Monday, August 27, 2012

First Baptism


Hello friends and family!!
 
Another fantastic week on the lovely coast of Margate, South Africa. This week we had our first baptism in a really long time here in Margate! C____________ was baptized and everything went very smoothly. The branch is really struggling to have more priesthood holders so it is a blessing to have C_________ as a member now. The branch President baptized him and C_________has asked me to confirm him next Sunday. Kind of a little bit nervous to confirm someone for the first time but really humbled to have the opportunity to confirm him a member of the church.
 
Today for p-day we had a great day. We had the chance to visit this park (game reserve) known as Lake Eland. It's absolutely beautiful and we had a lot of fun. We went with the branch president here and had the chance to see a bunch of different animals! I got to chase some giraffes around which was pretty cool haha! Hopefully you enjoy the pictures. The suspension bridge was kind of freaky but really awesome!
 
The work is moving great here and we're continuing to make progress. We had the chance to teach a pastor this past week which was interesting. The first time we tracted into him we figured he would want to Bible bash, but after meeting with him a couple of times he is a very humble man. He was willing to listen to us and didn't even argue, that is until we got up to Joseph Smith. He said he doesn't believe there can be a Prophet on the earth today. We emphasized that "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." -Amos 3:7 and really tried to help him understand that God is the same yesterday, today and forever so surely there must be one true Prophet on the earth. He respected our views and invited us to come back. After teaching him about Joseph Smith at the end of our lesson I bore my testimony to him because I knew we wouldn't be coming back. I felt the Spirit so strong, Joseph Smith really did receive that divine call. Honestly the most difficult thing about the mission is that people are so close to the truth but yet so far. Of course we can only do the best we can and that's all the Lord requires.
 
There is an example given in zone conference that really helped me. It's the rule of 7's. All of us our somewhere different on the scale of 7's. Some of us are 7's and are fully converted to the gospel, while others we may find are only 1's or 2's. Sometimes those we teach will not accept, but often times as missionaries we are slowly moving them higher on the scale for future missionaries. We are simply planting the seed most times and it's important to remember that. We must always move forward in faith with an eye single to the glory!!
 
Real quick just a funny note. I have had 3 completely different people tell me I look like someone from TV but none of them know who! Just really odd that keeps happening, hopefully that guy is good looking and I'll take it as a compliment!
 
I love you guys!
 
Elder Summers










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