Week 81: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Note from mom:  No e-mail for everyone this week.  He didn't have much time to write and promises a big letter with lots of pictures, recordings and videos next week!  We had a wonderful Skype with Elder Rash on Christmas Eve!  We laughed, cried, teased....it was as if he was in the room with us!  He bore his testimony of the Gospel, his love for the people he is serving, and his great love for his mission.  He is not ready to come home!

December 26, 2016

Mom. I love you so much. I wish I had more time to use internet, but next week I will send recordings and videos to you guys. I promise. I love you. Christmas was really good and really different. I miss American Christmas's.

Thank you so much for the videos and pictures!

I love you Mom!

I talked to President a little about the extension, and at first he told me that the Area Presidency is not allowing any extensions at all... I will talk to him a little later to ask him a bit more about it.

I loved Skyping you guys.

I love you guys. Thank you for all that you do for me, Mom. I will write more next week, I promise!

Merry Christmas from the Maputo, Mozambique Mission

Elder Rash helping in the kitchen

Eating and talking with his mouth full

Tradition of giving a tie to a missionary that has inspired you

Exchanging of the ties

Christmas dinner

Gifts from the Koch's. 

Oh how I love that smile!

The WHOLE Rash Family!!!

Very hard for my boys to be serious

Elder Rash and Elder Oliveria from Brazil

Week 80: I have felt like Job these last few weeks

Well this last week was not too productive. Elder Oliveira and I spent a lot of time at the house and at the clinic because of the abscess that I had. For those of you who were not aware, I had a abscess on my face on my jaw that took quite a bit of time, money and suffering to get rid of. Today I am pleased to announce that I am okay! Finally! The abscess is gone, and I am just recovering a little bit. Thank you all for your prayers for us missionaries. We really do feel your support and the power of your prayers.

Congratulations Dad on your graduation! I know you have been working for a long time to attain this goal that you have had. I know you have worked really hard, like you do with everything, to get your Master's Degree. I am grateful for the diligent example that you have set for me all my life. You do not cease to amaze me, Dad. I love you and I am so proud of you and your accomplishments.

Just a quick update. We are planning two weddings for January. Elizio and Clara decided to get married, Finally! Hercilio and Saquinna have been traveling for work, so we haven't seen them lately, but when Saquinna came to church yesterday, so that was good! We also found that really nice family Idelson and Suzana. They are already married and I have not been able to get ahold of them in a really long time. I know that they were planning a trip, but I don't know where they are. We really want to visit them, but it has been a while.

Well, that is all I have for now. I will see some of you on Friday when I Skype home.

Have a Good Week.

Abraco Forte!
Elder Rash

Note from mom:  Elder Rash really had a hard week last week.  Going to a medical clinic every day, 3 times a day, for 6 days!  He is feeling much better and says that he is 90% better.  The abscess was really bad a required lots of medical attention.  We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers on Elder Rash's behalf.  He has felt them and so have we!  No pictures that we feel we can post of the blog due to the nature of the pictures (all of the abscess that is really nasty!).

Week 79: No time to be sick when you are in the Service of our Lord

Firstly, Happy Birthday, Dad! I don't know your exact age, and I won't even try to guess, but I do know that your birthday was yesterday! Know that I was thinking about you and that I love you.

Secondly, Happy Birthday, Elder Hofeling! Elder Hofeling had his birthday on Dec. 9th and I hope everything is going well with him in the Philippines.

Thirdly, Congrats to Spencer Ellsworth on the mission call to France! That is Awesome! Welcome to God's Army!

Well this week for me was... Different... To say the least. For the first few days of the week, Elder Goes and I were running Nampula by ourselves; which was a little difficult. Both of us had important lessons that we wanted to have, and we just didn't have enough time to work both areas efficiently. So we weren't as efficient from Friday until the following Thursday when our companions arrived. 

Then, when our companions arrived, it seemed as if there were so many surprises that we had to take care of here. A young woman got her mission call, and so we were asked to plan a surprise party/reveal for her- she will be serving in Zambia and reports in Jan.

