God has granted us the gift of the Priesthood, so use it wisely

Email #47
Area: Secunda
Companion: Elder Wilombe

Hey Everyone,

This week was long and not too much happened. It was just one of those weeks where no one pitches up at the appointments and they say they are too busy and have to reschedule. But nevertheless we are done with that week and on with the next one. There were some highlights of the week. Just one event that sticks out in my mind this week was a priesthood blessing that I participated in. So there was this lady that is friends with some members and she is a less active herself and her daughters as well. It turns out that she has been less active for about 20 years or since her mother passed away. So we met on Thursday and the daughter wanted a blessing. She is 6 months pregnant and the baby was not growing correctly. Her head was not proportionate to the body, so it was a rare case. Brother Fourie is friends with these people and has been branch Pres. here 3 times and he has been a member here for a very long time. So he wanted us to come with him to give a blessing to this lady. I offered to do the anointing and something that Brother Fourie said after I was finished was that it was the most perfecting anointing that he has ever heard. I thought to myself that I remember saying those words, but to say it perfectly, haaaah not me.! I knew at that point that it wasn't me who was anointing! The priesthood is real and I have experienced it first hand. We saw the less active on Saturday, 2 days later and to my amazement the baby's head had grown and now it is just that the body is small. She still has 3 months of pregnancy, so the baby has plenty of time to grow. Also, they have been trying to have kids for quite sometime. They previous had 3 miss carriages, so this baby to have a miracle growth is just a faith and testimony builder for this less active. Everyone always has some miraculous story about how they saw some amazing things on their mission and this is mine. I have already seen miracles in my mission, but not this quickly and so dramatic. We only have the authority of God, not the power. The example of a light switch and electricity helps my mind grasp the meaning of this great gift. If you turn on a light switch you are given the authority to turn it on or off, but you do not have the power to turn it on or off. The source is the only one with the power which is the electric company and will only turn on if you have payed the bills. So in the case of the priesthood, we have the authority to turn on or off the light in a sense. God is the source of the power and if we have payed our bills or have the faith he will show us that power and give us light. There is a Mormon message from Elder Holland that talks about staying sanctified and ready for when you might have to use the priesthood in a life or death situation. We don't know when we will need the priesthood, but God has granted us that gift so use it wisely and be ready when it is needed.

Love,
Elder Bryner

Excerpts from Mom's email:

So we haven't seen Lerato in awhile, she is having some family problems. So she moved to another area near Secunda, so we still might be able to see her at church and share with her there but not at her home. She said that she can't let her family problems get in the way of her coming to church and stuff. This Wednesday is heritage day and so next week I will send a bunch of pics of that. It is a public holiday so there will be a ton of people there hopefully! Synthia is doing good, but didn't come to church yesterday because no gas. Her daughter before she came to church and I think that she is Jaela's age, but she never liked church. Yesterday she went and woke Synthia up to go to church, so I think that will be a help in the future to get them to church. They are still busy with their house haha the husband reminds me of dad, because he wants everything done perfectly and he doesn't hire anyone to do a lot of the stuff. Dad does, so that is the only difference but we offered to help out so hopefully that will be good. This place is my home and will always be and the people that are here are my family. They take good care of me and just show so much love. The African people are known for that, I just hope one day you are able to meet these people whether it be in this life or the next. Words do not explain the happiness that I have being here and it really has changed my life. I still am not perfect and continue to make mistakes everyday, but with Christ I do have a hope and the faith that it will all be worth it.

Excerpts from Dad's email:

Yeah fall is coming and it is weird, because earlier this week it was really hot and about Thursday it just got really cold and cloudy and rained a little bit. The whole time I was just like wow this is too much like Utah weather, it is hot one day and cold the next. It is funny this place has made me more of a wimp with the cold. At home it would be this cold and I would be wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but here I have a jacket and slacks of course. It is just weird to me and I think that when I get home the weather is going to be a big change for me and it is funny I haven't seen snow in like 2 years now.