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Early Transfer News...Jan 4, 2014

Dear family,

You might be wondering why I'm emailing on Saturday but I'll get to that in a second. Well first off- Happy New Year!! There were a ton of fireworks that woke me up at Midnight but the news I got earlier that day shocked me a bit more. Transfers are supposed to be this coming Tuesday but I got a call this past Tuesday from President. He wanted me to come down to Durban from Newcastle to replace the out going assistant and work with him in the office. I was pretty shocked and humbled but excited for the challenge. I received the call right after we taught a lesson at around 3:00pm so I had only a few hours to say my goodbyes because I was leaving the next morning. It was probably one of my most difficult areas to say goodbye, I loved Osizweni so much. Elder Armstrong and I were finding so much success together, he doesn't know the area yet so I'm leaving him with my GPS in Osizweni.

On Wednesday the AP's picked me up and we drove the 4 hours to Durban. They are training me on all the various procedures within the office, I'm glad I can type fast at least because there is a lot of typing around transfer time! We have been helping President with transfers and logistics, it is hectic but inspired. This is going to be the largest transfer since President Zackrison came to this mission with close to 60 Elders moving around, that's almost half of the mission. It is interesting to have a big picture of everything that is happening and to be helping with missionary work in another way, I feel the spirit so strong everytime we are around President and making decisions. I am really grateful for this opportunity I have to grow more, learn more and develop more as a missionary. I love President Zackrison so much, he is one of the most humble men I know and he has so much love for this mission.

Well I haven't gotten much sleep the last few nights with transfers, it's hectic trying to figure everything out. My new companion is Elder D, he is one transfer older than me on mission and he's from Zimbabwe.

I have to get going now, it doesn't feel like much of a pday. We have our pdays on Saturday since that's when the office couples are not working. We have a lot of traveling this up coming week and it's going to be great to tour around the mission in this assignment. Thank you for all your love, support and encouragement. May the Lord bless you all!!

Love you guys,

Elder Summers

Happy New Year! Dec 30, 2013

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas was amazing this past week, it was so great to be able to see some of you over skype and to see that you all are doing well. Apparently I talk funny now but you know you are all just jealous of this South Africa/American mixed accent! Alright so I have a lot to share but I'll go day by day with the main events.

Monday (PDAY)- I got up and made about 200 cookies from my mothers world famous cookie recipe. We then went Christmas caroling for about 2 hours in Osizweni and gave the cookies away. It was so exciting to see just how happy people were when 12 of us missionaries showed up at their door to sing for them.

Tuesday (Christmas eve)- Before skyping with you all we had a Christmas party as a zone. We all were given R50 ($5) before the party to buy a gift, then we played white elephant. I got a nice new game of spiderman uno which I didn't really need so I gave it to Bro. J's son on Christmas. His son was really happy so I was grateful to be able to do that! Then we watched the Durban Mission year end slideshow, we got to see all of the pictures from throughout the mission from this past year. It's amazing to see how many friendships you develop as a missionary with Elders, couples, investigators and members. Then we played Settlers of Zarahemla which I got from you guys in my package and of course I dominated those greenies in that game, no mercy in settlers!

Wednesday (Christmas!)- No gifts around the tree but instead we went to work in our area! We had a lesson with S____, he told us he is moving to Durban so he can't get baptized here now. We'll send his teaching record there to the missionaries and he'll be baptized, he is all ready so that's a golden refereral for those Elders. After visiting with S____ we had a Christmas party with one of my favorite families, the B___ family. They fed us lunch, then we shared a Christmas message with them. Then we went to visit Bro. J to teach him more about the restoration and Book of Mormon. The lesson was great, he is so anxious to get into the water! Then we went to the Newcastle Elders area to do Christmas caroling there for a couple of hours.

Alright I'm going to skip a bit because I don't have time. On Saturday we met with N____ to work out the last minute details for her baptism, she explained to us how she was nervous but excited. I related to her how every time I have made important steps forward in the gospel (serving a mission, receiving the Melchizedek priesthood, etc) I have had that same feeling. I know that I felt so excited but at the same time nervous of the unknown, she was reassured and felt prepared to take the step. Then we taught her about temples which made her really excited! She was blown away by the concept of having temples today, I believe it was further evidence to her that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth.

