Powerful Investigators

Things here in Zimbabwe are going great! As for a update. A new president has now been called. Haha Which happened on a Friday. But Tuesday was the day the previous President stepped down from office. And that entire night people were celebrating. Honking thier horns and cheering, "New Zimbabwe!!!" haha But things are as peaceful as ever, as well as drunk as ever this week. But the work has really been going this week! Especially for the amount of new investigators we found! (13!!! yeah!) So let me tell you a bit about them.

Mah New Powerful Investigators:

Sheena: First we have Sheena. We were walking down a street after getting some lunch at this nice sadsa place. You literally buy your own meat a a butchery right next door and they cook it for you! Sick! But as we were walking this lady calls out to us. So naturally we go over there. As we were coming, the lady that originally yells at us realizes that we are serious business and gets shy and acts like she never called us over in the first place. haha We introduce ourselves, and ask if they would be interested in hearing a message about the gospel. The lady slyly sneaks away, but her friend Sheena accepts. So we teach her. The whole time Sheena would listen, but act a bit defensive. Questioning everything we taught. But at the end of teaching the Restoration, we testified to her that if she wanted to know if these things were true, she shouldn't rely on our words, but rely on the answer that she can get from God. And told her that it comes from the Holy Spirit which testifies to us through feelings. And the spirit hit her strong. She told us then to come back and visit again during the week. 

So the next visit we come. And we ask, did you pray and ask if these things were true? And she said she did, still acting a little defensive, but now this visit less defensive than before. And we asked her if she got a answer. And she said she did. So then we continue to teach her about the Book of Mormon. And say the same things, pray to know if this is true, and the spirit will testify. Again the spirit was super strong. 

Then next visit comes around. When we saw her, both Elder Carpenter and I were surprised. In the space of just a couple days, we could see already so much change in her. She seemed more humbled and interested and dressed way more modestly. haha and I don't know how to describe it, but she was just different. 

So we ask the same thing. Did you pray and ask if the Book of Mormon was true. Then she hesitated and said "Yes I did." Then we asked if she got an answer? Again she hesitated a bit and then said yes. Now more excited, we ask, "How did you feel?" And she said this, "I felt comfort and peace.. and happiness." Then we asked, "So what do you think that was?" Then she answered, "The Spirit of God Testifying to me." It was awesome! She said she only read 2 verses from the Book but already got a defining answer that the book was true. So we teach about the Plan of Salvation and at the end we invite her to baptism. And her response was that she already goes to a church, and that the change would be hard. Then we testified that it would be worth more than you can imagine. Then still thinking slightly declined. But you could tell the whole lesson she felt the spirit testifying the entire time. She knows its true. But now we are going to help her make that decision.

Bro. Oscar and his Wife: It was Saturday and we decided to eat some chips (fries) and fruits at this one shop at the side of the street. Since the Sadsa place we usually go to was real busy with a lot of drunk people. As we were sitting there Bro. Oscar, a previous investigator stops and talks to us and invites us to try these interesting fruits. We do then he says we should visit him and his wife today. So we do. We go over to the house and, as we were waiting for the wife we had a great discussion about questions that he had. (Before we gave the Plan of Salvation Pamphlet and Book of Mormon without explaining it.) So we answer his questions and then the wife comes and they ask really good questions. Such as What happens to people that die that don't get baptized. Or Tell us more about this Pre earth life. As well as. What age should one be baptized, and do the parents carry over the sins to their child if they aren't baptized before. And it was amazing. We used the Book of Mormon to answer their questions. Then afterwards explain exactly what the Book was. It was a powerful lesson. And even though they are very committed to their church they go to, they sincerely planned to go and visit our church next week! And are excited about all the information that they learned and want us to keep teaching!

Cranmer's Wife: We have been trying to get in contact with Bro. Cranmer for weeks. (The one who knows everything is true but is just deciding on making a decision.) We go to his house and like all the other times he wasn't there. But the Wife invites us in and tells us that she wants us to teach her a message. So.. we teach or more like introduce the Plan of Salvation, and how families can be together forever in the life to come. And her eyes gleamed with excitement. She said that for sure she was going to read this pamphlet and we se an appointment for next week to visit both Cranmer and his wife. It was awesome.

