Monday, June 30, 2014
Shared 6/30/14 - Newcastle and hiking Vulintaba again!
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before JWs were, Mormons are.
Sanbonani!
Ok confession time... I had a little bit of a beard this week. Don't worry though, it wasn't anything Lorenzo Snow would give fire for. Gregory had told us about a place called Salom Namaste you could get a shave at for only ten rand. I figured I'd try it, and I figured I'd probably be a bad customer if I didn't have something for them to shave, ya know? But dang it, either it doesn't exist or Gregory sucks at giving directions, or maybe even both. Either way, we couldn't find it, so what was supposed to be a weekend off for my razor left the poor guy working double time on Monday. All that apostasy for nothing. Sigh... Guess I learned my lesson, hey? Side note, I did find a loophole in the white handbook. It says, "Elders should shave every day," but what it doesn't say is, "Elders should shave their whole faces everyday." Mustache March? Movember? Hmmm... "I mustache you a question. Have you heard of the Book of Mormon?" Could be a good door approach. Stay tuned...
Anyway! Newcastle is still lekker as ever. The areas far away from Durbs and the mission home often get called outer darkness, but uh... I like to call them the best kept secrets in the mission. So many exciting things happening this week. Well, a little bit of sad too, but that ended up being a heart warming experience. Remember that less active member we visited at hospital last week? We went to his place to follow up this week, only to find a bunch of cars from Free State, Gauteng, Utrecht... Our first thoughts were confirmed when the family informed us his funeral was happening in a couple hours. They told us he always loved visits from the missionaries and invited us to the service. It was at a Methodist church in town, and we mighta got lost on the way and arrived just as the pallbearers were carrying the casket out. We didn't know anyone there, but thank goodness one of his daughters-in-law came up to us and said, "We're Mormons too!" Huge sigh of relief to at least make that connection. One of his sons, who I believe was the pastor that conducted the service, walked up to us with a big smile on his face and pointed to us and said, "Mormons! My dad loved you guys." So that was pretty cool. I'm just glad we were able to attend and that missionaries of transfers past were able to help someone grow closer to Christ.
On Monday Brother Classen took us hiking Vulintaba again, and man, what an absolutely faith promoting experience that was. Eldor Classen's one of those people that just gets life and the gospel. The hike up we conversed about the purpose of life, Paul's teachings on joy and happiness, President Uchtdorf's teachings on gratitude, the need of faith, his visits to Utah, and at the top, we were able to take in the majesty of God's creations. Ah, there's something about being on top of the world (or Newcastle at least) that invites the Spirit. Nca, brah. Nca. The hike back down, Brother Classen offered to come teaching with us later in the week. Gregory had hit a couple stumbling blocks, and I think the testimony of our German friend was exactly what he needed. One of the most spiritual lessons I've ever been part of. Eldor Classen... What a guy.
In oSizweni there's a super big extended family called the Zwanes that the Herringtons have been working with. Six of the kids are getting baptized next week, and that left yours truly doing all the interviews. Six interviews is enough to wear you out, but what a neat experience it was. Most of them were young and fluent in Zulu but not English, so their aunt was translating. Man, it's amazing to see the faith little children have. If more people could testify of the Saviour's divinity with their conviction, the world would be a much better place. I was on exchanges with Elder Esplin the rest of the day, and we had just one appointment after that. We were teaching a brother named Jackie, and this is actually kinda funny... So traditional African beer is called umqombothi, and Jackie had been drinking a lot of it, but he insisted on watching the Restoration DVD. Afterwards, I asked him if he'd been reading his Book of Mormon, forgetting he didn't have one yet, nor had he been taught about it, but we were amazed at how much he had picked up about it from just the video. More so than the sober investigator we had visited earlier in the day. Traditional beer...perhaps the key to spiritual enlightenment? Hmmm...
