Hi to our family and friends,

This has been a REALLY busy week so far. Sunday we went to Kadoma. Two of our missionaries that have been serving here finished their missions and returned home to Kadoma this past Wednesday. The 2nd counsellor in the branch presidency was released and one of the newly returned missionaries was put in that position. It was fun for Elder Bullock to be able to call him. The elder certainly wasn't expecting that. He will do a good job. The other elder was put in as Young Men's President. We were really pleased to see that the Branch president is putting them to work right away. These young returned missionaries are such assets here and are the ones who will be the great leaders.

I gave my talk in church and the two elders both talked. That didn't leave time for Elder Bullock to give his talk so he just said a few words and will save his talk for another day. We heard back from the elders here in Harare that Lawrence, our investigator, was at church and they have an appointment with him for tonight to teach. He had no transport money so he walked to church.

Trying on white shirts and ties at Kadoma

Happy recipients of shirts and ties -- it was great to be able to help them out.

He's happy to get a white shirt and tie -- he looks pretty smart!

Monday we had a meeting with the committee at the Kadymadare Mill. We invited the MP to join us as we needed his help to solve a problem there. I think I told you about it before -- how one man, the chairman/also a village head, insisted on only charging $.50 instead of one dollar. At the beginning of the meeting Elder Bullock read 'their' original proposal to us requesting the mill and how they were planning to make the project work for them. He explained that they were not living up to what they had proposed and agreed upon.

The MP then took over and talked for quite a while, some in English and a lot in Shona. He explained to them how a business has to run in order to be successful and make some profit. He also explained very well how the committee should work and the role of the chairman. It was agreed that they would start charging the dollar. We then ask how soon they planned to do that. The Chairman wanted to wait until March 1st and one other agreed with him. I suggested starting in 1 week (this coming Monday) so that they could start making some profit sooner. A member of the committee agreed and we told him he needed to make the proposal and it was seconded. We then suggested that there were two proposals and as a committee they should vote on it. The outcome was 7 to 2 in favor of starting to charge sooner. It was really a good meeting and I think the members felt somewhat empowered when they realized they didn't have to feel intimidated by the chairman/village chief. They realized they all had an equal say
and vote on things. We were pleased how things came out and are grateful to Mr. Zhanda, the MP, for helping us. He is really a good man. One thing I keep meaning to tell you is that whenever we have these kind of meetings they always begin and end with prayer. Quite different than America.

Monday afternoon we went with Bigboy (a wheelchair contact that we have talked to a few times) and met with a lady who is over all of Zimbabwe and represents disabled people and groups. They are the ones who we can partner with and they can bring the chairs into the country duty-free. It was a good meeting and we are hoping to get the wheelchair project underway.

When we got back to the office, Pauline was waiting for us. She is the mom we helped several months ago with the tiny baby, Edson, who almost died. We took formula out for the baby and food for the family so that the mom could eat and be able to nurse the baby. Edson is now about 8 months old but looks like he is only 2 months. He apparently has some symptoms of Downs Syndrome (I could see it in his face) and he also has some heart problems. However, he is one lucky baby as he was leaving the next morning with a Doctor who is taking him to Italy for 3 months where he will get some heart surgery etc. free of charge. Pauline was needing help for her 8 yr. old who she said was very sick, had a rash, and was losing strength. She had him at the hospital the day before and they gave him some tablets and said to bring him back to get his temperature taken. However, the combie (transport) would not take him. We drove her home and put her and the boy in the back of the truck (just in case he had something we don't want to get) and took them to the hospital. The husband, Ed, came too. We had to wait for quite a while as the doctors decided to go for lunch just as we arrived. While we were waiting we gave some balloons to the children in the waiting room and that seemed to cheer them up! Anyway, the boy has measles and a problem in his chest and a high temperature. They gave him a couple of injections and sent him home with instructions to go to a different hospital in the morning that would admit measle patients and also he would get a chest x-ray. We haven't heard any more yet. That all took about 5 hrs. and we got home about 8:30 after returning them to their home.

Pediatrics waiting room at Harare Hospital - we gave out balloons to the kids while we were waiting with Paulene and Ed

At hospital -- we made a few kids happier

Tuesday we spent most of the day helping Reeve, CC and Lolly and a good group of youth, finish sorting the goods in the containers that arrived last Friday. It has been a big job but it is now organized. I went with Reeve to take a truckload of medical supplies to a Dr. who has helped us the other day with the boy that had terrible rashes all over his head. The dr. wasn't there but we left the things - She will be delighted to have them.

