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Monday, May 12, 2014
Shared 5/12/14 - Nambiti, Wildebeests, Zebras, Elephants, Giraffes, Impala, biryani and al habib
4 Discussions to Freedom
Sanbonani!
Sometimes you can determine how power your week is going to be based on whether or not you started it by watching two lions hunting a herd of impalas. By that standard, our week was incredible. Yoh man, Nambiti last Monday was one of the coolest things ever. When we arrived at the Springbok Lodge, we were greeted with warm towels and homemade lemonade. Don't think a hot towel sounds nice? I didn't either at first, but hey. Next time you have house guests, greet them with a warm towel and count how many more friends you have. But enough with these unnecessary luxuries, on to the game drive!
You know the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland? That's basically what our modified Toyota Land Cruiser felt like most of the time, but real life. It had a canvas roof with open sides, so the wild elephant and those wild giraffes we saw were about as real as it gets. We saw wildebeests (pronounced with an Afrikaans accent), zebras (pronounced zeh-bra here in Africa), jackals, warthogs, and other li'l critters. Didn't get to see the two big 5 I'm missing, but hey... The kudu made up for it, and then the lions at the end of the journey... Oh man. Story of the week. It was dark, and our tour guide Steve (a native South African who caught my Napoleon Dynamite reference. Chalk one up for Idaho!) was using a spotlight to see the reflection of animals eyes. We saw plenty of impalas, but no big 5. Finally, as our drive was drawing to a close, we got radio that another group had spotted two male lions, so we made our way over to them. Not only did we see them, but we saw the herd of impalas they had their eyes on. For around 20 minutes we watched this story play out before they made their attempt, and man was it lekker. The lions were unsuccessful, but Steve told us we'd see that twenty times before the lions find success, so we left satisfied and smiling. It was too dark to take pictures of that, so uh... Guess you'll have to experience it for yourself.
Oh man, don't even get me started on the rest of the week though. Yoh... We saw some of the finest examples of Homo sapiens this world has to offer! They read their scriptures, they say their prayers, and they even prepare diligently for baptism. You meet some that are hostile, but then you find some that will invite you into their homes and serve you juice and biscuits. Truly fascinating.
But for real though, awesome people we have to work with. Tuesday a couple elders informed us that none of the township elders would be working in their areas Wednesday due to concerns of an uprising during the election (my fellow Americans...please don't take for granted a peaceful election), so we worked with Brother Gbenga all day to recruit some members to help us blitz Newcastle, only to find out the Madadeni elders actually were going to their area, and the ZLs would be traveling to Ladysmith... Only for Madadeni to change plans AGAIN, leaving us to scramble putting together a couple threesomes last minute. Yoh... Planning for one companionship is stressful enough, but three?! Ah, by the time my bed hit the pillow that night I was finished. But hey... Memories, right? I ended up working with two of my very favorite people, Elders Childs and Morole. Somehow or another we found ourselves tracting into Hindus and Muslims, only to reconcile our sorrows with chicken tikka at Al-Habib. All in all, a most lekker day.
The work continues to move right along. We had to go on exchanges Friday so Elder Esplin could do a few baptismal interviews for us, and hurrah! They all passed with flying colors! Ah man... I'm so excited for everyone! I'll have stories and pictures about each of them as their dunkings come to pass. I was with Elder Morole that day, and gosh dang it, we got transfer news Saturday night and he'll be departing us to Umlazi. My baba Elder Kruger, too. He's making his way to PMB. Eish... Mission's a weird time of life. So many people coming in, and so many people leaving your life just as quickly. But it's better looking at them as "see ya laters" instead of "goodbyes." Oh and speaking of transfer news, Elder Marumo and I are still here, no changes with us other than I'll be the district leader this coming transfer. So that'll be a neat experience.