The next day we woke up to find it was cold and raining. Ahh! I was a bit nervous because our baptismal font is outside! We had been fasting with N___ for her baptism so we said a prayer that the weather would be OK. The church services went great, we had almost all of our investigators who are preparing for baptism at church (7 of them). I was excited because I know that when investigators witness a baptism their chances of being baptized sky rocket because they feel a spiritual confirmation of the truthfulness of that ordinance. As church ended the rain was only a drizzle but we were nervous because the water was going to be cold! I said a prayer that everything would be alright as I stepped into the water, as I stepped in I cracked a joke about how warm the water was and then I winced because it was COLD. Then the most incredible thing happened, as I raised my right arm to the square and I began to say the prayer the water instantly became warm. I am not joking! I paused in the prayer when I felt it, then I continued and put her under the water. After coming out she told me it didn't even feel cold, I was blown away by that miraculous tender mercy from the Lord. I didn't even want to get out of the water because it felt nice! As President Monson says... The Lord is in the details of our lives. As the scriptures tell us, miracles do not create faith but miracles follow those who have faith. After the baptism N____ gave a powerful testimony, she testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and that we are led by a living Prophet today.

After church I was pretty exhausted but we had to keep working. We briefly stopped by Bro. J because we were following up on a referral he had given us. We took him in our car and he brought us to his friends house who wants to meet with us. As we entered this home we found a father, mother and their 5 children. This families name is the S___ family, a very humble and loving family. Bro. S___ is good friends with Bro. J, he wanted to meet with us because he said he has seen a huge change in Bro. Jele. After teaching the S____ family they told us how they need a church to raise their children in and that they need to learn more about God in their life. Uh yeah we can help you with that! Wow, the Lord is just leading us to so many people who are prepared. It is incredibly difficult to find father led families in this country due to cultural traditions called La Bollah that keep people from getting married and raising families. Once again I have continued to witness miracles this week, the Lord is over this great work.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year! A fresh start for all of us to recommit ourselves to working on our weakness and becoming better. May the Lord bless you all.

Love,
Elder Summers

Christmas is right around the corner...Dec 16, 2013

Another week has come and gone in the blink of an eye, I can't believe it's almost Christmas! Last year for Christmas it was a bit crazy because this is when everyone starts having their parties (which always involves alcohol). Last year for Christmas we went around in our area and did Christmas caroling for the members and investigators, we are planning on doing the same thing here. We will be caroling in 3 different areas within our district on the 23rd, 24th and 25th. Christmas time is often a difficult time to proselyte because everyone is busy so we are trying to use our time wisely. Everything has been kind of hectic this past week with the passing on Nelson Mandela and his funeral yesterday, that man is an icon and is seen as the father of this country. Everyone is in a state of mourning and coping with his passing.

This past week has had some challenges we have had to overcome but we are still doing our best to prepare our investigators for baptism. We taught D__ the word of wisdom, he really wants to stop smoking but he is highly addicted and it's not easy. On Thursday we gave him the stop smoking program and the next day we purchased all of the various materials he needs to stop smoking. He has a strong desire to quit but we are worried that he relapsed and is now scared to meet with us because our appointment fell through with him on Saturday (he has never missed an appointment). Then he didn't show up to church yesterday after coming to church for 6 weeks straight, we continue to keep him in our prayers and we hope to meet up with him again to encourage him. There is a deadly cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime within this country that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can help stop. I have seen miracles occur with the word of wisdom and I am praying with all my heart we will see another one here.

We failed to meet with Sister S___ this past week because she has been so busy with work. She still has a strong desire to be baptized and she will be ready if we can just meet with her! We are postponing her baptism to the 29th of December, her work schedule is lightening up this week so we hope to finish teaching her the rest of the commandments before her scheduled interview. She continues to face opposition from her family (aunts and grandmother) but she is 26 years old so she can make decisions for herself and she knows that salvation is individual so she continues to press forward. She is a powerful sister, I have had some of the most powerful lessons on my mission while teaching this sister. She has endured much in her life to this point and it has been incredible to see the difference the restored gospel has made.

This past week we also continued to meet with Brother S who is preparing for baptism on the 29th as well. He is progressing GREAT as he is willing to forsake all of his previous transgressions and keep the commandments we have taught him. He had to make some challenging decisions in order to prepare himself for baptism, I'm very grateful he has had the courage to pull through and make the decisions needed to be ready. He was for sure going to be ready for the 29th but he told us yesterday he has to leave for the next week for a temporary job so we'll have to postpone his baptism into January.

My companion and I are working great together, I have never felt this much unity in a companionship on my mission (That's saying a lot because I've had amazing companions). We have been doing a lot of finding this past week to try and find more potential priesthood holders. The Lord has led us to multiple potential Melchizedek priesthood holders, we really see some potential in a couple of them and we hope to see it continue. I'll relate a story from this past week with a father that we found.

