Is it already almost August?

Family, friends, and udda people, HELLO!

I have a lot to report on, but very little time, so I'll be brief!

I left off at the MTC right? Yes...So we finished up there our last few days there, and I LOVED it!!! Last Saturday was the 10th anniversary, so there was an open house. Our only job was to look pretty and focused while African officials toured the place, so that was awesome. President and Sister Reber were fantastic. Sister Reber has a picture in her office of Nephi with the caption "And now the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together." If you recognize where that's from, we can be friends. ;)

But we left the MTC a week ago today at 5 in the morning to catch our plane to Durban! I got to call the fam while we were there, and got caught up on a few things. I hear it's been very hot back in good ol' Utah, eh? Suckers... ;) But our goodbyes to the Uganda Elders and the flight were quick. Only about 45 minutes, and then we were picked up by President Zackrison and the APs. I LOVE President Zackrison! More on that later... But the drive to the mission home was BEAUTIFUL. It's winter right now, which is aka the dry season here, but it was still very green. Palm trees everywhere, which is never a bad thing!

When we got to the mission house (which is...holy cow, one of the most beautiful houses I've ever seen! There's even a swimming pool!!!) President Zackrison gave us his opening shpiel. He focused on obedience using your best judgment, testimony, and teaching by the Spirit. He's gonna be spectacular. As we were there, different Elders trickled in and out picking up their sons (that's mission terms for trainees). We were interviewed, practiced driving (they're like the Brits here...left side of the road!), and eventually, Elder Jeppeson and I were the only ones left, because we had to catch an all night bus to our first areas...

You know how when you're playing volleyball and the ball lands just barely outside the lines, and there's ALWAYS someone that makes that stupid joke "It was in!" and continues to draw a box around where the ball landed? That's literally how Kimberley is. There's the mission boundaries at the far west side, and a box that extends out to include our li'l town. It took a bus from 8 PM til 5 AM to get to Bloemfontaine, and then it was another 2 hour drive from Bloem to get there, but we finally made it! Literally, the drive from Durban to Kimberley is farther distance-wise than the flight from JoBerg to Durban. So that gives you an idea of how far it is!

And fun fact... I dunno if I ever mentioned Elder Sidumo from the MTC, super classy kid... But Kimberley is his hometown! So I met his brother this week, and he was so stoked to hear about him! There's a picture of him and Elder Brimhall (AKA Elder Brimtall...he's 6 foot 7!) in the chapel, so that was fun to see.

But Kimberley is sweet. It's nowhere near as green as Durban... In fact it's quite brown. But that's ok, there's work to be done! My companion's name is Elder Kruger, and he rocks. He's super chill, so we get along great. He's native to Cape Town, he loves an animals, and he's even skinned a few dead ones he's found on the road... There's a fox skin drying on our roof right now!

Teaching is tough... Very different from teaching in the MTC. In South Africa, there's the town, and then there's townships, which are essentially just the poor parts. It's hard to call them houses, but that's where most of the ward members live (oh! We do have a ward here, 80 members strong and growing!). They're kind of like shacks, on a dirt road, but that's where essentially all the work we do is. Elder Kruger's taken the lead in all the lessons this week, and I jump in where it gets quiet and where the Spirit prompts me to share a scripture or thought. The training process goes on for 12 weeks, so I'll be in Kimberley for at least 3 months!

It's winter down here, so all the natives bundle up while I'm in a short sleeve shirt... I think it's in the 50s or 60s Fahrenheit most days. One of the young men in the ward asked me if I was cold, and I told him about those nights in Logan that it hit -17 degrees, and he couldn't believe it! So I'm fairing quite nicely. :) I did buy an extra jersey though (that's what they call sweaters down here...and also, traffic lights are called robots, so that's fun) and it's tan, seeing as lighter colors are now allowed.

Lots of interesting lessons... I'm trying to think of how to put this in biblical terms... You know those times you're teaching a lesson and the investigator decides to pull out her supple bosom and start breastfeeding her infant? Yep, we're up to three times with that. Modesty isn't really a thing down here. We do have some strong investigators, but keeping them committed on the Law of Chastity and Word of Wisdom have been tough. On weekends here, virtually everyone is drunk or high. Daga (South African for weed) is very prevalent. Saturday's are rough, but the rest of the week is usually pretty good.

We only went tracting once this week, and it was very different than expected. After selling pest control this summer, I was ready to knock doors and get rejection everyday, but just about everyone in the townships will let you in and share a message about Christ with them. It's good, but it makes it difficult to find out who the serious investigators are.

