Week #49 - Church News in Mozambique - July 29th, 2019

Short and brief this week!  I am staying in Beira for another transfer!!  They brought me your package! Thank you, Thank you ! I cannot tell you how much it meant to open it up.  A bunch of missionaries had already looked through it, but I don't think they took anything.  The shoes are AMAZING!!  I feel like I am in heaven when I wear them in the area.  The basketball hoop is the highlight when we come back home and I am trying to stretch out the food!  Please tell Benjamin thank you again for bringing for me!  

I had tons of splits with different missionaries this week.  My companion had other responsibilities.  Our Bishop has set up for us to only mark baptisms for every 2 weeks now.  I think that will help them keep up with all the new members.  We are still teaching a ton and people are progressing well.

Here is the Church News Article that they wrote.  My companion and I are in it.  The couple that wrote it was the couple that we translated for.  If you want to practice your Portuguese you can read it that way too, haha

Thank you again,

Com Amor,

Elder Rees

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29 July 2019-Mozambique Press Releases

The church is growing rapidly in Mozambique

Membership of the Church in Mozambique is on the rise

Church News in Mozambique July 29, 2019  (Church News Article in Portuguese)

(Translated into English)

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While the public affairs councils waited in the corridor of the Beira Stake Center for the start of a training session, two missionaries from the Mozambique Maputo mission, Elder Rees of Kaysville, Utah, and elder Van Orden of Blackfoot Idaho were preparing Eight candidates for a baptismal service that was about to begin. The mighty spirit and energy in the corridor were thrilling. Asking the elders how their work was progressing, with a special light in their eyes, they said:  "This is the third consecutive weekend that we had several baptisms ".

About four months ago, the city of Beira was raved by the Cyclone Idai, whose destruction ruined almost 90% of the city's properties. No power, water or communication service was available for almost a week. Reflecting on the effects of the cyclone, the president of the Beira stake, Freeman Dickie, said the missionary work was well before the cyclone, but there seems to be more baptisms since the devastating passage of the cyclone through the city.

 

The following day in Nampula, Mozambique, President Francisco Senna and sister Senna of the Mozambique Mission Maputo, commented on the growth of the church throughout the mission. "The church has grown rapidly throughout the mission. Growth is the result of local leaders, members and missionaries working together.  "President Senna says the Luaha group is a miraculous example of members and missionaries working together.

The Luaha group is located approximately 2 hours in the forest of the northern remote of Mozambique. The only contact the group has with the outside world is a satellite phone belonging to Brother Bento, the leader of the group who is 83 years old. Brother Benedict and others are actively sharing the gospel with their neighbours in their small village. When they have someone prepared to be baptized, brother Benedict calls the missionaries who are zone leaders for their area and invites them to make the journey in the woods to interview and baptize their investigators. During the previous weekend, the president and sister Senna, two elders from the mission office, elder Moreira and elder Parkin, along with the zone leaders, traveled to Luaha at the request of Brother Benedict. Thirteen candidates for baptism were interviewed and baptized in the nearby creek.

 

Members throughout the country are faithful and devoted. The average attendance at sacrament meetings is almost 70%. At the current pace of mission growth, President Senna is anticipating the creation of three more stakes next year.

To strengthen members and leaders, travel from caravans to the Johannesburg Temple in South Africa is being organised regularly. The bus journey to the temple requires a consecration of time and money. From some locations, it may take up to 100 hours to reach the temple, but blessings have been worth the sacrifice. President Senna said eleven of the thirteen branch presidents and all of a district presidency have received their investiture in the temple since the beginning of 2018.

The power of the Temple Endowment and the temple's associated blessings have greatly strengthened church members and boosted missionary efforts. Members are hopeful that one day there will be a temple in Mozambique. President Sena says that "when a temple arrives, it will have been symbolically built, one brick at a time, through each member's efforts. Our Heavenly Father's eyes are watching Mozambique.