STILL SMALL VOICE

Dumela Everyone!

I hope everyone is well rested from the wonderful holidays and all the fun things that have happened! I definitely enjoyed them even though I was away from home. I sure have had some experiences that I am truly grateful for. This week has been another good one. Nothing really major happened but it has definitely been still great! So everyone has still been gone because of the holidays so of course that means lots of finding! Me and Sister Lyon have really been trying to find father led families and it has been our focus this week. We have been just knocking on door after door and we have found lots of great people. Even though we have found people we still haven’t been able to find a father led family and that is our goal for our mission. I think that has been a struggle for both of us this week. But it has definitely been humbling. I think sometimes we forget that this is the Lords work. We are working very hard and doing everything that we can but we still have to remember that God's timing is usual not the same as ours. So that is something that I am learning.

Other than that we had some pretty fun times. This week was New Years and so we still had to teach, but we had a little missionary party on New Year’s Eve just with games and such. It was so fun! We played games and ate and just hung out. Some of the games were so embarrassing but they were really alot of fun! I really enjoyed it alot. So me and Sister Lyon also experienced true African culture this week when we ate Mophane Worms. They are a type of work that looks like really cool catepillars except they have like thorns on them. So everyone in Africa eats them so we decided we had to try it, so we got some and we hate them as well! Man I have no words for that. It tasted like dirt and corn mixed together haha. It was not very appealing, but everyone here loves them so I feel like a true Motswana(Someone from Botswana). Also me and Sister Lyon decided we wanted to have a great dinner, so we went and bought a whole chicken. It wasn’t very big but it was big enough for us two and so we cooked it along with other goodies that my lovely mother sent and we had a nice little dinner! So overall our holidays were both festive and frightening :)

Something that has been quite unusual is the amount of rain here. It is actually rainy season but I never knew what that meant until now! It literally has been raining every, single day for a while. But it doesn’t rain non stop, it rains for 10 minutes and then the sun comes out and then it rains again and the pattern continues! It’s pretty insane. Rain and missionary work do not mix because everyone always cancels appointments because we teach outside so it has been a real struggle as well. One thing I can say is that there is never a moment that I regret coming on mission. Every experience I have helps me learn and grow. I feel the spirit guiding me more and it truly is helping me and guiding me of what I should do. I had a similar experience just last night. So we were teaching a lady named Patricia and her daughter Tshegofatso before Christmas. So when everyone leaves for Christmas we just have to wait until after New Years to check and see if they are back home. So last night me and my companion were going to an appointment but the people ended up calling and cancelling. We didn’t know what to do and we were just driving around checking on different people and then I had an impression that we should check on this family. Keep in mind we hadn’t seen them since around December 12 so my companion didn’t know them yet. So as we're driving there I tell my companion "They probably aren’t there but we can check anyway." So we pull up and the house is completely dark and the doors and gates are closed so we think "Aw they probably are not there but let’s check anyway." So we get out in the rain and we go up and knock on the door. A few seconds later the door opens and the mother and daughter are standing there and they just smile. The mother then tells us to come inside and she just grabs my hand and shakes it and then wraps her arms around me and hugs me. We got and sit down and then they start to tell us what’s been going on. They said that since we last saw them she had gotten very sick and she was admitted to the hospital. She said she has been in the hospital the whole time and she ended up having surgery and everything. She said she was in so much pain and had just gotten home. They told us they would not be back until January 7th so we weren’t planning on checking on them, but through listening to the spirit we were able to go and find them there. She told us that she knew God was there, because he had sent us to her when we had no idea she would be there. At that moment I just wanted to cry. It reminded me of this past General Conference where Prophet Thomas Monson talks about how God will never leave us alone and how he answers other peoples prayers through us.

I know that the Savior lives and he is really there. I know that God loves all of us, his children and he is always there to answer our prayers. I know that just as important to praying is listening to the still small voice of the spirit. I know that the spirit won’t be a "voice of thunder, neither a voice of great tumultuous noise, but behold it was a still voice of perfect mildness as if it had been a whisper and it did pierce even to the very soul." (Helaman 5:30) We need to listen and follow the promptings that God gives us, because it is through us that he is able to bless the lives of others! I love you all and I wish everyone a great year! I will be celebrating my 5 months on Wednesday and I’m truly grateful for this time! I appreciate all of the emails and letters and love! It is definitely what keeps me going!

Love,

Sister Scott