Friday was the only normal day that we had. We got out to work and worked for the full time.

Saturday we had baptisms planned in the morning, AND we learned that one of the members that we love very much , we learned that he had suffered a fatal accident and passed away the night before. His wife is in the hospital in critical condition, and his funeral was yesterday. So that has brought a gloom over the whole branch. Also on Saturday we were full with English classes, trainings, and other meetings.

On Sunday and Monday I was unable to leave the house because of Health Issues. I could hardly get out of bed at times. But now I am getting better.

My companion is Elder Oliveira. He is from Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is 26 years old. He is the epitomy of Christlike service, and Christlike love. He helped me out a lot while I was sick. He has been very patient with me and very loving. He speaks excellent English, and has 14 months on his Mission.

We are planning 2 weddings for the month of January. Elizio and Clara, and Hercilio and Saquinna.

I think that is all I have to report on for now.

Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Elder Rash

 

*  Note from mom:  Elder Rash has been seen by a doctor for his abscess that we found out is on his face!  His face swelled up and that's when it became a concern.  He is on antibiotics and feeling better.

Week 78: Ups and downs are part of being a missionary

This week was alright for us missionaries here in Nampula. We had ups and downs, but that is life, right? I also had a week full of surprises; to say the least.

I really don't have a whole lot to report on. With transfers and missionaries getting sent out of Nampula and some other surprises, Elder Goes and I did not get a whole lot of work done. We had to try to work two areas and run the branch at the same time, so we were not as efficient as we have been in the past weeks. Elder Taukiuvea ended his mission and went home. He left Nampula Friday night. Elder Osorio also left Nampula on Thursday to go down to Maputo. We were down two missionaries.

We really saw the effect that all this caused when Sunday rolled around and only 134 people showed up to church. Like I said, we typically have 180 or 190, and we typically have 15 to 25 investigators, well I only had 5 investigators... Man, it hurt me.

But during church I was asked to play the piano for the branch, and I did a pretty decent job. I have been learning some new hymns and practicing quite a bit, so I was able to play for the branch without any problems.

My new companion will be Elder Oliveira- from Brazil. I am super excited to work with him! This will be my first companion that is not a natural english speaker! I really like Elder Oliveira. He is a great missionary and super obedient; so I am excited to see the blessings come to this branch because of him and his work here. Elder Goes' new companion will be Elder Draney- one of my companions in the MTC. The two of them should help each other out a lot and their area should progress really well.

I am excited for the new adventures that this next transfer will bring.

I know God lives. I know Jesus is the Christ. I know God loves us and that we are His children. Christ invites us to come unto Him and be perfected in Him. He did suffer and die for our sins. We can repent of any transgression that we commit. Repentance brings peace and exaltation. I am so grateful for the Atonement of my personal Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the work of the Lord. I am eternally grateful for the privilege I have to be a missionary and serve the people of Nampula and Mozambique.

I love this work. I love my Savior.

Elder Rash

*Note from mom:  No pictures this week.  Please keep Elder Rash in your prayers.  Sometimes, extra prayers are helpful.  He CAN do hard things!

 

 

Week 77: Patience is a Virtue

As a title for this letter I chose, Patience is a Virtue. This week I had an abnormally large number of opportunities to develop the Christlike Attribute of Patience, and boy was it difficult. I'll start at the beginning of the week.

On Monday I received my flight plans to fly down to Maputo for the Leadership Training. I was really excited to travel and see some old friends, some recent converts, some members that I love. I was excited to see other missionaries, to see President and Sister Koch, and I was excited to have the training from them, and the Thanksgiving Feast that they were nice enough to provide for us. Needless to say, I was excited. I waited patiently for Monday and Tuesday to pass and was scheduled to leave Wednesday morning. So I get all packed and all ready for the trip, and I show up to the airport only to discover that my flight had been cancelled... Ugh... Disappointment #1.

