Week 2- Indirect Baptisms and Old Shoes
Gosh what a crazy week, everything has gone really
fast and yet slow at the same time. So i just found this out: This guy
contacted me randomly on Facebook from Kenya before my mission and i
had no idea who this guy is, but i talked to him about the church and the
book of Mormon and he was really excited about it. I got his name
and his address (haha Africans don't have addresses) and referred him to lds.org
and while i was in the MTC i talked to the referral service HQ and they
figured out how to locate him so the missionaries could find him and
teach him some lessons, and to my great surprise he emailed me just now
and said that he was finally able to find the missionaries and is taking
the lessons and is on date for baptism!!!! Wow the lord works in amazing
ways. Even for a random guy in Africa that lived out in the bush!!
Totally made my day!!:)
But this last week has been very cold and we have been covering a lot of ground. But it has been good, I've met so many new faces and they are ALL amazing people. I will never forget a couple things when i first showed up in Africa:
1# When i got to the mission home there was a another elder that was new just like me from Durban SA. But i thought he had been serving for awhile because his clothes were all dirty and his shoes were pretty much rags. But when i talked to him he said he was as new as i was, this hit me really hard. Here i am with a couple pairs of 150 dollar shoes and this other elder was wearing scraps of leather on his feet. We both had the same intention in mind, TO TEACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. The people here have nothing but they are happy. It makes me mad because i don't think people understand that when they do humanitarian service they travel to Africa and give away all this stuff to help the "poor" people in Africa....NO! They are people that's what matters the people. They are people just like us, and once they understand that then they can give their all to help them.
2# I will never forget my first lesson, i was all excited to teach my first lesson, in this hut and the whole family was there and the first thing we did was make a fire to help them cook dinner hahaha i was like wow this is a camp out without excessive amounts of candy! This mission is a working mission. We don't just teach and smile at everyone we meet but we WORK.
Love you all!!!! So much. Hope you had a great 4th.
-Elder Swindle
But this last week has been very cold and we have been covering a lot of ground. But it has been good, I've met so many new faces and they are ALL amazing people. I will never forget a couple things when i first showed up in Africa:
1# When i got to the mission home there was a another elder that was new just like me from Durban SA. But i thought he had been serving for awhile because his clothes were all dirty and his shoes were pretty much rags. But when i talked to him he said he was as new as i was, this hit me really hard. Here i am with a couple pairs of 150 dollar shoes and this other elder was wearing scraps of leather on his feet. We both had the same intention in mind, TO TEACH THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. The people here have nothing but they are happy. It makes me mad because i don't think people understand that when they do humanitarian service they travel to Africa and give away all this stuff to help the "poor" people in Africa....NO! They are people that's what matters the people. They are people just like us, and once they understand that then they can give their all to help them.
2# I will never forget my first lesson, i was all excited to teach my first lesson, in this hut and the whole family was there and the first thing we did was make a fire to help them cook dinner hahaha i was like wow this is a camp out without excessive amounts of candy! This mission is a working mission. We don't just teach and smile at everyone we meet but we WORK.
Love you all!!!! So much. Hope you had a great 4th.
-Elder Swindle
My Son, Elder Lawson, is helping to train Elder Swindle. His report about Elder Swindle is that he is humble, and well prepared to serve the Lord. One thing everyone learns quickly down there is that without the Spirit, the work is meaningless. There are too many people to teach, and too many people to help, that you have to completely rely on the Spirit to lead you to the most choice families. I am happy that Elder Swindle is starting this life changing experience out right!!! I pray the Lords blessings to ELder Swindle and also to his family.
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