No such thing as a normal week...

Dear Family,

I just want to start off by apologizing. There is no way on Earth that I'll be able to fit in everything that happened this week. It was INSANE. A lot insane. Plus I forgot my planner where I wrote down all the things I wanted to be sure to not forget to tell you. So whatever I forget, I’ll be sure to tell you next week or I’ll just write you a letter.

The week actually started off pretty normal though. We taught a bunch of great lessons, did some great tracting, all that good stuff. We were so excited cause we felt like it was finally going to be just a good solid week! Not quite the case. Not at all the case actually. 

Before I get into that thought I want to tell you about something cool that happened during a lesson we were teaching at the beginning of the week. So we were teaching a woman who has been feeling really guilty about some things she had done in the past. We were trying to help her understand that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are not going to condemn her for things she did without knowing they were wrong, and as she repents, they will welcome her gladly back to their presence. The message was not going through to her though. No matter how many scriptures we read with her or how many things we tried to say to reassure and comfort her. We had a member with us though so finally she decided to try. She told the woman the story of the lost sheep. And how Christ left the 99 to find the 1. She basically told her that she was not forgotten and that Christ was going to go and find her no matter what. That how much He loves her. We could tell it really touched her. It was finally getting through. I had a feeling I should show her the front of the restoration pamphlet. It has a  painting of Christ carrying the lost lamb on the cover. He is looking down at the lamb with a smile that is so loving and so forgiving. And he is holding the lamb like it is the most precious thing in the world. You can see how glad he is to have it back. As I was talking about the picture- how she was like the lamb and that Christ felt the same way about her, both of us just started crying. She got it. She felt it. She knew in that moment that things were going to be ok and Heavenly father And Jesus Christ still loved her. And I felt it too. I got it more than I ever have before. My testimony of God's love for me has not been this strong since I got my patriarchal blessing. Mission does just as much for the missionaries as it does for the lost sheep. I know that.

So yea, the beginning of the week was great and strong. Then the weekend hit. Holy cow. Thursday night we got a call from our district leader telling us that District meeting had been moved to later in the day because the new sister was flying in... WHAT? A new sister??? It is the middle of the transfer. We shouldn’t have been getting new missionaries for another three weeks! We finally figured out that she had been serving in Zimbabwe but that her VISA got rejected so she was getting kicked out and coming to Bots instead. So we rearranged some plans so we could go pick her up at the airport Friday morning. We had no idea where she was going to serve or who her companion was going to be but we just went with it. 

Friday: One of the hardest days of mission so far. In the morning we got a call from the Assistants. Our area was being split to make room for the new sister and President Omer wanted us to pray about it and decide which part we wanted to keep. So our ward consists of 2 areas. Tlokweng (a village type place just out of town) and Broadhurst (a little more built up and closer to town). Until Friday Sister Anderson and I had been covering both areas. But to make room for the new missionaries, one set of Sisters would be exclusively in Tlokweng and one would now be exclusively in Broadhurst. And it was up to us to decide who got which one and all the investigators who stayed there. We had no idea what to do. We love both areas so much. We have people in both areas that we felt like we could not give up. We knew we had to pray about it. So as a companionship we knelt and prayed. Then we each prayed about it individually. Then we came back together and prayed again. (some scripture study and looking over the people we teach in each area was mixed in here) Individually and together we both came up with the same answer. We were still needed in Tlikweng and the new sisters were needed in Broadhurst. We knew it was right but we still cried. Well over half of the people we teach stay in Broadhurst and we were going to have to say bye to them all. We had to do some serious trusting in the Lord to know that things with them would be ok. So we went and picked up the new sister- Sister Vea from Hawaii. She is a sweetheart. She’s only been on mission for a month and she is so great. She and one of the sisters that had been serving in g/west would now be taking over Broadhurst. Then we went to District meeting which was interesting but I don’t have time to write about it unfortunately. But after that we took the new sisters around and started handing people over and helping them get to know the area. Hardest thing on mission so far. We went and saw like 5 people and had to say goodbye. One of them was Gao. I love that woman so much. She calls us her babies and we call her Momma. I know I’ll still see her at church but I am going to miss teaching her so much. 5:00 every Sunday is Gao's time. No more though. It is so hard. Then we went to see Rosa who is another lady we have been teaching. She cried with us when she heard we were leaving. We went and saw a few more people too and it was the same with all of them. People just kept asking "But why??" It was hard. That’s about all I can say about it. Lots of tears were involved. If it is this hard to leave people even when I can still see them every week at church, I don’t even want to imagine what it will be like when I have to leave the area completely. And thinking about having to leave Botswana in only 15 months is just painful. By the end of the day though, I had pretty much come to terms with things though and I was feeling ok. But then things got crazy again. All within a couple hours, we had to move people out of old flats, move new people in to new flats, feed a bunch of missionaries who were all helping, go pick up bedding and other stuff from all these different places, and then make it back home in time for curfew. It was crazy. I know it doesn’t sound like it but it was. I was stressed. And I do not get stressed easily. By the time we finally got to bed, we were pooped. 