Ok confession time... I had a little bit of a beard this week. Don't worry though, it wasn't anything Lorenzo Snow would give fire for. Gregory had told us about a place called Salom Namaste you could get a shave at for only ten rand. I figured I'd try it, and I figured I'd probably be a bad customer if I didn't have something for them to shave, ya know? But dang it, either it doesn't exist or Gregory sucks at giving directions, or maybe even both. Either way, we couldn't find it, so what was supposed to be a weekend off for my razor left the poor guy working double time on Monday. All that apostasy for nothing. Sigh... Guess I learned my lesson, hey? Side note, I did find a loophole in the white handbook. It says, "Elders should shave every day," but what it doesn't say is, "Elders should shave their whole faces everyday." Mustache March? Movember? Hmmm... "I mustache you a question. Have you heard of the Book of Mormon?" Could be a good door approach. Stay tuned...
Anyway! Newcastle is still lekker as ever. The areas far away from Durbs and the mission home often get called outer darkness, but uh... I like to call them the best kept secrets in the mission. So many exciting things happening this week. Well, a little bit of sad too, but that ended up being a heart warming experience. Remember that less active member we visited at hospital last week? We went to his place to follow up this week, only to find a bunch of cars from Free State, Gauteng, Utrecht... Our first thoughts were confirmed when the family informed us his funeral was happening in a couple hours. They told us he always loved visits from the missionaries and invited us to the service. It was at a Methodist church in town, and we mighta got lost on the way and arrived just as the pallbearers were carrying the casket out. We didn't know anyone there, but thank goodness one of his daughters-in-law came up to us and said, "We're Mormons too!" Huge sigh of relief to at least make that connection. One of his sons, who I believe was the pastor that conducted the service, walked up to us with a big smile on his face and pointed to us and said, "Mormons! My dad loved you guys." So that was pretty cool. I'm just glad we were able to attend and that missionaries of transfers past were able to help someone grow closer to Christ.
On Monday Brother Classen took us hiking Vulintaba again, and man, what an absolutely faith promoting experience that was. Eldor Classen's one of those people that just gets life and the gospel. The hike up we conversed about the purpose of life, Paul's teachings on joy and happiness, President Uchtdorf's teachings on gratitude, the need of faith, his visits to Utah, and at the top, we were able to take in the majesty of God's creations. Ah, there's something about being on top of the world (or Newcastle at least) that invites the Spirit. Nca, brah. Nca. The hike back down, Brother Classen offered to come teaching with us later in the week. Gregory had hit a couple stumbling blocks, and I think the testimony of our German friend was exactly what he needed. One of the most spiritual lessons I've ever been part of. Eldor Classen... What a guy.
In oSizweni there's a super big extended family called the Zwanes that the Herringtons have been working with. Six of the kids are getting baptized next week, and that left yours truly doing all the interviews. Six interviews is enough to wear you out, but what a neat experience it was. Most of them were young and fluent in Zulu but not English, so their aunt was translating. Man, it's amazing to see the faith little children have. If more people could testify of the Saviour's divinity with their conviction, the world would be a much better place. I was on exchanges with Elder Esplin the rest of the day, and we had just one appointment after that. We were teaching a brother named Jackie, and this is actually kinda funny... So traditional African beer is called umqombothi, and Jackie had been drinking a lot of it, but he insisted on watching the Restoration DVD. Afterwards, I asked him if he'd been reading his Book of Mormon, forgetting he didn't have one yet, nor had he been taught about it, but we were amazed at how much he had picked up about it from just the video. More so than the sober investigator we had visited earlier in the day. Traditional beer...perhaps the key to spiritual enlightenment? Hmmm...
