The week full of miracles!

First miracle- Heavenly Father answers our prayers: Our investigator Canisio has been preparing for baptism for a long time now. We finally finished teaching him all the lessons, and scheduled a time when we could have our district leader come and interview him. Everything was set and ready to go until we found out some bad news. Our ward mission leader told us that Canisio told him to tell us that he was going to South Africa with his soccer team, and that he wasn't sure how things would all pan out. My companion and I were so bummed because he was so ready, and now we had to put off his baptism for even longer. 

We prayed SO hard that our ward mission leader misunderstood Canisio or something like that. As the week went on, we kept on getting the prompting to go and visit his house, even though we thought he was gone. We finally followed the prompting, and found out that he didn't leave for South Africa yet, that he stayed behind so that he could be baptized. 

The interview was then rescheduled and everything went so smooth. He was baptized on Sunday, and was so happy to finally get to! I am grateful for the Lord answering our prayers, and even the sacrifice that Canisio made for the Lord. He has such a strong testimony! 

Second miracle: Most of you know that since high school, I have had some back problems. Lately in the past month my back has REALLY been bothering me. Sister Makasi gave me permission to go see a chiropractor, but the mission policy world wide is that you can only see a chiropractor twice on your mission because if you have that serious of a problem, you aren't able to fulfill your purpose as a missionary. When I went to the chiropractor, he explained that a ligament in my back was injured once, and because of that injury, it basically stopped working. haha Which explains why all of my other back muscles have been hurting. 
The only way to fix it, was a machine that he used on my back to "wake" the muscle back up again. He told me that it would take 4-6 times of seeing him. After talking to Sister Makasi and the area doctor, they allowed me to see him a 3rd time, but after that if he couldn't give me things to do, or if I wasn't improving, we needed to discuss my options. I was so terrified and distraught! 

I accepted the call to serve for 18 months, not for 5 months! I am bound and determined to stay out here, so I told myself," Even if it won't get fixed, you will deal with the pain. You are not going to go home." After this  news, I called my district leader, and he gave me a priesthood blessing. The next week was when I had my last appointment with the chiropractor. When I went to my appointment, I wasn't feeling pain and I felt a lot better. The chiropractor checked my back, and he said there was nothing that seemed wrong anymore, and everything felt fine. I am so grateful for the priesthood and that everything worked out okay. 

Have an amazing week! I love you all and miss you like crazy. I am so grateful I can call home every Monday, it is so nice! :)

Our district! These missionaries are all so awesome!

Another great week in Zimbabwe!

Another week has gone by here in Zimbabwe. I know I say this, but I am really loving Zimbabwe. I am adjusting well, and am loving serving around these people. 

We met this lady a couple weeks ago and she is so sweet. She has got to be in her 70's and she is a widow. She actually reminds me a lot of Grandma Kershaw. She is so sweet, and loves when people visit her. She tells us that she is a devote Catholic, but she came to church with us on Sunday! When we teach her, we have to slowly explain things, and she forgets a lot. I am just happy to serve her by visiting her. No matter what her decision is about the gospel, she is lonely and needs people to see her. She is a sweetheart, and I love her so much! 

Milda is another girl that we are working with. She is 20 years old, and Sister Omondi and I contacted her right before Sister Omondi was transferred. Sister Wandera and I went to go see her in January, and she was powerful, and excited to learn the gospel. She even came to church with us! We then kinda lost contact with her, because she went and stayed with her sister after she had a baby. She came back this week and she called us, and taught her the Restoration, and the Book of Mormon. She is so sweet and when she prays she always says," Thank you for allowing me to meet the sisters and learn about the Book Of Mormon. I feel privileged to hold it in my hands, Heavenly Father."  She is so soft spoken and is really shy, but is so smart and really enjoys us teaching her. 

Funny story for the week.... We contacted this mama named Nyasha, and she told us that we could come back the next day to see her. She gave us her address and phone number, and we planned to see her. When we went to her house the next day, they told us that she wasn't there, but that she moved. (Which is weird, because she gave us that address the day before) The man grabbed a 12 year old boy to take us to the house that she now lives at. As we started to head, his little group of five other friends tagged along. They were speaking Shona, and we couldn't understand a word that they said to each other. They started taking us through this brush and field, it was muddy and wet, but for some reason my companion and I trusted that these little boys would take us to go see this mama. Once we got out of the mud and water, we realized that we were in Zengeza 4... which isn't our area anymore! hahaha We finally got to the house and low and behold, Nyasha wasn't there, and it wasn't even the Nyasha we were looking for. Looking back, I think of how many Nyasha's there are in Zengeza and I just laugh. We now know not to trust a group of boys ages 10-12 to take us to find Nyasha 

I can now call home EVERY MONDAY?! At first I thought it would make me homesick, and I wouldn't like to do it. I quickly changed my mind when I got to call home and talk to my mama for an hour... It was so nice! I think it was a very good revelation from the Lord.

I love you all! Have an amazing week! 

Hello!!! I hear that Idaho is now starting to get cold and I just walk outside in Zimbabwe and it's SUMMER! I miss the cold, so enjoy all of the snow and cold weather. 

