Man, I'm A Missoinary....I Like This Stuff, Show Them Some Love and Life Is Great, and Spaghetti Curry

Hey Fam-we had a really great week here, had a lot of fun and taught a lot of lessons. First it's still hotter than Hades out here and  the rains have not fully come yet. But despite the heat the work is great. We had baptismal interviews for a great family yesterday so they will be baptized on Sunday. So excited for them and  they are just the sweetest people ever and were so prepared to hear/live the gospel. We also had a lot of new investigators this week which is always exciting to teach new people. Our efforts to find have really been bringing in results. At our Zone meeting this week we where challenged by to have a baptism on Christmas day so we are praying right now to be able to celebrate the season with a baptism. (hopefully before then though elder ketchum leaves the 16th)  Also on December 2nd were going down to Blantyre for a combined Christmas party/zone conference so i'm really excited for that). 
 We also got surprise fed a lot this week and so we came up with a gospel message with Nshima (white corn flour and water). It's simple yet filling like the gospel. You desire to share it with everyone and all partake together. It's hot so you can't grab it all at once (unless your Malawian) and you have to eat it bit by bit, and there is always plenty of nshima.
I was asked to give a last minute talk at church (happens a lot) and so i had time to say a quick prayer for the Spirit to be with me before i stood up to address the saints of Lilongwe. As i did, i was taken back to 12 weeks ago when a scared, weak, young missionary stood for the first time in this strange land and quickly gave a generic testimony. Now 12 weeks later i stood there filled with love and strength for these people and the spirit came to me as i shared what i had been studying about which is faith, hope, action, and the Saviors call to all of us "come follow me". It really felt great and that's when i realized.."man i'm a missionary"..."I like this stuff". Great moment. Another interesting thing was we were on a mini bus and the conductor tried charging us Muzungu price to go up the road and we where like "no man it's only 100 mk" and he's like "150". Surprisingly, the other people in the bus started yelling at the guy in Chichewa and next thing we know he's giving us the regular price. Normaly they would just laugh and ignore us but all our community out reach and conversations have been paying off (literally) and these people had our backs. Kauma for the win!  I love these people (ok there still some things culturally that are a little annoying but hey people are people nobody perfect but show them some love and life is great).
We were in a lesson with a lady this week who was going through some big changes and we were talking about prayer and i asked her how God has helped her in the past and in her broken English she gave me a powerful lesson. "Dah moor iz forgive dah haapyah my life is"! Powerful. I reflected on that that the more me forgive other, chose to be happy and seek for forgiveness through Christ's atonement the better life really is.
 To the fun this week on thursday Elder Ketchum and I where craving some Noble china and we hadn't been all transfer to we splurged on some sweet and sour chicken (plus we didnt have power so we couldnt cook) and then we got a call for a zone celebration on saturday night and we had to breack into our saving but it was well worth it we went to a really nice hotel and hit up there amazing buffet of steack, bbq chicken, and everything else to celebrate a few elders turning one year old. Also i made this really good spagethi curry dish that was really good. Well thats life here in Lilongwe for now. I love you all very much.

Elder Lusk 

ps 12 weeks here went by way too fast

Being Rude to My People, The Parable of the Chocolate Brownie and Satan's Counterfeits, Oh and the Most Successful Month Ever