Erasmus: Not really new but awesome story on his progression. We haven't seen Erasmus for a week. But we were able to find him at his car wash place he works at. So we sit down and start the lesson. Last time we gave him the Book of Mormon and told him to read it and pray about it. (Nor really explaining exactly what it was yet) But we show up and ask if he was able to read it. And he said he did!! And then he said he read like the first 15 chapters of 1 Nephi!!! (Haha but actually read the first 5 chapters) But he then proceeds to explain every bit of detail that happens from 1 Nephi ch. 1 to chapter 5!! It was amazing! Then he said that he was trying to share this book with others, but no one wanted to read it or believe in it. But we had a good lesson about the Book of Mormon and then he asks us about Smoking and Drinking and what is the standing of the church. SO we gave him a Word of Wisdom pamphlet for us to discuss about next time. Then he said that we wanted another Book of Mormon to share with his sister. haha I love this guy. 

Ruth: We went to visit this mama's house that we contacted a little while back. The mother wasn't there but her daughter and children were as well as the father. The father wasn't interested but instead we teach all the children. And the lesson was great. Mostly focused on Ruth since she was the most interested. And we talked to her and she said that she wanted to go back to a church since it has been months since she has gone to one. And we talked about baptism and agreed to be baptized. It was sweet. So now we are continue to teach her and strengthen her understanding.

Well those were the really cool new investigators. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week this week!! Love you all! Until next time!!

Love,

Elder Parco

Pictures:

-We got to go to the Face to Face devotional for the YSA. Elder Oaks and Ballard are hillarious!! And was enlightened by some very good questions. It was awesome! But only took a picture of my previous companion Elder Richardson with his now custom F-250 bag!! haha

-Oh and a new sharp haircut with Elder Ngwenya

Zimbabwe History

We lived through History!

Welp this week Zimbabwe made some history! And here's how we found out:

So on Tuesday night we get a text and a call from the zone leaders, telling us to stay in the house tomorrow on Wednesday. They don't really explain the reason why, but we just assumed that there was probably a riot going on in town or something with elections coming up in the next 7 months or so. And let me tell you. A whole day inside as a missionary is not the most exciting thing to do.. Haha Went super long, but also that day we ran into another problem... We ran out of water in the house. So as this whatever thing may be going on, we had little to no water in the house. Haha but don't worry too much that was just a minor case. We caught some rain water the day before so we could flush our toilets. Hahah jokes. But seriously we did. Anyways we were in contact with Elder Caroll about the water that day (He is one of the couple missionaries in charge of houses) And he told us he could send some water to the house the next day, since that day the water company said they probably wouldn't be able to make it out of town. So with our curiosity, I asked, "So what's going on in Harare?" So here's what he told us:

The military has now stormed into the Presidents house and took over the government. A Coup happened. So.. at that current moment they were negotiating with the president to step down from office. Because if he didn't step down in his own free will, then more complications would have happened. So the military was now in charge of the government. That was Wednesday. And from other sources we stayed inside not just because of the mission telling us but also the embassy request. Haha I may be talking this up but really there was no threat of civilians and missionaries the whole time. Really safe. But that was Wednesday. 

We continue the week and then on Saturday we get a text telling us to stay inside again. This time only missionaries really close to town. So again another boring day... But that day there were marches going on in town to signify the want of the President to step down. We heard that there was tens of thousands of people marching in town. Would of been pretty sweet to see. 

But now as of yesterday, Sunday, we heard that the agreement will most likely be made and the president will step down and most of the cabinet members will also be out of the office.

All in all this has been the most peaceful coup I think will ever happen in History. It's not totally settled but I wouldn't worry. Zimbabwe is a peaceful place. And that's what I love about Zimbabwe! 

It Rained a New Investigator

Lastly we had a sweet lesson that saved us from the rain. We had planned to teach this guy named Justice. He was really interested about this Book or Mormon that he heard about. So we started teaching him. But this day we planned to teach him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We get there in the nick of time just before it starts to downpour. And just before we were going to start teaching. A young adult named Max comes running to the patio that we were teaching and taking shelter under. (Just outside the front door of the house) So we teach both Justice and Max. And the whole lesson Max in super engaged and asked super good questions. At first I thought Max knew Justice but found out that he was just taking cover from the rain. After the lesson was finished, Max agreed to take more lessons. It was awesome!! I love how everything works out in the work of the Lord!

Well i hope that everyone has a great week this week!! I love you all!! Until next time!!!

Love,
Elder Parco

-Fetching rain water cause we ran out!! Also got some water from a pipe that broke. (Don't worry we didn't drink this water... although Elder Carpenter does have a filter)

- Big stack of Pancakes!!

-Got soaked from putting the buckets out for the rain!

