3 Months on a Mission!

I almost lost a shoe this week.

On Monday, my companion and I learned the true definition of floods, as we sloshed through the rain to Makatani. We were soaked, we were trying our best to keep our bags dry (failing), and the running water on the roads was up past my ankles!. I decided to give up hopping from bank to bank, and just started walking through the water. The problem with that is my shoes don't have straps, so at one point I stepped out and my shoe started sailing down the road! My companion was wonderful in chasing it, and when I finally got my shoe back I did something not many sisters would (or probably should) do--I went barefoot.

You don't know drenched until you've been in a Malawian rain. Just go stand fully clothed under the shower for about ten minutes and you might have a small idea of how it is here. Its a disaster if we don't carry an umbrella!

On the opposite side of things, I just want to say how wonderful it is to find new families that are interested in the Gospel. We managed to meet with S's mum this past week, and we even met her older brother and sister! We're going to start teaching them, and we're so grateful to find such a humble family who is willing to learn! We also got some really good news: we might be able to have baptisms on the 29th of this month, so we can have a 'white' Christmas! The only person we feel might be ready is B B, a boy who is turning 8 on Christmas. He's got really great potential, and he's really clever, he's just really quiet as well so its a bit hard to figure out if he'll be ready. But we are praying for them!

We're having a Branch Christmas party this Saturday. The Relief Society is singing two songs in Chichewa: Joy to the World and How Great Thou Art. I got a new chitenje to wear; I'll be sure to take pictures (and maybe even make a video of the songs so you all can enjoy). On Sunday we actually got a strange surprise. We pulled into the compound for church, and the first thing we hear is the bleating of two goats. At first I thought they had wandered in because goats wander everywhere, but then I noticed they were tied up. Then one of the presidency tells us that the goats are going to be for the lunch on Saturday. Elder S wants to do the honors, and he wants me to film it. I'm still not sure.

Something that is a bit freaky here--occasionally we'll pass a person who looks like someone I know back home. There's a woman at a tailor shop who looks like Aunt S. There's a little girl in Kauma that looks like A S. It's just a little unnerving...

It's so wonderful to hear the youth enjoying a trip to Temple Square. I'm becoming more and more grateful that we live in a place with several temples within a short driving distance. The people here, if they want to attend the temple, have to take such strenuous steps just to do so! They have to get passports and save and plan a whole trip through the Branch, and then a bus is booked and they take maybe 1 1/2 weeks for the trip! I'm going to go as often as I can when I get home!

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I'd like to close this week by bearing my testimony. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this church is true. And that means everything about the Gospel. I could list all of them but I'll just save time by listing a few things. The Book of Mormon is the most correct and important book on the face of this earth. Read and study it every day and you can never go wrong. Our Savior came to this earth with a single mission. He died for us, to save us from our mistakes, and then on the third day He was risen. By relying on the Atonement of our Redeemer, we can be pulled even from the deepest depth of sin and despair. There is nothing that the Atonement cannot save us from. It is an Infinite Atonement.

I love you all very much, and I keep your prayers close to my heart.
Sister Adams