weekly letter 31

Yaaa... Another week here in Queenstown/Sada. We finished off transfers and it was sad to see some of the Elders leaving. Change is always kind of hard at first but the new Elders that came in seem to be sweet. 

In other and more important news... We have received news that the Mcdonalds here in Queenstown that is being built will open next week Sunday! YO! That is probably the biggest news ever to hit this town... haha We even received authorization to go and buy Mcdonalds from our president.... Nah just kidding... That's breaking the commandments haha... but definitely next Monday we will be hitting that up.

Everyone has been going on about how South Africa is playing New Zealand in the semi finals for the world cup this week. Our fellowshippers have no problem updating us on all the rugby scores and what nots. I was day dreaming and I was picturing like what if... When New Zealand plays SA that SA Gets smashed and then in an uproar... all the polynesian looking elders have to go into hiding so that riots don't happen or something. right now in the email shop the workers were talking and they were getting kind of loud and they were speaking in Xhosa talking about rugby... I couldn't pick up everything but I know it was about New Zealand and SA and the game this week haha.... Might have to go into hiding depending on how the game goes on saturday... haha

So this week we hit a rabbit... I seriously promise that the rabbit hit us... it was off on the side and then it for some reason wanted to run in front of me... Our fellowshippers and my comp were going nuts because they were so excited about eating the meat... They were running around with their arms flailing everywhere, jumping up and down, doin jumping jacks, throwing in some acrobatic front handsprings double back flips.. It was funny to watch.

Update though... Ill update you all on Bro Jerry & his girlfriend Zolewe... as for the subject line... We taught them the Law of Chastity towards the beginning of the week and they excepted everything. They seriously are such champs. We then spoke about their baptisms... and just told them that the only thing holding them back is Jerrys smoking and that they live together... They are too awesome though. Zolewe told us that she wants to get baptized as soon as possible... What a beast... But then we come back later that week to teach.. They tell us that they are going to get married! They have talked to the parents and everything and they are going to get married! YO! They is to guuudddddd. So I am just excited out ma mind for these two.... Will maybe take a few months for the wedding but whatevs... Eternal Progression is all that matters! 

Something also that touched my heart this week happened yesterday. So one of my goals is that no matter what happens/circumstances that I am in... I have to do my best to grow the overall love in every area that I go to whether it be for other missionaries, members, and especially the gospel. I have noticed that in some areas with the African Culture... it is not all that frequently seen or even accepted when it comes to Brotherly Love. So we were with two Recent Converts, Likhona & Sibusiso. As Likhona was getting out of the car, Sibusiso goes... 

"Alright man love you"

Usually the response I hear is..

"Man thats gay", "Youre so lame" or "Yea whatever"

But this time it was a 

"Ahhh... Love you too man"

I even remember the first time I told Sibusiso when we were dropping him off when I first got to this area that I loved him like that and he was like.... WHATT... So it was super heart warming to see an increase of Love even with something as small as that happening. But I mean. 

"By small and simple things are great things brought to pass.... And by very small means The Lord doth..... bringeth about the salvation of many souls" 

(Alma 33:6-7)

But that is all for now... I am excited to see what The Lord has instore for me this week.... Yeeeeeee Love you all so much... 

The Church Is True!

1) Old District. Elders Rasmussen, Nyika, Richards, Radebe, Fonua, Johnson, Wall, & The Farnsworths

2) Elder Wall & I

3) Rabbit, Elder Nyika, Athi & Soso

weekly letter 30

What a week! This week was awesome. Sada is definitely on the rise compared to where it used to be... Everything just is going awesome and I am excited to continue to grow my love for this area. 

This past Monday was really nice because we had our Semi-annual wash and wax for our cars and that is always nice because the mission pays for everything... More importantly... the Food! Any missionary enjoys free food. It was nice getting together with our district and the senior couple just having a little bri get together. A little sad though because we received transfer news and we are having 3 elders leave from the district whom I love very much. Elder Wall the short little Elder is leaving to another area and its gonna be weird because I have been with him my whole mission. Also my zone leader is finishing his mission who also has been with me my whole mission. Crazy how fast time flies and it is sad to see some of my best missionary buds finishing their missions! Also Update on our mission... We got 1 new missionary this transfer... only 1... That means that in the past 4 transfers we have received 5 new missionaries into our mission... That stuffs is cray. 5 new missionaries in 6 months. Thats gonna be interesting further down the road haha.

