Baptism, Broadcast, and Breaking Doors, 01-30-17

January 30th, 2017

This week has been really sweet and definitely full of its ups and downs, but all things have been for my good!

First off, I had my first District Council that I got to plan and instruct and I loved it! It went pretty well, mostly because the district members are awesome and have great ideas and insights, so it went smoothly. The other elders, Elder Boyce and Elder Kangwa are powerful missionaries as well. Our accountability has jumped CRAZY high. So life has been great! We also took some sweet pictures as a district so that we will never forget our time together! :)

We had the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast, and we missed the first hour or so because all of our mission didn’t have satellite connection, but we got to hear the last 45-60 minutes of the broadcast, and it was fantastic. They changed a few of the things we do as missionaries, but also gave us a little more freedom to plan our days than we used to, according to the culture and things like that.  Of course, it has been sweet so far as it has come from the Prophet and the Apostles.

Next in our week, we got to paint Sister Mavis’ house for her as she had a fire recently in her house which marked some of her walls black.  So she asked if we could help her paint, and we did! We painted for a few hours and it turned out really nice, which is also a miracle because I have no idea how to really paint, especially with the different kind of paint they use here for the cement walls. But it was great…. And then the night turned somehow sour. We got home to change and go to our meeting at he chapel and we didn’t bring the key because we changed our bags last minute and didn’t switch the key over. The other elders were an hour away with the Branch President so that also wasn’t an option… So I decided to rely on brute strength rather than think a little, and I kicked the door in because I was hungry and getting a little late to get to our meeting. Well, that caused a lot of problems, I bent the deadbolt and destroyed the wood keeping that side of the door on…. So as I tried to fix it, I cut my thumb and was getting angry,  and I couldn’t bend the deadbolt back, so I took the whole door handle off and put a new one on… It wasn’t that funny then, but now it is hilarious as I look at the pictures and recall the memory… But hey, we are safe, and the door is back to normal, just has a scar or two… :) Hahahhaa!

Shoutout to Grandma, who had 2 letters come through this week that were great as usual! :) Thank you for always writing me!!!! Love you Grandma :)

We had the baptism of Sister Mavis this week also which was great! SOOOOOO happy that finally we had some success in our area, and we are hoping for more soon! She has been taught for a while by missionaries, but as we taught Gospel Principles last week about baptism, she came up after and said she needed to be baptized. And so now she is! Life has been great! :)

Lastly, President Koomson, the District President told a great story at church on Sunday. It goes something like this:

There was a king of a town that lived some years ago. He looked out one day on his town and saw that it was pretty dirty with a lot of trash. So, he called all of his town members together and told them to clean the city, but that they had to bring their own tools to scoop the trash. Some brought big trucks, some brought cars, some bowls and pots, and some just brought a small spoon to help. They labored all day, those with trucks working very hard, and those with spoons, just goofing around and complaining about the work, and after the work was finished, they gathered to the King’s palace. The king simply said, "Thank you for helping me clean our city, but I am sorry, I don’t have any food for you after your day of work. Instead, I have the whole of the gold of our town, and to thank you, the room is down the hall, and whatever you brought to clean, you can fill with gold and take back to your home. Many trucks and cars were filled for those who worked hard, and some came away with just a small spoon of gold for them.

He related this story to our work in the kingdom of God. Those who truly give their all to build the kingdom,will one day receive their reward, whether here in this life or in the life to come, and to those who didn’t labor with their all, but rather spent their time complaining or goofing off, they also received their reward. I loved this story and thought I would share it with you. We should always give our best in the service of the Lord, no matter the work or how long the day is, because there is a reward in heaven after our days of labor is over. As we learn in Alma 34:32:

32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

I know we can all serve God to the fullest, even in the roughest of times, in the name of Jeseu Christ, Amen.

Elder Wawro