Sunday I felt like was a huge turning point for the branch. Much to our dismay, we shed a little tear as President Mabhena released Brother Gbenga from his three callings. Life is taking him a different direction, but hopefully a direction that will lead him to be with his family as soon as he can. It was a blessing to be able to share some words of comfort with him. He was pretty shaken up most of Sunday and wasn't able to come teaching with us like he usually does. But, with the loss of another Melchizidek Priesthood holder from the branch, a new sense of urgency like never before has been pressing the hearts of the ones remaining. Brother Classen is leading a campaign to rededicate the members here to a sense of spirituality that once was. We started by making plans to reactivate and ordain many of our potential priesthood holders. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor will Newcastle be rededicated over the course of a week or a transfer, but it's a start in the right direction. Hurrah for Israel!
So what's coming up this week... 4th of July celebration with the Herringtons on Friday, hiking Vulintaba again next week with Brother Classen and the young men this time around, and uh... Might be visiting a Freemason lodge today too, so that'll be an experience! Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives my friends.
So what's coming up this week... 4th of July celebration with the Herringtons on Friday, hiking Vulintaba again next week with Brother Classen and the young men this time around, and uh... Might be visiting a Freemason lodge today too, so that'll be an experience! Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives my friends.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
Monday, June 23, 2014
Shared 6/23/14 - Newcastle…New and Old Pictures (This weeks are with the short hair cut)
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"Go buy cool drink for the elders! Anything but Coke!"
Sanboni!
Haibo... A year ago, I wondered why, when he saw me order a Coke, the man sitting next to me on the plane from London to JoBurg was super confused. Now, I understand. Yoh, too many missionaries of ages past preaching that Coke and caffeine are against the Word of Wisdom. I've seen it in people baptized in the 80s and I've seen it in someone that was baptized in February. But it's fine, one day we'll find Heavenly Father enjoying an ice cold bottle of Coca Cola on a hot summer day in the Celestial Kingdom. I guess if all the blessings of eternal life aren't enough, there's always that to look forward to. Gotta hope for something, right?
Ah man, excellent week. Transfer news came Saturday night and Elder Marumo and I will be together six more weeks! Take that, Satan! Little do you know we CAN have our vetkoek and eat it too! Stoked for another transfer with this guy. Man, this guy... Cracks me up. We were driving between appointments the other day, and there he was, just looking out the window saying stuff like, "Sometimes my race really disappoints me. They suck. At everything." Maybe you have to know him for that to be funny... But man, when teaching time comes, Elder Marumo invites the Spirit like it's his full time job. We gonna give 'em heaven this transfer!
I forgot to mention this last week, and I can't remember if I've talked about the Lower Lights before, but they're a folk band that sound somewhere between Mumford and Sons and the Lumineers, except they do hymns from the green book. Anyway, I was looking at the contributing artists on one of their CDs a couple months back and saw Dorothy and John Zackrison. Now, it's not just everyday you find a couple named John and Dorothy, let alone having the surname Zackrison, so I finally got to ask Sister Z what was up last week. Apparently, the Lower Lights were started by their son in law. There was a frustration that other instruments could be played in sacrament meetings while guitars always got the shambock. And with that, the Lower Lights were born. Cool, hey?
But anyway, work of salvation... We've been working on contacting more people, and eish, it's tough. But don't worry, we're not turning into Lamans and Lemuels saying stuff like, "This is a hard thing Big Z has required of us." We're big strong Nephis that go and do. Just so we don't have to do too much tracting, we're trying to share with the people we meet doing our day to day stuff. It's funny though, you can tell all the places missionaries shop at when you ask the cashier if you can share a message about Jesus Christ with them and their response is, "Oh yeah, the missionaries used to visit me!" Go figure. Guess it's time to branch out a bit.
But man, the longer I'm out, the more I gain a testimony that Heavenly Father knows what he's doing. Somehow we always seem to end up in the right place at the right time. Tuesday morning, Brother Gbenga called us and asked us to give Sister Mlambo a blessing. I told him we could go after finished our studies, but it's a good thing at least Elder Marumo was listening to the Spirit. "We need to go NOW," he said. Long story short, we found her praying and in a lot of pain, we gave her a blessing, and she was almost instantly at peace. Let's hear it for the priesthood. Later that day, we were looking for a less-active we'd never met. When we finally found his house, we learned he had suffered a stroke and was at hospital. We rushed to the MediClinic to visit, and as we were walking in, we bumped into the one and only Baba Mlambo, who, slowly but surely is warming up to the gospel. We were able to greet him and talk soccer for a brief moment before he told us how grateful he was that we had even able to help out his wife that morning. That really touched my heart. Shoutout to the Spirit for always taking charge!
