Shared 9/29/14 - Stanger and Durban - Cooking up food in South Africa

In boarding…cooking up some rice

Companion cooking the meat...

 A healthy veggie meal

When the power is out…improvise

Illuminati….

I make jokes! You know that?

Namaste!

So I learned recently that's the typical Indian greeting, and in Hinduism it means something like"I bow to the divine in you." So that's pretty cool... But I've never met anyone that really uses it. Usually it's just, "Howzit?" Indians are really good at speeding up conversations. Instead of wasting time structuring out a proper sentence and saying, "Where were you going?" it'll usually just be, "Where you was going?" Or if you wanted to ask, "Did you know that?" it'll just be, "You know that?" As long as the point gets across, I guess it's all good, right?

Man... So here's an experience you'll only have as a missionary. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Pop Pop, maybe this will bring back memories of Guatemala... Saturday night we taught a lesson to a referral from Benny and Naleen (more on that in a minute), and they invited us for dinner afterwards. Sister Naleen had cooked some truly lekker biryani for us, and I knew that the price to be paid for it would be paid sometime the next day. We went home and slept that night and woke up to a beautiful Sabbath day. Sunday mornings are usually a little more relaxed since you don't have to worry about working out or hitting the 8 o'clock deadline for studies. I took the time to jam a little bit on the guitar, and as I was doing so, Elder Mphaka hopped in the shower. A couple minutes went by, and I felt a war starting in my stomach. The biryani was rallying its troops together, and I knew this was going to be a tough fight, but that if I could at least make it to the end of Elder Mphaka's time in the bathroom, victory would be mine. Well, my friends, the biryani came ready for battle that morning. The troops started advancing, and it became harder and harder to hold them back. Minutes started feeling like hours, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist much longer. I began pacing up and down, fighting as hard as I could, but despite my efforts to keep it in, this was a battle that would have to be fought outside my body. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in my trousers and make a mess of them, or find some other means of containing the inevitable. At this moment of great alarm, just as it was nearly too late, I rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the closest pot I could get a hold of, dropped my shorts, and squatted. This no sooner happened than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. 

My dear brothers and sisters, a wise elder told me months ago that you're not a real missionary until you've pooped your pants. I'm here to testify to you today, that there is not another way under the heavens that you can come closer to being classified as a real missionary without attaining that title. I still haven't told Elder Mphaka the events of that fateful morning, but perhaps the right time will be when one of us is transferred away. Some things are better left momentarily unsaid. 

Ah, but in other news! Absolutely fantastic week! Lots and lots going on, and lots and lots lying ahead! We've been working a bit on our stop smoking class, which will be culminating the 15th of October, and we're looking forward with excitement. We've been doing our best to get word out, and this week, we made flyers that a couple restaurants are leaving out on their counters. Usually the franchise restaurants like KFC and Nando's haven't allowed us to do so because of corporate whatever, but some of the little hole-in-the-wall places like Hot Pot have been more than welcome. It's interesting to me... Everyone we've talked to that has been smoking -- EVERYONE -- has answered yes to the question, "Have you ever had the desire to quit?" I think a lot of time we can look at people smoking as hooligans and bad people, but most of the time (all the time in these cases) they're good people that made a mistake once and want to change. We're looking forward to being able to help people with that.

The Mozambican families we started teaching last week have turned into powerhouses. Fernando especially. The four of them came to church this week and, at least on the husbands' part, they loved it! Fernando and Sam have been working in South Africa for a while, so they've learned English pretty well. Isabelle and Ines have been staying at home with the kids, so they're not understanding too much of what we say. But, Fernando and Sam are helping them. We managed to get the last couple Portuguese pamphlets from the mission office as well, so we've been reading with them from there, and they all committed to baptism. Pretty neat.

Bright and Octavia are doing as great as ever! We had Brother Mathew with us this week for a lesson with them, and boy... Was he the right member to have present! With some of the same things Bright's gone through, Mathew went through as well before he found the Church. He testified that the people you meet at bars that are your "friends," aren't really your friends. There was a time he ended up in the hospital after drinking too much, and the only people that were there for him -- visiting him, calling him, that sorta thing -- were his family and the members of the Church. The Spirit was there, and they're just doing wonderfully.

