Sam's Mission To Zambia Blog: July 23, 2018

From Mom - Staycation

Dear Sammy Sam,

For the first time in a lot of years, we're just sticking around home for the summer. No travels for us except to Koocanusa and LYR ... but that's still pretty close to home.

There are some benefits ...

1) We are actually around to weed and take care of the garden and it's the best garden we've ever had (which isn't saying much as we haven't had a ton of success in the past). But still. We might get some zucchini for the first time. Carrots, beans, corn, lettuce, peas (actual peas!), beets and a pepper or two. The deer haven't really gotten into it but Sheena Rector saw a black bear in her back yard and there have been a few sightings around the lake which might be the reason the deer are keeping away.

2) We get to go on day trips. We saw two Shakespeare plays (Hamlet and Comedy of Errors), swam twice at Jubilee Park at Wizard Lake, took in the Calmar spray park and spent time at the river. Today we are going to the West Edmonton Mall Waterpark, mostly because Kurri is visiting with Ellie, Benson and Cody.

3) We get to see the terrific storms that sweep through the area. One night this week, Dad and I were woken up around 1:00 a.m. to the brilliant flashing light of lightening and the crash-boom of thunder. It was so bright and loud, the girls came tumbling into our room and into our bed to cuddle away the fear. Mia thought the house was going to be struck by lightening. Shortly thereafter, Ben joined us saying, "are you guys seeing this?" At that point we all got up and watched the storm and it was one of the biggest ones I've ever seen. The rain came pounding down followed by some angry hail. I watched as it shredded the flowers growing in our planters. It was crazy but made for a memorable night.

4) When you stay home, people come visit you! Kurri is here right now, like I said, but we've had quite a few sleep overs with friends and have some plans in the future for firepits. Josh is currently on his way home and Steph is planning to come this summer. At Koocanusa, we decided that the next Bruce family reunion will be here at our place. My brothers and I are currently making plans to do a trail run hopefully nearby in Devon, and if we do that, they'll come and stay with me. Pretty fun. I've started running again in preparation for a half marathon in November with Steph and Shannon. If all goes as planned I'll do a 13 km trail race in Devon in September, then the 21 km half marathon in November. This will help me with my health goals.

5) We get to work on the property and the house. Little by little, we're creating a walking path through the forest. Right now it starts at the top of the yard by the fence, then meanders down through the forest to the tree house. We're hoping to make it go down all the way to the bottom of the acreage and hopefully end up with a lovely long walking trail. We've also got doors on the garage, so slowly, things are improving and looking more settled.

So, all in all, we've had a nice summer so far.

And how are things with you, Elder Smith? What are you learning from being a zone leader? Is the weather sill pretty chilly for you right now? Is that one sweater enough to keep the chill off? It doesn't really make sense for us to send you one unless it's impossible to buy a sweater in Zambia, so you should do that ... spend some of your money and buy a sweater. I just deposited another $170 into your account from a government GST cheque, so you have a little extra in there. How is your humility? Remember you were trying not to be prideful? How is that going? ; ) I'm getting close to finishing the Book of Mormon and currently reading about how quick the people were to forget God in spite of all the miracles they saw and turn back to their prideful ways. Reading about this makes me more aware of my own pride and helps me to turn to the Lord. Here is a perfect example ...

You know how the church changed the home/visiting teaching program to one of "ministering?" The idea is that you truly serve and love without the parameters of once-a-month-with-a-message, prayerfully meeting the needs of those people in whatever way they need. It's about developing relationships and easing burdens and using revelation to do it. Anyway, Renata Bango was put on my ministering assignment. My partner is Sarah Shin, a Korean lady who wants to join the church but her husband won't give her permission to get baptized, so she is as active as she can in all the ways without becoming a member. Anyway, I thought this would be the easiest ministering assignment in the world. I already visit Renata on a regular basis and know what is going on in her life. I suppose it was a bit of a prideful thought to think I already was good on this one, but in a humble moment, I decided to set up a visit and bring Sarah along. When we got there, I quickly realized that there are forces at work that I don't fully understand. Sarah just moved here from Toronto and the Bangos want to move there so Sarah told them everything they needed to know about Toronto. Then, because she is an early childhood educator, she helped Lili learn some letters and numbers. Renata almost cried with relief because she was so worried Lili didn't know anything English because of her Hungarian language. I watched as Renata fed Sarah and told her about how she used to be against the church and about Renata's miraculous conversion. Ede told Sarah that her husband would come around, just like Renata did. When I dropped Sarah off back at her home, she expressed how grateful and uplifting it was to serve and be served by others. Sarah regards the church as a great miracle in her life because she has never know the love and support that we give each other. I suppose I humbled myself enough to see ministering in action and two peoples' lives improved upon and helped by the other.

Yes, it is better to be humble.

We pray for you everyday. I know it sounds a little trite, but trust me when I say that when you have a son in far away Africa and there is nothing you can do EXCEPT pray that he will be safe, that he will learn important things to build his character, that he will be strong on his own ... those prayers become more meaningful and more faith filled. We love you so much and hope all is well.

Mom

P.S. My phone is currently missing so I can't send you pictures at the moment. Maybe I will get off this little Chrome Book and go looking, then I can send you pictures if I find it. LOVE YOU!!

From Sam - Reply to Mom:

Hello Family,

Thanks for the question Mom, because I don't know exactly what to put in my email so they're helpful.

1. Zoneleading is fun but hard. I have a few more responsibilities which aren't that bad. The big reason why it's a little harder is usually the ZLs have a truck assigned to them but now the whole South-East Africa missions are going through a process of there having no trucks for the missionaries. So I still have the truck but we don't use it for proselyting. The only time I use it is for Zone leader stuff like exchanges, baptismal interviews and driving missionaries around when we need to.

2. The weather is still a little cold. But today it has started to warm up a little. The sweater, I have I found in the flat I'm staying in and it is good enough for keeping me warm.

3. Not having a truck helps with not being prideful. Right now, my companion is just over 19 months so He is helping me learn how to be a better missionary. So that's also helping me stay humble.

Anyway, If there are other questions, please ask them because I'm clueless enough to not know what other people want to hear.

Lots of love,

-Elder Smith

From Sam - Great Week for the Weak

Hello all!

This week has had its ups and downs. But all in all it was great. I received, opened and shared my package that my family sent me. Lots of stuff I miss from home. I found out that Canadian Smarties are way better then South African/Zambian Smarties.

This week we found two girls who have actual problems. (I'm not saying other people don't have real problems) But they feel guilt, and like God had abandoned them. So It's been nice to not just share the gospel but to apply the gospel to my investigators. It's been fun studying for them.

Also, in my study I found the Book of Mormon Study guide and It has really helped me understand the Book of Mormon better. With the Guide I'm reading 7-10 pages a day, so i'm zooming through the Book of Mormon. It's great.

This last Saturday, the ward i'm serving in(Libala) had an open house where all the members split into the separate groups(YM,YW, Family history, Relief Society, ect) And the missionaries did a missionary work presentation. It was really fun and though there wasn't a lot of people, we did get some members to bring their friends.

Last night the bishops wife had us over for dinner because we were giving her all of our lemons, and I was giving her some of my Canadian candy. She made us some Indian food, which was so so good. I ate until I almost burst. I love the bishops family. There's a girl named Gabby and she is really funny. I have a video with her and me trying to get her to dance.

This week has been great, I love you all,

Elder Smith

Pictures:

-My old companion with his DNA Character