He Blesses Us when we Reach Out to Him in Faith, The Poverty that Plagues this Beautiful Place and Tacos

Hey Family! Chimwemwe Tsikko (Happy Day)! Things are great here in Blantyre! We had a very succsesful week. We were able to have some very great lessons and finding activities this week. We had a sweet lesson with the sister of our new branch mission leader. We had met her a few weeks ago but kept missing her at home. We finally sat down with her and she had read the whole lesson in the pamphlet, then we watched the Restoration video and then her brother started bearing his testimony and it was awesome! It's great to see this young man's example of his faith to testify to his own family. Then our sweet investigator who had a super rough week last week told us on Tuesday how Monday morning after she had come to church the day before things started going right and she felt peace again. How awesome it is to see Heavenly Father bless his children when they reach out in faith for his help. Right now we are helping her to find the right time for her to get baptized as she continues to pray and come to church. What's even better is we are currently teaching four of her friends that she introduced us to which is fantastic.
Sunday was a great day for us. Our recent convert, Nelson, blessed the sacrament for the first time and I couldn't be more proud of him. He is great. We visited his clinic for the first time and he has the conference Ensign in the waiting room, a Book of Mormon on his desk and referred his secratary to be taught! He's so golden.
 Elder day and I were also teaching the perspective Elders class and I have never seen a more dedicated group of young men. Over the years I have sat in many sunday school lessons with teenage guys and usually they are dosing, texting, and just not really bothering to learn. But these guys were amazing. We were reading D&C 4 about the attributes of missionaries and we had an amazing discusion. I mean the guys understand their priesthood responsibility to LIVE the gospel. After that lesson, I made it a goal this week to study those attributes and to specifically pray and strive to live them more in my daily life.
Sunday night we where having a zone birthday dinner at the senior couples house and me and Elder Rose our Idaho cowboy senior missionary had a great talk about the poverty that plauges this beautiful place. Honestly it can be tough to work in. It wears on your soul each day to see the conditions these people live in and their reality of little to no future. As hard as it is, Christ is the only one who can take the slum out of a person. I realized that I was trying to suffer for these people but ultimatly I can't. My suffering doesn't help them because someone already has and that is what makes all the difference. The atonement is real and it does change lives and that is why I am here.
For fun stuff this week, my comp made pancakes the other day which rocked and the Elders in the zone pooled our money and we had a taco night complete with homemade tortillas.

Love you all so much have a great week and never give up ever! life is great!

Elder Lusk

Corrupitng Him With Cheeseburgers, Turning Into A Cry Baby, Christ's Infinite Love, And Famous French Toast

Hey fam! We had a great and very busy week. To start our week we got to spend a day teaching with a young man who is preparing his mission papers. He's a great guy and he loved teaching with us. To thank him, at the end of the day we treated him to a cheeseburger and chocolate shake. It was his first expreience with it and we've corrupted him to the world of junk food now.
We are currently teaching two young women right now that room together and attend college. They are just progressing so fast! I've never seen someone grasp the Plan of Salvation so fully and quickly as them. One of them ended up going through some very hard personal issues this week. It came to a moment when we were sitting in a lesson and she started crying when we asked her and so we all sat there and cried with her. (I swear mission turned me into a cry baby). We ended up having to seriously offer some comfort to her and testify of Christ's infinite love. She ended up coming to church and brining two friends and after the meeting I saw a look of complete peace on her face. It was a sweet moment of seeing divine intervention to save a struggling soul.
On Friday we had a great zone confrence and Sister Kupu gave an amazing discussion on Jacob 5 and for the first time ever I finnaly understand it's message now that I am a full time laborer in the vineyard. It was just a very strong conference with the Kupus. I also had a nice interview with President who said he is happy with my effort and progress after 10 months and the work Elder Day and I have done resurecting an area that has been suffering for a very long time so that was good. Then on Sunday we were walking to church for our District confrence and one of the kids we know (and give candy to sometimes) walks up to me and says I'm going to church today Elder Lusk. So we walked with him to church.   But the confrence was super powerful and it was so great to see the growth of the church here in Blantyre. President Kupu fully expects it to become a stake within three years.
 For fun stuff this week,we are going to have a district breackfast featuring my now famous french toast. Funny the very first time I ever made it was about two months ago. So I loving life right now! this has been my favorite time on my mission so far and I hope it continues. Love you all. Elder Lusk

 

Washed Clean As We Are Baptized, The Rising Generation Looking to Christ, Eating A Chicken Head And Who Are We Going to Become?

