Till we meet again Zengeza

The day has come, and I am so sad to be leaving my first area! The change will be good, but I really love Zengeza and it will always be like home for me. I love the people there too, and Sunday was a very sad day when we had to all say goodbye. The closing song on Sunday was, God Be With You Til We Meet Again and I cried like a baby. Saying goodbye to our investigators and recent converts was not fun either. We all just balled! Another thing too, my companion is also getting transferred, so they are white-washing our area! We were so sad because we were teaching and finding so many powerful people, but I trust the two new sisters who will be there. They will take care of our investigators.

So yes, I have been transferred to...ENTERPRISE! When I pictured Zimbabwe, I pictured Enterprise. It has hills, and everything is green. I will send lots of pictures next week! It is not in a busy city either, so I am really excited about that. I am a country girl through and through. I am also now a Sister Training Leader. It just means that I will get to go on exchanges with all of the sisters in Harare. I will also attend a mission leadership conference every month as well. The last thing I will do is... DRIVE. Here in Zimbabwe the driver's seat is opposite from back home. They also drive on the other side of the road as well. I am so scared! I drove this morning to be certified and I kept hugging the left side of the road because I am not used to driving on the left side. It was like drivers ed all over again!!! 

My new companion is named Sister Sariah, and she is from California. She goes home in 6 weeks as well, so we are going to enjoy every second before she goes home! She is a sweetheart and I know that we will really get along with each other. We are white-washing Enterprise as well, so we will have our work cut out for us trying to find everyone and build our teaching pool. It will be fun! 

This last week I hit 6 months on mission. Wow, how that time flew by! I can't believe it. Looking back on these last 6 months, I have learned so much. So here are 6 things that I have learned in the last 6 months:

1. I can do hard things

2. How to greet people in Shona and some church words... I will be fluent soon 

3. Hand wash my clothes

4. I can now teach the Restoration backwards, forwards, and in my sleep. I love teaching the Restoration! 

5. I can now make some pretty tasty Sadza

6. Lastly, the atonement is real. Jesus Christ knows exactly how we feel and we can feel of his love for us as we reach out to him. He carries us when we can't go any further by ourselves. I know that he lives! 

Have an amazing week, I love you SO much!

-Sister Kershaw

A baptism and a cyclone in ONE WEEK!

Hello my people who I LOVE SO MUCH! How are you? I am missing you guys. Life is good here doing the Lord's work. Zimbabwe is good, too. It will never be home, but it is home for now, and I am glad. 

Read the sign on the vending machine and then this will make more sense.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

True African women doing service. 

(I looked like an old granny with that on my head!)

Last week Zone conference with Elder Palmer

This week I got to go on exchanges with the STL again in Enterprise! Her name is Sister Jeppson, and she is one of the sweetest human beings you could meet! At the beginning of the day, we set goals on what we both wanted to work on as missionaries. Mine was to teach by the spirit, and hers was to use the Book of Mormon in every lesson. I loved setting those daily goals and being able to see myself accomplishing them. I love Enterprise, I pray I serve there someday! When I pictured Zimbabwe, that is what I pictured. 

There is a cyclone in Mozambique and so Zimbabwe is feeling the repercussions of it. No worries, though! I am safe :) BUT It hasn't stopped raining since Friday here. I love it, though! considering how hot it has been these past couple of weeks, I was so grateful for the cooler weather. It reminded me of home! Oh how I miss the cool Idaho weather! 

Milda was baptized yesterday, and I am so happy for her. I think I told her story a while back, but Milda just approached us missionaries and wanted to learn more about our church. Now I have seen her go to church every Sunday, attend Institute, read her Book of Mormon, and now get baptized. At the baptism she came up to give me a hug, and with tears in her eyes told me how much the gospel has changed her life now and forever. 