Yesterday though was crazy... I do not know what was going on... but... we somehow ended up eating three different meals in less then 3 hours.... It was insane... There was even a possible 4rth meal that bishops wife offered up but there was no way... It was... man so the first meal was delicious and it was amazing and then we went to teach a lesson and then came back to another meal that was prepared for us and it was nice... but by the end of that one we were destroyed... Then we went to go teach a Recent Convert and right when we finished the lesson... she hurrys and grabs plates before we can even say anything... my companion and I just look at the ground and start half laughing half crying haha... We were with two of our Recent Converts also who were teaching with us and they were doing the same haha... I felt like throwing up... I still do it dough....

This week though has been awesome... I haven't told all of you yet about this beast Emmanuel. He is originally from Zimbabwe and he speaks like 7 different languages and he is an awesome guy. He is a math teacher and he loves his bible. We found him at a members house and at the members house they were having a little get together and mostly everyone was drunk and all that jazz celebration thing haha... Except for the member of course... And so Emmanuel comes up to us and he is a little tipsy talking about how he is saved cause he is a child of the light and what not... Then he says.. You two have something about yourselves and I want that something... Aye.... GOT EM! so we arrange an apt with him and teach him and it goes awesome he is too sick. So this week we have been teaching him at that members house where we found him and she is just a powerhouse member who lives in Joburg. She was just visiting the Son who lives down here with the Makulu n what not but the lessons this week were awesome. It was like a positive bible bash/discussion. Alot of biblical proof was needed in the claims/answers in which we were throwing out and it was SICK!! But yee the spirit was so strong that it got me like (Puppy Emoji)

Jerry is doing too sweet! So he told us that back in the day he would smoke 40 Cigs a day... YOOOO!!!! that is insane and so we saw him at church on sunday and he told us that the day before he had only smoked 4... Thats progresss dough.... He is so awesome and it is a blessing to watch him grow in the gospel.

But everything pretty much just seems to fall into place. President told me that I have 6 weeks left in the area and that I better make them memorable. I am excited for this next transfer... It gonna be bumpin.

But as for now that is all... I love all of you though and hope be boooopp bap pow!

Pic: These two were part of the 5 that were baptised a few weeks ago. 

Elder Nyika, Likhona & Asemahle

weekly letter 29

General Conference was too sweet! Man I do not know why but I always seem to love the Seventy talks more then the ones given by the Twelve. I have a lot of favorites from this General Conference. I haven't seen Sunday Nights session yet but we will see when we get to watch that one. My ward doesn't watch conf until they get the dvds which will probably be 3 weeks from now and so we went to the stake center to watch some of the sessions. 

This week was not all that exciting... And I am a bit lazy to write about it haha so this wont be long. 

But... This week my comp and I got in an accident... we got in a little car crash with this drunk guy... That was pretty stressful but we are almost done with getting everything figured out... 

Update though on Jerry! Yoooo... This dude... He is doing awesome. We gave him a gospel principles book and like all he does is just read that book and studies it. He complained to us that he wants The Pearl Of Great Price and The D&C so that he can study the scriptures the pamphlets and the book refer him to. He is so awesome! Yesterday he told us that he wants to quit smoking! That is HUGE! I can not wait to see what the Lord has in store for him... We will see how it goes... But mission is still going good. I have been a little stressed this week due to the crash, getting all those things figured out and also just because of the area and the language barrier/ward problems... but just as the spirit directed us to do in Conference... Just need to step back and not make things so complicated which is what I am doing now... but I know that everything will work out...Love you all hope everyone has a good week and implements what they learnt from Conf in their lives instead of just feeling them warm fuzzies!

weekly letter 28

What gucci yooo.... This week was definitely better than last week. It started off pretty slow but then picked up towards the ending and then yesterday, Sunday was awesome! Not much to report though about things that we do in Queenstown because... We do not do anything here haha prettty much our only plans for Mondays that we ever have is to clean, wash the car, and Email... Then we just kind of sit/play sport... and that is it... Update though! The McDonalds is almost done! We are all pretty excited for that. 