Hey Fam! We had an amazing week! a great combination of hard work and fun. The biggest news is Nelson got baptised on saturday! It was awesome! we combined our baptism with two other sets of Elders and had a total of 5 baptisms together. It was one of the most spiritual baptisms i've ever been to. He's such a great man and I really felt that he was being washed clean as he was baptised. Then on Sunday I had the honor of ordaining him to the Aaronic priesthood. I know the Lord just got a powerful servant in that man.
 We met some new investigators this week through one of our members who attends one of the local colleges. I love teaching college students because they are so ready to learn and they keep there commitments to help them learn and progress. It's great to see the rising generation looking to Christ for answers to life's questions when so much of the world choses not to.
On Sunday we had a specail fireside put on by a visiting senior couple that works for the church's public affairs for the Africa southeast area. The fireside was all about using social media to help spread the gospel. That's something the church has been working on the last few years but is still catching up on out here. It was a great presentation and I feel like that could be a great tool for the work in this area. I got talking to the senior Elder and he's been around. they had served their first mission in Cambodia and he had served in Army Specail Forces back in the day. Really neat guy. This coming week is pretty crazy. We have exchanges, zone confrence on Friday, Baptism for one of our amazing investigators named Eddah saturday morning, and District conference on Saturday and Sunday. I'm looking forward to it despite the crazy schedule.
For fun stuff this week, this morning we went to an international trade show with a ton of craftsmen from various African countries and that was pretty cool. Funny story. So the other night we were eating dinner at another missionary's flat and we made fried chicken. So it get my plate and I have a stranged shaped piece. I've eaten enough village chicken to not care to much so it start eating and it's super tough, bony, and has wierd stuffing in it. Turns out those guys gave me the chicken head to see if I would eat it. Well I can now say I've eaten chicken head.
The other day I came across a quote about missions. "You had eternity to prepare for it, you'll have eternity to reflect on it, and only two years to live it".  Put that into perspective and you realize how short of a time you have to serve and the question my companion and I pondered durning comp study the other day is "who am I goning to be when I step off that plane". So to each of us: who are we going to become with what we have been given? Think about it. 

Logve you all so much

Elder Lusk

Going All "Bear Gryles", Life Is Beautiful Sometimes, Reading Vs Studying and Now I'm Stuck Cooking

Hey fam! it was a pretty amazing week here. We had the most sucessful week we have had here in Blantyre. For starters, this morning we went all  "Bear Gryles" and climbed the highest peak in Blantyre (about 5,100 ft.). It was crazy! our member "guide" didn't actually know the trail so we bushwacked the whole thing. Literally trecking through brush and throrns for three hours. Although the view from the top peak was absolutly amazing. You could look out and see the whole valley sprawled out way below your feet feeling on top of the world. It was one of those moments that just takes your breath away and you think man.....life is beautiful sometimes.
As far as the work, we did amazing. After a few average weeks we said "man forget this let's go hard this week. And we did. We met a strong part member  family to start teaching. Then we stumbled upon a gold mine of a family who is from Mozambique and just came here and then they all came to church after one meeting! We also had our Doctor pass his baptism interview so he will get baptized on saturday. I'm so happy for him! he's such a great, humble man who really just has a pure, and loving heart and a desire to help people. He has been so great to teach! I think we only had four lessons with him and by himself he  learned the gospel by reading the things we gave him and praying about them. I just love it when people actually have the faith to do what we invite them to do to grow closer to Christ.
Then on Sunday my comp and I got to teach in young mens. We have a great group of young men here. Just strong, faithful boys all first generation recent converts who want to serve the Lord. They are going to be a big part of the future of the church here in Malawi as leaders once we get stakes, wards, or even it's own mission someday.
 This week I was really trying to improve my personal study and noticed a big difference in the work daily as I started the day by really focusing in on the scriptures instead on just reading. There is power in the art of proper preperation no matter what the situation.
For fun stuff I was acknowleged as the best cook in the four of us that stay in our house so that's cool cause i've really been learning a lot  about cooking. bad news is now I get stuck cooking a lot. Best wishes and all my love to ya'll!!!

Elder Lusk

Show Them the Love, Learning to Testify and the Power of Grit

hey! so great to talk yesterday. So for more on the past week. We had a great time this week. We had a record three dinner appointments this week and a breakfast appointment. Blessings for the work. We also had one of our investigators come to church this week for the first time and they  had a very positive experience with that. We actualy worked out a deal with them. It was their birthday on saturday and we suprised them with a big home made chocalte birthday cake and a firm commitment to come to church. Something I've learned is the more people feel loved the more they will respond the way you want them to.
We also got three referrals from current investigators this week which is great to see people who are learning to invite others to join them in their spiritual growth. We also got a new branch president in our branch and from the first coordination meeting we had with him yesterday, I can tell he really has vison for this branch and can help provide the leadership and support that can really help the work here. We also held our first fireside on Saturday with a missionary theme helping the members learn how to feel comfortable teaching others about the Restoration and then allowed them to open up and bear their testimonies of how the gospel has blessed their families. It was a very powerful time and the spirit was very strong. I also had my favorite kid climbing on me the whole time. On sunday Elder Rose, one of the senior missionaries, gave a really good talk on the Godly virtue of grit. He spoke of how grit is that inner fire that pushes on and says " I will never quit." and the strength, hope, and persaverance that is so powerfully shown throughout the sciprtures by a number of individuals including our Savior himself. Listening to that, I thought of all the examples of grit I have seen here and how I can work to strengthen the gift of grit throughout life. When in doubt say a prayer then work like it's all up to you with the faith that it's all up to Him. I love you all so much. 

