Hey fam, another great week in the books. I am still here in Kitwe. My "new" companion is my old buddy, Elder Tidwell. Our missions are kind of destined to be intertwined. He was in my very first district (he's one transfer ahead of me) and we got to be young greenies together and spent our first Christmas on our mission together in a tripanionship. Then fast forward a few months and we were in the same district in Blantyre as more experienced middle aged missionaries. Now, as we begin the fourth quarter, we get to be old veterans together. We've had a fun week and have taught some super powerful lessons together.
The first guy we met with, we just found and he is a direct answer to the daily prayers that people who are prepared to hear the gospel will be placed in our path. He's very educated and has traveled a lot but is so humble and open to the Spirit. He was very engaged as we taught him and he had some great questions.
We are also teaching three kids ages 18, 15 and 8. They are awesome and came to church with us this week. It's about a 30 minute walk to church and the 8 year old was struggling due to the heat (it hasn't rained in about a week) so she ended up getting passed around on people's backs fro the remainder of the walk but ended up loving Primary and so it was worth it.
We also got to do some service with one of our investigators that will be baptized soon. We walked in and they had just received a big truck load of sand for making cement and so the three of us cleared a 8x12 trailer of sand in about 5 minutes.
Everything else is good here. Our district is doing well. We have a good strong group of experienced elders here and the work is moving forward at an increasing rate.
The sun is still way too hot, the drunks still love harassing us, the gospel is still true and I still love you!
Elder Lusk
Monday, January 15, 2018
Cholera Outbreak, Shadrack, Erick and Sam,Teaching in Perfect Unrehearsed Harmony, Superman, pet dragons and Peter
Hey fam! Another week in the books and another big one ahead. Looks like my companion that I've been training, Elder Robins, is going to be transferred somewhere else. We had a great ride together and its been a lot of fun.
Oh, and just so you don't freak out, there is a Cholera outbreak in Lusaka. We are safe here in the copper belt. It is being contained in Lusaka and the mission has ensured the safety of everyone and hopefully all will go well and this will pass in time.
So, we have a guy named Shadrack that we have been teaching for months and he's getting ready for baptism the end of the month. We had another great lesson with Erick and he had so many questions about everything. I'm excited to keep working with him. Sam is still learning but is still struggling with the decision to be baptized but is still willing to keep learning and even offered to cook for us.
Then I was on an exchange with an elder in my district this week who is also part of the Utah State squad and we taught an awesome lesson where the Spirit of the Lord was completely working through us and we taught in perfect unrehearsed harmony. It was beautiful.
The other day we met some kids and for ten minutes I had this kid convinced I was superman and I had a pet dragon in my bag. After that, he actually invited us into his home and we met his whole family and have a return appointment with them.
Then, in honor of transfers coming up, we cooked a nice steak dinner to celebrate all the good times we've been having.
In my personal study this week, I was looking in the New Testament and got a new understanding of the apostle, Peter. He's a very fiery, passionate and oftentimes impulsive guy. Never on the sidelines but leading the charge...even if it's in the wrong direction as the Savior redirected him several times. But despite all his passions and weaknesses, it's interesting to see how the Savior saw more in him than a strong willed fisherman but the potential to be a leader and a champion. The point being that is how the Savior works. He sees us in our raw potential and can redirect it to serve him and strengthen others. Just a small thought for the week.
Love you all so much!
Elder Lusk
Oh, and just so you don't freak out, there is a Cholera outbreak in Lusaka. We are safe here in the copper belt. It is being contained in Lusaka and the mission has ensured the safety of everyone and hopefully all will go well and this will pass in time.
So, we have a guy named Shadrack that we have been teaching for months and he's getting ready for baptism the end of the month. We had another great lesson with Erick and he had so many questions about everything. I'm excited to keep working with him. Sam is still learning but is still struggling with the decision to be baptized but is still willing to keep learning and even offered to cook for us.
Then I was on an exchange with an elder in my district this week who is also part of the Utah State squad and we taught an awesome lesson where the Spirit of the Lord was completely working through us and we taught in perfect unrehearsed harmony. It was beautiful.
The other day we met some kids and for ten minutes I had this kid convinced I was superman and I had a pet dragon in my bag. After that, he actually invited us into his home and we met his whole family and have a return appointment with them.
Then, in honor of transfers coming up, we cooked a nice steak dinner to celebrate all the good times we've been having.
