1 Corinthians 9:20-22

This scripture has definitely been my theme of the week!!!  we need to adapt to the positive cultures of where we are serving!! 

20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law,that I might gain them that are under the law;

 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Miracles after miracles after miracles!! Wow it's so great to be a missionary!! 

Tina: (elisha's wife) well... her progression is coming slowly but surely! She knows EVERYTHING. we started reviewing lessons with her, and she was pretty much teaching us!! AND SHE PRAYED PEOPLE!!! and it was a very sincere prayer... I was in tears. ahh darn it these people steal my heart. But she promised to come to church... and she didn't. but it's okay... Elisha just needs to give her a little push. He is on a job search right  now, so he is never home. 

Chibessa Family: So this family was a referral from Brother Justin a recent convert. Brother Chibessa is the one who pays for Brother Justin's transport each week for church... I guess they used to be drinking buddies... then they both found Christ, and changed their lives. Cool story!! but We have been teaching this family for about a month now! They have 5 daughters, but one is in Lusaka! And miracle... we invited them to be baptized and they accepted and then HE CAME TO CHURCH with his 2 daughters!!! and he said he'll come next week!! We need to meet the wife, but they'll get put on date for August 13th! 

Miriam: Cutest little girl will be getting baptized on July 9th!!! 

Samba family: okay so you all know the Samba family... well we put them on date for July 23rd... if they start coming to church. But THE CHURCH IS SO TRUE. So we were showing them pictures of the temple... and they got really nervous with the oxen around the baptismal font (they thought it was idols or something)... we didn't have an answer for them right then, but of course the church always has an answer... and it's straight in the old testament! We were able to answer their question, and man they were so happy.. and me i was jumping up and down i was so proud... haha shout out to seminary manuals. 

Musonda: he is the guy that came to church last week because he heard MOTAB! and he came again, and we taught him and he is so prepared!!! He said that he always listens to motab, and it brought him up when he was in a low place in his life. He is really really good and we're planning on putting him on date for August. 

We also had another guy named Aaron who we simply just contacted at the Simanwes house forever ago who was trying to bible bash with me come to church... and he had read the Restoration pamphlet and already has the strongest testimony of the church, and during gospel principles class he was bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon! Crazy! He is moving down to Lusaka, so hopefully he gets taught by the Elders down there. 

Finally the last greatest miracle ever. So we get home last night, and the sisters had sent us a referral. His name is Bright and he found the Book of Mormon a while ago, so he contacted Church Headquarters online, and they gave him the sisters number, but he is actually in our area... and he has a FAMILY. oh my goodness we started jumping up and down... God really does prepare his children for the gospel. We'll be meeting him on Wednesday:) 

funny stories: 

1. we show up to see Selina, and there are all these youth there practicing this line dance... obviously me and my companion start joining, and hey these people can dance... oh and shake it hard core. there are some pretty funny videos of me trying to dance like them.... But hey i've just adapted to their culture:) 

2. after Selina's, we go teach her neighbor named Russell.. we taught him once last week, and then when we went this week he was like, "oh I invited 5 friends" They all show up and..... PASTORS. hahahahah oh boy... Just trying to restrain myself from a Bible Bash. But we kept our cool... and it was actually a decent lesson. But just the way they talk you can tell that they are pastors. 

3. We were at Tina's house and before we started the lesson we were showing her pilates... i dunno why. and my companion just DROPS IN THE SPLITS. oh my goodness i died laughing. 

4. We were teaching the Plan of Salvation to John... and he starts asking questions like, "Does God look like a grandpa?" "Will I be able to date in the next life?" "Do spirits eat nshima?" They were all sincere questions but I couldn't stop laughing. my badddddd.. 

That was my week!! Families truly can be together forever!!!! Too many pcitures to explain from the past 2 weeks!! Love being a missionary, and I love this gospel! It makes perfect sense to the heart and the mind. That's the beautiful thing about it! Love you all!! have a wonderful week! 

Sister T

Karate Kid

Wonderful week in the Great Zambia Lusaka mission! Weeks just seem to fly right by! So happy to hear that Lake Powell was successful, don't worry next year i'll be laying it down on the water:)

Miracles all over the place!!

