Week 50

 We gave each Primary child a CTR ring last week.  They were so excited!  Most of them came to church wearing them today.  These little girls are so happy to have these rings.  Even those who do not speak or understand English well know the ring reminds them to "Choose The Right".  

This is President Bongani Moyo.  He is employed by the mission to make sure passports and visas are updated for all 180+ missionaries.  He is also a Stake President in our mission. He is frequently in the office working at a table in the lobby where my desk is.  This past week, he told me his story.  I find it amazing and hope you do as well.  

He was born in Zimbabwe and has lived here all of his life.  He and his siblings were raised by a single mother.  She took them to a Pentecostal Church.  At the age of 13, he met the missionaries and accepted their invitation to attend church.  On his very first visit, he says he felt something.  It was powerful and he knew he wanted to come to that church every Sunday.  He was very direct with his mother and told her he was going to do so.  Each Sunday throughout his teens he got up, dressed in his Sunday best and went to church alone.  After finishing his secondary education at the age of 17, he got a good job.  With his first paycheck, he got a passport.  With his second, he bought a big piece of luggage.  With subsequent checks, he bought white shirts, ties, shoes and suits.  Unbeknownst  to his family, he was planning to go on a mission.  While doing this preparation, his A level test scores came in (kind of like SAT).  He scored "With high distinction" in all areas.  His uncle was in a man known in government and politics.  He came to his nephew and told him he had gotten him a full scholarship to a university where he would study law.  Bongani told him he could not accept because he was going to serve a mission for his church.   His family told him he was crazy and could not understand his decision.  He was called to the Zimbabwe Harare Mission, the only mission in Zimbabwe at the time.  There are now 2.  While attending the MTC in Johannesburg, he attended the temple to receive his endowment.  While sitting in the celestial room,  he felt impressed to pick up the Book of Mormon.  He randomly turned to 1 Nephi 8, Lehi's dream.  He had a very poignant spiritual experience where he imagined his family coming toward the tree.  That night, he wrote an 8 page letter to his family explaining why he was a member of the Church and on a mission.  Many weeks later, he received his first letter from home.  They had attended church.  The next letter they got, they were meeting with the missionaries.  The third letter he got, they had set a date to be baptized.  When he returned home after 2 years of service, he was accepted into an internship with Price Waterhouse Accounting in South Africa.  Around the same time, he was offered a job by the church to take  care of the visas and passports for missionaries.  That job led to him staring his own business doing visas and passports for many organizations, including the church.  The council that he gives to the many young people who he interviews is this, "Give to the Lord what he asks. When you sacrifice even a little, the Lord blesses abundantly."

This is what we encountered on our way to church this morning.  We have had some powerful thunderstorms lately.  We managed to go around on the left and bumped on down the road and through the mud puddles to arrive safely at church.

We love to see these red lights.  When they are on, we have electricity.  In Zimbabwe we say we have Zesa because that is the government department that provides us with power.  Sometimes they let us have it and sometimes not.  Our red lights have been on a lot lately and we love it.  We can use the stove when we have Zesa.  We can also wash clothes on the long cycle and use our little AC without worry.

When there is no Zesa, we rely on Solar.  This is the battery in a closet that makes that possible.  We can't use the stove or oven with solar but can use almost everything else in moderation. If we have lots of cloudy days with no sun, we run out of solar.  If we run the air conditioner too long or use our countertop oven that has element burners on top the battery runs out and we are without EVERTHING.  No power, no water, no internet.  

When that happens, we turn on the generator for about 20 minutes and that charges our battery back up and we have solar again.

We have this all figured out now.  It took us a while, but we now know how to keep our lights on, the water running and the internet going.

By the way, I JUST HIT MY ONE YEAR MARK!  I should be home 6 months from today, 23 August.  I am happy.

The Temple President for the Zimbabwe Harare Mission was announced on Friday.  It may be the week before I leave, but I still have hope that the temple will open before I leave.