But, no matter who's there, the work must still be hastened! Elder Marumo and I were looking at some finding ideas that aren't tracting during weekly planning this week (because let's be honest... Tracting? -______-) and we came up with a couple we're pretty excited about. We're gonna start a scripture study class at the chapel a couple times a week, with emphasis on the Book of Mormon, and encourage members to come and invite their friends. The other thing is a fireside in the middle of June that members can again invite friends to. We proposed it to Big Z, and not only did he love it, but he even agreed to come speak at it! Hurrah for Israel!
Sometimes you can determine how power your week is going to be based on whether or not you started it by watching two lions hunting a herd of impalas. By that standard, our week was incredible. Yoh man, Nambiti last Monday was one of the coolest things ever. When we arrived at the Springbok Lodge, we were greeted with warm towels and homemade lemonade. Don't think a hot towel sounds nice? I didn't either at first, but hey. Next time you have house guests, greet them with a warm towel and count how many more friends you have. But enough with these unnecessary luxuries, on to the game drive!
You know the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland? That's basically what our modified Toyota Land Cruiser felt like most of the time, but real life. It had a canvas roof with open sides, so the wild elephant and those wild giraffes we saw were about as real as it gets. We saw wildebeests (pronounced with an Afrikaans accent), zebras (pronounced zeh-bra here in Africa), jackals, warthogs, and other li'l critters. Didn't get to see the two big 5 I'm missing, but hey... The kudu made up for it, and then the lions at the end of the journey... Oh man. Story of the week. It was dark, and our tour guide Steve (a native South African who caught my Napoleon Dynamite reference. Chalk one up for Idaho!) was using a spotlight to see the reflection of animals eyes. We saw plenty of impalas, but no big 5. Finally, as our drive was drawing to a close, we got radio that another group had spotted two male lions, so we made our way over to them. Not only did we see them, but we saw the herd of impalas they had their eyes on. For around 20 minutes we watched this story play out before they made their attempt, and man was it lekker. The lions were unsuccessful, but Steve told us we'd see that twenty times before the lions find success, so we left satisfied and smiling. It was too dark to take pictures of that, so uh... Guess you'll have to experience it for yourself.
Oh man, don't even get me started on the rest of the week though. Yoh... We saw some of the finest examples of Homo sapiens this world has to offer! They read their scriptures, they say their prayers, and they even prepare diligently for baptism. You meet some that are hostile, but then you find some that will invite you into their homes and serve you juice and biscuits. Truly fascinating.
But for real though, awesome people we have to work with. Tuesday a couple elders informed us that none of the township elders would be working in their areas Wednesday due to concerns of an uprising during the election (my fellow Americans...please don't take for granted a peaceful election), so we worked with Brother Gbenga all day to recruit some members to help us blitz Newcastle, only to find out the Madadeni elders actually were going to their area, and the ZLs would be traveling to Ladysmith... Only for Madadeni to change plans AGAIN, leaving us to scramble putting together a couple threesomes last minute. Yoh... Planning for one companionship is stressful enough, but three?! Ah, by the time my bed hit the pillow that night I was finished. But hey... Memories, right? I ended up working with two of my very favorite people, Elders Childs and Morole. Somehow or another we found ourselves tracting into Hindus and Muslims, only to reconcile our sorrows with chicken tikka at Al-Habib. All in all, a most lekker day.
The work continues to move right along. We had to go on exchanges Friday so Elder Esplin could do a few baptismal interviews for us, and hurrah! They all passed with flying colors! Ah man... I'm so excited for everyone! I'll have stories and pictures about each of them as their dunkings come to pass. I was with Elder Morole that day, and gosh dang it, we got transfer news Saturday night and he'll be departing us to Umlazi. My baba Elder Kruger, too. He's making his way to PMB. Eish... Mission's a weird time of life. So many people coming in, and so many people leaving your life just as quickly. But it's better looking at them as "see ya laters" instead of "goodbyes." Oh and speaking of transfer news, Elder Marumo and I are still here, no changes with us other than I'll be the district leader this coming transfer. So that'll be a neat experience.