Sorting containers that Reeve, CC and Lolly brought to Zimbabwe

We were tired at the end of the day. Reeve, CC and Lolly left this morning for Australia for some golf tournaments etc. They will be back in a month. We will miss them. They are fun to have around. We will continue our squash playing though and we now have President and Sister Dube joining us in the mornings and learning squash. Fun!

President Bullock has gone right now to a meeting with President Dube to meet with some government minister to explain what the church and LDS Charities does.

Today we are hoping to work on our training session that we are to do in Masvingo on Saturday. We have an hour allotted to us to train on lesson preparation as they feel that too many just read the lessons from the books when they teach (& they do that a lot here). We are
feeling a little nervous about this as we don't feel like we have a lot of expertise in the area, however, we do have "Teaching No Greater Call" and I have printed off some talks from church leaders. We will make a plan and pray a lot!! I better get busy working on it.

One more picture:

AIDS sign

We are grateful to you all for your love and support. We have a great family that we are proud of and also wonderful friends! Thank you!!

Love, The Bullocks

Hi from Zimbabwe

Hi, I forgot to tell you that Jim was asked to talk in church this past week in Masvingo. Apparently the Branch President had emailed us and ask him but we never got the email so he had to stay up late on Saturday night preparing.

We just chuckled because we thought perhaps they would have talks about Christmas but his assignment was "morality and modesty". I am attaching a copy of his talk as he did a good job and the Branch Pres. was quite happy with it. Elder Bullock asked after if that is what he had wanted and he said that it was (and even more). The Branch Pres. said when he has a hard topic he will always assign someone from outside the Branch since it is easier that way and Dad did a good job of it.

The x-branch president nodded his head in agreement a couple of times during the talk so it was obviously something that needed to be addressed. Women here are not especially modest and think nothing of pulling out a breast and nursing anywhere the need arises. They did
laugh when dad said that he was often afraid that certain body parts were going to fall out from their clothes. (and that is very true!)

Anyway - if you are interested there is a copy of his talk below.

I guess I am feeling the Christmas spirit as two different ladies came to the offices today asking for help and I was generous to them - gave them some clothes for themselves and their baby. They looked like they needed help. My only worry now is that they will go back and tell their neighborhood and we will have another rush of people begging at the gate. We have mostly put a stop to that as it is hard to tell if they are genuinely in need or not. O well. I was feeling in a generous mood today. There was a lady in the garden too that has two small children and they looked needy. I gave her a couple of toys for them and some clothes. She was really grateful. It is fun to give and help them but it can create a 'nightmare' too. I also made up a small box of toys and clothes etc. for Seka and his two children for Christmas.

We are fine and making preparations for Christmas day with the elders. It will be a nice break for us.

Oh yes -- we got one more grinding mill project approved at the Danangwe school (the one that has no desks or chairs or anything). We had to be a bit persuasive to get them to take it to the area presidency and get it approved on this year's budget but the money is there and better on this year's budget than on 2010 when our budget has been slashed somewhat. Thanks to Elder and Sister Godfrey for pushing it through for us.

Merry Christmas and love to all, Elder & Sister Bullock

Jim's talk:

In the Book of Mormon, Jacob chapter 2, Jacob explains that he has been commanded to teach the people something that is difficult to do, but because of the assignment he had received from the Lord, he had a responsibility to teach what he was told to teach. My assignment did not come from an angel, like Jacob, it came from President Munaki, but it is still difficult for me, and it is important.

David, the King of Judah started out as a very righteous man. Because of his righteousness, he was favoured of the Lord and he was protected as he fought and killed Goliath, but things started to go wrong for David as he was disobedient to God’s commandments. One night he couldn’t sleep, so he got out of bed and went out on the roof. As he was getting some fresh air, he noticed Bathsheba washing herself; he stood there and watched her, then he started to think about her, then he started to ask questions about her, then he sent servants to go invite her to come to his place and he broke the Law of Chastity with her; Bathsheba became pregnant. Once that happened, David called for her husband to come in from the battlefield, hoping he could hide his sin by having Uriah and Bathsheba come together. When that didn’t work, he sent Uriah back to the war and had him placed in the fiercest part of the fighting, and then he had all of the army pull away from Uriah, leaving him to fight by himself, and he was killed.

Now, let’s consider Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery. The Lord was also with Joseph, as he served in Potiphar’s house, so much so, that Potiphar made Joseph overseer of all that he possessed. Potiphar did not know what he owned, he just knew he could leave it with Joseph and he would prosper. Potiphar’s wife liked Joseph...too much. She wanted him to lie with her. Finally, she grabbed Joseph by the cloak and tried to have him lie with her. Genesis 39:12 says he left the garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. David looked on Bathsheba to lust after her and committed adultery and murder; Joseph fled and got him out. What if David turned away and went back into his palace?

