Mission home, boarding, and South Africa's Bafana Bafana vs Sudan in soccer!

Cooking at the President's home...

 Some ping pong

My boarding….

South Africa's Bafana Bafana playing Sudan at the Moses Mabhida Stadium

First game since South Africa's keeper and captain Senzo Meyiwa passed away a couple weeks ago.  The whole team played for him.

 Love the atmosphere at African soccer games.  Walking into the stadium, you hear the steady hum of the vuvuzela.  And the roar of the crowd for 90 minutes while the players play their li'l hearts.  Bafana Bafana ended up winning 2-1! What up!

 Great seats!

 Selfie!

 Playing the vuvuzela!

Shosholoza. Kulezo ntaba. Stimela siphume South Africa.

Sanbonani!

P-day for who?! We're just emailing today then jumping right back into the work! Work work work... There is no satisfactory substitute! Ok but the catch is we actually did have our p-day already... We sacrificed our Monday to go to the Bafana Bafana vs. Sudan game at Moses Mabhida on Saturday. Which ended up being really neat. South Africa's goal keeper and captain Senzo Meyiwa passed away a couple weeks ago, and this was the first time they played since then. So the whole team was playing for Senzo, and there was tons of national unity and stuff. Man... It's a cool atmosphere at African soccer games. Walking into the stadium, you hear the steady hum of the vuvuzela... Kinda the plastic version of what the angel Moroni is blowing at the top of all the temples. It's just that, and the roar of the crowd for 90 minutes while the players play their li'l hearts. Bafana Bafana ended up winning 2-1! What up!

But don't worry... We're still workin' hard to teach all nations and baptize them!

We had interviews with Big Z this week, which are always a treat. There's something about President Zackrison's interviews... You just walk out of them feeling happy, uplifted, upbeat, and ready to take on the Work of Salvation! Oh, plus... I taught him how to click. So I can check that off the bucket list. Teach the mission president how to click like a Zulu. One of the things we talked about was excellence in missionary work. He was telling me that when you get a group of 150 young men who, for the most part, are converted to the Lord's gospel together, send them out across two South African provinces and Lesotho, and commission them to preach the gospel, no matter what the mission president does or teaches, about 80% of the work is going to get done, which is significant. But what we need to strive for as a mission is to achieve excellence -- the top 20%. And that's where it gets tough. That's where you talk to everyone, and the majority of them shut you down. It's where you work and work and work and it sometimes seems like it bears no fruit. But, you keep on pushing... Because you know in those efforts, there's someone out there that needs to be blessed by your going that extra mile. And as zone leaders, that's what we need to be examples of. Man... Kind of a lot riding on your shoulders, hey?

So we're going to apply that as best we can!

Had some great teaching opportunities this week.

Njabulo and Pamela are doing great as ever. We had a lesson with them this week and tried to invite them to baptism, but the question kind of flew like an aeroplane over Njabula's head. We were reading the Book of Mormon introduction with them, and at the end asked, "If you come to find out that these things are true, will you be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" Pamela nodded, but Njabulo was just staring at the book, and finally asked, "So the Bible starts with Genesis, and the Book of Mormon starts with Nephi?" Elder Okeng and I just kinda looked at each other, laughed, and then carried on teaching. Haha... We'll get 'em next time! We visited them after church on Sunday since they hadn't made it, and found out their new baby had a little bit of a sickness, so we read a little bit about the Atonement from the Book of Mormon with them, and man... They loved it! The Atonement... The deepest doctrine you can ever learn.

We're teaching a sister named Penny right now. I think I mentioned her last week... She worked in America for a little while. Anyway, it's cool teaching someone about the Fall and then having them just LIGHT up with understanding! So she's power. She told us she was going to go teach her mom about it right then. Not even baptized yet and she's already doing missionary work. What more could you ask for?

