Sister Chelsea Gehring: High highs and low lows

Dear Family!

Well like the subject line says, this week was filled with high highs and low lows. Lets start with the lows so I end on a good note. Missionary work this week was tough. And frustrating. About 87% of our appointments canceled this week. On Thursday we had planned to teach 10 lessons and we only taught 2. We have done a lot of unsuccessful tracting and run into some wacko people. On Sunday we went over to Gao's house who just got baptized and she told us to go away and come back later cause she was watching TV. That is so unlike her! She doesn't even have a TV!!! Instead her husband called us over(hes not a member) and had us sit down to talk to him and his friends. We very quickly realized that they were all very drunk. They started telling us that we need to know the Bible better and that we need to be better Christians and that all Americans are crooks and soldiers. We couldn't get away. When we tried to walk away, they grabbed our arms and made us sit down. We didn't fight it after that. We quickly texted out district leader and he and his comp came and rescued us. It was not a very fun experience.

Another low this week was that I blew a tire. Last Monday night I was driving and we had to go pick something up from the Elders. I make a turn too wide to avoid hitting a car and ended up hitting a curb on the other side. The tire literally exploded. There was a huge pop and all the air gushed out. IT was so scary. We were in Tlokweng which is not a nice area to be in at night. We pulled over, prayed and had a very strong feeling to not get out of the car and to just stay there. None of the Elders would answer their phones. We sat there in the dark for over 45 minutes. We could literally feel a shield of protection come over us. Finally the Elders came and changed our tire then drove in front of us till we got home to make sure we were safe. It was quite the adventure. WE were seriously blessed. The car is ok. We are ok. The church is true.

Then the other low this week is that Sister Anderson was almost hospitalized. Wednesday night she started having stomach pains. They weren't too bad but as the evening went on they got worse. By the time we got home for the night she couldn't even walk. I had to help her inside. She said it felt like someone had stabbed her and then left the knife inside. It was so scary. Her vision started to go fuzzy, she couldn't talk, she was dizzy, she couldn't even remember where she was. The Zone leaders came over and gave her a blessing. The pain didn't go away but she felt comforted. One of the senior couples came over and stayed the night at out flat to make sure she was ok. If it hadn't started getting better, we would have had to go to the hospital. It was scary. She is completely ok now. We never figured out what it was but its all ok now.

So yea. Those were the lows. Its been a rough week.

But now for the highs! While we had very few lessons, the ones we did have were really good!! We committed 3 people to baptism and they are all really excited. One of them is a Woman named Barati who I just fell a really deep love for. When we extended the invitation, she said that she had been waiting for people like us to come along. She always felt like ther was something missing in her life and she knows now that it is this gospel. I can't wait for her to be baptized! Another good lesson was with a woman and her daughter. We found them tracting. We first helped them do their wash. Yes. Hand washing clothes. We did this for 2 hours. I have bloody knuckles from it. Fun stuff. But then we taught the message of the restoration and they LOVED it. We are teaching them again this week.

Another high was that we went to a choir concert this week. An African gospel music choir concert. It was INCREDIBLE!!!! I loved it so much. One of the songs was especially wonderful. The chorus said "I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody about somebody who can save everybody." First of all, the music was awesome. And on top of it, the words were perfect! I'm going to see if I can get a recording of it somehow. Its been stuck in my head ever since and it has kind of become my theme song.

The third high was that I GOT TO HOLD A BABY LION!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!! I held a lion in Africa. Pretty much the coolest. We went to this military camp that trains soldiers how to handle wild animals so when they see them in the wild they will know what to do. We got to pet a bunch of cool snakes, some hyenas, some monkeys, some adult lions and cheetahs, and then we got to hold a cub! Then on the way home we saw a bunch of zebras just hanging out on the side of the road. It was pretty much amazing. I love Africa.

Well I'm about out of time. It was hard and frustrating but not a bad week. One week from yesterday is my 1 month mark. Can you believe it?? I cant. Well I will talk to you soon. I love and miss you. Thank you for you prayers. They are helping more than you know.

Love, Sister Chelsea Gehring

(a.k.a. future lion tamer)