After one of our appointments fell through we decided to go and do some tracting; as we were driving around for a few minutes I felt impressed to stop on the side of the road along a particular street. We prayed before getting out, then as we got out of the car my companion pointed to a house down the street and said: "We're going there!" We knocked on the door and found a father sitting on the couch watching television, he invited us in and we began to talk. After explaining our purpose he told us all of the difficulties he has been facing the past few months (It always amazes me how people are so open with us). He had been in a rollover accident with his wife in August, his wife was killed but he survived, then only a month later his mother died in the hospital. He is living alone with his son and told us he has lost all hope in life, he doesn't see the purpose anymore. He told us he had been praying only minutes before we walked in the door for an answer! Wow... The Lord led us directly to him in answer to his humble prayer. We explained some of the plan of salvation to him and set up a return appointment, upon our return he had read the entire pamphlet and had a lot of questions! We'll be seeing him again this week and we hope he'll continue to receive those answers.

This next week is going to be quite busy with the holiday season, I only hope that all of us can remember the true meaning of Christmas as President Monson always says. It is a time to reflect upon the birth of the Savior of the world, it is a time for giving and serving those around us. I always love this time of year because it helps me to remember how much I have been blessed with in my life! I know God lives and that He sent His only begotten son into the world, I feel his redeeming love each day in my life as I strive with all my heart to come unto him.

Love,
Elder Summers

Zone Conference with Elder Cook

Dec 9, 2013

Dear family and friends,

This past week was a spiritually uplifting and motivational one! We started off the week by having zone conference with Elder Carl B. Cook of the seventy on Wednesday. Before we started the zone conference he had a short meeting with the missionary leaders in the zones attending, that was an amazing experience as he expounded the scriptures before us and exhorted us to lead by example. Elder Cook is so approachable and he doesn't make you feel scared to ask questions or make a comment.  The entire zone conference was centered around becoming consecrated missionaries, teaching for conversion not baptisms and obedience with exactness. It was probably one of the most spiritually uplifting zone conferences I have attended since I have been on mission and made me really reflect on how I can become better.

One of the quotes that I have written in my white handbook that I am striving for says: "Obedience brings blessings, obedience with exactness brings miracles." I am feeling a monumental difference as I strive each and everyday to become more obedient, even to the small rules that seem like they sometimes don't matter. As President Benson once said: "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes a quest, God will endow you with power." What a promise from a Prophet of the Lord! As missionaries if we are not living honorable, obedient and righteous lives the Lord will NOT lead us to the elect prepared to receive the restored gospel. That is something I know to be true with all my heart!

I'm grateful for the elect we have been able to find here in Osizweni the past weeks. We had some more incredible experiences this past week as we continued to go out and preach the true gospel. On Saturday night we were coming out of our last appointment at 8pm when by "coincidence" a guy runs in front of our car and tells us to stop. I quickly recognized it was X____ from my previous area who had been baptized a few weeks before I left Marian hill. X____ is originally from Osizweni and he is visiting here for the holidays. He is a powerful convert to the church and I was so grateful the Lord led my companion and I to him while in Marianhill. Anyways, we talked for a minute and then he told us he would be coming to church the next day. Well he came to church on Sunday and he brought one of his friends with him, he wants us to start meeting with his friend so we set up an appointment and got a nice referral from him! It was great to be able to see him again. I was thankful for that tender mercy of the Lord after a somewhat slow and stressful day.

We currently have 3 people preparing to be baptized on the last Sunday of this year (29th of December). Sister S____, Brother D____ and Brother S_____ are all taking great steps forward as we continue to teach them and prepare them to make this covenant with the Lord. Since we started teaching all of them around the same time a month ago they have come to church every single Sunday! They are incredible and all progressing so well. Den continues to walk over 10k's round trip to church every Sunday and it's incredible to see the change in his countenance as he is accepting the gospel into his life. Something that Elder Cook emphasized on when teaching converts is that they need to know, feel and do in order to be ready for baptism. I feel as though S____, D____ and S____ do know, do feel and are indeed doing what they need to in order to make this step forward in their life.

It's so vital that we teach these individuals the true doctrine and help them understand this step they are taking. We are not here to just build membership and baptize people but instead we are here to help people repent and become clean through the atonement! Something that Elder Cook counseled us on is to never believe our purpose is to just baptize people and then we are successful. There was a question as to why the missionaries who are seen as being disobedient can baptize people in droves while the obedient missionaries seem to have more struggles. He told us that if we baptize people who are not ready, who do not understand the covenant they are making then we bring condemnation upon ourselves. Those are some pretty strong words that hit everyone hard, it's better to baptize 2 real converts then to baptize 20 people who will eventually go less active. That's something I have really striven for on my mission as I have taught the gospel and prepared investigators for baptism, it was nice to have Elder Cook counsel us on that point.