Oh yeeee... Thanks to Edran and dad as well. I am super surprised that the package got here so fast! It only took a little over a month and so that was pretty surprising. One of the Elders that I am with. Elder Richards... His girlfriend sent him a package around 7 and a 1/2 months ago and then she sends him a picture of the package and it took them 7 and a 1/2 months just to send it back to her haha... So yeeee Enkosi Kakulu

So an update on some of the investigators... Jerry (The one white guy in all of Sada) He came to church again today and this time he brought his girlie friend that he has been living with! It was so awesome being able to see them both at church. This is his 3rd Sunday in a row and he agreed to be baptized in the last week of October! We will see how he progresses though because we have not yet taught the Word of Wisdom or the Law of Chastity and so yeee..... will let yall know.

But yesterday... Man church was packed! It was super cool... We had the 5 baptees be confirmed and then we had a ton of less actives attend as well which is awesome... All about them reactivations... We also had one of Presidents Counselors come down to the ward and train them on "Hastening The Work Of Salvation" It was nice because its getting the ward leaders and my companion and I on the same page which will make the work accelerate that much faster! Our ward is not utilizing the tools that we have as much as they should and so this training really helped them and I am excited for same changes to happen in the ward....

So this week I finally got to go on an exchange with my awesome missionary buddy Elder Wall in his area Mlungisi... We have been serving closely together for my whole mission. He even picked me up from the airport with my trainer. He is the super short guy from bountiful haha... And so a bunch of appointments dropped and so we had some extra time... So we were sitting there and we were like okay lets go tract what are we going to be looking for.... First thing that comes to my mind is the color Green.... So we decide that we are going to look for a Potential Priesthood holder wearing a green shirt and that we are going to place a restoration pamphlet for him.... So we start walking and it is pretty funny because im sure it looks pretty strange with these two white guys (In South Africa... if you are not black you are white no matter what race) walking down the street one being super tall and big while the other one is this little 5 foot 4 guy haha... so we are walking and we see a few green shirts but there are just a bunch of kids... Then down the road we see a guy wearing a green shirt... Elder Wall and I are like... YO... Thats our guy and so we start speed walking down to him but he is walking away from us... So we end up losing him... and we are like dang... We lost him... We keep walking and then we see another Guy wearing a green shirt... Again... Ok... THATS our guy hah so we speed walk over to him and we lose that guy... Jokingly with enthusiasm... We say oh... these are angles whom are leading us haha we are just being led to the guy that we are supposed to find... So we are walking and we see this guy in the next street over sitting down in his back yard... We are like hmm... Is that green I see? We agree that this guy is totally him and so we kind of struggle to find how to get to his house through the shack township intermediate leveled maze and so we turn this corner and Elder Wall goes... Yo hes walking out towards us... And so we meet perfectly at the gate of his house and talk to him... Long story short he says to us... "I want that book" We give him the pamphlet and he just gets this big smile on his face. He says "This is exactly what I need and what I have been praying for" 

YOOO So Elder Wall sets an apt with him and yeee... I truly believe that we were led to find him and who knows maybe he had been praying and pleading for Heavenly Father to give him a sign... Angels are constantly preparing the hearts of the children of men (Alma 13: 22-24). We just have to go out and find them and ask the Father to led us to them. 

But hey... Love you all and miss yous like crazy! 

The Church Is True, Jesus Is The Christ

weekly letter 27

Hey everyone! This week it started out super good! But then slowly turned into drop nation which always suck but it gucci doughhh... Again there is pretty much nothing to do here in Queenstown so so the most exciting thing to report besides things that happen in the area.... is that we helped the other Elders move into their flat... Pretty exciting haha. I wore my tie and not to brag or anything... But everyone is always super suprised that I knitted it myself. They think that it is so nice even though I messed up a bunch but luckily it is a dark color and so it is harder to see the places where I messed up haha. But I didnt take picture though so... yea.... but someday you all will see it haha. But now for the area... We had our baptisms this week and I am super glad that they went well... Baptisms always stress me out because I do not want anything to go wrong. They all went sweet though and I was super happy because one of our good fellow shippers whom has been a recent convert for about 6 months now... He baptized his first person! We were so pumped when they chose him to baptize them. He was so excited when we told him haha. So that was super cool. The beauty of these baptisms though is that they are all member referrals and so I know that the ward is going to take good care of them. With all these baptisms though comes the task of retaining all of them and so my companion and I are really going to focus on the people whom are already members. Ex. Members, Less Actives & Recent Converts. We had 5 Less Actives come to church and so we are super stoked about that! I love seeing Less Actives become active again. Its awesome.

