Caterpillars. Yum!!

I'm sure he's going to want to bring some children home with him.

we baptized Arnold.

yes those are caterpillars. called madora. it first feels like beef jerky then the inside is chewy soft and it taste like bland beef. or something. yeah.

Do you think this kid wants a package? I have sent him 3 packages and he has gotten 2 of them, but with only caterpillars to eat...

also, you could send oreos, ritz crackers, hand sanitizer. but they go through packages sometimes so i might not get it. remember that the packages can't be too big or we have to pay a lot of money to get them. 

It is a challenge with less active people here. it seems like everyone is so passionate about their church but not about the lds church. our members are just going through the motions. i need to know how to teach these people i just don't know how. agh...

I still have confirmations to remind me that God cares. trust me i can doubt like no other. so it is good to have those sudden breakthroughs. i like those experiences. i kind of understand why you'd always ask me what i was thinking. people have these things go through their heads and it is nice to see how far they are coming. like right now it is p-day and all i can think of is playing zelda... and how much i love my family and stuff and how much this gospel is blessing people here.

...we need to have faith in Jesus Christ that is what leads us to do anything like going to church and prayer and repentance and everything. we can know there is a God not because we see him and hear his voice... but we CAN know he is there because we see his creations and we hear his Gospel now founded by Jesus Christ. (Alma 30) everything denotes there is a God.

anyway that was my thought for the past couple of weeks.

I love you all .. how is aliyah?? that is so awesome that she played for the entire ward. i love you all i love it when you share your experiences...

love Elder Beadle

He's getting better at answering my questions... and stuff people could send him if they wanted to.

Two recent letters: 

yes, tell vicky I have a fridge.
i got a package on may 13th with my insoles.
The letters with the different stamp values got here the same time.
I got the medicine you sent, thanks.
Thank you so much for those treats. i loved the cracker jack. and the insoles and the hi chews.. maybe just send me one package full of those haha..
I have some ideas for some stuff you could send to me if you wanted to...
-granola bars
-cracker jack
-dried fruit (mangoes or something)
-chocolates (mmm) I'm thinking these aren't going to travel well. Maybe sealed in a zip-loc bag?
-pork jerky or beef
-justin rich: send me some chinese candy
-chocolate chips
-gum (lots)Do missionaries chew gum? With their mouths closed?
-hi chews
-any other surprises you can think of.
of course i have two years so you don't need to send all of that in one pack or at one time but i love a little boost of sweets and stuff. haha thanks so much for the package i will check for more today.
okay. maybe hire blake to get mp3's of hopper sisters, camp loll songs, and other stuff like cool voice recordings or something haha and put it on dropbox. Okay, so his mother never capitalizes the word "i" but does that give him permission to hardly ever use capitals? We aren't picking on him for grammar and spelling, are we? We are just glad to have his letters. That's the truth.

MOM I love you, I pray for you, I pray for the family every night. i thank God every morning for you guys.
everything with be alright. tell wade i loved his poem and his letter. tell him to keep me updated on how he is doing with mission prep. and other events etc.
I am happy to hear that karlee is enjoying Piano. That's going to help her later in life and now of course music is enjoyable. I havent touched a musical instrument in so long. agh! i am dying. i never thought i would miss piano.

I feel your prayers I feel your Love I thank you for all the things you are doing for me i am so glad to hear from grandpa b I am going to write Grandma Hopper i miss her for sure.

I miss all of you it was sad to hear about pres. monsons wife. but that is the legacy of the prophets i guess. the wife goes first. if you see Pres. monson tell him i love him. i love all of you and am glad that i have such a great family. i sent you a letter today so you'll get it some time soon. thanks for everything.

talk to you next week. did wade get M.priesthood?

love Elder Beadle

to Dad

We live like a quarter mile from the meeting house. yeah this work isn't easy. but since when was salvation easy? right?


some more Shona words:
Ndinoda (Dinoda)-  I need
Kudya- Eat
Kurara- sleep
Handidi- i don't want
Shamwari- Friend