Thursday was a cool experience. Got to do my first baptismal interview, with six more on the way next week. Yoh... There's a scripture in Moroni 6 that puts forth what you have do to be baptized, and among the broken hearts and contrite spirits, you must witness before the church that you've repented of your sins, and that's kinda the purpose for the baptismal interview. It's just you, the candidate, and the Holy Ghost in there. It's enough to make you a little nervous as the interviewer, but hey, if you're listening to the Spirit, nothing can go wrong. Man, but luckily Mxolisi is power and passed the inteview with flying colors.
Haibo... A year ago, I wondered why, when he saw me order a Coke, the man sitting next to me on the plane from London to JoBurg was super confused. Now, I understand. Yoh, too many missionaries of ages past preaching that Coke and caffeine are against the Word of Wisdom. I've seen it in people baptized in the 80s and I've seen it in someone that was baptized in February. But it's fine, one day we'll find Heavenly Father enjoying an ice cold bottle of Coca Cola on a hot summer day in the Celestial Kingdom. I guess if all the blessings of eternal life aren't enough, there's always that to look forward to. Gotta hope for something, right?
Ah man, excellent week. Transfer news came Saturday night and Elder Marumo and I will be together six more weeks! Take that, Satan! Little do you know we CAN have our vetkoek and eat it too! Stoked for another transfer with this guy. Man, this guy... Cracks me up. We were driving between appointments the other day, and there he was, just looking out the window saying stuff like, "Sometimes my race really disappoints me. They suck. At everything." Maybe you have to know him for that to be funny... But man, when teaching time comes, Elder Marumo invites the Spirit like it's his full time job. We gonna give 'em heaven this transfer!
I forgot to mention this last week, and I can't remember if I've talked about the Lower Lights before, but they're a folk band that sound somewhere between Mumford and Sons and the Lumineers, except they do hymns from the green book. Anyway, I was looking at the contributing artists on one of their CDs a couple months back and saw Dorothy and John Zackrison. Now, it's not just everyday you find a couple named John and Dorothy, let alone having the surname Zackrison, so I finally got to ask Sister Z what was up last week. Apparently, the Lower Lights were started by their son in law. There was a frustration that other instruments could be played in sacrament meetings while guitars always got the shambock. And with that, the Lower Lights were born. Cool, hey?
But anyway, work of salvation... We've been working on contacting more people, and eish, it's tough. But don't worry, we're not turning into Lamans and Lemuels saying stuff like, "This is a hard thing Big Z has required of us." We're big strong Nephis that go and do. Just so we don't have to do too much tracting, we're trying to share with the people we meet doing our day to day stuff. It's funny though, you can tell all the places missionaries shop at when you ask the cashier if you can share a message about Jesus Christ with them and their response is, "Oh yeah, the missionaries used to visit me!" Go figure. Guess it's time to branch out a bit.
But man, the longer I'm out, the more I gain a testimony that Heavenly Father knows what he's doing. Somehow we always seem to end up in the right place at the right time. Tuesday morning, Brother Gbenga called us and asked us to give Sister Mlambo a blessing. I told him we could go after finished our studies, but it's a good thing at least Elder Marumo was listening to the Spirit. "We need to go NOW," he said. Long story short, we found her praying and in a lot of pain, we gave her a blessing, and she was almost instantly at peace. Let's hear it for the priesthood. Later that day, we were looking for a less-active we'd never met. When we finally found his house, we learned he had suffered a stroke and was at hospital. We rushed to the MediClinic to visit, and as we were walking in, we bumped into the one and only Baba Mlambo, who, slowly but surely is warming up to the gospel. We were able to greet him and talk soccer for a brief moment before he told us how grateful he was that we had even able to help out his wife that morning. That really touched my heart. Shoutout to the Spirit for always taking charge!
