Sanbonani!
Another transfer down, five to go... Crazy how time seems to fly! Elder Okeng and I are going to be together for another four weeks or so! Elder and Sister Poelman have put something together for the departing African elders called the Post-MTC.They spend the last two weeks of their missions gaining practical training in plumbing and panel beating so they can go home and be able to sustain themselves a little bit. So Elder Okeng will be doing that, which gives us four weeks to baptize the heck out of everyone in Umlazi! Hurrah for Israel!
I think one of the biggest lessons I've learned this transfer is that there's much more to leadership than achieving results... Elder Okeng has taught me that in a big way. There's the list of things we're required to do every transfer as zone leaders, but then there's the unwritten list that you kind of have to think outside the box for. We saw a lack of unity in a couple districts in the zone, so we decided to do something about that. Last Monday we ended up organizing a family home evening at the Isipingo boarding in hopes of building the brotherhood. As missionaries, we do family home evenings for members and investigators all the time, but how often do we get to have a family home evening for our fellow elders? It ended up being a huge hit! We played some soccer during the day, Elder Okeng cooked chapati for everyone, we played some games, and shared lots and lots of laughs. Brotherhood... There's something to be said about brotherhood.
I've had to eat a little bit of humble pie this transfer (a phrase I'm borrowing from Elder Hansen) in the sense of not being able to work how I'd like... But it's been good. We haven't been able to do as much finding as I'd prefer, but we had a couple really good experiences this week. I'm not a huge fan of tracting in Umlazi, because I feel like it's been tracted to death. I think like three houses in a row one day people said, "Yeah, the missionaries used to visit us... We have the Book of Mormon, and it's great and stuff, but we have our beliefs." But, we press forward! I think it was Thursday, we were in U section, and we knocked on a door and the wife let us in to talk to her husband. Man... One of the most humble babas I've ever met! His name is Reginald, and he had been recovering from a spinal surgery (that was successful, don't worry!) But he was friendly, super positive, welcomed us warmly, and told us all about his faith. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and he looked at it and asked us if it had anything to do with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He promised to start reading it, and we're seeing him again this week! Walking away, I couldn't believe that missionaries had never visited his place... He stays right by a member, his house is right out in the open, and yet... This was his first encounter with the elders! So the moral of the story? Keep pushing... The Lord IS preparing people out there... You just have to find them!
What else has gone on this week... We talked to a couple other people over the course of the week. One dude named Bheki was really excited to tell us all about his coaching career, his marathons he ran, his time in America singing opera... It seemed like if there was anything cool in the world, he'd done it! But he was at least humble enough to accept the invitation to learn more about the Plan of Salvation, so that's pretty cool too. We met another brother named Themba while we were trying to find where a member stays... Themba is the brother of this member, and told us he was actually the one that was wondering about the Book of Mormon when the missionaries started visiting his brother, but somehow he had never actually sat down with the missionaries and learned... Crazy right?!
There's this tuck shop by the chapel that you can buy mgwenyas at. Elder Okeng and I go there almost everyday for mgwenyas. Mgwenyas are basically like... Baseball sized scones. They're super good, and you can get them with like paloney and cheese and stuff and they make a nice li'l sandwich. But eating mgwenyas everyday... Kinda gets old. So Baba Dlamini, who runs the tuck shop, told us his wife can start cooking for us every day to give us more of a variety! Which the four of us in the BB district were totally down for. So she started by making us jeqe and sugar beans this week... Super super good! And guess what... Elder Rowley and Elder Paige have even started teaching them the gospel! The Lord works in mysterious ways, my friends...
Sister Gree is a crazy awesome member in our area, and she invited us all over for her birthday on Saturday, so that was super cool. We braai'd, we played volleyball, we laughed, we had a really really really good time. She ended up being our Sunday lunch appointment too, and she was asking us what we wanted... We unanimously said that on hot days, sometimes a big meal is just too much and that we'd be happy with bread. She laughed, but we kept insisting. And so...on Sunday! We show up to her house and she's made like 290374923 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Best Sunday lunch ever!!!
....do I talk about food too much? Eish...
Hmmm... And this is kinda funny. So for priesthood and relief society this Sunday, it was combined... And for some reason we ended up watching a movie called One Good Man. It's one of those movies that's church themed, but not produced by the Church... Kind of like the Best Two Years! It was super nice and had a good message, but we couldn't figure out why in the world Bishop Magaqa decided to show it as a priesthood lesson... But! We didn't complain! We just enjoyed.
The work goes on... And Christmas is just around the corner! So I'm super duper stoked to share some Christmas messages with people. Share the gift right? Something like that...
Sala kahle, stay positive, and love yo lives my friends.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
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