And an update on Bro Elvis (The Less Active) And Brother Jerry (The investigator whom Bro EIvis brought to church! The atmosphere of his house totally changed... It was super cool to feel the change between him and his girlfriend whom he lives with... Which could possibly bring a problem in the future. But he came to church again and he walked quite a distance to get to church as well! During the baptism he looked like a little kid trying to look over everyone since our font is outside and... yea... haha It was cool to see him like that... Will update on his response to the baptism next week! But hey I am too lazy to write the rest of this week as well and so if you have questions just email me... haha kkk but love you all and miss you!

As for the picture, Left To Right:

Mama Ngangafa, Fellowshipper Sbusiso, Odwa Mgodi, Liyabona Ngangafa, Likhona Stephans, Asemahle Xozumthi & My comp Elder Nyika

weekly letter 26

Man this week was tooo awesome! The love for my area and the missionaries that I am serving with just continues to grow. My companion is still super dope and we be killin it. This morning we scaled this mountain and man.. My body is killin right now... It was cool though so I guess it was worth it. This week I also finished my first tie... I will have to take a picture in it next week and send it to all of you. This week was awesome though. We had Zone Conf and also Stake Conf this week and so it was a week full of awesome spiritual food. Also we just got a new missionary in our mission and he is in our Zone. I do not know his first name but his name is Elder Blight. He is from American Fork and so yea he is a cool guy if any of you know him. 

Just a little update as well... So apparently there was a terrorist threat from South Africa on the U.S Embassey... So now all American/patriotic clothing of any kind has been restricted... All the Elders are talking about how crazy it would be if we had to be evacuated and switch missions... That would be nutsss haha but yea we will see what happens haha

This week though we had awesome amount of things happen. We are preparing some investigators for their baptism this week and so we have been busy getting them ready. Also so there are these two awesome investigators... One by the name of Jerry and the other ones name is Sandile. 

First, Jerry. So last week we walk into church and there is a guy that I have never seen before sitting next to a white guy.... WHITE GUY.... YOOO!!!! That stuff dont just happen here in Sada and the only times that it ever happens is if someone from the Stake is visiting. So it turns out that the guy that was sitting next to him that I have not seen before is one of our less active members... Bro Elvis... So we set up an apt and we go and see him. So Bro Jerry, he is probably early 40's and he lives in an area called Extension. Thats even crazy too... So we take Bro Elvis with us over to his house and we teach this dude. P.S his house smells like the inside of a cigarette... We will work on the Word Of Wisdom later haha... and we teach him. It was an awesome lesson... And so our goal as my companion and I were talking... Is to reactivate Bro Elvis and then in the end have him baptize brother Jerry... YO! That would be sickkkkk so that is our goal. 

The other one... Sandile... This guy is too cool... Hes a member referral, because member referrals is the Lords way of missionary work, and he is a father of 3 kids. We teach him right and he basically told us that he likes to go hike up mountains/anywhere away from everyone to go and pray and so when we talked about Joseph Smith it reminded him of him. He accepted the invitation to be baptized and we are so excited to watch him grow in the gospel. Dis gospel gone blez dat guy 2 much dough.... Stake Conf had some powerhouse speakers too. Our Mission Prez is a boss and so he killed it on that podium. I talked about the whole statistic of member referral baptisms compared to Missionary found baptisms and all of stuff and so our President really focused on trying to tell all the members about how important member referrals are. And just a little statistic that our mission just shot out from our president... One of our wards in the mission has a baptismal date this sunday... 22 baptisms in one day... 22!!!! ALL MEMBER REFERRALS... Wow that is insane... If that isnt proof that Member Missionary Work/Member Referrals is the way that Heavenly Father wants his work done then I do not know what will... 

