Sunday, October 23, 2016

Even the Drunks Love the Missionaries, A Christ-Like Missoinary vs Doing Missionary Things and Studying More Than I Ever Did in High School


hey family-well this last week was pretty amazing. First mom i got your lettern from august 4th (really fast delivery here) it's funny God has a sense of humor the time i got it we where at our flat with no lunch and the letter was half about food...anyway so last week we had lost our phone in the area which made it hard to make plans. So we exersised our faith and applied 1 nephi 4:6 about beng lead by the spirit not knowing where to go and alot of things happened. We just happened to find alot of people we had not been able to find. Like the man that had randomly come to church two weeks ago then showed up at the chips stand where we were getting lunch and is now being taught. Or passing your golden investigator on your way to his house. Or that one person you saw a month ago randomly came back to church. The biggest blessing has been teaching two wonderful families. The gospel is all about families and it is amazing to see it bless them all together. First, the lady we met a few weeks ago is now doing great with her family and is just eating the gospel up with zeal and has been to church twice. The husband works as a gardener at a library and reads the sciptures durning breaks with his friends. The other family we meet through their son, who is a branch missionary. It is amazing to see this young man testify of Christ to his family. We really don't have to do much work, the spirit is so strong. We also got to help a less active family paint her house to water proof it before the rains come. That was a great experience and really helped build trust with her and she thanked us with a big plate of Nshima...ah malawi. I love these people they just love to talk to you even the drunks love the missionaries here and we've meet alot of those. Also another small miracle is when  elder ketchum and i were out of bread on friday which is big because we go through at least two loaves a week so we're at the neighboorhood grocery picking up some things at the end of a long succsessful day teaching and there is no bread left......and we don't know what to do and so after asking around we went to check out when we saw a loaf of bread sitting by the counter unclaimed.....miracles. We aslo got to teach a great lesson with our branch president who served his mission in Uganda. He was very powerful as we taught a sweet sister about the plan of salvation. By the end of it she was crying tears of joy as she felt her Savior's love for her. unfortunatley she will be moving down to Blantyre the end of the month but luckily we will be able to send her to the missionaries down there. We also got to watch conmfrence this weekend. This was the first time in my life confrence really meant something to me. Sitting in a small house in Lilongwe, malawi instead of sprawled on the couch eating food i was really looking to be spiritualy uplifted. It was so great o\to hear of the many talks about repentance, joy, faith , and missionary work. i especailly loved Elder Nelsons talk about finding joy in the gospel through troubling times . I really found that true on my mission if you focus on the savior the hard times melt away to open your eyes to the blessings of living the gospel. I found an acranym the other day Spirtualy Minded Is Life Eternal-SMILE. The gospel does bring joy and strength through trails.  ive  seen it everyday that i've been here in Africa. Now to the fun side of missions because there is alot of fun:  on saturday night the Elders in our zone went out for a big Indian buffet (alot of indian food here lots of forgieners plus african love curry) and i ate a stupid amount. As i was busy stuffing myself with Naan and spiced mutton i refected on how fast ive come to feel at home. one things i love about missions is the brotherhood and belonging. I noticed it back in the airport in Atlanta;  there is a strong bond between at the missionaries because our united purpose. Also in my personal study i've been study the concept of becoming a christlike missionary, not just doing missionary things. It's great i'm studying more that i ever did in high school....oh well i love you all 

elder lusk 




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