I want to start off with a miracle that happened this week. Do you remember Duduzile? We have taught her all of the lessons and she is SO ready to be baptized... but marriage problems. Her husband likes to drink chibuku (beer) and said he is not a church goer. We went to go see her this week, and she wasn't home. Guess who was and guess who answered the door... Her husband!!! We had some casual small talk and I started acting like I was going to leave. He then invited us in and we taught him a lesson! We have never been able to catch him, and he always runs away from us. I just pray he is around tomorrow to teach him again. He said we could come back. I have been praying for Duduzile and her husband for so long. It goes to show that the Lord's timing is not my timing, but he ALWAYS answers our prayers. 

The area is so great! Even all of our investigators are doing great!!! Canisio came back and is really looking forward to his baptism on the 23rd of this month. Chipo still has not missed a day of church, and talks to us about how learning from us is building her faith in God and just life in general. We received transfer news and I am staying in Zengeza for one more transfer to finish training Sister Wandera. The trio is no longer, and we are SO SAD! The new sister in the house is named Sister Komba, and she is from Sierra Leone, she is a sweetheart! I am starting to get a little bored, I have been in this area for a long time. But I know that I have only 6 more weeks, so I will make the most of it. I am excited to see Chipo and Canisio be baptized. 

I told you all about the New Testament challenge and how I am marking every time it talks about the atonement of Jesus Christ. I was reading in Matthew chapter 27 and it talks about Jesus Christ's atonement. As I was reading, I realized that our savior went through everything that he did, completely alone. How powerful is that? He suffered alone so that we NEVER have to. I am so grateful for my Savior and that I can be strengthened by the enabling power of the atonement. We are never alone in our suffering and the most difficult times of our lives. He loves us with an infinite love and we can feel that love daily. Never lose hope, he overcame all so that we can overcome our challenges. I know my Redeemer lives! 

I got my package, Mom! Thank you so much for everything in it, it brightened my WHOLE week! 

Mission is great, and the work is even greater! I love Zimbabwe! 

I love you so much, Enjoy winter for me! 

Love, Sister Kershaw

Turned 20... And saw a lion for the first time!

This week was such a great week and it went by SO fast! 

On Tuesday, we always have a district council meeting. Since I was having a birthday on Friday and 2 other elders had a birthday the last week, we cooked lunch at the church to celebrate. I made a Texas sheet cake, too! That was really fun. 

On Wednesday, we had a zone conference! This Zone Conference was so nice. President talked about speaking kind words to others. It really hit me that what we say make the biggest difference! Especially as missionaries, we are representatives of Jesus Christ and the things we say make an impact on people. They shared the scripture Ephesians 4:29-32

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger , and clamour, and evil speaking , be put away from you, with all malice :

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

 It talks about how we are all asking the Lord for forgiveness and how Jesus Christ died for us all. We are all beggars before the Lord and we were all paid for through our Savior Jesus Christ. When we choose to not forgive or to speak unkindly towards others, it is not pleasing to our Heavenly Father. I am going to try and speak more positive and more loving words. The things we say lead to action, so I want to act more positive and more loving. President Makasi also challenged us to read the New Testament in 90 days and mark every time it mentions Jesus Christ and his atonement. I already started to do it, and am very excited to continue. It will be so cool to learn about my Savior more deeply. 

Friday was the BIG DAY! wow, I can't believe that I am 20 years old. Who would have thought that I would spend my 20th birthday in Zimbabwe?! haha That day we were on exchanges, but we stayed in our area. Sister Mukendi came and worked with Sister Natocho and I, while Sister Wandera went to Enterprise with Sister Tolson.

 I guess in Africa its a tradition to pour cold water on the person who is having a birthday... so Sister Natocho and Mukendi soaked me the moment I got out of bed!  

The day was pretty normal, but that night Sister Wandera and Tolson brought a cake and dinner. We had fun and enjoyed each other's company! Sadly, The package did not come by Wednesday so I could pick it up, but it is okay! I am going again to the office on Wednesday for interviews with the President, so I am sure I will have it by then. I will just get to celebrate again when I open the package! 

We have a new investigator that we are teaching, her name is Chipo! She is 21 years old and lives with her Grandma. We have been teaching her for about three weeks now, and she hasn't missed a day of church! She always tells us that she has a crazy past and a lot of family issues, but since she has met with us, she has been doing better. When we taught her the Restoration, she told us that this is the true church on the earth. She has a baptism date for the end of this month, and I am really excited for her. This gospel truly changes people's lives. 

On Saturday, we taught our recent convert Liyona about missionary work. We told her how we can share the gospel simply. One of the examples we gave her was to invite her friends to church. Sunday morning came, and she was at the church with four of her little friends. She told them she was receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and wanted them to be there. I was so proud of her! At ten years old, she realizes the importance of the gospel and even the importance of missionary work.

Today we went to a wildlife park!! I finally got to see some cool animals. We saw Lions, Zebras, monkeys, and all types of crazy snakes! The vehicle we rented had a sunroof, so when we drove through the lion enclosure, we were standing up in the sunroof. I got some cool videos and pictures! When we were standing up and driving by the lions, one growled at us and started walking toward the car. I can't even tell you how fast we shot down back into the car. I was videotaping at the time too and it was hilarious! We were adventuring for sure. Thank goodness we didn't get eaten, I want to finish my mission first lol! 

 

I love you all so much! Have an amazing week!