weekly letter 25

You know wasssuuupppppp!! What up everybody! This week has been awesome! This week we had transfers and so it was super sad to see some go but then at the same time... you know it was nice to see... yea... go... but man Elder Thayne and Elder Crowell were too cool and it was sad to see them go... I got to drive down to East London which is about a 2 hour drive which kinda sucked... but then we dropped off my old companion and then I got to go and visit all of Elder Crowells past members whom he served previous before Queenstown. It had been a year since he had seen any of them and to me that was super crazy. Crazy to think that that will be me in a year or so and then going back to see the people whom I served will be so crazy. It was super nice though because East London  is beautiful. Also during transfers it is super cool being able to see all of the Elders in one place. East London is the connection spot for three of our zones and so it just gets full ed with Elders which is always nice. I am pretty jealous of the missions that get their whole mission together at a time because that is sweet. 

So you all know how I was just given a mission guitar and what not... Well one of the new Elders in our zone our new district leader.... like his 2nd day here... he broke one of my strings... yea.... so thats a pretty good first impression... haha but no worries though.... Trials come in every shape and size.... It gucci cause I go hard in the paint na meannnn....

My new companion though is too cool. Elder Nyika from Zimbabwe. He just barely turned 22 and he is 4 and a half months on mission. Same transfer as my last companion. He is super cool. We teach together great and we have a lot in common and also the Elders in our boarding are staying and so yea... This transfer is going to be awesome!!! 

Its funny because as he has been introducing himself... He told two of our recent converts that his name is Elder Obama... And that he was President Obamas son and that due to attention reasons that he would be using the surname Nyika.... They believe him hah and then we were also teaching about temples and so we convinced them that his house "The White House" is almost as big as the temples. 

This is going to be a sweet most likely 3 months with Elder Obama though so I am super excited.... Next week for my birthday we are planning on hiking up this super sick mountain... It gonna be dope so stay tuned... 

Well hey... Love you all and hope that everyone is doing well!!!

Church Is True, Jesus Is The Christ

weekly letter 24

What up errrrrbodyyyyy! This week has been nice! Most of it was just driving around saying goodbyes to everyone for my companion. Since it is his first area that he is leaving I have just been trying to help him the best that I can and so thats prettty much what has been going on! But man I am so excited.... One of our members knits really well and so she said that she will teach me and I am so excited.... I really want to start knitting my own ties... It gonna be sick.... Business? Maybe even have some missionaries in the mission market them for me... haha jk... or am i... 

As for the Subject line.. That song has been in my head all week and also just Christmas songs in general. It is crazy to think that yall are going to be having snow and freezing during Christmas while i am going to be over here in 100+ degree weather... not excited haha actually a little scared but whatevs.. haha 

This week also.... One of the Elders gave me his guitar! I was so pumped because I had been asking around in our area if anyone owns a guitar and want not. Sending out the members on a mission to find one haha and then my companion is like.... The Zone Leaders have one... ayeeee.... So he gave it to me and its been in the mission for apparently around 2 years and so I am keeping the guitar tradition going and taking it around with me to have guitar playing elders signatures going until I pass it down... 

I got the news for whom my new companion is going to be as well! His name is Elder Nyika from Zimbabwe. He has been on mission for 4 and a half months and so he is the same transfer as my companion right now so just one transfer younger than me. I do not know anything much about him yet but this week I will be picking him up so yeeeee.... 

I am really excited for this next transfer though! the companionship that we stay with are staying together which makes me super happy because they are awesome! From our district though 2 Elders are leaving. Elder Crowell is going home and then the other Elder Thayne has 3 months left. Wish they could stay but it gucci though.

Also! I need someone to write down all the good movies that I am missing out on so that when I come back I can have a list of movies that I need to watch! Dont reallly need songs because I get enough of that from the houses in the townships blasting music out of their houses hahahah. Thats about it though. Again... nothing special really happens in Queenstown haha this place is pretty poopy.... But hey... Love you all and talk to you next week!

Left To Right: Elders Wall, Crowell, Richards, Fonua, Radebe, Sengane, Thayne

As for the guitar picture... One of the elders was testing out his new camera and he was saying that I should be a yogurt model.... hahaha what a crack up. 

Oh yea and the Elder that gave me the guitar is Elder Thayne. He is too cool and he goes home to BYU in three months so if any girlies want to email him before he comes home let me know... Thats Mitchell Thayne... love you bye

weekly letter 23

What a week... This week was super busy and draining. I have been trying to prepare my comp to leave since he will be leaving next week and this is his first area and so we have been trying to run around and set appointments with the families he wants to see and take his book around and preparing for the baptisms and... man.... baptisms stress me out... but first so fun fact.... My subject line... In the Xhosa language. The word "Ngoku" means now. So it is a frequently used word and so sometimes when we are teaching recent converts/crazy old investigator mamas that can not understand any English I usually just sit back and not say anything the whole lesson because yea.... no point because yea.... anyways when ever they say the word "Ngoku".... immediately my mind takes off and all I can think about is Dragon Ball Z and goku and yea... The Spirit prompted me to share that with all of you....  