In my personal study this week, I was looking in the New Testament and got a new understanding of the apostle, Peter. He's a very fiery, passionate and oftentimes impulsive guy. Never on the sidelines but leading the charge...even if it's in the wrong direction as the Savior redirected him several times. But despite all his passions and weaknesses, it's interesting to see how the Savior saw more in him than a strong willed fisherman but the potential to be a leader and a champion. The point being that is how the Savior works. He sees us in our raw potential and can redirect it to serve him and strengthen others. Just a small thought for the week.
Love you all so much!
Elder Lusk
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Christmas Eve Baptism, Caroling and Spreading Cheer, An Old Washed Up Hippy, and Badminton at the BBQ
Hey fam
Our sweet sister was baptized on Christmas Eve and it was a beautiful service. Elder Robins got to be the baptizer for the first time and we got to enjoy our gift to the Savior of seeing her get baptized.
The day before Christmas Eve, we went out caroling and delivering popcorn to some of our members. Since that is definitely something new here, we got a lot of strange looks and curious drunks. It started out super fun but then we ended up walking about 7 miles and we got home exhausted but still fulfilled spiritually for spreading Christmas cheer and making a new Christmas memory. When we got home, we made a huge batch of French Toast.
This past week, we met a guy named Eric on the street and it turns out he's been taught in the past but lost contact with the church and is now attending the university here in Kitwe and he is very ready to be baptized soon. We also met these three teenagers who are super awesome and learning very fast. We're hoping to get them out to church soon. We also met a friend of our branch president who is a white guy from Zimbabwe who's kind of an old washed up hippy but he said he would like us to come back and see him so we'll see.
On Friday, Elder Day (my former companion for 4 months in Blantyre) was touring the mission with his mom on his final week and they came and took us out for lunch. Really good to see him again and relive all our fun, crazy moments as companions. He also told me that the doctor that we baptized in May is now teaching in Sunday School (gospel Principles) and is leading out in home teaching.
Then on Saturday, our branch held an activity and we had a big BBQ and we taught the members how to play badminton as we had found a set in our flat and broke it out. It was a ton of fun and our members brought a lot of friends with them.
Transfers are at the end of this week so we'll see what president Kupu has in mind for Kitwe district.
Love you all and may 2018 be an awesome year!
Love Elder Lusk
Our sweet sister was baptized on Christmas Eve and it was a beautiful service. Elder Robins got to be the baptizer for the first time and we got to enjoy our gift to the Savior of seeing her get baptized.
The day before Christmas Eve, we went out caroling and delivering popcorn to some of our members. Since that is definitely something new here, we got a lot of strange looks and curious drunks. It started out super fun but then we ended up walking about 7 miles and we got home exhausted but still fulfilled spiritually for spreading Christmas cheer and making a new Christmas memory. When we got home, we made a huge batch of French Toast.
This past week, we met a guy named Eric on the street and it turns out he's been taught in the past but lost contact with the church and is now attending the university here in Kitwe and he is very ready to be baptized soon. We also met these three teenagers who are super awesome and learning very fast. We're hoping to get them out to church soon. We also met a friend of our branch president who is a white guy from Zimbabwe who's kind of an old washed up hippy but he said he would like us to come back and see him so we'll see.
On Friday, Elder Day (my former companion for 4 months in Blantyre) was touring the mission with his mom on his final week and they came and took us out for lunch. Really good to see him again and relive all our fun, crazy moments as companions. He also told me that the doctor that we baptized in May is now teaching in Sunday School (gospel Principles) and is leading out in home teaching.
Then on Saturday, our branch held an activity and we had a big BBQ and we taught the members how to play badminton as we had found a set in our flat and broke it out. It was a ton of fun and our members brought a lot of friends with them.
Transfers are at the end of this week so we'll see what president Kupu has in mind for Kitwe district.
Love you all and may 2018 be an awesome year!
Love Elder Lusk
Big Sam, Overcoming Challenges, I Still Got It, Testimony vs Conversion, Nerf Guns and Pizza Hut
Hey fam!
Another great week here in Kitwe.
We started the week with some great lessons. We went out to the far end of our area after receiving a lot of referrals out there. On Wednesday, we went out there with one of our members who just got back from his mission in Ghana about a month ago. We saw this great woman we are teaching and preparing for baptism on Christmas eve.
