"How old do you think I am?" That was the magic question as we were teaching the Arends family this week. Ah man, their kids crack me up. Here's how it went down...
Me: How old do you guys think I am?
Jeanine: 100!
Darren: Probably 30s.
Jason: Uh... 50?
Me: Guys, I'm only 20!
Darren: Yeah! I was closest!
Jeanine: Haibo! I said a hundred! I was closest!
I don't think anyone else puts a bigger smile on my wrinkly, hundred-year-old face. Ah man, those kids are the best. But whatevs, enough talk about me gettin' old. Let's take a journey back to yesteryear when I was a young whipper snapper on the Lord's errand...
Ah man, what a stellar week, and what better way to start it than with biryani? Melba taught us how to make it, so uh...heads up family. Y'all are gonna get hooked in just over a year. :) The Herringtons were back for FHE, which was a HUGE blessing. Last week while they were gone, Elder Marumo and I were in charge. It should have gone well, but eish... Our treat and lesson both bunked last minute and we kinda had to wing the whole thing (you get better at that the longer you're on mission). It was kinda like we were a couple high school hooligans playing battle of the bands after putting together a group in their parents' basement (shout out to Sebby, Randy, Josh, Kablab, Alexon, and all of Team Rock It's fan(s)!), and the Herringtons were Muse playing an epic concert with lasers and fire and homemade cinnamon rolls and stuff. What would we do without 'em?
So every once in a while you get one of those days every missionary dreams of. You know, one where you have appointments scheduled all day, none of them fall through, there's a member present at all of them, you get fed twice, and you even find a random less-active priesthood holder just by being in the right place at the right time. Back home, I found myself on cloud nine if a beautiful daughter of God liked my Instagram picture or whatever. On mission, it's days like these that get me excited. They only come once in a blue moon, but man, when they do, it's celebration time (usually that just means like a louder than normal high five at the end of our day).
As far as the area goes, blessings continue to rain heavily upon us. Eish, and the colder it gets the more likely those blessings turn to snow (fingers crossed). But for real though, this may have been one of the best weeks on mission so far. I know I probably say that every week to the point that it's lost all meaning, but I mean it this time. We've started teaching two powerhouse families in Ngagane, we've got a baptismal interviews coming up for a couple powerhouse investigators, we've got members, investigators, and less-actives all helping us with missionary work, a powerhouse branch president that's making it all possible, and to top it all off, a powerhouse companionship working in unity to preach salvation to as many souls as possible. What more could a missionary ask for?
I was reflecting a li'l bit earlier in the week on how blessed we are to live in a time when information can travel cross-country in a manner of seconds. We were teaching someone earlier this week that told us her daughter in JoBurg needed to hear the gospel, so we took her number, SMSed it to the assistants, and they SMSed back in a matter of minutes telling us they sent it to the JoBurg mission. MINUTES. Look back a hundred years ago and we probably would have had to travel a week or so by donkey across the desert, fighting a pride of lions on the way to accomplish this. There's definitely a reason the Lord had to wait until now to hasten His work. How wonderful it is to be able to see it in action.
We got to watch the Sunday morning session of conference this week at church, and it may possibly have been one of my favorite sessions ever. The talks were incredible, the speakers were awesome, and Africa even got a little bit of a shout-out! Sister Jean A. Stevens was talking about a visit to Botswana and Zimbabwe, and mentioned that all the little kids will say, "I'm so much thankful to God." It's true all over Africa, and it's incredible to see the amount of faith the children here have. Ah man, and the choir was absolutely incredible. Their rendition of Let us All Press On gave me chills the whole way through. Guys... The church is true. Please don't ever forget that.
So here's a story. Elder Esplin and I started doing P90x this week, and yoh... Tony Horton...That guy works you. My legs have been jelly all week. It's to the point that sitting down is a struggle. I needed to go see a man about a horse at one point, and I ended up just looking at the porcelain throne and deciding I could hold it. But it's cool because I'm gonna end up with huge Afrikaaner rugby legs and lead the Springboks to the 2015 World Cup.
So here's a story. Elder Esplin and I started doing P90x this week, and yoh... Tony Horton...That guy works you. My legs have been jelly all week. It's to the point that sitting down is a struggle. I needed to go see a man about a horse at one point, and I ended up just looking at the porcelain throne and deciding I could hold it. But it's cool because I'm gonna end up with huge Afrikaaner rugby legs and lead the Springboks to the 2015 World Cup.
We're gonna be off to Nambiti this afternoon which I am STOKED for! I was talking to Brother Classen yesterday who's from Germany, and he said out of all the 20 plus game drives he's been to in South Africa, this one's the best. Something about not being the biggest, but having the most animals packed into a smaller place. Should be freaking lekker. Expect pics next week. Well, you know, as long as I haven't been eaten by a leopard or whatever.
Love you all! Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
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