Sanbonani!
Guys... Winter is back. It's been summer most of the week, but man...
Winter hit Umlazi hard this weekend. We weren't prepared for it. We
went to the area without sweaters and we suffered, baba. They say
global warming is happening... Haibo. There's no way. It was all the
way down in the low 70s. Off went the fans at night and on came the
blankets. Please keep Elder Aman'galia and I in your prayers, along
with the rest of Umlazi. Otherwise we might die of frostbite. If this
is my last email to you guys, Blake, you can have my guitar. Kiley,
you can have my ukulele. Biz, you can have the cat (sorry, I ran out
of instruments and the drum set isn't mine to give away).
Ah... But other than that, this week has been a good one! It got off
to kind of a weird start though...
MLC...eish, usually I love MLC. But this round, it was just...
Different. I dunno. I kept telling Elder Aman'galia that MLC is one of
the best parts of being a zone leader. But both of us walked out of it
just kinda... Confused. That might be the right word. We felt like
there was a lack of unity amongst a couple of the leaders. A few
people trying to drive their own agendas. It really brought to life
something Joseph Smith wrote as he was in Liberty Jail:
"We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and
disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority,
as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous
dominion."
It's sad... Pride is something we all have to beware of. The powers of
heaven can only be operated by a humble, righteous people. Otherwise,
the Spirit withdraws, as we witnessed in that meeting. It gave us
something to ponder, at least. And we did learn some great things as
well. The Z man wants us focusing on improving our teaching skills
this transfer. He led a discussion about some of the teachers and
leaders each of us look up to. Somehow, Elder Francom always seems to
get mentioned in these types of discussions. He was one of the
greats... You don't meet too many like him.
The week followed with some great experiences. We've been talking to a
lot of people this week and have had some great conversations. While
walking through M section, we found a bunch of kids doing flips and
tricks and gymnastics and such... And they couldn't have been more
than five or six years old! The one leading them was a high school
kid, and we made a deal with him that if he taught us how to flip and
stuff, we'd share a bit about Jesus Christ with him. So we're looking
forward to following up with him this week! We met a man named Vusi,
too. What an interesting background he has... He's an actor, and was
telling us that back in the 80s he was in a touring company performing
Macbeth. They traveled all over Europe, and, you guessed it... Even to
America! He talked about New York and told us how he doesn't like the
city. He's looking to retire to an open land just outside of
Newcastle. He gladly accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and a few
chapters to read. Man... It's amazing how warm and accepting people
are after you've gotten to know them a bit.
We started teaching a brother this week named Punky Mthembu, and he's
the cousin to someone in the bishopric. He stays right by the chapel
and just randomly showed up to church last Sunday. We've taught him
this week, and he accepted the invitation to be baptized! Our question
has been... Why wasn't he a referral forever ago?! Yoh, members...
They have prepared people that need to be taught, but they don't
realize it! Guess that means we need to work with them a bit more this
transfer, hey?
But we have been trying! We got to work with brother Nkanyiso Miya
this Saturday, and what a joy that was. He came to a few lessons with
us, and thanked us profusely afterwards for the opportunity. I kinda
thought it should be the other way around. His contributions to the
lessons were inspired. His experiences around his conversion are
unique to him, and his testimony touched the hearts of more than a
couple people. The best part is, he came as himself. T- shirt and
shorts. Which I love. People we're teaching need to realize that the
Church is more than just guys in shirts and ties... We're real people!
We bumped in to another member that was giving him a hard time for not
teaching in a shirt and tie with us, but we backed him up. I think he
appreciated that.
I had a revelation this week that I need to take learning Zulu a bit
more seriously. So I've started that and it's going slow... But it's
going. Ngizama ukufunda isiZulu. Kancane kancane. I got some tips from
Elder Petrie. He's in my group and man... He's fluent! I told him my
goal is to talk to him at our going home dinner in Zulu. Watch out
Zulu nation, here I come!
I cut my hair again this week. It's not quite the same as a haircut
from mama... But it gets the job done. I think if I ever open a barber
shop at home I'm gonna call it Hair Traffic Control.
What have we got ahead of us this week... Zone training, meeting with
Elder and Sister Snell to explore doing an employment workshop in
Umlazi, and work work work... Should be a good week!
Until next time...
Sala kahle, stay positive, love your lives my friends.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
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