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