We also had a man names Big Sam come to church for the first time this week. We met him a few weeks ago and have been teaching him. He's a great guy who has overcome a lot in his life. He was orphaned young and never finished school and so he struggles reading but he developed a passion for weight lifting and now owns his own gym and trains people. Such a great story of his grit and determination to overcome challenges and follow his dream to become self-reliant. Plus, he's pretty buff except I wrecked him in a pull up competition...still got it. We're hoping to put him on date for baptism this week.
Then on Thursday we had our zone conference/mission tour with Elder Hamilton who presides over the Africa southeast area. He was awesome and lead a very powerful and personal discussion on testimony versus conversion based on a talk by Elder Bednar. I also got to sit in a leadership training council with him before the conference and got some good guidance on how to best lead in my current assignment.
Then Friday, we had our zone Christmas party which was a blast like last year. Unfortunately, Elder Robins and I fell short in the companionship competitions but I did win the Santa decorating contest and got a sweet nerf gun in the white elephant gift exchange that has been used extensively around our house. At the end of the party, the Kupus took the whole zone out to Pizza Hut and we stuffed our faces like crazy.
Merry Christmas
Elder lusk
Another great week here in Kitwe.
We started the week with some great lessons. We went out to the far end of our area after receiving a lot of referrals out there. On Wednesday, we went out there with one of our members who just got back from his mission in Ghana about a month ago. We saw this great woman we are teaching and preparing for baptism on Christmas eve.
We also had a man names Big Sam come to church for the first time this week. We met him a few weeks ago and have been teaching him. He's a great guy who has overcome a lot in his life. He was orphaned young and never finished school and so he struggles reading but he developed a passion for weight lifting and now owns his own gym and trains people. Such a great story of his grit and determination to overcome challenges and follow his dream to become self-reliant. Plus, he's pretty buff except I wrecked him in a pull up competition...still got it. We're hoping to put him on date for baptism this week.
Then on Thursday we had our zone conference/mission tour with Elder Hamilton who presides over the Africa southeast area. He was awesome and lead a very powerful and personal discussion on testimony versus conversion based on a talk by Elder Bednar. I also got to sit in a leadership training council with him before the conference and got some good guidance on how to best lead in my current assignment.
Then Friday, we had our zone Christmas party which was a blast like last year. Unfortunately, Elder Robins and I fell short in the companionship competitions but I did win the Santa decorating contest and got a sweet nerf gun in the white elephant gift exchange that has been used extensively around our house. At the end of the party, the Kupus took the whole zone out to Pizza Hut and we stuffed our faces like crazy.
Merry Christmas
Elder lusk
Drunk Guys Helping Us Cross a Super Flooded Stream, Discussing Missionary Work with the Catholic Priest, and a Big Goat Dinner
Hey fam! Another week down and somehow I've already been here 16 months.
We had a good week. We're teaching an amazing lady right now that the zone leaders referred to us. She lives far away and we have to take two buses to see her and we ended up getting lost in the rain for about 30 minutes and had to get some drunk guys to guide us that included crossing a super flooded stream using sandbags as a makeshift country bridge. She's worth it, though, and we will baptize her on Christmas eve.
We also got to help our awesome neighbor paint his ceiling and then he fed us a big goat dinner.
We also had a good number of great new investigators this week that we are excited about. Also the professor we are teaching came to church and brought his Chinese client who is only 27 but managing the construction of the new copperbelt international airport. The professor even shared a powerful testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
The other evening we were walking past the Catholic church in our area and I was like, "well, we've passed this place every day for months without talking to anyone so we walked in and got to sit down and talk with Father Matthews in his office for 20 minutes discussing missionary work and swapping stories from preaching. He was a super nice man and, for me, it was a very cool experience getting to interact at the same level as this man who devoted his whole life to his church.
We also started playing soccer here on Mondays with other members of the church. Last week, we played members of the church versus missionaries and they were all thinking they could school a bunch of white boys but, long story short, we destroyed them 8-3.Lesson: don't mess with the men of the mighty Kitwe district.
This week, we have our zone conference/mission tour with Elder Hamilton whos the president of the Africa Southeast area so that should be another great experience learning from a general authority.
Love you all so much! Merry Christmas
Elder Lusk
We had a good week. We're teaching an amazing lady right now that the zone leaders referred to us. She lives far away and we have to take two buses to see her and we ended up getting lost in the rain for about 30 minutes and had to get some drunk guys to guide us that included crossing a super flooded stream using sandbags as a makeshift country bridge. She's worth it, though, and we will baptize her on Christmas eve.
