Hello! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and enjoyed the beautiful Christmas Season. We had a pretty good Christmas in Mutare. The morning was spent with members and people we were teaching. I made some chocolate chip cookies that we delivered to the families we visited. It made me forget how much I missed home, because seeing their faces light up helped me to feel the spirit of Christmas. It wasn't much, but we shared a Christmas message and left that with them. We also had lunch with a member, and then dinner with another part member family! They took care of us, and we had a great day. The best part of the day was OBVIOUSLY talking to my family. I am grateful for the family that Heavenly Father sent me to. 

Other than Christmas, this week was not too eventful. We are still working really hard to build our teaching pool, and to help those we are finding to progress. I'll give you an update on those we are teaching, though.

Sovereign and her husband met with President Makasi, and they gained an instant friendship. He even told us that he wants to marry them. President will be up this Friday for missionary interviews, so that night we will have a small wedding for them! 

Godfrey got transferred :( We miss him so much already, but he promises to come on Sundays.We are praying that he can do that! Even if he doesn't get baptized when both of us are here, we know that he will be baptized some day.It helps that his family is now being taught as well. He has a strong testimony and that has come through his reading of the Book of Mormon. Reading the Book of Mormon is even helping him to overcome his addiction to smoking. It was amazing to see his progress and how the gospel changed him for the better!!!

We got a referral from a member, and her name is Sandra. She is a teacher and is very outgoing and social. She is around our ages as well, so we just connected with her right off the bat. We taught her for the first time, and then invited her to come to church. She said that she will come, and then she wanted us to help her pick out a dress to wear. Sure enough, she came to church, and she came in style!  I love teaching her, because she shows her understanding. If she doesn't understand what we are teaching her, she will ask a question. And not just any questions... inspired questions! I have held onto those Book of Mormons that you guys sent last Christmastime, and so I gave her the one where Melissa wrote her testimony of the Book of Mormon. She really liked that, and I am thankful that my family was apart of missionary work here in Zimbabwe! 

I love you all! 

Sister Kershaw

A little boy in our branch came up to me (With the book of Mormon on his head) and said,

" Sister Kershaw, I have a Book of Mormon, I am ready to be a missionary." 

Merry Christmas Eve Eve

That's right! The countdown is on... three days until Christmas! We had a Zone Conference on Friday, and had the opportunity to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. My favorite talk was from Joy D. Jones. When she told the story of her Christmas memory of her mother, it brought tears to my eyes. Memories flooded my mind of how my parents always made Christmastime so special for us growing up. Some of the memories I thought about were: decorating the house on the first Monday of December, making snowflakes with my siblings while mom and dad went on a date, Christmas Eve PJ's, Mom and Dad making us sit down and watch the Nativity, Grandpa Kershaw pulling us on a sled behind his truck or Dad pulling on the four wheeler, the annual Olive Garden on Christmas Eve... the list goes on and on of the cherished memories. It is a beautiful time of year to think of our Savior, and (because I can't be with my family now) to be able to think about those memories made with my family.

We met a man this week named David, and he is amazing. (Fasting and prayers WORK)  His father was working in his yard, so we went up to him and started talking to us. He was not interested at all, but was thankfully very kind and respectful. He did mention to us that his wife died in 1999 and he has never remarried. He loved his wife a lot, and said he missed her, so we gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. As we were about to leave, he said," My son David is in the house, you might want to go and talk to him." We went to meet David, and he was excited to talk and learn with us. We set a return appointment, and he basically taught us about the Restoration. He said there were some things that he had questions about, but when he was reading the spirit testified to him that even if he had a question, that what he was reading was true. He promised that he would come to church yesterday, but didn't show up... So we are praying that he wasn't too good to be true, and that he really does want to become a member of the church. 

Godfrey is progressing really well! So well in fact, that he wanted us to send missionaries to his family in Harare. They went and visited her yesterday, so that was so cool! The gospel helps you to want it not only for yourself, but for your family as well. He will be moving about 100 km away from Mutare, but promises that he will be travelling every Sunday to Mutare for church... we will continue to pray that he can do that.

