Week 99

My week was super good, we have a lot to do these next few weeks, we have exchanges with the Elders in our Zone almost every Wednesday and Friday. We have about 8 exchanges to go on this week which is a crazy amount, we have already gone with 3 different companionship's. So about 5 more haha. Not enough time to get everything done. 

  Yes the baptism was able to happen for Sister Sinenhlanhla! Everything worked out just nice and we had a good amount of people to show up to the baptism as well.

   It only rained a little bit not a ton though, it only rained once super hard for about 10 minutes and that's it. So not enough to get what we need here but it will last for a day or so haha.

    We have a lot of people that we are teaching like 20 or more I don't know how many exactly but we are always finding people and sometimes we have to stop visiting others because of whatever reasons.

   So this week I had a cool experience that just kinda helped me see how much I have learned and the skills I've developed while being here. 

   I was on exchanges with Elder Curtis, he has been on mission the same amount of time as Garek. I went to his area and he and his comp are struggling with a family. So when we went to see the family we started to go over the restoration. She didn't understand it. Well she had some deeper concerns that she was hinting at but the other elders didn't pick up on those hints. I have been blessed to develop the gift of Discernment while here and was able to answer her question that she had about prophets. She just looked at Elder Curtis and said "this is why you brought him to me huh..... He is going to convert so many to the church." She was so happy to have had her questions answered and explained. I know that this isn't from my own knowledge but the spirit really does guide us in what we should say.

Elder Rasmussen

Week 98

How are you doing? My week was pretty good, our baptism fell through again. Kinda sucks but Sister Sinenhlanhla got super sick and just had to stay in bed all day. But we hope this next week we will make it work. 

New years was good we stayed up and sat on our balcony and watched some fireworks. Probably the first fireworks I've seen in Zimbabwe and also probably the last haha.

  So something cool happened this week we were just walking in our area talking to a bunch of people, we ran into a brother named Shepherd. We started to talk to him and he told us that he had actually been looking on you tube for some christian messages and he ran into the movie Joseph Smith, the prophet of the Restoration. He had watched it over 4 times and was just amazed and he wanted a copy of the Book Of Mormon so bad so that he could read it. It was just so cool to see how excited he was about this. He came to church on Sunday and he loved it. So we will keep working with him, we just hope and pray that he takes the steps to know if this is true.

Elder Rasmussen

Week 97

How was your Christmas? Mine was pretty good, we were able to stay busy the whole day. We just visited members all day long. They ended up feeding us so much I felt so full at the end of the day. We had a Baptism planned for this week but it fell through because we did not have any water they were water shedding again so we were unable to fill up the font. So it was kinda a bummer but it will happen next week. We will make sure there is water so we can get her baptized. 

     I think I'll have like 3 more baptisms before I get home so that will be a good way to end the mission! That was pretty much the whole week. but we were able to develop some good relationships with the members here which was great! I have never been in a ward where we have so many great members to help us and that love us, on Christmas the members included us in their count for cooking so that if we stop by to say hello they would feed us. That's exactly what happened.

Well that was pretty much my whole week. not much more to say.

Elder Rasmussen

Week 96

How are you? My week was super good but also very very busy. Yeah the Christmas party was good. My favorite part was just being able to see all the missionaries that I haven't seen in awhile. I got to see and talk with Sister Lyman. It was cool I haven't seen her in like 4 months and I probably won't see her again until she comes home from her mission.

     Yeah we had a little time to work in the area and to get some lessons in. We were so busy on Tuesday and Wednesday so we only had like 2 hours each day to work in our area.  

We did go visit Sister Ayanda, we also met her sister named Amanda, they even came to church this week! Super cool, they are very sincere about learning and just finding the truth. We shared with them the message about the Restoration and they had a great question about the Book of Mormon, we helped them to see how the Book of Mormon answers all the questions of the soul.

  This is something I have come to know and that the Book Of Mormon has all the questions that we have and we can find anything that we need if we search the Book of Mormon. 

       This week we are just working all week in the area and not really doing much else. On Christmas we are just planning on visiting some members the whole day and that's pretty much it. Not too exciting but it will just be a nice day, we do have a few lessons planned for that day as well so we will see how it goes.

    I feel so weird about coming home haha, all day on Friday at the Christmas party I just was saying goodbye to a lot of missionaries that I probably won't ever see again. I am excited to get home and just keep moving forward in life. I feel like I haven't had any little break for 2 years, the weight of missionary work is very tough it makes you tired all the time, but God always gives us strength to keep moving forward.

-Elder Rasmussen

Week 95

How are you? My week was good, It felt super long but before I realized it was Monday again haha. Well this week was a little tough and super hot. I don't know what happened this week but I was just so exhausted all week long. I worked hard but the sun really takes it out of you especially when you have to sleep when it's just as hot at night as it is in the day.

