This is it!!

Dear Family and Friends,

I've been privileged to serve another wonderful week as a full time missionary. What a blessing this calling has been to my life. I couldn't be happier!!! Elder Kgomo and I have been enjoying the Hi's and Low's of missionary work this week, let me tell you about it!

The bad news first- A Liberian family we have been teaching wasn't able to come to church this Sunday. That means their baptismal date has to be pushed back a few weeks. The same case with another brother that we were very hopeful about getting into the water this weekend. That was sort of a bummer to me, no more baptisms as a full time missionary. But no worries, we have faith that in the coming weeks they will get there! :)

Not sure if this is bad news, but last night a massive storm attacked our apartment around 1 AM. Intense rain coupled with very very strong wind and lightning dancing all around our apartment and community gaving me a bit of a scare. I woke up to close the windows as the wind was blowing buckets of water into the house. The power was out so i was running around with a small flashlight trying not to get soaking wet as i tried to jimmy the windows closed. The wind was so strong that it ripped a portion of our ceiling out in the kitchen. that scared me as i thought the roof was being ripped off. Thankfully the roof remained in tact and we stayed dry. just have to repair the drywall that was ripped off. It was an exciting night!

Another very bad news. Saturday night i was extremely tired and decided that i needed a good nights rest. Because of the power outages this week and the poor ventilation in my bedroom it becomes very stuffy and hot to sleep in. So i moved my bed and bednet to the back porch and decided to sleep outside in the cool air. Only to be joined on my twin mattress by Elder Lamb sometime in the night because he also couldnt sleep inside. then around 2 am i woke up with a bunch of horsefly bites from some fly that had gotten into our bednet and that really annoyed me! Thankfully the electricity had come back on so i found my way inside and slept the remainder of the night with my fan blowing on me. Too easy. stupid bugs. Its bad news because my genius idea to sleep outside only turned out to reward me with a worse nights sleep.

Good news! Oh let me tell you the good news! My brother, Richard, has been doing so great since his baptism. He was baptized in March, then his wife, Eunice, was baptized last April (my last baptism, my first married couple to baptize- eek!). Sunday he came to church fasting (without my reminding him) and bore his testimony. It was such a reward to me to see him sporting his new white shirt and tie, bearing his testimony of the wonderful miracle the Lord is doing through his missionaries. He spoke in twii, but i understood almost every word he said. He said that it is such a miracle that the Lord would send out some young men as missionaries to come convert Marjuana smokers like him to become true Christians. He testified of the happiness that has come into his life since he changed and was baptized. OH how wonderful it was to me to see this man and the changes he has made. SO SWEET!!!

Another convert, Joe, bore his testimony to us Sunday as well, although not in Sacrament meeting- in our lesson at his home. He asked me as we were walking home from church if i really think that this church is true right here and now, for him and I. I was a little taken aback but allowed my companion to share his testimony with him that it was. Joe just smiled and remained silent. I wasnt worried but was somehow confused with his question, wondering if Joe was perhaps offended at something he saw that day in church. All was resolved in our lesson when he went off into about a 1 hour testimony of his conviction and all the miracles that have been happening in his life since he started learning with the missionaries. OH how sweet it is to hear someone you love have the eyes and the faith to see the Lord's hand in their life and recognize it for what it is, a miracle! I am so grateful to have been a part of this wonderful man's conversion from the beginning till now. YES!

I guess I should close this letter before I go into a rant. But in case you are wondering what a mission experience is like, its wonderful! Of course the path to success and the road to greater joy is laden with much sweat and tears, but there has never been a period of my life in which I have felt greater joy and satisfaction with who I am and what i am doing than these past two years as a full time missionary. But greatest of all, I have come to know and learn of my Savior in ways i could have never imagined in this service. "For how can a you know a master whom you have not served?" I am, and forever will be, thankful and grateful for the time I have been called to serve my master, Jesus Christ, in helping so many of His sheep make it back into the fold. This work is work! But it is so wonderful and sweet. May the Lord bless us all as we do our part to lift where we stand in this great cause.

This is Elder Fairwell, signing out. Till we meet again in about a weeks time!