This next coming week though is going to be awesome though. I am excited to see what The Lord has in plan for us! But hey love you all! Birthdays on misson are pretty much just another day haha but it gucci! Hope everyone has an awesome week love yall!

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

weekly letter 18

This week has been awesome but definitely mixed feelings. But first South Africa is too funny haha. My advice to anyone that was born in New Zealand... Come to South Africa and you will be an instant celebrity haha. So some of our members have been nagging us on how awesome this chinese restaurant called Chiongs is and how good their food is and stuffs like that. So... We finally went and so we walk in. There is a huge line and so we just get in the line and wait. Then the guy that normal just hands out the food for pick up calls me out and tells me to go over to him. I noticed that he was a white afrikaner guy wearing an All Blacks Jersey. He goes what do you want? And so he totally just had me jump ahead of everyone haha and then so we order and then we are standing waiting for the food and then some of the workers again... call me over from the back and the ask me where I am from. I tell them that I was born in New Zealand but raised in the states... News travels fast through out the store I guess because then this Asian guy walks out from the back wearing a Kiwi sweater and kind of just stands around waiting for something... So this whole time we are with one of our members and he starts freaking out haha. He goes

"Wow.... That is Chiong... The Chiong himself I have never seen him come out from the back before" 

So I start talking to the guy that called me out for my order and ask him about the All Blacks game last weekend. It was funny because I could see Chiong slowly inching his way closer to us and manages to squeeze in contribution to the conversation with a quite "39-18" The member with us was giggling haha cause he was watching from a far the whole thing haha. But instances like that happen all the time but it gets kind of awkward haha but yea if you want to be an instant celebrity... Be from New Zealand and move to South Africa haha.

So this week has been sad because I am leaving Uitenhage and I am going to Sada which is in a place called Queenstown.... I have been saying all of my goodbyes and it is sad man.. Crazy to think that there is a possibility that I will not be seeing these people ever again and so that has been going on. I am not too sad though because I know that the good times end for the greater times and I know that I am needed else where and that my work here in Uitenhage is over... For now... I will give a whole update on the area and my new companion next week and I also am working on a video for my time here in Uitenhage and so yeee.... Will get that out sometime how ever whenever haha.  But this weeks is short because I am stressing out about how I am going to get time to see all of the people that I want to see so blahh... But no worries love you all talk to you next week!

weekly letter 17

Yoooo this week dough!!! kept it one hunnit grand this week! This week was really awesome! We had our baptisms yesterday and they were so amazing! We had 4 baptisms and it was packed! It was so awesome to see so many families come to church and bring all of their non-member family members. So the "baptees" they are so awesome! Their names were Yvonne, Sibongile, Sibusiso, and Arthur. They have some of the most awesome powerful testimonies and it was just overall just a wonderful amazing experience being able to see them finally enter into the fold. We have never had so many people at a baptism before, showing their love for the new members to come into the ward family and so that brought a lot of joy to my heart as well. 

Yvonne and Sibongile (Sbosh) are awesome. Yvonne is the mother of the little boy that was baptised 2 baptisms ago and sbosh is the daughter. Yvonne had been investigating for over a year but... It has been such an amazing blessing to be able to take part in inviting the spirit to help this family to grow their love for the gospel and also for Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ. I have grown so close to this family as well. Yvonne's niece her name is Busi aka Juicy and she is a Recent Convert, baptised a month before I got to Uitenhage and she decorated my "Member Book". I will show you a picture next week but just basically understand that I really love this family haha. 

Sibusiso: This dude is a beasttttt! He is the brother to our First Counselors wife and really in my opinion, I think that he was the perfect definition of a Golden Investigator. Day one... He came to church.... We talked with him and went through church like normal.... At the end of church he goes... 

"So.... What do I need to do to become a member of this church?" 

This dude is so awesome and I definitely think that after his confirmation next week that he will most likely receive a calling in the YM or something like that because this dude is gucci dough... He is too cool haha we always talk about all the parties and stuff we used to do when we were younger haha. He always be tryna make me hit that nae nae/ whip ect. But he is the man.