A pleasant surprise to us this week has been Ezron! He's the brother of Yvonne, and her and her husband Clive were referrals to us from the Tembos. The first lesson we had with them a few weeks ago, he was suspicious of us... When we asked for his phone number, he came up with an excuse not to give it, but this last week, he's been paying attention and asking great questions. He's been to church two weeks in a row now and is getting really into the Book of Mormon. What's made the difference? We can only say it's been the Spirit touching his heart! When the Spirit's there with you in missionary work, miracles happen! He committed this Saturday that if he comes to a knowledge for himself that these things are true, he'll be baptized. What more can we ask for? 

We've been working a bit with a brother named Calvin, and he's a lifelong member. Super great guy. He's in his 20s, suffers from schizophrenia, and is just one of the nicest, most humble people I've met. When he prays, he asks for things like the whole world to be happy and blessed. Truly selfless. He hasn't been active lately, but he was able to make it to church this Sunday. He sat by me during sacrament meeting and told me his favorite hymn is I am a Child of God. There's just a spirit about him that testifies to me that amongst all the bad in the world, there are some really, really good people out there, and he's one of them.

We've been a little weary lately every time Benny and Naleen give us a referral, because sometimes what will happen is Benny will tell us he's got someone that's very, very interested. When we get there, we'll ask what his feelings about religion are, only to hear the person say, "I have no interest in religion. I'm happy with my life." Haha... And sometimes Benny doesn't remember their names, either. But! Saturday night we were pleasantly surprised! He invited a husband and wife to his place that are in the process of converting to Christianity from Hinduism, so they're wanting to know the basics. Let me tell you... Teaching to someone without a Christian background is something else! We taught the Restoration, and usually people will know about prophets, about God, about what Christ did while he was on the earth, but this time around they didn't! We're teaching them again this week and learning the Plan of Salvation, so I'm pretty excited for that.

Hmmm... We had a fair share of rain yesterday. We're only allotted a certain number of kilometres to drive per month, so some days we decide to walk still. And it just so happened that the one day we decide to walk is the day Heavenly Father decides to answer our prayers for rain. That's how I know God has a sense of humour... But! It was jolly good fun and were able to meet a few people while we were walking around! Came back home that night to no electricity for twenty minutes or so... I was super bummed because I was about to make an omelette. I tried using matches to heat up a pan in the meantime, and Elder Mphaka kinda got a kick outta that. Didn't work, but the power came back a few minutes later and I was able to enjoy my omelette.

So what's on the schedule today... Saw a sign to join the Illuminati, so I think we'll do that! Benny and Naleen are teaching us how to make curry a little bit later, which I'm stoked for. Benny suggested a live chicken, which I'm all for... Still haven't slaughtered one yet. Fingers crossed Elder Mphaka's up for it too.

Branch activity coming up on Saturday, organized by the Elders of Stanger. Watching the Saratov Approach again, which I'm excited for. It's kinda like the Book of Mormon... You pick something new up every time. 

The gospel's true as ever. The weather's good. Life is good. More good times lie ahead.

Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives my friends.

Much love,

Umdala Johnson

Shared 9/22/14 - P-Day checking out the Indian Ocean

Natal Sharks Board…Enter the sea at your own risk!  Good thing there is no entering going on.

 With companion

 Shout out the the SBOs!

The world. Wordly things. Work.

Sanbonani!

It's not just every unit you serve in that you find a couple like Brother Benny and Sister Naleen. They take the phrase "every memember a missionary" seriously and share the gospel with almost everyone they talk to! We have dinner with them Saturday nights (s/o to Sister Naleen, by the way, for making the best, hottest curry I've had in South Africa so far!) and literally every week, they have someone new for us to teach. What a blessing. And every once in a while, we'll get the good news that Benny's going to be speaking at sacrament meeting the next day, and this was one of those days. Ah Benny... What a character. His talks keep us awake and teach us some good things. This week's was on the world, wordly things, and work. He told us that cell phones can be good, but sometimes the only rest that they get is when you go to sleep. Afterwards he told us he had to cut his talk short due to the stake speaker needing time, but I guess he had some things about Mother Theresa and Mahatma Gandhi planned to talk about. Guess we'll have to wait until next time.

