New food time!

Is there a Correlation between Exchanges and Trying new food?? I think yes

This week was a week full of exchanges. Or at least two of the days. 

On Wednesday we had exchanges with the zone leaders. I had the opportunity to go with Elder Robison. Who is a really cool guy. And might I add, tall. I learned a lot from him, knowing that no matter what happens in the day, just keep doing what's right and do what the Lord asks. Because that is what will bring you true success.

But there was this one part in the day... We finished teaching this young boy at his house, and we were about to leave, but then the mama offered us some sadsa. (harder tasteless mash potato substance made from maize that you eat with your hands)  And we were like, "Alright, we have time for a little sadsa." So when she was finished cooking, she came out with sadsa, this weird yellow sauce, and then nothing else, but a single chicken foot, and chicken head! Then I gave Elder Robison a look of saying "How am I supposed to eat this?" But I managed, eating any meat that I could from the foot and head. The foot was chewy but the head wasn't bad at all. Just a little weird have it stare back at you when your eating it. And then we got to the eyes, I told Elder Robison, "I'll eat it if you eat it." So we did. haha But it was a good exchange and it was nice to meet new people and see a new area.

Also on Friday, I went on an exchange with Elder Mayett. He is from Kenya. And might I add, short. But we had a good time. We worked with this really cool member Bro. Jakarasi, (Who is good at basically everything) and he showed us so many people that he wanted us to see. Oh and he is only the best sharpshooter there is in town. But at the end of the day, we visited with Bro. Jakarasi's father, who went less active a long time ago. But when we were there he showed us this plastic bag full of little meat peices. And we ask What it was. Then he said it was crab. And showed us this huge crab head. He said that he would go to a place near the dam and catch all of these crabs with his hands! And this guy isn't young. He is in his older age. He gave us some peices of the meat and we tried it. It was really really good actually. Super good. So we asked if we could pay and take some home with us. We got a newspaper full of cooked meat and then some more uncooked meat. And it was good. Still have some now. 

People are Ready

People are truly ready to hear the gospel. Just Sunday, we visited with these two boys who wanted to have a "bible study" but we gave them something a little different. haha We taught about the Restoration and they just said everything made sense. And the amazing part was when MacAlan didn't quite understand the message fully, Talent just comes in and explains the entire Restoration perfectly to his friend. And I mean perfectly! It was awesome! It really testified to me that people are really looking for the truth, even if they don't know themselves. The Restored gospel makes complete sense because it really is true. There are no loopholes, or mistakes in the gospel. It is perfect. Because a man didn't create this gospel, but only Jesus Christ himself. 

I love you all and hope that you all have a great week! Until next time.

Elder Parco

Stop Monkeying around

Zone Conference And Interviews

This week we had Zone Conference! It was pretty good. We made the 2 hour drive down to Gweru to meet up with the other zones. It was a really nice conference. We got to see the broadcast for the mission presidents and it was really good. It also made me realize how much mission presidents have to do now. Interviews and Zone Conferences will now be every transfer, which is way more common than it used to be. But I also love the leadership training, how we should try to be a leader like how Jesus Christ was, and be one that can impact someones life forever. It was powerful. We also had interviews with President and that was very nice.

The Zone Leaders Perfect Referral

I would have to thank the zone leaders for meeting such a perfect investigator. They met him, taught the first lesson, and then handed him down to us since he lived in our area. And wow he is such a powerful investigator! His name is Tichauna and works at a gas filling place. He is such a relateable guy in his 20's and is a well known local artist for rapping and singing. He's pretty sweet! We met with him on Saturday and walked from his work place to his house. And he showed us some of his songs. And they are pretty good! I also told him that I play the trumpet and he said that he might be able to find me one so I can play it! So that will be cool! But we taught him more about the Book of Mormon and he just understands perfectly! It's so amazing! He believes the message and is so willing to give his life to God. It is awesome! Sometimes I wish that everyone would be like this guy!