Let's see... So this was cool. After the game on Saturday we wanted something to eat, so we were gonna hit up the House of Curries in Durban (because it's been like 4 weeks since I've had Indian Food and I was...well, still am...craving it!!!). Buuuuut when we got there, we realized that at 6:00 on a Saturday night, it looks and sounds much more like a bar... Eating, drinking, being merry... All that stuff. We figured it would probably be a bad idea for a bunch of guys bearing the name of Christ to be amongst all the ruckus, so we went to Nando's instead. But! That ended up being a huge blessing! As we were walking there, a mlungu lady at another restaurant flagged us down and told us she had been telling her friends about us. Turns out she's a member in the Berea ward, and right at that time had been teaching this mlungu couple about the Church. So she asked us for a Book of Mormon and taught them a whole lesson right there. I mean, granted, we didn't do much more than give her the book and add our own testimonies... But hey, talk about being in the right place at the right time! It's amazing what difference members can make in the Work of Salvation! Hoorah for Israel!

What's on the schedule this week... Elder Okeng and I are instructing the zone on Wednesday, we'll be exchanging with the Margate elders right after (don't worry Pop Pop... I'll send pictures!), exchanges with the assistants on Friday, and stake conference this weekend... Meaning I'll get to see the Stanger crew! Busy, busy. But busy is good.

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

Much love,

Umdala Johnson

PS... So our Monday ended up being super hectic. The internet died at the Chatsworth chapel before we could finish, so I typed this up there and saved it on a flash drive. So we went and picked up the other elders and dropped them in the area with the intentions to finish up at the BB chapel. But we forgot the keys... And didn't have the Ks to drive back to the boarding to fetch them. But that's ok! We can borrow them from someone else in the ward! So we did that, only to find out when we got to the church that they were the wrong keys. But that's ok! There's an email shop in Umlazi we can go to. So we get there, and found out their internet isn't working. But that's ok, there's another email shop just around the corner. So we go there, and their internet's down too. But that's ok! Because we think there's an email shop in Isipingo by the other guys' boarding! So we call Elder Hansen and find out that one's super sketchy and expensive... But that's ok, because he told us there's another one the missionaries use in Bluff, just a ten minute drive from the place. So we hop in the car, drive there, only to find out they had just closed. But that's ok, because the worker recognized we were distressed and offered to stay an extra 20 minutes for us. But then, the internet there was just as dead as the other shops. And by this time, it was far past time to be in the area, so we had to tap out. Three hours and a bunch of email shops later, and we hadn't been able to find a single place with internet access... And so! That's the reason this is coming on Tuesday. Don't worry, all is well. :)

Shared 11/10/14 - Soccer fun and food

The Carliles!

Played soccer and scored a goal!

All these people walking around...They don't even know what they're doing here!

Sharp sharp madoda!

Ok first off, the spacebar on this key board is terrible... I promise I know how to spell words and stuff but at this point I'm sick of trying to press it really hard for every word. So just try and decipher what I'm trying to say. I know it might be hard, but I promise that as you do so, and you move forward in faith, you will find within my email depth, purpose, and meaning. Even so. Amen.

Ah man, great week in Umlazi! Elder Okeng loves deep doctrine and he studies it like a mad man. The gospel should lead you to have the desire to share it with everyone, so we'll be driving around and he'll look at the streets and say something like, "These guys don't even know..." Or try and guess what's in people's minds. Looking at a young, flirtatious couple: "Law of chastity for who? For those other guys maybe, but not for us!" Ah man, if only everyone knew all the doctrine... Shouldn't they send something like 88,000 people amongst the whole world to tell them? Seems like a good idea...

Well let's see. We played soccer last Monday for the first time in ages, and uh...not to brag or anything but scored a goal on a bunch of Africans who have been playing soccer their whole lives, and I have two left feet! Now maybe they were going easy, but hey... Everyone needs a little ego booster every once in a while, right? P-days on the coast are nice because every once in a while you get to bump into someone you haven't seen in ages. I saw Elder Brimhall last week, and man... It's been too long! He's one of my favorite guys. He's like 6' 7", and I always forget how tall that is untilI see him. He's in my MTC group, and he's one of those guys that every missionary should try and be like. Testimony big as all outdoors, loves everyone, always happy, hardworker... He's the man.