Mondays are P-day, and the two of us in Kimberley drive down to Bloemfontein for district meetings. We drove down Sunday night this week though, because the zone leaders invited us to sleep over at their place. Elder Francom is one of the ZLs, and he's actually Connor Cook's cousin! We talked late into the night, and then got up this morning and made a big breakfast before district meetings. After that, we ate at Spur, which is a burger place that reminded me a lot of Chili's or Applebees... Getting some greasy American food was FANTASTIC. ;)

Oh! And I've eaten at McDonald's and KFC down here... Good, but different. The menus are entirely different. KFC has like chicken burgers and stuff, and I didn't even try to explain to the cashiers what a Mini Mac or a McSnitchin is... And the biggest difference, there's no fountain drinks! I couldn't believe it... Soda from a can, and they're called "cool drinks" here... These South Africans and their crazy terminology.

Well, I hope I can get pictures out next week! This computer isn't reading my SD card. But stay posted.

Here's the random thoughts that would otherwise end up on Twitter for this week:

- The MTC: The wrong place to yell out "What a hoe!" Need to remember to say "harlot" next time.

- I'm going to ruin chocolate for anyone who tries to tell me caffeine is against the Word of Wisdom.

- "OMG IT'S SO COLD. SATAN Y U DO DIS?" --South Africans when it's 50 degrees

- "OMG YES THE CHURCH IS TRUE IT'S SO WARM" --Aggies when it hits 50 degrees

Love you all lots! Stay positive, love your lives!

  Johannesburg @ the MTC - Done!

With President and Sister Zackrison in Durban

  Missionaries that flew to Durban 

           At the Mission Home

South Africa MTC Choir - Elder Dallin Sterling Johnson was one of the soloists

10 Year Celebration for the South Africa MTC

Here are some pictures from the 10 Year Celebration that was held yesterday (Saturday July 20, 2013). 

One week down, 103 to go!

Sawubona, family and friends! Kunjani? Igama lami ngu Elder Johnson!

 

Alright, for those of you who don't know how to say that, me either. Elder Shabalala laughed his head off when I attempted it. Anyway, that's basically, "Hello, family and friends! How are you? My name is Elder Johnson!" So the good news is I basically learned everything I remember from two years of Spanish in Zulu in about five minutes.

 

Holy cow, the MTC is incredible! If I'm not mistaken, the MTC is the only place in the world where you can ask for volunteers for a prayer, and you'll have more than zero people raise their hands. I don't remember what all I said last time, so I'll just start from last Thursday. There are 17 of us total here at the South Africa MTC, so it's different from any sort of experience at the Provo MTC where there are thousands and thousands of new missionaries. Six of us are from the states (Utah, Arizona, Idaho, and Mississippi, and yes...Elder Jeppesen from Idaho is indeed a potato farmer...that stereotype is 100% TRUE ;), there's one from the UK, and the rest are from different places in Africa. They are all incredible! Every single one of the Africans is just SO happy to be here!

 

My companion is Elder Kasambala. He's from Zimbabwe and he's a stud. He played soccer back in high school, as I'm pretty sure most of them have. If you know me at all, you know I'm very, very loud, and I'm pretty sure Elder Kasambala's the quietest one here. I have to listen very close to him if I want to hear what he's saying, but he's a bright young man. Always has a huge smile on his face, unless you try and take a picture of him... Don't worry, pictures are coming! The computers at the MTC are very slow though, so I'll have to wait 'til I'm out in the field. I think Sister Reber sent some to my mom though, which I believe are on FB if you want to check those out!

 

So all the gringo elders plus two of the Africans are going to Durban, and the other eight are going to Uganda Kampala, same mission as my roomie Elder Austin Allred! So stoked for them. So stoked for all of us! Crazy to think we've only known everyone here a week, and we're already really tight. And we leave Tuesday for Durban... Time really does fly!

 

We'll start with Thursday... It was basically an orientation sorta day. They immediately gave us four more shots...I don't remember which ones, but that was kind of a downer. On the plus side, I didn't get sick the next day like I did with the American ones! But like malaria and the plague and aids and stuff can suck it. It was around dinner time before Elder Kasambala arrived, and I was one of the last ones to get my companion. But he got here, and we were made zone leaders that night! And when I say we were made zone leaders, that basically means we were made the people who never have to say the prayer since we get to choose. Occasionally we'll have a meeting with President Reber, but it's a pretty easy gig. Just have to turn lights off at night, know what time everything's happening, and conduct a class or two (conduct a class, aka ask for volunteers for the prayer and the music as you're introducing the prayer and music. #procrastination).