love you
elder beadle

Dinner Appointment

     The Shona, or African culture is very service-oriented, especially if you are a woman. You cook, you clean, you care for the young and you do everything your husband tells you to do. Now this mama, she is old in age and has her three grandchildren. Their parents are either gone because of death or they have gone to South Africa to work.
     Her name is Gogo(grandma) Makoni. and she lives about a 4 hr walk from our meeting house. Her home, like many of the homes here, is a small 14 ft by 16 ft room. Her bed, made from old crates, boxes, and many blankets piled on for padding took up half of her living space. and the buckets of water stored for the week and the other belongings took up more of the space, leaving a spot of walking space about 5ft by 6ft.
     She doesn't use magetze(electricity) because of the cost. she cooks with paraffin(propane) and the room was thick with the smell of the used gas. As the 4 of us came in we scrunched together and sat down Indian-style on the ground and she wiped off the nicest plates that she had and gave them to us (now when you give something here, you don't just hand it over [like we do in America]. You kneel down and with both hands respectfully as you put the gift forward and wait for them to receive it).  She got down on her age-worn knees and gave us each a plate and then proceeded to wash our hands (now... over here, you don't have a sink to wash your hands. The woman of the house comes to each person and with a pitcher of water and bowl to catch the water. They pour the water over your hands and wait for you to say thank you before they stop.). As she was kneeling, she held the bowl under each of our hands and poured (as she rinsed our hands, I couldn't stop myself from thinking of how the Savior is there to serve us and rinse our unclean hands. This is the same ritual in everyone's house where we eat). Each time she had to retrieve something else for us she would get up and again kneel down. and don't even think of offering to assist. that would be ungrateful and rude.
     She again knelt down with the pots of food. She served us all that she had and as we ate, she waited outside with her children offering whatever amount of space that she could for 4 full-grown men.
     As we left her home that night she called each of us her children and with a smile on her face and almost a tear in her eye she thanked us for blessing her family with our presence and for sharing with the people of Zimbabwe what she thought of as the most wonderful thing in her life which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
 

BEST MOTHER'S DAY EVER!

I admit, I was nervous.
I'm not much of a phone talker.
It's usually just business for me on the phone and even that all went out the window when I heard his voice.
It took a few tries to get through to him, since I have not ever made a call to Zimbabwe before last Sunday.

After we had discussed how he was doing and how I was doing and how was the weather and some umming and errring, I handed him off to Michael and all the kids. Then I remembered that I needed to ask if he had received any of our packages (he didn't know yet, since he hadn't been to the mission office). And then we got him talking and sharing some of the amazing experiences he is having. It was much easier to just let him talk because then we weren't overlapping conversations with our delayed questions.

It was really nice to hear his voice. Made me really happy. And I think it lifted his spirits as well. I was worried that it would make him more homesick.

Then I got looking at my cell phone history online and realized we had talked for a total of 87 minutes. I'm not sure if he's supposed to talk that long. When we asked, he said, "There are rules and there are rules. I could talk all day to you and not feel guilty." Anyway, when I visited my local cell phone store, the gentleman (young boy) there who helped me told me that my call had cost me $234.00. I didn't even bat an eyelash. It was totally worth it, but he kept working his computer and pre-dated my new "international calling plan" 5 days so that it only cost about $48.00. Bonus blessings!

I was also worried that after a phone call, we wouldn't have anything to write in our weekly letter, since we write that on Sunday evening. Not so. Still plenty to write.

And he sent us some great pictures:

Proof that he is still alive

My first experience with The God-Makers. Evil stuff.

Some of the amazing families who have joined the fold of God:

29 April 2013

 This is our church meeting place.

 One of our sweet sun sets

 I am eating a beetle haha. Beadle. Just kidding.

This is my companion, Elder Dwoka with a pine cone that is as big as his head!

We went to an animal sanctuary and we played with little monkeys. They let us into a cage with them jumping everywhere on us it was so cool. They give their monkeys lollipops. I can't believe it.

 I was literally three feet away from a zebra. They would just wander around. This place was cool; we just had animals walking everywhere.

We watched the lions get fed. They were so fat. And scary.

Yeah, we got close, but there was a fence haha—although we did stick our fingers through to get the pics, so we were in real danger. 

This is a great man that we baptized he said that the water was nice but it was cold. And this is his family who doesn't want to join... yet

our font that is cold. i messed up the first name of the girl we baptized. It was in Sindebele and I couldn't say it . I baptized her twice. I am so embarrassed.

 

our food in zim is good. It consists of satza which is maize(corn) sun-dried and ground up and mixed with water. it is like mashed potatoes and very dense. i am gaining weight.
as missionaries our meals range from butternut with rice and meat or groundnuts boiled in water . yep. good times

This stuff is amazing it is Chutney (fruit sauce) i am bringing it to America. It is amazing. They use stuff down here called Mazoe—it is syrup that is fruit flavored. It is water flavoring because the water isn't the best all the time. It is sugar. That is my diet. Rice. Satza. Bread, eggs and sugar. Meat when there is some. It is nasty diet but i am alive.