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Monday, June 2, 2014
Shared 6/2/14 - Moreson Ranch playing with lion cubs
There's curry and biryani, but there's also chicken feet, liver, and tripe...
Sanbonani!
Eish... Tripe. Its scent on the stove smells richly of bum, and the taste is hardly any better. At least the time I had chicken feet the spices helped to keep my mind off of what I was actually eating, but with tripe? The flavor serves as a reminder that the organ you're consuming was once the first stop for food as it made its way through the animal's digestive system and eventually out its rectum. I say the animal, because I'm honest to goodness not sure if it was a cow, a goat, or an ox. Haibo... But! It's off the bucket list, and I'm another step closer to being a true African. Brother Gbenga keeps telling me I'm a black man stuck in a white man's body, so hey... My skin will catch up sooner or later! An outward expression of an inward change, right?
But anyway, I guess we can start with where we left off last week. The story of how I ripped my pants... So once upon a time, during our hike with Brother Classen, he told us the tale of Moreson Ranch, which is about an hour outside Newcastle. According to legend, there are lion cubs there you can play with for a mere fifty rand (five bucks for you Americanos). It sounded too good to be true, but after finding out Elder Akal was getting emergency transferred and that this would be his last p day, we decided to exercise our faith in Brother Classen and make the drive. Boy, did we receive a witness after the trial of our faith (aka the hour long, pot-hole filled drive). What an absolutely incredible experience. When you're in Africa, what you don't do is sit around at the boarding and play board games. What you do do is go let the lion cubs chase you around, scratch up your arms, and even rip a huge hole in your jeans. You rub their bellies, you dance with them, and you even give them piggy back rides. I guess the only thing better would be if we could baptize them... But I think they should be covered considering that blessed day when they shall lie with the lamb without any ire.
Enough of those guys though, on to the work of salvation!
Yoh, some weeks on mission are awesome and smooth sailing, but others are kinda...learning weeks I guess you could say. When three of your investigators get baptized, you kinda have to evaluate your teaching pool and ask yourselves, "Ok, what next?" I think it hit both Elder Marumo and myself that we need to make an extra exerted effort to find and talk to people. The question is... How? We have some great plans to work with members, but in the meantime, we've started working on some conversation starters to talk to everyone we meet in all sorts of situations.
Big Z's big thing this last week actually fits perfectly with what we want to make happen. He emailed the whole mission to let us know that our "service hours rendered" stat would be changed to "contacts made." The goal he wants us to work toward is 40 per week, and yoh, we're gonna have to stretch a bit to make it happen. But in a good way. President's absolutely incredible at helping us grow and reach our full potential. I guess if we don't push ourselves and make improvements in our lives every once in a while, how can we expect those we teach to?
Kindo's power as ever. We took him teaching with us on Friday, and I was blown away. He's usually a bit shy around new people, but he contributed to the lesson and bore such powerful testimony at our teaching appointments! He even shared his conversion story with another member family we were visiting. It's not just everyday you find someone like him. I feel so blessed to be a part of his finding the gospel.
Eish... Tripe. Its scent on the stove smells richly of bum, and the taste is hardly any better. At least the time I had chicken feet the spices helped to keep my mind off of what I was actually eating, but with tripe? The flavor serves as a reminder that the organ you're consuming was once the first stop for food as it made its way through the animal's digestive system and eventually out its rectum. I say the animal, because I'm honest to goodness not sure if it was a cow, a goat, or an ox. Haibo... But! It's off the bucket list, and I'm another step closer to being a true African. Brother Gbenga keeps telling me I'm a black man stuck in a white man's body, so hey... My skin will catch up sooner or later! An outward expression of an inward change, right?
