Hey fam
I am now on the last week of my mission. More on that later. We had a fun week. We are now living with four elders in a tiny little flat which is a mixture of craziness and laughs but I think Heavenly Father understands because he is the one who sends out 18-20somethings to do his work.
We have a baptism this coming Saturday for one of the strongest sisters I have met out here. She's a widow who is super spiritually in tune. One of my first converts is now a Relief Society president and this one may join those ranks soon. Also, special because it will be my last baptism on my mission.
We had a ward BBQ on Saturday. At one point, I was sitting on the tailgate tossing aootball with another missionary while chicken was grilling, the sun was shining and it was pretty close to a perfect moment.
Now to some of my thoughts on finishing in a week:
I wasn't sure I'd make it here at times. It has been the hardest the hardest thing I've ever done in my life next to none. That being said, It has been the most fulfilling despite the frustrations. I know I've changed a lot and honestly its a lot like how I felt before I left where I was so ready to go start the next adventure but at the same time was terrified to find myself on the other side of the world doing all new things. I've come to love Africa and really understand people and who they are. I've found out that cultures change but people don't all that much. People still think and act the same no matter where you go.
Big shout out to all the congregations where I have served..Presidential Way (Lilongwe), Lilongwe, Blantyre 2nd, Kitwe and Matero. Also to all the companions who put up with me...Ketchum, Almedia, Chawaguta, Kigonya, Day, Jonah, Robins, Tidwell, Mbile and Burnard.Good Work boys! Its been a pleasure. Can't wait to see you on the other side!
Love Elder Lusk
Sunday, August 5, 2018
A Surprise Baptism, Team Lusk Took the Victory and Enjoying the Brotherhood
Hey fam
Time is getting short but I am trying my best to press on. We had a complete miracle this week. Alex, the young man we met last week, was baptized on Saturday! It was a surprise for us, too, but the time was right and he was ready. Last week, when we were planning, we put down to have a baptism although we didn't know who it would be but then when we were teaching him on Tuesday, we got the strong impression to commit him to be baptized on Saturday and he happily committed. It was such a sweet experience knowing he was led to us at this time and he was prepared on Sunday as he was an active participant in both gospel principles class and priesthood quorum. He even told us he wants to prepare to serve a mission.
The rest of the week was a little down and we had some disappointments. The other day, we were walking in the area after a few fall-throughs and were kind of bummed out so we just grabbed a couple of the local sandlot kids and split the teams and for about twenty minutes, played some soccer. To top it off, team Lusk took the 6-4 victory over team Burnard with yours truly adding two goals. We also started a companionship goal for talking to people. If we don't meet the goal, we have to sleep on the floor and have cold showers. I would say it is effective in getting us to open our mouths. My companion is also a champion eater so we have been enjoying that. Last night, we enjoyed a great night with our buddies, Elder Harmon and Elder Robins where we made a huge pile of food and hung out enjoying the brotherhood of service.
Love you all and see you soon
Elder Lusk
Time is getting short but I am trying my best to press on. We had a complete miracle this week. Alex, the young man we met last week, was baptized on Saturday! It was a surprise for us, too, but the time was right and he was ready. Last week, when we were planning, we put down to have a baptism although we didn't know who it would be but then when we were teaching him on Tuesday, we got the strong impression to commit him to be baptized on Saturday and he happily committed. It was such a sweet experience knowing he was led to us at this time and he was prepared on Sunday as he was an active participant in both gospel principles class and priesthood quorum. He even told us he wants to prepare to serve a mission.
The rest of the week was a little down and we had some disappointments. The other day, we were walking in the area after a few fall-throughs and were kind of bummed out so we just grabbed a couple of the local sandlot kids and split the teams and for about twenty minutes, played some soccer. To top it off, team Lusk took the 6-4 victory over team Burnard with yours truly adding two goals. We also started a companionship goal for talking to people. If we don't meet the goal, we have to sleep on the floor and have cold showers. I would say it is effective in getting us to open our mouths. My companion is also a champion eater so we have been enjoying that. Last night, we enjoyed a great night with our buddies, Elder Harmon and Elder Robins where we made a huge pile of food and hung out enjoying the brotherhood of service.
Love you all and see you soon
Elder Lusk
Disturbing the Peace, Can I Have a Fry?, The Atonement, and Anacondas and Crocodiles
Hey fam
We had a great week, went way hard and had a lot of fun. First, our baptism went great despite the freezing water. Luckily cold season Is almost over. The baptism was special seeing the little sister now follow her older sister's footsteps into the waters of baptism in order to follow the Savior.
