Is all the adventures that happened this week! I love you all!

Elder Parco

2nd week!

Dinoziva kuti churche chokwadi! (I know the church is true)
Im so blessed to be in Africa!

 It's very very cool and love the area that I am serving in!

Culutre:

So a little about the culture and my area again.. haha so with the kids I litterally feel like a famous person or something because seriously all of them say "How are you!" And they called me a "Murugu" which means "White man" Even though in America I wouldn't be considered as white. But I laugh to myself every time that happens. Also the food that most of the people eat here is called Sadsa and everyone cooks over an open fire. Also this email may seem like I'm in the middle of nowhere but I'm not, I have the best of both worlds, because we have little shops next to our area and if we want more variety of food we take a tranport to town where they have grocery stores there. So life isn't so bad.

Week in General:

So to start off my companion came back Tuesday! It was really nice to have him back because I had no idea where my area was and what the boundries were, I was so lost, but thankfully I just went with the other comapnionship Elder Ray and Elder Ambanya to teach with them. But this week was very busy because we had to catch up on all of the lessons that we mised the days that Elder Luvuno was gone. But it was also very nice! We were pretty much filled every day. Also we had 5 people who had baptism dates that weekend but Ill get to that part later.

Shona:

So the language is slowly getting better, but in comparison I actually am learning it quite fast! It's definately a miricle that I am able to pick up all the words that I have because Spanish class never went so well for me! I now know enough to greet people and to say goodbye and have picked up some gospel words such as "Namata" which means pray and "Mwari" Which is God. But so far it is going well, but I still have a long way to go!

Saturday: 

Saturday was definately a special day because well, we had so many baptisms. Me and Elder Luvuno had 5 investigators that were baptized and Elder Ray and Elder Ambanya had 7 people! So in total 12 people were baptized!! It was so cool! And I got to opportunity to baptize that day! But something cool that also happened was that we held a wedding right before the baptism! It was so cool! Right after they got married they got baptized! It was so unreal to me. And also one of those people who I mentioned before was Bro. Prosper! His testimony in the church is so strong! And he really wants to go on a mission as well! That makes it even cooler!

Also that day was very tiring because after the baptisms we headed straight to Kingston which is an hour walk, but we booked it there because we were running out of sunlight! And man was I tired! But we had amazing lessons with the people we taught and we were just filled with joy that whole day! It was amazing! The spirit was definately prominate in that journey.

Well that is all of the excting things that happened! I hope next week It'll be even more exciting! I love you all and stay well! Musare Zvakanaka!!

Pictures:

District: So one of these is my district in the MTC! They were pretty cool!

Mines: We climbed these pyramid mine things for P-Day

Rugby: This is part of our MTC Group playing out some good ole Rugby
Spider: So this is when me and Elder Ambanya cleaned the kitchen! Haha we jumped so many times!!! and especially Ambanya but don't let him  know that I told him! It was definately one of the funner nights! haha we found like 12 spiders!!

And lastly.... Ryan Sleeps still continues... this was today before we left for the pyramids!...

First week in Zimbabwe-Bindura

Well this was my first week out in the field! It has been very crazy! And got quite a different experience for the first week!

Before the Feild:

So before we went out to the feild, we were at the mission office in Harare training for a day and getting stuff ready. BUT something cool that happened was I got to learn how to drive stick! Although I only did it for 20 minutes so I still need practice. I'm good driving after I get going on the road, but when I stop, I stalled so many times! But it's all good, I'm going to pactice again when our zone conference is comeing up.

Culture:

So to start off I want to talk a little bit about the culture here in Zimbabwe. Bindura, the area that I am in is very cool, where our apartment is basically run down houses and for Bindura our apartment is nice. Cause well we have hot water which is amazing! haha But anyways because I'm not black whenever I am outside the litte kids run up to you and say "How are you?" because most of them don't know English and that's what they know! ITs kinda awesome because there will be like up to 10 kids surrounding you saying how are you? And they all want to fist bump or shake your hand, or even hold it and walk with you for a bit! It's an awesome experience! Also to get around, we use these buses called compas, or something, but you pay .50$ to get around and they cram those things! Also another note, they use US currency here since the Zim dollar got too unstable and US currency is stable. So thats nice!

So Much For English Speaking!:

Yeah so So much for English speaking Mission!!! Seriously  my first day out in the field most peope didn't know English and spoke Shona. I'd say 70% of the day was in Shona! So I am starting to learn quickly!! haha

My First Day:

So my first area that I am serving in is Bindura!  It is really amazing here! And quite different to what I have been seeing. So to start off my companion is Elder Luvuno and he from South Africa in Durban. He is a very cool guy and a bit quiet but he is a really good teacher and knows his stuff! Anyways we started off the day planning as you usually would. But we started off by going to this area called Kingston and let me tell you... you walk quite a bit!! I asked my companion where we were going and he pointed to mountains in the distance and said over there, I thought he was joking but he was serious. It took us over an hour to get there! and I was super surprised when I saw the area because there are houses there that are just shacks, and that was the good houses. When we went farther into the area they were like huts, like what you could expect in Africa and roofs that were made of grass and hay. It was pretty cool and a little sad but the gospel really strives there. Me and Elder Luvuno gave some great lessons and the people there are so kind. Its also really cool in Africa because everyone there is suer recetive, you can talk to anyone on the street and they will listen to your message and say they will come to church, but it is also a part of the cuture and sometimes they don't show. Later on that night we met with Bro. Prosper and it was cool because 3 of his friends walked in and we also taught all of them! It was such a good lesson and all of them wanted to hear more! We taught about the restoration and you could feel the spirit there! So that was the jist of my day! It was pretty cool!

With the Zone Leaders:

So Saturday I was with the Zone leaders, and this is what makes my week so interesting... cause my companion Elder Luvuno got sick and is staying in Harare for a couple of days. I think he will be back soon. So yeah Friday I basically spent all day in Harare with him and I have been companionless since, I have been going with other sets of missionaries and been going out in groups of 3. WHich is cool. So I got to spend time with the Zone leaders on Saturday! Which was nice cause they were the only ones who have cars! But yeah they are hiarious and it was such a fun day! I taught a bunch of recent convets and met witha bunch of members of them too! Oh and also that morning they had a baptism so Elder Chibanga got to baptize!

Sunday: 

So this day I got to meet all of the members and they are so nice! And they love the missionaries! The church is a little run down and we cramed like 120 people ina small area and we just spoke off the podium with no mic. Oh and Sacrament meeting is outside the building under a pavillion type thing. But something amazing that happened that day was Bro. Prosper after Scrament came up and straight up said "I want to be baptized!!" It was so awesome and I didnt know what to say or do cuase Elder Luvuno was stil gone. haha but I was like well Im still new... but you can totally do that, we just have to teach some lessons and ill contact Elder Luvuno when a good day will be! haha It was such an awesome experience!

Well that was my week! It was super amazing, although it also felt a bit long but thats how things always start. But love you all!!!