Week Twenty-Eight: Much Work to Do

Hello my loved ones,

This week has been very busy. So much work. And so much more to come.

First of all the work in the Lord's vineyard has increased with the wonderful news of the temple coming to Harare Zimbabwe. It is by far the best news a mission could receive.

Secondly, the Mission Office work has increased for the 4 elders serving here because of the lack of Assistants to the President. We have all taken different responsibilities, added onto our original workloads. Last week was transfers, very busy. This week was MLC (Missionary Leadership Council: where all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders come to Harare for a meeting with President Mkhabela). Last Friday President Mkhabela authorized an office-exchange. It was thought that it would last from Friday until Tuesday, when MLC was finished. However because of the large workloads it continued until last night, Friday.

Elder Gundani, the Flats Manager became my temporary companion and we spent last Saturday making the MLC agenda. We also attended and conducted the MLC on Tuesday. In addition, we had many Flats errands to run all over Harare, bringing supplies to missionaries, sometimes not getting home till after 10pm (I know, the horror, but as President Mkhabela has said, Mission Office Elders have different responsibilities, and sometimes a schedule change is needed).

Also yesterday, we started a huge project. President Mkhabela decided we should make Binders for every missionary to keep trainings, talks, etc. throughout their whole mission. This sounds like a good idea. I designed a pretty awesome cover sheet on the computer, and printed out enough for each missionary. We even decided to make them personalized with their own names. Sounds super cool, right?

We have 124 Missionaries In-Field currently. And 43 more called to Zimbabwe. I made 167 different versions of the cover sheet, and printed out 124 of them, full color pages. Our printer waits a couple minutes before printing a full color page. It took over 2 and a half hours to print everything. But that was just my printer.

Elder Shepherd was busy printing the talks to put in. There are 6 talks * 125 copies. See the attached picture. Notice the box next to it that the reams of paper came in. We used 3 different printers/copiers for hours. We left the office after president left at 6:30pm.

Now look at what the binders we have completed so far look like. This is only 12 of them. When we have all 124, it will stretch 25.6 feet or about 7.8 meters. I can't wait for that picture.

Oh yeah, and the Binders are wanted for the Zone Conferences, which are on Tuesday (here in Harare) and Thursday (in Gweru). And we are likely to get the rest of the binders on Monday. It's gonna be super fun. That may sound sarcastic, but seriously, it is pretty fun.

I know there is always things I forget to mention in the weekly emails. But I write so much anyway that I think its okay. I don't want to write too much that people won't read.

Let me end with my testimony. I know without a doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's true church reestablished on the earth. I know even more so now that the Lord's church is a church of order. Never before had I realized how much organization and planning goes into the organization of the church. There is so much more to the missionary effort than people see on the streets. But the greatest thing is that all missionaries have the same purpose, to invite others to come unto Christ. Whether they are out their working in the field, or they are working in the offices, all are needed for the Lord's work. Just as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12, all are needed for different responsibilities, and all are just as important.

I know Jesus Christ lives and that he loves every single person on this earth.

Until next time, may the lord bless you in all that you do.
-Elder Wilcken