February 12, 2008

Dear everyone,

Ah, how I love being a missionary. Another week gone.
Tuesday I went on exchanges to Kitwe with Elder Sekimuli, who is from the same branch in Uganda as Elder Tibagalika. They are good friends and quite similar in their attitudes, which is not always a good thing. But all the same the exchange was good. It was first time doing missionary work back in Kitwe for a long time and it was quite enjoyable. We visited District President Kapata's home which was nice and he informed us that the First Presidency had been reorganized earlier that day. Monson, Eyring, and Uchtdorf: what a trio!

Friday we met a new less-active member named Matthew Katongo in an area called Hillcrest. He uses two crutches all the time because he is crippled. Man, you wouldn't believe how many physically impaired people we have in this branch. The oldest member, President Kapato (1st counselor in DP) is in a wheelchair and there are probably 12 or 15 others who either are in wheelchairs or use crutches. I guess it's because the church used to meet in the Ndola Rehab center, where Pres Kapato works and he probably has done more missionary work than anyone in the branch.
Saturday and Sunday was the Copperbelt district conference. The Besters, the Sanfords, and a new couple called the Stones' came up here for it. The Stones just barely came to Zambia and are currently staying in Lusaka, but will replace the Stevens here in CB when they leave in May. They are a proselyting couple from Vernal, Utah and they have served one other mission in Wellington, New Zealand. They are both very friendly and funny. District conference was quite cool. I was able to see nearly all the members of the Kitwe branch who I haven't seen in nearly 8 months now. There were so many people I wanted to talk to but not enough time. Brother Jackson Mumba was interviewed after the meeting and passed, and thus will be baptized this Saturday. He is so excited and even his wife who is still having English trouble is excited for him. She will follow soon, I know it.

Yesterday was zone conference yet again. This time, luckily, the Besters and the APs actually made it to the Copperbelt. It was great to see Sister Bester again; it has been a while. President Bester mostly focused his presentation on the sacrament and its importance. He made an interesting comment that I had never thought about before. He said that the sacrament should be just as important to us as were the animal sacrifices were to the saints in olden times. It made me think quite a bit about how sacred an ordinance it is, though we tend to forget it. It was the last thing Christ instituted just before his atonement. People who visit the Church should see the sacrament as the central focus of the meetings each Sunday. It was a great conference.

After ZC we played Uno and I kept dumping cards on Sister Bester and she was so upset with me, haha. By the way she said that she can't wait for the Taylors to arrive. I'm quite excited myself!

Hope everything is going well for everyone else. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, for sure.

Love you all,
Elder Mckay Moline

P.S. Sister Sanford told me that Sandra Mboma (the lady I contacted on the bus in Lusaka back in October) was baptized just a few weeks ago and that now her 17 year old daughter is investigating. . . how exciting!