God really does answer prayers

God Answers the Prayers of All

I think that the greatest thing that comes from the mission, is seeing miracles happen in the investigators lives of those you teach! And there is this one amazing investigator, Mai (Mother) Junior. We have been meeting with her for quite some time, to the point where we have been teaching into greater depth of the lessons we share. But on Friday we taught her more about prayers, and how it can be a communication with God. We started talking about how prayers can be answered in different ways and gave multiple examples. Then we asked her if she had an example she has seen in her life. She gave us this story:

Weeks ago Mai Junior wanted to learn more about the Word of God and to understand it a little more. So one day she prayed to God to ask to find help. She asked for anyone to stop by and help her. Then she said a voice came into her head, "They will pass right by you." She looked up and saw me and Elder Barrus (My previous companion) And she ran up to us and asked for a Bible Study! SO of course Elder Barrus and I scheduled an appointment for her. She said that we were an answer to her prayers and was so grateful that God had answered her. 

When she told us this story, I was so touched. Because before that moment, I didn't know that we were an answer to her prayers. We just thought she was some lady that wanted to just have a bible study. But hearing that experience really strengthened my testimony. That as Missionaries, we really are on the Lord's Errand. And that things aren't coincidental. And God really does answer all prayers.

This Sunday she was able to make it to church for her first time!! And she was super early! I was so happy when she came! We are now currently planning out her baptismal date, after we figure out the issues of getting her legally married. I just hope everything works out so she can be baptized. But I know she is converted to the gospel.

Trio Has Dispersed

Sadly all of our adventures as a trio will now be over. Including those rap battles... BUT doesn't mean I can still be good when I get home. So what happened? Well in the middle of the week we got a call from the Zone Leaders telling us that Elder Cazier will be getting a new companion, Elder Condie!! He has come from my home town Bindura! And also.. he's my grandson!! (Meaning Elder Young Yen who I trained (my son) trained Elder Condie (My Grandson)) So he has been joining us in the huge house of ours. He's a really cool guy! And really tall. But we have now continued our fun with our new housemate, Elder Condie.

Amen!

SO funny thing. We went to a house to teach a lesson to a recent convert. And she had a little brother who was about 5 years old. Before each lesson, we always start with a prayer. Elder Cazier was the one who said the prayer. So during the prayer this little kid, who really couldn't understand much English really wanted to make sure he said AMen at the right time. While Elder Caizer was praying, this kid would shout "AMEN!" AMEN" Over and over at random times whenever he thought the prayer was over. Haha it was really funny and then at the end of the Prayer Elder Cazier made it obvious that he was going to finish and the kid gave the biggest "AMEN!" ever. It was a great moment.

So that was the just of my week! MIssionary work is still going great! And loving it! I hope that everyone else had a great week as well!

Love,

Elder Parco

Lumberjacks and Rappers

A Pretty Awesome Sunday!

Things are going great in Kadoma. We are continuing to harvest our success. But this Sunday was a pretty eventful one!  To start off:

I gave a talk on Sunday! When we got to church our branch President was saying that there wasn't people to speak in sacrament meeting today.... so in return. He looked at me and ask me to give a talk. So I did! And it wen really well! Got to talk on this special Easter Sunday. I talked about a topic I have been studying recently. Jesus Christ's Charity. The indescribable, and unimaginable love that Jesus has for us. The love he has for each one of us. His love is individual. "The Worth of Every soul is great." And I have read it and seen it through the ministry that Jesus had on the earth. I read once in Corinthians about Charity. And it said something around the lines of, If ye have not Charity in anything you do to help or serve, then what you do profiteths nothing. It was powerful. EVERYTHING need to be done in Charity. Because Charity is what makes us become like Christ. It is the Pure love of Christ. And it's what people notice. It was a great opportunity to be able to talk on Easter. And it ended up being a great success.

Marvelous Baptisms

Besides the talk, After church we had the baptisms of two of our Candidates. Tichauna and Tatenda! (about 21 and 13) They were so excited to be baptized! And Tichauna afterwards even said, "I  just feel something different in my life. I feel clean. My head Feels clear. I feel good." It was one of the greatest moments. Seeing the change that people have in thier lives is amazing. Also a quote form Tatenda. "I'm so happy to be in the original gospel!" Haha and it is true. This is the original gospel and the true church of God. But baptisms went so well. Although preparation was a bit hectic, the baptism went smoothly and many members showed up to watch. It was yet again, another great success.