 

Friday was the first real day at the MTC. Basically, we'll have breakfast, classes and practice teaching in the morning, lunch, classes, sports time, shower, dinner, and more classes and teaching before we sign hymns and go to bed. It's a lot more entertaining than it might sound. Our first class in the morning, our teacher had our district introduce ourselves. One of the questions was why we're serving a mission. Hearing the answers were really cool. I think Elder Halford's was my favorite. His answer? Simply because it was a commandment. He didn't say it was because he wanted to, and I never really thought that was a good reason to serve. But I started thinking about it, and if you have that much faith that you're willing to give two years of your life simply because God commanded it, that's pretty dang cool. Sports time was a blast. There's a sand volleyball court, so naturally that's where I went. I think this may have been the first (and possibly only) time in my life that I was better than a group of black people at a sport. Granted, they'd never really played before, but it was a moment I had to take in ;) That was also the first time I started to feel a little homesick... Just thinking back to playing at Barnes everyday... But don't worry, there's no place I'd rather be right now than right here in South Africa!

 

Elder Kasambala and I taught our first investigator Friday night, and...we'll just say we needed practice... ;) I think Elder Kasambala might have been a tad nervous...right after our investigator Pule said that he had lost his faith in God about ten years ago, Elder Kasambala taught something, and then asked, "So do you have faith in Jesus Christ?" hehe...we're getting better though, don't worry!

 

Saturday was INCREDIBLE! We got to go to the JoBerg temple. It's TINY. Like literally, one session can only fit 24 people. It was us 17, President and Sister Reber, and two others. What was really cool about it was they're closing the temple for the next 9 weeks for maintenance, and we were in the very last session before it closed. The outside was gorgeous as well. Eight of the elders went through for their first time, including Elder Kasambala, and four also received their patriarchal blessings while we've been through. Such an amazing experience for them. And it's really made me realized how blessed I was to be able to go to so many temples so many times before I left. Most of the others had only been through once. Reading the Book of Mormon that night, we read from the first chapter of 1 Nephi, and were finding things we'd never noticed before. It's like the temple, too. I think that was my 14th session, and I still notice new things, new insights every time.

 

Sunday was the Sabbath, which honestly...Seemed just like another day at the MTC. I guess when you're on a spiritual high like this that's what happens. :) We had a three hour block in the morning. All the speakers were missionaries. Very cool to hear. The rest of the day was just lessons. We didn't have to worry about teaching, which was a nice break. It was just a day to feel the spirit!

 

Monday was incredible. Started off the day going on a run with Sister Reber and a few of the other Elders. It was nice getting out of the MTC compound. Those who know me know I get kinda antsy being in the same place for too long. We went I think a couple miles out. It's gonna take some getting used to with the whole driving on the other side of the street thing. Oh! Fun fact: they're not called stoplights here. They're called robots, so that's fun. And the robots are weird here... But Elder Shabalala is from Durban, and he says it's a driving mission, so I guess I'm gonna have to get used to it! In addition to running, I also made a makeshift dumbell essentially by stuffing my backpack into my laundry bag. I also got a pushup/situp/lunge workout in, so take that MTC 15!!!

 

Monday and Tuesday we taught our investigators again. Pule went fantastically. He kept up with his commitments, and we were able to teach him the Restoration! Grace's was all over the place. She had invited a friend there, and her friend told us she was the prophet of her own church, and started Book of Mormon bashing, and I had nothing to back up my counterarguments, and it was just a mess... But it was a learning experience! I'm ready for you now, BoM bashers! You too, Satan. #comeatme

 

Tuesday we had a soccer match between the two districts! THAT was a blast, and really makes me wish I had kept with soccer longer than elementary school. All the Africans are SO GOOD!!! I guess that makes up for the lack of volleyball skill... ;) But man, since the missionary handbook says not to keep score, the game ended in a tie... If we had been keeping score though, it probably would have been Moroni district beating Helaman 4-3, which would have been a downer... But! I headed the ball twice and got compliments from real live Africans, so who's the real winner here? One of my sayings is that places with palm trees are always better... Still believe that, especially playing soccer outside. Sorry, Utah!

 

Wednesday was more classes... More teaching... and that brings us to today! We used some of our p-day helping to set up for Saturday. I guess it's the 10th anniversary of the South Africa MTC, so they're having an open house. From the sound of it, Brother Mocke was saying that they're gonna have people here from different embassies from different places in Africa come, to help ease the proccess, and even open the process of getting visas. He also mentioned we may be in the Ensign, so keep your eye out there!

 

So today's p-day, which in the MTC roughly translates to p-five hours. I'm gonna try and rap this up, and hopefully go take a nap if I have time after laundry. All you people in Utah who have the liberty of taking naps... DON'T TAKE THAT FOR GRANTED. I mean yes, I'm getting 8 hours of sleep everynight, but holy crap... I miss naps. Enjoy them. Music too... Good gandhi I miss music like none other and I've been out a week and a half. Hymns are nice though. I don't think there are any I love more than If You Could Hie to Kolob and Battle Hymn of the Republic (of South Africa...duh ;).