But, no matter who's there, the work must still be hastened! Elder Marumo and I were looking at some finding ideas that aren't tracting during weekly planning this week (because let's be honest... Tracting? -______-) and we came up with a couple we're pretty excited about. We're gonna start a scripture study class at the chapel a couple times a week, with emphasis on the Book of Mormon, and encourage members to come and invite their friends. The other thing is a fireside in the middle of June that members can again invite friends to. We proposed it to Big Z, and not only did he love it, but he even agreed to come speak at it! Hurrah for Israel!
But even greater than the lions, our investigators, and our finding ideas combined was Mothers Day :) Sunday night the whole zone met together at the Herringtons for transfer dinner and testimonies from the elders departing the zone, and uh... They may have cooked us up Cafe Rio style sweet pork! I know that's getting you Utah people excited just thinking about it, now imagine being in the shoes of someone who hasn't had it in ten months. Nectar of the gods, my friends. Powerful testimonies from some powerful elders leaving the zone. I guess one cool, unrelated story real quick. I don't know if anyone remembers Elder Kelsey. He developed alopecia during high school, which leaves you completely hairless. The doctors have no explanation for it, and the only symptom is that you end up hairless. Welp, a few months back, as he was reading Jesus the Christ, he was pondering much about priesthood blessings, and decided to ask in faith for one from his companion. Just a short time later, hair started growing back on his head. His family was blown away while they were Skyping.
Speaking of Skyping... HUGE shoutout to the fam bam! Ah man... It was so so SO good talking to you guys this morning! I can't believe how grown up you kids have gotten in the last ten months... Wanna knock that off before I get back? Lekker. And also big shoutout to the best mama a guy could ask for. Always going out of the way to do the small things to make everyone around her happy and never asking anything in return. Hope your day was the best ever because you sure do deserve it :)
Good things to come this week. The work is as great as ever, the church is as true as ever, and last time I checked, the Book of Mormon is still blue as ever. Have a great week everyone! Stay positive, love your lives. Sala kahle.
Much love,
Elda Johnson
Monday, May 5, 2014
Shared 5/5/14
Broseph Smith (n): that guy that translated the Bro Code into English from reformed Brogyptian
Sawubona!
"How old do you think I am?" That was the magic question as we were teaching the Arends family this week. Ah man, their kids crack me up. Here's how it went down...
Me: How old do you guys think I am?
Jeanine: 100!
Darren: Probably 30s.
Jason: Uh... 50?
Me: Guys, I'm only 20!
Darren: Yeah! I was closest!
Jeanine: Haibo! I said a hundred! I was closest!
I don't think anyone else puts a bigger smile on my wrinkly, hundred-year-old face. Ah man, those kids are the best. But whatevs, enough talk about me gettin' old. Let's take a journey back to yesteryear when I was a young whipper snapper on the Lord's errand...
Ah man, what a stellar week, and what better way to start it than with biryani? Melba taught us how to make it, so uh...heads up family. Y'all are gonna get hooked in just over a year. :) The Herringtons were back for FHE, which was a HUGE blessing. Last week while they were gone, Elder Marumo and I were in charge. It should have gone well, but eish... Our treat and lesson both bunked last minute and we kinda had to wing the whole thing (you get better at that the longer you're on mission). It was kinda like we were a couple high school hooligans playing battle of the bands after putting together a group in their parents' basement (shout out to Sebby, Randy, Josh, Kablab, Alexon, and all of Team Rock It's fan(s)!), and the Herringtons were Muse playing an epic concert with lasers and fire and homemade cinnamon rolls and stuff. What would we do without 'em?
So every once in a while you get one of those days every missionary dreams of. You know, one where you have appointments scheduled all day, none of them fall through, there's a member present at all of them, you get fed twice, and you even find a random less-active priesthood holder just by being in the right place at the right time. Back home, I found myself on cloud nine if a beautiful daughter of God liked my Instagram picture or whatever. On mission, it's days like these that get me excited. They only come once in a blue moon, but man, when they do, it's celebration time (usually that just means like a louder than normal high five at the end of our day).