Betha: so betha is Justin Chanda's neighbor... and she would always come in and sit on our lessons but we really didn't pay too much attention to her... sorry betha. But turns out she has a really big desire to get baptized!!!! she has been comign to church and finally the YW president asked when she was getting baptized... and so she came with us to teach her and we invited her and she agreed for July 10th!!! She is 17 and just adorable.. i'll include a picture:) JOhn is also still on date for July 10th!

Esnart: once again... a person that I kinda overlooked.... but we started really teaching her, and she knows it's true. She is so powerful, and you can feel the spirit so strongly in her lessons... and she is just loving it. But we have one problem... she is the one who provides for her family, and she works on sundays.... this week we are going to talk to her about it, and hopefully she will get the courage to quit. She is married and has one son! Pray for her!

Samba Family: so we are now all very familiar with this family:) who I love somuch!! but we're still having a problem with church attendance!!! But we taught them this past week about temples and it was adorable... they really want to go so they can get sealed and Brother Samba even proposed again to Sister Samba to be married for the next life.. haha he calls her honey pie all the time... adorable. But for the first time ever in his closing prayer during the lesson Brother Samba prayed to see if Joseph Smith was the only true prophet, and if the Book of Mormon was true. and I felt the spirit so strong, so i'm hoping they did too. and then after he told me that whenever we are gone, they discuss it as a family, and he really wants to know. Miracles!

Once again we had a new comer show up to church this week! I guess he once heard MOTAB and he has seen the church but has nevercome before... but he finally came and he was really digging it! His name is Musonda!! We'll see what happens with him:) MOTAB CHANGES LIVES PEOPLE.

Update: So the stolen computers were found!! In a whole outside the church... hahahahahaha whoever tried to steal it... bless their hearts the plan didn't go too well.

President Erickson: President and Sister ERickson came up for their last time to the Copperbelt and we had a really good devotional with the members on vision. and how to make this into a stake one day.... We talked mainly about callings and giving every member the opportunity to have a calling... which will strenghten the members and keep them active!!!! Something that definitely struggles a little bit in this mission!! But I definitely had to hold back the tears... i'm going to miss them a lot, but i'm excited for President and Sister Kupu to come next week!! They are going to bring some great things into the mission! 

funny stories:

1. so we show up at our investigators house... to find him doing this crazy karate stuff and he didn't see us walk in, and so we just watched him laughing our heads off for like 5 minutes... and then he ended up teaching us some karate... you'll see a video one day:) 

2. So on Tuesday we go over to Elisha and Tina's place and i was asking how old their daughter was and they were like, "she turned 4 today.. but don't tell her... we don't have money to give her a birthday party" hahaha they didn't even tell her that it was her birthday... and so we promised to bring a cake, adn when we brought a cake 2 days later we asked if they had told her yet... nope... so we had to tell this 4 year old girl that it was her birthday.. haha she was so confused!! 

SORRY WE WERE AT AN EMAIL SHOP AND THE INTERNET STOPPED SO WE HAD TO COME TO ANOTHER ONE SO NO PICTURES TODAY SORRY:( 

LOVE YOU ALL

One Year Older and Wiser Too!

What a wonderful week in the city of Ndola/Lusaka!! We had zone conference this past week and it was just super amazing!!!! I hit my one year mark and how crazy is that??? Family I think we can all remember a year ago when we all had the flu and were all throwing up right before my farewell? hahah such good times. 

Zone Conference: so so so good. so we combined as all of zambia.. so us from the copperbelt took the 5 hour drive down to Lusaka and it was so great to all be together. Since we don't have a temple in our mission we mainly focused on temple covenants and it was such a spiritual environment it almost felt as if we were in the temple.We talked mainly about the Law of Obedience, Consecration, and Sacrifice. We talked a lot about the differences and the similiarities... so so so good. ONe of my favorite scriptures my whole mission has been Samuel 15:22!!! it truly shows how we can't live the law of sacrifice and consecration without first being obedient. And what's true obedience without a willing heart? That is something that I've really focused on recently... Do I follow missionary rules because I want to or just because i'm supposed to? 

President Erickson is preparing to leave in the next 2 weeks and it was a really great opportunity to look at what we have accomplished as a mission so far this past year. Sometimes I tend to think we're not accomplishing anything down here... but for having only 70 missionaries in this mission and covering 2 countries, we have really been doing some good work. So grateful to be part of the great Zambia Lusaka Mission. 

Trials: so persecution will always come right?? The Ndola meetinghouse was broken into on saturday night and everything was stolen... crazy stuff. We only had sacrament meeting because police were there investigating. We think it was a member because who else would have known exactly where the 2 computers were... mavuto. 

