Monday, March 25, 2013

March 25. 2013

Good morning,
This week was pretty uneventful as far as unique african experiences go. But we did have quite a bit of success which was awesome. We had a family and several other investigators at church which was awesome. It feels good to have success now and then. Elder Fraga and I have been working pretty hard, so it's nice to see fruits.
Our zone leaders came and went on splits with us this week which was ok, but I don't like when they come because they always just tell us what we need to do better, and then I just hate them because I already know it and they just point it out again. I'm only a little bitter. I guess I'm just not the robot they think a missionary should be. But they don't matter anyway, so it's ok.
On a more fun note though, we've been having a ton of crazy wrestling tournaments with the Elders in my flat. Mainly against Elder Brown. But It's a lot of fun and I'm going to miss this time when it ends.
I'm almost done with the Book of Mormon again. I love it so much. Someday I wan't to be able to say that I've read it scores of times.
I love and miss you all.
Elder Balmforth

Monday, March 18, 2013

March 18. 2013


Family,
Happy St. Patrick's Day yesterday. I don't think they celebrate it here in Botswana, but it's probably a good thing, because the people would just have another excuse to get hammered. And the people are already crazy sometimes even without the added alcohol. 
Church is really hard to get through here sometimes. Some of the members here are just so used to Preachers ranting at the front of congregations that it confuses them as to how the church is actually supposed to be. It's just because the church is still so new here. We finally heard the new mission president's name, but I forgot it, so sorry. You can probably look it up though.
This week was pretty hectic. We spent 3 days in Gaborone working on immigration and having President's interviews and a zone conference. I feel like we haven't spent like any time in our own area. The time we have spent here was pretty awesome though. There's this family named Mpho and Phemo with their son Kevin that is going to get baptized next month that we're working with. They're pretty awesome. We just have to start the ridiculously long marriage process with them now, but they have both decided that is what is best for their family and so it should go pretty smoothly.
Life with Elder Fraga is pretty awesome. Having a companion that you like makes everything in life so much easier. And having a greenie in the flat to beat up helps too.
I love and miss you all.
Elder Balmforth

Monday, March 11, 2013

March 11. 2013 Elder Fraga


ELDER FRAGA IS HERE!!! Elder Fraga is my new companion and it's awsome. I can't believe this actually happened. I did pray and fast for it though. He's like my best friend on mission, and this last week has been so much fun.
This week has been pretty slow. Especially because we only had a couple of actual working days because of all the changes that happened for transfers and it took our new companions forever to come up here from South Africa. This week will probably be the same because tomorrow we have to go down to Gaborone to get all of the immigration stuff done for the new missionaries which takes forever, then we have to go back down on Thursday and stay over night because we have interviews with the mission president one day and then a zone conference the next, so hopefully we're able to get some stuff done in the time that we have.
One night as we were checking up on one of the families we're trying to begin teaching we had to cross this little river and found a ton of these crabs and so we caught a couple of them and took them home and cooked them. We couldn't muster up the courage to eat them though since the water we found them was probably 50 percent cow manure. they do make cool decorations for the flat though, and they turn this cool orange color when you boil them.
Anyway, that's about it.
I love and miss you all.
Elder Balmforth

Monday, March 4, 2013

march 4. 2013


Hello Everyone,
This week has been the longest week of my life. I have felt like the seconds have been hours. It's ridiculous, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm getting a new companion! And one of the AP's said that he's really awesome. I'm hoping that it's Elder Fraga because both he and I have been hinting at it to the AP's. Keep your fingers crossed, I find out tomorrow. But I'm dropping Elder Naku off in Gaborone tonight so he can leave first thing in the morning back to South Africa. 
There were a couple of cool things that happened this week though. First we climbed Kgale Hill, which is the biggest hill in Bots. It's pretty small still, but it was still a really fun hike. We did it first thing in the morning and cooked steak and eggs at the top over a fire. It was awesome. I got some really cool pictures too.
We've also found some really cool families this week. They didn't come to church yet, but I'm trying to be hopeful.
Other than that nothing has happened at all. Other than trying to help people understand that TB Joshua is not a true prophet.
I love you all though, and I miss you.
Elder Balmforth