July 7, 2008

Dear everyone,

The week has been wonderful. We had some good experiences with some of our investigators. One investigator named Barbara Kulima, I think I've told you about before. She is coloured and a single mother of two sons (16 and 12 years old). She stays very near the meetinghouse in an area called Emmasdale. She has been taught by the missionaries for a long time, at least 5 months, but she has only attended church once or maybe twice because of her work. She works for a TV station as a camera technician and because she refuses to go to her boss' church he makes her work on Sundays. So she has wanted to resign so she can be baptized, but her boss is being very difficult. The TV station is a religious one and her boss is a pastor for some pentecostal church and she says he is just an "evil" man. So she gave him her letter of resignation and he decided to extend the amount of time before she can stop working up to 4 months (for most people it is 2). Also, just to spite her he went out of the country and intentionally "forgot" to pay her her salary for June. So because she had no money to pay her sons' school fees they have had to stop going to school for the past two weeks. All this not to mention her uncle who she stays with will not let us near his house so she is trying to find somewhere else to stay. So she has been having a lot of problems and trials recently. We met with her on Thursday and she was acting a little bit strange, very stressed out. We talked to her about adversity and the Atonement of Christ, and as we were teaching she just cried and cried. This is my second time seeing a Zambian cry in a lesson. She really felt the Spirit and she felt much better afterwards. Yesterday she came to church although she was feeling quite sick. We fasted for her yesterday as well.

Another investigator is facing some other trials. Pinky Kabinga is her name. Twenty year old single mother of one boy. We used to teach her at her house but her mother who she stays with said she doesn't want us there anymore, so now we're meeting with her at the church. Before she used to argue with us about doctrines, etc, and we nearly dropped her, but now she has told us she received an answer to her prayers and she knows the Book of Mormon is true! The tricky part is now getting her to church and baptized. . . she wants to but her mom is not supportive at all.

Well, time is up already. Sorry. Lots to do today. Love you all very much!

Elder Mckay Moline