Then came Saturday. Remember how once upon a time I locked me and my companion out of our flat and we had to break in through the back to get our keys? Well On Saturday I did something worse. Accidentally!! But worse. So we went out running just like we always do. We leave at 6:30. So we left, I made sure to grab the keys and we went for our normal run. Well we do our lap twice (a lap is a mile) and we get to our flat and I go to open the door. The key to  the door isn’t on the ring. I know for a fact that it was there when we left cause between laps we stopped back at our flat and opened the door to put my jacket back. But the key is now gone. It is lost somewhere along the trail. We have nothing with us. We have the clothes on our backs and that’s it. Everything else is locked in the flat. So we decided to walk the mile again and try to find it. No luck. So we borrowed the other sisters car, drive over to the senior couple's house and ask them if they have a spare. Nope. So then we drove back to ask our manager if he had a spare. Nope. So we drive back over to the senior couples house and they go through all their files and find some keys we could try. None of them worked. At this point it’s like 10 am. We are still in our workout clothes, and we haven't even showered or brushed our teeth for the day. People have offered to help us but we just wanted to get in. So we did what we do best. We broke in again. So last time it was easy. We just hopped the fences and got the keys from the inside through a cracked open window. Well its getting cold. So our windows were not open this time. We got over the fences ok to our back yard but instead of just getting the keys right away, we had to straighten out a hanger, pry the window open a crack, pop the lock open, and then proceed to get the back door keys. Yea. I’m starting to get worried. I should not be this good at breaking into things. Not a skill I thought I’d learn on mission. So we finally got in but we still didn’t have a key. So we had to tape the bottom lock shut so it wouldn’t lock automatically. We still have the key to the door gate and the other door lock but until a locksmith comes, we just have to be careful. I seriously think Satan is just getting creative. I have to keep telling myself that so I don’t get discouraged and feel like an idiot. The rest of the day was crazy too. We had to take Sister Vea to the doctor to get her papers approved so she can start her residency process and then we ran around town again visiting people and handing them over to the new sisters! We didn’t get back till late again and once again, we were pooped. 

Ok well that’s all I have time for right now. I am going to one of the senior couple's flat tonight to load some pictures so Ill finish talking about the weekend and what happened today then. I love you! Talk to you soon!

Love, Sister Gehring

Hello again!

Sorry for the gap. But I can finish now. So! Next comes Sunday. It was a wonderful day. We had another baptism!!! It was a little girl named Juliet. Her mom got baptized last month but she was being taught by the Elders. They decided that we would do a better job teaching her so they gave her to us and I am so glad. She is a joy. And her baptism was so wonderful!!! The spirit was so strong and she was so happy. She bore her testimony after the actual baptism and it was the sweetest. I don't even know what else to say about it. It was just so good. I love seeing people get baptized! Then for the rest of the day we just went around Broadhurst again showing the new sisters around. But then we had another adventure that night. We tried to make madombe. It’s like African steamed bread. Except too bad it definitely did not turn out right. At all. It didn't taste bad but it was definitely not go the way we wanted it to. We are going to have to try that out again. Just a little fun thing.

Then! We get to today. Ok so there is 1 mountain in Botswana. It’s technically a hill but its huge. We have wanted to hike it for a long time but we can’t hike it without the Elders but we also can’t hike with the elders without a senior couple present. That's the mission rule. So we didn't think we would ever get  to do it. But some of the Elders convinced one of the senior couples to go!!!! So we got to hike Kgale Hill!!!!! Oh my goodness it was so fun!! All the missionaries in G/west and Broadhurst went so there were a TON of us. We started before it even got light out and we got up there in about an hour. I felt like I could see all of Botswana from up there. It was cool cause normally when you get to the top of a mountain you can look out in one direction and see forever but there are usually other mountains around. But this one is free standing pretty much. There are some foothills but this was the highest point by far. So you can see as far as the horizon in every direction. SO beautiful. I hope we get to do it again someday. I love hiking and it was a really good hike.

