Bob Barker reminding you: help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.

Sawubona!

That's Zulu... No one speaks Zulu in Kimberley... But whatever, that greeting sounds the coolest so that's what I'm sticking with.

Been a long week this week! Lots of ups and downs... But holy cow, you can't truly appreciate a society that has strong morals until you've lived somewhere that has next to none. Alcoholism is high, daga is common, chastity isn't really a thing, and I hear little kids that have vulgar mouths... It's sad in a way. But hey, we're there to help, one conversion at a time!

Last Tuesday was rough. Literally, every single one of our appointments fell through. We ended up updating our Area Book (which hadn't been updated in 3 months...) and didn't teach a single lesson. It was rough, but really helped us to appreciate the good days we had. The next day we taught nine lessons, so that made up for it! Oh... and I also had my first haircut from someone other than my mom in I think 8 years... Crazy.

I think it was Wednesday... So funny. We went tracting a little bit, and we found a girl named Natasha. We taught a little bit about the Plan of Salvation, and she seemed very intrigued. Asked a lot of questions, and I think she'll be a solid investigator. But apparently I have a very heavy American accent, and she asked me if I had been to New York. I told her I had, but that I liked Chicago better. "Ooo that's where Barack Obama's from! Did you meet him?!" Then I mentioned I lived in California for a while... "Ooo did you meet Kim Kardashian?!" I just laughed... I guess it's the same as other people's perceptions of Africa. "Ooo Africa! Do you have lions and giraffes in your yard?!"

We have a few investigators progressing towards baptism right now, and it's so cool to see the Lord's hand work in their lives. A couple are still struggling with Word of Wisdom problems... Isaac especially. I dunno if I mentioned him last week, but he has a serious problem with alcohol and smoking. He stopped for a while, but relapsed, and we can see a huge change in him. He isn't as happy as when he was off of it. He can barely talk, and there's just something different about him. We're going to work with him and another investigator struggling with that stuff named Lucky and set something up for a couple hours every couple days or so to get their minds off of those harmful substances. Sort of like AA, but with a spiritual message as well. :)

One of the things I miss most about back home is the food. Mexican food specifically... There isn't a Mexican restaurant to be seen down here! We're eating well, especially when member's cook for us. And I haven't gotten sick (yet...knock on wood!), so that's good. We usually cook at our place... Elder Kruger is quite the chef! I've tried making a couple things, but usually I just end up burning eggs. Oops. I'm working on it though. Our place is sweet though. Two beds, a bathroom, and a kitchen. It's connected to the landlords' house. They're Afrikaans and very nice. Not members, but they love the missionaries. Crazy thing about South Africa...everyone has barbed wire or electric fences around their houses. Security's tight, but I guess it has to be with how much theft there is. (Don't worry, as long as you don't be stupid, you're safe down here!)

Oh my... I forgot to include this last week. Funniest thing ever at the MTC. We were doing a role play, and the deal was that I was an investigator at an airport and my companion was to come up and talk to me. The scenario was that I thought the Mormons were polygamists. So Elder Kasambala comes up and starts talking to me, and I'm like "Oh, aren't you the guys that have a bunch of wives?" And he looked at me, paused for a second, and then in the most humble voice I've ever heard, he said "Yes." The teacher and I burst out laughing... Holy cow, I think the question just confused him a little bit. So funny though.

I've been working on picking up Afrikaans a little bit, and it's tough... I have an Afrikaans Book of Mormon and I've read through about 3 pages! Woo! "En dit het gebeur..." translates to "And it came to pass..." So I can say that. That's about it. Slowly, but surely I'm working on it!

P-day's today... I think our gameplan is soccer at 3, and then we're going to a nature reserve tonight around sunset that has giraffes, zebras, and the works. Expect some Lion King-esque pictures next week!

Make me proud at home everyone. Much love!

Elder Johnson

PS... If you're wondering about the title of the email, I now understand why Bob Barker says that at the end of the Price is Right... Dogs run rampant here. All the females are pregnant or nursing, and they reproduce like rabbits... It's said, because there's not enough people to care for them all. A lot are skinny, a lot are abused, and they just don't look happy... Elder Kruger LOVES animals too, so he hates seeing it. Spay and neuter your pets, folks!

Random thoughts that would otherwise end up on Twitter:

* (Background: In our planners, we have our Daily Plan and our Backup Plan if we can't make it to our Daily Plan) Sunday: Daily Plan, Church. Backup Plan, Outer Darkness.

* Our first thought when we hear a car alarm is never "Oh no, someone's robbing me!" It's more along the lines of "Ugh turn off that noise!"