It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas (12/15/14)

Muli bwanji!! Ahhhhh another week has come. Another week has gone. And its almost CHRISTMAS! This week. Mmm what can I say? It definitely was one of those weeks! So this week was a little slow for us since my companion has that official FLU. Ha ha. So we weren't really able to do as much as we both wanted but we still worked as hard as we could. But the rainy season has officially started here. That whole saying of "raining cats and dogs" is the story of life here in Zambia. I was definitely rocking the rain boots this week. When it rains it pours. So yeah it was nice for everyone that has been waiting for their farming but for us in the field of missionary work. Success is definitely halted. But we wont stop! So this week we were able to see some of our people. Our recent converts and even to have our zone meeting which i really enjoyed. We learned about the importance of families and even learned about the importance of extending commitments and inviting people to do things. It was really nice and we even got to do role plays! Yes. Every missionaries favorite part of meetings. Haha. Usually I am definitely anti role plays but we got the chance to teach the elders and they pretended to be our investigators. It was so sweet. It was the first time I really enjoyed doing a role play. It wasn't like it was fake it honestly felt real and I felt the spirit even teaching all of us. It was very powerful. I enjoyed it a lot. So this week was good.. Full of smiles and laughs and everything good! I guess the highlight was this Sunday at church! It was raining so hard and I had my full rain gear thing going on and we headed to church and of course we had to cross a huge ditch and of course I go for it and boom! The most embarrassing thing ever. My entire skirt just ripped up the back. So there I am on Sunday soaking wet with my skirt ripped open. Yup. Moment of humor so I had to go home and change. And there was a total winning number of 15 people at church. There was one relief society woman so we had to combine with young women. But it was really great! I enjoyed it a lot. So my week was good. Transfers came and are gone and i'm still in the same area for the sixth month with the same companion. I guess I am never moving haha so I don't have my hopes up. So i hope that everyone has a happy and blessed week. I'm sorry that I didn't have a very eventful week buttttt next week I will have lots to share I promise. Alma 5:33 Love Sister Scott

Sweet Sixteen ( 12/8/2014)

Hello my dear family and friends once again!! How are you all? I hope that all is well and that you are all getting into the wonderful Christmas spirit. So something that I have realized on mission is that Christmas is my favorite holiday so hands down! I love it so much! I literally listen to Christmas music every single day and it just puts me into the best mood so I definitely offer that to anyone that has a bad day. Well this week has come and gone and now as I look towards a new one I have to admit that things have been a little difficult for me but I am trying my best to stay positive and upbeat. So this week kind of was a blur for me. Tuesday Sister Erickson called and took me and my companion to the doctor for a blood test to try to see what may be wrong with her. She has been having a few problems with her legs and feet and we haven’t really found a source yet. So we went to the doctor and of course the test came back negative so that means we don’t know what’s wrong. But they did give her new medicine to try so hopefully it proves helpful. So Wednesday for us what a little busier than usual! We went and saw the wonderful Shonga family, the family of the children we baptized and taught their family and the kids. I love them to death. Sister Shonga has definitely become my mom away from home. She takes care of us every day. So we have really been working hard on helping the girls we baptized, the two daughters, Christine and Emma, on their personal progress. They are doing so great. It’s only been like a month and we are almost done with the first value already. So it definitely makes me happy. I guess this week was hard on another note because of our two investigators that were baptized last week. They are struggling financially and it seems that Satan is really testing a lot of people in our branch. They have been taking care of chickens and trying to raise them but they didn’t have money for feed so the chickens started dying. It really discouraged Sister Meriam a lot and her family. We went and visited them and we taught them about testimonies and even about the importance of families. It was really great and Sister Miriam shared a powerful testimony. How it took her over 10 years to finally join the church and now she knows that it’s true. It was so sweet and powerful. So Saturday we got the opportunity to go as a district, 9 missionaries to help one of the members get her yard ready for planting. We had to clear the ground and then start digging! It was my first time using a hoe and I totally have bruises and sore muscles to prove it! But it was quite nice and I enjoyed it a lot. It’s always nice to help other people and to serve others. So after that we went with, Ustyne, the branch missionary that works with us to his house for lunch. His grandma is the Relief Society teacher and she invited us over for a wonderful lunch. She made nice nice food! Fried chicken of course and it was so great! She is the sweetest lady ever and then she even bought me and Sister M Chitenge’s. They were super nice and she is the sweetest lady I have ever met! So Saturday was also my daughter’s birthday! Sister Mbele finally hit nine months so shout out to her even though I already told her! I love her so much! It’s crazy to think that she has been here 9 months already, it makes me feel old J Yesterday as well was the last testimony Sunday for this year and the end of our wonderful week! Honestly I don’t think that my week was super spiritual and something specially stood out that happened but I can share that I had a testimony builder on repentance and also forgiveness this week. I don’t want to give specifics but this week I was definitely tried on those two things and I realize that forgiveness is just as much a big part of repentance as actually committing a sin and asking for forgiveness. I realize that sometimes people they hurt us and they do things to us maybe even on purpose to hurt us in some way. Sometimes it’s so hard to overcome that and to forgive them but at the end of the day we can’t withhold mercy and expect mercy. We can’t without forgiveness and expect God to forgive us. I definitely learned that this week and so I challenge everyone to work on those two things for this new upcoming year. Forgiving any who have wronged you and also repenting and drawing closer to Christ. He is our Master and our Creator. The Ruler of all. He forgives us every single time and he is the one person we are trying to be like. So I love you all lots and lots and lots! I hope you have a great week!