Lumberjack Race

Lastly just a little fun with some kids. So when we were on our way to eat at a lovely member who feeds us every Sunday. We saw a gruop of these little kids, trying to saw this piece of wood in half for firewood. So we asked if we could help them. There were two saws. So Elder Cazier and Elder Richardson were sawing on one end of the long piece of wood. And me and this little kid were sawing on the other. So naturally we decided to race each other. And this other kid and I started hauling. We were cutting like true lumberjacks! Smooth and deep cuts all the way! We sawed back and forth back and forth. until that piece of wood fell apart into two pieces. Ending the race and ultimately being the true champions of that competition. Now the other Elders saw may have been really dull and may of had just a slightly bigger piece than we did, but we still came up on top, as the champions.

Watch out for the Next Best Rapper!

SO the Trio companionship is going really well. Elder Cazier and Elder Richardson are two awesome guys. And our teaching has been going as smooth as the cutting me and that kid did. But you know sometimes in a companionship you have a little bit of fun. Elder Richardson has some talent, he can beat box really well. So... causally when we are walking down the street to our area, Elder Richardson throws a beat while me and Elder Caizer have rap battles against each other. And let me tell you.. we are horrible. haha But we are getting better and better everyday. So better watch out. When I get back from the mission I may be the best freestyle rapper out there!

Well I had a great week this week! And the work is continuing to prosper! I hope that everyone else had a great week as well! And as always I miss you all!

Pictures:

-Took some pictures and hung out with some monkeys in our yard.

-picture with Tichauna at his work place

-Celebrating Elder Richardsons Birthday

-A nice salad we made! Super nice!

-Baptisimal pictures

-Picture of some cool artwork on a wall

I'm staying in Kadoma!

Transfers!

Yes this week is yet another week of transfers! And as for the news... I am staying in Kadoma for another 6 weeks!! Although sadly my companion Elder Barrus will be headed to Harare. And I will miss all of his hard work and dedication. But this transfer will be a little different. I now have TWO companions and TWO areas to cover. Basically Elder Caziers companion Elder Mayett left for Bindura, and now Elder Cazier is going to be with me, as well as a new guy Elder Richardson who I actually already know. We met and saw each other in Bindura, when we both served there. But I am excited. These two guys will be very fun to be around! It will be hard to adjust, now that we cover both of our areas, with our investigators, and... we have to walk everywhere. So public transportation might get a little expensive if we  don't want to walk for hours. But it will be fun. And looking forward to this new transfer!

General Conference: The Pure Love of Christ

This week we got to see General Conference. And wow, was it spiritually uplifting. It was EXACTLY what I needed in my current stage in my mission. I've heard once that if you come with any question to general conference, then it will be answered. And I testify that this is completely true. ALL of my questions were answered. So let me tell you a bit of what I learned:

Something that I have had on my mind recently is leadership. How can I be a good leader. Recently frustration has over taken me. Frustration of the reality that everyone has their agency. Obviously agency is essential, it's the best gift we ever will have, but sometimes dealing with other people's agency can be hard. You realize that you have no control in their decisions and what you say may have no effect. But how do you guide someone when you have no control in their decisions. 

S. Mark Palmer's talk really helped me on this one. To summarize, he talked about his experience as a mission president, and how he had a similar question to mine, "How do you help guide and lead someone to change their heart?" He related this question to a story of Jesus Christ in Mark chapter 10. 

There was a man who asked Jesus, "Good Master, What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" And Jesus asked if he was keeping the commandments, and the man said that he has ever since his youth. "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." And the man left with his soul grieved: for he had many possessions. 

The most powerful part that Bro. Palmer pointed out was the phrase, "Then Jesus beholding him, loved him" That was the key. Jesus beheld him, comforted him, loved him so much, that he even asked more from that man. So much to ask him to give up everything he ever owned and follow him.

 Jesus Christ loves with All of his heart. I can just see Jesus, with his arms beholding this man, his heart bursting with love, and his eyes starting to get wattery as he looks straight into this man and asks him, to sell everything he has and follow him. Then the man, walking away feeling the love that Christ had for him, but his heart sunken because of his unwillingness to give all that he has. It made me realize, I really don't even comprehend yet how much love Jesus has for everyone. I'm just starting to learn.

