Sanbonani!
Mlungu is the Zulu term for "white guy" and I'm like the only one of those guys in Stanger at the moment, so during the times we were walking to the taxi rank this week it wasn't uncommon to hear a "Hey mlungu!" or other Zulu phrases with the word "mlungu" in there somewhere. Eish... As much as I'd like to think I'm black I stick out here like a sore thumb.
But hey, the work carries on! This week has been one for the books... Between re-opening an area, not having a car, helping Elder Mphaka be welcomed into the Durban mission, going to a boarding without electricity... Yoh, it's been hectic. But there's no place I'd rather be.
Last day in Newcastle was absolutely fantastic. Used the last of the refried beans mama sent me to do some Navajo Tacos courtesy of the Herringtons! Took care of some final goodbyes and a final FHE, and then the next morning, Zuma and I were off. Eish... I was kinda bummed though. I spent a lot of Monday learning how to drive stick, only to get a call from the assistants in the evening changing the plans to us driving a manual car to Durbs. Dang it. I was catching on so well. I only killed it like... Well the number's not imporant.
We made it to Durban alright, met up with some of the other missionaries, and something kinda cool happened... All three Darts in the mission met up at the mission home! Elder Wilson, Elder Tibbits, and myself. So we got a picture, because you know... That's what a bunch of Davis grads do when they get together. Finally got to meet Elder Mphaka, and what a stud that guy is. He's from Polokwane up in the Limpopo province. He's just a little younger than me on mission, and we're ready to tear up Stanger!
Elders Mathebula and Petrie drove us up to Stanger that evening, and after I had been looking at transfer logistics earlier that day, I realized that we were driving to Stanger, and then they were carrying on after that... Kinda put two and two together and realized we weren't gonna have a car. The mission's cutting down on vehicles and upping the number of missionaries, leaving more and more areas without a vehicle, and for some reason or another, one of the biggest areas in the mission is among them. More on that in a minute. Anyway, they dropped us off and helped us get settled into our flat that hadn't been entered in three months. We'd need to buy electricity the next day, so thankfully there wasn't light to see all the dead bugs and filth that had been piling up. We decided it'd probably be best to just sleep and conquer it the next day. It was like 7:30 at the time, but fetch... We were tired and were out super fast.
After deep cleaning the boarding the next, we were able to meet with Vincent, one of the long-time members in Stanger and make a game plan for the area. Man... I think I'm gonna love it here. The branch is small and spread out, but we've spent a good portion of the week meeting the members and everything. The few are the chosen. They are so stoked to have missionaries back in the branch, and we're so stoked to be here.
It's been an experience opening a closed area. The good news is we're walking and taking taxis, so we get to talk to a bunch more people. Now taxi here is way different than taxi back home... Usually it's a VW bus some guy drives to the area you're going towards and it'll be anywhere from R7 for somewhere within town to R35 to Durban. So that's our transport now. And our area goes from Mandeni, which is about 40 kilometres north of Stanger, all the way to Ballito, which is about 20 kilos south. When we told President Singh we didn't have a car, he was shocked. It's gonna be tough getting around, but we'll make it work!
Let's see... We spent most of the week meeting members, but even fit in a couple lessons while we were at it, and even scored a teaching appointment at Spur! Spur's probably the most American resaurant you'll find here, similar to Applebee's or Chili's, and people love it... But eish, if you've eaten at Applebee's or Chili's you'll realized Spur's not that great. Anyway, Big Z's been encouraging us to teach groups of people, so we're trying to teach in workplaces. We talked to the manager at the Spur in Stanger, and she said it was fine if we shared a message with the employees between shifts. Boo yeah! Speaking of America... There's a line in our white handbook that says, "Because of the close association in some people's minds of the Church with the United States of America, in some countries you may need to avoid locations or institutions associated with the United States and avoid areas where large groups of people have anti-American feelings." I always read that and never thought much of it, but then we found ourselves by some "Solidarity March for Palestine" happening earlier this week with people holding big signs that said "US STOP FUNDING ISRAEL." We ended up getting outta there, and I had in my mind to talk in the most Afrikaans sounding accent I could if anyone tried to talk to me.
The whole getting around thing's gonna be a bit of a challenge, but the members are going to help us out when they can. Taxis only run until about 5 or 6, so it's been a challenge working away from the boarding in the evening, but we've had some members offer to give us lifts. Where the Lord needs us to work, He provides a way, no matter what the challenge. There are Lamans and Lemuels who will sit and stew and say this is a hard thing, and there are Nephis who will go and do and make the best of their situation. We're trying our best to be Nephis.
Hmmm... Stoked for what lies ahead. Stanger's always been one of those areas missionaries have feared going to, I think just because it's far away from other missionaries... But man, who cares? When you have a companion like Elder Mphaka, it's gonna make for some good times. What a guy... He's truly an example of Christ-like charity. Every morning he's offered to either shine my shoes or iron my shirt asking nothing in return. I'm trying my best to keep up with him by making breakfast or something, only to find him washing the dishes... What a stud :) And to top everything off, it feels like Southern California... There's a cool, ocean breeze that just tells me, "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is gonna be alright." Or maybe that's just the Bob Marley you can faintly hear playing from one of the shops...
Welp, we're in Durban today for a zone activity, and will be again Thursday for zone training meeting. Gonna be a lekker cracker week, and we're looking forward optimistically to teaching lessons like it's our full-time job this week. Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives my friends.
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