Sanbonani!
Thursday...ah, what a beautiful day. Elder Kambuzuma and I were on exchanges, and as we awoke that morning, we stepped outside in preparation for a morning jog and took a deep breath of that cold, brisk winter air. It had a feel to it that my lungs hadn't felt since the last time I was at a ski resort, and oh, how I missed it. You wouldn't expect to see frost on the ground in Africa, but I testify to you my brothers and sisters, as sure as the Zulus like their pap and wors, there was frost on the grass as far as the eye could see. I feel like a wimp because it's been 40s and 50s here during the day and I've been complaining, but looking back a year ago to my time in Logan, we were rejoicing and wearing shorts when it finally hit 40. Eish...
But that's ok. Because no matter what the weather, the work moves forward!
Thursday...ah, what a beautiful day. Elder Kambuzuma and I were on exchanges, and as we awoke that morning, we stepped outside in preparation for a morning jog and took a deep breath of that cold, brisk winter air. It had a feel to it that my lungs hadn't felt since the last time I was at a ski resort, and oh, how I missed it. You wouldn't expect to see frost on the ground in Africa, but I testify to you my brothers and sisters, as sure as the Zulus like their pap and wors, there was frost on the grass as far as the eye could see. I feel like a wimp because it's been 40s and 50s here during the day and I've been complaining, but looking back a year ago to my time in Logan, we were rejoicing and wearing shorts when it finally hit 40. Eish...
But that's ok. Because no matter what the weather, the work moves forward!
What an exciting week. We started off with Elder Willombe's birthday on Tuesday, and something you have to know about Elder Willombe is that he absolutely loves potatoes. For breakfast every morning, we find him heating up some oil to make chips (um...fries for you Americans). For lunch, same thing. So Elder Esplin and I decided we should probably make him a birthday cake made entirely out of potatoes. Now, the day before when we were buying all the supplies, Checkers didn't have a "1" candle, so we had to make do with a "9" and "0," because ninety sounds close to nineteen, right? Anyway, we got up at 5:30 and went to work to have it ready for Elder Willombe's 6:30 wake up call. We sang, he loved it, and even paid us one of the best compliments I've ever had. "Wow! These chips are incredible! They're even better than any ones I've ever made!" And with that, we started the week.
I think I mentioned it last week, but we're working on a finding idea that will cater to a huge need in South Africa -- jobs. As I was talking to Elder Herrington this past Sunday, we were discussing how there are indeed jobs out there, but one reason we feel people aren't able to find them is due to the expectation that you little will be required of you. So, what does Christ tell his disciples he's going to do? In Matthew 4:18, He tells Peter and Andrew, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." He recognizes that they aren't all that they can be...yet. But, through the gospel, he turns them into fishers of men. If the gospel was able to do that with Peter, Andrew, and the rest of Christ's disciples, why can't it work for the citizens of Newcastle? Elders Esplin and Willombe tried the approach street contacting this week, and in Elder Esplin's own words, "It was so succesful that every single person we talked to was interested. One man actually asked us for contact details and an appointment." When does that even happen?! They quickly realized they needed to come up with a lesson plan though, so that's what we'll be working on as a district this week. I told President Zackrison about it in our interview this week, and he called the idea "dynamite," so it's got the Big Z Seal of Approval! He just warned us to be careful not to promise prosperity without work. I mean, come on... Faith without works is dead anyway.
As far as working with out current investigators, things are moving forward wonderfully! For a couple of them, we hit some minor setbacks, but hey... We've been working with a part member family called the Mlambos for a while, and two of the kids committed to baptism this week! Hurrah for Israel! And just as miraculous, their baba, who at first was hostile towards the church, is warming up! We had our fireside this weekend (which you'll hear more about shortly), and we stopped by their place Saturday afternoon reminding them of it, and the ma who's a member was feeling under the weather wasn't going to be able to make it with the kids, but baba offered to drive them! Elder Marumo and I ended up with huge smiles on our faces. The Spirit works, my friends.