This week we had another funeral... This place.. has funerals like no other... In the past 5 weeks I have already gone to 3..... In my last area there was also always funerals but just no one in the church knew them. In Sada... They were either members or their parents were members so then they request us to figure everything out.... Even worse is that it is mostly always less actives... like super less actives and so then our ward goes out and supports and legit no one knows even who the person was that passed away or even the family and so then we are expected to do family prayer services everyday till the funeral that week and we get up and talk about a person that we have never met before... Its interesting haha... but blah..

So we had our baptisms this week. We had 5 people getting baptized and they are awesome. So our baptismal font is outside here in Sada and.... It was so freezing! The water was super cold and the weather... right when we were about to start the baptism and step into the font... it started raining... I felt super bad for the people but whatevs.... Small price for the blessing of baptism...

This week we receive this member referral... "cause you know... member work is 600x more efficient then missionary tracting" And it is for a guy named Peter... So we go to the address looking for this dude peter and there are two houses right next to eachother with that same address and so we choose the one on the right.... long story short.... we scramble around the two houses and the people in it looking for a guy named Peter and the people dont know and then finally we find him and his last name is Peter and so that is why the buddies didnt know who we were talking about.... so in conclusion... We receive like 4 new investigators all Potential Melchizedek Priesthood Holders and man it is going to be awesome teaching them because Peter... That dude is awesome... He says he is super determined to change his life around and be serious about this "Church Thing" I can already tell that this gospel is going to change his life forever and I am super excited to take such a small role and part in helping the spirit do that.... 

 That is pretty much it for this week though... A lot happens in the weeks but then comes monday and then I totally just space out completely on what happened haa but hey still love all of you!!!  

From Left: Phelokazi, Elder Sengane, Liyema, Thabisa, Sinesihle, Simumnkele, Athi

weekly letter 22

Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaa Mannnnnnn... Whatttt uppp doughhhh... This week, what an awesome week! It has been so busy and so full of spiritual enlightenment! Just So everyone gets an idea about how exciting Queenstown is... They are building a Mcdonalds here... and so I am sure that yall can get a picture of how exciting this place is... hahah So first, it was the Mormon Helpings Hands day this week on the 15 and so I hope that everyone was able to do some service and make Our Father in Heaven proud! We went around choppin down big weeds with some of the Elders in our district for their ward which was pretty nice. Its so cool to spend time with other Elders wards just to see how they are and really just low key compare between whose is better haha.... nah just kidding... but really.... and so this week was always awesome because our ward had a homecoming for 2 return missionaries and so it was so cool to just talk with them and I am super excited for their extra help within the ward. We will see though because most RM's go a little "less active" for a little bit because they are out on vacations and what not so we will see how that goes. We threw a big party for them to welcome them home. One of them is the Bishops son and so yea.... It is going to be super cool to work with them. 

This week we got our investigators interviewed for the baptisms coming up. I can not get over how much I love this area! I am so excited to help the spirit grow them in the gospel. Its funny because 3 weeks ago I was talking about how lame it is because of the language barrier haha but that was definitely me just trying to make an excuse for the transition to a new area hahah... Silly... And so just a little description of my area... It is a pretty rural area... The town is this one street town called Wittlesea which is a couple KMs from our proselyting area. And it is a 35-45 minute drive everyday to get out to Sada and so that is a lot of fun... It has gotten real old... Whatevs doughhh... The word presses on haha.

So this week we also had training with our President. Hes such a beast! Reminder that his mission president was M. Russel Ballard from the Quorum of the Twelve and so yeeee... He too cool. We had interviews and things like that and it is always just super awesome to talk with him. Had a good Vent Sesh about the companionship haha. It was good though! He wants me to train but the reality is that for the past two transfers/in 3 months we have had 2 missionaries come into the mission... So we will see how this next transfer goes haha in who comes to the mission. So as I am sure that everyone knows... Our leaders recently had a general authorities training on the importance of the Sabbath/Sabbath Day Observance. So we had a training on that and it was awesome because it was pretty much like a discussion. Some insights that I picked up are these.

A question that I continually ask my self is.

