Sanbonani!
Yoh... Thunder storms in Durbs are no joke. Zulus Freak Out at the sight of lightning, and I've always wondered why. I'll tell them how much I love watching thunderstorms with my grandpa and they call me crazy and almost burn me at the stake (ok that last part is a bit of a hyperbole, but you get the point). But it makes a little more sense now. Before calling it a week and hitting the bed last night, I was sitting on the couch getting in some last minute reading and pondering. The night was calm when all of a sudden, I saw a bright flash out the window about a hundred metres away. The Electricity from the bolt of lightning lit up the whole room and the thunder that followed not more than a second later shook the whole house. In an instant, rain started pounding the tin roof and interrupting Elder Aman'galia's beauty sleep. It was truly something. It continued on through the night and eventually calmed. By morning time, we were able to see the Sun Come Through, right Beyond the Grey Sky, just in time for our zone activity. More on that in a minute.
Yoh man, what a week it has been! I've been pondering and praying about why I need to be in Umlazi another transfer, and I think multiple times I've been revealed the reasons... And the first, the missionaries.
I am so incredibly stoked to be working with the missionaries in the Umlazi zone this transfer. The ones that are staying, the new ones, and especially Elder Aman'galia. Right off the bat, there's been a spirit of Unity. Tuesday was an insanely hectic day starting from when we woke up at 5:00 AM until we got home from the office at 12:30 AM that night (or, I guess technically the next morning). But, those insanely hectic days are the ones you remember. Getting elders from place to place is enough to wear you down and make you tired, but it's so good bonding with them. Elder Faganello's one of our DLs this transfer. Just came from Bloemfontein side and he's like a blonde Elder Reeves. Stoked to be working with him. The Chatsworth elders as well. Oh! I dunno if I mentioned... Chatsworth is open to missionary work again! They were the last dudes we picked up. Elder Halford from my MTC group and Elder Preator who had replaced me in Stanger and was just coming from there. Both power and ready to do some good work. Ah. I'm stoked.
Just a sidenote... Wednesday morning we were SUPER tired and would have loved to wake up at like 8:16 AM or whatever... But there was work still to do. We showed the Chatsworthguys around their area in the morning. Introduced them to Brother Mervin, Brother Bunny, a couple other places, and they seem just as excited as the members are to be working there. I see good things happening.
Reason number two, the members.
I love the people in Umlazi too much. We have this Sick Tight connection that I think will be able to do some real good here. A couple times yesterday at church, people found out I was staying, and I was comforted to see that they were excited to be with me another six weeks. So that, I'm excited for.
Reason number three, the people we're teaching.
I've been humbled this week to see how good it is to have a good relationship with those we're teaching. If you just go to someone to check off boxes on the teaching record and to get them taught what needs to be taught, you're probably not gonna accomplish much. But, if you truly love the person, and you're inspired by a sincere desire to bring them closer to Christ and your only end is to do that and love them, you'll do some real good in their lives. With a few of the people we're teaching, I felt like we hit that point this week. We're teaching in unity to people's needs, and there's no greater satisfaction in all of missionary work.
And finally reason number four, I think I still have a few things to learn here.
We had a lesson with Primrose this week, and it was kind of a Beautiful Disaster. Someone else who was at the house decided to join us towards the end and started asking us, "Ok, advertise yourselves. What makes you guys different?" So naturally, I started sharing about the Book of Mormon with him. He kept on cutting me off and saying, "No, I'm not asking about this book, I'm asking what makes you different." It wasn't really getting anywhere, so I just decided to bear testimony. "Because of the Book of Mormon, we know God lives." And at that point, he genuinely freaked out. "God LIVES?!" The girl next to him said quietly, "I think he means spiritually," to which I replied, "Actually I mean physically, He lives." I was kinda All Mixed Up though, because I had just assumed this was common knowledge, but this idea, so simple in my mind, blew his mind to pieces.
In my studies the next day, I started pondering about the nature of God... Who He is. I think Terryl Givens put it best in an email to me: "We believe in a God of body parts and passions. ... He has a heart that beats in tune with ours and is responsive to human yearning and prayers." And as I looked at Preach My Gospel, this is the part of the Restoration I usually skip over when teaching. "God is our loving Heavenly Father." And yet, it may be one of our most important messages. So simple, yet so profound. I guess every once in a while you have to get to the Grassroots of what you're teaching, eh? And so From Chaos, as that lesson was indeed chaotic, came clarity, purpose, and direction on my part. The spirit teaches in mysterious ways sometimes.
One more cool thing then I probably better wrap up. Brother Mtoba, a long time member in BB passed away last week and his funeral was on Saturday. I'm always amazed at how beautiful Zulu funeral services are. The whole week leading up to them, typically the deceased's family and church members visit their home for services every night. Sharing thoughts and singing hymns. And lemme tell ya, Zulus can SING. I think there's a lot us Utah Mormons can learn from them. It's something pretty cool.
Well, another busy week this week... Zone activity today (fingers crossed Big Z's gonna let us watch Meet the Mormons!), MLC tomorrow, zone conference Wednesday, and then it'll be on with the rest of this transfer. Passed the 20 month mark this week... 20 months And a Ways to Go. The clock's a tickin. Gotta make good Use of Time while I still got it.
Sala kahle, stay positive, love your lives, and have a very happy 311 Day this week.
Thanda kakhulu,
iGosa Johnson
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