Well that's all the big stuff from the week! There was a ton other little stuff that happened but I just don't have time to write about it. Mission life is just crazy. I definitely could not be doing as much as I do if I didn't have help from the Lord. I love you so much and I hope you all have a fantastic week!
Love, Sister Gehring

Top of the world!!!! kind of...

 

All the sisters who hiked today! 

Me and Sister Anderson at the tippity top of Kgale hill!

Attempting to make madombe.

All the sisters in the mission! Minus the couple new ones.

This is our "YAY NEW CAR" photo.

MTC reunion! Sister Nyambita, Sister Clifford, Me, Sister Graves.

Me and Pretty. Saying goodbye :(

Mpho and Candy asleep. We teach their mom and they fell asleep during the lesson.

Eating chicken heart at Pretty's house!

Me and Sister Anderson being silly at the mission tour.

Packed full...

Dear Family,

Wow this week was crazy. Seriously every hour of every day was packed. We taught a bunch of lessons but there was also just a ton of other stuff going on. But it was a really really good week too.

To start off, on Tuesday and Wednesday we were doing exchanges. They do them a little bit differently for sisters. Usually exchanges mean you switch companions for a day. But for the sisters, we just have an experienced sister come around with us for the day. So we had Sister Wiscombe come with us on Tuesday and Sister Vuki come with us on Wednesday. I realize you don't know who these people are but It'll help for you to know their names for when I talk about things that happened. This also meant that they stayed with us over night too. So that was different. But pretty fun. In the mornings instead of going running, we did Zumba. Do you know what that is? I hadn't heard of it till I was at BYU but I had never done it before. Sister Wiscombe loves it though. It is basically like Jazzercise but even more dancy. As you can imagine, it was not pretty... I don't dance. At all. It was so much fun and it was a good workout, but I'm sure I looked like a complete idiot doing it. But hey, it was just us sisters doing it so there was no need to be embarrassed. Side note: I feel so close to these sisters. I have only known the sisters I serve with for 2 months but I am closer to them than I am to people I have known for years. There is something about serving the Lord together that forms a bond unlike anything you can get in any other way. It’s pretty wonderful.

But anyway, yea we had other people with us for 2 days. And we taught some of the best lessons I've ever taught in those two days. I learned so much too. It was really great to be able to see how other people teach so I can get ideas on how to handle certain situations and how to explain things in a way that more people can understand. One of the great lessons was with a girl named Lillian. When we were tracting one day last week she called us over to her and told us she wanted us to come visit her. She didn’t seem really serious though. Honestly we just thought she wanted to talk to us because we are white. We were kind of reluctant to go back cause we thought it would go badly. But oh man were we wrong. I definitely had to repent for those thoughts. When we got there she was so prepared to hear the message of the gospel. She told us that she had been "swimming in a sea of confusion" and that when she saw us, she knew we could help her. We talked to her about why we know this church is true and about having faith in Christ. Then we gave her a Book of Mormon and explained about it. Then we gave her a few chapters to read. We basically just bore testimony the whole time about how much this gospel could bless her. The spirit was so strong. We actually had another lesson with her on Saturday and she had actually read the Book of Mormon and had some of the best, most inspired questions about it I've ever heard. Nobody reads the first time we ask them too! Basically she is incredible. She has a long way to go before she'll be baptized but I know we were led to her for a reason. 

Then on Wednesday Sister Vuki was with us. Once again, it was really great to have someone there to help us in hard situations. In particular, it was nice to have her when we were seeing a 16 year old girl we are teaching. I won’t say her name but she told us that this week her parents told her that they were forcing her to get married to a guy that is way older than she is. I had no idea what to do. But Sister Vuki was able to comfort her and help her know that if she trusted in the lord, things would work out. She shared Alma 38:5 with her and it really helped her. The other lessons we taught that day were really cool too. One that I liked a lot too was with a woman named Lindiwe. She is older and has been taught pretty much everything there is to know about the church. She even has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. But she decided that she still wants to stay in her old church and that she doesn't want the missionaries to teach her any more about the gospel. But we have really felt like we need to keep visiting her. So she agreed to let us come and share Bible stories with her. Well we have been doing that for the last few months but on Wednesday we decided to try and share a message from the Book of Mormon with her. When we got there she got her Bible out and sat down with her little highlighter all ready to listen.Then I said " Actually Lindiwe, today we want to share something out of the Book of Mormon. Could you get yours out?" I acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. Her face was priceless. It was complete shock. But Sister Anderson, Sister Vuki and I just sat there smiling till she finally got up and went and got hers out. Then I proceed to tell her about one of my favorite parts from King Benjamin's speech. I just acted like nothing was wrong and this was just what we do every time. At first I could tell she was kind of annoyed but I just kept going till the spirit started to work in her. By the end she was listening intently and she agreed to read over the section again on her own. It was so great. It'll take time but I can tell she'll come around eventually. Also on Wednesday I got to eat something that I never thought I’d eat in my life... a chicken heart!! I was terrified. One of our investigators was eating a whole bowl of them when we got there. I asked what they were and she got all excited. "Chicken hearts! They are so tasty. You must try!" I tried to politely decline but she insisted. Sister Anderson agreed to try it with me. It actually wasn't bad! It just tasted like a tough piece of chicken. The mental picture of eating a chicken heart was significantly worse than actually doing it! 

