Week 6

 Monday was transfer day.  All of the missionaries who are being transferred to a new area come to the mission office and load their luggage into another vehicle and head out to their new assigned areas.  There are about 63 companionships in this mission and 56 of them changed this transfer.  It was a happy day!  It's like a missionary reunion.  They see former companions and friends they haven't seen in a while.  The sisters are huggers.   







Friday, eleven new missionaries entered the mission.  All arrived at the mission office from the airport around 1.  After eating chicken sandwiches and fries from Pogos, they met with many people in the office to receive their mission funds, receive instructions from medical on how to stay healthy and prevent malaria, met with the secretary and with President Judd.  The African missionaries met with me so that I could tell them about English Connect and what I can do to help them if they want to improve their English.  They enjoyed pizza on the picnic tables during the cool evening.
                                                        
                                                                           


  

Here are two amazing people I spoke with this week.  Elder Hakizimana is from Rwanda.  During his senior year in high school, he won a national competition in Physics and competed in the US.  He was given a scholarship to  BYU Idaho.  After three years there he joined the Church in March 2022.  He says it was the happiest day of his life.  He decided to serve a mission that very day, started working on his papers and was in Zimbabwe in a year.  He loves Jesus Christ and the blessings of the Restored Gospel so much and is so thankful to be able to show his gratitude by serving the people of Zimbabwe.



This is Fortunate.  My roommate and I, along with some other senior missionaries, hire her to clean our apartment twice a month.  Her husband, who is a painter at the temple, was introduced to the Church by Elder and Sister Anderson who are missionaries assigned to oversee the construction of the temple. She and her husband and two little girls (ages 9 and 7) were baptized in November 2023.  Like so many of the African converts, she is so thankful to be a member of the Church.  She was so happy as she told me the blessings that she and her family have experienced.  She sang in her Stake Choir at Stake Conference last weekend and loved that experience.  She was recently called as the Relief Society secretary in her ward and feels so thankful to be able to serve in that capacity.  She feels she has been given so much and wants to give back.



Well, Good Morning. This is a friendly Wall Spider found in abundance here.  This is the 2nd one I have seen in my bathroom.  I gasped and screamed when I saw him, then grabbed the insect spray and dropped him to the floor.  I really felt sad when I did him in because they are very useful in keeping other critters out.  But I also need to go into that bathroom and I COULD NOT if I knew he was there.  










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