Elder Nimmo's Adventures in Africa: Week 91

"My whole life I had the goal to work and save money to pay for my full-time mission because I wanted to own this experience. I have had many goals while serving my mission in Mozambique and now in Swaziland."

Monday, April 17th, 2017

Happy Easter Sunday from Swaziland!

Sawubona (Hello) Everyone!

Ngiyakwemukela ku Swaziland! (Welcome to Swaziland!)

Unjani? (How are you?)

I’m fine and excited to be in Swaziland! I was hoping to be able to come to this country at some point during my mission and I’m grateful that I will finally get my chance to serve here. My area is Sidwashini, it is known to be the hardest area but I’m determined to turn that reputation around. Actually we’ve already had some success in teaching this week and I think that we’ll have a couple of people who will be baptized. The area here has a lot of hills, mountains and it’s a bit cooler. We are far from the chapel but we use a Kombi/Chapa when we’re not walking. While driving to my new area I got excited when I spotted three giraffe just roaming around the landscape. It was cool! This is the first time that I’ve had a chance to see animals in the wild while I’ve been in Africa.

My original thought was that I hoped that my last area on my mission would not be Swaziland because they speak English and siSwati but no Portuguese. I was worried that if I spent too much time at the end of my mission not speaking Portuguese, I would lose a lot of the language. But thankfully my new companion, Elder Guilherme, is from Quelimane, Mozambique. He doesn’t speak a whole lot of English so it looks like I’ll be able to keep up on my Portuguese while we are serving together. I’ll try to learn as much siSwati as possible. Actually my main objective should be to retain my English! They don’t speak it very well here. LOL

After hearing the news that President Koch was called as a general authority and would be leaving the mission soon, as well as the realization that my own days are numbered here on my mission - I have been looking toward my future. I enjoyed Elder Ballard’s talk in this recent general conference, “Return and Receive” -

“Over the years, I have observed that those who accomplish the most in this world are those with a vision for their lives, with goals to keep them focused on their vision and tactical plans for how to achieve them. Knowing where you are going and how you expect to get there can bring meaning, purpose, and accomplishment to life.”

Elder Ballard continues,

“It is good to have goals and plans for our careers, for our education, even for our golf game. It is also important to have goals for our marriages, our families, and our Church councils and callings; this is especially true for missionaries. But our greatest and most overriding goals should fit into Heavenly Father’s eternal plan. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

My whole life I had the goal to work and save money to pay for my full-time mission because I wanted to own this experience. I have had many goals while serving my mission in Mozambique and now in Swaziland. As I look to my future and reflect upon the counsel of Elder Ballard - I have a vision for my life, I have goals and plans for how to achieve them. Ultimately we all have to ask ourselves individually; Do my goals align with our Heavenly Father’s plan for our happiness? Is my “eye single to the glory of God?”

I encourage all of us to take some time and reflect upon our vision for ourselves, review our dreams, desires, plans, and make sure they are in harmony with our ultimate goal of eternal life. It’s my hope that we can all progress on the road to return to our Heavenly Father and receive all that He has planned for us.

I hope you all had a good Easter,

Ngiyakwemukela! (I love you!)

Sala kahle - (Good bye)

Elder Nimmo