Sunday

Sunday at church, was a bit disappointing but at the same time uplifting. A lot of our investigators that said they would show up, didn't show up. But Tichauna and Tsitsi both came to the meeting, as well as Tsitsi's siblings and neighbor friends. It was awesome! And then we had a recent convert bring two of his friends and a member bring some of his friends as well. It was amazing! They were all under the age of 16, but there was so many of them! Haha we keep joking how every Sunday, the people that show up to church never seem to be the people we invite, so we should just stop inviting. No, but it was good.

Stop Monkeying Around

Yesterday, Sunday, we were casually eating our lunch at our house after church had ended. Then just as we were about to put our home made pasta in our mouths, we hear this scampering above us on the ceiling. We didn't think much of it, but then seconds later we hear it again! Then a huge bang on a door. We were like "What is going on?" Then out of nowhere a monkey, about 2 feet tall swings over to the open window and acts like it is about to enter into the house! Luckily we prevented it from doing so, but later we go and check outside and see at least 3 monkeys around us in the trees in our yard, surrounding us. It was pretty cool. But that night they kept scampering on the roof making some noise. And in the morning we saw two metal sheets from a overhanging patio fall off onto the ground. It was an easy fix. But I think we are going to start seeing a lot more monkeys come to our yard in the near future, since the fruits on our trees are starting to grow.

Well I hope that everyone had a great week this week!!

Elder Parco

Pictures:

1) Me my Father (Trainer) And Brothers, in that order.

2) The Bindura Clan

3) Stop Monkeying around...

Both wins and losses

Disappointments:

Just a little update on Gannet. So we have been teaching him all the lessons, he has been reading and going to church every week! And we scheduled his baptism to be this last Sunday on the 12th... but sadly something happened. He just disappeared. We haven't seen him for two weeks! But last time we saw him he was talking about how his uncle was going to kick him out of the house and he would have no where to stay. So we think that he is living with his mother somewhere in RIO which is pretty far from Rimuka, the place that the church is. It is so sad that we just lost him, but I know that he knows the gospel is true and eventually he will make his way back to church.

Also something else kinda of sad, there has been this couple that we have been trying to get married so they can be baptized. But all these problems keep happening with money and Lobola, and not have ID's and stuff. It has been a little bit of a hassel, but the saddest thing is that they haven't come to church for a while! They were so committed. But we just need to find out what's stopping them and work from there.

A Golden Investigator!

We met this wonderful Lady this week! Tsitsi! She is amazing! And the way we found her was even cooler! We were walking down an alley and my companion stopped to talked to her because she has the cutest baby ever. So we met and talked with her and her mother and then shared a message with them then left. Then during the week we run into her mother, and we talk to her and set an appointment. Then when we came to the appointment, the mother was busy because she was called into work being a police officer. But Tsitsi, the daughter was there. We taught her a little about the Restoration, then met up with her the next day. By the time Sunday rolled around we had taught her about the full message of the Restoration and a bit about the Book of Mormon. We invited her to church, and guess what she came!! She got a bit lost on the way and had to call her telling directions to the church, but she came with not just herself, but all of her siblings and one of her siblings friends! It was amazing! Then she tells this amazing story. Saturday, she was reading from the Book of Mormon that we gave her, then one of her neighbors goes up to her and starts to bash on the church, saying that it is Satanic and that the Book she was holding was from the devil. So she goes and stands up for herself saying that she know that this is the true word of God and that she will go to this church! It was such a touching story to hear, and she also said that her other neighbors said that they wanted to come to church as well the following week! It was such a miracle! And am so happy for the strength that she had!

Random things for the Week

So I know I didn't mention this before, but the schedule of our studies and going to the area has changed for missionaries all over the world, making times more flexible. As well as the indicators that we report weekly. But anyways, it was recommended that for missionaries serving in Africa should start their day at 9am and get home at 6pm. But since Zimbabwe is like one of the safest countries in Africa, our mission decided what time our schedule should be. So we are now supposed to get out to the area by at least 9-10am and return by 7pm. Unless.. You have a dinner appointment or a lesson scheduled past that time. So it is pretty close to the same schedule. But I don't think that the new schedule will affect us very much anyways. But it's something new that has happened.