Countdown to Christmas

Service Project

Happy December

Machoma bwanji!

My oh my another week has come and gone so I can officially say Happy December! J I hope that everyone had a grrreat week and lots of exciting things happened! Our week was filled with lots of ups and downs but overall it ended on a great note!

So for everyone who didn’t know before I can officially announce that I am THE most forgetful person on the planet earth. Okay maybe we can narrow it down to missionaries but I am unnecessarily forgetful in a different way. So our week started off just fantastic when I lost the phone for the 3^rd time in the past two months; I don’t know why I just can’t remember it anytime and so Monday after we finished emailing we left and came back and it was gone. Luckily we have great couple missionaries who have kind and forgiving hearts and they got us another one but this was the third time so I vowed to never carry the phone again. Other than that our week went by fairly well. We went by our recent converts on Wednesday to teach them about baptism and to help the young girls with their personal progress. It was a wonderful day with wonderful lessons. Wednesday was however a little bad since my companion began feeling unwell. She was experiencing very shocking pains and burning in her legs and it got progressively worst throughout the day and so we ended up staying in Thursday to allow her body to rest. Friday she was still having some pain but it was better than before.

So of course I have to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Honestly, that had to be the highlight of my entire week! For the first time ever; The mission had a Thanksgiving dinner with everyone in Lusaka. All of the couples cooked American food for us and we ate and ate and ate. You will see from the pictures just how excited I was J Pumpkin Pie. Enough said. It was great and I enjoyed it very much. Even though it made me a little homesick, it was a super great experience and I enjoyed it very much so. So we were suppose to have a baptism a few weeks ago if you can remember and we weren’t able to so we decided to start filling up the font on Friday with water so that it could be ready by Sunday. So we went and set everything up and got that prepared so we were able to have a baptism yesterday of our two investigators the magnificent Nasilele’s. It was so great. Man, have you ever had that feeling of relief after something you waited so long for happened? Yes. I had that feeling yesterday. It was so nice to see them get baptized. As soon as Sister Meriam came out of the water she was smiling so brightly and she just said, ‘‘Finally, I’m born again. I’m clean.’’ It was so sweet.

So I think the best moment of the entire week was actually a miracle moment that we had! So The Shonga family is the family of the 4 kids we baptized back in October this year. So in their family there are 5 members and three non members. So the three who are not members are the son, father, and one daughter; So recently we have been teaching all three but it has been really really difficult for us to really get them. So Saturday we had the opportunity to sit down with the son Emmanuel Shonga and share with him the My Family books that the church has put together to help with family history. It was a neat experience. We were able to help him begin and it was nice. So after the lesson we headed home and he escorted us with his family and I had time to chat with him. He opened up a lot and told me a lot of his background and how the missionaries already taught him everything and he knows it all. So I asked him if he has prayed and he was quiet for a moment and then he said he prays all of the time but he doesn’t know if something is wrong with him because he hasn’t gotten an answer yet. So As I listened to him Ether 12:6 came into my mind and I was inspired to share it with him. I told him to go home and read it so I hope that this week when we go he will have some thoughts and we will be able to share more. I can see he has desire but he loves researching online and it gets to him, but I hope that Heavenly Father will help us with this one.

So this week was definitely a good one for us. My companion Is feeling better and our area is doing great. Personally I am doing well. The countdown to Christmas has begun! But everything is okay. This week I actually had the time to study Alma 12-14 during my personal studies and there was something that I studied that gave me inspiration this week. So I was reading about Alma and Amulek and their journeys throughout the lands preaching to the people. As you read you realize that they encountered so many things and so many trials. It made me realize the importance of faith also adversity. I know that if there were no trials then there would be no faith. Adversity is something that is necessary and even the faithful and obedient at times must suffer because of the precious gift of agency that we have. But when we choose to be obedient and faithful then that is when the Lord can help us and give is the strength that we need!

Well I love you all. Words can’t really express. I pray that the Christmas spirit and season will be within all of your hearts and that you take this time to draw closer to Christ. I love you! Have a great week! 

