Elder Kaden Smith: March 5, 2017

Hello everyone! Another week bye already!

This week has been an interesting fun week.

We've been doing a lot of splits lately because the Zwide elders' area is still closed for the time being so I've been serving with 3 companions, Elder Milne, Elder Allred, and Elder Lane. It's pretty fun to get to know them and each of the ways they teach.

Elder Milne and I had the house to ourselves Monday-Friday while the Zwide elders were with Uitenhage elders which was really weird because it's really really quiet when there's only us there. But it was fun.

On P-day we went to the Oceanarium and Museum! hehehe it was really really funny.

We started in the museum portion and saw some amazing (plastic) fish swimming around in the glass tank at the aquarium portion. We also saw some terrifying dinosaur action figures. We then went to the curiosity corner and learned that Unicorns are real... and have massive 7 foot horns. We then went to the scariest part of the museum...... the dreaded snake enclosure which reminded me vaguely of Petco haha. Aside from that we did see some awesome parts of shipwrecks that happened off the coast of South Africa and Port Elizabeth. When we went out to the live exhibits we saw some seals which was quite cool, one just sat there and watched us for a while. They also had some penguins, sea turtles, and two alligators. It was a truly enlightening P-Day haha.

The rest of the week we have been trying to get our teaching pool back up because after baptisms you lose investigators because they become recent converts. The problem is tracting was banned in our zone in light of the stabbing so all we can work with to find new people is member referrals. We need your prayers to help us find father headed homes so we can baptise families. We've been working with one girl who we're hoping to baptise on Sunday which is really awesome.

We've been stressing the importance of the Book of Mormon with our investigators and recent converts lately because it contains the doctrine of salvation and the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Alma 371 And now, my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted with me;
2 And I also command you that ye keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a wise purpose that they are kept.
4 Behold, it has been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and handed down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord until they should go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, that they shall know of the mysteries contained thereon.
7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.
8 And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.
12 And it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God; for he doth counsel in wisdom over all his works, and his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.
13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land—but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.
14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.
15 And now behold, I tell you by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.
16 But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you, (for you must appeal unto the Lord for all things whatsoever ye must do with them) behold, no power of earth or hell can take them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words.
17 For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.

We related these teachings from Alma to his son Helaman to our investigators and pretended they were Helaman. They've been entrusted with the Book of Mormon and it (the Book of Mormon) can bring to light the things they need to do to achieve salvation. For that is God's wise purpose. We've been given the commandment to read the words of God and as we keep the commandments we will prosper. But like it says if we don't make the Book of Mormon a part of our lives Satan can sift and tempt us. It's simple, Keep the Commandments=Blessings. Read the Book of Mormon=Power from God to overcome Satan

Read=Power, Power strengthens our effort to keep the commandments, Commandments=Blessings

Sunday we had stake conference and I had to play the piano for our ward choir who was singing which was fun......haha...... although one of the songs was Master the Tempest is Raging and they sang it in Xhosa which was cool. Our mission president was there as well and he and his wife delivered powerful talks and testimonies. Stake conference was awesome.

We celebrated Elder Ondracek's birthday Sunday night as a district and had a lot of food and also our 27kg watermelon haha that we turned into a hat for WaterMilne. Elder Lillback is a new elder in our district from Germany and he is very funny. We're going to have some fun times!

Well until next week!

Elder Smith