Sister Bullock and I spend a lot of our time out in the rural areas doing humanitarian work. We work with some of the ministers and pastors out there. We have found that there are a lot of children being raised by their grandparents, because they are double orphans. There are many children who are single orphans, living with only one of their parents. The main reason for this is that one of their parents, or both, has died from HIV/AIDS. Not only have the parents passed away, but far too many of their children have also been infected, or they have died, from HIV/AIDS. This disease is not something you get because someone sneezed and left germs in the air. Usually, this disease is the result of the husband, the wife, or both, breaking the Law of Chastity with someone they are not married to and then returning to their spouse and passing it on. I understand that many may have been infected with the disease before they joined the Church, but many more were infected after joining the Church.

The physical consequences of breaking the Law of Chastity are not always as drastic as contracting AIDS, but the spiritual consequences are. In Alma 39, Alma teaches is son Corianton, who guilty of sexual sin, just how serious it is. In verse 5 we read:

Alma 39: 5 Know ye not, my son, that these things are an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost.

Being morally clean is not only avoiding committing adultery.

In Doctrine and Covenants 59:6 we learn: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it.

Adultery is committing sexual sin with someone who is married to someone else. What does like unto it mean? Like unto it is committing sexual sin when both partners are not married; we call it fornication. Like unto it is thinking about committing sexual sin with someone; like unto it is making physical contact with someone, of the opposite sex, in an inappropriate way; like unto it watching movies or shows on television, listening to music and reading books that promote sexual sin as if it was something normal, and acceptable; like unto it is using language or telling jokes that are not appropriate.

Young sisters, you need to read 2 Samuel 13. Amnon loved his brother’s sister Tamar. He made up a story to get her to come into his place with him when they could be alone. He wanted her to fix him something to eat, and as she was doing that, he forced her. She tried to say no, this is wrong. They were of the same family and the same religion. If that young man you are seeing is not a member of the Church, how much different will his values be. He may say he loves you and giving him what he wants proves your love for him, but look what happened to Tamar after Amnon got what he wanted.

15 Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone.
16 And she said unto him, There is no cause: this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken unto her.
17 Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her.

He chased her away. Young men, it is not love, but lust, that pushes us to acts of sexual impurity before we are married. Young women, once we have submitted, the supposed love turns to dislike and hate. If they will do that before marriage, what will they do, and with whom will they do it, after marriage?

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45 counsels us to let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.

President Boyd K. Packer, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave us some good counsel when he said that the mind can only have one thought going on at a time. When we have inappropriate thoughts, we can replace those thoughts by memorizing a favourite hymn and letting that go though our mind until the bad thoughts are gone.

Sometimes, as we go from place to place, not only in Zimbabwe, in Canada also, I almost have to hold my hands in front of my eyes, as I walk down the street, for fear that certain body parts are going to fall out right in front of me because they are so exposed. Other times, the clothes that people wear are so tight fitting that the clothes leave nothing to the imagination. It is difficult to have virtuous thoughts when the way we dress detracts from modesty. We can be beautifully dressed and still dress modestly. Your children watch how you dress and they will do as you do. If you stretch the limits of modesty, so will they. However, if you demonstrate how beautifully you can modestly dress, they will follow in your footsteps. Sister Bullock suggested that if you will dress yourselves, and your children, as if you were wearing the garment of the temple, you, and they, will not have to change the way you dress when you go to the temple.

Ephesians 2:19-20
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

Sisters, if President Monson was sitting up here, I wonder how many would nurse your babies in front of him. That may be an accepted cultural tradition of the past, but when we join The Church of Jesus Christ, we leave some of the incorrect traditions, of our past life, behind and adopt higher traditions of modesty. The chapel is not the place to feed your babies, nor is being where the public can observe you. A small blanket can be used to cover yourself so that modesty can be preserved.

In Mosiah 4:29-30 And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them. But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

In the last days of the Nephite nation, Mormon mourns about how the people had lost their sense of moral values and civility.

Moroni 9:11-14
11 O my beloved son, how can a people like this, that are without civilization—
12 (And only a few years have passed away, and they were a civil and a delightsome people)
13 But O my son, how can a people like this, whose delight is in so much abomination—
14 How can we expect that God will stay his hand in judgment against us?

Moroni counsels us that the Book of Mormon is to help us to be wiser than they were.

Physical intimacy between a husband and wife is a beautiful and sacred part of God’s plan for His children. It is an expression of love within a marriage and allows husband and wife to participate in the creation of life. God has commanded that this sacred power be expressed only between a man and a woman who are married. The law of chastity applies to both men and women. It includes strict abstinence from sexual relations before marriage and complete fidelity and loyalty to one’s spouse after marriage.