Then on Thursday it was the final mission tour before Botswana becomes its own mission. So every single missionary serving in Botswana all came to Gabs for the event. Because we stay so close to the chapel, we got to play host to a bunch of the sisters who serve in Francistown. Only 2 of them actually stayed with us but because it’s rare for all the sisters to be together, we all had a huge sister dinner and we made tacos. It was so fun. I got to see all the people I was in the MTC with and I got to meet the other sisters I hadn't met before. After we ate we had to wait for some people to get their luggage back so we all just sat around outside and talked. It felt like girl's camp or something. It was so fun. Then Sister Pierce and Sister Nyambita got to come stay with us. It was so great to be able to see Sister Nyambita again! I love her and I was so excited when I found out she was going to stay with us. 

But then the next morning was the mission tour. IT WAS SO GOOD! President Omer and his wife came, the Botswana APs and the South Africa APs came and a member of the 70 and his wife came! (I can’t for the life of me remember what their name was though) They all spoke and it was incredible. I don't even know what else to say about it other than that it was so good! I learned so much. Each of them spoke about different ways to improve missionary work and how to be a better missionary. I realized that I have a LOT of work to do but also that I am definitely on the right track. It was a really good boost. It gave me that push to try harder, do better and serve more faithfully. I have this new motivation now and I just want to go and teach everyone! The church is true!! 

Then on Friday we got a new car!!! The elders got our old one (well our "old" one. It was only like a 2010 model.) And we got a brand spankin' new 2013 Hundai something or other. Its soo nice. It only had 40 kilometers on it total. I have no idea why we get such a nice car but hey, I'm not complaining. It’s nicer than anything I'll ever drive at home most likely! But sad thing from Friday is that we went to a funeral. It was for a man named Brother Sima. He was one of the pioneers of the Church in Botswana. Everyone looked up to him and respected him. He was one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. The rest of the day was packed full of lessons though so that was good to take our minds off of it. Friday night though we got to go over to the YSA ward in a different area and have a game night! The other sisters had organized it and our appointments for the night had all canceled so we got to go! It was so fun and we met some really great people. Plus it gave us some great ideas on what we could do with our ward. 

Then Saturday was just another day full of lessons and Sunday was the same! So yea, it was a really great week. Oh! Funny thing from Sunday, I prayed in Sacrament meeting and the man conducting completely butchered my name when he announced it. He called me Sister Greenranch. It was pretty funny. The people have a really hard time with my name. 

Well the favorite scripture from the week is Mosiah 4:11-12. It’s the one I shared with Lindiwe. I love it because it brought such a great spirit but also because it gives such specific and simple instructions on how to retain the love of God and a remission of our sins. It’s a good one!

Well my time is up. I feel like I only got to talk about a tiny bit of what happened this week but its ok. It’s all in my journal. You'll see it someday. I love you so much!! Thanks for everything.

Love, Sister Gehring

p.s. My residency was rejected so I'm not sure what happens now. I’m not getting kicked out yet but prayers would be appreciated. Thank you so much

 

Back to normal life...

Dear family,

You know the very distinct smell your clothes get after camping for a week and a half? The combination of smoke and fire mixed with dirt and sweat? Well that's what Botswana air smells like. All the time. But it’s especially strong at night and in the mornings. When I first got here it was kind of strange and not so pleasant. But to be honest, it kind of smells like home now. I've already been here almost two months. I'm not sure I'm ok with how fast the time is passing.

But that aside, this week was great! I was out sick still till Wednesday night but on Thursday I got to go teaching again! It was glorious! I missed being a missionary. And the week was filled with great lessons too. 2 in particular that I want to talk about.