Finally tried the celebrity finding approach this week! We've had the sheet with pictures of Brandon Flowers and Dan Reynolds and stuff forever, but only first tried it this week. The crazy thing was... Ok, so last Sunday, Elder Rowley and Elder Paige did some tracting in our area while we were waiting for our Sunday lunch appointment, and that's what they were using... And coincidentally, the first time we tried it, the guy was like, "Yeah some other guys were showing me this last week! They gave me a pamphlet and told me some other missionaries were gonna come visit..." Those other missionaries were us! Fate? Destiny? Being led by the Spirit? Take your pick! His name is Sphamandla and we had a lesson with him the next day! We taught him the Restoration and man... It's hard to find someone who understands it as well as he did! He has a friend that's a returned missionary,and at the end he decided he needed to pray and find out if this is true! He was asking about his Zulu traditions and how they fit in with the gospel... Zulu traditions include sacrifices in the same likeness as the Law of Moses. It's a tough issue that comes up pretty frequently in the township. The answer is that the Lord asks us to give things up that aren't in line with gospel standards, but to preserve the positive cultural traditions. It's a challenge for many people, but hey... This gospel sure wasn't meant to be easy. All that's promised us is that it will be worth it.

Njabulo and Pamela were at church again!  Ah man, they're just fantastic. You look at them and you just think MORMON! Big Z's coming teaching with us after our interviews on Tuesday, and we're planning on committing them to baptism with him!

We're teaching a sister named Nokubonga...but sometimes introduces herself as Penny...but no matter what her name is she worked in America for a while! And her daughter was born there! So at least wehave that in common! I think Elder Okeng and Elder Lewis found her last transfer, and apparently sister missionaries had given her a Book of Mormon back in the states, but never followed up with her... (Slackers!) So we taught her the Restoration this week, and at the end of the lesson, we asked her how she felt about it, and all she said was, "I think I need to pray. I need to find out if this is true." Sound familiar? Man, the Lord is preparing people, baba!

Let's see.... Oh! MLC happened this week! Man, I just love President Zackrison. I've never met anyone as spiritual as him. He always gives us such profound insights from his personal scripture study. Like this week… He was talking about a verse from 1 Nephi 11 where Nephi is being shown a vision of things to come, and there's one verse (I don't remember which number...) that speaks of angels ministering to the earth, and he posed the question, "What if we're some of those angels?" Pretty deep stuff. Him and the assistants are power. We learned alot about goal setting, leadership, humility, and what we're asked to do to elevate the work. Feeling pumped. Man... Missionary work is fun sometimes. Well, really all the time if you make it fun!

So a couple funny stories... Saturday we were supposed to do some service in the morning, so we took our shirts and ties to the area to change there. And well... I forgot a tie. We couldn't really drive 30ks back to the boarding just for a tie sooo... I fashioned a garbage bag into a tie! #YOLO swaggin! Only a few people noticed... But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

We were walking to an appointment one day, and a man named Hendrick came up to us and told us to bless him or read him a verse or something. So, we read him Ether 12:4 and scored a new investigator out of it! Unplanned teaching opportunities bru… They're the best!

Lots of good stuff to look forward to this week! Interviews... Brother Mthembu gave the go ahead to ask BigZ if we can do a fireside with him... Zone activity at the mission home today... And lots of people to be found that need the gospel in their lives! Hoo ah!

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

Much love,

Umdala Johnson

Shared 11/3/14 - More goodbye Stanger pictures

 Authentic Indian biryani with Benny and Nalin

 Coke Vanilla

No hablo isiZulu...

Sawubona!

Man, I realized like ten minutes after we finished emailing that I completely forgot to mention what were the truths and what was the lie... So our iron definitely did burst into flames, the salesman guy really did turn out to be humble and wanting the gospel, aaaaaaaand we still never managed to meet the township mlungu while sober! So his salvation is still temporarily on hold.