At our zone conference, we had a very special Christ Activity. Elder and Sister Graves set up pictures of Jesus Christ in quiet places around the building. President gave them permission to allow us missionaries to sit by ourselves and focus on our Savior and reflect on our missionary service. I got a picture of the last supper, and I noticed something that I never had before. I looked at how much the disciples and Jesus Christ loved each other. You could just see how tender they were. Can you imagine? Knowing that Jesus would die the next day, and you had only that night to spend with him? The spirit then whispered to me," That love that Jesus has for them, he has for you. And that is why he suffered and died for each and every one of God's children. His love is infinite." I needed that so much. I am grateful for that tender moment with the spirit and my Savior. I can promise you that he loves you and is aware of you, as well. 

Have a very Merry Christmas. I love you! 

Sister Kershaw 

Making sadza in a huge pot!

After the meeting, we went on a hike to an awesome waterfall!!!! 

Finding the one

This week I have really been reflecting on the missionary work here in Mutare. I have come to realize that it is not like any of the other areas that I have been in at all. In my previous areas, I can honestly say it was easy to find people to teach, and they were so kind and welcoming even if they were not interested. Here, I feel like it is the opposite. We struggle finding people to teach, and we get chased out of yards because people think our church is of the devil. BUT I am so grateful for this difficult time. I am able to come closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior through fervent prayer. My prayers have become so much more meaningful this last week, and I am grateful. We are now searching for the one here in Mutare town, and I know that we will be led to them 

A week ago we contacted and taught a man named Godfrey. He is a soldier, by profession, and was just on the side of the road waiting for a friend to bring him something. We taught him, but weren't sure if he was really serious about meeting with us. He accepted a return appointment and so we were planning to meet him. About 3 days later, he called us and said," Sisters! I have to get a Book of Mormon." The next lesson we taught him, he wanted to know more about apostasy and Joseph Smith. We asked him at the end, " What would happen if this really was the ONLY true church on the earth?" He said," Then I need to be apart of it." He came to church on Sunday even! We are so excited and hope he continues to progress towards baptism. He was our miracle of the week. 

We did a lot of service this week! We helped plant maize for a member, and we helped clean Sovereign's kitchen. She moved into a new house this last week, and it was an absolute mess, so we helped her clean from the ceiling to the floor. 

Love you all so much! 

Sister Kershaw 

Give me this mountain

Today I am going to bring it back... Punday Monday

(Oh the memories of Senior year of high school) 

Mountains are not just funny, they are hill-arious! 

Hello, from the mountains of Mutare :) 

We had an extremely busy week this week. One day after I got to Mutare, I turned right back around to go to Harare for Mission Leadership Council. This has been my 9th MLC on my mission... And it was amazing as always! 

When we got to spend some time in Mutare and in the area, it was good. One thing about Mutare that is kind of difficult is that a lot of people think that our church is a satanist church. That really hinders the missionary work, but we are staying positive! We are also in town, and so the Lord has given us a tough mountain to climb, but we are ready to climb it! He has already blessed us, and we will continue to fast and pray for miracles in Mutare.

 We are teaching this mama named Sovereign. Her husband is a member of the church but went inactive for a long time in his life. all of a sudden he showed up at church and wants to become active with his family. His wife is SO smart! and he taught her most of the gospel throughout the years of marriage. They have a two-year-old named Rachel, and she is seriously the cutest. She fell asleep on my lap during one of our lessons. She is two years old, and I could just bring her home with me in my suitcase. 

I am reading a book called "Look up my soul". It talks about hope, and it is honestly changing my life! There was a story that the author shared from DRC. Some couple missionaries were helping to improve the water supply in Congo. They had to take super heavy equipment to a city and it would be quite a journey. That journey would cause them to go over bridges that were not built well and had a certain weight limit. They exceeded that weight limit, and there was no way around it. They had to come up with a solution. Every bridge that they went on, they reinforced it. The sister said that she learned a great lesson from this," In any heartbreak, there is just so much pain, so much hurt, and so much loneliness. Those are part of human experience and God does not always deaden them or take them away. but though he does not lighten the load, he does reinforce the bridge." 