We had a lot of fun "disturbing the peace" to find people. For example, a couple was walking by and I just walked up and started holding the guy's hand without saying anything or even looking at him. After a few steps, I started busting up laughing then soon he followed and we ended up having a nice chat and have an appointment this week with him. Another time, a guy was sitting in his car eating lunch and I just went up and asked for a fry and he gave me one so we just started talking.One of the most powerful experiences of my mission though was we met this young guy who just looked way sad so we sat down with him and he shared with us some pain he was unnecessarily carrying after a recent traumatic experience that him jarred because he felt responsible. We had a great lesson with him and were able to testify of the Atonement and later he even told us how he's looking for a church. We met with him later and his whole countenance had changed to one of joy and he had read and understood the whole Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It was just one of those validating experiences of ministering and being in the right place at the right time to reach the one. We also had my last zone conference and that was way good. Giving my last testimony was weird but it felt good and after the conference, the Kupus took both zones to Kalimba Farms, a reptile park where we saw some crazy snakes including an anaconda and some big old Nile Crocs and then we played some soccer.
On top of that, I'm having a blast. The four of us in Matero ward are all good buddies and we're just enjoying life and working hard, gyming every morning and we're getting fed a ton by our ward. Seriously, dinners almost every night here. Also, on the fourth, we belted out the Anthem so loud, the neighbors heard. As a wise man once said, never apologize for being patriotic.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
We had a great week, went way hard and had a lot of fun. First, our baptism went great despite the freezing water. Luckily cold season Is almost over. The baptism was special seeing the little sister now follow her older sister's footsteps into the waters of baptism in order to follow the Savior.
We had a lot of fun "disturbing the peace" to find people. For example, a couple was walking by and I just walked up and started holding the guy's hand without saying anything or even looking at him. After a few steps, I started busting up laughing then soon he followed and we ended up having a nice chat and have an appointment this week with him. Another time, a guy was sitting in his car eating lunch and I just went up and asked for a fry and he gave me one so we just started talking.One of the most powerful experiences of my mission though was we met this young guy who just looked way sad so we sat down with him and he shared with us some pain he was unnecessarily carrying after a recent traumatic experience that him jarred because he felt responsible. We had a great lesson with him and were able to testify of the Atonement and later he even told us how he's looking for a church. We met with him later and his whole countenance had changed to one of joy and he had read and understood the whole Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It was just one of those validating experiences of ministering and being in the right place at the right time to reach the one. We also had my last zone conference and that was way good. Giving my last testimony was weird but it felt good and after the conference, the Kupus took both zones to Kalimba Farms, a reptile park where we saw some crazy snakes including an anaconda and some big old Nile Crocs and then we played some soccer.
On top of that, I'm having a blast. The four of us in Matero ward are all good buddies and we're just enjoying life and working hard, gyming every morning and we're getting fed a ton by our ward. Seriously, dinners almost every night here. Also, on the fourth, we belted out the Anthem so loud, the neighbors heard. As a wise man once said, never apologize for being patriotic.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
Kicking up the Dust, Personal Inventory, Our Heroes Still Struggle and Sweet, Crispy Duck
Hey fam
I don't know how but I am now the longest serving Elder in the mission. Tomorrow we say good-bye to an excellent group of Elders that I'm very close to and look forward to seeing a few of them around Utah State canpus soon. Last night, we talked about all the good times and what the future holds. But for me, I'm ready to kick the dust out of these next six weeks. This week was great. We met an awesome guy who has been taught just about everything and we are just helping him overcome some old habits before his baptism. We are also teaching a great young guy who ended up practically team-teaching our gospel principles class with me on Sunday on repentance with it being just his second Sunday at church. We did have to spend two days in the flat with my sick companion which gave me a lot of time for studying and some personal inventory. I spent some time doing some honest evaluation of the past 22 and 1/2 months and looking at ways I've changed and some of the things I would have done differently. While I can say I still wish I could improve a lot more out here in the time I have left, I was able to see just how much I have been able to learn and luckily the path of improvement is still a long way from over. Plus, I was able to see examples in the scriptures where who we see as heroes still struggled under their weaknesses and mistakes but, like them,I have seen so much grace and mercy come from a patient, loving Heavenly Father.
In celebration of mission completions, we went out to Lusaka's finest Thai restaurant and I have to say their sweet and sour crispy duck was divine.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
I don't know how but I am now the longest serving Elder in the mission. Tomorrow we say good-bye to an excellent group of Elders that I'm very close to and look forward to seeing a few of them around Utah State canpus soon. Last night, we talked about all the good times and what the future holds. But for me, I'm ready to kick the dust out of these next six weeks. This week was great. We met an awesome guy who has been taught just about everything and we are just helping him overcome some old habits before his baptism. We are also teaching a great young guy who ended up practically team-teaching our gospel principles class with me on Sunday on repentance with it being just his second Sunday at church. We did have to spend two days in the flat with my sick companion which gave me a lot of time for studying and some personal inventory. I spent some time doing some honest evaluation of the past 22 and 1/2 months and looking at ways I've changed and some of the things I would have done differently. While I can say I still wish I could improve a lot more out here in the time I have left, I was able to see just how much I have been able to learn and luckily the path of improvement is still a long way from over. Plus, I was able to see examples in the scriptures where who we see as heroes still struggled under their weaknesses and mistakes but, like them,I have seen so much grace and mercy come from a patient, loving Heavenly Father.