   So this week we had a Christmas party for our ward in Mzilikazi, we had a lot of members bring their friends. So we were able to find some potential people to teach. We followed up on one of those contacts yesterday and we even took the friend that brought her. Her name is Ayanda. We just went by to see where she lived and to set a return appointment, she then asked us a question she asked us, "Is God really there?" It's was a pretty serious question. she said she had been troubled because she feels like God isn't there because of how tough life is. We shared about some ways to see if God is there, we invited her to pray and to see if he is listening, we set up a time to go back to talk more about her question and to help her.

   Oh yeah, we did a service for a family in our ward, we just cleaned up their yard, it was good though.

We also got transfer news for my last transfer! I am staying with Elder Williams. Our zone did get bigger though we added 3 companionship's to our zone so that will be happening tomorrow. 

Elder Rasmussen

Week 94

My week was super good and very very busy.  Nothing about transfers yet but I have a feeling like I'm just going to stay and finish here it would make no sense to move me at this point.  

    So we had the two baptisms this week for Sister Esther and brother Brighton, It went really well, one of the toughest things here is to have the participation from the members, but we had a great turn out! I'll send you the pictures!

    Something kinda cool happened this week. We were working with a YSA named Tafadzwa and it was our first time to work with him and we had some free time so we asked him where he felt like going, he told us that he felt like going and visiting his friend, so we went. We got there and knocked the door and no one was home. Then we started walking back towards the car and as we got to the car, a lady came up to us and said that someone wanted to see us in the house across the street. We went over there and met a nice little family. The father said that he saw us through the window and just felt like he should invite us over to talk with him, it was super cool experience cause God lead us to the street that he lived on to a brother that wasn't even home to put us in the path of this family's home. We immediately started talking about the Book of Mormon with them and it was super cool and he invited us to come back again so we are seeing them again this week.

-Elder Rasmussen

Week 93

 I'm doing super good! Things just keep moving weeks are flying by. 

  

Church was super good this week we had 10 people come to church again so that was good, We had a brother who is about in his 40's, he has been coming to church for the last few weeks he is friends with our 1st counselor in the Bishopric, His name is Mr. Ndebele, he is a great Brother, he was given a triple combination by the member and he has read like almost the whole Book of Mormon. We met with him for the first time this week and he was super excited and willing to keep learning more. 

   Ish the Guhwa family.....we haven't met with them this week they had a member in their family pass away so they were really busy with all the funeral stuff so we didn't see them.

    Esther is getting baptized! We are also baptizing Eric's little brother his name is Brighton. So we will be having 2 baptisms and we will be having another one on the 21st of December, for a sister named Sinenhlanhla, she is 16 and she is best friends with a member, she has been coming to church for the last 3 months and we didn't know she wasn't a member until the Young Women's President told us she needs to be taught.

 I emailed Elder Garek Rasmussen...hahah. Its a culture shock because he has never been out of Utah for his whole life now he's on the other side of the world.  I sent him some words of advice so that he keeps on turning to God through his challenges. That's the best thing he can learn because there is always Peace in Christ and through his Atonement.

-Elder Rasmussen

Week 92

I am doing Great! I really love the missionary work! It's wrapping up in just a few weeks which is

 so so crazy. Everything is good here in Zim, 

We are still visiting the Guhwa family, it has just been a while but we are seeing them this next 

coming week so it will be really nice to see them.

I have some scriptures for you to read, 1 Nephi 21: 14,16.

Chist will never forget you, I promise you that, He even has you engraven on his hands, every time 

he looks at his hands he remembers you. 

We have been super busy this week we just gave a sister a baptismal date this week her name is Esther, she is living with a member family she is 19 and she has consistently been coming to church. That is going to be on the 7th of December. 

We had an amazing attendance at church this week we had 11 people we are teaching come to church and the total attendance was 105 from last week when it was 80 the lowest it has been since I've been here is 40. So things are definitely moving and the ward is growing.

Elder Hayden T. Rasmussen  

Week 91

My week was super good, we had a full week in the area, it's kinda funny cause we met some 

of the missionaries and I just kept thinking that these kids are Gareks age so it's cool to see them here. 

My companion is super cool we get along very well, it's cool to be with another person from Utah that 

know all the places that I do. 

   Our little miracle was a family that we met this week named the Guhwa family, it's kinda hard to pronounce. 

We were knocking doors on Sunday and we knocked at the house of the Guhwa family. They immediately 

let us in we introduced ourselves. We gave a short simple lesson and it was just amazing! The father told us 

that we are always welcome back to their house if we are sharing messages such as the one that we had 

just share. It was so cool to hear that from them! They are a great family with 5 children, mother and father. 

