January 16

The baptism was great! She is incredible. She is one of those people that just need the gospel in their lives. She is the first baptism that I've had that I found her, taught her the lessons, helped her to keep her commitments, and finally took her to the waters of baptism. It was my privilege to baptize her. I'll send some pictures. I'm so happy with the progress that she's made. We found her about 4 months ago, and we gave her a Book of Mormon probably about 2 weeks after that. Since she's received it, she's read completely through 2 Nephi by now. She won't have too much trouble staying in the Church after baptism. It was so cool to see her accept the laws of the gospel  and stand up to it when it came tempting the very next day. I will miss her so much when I leave Imbali.

The oranges disappeared from off the face of the earth here because they just went out of season. I still eat apples though, and sometimes, I buy watermelons. There was a holiday in december that kinda cracked me up. It's called beach day, and pretty much everyone goes to the beach in Durban and the coastal areas. The heat isn't too bad. It's worse in Saint George. I thought that all of Africa is just really hot, therefore, africans would be used to such heat, but both companions that I've had so far (from Malawi and Zimbabwe) have complained about the heat like crazy. I sweat a lot, but it doesn't keep me from working because it's not too bad.

That's really cool with RJ's story about putting other's needs first. I told dad all about the sick missionary who is like a Pharisee and his companion who is long-suffering and patient like Nana. That's really cool that they were able to find a way for her to be baptized.

I love that you mentioned how she talks in her sleep. That's so funny with mary's sleep talking story. I can totally picture that. When it's really hot at night, missionaries will sit up and teach lessons and weird things like that. I've heard of both missionaries in a companionship who both woke up, sat on the edges of their beds, and testified about what their companion just taught. I actually found myself praying outloud as if to start a companion study session one night. That was a fun journal entry. I've been thinking about my patriarchal blessing a lot and realizing how true the Church is. I love you so much mom.

Elder Steed