I have a testimony that Heavenly Father reinforces our bridges! Most of the time, our tribulations in life cannot be taken away immediately. Heavenly Father loves us too much to do that. The trials we go through are meant to make us like he is. So his love is shown by strengthening us to overcome the difficult times. We are never alone in our difficult times. 

I love you all so much, and Jesus loves you more! Have a great week. 

Sister Kershaw 

Tis the Season of Baptisms

First of all, I am emailing on a Tuesday because yesterday I got transferred out of Harare. 4 HOURS OUT OF HARARE. So I was traveling all day and didn't get to email. I had no idea that I was getting transferred, so it was an emotional Sunday saying goodbye to everyone. I don't think I have ever cried so much leaving an area. I really loved the people in the area, and the ward was amazing! I was only there for 1 transfer, but I guess the Lord needed me here in Mutare. 

People seriously say the funniest things when we are teaching them. I will tell you about three of them that happened this last week. 

MANASA- We taught Manasa about the Word of Wisdom and everything went so well. After he finished reading the pamphlet, he stopped taking tea, and has not taken it since. There were no problems with anything else, so all was well. Then he asked about meat. He wondered if we could eat all kinds of meat, and we said yes. He then asked about pork, and we told him that we can eat pork. In an excited voice, he said," WE CAN HAVE BACON?" He was so excited, and Sister Lalampaa and I died. 

EVERNICE- We have been teaching Evernice for a bit now, and she is actually progressing. She is a 15 year old and has come to church twice now. After we finished teaching the Restoration, we asked her how her experiences were at church. She said that she was really enjoying them, and she likes this church way better than any other church. A couple weeks ago, her mom forced her to go to her church just once, and Evernice said that she fell asleep on purpose, cause she only likes the "true church" (those were her exact words). Hahaha we also died laughing. 

PRUDENCE- Prudence is Panashe's older sister, and we just started teaching her when she moved back home with her family. We were teaching them about the Plan of Salvation, and when we were teaching about the spirit world, we told them that there are missionaries there to teach those who didn't have the chance to learn about the gospel. She then asked," So how do you two communicate with those spirits to teach them?" That would be so creepy if us missionaries actually had to do that!

We had another baptism this last week! The Amidu family got baptized and they were so excited. Another boy named Hide got baptized as well. His conversion story is so cool. When the sisters first gave him a Book of Mormon, he didn't stop reading. It was the Book of Mormon that helped his testimony. I was so happy to get to see them get baptized before I was transferred. 

I am now in the beautiful town of Mutare. It is in the mountains and they are so green. The city is so clean, and I already know I am going to love it here. Kinda hoping that I get to finish my mission here My new comp is Sister Mambassa, and she is from Congo(DRC). We are going to have so much fun together, and are excited to be able to spend Christmas together. Merry Christmas season, my friends. Don't forget to light the world, and help others receive the best gift that was ever given; Jesus Christ. I am jealous that you guys got snow in Idaho! Oh, how I miss the cold weather. Make a snowman for me. 

Love, Sister Kershaw

                   Thanksgiving dinner with the Duncans

Zone Conference round #2 (and another new food I tried)

Happy Thanksgiving week! I was reflecting on my last year's Thanksgiving when I first came to Zimbabwe. I made chicken and mashed potatoes. It was probably the saddest Thanksgivings I have ever had, BUT a funny memory to look back on. I hope you are all reflecting on what you are grateful for, and recognize the Lord's hand in your life. He is there, I promise! This Thursday we are going to dinner with members who are from America, and they work for the embassy. To say I am excited would be an understatement. We get a real Thanksgiving! I am excited that Sister Lalampaa gets to have a Thanksgiving experience as well. 

We had a second zone conference for the transfer where President and Sister Makasi introduced the new "Light the World" initiative. It totally goes hand and hand with our mission initiative, "Come see, Come help, and Come stay." We are really excited to use both of them together and help the members also help us in our missionary work. The members are amazing, though. We taught a Gogo that lesson and gave her some pass-along cards. She gave a card to her friend that she works with, and then took us to go see her and her two daughters! Their names are Tendai, Leanna, and Vanessa. They were not able to come to church on Sunday, but her daughter Leanna went to the young women's activity on Saturday, and they told us they are definitely coming to church this Sunday. Finding through the members is the best! 

