Elder Jeremy Vogel

Solomio (Harare), Zimbabwe

Hello everyone this week has been a little crazy so let me try to sum it up.

But first things first. Happy Birthday Dad! I would have called if it didn't cost all the airtime in our phone to call you for 2 minutes! Love you!

Last Monday we actually had a combined dinner appointment that we attended to after we did our regular P-day stuff. We were with the other companionship in our district and we went to a small families house. The father of the house loves to have missionaries around and he is in charge of all the seminaries and institutes in Zimbabwe. His family is lovely and always likes having us around when we come. But this is the first time I would be able to talk to them all at once since I got here. So we used a good crowd pleasing object lesson (listen up David). We brought a bunch of vanilla Ice cream and a few toppings. Bring a few different things out and put it all on the table. Get everyone their bowl of ice cream and let them start putting on their topping from all their different choices; chocolate chunks, sprinkles, caramel, ketchup, pepper, and last but not least vinegar. Start asking them if they want some of the other things. But you start asking why they are not taking other things like ketchup and vinegar. After the "it doesn't go with ice cream" you start talking about how you spend your time. Because these things if you put them into your ice cream they don't come out.

Tuesday started with a bit of a disappointment. After our District council we went to go get our lunch. We wanted to pick up a platter of meat we had ordered Monday morning. But the meat platter hadn't been prepared. So we are trying to do that again this week.

We have gotten some new contacts at the mission office. These were people brought under pretenses that we were going to provide passports for people wanting to do missionary work. We are happy to help them figure out paperwork but we were not going to pay, especially when it was found out that these few were not members. And they were led over to the church by some members promising this is how to get free passports. But they are now interested. We went over to where they stay and it is an orphanage. And we are teaching them. But what is also interesting is the woman running the orphanage. She loves having preachers around her house. But she is a strong interdenominational person. Loves to have people from everywhere come and preach but never lets kids go to any other church than the interdenominational one run at the orphanage. We are working on her as she is a linchpin for a bunch of people. But she probably won't progress as many of the other children live at other peoples houses usually bring preachers of other faiths and now some of these kids are now like missionaries for hire. Taught them on Sunday after their session and we had like 15 new people from one lesson, so hopefully if we don't get through to the woman maybe this mass of children will get into her.

Wednesday was interviews with President Makasi. Since the zone is smaller then before they decide just to combine everyone into one meeting. So we had a nice time just chatting about whatever we wanted. We had had exchanges cancelled that day (this is the third time in a row if you are counting). We are in the same zone as the Assistants and they showed up during the middle of their exchange. Weird but whatever. But then when lunch was decided the assistants were out, but ordered food for them but not the people they were on exchanges with, then told us to save their food. Hmmmm some elders decided to just help themselves. (I should mention that this was only one of the AP's ideas). But later the phone call if we had their food. Answer was no.

Other then that we had a pretty regular week. Went around teaching. Shared what we could. But things got good during the week end. Saturday was the last attempt to do exchanges. I went with Elder Crook to Eastview while Elder Mhangwana went with Elder Ndlela to Solomio. We had spent almost all day at a wedding. At the end of it I did the baptismal for the couple. We only taught one lesson the whole day. During the wedding however we got a call from the Elders in Solomio. They had been joking with someone we were teaching. Then they told them I had got Corona and that I was being shipped home under critical condition. And she got uncontrollably emotional. They had to call me just to help her calm down. Apparently she had tears and everything. I had to talk her down for about 10 minutes between her sniffing and crying.

Sunday was the last day for missionaries to Baptize. We walked all the way to Ruwa to baptize a member's little sister. He just barely received the priesthood so he got to baptize her. And another person (Edith) we baptized came to help. She had been baptized last month and she helped this girl when she got out of the font to get changed and redressed.

But I am still trying to find another card reader for my photos. Because this is crazy So hopefully things come around. But I hope you all have a great week!

-Elder Vogel