Nacala takes Maputo

Once upon a time my companion had me do a push up challenge and we ended up doing 435 push ups. My body hurts.

This week was interesting as we didn't spend much time in Nacala. The cause? Zone conference in...... yeah I know I already spoiled it, MAPUTO hahaha I went back to my old stomping grounds and President let me drive a couple times while I was there so I felt back at home hahaha. But sad thing..... I totally got way sick as we were leaving Nacala and during almost the whole trip I was suffering and I definitely spent a lot of time on the throne. But good news.... it passed and I'm better now.

We had a great conference, we spoke a lot about involving the members in the work and how we can work with our leaders to build Zion here on earth. We also got a piano for Nacala and a white board (more to come on that).

So we came back and we had a bunch on visits on Saturday with some of the members and then we also had a cleaning of the chapel and a music class taught by.... Elder Thornton. Hahaha, I am officially the Pianista de Nacala hahaha (yeah I know you are probably saying I told you so Mom.....;) So we had church and it was great and this week we are preparing to baptize three men named Felizberto, Amisse and Cesar. They all showed up for the cleaning and helped us clean up another bat that died in our yard.... hehehe.  Anyways, I'll have some great pictures next week but for now I love y'all and I'm excited to see Nacala grow and become a branch some day!!

-Elder Thornton

P.S. There are some rumors about a change in communication..... hahaha at least here in Nacala it's a myth.  We don't really have the capacity to do anything else seeing as we still cannot use members devices and Nacala is definitely very limited in all communication, so sorry Fam!!

I'm dreaming of a dead bat!

So great news.... it seems that the bat infested tree above our house has caught some kind of disease and every once and a while a bat or two will just fall out and die. Its been pretty interesting.

This week we had a cool baptism of Tomas, Andre and Nelinho. Three very excited men that should help this Nacala group a ton.

 I felt inspired (by my mother) to list some of the things I love about Nacala

-Its extremely pretty and it takes your breath away
-The people are so great at participating in activities and love learning English
-The guys that I am here with are literally the best and that is a blessing
-The opportunity to be a part of Nacala's growth has been a once in a mission opportunity that I am cherishing.
-The bats are pretty cool
-The grocery store only has cereal....and sardines. So I literally eat cereal and sardines (there exists more there to the talented in cooking, but seeming that I am impaired in that area of knowledge I eat cereal)
-I work on the side of a mountain. Its super pretty and incredibly great to return home every day drenched in sweat. (my shirts have been looking great these days)
-People think that we are pilots and I am Messi..... so that's pretty cool i guess
-On Mondays we eat at this place that has pizza, its pretty good
-Baptisms are pretty darn cool I do have to say
-The mission is just flying here. I feel like I got here yesterday.

So, just some of the things I love. Not much more I have the desire to say today besides that I love y'all and the restored gospel that brings me so much peace and understanding.

-Elder Thornton

At the Beach for the 3 Baptisms

 Group at beach for baptisms

 Missionaries with those that were baptized

energy boat in harbor

Missionaries with the group members in Nacala

 A cool fence

Jonny with members in Nacala

 Airport in Nacala

 Pretty beach scenes

 Jonny and Elder Latu eating coconuts on P-day

 Scenery in Nacala

 Jonny in house where they live

Maningue News February 11, 2019

Nacala Part 2

Another great week and another crappy session of internet. So our problem here isn't energy or lack of a place to go to do internet (as we found a place last week) but the internet is slower than a small child trying to do a pull up.

We worked hard this week and lots of great stuff happened including a wonderfully incredible group activity on Saturday where we went to the beach with all the interested people and we played games. I also raced Elvira's son who's 17. I won. Video included. Some sad stuff going on.... lots of the people that we were teaching decided to move. Bummer.

Nacala is beautiful and my companion is a stud. The Nacala squad here is very well mannered and powerful. Like a hippo. It really helps getting everyone excited about the gospel. I have done some different stuff these last days. I taught a music class to a bunch of the new people. That was pretty hard and i realized that music still doesn't make sense but it sounds good so we just leave it be.

The weirdest thing about Nacala is that our area is like a mountain. And i sweat a ton. As I climb the mountain I feel as though I am a dry sponge that magically is still releasing copious amounts of water.

I'm going to sacrifice my writing time to try and upload some photos for y'all. Its really pretty here and the people are preettttyyyy great. I love the life and the mission. Its been a huge growing experience and I've loved the way I've seen myself and others change.

This next week we should be having another baptism. his name is Thomas. He is from Beira and likes to butcher and eat goats. Hes really great and I love the way he has openly accepted the commandments of God. We taught him about the the day of the Lord and we taught him about how we shouldn't work on Sundays. He owns a little shop and when we passed by on Sundays he was always open. But this last Sunday.... CLOSED hahaha I love that guy so much. We are doing good. until next week Y'all!!

-Elder Thornton

At Beach for Baptism

 Nacala Squad

Chapa

Elder Latu and Jonny enjoying the view

Missionaries with family