Our Mission

Hi,

A couple of days ago Kimberley got 2 cheques in the mail for us from Deseret Mutual Insurance (the co. that insures missionary couples). She also discovered that in November they credited our Master Card with over $2000. She called them and was told that we were released last March and that we never came to Zimbabwe. They have been charging our M/C each month for our health insurance and Kim has been paying it (and the credit was them paying it all back, since they thought they were charging us in error). YIKES!! She assured them that we were indeed here and was told that we need to call them to fix things. We will do that on Monday.

Jim called the Missionary Dept. this morning (late night for them) and talked to Bro. Seegmiller. He is also the fellow that we talked to there before we came (we had Grandma Bullock with us). It seems that the Missionary Dept. also has in their records that we were released in March and never came here. He will look into it and straighten things out.
We are having a good chuckle!! They did pay for our plane tickets here so.....????

Perhaps our being here is just an illusion!!! At least our superiors in South Africa know we are here.

Elder/Sister Bullock

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Hi to our family and friends,

We are about to wind up our P-day. We went grocery shopping and bought a few things - oranges, apples, cabbage, potatoes, butternut squash, yogurt, cheese and eggs.

We came to the office to meet a girl who we had given a wheelchair and it needs a new front wheel (we think she must have banged into something and bent it). We couldn't find a ratchet anywhere to fix it so we took her to her friend's house not far away, only to find out that the friend had passed away this morning. (We had met the lady before too as she works for the minister of health - apparently she had a stroke. - Too bad she was a lady that did a lot of good here in Zimbabwe). That, of course, was upsetting to her. We then took her to her uncle's place and left the replacement parts with them and hopefully he can fix it. We were late for an appointment so couldn't hang around. She will call and let us know.

We then went to meet Linda. She has a sister in Canada that works with Darwin Hawryluk (Kimberley's father-in-law). She is a really nice lady. We talked about our mission and what we do and a bit about the church but she didn't seem interested in learning more. They go to the Salvation Army church. She has two young daughters. Her husband was not there as he was working. We will have to try and meet him sometime.

This past Wednesday we went to a lunch where Pres. Dube was introduced as the new mission president to Gov't ministers and some ambassadors of other countries. Everyone felt like it went really well. One minister gave the closing remarks (at his request) and said he didn't
realize the church was even here and did not know about all that we do here. He offered his assistance if we ever need anything. That was a really good thing!! Someone was there to take pictures of the event so who knows, it could end up in the church news.

Yesterday we taught Merci another discussion and she is excited still for her baptism date and we are excited too. Our other family from Epworth, the Kureva family, are doing well and are postponing their baptism 1 week so that they can all be baptized together. It will be on the 15th of August, the same day as Merci. Won't that be a great day for us - 4 baptisms. We went to visit the Kurevas on Thursday afternoon and the son, Panashe, ask Elder Bullock if he would help him with his testimony. Elder Bullock ask him what he knows and Panashe bore his testimony just fine on his own. He's a smart young man - seems older than his 11 years sometimes. We asked him what the missionaries had been teaching him and he said chastity". We asked him what that meant and he held up his hand and counted off 4 things: 1) no kissing 2) no sex before marriage 3) no pornography, 4) don't go naked (dress modestly). :)

We have a new office couple coming this week to replace the Taylors. We will help Taylors get a flat ready for them with a bit of food and a fresh bed etc. They are the Deppe's. Sister Deppe doesn't know this yet but she and I have been asked to prepare supper for Elder Jeffrey R. Holland the night he stays in Harare, after an afternoon fireside that he will do here. The supper will be at the mission home. I have also been ask to play the keyboard (organ - hooked up to the sound system) for the fireside and for the choir. YIKES! I guess I will practice all month and then pray a lot!!! Elder Taylor played for the choir at their stake conference last month but he won't be here so I guess I am next up.

Elder Holland will do a fireside here on the 28th and then got to Mutare early on they 29th and do some District training there on Saturday and then conference on Sunday. We will be going there with him (probably not in the same vehicle). Sis. Taylor is working with the District president's wife, Sis. Chadambuka, to find a place for everyone to have supper in Mutare -- there are not a lot of options to choose from and no place to really be able to fix a meal ourselves. The missionaries will likely to invited to eat with us as well. (We will meet Elaine Edmonds nephew on that trip as he is serving there.)

Mutare District is one of our new assignments as Elder Bullock is now a counselor in the mission presidency. We will be going there fairly regularly (probably once a month at least) and attending meetings and doing training. We will also be assigned Masvingo branch. The
branch president was just released there last week (after 14 years) and the new one is feeling rather overwelmed and some new callings have been and are being made so they will need help with training. It will be a stretch for us as well - we will spend lots of time reading the handbooks!!

