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
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