In celebration of mission completions, we went out to Lusaka's finest Thai restaurant and I have to say their sweet and sour crispy duck was divine.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
A Balmy 67 Dgrees or Maybe it was 47, Soccer at Olympic Park and Mothers Without Borders
Hey fam
We had a super successful week here! To start, we had a wonderful baptism on Saturday which was a sweet experience all involved. Our dear sister has overcome so much and I saw a look of pure joy on her face afterwards despite the fact that now cold season is in full swing and the water in the outdoor font was a balmy 67 degrees.
Along with the baptism, the week was very productive. We had been struggling a bit the last two weeks but we had six people come to church and found a lot of new investigators. It was way awesome. We were totally lead this week to just happen to be in the right place at the right time to meet some great people. One of the guys lives just next to the church and just came from western provence looking for work and, ironically, a church, too. Then we were walking one day and saw two women and some kids moving some bricks and we jumped in and now have a nice family we are teaching. It's really awesome to see things picking up here. We have another two baptisms lined up in the next few weeks for some truly golden investigators like the kind you go on your mission to teach.
On Sunday, I got to teach gospel principles again and we had a few surprise guests also. We got joined by a group of 9 Americans working with Mothers Without Borders which is located close to Matero and it turns out they are the first of a few groups coming out in the next two months. A little more pressure was on me to teach, at that point, but the lesson went over great.
So, a member of our ward coaches a soccer team that plays at the Olympic park by our place and so on Saturday nights we like to go support but the other night was freezing (yes, it does get cold here). The temperature read 47 degrees with wind. Luckily, I grabbed my sweater and we ran over to the mall and found some over-priced hot chocolate to get us through. So, yeah, it was a great week.
Time is flying by here.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
We had a super successful week here! To start, we had a wonderful baptism on Saturday which was a sweet experience all involved. Our dear sister has overcome so much and I saw a look of pure joy on her face afterwards despite the fact that now cold season is in full swing and the water in the outdoor font was a balmy 67 degrees.
Along with the baptism, the week was very productive. We had been struggling a bit the last two weeks but we had six people come to church and found a lot of new investigators. It was way awesome. We were totally lead this week to just happen to be in the right place at the right time to meet some great people. One of the guys lives just next to the church and just came from western provence looking for work and, ironically, a church, too. Then we were walking one day and saw two women and some kids moving some bricks and we jumped in and now have a nice family we are teaching. It's really awesome to see things picking up here. We have another two baptisms lined up in the next few weeks for some truly golden investigators like the kind you go on your mission to teach.
On Sunday, I got to teach gospel principles again and we had a few surprise guests also. We got joined by a group of 9 Americans working with Mothers Without Borders which is located close to Matero and it turns out they are the first of a few groups coming out in the next two months. A little more pressure was on me to teach, at that point, but the lesson went over great.
So, a member of our ward coaches a soccer team that plays at the Olympic park by our place and so on Saturday nights we like to go support but the other night was freezing (yes, it does get cold here). The temperature read 47 degrees with wind. Luckily, I grabbed my sweater and we ran over to the mall and found some over-priced hot chocolate to get us through. So, yeah, it was a great week.
Time is flying by here.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
The Gratitude Cycle, A Tongan Feast, A Courageous Baptism, Birthday Party,and Getting to Know Peter
Hey Fam!
Somehow it's June!
We had a pretty good week. We started off with a combined zone conference on Tuesday and the area doctor visited and put the fear of God (and Malaria) into us. Then Sister Kupu gave an awesome lesson on the counter the scriptural plaque of the pride cycle by teaching the gratitude cycle. Whereas pride leads to disobedience, hate and ultimately destruction, the gratitude cycle focuses on thanksgiving for blessings, consecrated sacrifice, and ultimately lasting conversion. Very powerful. Then our new Tongan-American senior couple, the Fakalaka's made an epic feast for lunch...always appreciated.
The rest of the week went well. We are happy to be holding a baptism this weekend. Our courageous sister is ready to be baptized and I couldn't be happier for her. She has truly been changing as we have taught her.
We also had a great experience with another investigator who is learning so fast and we are hoping to get him out to church this week.
