 |
| Beira 2 District - May 20, 2013 |
Well, 6 more weeks have gone by and that means that we've continued to work hard over the past 6 weeks! But it also means that transfers are today. And President Kretly always does something crazy for transfers!
Lets flash back 12 weeks ago... I was in Manga and thought for sure that I was staying there. And he then transferred me to Beira 2, which ended up being a big blessing for me. President definitely receives revelation.
Now, lets flash back to last night. Me and Elder Biddulph were doing daily planning, and talking about our plans for the week. I thought for sure, that I would stay in Beira 2, since I'm training Elder Biddulph and everything, but I woke up this morning to a big surprise.
I have officially been transferred to Matola 2! Matola is the suburbs of Maputo, and there are a lot of people there! Maputo, is a city of millions of people, so Matola is probably the zone with the most potential. There are 2 zones in Maputo. The Maputo zone, and the Matola zone. And since it is the biggest city in the mission, there are a lot of missionaries down there.
My companion is going to be Elder Lake, who was in my MTC group. We are pretty good friends, and both hard workers so I know we will have success. Together, we will be the zone leaders over the Matola zone to help that area explode. There is so much potential out there! I have always wanted to serve with elder Lake, and I figured I would I some point. And now we are zone leaders together! He is from Burley, Idaho and lives on a Potato Farm.
I got off the phone with him this morning, and we have already made some plans for our zone. We are the youngest ZL's in the mission, and we are serving together. We have decided to take on a new area, that he believes has potential. He has been serving down in Matola, but not in that area. He was also made zone leader today, and we will be whitewashing another area! I have done that plenty of times on the mission so far. It was a surprise when I saw transfers, and it is bittersweet. I loved serving with Elder Biddulph, and it's too bad that it won't last. He was transferred to Manga 3, and leaves tomorrow.
I've been talking to the Beira zone leaders and they say that President has so many plans for Matola, and that he wants a stake there bad. Our job there will be to baptize qualified families, and a lot of them. That way, the men can receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, and we can get our Matola Stake. President Kretly is a man of many plans, and I know that he will achieve every goal that he sets. It is an absolute pleasure to be apart of it.
This past week, I was sitting with the Beira zone leader, and he was talking to me about President's plans. Mozambique not only has the potential to have one stake, but we want lots of stakes! Then, we will be able to get a temple here, and these amazing families will be sealed forever. This past week, I got on my knees and thanked Heavenly Father for the privilege to be in Mozambique at this amazing time. Then, I pleaded to have more part in this amazing growth. I know I got my answer my getting transferred to Matola. There, I will have close communication with President Kretly, he will give unbelievable trainings to us, and we go for our Matola Stake. I'm excited for the chance to be apart of it.
As for our area here in Beira, it's looking super nice. We have one family who already has a marriage process opened, and 3 more are still working on documents this week! So I feel confident with the work that me and Elder Biddulph did, knowing that some more very good families will be baptized over the next few weeks.
Let me tell ya about an experience we had this week with a new family. We received a reference from another companionship from a street contact that they did. His name was Mario. So we called him, and went over there in the Afternoon. Mario, is a pastor for another church and that is his only job. He understands that it is wrong to receive money for that, and wants to quit but he has no other way to pay for food. His house is one small room, with a table and bed all in that small room.
We started teaching him and his wife Rute about the Restoration. They understood it very well and agreed that if they knew these things were true, would be baptized. Two days later, we went back over there. He felt like the things we taught 2 days previously were true things that would help his family. We taught the Plan of Salvation, and gave him a baptismal date. We invited him to church, but that was when there was a problem. This man named Mario works one time per week which is Sunday mornings as a pastor from 8-11. That happens to be the same time that our church starts. I realized that there was nothing we could do, knowing that this man can barely pay for bread for his wife and his small daughter. We closed with a prayer, and during the prayer I felt a strong feeling to tell him that he needs to be at the true church tomorrow. So after he prayed, I invited him to pray about what he should do on Sunday and that we would call him on Saturday night to see what his decision was.
Saturday night came, so I called him! I asked him if he was coming to church the next day. he replied, "eu faço o que para chegar la." That means like "what am i supposed to do," or "how am i supposed to go." So I figured he wasn't coming to church.
Right at 8 the next day, he showed up! I wanted to hug him! He skipped work, to go to church. During sacrament meeting, he became teary eyed as the youth sang the youth theme song for the year. The spirit was so strong! After the meeting, I asked how he felt and he loved it! He received an answer right there at church!
We went over again yesterday afternoon, and had a spiritual lesson. He wants to be baptized, but can't quit work or else his family will literally starve. We applied chapter 11 of PMG and asked, "Mario, will you quit you job this week so that you can be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" The spirit was so strong! I know God will help him find more work. he has unbelievable faith.
Well, time is up! Tomorrow at 9 am I'll be flying down to Maputo. It's a flight of about and hour and 45 minutes. Then, I'll be getting to work down in Matola as the zone leader. I'm excited for the opportunity. I hope you all have a great week.
Love, Elder Williams
ps. picture is of our Beira 2 district