And now for, Things you wouldn't expect to do in Zimbabwe:

So we saw this tree in our yard of the ginormous house that we have. And well we decided that a rope swing would be a perfect thing to put up there. We bought some rope, found a board, and wella! Made a rope swing! It really didn't take that long, but it was so cool when it was finished! 

Also this week we decided to have a bonfire. So we did. And for dinner that night, we bought some hot dogs and cooked them over the fire and put them in bread! It was super good! Then yesterday it was Elder Robisons birthday, so we celebrated by cooking up some marshmellows that we found in the store. And cooked them up just like the old days. They were super expensive since they were imported, but it was worth it.

Well I hope that everyone has just a wonderful and great week! I love you all!

Elder Parco

What a memorable week!

All Guys District

So now that the Sisters all left our District, we now have a district of just all guys. Which is pretty cool. So a bit about Kadoma: Our Zone is pretty spread out, to get to the district above us, it will take about a 40 minute drive, and the district below us will take about an hour drive. So pretty far. Meaning, the only people we really see are the people who are in our district. And since it is a district of all guys, well it makes it nice. Haha So 4 of us stay in the huge house that we have. Taking a good guess here but it is probably the biggest house that the mission has for missionaries! It is truly a mansion! (But still not really) haha And the zone leaders, (or other two missionaries) live in the house that we came from! Which is still super big! But it will be 2 people in a house that can hold 8! But I guess whatever works! But all the guys in the district are pretty cool, and we get along really well, so I can see this transfer being a good one.

Memorable lessons

This week we had some pretty cool lessons. To start off we had this one bigger guy, who is a father, a rasta, who wears a Bennie, has dreads, chops wood on the daily, and is a disk joker (DJ) in his free time.  He is the most chill guy ever. haha When we were teaching him, sitting on stumps from his tree cutting place, there was a guy that started to interrupt the conversation. Then our friend Clemence snaps at him "Hey don't interrupt us when we are learning about Jesus!" It was such a funny moment. Haha The lesson went well, and just loved this guy.

We also met this other guy, Jealous, who had problems with drinking and smoking and wanted to stop because he saw the effects that it was taking in his life and affecting his family. So we had a great lesson teaching him how he can be able to be clean through the help of Jesus Christ atonement. It was a powerful lesson. But the coolest thing was that we met him on the street before about a week ago, and then we were just randomly checking up on people and knocked on his door. Totally wasn't planned to even see his but it was awesome!

And Finally we had a super spiritual lesson with a guy named Ronald. We talked to him for a while and had a great talk. He believed God was there but really didn't feel that he love him or if Jesus even really existed. He was also going through a harder time that day. But we just talk about God and what we believe. And at the end of the lesson we had him pray for the first time in his life. It was amazing! And super powerful!

Sunday's Surprise

Sunday, filled with disappointment and surprises. So sadly when we got to church, none of the people that we taught were able to show up. It was very disappointing. But then we get to church and someone is like, "Hey Takutswa Is here!" And we were both like "What?" So we go into church and we see Takutswa that came to church. But honestly, both of us didn't really remember when we met him, or even taught him. But it was a miracle to see that he came! Then after the first hour of church, he said "Wow, this church is really great! I like it!" And it was so awesome! Then!! Then third hour of church, an investigator Steer came! Which was also a miracle! Because the day before we just randomly met him and talked to him and told him a little about the Restoration. Then invited him to church! It was so amazing! Because he actually came to church! It was such a nice surprise to see both of those guys at church. It made up for all of the other investigators who were not able to make it.

Well I hope that everyone had a great week this week! Love you all!

Elder Parco