President Dube is out of town right now so Elder Bullock had his first situation to deal with yesterday with a missionary that wanted to go home. He has already been sent home from one mission but Pres. Dube felt like he is a good young man and decided to keep him here to
finish his mission. (his home is only an hour away). The AP's had talked with him and he was walking out to go home when Elder Bullock went after him and sat on the grass outside and talked for a while. He came back in, hugged his companion, and they left together much happier. Today we haven't heard anything so we are assuming that 'no news is good news'.

Tomorrow we are off to Marondera for church and Elder Bullock has to do the branch audit. Next week he will do the one in Kadoma too. Hopefully they go smoothly because I am suppose to be at the choir practice at 3:30 p.m. with my keyboard.

We are hoping some of the white shirts that have been sent to us arrive soon as we really would like to give one to Panashe and his dad when they gets baptized on the 15th. We will cross our fingers or try and search for some in the clothes we received in the container. I know there is one there that will fit the dad but nothing for Panashe and he would be so pleased to have one. I think there are some ties in Pres. Nield's container.

That's about it for our week. Hope all is well back in America with our loved ones!

Monday, July 20, 2009

We got up at 5:45 a.m. and went for our hour walk, had breakfast and headed to our office. We were excited to pick up our brand new Isuzu diesel truck today – twin cab with a topper on the back. It will be nice to have it. We need to go buy some diesel coupons now. We will buy a book of 100 coupons – each coupon is for 20 litres of fuel. I suppose using coupons helps to keep from having to handle the cash and probably is a method of security for the fuel companies and their employees. If you don’t have a coupon you can always buy one from one of several people trying to sell them at the entrance to the gas station but they likely cost more.

Our new LDSC truck

Pastor Seka came in again today. They ask if we would help them out as they (their congregation, I guess) are supporting 3 college students. We gave them each a blanket, hygiene kit and a few items of clothing. Pastor Seka was also anxious to talk some more about the Book of Mormon and some other literature that we gave last week. He has read it and knows he has found the truth. He said he is prepared to make a sacrifice. He wants to come to Harare and be taught. He said he was sitting in church yesterday and he looked out at his congregation and he thought to himself, “I don’t belong here anymore –these are not my people”. He is willing to find any job he can do so he can support his family here in Harare where he can be taught by the missionaries. When he was out by the container he grabbed Elder Bullock and said, “I love you”. I asked him if his wife was okay with moving to Harare and he said she is though she doesn’t understand about the church yet but is willing to learn. They have two children – 9 years old and 3 years old. While he was waiting for us at the mission office he was talking to the elders and they were talking to him about some gospel principles. He was just eating it all up.

Elder Bullock and Pastor Seka

When he was in last week he said he wanted to be baptized and we told him that there were some things he needed to learn first. Today when he came in he had the pamphlets in his hand and said he now realizes that there is a lot to learn and he is eager to get started. It is thrilling and humbling to be part of this and see the Lord work on this man. He will be a great asset to the Lord’s kingdom here in Zimbabwe.

We taught Merci another discussion this morning and she is doing just fine. She really is a ‘golden’ contact that we know we were led to and she feels that as well.

Our family from Epworth were at church again yesterday for the fourth week in a row. They are doing well – Panashe and his mom are coming along faster than the dad. He has some word of wisdom problems to conquer and because of work (selling fruit) he hasn’t been in on all the discussions. He is going to church though and is doing okay.

Answer, our other contact, has been to church 3 times now and we need to get the missionaries teaching him. He called us last night to tell us he had been to church again.

Isn’t this just the greatest? These people are so good. O yeah – we are suppose to be humanitarian welfare missionaries doing water projects! We are working on that too, believe it or not. We just need the Lord to help us find where we are suppose to do a project. We thought we had a good possibility but are not convinced. We are trying to get hold of someone at Zimbabwe Water Authority to see if they can advise us on where there is the greatest need. We noticed in reading a couple of past projects that the couple had worked with them so..... We may have to just go to their offices as no one will answer the phone number we were given for the ‘ground water’ division. Tomorrow we are meeting with some people regarding a request to replace a borehole pump at a school and do a borehole at another school. They are in the city of Harare. They are hooked up to the city water system but since no repairs have been done to any water systems for years the water mostly just seeps out from broken underground pipes and runs down the roads and is wasted. This is a common sight. It is a sad thing as there is such a need for water.