We also got to help our awesome neighbor paint his ceiling and then he fed us a big goat dinner.
We also had a good number of great new investigators this week that we are excited about. Also the professor we are teaching came to church and brought his Chinese client who is only 27 but managing the construction of the new copperbelt international airport. The professor even shared a powerful testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
The other evening we were walking past the Catholic church in our area and I was like, "well, we've passed this place every day for months without talking to anyone so we walked in and got to sit down and talk with Father Matthews in his office for 20 minutes discussing missionary work and swapping stories from preaching. He was a super nice man and, for me, it was a very cool experience getting to interact at the same level as this man who devoted his whole life to his church.
We also started playing soccer here on Mondays with other members of the church. Last week, we played members of the church versus missionaries and they were all thinking they could school a bunch of white boys but, long story short, we destroyed them 8-3.Lesson: don't mess with the men of the mighty Kitwe district.
This week, we have our zone conference/mission tour with Elder Hamilton whos the president of the Africa Southeast area so that should be another great experience learning from a general authority.
Love you all so much! Merry Christmas
Elder Lusk
Old People Are the Same Everywhere, When Christ Raised Lazarus and Stale Knock-off Doritos
Hey fam
The slow days continue but the weeks are flying by.
We had a pretty good week. We got to start it with an exchange with Elder Olson, one of our zone leaders who's a buddy of mine from back in Blantyre. We had a great day teaching together and reminiscing on old days and looking forward to the future.
The middle of the week was super slow and people were avoiding us like the plaque. We did get to go back and see our college professor friend and he talked our ears off for two hours about his life story....old people really are the same everywhere you go.
We had a bit of a miracle: One of our investigators disappeared a few weeks back then randomly came back to church on Sunday full of questions and we had a really awesome lesson with him and we're preparing to baptize him soon.
Then on Sunday, we watched a broadcast for the entire Africa southeast area with speakers from the Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding. One great insight was a talk about self-reliance...a big thing the Church stresses here. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, He had the people move the stone and unbind Lazarus when he was perfectly capable to do it himself but He was illustrating the principle that we have to act to the extent of our power with faith in order for the blessing of Heaven to be manifested. Beautiful insight to a favorite scripture story.
Tomorrow, I'll be heading out to Ndola, another city here in the copper belt, for a zone leadership council/training which should be a good learning opportunity.This Sunday we have our district conference with two members of the Area Seventy visiting Kitwe. We look forward to their messages.
Also, this week is the greatest holiday ever. Seeing as this is my last Thanksgiving on my mission and I spent my last one sitting in a dark flat during a power outage eating stale knock off Doritors, we're going way hard this year. We're going to buy a couple of chickens and create our own Thanksgiving dinner as best we can.
Love you all and thinking of you
Elder Lusk
The slow days continue but the weeks are flying by.
We had a pretty good week. We got to start it with an exchange with Elder Olson, one of our zone leaders who's a buddy of mine from back in Blantyre. We had a great day teaching together and reminiscing on old days and looking forward to the future.
The middle of the week was super slow and people were avoiding us like the plaque. We did get to go back and see our college professor friend and he talked our ears off for two hours about his life story....old people really are the same everywhere you go.
We had a bit of a miracle: One of our investigators disappeared a few weeks back then randomly came back to church on Sunday full of questions and we had a really awesome lesson with him and we're preparing to baptize him soon.
Then on Sunday, we watched a broadcast for the entire Africa southeast area with speakers from the Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding. One great insight was a talk about self-reliance...a big thing the Church stresses here. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, He had the people move the stone and unbind Lazarus when he was perfectly capable to do it himself but He was illustrating the principle that we have to act to the extent of our power with faith in order for the blessing of Heaven to be manifested. Beautiful insight to a favorite scripture story.
Tomorrow, I'll be heading out to Ndola, another city here in the copper belt, for a zone leadership council/training which should be a good learning opportunity.This Sunday we have our district conference with two members of the Area Seventy visiting Kitwe. We look forward to their messages.
Also, this week is the greatest holiday ever. Seeing as this is my last Thanksgiving on my mission and I spent my last one sitting in a dark flat during a power outage eating stale knock off Doritors, we're going way hard this year. We're going to buy a couple of chickens and create our own Thanksgiving dinner as best we can.