1. Stellah. She is pretty much incredible. She has been taught just about everything there is to know about the gospel. She is what we call a "dry member". Someone who hasn't been baptized but is completely converted to the gospel. We had planned to teach her about the difference between having a testimony and being converted but when we got to her house her sister in law was there. And she had a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon. We didn’t have to say a word. Stellah just took over. She answered every question perfectly and with so much conviction you'd think she'd read the book 50 times. It was amazing. And then she just bore testimony of it. Over and over she just kept saying "This book will change your life. Read it. It will change your life. I've read it and It has changed my life. This book will change your life." It was one of the most pure and powerful testimonies I have ever heard anyone give of the Book of Mormon. 

2. Thato. She is someone we found tracting. I had a feeling that we should go over to a group of houses and she is definitely the reason why. Nothing about the lessons are ever particularly spectacular but the spirit we always feel at her house most definitely is. When I am around her, I feel like I get a glimpse of how Heavenly Father feels about her. It’s just this joy and love that I can't really describe. She has so much potential in her. I  just feel it so strongly when I am around her.

Saturday though we didn’t teach a single lesson. We just did a lot of service. In the morning we went over to Khumo's house cause he needed some help with some school work so we offered to tutor him. When we got there, he had decided that he wanted us to help him with math. Yea. I was terrified. I don’t do math. At all. I prayed really hard that I'd be able to even remember a tiny bit of what I learned back in high school. The Lord answers prayers. I was able to remember every single thing I'd ever learned about everything he needed help with. I taught him how to do it! I taught someone math! ME! And not 2+2 math either. This was kind of complicated stuff. Well complicated by my standards of understanding. Basically Heavenly Father was really looking out for Khumo by letting me remember math. Miraculous for sure. 

Then later we went over and visited Boitshepo. She was taking her braids out. When the people here braid their hair, they leave it in for a couple months. Without washing it. So by the time its ready to be taken out, it is quite a chore. It takes a couple hours just to get the braids out. So she asked us to help her. I'm sure that was a sight to be seen. Two white girls doing an African girl's hair. Not something you see too often. But it was nice to be able to help her and she actually talked to us the whole time. She is finally warming up to us and it is so great. It makes me so happy. She is such a sweetheart. 

Another hilight of the week was district meeting. We had a combined district meeting with g-west this week. I know that means nothing to you but basically it just means that there were a lot of people there. And two of those missionaries were the Assistants. The assistants to the mission president. Literally the best of the best. So we started with a preach my gospel warm up. It goes like this: One person stands in a corner and opens to a random page in Preach My Gospel and starts to read. The first person to stand up and start reading along with them earns a point for their companionship. This week, Sister Anderson and I TIED WITH THE APs!!!!!!!! WE got the same number as them!!!!!!! I know that seems silly but its a pretty big accomplishment. Well it is for us. I was proud of us for sure. 

One more thing before I go. I've decided that I'm going to start doing a favorite scripture of the week SO Favorite scripture of this week is Galatians 5:9. Don't judge it by the first reading. It seems silly at first but Once you think about it, it is really profound and can be applied to so many situations. 

Well those were the good points of the week. And to be honest there weren't really any low points. Which is always nice. I feel like I didn’t have too much to talk about this week but that’s probably because I spent a good part of it asleep. But hey, I’m better now and so glad for it. I love you so much and I’ll talk to you next week!

Love, Sister Gehring

p.s. someone offered to give us a chicken this week so we could learn how to slaughter it. I'm not so sure I'm ok with that.

Sick days :(

 

Well hello again!

There is pretty much nothing to report this week. Tuesday and Wednesday were really really awesome days. We were taught 7 lessons on Tuesday and 6 on Wednesday I think. Which is fantastic. But Wednesday night I got a really bad headache and I was just exhausted. So I went home and pretty much went straight to bed. Then Thursday I could not wake up. At all. Sister Anderson tried for about an hour but I just couldn't wake up. So I spent the whole day in bed. To be honest I'm a little bit afraid that weird sleeping thing that happened senior year is starting again. So I have just been taking it really easy.

On Friday though I was able to get myself out of bed for long enough to go to the huge residency meeting. It went so incredibly well. We passed out probably 100 copies of the Book of Mormon, tons of pamphlets, tons of pass along cards, and the people who came were clearly touched by the spirit. It was fantastic. The down side is that nobody who was supposed to show up actually showed up. Nobody from the residency council came. So basically it didn't help us at all in the direction we wanted it to. But there were other government officials there that we are hoping will pass the message along. We were clearly supposed to have that meeting but maybe not for the reason we initially thought. At this point we are just going to have to rely on faith that residency will work out. The Lord wouldn't have set up the new mission if it wasn't going to work out so I know it will all be ok. With enough prayers the Lord will provide a way.