As far as the area goes, blessings continue to rain heavily upon us. Eish, and the colder it gets the more likely those blessings turn to snow (fingers crossed). But for real though, this may have been one of the best weeks on mission so far. I know I probably say that every week to the point that it's lost all meaning, but I mean it this time. We've started teaching two powerhouse families in Ngagane, we've got a baptismal interviews coming up for a couple powerhouse investigators, we've got members, investigators, and less-actives all helping us with missionary work, a powerhouse branch president that's making it all possible, and to top it all off, a powerhouse companionship working in unity to preach salvation to as many souls as possible. What more could a missionary ask for?
I was reflecting a li'l bit earlier in the week on how blessed we are to live in a time when information can travel cross-country in a manner of seconds. We were teaching someone earlier this week that told us her daughter in JoBurg needed to hear the gospel, so we took her number, SMSed it to the assistants, and they SMSed back in a matter of minutes telling us they sent it to the JoBurg mission. MINUTES. Look back a hundred years ago and we probably would have had to travel a week or so by donkey across the desert, fighting a pride of lions on the way to accomplish this. There's definitely a reason the Lord had to wait until now to hasten His work. How wonderful it is to be able to see it in action.
"How old do you think I am?" That was the magic question as we were teaching the Arends family this week. Ah man, their kids crack me up. Here's how it went down...
Me: How old do you guys think I am?
Jeanine: 100!
Darren: Probably 30s.
Jason: Uh... 50?
Me: Guys, I'm only 20!
Darren: Yeah! I was closest!
Jeanine: Haibo! I said a hundred! I was closest!
I don't think anyone else puts a bigger smile on my wrinkly, hundred-year-old face. Ah man, those kids are the best. But whatevs, enough talk about me gettin' old. Let's take a journey back to yesteryear when I was a young whipper snapper on the Lord's errand...
Ah man, what a stellar week, and what better way to start it than with biryani? Melba taught us how to make it, so uh...heads up family. Y'all are gonna get hooked in just over a year. :) The Herringtons were back for FHE, which was a HUGE blessing. Last week while they were gone, Elder Marumo and I were in charge. It should have gone well, but eish... Our treat and lesson both bunked last minute and we kinda had to wing the whole thing (you get better at that the longer you're on mission). It was kinda like we were a couple high school hooligans playing battle of the bands after putting together a group in their parents' basement (shout out to Sebby, Randy, Josh, Kablab, Alexon, and all of Team Rock It's fan(s)!), and the Herringtons were Muse playing an epic concert with lasers and fire and homemade cinnamon rolls and stuff. What would we do without 'em?
So every once in a while you get one of those days every missionary dreams of. You know, one where you have appointments scheduled all day, none of them fall through, there's a member present at all of them, you get fed twice, and you even find a random less-active priesthood holder just by being in the right place at the right time. Back home, I found myself on cloud nine if a beautiful daughter of God liked my Instagram picture or whatever. On mission, it's days like these that get me excited. They only come once in a blue moon, but man, when they do, it's celebration time (usually that just means like a louder than normal high five at the end of our day).
As far as the area goes, blessings continue to rain heavily upon us. Eish, and the colder it gets the more likely those blessings turn to snow (fingers crossed). But for real though, this may have been one of the best weeks on mission so far. I know I probably say that every week to the point that it's lost all meaning, but I mean it this time. We've started teaching two powerhouse families in Ngagane, we've got a baptismal interviews coming up for a couple powerhouse investigators, we've got members, investigators, and less-actives all helping us with missionary work, a powerhouse branch president that's making it all possible, and to top it all off, a powerhouse companionship working in unity to preach salvation to as many souls as possible. What more could a missionary ask for?
