June 25, 2007

Dear everybody,

My first week in Lusaka was nice! And an unpredictable one at that. I was in the Libala branch with Elder Sisneros until Wednesday night when the zone leaders dropped by our house and told me I was being transferred again! Within Lusaka though. I guess that there were supposed to be 5 new missionaries coming into the mission from the Johannesburg MTC, but when they arrived in Harare the Zim government said, "NO!" and kicked them back to Jo'burg again. So all of them had to come straight Lusaka, and now they all will be serving here in Zambia, ha ha! So I have now been moved to the Chainama branch (rhymes with "my momma") and my companion is Elder Rasmussen from Irvine, Orange County, California. He was one of the Lusaka zone leaders when I first started mission and I remember thinking, "this guy is SO COOL." This is his last transfer on mission so in mission lingo, I am "killing" him. It will be a fun transfer and I will definitely keep him from getting too "trunky." We live with two other elders, Elder Ulloa (Ontario) and Elder Boehme (pronounced "bay-me" from Raymond, Alberta), the only two Canadians in the mission. So anyway, Wednesday night I had 10 minutes to pack my bags and move to Chainama. It seems like it will be a wonderful area. Mostly medium density. We work in two areas: Chelston and Avondale. People here in Lusaka speak a language called Nyanja from Eastern Province, but most everyone speaks at least a little bit of Bemba so I can get away with speaking Bemba to most everyone. After I say, "mulishani eya mukwai" and they look at me funny I just tell them that I am actually Bemba by tribe and they always get a laugh out of that. One thing that's different about this area is we have hardly any investigators. I think we will be spending a big portion of our time finding new people to teach. So that will be interesting. As far as I have seen so far, the branch and the members here are a lot like the branch and the members in Kitwe. Mostly new members (thought not as new) and about the same church attendance (55-75). We meet in a house similar to the one in Kitwe as well. It's a shame I had to leave Libala, because they have a NICE chapel to meet in. Oh well! I know I will like it here.

This past Saturday was Elder Rasmussen's 21st birthday so we went to this delicious ice cream place called Milky Lane which is surprisingly similar to Baskin Robbins. It was delicious.

Oh yes, Elder Rasmussen and I found a random connection between us. His cousin, Elder Remington is serving in the India Bangalore mission and was in the same zone as my former roommate, Elder Josh Cannon from Mesa, Arizona. Elder Cannon sent me a picture of his zone (New Delhi) and Ras' cousin was in the picture. Small world!

Well, President Bester is still in Johannesburg for his medical problems. Keep him in your prayers. I love all of you verrrry much. I know that this work is truly the Lord's and that I've been commissioned by a living prophet of God to do this work here. I love being a missionary!

Love you all,
Elder Mckay Moline


P.S. Oh, and I have decided that every week I am going to give you strange names of people I meet. People here in Zambia have weird first names. Many are normal but some are just crazy, such as "Venus Mwamba," "Lavender Dube" and even "Godknows Mulenga." Haha. Those are all males by the way.

P.P.S. I will either make a CD to send home today or next week.

June 18, 2007

Dear everyone,

Well, I've been transferred! I was at first expecting to be transferred to somewhere in Zimbabwe because I had heard through the grapevine from other missionaries that I had a Zimbabwean TEP, but at zone conference this week I was told that I heard wrongly (I'm not really sure how that happened). Anyway, I have been assigned to work in Lusaka, the capital and largest city in Zambia. I'll be in an area called Libala and my companion will be Elder Sisneros from Syracuse, Utah. I'll be living in a house with 4 elders, all serving in the same branch.

My last week in the Copperbelt was wonderful though. Elder Weeks and I got along just fine and we got a lot of work done as well. We found 13 new investigators, including another promising family. We taught 22 investigator lessons, which is sharp! To top it all off, we had a baptism Sunday after church. What a way to end my time here. Bessie Matemba, 19, was baptized by Benson Kanyembo, a recent convert. Since it was my last Sunday, Branch President Kapata asked my to speak in sacrament meeting, and I decided to speak on setting goals for ourselves. I think that's something that everyone can work on, especially me. Since I just hit my SIX MONTH mark, it's something I really focused on this week. ISH! Can you believe 1/4 of my mission is now over? People aren't kidding when they say that time flies on mission. It was rough to say goodbye to everyone in the branch yesterday but I think I'm ready to go work in a new area. I'll still be in Zambia, which I'm happy about, but after being in an area for 6 months it's tough to just go. I took quite a few pictures this week, but the cord to my camera is in my luggage, so I can't send them today. Sorry! Next week you'll see them I think.