We had a baptism yesterday, and it was so sweet! Gogo and Sekuru, Chido, and Sipo entered into the waters of baptism. I don't think I told you about Chido or Sipo. Chido was a referral from the sister's recent convert, Amanda. (Amanda is also Gogo and Sekuru's granddaughter) Sipo just started coming to church with her friends, and comes every Sunday without fail! For the closing song at the baptism, we sang "Families can be together Forever." It was so amazing to see a family on a path that will lead them to be together forever. We already taught them about Temples and Families, and they were so happy to hear that Zimbabwe is getting a temple! 

The Amidu family is doing great! They were able to come this last week, and they are really looking forward to their baptism next week. Manasa is also working towards a legal marriage, and he will be baptized on the 15th of December. Panashe has been coming to church with that member, Kudzi. He is also preparing for his baptism! Hatcliffe and Borrowdale are golden areas, and I am just loving these people SO MUCH! They are inspiring me. We had 18 people that we are teaching at church this last Sunday. 18!!!!!!!!!!

There is so much to be grateful for! I am SO, SO, SO grateful for my family, for the gospel, and for my life. There is a lot of joy in those three simple things for me. I don't know what I would do without any of them! In difficult times, the best way to deal with them is to find what you are grateful for. My mom always taught me to do that. When you are in a rough time, don't focus on what is going wrong, but focus on what is going right in your life. You will be a lot happier! I never forgot that, and I use it all the time when the rough days come because they do. 

I am missing everyone a little extra today. But I know this is the last Thanksgiving in Zim, so I will enjoy it. Eat lots of good food for me  Love you! 

Sister Kershaw

I found cows... obviously, I had to take a picture with them

 I ate termites at a dinner appointment last night. They actually tasted good, because they were fried and salty. hahaha, Don't judge! 

Sun Valley Zimbabwe

This week was an amazing and quick week! I can't believe that it is already Monday again. 

On Wednesday I got to go on exchanges with SISTER BABE! We know that we aren't really supposed to go on exchanges to be with your friends... but she goes home in 2 weeks, and we had to be companions for one last time  We had a blast together, and we talked nonstop. She was one of my favorite companions, and I am going to miss her like crazy. I just hope that dreams come true, and I can plan a trip to Uganda to see my best friend! 

On Thursday we had an all mission zone conference because we had Elder Gay and Elder Palmer visiting. They could only talk to us for two hours, but those two hours were amazing! They prepared some thoughts but mainly gave the floor to us to ask questions. So there really wasn't a main topic that they talked about. Missionaries asked questions about how to stay motivated for these 2 years to 18 months. One thing that they said is that there are good days and bad days. It's no secret that serving a mission is really hard sometimes, but the thing that matters is how we react to those difficult days. Do we sit in the house and give up? Or do we keep pushing forward with faith knowing that there will be better days in the future? I also loved a comment they made that when our bad days come; it isn't our fault. We can't see our difficulties and think that it is because we are not good enough, or that we did something wrong. When something doesn't go right, we cannot blame it on ourselves. The opposition is just apart of our mortality! Elder Gay counseled us that we were not sent to Zimbabwe by accident. We were called here for a reason. Also- our success is not measured by the number of baptisms we have, but rather if we complete the mission that we were sent to do. In our premortal life, God knew we would be called to the great ZHM and we need to fulfill the purpose of why he called us here. Kinda scary, but so true! That applies to life as well. We are here on earth for a reason, and we need to find that reason, and do what he needs us to do! 