Love

Sister Scott

Having Our Faith Strengthened

Greetings my fellow family and friends! Another week down and another to go! I hope that all is

 well and that everyone is doing grrreat! This week was a roller coaster one for us, somewhat

 slow but overall it went well! So this week was full of meetings and excitement! So the sad news 

was that the President of the country, Michael Sata, actually passed away the previous week 

and this week was the funeral for him on Tuesday. So for us we already had meetings planned

 Tuesday and Wednesday so it definitely slowed us down a bit. I have never seen such

 silence and lack of commotion anywhere in my life like I witnessed this week.

The streets were silent and we could barely even find buses to catch to get around because everyone was inside of their homes. It was very inspiring to see how much respect that everyone had for their former President and it was declared a holiday. So Tuesday was super special as well because Sister Rawlins my former companion also went home! So she came from Malawi on Monday night and stayed the night with us and stayed with us until she caught her flight on Tuesday! It was so super duper great! She was one of my favorite companions in the world! We had so much fun and we got to catch up and it was so nice! I love her, so we got to go to our meeting Tuesday with her and that was pretty much all we did.

Wednesday on the other hand was another meeting, our zone conference. It was all of the missionaries in the city so quite a few and we were instructed on different things and lessons. One of them was probably my favorite that touched me the most by Sister Erickson when she spoke of having our strength ‘’faithened.’’ She reminded us that in this past conference one of the men who gave a prayer actually made a mistake in his prayer, which im sure was due to nervousness or other factors that contribute to stress. In his prayer he prayed that we would have our strength ‘’faithened’’ when in reality he meant to say have our faith strengthened. So she actually knew the man who gave the prayer and told us that a lot of time we do focus on strengthening our faith but, it’s not often that we focus on faithening our strength. She said that we need to add faith to our strength. We shouldn’t just depend on what WE can do alone but what WE can do WITH the Lord. We should be like Nephi in 2 Nephi 4:34. He says that he trusts on the Lord and will not trust in the arm of flesh. Us as human beings we cant do anything compared to what we can do with the Lord. It says that, ‘’.. for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.’’ Our Heavenly Father always expects us to use our own strength but he never expects us to do it alone. We need to rely on the Lord.

So the rest of the week was a little slow since we just focused on our two investigators Meriam and Elizabeth. I have really enjoyed teaching both of them so much. They are both very dedicated and determined people and they are growing so much every day. Sister Meriam has actually been quite sick with high BP and things of that nature so she was down this week a lot but we continued to go and encourage her and prepare her. But since there must be opposition in all things, of course we faced trials yesterday on her baptism day. The water wasn’t working and so we weren’t able to fill up the font. So sadly she wasn’t able to get baptized but it was her birthday so we did go to her home and celebrate with her and her family! It was really nice. So now we have moved her date to the same with her daughter in law so they will both be baptized the 30^th of November.

So overall things have been going well for me. Of course it never is easy and I can't say that there aren’t some days that I ready to go home, but overall it has been such a blessing to me to be here and to serve. Even though I can't see the changes always but so many others tell me that I have changed and matured a lot and sometimes I feel it. Not in a physical sense but spiritually. I feel like I regret not taking the gospel as serious before I came. I just feel like I wasted a lot of time and I didn’t realize that there was so much that I didn’t know at all. But now I see. I see things I didn’t see before. This week in my personal study I focused a lot of Alma 5 which I call the ‘’Self Accountability Checklist.’’ There are about 22 questions in this chapter that each of us and sit down and one by one ask ourselves to see how we are doing spiritually. As I studied I really focused and it made me think. Am I converted? Am I changed. One verse really stands out to me each time I read and it says, Alma 5:19, ‘’I say unto you can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands?’’ I say unto you can ye look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenance. The phrase ‘’’look up’’ is very interesting isn’t it? Through further study I realized that it doesn’t mean that God is some kind of giant and we will have to look up to be able to see him but more of our image of ourselves. Will we be able to look up to God? To hold our heads high and say to God that we did all that we were supposed to do? That we gave it our all? That we are clean enough to live with him? Or will we hold our heads down in shame? Embarrassed for ourselves? Yeah. That’s deep right? But it’s true and Alma said it best. Each of us needs this mighty change of heart so that we are all clean and pure.

I know that the Atonement is real. That Jesus Christ really died for us all. If you didn’t know now you do. If anyone doesn’t know, let him show you that he is real and that he is there. I know that we have a God, a Heavenly Father who gave his only Son that he could be a ransom for us all. I know that salvation can be each and every one of ours. One day we all have the hope of living again with our God and our brother. But what would Heaven be like alone? If you are there with no one but yourself do you think that would be happiness? I'm so sure that it isn’t. I know that I won’t be able unless I am there with every person that I know and every person that I love. So I pray that everyone, my family, my friends, and everyone that I know and even those that I don’t know will test it. Try God. I know that he will show you that he is there and that he is real. He will show you the path that will lead back to him. I love you all. Like Elder Bednar said in this past conference. Come and see.

I love you all and I hope that you have a great week! I pray for you and wish you the best!

