Dear Sam,
This week we've had some of the hottest days yet this year (between 30-35), yet as I sit here typing, it's rainy, cloudy and about 12 deg C. I can even see a few leaves turning in our forest. Hard to believe summer's drawing to a close, but its been a great one!
We're really excited and a little nervous for LYR coming up next week. Last minute details and simulations to plan and counselors to replace. Any chance you can get a week off and come be a last minute counselor :) Just kidding. I've been preparing to present at LYR and have loved thinking deeply and reading about the topic of "GRIT" and what it is that drives and sustains us in our pursuit of meaningful long term goals in spite of disappointment, setbacks and challenges. I'll send you some of what I came up with in a couple of weeks once I've given the talk.
Monday we decided to have a campfire for FHE and roast hot dogs and wieners. It's been fun to have Josh home and we enjoyed a quiet family evening together. The Bonnells came by (Jordan and his Mom) for a pop in visit. They are building a house on the acreage the other side of Bro. Milner's old house.
This week Sister Rice came and helped Mom re-finish the dining room table. It was getting pretty worse for wear and Sis Rice loves to refinish things. So in typical Mom style, she asked her to mentor her in the process. It was so nice to have the garage space to do it and it turned out amazing!
It's harvest time and our garden has been pretty good this year. We also planted a bunch of beans and potatoes over at the Patrick's garden too. Enjoying the garden fresh meals.
On Wednesday, Mom went on her yearly hike with her besties (Sioban Westropp and Jamelyn Stephan). They ended up going into Glacier National Park in Montana to climb mount Reynolds. She was sore but loved the views and the renewal of friendship.The girls ended up sleeping in my room on the floor while Mom was gone. Nice to have company :)
Yesterday was a really fun family day for us. Last week they announced a Stake Softball tournament on Saturday and Ben ended up signing us up. So we dug through our boxes and found our old gloves (many of which were yours that you used playing baseball!) and headed out to the Stake Center. At first, the girls especially weren't thrilled to be there, but as they began to try and exert a little effort, they found they could do it and actually enjoyed it a little. There were some disappointment when they didn't make it to base or hit a foul ball and had to come back and try again, but by the end, they were enthusiastically practicing and enjoying themselves. Mia and Abby are now asking us to buy a bat and balls (no idea what happened to the ones we used to have!).
This week I was able to teach the story of King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18, 19 and repeated in 2 Chronicles. He is one of my favorite Old Testament characters. Despite the terrible example of his father and grand father (idle worshipers), he chose the Lord, cleansed the temple, exercised faith to save hit people (I love the verse where they all wake up dead)
Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
Love you lots,
Dad
From Sam - The Power of Study:
Hello family, friends and everyone else,
This week has been a blast. This week was the official transfer week so I was driving a lot. 7 New missionaries(Elders) came in, mostly from the Tongan Islands, and 1 Sister, It's always great getting new missionaries because there is a feeling of freshness that you can't really explain in the air.
Then with the new missionaries, an Elder Mabala is now waiting to be transferred and is currently with us in a threesome for now. He's from South Africa and has been moving around his entire mission. But he's a good missionary and is trying to be better.
Last Monday after emailing and other things we went out to an American/Indian restaurant called Spur. It had a deal for buy a burger get one free for only 65 kwacha. Which is a commitment but still cheap. It was nice to be with other missionaries talking about missionary stuff.
Besides that I did a lot of walking. We have a place in our area called Komwala South that is far from the church, but we went to meet an investigator there and walked from the church for 30-45 minutes to find out that she wasn't able to meet us, so we tried all the other contacts that we had, but we ended up going back to the church so we can make it back to our coordination meeting with the Bishop. That was a long walk just for nothing to happen. The good news is I learned more of my area.
The other highlights of the week were going to Sister Kapema's for dinner and dessert. She cooks the best food. I took some videos but I can't upload them this week. But we played Bean-boozled with them from the one I gave them from my package. i got some pretty gross ones. And on Sunday someone(Mwazanji) invited us for a dinner appointment without us asking. I love it when we get Dinner appointments, it means that I don't have to cook. I just have to eat then teach. It's the best.
This week has been truly amazing. I was just reading about Joseph Smith and I became real to me how God is really wanting to answer our prayers. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God" All we have to do is cleanse ourselves from sin and humbly ask God willing to except his will and be willing to get to work afterwards. I have a testimony of prayer, so many of my prayers have been answered and i'm still working on becoming converted to prayer.
I love you all,
Elder Smith
Pictures:
-A movie that I wish to see.
-I just need a Bomb and I will find a secret passage
-My threesome and our flower pictures
-Elder Mabala is tuckered out
-You know you are a missionary when you can study and cook at the same time
-A spider got into the eggs
-A funny sign to tell people there is no road
-Picture of us at Spur(Sorry for them being blurry)
No comments:
Post a Comment