But anyway, I guess we can start with where we left off last week. The story of how I ripped my pants... So once upon a time, during our hike with Brother Classen, he told us the tale of Moreson Ranch, which is about an hour outside Newcastle. According to legend, there are lion cubs there you can play with for a mere fifty rand (five bucks for you Americanos). It sounded too good to be true, but after finding out Elder Akal was getting emergency transferred and that this would be his last p day, we decided to exercise our faith in Brother Classen and make the drive. Boy, did we receive a witness after the trial of our faith (aka the hour long, pot-hole filled drive). What an absolutely incredible experience. When you're in Africa, what you don't do is sit around at the boarding and play board games. What you do do is go let the lion cubs chase you around, scratch up your arms, and even rip a huge hole in your jeans. You rub their bellies, you dance with them, and you even give them piggy back rides. I guess the only thing better would be if we could baptize them... But I think they should be covered considering that blessed day when they shall lie with the lamb without any ire.
Enough of those guys though, on to the work of salvation!
Yoh, some weeks on mission are awesome and smooth sailing, but others are kinda...learning weeks I guess you could say. When three of your investigators get baptized, you kinda have to evaluate your teaching pool and ask yourselves, "Ok, what next?" I think it hit both Elder Marumo and myself that we need to make an extra exerted effort to find and talk to people. The question is... How? We have some great plans to work with members, but in the meantime, we've started working on some conversation starters to talk to everyone we meet in all sorts of situations.
Big Z's big thing this last week actually fits perfectly with what we want to make happen. He emailed the whole mission to let us know that our "service hours rendered" stat would be changed to "contacts made." The goal he wants us to work toward is 40 per week, and yoh, we're gonna have to stretch a bit to make it happen. But in a good way. President's absolutely incredible at helping us grow and reach our full potential. I guess if we don't push ourselves and make improvements in our lives every once in a while, how can we expect those we teach to?
Kindo's power as ever. We took him teaching with us on Friday, and I was blown away. He's usually a bit shy around new people, but he contributed to the lesson and bore such powerful testimony at our teaching appointments! He even shared his conversion story with another member family we were visiting. It's not just everyday you find someone like him. I feel so blessed to be a part of his finding the gospel.
The week as a hole was a little bit difficult, but the Lord rains down his tender mercies as continue moving forward in faith. Sunday was a beautiful end to the week. One lesson in particular I really enjoyed. We were following up on a young guy we had found a couple months back, and we weren't able to find him home, but his mother was there. She invited us in, and we found out she's been going through a rough time, so we were able to share some comforting words with her. Brother Gbenga was even brought to tears. We came to realize as well that she works with one of the members that we had just shared a member missionary lesson a couple days back. The Lord sure has a good way of putting us in the right place at the right time.
We've got a little treat coming up in a couple weeks too. I don't remember if I mentioned it, but we talked to Big Z a while back about doing a member fireside while he's in Newcastle this transfer, and he loved the idea. We talked to him again this week to buff out the details, and I'm as stoked as ever. One thing that's true of church members worldwide is that they're more likely to come to things if there's the promise of food, so we'll be serving rooibos tea and biscuits following the proceedings (don't worry, it's herbal tea!).
We've got a little treat coming up in a couple weeks too. I don't remember if I mentioned it, but we talked to Big Z a while back about doing a member fireside while he's in Newcastle this transfer, and he loved the idea. We talked to him again this week to buff out the details, and I'm as stoked as ever. One thing that's true of church members worldwide is that they're more likely to come to things if there's the promise of food, so we'll be serving rooibos tea and biscuits following the proceedings (don't worry, it's herbal tea!).
After all our adventures the last few Mondays, we're finally taking a little break today. Gonna take care of some shopping, gonna make biryani, and I'm even gonna try and learn how to cut my own hair! Woo! Wish me luck... I'll have pictures next week. Prepare to be either blown away or to laugh really really hard. Let's hope for the former.
Sala kahle, my friends. Stay positive, love your life.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
Monday, May 26, 2014
Shared 5/26/14 - Hiked Vulintaba (Zulu for "open mountain")
Sunday night is a special night, it's the night we get ready for p-day!
Sanbonani!