But that love was key. It was the key to a great leader, a follower. Bro. Palmer went on and described 4 things that we need in order to help teach those we may be over.

1) We need to see others how the Lord sees them

2) No teaching or learning will happen with frustration and hatred.

3) Love should never be withdrawn.

4) The Lord expects much of us.

This message really touched me. I realized how wrong I have been. Sometimes when things go wrong, or tension occurs, we need to look inwardly first. Look at ourselves and ask "Do I have that Christlike love within me?" "Is what I'm saying coming out of love, to help, to support, or is it for my selfish reasons?" Like Uchtdorf also said, "Fear is temporary and will never change hearts" But Christ's love is the antidote to fear, and Christ wants our hearts to change.

I absolutely loved General Conference and can't even tell you how much I learned from it. I know that Love conquers all, and that Heavenly Father sent the perfect example in our lives. Jesus Christ. Whenever we struggle with a problem, look to him. Whenever we are going through hard times. Always look to him. For he is always there and will help you, and be an example through everything you go through in life. 

I love you all and hope that your weeks were great! 

Love,

Elder Parco 

Pictures!:

Before conference we were in a room with the chalkboard. And all the kids were drawing. I jokingly asked them to draw a picture of me and they did. So I took a picture of each of their drawings.

Oh and we celbrated Prince's Birthday. We told him it was tradition to eat the cake with your hand behind your back in America. So he did haha

Also here is our zone

Investigator update!

How Are The Investigators?

Tistsi:

So wonderful news about Tsitsi!! We baptized her this Sunday!! It was such a great baptism! She was so ready and she is one of the strongest investigators ever! She absolutely loves the gospel and has been coming to church every week! And she also brings her brother and sister and the neighbor kids! She is helping us so much in the missionary work. Oh and also she has one of the cutest babies in history! His eyes are so round, and he always has this face of ahhh on him.

Better yet this Sunday we talked to Tsitsi's aunt, and invited her to church, and she came! She got to witness Tsitsi getting baptized as well! 

Ticahuna:

This guy is so talented. Everytime we go to visit he just surprises us more and more! When we first met him he said that he dedicated his life to Christ and is so excited to be able to be baptized in the church! He understands everything that we teach him so well, that he even reexplains what we just taught in such an eye-opening way that I even learn from him most of the time! haha But his talents are so amazing! He has a gift for creativity. We visit and he always has a new idea for a Christian movie, that always sounds like a great plot. But the coolest thing, is that he is a local music artist! So he makes songs and raps and stuff. And Wow! He is so good! 

We told him that one of us might leave next week, and he was like, "Guys I have to leave you with something!" And he was like "I'll make you guys a song, just write down the theme, and I'll come up with something" So we came up with a theme, of Pushing forward when opposition is pushing back. And then he plays this instrumental beat and just starts singing and rapping. He came up with a full song!! Like with a chorous and everything! Just on the spot!! It was so amazing! He is so good! Haha so who knows, if everything works out, I might be receiving a song made from our investigator in the near future. 

Gannet:

We found Gannet! He was one of our golden investigators that just fell off the face of the earth! But we walked by his house and he was there! He said that he still wanted to learn and brought up another date when he could be baptized! We were so pumped when we found him! haha 

But sad part.. he wasn't able to show up to church, so we will have to figure out what is going on.

But he is still a dedicated guy who miraculously gave up smoking and drinking in a day!

Unexpected Visitors

So Saturday night.. we had some unexpected visitors in our house. Yeah so long story short, we had some thieves break into our house and steal our money and some other accessories. Luckily however I didn't get hit too hard, just some money. Miraculously still have my camera with me. The strangest part though was how well planned this burglary was.Like these guys were pretty smart. They went through the window, knew exactly what they were looking for, and where exactly to find it. It was some pretty crazy stuff. But things are good, we just some lost cash, and two camera's stolen, but at least we are all perfectly safe. So not much to worry about. But an exciting story to tell.

Well I love you all very very much!! I hope that this week goes wonderfully!

Love,

Elder Parco

Pictures:

1) Our Good branch missionary friend Prince!

2-3) Some Evidence of the stealing

4) Tsitsi baptism!!!