I met the first sister who was baptized during my first week here on mission. Her kids kept coming to church. We kept working with her and teaching her and her kids. She would always tell us that she was so excited to get baptized. We were able to help her work through some problems and help her to realize the reality of the Atonement and that because of Christ, she could get through anything she faced. She came to finally be prepared to baptism. After her baptism, she was just so so so happy. She came running over and tried to give me a hug (totally dodged it like a pro, because missionaries don’t hug girls) and she was just so happy. She was baptized with her two kids.
Next brother who was baptized. The senior couple contacted him and wanted us to teach him. He just gobbled it all up. He loved the gospel so much. He works as a security guard so we could only meet with him once a week because of his job. After every lesson, he would go and teach all of the other guards the lessons. Man, the guy is just so solid. So solid. He had a hard time coming to church because of his job for a while, but he would always say that he knew God would provide a way for him to come to church. The guy is just so cool. He really loves the church and the gospel. A great convert.
The last brother who was baptized. He showed up at church one day just completely random. So we talked to him and met with him a bunch of times and taught him the lessons. As we taught him, he really opened up. He reads the Book of Mormon a ton and always writes down words that he doesn’t understand so that we can help him to know what they mean. He is a good guy and will be a faithful member. He even came to clean the chapel, the guy is awesome!
So those are the stories of the people who were baptized yesterday. We also had 11 investigators at church which was wild!!! What a day!
So for this week,
I was walking along the road on an exchange the other day and all of the sudden, Elder Finima (from Nigeria) starts yelling snake snake!!! I was like, what!? So i look up and there is a huge snake flying across the dirt road maybe 10 feet in front of me. I was so shocked. So i ran up to see it closer and the thing just slithered around so fast. It was so fast. So it was against this wall and Elder Finima tried to kill it by throwing a rock at it but he missed and the snake slithered back towards me and then into the bushes. Man it was crazy. Africa man.... Africa
I ordered a custom tailored suit from a member who is a sower guy (not sure what the title is... can’t remember proper English) I’m stoked for it to come. He said that he should have it done by the end of the week for us! I’m gonna be so fly.
Okay so here are some spiritual experiences and lessons:
I got emotional and sad when I was with a family we have been teaching. I thought that I might get transferred soon to another area. I was just like wow, you build such a connection with the people you teach and you want to be the one who is with them when they progress in the gospel. Man, it was emotional.
We were teaching this woman. She was really prepared for the message of the gospel and we have met with her as often as she could. So we were teaching her the Plan of Salvation and I felt prompted to get down on her level (she was sitting on the ground, we were on chairs). So I got off my chair and knelt before her. We were face to face. eye level. I testified powerfully of heaven and that she could make it there. I felt that I was looking into her soul. I could practically see her spirit as we spoke. It was powerful. I felt the spirit strongly.
Next we went and taught a lady who was recently baptized. We taught her about Doctrine and Covenants 131, 132:15-20. As we spoke, the spirit just distilled upon us. Everything just became quiet and calm. It was a powerful experience as the spirit testified to all of us that the things we read were true. It was powerful.
I was reflecting on missions the other day. Actually every day. I’ve come to realize that a mission is a complete act of faith. You just say that you'll go and then everything else isn’t up to you. Where you'll go, who you'll live with, what language you'll speak, etc. Its like jumping off the diving board and not knowing if there is water underneath. It’s a complete act of faith. i believe that that is what life was like for us. Choosing God's plan must have felt similar. Before you come, you know you'll have struggles and that you'll also have great days, but you don’t really realize how it will actually feel. You can’t really comprehend it until you feel it. Same thing with life. We were probably told that we would have struggles and also awesome times, but we probably were not aware of how hard those struggles would be and also how choice those awesome times would be as well. Earth life and missions are so similar. They are refining in ways you never expect.
This past week was a good week. It went really fast. I can’t believe I’m already emailing again. Wow. I love you all so much and pray for you everyday.
It is so good to finally see the fruit of our labors and I feel very privileged to play a small part in the process of seeing these people come to Christ.
Love,
Elder Janda