The airline told us that they would have a flight for us that would leave at 4am Thursday morning... Ugh... Disappointment #2. And they told us that we would need to be there at 2am to check in... Ugh... Disappointment #3. But, I kept my cool. I smiled and just kept forcing myself to think, "It will all work out in the end. It will all work out. It's Okay."

I went through my day as normal on Wednesday and went to bed a bit early so as to wake up at 1am to leave to the airport. I got there early and was the only person in the airport, but they hadn't started checking people in yet. So I sat down and waited about thirty minutes until they started calling specific groups of people to check in. I finally stood up to go try to check in but was not given the chance. Here in Africa there is no such thing as what civilized countries call, "lines". It just doesn't exist. I was in no mood to fight to the front of the mob and throw elbows and punches to make my way there, so I just stood and waited patiently for an opportunity. I stood there for 2 hours. I may have missed my flight if a nice Muslim man hadn't grabbed my bag, fought his way to the front and demanded that they help me. He was super funny and a huge help. I finally got onto the plane, and was then informed that the flight would be delayed an hour... Ugh... Disappointment #4.

"It will all work out in the end. Just smile, Elder Rash."

I got the Maputo exhausted. Went straight to the office and had the Leadership Training, then immediately had lunch, then we set up Christmas around the office, then I was privileged enough to go to T-3 and visit my old area. By that night I was exhausted! I went straight to bed and was immediately asleep. We woke up the next morning and I pretty much just sat around the office, got a little nap in, and practiced the piano for a few hours. There wasn't anything for me to do... 

Friday night my plane was scheduled to leave at 17:45... Delay after delay after delay we finally left at 22:30... Ugh... Disappointment #5

I got back to the house at 1:30 Saturday Morning, and woke up a few hours later for the baptisms that we had that morning. We had 8 Baptisms.

Anyways. After that long ordeal I really learned what it meant to be patient. I used to think it was gritting your teeth and holding your tongue until the trial is over. But it is so much more than that. 

"Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God’s will and accept His timing. When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. Patience is related to hope and faith—you must wait for the Lord’s promised blessings to be fulfilled."

​I feel like this is the type of patience that I was able to experience, patience with a hopeful outlook rather than a grim outlook on things.​

After the long test of my patience, we were blessed enough to have 8 baptisms, 6 of which were part member families. It was such a blessing to see the gospel help these families take one more step closer to getting to the temple as a family. What a blessing!

I believe that is all I have for this week.

I know that God is mindful of His children. I know that he loves each and every one of us. I know that Christ died so that we can change and become better than we currently are. This life is the time for Men to prepare to meet God. We need to learn to live a Celestial lifestyle. The same person we are in this life is the same person we will be in the eternities. Where are you now? Where will you be in the eternities?

Jesus is the Christ. Joseph Smith was His means of restoring His gospel here on earth. Thomas S. Monson is His prophet today. This IS the Church of Jesus Christ.  I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all, have a good week.

Elder Rash

P.S.- Thank you so much for the videos and pictures! It was super good to hear your voices and see your smiling faces! It was absolutely impossible for me to recognize Holly. I literally spent 5 minutes trying to figure out who she was! I thought maybe she was a friend that someone brought along to help out set up lights at Nanny and Papas or something. Holly is a Babe Now! Dang! Reese, be careful. Keep an eye on her and keep your gun loaded. Haha! Brincadeira! I love you guys!

Note from mom:  Elder R. sent TONS of pictures and videos from the wedding celebration and from his Zone Leadership Training.  I wish I could put them all on here, but I don't have names or anything to go along with them.  So these at least give you an idea what his weekend was like!

Arrived back in Nampula just in time for these baptisms!

Zone Leadership Training in Maputo with some of his favorite missionaries

Wedding day!

Wedding party!

More wedding guests

And more....

and still even more!  It was a HUGE turn out of support for the couple!

Cutting of the cake.

The party went till dark

Elder R. hasn't been captioning his pictures, so I can only guess...they are washing dishes?

Teaching a lesson?