Arthur: This dude is awesome! He is the brother of my first baptism and this is one intellectual guy. He was seriously the definition of a "Dry Mormon". He had been living the gospel standards for probably almost a year but he just hadn't takin a dip in the baptismal font yet haha. He wants to serve a mission too and really he is going to be one awesome missionary. He just needs to help the rest of the family take a dip before he leaves... ;) hah Gunya... 

This week we had Zone Training as well and man it was awesome! Revelations for days! But one of the thing that I really loved and have totally agreed with that I have been wanting to have my mission motto be is this.

"Any missionary can be someones friend. But... Not every missionary can astonish people. Which kind of missionary do you want to be?

Previous to this training during an exchange I was on with the Elder that gave this training we were talking about this. How some Elders fall into this state where the focus more on becoming friends with the members/investigators. Yes you have to love them and but do not be their buddy. He trained us on how anyone can get people to like them. Most people/members already like you because you are a missionary. Not too many members/people can really say... 

"Wow that Elder was amazing. He was an exceptional Missionary"

Too frequently I hear... 

"Yea the missionary was cool, he would always come over and hang out with us"

WHAT THE.... "HANG OUT" aint nobody got time to just "HANG OUT" with people, there are souls to be saved and people to be taught. One of the things I want to do is that I definitely do not want my last memories for people to remember me by is that I "Hung Out" with people. Or that he would always come around and hand out when their appointment dropped... I want people to remember me as... Man... That was a good Elder... He was a Good Missionary.... Orr... Elder Greening... He was always running around trying to see everyone that he could, we never get to see him because he was so busy... Something like that. Not that I just "Hung Out" at their house... 

We should be missionaries to where we should ASTOUND the members with our faith. We should be members to where there was no doubt in their mind that they could feel the spirit when ever we go to their house because we are living so righteously that the spirit is just TOO STRONG... 

But hey I am loving mission with all my heart! I love this people too and I am going to be really sad and probably cry when I find out that I am leaving but it all gucci cause we on Gods Side.... I love you all and thank you to all who read my rants! haha Hope everyone is staying safe! Till Next Week

The Church Is True, Jesus Is The Christ 

-Elder Greening

weekly letter 16

What it isssss douggghhhh! Awesome week per usual! The 4rth of July was poppin! We tried to get all these families to celebrate with us by telling them about it when in reality we just wanted them to buy fireworks and feed us haha but it failed and we just ended up spending time with the Elders in our area hah. It was nice though because we had the A.Ps join with us since they were on exchanges with our Zone Leaders so it was cool getting with all the Elders and talking about how great America is haha. This week we went to a members home to get some food and on their South Africas Got Talent was on and man... They sucked... then we changed the channel and Americas Got Talent was on and the comparison was legitimately not even there. But all good in the hood though haha. 

Overall though our area is doing awesome! Still having it be a little rocky over the race problem but we definitely are still on the rise on the progression scale! We had this awesome FHE activity this week with all the YSA and some Youth and so hopefully that becomes an every Monday thing. Our baptisms got moved to next week on the 12 haha it is funny because we keep telling our investigators that their dates keep getting changed and so now they are pretty over the whole thing haha. It is crazy to think that I might be leaving Uitenhage in less than 3 weeks! There is a slight possibility that I will stay but we will see what happens. I'm really just cool with anything. Its Whatevzzz.... It is funny though because my companion is not used to being busy all the time and so he always talks about how busy we are and how we have too much crap to do hha but really it is normal for me haha and I keep telling him that he should have seen Elder Meijsen and I last transfer haha. It gucci though! Aint nobody got time for that down time hah.

This week I went on an exchange with our Zone Leader and it was sweet! It is always super cool to go on exchanges with ZLs because they are so experianced and I do not have to worry about them sucking at teaching because they keep it One Hunnit! It was cool though because his name is Elder Chamberlain and he actually finishes his mission in 3 weeks! I wonder if my whole mission is going to be like that haha. All of my exchanges so far have been with missionaries whom are going home in less than 4 weeks haha. It is really awesome because they help me certify rules and how things work because some of these missionaries try to twist/justify things and I'm like... what.... hahh but all goods though haha! 

This week though it felt like we were just throwing out baptismal invitations and dates like crazy haha! It is weird to think that I will not even be here to see their baptisms though. Well possibly most likely will not see them. It is awesome though to see their progression through the gospel!

