9-8-08

Dear everyone,

Now it's getting HOT!

This week was very different from a normal week, but it was great. Our schedule was very different than the ordinary because we had zone conference on Saturday and the burial of the president of Zambia on Wednesday. Wednesday we just had to stay inside all day to show respect for the burial of the president. We played a game of Risk in which I destroyed everyone and then we just moped around and were lazy the rest of the day.

Monday we tracted into a coloured family (the Doogans) and taught them the Restoration.They loved us and it was a good lesson. We met them again on Friday and only a few of them were there and they seemed scared of us and just spooked out in general. Then the mother told us that her friends and neighbors had come around and told her a lot of strange things about us and the Book of Mormon. UGH. It's like the story of our lives. We explained as well as we could and bore our testimonies but I'm not sure if they were receptive to the Spirit or not.

On the other hand we met a very good family. A father, mother, and two young daughters came to church last Sunday, the Tembos. We taught them twice in the week; they came to institute on Saturday; the mother came with the daughters to church again yesterday (dad was sick); we taught them again after church and extended a baptismal date of 25 October to them and they accepted! Now we need to find some powerful fellowshippers for them! The father works at Atlantic Bakery during nights. He literally gets paid K8,000 for a 12 hour shift. That is about $2.20 or so. Awful! I guess that's what some people have to do to make things work.

On Friday Pinky Kabinga and Esnart Phiri were both interviewed for baptism by Elder Spelman. They both did well though they both needed an additional interview from Pres. Sanford, Esnart for a past abortion, and Pinky because her father was a polygamist (zambians from the southern province usually are). They have to be given a "rubber stamp" of a approval by the area presidency through an email which hasn't happened yet but surely will come in the next couple of days. So the both will be baptized on Saturday. Pinky especially is very very happy! We've been teaching her since I first came to Matero branch in May. Her family is still totally against the Church but hopefully they will soften their hearts and attend the baptism. . . that would be wonderful.

Saturday was zone conference with special guest, Elder Colin H. Bricknell, an area authority seventy from South Africa. He and his wife were both excellent. He was a mission president in Pocatello, Idaho just a couple of years ago. He's a pretty much go-by-the-spirit kind of guy and in the conference we talked about all sorts of things from how to sit while teaching someone to why we do missionary work in general. The basic idea of everything was "be your very best." At the end we had a testimony meeting and the Holy Ghost was powerful during that. After everything was over we had a "zone leader council meeting" with he and his wife, the Besters, the Sanfords, and the assistants. We just discussed as a group the strengths of the mission, the challenges we face, and what we need. Short but good meeting.

Yesterday we had lunch with the Besters and the Bricknells at their hotel (a rare treat) and then took them to the airport.

All in all a good week. I think that's everything.

love you all very much,
Elder Mckay Moline