Baptism Week

Sept 16, 2013 Hello everyone, Another week comes and goes in the blink of an eye. I know I say this every week but I just can't believe how fast time goes. Has it really been 15 months? Anyways, another awesome week as the work continues to move forward here! The baptisms of Xolani and Melisa went by smoothly and they were both so happy. It was great to see their progress and I know they will continue to grow in their testimonies of the restored gospel. X___ is anxious to learn more about becoming a missionary himself someday. He actually had to be baptized 5 times yesterday because the guy baptizing him was so much shorter and was struggling to put him under the water. He came out extra clean I guess! Haha. We were able to find some really cool people this week that we believe we'll make progress with. We found this guy named S____ on Saturday while tracting. When we knocked on his door we talked to him for a few minutes and he was shocked to hear that we do this for 2 years. He invited us back because he said our message must be more than just sharing the Bible if we do this for 2 years. We taught him the restoration and he was very interested by the end. He was in a rush for time so we left him with the Book of Mormon and he was very anxious for us to come back. We are going to meet him tonight, we'll see how that goes. There was a lady that we found that was visiting her family here this week. She told us that she has been searching for the right church and has been very confused by all the differences in Christianity. We taught her the restoration and she was so interested. She has a lot of potential but unfortunately she went back home to Johannesburg yesterday. We forwarded her information to the missionaries there and I hope she comes in contact with them. The area we found her was an area we almost never work in. We felt prompted to go there and maybe finding that lady was the reason why. Our job is not only to further the kingdom here but to plant seeds for other missionaries. I had a good feeling as we left that house and gave her the Book of Mormon. We taught L____ and her daughter N____ the word of wisdom and law of chastity this past week. They are preparing to be baptized by the end of the month. They were shocked to hear about tea and coffee in the word of wisdom. They love to drink tea and coffee they said. By the end of teaching them the word of wisdom I asked them: "Will you live the word of wisdom?" They responded: "Of course, we have to! We didn't know about this." They were so willing to live this commandment from the Lord. I have never taught a family on my mission who is so attentive to everything we teach and so willing to live the commandments. The only problem that might delay their baptism is they are struggling to get to church at the moment because of transport issues. Hopefully we'll be able to figure something out. I also got a great phone call yesterday. I don't know if you'll remember a young man by the name of L_____ from my first area in Margate? He called me yesterday to tell me he got baptized a few hours earlier and it was his birthday today. He said it took him awhile to find my phone number but he finally found it through some Elders. He really wanted me to come to the baptism but unfortunately we're not allowed to leave our areas. We were so close to baptizing Lwandile while I was in Margate but his aunt wouldn't allow it. Well he turned 18 yesterday so he was free to choose for himself! I was so happy to hear about that and it really made my day. The work continues to roll forward here with the Lord's help. I am thankful for all of the amazing people I am meeting here and the eternal friendships that are being forged. The Lord is behind this and I know this is His work. Keep moving forward in faith and the Lord will work miracles!! I love you all. Elder Summers