Wednesday was zone conference, which we had at the Swans' house in Luanshya. President Bester has had some medical problems so he and his wife had to go down to Johannesburg for some sort of surgery, so President and Sister Sanford came in their place. The Sanfords are pretty new (3 months) and they are the couple who stay in Lusaka. Pres Sanford is 1st counselor to Pres Bester and he was a seminary/institute teacher for many years before. He and his wife talked about a lot of good things.

So last night (Sunday) Elder Weeks and I spent the night in Luanshya and this morning I took a bus down here to Lusaka. It will be very different being in a zone of 24+ elders, having had only 8 for my whole mission so far. But I'm excited to be around elders who I was in the MTC with (Ulloa, Vilakazi, Weight).

Also, just for everyone's info, I haven't received any packages (from grandma warr or grandma shirley), but I bet I'll get one this week. . .

I hope no one will think me rude for this, but may I politely request that every package from now on come with a tie? Ties are the only part of my wardrobe that I can change from day to day, and I would loooove to have some more. THANKS!

Anyway, I love being a missionary. This work is the Lord's and no one else's. The gospel truly is the answer to all the world's problems. I've seen it at work!

Love you all,
Elder Mckay Moline

P.S. Yes, Mom, I'd love to have a copy of the May Ensign.

June 11, 2007
Dear everybody,

Good week! Last monday we had a zone activity at the Swans' in Luanshya. We just played Phase Ten with the other missionaries and got to know each other better. We also were given the new May 2007 Ensign conference issue! After weeks, actually months of waiting it finally arrived. Elder Weeks have been fighting over it ever since. So far my favorite talk has to be Jeffrey R. Holland's The Tongue of Angels or maybe M. Russell Ballard's The Miracle of the Holy Bible. One thing our zone has been trying to focus on is using the Bible and the Book of Mormon together and supporting one another, and his talk really gave us some new insight about that.

Tuesday we had DDM and afterwards we did exchanges. I went to Ndola with Elder Tshani who is from DR Congo, and Elder Weeks stayed here in Kitwe with our district leader Elder Mogotsi from South Africa. It was my first time proselyting out of Kitwe since January and it was really good. My first time having a black companion too, haha. Elder Tshani has a really powerful conversion story and it was good to be with him and see how he teaches etc. Friday the music class was excellent! We had 4 people show up and all of them practiced leading hymns for us. It was nice! Saturday Bessie Matemba was interviewed for baptism and passed, so she will be baptized this Sunday by Benson, who was baptized in December. We decided to push back the baptismal date for Peter Mwansa, and when we saw him Saturday morning, we really felt good about it. With him we are really emphasizing reading the Book of Mormon every day, and he is really beginning to see all the things that are contained in it. The Book of Mormon is so rich with things to learn; I just wish I could do better to help other people see that! So he is now preparing to be baptized on 15 July, along with quite a few other people.

We're continuing to find new people to teach here in Riverside. Actually, if you remember I told you a couple of weeks ago that we met some Indian men and taught them just a little bit. Last night as we were sitting in our house, two of them knocked on our door and wanted to see us! I guess one of their friends is a Christian and would like to meet with us. So we set up a time to see him this week. Pretty exciting! We also met a few of our other Indian neighbors.

Church yesterday was great. Unfortunately, our investigator attendance has been down still, but I think and hope it will pick up in the coming weeks. We actually had our first Riverside investigator come to church! A woman named Sister Marasha. We have taught her and her husband 3 or 4 times and this past week we read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with them (Moroni 10). I think she really felt the spirit. Her husband couldn't come, but hopefully we can work on that.

Well, I love you all so very much! This Church is truly the Lord's!

love from Zambia,
Elder Mckay Moline

P.S. I have hardly taken any pictures since this transfer began, so I'll have to make sure to do that this week for sure.

P.P.S. There is a very good chance I'll be transferred to Zimbabwe next week. I'll find out at zone conference this Wednesday. I'll let you know!