Love you all and thinking of you
Elder Lusk
The Rain Came, Zoology Lessons, Teaching at the Bible College and The Food Report
Hey Fam! Good news: the rain came. Bad news: the rain came. So now we've gone from swimming in our sweat under the blazing sun to treading through mud. All is well though and I have officially survived my last African hot season.
We had a pretty busy week here. We found 18 new investigators which is a mission high for me. First, the professor that we met the other week is the nicest guy ever and he even bought us lunch AND came to church on Sunday! Being a doctor of zoology, we also got a free lecture on the destructive power of the southern African army worm on local agriculture practices...yea, I fell asleep.
One of the coolest/craziest lessons my mission: We met this guy on the street and set a return appointment to teach him and some of his friends. Well, we showed up at the address to find out it was the local Bible college and we were standing in front of a room of 7 pastors in training teaching about the doctrine of the Church. I think it was intended to be an academic encounter but the Spirit of the Lord was so strong and their questions so pointed, and we testified and taught for nearly two hours and we have a return appointment where we will be placing 7 Book of Mormons. I even started getting choked up once when they asked me to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I don't know if any will be baptized but we were planting some seeds that I only hope and pray will lead to some miracles in the Lord's kingdom.
This week we have a busy schedule. The zone leaders are coming out for a leadership training for me and then we are holding a training for the district and then going on a district blitz finding activity where we flood an area with a ton of missionaries and talk to everyone. So, we will see how this goes.
Now to the food reports. With four hungry, creative cooks in one house, we have been eating like kings. I've even put on a pound or two. In the last week, we went through 40 eggs, five loaves of bread, 6 liters of milk, 4.5 pounds of ground beef, a chicken and probably 3 pounds of potatoes.
Love you all so much! Here's to another good week wherever you are and whatever you're doing.
From the muddy streets of Kitwe, Zambia
Elder Lusk
We had a pretty busy week here. We found 18 new investigators which is a mission high for me. First, the professor that we met the other week is the nicest guy ever and he even bought us lunch AND came to church on Sunday! Being a doctor of zoology, we also got a free lecture on the destructive power of the southern African army worm on local agriculture practices...yea, I fell asleep.
One of the coolest/craziest lessons my mission: We met this guy on the street and set a return appointment to teach him and some of his friends. Well, we showed up at the address to find out it was the local Bible college and we were standing in front of a room of 7 pastors in training teaching about the doctrine of the Church. I think it was intended to be an academic encounter but the Spirit of the Lord was so strong and their questions so pointed, and we testified and taught for nearly two hours and we have a return appointment where we will be placing 7 Book of Mormons. I even started getting choked up once when they asked me to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I don't know if any will be baptized but we were planting some seeds that I only hope and pray will lead to some miracles in the Lord's kingdom.
This week we have a busy schedule. The zone leaders are coming out for a leadership training for me and then we are holding a training for the district and then going on a district blitz finding activity where we flood an area with a ton of missionaries and talk to everyone. So, we will see how this goes.
Now to the food reports. With four hungry, creative cooks in one house, we have been eating like kings. I've even put on a pound or two. In the last week, we went through 40 eggs, five loaves of bread, 6 liters of milk, 4.5 pounds of ground beef, a chicken and probably 3 pounds of potatoes.
Love you all so much! Here's to another good week wherever you are and whatever you're doing.
From the muddy streets of Kitwe, Zambia
Elder Lusk
Monday, January 1, 2018
Welcome to the Flat, More Manpower, Stepping Up as a Leader and The Power of the Atonement to Forgive
Hey Fam
Crazy busy week here. We got four new missionaries here in Kitwe from Madagascar and I've put them to work. It's been busy trying to split the area, show them around, and get used to new people living in our flat. They're good Elders, though, and it will be a welcome addition here and hopefully we can be much more effective in the work now that we have an ample amount of manpower to cover all our areas. Its kind of been a call to me to step up as the leader here and take a bit of charge with the new change.
We had a lot of lessons this week and were blessed with three people attending church. We actually spent an afternoon contacting people at our mall for a change to try to get more investigators. A bit of a new experience for our Madagascar elders who had not seen an mall in months.
I had a special experience this week as I interviewed a lady for baptism. As I spoke with her, I had a very real witness of the power of the Savior's atonement to forgive us of all our mistakes. I could feel her sincere desire to follow the Savior and, after consulting with President, it was a blessing getting to tell her that she could be baptized. It was a sight, that, if nothing else, would make my service here well worth it.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
Crazy busy week here. We got four new missionaries here in Kitwe from Madagascar and I've put them to work. It's been busy trying to split the area, show them around, and get used to new people living in our flat. They're good Elders, though, and it will be a welcome addition here and hopefully we can be much more effective in the work now that we have an ample amount of manpower to cover all our areas. Its kind of been a call to me to step up as the leader here and take a bit of charge with the new change.
