Zim livin'

Hey there, It's Sister Kershaw from Zimbabwe

I still have to remind myself that I am living in Africa right now. Sometimes I forget, lol! 

We found a new person to teach. Well actually, Sister Sariah and I found him, but I just forgot to tell you about him. His name is Owen, and he runs a little shop at a farm named Empire. He is 20 years old, and he has his shop because he is saving money to go to college. He just applied to go to the University of Zimbabwe. He is a really bright kid, and loves the gospel. We taught him a couple lessons, but he still wasn't coming to church. A miracle happened... and yesterday he came to church! He said that he loved it. I was so proud of the ward, too. They greeted him, and made him feel comfortable with his first time. He is going to get baptized the end of June! We are so pumped. 

Update on Joseph: HE FINALLY GOT HIS MARRIAGE LICENSE. He is going to be married and baptized on June 8th. Sister Jabanga and I are now planning a wedding. We are finding the mama a wedding dress, even. We want to make this special for them, and we just think it would be fun. 

Also, do you remember that story I told about finding? That guy's name was Robert, and he is loving listening to the gospel. He came to church two times now! He always talks about how he wants peace in his life, and he feels that at church, and when we teach him. He is so sweet. 

All of our investigators are doing great, and I am so glad to be serving in Enterprise. I also LOVE Sister Jabanga. We get along so well, and she makes me laugh all the time! She's the best! 

I went on exchanges this week, too. I went with a sister named Sister Mtyoblie. We lived together in Zengeza, so it was fun to be her companion for the day. In our companion study, I shared what I learned from my personal study which was from 1 Nephi chapter 2... I think. In the last verse it talks about tender mercies. I just shared with her about how grateful I was to see the tender mercies that the Lord has given me. The little things can sometimes brighten your day. Those tender mercies help you get through the rough times, and even to just have a reminder that Heavenly Father is watching out for you. She then said that she was in a family home evening and a father asked the child what she was grateful for today. The young girl then said," Dad, I am grateful for the breath I breathed today." Sister Mtyobile said that we should find those tender mercies. We can find gratitude that Heavenly Father blessed us with another day to live. Another day to repent and become better. Another day to tell those around us that we love them. When you think of things that way, you realize that life is a true blessing. This week, look for tender mercies from Heavenly Father, because they are there! We are so blessed and we will be happier as we recognize His hand in our lives. 

Crazy thing that happened this week: We got in a car accident! I don't even think we could call it a car accident, I guess you could say a fender bender. My gosh, my luck with cars!  The car and us are safe... but it was just crazy how it happened. I don't know if I told you, but petrol is a big problem here in Zimbabwe. It is scarce, and so the lines to get it are SO LONG. We were going to get into a line to swipe our card with U.S dollars. We parked in the line, and didn't think much of it. THEN this dude in front of us just put his car in reverse and backed right into us! haha He didn't see us, and it was totally an accident, but it was crazy. 

Love you so much!

Sister Kershaw 

P.S. I am SO sad, I had pictures to send you this week, but the internet is all of a sudden not working. 

#LifeofZimbabwe 

How are you to Jesus?

This week I am starting with a funny story! It will explain the caption to my email. So my companion and I were walking in St. James Craig Farm and we were trying to find this mama named Loveness that we are teaching. We walked up to her house and knocked, but she wasn't around. There were some people sitting in the yard next door, and I don't know what they were saying, but they started speaking in Shona. Then this Baba yelled," How are you to Jesus?!" My companion and I just looked at each other and started dying laughing. He was obviously drunk, so we said," How are you to Chibuku?" Then he GOT UP and starting running towards us with his hands out like he was going to come hug us. He kept on saying," HOW ARE YOU TO JESUS?" Don't worry, we ran away and quickly left Craig farm, but we were dying laughing. Never a dull moment here in Zimbabwe. 

Sorry mom and dad that I ever complained getting firewood! I had it easy at home

EXCITING THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK: Goliath committed to a baptismal date! He told us that he doesn't want to wait any longer for his wife. He said that he is ready to be baptized, and realizes how important this is. He said that his wife doesn't seem interested, and as much as he wants his family to be in this gospel, he will be an example to them. My companion and I will continue to pray that he sticks with his date and ends up being baptized! 

This last Friday, we also had interviews with President Makasi and they were so good! President Makasi gave me some great advice about prayer. I mentioned to him that I really want to improve on my personal prayers. You pray so much on mission, and I don't want it to just become a routine or something that isn't special. He told me that when I am saying my personal prayers to kneel down, and just think for a second. He wanted me to ponder about the day; think about what I am grateful for. think about the tender mercies of the day, think about the blessings that I humbly need to ask, etc. He said that when we ponder before and after our prayers, we invite the Holy Ghost to speak to us. Too often in life,  we just say our prayers on the go, or we are too quick to move on to the next thing, that we miss the impressions from the Holy Ghost. I am going to definitely start applying that, and as I have started, I see the difference already!

