Saturday, June 22, 2013

missionary's best days

Today was one of those days as a missionary when you get to celebrate all the love and persistence and share with others the joy they feel as they are baptized as members of the church. (photos will follow). I am sure we have told everyone before that Joburg has no Sister missionaries since about five years ago they had much trouble with sisters being harassed and hurt. All the sisters coming to this mission are assigned to Botswana and we are glad to have them, they are awesome and it gives us the chance to go with them often to visit investigators and members. The Elders are awesome too and we had the great fun of helping teach two of the sisters who were baptized today. Otsetswe and Florence have been studying the book of Mormon and attending all functions of the branch and especially diligent attending church each Sunday, where we all get to know them better and they really begin to show their conversion as they pay their offerings and wow can they pray and bear testimonies. Only one of the sisters you see in these pictures has support from home to help them gain strength and stability. As we have said before, it is really hard to watch as they walk up to 2 miles for any church gathering and they must go past hundreds of hecklers and neighbors who attend every other faith and weird church you can think of. We must drive right by them as we are not allowed to give rides to members except for a few instances of special need. They smile and wave and love us so much it is amazing. On fathers day, most of the women made a big deal with a sweet handshake and smile and reminder to Elder Davis that he was a father and made me homesick of course. We may have mentioned in another blog that we are having a terrific experience with two young people we are helping finish their mission papers and all that go along with that. This is so much fun, Kabo is 21 and has been a member since Feb 2010. He nearly gave up his hope of a mission just before we came, but as we got to know him better and found how close his preparation was it became apparent we had to push things along and let him see the light at the end of the tunnel. He owed 250 pula to his school to get a graduation certificate, along with police clearances, passport, personal references, medical exams, etc etc. We seniors help facilitate and find funding for much of these things. Of course the missionary is responsible for most of the cost and these guys are going for it full steam ahead. The other one is the cutest 19 year old girl named Janet. We sent Kabo's papers by DHL on Tuesday and Janet's we will hand deliver to Pres Omer next week as we travel to Joburg for the first time since we arrived in Francistown. This is like having two ore kids of our own to serve. They will most likely get calling to another African country in the South of the continent like Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, or Madagascar. We should have a great story to blog after next week as we travel with 11 of our members on a temple trip to Joburg. This is once a year at best for these folks and while there we will get 4 patriarchal blessings, 3 first time endowments, a family of 4 sealed while living, and numerous family history ordinances. Two full days at the temple and two days of travel. It should be a memorable experience for us little Cache Valley kids huh? Thanks to all of you who email us with encouragement and news from home. Please keep it coming. Yes it makes us homesick, but as my dad says: we might as well be sick as the way we are! We love all of you and feel your prayers for us, as we also pray for you too. Elder and Sister Davis PS. Sister Davis remind me to mention she is starved for recent pictures  of kids and grandkids and friends and their activities.

Our mission kids are so thoughtful

 Now you see why homes are built of cement or block. The termites here have serious appetites!
Great day for these Missionaries

This is the baptismal font and area by the church. Just like a big hot tub. One difference, it is cold water and these folks don't like being dunked.

 We found a South African Caucasian girl to trim our hair. Sister Davis plans to have her color too. You can bet this will be our friend for our time here. Anyone recognize the tie?

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