An awesome member family brought their cousin to church yesterday so we got to pick up a great, new investigator through their faithful efforts.
For fun this week, there is an awesome family that has all four missionaries in our ward over for dinner every Saturday night and they always make the best food and treat us well. The dad had served in this mission several years back and then came back from Burundi to get married and they stuck around. Anyway, he had a birthday so we brought over pizzas and feasted with them and yes, we did dump water on him.
I was also reviewing an old talk I believe from Oct 2012 where Elder Holland talks about the Savior's post-Resurrection interview by the sea with Peter where he kinda kicks his butt in gear again after Peter and the others just went back to fishing instead of carrying on the work. Over the past 22 months, I feel like I've come to know Peter pretty well because I feel, at times, I can be a little like him in his passionate, impulsive weaknesses. Great talk if you get a chance to see it again.
Love you all and keep the home fires burning for me.
Love Elder Lusk
Somehow it's June!
We had a pretty good week. We started off with a combined zone conference on Tuesday and the area doctor visited and put the fear of God (and Malaria) into us. Then Sister Kupu gave an awesome lesson on the counter the scriptural plaque of the pride cycle by teaching the gratitude cycle. Whereas pride leads to disobedience, hate and ultimately destruction, the gratitude cycle focuses on thanksgiving for blessings, consecrated sacrifice, and ultimately lasting conversion. Very powerful. Then our new Tongan-American senior couple, the Fakalaka's made an epic feast for lunch...always appreciated.
The rest of the week went well. We are happy to be holding a baptism this weekend. Our courageous sister is ready to be baptized and I couldn't be happier for her. She has truly been changing as we have taught her.
We also had a great experience with another investigator who is learning so fast and we are hoping to get him out to church this week.
An awesome member family brought their cousin to church yesterday so we got to pick up a great, new investigator through their faithful efforts.
For fun this week, there is an awesome family that has all four missionaries in our ward over for dinner every Saturday night and they always make the best food and treat us well. The dad had served in this mission several years back and then came back from Burundi to get married and they stuck around. Anyway, he had a birthday so we brought over pizzas and feasted with them and yes, we did dump water on him.
I was also reviewing an old talk I believe from Oct 2012 where Elder Holland talks about the Savior's post-Resurrection interview by the sea with Peter where he kinda kicks his butt in gear again after Peter and the others just went back to fishing instead of carrying on the work. Over the past 22 months, I feel like I've come to know Peter pretty well because I feel, at times, I can be a little like him in his passionate, impulsive weaknesses. Great talk if you get a chance to see it again.
Love you all and keep the home fires burning for me.
Love Elder Lusk
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Glad I Didn't Ruin Him,The Spirit Testified, Nephi's Faith and Hitting US Soil
Hey fam
Transfer news came and my companion and I are staying. And Elder Robins, my old trainee, is now the zone leader here so that's way cool and we are in the same ward so we get to see each other a lot and I'm proud to see the missionary he's become. Luckily, having me as his first companion didn't ruin him.
We taught a lot of powerful lessons this week where the Spirit was able to testify. We have two awesome investigators who are progressing well towards baptism soon. One is a friend of a member who, despite struggling with English, has pushed ahead bravely in learning and coming to church. The other is a 15 year old niece of a member and is super smart, learns fast and even helps translate for her mother. She also wants to grow up and be a soldier which is a cool connection we have.
I've started reading the Book of Mormon for the 7th time since being on my mission. I recently read how Nephi felt the weight of his imperfections and the trials he faces but then rejoices in the Lord as his strength and declare that he shouldn't worry about those things that are hard around him and give in to temptations because of his faith and miracles he has seen.
Anyway, I found out I am definitely hitting US soil on August 8.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
Transfer news came and my companion and I are staying. And Elder Robins, my old trainee, is now the zone leader here so that's way cool and we are in the same ward so we get to see each other a lot and I'm proud to see the missionary he's become. Luckily, having me as his first companion didn't ruin him.
We taught a lot of powerful lessons this week where the Spirit was able to testify. We have two awesome investigators who are progressing well towards baptism soon. One is a friend of a member who, despite struggling with English, has pushed ahead bravely in learning and coming to church. The other is a 15 year old niece of a member and is super smart, learns fast and even helps translate for her mother. She also wants to grow up and be a soldier which is a cool connection we have.
I've started reading the Book of Mormon for the 7th time since being on my mission. I recently read how Nephi felt the weight of his imperfections and the trials he faces but then rejoices in the Lord as his strength and declare that he shouldn't worry about those things that are hard around him and give in to temptations because of his faith and miracles he has seen.
Anyway, I found out I am definitely hitting US soil on August 8.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
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