How much do I really love the Savior Jesus Christ and Our Loving Heavenly Father. Right when that clock hits 12am... It is the Lords day... The one day out of the 7 in a week that Heavenly Father has asked us to devote to the Lord. How do I prepare myself on the Sabbath to receive the Sacrament? There are 168 hours in a week and The Lord has only asked for 1 full hour devoted to him. One thing to bring in mind as well is that The Sacrament is an ordinance... It is an ordinance just like baptism and just like getting sealed in the temple... I don't think that anyone would want to be the slightest of late for their sealing in the temple. That is the attitude that we should have come the Sabbath day. How much do we really think about the Savior during the week in preparation for the sacred ordinance of the Sacrament. We promise to always remember him. It says so in the Sacrament Prayer.... This day is The Lords day and therefore we are on the Lords Time. What are we doing with that time to show our appreciation for all that he has done for us. Mission has truly changed my view on the Sabbath but obviously if our leaders felt the need to have a General Authorities training that lasted several days on Sabbath Day Observance then obviously that is what the world needs. That is the CHANGE that our Heavenly Father wants his children to make.The change of making the Sabbath into a DELIGHT 

Another week in Sada comes up and I am super excited because God is good! Love all of you and hope everyone is still swaggy!

The Church Is True, Jesus Is The Christ

weekly letter 21

Molweni! Another week here in Sada! Sada is going awesome! I am loving these people more and more and really excited to keep working in this area! It is so funny being a missionary because most people totally forget that you were a regular person before you became a missionary. People are always so surprised that you know their favorite songs/dances and so you get a lot of surprised people here in South Africa. I got sick this week though and so that super sucks... Most likely our 4 man flat will all get sick and then just pass it around like a game of catch... Really excited for that. This week we had some awesome training on the importance of member work. Member Work has always been an important thing but our mission as a whole is really trying to heavily emphasize it. Apparently 1 out of every 1000 investigators that are found through missionary tracting get baptized compared to the 600 out of every 1000 that are member referrals. 600x better than those that are found through knockin doors and what not. Ultimately the direction that our mission is going is that we should never have the need to go finding because we have too many member refferals to contact/teach. I love working with members and so I am super excited for that... This past week has been hard though. My companion and I do not get a long that well haha... He doesnt really like to work with members and... hah I will refrain from saying much but just know that it is kind of hard being a companion with someone that doesnt really want to be a companion haha.... but no worries because I make it work dough haha. It was actually quite interesting because I noticed a trend in the direction of my studies through the spirit. The overall trend that I have noticed is that this transfer it has been all about Charity. All about love and charity. Obviously the whole companion this is the reasoning behind it. So I love this Elder but it just is so difficult. Pride..... But one of the things really stood out for me this week is that Charity Suffereth Long. Charity endures trials with Brotherly Kindness. Having the spirit to remind me that really helped this weekl I know that I just have to endure what is going on and try to make it work the best that I can. It gucci dough because Swag

So we have been teaching this guy named Simpewe and this dude is too cool for school. He is 22 and he is a boxer... Won his match on Saturday by knockout... Beast!! so when we first found him he struggled with smoking and alcohol. He would say that he could understand the lessons pretty well but... haha I beg to differ haha... So.... He told us this week that he has quit smoking and drinking alcohol and that he hasent touched it for 3 weeks! Man this guys transformation has been super cool.... It is soo cool to see the spirit grow within a person because you can just feel this dudes gospel intellect growing every single day.There has not been too much going on though this week. Not much goes on in our Zone haha because there is not that much to do haha. But everything is going good and next week gonna be super cool because we have training with Prez! Love you all bye!

The Church Is True, Jesus Is The Christ

weekly letter 20

Wasssuuupppp Wasssuuuppp! Man this week! Its definitely getting better here in Sada! This morning was nice because we hiked up the mountain for a little district studying. It was great but then the wind was blowing super hard and it started getting super cold and so our scripture pages were just blowing everywhere. The spirit was still strong though so that is pretty much all that matters. Queenstown though, the place that we stay in is a nice city. Its funny because when ever I see like a nice big house it always reminds me of home. It like always surprises me to see a big house and stuff like that just because of my perception that I am in South Africa haha. And I guess I have not really taught in a big nice house yet haha. The new area is going awesome! The whole English situation is not as bad now because I have scoped out the few that actually can speak English and what not which makes things a lot easier haha. This area has definitely taught me to truly cherish someone that can be able to speak English though haha that's for sure. When ever I go and meet someone for the first time I always ask my companion if they speak English or not and then if they do then I get super stoked! Man Sada... What I have noticed about this place is that the field is insanely white! There are so many people that are ready for the gospel here it is awesome! The things that I have picked up about the past Elders is that they like never asked people to be baptized... I noticed that because there are so many people whom I have already taught and have asked myself like what... These people are awesome and they are not even members yet... Come to find out through other people in the ward that the investigators are wondering when they are going to be invited to be baptized haha... It cool though because we fixing that and I am super excited to see this area progress and grow! The language thing is still kind of lame but its all good haha.

