The Last Two Weeks Have Been Busy!

The fun things that have happened the past couple weeks... I was eating an apple in the area and I had eaten it to the core and a 4 year old kid came up and put his hand out so I gave it to him and he ate the rest, core, seeds and all! 

I gave 5 kids the new Hot Wheels cars mom sent, and now I can't go anywhere without kids begging me for "toy toy toy." What stinks is all they have to say is "Keywah gave me toy" And since me and my companion are the only white people in our area, all the kids know who to ask. They literally wait outside our gate till we come out and then just beg for toys. 

                                            Sharleen, the little girl, is a BEAR.  She's 4.

 Sharleen after she stole my tag.

There was a random tent set up in our area with a long line of people outside the tent. They all looked very nervous and anxious. I was confused so I went up and asked a few people what it was for, and they all ignored me. Then I got one guy to respond and he was like "Aids my brotha!" He then told me I needed to get checked and I said no I am sure I am clean! 

A normal site in Zimbabwe... sewage spilling everywhere.

So last week we had a baptism, and we were filling the font and it was only me and my companion in the church, and a random guy showed up. He kept following me around and telling me he was the prophet Joseph Smith. I asked him why he was at the church and he said cause he had a meeting to be president of Washington DC. I was thinking wow this man is crazy, then he started asking me if he could baptize himself, and I thought he was joking. I laughed and said no, then he said please it will only take 3 minutes. I said no again and walked away. He followed me into the room I was in and chilled for 5 minutes then got up and left the room. I heard some things going on in the baptism font, so I opened the door to find the man getting undressed, ready to get in the water. His shirt was already soaked, and I was amazed this man had actually tried to baptize himself. I said "Baba!! You cant do that! Please put your clothes back on!" He smiled and said okay then he got dressed again. I made him leave, which was hard, but I finally got him to leave! He was crazy!! 

Weird Caterpillar

This is the size of the frogs!

The kids love feeling muscles for some reason, They always feel mine and are amazed, which is embarrassing cause I have lost so much muscle! 

Me chilling.

Got to watch Rugby here!! A recent convert invited us to go so we went. And guess what, Larry Jr was there!! So I sat next to him! 

At the rugby match, I was chewing gum, and a kid was sitting next to me and put his hand up to ask for gum from me. I told him I only had the one piece in my mouth and he put his hand up again. So I was like what the heck and took it out of my mouth and put in his hand, and he smiled super big and started chewing it! 

We had 6 baptisms which has been very nice. The areas of Entumbane (N-toom-bon-E) and Matsobane (motch-O-bon-E) are progressing very rapidly, and the people here are very ready for the gospel. We are expecting 3 more baptisms this week as well. 

Last Monday, a week ago from today, Elder Ellis, a General Authority of the church came and visited Bulawayo (bull-uh-why-O). The spirit was so powerful, I enjoyed the meeting very much. Our president gave a talk on how no matter our situation, we can be happy. That we choose to be miserable, and we choose to be happy. That our attitude is a choice. That doesn't mean that things wont be very hard at times, and that we wont all struggle, but our attitude about the situation will change things so much. I loved that and am going to try my best to implement that into my life! 

Dripping wet from the rain.

 The last picture I sent of our water filter was after a month. Check this out...our water filter looks like clay after only a few weeks. And Bulawayo water is the cleanest in Zimbabwe!

That was the last two weeks, love you all!! 

Elder Cazier   

Mission Conference and Visit to the Game Park

 

I've ran into some computer issues but figured them out. I am not going to be able to send a weekly email for the Blog this week, I'm really mad but I just don't have time after sending all the animal photos. I had so much to talk about too, but it's just hard in Africa sometimes.

My hand looks like it was infected, but Yes it is all mosquito bites!! 

This is a pomegranate, but people here call it a "hard nut" It's actually very good!

Yes, this is sewage, running through the maize (corn) field. 

Maybe there is a reason they don't want us buying vegetables off the street?🤔 

This is John Mafunga, an investigator of ours. He's a tailor and they tailor pants for $1. 

Me wearing my tie, Zim style!!! Zimbabweans love wearing 

children's ties, like SUPER short. It's hilarious. 

Baptisms This week!  

Mad selfie with the pic wall.

A selfie with elder Sink (las vegas) and Elder Shumannis (North Carolina). 

Yes, we went to a Game Park today! Chipangali, one of the best ones!!!

{A Description of  the game park from their website:   Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage is a haven for wild animals which have little hope for survival in the wild – animals or birds which have been orphaned, abandoned, injured, born in captivity or brought up unsuccessfully as pets.
It is often the last refuge for those brought in sick or injured,
and has increasingly become a sanctuary for confiscated animals.}

This is before we went it.

This zoo isn't like American zoos. All that was keeping us from the
animals was a chain link fence, like the one around our house.
So you have to stand back, cause the monkeys will bite you and grab you.

The freaking lion!!! His name was Shaka. They had about 15 lions there. Yes, the only thing keeping us from these animals is a thin chain link fence. So sketchy. The zoo guy just kept petting the lion. I was not about to get that close to the fence. The lions actually loved being pet, but tourists aren't supposed to touch them. This one was only 2 and a half years old, and look how big it is. crazy!

They had about 15 lions there. Yes, the only thing keeping us from these 

animals is a thin chain link fence. So sketchy.

The leopard mad chillin'. This one I touched when he got close to the fence!
His name was Prince. They are so cool.