Being silly?

Look at Elder R's smile!

Being even more silly!

 

 

Week 76: And that's all he wrote....Happy Thanksgiving!

So I won't write a "Weekly Email" this week because I wrote a lot of long letters to Shelbie and Dad and I'll write a long one to you. But I don't have time to write a "weekly" one. Sorry.

Love,

Elder Rash

No pictures either....sorry everyone!

*Note from mom:  Elder R. will be flying to Maputo on Wednesday for some Leadership Training.  He will get to spend Thanksgiving with Pres. and Sis. Koch and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving feast!  He will fly back to Nampula on Friday and get back in time for 8 baptisms on Saturday.  He is looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with the Koch's and other missionaries from around the mission.

Week 75: We are living after the manner of HAPPINESS!

Well, another week down and yet another P-day that will seem too short, but I love this time that I have to relax for a bit and tell you all about how awesome this last week was!

The one word that I can use to describe the overall feeling of this week would be Joy. We absolutely had some annoying times and stressful times, but I feel as Nephi felt. That despite all of their tribulations in the wilderness, he and his family "lived after the manner of happiness" because they kept the commandments and did what God asked them to do. This last week Elder Taukiuvea and I journeyed through the wilderness, figuratively speaking, and we had a lot of tribulations, but because we were obedient to the mission rules and fulfilled our purpose as missionaries we "lived after the manner of happiness."

To begin, I must say that the universe has taken revenge on me. My whole mission I prided myself on not receiving a single abscess, and was involved in "helping" others get rid of theirs. I am not so proud to inform you that this week I broke my 17 month "Abscess Free" streak. I got an abcess at the beginning of the week and it was extremely uncomfortable. It only lasted a few days until I was able to squeeze it all out. It was only about the size of a marble, but it was a pain in my armpit! It was in the same armpit and in the same place as the Abscess that Elder Brochier had a few months ago. However, mine was not near as bad as his was. So that is my experience with an abscess. It definitely was not a walk in the park.

We also stayed super busy this week running around everywhere in preparation for our lessons, our Zone Training, and an activity that we had on Saturday. We had a really successful week with lessons having 30 lessons this week, 19 of which were with a member present. So we were moving every minute of every day to get to all of our lessons.

On Thursday, Elder Taukiuvea and I gave a training to the Zone about the importance of using the Book of Mormon in our missionary work. It is the cornerstone of our religion, it needs to be the cornerstone of our testimony, of our study, and of our teaching.

On Saturday we had an activity for the youth and YSAs. We had a massive Minute to Win It competition and everyone loved it! We had a decent turnout and I expect even bigger turnouts in the future.

We have been working really well with the members and teaching references that they give us to teach. Our recent convert, Nora, has been a huge help to us. We taught her about the importance of Missionary Work a few weeks ago, and she got super animated and excited about it. She was a little bummed when we told her that she can't serve a full time mission, but she has really magnified herself in the way that she has assisted us in the Branch. She directed us to her Brother and his family, and her sister, Gina, and her family. Both families are super nice and Gina has a strong desire to change her life around.

We also have made an effort to work with Part Member Families and all of the baptisms that we are planning for the 26th of November are part member families. We will have 7 baptisms for the 26th, and 2 more the following week. Hercilio and Saquina will be opening the marriage process tomorrow, will be married on the 26th, and baptized the following week! I am so excited for them!

On Sunday we saw all of our hard work pay off when we had 194 people at church! That is huge for us! Of those 194, 26 of them were our investigators!!!!! Awesome!

I have a testimony that as we follow the will of God that our lives become much easier. If we yoke ourselves with the Lord our burdens become lighter. I love missionary work and the privilege I have to devote my time to the Lord. I am far from perfect but I am trying to do what is right.

I know God lives. I know He loves His children.

Until next week.

Elder Rash

*  From Elder R.'s mom:  He sent pictures this week, but mostly of his abscess.  Not something I want to share with everyone.  Hopefully he will send better pictures next week!