 

Love

   Sister Scott

Me and Sister Rawlins and Me headed to Zone Conference

ICE CREAM ,PICS AND NEW HAIR

The Chronicles of Zambia

Good morning and Greetings to my family and friends of all nations!
It’s such a beautiful day wouldn’t you say? This week has been one of
the busiest and craziest weeks we have had in this area. Somewhat slow
but full of action!
So this week we had a lot of activities that took up our time so we
weren’t able to really teach many people but the people that we were
able to see made it worth the while! So this week on Tuesday we had to
opportunity to go and visit with Andrew, the young disabled guy that
we have started teaching. We actually went to see him and something
quite off putting happened. I think it is well known among many of the
missionaries that the view of the church here in Zambia is sometimes
the opposite of what it should be. Many people have distorted views of
the church and there are so many rumors! Some say that we are
Satanists and that we drink blood. So when we went to see Andrew we
actually met his sister Venice and she greeted us and so of course I
was trying to be friendly and I think I opened up the floodgates. She
was asking us questions and so we started to introduce ourselves and
where we were from and she told us that she knew the church and she
hated the church. I asked her why and she said that many people told
her we were Satanists and she didn’t want to visit the church so we
shouldn’t invite her. It was very surprising and I think I was caught
off guard but it made me think of Elder Holland’s talk in the last
conference about the cost of discipleship. That is a living testimony
of our work here in Zambia. We are here to stand as disciples and oft
times we will face persecutions and we will have to stand strong and
firm in our beliefs. I think it is way easier to do it as a missionary
but I think it takes true courage to do it just in our everyday lives
as members of the church. That is something that I want to work on and
be prepared for when I go home.
So visiting with Andrew that day was such a joy. We were able to teach
him the Restoration and it was so great. He even opened up a lot and
we were able to extend to him a baptismal date for December 21 which
he accepted. He looked very happy and joyful. It’s like when we come
he finds relief. He looks very peaceful and I hope that we can find a
wheelchair for him soon so that we can bring him to church. So also
this week we had the chance to teach both Sister Meriam Nasilele and
her daughter in law Eliza. So both are on date to be baptized for the
16th and the 30th; So Sister Nasilele is doing so great! We visited
with her and taught her everything and then she had her interview and
passed so she will be getting baptized next Sunday. Her daughter in
law Eliza is also doing so great! She is such a joy to teach! She
understands everything that we teach and she always has questions
about everything and she asks the best questions! We finished teaching
her the Restoration this week and it was so powerful. She said that
she knew that it was true and that she had prayed about it and to know
if it was true as well. It was a really great feeling. She even told
us that she had a dream after we left and in the dream she was in a
garden full of animals and trees. She said that in the dream she was
collecting eggs and putting them in a basket in this garden and when
she looked she saw three people in the distance all dressed in white.
She said that they were coming towards her and she became afraid so
she turned around to go the other direction and when she went she saw
them again this time on the other side. Then she said she heard a
voice that told her that she was making the right decision. That she
was doing the right thing and then she woke up. So she said that was
her answer. I love her so much. She is so prepared and she is even due
in February to have a baby which is so exciting and great! I know that
we met her for a reason and that God was preparing her.
So the week continued in a great way until Thursday when we had to
opportunity to do a service project. Sister Nasilele was married and
her husband had begun building a house and since her husband passed
she received an eviction notice saying that she has until January to
move out. She doesn’t work and she doesn’t have a way to provide and
so we decided to help them in building the house somewhere near so
Thursday we went to this plot of land and we started to clean and
prepare for the building. It was very nice! We spent about 5 hours
doing that and we accomplished a lot and I’m hoping that we can
continue to get it done before January! And finally the highlight of
the whole week was we finally got to watch General Conference!!! Man
it was so great! So amazing and inspiring! I had many questions that
were answered and I felt very enlightened after it. I think overall I
got three themes from many of the talks. 1. Spiritual preparation 2.
Temples and preparation 3. Family History.  I felt like the prophets
are secretly telling us that Jesus is coming soon so be PREPARED. It
made me really realize that I need to work on becoming spiritually in
shape not just now but also for when I go home. Sometimes it worries
me when I think of going home so that is one thing I really want to
work on! I hope that everyone was just as inspired from Conference and
all that are LUCKY enough to receive ensigns and Liahonas  ; STUDY the
talks. Don’t take it for granted.
So overall I have been feeling mixed emotions as my mission is winding
down. I’ve been studying and all and its been very refreshing and
quite liberating. I have also been studying my patriarchal blessing a
lot too and trying to plan out my life. As I have been studying I have
had quite a lot of thoughts. In my personal study I have been reading
in Mosiah 21-24 and a lot of things came to mind as I studied about
the captivation of both King Limhi and Amla’s people. In this a part
of the Book of Mormon we learn of two groups of people who are in
bondage and how the Lord helped both of them in different ways. In the
cases of King Limhi his people were not following the Lord and due to
their past wickedness the Lord saw fit to chasten them. They were in
bondage so long that they were compelled to repent so that they could
be free. It took them a while but eventually they were freed. On the
other hand we have the people of Alma who were righteous and followed
God but as it says in Mosiah 23:21-22, ‘’Nevertheless  the Lord seeth
fit to chasten his people; yea he trieth their patience and their
faith. Nevertheless-whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall
be lifted up at the last day. Yea and thus it was with this people.’’
When I read over these stories it really made me think about God and
the way that he works. I learned that often times we are in bondage or
difficulties. But God delivers us in different ways; Sometimes he
frees us and sometimes he just gives us the strength to make it
through. Sometimes we suffer because of our own decisions and
sometimes we suffer because he Lord sees that we are ready to grow.
Without trials we never progress and grow. There is a quote that I
read that I loved that also showed that the way that we react to our
situations is important. It says that ’’Some people are like rocks
thrown into a sea of problems. They are drowned by them. BE A CORK.
When submerged in a problem fight to be free and serve God again with
happiness.’’