 So first something that happened last Monday we were out by the souvenirs market looking at some hand- crafted merchandise and just enjoying talking to the craftsmen and even met two BYU professors. Anywa,y there where these two European ladies there being super rude and disrespectful to the locals and yelling at them and i was about to go give some serious fire  but they left. If anything boils my blood, it's rude people. Especially when they're being rude to my people who are just trying to make an honest living. Enough of that. We had a good week. We are preparing to have 4 baptisms this month. One is a great family who is just eating up the gospel so fast. Another is a man we had just met on the street who is so honestly searching for the truth in his life. The last one is an older gentlemen who, despite his very broken English, is very excited about the church. We had two brand new investigators come to church for the first time which really gets me excited to see such commitment. Interestingly enough ,the gospel principles lesson covered what we had been planning to teach three of our investigators next. Love it when that happens. Interesting experience the other day. From the Gospel of Elder Lusk the parable of the chocolate brownie. So we were at the store picking up some groceries and there by the bakery was some fresh chocolate brownies. We saw them and where like "man those look great" and they did. We bought our things and we went back and because they where cheap, big, beautiful, still warm and we were hungry we each bought one. Excitedly, we finished dinner and then unwrapped our treats. It looked and felt just how a chocolate brownie should expect one thing...they sure didn't taste like they should. They where disgusting. And now it was too late and we had already bought them. It gave me a great metaphor for Satan's counterfeits and temptation. They might have looked tasty but they where not. They were in the open right where we would see it at a vulnerable time. They were cheap but the same money could have been used for bus fare to our area and for something productive. Unfortunately, we learned the lesson late after we had bought and started eating the "brownie". This is just how satan works to tempt and deceive us. He knows our desires and purposefully makes sin appealing despite it's bitter after taste when we chose to yield to it's enticing facade of momentary pleasure. It seemed a small innocent thing and they looked exactly who they should but they where not. I love this simple example of all the everyday lessons we can learn when we simply try to see the opportunity to learn from them. Oh big news. this month was the most successful month the mission has ever had in terms of baptisms and lessons taught. The fields are white here in the great Zambia Lusaka Mission. I serve among great people and with the best missionaries in the world. I am so humbled to be part of that effort!! Not too much else to say I've successfully finished the Book of Mormon for the first time on my mission. Oh and this is the last official week of my in field training! 12 weeks here in Lilongwe have been the best (and based on the way things are going i'll probably stay here awhile which I am totally down with i love my area).  Lots of love to you all back home.

elder lusk 

That's My Boy, The Cat and I Were Both Happy, Running Cross Country, My Own Galilee, Oh, and Boss Chili

hey family! So, it felt like i was just emailing you and somehow a whole week passed by but that's how it goes so here. 

We ended up having the most lessons ever this week after a really slow start which was great. We had our recent convert pass the sacrament for the first time which was great to see him in his new shirt and tie fufilling his new priesthood responsibility. I kinda had a sentimental dad "thats my boy" moment and we celebrated with them after church with a big meal of nshima and fish (actually not a big fan of the fish so i ate the nshima and their cat sat on my lap and i fed it the fish so we where both happy).

The big thing, though, was a surprise rainstorm that came early on Friday.  The rains were not supposed to start for two weeks but we were sitting in a home teaching a great family about the Book of Mormon when suddenly the skies opened up and didnt stop. We ended up waiting for and hour...eating a snack (best apple i have had in a while) and playing with the kids and getting to know them better but two problems, one it was getting late and two,  we still needed to go to the store to get some bread. So we ended up running like 2.5 miles through the mud and rain to get to the store. It was honestly a blast! my companion was a runner in high school as well and we had been running together so we had the awesome mud filled xc course along the side of the road in the middle of Africa singing the rocky theme song. We ended the night by buying a pizza, drinking hot chocolate and watching bible videos while our stuff dried off.

 Spiritually, as I  have been studying the Savior's life, I've seen many parallels to my own mission. Jesus walked among the people and taught in the streets, hills, small homes, and over many meals.  He taught rich and poor alike and loved all. The children where always near to his heart. That how it is here.  The dusty roads of Lilongwe have become my own Galilee. We are even teaching a family with a lot of energetic kids by using primary songs and picture books. The savior taught to people's understanding  whether it was scriptures, farming, fishing, or whatever. Thats something I have been trying to learn to do more to help people learn more. So the work here is great and I'm having a blast. The other night i made a boss chili and home fries that was super good..a bit spicier than i intended but still very good. Love you all

Elder lusk