Miracles after miracles: 

1. So last week we had a random guy named Nalasco show up to church, and we went to go see him this week and he is SO PREPARED. I guess he used to be taught by missionaries a long time ago.. but he is a soldier and so he got sent to DRC to keep peace and his first sunday back he came to church. He first found the church because we are right next to a bar... the irony i know... but he was drinking one night and then met the missionaries and since then he hasn't drinken once. He has 2 children and a wife who is schooling in a different province. he was sick this past week so he couldn't come to church but hopefully he'll get baptized in july! 

2. John... John is Justin Chanda's cousin and he is once agian SO PREPARED. We show up and he was just searching for the truth. He has so many questions, and everything just made so much sense to him. He has come to church teh past 2 weeks and is on date for July 9th! So good. 

3. So there is this member named Mercy... and she is so powerful. She lives with like 9 non members who just persecute her non stop about the church. But every time we go we are super nice to her family, and my companion invited her 2 cousins to church (which we've done like a thousand times) and THEY CAME TO CHURCH. and are letting us teach them this week. 

4. The Samba Family.... I love them. When we asked about the Word of Wisdom... they looked so happy and said that is has improved so much. Brother Samba is having a hard time accepting that there is only one prophet in the world... but Sister Samba's testimony is just so strong that one day my friends. one day. 

Grateful to be a missionary. So eternally grateful for this past year and all that i've been able to experience. I'll never be able to repay my heavenly father for the blessings that i've seen this past year but I hope to do all that I can to show how much I appreciate it. 6 MORE MONTHS LET'S GO TO WORK. 

Love you all, 

Sister Thueson

The Miracle of a Mission

Wowza this week was just so great!!!! But sad panono as well. Said goodbye to my homegirls Sista Zonna and my boy Sista Arok. Already missing the #squad but excited to see what the new copperbelt sistas will bring to the area. 

so this week I wasn't able to be in my area that much, because my companion didn't get in until Thursday evening, but i was able to spend some time in the other sister's area which is always fun:) But of course Heavenly Father made up the difference and there were so many miracles that happened this week. 

Tina: okay small things are happenign... but in missionary work they really are big things!! But we went on Tuesday and she had prepared this huge meal for us... but she made us cook... haha and we didn't know what to do, like she had prepared so much and we didn't want to offend her so we cooked and cooked and cooked. haha I was with Sister Brown and we just really built that trust with her. But then I took my new companion with me on Saturday and tender mercies happened! We explained the differnece between priesthood and holy ghost since her husband just got both last week, adn then at the end my companion asked her to pray and SHE DID!! FIRST TIME IN 3 MONTHS. i almost started crying and my smile was just so big... and she said she would come next week to church. keep praying for her!!!! 

THE SAMBA FAMILY CAME TO CHURCH!!   no way no way no way!!! Seriously I freaked out.... they were a little late and couldn't stay for all of it but it was still a huge step. We followed up on WOW this past week and they said they still were drinking coffee... so we taught about it again and helped them see the true importance of it and then they came to church. aish keep praying for them!!! 

Chisala: heeey he made big improvemnts too!!! He walked all the way to the church to have a lesson with us... and this is the one who wouldn't even accept the book of mormon before but after we taught Restoration it all made perfect sense to him and he accepted it. Seriously miracles. 

We also had 3 new potential investigators show up to church!!! and I think they show some good potential! 

Fast and Testimony meeting: hey I was so humbled yesterdsay.... every time i hear these members bear such powerful testimonies i am amazed... Truly these are the pioneers of the church down here in Zambia and they are facing just as much tribulation as they did back then. They are such an amazing example to me... one of the members just moved over an hour of a drive away... But he still comes each and every week with his 3 little kids. I wish you could all meet these wonderful members. 

The Lord is very aware of all of us and as we have righteous desires and ask in faith I promise he will answer. 

Also Sista Zohner got to see all my recent converts in blantyre this past weekend and this is what Fraiser said...

"Sister Thueson is a big reason for my baptism and the temple. I was taught by missionaries for 8 years, but she was a big part" 

awwwwwwe I love all of them so much!!!! 

I hit my one year this Saturday... I can't believe it, but i'm grateful for every day i've had and every day I have left!! 

Love you all, 

Sister Thueson