So here's something fun I heard a little bit ago... In Lesotho, it's illegal for you to fly your broomstick a certain altitude. It's kind of a downer...how else are they gonna practice for the Quidditch World Cup?
I'm picking up more and more lingo as the days go on... You know how we'll say "huh" after some things meaning "right?" Like... "This pap is good, huh?" The equivalent in South Africa is "neh." Lekker, neh?
Yho, but it's been a long week! I can now say I'm one transfer into mission, and only have 16 more to go! #PROGRESS Monday night we had to take two of the Elders getting transferred to the bus station... Their bus was supposed to get there at 11:45, but we were there past 1...latest I've stayed up in two months...#YOLO Speaking of! Two months ago today I was getting on a plane in Salt Lake City...feels like yesterday though. Time flies, neh?
Tuesday we were back in Kimberley, and we went hard this week. We watched a couple training videos, and President Hinckley talked a lot about the importance of working with members. So that's what we've done a lot of this week! We have a ward directory, and during down time, we've just chosen addresses on the list and gone and visited them. It's slow at first, because we want to build relationships with the ward members before we ask for referrals, but in the coming weeks the work should start to really get going!
Thursday was very interesting... I dunno if I mentioned Gert earlier, but he's an Afrikaaner we met when we had a table set up at the Pick N Pay a few weeks ago. You know the Giddeons? The ones who put all the Bibles in the hotels? Apparently he's one of them, and not just one of them, but the president of the Giddeons in Kimberley. Go figure. But he wanted to come to our church and tell the congregation more about what they do, so we thought it would be a good idea to bring Bishop Tshabalala with us to meet with him. So we did and it was...interesting. He told us about what they do, his conversations with God and the devil, and then at the end, he started speaking in Afrikaans to Bishop and Elder Kruger. The only thing I caught was when he pointed at me and I made out the word "American..." Lo and behold, he said I wasn't needed in Kimberley and should be doing work in America. Well then! I was frustrated, but all that left me the next day when we saw him pulled over by a traffic cop (which is pretty rare...usually tickets are from the cameras here!). I laughed my head off, and was probably way more excited about it than I should be...haha...but! That night I wrote my testimony of the church along with my testimony of why I know I need to be here in Kimberley and not America in a Book of Mormon, highlighted a couple scriptures, and I'll be giving that to him later this week. Everyone's a child of God and deserves to have the Gospel in their lives.
I've been trying to workout a little more, and so I gave running a shot this week. Not running in the sense of outside (although Elder Kruger and I did do that as well) but in the sense of running ten feet back and forth in the living room. I had my iPod count the distance and apparently I went a little more than a mile. You know when you see a dog in the back of a bakkie (South African for "truck") on the freeway running from side to side? That's what I felt like. You have to improvise a lot on mission...
Here's what I want every single one of you to do right now. Go pray and thank Heavenly Father so much that you have a garbage man. Saturday morning we did service at a member's house, cleaning up her yard, and burning trash is one of the worst things I've done. I like the smell of campfire, but burning garbage smells HORRIBLE. Oy...but Sister Pinky appreciated it, and we'll be back again next Saturday to start working on clearing space for a garden.
Sunday was nice...we taught a lot, and I really felt the Spirit during all of our lessons. There's something about Sundays that does that. But I think the highlight was FHE with the Young Men. I promised them Pop Rocks if they read their scriptures every single day this week, and lo and behold, they did! Something about American candy was very appealing to them... But they LOVED them! Great idea to send those, Mama!
You hear a lot of interesting questions on your mission, but I think this is the best one so far... "You two are church people, neh? My friend fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and he became a prophet of God! If I do that, can I become a prophet too?"
I'll let each of you ponder that in your hearts this next week... ;) Take care, much love, stay positive, stay safe, love your life, and have some fun this week!
Elda Johnson
No comments:
Post a Comment