But only just kidding, Sunday night is actually the night we send our stats in to the zone leaders because we're consecrated missionaries on the Lord's errand. Boo yeah! Take that Satan! But don't worry, that's not to say we don't have some fun every once in a while. Yoh, our hike with Brother Classen last Monday was a lekker start to a lekker week. We pulled up to his place at Vulintaba (which is a Zulu word that means "open mountain"), and there he was just chillin' on his porch swing with his Taylor guitar, playing Belle by Jack Johnson. Sound like me in 30 or 40 years? Yeah, I thought so too. Man, what a life that guy's lived. He's from Germany, and work has taken him all over the world. He was telling us how he thought his time in Turkey was gonna be rough due to the Church not having a presence there, but they were able to make it one of the most spiritual years of their lives. They administered the sacrament at their home and spent the rest of Sundays visiting the places that Paul had preached at, learning all the history behind it. Antioch was among them. Talk about making the best of hard times, eh? Beautiful hike though. Found baboon tracks and even heard a couple yelling off in the distance. Come to find out, Brother Classen told us Sunday that one of the greensman by his place informed him that his morning jogging route goes right past a leopard and three cubs. Thank goodness they're only active at night!
What a day, though... Monday ended off just as well as it started. After the hike, we stopped by Checkers to pick something up for Elder Willombe, and lo and behold we bumped into the Arends family! A minute earlier or later and we would have missed them. Right place at the right time? You betcha. Crazy how often that happens on mission... But we invited them to FHE that night and were able to have a jolly good time together at the Herringtons.
So remember how Swazi's no longer part of our mission? Eish, man all of us are so bummed. The promised land of the mission is gone... But I guess we shouldn't be too down in the dumps. The ZLs came down to South Africa for one last MLC with Big Z, and I guess what I didn't realize is that they're not just losing one zone, but the whole rest of their missions. All the friendships they built here with the members, the missionaries, the mission president... Eish. Not to mention that Mozambique is a Portuguese speaking mission, which is nothing like Zulu or English or Xhosa or Sotho or Tswana or any of the other languages here. So I guess it could be worse. But all things considered, I think they're taking it well. I got to see Reeves one last time, and he was super bummed at first, but he's excited for the new experience. It'll be an adventure, hey? Super cool catching up with him over a quarter chicken, chips, and roll at Nando's...hehe, our Kimberley tradition.
As far as the work here goes, it's moving right along. Wednesday I was on exchanges with Elder Willombe, who's brand new this transfer. Crazy to think I'm as old on mission now as my baba was when I was born, and he goes home next transfer... Yoh, time flies. But Elder Willombe got to meet one of my favorite people to teach, our dear friend Gregory. Gregory's an Indian fellow, and the reason I love teaching him is that he understands and has more of a desire to learn the gospel than anyone I've ever met. Usually he asks a ton of questions and we don't get to cover what we planned, so Elder Marumo and I decided no matter what we were gonna finish the Plan of Salvation this week. So, after a two and a half hour appointment Tuesday and another hour with Elder Willombe on Wednesday, we finished!!! And he gets it! And wants to share it with six million people! That's not just a random number I made up, just by the way... Man, what a guy.
So one little language mannerism with South Africa is that you could say, "I have flu," and mean that you have a runny nose. It means anything. If you have a runny stomach, you have flu. If you're vomiting uncontrollably, you have flu. If you break your leg, your leg has flu. So anyway, I had flu Thursday, and I was super nervous because it was Kindo's baptism that day, and there was no way in the world I was going to miss the baptism of the most converted person in the world. Ah man... Kindo. What an absolutely incredible story. He's from CÙte d'Ivoire, his father was a Muslim, his mother was a Christian, and they grew up in a Jewish culture reading the Torah. He was introduced to the missionaries by Melba, and he told us at first he was hostile towards the Church. But, he was at FHE one night while I was still with Elder Mukonda and accepted the invitation to take the missionary lessons. What truly converted him to the gospel was the Book of Mormon. He was in tears one day as he was reading, and told us he had found himself through the scriptures. It's been a huge testament to me that the Lord is indeed gathering the House of Israel. It's promised that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, and it happens one soul at a time. It's truly amazing to be a part of it. After he came up out of the water, he had such a huge smile on his face. Couldn't help but put one on mine as well.