We had a lot of lessons this week and were blessed with three people attending church. We actually spent an afternoon contacting people at our mall for a change to try to get more investigators. A bit of a new experience for our Madagascar elders who had not seen an mall in months.
I had a special experience this week as I interviewed a lady for baptism. As I spoke with her, I had a very real witness of the power of the Savior's atonement to forgive us of all our mistakes. I could feel her sincere desire to follow the Savior and, after consulting with President, it was a blessing getting to tell her that she could be baptized. It was a sight, that, if nothing else, would make my service here well worth it.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
Completely Fluent, What Am I Doing Wrong?, God's Timing and Perspective and Receiving Madagascar Elders
Hey fam
Well, it was officially the hottest week of the year here. When it's that hot, there's really nothing you can do about it besides just suffer through till the sun starts to go down and cool the place off.
The week was full of dropped lessons and lots of walking. The week wasn't all bad, though. We were well fed and had two very large dinner appointments and another three scheduled this week. We did get to meet a lot of new people this week and after weeks of that, Elder Robins and I are completely fluent teaching together. Apart from that, its been the same struggle to get people to keep their commitments and come to church. At times, it is frustrating and you want them there because you know it will be good for them and other times I feel like "what am I doing wrong here? nobody seems to be taking our teaching seriously". All of it has been one big test of character and patience but I'm happy to say I'm not going too crazy. With about 15 months of this , I've learned that God's timing and His perspective is much better than mine. Plus, having a great companion who can laugh things off is a great help.
Things are great here anyway. The rain and cool weather are only a few weeks away and hopefully we can continue to get more people progressing towards baptism soon.
Last night we made a ton of homemade pizzas and ourselves stupid and then watched "Testaments". On an interesting note, our mission just got a little bigger by "adopting" 25 missionaries that just got reassigned from Madagascar due to the plaque over in Madagascar right now. So far, I have not heard if my district will get any of these elders or sisters, but we will wait and see.
Love you with all of my heart.
Elder Lusk
Well, it was officially the hottest week of the year here. When it's that hot, there's really nothing you can do about it besides just suffer through till the sun starts to go down and cool the place off.
The week was full of dropped lessons and lots of walking. The week wasn't all bad, though. We were well fed and had two very large dinner appointments and another three scheduled this week. We did get to meet a lot of new people this week and after weeks of that, Elder Robins and I are completely fluent teaching together. Apart from that, its been the same struggle to get people to keep their commitments and come to church. At times, it is frustrating and you want them there because you know it will be good for them and other times I feel like "what am I doing wrong here? nobody seems to be taking our teaching seriously". All of it has been one big test of character and patience but I'm happy to say I'm not going too crazy. With about 15 months of this , I've learned that God's timing and His perspective is much better than mine. Plus, having a great companion who can laugh things off is a great help.
Things are great here anyway. The rain and cool weather are only a few weeks away and hopefully we can continue to get more people progressing towards baptism soon.
Last night we made a ton of homemade pizzas and ourselves stupid and then watched "Testaments". On an interesting note, our mission just got a little bigger by "adopting" 25 missionaries that just got reassigned from Madagascar due to the plaque over in Madagascar right now. So far, I have not heard if my district will get any of these elders or sisters, but we will wait and see.
Love you with all of my heart.
Elder Lusk
Our Well-laid Plans, Will You Write About the Joy?, You Just Have to See it and Natural Country Charm
Hey Fam
Life is well here in Kitwe. We are experiencing a rare mid hot season rain so that is a welcome break from the heat.
We have a baptism planned this weekend for a young man we have been working with for about three months here and he's finally ready to enter the waters of baptism.
This week was a bit of a tough one where, despite all of our well laid plans, we had fall through after fall through with appointments and then we found out two of our golden investigators moved away , only one of our investigators came to church and it was hot all week.
In the middle of all that when I felt like we were working so hard with no results, I got a text from Sister Kupu asking me to write a piece for the mission newsletter on finding joy in the middle of trials. How's that for a wake up call on my attitude? It was one of those moments where I knew Heavenly Father knew what I needed. After that, I was able to start seeing the blessings including that we received two referrals from members of the church and have a dinner appointment set for this week.
