So this week has been
interesting, very mixed in relation to ups and downs. We started the week with
DDM (District Development Meeting) on Wednesday. I was told that I was to teach the lesson
about "how to begin teaching".
This was interesting because I am the newest missionary in the area. I was
confused as to how I should go about studying and teaching so that I could
spiritually uplift them, so I turned to prayer. After doing so, things became much more clear.
I was able to plan an effective lesson. I came up with an acronym that I think
can be applied to any missionary, any member, and other. DDD: Develop Trust,
Discern Need, Doctrinal teaching. The
other missionaries really liked this and even wrote it down. (Africans don't
write much down -- no journals, few letters home, etc.)
The rest of the week
was a bit slow. Thursday was great though.
We did service for the first time. We built a cow "coop" or pen for
Brother Lenard’s cow. We taught a lesson in the morning to a member who really
needs to be strengthened so that he can help his family. He struggles with the
word of wisdom. During service project, we
had to take out all the old wooden beams and put in new ones. We reused the old
nails, so they had me straighten all the nails we had just pulled out on a rock
with a hammer. They think Mzungu's are weak here. They think we will always hurt ourselves and
such. I must prove them otherwise. I
learned an important lesson while hammering in nails: Keep your eye on the
nail, not the hammer. I applied that to the gospel "keep your eye centered
on Christ”, by doing so we can drive in the nail and find eternal happiness. If
we use other methods to seek happiness, we may bend the nail and stop our
progression towards eternal happiness. Luckily, the lord has provided the
atonement for which we can repent and "re-straighten" the nail. We
must not focus on ourselves, but make Christ the center of our lives to find
happiness."
We only were able to
build half the cow coop, so we will have to go back another time and finish it.
Brother Lenard fed us some sort of potato like thing called
"arrowroot". It’s not very
tasty and sticks to your fingers and your teeth. It’s good if you eat it while drinking hot
chocolate.
Friday was a boring
day, we taught one new lesson to our new investigators in the morning, but then
due to a furniture delivery, we had to be at the apartment all day waiting. The
lesson was in the investigators shop, and due to indoor fires, the place was so
smoky! My eyes were tearing up constantly, like having a cold or something. I kept sniffling. It gave off the impression
that I was crying at the power of the lesson. So I guess that's a good thing.
Saturday, my favorite
day in the mission so far was exchanges (switching companions with another
missionary companionship), meaning I was the senior companion. I got the
privilege of taking the District leader around the area of Kikoko. I made sure
to have everything led from the spirit, from planning, to training, to
teaching, etc. In being led by the spirit, the day went so well, and it helped
me to realize the potential of the areas. Before this day my hopes for the area
were quite low, but now I was able to see the members open up like never
before. I have been making a push this
week with the members to work on studying, and applying D&C 58 about "all men
should be anxiously engaged in a good cause". We have tried to do all the
missionary work ourselves, but the burden of the Branch is too much to hold up
alone. We need the help of every member, striving to be better, in order for
anything to change.
Sunday was a rainy
day, meaning no power. The power has
been in and out all week especially at night, so I must use a candle for light.
I taught Elders Quorum (men’s church meeting) and taught all the Elders the
lesson of D&C 58. I also gave them a challenge that I ask all of you to do. Choose three attributes of Christ or of the
Spirit, and as you go about each day, study these attributes in the scriptures
and in the teachings of the General authorities, and in doing so, apply them to
your life. Ponder them each day, pray
about how you can apply them to your daily life, then do it.
Monday was another
successful day, in the morning we did training which consisted of watching an
hour of Preach My Gospel videos. After watching them, I realized we need to
work on applying them to our companionship if we want things to work better.
Elder Kazomba and I took some time to talk about what was bugging each other,
and what we could improve on. I had a
ton to say to him. We discussed our differences and found that there are a lot
of things we need to work on together to have a stronger more productive
companionship.
Today I met with the Mission President. His name is Gary Hicken. He is a wonderful man, very wise and
knowledgeable regarding the scriptures. He never served a mission, but since
age 23 has devoted his life to doing what the lord asks of him. In doing so he has been greatly blessed. (He
lived in Buena Park where he was Chief of Police for many years. You can click on the highlighted words to learn more about his Mission President, who will be watching over Rushton for the next 2 years.)
Well tomorrow is Zone
Conference, so that should be a learning experience. 45 missionaries should be
in attendance.
Love you all,
Elder Hiltbrand
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