Ah man, what a flipping good fetching awesome week it's been! Now, I know most of the pictures I send home lately have been on the beach, but I promise there's a lot of missionary work going in between p-days... We've got some service opportunities we're getting involved in, and we've got Sister Pam to thank for that. We met with her in Ballito this week and she gave us the names of a clinic and a child care place that could use a couple helping hands. Oh! And she's helping us get a newspaper article published about our quit smoking class. We met with the Rowberrys this morning, and we've got some more great ideas going for that. We started our advertising campaign this week... Flyered the town, had an information table, been talking to everyone we've seen that looks like they want to quit smoking... The wheels are in motion!

One of the things we've been trying to do this week is to have meaningful conversations with people. I mean, we can talk to a lot of people, but if it's just a quick "Can we share a message about Jesus Christ with you?" they're not going to get much out of it. But, if you can get a meaningful conversation going and then invite them to learn more at the end, that's going to be something memorable. As we were walking around High Ridge on Thursday, we saw an Indian brother sitting on the stairs that we were able to strike up a conversation with. Come to find out, he was going through a lot, and had actually met the missionaries before. We saw that he was smoking, so we asked him if he'd ever had the desire to quit. He took a look at his cigarette, and said, "Well yeah... I hate this thing. I'd love to get rid of it." He gladly accepted the invitation to our class. On Saturday we met a brother named Chris outside his house, and were able to have a good long conversation with him about the world, and how you protect your kids from the things of the world. He gladly accepted the invitation to learn more. As we were driving Vincent home one day, we saw a brother on the street holding a guitar and sporting dreads and a rasta hat. Man... How could we not talk to him? Found out his name is John, and we're planning on having a jam sesh one of these days. And this one's kinda cool... A few weeks ago, Benny and Naleen took us to a referral that had no interest in what we were sharing, but a couple of his friends sat in on the lesson. One of them was a Muslim, and we're not really supposed to actively seek teaching Muslims... Something about it doing more harm than good when it comes to family relationships and whatnot. Anyway, this brother's name was Mohammed, and we were walking around town this week and stopped us, greeted us with a smile, told us he really liked what we shared, and said we should come over again. There's something to be said about planting seeds... Words are powerful, and they may have an effect on people that you weren't even expecting. As Big Z told me one day, we speak the words of Christ, and the prepared will recognize us as servants of the Lord. Kind of a cool feeling.

As far as teaching, this week has been awesome. We've taught more first lessons and found more solid new investigators this week than any other in Stanger! The Tembos are still doing wonderfully... They all came to church this week and committed to be baptized on the 9th of November! We're stoked for them! I don't know if you remember Wilson, but he's the one working at the guest house in Ballito. We were able to have a lesson with him for the first time in a month. We talked with him about his life, his goals, and the Book of Mormon, and he's delighted to learn how much what he believes is in harmony with the Lord's teachings. Great guy. As we've been doing service at the clinic by our boarding, we've gotten to know a brother named Israel Mnqayi, and he's grown really fond of us and what we do. We were able to share a lesson with him and his big family yesterday, and what a great man he is. We shared the Restoration, temple blessings, For the Stength of Youth, and answered some of their questions they have about life in general. Israel told his kids that he had made mistakes in his past, and he didn't want them to have to make the same mistakes as him. Afterwards, he was walking us to the car and thanked us profusely for what we shared. He said that he had never shared some of that with his kids before, and said what a blessing it was that we had come over. My heart just filled with gladness. It's moments like those when you really know you're doing the Lord's work. Oh! And finally, we started teaching two families from Mozambique yesterday, and their first language is Portuguese... So we're getting some Portuguese pamphlets from the office today and letting the work move forward! Hurra para Israel!