I know that the trials  that we face in life are necessary for
progress. I know that my mission has been full of ups and downs, and
so it is true with life. But we must trust in God and have faith and
know with surety that he one day will rescue us and we will rest in
the kingdom with our father. I am so grateful for my family and
friends. I am so grateful that I was able to reach my 15 month mark on
mission this week. I have learned so much and grown so much as well. I
look forward to these next 3 months of continued growth. I love you
all and I hope that all of you have a great week! ALSO CONGRATS TO MY
SISTER ON THE BABY :)))

LOVE YOU
Sister Scott

Farewell to our Sister

                                              Me and sister Rametsi

                                                Farewell to sister Rametsi

                                              Dinner when the power was out

BWINO

Mulibwanji :)

Bwino. :)

Yes my dear family and friends how are you?? I hope that you are well and that everyone had a great week as we enter into a brand new month! I cant believe its November already. It seems as though time just keeps on flying by! Just like the weeks! So even though nothing big happened this week it was still a great week! So we are still teaching the same people and preparing them for baptism which i'm super excited for! Our investigators are so great. They arent even baptized and they are giving us refferals for other people which is pretty sweet! Our awesome investigator Sister Meriam Nasilele gave us a referral for her nephew Andrew this week and it was quite an experience that I wont ever forget.

   Andrew is a 30 year old young man that we went and visited this past week on Friday. When we went inside he was sitting on the bed and he told us that his aunt had told him about us and how excited he was to meet us and see us. The sad thing is that Andrew has went through so much. In February of this year he had started to have pains and sores on his legs and it started to spread and the doctors didnt know what the problem wa so they ended up amputating the leg. Just a few weeks ago the other leg was doing the same thing and so they decided they needed to amputate it as well. The thing is, he went to a different hospital and the operation didn't go as well as the first. As I sat across from him he asked if he could show me his leg and He started to unfold his pants. As he raised the leg up I honestly didn't know whether to cry or what. The doctors didn't even close up his leg at all. It is still open and you can see inside and i'm sure that it is getting infected because it also looked like it was. Man my heart was honestly broken. I felt the tears coming and I just couldn't understand how they sent him home with his leg still open at the knee. But the thing about Andrew was that he was so positive. He told us that he just wants to be close to God because he doesn't have anything else. He said that he has lived in the world and now he realizes that there is nothing out there for him. He has strong faith. He just kept telling us how happy he was that we came and how grateful he was. So now we are working on getting Andrew a wheelchair so that he can come to church. I have high hopes for him and I hope that we can do something for him that will change his life but its so great to see that he already sees that the gospel is the key.

So this week as well was great since we had a wonderful teaching opportunity with the father of the children that we have recently been baptizing. He allowed us to come and visit with him and so we decided to bring Brother Kabuyana a return missionary along with us for the visit. Brother Shonga (The father) was very prepared and had questions and things that he wanted us to answer. For him he is a devout Catholic and somewhat hesitant about the church and the gospel that we share. I think that he is scare that we are leading his family astray and so he has trouble believing the Restoration and the Prophet Joseph Smith. I guess the powerful moment that really impressed me was when Brother Kabuyana shared a pwoerful testimony about the prophet Joseph Smith. He said that No other prophet can ever compare with Joseph Smith. These days we hear of so many false prophets and people that claim to have the power of God but Joseph Smith is the only prophet that claimed to see God and Jesus Christ. He is the only one that did. Most people don't even believe that you can see God. But he did. When he said that, I felt the spirit so strong and I knew that even my own testimony was strengthen by that. Even though we didnt 100% convince him I know that the spirit touched him somewhere deep down and I have hope that one day he will see.

