PICTURED: Magan (Sister Burt) in the background and members of the newly formed branch in Zimbabwe. (The tall one that looks like she could be from Idaho.)

On Magan’s first Sunday in Zimbabwe, the Branch she was assigned to was split. The LDS Newsroom Reported on the “The Harare Zimbabwe Marimba Park Stake is growing. On 21 February a new branch was created, the eighth unit in the stake. It is called the Kuwadzana Third Branch. The creation of this branch brings relief to members who were walking long distances to come to the chapel.” READ ARTICLE HERE.

Hello all! I am in Zimbabwe and slowly adjusting to the culture and missionary life! The flight was good, but it was hard to say goodbye to everyone. 

The first 2 days of being here, we got pulled over because of the white people haha. I;m the only white person anywhere so everyone whistles and talks to me and tells me they love me and even take pictures of and with me. I live in a nice house with lots of mosquitoes and the water situation is rough, but I’m surviving! Me and my comp, Sister Kapinga, take a Kombi to the area every day. I’ve already learned how to greet people and invite them to church in Shona! They think it’s great that I can speak it. 

As far as missionary work, everyone here will listen to what we have to say and they’ll tell us that they’ll go to church, but they aren’t serious about it. We have one investigator who has a baptismal date, he just has to get legally married! So hopefully things will get worked out quickly there! We have another investigator, Properly, who reads the pamphlets we give him, but when I say read, I mean READ. He reads every word and underlines every little word or phrase that he doesn’t understand and he asks questions about every little thing there is to ask a question about! It’s fun, but challenging to teach him and we all learn a lot from each other so it is good! 

I’m learning to love it over here! I love missionary work and I just want to tell everyone I see about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! It is so wonderful. 

I love you all

Sister Burt

  Magan arrived in Harare, Zimbabwe Tuesday, February 16 where she was met by President and Sister Mkhabela. She was assigned to serve with Sister Kapinga in the Kuwadzana area of Harare.

Kuwadzana is located on the south western end of Harare the capital city. It lies just south of the Bulawayo road highway. The location is about 11 Kilometres from the Central Business District of Harare.

Magan answered a few questions that helped us fill in the blanks from her awesome emails.

Did you sleep well last night? 

Slept great last night!! My companion, Sister Ndhlovu has a cold so it forced everyone to not wake up at 5 am! So it was good 🙂

How is your day broken up?

It’s crazy. Basically breakfast at 7, class and teach “investigator” until lunch at 12:30, study time then sport and shower time until dinner, then more class and teach other “investigator until snack time at 9 then get ready for bed! 

Do you go to a ward with members in Johannesburg or is your MTC group a branch?

We just have church here with all 26 of us missionaries and President and Sister Ashton! Last Sunday was so cool. It was the most powerful fast and testimony meeting I have ever been in.

Where are the missionaries going to serve that you work with in the MTC and where are they from?

There are 11 going to Zim. I think and there are 6 african sisters here total, some going to Kenya and are from Kenya, and 4 American sisters. Other than that I think everyone is from South Africa or Zimbabwe or Kenya.

If you have any questions for Sister Burt, click on this post and write them in the Comments section.

 The MTC has been so great. Like I wouldn’t mind staying longer! Fast and Testimony meeting here was powerful. There are only 26 missionaries total, so we have all made great friends. It’s great to have such a good relationship with President and Sister Anderson as well. They are like our Grandparents.

 

During sport time I go out and play volleyball with the elders and a couple sisters come too but I actually do good! haha all of them want me to be on their team and they all call my name to whole time which I love to hear them say in their accents. It’s like British and Austrailian mixed kind of.

I just love it here so much!! The people are so wonderful and I love them all!!! It’s been so fun for me to make new friends. (WHAT? Magan having fun and actually making lots of friends?? I know) I’ve made so many great friendships with everyone. Not sure what it is, but I’ve been way more outgoing than I have ever been and it’s made me progress and have such a great time.

  Chris and Charlie, dear family friends, visited Magan on Day 2. Magan said, “Chris and Charlie just came and saw me! They brought a really cool African BoM! It was so great to see them for a little bit! It made my whole day!! 

I am loving it here so much! I never want to leave :)”

So I’m here in Johannesburg and it is BEAUTIFUL. All the other missionaries arrived today and I love them all!! Last night, there were just 4 of us American sisters, and we went to bed at 10:30 like usual, but when I woke up and looked at my clock and thought it said 6:40 so I freaked out and hurried and got in the shower, but when I got out, everyone was in bed and I was so confused and I looked at my clock and it was only 12:40. Not sure how that happened… hahaha but it gave us a good laugh. Then none of us could sleep so at 2 we finally just turned on the lights and talked and ate candy all night until it was time for breakfast.

The food here is really yummy! Not like American food haha but yummy! We’ve been able to connect with President and Sister Ashton a lot. I love them so much! They have been with us the whole time. It’s been so great getting to know all the people here! I love them all so much and already don’t want to leave!!! On Sunday I will be playing the piano in sacrament meeting while Elder Baldwin sings, so hopefully that goes well!

I’m so excited to start learning and getting ready to go to Zimbabwe!! I’ll only be here for 2 weeks!
I love you all!!
The church is true!

Sister Burt

 I am in Johannesburg at the MTC!! It is SO beautiful here!!! The plane ride was long but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be! It wasn’t a full flight so we got to spread out a little. It still feels kind of like a dream! Plus I’m a little dizzy from the plane… so that makes it even more like a dream hahaha.It’s getting more and more real the longer I’ve been at the MTC! We got here about 30 mins ago and we ate dinner- rice with some thick meat topping gravy stuff. It was yummy! And I HAVE A NAME TAG!!! Yay!! They gave them to us right when we got here. There were 7 of us and more African Elders and Sisters are coming tomorrow. President and Sister Ashton are great. They are from St George and we are their second transfers! We are going to be going to the temple sometime, which is great 🙂 we just filled out the slips for our temple clothes. But I think I’m only here for 2 weeks!!? Thank heavens all my bags arrived, which I was worried about. Also I will be playing the piano A LOT!! I better go. Love you all!! 

Sister Burt

Magan boarded the 7:55 AM Skywest flight at IDA this morning. She connected in SLC and ATL and will arrive in Johannesburg, South Africa at 8:20 AM MT tomorrow. Over 24 hours of travel! After hugs and goodbyes, Magan passed through security and we watched her as she escalated up the stairs to the gate area. She never looked back. We all anticipated and hoped that we could see her smile one more time. She never looked back.

Jesus cautioned in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Lot’s wife turned to a pillar of salt when she “looked back” at a city the Lord had warned to leave behind. (see Genesis 19) Elder Holland described the situation, “Apparently what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. It would appear that even before they were past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her.” We are glad Magan did not turn to a pillar of salt.

Magan left for Africa with focus, faith, and determination. She was so excited to go. She told us a few times that she knew it would be hard. She added that she didn’t know how hard it would be. However, she never wavered in her resolve to go and serve.

Rachel offered the prayer tonight for family prayers. She asked Heavenly Father to bless Magan to arrive safely in Africa. We know she will. Keep her in your prayers!