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!!!