Hey
family it has been a pretty crazy week here kinda the ultimate week of highs
and lows. So about 85-90% of our appointments this week dropped. A lot of us
showing up to places and nobody is home and a lot of people don't have phones
here so calling ahead doesn't work. Also we did not have power most of the week
which means no dinner which is hard after you just walked 6 miles and had only
street fries for lunch because your favorite nshima stand closed...as far as
miracles though we had two baptisms!!!! On saturday we baptized two youth we
have been working with and on Sunday we confirmed them. It is very exciting and humbling to see two people enter the waters
of baptism and receive those blessings and really feeling God's love for them
as they receive the Holy Ghost. They are such great kids and they have grown so
much. I just know they will be very instrumental in the Lord's hands in growing
the church here in Lilongwe. Also had a man we met on the street and taught
came to church, committed to be baptized, and then even assisted the
branch choir in getting ready for district conference on Sunday. It is amazing to see
that God has prepared this brother to receive the message of the gospel. Right
now, we have three people on date to be baptized in October and possibly more to
come. I also learned how much smarter our Heavenly Father is than I think. We
had a lesson with a man we had only met once and had not seen in two weeks. At
first, I was thinking this guy is crazy, I don't know about this but then he ended up
saying he loved the gospel and wants to come to church but his wife was unsure
of it and I was suddenly humbled. No matter what I think, our Father always knows.
We also had a chance to meet with a member who has been having alot of
challenges lately and we had a brief but powerful lesson on relying on our
Savior through trials and what we can learn from them. As I said the prayer at
the end of the lesson ,it came over me all the trials,fear, and doubt I have had
since being out and how much the Savior has carried me and the strengthening
power of the gospel. By the time I finished, I had tears pouring down my face as
I was filled with love for him sitting in this humble mud shack out in
Lilongwe, Malawi of all places but I have never felt so strong (despite losing a
few pounds this week). I know my Savior has our backs. I have also come to
realize how much I took for granted with the church organization back home. In our mission,
there is only one stake in Lusaka and every where else is small branches. All the
members are recent converts and many do not understand much of the gospel but
their faith is so strong.
love
elder lusk
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