Thursday was a cool experience. Got to do my first baptismal interview, with six more on the way next week. Yoh... There's a scripture in Moroni 6 that puts forth what you have do to be baptized, and among the broken hearts and contrite spirits, you must witness before the church that you've repented of your sins, and that's kinda the purpose for the baptismal interview. It's just you, the candidate, and the Holy Ghost in there. It's enough to make you a little nervous as the interviewer, but hey, if you're listening to the Spirit, nothing can go wrong. Man, but luckily Mxolisi is power and passed the inteview with flying colors.
Hmmm... What else has been happening this week... We've got some power people we're teaching. Some have a few stumbling blocks to get over before they make it to baptism, but hey... As long as the desire's there, there's nothing Satan can do to stop the work of salvation. We have one family, the Shanges, that we've been working with for a month or so. They stay about 20 kilometers from the chapel, and they were all able to make it to church this week! It's actually a super cool story. One Sunday after church, Elder Marumo and I had split with Gbenga and Lungani doing some contacting, and Elder Marumo and Gbenga found this family super prepared for the gospel. They've loved having us over ever since, and it's such a blessing seeing them finally be able to act on the message.
Sunday night was transfer dinner, which is always a good experience. A few see ya laters, but many more good times ahead. Elder Marumo and I helped the Herringtons prepare Hawaiian chicken and fried rice for the whole zone, and boy, what a treat it was. Sister Herrington taught me how to make cole slaw with pineapple in it, so uh... Family, you've got that to look forward to next year. The departing elders shared their testimonies and we had desert afterwards. Ah... So great to hear so many people that love the Lord and love the work they're called to.
A couple funny stories before I finish...
So there's a less-active family in a neighborhood called Paradise (you'll see the irony of the name shortly), and they have (well...had) a big tree outside their house that a lot of the neighborhood hooligans come drink and smoke under. Last Sunday, there was somewhat of a windstorm in Newcastle, and it knocked the 40 year old tree down. Shame... Elder Marumo and I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. #RIPBigTree
Slowly, we're losing our testimonies of Al Habib. Sigh... They're under new ownership and it just isn't the same. We have a feeling we were converted to the workers and not the establishment. But I guess not completely. As much as we miss the old guys and aren't completely satisfied with the new guys, we keep going back because where else are we gonna go to get cheap tikka and biryani? But we did find this new place called Porto's that I guess Newcastle is famous for. It's a fish and chips place, and the chips they make are the bomb. They put peri peri on them and yoh... They're to die for. It's not tikka, but hey... It's something.
Gregory told me about a saloon you can go to that does facial shaves for 10 rand, or one dollar. So I'm giving that a try today before we hit up Vulintaba with Brother Classen again. The church is still true, the Book of Mormon's still blue, and the work is still as good as ever. More good times ahead.
Sala kahle, stay positive, and love your lives my friends.
Much love,
Umdala Johnson
Monday, June 16, 2014
Shared 6/16/14 - Newcastle South Africa
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
Sanbonani!
Thursday...ah, what a beautiful day. Elder Kambuzuma and I were on exchanges, and as we awoke that morning, we stepped outside in preparation for a morning jog and took a deep breath of that cold, brisk winter air. It had a feel to it that my lungs hadn't felt since the last time I was at a ski resort, and oh, how I missed it. You wouldn't expect to see frost on the ground in Africa, but I testify to you my brothers and sisters, as sure as the Zulus like their pap and wors, there was frost on the grass as far as the eye could see. I feel like a wimp because it's been 40s and 50s here during the day and I've been complaining, but looking back a year ago to my time in Logan, we were rejoicing and wearing shorts when it finally hit 40. Eish...