Then the rest of Friday, all day Saturday and except for church, all day Sunday I've spent pretty much in bed. I feel so bad for Sister Anderson cause she's been stuck inside with me too. She's been a saint though taking care of me. She's definitely taken on a mom role. And she has been so sweet about it. I couldn't ask for a better companion. I think I'm doing a little better today. I only took one nap and it was only 2 and a half hours long. The plan is to start doing half days this week so we can still be teaching but I can also still be resting. But we aren't going to push it too hard. I got a priesthood blessing from Elder Jorgensen so I know it will be fine. He didn't however say that I would be better soon. He said that if I endure this, I will be able to resume my missionary work and my testimony will grow. So for now we are just going to take it easy and do the best we can for the circumstances.

Just know that I really am ok. This is just a trial of my faith and strength. I’ll get through it and all will be well. I love you all so much. Thank you for the prayers and support. I can't tell you how much I appreciate them.

Lots of love,

Sister Gehring

Us at the fancy residency meeting.

We aren't sure what this means but it just doesn't seem sanitary...

You know you're a Missionary when...

Well hello again!

 I’d like to start off by sharing this list that my companion and I have been working on.

"You know you're a missionary when..."

You know you’re  a missionary when....

-going to the salon consists of your companion and a pair of kitchen scissors 

-the only free day you have you want to stay in bed all day and read the Book of Mormon

-when someone talks about riding in the same car as a male, it makes you feel uncomfortable

-your worst nightmare you have had is being sent home early from mission

-you and your companion jam out to Child’s Prayer in the car and you think you're cool

-you either spend all your time laughing or crying, there is no in between emotion

-you burn a batch of cookies because you were praying for too long

-you can't imagine a life after this, because there isn't one

 That pretty much sums up missionary work. It’s the best. I love it quite a lot. This week has been another great one! There were three pretty big noteworthy things that happened.

1. Lenah got baptized!!!! WOO! She's one who has been taking the lessons since Sister Anderson was first here. She is so strong. And the baptism was so incredible. Patricia (who was baptized last month) spoke and she did such a great job. It’s so cool to see how just a month as a member has helped her grow so much. But most importantly, Lenah was just glowing. One of the other missionaries saw her right as she was coming out of the bathroom from changing into her dry clothes and he said "Gotta love that after-baptism grin"  It’s so true! There really isn't anything better. 

 2. Nanky. There is a woman named Nanky who has a reputation with us for cancelling all her appointments. Sister Anderson hasn't even ever been able to teach her and she's been here for 6 weeks longer than me. This week we had an appointment set with her and we had decided that if she canceled again, we were going to have to drop her. To our surprise though, we got to her house and she was actually there! So we start teaching her the restoration again cause it’s been so long since the missionaries have seen her and she is responding like she already knows it’s all true! We were surprised but figured she had prayed about it last time and had just forgotten or something. So we finish the lesson and invite her to church. This was how the conversation basically went.

us: "Will you attend church with us this Sunday?"

Nanky: "Oh I already go to church."

us: "Oh that is wonderful! Our church meets at 9 am. Do you think you would have time to visit us before your church starts?"

Nanky:"I know. I go to your church."

us: "You go to our church?? The one right here in village? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints??"

Nanky: "Yes. The other missionaries invited me to go and I have been going every week since they were here."

us: "How long ago was that??"

Nanky: "Almost 3 months now."

 WHAT??? Oh man we felt so bad! This woman had been attending church for 3 months on her own and nobody even knew!!!! She cancelled all the time cause she legitimately was busy. And we were about to drop her! She’s now on date to be baptized in June. It’s crazy!!! I am so glad we didn’t give up on her

3. Barati. So I've mentioned Barati before I'm sure. She is pretty much wonderful. This week we had another lesson with her. Once again she just loved everything we taught. She is so excited for her baptism in June. But as we were leaving she asked us if she could come teaching with us. She isn’t even a member and she wants to help spread the gospel! It was so sweet. We aren't allowed to bring her around with us in our car but next time we see her we are going to set up a time for to come around with us just walking. She said "I want to help you people go and teach people like me. I want them to know the word of God too" It seriously made us so happy. I always leaver her house with this great joy.

Well those were the highlights this week! Some other fun things were that my companion and gave each other haircuts, we taught a lesson where a child kept biting our legs, I keep having dreams that my limbs are being cut off and/or I am being chased my scary people, I had my first traditional African food, we defrosted the freezer at the chapel and made a snowman from all the ice, aaaaand I still really love my companion! 

 Well I love you all so much and I'll talk to you next week!

 Love, Sister Chelsea Gehring

 

Lenah's baptism.



Me studying by candlelight because our power was out (again).