Off to bed! We actually have had power all evening! Here are some pictures you will find interesting of a shoe brush business:

Small business of making shoe brushes

They use cow's tail

Cut, bend in half and wire the hair and then insert into drilled holes in the block of wood

They are making these shoe brushes

P.S. We can finally announce that Jeffrey R. Holland is coming here at the end of August. He will be talking to the saints here in Harare on the 29th and then going to Mutare and from what we understand he will be changing the district there into a stake. His security people are coming a couple of weeks early to check out everything here and were happy to hear that we have an X-policeman here who can possibly help them with the security for Elder Holland. After what happened to Russell M. Nelson in Mozambique last month they are being very careful. The people here are going to be excited to have an apostle visit. We have told our pastors about his visit and they want to come too.

That's all for now. Love, Sister Bullock/mom

More of Monday, July 13th

We had an interesting and busy day today. We started out by meeting with Bishop Chris from the rural areas. He is the one who asks us continually for things that he can take back to his people and we have been warning him that we cannot keep giving as our focus is changing. We find him very manipulative. What it really came down to is that he will lose ‘face’ with his community if we don’t give him something to take back. We told him that we have to tell him ‘no’ and he will have to tell the people ‘no’. We discussed with him for well over an hour and he finally left with nothing. He has been receiving handouts from LDS Charities for a long time.

We talked to him about how people have to learn to take care of themselves and become self reliant. It was hard for him. Next, Pastor Mataya came to see us. He hasn’t received anything from the container yet so we arranged with him to take some clothes and blankets out to the rural area that he works in – also explaining that we can’t give him any more after this.

NOW – for the highlight of our day! Pastor Mike and Pastor Seka came to see us but they never asked for anything!! They are from Muzarabani – about 300 km. north. Last time we saw them Elder Bullock gave Pastor Seka a Book of Mormon and he has been reading it. They wanted to talk about it and learn more. They both have congregations and want to teach them from the Book of Mormon and want to make sure they understand. They are willing to come and ‘squat’ for a few days in Harare so they can be taught. Elder Bullock (Jim) taught them about where the B of M comes from and about the atonement and several other things. We invited the AP’s to come in and they talked to them for a little while. The pastors just ate it all up – they have also learned some things from humanitarian couples that they have dealt with previously. I wish I had a recording of our visit with them. They want it so badly. I ask what their superiors would think if they knew they were teaching from the B of M and they looked a little sheepish and said they would likely be run off – but they don’t care. I told them that our bishops and leaders do not get paid (it is all – if they join the church that would be the end of their income as pastors. That was okay too. Anyhow, due to the fact that they are so far from our ‘center of strength’ they cannot be taught. We have no missionaries up there because we don’t have enough to cover the area. They could come here and be taught but could not be baptized as there is no branch where they are.

Anyway – the mission president said we could give them each the missionary pamphlets, a conference edition of the Ensign magazine and a couple other things so that they have some correct things to teach. They were so happy to have the Book of Mormon and are so determined to teach their people. It was really an amazing experience – just like ones we hear about now and then. I don’t know what will happen but eventually the church will get to them – we just need more couples and missionaries to cover places like this so they can have the gospel.

This afternoon we met with some people from our church who wanted to show us a garden project they want to do and a need for some boreholes in the area. We have been praying that if we are suppose to do water projects that the Lord will guide us to the place that we could do this. This just might be an answer to prayer – it has some really good possibilities that we will pursue and is in an area that would help a large amount of people who now walk a long distance to get clean water.

Primary children at Marondera Branch carrying their chairs to primary

Baptism Date

We are really excited. The elders called us last night to tell us that 'our family' have agreed to a baptism date of Aug. 8th. This is the family that came to us because they had been robbed and we gave them blankets and some clothes. We talked to them about the gospel and they came out to the first 'branch' - well not a branch yet - meeting that was held in Epworth and at that time set a date with the missionaries to come and teach them. We showed the elders where their house is and sat in on their first discussion. They have the 11 yr. old son that we gave shoes to - the one who threw his arms around Elder Bullock and said 'thank you, papa'. He is a great boy - smart. He will be a great missionary one day!!!!! Their names are: husband: Gift Kureva, wife: Zvikomborero (means - gift in Shona) so the elders have nicknamed them the Gifts, children: Panashe - 11 yr. old boy, Poshia - 9 yr. old girl, Rumbidzai - 3 yr. old girl.

Sister Bullock & Zvikomborero Murniro in Epworth
(I have sent this picture before, but thought I would put it up again so you could see what she looks like again.)