Contacts and spirtually led paths

A Nice Contact

So this week marks the first week of a new transfer with Elder Carpenter and we are starting to do wonders. This week we did lots of finding and contacting, since the teaching pool is starting to get low. But anyways we were in section 2, and stopped by the gas station to get some juice, and then these drunk couple was yelling for our attention, and asked us to teach the law of Chasity to them... haha while they were snuggled up to each other. haha But while they were talking to us this other guy comes, with two others that followed that were a little loopy and asks us for a pamphlet. So... we give him one. And he tells us to meet him tomorrow at his car washing place. So we set an appointment and visited him the next day. Not really thinking much about what had happened. The next day we come. And find him busy, so he tells us to come back in an hours time. So we do. Then to our astonishment. He takes out the pamphlet that we gave, (Talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ) And we see that he has written down questions and underlined the pamphlet. We teach him the lesson and ask if invite him to baptism and church. And he agreed. It was awesome! So now we are going to be teaching this guy more about the lessons we have.

Spiritually lead path to Sister Maponga

On Friday... we had a set appointment to meet with Tony at 5 in section 1. Well we go there and he isn't there where we usually meet. And we don't know where he lives. So we saw this guy walking on the street and we thought, "Well Let's just ask him!" So we ask if he knows Tony, and he's like "Yeah!" I'll show you where he lives!" So he leads us to the house and talk to the mama, and find out... That he is going to be out of town until January... SO that was a bummer. But as we leave the gate... we asked the guy who helped us.. "So, do you have time for a gospel lesson??" And he said, "Yeah, sure!" "Let's teach at my house." So we go to the house, and as we are headed there I start to recognize the place. Sister Maponga, one of our investigators lived in this area. So I ask, "Do you happen to know Sister Maponga?" And he says, "Yeah that's my mother!" haha Tinotenda, the one who was helping us, was the son of Sister Maponga. And it was perfect because we have been trying to get in contact with Sister Maponga to set a time for a lesson, but haven't been able to. So we go to the house, and teach Sister Maponga and his son. It was absolutely inspired and perfect.

Well I hope everyone had a great week this week! Those were my adventures this week! Until Next Time!!

Love you all!,

Elder Parco

Just got one picture of the meeting house.. while we were hiding from the rain...

Exchanges and D

Transfers Once Again! (Seems like it just happened??)

Yet again we hit another transfer! Making it transfer 12! Time really has flown by though because the time spent with Elder Mbafu went by super fast. I will miss that Tanzanian of mine. haha straight from his frist 12 weeks, but one of the oldest Elders (age wise) on the mission. But he will be now moving to a town called Dama Falls. Pretty close to where Kambuzuma is. But now I have a new companion. Another one from America. His name is Elder Carpenter and he is from Burley Idaho. He's a sweet guy. Excited to be doing work with him. 

Exchanges with Elder Khumalo

This week on Wednesday again, I got to go on exchanges with Elder Khumalo. He is a super cool guy from South Africa, Durban. We enjoyed and were able to learn a lot together. But one cool thing that happened. So i have been talking about this Bro. Cramner guy a lot in my letters recently. Well That day we got to visit him. And as usual he was super excited to see us that day. He sat us down and began to talk. He said he has been reading more. And even all of the pamphlets that we have given him. And he said.. "I still know that the Book of Mormon is true. And I think I now understand what this message means." Then he asked us. "Elders I want you to be straight with me, What do I need to do?" And we told him, Find these things to be true, repent and be baptized. Then after a long thought. We asked what he wanted to do.. He then pointed to the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and said, "This is what I want. I want Salvation" It was awesome! And then he said that he is going to make the decision now and going to share these things with his family and ask them what they want to do. Then he would give us a call when his family made the decision. It was powerful. And ever since that meeting we have been praying very hard that this family will accept the message that we shared. But for now Keep him in your prayers. 

Baptism of Delany

This Saturday we also had the baptism of Delany. A 11 year old boy who loves the church and the gospel. Amazing fact about him. Is even though English is not his first language and his understanding of English isn't the best. Every time we taught him, he understood. And we would ask him what something meant and he would reply perfectly. He was powerful and now is into the fold of God. I was so happy to see as well, when he was baptized, his goko, (Grandma) came who isn't a member and she seemed so very happy for his baptism. Like I always say. I love seeing people get baptized.

Well I hope that everyone had a great week this week! I love you all!! Until NExt Time!

Love,

Elder Parco

Pictures:

-Exchanges with Elder Khumalo

-LAst week with Mbafu so had to take lots of pictures! haha

-Baptism of Delany

-Made these cool district shirts!