My first district.

My zone.

Working in the Lord's Vineyard

Dumela again!

I know I just talked to you but I still have lots I want to tell you! Before I do though, I want to thank everyone else who emails me. I am so sorry that I don't have time to reply to each of you but I do read every one and I am so thankful for your testimonies and your support!

Well this week was super super busy. We taught 20 lessons this week which is significantly more than we have been teaching. It was great! A couple lessons in particular were really note-worthy. To give a little background, Sister Anderson and I have really been trying to improve the way we teach this week. We have really been trying to teach more by the spirit and according to each specific person's needs rather than just teaching set lesson plans. And it has made all the difference in the world. One of the lessons that we really did well with this was with a woman named Violet. She is the same person we helped move the other week. We were teaching her about the plan of salvation. I got the feeling that I should ask her if and how she has felt the atonement in her life. all of a sudden she just got up and left. Sister Anderson and I we so confused. We just sat there not really knowing what to do. She came back in after about a minute and she was in tears. She then shared some really personal stuff with us that allowed us to testify of how truly amazing the plan of salvation is and we were able to help apply specific principles about it to her exact situation. She was still really emotional when we left. I think that through us, the spirit was really able to testify to her.

Another awesome lesson was with a woman named Mrs. Daniel. She is incredible. We were planning going over the plan of salvation with her too but when we got there, she had already researched it in the scriptures and the pamphlet. She basically taught us the entire thing flawlessly. Sister Anderson and I kept looking at each other in awe, wondering if this was really happening! Then she started asking some questions about really deep doctrinal stuff about the last days and the resurrection. We were worried that the answers might be too much for her to handle but we answered anyway and she completely understood! It was amazing! The Lord truly does prepare people for this message.

Another thing about this week that has been really fantastic is that I am learning so much more than I ever though possible from the scriptures. I am reading in the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi right now. Honestly, I usually just skim over them cause I just don't get it. But this week I have taken the time to use every resource at my disposal pretty much to be able to understand. And I do! So much! And they are some of my favorite scriptures now. I have learned more about the atonement than I ever have before and It has strengthened my testimony more than I can even express in in an email. One word that I particularly love is the word intercession. I took one morning of my personal study and used the whole hour studying about that one word. I would encourage everyone who reads this to do the same. That word in the context of the atonement is truly incredible. Another chapter I studied was Alma 5. I went through and looked at every single question he asks, reworded it in terms that relate to my life as a missionary, then answered all of them. It was a really great reflection on where my focus is and where is should be.

One more high point this week is that the Lord placed us in the right place at the right time. We were supposed to meet one of our investigators at this park but she didn't show up. So we decided to do some contacting. Most successful contacting ever! We placed 6 copies of the Book of Mormon, got return appointments with 2 people and got the information of 4 other people so we can set up appointments with them! And we could tell they were actually interested. You pretty much know which appointments are going to fall through and we feel so good about everyone. One of the women we talked to said she felt like God was telling her to go to the park today. She had never been there before but she knew she had to be there. When we handed her the Book of Mormon she said that she knew the reason she was supposed to be there was so she could meet us and get this book.

Now Ill tell about a couple fun/ funny things from the week! Sister Anderson and I decided to make a "Mission Bucket List" It includes, along with a few other things:

-Read the Book of Mormon in 1 day (you know you're a missionary when you get really excited to spend an entire P-day reading the scriptures haha)

-Teach 30 lessons in 1 week. 

-Eat a mowpane worm (I might have misspelled that)

-Learn my testimony in Setswana

-Read Jesus the Christ

-Visit a village

-Return with honor!

Another funny thing is something that happened while we were tracting. It was my turn to do the little introduction so I knocked on the door and a guy wearing only boxers answered. I felt super uncomfortable so I just awkwardly relayed our message and prayed he wouldn't ask us to come in. Next to me I could tell Sister Anderson was just trying to not just laugh. I have no idea why it was so awkward but it seriously was! Luckily he told us he wasn't interested. We just walked away laughing. Again, I don't know why it was so funny but it definitely was.That tracting day wasn't all bad though! we met a hilarious lady who introduced herself as Sheila the Bold. We actually taught her a lesson this week and she is a hoot. People here are so funny. I love it.

Ok now the last story I want to tell is the reason I picked that as the subject. We were in the car on our way to an appointment. We were talking about Violet. We helped her move but a week later she decided to move back to her old flat cause she was having problems with the landlords. Sister Anderson said "Wow her landlords must have been awful" but for some reason I though she said "Working in the Lord's vineyard must have been awful!" I was so confused! I just said "Umm Sister Anderson, We kind of are working in the Lord's vineyard..." Once we figured out the mistake we both could not stop laughing. So now we say that all the time. "Working in the Lord's vineyard must have been awful!" Good times.