Honesty Im so grateful that I came on a mission. I don't even know if I had a testimony before. I knew things but I didn't really feel things. But know I know and I feel. I know that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It is the keystone of our religion and to our salvation. I know that God loves us and that the book is true! As i read and study each day God opens my mind more and more and I am able to see the miracles and the mysterious that he has. If I didnt convert anyone else during my time here I have definitely converted myself. The gospel is the diamond that one should never let go!

Favorite verse this week: Mosiah 14:6 ''All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all''

Love Sister Scott

Have a blessed week! 

INDEPENDENCE

Independence!!!!!!!

Yes we are free!

Well atleast the people of Zambia are since they celebrated 50 years of Independence this Friday. :) 

How are you my lovely family and friends?! I see and hear that you all are having way too much fun since i've been gone! I love you guys though and just know the parties must continue when I get home! 

So my week was somewhat slow but very good since we had another baptism! Yes we can definitely say that we are on fire! Baptism number 5 and we are hoping that we can keep up the hard work. So this week was very swell! We are teaching some really sweet and amazing people and i'm super excited to get them close to the waters of Mormon (Hahah). So we are still teaching our investigator Sister Nasilele and her daughter in law as well. They are both so great, unfortunately she has been very very sick this week. She suffers from high BP and also she got malaria and so she practically lost all strength. It was really sad to see. Her family as well is very impoverished yet the faith that they have is so wonderful and empowering. She is truly inspiring. This week I decided that I want to have more spiritual experiences and so I need to record those moments that I have. So everyday at the end of the day I have started writing down my little miracle or spiritual prompting that I had that day. So I had a wonderful experience this week as we visited with Sister Nasilele. She was talking to us and just explaining to us many of her struggles  that she is having. She honestly is so heartfelt and my heart just was melting as she told us of how she doesn't have anything at all. But she trusts in God. I felt prompted at that time to share with her Alma 34:41 that states that we should bear with patience our afflictions and then we can look forward to one day that we will rest. The spirit I felt was strong and I knew that everyone felt it too. I know that the spirit had brought it to my remembrance and that is something that I am so grateful for. 

Also this week on Friday was Independence day and to avoid all of the commotion we had to go in at 2pm and luckily enough it was my companions birthday as well and so we invited all of the sisters over for a braii. I t was a blast. We played South African games (which i will show you all when i return) and listened to music and ate lots and lots and lots of food! It was super fun. My companion turned 29 so she had a blast. 

Also Sunday was great since we had another baptism, number 5 of our sweet Emma. She was one of those runners before we met her haha missionaries had taught her everything in and out, had given her dates for baptism, and she always bailed. Everyone was so shocked that we got her to be baptized and I love the girl so much she is the sweetest thing ever! 

For me personally I am just trying my best to enjoy all that I can while I am here. I will be hitting 15 months soon! and starting my countdown to Christmas! I'm so grateful to be here and for everything I have learned and experienced. One thing I know is that I am one strong girl. I have learned that in and out. I have met people that have changed my life forever and made me see things I never have and I know that it was God's plan. I LOVE YOU ALLLLLL and im grateful for all that you do!!!!

2 Nephi 33:12

Love

Sister Scott

I TOUCHED HIS HAND

Nachoma bwanji?! (Good Afternoon)

I hope that everyone is alive and well. So announcement of the entire week, I TOUCHED HIS HAND. Now many may be wondering who's hand I touched? Yes. For those brave enough to continue reading, the mysteries of the heavens will be opened unto you :)

Haha but seriously guys this week was probably one the greatest miracles weeks that I have experienced so far. So this week was full of teaching and more teaching! So for those who know we ( me and my companion) have had a total of about 4 baptisms so far in this area! It has been great and very fruitful. So we currently are working on preparing two more of our investigators for baptisms on the 26th of this month and also the 16th of November. So we have Emma Shonga on the 26th and also the sweet Meriam Nasilele. So this week we were able to teach Emma and she is doing so great. You know those people that pretty much know everything already and you just need to brush over a few edges? Yeah that is her. She is 16 and the sweet girl ever. She reminds me alot of myself she just laughs all of the time and she is very honest and adorable and smart! She even likes gospel rapping so we are super good friends! So the Shonga family is definitely a tender mercy from the Lord. When we came Sister Shonga the mother was less active but her three kids always came to church every week, so we figured that by teaching them we could reactivate her. So her sweet angels were the ones we baptized last Sunday and now she comes every week! So she also has two other daughters and one son and her husband who we have been seeing when we visit but we never really got to share with them so this week was our miracle week since we got the chance to teach not only her daughter. but her husband and son as well! They actually wanted us to teach without asking and so I know that will a little more faith and determination that God will be there and we will help this family to reach their goal: the temple. 