This week we went and saw our bishops daughter and son in law, The O'rielys and it was awesome. So a few weeks ago a man broke into their house and ended up stabbing both brother and sister O'riely multiple times and so they ended up in the hospital. Get this the guy broke in at 1pm in the afternoon! So they ended up at the hospital and so they have been recovering well and are back at their house still recovering. One of the things that Brother O'riely said that rings clear in my ear is this. He said,

"We should not worry or care about what is going on in the world because we know that it is all temporary. As long as we know that we are living up to the worthy standard that That Our Father in Heaven expects than there is nothing to worry about". 

That is so true. All of this corruption going on in the world we should not worry about. All these events that happen in the world have been prophesied for thousands of years! We already knew that all of these bad things were going to happen. If we are worried about what is going on in the world because we feel we are not ready then something needs to change and we must repent. 

This brings to mind the words that were given to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail.

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes" (Doctrine and Covenants 121: 8-9)

This life is temporary and it is only but a small moment.

I love all of you and hope that everyone is doing well!

Prayers to The Packer Family as well. 

The Church is True, Jesus Is The Christ

weekly letter 15

This week was such an awesome week! The new companionship is going well! It is different having start from ground zero since we do not know how to teach with each other because we both teach differently. I guess his previous companion was pretty weak at teaching and so there was legit one lesson where I did not say a single word last week haha. All goods though because we fixed it and we are progressively getting better and he is coming along so it is all sweet! I have already kind of seen in what ways he is going to teach me things and also how I am going to teach him. 

This week was so awesome though because on Tuesday we got to have a ward activity! We had a little pioneer trek sort of thing haha. We called it The Walk Of Faith. We just walked to our bishops house and back so it was not like the treks back home but it was awesome! Instead of wagons we used wheelbarrows haha it was pretty funny though. Right after we left Bishops house though it started to rain like crazy though! The wind was so strong and I legit felt like I was swimming because we were in our Whites and we were soaked! It sucked but it was awesome because it sucked together haha. It was really just so nice to see the ward get together and to spend time with them!

Elephants!! We went and rode elephants today and it was too sweet! YO! It hurt my butt though because them elephants got some spiny rock hard backs and so it was totally ridin up and stuffs haha. It was awesome though because we got to ride it around like Zebras and some Kudus and things like that so it was super cool. We fed them and I guess a cool thing to say to people now is that I have had my hand in an elephants mouth so that is pretty cool I guess. 

So like I said last week, this transfer my companion and I are really trying to focus more so on the members, less actives, and the recent converts more. Not necessarily going to neglect investigators or anything like that but really focusing and seeing every member family. I have already seen a change in the ward and YO! The members are feeding us a lot more then when I first got here that's for sure haha so that is always nice. We are learning so much about the ward and about how it used to be years back. It is so hard because our ward is so unique for good but also for bad. It makes me sad to see that there is so much racial problems going on here. It is still so hard to get the two different cultures to just join each other. Outside in the world I feel it is expected but it makes me sad to see segregation within Christs Church. I even see it between Elders as well which is super disheartening. All goods though because that's what I plan to focus a lot on this transfer is helping the best I can with uniting the ward.

We are on track for our next baptisms which are going to be next week and I am so excited for these two! They are so awesome and when I found out that they passed the baptismal interviews my companion and I were so happy! I love these two but I will talk more about them next week!

This week we met this awesome guy named Lubabalo and man he is awesome. So we were kind of running late for a recent convert/investigator sisters lesson and so my comp was like 

"Should we just reschedule?"

I was thinking about it and we legit had like half and hour till our next appointment. I felt the need to go and so I finally just said

"We cant just bail on them lets just go and share a really quick lesson with them."

We change our lesson to sharing the Mormon Message Lift. (Awesome one about service) We walk in and they are with two other guys and so we ask them to join us. We do the lesson and it goes awesome and Lubabalo seemed to be the one most interested in our message. We end up setting up and appointment to go and see him two days later. So two days later before the apt we were like,

"Well, I hope this dude doesn't drop us"

This guy is actually waiting outside, we say whats up and we go in and teach him the First Lesson (Donaldson Style of course). Get this, towards the end we introduce The Book Of Mormon and then he goes

"Yea, I remember seeing that book. It is black and has like gold lettering right?"