Love Elder Lusk

Helping a 17 Year Old Who Just Lost His Father, We Fear No Man, and Can't Wait for Calzones!

Hey Fam! We had a very succsesful week here! We started the week by meeting with the family of one of our members who recently lost his father. As hard of an event as that is, I looked into this 17 year old boys eyes and saw the knowlege of the Plan of Salvation glowing in his eyes. We are now teaching his mother, sister and brother with his help. That was a super sweet experieence.
 We also got to go teach with our district president who is a very nice man. We went to see our recent convert and it was great!  our district president was telling him about how he was introduced to church by some friends, was baptized, finished his accounting degree, served a mission, came home got married had a family, and served in the church. Which is the exact point that this young recent convert is at just baptized and study accounting at the university. It was just powerful for him to get a glimpse of his potential from a man who has been where he has been.
 In our study, my companion and I set a goal to be more bold this week so we ended up putting 4 people on date for baptism this week. Every morning we would say we fear no man then go get to work. The most rewarding was Nelson. Nelson is a Doctor who is getting married soon and he has been the most humble man i have ever taught so far. he came to church yesterday and practicly ended up teaching the lesson in gospel principles. He is truly someone that our heavenly Father placed in our path because he has big plans for. I fully expect him to become a leader here for the church. We also just found a whole bunch of people who had been visited by missionaries nearly two years ago that we had no idea even existed so that was a bit of a pleasent suprise for us. We are also busy planning for a series of weekly fireside devotionals that we will be having here. In talking to the local leaders they would like us to help reteach all the gospel principles to the members here to increase basic understanding so we will be using weekly devotionals to hopefully also inspire some greater activity and member missionary work. So we're hoping that all goes well and we have people come out to these. So for fun stuff this week, one of our missionaries here Elder Harmon from Orgeon is pretty handing in the kitchen and is going to be making calzones for dinner this week and I am pumped out of my mind for that like you have no idea. Look forward to skyping on Sunday!

Love you all so much I hope this week bri9ngs blessings and smiles to all

Love Elder Lusk

Zebras, Elephants and Hippos, The Wedding Party, Knowing You've Been Part of God's Work and New Eyes

Hey fam! This week was great. Big news first:  this morning we woke up at five and spent all day out at a wildlife park just south of here. So it was awesome! The senior couple drove our district down and we had a blast. We saw a large selection of wild boar, antelope, baboons, zebra, stood on a river bank about fifty feet from a group of hippos, and at one point we were surounded by a family of huge elephants and then the young cocky bull started advancing hard towards the van so we booked it out of there. We also hiked up a huge hill and got a great 360 view of the Majete Valley which was truly amazing. When the pictures come through i'll send them. It was just a great time to relax and really enjoy the beauty of African wildlife up close and personal. So much fun.

 This week I also attended my first african wedding. Man, africans can properly throw a wedding in the gym of a church!   Dancing, singing, throwing money, tons of food. Seriously i've never seen a more energetic wedding. I love that about Africans; they just have a zeal for life.

The rest of the week was a little slow. my companion was sick for about half the week so we had a lot of down time letting him rest. That also gave me a ton of time to do a lot of reflecting and study on my mission so far and what the rest will bring then have great discusiions with my comp (who's a little older and wiser on mission on those goals.) Honestly, the last nine months have disappeared way too fast. In the area, though, on Sunday we got to give talks, along with our recent convert, who was baptized on Easter. you would think giving your first sacrament talk as a member of the church would be tough but he testified so beautifully and powerfully about the Plan of Salvation. It was one of those times when you know that you have been part of God's work when someone truly changes there life. I LOVE IT. We also found the first two story house I've ever seen here and are teaching the family. Might not seem a big deal to all those in the states but that's super rare. Especaily if you saw my first area. Plus we found a nice self- reliant family to teach!  Overall I just feel very blessed to have "new eyes". I remember seeing a quote once that said "you can either look at everything as a miracle or nothing". I have found more and more that just about everything in life is so wonderfully miraculous we just need to pray to have the eyes to see them, the heart to feel them, and the hands to make them and then we will see the influence of God every single moment we can. My best wishes and love to you guys!

P.s so turns out hippos make noises like chainsaws....who knew

Elder Lusk 

 

 

 

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Mon 4/24, 9:13 AM