Rumbi and Ennie were both baptized on Saturday! It was such a happy day, and they are so excited to now be members of the Church. I love their simple, but powerful testimonies. They know that the gospel is true. and they know that their Savior lives. Ennie said in her testimony," I am so grateful that I get to finally be apart of the church. I have waited for so long." I love these people and their faith SO MUCH! 

Dinokudai shamwari's (I love you my friends)

-Sister Kershaw 

Pounding Corn

sleepoverrrrrr! :)

I wanted to start off my email by giving you an update on Rumbi and Ennie! I am beyond excited for them to get baptized this Saturday. Their testimonies and conversion to the gospel are growing so strong. I love that I get to see that happen for people on mission. You can just see it kinda "click" with them when they understand. It is such a blessing to see people's lives change. I am also so happy that they have amazing support systems! Rumbi lives with  really strong, and active members of the church. Ennie is cousins with another active family. Guess how long Ennie and the Caisa family walk to come to church...? TWO HOURS! And yet, they do it with smiles on their faces. I am amazed at their faith and in America, we really don't realize how blessed we are to have the things that we do. These members are such great examples to me and I will be forever changed by seeing their dedication to the Lord. 

This week was another Mission Leadership Council. The night before, President and Sister Makasi took all of the sister training leaders and zone leaders out to dinner. It was super fun, and I love the Makasi's so much. They are some of the best people you could ever meet! After the dinner, the Sister training leaders were going to be split up to stay the night in two different houses, but we asked President if we could all stay at our house. He said he didn't have any problem with it, and to have fun. haha he's awesome! We grabbed all of the mattresses that we had, and all slept in our front room together. I haven't had a sleepover with my friends in so long, and so it was nice to have one. I really do consider all of those sisters some of my best friends, so It was a blast!! 

This week we were doing some finding, and we met this baba and his friend. Before we went to go find, we said a prayer and in the prayer I specifically remember asking Heavenly Father to help us to know what to say to touch the people's lives. In this lesson, when I spoke, I bore my testimony about how much peace the gospel brings in our lives, and about how I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Honestly, it wasn't me speaking, it was the spirit. After I was finished talking, the baba asked us," How can I get this peace that you are talking about? I want that in my life," Goes to show I am not the teacher as a missionary, the spirit is!!! 

Sister Jabanga is awesome and we get along really well! I think I told you that she was from South Africa, and she has been on mission for over a year now. She goes home in October. It is fun to get to know her, and learn all about her life and family in South Africa. I love serving in Africa, because I get to learn about so many different countries from all of my companions. She also speaks Kholsa (I am not sure how to spell that). BUT it is the language that has clicks in it. So that is awesome to hear her speak, and she is totally going to teach me some, too! 

Happy late Mother's Day to all of the amazing mamas out there! There are so many women who have influenced my life, and I am grateful for every single one of you. My grandmas, aunties, church leaders, teachers, and so many more! Most important, I am SO grateful for my mom She is  the best role model a girl could have. She is a shoulder to cry on, and a best friend that I can tell anything to. She taught me lots of things throughout my life, but the most important was the gospel and I am grateful for her testimony. I am the girl I am today because of my mom! I love you and miss you so much, mama! 

Love, Sister Kershaw 

Tonana (goodbye) Sister Sariah

This week was my last week with Sister Sariah. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father put us together as companions. It was no doubt that we needed to be together. She helped me to learn and grow so much, even if it was just for 6 weeks. She taught me how to be exactly obedient, and to follow the rules no matter how difficult it may be. She also taught me how to laugh and enjoy what I am doing. If something didn't go right, we just laughed. She taught me to love those we teach. To view the people with an eternal perspective and to truly give them the benefit of the doubt. The lessons I learned in this last transfer I will apply for the rest of my mission, I am grateful! 

We made kinda a "bucket list" of things that we had always wanted to do in our area. There is a dairy farm in our area, so we got some fresh milk! There is also a pig farm and we wanted to see the pigs, so we went to see them! We also wanted to stargaze on her last night. So we laid out a blanket in a member's yard and just looked at the stars! The sky is so beautiful in Zimbabwe, I love it! These things made the week so enjoyable and go by too fast! Also something that made this week go by fast was that we got to move into a new house! It is super cute, and pretty nice! 

One girl that we have been teaching is named Rumbi. She is a maid for some members, so she has been exposed to the gospel. She started coming to church every week, and she even bore her testimony in fast and testimony meeting. She speaks 0 English and we need a translator for every lesson, but she understands well. She will be baptized here in a couple weeks! I am so excited for her. 

My new companion's name is Sister Jabanga and she is from South Africa. She is super cute, and super fun! I am excited to be companions. :) 

sorry this email was kinda short, but there wasn't much to report this week. I am doing well, and still loving Zimbabwe and mission. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength that it gives me to do what I do. I love my Savior so much! 

Love, 

Sister Kershaw