Hey fam...wow is all I have to say about this week it was a busyyyy week. But a great one.
So I am now serving in Lilongwe Branch which is small but very powerful and I am covering the areas of Mtandire, Chinsapo, and area 18. These areas are great and really have a lot of potential. The thing is they are huge areas all far from each other and from the church so that means a lot of walking for us and our members.
i'll tell you what; it RAINED with vengeance this week. Everyday a torrential downpour and ankle deep mud. When we came back it looked like we had been swimming. But hooah press on nothing can stop the work of God from progressing come heck or high water.
In one of those moments we where trekking through the mud and rain not to mention lost and i'm like "this is some craziness like really" and then I heard my comp singing "count your blessings" under his breath and and suddenly I looked up and there was a huge rainbow shining through the rain and suddenly I just started laughing. Something i've learned out here is when everything seems to be going wrong and you can't control it, just laugh and take yourself out of the equation. Next thing, people in my area know they have two soaking wet guys in ties walking through the rain while everyone is taking shelter, the African is singing to himself and this little white kid is laughing his head off, waving to everyone, and acting like everything is just hunky dory.
On a serious note, the rain wasn't all that fun for everyone. There was some extreme flooding in most of Lilongwe and my area got it the worst. Several people were swept away and houses came down.
We have about 1,000 members here in Lilongwe and our district presidency along with the senior couple and zone leaders had already been to the site the following day and were coordinating efforts for reconstruction of homes. Man I love the Church. The floods came Friday by Sunday the funds had been authorized by the Church and this morning I was with the first group to start the project. My branch was assigned to work today so along with the senior couple and zone leaders we got to do the fun part of demolishing the wreckage. Man that was a blast i missed doing good ole back breaking muddy honest physical labor. We had to prop up the rough, knock out some walls, clear out rubble, salvage bricks, dig down to the foundation, break down half of the foundation and prep for building to commence in the coming days with the other branches and missionaries providing the labor. Man I attacked it with my usual passion and now every part of my body is in pain....I ain't as good as I once was (Country music reference). But as i was working along side our senior missionary Elder Tally (the one who thought I was an Idaho farm boy) he concluded that as an Idaho Farm boy himself he gave me the title of an honorary Idaho Farm Boy.
Teaching wise, this week I had a lot of fun meeting the new people here. I have had a lot of fun playing with their kids as we meet which is a blast and I feel it really breaks the ice when they see this goofy guy making all the kids laugh. I also had alot of opportunities to testify of the Book of Mormon. When people start to try to bible bash you and they can and will, you have two options: sink to their level or testify of truth. Man people here can flip bible bash like nothing but haha jokes on them and they I can give it right back....but you learn fast it doesn't work , but when you look them in the eye and testify that God still speaks to man and they can know it...........it is powerful. Well for fun moments this week the tough thing about living next to KFC is you end up there three times a week..unplanned. Sometimes you get back at the end of a long day exhausted and you just need some chicken and ice cream. My biggest love to you all and have a great week ahead
Elder Lusk
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