As far as working with out current investigators, things are moving forward wonderfully! For a couple of them, we hit some minor setbacks, but hey... We've been working with a part member family called the Mlambos for a while, and two of the kids committed to baptism this week! Hurrah for Israel! And just as miraculous, their baba, who at first was hostile towards the church, is warming up! We had our fireside this weekend (which you'll hear more about shortly), and we stopped by their place Saturday afternoon reminding them of it, and the ma who's a member was feeling under the weather wasn't going to be able to make it with the kids, but baba offered to drive them! Elder Marumo and I ended up with huge smiles on our faces. The Spirit works, my friends.
So the GPS elders slept over again this week, which is pretty sweet because they keep updating us on everything that's going on in Swaziland. Ok, I guess I should probably explain the GPS elders thing real quick... So! It's a big project that started about a year ago, and it's Elder Turner's brilliant mind that's done it. In Lesotho and Swaziland, there are no addresses, which makes it really difficult for missionaries to find where members stay. So, Elder Turner recognized a problem and came up with a solution. He had worked with GPS systems at home, so for the past year, he's been working with different companions and members to put GPS coordinates of all the members, active and less-active, into a system that will be available to all the missionaries. They've been working in Lesotho, but just recently finished up there and started the program in Swazi. The whole thing is super cool, and has led to reactivation up the wazoo and a few branch creations in Lesotho. Anyway, so anytime they come to ZA they stay with us and tell us everything that's going on. There are sisters serving in Swazi now, they're finding families like crazy, and their mission president is some Brazilian guy that pronounces the "o" in "focus" like the "o" in "stop," so it sounds really funny. But yeah, they were here for interviews since they technically still fall under Big Z's jurisdiction. Moving the project over to another mission president would have been super wacked or something.
Ah man, one of the awesome things you'll learn about President Zackrison is that he can schedule your interviews for a half hour, but they'll really be closer to an hour. Ours this Friday were scheduled for 3:30 and 4, but I quickly told Elder Marumo, "No they won't be." Was I right? Oh, I sure was! But that's ok, because interviews with President are the bomb. Elder Childs and I were talking about this earlier this week. You'll have different types of coaches in high school. On one extreme, you'll have the coaches that just yell and scream all the time, and they're not very effective. On the other side, you'll have coaches that are just pushovers and let you walk all over them. The most effective is somewhere in between, someone who will be your friend and help you to be the best athlete you can be because that's what he inspires in you. That's how President Zackrison is. His interviews don't even feel like interviews. They feel like a conversation between two friends. Anyway, so Elder Marumo's ended up being around 5, and he ran out of time for mine Friday night and it ended up happening Saturday morning. Go figure.
Man, the whole weekend ended up being a rejuvenating spiritual experience. It gave me a strong testimony of what just a small act of love can do, something as small as popping by and saying hi. The Zackrisons wanted to be a part of one of the Herringtons' famous Family Home Evenings, so they held that Friday night (the topic was music -- one of my favorites), we had the fireside Saturday night, and then branch conference on Sunday. Each event was absolutely fantastic. Our usual FHE crew had a blast Friday night. Melba was disappointed when she learned that the fireside wouldn't include an actual fire. Shame... She had already bought marshmallows and everything, so we ended up roasting them as the treat for FHE instead. The fireside was a massive success though. Transports had been organized from oSizweni and Madadeni, and we had far more people than we anticipated. The Zackrisons gave a great presentation about the spirituality of missionary work, Sister Jean and Melba bore great testimonies about member missionary work, and Brother Gbenga, Brother Ayanda, Elder Marumo, and I did a skit about member missionary work that everyone seemed to get a kick out of. Branch conference kicked butt too. And I think the greatest success out of all of this was that the Arends family came to all three of these!!! All because we popped by Wednesday night, said hi, and invited them. Sister Arends told us afterwards that she was trying to decide whether or not to go out of town this weekend, and was super glad she made the decision to stay and come with the kids. She said the messages she heard inspired her to make some changes in her life, which, hey... Isn't that what the gospel's for?! Her and her kids are fantastic, and it's moments like those where I feel like we're doing some good in the world.
We got transfers coming up this week, and eish... Whenever you're not in the middle of training you have no idea what can end up happening. President said nothing about it in our interview either. Fingers crossed I stay in Newcastle one more transfer, but if the Lord needs me somewhere else, I'll go where He wants me to go. The work must be hastened the whole world wide!
Stay positive and love your lives my friends.
Sala kahle and much love,
Umdala Johnson
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