We found an awesome part member family this week named the Rupiya Family. They were baptized and active members of the church in Bindura, but because of work, they had to move. The towns that they moved to for the past 3 years had no church! A couple weeks ago, a recent convert told us about a member who wanted to come to church. He came, and then this last week we visited them at their house. We found out their story, and they were so excited to have a connection with the church since it had been 3 years. Their two other teenagers weren't ever baptized, so now we get to teach them! We are so excited, and they are the sweetest family. They stay in a part of Hatcliffe called Sunvalley. hahaha, there is a Sunvalley in Idaho AND Zimbabwe, my friends ;) 

On Saturday, Sister Makasi called us and told us that she had a friend who was in the hospital recovering from surgery. She lives in Borrowdale and isn't a member, but her mother is. We brought her a nice juice drink and a bouquet of flowers. We thought that we would only stay for 30 min or so... and ended up staying for 3 hours! She is the sweetest lady, and she talked to us nonstop. It was a fun way to give service, and we had an opportunity to share the gospel with her as well. She asked all about The Book of Mormon, and we encouraged her to download the Book of Mormon app on her phone. She isn't going to a church right now, and we hope that she is touched by our visit and has a desire to learn more. Her name is Ruth, and she is a mom of 7 beautiful children. She's a wonderful lady. 

Miracles are happening every day, and I know that there is nowhere else in the world that I would rather be right now.  I am so grateful to be in Zimbabwe at this time! To be honest, the country is really struggling right now. Gas is $17 bond a liter now, we never have power, and food is SO expensive... that's insane, huh? But you know what, Miracles happen in the most difficult of times and we see Heavenly Father's hand greater in our lives. I see members and people we are teaching sacrificing to come to church. They are seeing that as difficult as it may be, they can't forfeit those blessings that Heavenly Father will pour down if they show him their faith. It is humbling, and like I said, I wouldn't trade this for anything. 

One thing I am so grateful for this week is that the rainy season has started! It is currently pouring rain outside. We have had a lot of beautiful storms and it has cooled off a bit. 

Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers. I miss you, and I love you.

Sister Kershaw

(I got to see my trainer for the first time in like 6 MONTHS at the zone conference. I love Sister Omondi!)

Happy to be back in the area

Hello friends and family! 

Sister Lalampaa is much better, and we made our appearance to the area on Thursday. It was a crazy weekend and beginning of our week, but we were so happy that we got to go see our people and not be stuck in a hospital.

Like I said, we seriously have the best teaching pool. I would be perfectly fine if I stayed in this area for the rest of my mission! We are teaching a mama named Noreen. She doesn't speak much English, and she feels so self conscious about it. When we were teaching her this week, she told us in Shona that she only had up to a 5th grade education. Her parents could not afford to send her to school after that. She then started crying, and then we all started crying! We told her that it was okay that she had not learned past 5th grade, and that we would continue to teach her slowly. (We usually bring a translator, too) She has a desire to learn about the gospel, and even wants to be baptized. We are working through some marriage issues, and will go slowly with the lessons. Noreen is so sweet, and we love her so much. My friends, BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR EDUCATION AND THAT YOUR PARENTS CAN AFFORD TO EDUCATE YOU. There are people throughout the world who don't get the opportunities that you do. We have no idea just how blessed we are.

Martin and his family are so amazing. They usually stay in Hatcliffe, but because of money, they can't afford the schools that are in Hatcliffe. They educate their children in the rural areas, because it is cheaper. They come to Hatcliffe on the weekends just so that we can teach them and for transport, they pay 45 bond a person to come. There is really no money in Zimbabwe. What most of the people get for the day is what they feed their families with. I am blown away with the faith that they have. When we asked them why they would do that, they said it's because they need the blessings that gospel has already brought, and will continue to bring their family.The only reason they come those 3 hours is so that they can hear the gospel. When we extended a baptismal date to them, they gladly agreed. Martin's wife told us that she had been to many, many churches throughout her life, but she has now found the true church. This is our golden family. Sister Lalampaa and I said that they are changing our lives even more than we could ever change theirs. 

This Sunday was only the second best Sunday of the whole year. (right after General Conference.) It was the primary program! I thought I would say that the church is the same throughout the whole world! They gave their testimonies and sang primary songs. There were still the kids who yelled in the microphone. There were still the children who sat in the front row and just stared at everyone, and refused to sing. Even the little girl who loved her dress so much that she couldn't hold still because she was too busy twirling. It was all there ;) I love primary kids, though. They are so sweet, and their testimonies are simple and pure. They know Heavenly Father loves them, and they know that families are forever. They taught me this Sunday that the gospel really is simple; even simple enough that children can understand. 

I love you! 

Sister Kershaw

No Pumpkins? No problem!

