Week 35: "I love mission too much." "There are so many people that I have met and learned to love them."

Onward, Christian Soldier: The Marimba and Bindura Zone at Zone Conference

Our Marimba Zone

Sister Mzunga and I are enjoying are days in the area! We're always amazed at how fast the day goes by because we're usually always in lessons teaching! I'm teaching her to eat more and to eat faster and I can say she is definitely progressing! I'm very proud of her haha...also I've been teaching Sister Namugenyi and Sister Mzunga how to hula-hoop because they've never learned. It was definitely very amusing!

Teaching my companion how to hula hoop haha

Sunday dinner--fish, potatoes (one, two, three, ..., Seven?), cabbage, cucumbers, and pineapples!

How to be a Bad Trainer 101: Don't give your companion Stoney. Stoney, or ginger beer, is a soft drink they have here that I've learned to love! In fact, it's the only soft drink that I'll get when we get food because especially when I'm feeling sick, this helps settle my stomach/calm down my allergies/etc. I had my companion try it because most people who know me know that I love Stoney, and yes, Sister Mzunga is officially my daughter. We were in the area yesterday and right as we got into the car, she started complaining that she didn't have a Stoney! haha I think she's more addicted to it than I am...so yea, don't give your companions Stoney!

Complaint of the week: I need to cut my hair. 

Investigators:

Tashinga--He is 14 years old and we met him on the streets. He's come to church for the past couple of weeks and as we've gone to teach him, we've also started teaching his mother and sister! It took us probably over a total of 20 hours to find his house since we tried to find his home for about three weeks, but it has been a blessing! His sister has come to church twice now and his mother came for the first time this past week! It's really amazing when kids so young can be such a good influence for the rest of the family, especially since the mother and sister weren't going to church.

This coming week we are planning on having a number of baptisms which will be very exciting! The branch members do a great job of fellowshipping the new investigators which is such a huge help towards missionary work! We've consistently been having around 15 investigators come to church every week which is a huge blessing from the Lord. But yes, the pictures will come(:

Today, it's raining, but we've decided to have another activity today and so I'll send you pictures next week if we end up following through!

These kids are always taking our name tags! They want to be missionaries!

I love mission too much. Although I'm not even halfway done with my mission yet, I think, wait, yea, I've already learned so much. I know that there are things waiting for me back home, but then I think that eighteen months just isn't enough. There are so many people that I have met and learned to love her. There will be so many experiences that I will be able to treasure and take home with me. Mission is going by too fast and it just seems to go by faster every single week. I love working in my area because it brings me so much joy. Even within these past couple of months, I've had to be patient with situations and I've become even more humbled with my missionary work. The church is the Atonement delivery system, and I get to help send on that message. I can't even comprehend how much God actually loves me and wants what's best for me, even if it that comes in the form of trials. "And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:2) Just when we think we should be satisfied with where we are, the Lord expects more growth from us and sets a higher standard for us to reach..and he does that because he knows we're capable of doing that. He loves us. He trusts us. He supports us. He believes in us. I've learned so much, I know that I'll continue to learn. "...And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed...inasmuch they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time" (D&C 1:26, 28)

I love you guys so much!

Sister Park