I Did All That For This.

Hello family and friends!

It has been a wonderful week. I have a few stories like the usual...

The chapel in Kuwadzana has clean water for everyone who comes. Whether you are a member or not, hundreds of people come and get buckets and buckets of water and carry them home. One woman in particular was all alone with a baby and had BUCKETS of water. We asked her, "how are you going to get these home?" Turns out she takes several trips back and forth just for water. My companion and I offered to help. The woman probably gave me the smallest bucket to carry (smart choice) and I lifted it onto my head just to see what it was like... I laughed so hard because I made a fool out of myself and couldn't balance it on my head and ended up spilling some of the water on me hahaha. So I decided to carry it like a normal person and wow that woman lived far. Even though my companion and I hardly made it to her house without dying, it made us SO grateful. We take so many of our basic necessities for granted.

Alan's occupation is letting people weigh themselves on a scale for ten cents. I pass by where he works frequently and one day he stopped me and said, "Aren't you from America? So why out of all of the beautiful countries you could have chosen did you choose a country full of poverty...and corruption. Why?" Gives the perfect opportunity to share the gospel and is our newest investigator!

All of those fall-throughs, long days in the heat and sore feet are worth it. I sat at the beautiful baptisms on Saturday and thought, "I did all that for this." (September 2016 Ensign) But in reality, He, Our Savior Jesus Christ did all of that for us. He is the one that spent His life in the service of others and then to take on all of the sins and afflictions of the world and be crucified. Jesus did this so we could be with our families for forever, repent of our sins and keep trying. "Our present circumstances may not change, but through God's compassion, kindness and love, we will all receive more than we deserve, more than we could ever earn, and more than we could ever hope for. We are promised that, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:4) How thankful I am for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is there to strengthen us and remind us that He understands our present circumstances, He is there to lift, help, and guide us. I know that He is always there for us and He is happy with our efforts as long as we are doing the best we can. 

P.s... I am really, really excited for General Conference. I get to watch all of the sessions live except Sunday afternoon (I don't know why) .... so don't spoil it! I hope that everyone has a wonderful conference weekend listening to uplifting messages to guide us!

Pic 1: The spiders we find in our house.... oh my

Pic 2: Baptisms on Saturday!! Sekuru, Natasha, Nomatter, and Shantel.

Pic 3: Natureee

Pic 4: I finally found good ice cream in Zimmmm

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Love,

Sister Beckstead