And just life in general... I've decided to start taking Tony Horton's health guide seriously and tighten up my eating. It's been going great and I've been eating lots more fruits and veggies, but eish... When curry weekend hits, I don't stand a chance. Our dinner appointments with the Singhs Thursday, Sister Moodley friday, and Benny and Naleen Saturday finish me. But it's worth it. I'll be a healthy person...well, someday. What else... I'm teaching Vincent guitar right now! He's a stud. Been playing just a couple weeks and he's got Time of Your Life by Green Day almost all the way down. Oh! Barbershop for who?! I'm cutting my own hair these days! I've been nervous to try the scissors up to this point, but I gave it a shot Saturday and I think it went well. Either that, or Elder Mphaka's just too nice to tell me I butchered it. Hmmm... And the weather's pretty cray cray too. Thursday was super hot... 37 celcius, which I think is like 98 fahrrenheit. So we thought summer was here, then winter came back the next day. Now, when I say winter... I'm talking like 20 celcius, which is roughly 68 fahrrenheit... Africa's turned me into a wimp :/

I think that's about it for this week. Ah man... Life is good right now. Things are going great. The work is going great. The gospel is true and as good and warm as ever. I'm here at the email shop with Elders Childs and Marumo again... Ah. Lekker. Let the good times roll.

Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives my friends.

Much love,

Umdala Johnson

Shared 9/15/14 - Indian Ocean, Stanger, and Phoenix

 Indian Ocean

Exchange in Phoenix

KwaDukuza elders are unforgettable. Well-pressed suits, shirts and ties on top.

Sanbonani!

 

You meet all sorts of people in Stanger... On Friday, we were going to have lunch with Sister Moodley, when a young Indian fellow probably in his 20s came and jumped in our car with a huge smile. He introduced himself as Raman Pillay and explained to us how the missionaries used to visit him and explain everything. His mind was pre-occupied at that moment with Katy Perry, though, as he kept asking us if we knew her and telling us he was recording a track with her at his house later that night. Eventually we got his address and told him we'd drop by sometime. After he left, I announced my guess that he was high. Elder Mphaka's guess was that he just wasn't all there. Vincent said it was probably both. We shared a laugh, then went and enjoyed a nice plate of chicken curry.

 

Man... What a week! Where to begin... I guess I'll start with last Monday. Spent most of the day in Ballito, and might have found the coolest li'l surf shop in Africa. It was probably a good thing I got away from there or I might have gotten some crazy ideas about taking kite boarding lessons. Haibo... The other find we made that day was pure maple syrup...something I haven't seen in over a year! Eish, it was R60 though, so it's gonna have to be a special occasion when I'm able to buy it... Don't take maple syrup for granted, you silly Americans.

 

Tuesday I ended up in Phoenix on exchanged with Elder Mackie, and what a fantastic time we had. He's been out on mission one transfer now, and he's just stellar. Plus he's a SoCal native, and were able to talk good music for a while... It's been a while since I've met someone that knows Sublime and the Dirty Heads. Anyway! We had an awesome day of proselytizing. Most of the planned appointments fell through, but it gave us a couple good opportunities to meet people. As we were going to deliver a Finding Faith in Christ DVD to someone, a guy chilling on his balcony asked us, "What are you selling?" We replied, "Pest control!" But only just kidding... We told him we teach people about Jesus Christ, and he invited us right in. He told us his dad was a pastor, and we were a little worried it was gonna turn into a Bible bashing session, but it ended up turning into a nice discussion sharing with each other about our own missionary efforts. He showed us pictures of the service they've been doing in places like Malawi. And just out of the blue, he invited us to speak to the youth at his church, which uh... Is exactly one of the things we've been wanting to do as a district. So that was pretty cool. And then later on, we knocked on the door for another appointment, which turned out to be a bunk, but one of the things Big Z's been having us do lately is to find out why the Lord has brought you to a certain area. So if an appointment bunks, start walking around and talking to people and finding the person or people He needs you to talk to. So that's what we did, and we were able to talk to a couple guys out building a driveway who had a lot of questions about the gospel. Let's hear it for letting the Holy Spirit guide!

