I´ll start off by giving you the transfer news. I am staying here in Matola as the Zone Leader. But I will not be serving with Elder Lake. He is being transfered to Maputo to be a district leader. My new companion will be Elder Brandao from Cape Verde. Elder Brandao is a great Elder. He did a lot of good things up in Beira, and we came down to Matola at the same time. He was a District Leader, so I have been doing divisions with him for the past 2 transfers. He will come work in my area, starting tonight. I will also have the chance to show him the ropes as far as being a Zone Leader, so I am excited about it. I know that the zone will grow even a lot more as me and Elder Brandao work hard to train the other missonaries.
We had a good week here in Matola! Except for the fact that I picked up fleas... that was not fun. My legs were covered in bites! But we sprayed everything down in the house, and now we are fleas free! Two other elders in the house also got fleas.
But other than that it was a good week! Last P day we palyed basketball at the church with other Elders in the zone. It was my first time playing in a long time! I have lost almost all athletic ability that I had kind of had before. I felt so uncordinated! My legs were super sore for the next 3 days as well. So I dont think I will be playing basketball again soon. It did not allow me to play at the top of my game as far as missionary work is concerned. And that is the only game that is important.
The baptism went super well! Feliciano had a hard time getting all the way under the water, and I thought he was going to drown for a second when Joao, (our recent convert) dropped him while he was under the water. Joaquina got scared, and was terrified to get into the font. But she was baptized fine as well, so its all good! Miquinho was also baptized.
In preparation for the baptism, me and Elder Lake made a cake with the help from the Relief Society President in the branch. It turned out super nice. I will try to send a picture. And know we know how to make frosting without using brown sugar.
The best part of the week, was by far seeing Feliciano and Joaquina in the waters of baptism. It is a family changed forever. I know that their daughter, who past away was defintely present at their baptismal service. Feliciano had a big grin on his face all day! It was a miracle.
We will see more miracles this week, when Manuel and Linda get in the water! That will be a good day as well. They will be batized on saturday.
It was good to see Elder Cook at the new chapel this week as well. I honestly believe that Elder Cook is one of the most Christlike people on the earth. He is so nice! Geoff had a darn good mission president! He gave a good training in the Saturday session of District Conference. He talked about Real Growth. Real Growth happens to be our focus in this mission as well. And we are definintely seeing real growth.
More than 700 people showed up for conference yesterday! We filled up the chapel, the overflow, and we had about 50 people or so watching conference on a monitor in the relief society room. So I would say it wasa hit! We watched the mission video as well. i hope it helped Aires and Jurema!
The area is coming along good! Mario and Nilsa are progressing nicely, and we also found an very young couple named Ossifu and Fatima. We will see what happens with them. I think today me and Elder Brandao are going to sit down and redivide the areas. Some companionships are having troubles, so I think we might try to give some progressing investigators to some other Elders. We need to pray about it and decide what is best for the zone.
Other than that, nothing to crazy going on! We are just working hard to find, teach, and baptize here in Matola. The snowball is starting to roll. Matola is now the zone where people want to be at to work in. I am so excited to see the growth over the next few transfers.
The family looked great at Bear Lake! Everyone has grown up so much! I am glad everyone had a fun time. i am especially excited for soon to be Elder Anderson who will be serving in Madrid, Spain. I know like 2 or 3 people who are serving there! Jarrett, you will love your mission. Best thing that will ever happen to you.
I love you all so very much, and I hope you have a great week. I have found my camera cord, so I promise that the family will get at least 10 pictures next week. I will get back into the habit of sending pictures. Have a great week! The church is true, and dont forget to do daily scripture study and prayers as a family!
Elder Williams
