Elder Dallin Johnson's Mish: June 2015

Sanbonani!

Kinda weird emailing on a Saturday... But hey, I've done weirder things on mission. (See http://elderdallinjohnson.blogspot.com/2014/09/i-make-jokes-you-know-that.html for clarification.)

Anywho, this week has been great. After experiencing it for a week, we're finally able to tell people what exactly this PMTC thing is. Post Mission Training Center... Elder Poelman keeps making it very clear to us that this is not a church sponsored program, but it's something that the Z Man asked him to organize for the African elders to make the transition from mission life to home life a bit smoother and give them a bit of an advantage when it comes to finding work. I believe he's been doing it for a little more than a year now, and until recently, it was exclusively the African elders that have been doing it. But, a couple American elders were interested a couple transfers ago and had a very positive experience going through the programme. Turns out that the stuff we learn can be very helpful for anyone adjusting back to home life. Let me explain...

We started last Monday being treated to lunch by Elder Poelman. Over lunch, he explained to us his whole background and where he comes from. He actually has a pretty incredible story. Went from being a hooligan in high school (graduating only after agreeing with the staff that he'd never come back), to joining the military, to marrying Sister Poelman in a Catholic church, to inviting the missionaries from the Mormon church (which he'd been inactive in since he was a child) to teach her the gospel, to being re-converted himself, to eventually owning a multi-million dollar company, and then finally to where he is today. And along the way, he gained a pretty darn good amount of experience and wisdom -- a portion of which he'd share with us over the next couple days. He taught us about Maslow's heirarchy of wants and needs, people skills, how to recognize the spirit, how to brainstorm, how to think outside the box and set yourself apart from other people, and about the mysteries of God -- which are essentially all the things we don't currently know. It was truly fascinating.

So that was the first couple days.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we spent time learning specific skills. Andre Slabbert is the resident go-to handyman the mission office uses whenever there's problems at any of the boardings. He's also in the bishopric in Berea. But he was our instructor Wednesday and Thursday and taught us about electricity and plumbing. This is all really good stuff. Now when I'm married and there's a water or electrical problem, I won't have to immediately tap out in front of my wife and go right to the phonebook for a repair man... I'll be the dream husband that knows how to fix it! Hee yeah! Basically by the end of the day we had to wire a circuit board from nothing, and if it turned on the light at, we knew our stuff. Turns out Elder Sarai and I now know our stuff. Plumbing was cool too... But I think the four of us agreed electricity is a bit more exciting. Plumbing won't really boil all your blood within seconds in you touch the wrong wire.

Yeah and then yesterday we did a self-reliance course with Elder and Sister Snell. (They're serving here from England, and Sister Snell's claim to fame is that her and Eric Clapton were playmates growing up in primary school. So that's pretty sweet.) We learned the importance of planning your life, how to interview, how to network, and all that good stuff. The future is nerve wracking, but hey, all the help you can get is great!

So at the end of the week, I think all four of us are really enjoying this PMTC thing. And in my opinion, it'd be good for ALL missionaries to do something like this before going home. Make the transition a little bit easier.

That's been the majority of the week. Usually we've finished at around 5, and our time after that President's asked us to use for proselytizing. Well, it's kinda hard to proselyte when you don't really have a specific area... So what Elder Haas and I decided would be the best use of our time would be to visit members in our old areas that are relatively close and try and seek referrals. Kill two birds with one stone. So that's what we've been trying to do... But man. When it's four elders, and we're finishing our missions in a week and a half, and we're visiting people we haven't seen in months... It makes it hard to do much more than catch up and enjoy your moments together. But I think we're all ok with that. One of the personal goals I made for myself these last couple weeks is to make sure Elder Sarai and Elder Nthengu finish their missions as happy as ever, and I do believe that's happening.

A couple other things we did this week...

President Zackrison's birthday was on Tuesday! Our instruction was at the mission home, so naturally we had to buy him a cake and a card. He's seemed stressed lately, so we tried to put a smile on his face. The bakers at Pick N Pay had already gone home when we bought the cake, so we had to ice it ourselves. President's full name is John Alma Zackrison, so he signs a lot of his emails and embroiders the sleeves of a lot of his shirts with his initials, JAZ. Hence, his cake was iced with "Happy Birthday JAZ!" written on it. And his card... Might have referenced breaking the Word of Wisdom on the front, but our note on the inside read:

"...well, maybe not the booze since we're Mormons! But your favorite juice or cool drink should do the trick! We love and respect you!

Warmly,

the PMTC Elders"

Hmmm... Come to think of it. A lot of this may only be funny if you're serving in this mission. Eh, oh well. President got a kick out of it and I think that's what's important.

And then one more thing... I found this t-shirt that, again, you may only find funny if you've been living in South Africa. It says, "LOL: Lots of Loadsheding. Let's braai!" So loadshedding... Let me explain. South Africa's been selling a lot of electricity to other countries, which is great because it brings in money. But the thing that sucks is that we don't keep enough for ourselves before selling. So, in two hour blocks, to cut down on electricity usage, there's something called loadshedding. Basically, different blocks will lose power for a couple hours, then a different block will lose it, and so forth. It happens too frequently in Durbs. Usually at really inconvenient times. But braaing is essentially barbecuing, and you don't need electricity for that. Anytime is braai time!

So yeah! That's been this week. We're attending in kwaMashu tomorrow, so that should be fun. Then most of the week we're learning car stuff at the Williams Hunt dealership. And Saturday will be the 4th of July... What better way to celebrate America's birthday than picking up Mama and Pop Pop at the airport that night? Should be lekker!

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

Thanda kakhulu,

Umdala Johnson