First thing, myldsmail has upgraded a bit...all that means for you is that my new email is jacob.robinson@myldsmail.net. Although it's not so important because any mail sent to my old address will be sent to my new one.
In our flat we have one room that has a/c and that is the bedroom of the other missionaries(the zone leaders). There is a bit of a/c around here. A lot more than in SA.
My cooking skills have improved a lot! My current companion has taught me a lot about cooking and I figured out how to make dumbollo (that steam bread I was telling you about) in the microwave...and it's delicious.
The 3 things every new member needs is a friend, a calling, and nourishment by the good word of God.
My companion and I are doing great.
Bathusi's wife, Nene, is doing great. On Friday she hosted a mutual activity that we were putting on at her house for members and nonmembers. Elder Onsongo and I cooked for everyone again. This time we cooked mandazi (fat cakes), chipatti (like tortillas), and dumbollo and then a stew to go on top.
On Sunday Nene watched Bathusi baptize her little sister Lape. It was sweet. After the baptism we went to see the family and we watched a dvd called "Together Forever". It's a little cheesy but it gets the point across. After the movie we asked Nene how she felt and she felt like her whole family needs to be baptized and be members of the church, following the same gospel (she's the only one left now not baptized and was obviously talking about herself!) I asked when she wanted to be baptized and she said she'd let us know...
Too bad I won't be around to see it. Here's some more news, after 6 weeks in Gaborone West I'm getting transfered...about 20 feet. What I mean is that President wants me to be the Zone Leader now with Elder Hopkins. That means I'll still be in the same flat just a different bed. Basically, I'll just be upgrading everything. Bikes to a car (my first one all to myself!), no a/c to an a/c, a better fridge that actually closes, and district leader to zone leader. They are actually splitting the Botswana zone into two. I will be over the Botswana East zone. The sad part is that our area seems to just be picking up. I enjoy working with my companion as well. But I guess this is what the Lord needs from me now. So wish me luck and I'll keep you updated.
love, elder robinson
ps. today we hiked Kgale Hill in the morning and I got stung twice by the same wasp! He was trying to kill me! haha. no worrys though I'm ok.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Bathusi
Last week we had a power outage right in the middle of the email session...so I didn't get to send you an email.
As for this week we had a few highlights. First of all, Tuesday was mission tour. Elder Watson of the area presidency addressed us. He was the secretary to the presidents of the church before he was called to the Seventy. If you remember you sent me an article in the church news about him at the beginning of my mission and then that Sunday he showed up to our branch in Tsakane. He's pretty sweet and taught us some great things about working with the ward better. I feel like there is a problem here. In Africa the branches grow and they get priesthood leadership but they are never really trained on how it's done. Then by the time we get to a ward we have a lot of people who like to exercise authority but not magnify much. Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great leaders who work very hard. It's just frustrating sometimes. I'm sure that's how it is all over the world...but as you know, if the programs of the church just worked the way they were supposed too then everything would be ok. But the problem is that everyone needs to do their part. Hopefully things will continue to improve so that Botswana can have its own stake. Right now we are part of the Roodepoort stake. Check on google earth where Roodepoort is. That's where our mission office is, 5 hours away! There are plans right now to get this area independent. It wil be there soon.
The best part of the week was seeing Bathusi get baptized. He is an awesome father and has been ready for baptism. The previous elders were waiting for his wife to come along but now she is going to school far away and isn't quite ready. So we went ahead with Bathusi. He has a solid testimony and knows...really knows why he was baptized. He will be one of the future leaders here in Botswana.
So, that was my week at a glance. It is really hot here, although storms come through very often and cool us down...it's like a nice swim even though we're not allowed to swim.
I'm still healthy and safe :)
-love elder robinson
http://johannesburgmission.googlepages.com
by the way you can check out some of our mission pictures at this website... we have a big misison though and you may not be able to find me... just remember i'm in the botswana zone.
