Monday, August 4, 2014

Maputo 51st week - August 4, 2014

On P-day we went bowling. It was only really inexpensive. I am not positive, but I am pretty sure that it is cheaper than in America. It was so fun, I found out that I am not a super good bowler but it was really fun. After grocery shopping, Elder Carvalho and I played a lot of checkers. I actually like checkers. Elder Mistola and I had a family night with Rxxx and Lxxxx and their family. It was good to have the chance to help them #1 know how to have a family night and #2 help them start the tradition.

Tuesday in all honesty was a miracle. We had a nice full day with some really good lessons and contact. I finally was able to get a hold of the Private hospital to make my appointment with the surgeon to check out my hernia. We had one lesson marked in the morning that fell through so we contacted for a couple of hours, ate lunch, had companionship study and got out to the area. We sat with Sxxxxx, a contact. Turns out he is single, no wife or kids. It was a great lesson.

We were waiting for  Cxxxxx, a “youth”” in our branch (who is leaving on his mission to Cabo Verde soon) when a really old Machambo Mamma walked up to us. Her back was bent at a 90° angle. She spoke flawless Portuguese and told us “My son, do not walk at night!”

Cxxxxxx went with us to teach a lesson to  Dxxxxx and Ixxxxx. That turned out to be an incredible lesson. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Dxxxxx is astounding. He hit everything on the head. He knows exactly what faith and repentance are and how baptism has to be done by the proper authority. Cxxxxx bore a super powerful testimony. Then we sat with a new family Mxxxxxxx and Fxxxxxxxx. They were very nice. We asked Mxxxxxxx to say the closing prayer; he was really nervous but did. It is amazing how just  1 step of faith can lead to a path of confidence, trust and love.

Wednesday I started out a bit pessimistic, our first lesson fell though and I thought “It’s going to be another one of those days” but I am grateful to say Heavenly Father proved me wrongJ. We sat with Mxxxxxxxx again, we had a great lesson with him. Later we had a quick lesson with Dxxxxx. We were so blessed to have Axxxxxx sacrifice 4 hours of his day to walk with us. He is truly an awesome young adult. He just put in his mission papers. I cannot wait to find out where he gets called.

The best part of the day came at the end. We were on our way home, walking down the road. When a man stopped us and asked “I am sorry, but could I talk to you for a couple of minutes?” His heritage was not Mozamabiçan. He explained that he and his wife of 12 years had an argument. They hadn’t heard from each other in a week. He asked our advice on how to fix it. We shared our counsel and the Gospel. I hope it works out for him. You could really tell how much he loves her and wants a happy family again. It was a very special experience for me.

I had oddest experience. As we were walking by a car mechanic shop, I saw my brother Dallin. I had to look TEN times because this man looks EXACTLY like Dallin. (just with olive skin). He had the same build, features and everything. Talk about being made trunky in a split second… but hey, life!
Thursday, we had district leader meeting/training in Moagoanini. Elder Poyfair offered us a ride. It was a really nice meeting. We went directly from the meeting to the hospital Privado. President and Sister Kretly met us there. I had a “consultation” with Doctor Polacios. President Kretly sat in on that, which I am so very grateful for. So the breakdown is this, my hernia is still “small” however, it can be just as problematic as a large one. The doctor told president and I that it could become a problem tomorrow or in 5 years. It is an unpredictable thing.

Friday, What a day! First thing in the morning we ran to the Registro and got the procecesses started. I am so happy that the governmental bureaucracy part is finished. Now we just have to plan to make sure the wedding and baptisms go well. After the Registro we had district meeting then baptismal interviews with Dxxxxx and Ixxxxx then again with Dxxxxx and Mxxxx. That all worked out nicely. Then we ran with Dxxxxx and Ixxxxx to a member couple’s home (He is American she is Brazilian, he works for the US Embassy) to see if the wedding dress she has would work for Ixxxxx and thankfully it did. I was so grateful the crazy search for a dress for Ixxxx is complete. We found out that one couple has a cake but the other doesn’t so we tried and failed to make a cake it was horrible. What is important is that they are being married so that they can make sacred covenants with God.

July flew by way to quicky. Saturday was a wonderful Wedding/Baptism day! Whoo-Hoo! It was awesome. Both couples looked great, and it all worked out very nicely. It amazed me how with our limited perspective, we cannot see how in the world things can work out, but God has a very different way of looking at things. He already knows the end from the beginning. And we just have to do our best and simply trust in him and his wisdom. The weddings went great! The baptism also went great. It did take a super long time though. A wedding that was supposed to start at 12H  didn’t start until 14H and went until 16:30H. Bem Vindo á Missáo (Welcome to the Mission).  But it was good. After the wedding Elder Mistola and I came home for our studies. We made a goal to do studies every single day. It is a commandment. Not to mention very very important to study daily.


Holy smokes! Another one bites the dust! The weeks are just flying by. Today was good, whoop! Sadly our number of investigators at church dropped by 4. But I would much rather have them as members than investigator J. We had a whopping 189 people there today, so many people that I, Elder Mistola, Elder Carvacho, and Sister Merkley ended up standing for all of Sacrament Meeting, it went real well. The rest of the day was nice we walked with Irmão Reis for three pretty decent lessons. The first one was interesting. We decided on the spot to talk about the Law of Chastity, in the first lesson. I don’t know, I felt like it was right, but I don’t know how well it went.


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