Milda's baptism 

That is what makes this worth it... the long days, the tears, the sweat, the homesickness... and really, this isn't about me. It is about the people of Zimbabwe, and for my Savior Jesus Christ. I love this gospel, and it will change my life forever to share it with the people of Zimbabwe.

I love you all so much! 

~Sister Kershaw

The Book is blue, and the church is TRUE!

This last Wednesday we had zone conference! It was also a mission tour, so we had Elder Palmer and his wife from the seventy come and talk to us. It was such an amazing meeting! Elder Palmer first talked about how as missionaries, we are called to preach the gospel by the spirit. Once tool that we use to teach with the spirit is the Book of Mormon. He explained how it is our most powerful tool for sharing the gospel. People in Zimbabwe LOVE Jesus, and so he said that if we testify of how the Book of Mormon can bring them closer to him, the spirit will bear witness of it's truth! 

After Zone conference, I had a renewed desire to just remember my purpose and strive to do better.  Too often in life we fall into routine, and that is how I was feeling in the work. I have always enjoyed the work, but the excitement was back and I am so grateful! We even had a really cool experience in the area sharing the Book of Mormon with someone. My companion and I shared the quote from Joseph Smith that says," ...a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." He then said," I have to read this book, when can you get me one?" The Book of Mormon is true my friends! 

The past couple of weeks, we have been teaching two little girls, Tino and Noku. Their mom joined the church in 2014, and so they aren't children of record because they were born after their mom joined. They are 8 and 9 years old. The hardly speak any English, but their mom translates for them and we even brought their primary teacher in a lesson with us. That helped a lot! They will be baptized on Sunday, so pictures to come next week! :) 

A really sweet story that I want to share... We are teaching this one mama named Natalie and she is a single mom of four girls. She supports her family by braiding hair. After we taught a lesson, she insisted that we stay for dinner. She tried to feed us tea, but we settled for hot water, milk and sugar. As I was pouring the milk, I didn't put a lot in. She then told me," Sister Kershaw, pour more in! The Lord will provide for us more." These people are so humble and loving. They are amazing! 

I don't have time to send pictures, but I promise next week! I love you!!

-Sister Kershaw

It's hotter than Hades in Zimbabwe!

So this week, I think that the sun decided to move closer to the earth here in Zimbabwe. It was SO STINKING HOT!  Even when we would go to appointments, people would say," Wow, I didn't think you would work in this heat, we weren't expecting you to come!" The work of the Lord moves forward, even in the blistering heat. 

Our investigators are doing SO well!!! Milda is progressing so fast and I am amazed with how fast that her testimony is growing. Ever since we introduced the Book of Mormon, she hasn't missed a day of reading. Also- she hasn't missed a day of church! She was able to attend Canisio's baptism with us, and hasn't stopped talking about it since. She is just counting down until her baptism! 

Chipo also hasn't missed a day of church, and she is doing really well. She has said that since she met us, she has had a desire in her life to make changes and be better. She also reads the Book of Mormon and loves it! She even shares with her friends what she learns in her study. 

This week my companion and I not only did missionary work on this side of the veil, but we also helped do some on the other side of the veil. We worked with some members and helped them send some of their family names to the temple! They loved putting in information about their ancestors and pressing the button to send them to the temple. We want to continue to help them with their family history, and I think it will help them look forward to the temple in Zimbabwe. I am so excited for them to have a temple here, it will strengthen so many families! They are breaking ground on it this year  I have to come back once it is built! 

As a companionship, we decided that we needed to broaden our teaching pool. We made it a goal to do at least an hour of contacting and finding every day. That made this week really fun and we met a lot of people... Some more interesting than others hahaha It opened up an opportunity to do service. I fetched water from a well, and helped people wash their clothes. It was a different approach to sharing the gospel, and we plan to continue do an hour of finding every day. It makes the work fun to meet different people! 

Have a great week. Remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus love you! The gospel is so sweet and it changes lives! 

XOXO- Sister Kershaw

I was going to send pictures, but they won't load again! I will send some next week :)