The work is moving!

    It sounds like you had a great setting apart for Garek with the family. He will only be gone for 2 years and 

it flies by.

Elder Rasmussen

Week 90

My week was super good! So we got transfer news and I am staying in Mzilikazi and I am getting a new companion, his name is Elder Williams he is from Bountiful UT. I've served around him before, when I was in Masvingo for the first time and he was just starting his mission, That was about a year ago which sounds crazy to think, haha. Elder Bopape is going to Kwekwe to be with Elder Majors. 

  This week we had Zone Conference, I sent some pics of Elder Parker, Elder Riggs and President Okot and I. 

We had a crazy week working 4 areas again, haha. We didn't have that much time in our own area. I am glad that we will have a little more time to work our ares this week. There are 3 brand new missionaries joining our zone straight out of the MTC, 2 elders and 1 sister will be added to our zone and there are more going to other zones as well.

It's crazy that Garek is leaving this week!! Time is flying by I only have 12 weeks left, 2 transfers. it's going to fly by so fast. 

    I got my package, I'm pretty sure the sister helping added a few things, it came with 18 toy cars and some peanut butter and cake mixes and a few other things and it arrived in some pretty big boxes.

-Elder Rasmussen

Week 89

I'm doing super good! We are still covering 4 areas they actually changed their minds about taking Elder Riggs away from us so he has been with us the whole week and will be with us until we have transfers next week. We get transfer news on Saturday so we will see what happens. 

   I haven't gotten the package yet but we will probably get it soon I'm sure. 

Because we are covering 4 wards we attended 3 sacrament meetings this week which was so crazy and we also had to attend a baptism on Sunday. 

We are teaching a cool girl, her name is Primrose, she is 17. We taught her the message of the Restoration and we kept saying to her that she needs to pray to know if this was the only true church on the face of the earth. After the lesson, we asked her if she had any questions she said "yes, why do you keep saying this is the only true church, why don't you say among the true churches?" We explained to her that this is why we are here... to declare the truth that this is the only true church.  We asked her how important would it be to her if she knew

 this is the only true church she responded "It would mean everything to me." It was so powerful and the spirit was super strong! 

-Elder Rasmussen

Week 88

My week was super good! This week was a crazy week haha.

Well I didn't get transferred but I'm in a tri-companionship for the next 2 weeks and we are covering 4 different areas,

I'm still with Elder Bopape, but now Elder Riggs has joined our companionship.

So we are covering his area which is already covering 2 units Nkulumne 1st and Nkulumane 2nd. We also had a transfer and in another area the missionaries were pulled out so we have to go teach the people that they were teaching as well as back in my first area that I was in at the beginning of my mission, Nkulumane 3rd ward. 

    This last Sunday we had to go to Elder Riggs wards and on Saturday night the bishop asked him and his comp to give a talk so I told him I would give it. So I gave a 10 min talk on Scripture study, prayer and fasting. I think it went super well!

      It has been so so hot this week it is making missionary work tough its hard to be out in the sun when its this hot.

-Elder Rasmussen

Week 87

 I'm doing really good this week, it has been super hot. We were told that there is supposed to be a heat wave coming this week and there will be record breaking temperatures. Last p-day we just had little errands to run all day I just had enough time to respond to the emails I received.

    Stake conference was good! There was a Saturday session and a Sunday session and our ward was asked to sing for everyone at the Saturday session, so there was 5 of us that sang. Our bishop, Nyasha, and a brother named brother Maseko. then my companion and I. We sang hymn #105 "Master the Tempest is Raging" it was really nice!

    At Stake Conference I was able to see so many people that I knew even a few that I baptized in my first area! Also just many members that I used to work with both in Nkulumane and Emgamwini. We had several speakers, a few YSA speakers and then our mission president spoke and the stake president did as well. The theme was from Roman's 8:35, "nothing can separate us from the love of Christ."

  People needed this because of all the stuff that is happening here, bread just hit $15(in bond) a loaf. 

So it was good to hear some talks about remaining faithful and keep on the covenant path.

    My comp and I are doing well together, I always learn something else about him everyday, he has 4 siblings a sister that is 23 then it's him, then a little brother that is 14 then his youngest sister is 11. His older sister is married and has a little boy. We do work really well together, it's so nice to have a comp that is easy to get along with, it just makes everything better. 

   So we were able to teach Eric's mom this week! It was super cool, she really hasn't been going to church this last little while, she has been focusing on work so she can provide for her family. We were able to sit down and talk about the Restoration with her, the Spirit was so strong in that lesson. It's sometimes hard to explain how the spirit is in a lesson but I felt it there and I know that Eric's mama felt it too. 

 

Elder Rasmussen