As for this week we had a few highlights. First of all, Tuesday was mission tour. Elder Watson of the area presidency addressed us. He was the secretary to the presidents of the church before he was called to the Seventy. If you remember you sent me an article in the church news about him at the beginning of my mission and then that Sunday he showed up to our branch in Tsakane. He's pretty sweet and taught us some great things about working with the ward better. I feel like there is a problem here. In Africa the branches grow and they get priesthood leadership but they are never really trained on how it's done. Then by the time we get to a ward we have a lot of people who like to exercise authority but not magnify much. Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of great leaders who work very hard. It's just frustrating sometimes. I'm sure that's how it is all over the world...but as you know, if the programs of the church just worked the way they were supposed too then everything would be ok. But the problem is that everyone needs to do their part. Hopefully things will continue to improve so that Botswana can have its own stake. Right now we are part of the Roodepoort stake. Check on google earth where Roodepoort is. That's where our mission office is, 5 hours away! There are plans right now to get this area independent. It wil be there soon.
The best part of the week was seeing Bathusi get baptized. He is an awesome father and has been ready for baptism. The previous elders were waiting for his wife to come along but now she is going to school far away and isn't quite ready. So we went ahead with Bathusi. He has a solid testimony and knows...really knows why he was baptized. He will be one of the future leaders here in Botswana.
So, that was my week at a glance. It is really hot here, although storms come through very often and cool us down...it's like a nice swim even though we're not allowed to swim.
I'm still healthy and safe :)
-love elder robinson
http://johannesburgmission.googlepages.com
by the way you can check out some of our mission pictures at this website... we have a big misison though and you may not be able to find me... just remember i'm in the botswana zone.
That Last Big Push
I'm pretty dang tired. This week has been a pretty hectic one. My companion is Elder Onsongo and is from Kenya (i told you he was my greeny's mtc companion so he's only been out for 7 weeks now). We've been trying to get the area going but I feel like we're not getting it where it needs to be. We don't know too many members which makes it hard to work with them. Plus, the member bike is out of order so we've been struggling to use members. But hopefully this week will be better.
Our area is pretty much a town area. People are just a lot more well off here... they live a lifestyle more similar to home. Mostly just because there is more money to go around. So people have cars, they live in their own homes, and they even have money to CALL US! haha That's new to me because in SA everyone in the township sends the missionaries "please calls" which is just what it says it is.
Anyways, but other than that the work is the same. We're still trying our hardest and we still have pitfalls...On Sunday night we had a family that was supposed to be baptized on the 24th of January come out with some huge marriage problems...so we'll see. Right now we've got 4 on baptism date (all of which have been taught before I got here) but were all put on date since I've been here. So we're trying our best to find new investigators and help them progress towards baptism. I still haven't seen too much of Bots but I'm hoping to get to a sweet game park soon or something. There's just so much work to be done!
Anyways that's life. I'm trying to not coast the rest of my mission...because it's very tempting. Instead I've realized I've only got so much more time to do this great work. I've got to work harder. Give that last big push. So I'm trying... :) thanks for the love and support as always-
-love elder robinson
ps. did you ever get my christmas card i sent you?
Our area is pretty much a town area. People are just a lot more well off here... they live a lifestyle more similar to home. Mostly just because there is more money to go around. So people have cars, they live in their own homes, and they even have money to CALL US! haha That's new to me because in SA everyone in the township sends the missionaries "please calls" which is just what it says it is.
Anyways, but other than that the work is the same. We're still trying our hardest and we still have pitfalls...On Sunday night we had a family that was supposed to be baptized on the 24th of January come out with some huge marriage problems...so we'll see. Right now we've got 4 on baptism date (all of which have been taught before I got here) but were all put on date since I've been here. So we're trying our best to find new investigators and help them progress towards baptism. I still haven't seen too much of Bots but I'm hoping to get to a sweet game park soon or something. There's just so much work to be done!
Anyways that's life. I'm trying to not coast the rest of my mission...because it's very tempting. Instead I've realized I've only got so much more time to do this great work. I've got to work harder. Give that last big push. So I'm trying... :) thanks for the love and support as always-
-love elder robinson
ps. did you ever get my christmas card i sent you?
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