Sanbonani! Namaste! Shot bru!
Ah whatever greeting works... Berea is like the melting pot of the mission. You've got all walks of life here. Zulus, Indians, Mlungus...heck, even a bunch of foreigners! Perhaps I'll have to start learning how to greet in their languages too. Just as long as the xenophobia stuff that's happening cools down a bit. Eish... Have you guys heard about it on the news at all...? People upset that foreigners are here or something. Riots... Shops being looted... But don't worry, we've been safe! As long as we stay away from some parts of downtown and the township we should be ok. A combination of the Spirit and good judgment should do the trick.
Man... I don't think I've loved an area the first week this much since I arrived in Newcastle. Berea is the bomb. Elder Kakar is lekker. We have great people to teach. The ward is lekker. The members are lekker. Things are just going great. The biggest keys to missionary work in my opinion are unity and brotherhood. If you're working in one mind with your companion, with the members, with your investigators, with other missionaries... Great things will happen. We had interviews with the Z man on Thursday (more on that in a minute) and I was planning on getting some good sleep in preparation. But Elder Kakar and I ended up staying up talking until like 12:30... Just talking about mission, old areas, old companions... Crazy enough, he goes home just a transfer after me! Both of us are nearing the end. He's funny though... He says a lot of things are ridiculous, he pronounces it "ridookulous." So when I'm saying that at home, you'll know why. Yoh... So we were super tired for interviews, but it ended up being ok because we've got a great idea of what we want to accomplish in our time together.
Our first day together we taught a few lessons to referrals from members... So this is something cool. Remember a couple weeks ago I was mentioning that Mzansi loves Come, Come, Ye Saints? And that the staff of uKhozi FM visited Salt Lake last year? The Rowberrys have put together a short DVD... Kind of like a Mormon Message about their visit. We've been using it as a way to invite others to learn more about the Church. It showcases some of the good things we get involved in with faces the Zulu nation recognizes. So we've been able to teach a few people through that. Members are excited about it and we are too.
Interviews came early this transfer... Kinda crazy. My last one with the Z Man before my exit interview in July. We talked about a lot... Missionary work, home, school, marriage... Lots of topics. He gave me his blessing to pursue a career in law, which he's generally been discouraging lately, so I was pretty happy about that. We talked about working with members, and that's kind of going to be our big focus the next couple transfers. Elder Atkinson is really good with it (he's actually just forcing me to say this as he's watching over my shoulder...he's actually a bogus missionary). So we should get the chance to exchange this transfer and share some ideas.
In the time we weren't out working with members, we hit the pavement a bit. Went tracting on Saturday. Drove around a bit and found an area that looked nice. It was kind of your typical cliche missionary tracting success story... After about an hour of not getting in anywhere, we were walking back to the car and decided to talk to a ma outside her house. She opened up to us and told us how busy her day was and what and what... We offered to help her around the house next week and she accepted. Loves Jesus Christ too! So she made us a deal... We'll come do some service next week, and once we're finished, we'll talk Jesus. Looking forward to it.
The Berea ward is great. Elder Esplin locked their keys in the boot the other day, and all the members rallied around their car to help him. Brother Nolan got the window down just far enough to fit a palm frond in and unlock it. So if you need help breaking into a car... You know who to call!
Had lunch Sunday with President Bricknel and his family. Good people. And hands down the most stereotypical Mormon family I've met in a long time. They love each other and laugh and joke and like half their extended family has moved to Utah. I think the highlight of the lunch was one of their kids farting really loud during dinner. It was the best.
Another week down. I'm almost to the point where I can count the number of weeks I have left on just two hands. It's go time... Gotta make the best of it!
Sala kahle, stay positive, love your lives my friends.
Thanda kakhulu,
iGosa Johnson
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