Marshawn Lynch?

well LeSueur Is leaving:( So today we said goodbye to all of his favorite members! we had dinner at Phindy's house and it was pretty emotional! Im really gonna miss this guy, he was a great trainer!

Wednesday

well I got My new companion and said goodbye to elder Lesueur:( Man this transfers gonna be tough:/ I feel like schraedel and I have nothing in common... LeSueur and I got along so great! we could talk for hours, teach like crazy, and HAVE FUN doing it! but this guy and I dont click like LeSueur and I did:/ 

But its still day one so I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow! keep me in your prayers, guys:)

love you, wish I was there!

Thursday

I swear I saw Marshawn Lynch at the groceries store today. Im not even kidding it looked JUST. LIKE. HIM.

We made EYE CONTACT. it was pretty darn exciting.... if it was him at least.. do you think Lynch would come to south africa? he was wearing a Rasta beanie hat and he had dreads and the same face and all soooo.... maybe monday Ill stalk him on twitter or something and see if hes posed about being in africa.

IM TICKED OFF THOUGH. i should have given him a pamphlet. we went tracting today with my new companion! he looovvveeeesssss tracting but when he gets to the door he never really talk to them? he kinda freezes and stares at them and doesn't blink... I think were gonna work on that while were together.. haha so today I did most of the talking.. when I was with elder Lesueur he was pretty intimidating so I was always nervous to talk to people haha.. i didn't wanna say something stupid and look like a dork! haha but with this guy it seems like it was a lot easier! so even after talking to alllll those people I froze at the most important point in my life.I froze when  I had the opportunity to talk to Marshaun Lynch or at least a guy that looks a lot like him! haha

sleep tight! love you! 

Friday!

well today was veryyyyy interesting. so we met a guy named Moshauniesoahjofwfoiw i dont know exactly what it was but he said we could call him Shaun.. and Shaun is a preacher, he doesn't belong to a church but he goes around and teaches the gospel. He invited us to attend his church Friday at 9:00am.. we said sure we dont have any plans why not? so we went... So friday morning comes along and were expecting to go to a small church, sit with the congregation, listen to the speaker for an hour, shake his hand invite him to church, go on about our day..... so we call and ask where to meat up and he tells us to go to the University in Kwamakhuta.... hmmm ok so they worship at the College cool thats normal here I guess.. well we see him in the parking lot and he took us to the cafeteria and showed us to our seats. He sat us Right Next to the pulpit looking out on the congregation which was FOUR HUNDRED UNIVERSITY STUDENTSand today was their Orientation day...... (MIND BLOWN!) so he tells everyone a story then point to the two of us and says "LISTEN EVERYBODY, THESE MEN HERE ARE MISSIONARIES FOR THEIR CHURCH. IF YOU SEE THEM TEACHING I WANT YOU TO GO TO THEM, TAKE THEM INTO YOUR HOMES, READ THEIR PAMPHLETS, AND LISTEN TO THEIR MESSAGE." 

SUPER COOL GUY RIGHT!!!!!

then i spoke to the FOUR HUNDRED COLLEGE FRESHMEN. I told them Im American, a missionary and our purpose, and that we teach about Jesus Christ! terrifying! scariest moment of my life. I didn't Talk long, Maybe 5 minutes! hahaha we were the only white people there too! Hahaha 

then after the service we gave out every. single. pass along card and pamphlet that I had in my bag. IM never gonna forget today. it was pretty awesome! hahaha I just wish we had a church in KwaMakutha because thats the main problem when teaching there:(

But Im loving mission so far! learning a lot and trying my best:)

Sunday 

well good news!!! My favorite Investigator Mary Jane Nkosi agreed to baptism!!!! Im super excited for her:) when we first met her she almost cried when I asked her how her week has been.. shes studying right now and shes really stressed out.. but we gave her a blessing, Invited her to church and now she Just CAN'T STOP SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!! It makes me really happy:)) so were hoping to do it on March 5th:) and I think well have two or three! maybe even a fourth! I'm super excited, Lesueur and I worked hard andits starting to pay off:) haha

this New guy, Elder Schraedel, is a lot different... we both see things a lot differently.. he LOVES to tract and I dont mind tracting but with this guy never speaks... hes super quiet and it gets pretty frustrating:/ I give him time to add something in to the lessons but he doesn't add much to the lesson, so I end up doing most of the teaching. So its exact opposite of elder LeSueur, But on the bright side Its getting wayyyyyyy easier to teach people and open my mouth to talk to people! haha so I guess you get each companion for a reason:) 

oh but one of our investigators past out in church!!!! The AC broke and it got sooooooooo hot! its the hottest month of the year so we really need the AC! She got a ride to the Reise's house and I think shes doing a lot better:)

But, man this girl asks GOOOOOOODDDDDD questions! so thats super scary! haha shes studying to be a doctor! shes been to church three times now:) shes super cool and super smart!:) 

well that was my week! I love you guys!!!!!!!`

The last week or two...