So this week we have just been focusing on them alot but I know that it will all pay off and so we have been working very hard and trying to improve each week. Personally I have been reading the Book of Mormon daily and right now I am in 2 Nephi. I feel  though as I study the Book of Mormon I read so many things that inspire me to do better and that teach me so much. One thing that really opened my eyes was my study of 2 Nephi chapter that explained the strategies that Satan uses against us today. In 2 Nephi 28:20-22 its tells us three ways that he deceives us. Verse 20 says that he ''stirs us up to anger against that which is good.'' One way that he does this is by making us insult one another and to gossip and mistreat one another. We become angry and contentious and that is exactly what he wants. He doesn't want us to be happy with one another and love one another. Verse 21 says that he will ''pacify and lull us into carnal secruity.'' Sins are comfortable. I have thought about it like winter time and being under a nice warm blanket and having a nice warm cup of cocoa beside you. We never want to get out from under the blanket because its not comfortable and it is the same with our sins! Satan makes us comfortable sining until the point where we are beyond the point of feeling bad. We become in a way numb. The third way is in verse 22 and Satan deceives us by '' flattering us away and telling us there is no hell and there is no devil.'' So that is something I feel many people in today's world feel that its okay to just do whatever they want and that this life is the time for us to enjoy and they simply forget who they are and why we are here. So theses are things I thought about this week and it made me really see that the Book of Mormon prophecies for us in our day. The prophets werent writing for no reason just to take up time, but it was for us, our benefit. We all should beware of these things and try our best to stay on the side of the Lord.

Sooooo I guess I wont keep you waiting for long. So today was a very great day! This morning we had the priviledge and opportunity to meet with Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Carl B. Cook for a special member meeting with all of the members here in Zambia. So it was the most powerful meeting ever! The meeting was going to start and then he wanted to go around and shake everyone's hand before he started. It was super great. I got to shake both of their hands. When he shook my hand he said God Bless you for your service. It was so powerful. I pretty much was very happy and i'm not sure if I will wash my hand again haha kidding! But it was a great powerful meeting with inspired thoughts. President Erickson spoke to us about being ''in the world but not of the world.'' He said that we need to remember that we are here wandering in this mortal life and underneath we are children of our Heavenly Father.'' Something that he said that really touched me was when he said that ''one day when we see his face we will remember how close we are to him and how much we love him. It will be interesting to us how familiar he is to us.'' It also inspired me when the Apostle Elder Cook spoke to us. He told us that we need to feel accountable to God. He also said that we need to increase our faith in the Savior and also to strengthen our families. As he left he gave us an apostolic blessing and testified that he knows he Saviors voice and he knows that the Savior knows. He said that we need to trust in the Savior and take all of our burdens to him and he will give us aid. 

So overall I really enjoyed the meeting and it was very powerful and a great experience. I really feel like Heavenly Father is giving us small miracles and as we open our eyes we can see how he blesses our lives each day. I love you all and I pray for you all and wish you the best! Hope you have a hope filled week with lots of fun!

Love

Sister Scott

                                            outfit sewed by an investigator for me

Children are precious to the Lord

HAPPY 14 MONTHS

:) Good Afternoon my dear family and friendssssssss (:

Well this week was a great one since I hit 14 months!!!!!! Yes it was pretty sweet! My companion said that usually missionaries are dying when they are ending. They start to get lazy and they aren't as energetic but with me she said I act like I just started my mission and i'm super excited all of the time! But its because I just love it!

So Monday we had the opportunity to gather together as sisters and we watched the General Womens Broadcast together at the mission with Sister Erickson. It was a pretty powerful meeting im sure you all know since you watched it before :) So I noticed the theme was clearly temples and how important they are and how we need to better prepare ourselves to go to th temple. I loved the quote that ''The temples are prepared for the people, but the people need to prepare themselves for the temples.'' It was so great and nice. It made me really excited to go home so that I can go to the temple as well. After we watched the conference we had the time for dinner together and it was super nice. The best part was the Sister Lyon came down for a meeting so I got to see her and stay with her at our house! Man, can you say excited?!?!?! I love her so much and we got to spend time which made me oh so happy!

So this week was spent just preparing the kids for their baptism and so we were pretty busy doing that! They did great though. We taught them everyday and then they passed the interviews and they were so happy! They were dancing and so so happy like i've never seen before! It was so sweet! It has been such a wonderful experience teaching them. It really makes me think about having kids one day and how important it is to teach our children the gospel. I know that if my mom didn't teach me as a child that I wouldn't have made it this far!

So this week we also had the chance to visit with our great investigator Meriam Nasilele. So of course she is super powerful and smart so we decide to just review the Restoration again and it was so sweet! She told us that she knew that the church she was going to, The Roman Catholic church was not the right one and she said that she was taken out of darkness into the light when she found The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Man, it was so great. She pretty much said she was just waiting to get baptized and she doesn't care about the traditions or anything anymore. So I invited her to baptized and we had planned for a date and I couldn't even remember it so I invited her for the 16th of November. So of course she said she would and she said that specific day was her birthday. Me and Sister Makunye were both shocked because we had no idea! We definitely knew that it was the spirit and we told her she would have two births to celebrate then. She was so happy and at that moment I also felt the love for her that i'm sure God allowed me to feel. That is one thing that I feel Heavenly Father allows us to feel as missionaries sometimes, he pulls back the veil and we can see peoples true potential and feel the love that God has. Its so amazing. 

