Called to Serve: 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!