I am emailing today on a Tuesday because my companion was sick this whole last week! The poor girl has bronchitis and spent last night in the hospital. She is spending another night as well. I begged and begged Sister Makasi to allow me to stay at the hospital and sleep there with her last night. The request was granted, and I got to stay with her! Hopefully I will get to again tonight. Prayers for my sweet companion  

We had a very eye opening and spiritual experience on Tuesday evening. We were coming home from the area and we got to a stop light. Here in Zimbabwe, a lot of the stoplights don't have an arrow that signals when you can turn, but you just yield to the green light. There was a car in front of me and he was trying to go. The light started to turn red, so because it was clear, he went. I usually follow the cars that are right in front of me, because it gives a moment for me to go. In a split second, something told me very strong and intensely not to go. That car in front of me was hit by a car who ran a red light. Sister Lalampaa and I replayed the situation over and over again in our heads. We know that if I would've pulled out, we would have been involved and hit as well. I KNOW that Heavenly Father watches over us. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost who warns us and protects us. Tender mercy of the week. 

On Sunday, a member was bearing his testimony. He spoke about how he had a bad day on Saturday, and just planned ahead of time that he was not going to come to church. When he got off work, he went and visited a part member family. We are teaching their son, Panashe. 

Panashe is progressing well, but has never come to church. When this member came to visit them, Panashe asked if he was coming to church tomorrow. The member had to think about it for a sec, but he told us that he couldn't even tell him that he wasn't going to come. This member brought Panashe to church for the first time, and he loved it. I am grateful for the members and the help they give us missionaries. It was a sweet story that I thought you would love to hear. 

Our week was crazy cause we were in and out of the hospital... but we got to celebrate Halloween before Sister Lalampaa got sick. Zimbabwe doesn't have any pumpkins. So we got creative and carved watermelons! We ate watermelon until we were sick, and had so much fun with the carved watermelons. 

This week was full of tender mercies and comfort from a loving Father in heaven. I know he lives and is in the details of our lives. He wants us to be safe and happy. The gospel is the thing that does it for us!!! Keep on the covenant path and always do what is right. The Lord will always lead and guide us as we do so. Sister Lalampaa shared something with me that really stuck out to me. She said,"When we make and keep sacred covenants with the Lord, it helps us to greater hear the whispering of the Holy Ghost." Oh how grateful I am for the temple and the covenants we make there. The blessings and power it gives us helps us in this crazy world that we live in.

I love you!! 

Sister Kershaw

The sweetest reunion EVER

I LOVE MY NEW AREA SO MUCH. 

We don't focus a lot of our time in Borrowdale... because we would just be not as effective when we knock gates. BUT most of the people that we are teaching in Borrowdale are the workers for the rich people. One man is named Manasa. He is a chef for this wealthy white family, and he can only see us at 1:00 pm for an hour, during his lunch break. They don't want us teaching him at their house, so we sit outside their gate. He is so humble, and he is very kind. We taught him about the Restoration, and he said that everything about religion made sense to him now. He is willing to get legally married, and is just needing to save up money for his wife to travel to Harare so they can go get a marriage license. We are praying that everything works out; baptism coming soon.

Most of our time is spent in an area named Hatcliffe. It is like 15 minutes from Borrowdale. There used to be elders in the area, but they closed it because the meeting house is in Borrowdale. It was hard for the people to travel, so there wasn't much success. Well... I don't know what happened, but the people started sacrificing, and coming to church. We got permission from President to work in Hatcliffe with those who were coming to church, and referrals from others. That is what makes up most of our teaching pool. I am amazed at these people's faith! They walk a long way (because they can't afford the public transport), and they do it every Sunday. We seriously have a rockin' teaching pool, and I am so happy I got transferred to the area. 

We are teaching a Gogo and Sekuru (Grandma and Grandpa). I honestly have no idea what their actual names are, we just call them gogo and sekuru. Everyone is your family here in Zim.  Their granddaughter just joined the church, and so that's how the other sisters found them. Sekuru told his whole family that this is the church they are coming to now. When we asked him if he was coming to church on Sunday and he said," Of course, we must." They are reading the Book of Mormon together, and seriously I just love them. They are already legally married (one less headache to have), and are still so in love; like seriously... I want a love like that someday. Now they are being introduced to the gospel, and I am just loving seeing the joy they are having! Sekuru also gave us a referral, his best friend named Martin.