Central to everything we do is the atonement of Jesus Christ, without the atonement none of this would even be possible. I love how preach my gospel tells us that as our testimony of the atonement grows so will our desire to share the gospel. That's something I have come to see in my own life as I have felt the succor, cleansing power and healing that comes through the Saviors infinite and eternal sacrifice.

Thanks for your support and love, may the Lord bless. Until next week!

Elder Summers

Success!

November 25, 2013

Dear family and friends,

I am just so happy right now! Wow this past week has been incredible even though it's been tough not having a companion. I have been sleeping with the 4 Elders in my district in their house, we have an awesome 5 man district. We got to celebrate thanksgiving with the couple missionaries in our area last night, that was awesome! I have been working with a YSA all week in the area, he is preparing to leave on his mission soon. We had a tiring but exciting week and I have some stories to share. I'll start off with transfer news first; my new companion is Elder Armstrong, he is an American and my first American companion! I know him a little bit from my previous area and I'm excited to work with him. I will be picking him up tomorrow and it will be nice to be able to move back to my apartment, sleeping on a couch all week has not been too much fun! Haha.

So last week I spoke about 2 guys that started coming to church around the same time a few weeks ago. The first one is named D___ and he is a really cool guy. He lives over 5K's from the chapel and he walks all the way! It's incredible how we found this guy and how the Lord has prepared him. He is 23 years old and he has been struggling a lot with direction in his life. Well he showed up at church 3 weeks ago and I didn't even recognize him, I thought he was the other Elders investigator! It wasn't until last Sunday that I spoke to him and we started teaching him this week. He said that he read the whole pamphlet we gave him that day (Plan of Salvation) and he liked it so much he decided to come to church. When we met with him on Tuesday he told us he wants to be baptized and he loves the church so much because he said he feels "special."

We have started teaching the whole family and the mother made me laugh when we met yesterday because she said: "I see D____ wants to follow you guys but I'm afraid when he joins he will be taken away from me for 2 years just like you!" We explained to her how it's voluntary and that made her feel better. She then said: "If you are willing to do this for 2 years then your message must be true." Yeah, she was exactly right! She also told us that since D___ started coming to church he has completely changed, he isn't smoking or drinking anymore. Wow, that blew me away because we haven't even taught him word of wisdom yet!

The other guy we are teaching is named S____. He is also 23 years old and he is one of the most humble guys I have taught my entire mission. He is progressing incredibly fast and he is planning to be baptized on December 22nd. Only 2 days after we gave him the Book of Mormon he had almost finished all of 1 Nephi. He loves church so much and he will be an incredible addition to this branch. He has been through quite a bit in his life with the death of his mother and sister at a younger age. He doesn't have much family around him, he is pretty much by himself and he really wants to start serving God in his life, he is an incredible guy and I'm very humbled that the Lord has led him to us.

We have been teaching a sister named N____ for about 5 weeks now. I think I spoke of her last week but I can't remember now. She is 20 years old and she has been progressing so well! She originally wanted to be baptized a few weeks ago but then she became scared of leaving her church. We kind of slowed down with her and just encouraged her to read the Book of Mormon and really know this is true. She is a very intelligent sister and she has been blazing through the Book of Mormon with incredible understanding. Well we had an amazing lesson with her yesterday that changed her whole perspective! I could see in her eyes that she really knows this is true and we challenged her to baptism again. We really tried to help her understand that fear comes from satan, satan is trying to make her scared so that she will not act on the truth. I simply asked her: "Do you know the Book of Mormon is true?" She looked back at me and said: "Yes I know this is really true." I then told her that nothing else matters! When we find the truth we have to act on it. She accepted to be baptized next month and that she will lay her fears aside. I can't wait to see this sister baptized, she will be a powerful member if she joins the church because she has gained a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon.

One last story about sister S_____ who we have been teaching. This is the sister that has been helping us purchase the old supermarket to renovate as a chapel. It is simply amazing how the Lord led us to this mother through the supermarket! Not only have we found somewhere to build a chapel but we have also found someone searching for the truth. She came to church again yesterday and we met with her afterwards. We read with her from Mosiah 18:8-11 and when we read v. 11 her face lit up and she began to smile. That verse says that after Alma had told the people about what they need to do to be baptized the people "clapped their hands for joy and exclaimed this be the desire of our hearts!" I asked her if this was the desire of her heart and she said enthusiastically: "Yes!" She said that she has never felt this happy in her life since we started meeting with her. Before we found her she said her faith had been wavering and she wasn't sure if God really lived but that since we have met her she has received so many answers to her questions. After she told us all of that I couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face! We are also planning on baptizing her on December 22nd if we can prepare her in time. If everything works out we should baptize these 2 brothers and 2 sisters on December 22nd.

