#NgobaUyaphila

Sanbonani!

Running super short on time today... Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good news is that we finally were able to do today what I've been wanting to since Newcastle (more on that in a minute). The bad news is it took up most of the day, so time is short and I've got a lot to cover this week! Punching gogos, broken teeth, career workshops, Samuel Jackson, and so much more... Where to begin!

I guess the logical place would be where I left off... So! Got the chance to exchange with Elder Duffy this week... One of my Polynesian homeboys! (I get to count myself as Poly since we're moving to Hawaii right...?) Man, what a great guy. He's from Samoa and he was kinda telling me his life story. His family's all members of the Church, but he's the first one to serve mission. And he really turned his life around to be able to do so. I think he's a true example of just what the gospel can do for someone. I think in the purest sense, our Heavenly Father expects us to make mistakes, but to learn from them and get things right the second time. That's what Elder Duffy is doing, and I think that's what we all should try doing. Our day together was great. Sister Magaqa's mother who passed away last week stayed in their area, and many people from around there attended the vigil Elder Aman'galia and I spoke at. So in between a couple appointments, I showed him the area and I think him and Elder Faganello should be able to teach some good lessons there. We finished up the night at Gogo Gumede's, who I believe is the longest tenured member in Umlazi. Every time she meets a new mission, she comes up and starts throwing punches. And then, in the midst of this confusion, she hugs you and tells you to buy her chocolate. And then tells you that she even punches our president! I guess Big Z loves her and wishes we had more gogos like her... She goes out and tracts! She hasn't been attending in Umlazi the last couple weeks because she has investigators in Bluff she's working on! Man... Every member a missionary, eh? No matter how old you are!

The next day I was back with Elder Aman'galia, and we had to take him to the dentist for a tooth extraction. Or we thought so anyway. They worked on him for a little bit and then we were on our way. He asked me if his tooth was still there. I looked in his mouth, and it was. We were confused. Usually when you have a tooth extracted, it's no longer there. Hmmm...

Thursday we were back on exchanges (that's five this transfer so far...yoh!). Got to work with Elder Shinga! Ah man... Awesome elder! Elder Bonner's training him right now and those two are workin' hard. We started out the morning helping a member teach about Agency and Accountability from For the Strength of Youth at a career workshop she's putting on for high school kids. It was a lot of fun... Ah. It's cool working with kids around that age group. They're kind of at a point in life where they're making lots of decisions about their futures and who they will become. Sister Hlongwane wants us working more with them, so that should be a cool experience... And will hopefully give us the chance to introduce the gospel to some people at a critical time in their lives! Elder Shinga's the man though. He's all smiles all the time. A little bit shy, but I think people like that. Later in the week, the people I visited with him kept asking, "Where's Elder Shinga? Where's Elder Shinga?!"

Elder Aman'galia and I have been working with a less acitve family called the Myendes for some time now. I can't remember if I've mentioned them before... But Baba is a driver, and he's driven around all sorts of famous people before. Nelson Mandela, Jacob Zuma, Julius Malema, and even Fidel Castro... Crazy right?! So he was telling us last week he was going to be on a job for three weeks in JoBurg, and he was telling us the details of it this week... Apparently he's going to be driving around celebrities that are filming a movie at Kruger National Park. The names he mentioned were Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson... So I guess that's our little claim to fame... Assuming he's not just messin' around with us. We know the guy that drives around all the famous people in South Africa. Woo!

The day before Easter... Last time exchanging with Elder Childs before he goes home! Man... But it was perhaps the best exchange I've been on in 21 months. (And if you do the math, that's the time I've been out on mission.) Yoh... Work was kind of slow this weekend due to everyone celebrating the Holy Week, so what did we do? Celebrate with them! Driving through the area, we stopped at a tent that was holding a service and decided to join them. When we got out of the car, one of the ushers came and led us to the front of the congregation next to the pastors. We rolled with it. Got groovy with the band that was playing gospel music. Listened to a couple Zulu sermons. It was the bomb. We asked the senior pastor if we could introduce ourselves to the congregation, and he said that was cool. (I was Elder Johnson from Hawaii, by the way. Saying Utah gets repetitive sometimes.) They invited us to lunch afterwards and we got to mingle with some of the pastors. It was great... The congregation loved us (especially Childs bearing his testimony in Zulu) and we exchanged details with the pastor. I mean, the pastor will probably never be converted, but I think we can at least do some good with him as brothers in Christ. And come on... If missionaries knock on the doors of anyone that was at the congregation that day, they'll be welcomed in with open arms! We think we did a good thing that day. Spent some time talking to everyone (that includes drunk people! Woo!), teaching, and just enjoying the work. Ah man, I'm gonna miss that guy. He's going home next week, but we've literally spent more than half our missions serving around each other. It's been some gooood lekker.

For some reason Zulus are really scared of ixoxo. Which, being translated, is frog. I'm not sure why. But if you pick up a frog and show it to a Zulu, they'll run. Even if they lift. 

Easter Sunday was great... I think this one's had a little more meaning to me than ones in the past. I've focused my studies this week on the Saviour's last week. Culminating in the Resurrection, it was filled with teaching, lifting, and wisdom. Brother Mervin from Chatsworth was telling us some of his favorite teachings from the Book of Mormon are when the prophets deliver their dying words. Essentially, if there's just one thing that you can learn from them, they're going to tell you then. I think it's the same with Christ. Perhaps his most important teachings came during his final week. And perhaps THE most important teaching came as he rose from the dead. A testimony of that has the power to compel is to keep pushing forward, to keep hoping for better days that lie ahead, and to strive our best to be the people that Heavenly Father knows we can become.

So that was our week. And then... Today.

Remember how in Newcastle I kept talking about slaughtering a chicken? Well it finally happened today! Kind of... We slaughtered a duck and gutted a chicken. It was probably the best thing ever. You'd think it would have made things difficult having named our duck friend Franky, but it just made things all the better. When Elder Preator rung his neck, he knew it was for a good cause. There's something about a whole district and a half of elders working together to prepare a meal of duck, chicken, pap, chakalaka, and bacon that just puts you in a good place. Oh, and the chocolate covered bananas we finished up the meal with were delightful as well.

Whoo... After six exchanges this transfer, we're finally finished! Get to spend some real time focusing on the area this week. We're excited. We're ready to find some new people (since we've kinda baptized everyone we've been teaching lately...) and do some good out there. Hurrah for Israel!

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

Thanda kakhulu,

iGosa Johnson