We had a lesson with him the following day, but more on that in a sec... Our tradition every Friday is a boarding trip to Al-Habib, and we were pleasantly surprised this week to find it under new ownership. Whereas before, we enjoyed our meal peacefully with the cockroaches, they have now been relocated due to a new standard of cleanliness. The new owner, Gabil, is a superstar and is going to take Al-Habib places. The biryani, the naans, the tikka... All as good as ever. The cool thing is Al-Habib is right next to Kindo's place, so we went over there afterwards. He couldn't stop smiling about his baptism, and we shared a thought about the Holy Ghost since that's what comes next. He came up with a spot on analogy for it too. When we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, it's like we get his cell phone number. We can SMS him whenever we want, and he'll send us messages back. He'll even SMS us warnings and messages of comfort, too. But, if we're a bad friend, he'll stop replying. If we don't remain worthy, we'll lose our privilege to his constant companionship. Ah man, Kindo... What a guy!
Saturdays we hold a scripture study class at the chapel, and it's finally starting to bear fruits! We're so excited. Members are bringing non-members, and they're even coming to church! The first couple times we had zero attendance, but hey... Patience, my friends. It's a virtue.
The confirmations happened Sunday, and it was a glorious day. So many good things are happening in Newcastle and I'm just as stoked as ever to be a part of it. There's a chance I leave in a few weeks, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed I get to stay at least one more transfer.
I'm short on time, but hey... Stay tuned next week for some more lekker pics and the story about how I ripped my pants today. :)
Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives my friends.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
Monday, May 19, 2014
Shared 5/19/14 - Fun Times in Newcastle South Africa
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Now let us eat wors in the day of starvation
Sanbonani!
You know those days you work so hard that when you get back to the boarding you all you can manage to do is a lightning fast planning session so your head can reunite with its pillow as quickly as possible? Imagine seven of those right in a row, and BOOM, you have our last week. Yoh, mission wears you out, but it's worth all the spiritual blood, sweat, and tears knowing you're on the Lord's errand.
I guess we'll start with Monday, hey? The last family home evening of the transfer is always bitter sweet, but the sweet far outweighed the bitter this time around. Amongst the goodbyes to the departing elders, we had some laughs, felt the Spirit, indulged in Elder Herrington's delectable almond chocolate desert, and were even joined by our dear Sister Biyela! Ah man, what a wonderful daughter of God. Sister Biyela is Zinhle, Lungani, and Thando's mother, and she was baptized this Sunday! But more about her in a minute... It was a wild, wild week leading up to the big day.
Transfer week is always hectic with getting people to where they need to be, but one way or another, it always seems to work out. After saying final see ya laters, we dumped off Elders Kruger and Morole at the bus station Tuesday. That was probably the last time I'll see my baba on mission (Mama and Pop Pop, if you guys want to stop in Cape Town when you're here, we'll have a place to stay with the Kruger family, just a heads up). With those two going, two new guys arrived. Elder Kambuzuma came along later that day, and Elder Esplin's son Elder Willombe followed on Wednesday. Crazy thing... Due to some visa problems, he's the only new elder in the mission this transfer! Don't worry though, we're treating him right. We already introduced him to our friends Abdul, Mohammed, and Ahmed at Al-Habib. *in a Homer Simpson voice* Mmm... Biryani... *drool noises*
One thing you learn on mission though is that you have to be prepared always for a super spiritual experience. On Thursday, we were following up on a referral from the ZLs, and what we were expecting was to teach the Restoration. What we weren't expecting was to find our sister in tears as she reflected back to her husband and son that have both passed away, and to find comfort in knowing she can be with them again. The blessings of the gospel are real, my friends. And as a missionary, you have to remember that although it may be the 51037047th time you've taught something, odds are it's someone else's first time hearing it, and they can feel the Spirit from day one.