The ward is awesome! When I say the ward... I really just mean the few people that I can actually have a conversation with in english ahhaha.... Nah just kidding... but really though that's how it is haha... But it is still kind of difficult in the way that I can not really have a good conversation with the rest of the ward because most of them can not understand English... No worries... Work with what I got. And so back to the investigators and their baptisms and what not... This week we focused a lot on extending baptismal dates to these people and just kind of reviewed with them what the missionaries had taught them and then also went over the baptismal questions to see in what areas they still needed help with and man... Those lessons were so powerful... The spirit is seriously always so strong when extending a baptismal invitation and so that's what the week was full of... We both had people whom I felt was totally prepared and then also people that I was like.... Ummm What.... You do not know who Joseph Smith is? hahh not to that extreme but yes there were some that I am like... We have a lot of work to do... But pretty much every time though it would bring them to tears... But man this week is going to be sweettttt! I have a idea of the area and have already done all the like awkward first lessons with everyone and so it gonna be popppin nowww.... A point to bring up why inviting people to be baptized is the fact that... If we do not invite people to be baptized... Then we are denying them the option to reach eternal salvation. Then that sin will be on our head... Obviously adjust the date to whenever they feel ready/you feel they are ready but I mean why not invite the first time you meet. That way they have a goal to work towards.... But man this week is going to be sweet! But hey.... Love you all so much and take care!!!

The Church Is True, Jesus Is The Christ

weekly letter 19

Hey everyone! How bout dem All Blacks doughhhh bringing that win against South Africa hahaa... That is always a nice conversation with the people out here haha. This week has been full of changes! It was so sad saying all of my goodbyes to the people of Uitenhage! A lot of tears were shed and it was overall sad that I was leaving them. I am definitely happy with the work that I was able to do there though. All the older missionaries were talking and telling me like... Oh do not worry... by next area it will become second nature when you leave the people and an area. But that puzzled me because then that brings up the question of... Did you really love the people or were you just looking at them as numbers and stats while you were there. I hope that I never leave an area without feeling some sort of sadness because then I know that I was doing missionary work wrong. But now I am in my new area! Our mission... This transfer we only got one new missionary! Our mission has been struggling so much on numbers. So many missionaries are finishing their missions and leaving and only like 3 or 4 are coming in to replace them. This transfer... 8 missionaries finished and only 1 came in... We had to shut down 3 areas this transfer... Not good but no worries cause SWAG. Anyways... That New New. We flew over to a place called East London and drove a couple hours to a place called Queenstown which is where our boarding is. Now I am working in the Area of Sada!

This place man.... It is a 40 minute drive out into the area and so that drive sucks haha... I really miss driving automatic too haha. No cruise control for me... My companion, his name is Elder Sangane! He is cool and this area needs a lot of work but I am super excited to change this area and organize it because right now... it be poopy haha. But he is from South Africa and he is 23. I am follow up training him and so... yea... we will see haha got a lot of work to do! But man the first full day here in Sada.... It sucked so bad hahaa! It was pretty much a full day of straight Xhosa! I literally just sat there and had to do nothing because a lot of our investigators can not speak english... We are not really supposed to be teaching anyone that can not speak english unless we get it authorized by president and so... haha yea just know that there is a lot of work to do here in Sada! But man the first day sucked... I felt like an idiot because I love teaching the most and I can not even teach because no one can understand me... No worries though because I got some ideas about using translators/training our fellow-shippers and what not... Ill update on it later haha. See how it goes... It is alright though because it is super humbling! because I legit can not do anything on my own now... Let alone I can not even talk to someone without the help of someone else haha. It cool But man these people are too cool! They are so nice but I just wish that I could be able to speak to them. It all Gucci doughhh.... It is funny though because the youth out here are so funny. They all love dancing and so The Whip just barely got out here and they love the nae nae and so pretty much just have the "in" with all the youth no matter what which makes things really easy haha. We had some children baptized and I felt so bad for them because the font is outside and it is freezing in Sada! Apperently it snows here as well... Too Cold. They were shivering and pretty much crying during the baptism and so yea.... But God is good and so I am excited to help these people out the best that I can! That is about it for now though! I am super excited for this up and coming week though! But love all of you hope that everything is going awesome! P.S how about the mission gets transfer news and so the mission sends out a huge email to eveyone... I hit that reply all haha and said hey and so yee... It been blowing up now haha 

The Church Is True, Jesus Is The Christ