Nov 11, 2013
Dear family and friends,
Happy Veterans Day! It's always important to remember the freedoms we are blessed with due to the sacrifice of the military veterans within our country. Surprisingly enough I remembered it is Veterans Day but I totally forgot it was Halloween this past week...They don't really celebrate Halloween here so it was just another normal day.
Interesting tidbit before I describe the things that really matter. My companion accidentally locked our keys on the backseat of our car at about 8pm in front of an investigators house. We are supposed to be in our apartment by 9pm (about 30 minutes from our area) and we had no idea what to do! There are no locksmiths in the place where we are serving and we can't leave the car overnight because it will be broken into overnight. Our investigators started helping us by trying to break into the car haha. They got a wire and were attempting to do what the police do when they have to open the lock... We did that for about 20 minutes with no success. Now the next part is hard to describe but I'll do my best, we are driving a Chevy Aveo by the way so put that into your mind. Two of us pulled the seal of the top of the door back and stuck the wire through the top of the door. We hooked the wire onto the key chain and slowly pulled it through the top of the door. It was crazy!! Normally there is a backup key but our car is currently in Durban being repaired so we are using an old car from the church and they don't have the spare key here.
Now onto what matters! This past week has been great and our baptism was an amazing experience. Two sisters that have been taught for awhile were baptized and their testimonies really touched me. They were being taught by the missionaries with their mother but their mother passed away a couple of months ago before she could be baptized, I know their mother was so proud of them.
After our baptisms yesterday we had an incredible lesson with a mother named S____. We found her about a week ago in a unique situation. We have been searching for land for a chapel when we found an abandoned supermarket. We are hoping to purchase this supermarket for the church so it can be renovated and used as a chapel. We found the address for the owner of the supermarket and went to find him. When we got there we found S____, she is living there but the owner of the supermarket has moved. We got the owners phone number from S____ and we are communicating with him now about purchasing the supermarket, hopefully that goes through.
We set up an appointment with S____ and went back to meet with her yesterday. I was asking her some questions about her young daughter when I discovered that her daughters twin passed away a couple of years ago when she was only a baby. I had a strong impression that we needed to teach her about why infants do not need to be baptized and about where we go when we die. We asked her a few questions and discovered that she had never received an answer as to where we go when we die. We gave her the answers and answered all of her questions. She had so many questions as to why God isn't there for her and prayer. We were able to show her that God gives us what is best for us and not what we want. The spirit in that room was undeniable and she said at the end: "I feel so happy right now, thank you so much for coming!" She was so happy and it made my week! It is lessons like those that make everything worth it. I really believe that this Sister was prepared by the Lord and I hope she continues to move forward with the lessons.
The crazy thing that I discovered at the end was that the day we met her was a total "coincidence." She is normally at work at that time of the day but she happened to have that day off. Nothing happens by coincidence in God's work!
My testimony continues to develop and grow each and everyday as I serve the Lord. I am so grateful for the experiences and challenges I continue to face everyday in the mission field. I continue to see how the Lord is not only helping our investigators grow but he is nurturing me and helping me develop. It is tough sometimes when I see YSA's here decide to pursue other endeavors in life over serving a mission, I wouldn't give up these 2 years for anything. Thank you for your love, support and encouragement as I continue to serve God's children here in South Africa.
Love,
Elder Summers
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