We visited with our other investigator, Mercy, late yesterday to see how she is doing. She has been reading and praying. We left her another pamphlet and a Liahona. She said she believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We haven't taught her about the word of wisdom yet and she said, "I've been trying not to drink coffee or tea because I know you don't do that". She said that she drinks a coffee now and then. We told her she could drink herbal tea if she wanted to. She then said that she wondered how it would work since part of her restaurant business is selling coffee and tea. We told her it was fine. She might decide differently down the road. She is really doing some thinking though. She is a rather independent type girl -- I wondered how she would react to only men holding the priesthood and interestingly enough she asked about that. We explained it and she thanked us for not beating around the bush. She said she liked the answer -- that God created Adam and Eve to walk side by side and to work together. I told her that I had never felt 'put down' as a woman in the church and that we have women who have leadership positions in the Relief Society, primary, etc. She was okay with it. Anyway - she is doing great and we think she is just great!!!! She is really an intelligent, sharp lady. We will introduce the sister missionaries to her so they can visit with her while we are in Johannesburg next week.

Our mission isn't a proselyting mission but we do try and talk to people whenever we can. We also have another man and his wife taking the discussions with the missionaries (Funuel) - the man we met when we walk in the mornings. His brother and wife are also listening and it sounds like they are doing well. We also have 'Answer' a waiter at a restaurant that we talked to and he has been to church a couple of times but we haven't gotten missionaries to him yet. We need to get on them again to go visit him as he has great potential too.

We went to the 4th of July celebration at the ambassador's yard. It was hamburgers and hot dogs and potluck salads and desserts. We ate too much!!! They had a bit of entertainment and some games for the kids. We didn't stay the whole time but it was an enjoyable couple of hours.

We are off to Kadoma tomorrow for church.
We love you all, E/S Bullock

Sunday, June, 21, 2009

I attached my letter that I wrote yesterday on word document.

We have a fellow that we have seen a lot when walking in the mornings and Jim gave him a Book of Mormon and introduced him to the missionaries. The elders met with him yesterday and he had his wife there and also his brother and his wife. They taught them and have another appointment next week as well. :) We are excited about that!

Sunday, June-21-09
Today we went to the first church meeting held in Epworth. It wasn’t the beginning of a branch, like I first thought it was going to be, but there will be Sunday meetings held there and when there are sufficient priesthood holders to form a branch then that will happen. The missionaries had passed out flyers and some pamphlets the past couple of weeks and we had about 44 people there. We were excited that our new friends from Epworth came and she brought her husband as well. His name is Gift and her name is Eveleen. Their son, Panache, the 11 yr. Old that we gave shoes to recently was there also. Panache also brought along his best friend, Brite, and Brite’s two sisters, Michelle and Olivia. Eveleen’s good friend, Beatrice, also came. They came late and missed sacrament meeting but were there for the Sunday School lesson that the elders taught about the Plan of Salvation. It was a really good lesson. Afterwards our friends made an appointment with the elders to come and teach them on Thursday. The elders were making several other appointments as well so all in all I would say that things went rather well.

I took the piano keyboard with me (with batteries, due to no power) and played the music. They ask Jim to lead and he did a fine job of it. The stake president and a counsellor in the stake presidency spoke in Sacrament meeting about the history and restoration of the church, also a ward missionary from the Queensdale ward (that ward will be in charge of these meetings).

The meeting was held at a school in one of the classrooms. Each classroom is it’s own building with dust pathways around them. They will request a different one for the future though – one on a corner. We were kind of in the middle of things today and it seems that several different churches rent classrooms there. Consequently we had quite a bit of competition as far as noise went. There was singing and drums etc. going on all around and it was hard to hear. From where I was sitting I could see the building right next to us and they were hauling in “American” style drums and sound system. I was really praying that we would get finished our sacrament meeting before they started up – and we did. We shut the windows during Sunday School and that helped some. It was definitely interesting. We were glad to have been there.

There is another lady from Epworth that keeps showing up (mind you – we did give her a flyer about the meeting today). We met her at the Highlands ward a couple of weeks ago and we did go out to her place after she ask for some help. She is not a member but knew to come to the church to ask for assistance. We did give her some blankets, soap etc. then but she wasn’t really happy because we didn’t take food too. (we don’t have food to give) Today she approached me and said that I had promised to bring her something and I told her ‘no, I hadn’t promised any such thing’. She wants food, money, or whatever. She had approached Jim before me and given him a sad story. We purposely had nothing with us. We don’t want people coming to church just because they think that they will be able to get stuff from us. In reality, the members do not receive from LDSC (humanitarian) but they would receive through the bishop (fast offerings) if the bishop feels they are in need. This lady does appear to be needy but it is hard because she will drive us crazy and we could never give her enough. I think she is a grandmother taking care of a couple of orphan grandchildren. We did give blankets so that they won’t be cold at night. We do not give money. By the way, the lady Paulene, in Epworth, that I gave $10 so she could start her banana business just spent the money. We also found out that she is living in a polygamy situation so the elders cannot teach her. There is a lot of that here.