I was reflecting a li'l bit earlier in the week on how blessed we are to live in a time when information can travel cross-country in a manner of seconds. We were teaching someone earlier this week that told us her daughter in JoBurg needed to hear the gospel, so we took her number, SMSed it to the assistants, and they SMSed back in a matter of minutes telling us they sent it to the JoBurg mission. MINUTES. Look back a hundred years ago and we probably would have had to travel a week or so by donkey across the desert, fighting a pride of lions on the way to accomplish this. There's definitely a reason the Lord had to wait until now to hasten His work. How wonderful it is to be able to see it in action.
We got to watch the Sunday morning session of conference this week at church, and it may possibly have been one of my favorite sessions ever. The talks were incredible, the speakers were awesome, and Africa even got a little bit of a shout-out! Sister Jean A. Stevens was talking about a visit to Botswana and Zimbabwe, and mentioned that all the little kids will say, "I'm so much thankful to God." It's true all over Africa, and it's incredible to see the amount of faith the children here have. Ah man, and the choir was absolutely incredible. Their rendition of Let us All Press On gave me chills the whole way through. Guys... The church is true. Please don't ever forget that.
So here's a story. Elder Esplin and I started doing P90x this week, and yoh... Tony Horton...That guy works you. My legs have been jelly all week. It's to the point that sitting down is a struggle. I needed to go see a man about a horse at one point, and I ended up just looking at the porcelain throne and deciding I could hold it. But it's cool because I'm gonna end up with huge Afrikaaner rugby legs and lead the Springboks to the 2015 World Cup.
So here's a story. Elder Esplin and I started doing P90x this week, and yoh... Tony Horton...That guy works you. My legs have been jelly all week. It's to the point that sitting down is a struggle. I needed to go see a man about a horse at one point, and I ended up just looking at the porcelain throne and deciding I could hold it. But it's cool because I'm gonna end up with huge Afrikaaner rugby legs and lead the Springboks to the 2015 World Cup.
We're gonna be off to Nambiti this afternoon which I am STOKED for! I was talking to Brother Classen yesterday who's from Germany, and he said out of all the 20 plus game drives he's been to in South Africa, this one's the best. Something about not being the biggest, but having the most animals packed into a smaller place. Should be freaking lekker. Expect pics next week. Well, you know, as long as I haven't been eaten by a leopard or whatever.
Love you all! Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
Monday, April 28, 2014
Shared 4/28/14
I was gonna go to General Conference, but then I took an arrow to the knee
Sawubona!
You know those times you think you've seen the real world and then all of a sudden BOOM! Life throws a dead body at you? K cool, it's story time. As we were driving back from Al-Habib last Monday, we saw a bunch of cars parked next to the bridge crossing Ncandu River and a big group of people staring over the side. There were police, forensic units, and a bunch of concerned citizens. We weren't sure what they were all staring at, so curiosity got the best of us and we parked to check it out. We peeked over the side of the bridge, and what looked like a rock or a stump at first glance turned out to be a lifeless body floating its way down the river. No clue what happened, but eish... Really makes you reflect a li'l bit on the preciousness of life and how quickly you could find yourself in the Spirit World if you're not careful. Ay... But whatevs, email time's too short to report on the investigators in the Spirit World elders' area. On to Newcastle!
What a week, what a week... Nothing but positive vibes and good times. There's a word in isiZulu.. Nca. Remember, the "c" is a click. Nca is slang (I think) for something along the lines of good or nice. If someone asks you howzit, you could say it's nca. Or if you asked me how the missionary work is going, I'd tell you Newcastle is nca, brah. Ah man, the good Lord just keeps raining blessings on our area! Elder Marumo and I must have been good li'l spirit children in the spirit world to deserve such an area and teaching pool this lekker.
This week we were able to work with more members than we have in the past. The Maharajh and Pillay families were both among the first to be baptized when the Church first made its way to Newcastle however many years back. Ah man, such cool families. Sister Maharajh put us to work this week fixing a couple leaks on the roof. It was a li'l bit of risky business, but hey...I'd risk a broken leg for her curry any day.