There were some HUGE crocodile. Yes I reached in through the fence and
when I touched it, it hissed at me!!! Who can say they touched a crocodile in Africa,
then had it hiss at you? It was worth risking my hand! What's sad, is they even don't lock the locks on these cages. Like, before you go in they tell you don't go inside the cages, lol. So I could have easily walked in with the crocs hahah.
The green stuff on the croc's back is just African moss! It's not like a fungus!

Look how close I am to these lions. DANG. I was so scared I can't lie. Literally just a fence between us 2 feet away. I could have easily reached out and had my finger bit off, and they were NOT happy with me it was so scary!!!

A Wild Bore

A small African deer (maybe a Kudo)

A big old African deer, a random turtle and a flamingo.

We had an AMAZING conference yesterday, the spirit was unbelievably strong. I would have put all that in my weekly email, but its already 4:30 here, and all the shops close at 6, so I have very limited time. The lock out on my computer wasted about 30 valuable minutes.

I am amazed how fast time is going, it is such a blessing. I've been having really bad stomach aches lately, like bad. For about 5 days now. And I had an opportunity to talk to president's wife about it yesterday, but didn't. But I am sure they will just go away, it is just a bug or something!

President and Sister Ellis, they are both 70! And they are just a couple who have been called all over the world because of his calling. So they lived in Idaho, then moved to Utah, then Brazil for 3 years, then Houston for 2 now Africa for 4!! They are going back home soon though, cause elder Ellis is going to be released! But it's just crazy, they love each other so much, and talk about each other so positively. You can just feel their love. There was a talk by Elder Russel M Nelson in 2003. Not sure what it is called, but it is about heart surgery. Long story short, a man came to Russel and asked him to do a heart surgery on him. They checked his heart, and it had a problem no one in the world knew how to fix. Russel told the man that he couldn't preform the surgery, that no one in the world knew how to. The man looked him in the eye and said "I have complete faith in the Lord, that he will show you how to fix it. Just please do the surgery. So Russel agreed and did. As he was cutting open the man, the nurse asked Russel, what are you gonna do? And he responded "I have no idea" Once the heart was in plain view, he just looked at it and prayed that he would know how to fix it. (He had prayed and fasted for weeks). Then Russel had a distinct picture pop into his mind of how to do the cuts, put the stitches, replace the valve, all that stuff. And he did, and the man survived, and lived for many, many more years. The whole point was the Lord knows heart surgery. Think about that. The Lord knows heart surgery. No one in the world knew how to fix that man's heart, except the Lord. And the Lord put the picture into Russel M Nelson's mind of how to fix it. This surgery actually became the best surgery for the whole world. And what Elder Ellis was trying to tell us, is that if the Lord knows how to fix a heart, that no one in the world knows how to fix, he sure knows exactly how to fix our problems.  He knows exactly how to deal with our insecurities and pains. He knows exactly what we should do, and where to go, and how to solve all our problems. So all we need to do is trust him, have complete faith, and pray!! I just love Christ so much. how can I not love him?  Love Elder Cazier

House For Rent, Toy Guns and a Quarantine!

What a week! There wasn't too much that went on, but some cool stuff!

We are expecting baptisms this Saturday and I am very excited! 

This is Gugulani. He is the investigator being baptized this Saturday! 

So this week we got a text from the Zone leaders, saying there was a quarantine, and that all missionaries are not allowed to eat any vegetables. Apparently there was an outbreak of something in Harare, typhoid I think, and so the office instructed us that no missionaries can eat vegetables. So it was a vegetable free week, which sucks, but we can't have vegetables until further notice! We will see what happens! But it's funny, cause I never thought I would say this, but I am basically a vegetarian here. The only time I eat meat is at members, which often they don't even give us! I eat sahdza every day!! It's quite good, and I like it with vegetables in it, but now we can't eat vegetables so I don't know what I will do!

I have found foods I like! I make really good eggs and all that stuff. I am getting known for my cooking, cause I cook "good" stuff a lot and the elders love it! I made pancakes today!

There was a baptism at our chapel, for some other missionaries, and so my companion and I had to fill the font and get it ready. Of course, there was no water. The only water was from a faucet outside, so with no hose and only a large trash bin, my companion and I spent two hours filling up the bin, carrying it into the font, and pouring it in. I am SORE today. I had instant calluses on my hands, and am now having bad back pain. But it's okay, cause the baba (father) was able to be baptized!

I am still getting bit by mosquitoes so dang bad, but its okay! They aren't blowing up like they used too! But they still itch like crazy!

It was actually legit "cold" in Bulawayo for 2 days. Cold enough to where everyone was in jerseys (sweatshirts). But after 2 days it was back to super hot lol.

The lesson at the police station was postponed because the head officer had an important call, so he had to leave, but this week we are going and scheduling another time to go! Not sure when, but we will for sure do it!

Sewage spilling out of the pipe. This is everywhere in our area. 

So there are no guns in Zimbabwe, cause they are so illegal, 

but all the kids toys look exactly like real guns. It's kind of scary. 

A 70 is coming to talk to us missionaries, so I can't email next Monday, but will I on Tuesday. Tuesday is our p-day next week! So we will see how things go as time moves on, bond notes are still an issue, but I am coping more and more. The mission is going so fast, it's crazy. I don't want to jinx it but I look back and I'm like WOW.  The Lord can help us through any trial we are going through, as long as we have faith.

Elder Cazier