We taught Martin on Friday about the Restoration. He told us that when he was reading the book, he felt like he was in the same situation that Joseph Smith was in. He needed to know, and now he does! At the end of the lesson, he told us that his family had to hear this message too. They stay in a nearby town, and he sent them money to come to church on Sunday. SURE ENOUGH they came, and we taught them that evening. It was so crazy that these promises that he made us, he made them happen.(It's rare for people to keep their promises lol) Guess what, they are already legally married. I just feel like prepared people are just being handed to us! It is all because of the gospel touching one person's life. They then realize how important it is, and want their loved ones to know, too. I guess that's what the gospel does to us. Once we have a testimony, we have to share it!

We had a Harare North stake conference on Sunday, and it was the best. day. everrrrr!!!!!!!! Enterprise is in the same stake as Borrowdale, so I saw my favorite people from Enterprise. It was like Christmas morning seeing all of those people that I love so much. The members, my recent converts, and even those still preparing for baptism were all there. It was honestly the best, and made me realize just how much I love these people. They have become my home away from home. I would have never made it this far if I didn't have such amazing relationships with the people of Zimbabwe. Ahhh, it was a wonderful reunion and the highlight of the week. 

Love you all so much.
Sister Kershaw 

Welcome to Mini America, Sister Kershaw

Hello from HARARE ZIMBABWE! 

I received transfer news this last Saturday, and I left Bindura. I was SO sad, because I was only there for 12 weeks (two transfers). Although it was difficult, I really loved the people there. I loved the small town feel and the country parts of it!!! The friendships that I made, and the spiritual experiences that I had will last a lifetime. I will just be glad for the time that I had, and be grateful for it. I know the Lord has a new adventure for me... and that is in Borrowdale! Tonana Bindura! 

My new area is called Borrowdale. It is the NICEST and RICHEST part of Harare town. While I am slightly nervous, I am going into it with an open mind, and I just keep telling myself that the Lord needs me there, and so I will find that reason. My companion's name is Sister Lalampaa and she is from Kenya. I am meant to be with missionaries from East Africa!  We were already SUPER good friends before we were companions. We were already praying to be companions. I know that we will have a blast together. 

These last couple weeks, I was feeling extremely homesick. I don't know why it had to creep in again, because I thought I was long over those feelings, but I guess I am human, and it happens. I was struggling so much this week that I even called President Makasi. I wasn't at the point that I wanted to come home, but I didn't want to get to that point. He counseled me, and he also told me a quote from President Eyring. 

"Families that pray together, stay together." While I miss my family, and want to be with them, he told me to feel their love through prayer. I have felt strength through that. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers. He always does, and he always answers them. I also was able to read D&C 31. It is counsel from the Lord to a missionary. He promised that he would protect his family while he was away, and I know he is doing the same for me. There is strength in prayer and scripture study. 

Love you!

Sister Kershaw

See others as CHRIST sees them

I wasn't able to send this last week because right before I was going to send it, the power went out. So, I will be sending two weekly's this week :) 

Hello there! Not a lot happened this week, but a lot has been on my mind. Just about life, and the stresses that it brings. I am grateful that we got to watch General Conference. The words of comfort that our church leaders gave was wonderful! I really felt Heavenly Father's love for all of God's children. It is easy to lose sight of how much each and every one of us are worth when there are struggles, and problems in life! But when he spoke, I just knew that all of us matter to Heavenly Father. It's even why I am in Zimbabwe. The Lord loves these people and needs them to return to live with him! I get discouraged when they don't want to hear the gospel, or sometimes the members who already know the gospel don't come to church! I can't count how many times they spoke about staying on the covenant path, and holding on. So we won't give up on these people! 

The Lord blessed us with some really amazing people to teach. A man named Tinotenda just showed up at church two weeks ago. He is a college student, and was previously taught by missionaries. He then went on break, and now is back for school.  He told us that they didn't have the church in the area he was from, but he brought his Book of Mormon home, and even shared it with his mom. 