Anyway that is our Sunday. We will have Taylors over for supper later – a combined effort. We will have some pot roast with potatoes and carrots and cabbage salad (coleslaw). We eat a lot of coleslaw here as cabbage is plentiful and cheap. There is lettuce but it isn’t all that great and it goes bad quickly – And the salad dressing here leaves something to be desired!! Cabbage and broccoli are in season now and there have been some nice looking heads.

One more thing – I want to copy a text message we received a couple of days ago from a Pastor. We are a little disgusted with his greediness. This is what he sent. “Elder, how are you this morning. Am going back to Muzarabani today so see you on Monday for our 836 orphans, 52 volunteers, and 300 guardians. Am requesting the following: 2 boxes of toys, 6 bales clothes for children, 2 bales for women guardians and volunteers, 2 for men. Then 15 boxes of school kits and 20 boxes of hygiene kits, wheelchairs and a borehole. I will talk to you on Monday. Pastor Mike.” That is quite the request. I guess our meeting Monday will be interesting. Maybe we will want to just run and hide when he comes!! We only have 4 bales of children’s clothes left – we had 15 bales. We want to try and take some to an orphanage in Mutare that we visited when we first arrived here. It was run by some nuns and they really did need help – I think they had 29 children living there. It was up in the hills away from Mutare. (We are meeting with the Mutare District President tomorrow about possibly doing something there). He may want to have the youth do a service project again at the same time. There is also a school for the handicapped in Mutare that we could perhaps give some school kits to (the kids live at the school). There aren’t a huge number of them.

We are thinking that we will write up an initiative right away for purchasing some exercise books for schools. There is such a huge need for them and that is something that we can buy here – rather than have the shipping costs. If the initiative is approved we would have the money available to order the books as we need them. They also really need chalk and pens/pencils. Schools have ask us for exercise books even just for the teachers so that they can have something to use for their planning (scheming, as they say). I hope I am not repeating myself as I ramble – if I have said this before, sorry for repeating it. I will end this for now.

Much love to our family and friends. The Bullocks

Good morning to you!

We went to see Pauline and baby Edson today. We gave her a newborn baby kit that we found in the Nield's container (they said we could use stuff from there). It had 4 cloth diapers, pins, an undershirt, socks, 2 bars of soap and a receiving blanket. We took 4 diapers from another kit for her as well. I don't know how the baby is really doing - he doesn't look all that good. I don't think he is out of the woods by any means. She said he is nursing and he did open his eyes but he is VERY small. They don't have much/if any food left and their landlord is after them for rent ($15/month). We don't give out money.

Actually Pauline showed up here at the office this morning to ask for rent money - she had walked here, she said. It is quite a ways for a person to walk. We told her we were planning to visit her this afternoon and that we would give her a ride home. I had Samantha, a Shona lady that works here, talk to her. We were really torn as to what we should do. After consulting with each other and with Samantha we decided to give Pauline the rent money (out of our pocket). We also talked about how Pauline was going to pay the next month's rent. She said before the baby came she sold bananas/vegetables on the side of the road but that she has no capitol to get started again. She needed $6 for that. We gave her $10 and Samantha explained to her that she had to be wise and use it to get her business started. Samantha thinks she will -- and if she doesn't then - at least we
tried to help her.

I know this sounds like it shouldn't really be a hard decision on our part but you have to realize that we have to be very careful because people will just keep coming back for more. Samantha told her that there is no more ever. Hopefully she won't come back asking (but she probably will and we will have to be strong and say 'no'). We don't want a line up of people at our door begging for money.

$25 is nothing really to us in America but.... we could give out thousands and they would just keep taking. Our gate guard has ask us for a loan - we said no. Our housekeeper and her husband, the gardener have ask us for advances on their pay and we have said no - we will pay them at the beginning of each month. (If we pay in advance then what will they do the next month, etc.) Anyway - you can see the problem. People want to be our friend and then ask for
money - if you don't give then they aren't your friend anymore. They would bleed us dry.

I hope we didn't make a mistake helping Pauline today - I guess time will tell.

The missionaries followed us out to Pauline's today and met them. They set up an appointment to go back next Thursday and teach them and left them with a pamphlet to read. They would love to get a branch going in that area. While there a lady sitting outside talked to them and said she used to go to our church and they invited her to come back. So - perhaps something good will come out of this!!

I got a b.d. card in the mail today from the R.S. presidency. That was nice. It came through fairly quickly. Also a small package from my friend Ruth. Our first mail here!!

Must run. Love, Nancy/Mom