 

I think the highlights of my week have been Elder Bandi and Elder Esplin. Elder Bandi's an African, and he's probably one of the happiest people I've ever met! He's such a goof, and just so fun to be around. He's started to notice how I say "ok!" and "yeah!" and asks me to say them all the time. I love it. He's a beast at soccer, and always so excited to see me! And Elder Esplin is simply fantastic. I feel like he really looks up to me, which is cool since I look up to him too. He's from St. George and plays rugby. He's a little naieve, but has a strong testimony and is just a joy to be around.

 

So being without social media has taken away my outlet to share random thoughts... So to compensate, I labeled a page in the back of my journal "Random thoughts that would otherwise be tweeted," and I'll share some of my favorites at the end of my emails.

  

Reandom thoughts that would otherwise be tweeted:

 

- Hearing Elder Halford (British) say that something is "completely mental" and sound just like Ronald Weasley was bloody brilliant.

- President Bester's phrases are the best. #pregnantwithquestion

- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was about Christian missionaries in Africa... Sound familiar?

- Tip: going running once at 5:50 AM turns waking up at 6:30 into sleeping in.

- Converted degrees Fahrrenheit to degrees Celcius without Google. Suck it, metric system.

- Preaching the gospel is like selling pest control, except someone's salvation is on the line if you don't make the sale.

 

I think that's about it for me this week... Next email I'll be in Durban! I'll try not to be as lengthy next time... Just so much happening this week! Love you all. Stay positive, love your life. Peace.

 

Elder Johnson

First email from Johannesburg MTC

Greetings everyone!

 

Looks like I bought myself another half hour on LDSMail...so I'll sum up the last couple days!

 

So Tuesday I met Elder Tibbits at the airport, we went through security and found two more Elders waiting at the gate. Elder Jeppesen flew in from Rexburg and SURPRISE! He's a potato farmer! That's not the only stereotype we'll be proving true ;) Elder Esplin flew in from St. George and he is a stud and a half. He plays rugby, so he was stoked to get called to South Africa. If he was leaving later on his mish, he'd have the chance to play in Fiji and Hawaii, no big deal. The flight from SLC to Dallas was easy, and so was the layover, and the flight to London was LONG. Hard to sleep with the time difference, and there's not a whole lot to do without a phone or iPod...So I reverted to journal and letter writing, and playing Tetris and Sudoku on the chair in front of me, so that was fun. I even started taking bathroom breaks out of boredom (don't worry, I got a mirror pic or two while I was in there!).

 

The layover in London I was really wanting to go to Central London, but Elders Esplin and Jeppesen both had 50 pound bags that couldn't be checked until 3 hours before our flight, so we basically had 13 hours to kill at the airport. Long story short, we essentially spent the entire day trying to find places to nap, only to be repeatedly kicked out. In between napping places, we also had breafkast at an English pub (horribe British teeth stereotype: TRUE, manifested by our waitress), went to a multi-faith prayer room, had food at a place called Wagamama, and ran into a missionary that had been serving in London South and was heading home to Melbourne Australia! We said a quick goodbye to him as soon as we heard "Final boarding call for flight BA057 to Johannesburg!" oops! We made it though, and I was finally able to get some sleep!

 

The flight arrived, we went through customs, and met Brother Mocke along with some other missionaries at the airport. The drive to the MTC was about a half hour, and Brother Mocke explained that South Africans drive on the wrong side of the road, barbecues are called "bries", trucks are called something else, they don't have ice in their drinks, and a couple other things that I forget...I need sleep!

 

But we're at the MTC now, I had to get four more shots (UGH), my companion isn't here, the temperature outside is outstanding, and President Reber is wonderful! I was looking at other groups of missionaries that had been here before and recognized Elders Mitchell Best, Nick Menendez, and Kalin Wilson! Such an incredible time to be a missionary. So much work to be done! Today is pretty relaxed, but tomorrow we'll get to work! Can't wait. Ready or not Satan, here I come!

 

Lots of love (LOL),

 

Elder Johnson

July 8, 2013

Yo yo everyone! So this is the only post I'll actually post on here. The rest are gonna be my weekly emails to the fam, posted via mi madre. Hopefully there will be pictures and stuff. Really I'm just hoping that there's internet where I'm serving. A lot of areas are pretty third world, so I'm not sure! If you want to keep up with my life, this is the place. Big adventure starts tomorrow. Can't wait to see what the next two years have in store for me. The church is true, and I can't wait to share it with the people of South Africa!