On top of that, my companion who is brand new is molding into a powerful teacher and is great at bringing the Spirit of God in as we teach in a natural country charm way. So when life is getting you down, there is still plenty to be positive about. You just have to see it.
That's all I have for now but time is flying by here and without realizing it, I am among the old veterans in this mission which is coming with its own set of joys and stresses but all is well.
Love you all and enjoy the Fall weather.
Elder Lusk
Life is well here in Kitwe. We are experiencing a rare mid hot season rain so that is a welcome break from the heat.
We have a baptism planned this weekend for a young man we have been working with for about three months here and he's finally ready to enter the waters of baptism.
This week was a bit of a tough one where, despite all of our well laid plans, we had fall through after fall through with appointments and then we found out two of our golden investigators moved away , only one of our investigators came to church and it was hot all week.
In the middle of all that when I felt like we were working so hard with no results, I got a text from Sister Kupu asking me to write a piece for the mission newsletter on finding joy in the middle of trials. How's that for a wake up call on my attitude? It was one of those moments where I knew Heavenly Father knew what I needed. After that, I was able to start seeing the blessings including that we received two referrals from members of the church and have a dinner appointment set for this week.
On top of that, my companion who is brand new is molding into a powerful teacher and is great at bringing the Spirit of God in as we teach in a natural country charm way. So when life is getting you down, there is still plenty to be positive about. You just have to see it.
That's all I have for now but time is flying by here and without realizing it, I am among the old veterans in this mission which is coming with its own set of joys and stresses but all is well.
Love you all and enjoy the Fall weather.
Elder Lusk
Taxi Rides with Strangers, Pizza, A Baptism After All, 6-7 A Day and 93 Degrees
Hey fam! We had a great week. First, we had a baptism but more on that later. On Tuesday, we were on our way home from the other side of Kitwe after doing a baptismal interview for the other elders. We decided to stop at Pizza Hut in the mall to treat ourselves. The pizza was great and we were heading home in a cab when we met the nicest man to ever wear shoes. He got in the cab with us and started talking to us and next thing we know, he's paid our fare and we are sitting at his table (he lived next to us) getting a second dinner with food to take home. He's a doctor with a large family and a wife that can cooooook! We are very blessed.
All went well with our baptism interview but then the night before his baptism, he called to say his grandfather dies and so we cancelled the baptism. Then we both spent a sleepless night tossing and turning over that turn of events only to be awakened at 5:30 am by him calling and saying he would still like to be baptized that day. We flipped out and we had a great baptismal service for him.
We have another man who just accepted baptism and is learning super fast. He just needs to work on keeping some commitments.
Then we had a guy call us who had found the church online and, after reading, told us that he had already made up his mind on joining the church. We are looking forward to teaching him and his family.
For food this week, in addition to the pizza, the avacados are ripe so I whipped up a batch of awesome guacamole.
Also, president just raised the mission standard to 6-7 pages a day in the Book of Mormon with a goal to finish every 90 days. Elder Robins and I started at the beginning again and, due to a competitive nature and lots of fall through lessons, we are now 100 pages in after one week and saw an increase of scripture use as we taught together which is an added blessing for reading.
All is well here and hope you are having a great week. If you're curious, the lowest daytime temp this week was 93 degrees....and we walk.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
All went well with our baptism interview but then the night before his baptism, he called to say his grandfather dies and so we cancelled the baptism. Then we both spent a sleepless night tossing and turning over that turn of events only to be awakened at 5:30 am by him calling and saying he would still like to be baptized that day. We flipped out and we had a great baptismal service for him.
We have another man who just accepted baptism and is learning super fast. He just needs to work on keeping some commitments.
Then we had a guy call us who had found the church online and, after reading, told us that he had already made up his mind on joining the church. We are looking forward to teaching him and his family.
For food this week, in addition to the pizza, the avacados are ripe so I whipped up a batch of awesome guacamole.
Also, president just raised the mission standard to 6-7 pages a day in the Book of Mormon with a goal to finish every 90 days. Elder Robins and I started at the beginning again and, due to a competitive nature and lots of fall through lessons, we are now 100 pages in after one week and saw an increase of scripture use as we taught together which is an added blessing for reading.
All is well here and hope you are having a great week. If you're curious, the lowest daytime temp this week was 93 degrees....and we walk.
Love you all
Elder Lusk
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