It's weird to be out of Stanger though... But! It couldn't have ended on a better note! We spent the rest of the day last Monday with Benny and Nalin, and I learned how to make authentic Indian biryani instead of just using the biryani kit you can buy at the store (don't worry, I'm buying the stuff to make an attempt at it today!). Our evening appointments were a family home evening with Sister Mpume and her son Samkelo we've been teaching, and then one last teaching appointment with Bright and Octavia. We were doing lesson 5 in PMG which is, amongst other things......missionary work! We read some scriptures from John and Matthew, and the Spirit was so strong... I sure am gonna miss those guys. And Stanger in general. So many good people there.

Umlazi... Umlazi is something else! So there's 12 of us (soon to be 14 in a couple weeks) serving in the two wards here! So whereas in Stanger, our area went for like an hour one way and an hour the other, our area in Umlazi covers just a few sections (townships are typically divided into sections...there's 26 in Umlazi from A to Z to BB...our chapel's in BB section and we cover AA, L, M, and K, but people keep telling us not to go to K if we want to live...) It's crazy. We don't have the resources of a town to work with, so creative ideas are a little harder to work with! It's gonna be a lot of tracting and street contacting. But we've got a couple good ideas cookin'... Stay tuned over the coming weeks to hear how those play out!

Elder Okeng is the man! He's from Uganda, and he actually used to be a Muslim! He says like 90% of Uganda is Muslim, but he joined the Church about 4 or 5 years back, and he's never looked back. He LOVES deep doctrine and was telling me the one time he went to the temple at the MTC was one of the best experiences of his life. I'm killing him, which is kinda mission lingo for he goes home next transfer and I'm his last companion! I think he's a little tired, but we're gonna work hard his last transfer. The Lord has some people here we need to find and teach and be advocates of joy for.

One of the names you hear a lot in KZN is Bishop Charles Magaqa (remember, the "q" is a click...). He does a Thursday night show in uKhozi FM, and he's been in the Durban stake presidency and a bishop and stuff, and he's actually currently the bishop of the Umlazi BB Ward! So we get to work with him a bit. Pretty lekker. Well... I guess I shouldn't be using Afrikaans lingo right now! It's ZULU LAND baba! Everyone speaks Zulu here and I think I'm gonna have to be a little more diligent in learning it... Like half of church on Sunday was in Zulu! So I didn't know what a lot of people were saying, but I could tell the Spirit was there. So there's always that.

We had a couple solid lessons this week... Elder Okeng and Lewis had met a couple last transfer called Njabulo and Pamela. They taught them once, and we saw them this week, and lo and behold, they came to church on Sunday! They're engaged, and the lesson in Gospel Principles just happened to be on eternal marriage! So that's pretty neat. I have a good feeling they'll get sealed one of these days.

We met a brother named Dumisani. He's a little older, and a little slower to understand, but he's as humble as they come. We taught him the Restoration (we had to take it pretty slowly), and he loved it. As we were talking about the priesthood and showing him a picture of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery being visited by Peter, James, and John, he asked us ever so humbly to lay our hands upon his head and bless him. Elder Okeng and I had never been asked that before... Haha so we had to explain to him what the deal is with the laying on of hands! He understood and was happy with us just praying with him for the time being.

I'm getting better at recognizing if a person is sober or not, but I'm not perfect yet... We were walking earlier this week, and I stopped this guy and was teaching him a little about the Book of Mormon. He seemed normal to me and was super smiley and happy, but part way through he stopped me and said he shouldn't be talking about Jesus stuff while he's drunk! Woops... So we promised him a visit when he's sober.

What's in store this week... MLC with Big Z, the assistants, and other zone leaders on Wednesday, working hard in the area this week, and next week que the exchanges with the rest of the zone... Looking forward to everything! Let the games begin!

Oh and apparently a Dominoes Pizza just opened up in Westville. This probably means nothing to you Americans, but fetch... I haven't had nice pizza like that in more than a year. So maybe we'll hit that up.

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

Much love,

Umdala Johnson