Another person we are now teaching is named Robert. He is the nephew to some members. We weren't sure if he was serious, but wanted to give him a chance anyway. The first lesson that we taught him was the Restoration. After we finished teaching him, we asked how he felt about the message that we shared with him. He then said," I want to know more." The message of the restoration invites the spirit so strong. It is the most unique message in the whole world. Other churches will teach about faith, Jesus Christ, Baptism, and the bible. But you won't hear the story of Joseph Smith humbly kneeling in prayer to ask God the question of his heart. The spirit will not deny that he saw God the Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. 

On Sunday night, I was feeling very discouraged. We had hardly any members come to church, let alone those we are teaching. I thought to myself," Why am I even here? I am not making a difference, and the people that we baptize won't stay active anyway." ( I realize now that those thoughts are from Satan) About an hour later, I received a phone call from my recent convert in Enterprise, named Owen. He updated me about his life and just how happy he was. A couple weeks ago he baptized one of the Sister's converts. He also is preparing for his mission by saving money to buy a passport. I was lovingly chastened by the spirit when I got off the phone with Owen. The Lord does need me here, and I am making a difference. I am not telling you this to brag, or try to look like a perfect missionary, because I am not even close. BUT Heavenly Father does use us as instruments in his hands to find those who are truly prepared. I can't give up hope just because things aren't easy. Satan sees our weaknesses and tries with all of the energy he can to discourage us. He blinds us to help us feel like we aren't ever going to be good enough. Honestly, we never will be good enough. But Christ takes those imperfections that Satan tries to make ugly, and Christ makes them beautiful and STRONG. Don't let Satan win. 

I love you all so much! 

Sister Kershaw

(Sorry again for the lack of pictures... The connection is so bad these days!)

It's cool to be obedient!

This week was a crazy roller coaster of busy-ness! haha 

We went to Harare twice this week for mission leadership council and for Zone conference. Both meetings were uplifting and inspiring. There were mixed emotions at both conferences, and you could sense the sadness from President and Sister Makasi, and also Elder and Sister Graves. This week 3 missionaries were sent home because of disobedience. It was a sad week for the mission! We loved these missionaries, and were so disappointed that they made some wrong choices. In both meetings, they pleaded with us missionaries to be obedient, and to always do what is right. 

One quote that Sister Graves says is," IT IS COOL TO BE OBEDIENT." 

Sometimes it isn't easy to always keep every rule, but it is worth it. I know that as I have been obedient as a missionary, I see the Lord's hand greater in my life, and in the work I am doing. President Makasi taught us about how in general conference, we sustain President Russell M. Nelson and his apostles. When we sustain them, we are promising that we WILL obey these mission rules because they wrote them (with direction of the Lord of course). We aren't just obeying them because of President Makasi... it is from the Prophet AND the Lord!!! 

This week we did some finding in a different part of Bindura town... I knocked doors for the first time in a year! I don't think I have done that since Texas. It was fun! We did have a cool experience from it. A missionary who used to serve in our area asked me about a girl named Portia that he had baptized. I said that she wasn't going to church, and I didn't know her. He explained to me where she stayed, so we tried to find it. We drove around, with no real luck in finding her house. When we were about to turn back, my companion told me to drive up to a grass fence that she saw. We went to open the gate, and then two SCARY and ANGRY dogs ran up to the gate. I can't tell you how fast we bolted to the car. I was trying to get the keys out of my bag, but I thought that those dogs were going to come and kill us 

Luckily, a guy came just in time and the dogs didn't get out to kill us. The man let us in... and guess who was there?! PORTIA. She just happened to be visiting her friend at that time, she doesn't even stay at that house. I can testify that the Lord is aware of us individually. He knew that we needed to find Portia, and he knew that we would find her there. Tender mercies! :) 

I am so grateful for the gospel in my life, and I am grateful for the joy it brings. That joy comes from and through Jesus Christ. I love you all so much. Remember that it is ALWAYS cool to be obedient. Stay on the covenant path where the Lord wants us to be.

With all my love, 

Sister Kershaw