Well I am still loving the work. I am tired all the time but it is the best kind of tired. My testimony is growing more and more every day and I see the tender mercies all around me. I love you all so  much!

Love, Sister Gehring

Not quite as cool as a lion but just about as cute.

 

Not quite as cool as a lion but just about as cute. 

The little kids all love to try on our name tags. The little boy in front of me is Gao’s grandson. His name is Temo. The girl between us is named Fina. But mostly we just call her “Pincher.” She loves pinching. It was cute at first but has quickly become quite annoying. We love her anyway though.

Rough start, Great end!

Hello everyone!

Well this started out pretty hard again but it ended up being so good! To start off the week, on Tuesday we were helping someone move. We are teaching her but and also her neighbor. While we were on our way back to our car, a bunch of guys who stay near the neighbor (Her name is Kederleng) all came up to us and started yelling. They told us that we were dragging her life down, that we were only hurting her and her kids, that we were horrible people, that we were racist, and that if we ever came back to teach Kederleng they would hurt us. We were so scared. But mostly we were just sad. Kederleng is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and the thought of not being able to see her anymore was really upsetting. Luckily some of the Elders were there helping move too and they were able to calm the guys down and get them to back off. But Sister Anderson and I were really upset. We both got back in the car and just cried. We knew that the Lord had led us to Kederleng and we were not going to give up. That night we knelt down as a companionship and just poured our hearts out to the Lord. We didn't know what to do. We were working our hardest but for the past week and a half, things were just not going well. The most incredible feeling of peace came over us. Then that night I did the same thing in my personal prayer. I basically just told Heavenly Father that I was about at the point where I couldn't go on anymore and I needed help. Once again I got this wonderful peaceful feeling. When I woke up Wednesday morning, the words of D&C 121:7-8 were stuck in my head. I had not read that scripture in a really long time and I don't have it memorized. But somehow the exact words kept playing over and over in my head. I know it was my Heavenly Father letting me know that everything was going to be ok.

And they have been! On Wednesday we were doing street contacting on the UB (University of Botswana) campus which is in the nicer part of our area. We weren't having too much luck but we knew we were supposed to be there for some reason. I saw a girl a little ways off who was talking on the phone. I knew we had to talk to her. So we waited till she was done and we went and told her about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. She was really friendly and she invited us to come back on Friday to teach her more. So we went back on Friday and she is pretty much the definition of a prepared heart. She told us that she had been wanting to make changes in her life but didn't know how. She told us a lot more too but basically the Lord has completely prepared her to receive this message.

Then we have seen so many other tender mercies throughout the rest of the week too. While we were teaching one of our new investigators in this park area, another woman came up to us and asked if she could join cause she was feeling sad and wanted to listen to the word of God. Saturday night we were finally able to get ahold of a woman who we though had been avoiding us. When we went to see her we found out that she had just been really busy with work but that she had been taking the Book of Mormon with her wherever she went. She said that she loves reading it, completely understands it, loves the feelings she gets when she is reading, and knows that is is true. She's already in 2 Nephi! We only gave her the book 2 weeks ago! Then while we were visiting another family who we have been trying to work with to get the dad to start joining in the lessons, without us even having to invite him to join us, the dad came right up and sat for the whole lesson! And when we were finished, he asked us to come back at a time when he'd be home so he could start participating. A woman we are teaching who deals drugs for a living called us and asked if we could help her quit smoking and drinking before we even taught her the word of wisdom. And lastly, yesterday I was able to attend the first ever stake conference for the Gaborone Botswana Stake. It was incredible. We had a couple members of the 70 come and speak and a lot of prayers were answered. It was so wonderful. Plus there have been countless other things that have happened that have just really helped me see that I am being watched over.

I still love it here so much. I'm starting to see what everyone means when they say that mission is the hardest but best time of their lives. I cant believe my 1 month mark was on Saturday. (we had a happy-one-month-on-mission-slash-happy-cinco-de-mayo taco party on Sunday night to celebrate) The time is going so fast! But it has been the best month of my life so far. I can't even express how grateful I am to be here.

Lots of love and thanks,

Sister Chelsea Gehring
Oh! and p.s. I forgot to say that we went really felt like we needed to go back to Kederleng's house to ask her if she really wanted us to leave or if that was just her neighbours  So we went and talked to her and she said she definitely does want us to come back. So we will just rely on the Lord to protect us and continue on with the work!