Hello everyone,
This week has been hectic. We've been biking so much, I'm pretty sure that I could compete with Lance Armstrong now. All of our contacts and appointments have been at the almost the very bottom of our area, so every night we get to look forward to a ridiculously long uphill bike ride in the dark, and a lot of the time in the rain.
The week has been good though. We've set up more appointments and met with more people than I have in any other week that I've been here I think. The sad part is that most of the appointments cancel. I think that most of the people don't think we're serious, and never actually expect us to come back. It's been good though. We've met some way cool kids between the ages of 16 and 22 who look to be very promising investigators. They didn't come to church like they said they would, but I'm trying to remain hopeful.
It's been fun though. I feel like we're accomplishing a lot more with Elder Dalton here than we ever really have before.
Besides that not much has really happened. On P-day we went to a wildlife reserve near by and saw some zebras, wildebeests and a bunch of other animals that I have no idea what they're called. We saw a baboon but it was really far away. It was the kind of game park that you drive through and none of the cool animals were close enough to get good pictures of, so some of the other elders and I got out of the car to try and get closer and we almost got stampeded by some zebras. It was crazy. Don't worry, none of the animals in the park were the predator type.. I think. There may have been a lot more animals there but the grass was super tall and it was hard to see a lot of the time. We took some cool pictures in the grass though.
Oh yeah, I forgot that last night a pastor lady asked us if we were devil worshipers. It was strange. I pointed out to her that on our name tag, in plain sight it states that we're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So no, we do not worship the devil. She then proceeded to ask us if we've been baptized of water and the spirit to which we answered yes. She then asked because we had been baptized by the spirit if we could speak in tongues. I'm really getting tired of people thinking that when you feel the spirit that you start to speak gibberish. If anyone knows of a good scripture that clarifies a little bit what we believe speaking in tongues to be, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know where it is. It was kind of funny though. It was funny that she was a woman pastor in these weird robes. I wanted to show her 1 Corinthians 14 about women in the church. In the end it probably would've been a bad idea though.
I'm sorry that I don't have a lot of time to respond individually this week like I normally do. I hope that you all understand and know that I love you, and that my love for you all continues to grow every day as I learn more about our Heavenly Father's plan for us. I hope that you are all continually striving to become better every day. I really can testify of the wonderful change and blessings that come from living the gospel. Our Heavenly Father really does answer our prayers, we just have to recognize the answers and remember that the answers aren't usually in some magical way, but through the people we see and interact with. I love you all.
-Elder Balmforth
Also to the Clinger family. I got your letters last week but forgot to tell you that I received them. I loved them, thank you so much.
The week has been good though. We've set up more appointments and met with more people than I have in any other week that I've been here I think. The sad part is that most of the appointments cancel. I think that most of the people don't think we're serious, and never actually expect us to come back. It's been good though. We've met some way cool kids between the ages of 16 and 22 who look to be very promising investigators. They didn't come to church like they said they would, but I'm trying to remain hopeful.
It's been fun though. I feel like we're accomplishing a lot more with Elder Dalton here than we ever really have before.
Besides that not much has really happened. On P-day we went to a wildlife reserve near by and saw some zebras, wildebeests and a bunch of other animals that I have no idea what they're called. We saw a baboon but it was really far away. It was the kind of game park that you drive through and none of the cool animals were close enough to get good pictures of, so some of the other elders and I got out of the car to try and get closer and we almost got stampeded by some zebras. It was crazy. Don't worry, none of the animals in the park were the predator type.. I think. There may have been a lot more animals there but the grass was super tall and it was hard to see a lot of the time. We took some cool pictures in the grass though.
Oh yeah, I forgot that last night a pastor lady asked us if we were devil worshipers. It was strange. I pointed out to her that on our name tag, in plain sight it states that we're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So no, we do not worship the devil. She then proceeded to ask us if we've been baptized of water and the spirit to which we answered yes. She then asked because we had been baptized by the spirit if we could speak in tongues. I'm really getting tired of people thinking that when you feel the spirit that you start to speak gibberish. If anyone knows of a good scripture that clarifies a little bit what we believe speaking in tongues to be, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know where it is. It was kind of funny though. It was funny that she was a woman pastor in these weird robes. I wanted to show her 1 Corinthians 14 about women in the church. In the end it probably would've been a bad idea though.
I'm sorry that I don't have a lot of time to respond individually this week like I normally do. I hope that you all understand and know that I love you, and that my love for you all continues to grow every day as I learn more about our Heavenly Father's plan for us. I hope that you are all continually striving to become better every day. I really can testify of the wonderful change and blessings that come from living the gospel. Our Heavenly Father really does answer our prayers, we just have to recognize the answers and remember that the answers aren't usually in some magical way, but through the people we see and interact with. I love you all.
-Elder Balmforth
Also to the Clinger family. I got your letters last week but forgot to tell you that I received them. I loved them, thank you so much.
Me and the missionaries at the game park
Elder Fraga at the game park (he is in my mtc group, and
is the tall skinny guy from the airport when I left home)
I just though this pic was cool
Me at the game park
This is the Vodocom tower which was taken over by
squatters and is apparently a super dangerous place inside.
Look up the story, it's pretty interesting.
LDS Elder Dalton & Elder Balmforth
LDS Church with Fence
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