We've been trying to talk to more and more people too this week and it's been going great. One thing Elder Marumo and I have been trying to do is to see people for what they can become. We met four guys on the street this week that all looked to be about in their early twenties. One could have looked at their tattoos and made assumptions, but we talked to them for a few minutes and found them to be honest truth seekers. I looked at Elder Marumo as we were walking away and said, "Did you see that back there? Four future missionaries." "Yebo," he replied, "four future priesthood holders."
All the couples in the mission were on retreat this week (loserz), so we didn't have the Herringtons with us most of the time. But! It ended up being ok because we got a surprise visit from the Carliles on Thursday as they were making their way across the country doing senior couple stuff like rescuing rhinos. You think I'm kidding... Meanwhile we were here doing the whole missionary thing. Some dogs barked at us this week, so that's about as close to wildlife as we we made it.
I found myself with Elder Morole in oSizweni on Friday for exchanges. Man, I miss serving in a township sometimes. You see things there you'd never see in town. There's a saying here... TIA - This is Africa. It's for those moments when you have to take a second glance at what just went down as you say in your mind, "What the fetch?" Like for example, when you see half a car being pulled by two donkeys traveling down the road. TIA my friend, TIA. You don't get that stuff in town. But then again, you can't find Indian food in the township, so who's the real winner here? Speaking of... We tried another place called the Food Garden on Friday. Not as good at Al-Habib, but here's something cools. I was an American sitting at an Indian restaurant in Africa, when all of a sudden a couple Asians walked in wearing their Muslim get up. Holy melting pot... I think the only thing that could have topped it off would have been if we greeted each other in Spanish.
Ah man this weekend though! Conference while you're on mission is like Christmas. You're a little kid and you can't understand why the fetch your parents (or the branch members in this case) aren't nearly as excited as you are. Perhaps the idea of sitting still for ten hours listening to talks is much more appealing to you when you're eating, sleeping, and breathing Jesus for two years. Packer's still kickin', Holland's still keeping us humble, Tommy Monson's still the man, and Uchtdorf's love of planes went almost as far as hijacking Air Force One. Haha, all is well.
So here's something. Sometimes we keep extra statistics in our planners just for fun. Like for me, sometimes I keep track of how many times li'l kids feel my arm hair (if I was keeping track Tuesday alone the number would have been four) or how many guys you see peeing on the side of the road, and of them how many are actually facing the road (you'd like to think that number's pretty low wouldn't you?). Anyway, the one we started counting this week is how many times Brother Gbenga says, "In my county..." And followed with something about his native Nigeria. What a guy... Truly an inspiration to me. We're so blessed to have him as our branch mission leader. I've never met anyone as excited about sharing the gospel as he is. The amazing part is that he's away from his family in Nigeria until he can find work. He has every reason in the world sometimes to be down in the dumps, but that'll never break him. When you love your family, your country, the Lord, and His gospel so much, there ain't nothing nobody can do to tear you down!
Freaking lekker week ahead of us. The Herringtons are back, the work is great, the food is good as ever, the church is still true, and we're even gonna make it to Nambiti next Monday. Hurrah for Israel!
Sala kahle my friends. Stay positive and love yo life.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
You know those times you think you've seen the real world and then all of a sudden BOOM! Life throws a dead body at you? K cool, it's story time. As we were driving back from Al-Habib last Monday, we saw a bunch of cars parked next to the bridge crossing Ncandu River and a big group of people staring over the side. There were police, forensic units, and a bunch of concerned citizens. We weren't sure what they were all staring at, so curiosity got the best of us and we parked to check it out. We peeked over the side of the bridge, and what looked like a rock or a stump at first glance turned out to be a lifeless body floating its way down the river. No clue what happened, but eish... Really makes you reflect a li'l bit on the preciousness of life and how quickly you could find yourself in the Spirit World if you're not careful. Ay... But whatevs, email time's too short to report on the investigators in the Spirit World elders' area. On to Newcastle!
