Phew! Bam! Dang.. Just like that another week is gone. What the heck is happening. The weeks are going by so fast now. It’s crazy to think that mostly all our priests that were seniors have started their missions now! And if they haven’t, they are super close to starting!

This week was very eventful and unnecessarily stressful. 

Let’s start with the good stuff first. This week we were able to help some amazing people. We have some solid people progressing. 

Mxolisi - An absolute beast! We only had 5 members attend stake conference because it cost taxi-fair to get there but Mxolisi came! He is not baptized yet! He has a beautiful testimony of the BOM and of the church. He has found a lot of strength in both of those as he has stopped doing things that are against the Word of Wisdom.  It has been amazing to watch his change. He truly is a new man. He is on date working towards baptism and we are so excited to help him continue on his covenant path! He is truly a missionary’s dream.

Lutho - An amazing youth we found via a Facebook ad. I think I have already talked about him a bit so I will just recap. He was seeking for truth and he found it! We have only taught him a few times now but he is grasping the teachings very well. He seems to be very interested. In fact, when we first met him he said he wanted to be baptized and become a missionary eventually. How awesome!

Now for the not so good thing..

1) Tension and Push. There was some disagreement in the Relief Society a few weeks ago between some sisters, and it may have had an effect on some of our friends that we are teaching. We had some friends lose interest after that week and we haven’t been able to figure out why..  

2) Modesty. We were going over all the lessons with one of our recent converts that has been baptized for about two weeks now, and we taught it directly out of the new for strength of youth. The new for strength of youth does not give "YES" or "NO's" it helps youth make inspired choices. So, we taught her that. The next day we get a call from the elders quorum president giving us fire about not teaching it right. He told us to go re-teach her with the "Old Standards," so we did. Long story, short she ended up saying that she was never going to come to church again. So, we asked our mission president for some assistance, and he told us that we taught it right the first time. So, we probably should go reteach it again. Mind you, this is the third day in a row that we went to her home and talked about Modesty.. But, after mending some wounds we were able to get her stable again.. Hopefully. 

3) Home Issues. We went to go check up on one of our friends this week because we missed her at an activity that the ward was putting on. We came to find out that she has was being abused by her husband. So that news kind of destroyed the rest of our week. 

This behavior IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. If you or anyone you know needs help, please reach out to someone you trust. Get the help you deserve. 

Also, the hot water relay (A relay "Switch" that controls our hot water heater almost caught fire four days ago. So, I shut the power off to that. But now we haven’t had hot water for the last four days.. COLD Showers! Haha if you all didn’t know we are just getting out of winter over here so it’s still a bit chilly. So that wasn’t fun. 

Okay, Let’s talk about stake conference. It was so good! I love attending conferences and meeting. I am so thankful for the willingness and the openness to the spirit that the speakers were. All the messages that were shared "spoke" to our ward a lot. I know that as we apply what was taught we can truly become better disciples of Jesus Christ!

I just want to share a little bit of what I learned. I promise this email won't be too much longer.  

What is unity? Why is it important? This conference hammered being unified. So, what is unity? It is "An undivided or unbroken completeness." Being unified brings us closer to Christ. It creates a place of love and care for each other. A place of safety. Some important questions a member of the seventy asked us to ponder was,

"What am I doing NOW that I need to STOP doing?" and

"What am I NOT doing now that I need to START doing?"

Consider these questions as you think of this next question. Is your ward truly a WARD FAMILY? 

     Yes? - Awesome, I am so glad you feel you are close to your fellow members! I Invite you to consider if you are ministering to them. We should be doing this out of the love we have for them. 

     No? - That is okay, we can always improve. But let’s get to a place where you can confidently say YES! YES, we are a ward family if I need anything I can ask! I love my ward! My ward is the best! 

Let’s become unified in all that we do. Let our ministering be done out of love. Let's live in the culture of Christ! The only culture there is. 

I promise you will feel the love the savior has for you and everyone around you. You can feel this peace in your life as you consider these questions. Please apply what you felt and pondered as you read this email. This is my testimony and invitation. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love you all so much! Never forget the divine potential God gave you! 

Much love,

     Elder Lawrence

Mxolisi, President Stringham

Baptismal Interviews! (Zone Leaders)

Last P-day stuff!

Ward Braai

Ward Braai 

Mama Strikes again.. Oh goodness. That was a lot. Straight rice under that!