It has been an incredible week and has helped me continue to see the Lord's hand over this great work. I am so blessed to be serving here in Osizweni and I can't wait to see what will happen with all of the people we are teaching. Thank you everyone for your prayers, I truly feel them and I know the Lord hears them. Love you all.

Elder Summers

A Week to Remember

Nov 18, 2013

Dear family and friends,

It has definitely been a week to remember to say the least. So much has happened and I don't really know where to begin so I'll take it day by day with the major stuff that happened.

Tuesday- I had to go on exchanges with the other Elders that are in our area here in Osizweni. My companion stayed with the car so I went on bikes with one of them. It was so nice to get out of the car and be able to ride bikes around. We went tracting and found a guy who believes in this "S" church. “S” is this guy that claims to be the Jesus Christ for Africans and he does a lot of miracles. I asked this guy why he started believing in him and he told us because “S” can perform great miracles. We were able to sit down with him and help him understand the role of prophets and Jesus Christ. He is newly converted to this “S” church so we want to help put him back in the right direction! The lesson was great and he began to understand the role of prophets, we helped him see that Jesus Christ prophesied of many false Christs and prophets in our day. At the end of the night we got caught in a terrible thunderstorm that came out of nowhere so we were soaked in rain as we arrived at a members house but it was fun nonetheless!

Wednesday- We are teaching a young woman named N_____. She is about 20 years old and we started teaching her when I arrived in the area. She is a very intelligent sister and she has a strong desire to know this is true. We had a great lesson with her, we taught her the plan of salvation again but in more detail this time while using the Book of Mormon. She has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and she told us: "I'm beginning to feel it is 'real' and that what you are telling me is true." When this sister is baptized she will be a strong member because she is really developing a true testimony before deciding to be baptized.

Friday- Once again we had to go on exchanges (our zone is big so we have to do a lot of exchanges to check on everyone) with some Elders who are doing training. I went with a young Elder from Utah into the area for the day. We had an awesome day and found some really cool people! First off we found an American girl living in the township. Yeah I was pretty shocked when I saw another white person here, we started talking to her and discovered she is working for the Peace Corps. She will be living there for 27 months, she is from California and she said she knows the church very well. We got a return appointment with her but unfortunately I won't be able to go since that's not my area. It will be interesting to see if the Elders will progress with her at all, it would be so cool to be able to baptize an American here in South Africa.

We also found a mother and daughter while tracting. They were very friendly and invited us in to teach them, we sat down and decided to teach them the plan of salvation. It was a great lesson and the daughter especially had profound questions to ask us. It was wonderful to be able to answer all of their questions with regards to our purpose in life and life after death, the restored gospel is pretty incredible when it comes to answering questions.

Saturday- My companion had to go home early unfortunately. I drove him down to Durban and left him at the mission home. This pretty much took up the entire day since Durban is a very long drive from Newcastle. It was nice to be able to see President and Sister Zackrison again though. I'm currently in a trio with no new companion, transfers are coming up this next Tuesday so I will be getting a new companion in about a week. Until then I'll be living in the house where 4 Elders are staying in our district.

Sunday- Another amazing Sabbath day! We had 2 more baptisms and we also had the 2 confirmations from last Sundays baptisms. The 2 sisters that were baptized were named T___ and T____. T____ has been taught for a while by missionaries but we started teaching T_____ when I got to the area. It has been great to see her progress, she has a strong testimony and she will be a powerful member in the church.

The best part about Sunday is that the sister we taught last Sunday named S____ came to church. This is the sister that we had an amazing lesson with last week and the Lord has prepared this mother. She really enjoyed church and we had a lesson with her after church. We finished the restoration with her and the spirit in that room was undeniable, she was overwhelmed and she once again told us she felt so happy. She said that all of her questions are being answered and she feels as though the Lord has led us to her. It will be awesome to keep teaching her!!

We also have 2 brothers who started coming to church a couple of weeks ago. I thought they were the other Elders investigators but it turns out we had given them a pamphlet a few weeks ago and they read it and decided to come to church. They have come for 3 Sundays now and we are going to start teaching them. It's always nice when you have investigators show up off the street, it makes our job very easy. The work here is going so well and I'm excited to be serving the Lord in this part of His vineyard. The Lord is preparing the hearts and the minds of His children, he truly does place us where He needs us.

The transfer is coming to a close and no more exchanges this coming week!! I'll be letting you know who my new companion is next Monday.

Love you all,

Elder Summers