Exchanges and Trio round 3

My name is on the departure board, and I cried

This week I got to go on exchanges with a sister named Sister Goff. I don't know if you remember, but a LONG time ago, I took HER on exchanges. Now she is an STL, and I got to go to her area. We had so much fun together! I am grateful for her, and for her friendship. She said that she considered me one of her "mission moms". She is a sweetie! Exchanges are just an excuse to get to have a sleepover and talk with your good friends on mission ;) hahaha just kidding! I did learn a lot from her. 

Highlights of the week:

-The Halverson Family all got callings, and the men got the priesthood. The ward is fellowshipping them, and they are doing great! 

-I learned to make chapatis. They are like East African tortilla and are heavenly. (Don't worry, I'll make them for ya'll back home)

- A lady we've been teaching for a really long time finally came to church. Her name is Mai Adele. 

-Dinner appointment with the Mahoni family (We are teaching their son Jimmy) Jimmy, Divine, and Craig are so funny. 

-We are now in a trio :) Sister Kisby joined in the fun in Marimba Park because I will be leaving mid transfer. We could be twins, and I think people will get us mixed up, but it's fine. hahaha, I will send a picture of us next week! 

It was the last week of the transfer, and so nothing exciting really happens in week 6. Sometimes you get the "week 6 blues"

I love you all SO much! 

Sister Kershaw

Hello family! 

We had the busiest week ever! We were preparing for the wedding and preparing for the baptism, so it flew by. These weeks are flying by, and I don't know how I feel about it. 

We have to have interviews with the people being baptized, so we met our district leader, and then it decided to POUR rain. I sat in the interviews for 3 hours dripping wet. Oh, the lives of missionaries!

Okay so... I made the huge mistake of baking the cake for the wedding. I thought I could just bake a chocolate cake and frost it, then it would be nice. HA ya, I am not a baker, that's for sure. I poured the batter in and let it bake. When the timer went off and I checked on it, the outside edges were burnt, and the middle was sunk in and not cooked. The next morning, I tried again in the round pan, (okay it was a round frying pan) and it did the same thing. The third batch wasn't too bad, so we stacked the two together, and then frosted it. It didn't look the prettiest, but at least it came together, and a cake was at the wedding. SISTER CHIRWA looked so beautiful! It was fun to see all of her family there; there was a lot of love and support. We danced, and had a lot of fun at the wedding ;)

The next day was the baptism. All 6 of the Halverson family were baptized, and also Sister Chirwa. It was so amazing. The spirit that was in the room was soooooo strong. Converts were baptized that day. On Sunday at church, they all bore their testimonies. Sister Mokoena and I were just balling. They are so grateful for the blessings the gospel has brought to their families. The father really got us emotional too. He said," I love Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. and I LOVE my family. This gospel is exactly what we needed." 

I am doing great. I have loved my mission, and am going to love every moment of these last 4 weeks. I am grateful for my companion, she is an angel. Honestly, we are just best friends  I love the area, and I love the ward. I love the gospel, and I love being a missionary. I don't think I've ever been this happy on my whole mission :) 

Love, Sister Kershaw

JOY comes through HIM

Hello Family and Friends,

This week I have been asking the question, "WHY?" Life is just so difficult, and there is so much suffering in the world.  The world has an endless supply of difficulties. When, where, and HOW can we ever feel relief? As I was studying this week in 3 Nephi, the Holy Ghost gave me the answer. 

It's Jesus Christ. He is the source of all peace. While Zimbabwe is suffering and people are losing hope, their answer is Jesus Christ. He is our healer, our peace, and our life. When we turn to him, he helps us become whole. When he visited the Nephites, he healed them one by one. He blessed them and extended a hand of mercy. He will heal us one by one, and his light will shine brighter than all of our fears. I have a testimony that Jesus Christ is here for every, single. one. of. us. 

We had a zone conference this week, and it was probably one of the funnest zone conferences that I have been to. I just felt the spirit so strong and loved listening to the councils from our mission leaders. One thing that President Makasi really spoke about was repentance. We read scriptures to talk about the effects of repenting and not repenting. I would love to share them with you because they were so good! 

In Mosiah 4: 3,12,13 we read about the effects of repenting: 

1. We will have joy and peace of conscience 

2. The constant companionship of the Holy Ghost

3. Faith in Jesus Christ increases

4. Retain a remission of our sins

5. Always rejoicing and be filled with a greater love

6. We will grow in knowledge

In Mosiah 2: 36-38 we read about the effects of NOT repenting:

1. WE withdraw ourselves from the spirit

2. We stop progressing and learning

3. There is no place prepared for us 

4. We are in open rebellion against God

5. We are an enemy to God

6. Filled with guilt

7. Mercy has no claim on us

8. Our final doom is never-ending torment

So ya... Let's repent, cause it will make us and God happy 

We are getting a TON of referrals from members. One family has a son who was never baptized and isn't a child of record. His name is Jimmy and he is 9 years old. It is so much fun teaching him because he already knows everything! He is so funny, too. We were trying to get him to remember what we called Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost (the godhead) So we said it begins with God... and then we pointed to our heads. He then said," Godbrain?" We died laughing! hahaha, he is so fun. 

The Chirwa family got their marriage license, and so the wedding is on for VALENTINES DAY! I am so pumped! It will be a fun evening. The Halversons are beyond ready to be baptized. While we were teaching the family about the commandments, we asked the father if he would live the commandments. He said," Of course I will. It's from God." They are some of the most prepared people that I've met on my mission. Stay tuned for next week for lots of wedding and baptism pictures ;) 

I love you all! 

Sister Kershaw

I will never be 20 in the United States :)

Hey there! That's right, this Sister Missionary had a birthday ;) the big 21!!!! I can't believe I am that old already. My birthday was really fun; We got permission from President Makasi to go out to eat at a nice restaurant in town, and I got to talk to my family  I couldn't have asked for anything more than that. 

A miracle that happened this last week regards my last week's email with our wedding situations! One of the nights this week we went to go and see Sister Chirwa and her husband with our bishop. We talked to them about how they can have a simple wedding, and we will help her with everything, the only thing they needed to do was get the 100 bond for the marriage license. They were so appreciative of the help from the ward and said they were more than happy to sacrifice to get the money. We are praying that the husband is humbled by the wedding, and has a desire to follow his family in the gospel. We will continue to help make this family a forever one! 

Also, another miracle! We have been teaching Bishop's sister in law named Deliwe. She is 18, but sounds and acts like she is 8 years old... not even kidding! haha, we really struggled to teach her, because she was so shy and wouldn't talk in previous lessons. She really seemed like she was not interested, and wasn't keeping commitments very well. We went and saw her on Friday, and she was a different person!!!! (She also attended church 2 Sundays in a row) She was answering our questions and could explain what the priesthood was. She even told us the story of the first vision! We are excited to see her continue to progress, and she has an amazing support system as well. 

I am sorry that this email was just short and sweet, but we are seeing miracles in our area, and are working hard! Hope you all enjoy your week.

Love you!

Sister Kershaw