 

Back in Stanger, we were a little slack on finding last week, so we tightened up our efforts this week. We were able to talk to lots of people in lots of different situations. We had some conversations with people that ended up not being interest, but hey... It's cool learning from them anyway. While we were walking from the hospital on Thursday (more on that in a second...Elder Mphaka and I are both fine, don't worry!), we greeted a man standing outside his shop named Fuad and were able to have a conversation with him. He was talking about what a crazy, violent world we live in, and we mentioned that one of the things we do is visit people at their homes and share a message about Jesus Christ that can help us make sense of this crazy world. The whole conversation, I was trying to discern if he was Christian, Muslim, or Hindu, and my guess was Christian, because he was talking about God, and he didn't have the beard or hat that Muslims usually wear. But as it turned out, he was Muslim, so he respectfully told us he wasn't interested, but thought that it was a great thing we were doing. He explained a little bit of his beliefs to us, which was cool. South Africa's crazy diverse... What a neat opportunity to get to experience it all. Anyway, we did a lot of street contacting as well, and it's usually pretty easy to tell who's prepared. We met a guy named Brian, and he was so excited to meet us and told us he has lots and lots of questions. Others, you can definitely prepare are not prepared, but it might take a day or so to realize. Whereas other places, people will just tell you if they're not interested, in South Africa it's different sometimes. People are generally very polite in conversation, and they won't tell you they're not interested. But, they will give you a wrong address, wrong phone number, and/or a time to come over when they know for sure they won't be there. It makes us laugh sometimes, but hey... That's mission. We did some tracting as well in Groutville and found some good potential. I found a book by John Bytheway back in Newcastle (I think that's where I'm getting this from... I could be wrong) where he encouraged elders to have a "one more door" attitude. So in Groutville, it was getting time to head to the Khawulas for lunch, but we decided, "OK, let's try one more door." And as we did so, we found a husband and wife that warmly invited us over next week. Pretty neat.

 

We've been looking for service opporunities and ways to get word out about the stop smoking class we're putting together, so we spent some time on Thursday doing that. It was super funny... We were going to volunteer at the hospital and talk to the municipality about setting up an information table outside the city building offering people information about the class. At both places, we kept getting directed around to different people. "The person you need to talk to is so-and-so..." And then we get to so-and-so, and they tell us, "Actually you need to go talk to that other guy..." And it kept going in loops, and I think at one point it even circled around back to the same person. Eish... Anyway, we got accomplished what we wanted to, so things are looking good!

 

Bright and Octavia are doing very well! Bright opened up to us a little bit about some challenges he's facing, but told us that he wants to change, and that put a smile on Octavia's face. She was sick this weekend, so she wasn't able to make it to church, but Bright did! Oh man, and he loved it! The members did a great job, too, of welcoming him and making him feel comfortable. Missionary work is goooooood sometimes.

 

Transfer news came Saturday night, and Elder Mphaka and I are staying together another transfer, which we're stoked about! And to top everything off, Elder Childs is gonna be our new ZL, Elder Marumo's getting transferred to the zone, and I was talking to Elder Marumo last night and he told me two of the families that we had been teaching together in Newcastle got baptized yesterday!!! He said there couldn't have been a better way to leave Newcastle. What a champ.

 

Good times ahead. Things are pickin' up here in KwaDukuza. I've got a good feeling about this transfer.

 

Sala kahle. Stay positive, and love your lives my friends.

 

Much love,

 

Umdala Johnson

Shared 9/8/14 - Birthday Celebrations, Crocodile Creek, and Ballito

 Birthday Celebration at Crocodile Creek

 Monkey...

Lekker!!!

 Crocs!

 Holding a small croc

 Check out the size of this croc!

 Choppers

He is HUGE!

 The Indian Ocean!

 21st Birthday dinner on the beach!

 In Ballito again….