What a week, what a week... Nothing but positive vibes and good times. There's a word in isiZulu.. Nca. Remember, the "c" is a click. Nca is slang (I think) for something along the lines of good or nice. If someone asks you howzit, you could say it's nca. Or if you asked me how the missionary work is going, I'd tell you Newcastle is nca, brah. Ah man, the good Lord just keeps raining blessings on our area! Elder Marumo and I must have been good li'l spirit children in the spirit world to deserve such an area and teaching pool this lekker.
This week we were able to work with more members than we have in the past. The Maharajh and Pillay families were both among the first to be baptized when the Church first made its way to Newcastle however many years back. Ah man, such cool families. Sister Maharajh put us to work this week fixing a couple leaks on the roof. It was a li'l bit of risky business, but hey...I'd risk a broken leg for her curry any day.
We've been trying to talk to more and more people too this week and it's been going great. One thing Elder Marumo and I have been trying to do is to see people for what they can become. We met four guys on the street this week that all looked to be about in their early twenties. One could have looked at their tattoos and made assumptions, but we talked to them for a few minutes and found them to be honest truth seekers. I looked at Elder Marumo as we were walking away and said, "Did you see that back there? Four future missionaries." "Yebo," he replied, "four future priesthood holders."
All the couples in the mission were on retreat this week (loserz), so we didn't have the Herringtons with us most of the time. But! It ended up being ok because we got a surprise visit from the Carliles on Thursday as they were making their way across the country doing senior couple stuff like rescuing rhinos. You think I'm kidding... Meanwhile we were here doing the whole missionary thing. Some dogs barked at us this week, so that's about as close to wildlife as we we made it.
I found myself with Elder Morole in oSizweni on Friday for exchanges. Man, I miss serving in a township sometimes. You see things there you'd never see in town. There's a saying here... TIA - This is Africa. It's for those moments when you have to take a second glance at what just went down as you say in your mind, "What the fetch?" Like for example, when you see half a car being pulled by two donkeys traveling down the road. TIA my friend, TIA. You don't get that stuff in town. But then again, you can't find Indian food in the township, so who's the real winner here? Speaking of... We tried another place called the Food Garden on Friday. Not as good at Al-Habib, but here's something cools. I was an American sitting at an Indian restaurant in Africa, when all of a sudden a couple Asians walked in wearing their Muslim get up. Holy melting pot... I think the only thing that could have topped it off would have been if we greeted each other in Spanish.
Ah man this weekend though! Conference while you're on mission is like Christmas. You're a little kid and you can't understand why the fetch your parents (or the branch members in this case) aren't nearly as excited as you are. Perhaps the idea of sitting still for ten hours listening to talks is much more appealing to you when you're eating, sleeping, and breathing Jesus for two years. Packer's still kickin', Holland's still keeping us humble, Tommy Monson's still the man, and Uchtdorf's love of planes went almost as far as hijacking Air Force One. Haha, all is well.
So here's something. Sometimes we keep extra statistics in our planners just for fun. Like for me, sometimes I keep track of how many times li'l kids feel my arm hair (if I was keeping track Tuesday alone the number would have been four) or how many guys you see peeing on the side of the road, and of them how many are actually facing the road (you'd like to think that number's pretty low wouldn't you?). Anyway, the one we started counting this week is how many times Brother Gbenga says, "In my county..." And followed with something about his native Nigeria. What a guy... Truly an inspiration to me. We're so blessed to have him as our branch mission leader. I've never met anyone as excited about sharing the gospel as he is. The amazing part is that he's away from his family in Nigeria until he can find work. He has every reason in the world sometimes to be down in the dumps, but that'll never break him. When you love your family, your country, the Lord, and His gospel so much, there ain't nothing nobody can do to tear you down!
Freaking lekker week ahead of us. The Herringtons are back, the work is great, the food is good as ever, the church is still true, and we're even gonna make it to Nambiti next Monday. Hurrah for Israel!
Sala kahle my friends. Stay positive and love yo life.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
Monday, April 21, 2014
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