But in addition to the spiritual, you've gotta be prepared for the awesome, the wacky, and the wild too. Like, the field next to an investigator's house going up in flames... Like, your shy golden investigator finding the confidence to bear powerful testimony about the gospel to his neighbors... Like, somehow finding yourselves amongst an ocean of Indians... An Indian Ocean if you will. Sister Maharajh invited us to a Mothers Day celebration at NOFTA (Newcastle Organisation for the Aged) this last Saturday, and yoh... That was an experience to write home about. We were probably the only white and black guys there, but that's ok. We dined, we enjoyed the music, the dancing, and Sister Maharajh couldn't have been more excited to see us there. Hopefully I can get a couple videos uploaded... There was a band playing some lekker Indian jams. Blake, pay special attention to the drummer and how into the music he gets (pretend that was written in the "sarcasm" font). Eish, made me miss jamming quite a bit... But it was jolly good fun.
But enough of the yadda yadda leading up to Sunday! What an absolutely incredible day. We spent the morning making some last minute preparations for our two sisters being baptized, and it all went smoothly. I've gained a strong testimony of preparation, planning, and timeliness. We got sacrament meeting started right on time, and the Spirit was there the whole service. Some great talks were given, and Sisters Biyela and Anovuyo's baptisms could not have gone any better. So like I was saying before, Sister Biyela's children are all members, and as she was bearing her testimony after her baptism, she was saying that at first, she didn't like the church. But, after much scripture study, praying, and pondering, she received that divine witness from the Holy Ghost that every missionary promises their investigators. Elder Marumo and I felt so blessed that we were able to join with her and her kids in this wonderful day. She asked Lungani to give a talk on baptism, and he shared with us that this is a day he had been looking forward to for a long, long time. Anovuyo was introduced to the gospel by her grandmother, Sister Jean from oSizweni. Sister Jean's conversion story is absolutely incredible, and her willingness to share the gospel with those around her is one of a kind. Anovuyo is the first of the family members staying at her house to be baptized, and this experience I believe has set an example for the rest of them. As she was bearing her testimony, she thanked her family for being their and supporting her. Truly a touching experience. Ah man guys... The gospel is so wonderful, and I'm so grateful these two years to get to see the blessings first hand from it.
You know those days you work so hard that when you get back to the boarding you all you can manage to do is a lightning fast planning session so your head can reunite with its pillow as quickly as possible? Imagine seven of those right in a row, and BOOM, you have our last week. Yoh, mission wears you out, but it's worth all the spiritual blood, sweat, and tears knowing you're on the Lord's errand.
I guess we'll start with Monday, hey? The last family home evening of the transfer is always bitter sweet, but the sweet far outweighed the bitter this time around. Amongst the goodbyes to the departing elders, we had some laughs, felt the Spirit, indulged in Elder Herrington's delectable almond chocolate desert, and were even joined by our dear Sister Biyela! Ah man, what a wonderful daughter of God. Sister Biyela is Zinhle, Lungani, and Thando's mother, and she was baptized this Sunday! But more about her in a minute... It was a wild, wild week leading up to the big day.