So of course the baptism was amazing and spectacular and I loved it so much! I love those kids to death and they even have the most powerful testimonies. They said that they feel like new people and they feel changed! I just know that they will do great!

So of course im still working on my reading of the Book of Mormon before I go home. This week I came across a scripture that gave me new light and really was something that I needed to hear. In Alma 37:37 it states, ''Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good.'' So interestingly enough the word counsel stood out to me. When you think counsel you think of sitting down and discussing different issues or problems and you come up with solutions and talk with one another. I thought it was very interesting that Alma says that we should counsel with the Lord. So we should have a relationship with God in which we can share and discuss things with him and express our hearts desires. But more importantly counsel does not mean that we simply talk at the Lord and tell him what we want, but we also LISTEN. That is something that I feel we all need to do as children of God. We need to pour out our hearts to him and then take heed to the counsel that he gives. As the scripture says he will only direct us for ''good.'' I know that it is true. I have a goal to improve my prayers to Heavenly Father and not merely talk, but counsel.

So another great week and another great time that I had to learn. I love serving Heavenly Father and I enjoy the refiners fire. Even though sometimes its hard I know that I can't see the end, but I have faith and trust that he can. If I am obedient and follow him he will lead me for good! Well I love you all and I pray for you all! Next Monday we actually get the opportunity to hear from Quinton L. Cook the twelve apostle when he visits us next week so I am excited for that and will share the thoughts that he gives to us. I know that this church is true and that it has restored for us, today. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love

Sister Scott

SWEET

More baptism pics

Baptism 10/12/14

Officially 21

Greetings my dear family and friends!!

So yes its official im TWENTY ONE!

Words definitely cant express how great it is to be another year older and wiser too :) 

So this week was a very great week and so sweet! So since we have a baptism coming up on the 12th for our three kids we have been teaching we have been spending everyday with them helping them to prepare and to get ready. Honestly I realized that mission teaches you patience to a greater level. I love teaching them and seeing them grow. Each time we go I see them improve in their English and in their praying and its so great! I am super excited! They have such sweet spirits and im super excited!

So That is what we have spent most of our time doing and also we are focusing on another investigator that we have. We found her a few weeks ago and her name is Merian Nasilele. She is an older woman who is a recent widow. Her husband was a teacher and he passed just a few months ago. She was taught by missionaries before but when her husband died she had to stop coming to church since she was mourning and in their culture they have to wear all black all of the time and stay home most of the time. So she stopped coming to church but we have been visiting her and I can honestly say that she is the most prepared woman that I have met. She has such a passion and devotion to the church even if she has nothing. When her husband died the family took everything they had. The mattresses, tv, and everything that she had. She doesn't have anything, but the only thing that she says every time is that God will take care of them. She doesn't worry about not having food or money because her faith shows. You know something that I have seen in the African people that I have never seen back home is gratitude. People here barely have anything. Sometimes they don't even have a roof over there heads but they praise God. They never turn away from Him. I have been thinking a lot about myself back home and before mission. I definitely see the difference in me then and now. I understand more of my purpose in life and about the important things. I am so glad that I have the chance to meet some amazing people who teach me so many things. I pray that God will continue to open my heart and to change and mold me. We are planning to give Sister Nasilele a baptism date and so im excited for that.

So this week I also had an awesome birthday party! It was great! We went to dinner with all of the sisters and its was great! We got to also spend the day with a sweet family the Shonga family (the kids we are preparing for baptism.) Its amazing that even though they barely have much they still took time to buy food and to cook and to even buy me gifts for my birthday. They got me lovely earrings and an outfits too. All of the kids wrote me notes and then they sprayed me with silly string which was pretty adorable! Haha. It was great. Mosiah 2:17 is so very true and so real. That day I felt true joy.

So this week was also great because we had interviews with Mission President. They were very nice and successful. He told me that I have 4 months left so its that time where I can decide what kind of impression I will leave for the other missionaries and what kind of example they will follow. He also told me alot about spiritual self reliance. He said that now im a seasoned and mature missionary so sometimes Heavenly Father isn't there anymore to guide every decision that I make but he will leave me to do the work because he trusts me. It was very great and inspiring. 

So this week was by far a great week! I learned alot and I realize that im not getting any younger! Its time to start making big decisions! Welllllll I have to run but love you all very much! I know that this truly is the work of our Heavenly Father and that we are his hands! He loves us and he is there for us! I pray for you all and I hope that you continue to lean on the Lord for strength and for peace. He is the rock. He should be our foundation!


Love
Sister Scott

Best Cake Ever

Celebrating My Birthday With Friends