Sawubona!
You know those times you think you've seen the real world and then all of a sudden BOOM! Life throws a dead body at you? K cool, it's story time. As we were driving back from Al-Habib last Monday, we saw a bunch of cars parked next to the bridge crossing Ncandu River and a big group of people staring over the side. There were police, forensic units, and a bunch of concerned citizens. We weren't sure what they were all staring at, so curiosity got the best of us and we parked to check it out. We peeked over the side of the bridge, and what looked like a rock or a stump at first glance turned out to be a lifeless body floating its way down the river. No clue what happened, but eish... Really makes you reflect a li'l bit on the preciousness of life and how quickly you could find yourself in the Spirit World if you're not careful. Ay... But whatevs, email time's too short to report on the investigators in the Spirit World elders' area. On to Newcastle!
What a week, what a week... Nothing but positive vibes and good times. There's a word in isiZulu.. Nca. Remember, the "c" is a click. Nca is slang (I think) for something along the lines of good or nice. If someone asks you howzit, you could say it's nca. Or if you asked me how the missionary work is going, I'd tell you Newcastle is nca, brah. Ah man, the good Lord just keeps raining blessings on our area! Elder Marumo and I must have been good li'l spirit children in the spirit world to deserve such an area and teaching pool this lekker.
This week we were able to work with more members than we have in the past. The Maharajh and Pillay families were both among the first to be baptized when the Church first made its way to Newcastle however many years back. Ah man, such cool families. Sister Maharajh put us to work this week fixing a couple leaks on the roof. It was a li'l bit of risky business, but hey...I'd risk a broken leg for her curry any day.
We've been trying to talk to more and more people too this week and it's been going great. One thing Elder Marumo and I have been trying to do is to see people for what they can become. We met four guys on the street this week that all looked to be about in their early twenties. One could have looked at their tattoos and made assumptions, but we talked to them for a few minutes and found them to be honest truth seekers. I looked at Elder Marumo as we were walking away and said, "Did you see that back there? Four future missionaries." "Yebo," he replied, "four future priesthood holders."
All the couples in the mission were on retreat this week (loserz), so we didn't have the Herringtons with us most of the time. But! It ended up being ok because we got a surprise visit from the Carliles on Thursday as they were making their way across the country doing senior couple stuff like rescuing rhinos. You think I'm kidding... Meanwhile we were here doing the whole missionary thing. Some dogs barked at us this week, so that's about as close to wildlife as we we made it.
I found myself with Elder Morole in oSizweni on Friday for exchanges. Man, I miss serving in a township sometimes. You see things there you'd never see in town. There's a saying here... TIA - This is Africa. It's for those moments when you have to take a second glance at what just went down as you say in your mind, "What the fetch?" Like for example, when you see half a car being pulled by two donkeys traveling down the road. TIA my friend, TIA. You don't get that stuff in town. But then again, you can't find Indian food in the township, so who's the real winner here? Speaking of... We tried another place called the Food Garden on Friday. Not as good at Al-Habib, but here's something cools. I was an American sitting at an Indian restaurant in Africa, when all of a sudden a couple Asians walked in wearing their Muslim get up. Holy melting pot... I think the only thing that could have topped it off would have been if we greeted each other in Spanish.
Ah man this weekend though! Conference while you're on mission is like Christmas. You're a little kid and you can't understand why the fetch your parents (or the branch members in this case) aren't nearly as excited as you are. Perhaps the idea of sitting still for ten hours listening to talks is much more appealing to you when you're eating, sleeping, and breathing Jesus for two years. Packer's still kickin', Holland's still keeping us humble, Tommy Monson's still the man, and Uchtdorf's love of planes went almost as far as hijacking Air Force One. Haha, all is well.
So here's something. Sometimes we keep extra statistics in our planners just for fun. Like for me, sometimes I keep track of how many times li'l kids feel my arm hair (if I was keeping track Tuesday alone the number would have been four) or how many guys you see peeing on the side of the road, and of them how many are actually facing the road (you'd like to think that number's pretty low wouldn't you?). Anyway, the one we started counting this week is how many times Brother Gbenga says, "In my county..." And followed with something about his native Nigeria. What a guy... Truly an inspiration to me. We're so blessed to have him as our branch mission leader. I've never met anyone as excited about sharing the gospel as he is. The amazing part is that he's away from his family in Nigeria until he can find work. He has every reason in the world sometimes to be down in the dumps, but that'll never break him. When you love your family, your country, the Lord, and His gospel so much, there ain't nothing nobody can do to tear you down!
Freaking lekker week ahead of us. The Herringtons are back, the work is great, the food is good as ever, the church is still true, and we're even gonna make it to Nambiti next Monday. Hurrah for Israel!
Sala kahle my friends. Stay positive and love yo life.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
No comments:
Post a Comment