I was like, "Yea, how did you know what it looks like?"

"Before my Dad passed away, he used to read it to me when I was a kid."

WHHHAAAATTT so we finish the lesson and then we invite him to get baptized and he said Yes! This dude is too legit. He said that he wants to join our church. He said that God lead us to each other and we could not agree with him more. He said that the only reason he was at our recent convert/investigators house was because he missed his transport and so he decided to hang out with his cousin who knew our RC/I. He then told us that he was hoping that he would run into us so that we could teach him. I am so happy that we ended up going to that house and not rescheduling with them. He is seriously so awesome and I can not wait to help the spirit to help him progress in this gospel! 

Yo though. Church is True I love all of You! Listen to the still small voice. It was telling you something for a reason!! 

Ps. I Be Teaching That Elephant Dough

Weekly letter 14

What an awesome week! The beginning of the week was pretty hectic because we were scrambling around trying to get Elder Meijen to say all of his goodbyes! I can already tell that I am going to have the hardest time saying my goodbyes. I love these people so much and have gotten really close to them. The Members have been feeding us like crazy this week which has been awesome! I have so many different "Mamas away from home" now. Ill miss Elder Meijsen but I know that his help is needed else where. So my new companion is pretty cool. His name is Elder Mendenhall and he is a cowboy from Idaho. He is outgoing so I am glad because then it wont be all that awkward trying to get him to talk to the peeps out here. Teaching with him was a little rocky at first because I guess his last companion, teaching was not one of his strengths haha so he had to adjust to me and we adjusted nicely and I think that this is going to be an awesome transfer teaching with him. 

It was super sad saying my goodbyes to our Zone Leader though Elder Wells. He was seriously such an awesome missionary and I was seriously blessed to have the time that I got to spend with him. He definitely held our zone together because after he left there has already been some changes that bring up some concerns of mine haha. The new ones are super lame haha but it is all good because I know we can always find positives in everything! Hes going back to BYU and he is definitely up for grabs if any of the ladies are interested in an awesome RM born in raised in California! He is super awesome though. Logan Wells look him up haha. 

This week I finally got to go to a rugby game! It was super sweet and I really wanted to play just watching them. Our Ward mission leader and a guy in our YSA were playing so we went to support and it was awesome. The people in SA have so much energy and the crowds were going wild hah. It was funny because our Ward Mission Leader "Beast" he totally cheap shotted this dude on the kick off hah and got a yellow card so we were laughing at him haha. It was super cool to see the people there and to talk to them. Righteous Publicity is what I like to call it haha. I am sure that people were thinking that we were recruits or something haha. It is funny because when people find out that I was born in New Zealand its like they want to be my best friend because of the All Blacks haha. I am glad that I played Rugby back in the States as well because that is definitely the first question they ask me when ever they see me haha.

For this transfer I have totally changed my Focus Point for the area of Uitenhage. For this transfer, my companion and I are going to focus a lot more on less actives and also the active members as well. I am going to try my best and find a good balance of Investigator, Recent Convert, Less Active, and Active Member lessons. It will definitely lower the stats that I have been getting but no worries because, No point in bringing a lost sheep into the fold if the fold is going to kick it right back out into inactivity!!! 

Spiritual Thought:

One of the things that really stood out to me for this week was the wonderful blessing that we have is having a living Prophet of our church. What an amazing blessing we have in our lives to have direct revelation from Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. In Priesthood we were talking about how our church just seems to be not just one step ahead, but multiple steps ahead of everyone else in the world. So many different religions coming to talk and ask advice from our church leaders on managing welfare or the importance of family ect. It is all because our church is the only church in the entire world that is directed by Jesus Christ, whom is directed by The Father, Himself. The World is constantly changing, therefore we need constant direction in these latter days. That direction is giving through General Conferences and even Liahonas/Ensign magazines. These talks are given directly for our day and we need to be able to heed to the words and make changes accordingly. 

That is all for this week though! Well there were more things but I am too lazy to type them all but yup! church is true and Love and miss you all! Love hearing from everyone and keeping me updated!