Transfer week is always hectic with getting people to where they need to be, but one way or another, it always seems to work out. After saying final see ya laters, we dumped off Elders Kruger and Morole at the bus station Tuesday. That was probably the last time I'll see my baba on mission (Mama and Pop Pop, if you guys want to stop in Cape Town when you're here, we'll have a place to stay with the Kruger family, just a heads up). With those two going, two new guys arrived. Elder Kambuzuma came along later that day, and Elder Esplin's son Elder Willombe followed on Wednesday. Crazy thing... Due to some visa problems, he's the only new elder in the mission this transfer! Don't worry though, we're treating him right. We already introduced him to our friends Abdul, Mohammed, and Ahmed at Al-Habib. *in a Homer Simpson voice* Mmm... Biryani... *drool noises*
One thing you learn on mission though is that you have to be prepared always for a super spiritual experience. On Thursday, we were following up on a referral from the ZLs, and what we were expecting was to teach the Restoration. What we weren't expecting was to find our sister in tears as she reflected back to her husband and son that have both passed away, and to find comfort in knowing she can be with them again. The blessings of the gospel are real, my friends. And as a missionary, you have to remember that although it may be the 51037047th time you've taught something, odds are it's someone else's first time hearing it, and they can feel the Spirit from day one.
But in addition to the spiritual, you've gotta be prepared for the awesome, the wacky, and the wild too. Like, the field next to an investigator's house going up in flames... Like, your shy golden investigator finding the confidence to bear powerful testimony about the gospel to his neighbors... Like, somehow finding yourselves amongst an ocean of Indians... An Indian Ocean if you will. Sister Maharajh invited us to a Mothers Day celebration at NOFTA (Newcastle Organisation for the Aged) this last Saturday, and yoh... That was an experience to write home about. We were probably the only white and black guys there, but that's ok. We dined, we enjoyed the music, the dancing, and Sister Maharajh couldn't have been more excited to see us there. Hopefully I can get a couple videos uploaded... There was a band playing some lekker Indian jams. Blake, pay special attention to the drummer and how into the music he gets (pretend that was written in the "sarcasm" font). Eish, made me miss jamming quite a bit... But it was jolly good fun.
But enough of the yadda yadda leading up to Sunday! What an absolutely incredible day. We spent the morning making some last minute preparations for our two sisters being baptized, and it all went smoothly. I've gained a strong testimony of preparation, planning, and timeliness. We got sacrament meeting started right on time, and the Spirit was there the whole service. Some great talks were given, and Sisters Biyela and Anovuyo's baptisms could not have gone any better. So like I was saying before, Sister Biyela's children are all members, and as she was bearing her testimony after her baptism, she was saying that at first, she didn't like the church. But, after much scripture study, praying, and pondering, she received that divine witness from the Holy Ghost that every missionary promises their investigators. Elder Marumo and I felt so blessed that we were able to join with her and her kids in this wonderful day. She asked Lungani to give a talk on baptism, and he shared with us that this is a day he had been looking forward to for a long, long time. Anovuyo was introduced to the gospel by her grandmother, Sister Jean from oSizweni. Sister Jean's conversion story is absolutely incredible, and her willingness to share the gospel with those around her is one of a kind. Anovuyo is the first of the family members staying at her house to be baptized, and this experience I believe has set an example for the rest of them. As she was bearing her testimony, she thanked her family for being their and supporting her. Truly a touching experience. Ah man guys... The gospel is so wonderful, and I'm so grateful these two years to get to see the blessings first hand from it.
So a little bit of crazy news... I actually just found out about this like ten minutes ago. So Swaziland is a part of our mission, and it's like... Every Durban missionary's dream to end up there for one of their areas. But, we got an email from Big Z this morning informing us that the First Presidency decided to move Swaziland to the Mozambique mission. Which means number one, that I won't be making it that side while on mission, and number two, that all the elders serving there right now are adopted into the Mozambique mission. So gash dang it, that includes Elder Reeves. Man... Crazy stuff, but the Lord has a reason for everything, eh?
Should have a good day ahead of us. We're finally hiking Vulintaba like I've wanted to do since I got here three months ago! Brother Classen's taking us, and it should be a grand ol' time.
Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your life my friends.
Much love,
Elda Johnson
Oh and PS... Just so the subject like makes a little more sense, wors (pronounced "vorsh") is a South African food... It's basically a big long salami looking thing with various meats inside. Dried out versions, valled droer wors, are called biltong, and it's very similar to (although a little bit better than) jerky.
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