But that's ok. Because no matter what the weather, the work moves forward!
Thursday...ah, what a beautiful day. Elder Kambuzuma and I were on exchanges, and as we awoke that morning, we stepped outside in preparation for a morning jog and took a deep breath of that cold, brisk winter air. It had a feel to it that my lungs hadn't felt since the last time I was at a ski resort, and oh, how I missed it. You wouldn't expect to see frost on the ground in Africa, but I testify to you my brothers and sisters, as sure as the Zulus like their pap and wors, there was frost on the grass as far as the eye could see. I feel like a wimp because it's been 40s and 50s here during the day and I've been complaining, but looking back a year ago to my time in Logan, we were rejoicing and wearing shorts when it finally hit 40. Eish...
But that's ok. Because no matter what the weather, the work moves forward!
What an exciting week. We started off with Elder Willombe's birthday on Tuesday, and something you have to know about Elder Willombe is that he absolutely loves potatoes. For breakfast every morning, we find him heating up some oil to make chips (um...fries for you Americans). For lunch, same thing. So Elder Esplin and I decided we should probably make him a birthday cake made entirely out of potatoes. Now, the day before when we were buying all the supplies, Checkers didn't have a "1" candle, so we had to make do with a "9" and "0," because ninety sounds close to nineteen, right? Anyway, we got up at 5:30 and went to work to have it ready for Elder Willombe's 6:30 wake up call. We sang, he loved it, and even paid us one of the best compliments I've ever had. "Wow! These chips are incredible! They're even better than any ones I've ever made!" And with that, we started the week.
I think I mentioned it last week, but we're working on a finding idea that will cater to a huge need in South Africa -- jobs. As I was talking to Elder Herrington this past Sunday, we were discussing how there are indeed jobs out there, but one reason we feel people aren't able to find them is due to the expectation that you little will be required of you. So, what does Christ tell his disciples he's going to do? In Matthew 4:18, He tells Peter and Andrew, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." He recognizes that they aren't all that they can be...yet. But, through the gospel, he turns them into fishers of men. If the gospel was able to do that with Peter, Andrew, and the rest of Christ's disciples, why can't it work for the citizens of Newcastle? Elders Esplin and Willombe tried the approach street contacting this week, and in Elder Esplin's own words, "It was so succesful that every single person we talked to was interested. One man actually asked us for contact details and an appointment." When does that even happen?! They quickly realized they needed to come up with a lesson plan though, so that's what we'll be working on as a district this week. I told President Zackrison about it in our interview this week, and he called the idea "dynamite," so it's got the Big Z Seal of Approval! He just warned us to be careful not to promise prosperity without work. I mean, come on... Faith without works is dead anyway.
As far as working with out current investigators, things are moving forward wonderfully! For a couple of them, we hit some minor setbacks, but hey... We've been working with a part member family called the Mlambos for a while, and two of the kids committed to baptism this week! Hurrah for Israel! And just as miraculous, their baba, who at first was hostile towards the church, is warming up! We had our fireside this weekend (which you'll hear more about shortly), and we stopped by their place Saturday afternoon reminding them of it, and the ma who's a member was feeling under the weather wasn't going to be able to make it with the kids, but baba offered to drive them! Elder Marumo and I ended up with huge smiles on our faces. The Spirit works, my friends.
As far as working with out current investigators, things are moving forward wonderfully! For a couple of them, we hit some minor setbacks, but hey... We've been working with a part member family called the Mlambos for a while, and two of the kids committed to baptism this week! Hurrah for Israel! And just as miraculous, their baba, who at first was hostile towards the church, is warming up! We had our fireside this weekend (which you'll hear more about shortly), and we stopped by their place Saturday afternoon reminding them of it, and the ma who's a member was feeling under the weather wasn't going to be able to make it with the kids, but baba offered to drive them! Elder Marumo and I ended up with huge smiles on our faces. The Spirit works, my friends.
