Sister Caroline Richards: Week 53: "You'll Find Me Running"

Hi Family and Friends!

This week was great! We worked like MANIACS this week and it was so amazing. Appointment after appointment after appointment. There's nothing better! It was so insanely crazy busy. Traveling to and from Zone Conference, exchanges, interviews with President Mkhabela, and trying to fit all of our investigators somewhere in between! We didn't have electricity the WHOLE week which makes pretty much 100% of life impossible, but hot water came back today so all is well!

SO get this. The reason our electricity went out was because a lizard crawled into some wires somewhere or something and fried the whole system. Well, poor little lizard got fried himself! The electrician gave us our petrified lizard and we proceeded to take 1894729 pictures with him. Poor guy. Caused us so much distress in our lives.

So we keep on seeing our less active sekuru (grandpa) Brother Khumalo whom I LOVE! He's doing SO well with his Book of Mormon reading and is progressing so well. His native language ndebele, his second is shona, and third english. But all of church is in english, and he's trying to practice praying in english so he can pray at church. He asks every member that comes through with us to write down a prayer in his prayer book so he can get ideas haha. It's the cutest thing!! He prayed in english on Friday and we just praised him for how great it was. He said, "aewa aewa (no) it goes like this. You stand up, fall down. Stand up, fall down, stand up, fall down. But next time, you'll find me running." I loved his determination. We will find him running!

This week we had a great experience with More Blessed! Obviously his baptism has been way postponed due to his criminal history, but he really is changing. We taught him the word of wisdom this week. It was apparent before that he has problems with smoking, and we were able to hear him open up about it. When he started coming to church, he started to have a change of heart about his smoking and drugs habits. He knelt down one night and told God that he wanted to stop smoking, but he would need His help. Well, just in these two months, and without us knowing, he's gone from 30 cigarettes a day down to 4! Imagine! He committed to filling out that page of the WOW pamphlet of "plans and goals" and we are excited to help him officially quit tobacco and marijuana. It just really strengthened my testimony that God prepares His people for the gospel. The gospel instills in us a desire to change, and we see that so clearly with More Blessed. We are really seeing miracles with him.

President Russell M. Nelson once said, "As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar, 'who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross'. Think of that! In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth, our Savior focused on joy." Something my trainer told me at the beginning of my mission is that it never gets easier, you just get used to it. I have found this to be so true! Missionary work is WORK. It wasn't meant to be easy. But for us to get through anything, we can follow the example of our Savior and focus on JOY. It's as simple as that. Finding joy in each and every day can make the longest and hottest of days seem bearable, and you will be able to live every day of your life with a smile on your face! I have an unshakable testimony of that.

I love missionary work. I love zimbabwe. I love sadza. Come to zimbabwe and you'll find me running. Love you all!!!

Love, Sister Richards