So the GPS elders slept over again this week, which is pretty sweet because they keep updating us on everything that's going on in Swaziland. Ok, I guess I should probably explain the GPS elders thing real quick... So! It's a big project that started about a year ago, and it's Elder Turner's brilliant mind that's done it. In Lesotho and Swaziland, there are no addresses, which makes it really difficult for missionaries to find where members stay. So, Elder Turner recognized a problem and came up with a solution. He had worked with GPS systems at home, so for the past year, he's been working with different companions and members to put GPS coordinates of all the members, active and less-active, into a system that will be available to all the missionaries. They've been working in Lesotho, but just recently finished up there and started the program in Swazi. The whole thing is super cool, and has led to reactivation up the wazoo and a few branch creations in Lesotho. Anyway, so anytime they come to ZA they stay with us and tell us everything that's going on. There are sisters serving in Swazi now, they're finding families like crazy, and their mission president is some Brazilian guy that pronounces the "o" in "focus" like the "o" in "stop," so it sounds really funny. But yeah, they were here for interviews since they technically still fall under Big Z's jurisdiction. Moving the project over to another mission president would have been super wacked or something.
Ah man, one of the awesome things you'll learn about President Zackrison is that he can schedule your interviews for a half hour, but they'll really be closer to an hour. Ours this Friday were scheduled for 3:30 and 4, but I quickly told Elder Marumo, "No they won't be." Was I right? Oh, I sure was! But that's ok, because interviews with President are the bomb. Elder Childs and I were talking about this earlier this week. You'll have different types of coaches in high school. On one extreme, you'll have the coaches that just yell and scream all the time, and they're not very effective. On the other side, you'll have coaches that are just pushovers and let you walk all over them. The most effective is somewhere in between, someone who will be your friend and help you to be the best athlete you can be because that's what he inspires in you. That's how President Zackrison is. His interviews don't even feel like interviews. They feel like a conversation between two friends. Anyway, so Elder Marumo's ended up being around 5, and he ran out of time for mine Friday night and it ended up happening Saturday morning. Go figure.
Man, the whole weekend ended up being a rejuvenating spiritual experience. It gave me a strong testimony of what just a small act of love can do, something as small as popping by and saying hi. The Zackrisons wanted to be a part of one of the Herringtons' famous Family Home Evenings, so they held that Friday night (the topic was music -- one of my favorites), we had the fireside Saturday night, and then branch conference on Sunday. Each event was absolutely fantastic. Our usual FHE crew had a blast Friday night. Melba was disappointed when she learned that the fireside wouldn't include an actual fire. Shame... She had already bought marshmallows and everything, so we ended up roasting them as the treat for FHE instead. The fireside was a massive success though. Transports had been organized from oSizweni and Madadeni, and we had far more people than we anticipated. The Zackrisons gave a great presentation about the spirituality of missionary work, Sister Jean and Melba bore great testimonies about member missionary work, and Brother Gbenga, Brother Ayanda, Elder Marumo, and I did a skit about member missionary work that everyone seemed to get a kick out of. Branch conference kicked butt too. And I think the greatest success out of all of this was that the Arends family came to all three of these!!! All because we popped by Wednesday night, said hi, and invited them. Sister Arends told us afterwards that she was trying to decide whether or not to go out of town this weekend, and was super glad she made the decision to stay and come with the kids. She said the messages she heard inspired her to make some changes in her life, which, hey... Isn't that what the gospel's for?! Her and her kids are fantastic, and it's moments like those where I feel like we're doing some good in the world.
We got transfers coming up this week, and eish... Whenever you're not in the middle of training you have no idea what can end up happening. President said nothing about it in our interview either. Fingers crossed I stay in Newcastle one more transfer, but if the Lord needs me somewhere else, I'll go where He wants me to go. The work must be hastened the whole world wide!
Stay positive and love your lives my friends.
Sala kahle and much love,
Umdala Johnson
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