Monday January 30th, 2016, 10:33:17, sitting on my bed, 4th floor, Illovu beach complex, Amanzimtoti, South Africa, Africa, Earth

well today was awesomeeeee!!!!! Elder Eastmond and I met spent the night at the berrea elders boarding so we didnt have to wake up early and drive into durban for our Pday (we had permission from the A.P's). a few other Elders in our zone went to moses mabhida stadium to do the worlds Largest swing and it was the scariest thing In my life. just imagine standing on a metal platform nearly 300 feet above the ground, Thats the length of a football field below you. honestly for some reason jumping wasnt the scariest part? The scariest part was just moving my toes over the edge and looking down. That was hands down the scariest moment of my life. the swing that we did was 220 metres long (from the platform to when we finally stopped at the bottom) thats about 720 feet. IT WAS CRAZZZYYYY!!! and Elder Simonsin did a front flip. Well technically he didnt mean to but it still happened, AND IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE! I would totally go again:) but next time Im inviting our mission President! I think hed love it, cause I know I'd love to watch him go!!!:) hahaha

Oh so the people that went were Me, Eastmond, Simonson(red head), Baumgartner(bald guy), Huntington(wore the BYU shirt),Elder Thompson (blue shirt) and Elder Christensen (black Sharks Jersey... the sharks are my Rugby team)

Speaking of the sharks... Apparently Jean Louise is gonna take me and my next comp to a sharks game next transfer! Hes our ward Mission Leader and he really like me I think... Probably because he LOVESS Grim and I told them I live there:) oh and because Im just such a cool guy!  hahaha

Thursday

they checked our boardings today and we got to meet two new senior couples! elder and sister Drainsfield! they seem really cool, theyve only been out three weeks and theyre heading to lesotho! I hope thats my next area:) It snows there in the winter!!! (summer for you guys)

but Now our boarding is super clean so thats nice:))) well see how long it lasts though! hahaha

And then they brought out some mail from the car!!! the slifkas sent me AN ENTIRE BOX OF JUST MAC AND CHEESE!!!!!! I WAS SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!! AND EVERYONE WAS SUPER JEALOUS! HAHA so when everyone left I cooked up some delicious kraft mac and Cheese :) great day.

OH! and I used one of the boxs as a cover for my planner! its super cool:))))) thank you so muchhhh!!!

Friday

GUESS WHAT WE DID TODAY!!!!! we went on a ride along!!!!!! YEP! shauns mom is like commander or chief operator of communications at the police station! shes way up there! shes big people! haha but she took all four of us on a ride along in her cop car! she showed us all of isipingo... the good parts.. and the bad parts! we even caught some guys trying to dump a big old truck of garbage on the side of the road and we almost arrested them! it was SICK!! hahaha 

Saturday night (transfer news)

Well Im laying in bed waiting to hear who My next companion will be! Im terrified! theres still a bunch of people were unsure as to where their going.. Some really cool people that I hope I get.. and some that Im super nervous about getting!

Elder Lesueur is gonna go to Welkom (vel-kum) and Im really gonna miss that guy! welkom's really far away so I might not see Lesueur again:/

Eastmond is gonna go to Pine town which is out of our zone but Ill still see him at Zone Conferences if they combine them! so thats not too bad:)

And elder Vaugn Is coming to be elder Nielsens follow up trainer... so he'll stay in our apartment with us now... Lesueur said some stuff about him that didnt make me too excited to meet the guy... so fingers crossed I get a cool companion...

well crap... just found Out Im getting Elder Schraedel... lesueur says hes a robot. This next transfers gonna be tough:/ I guess Ill just make the most of it...

Vaughn, Nielsen, Schraedel, and Merritt...

Sunday

well today was interesting... Im actually really excited to meet elder schraedel! I heard hes a really good missionary so Im excited to get going with him! Toti has had some crazy missionaries in the past and the work Elder Lesueur and I have been doing has really been paying off:) weve had some one of the most productive weeks this mission has had in a long time:) so hearing that Toti is getting another missionary that is ready to work hard is really exciting:) 

Oh and today was fast and testimony meeting! this one little kid stood up and told this story 

"when my mom was in elementary school she was getting bullied.. one day she came home with a bruise from being hit by the big kids... that night she prayed that god would help get his revenge. And the next day the bully died." 

ALL OF THE  CONGREGATION GASPED!!!! it was hilarious!!!!!!

"so id like to bare my testimony that god does answer our prayers! AMEN.

but we had a good turn out at church:) 77 people and 8 investigators and a handful of less actives:) so all in all good day:)

oh lesueur told everyone it was his last sunday here so tomorrow and Tuesday we have lots of appointments! :))
monday-Wednesday!

well its been fun the past few days and weve been working our butts off! we have a few new referrals that look promising! haha 

Thursday

Today was a LONGG day. well we started the day by driving to Berea. All the missionaries in our zone did it for ZTM. during ZTM the Zone Leaders give a lesson and then we et to talk to everyone and hang out and make plans and play ping pong and stuff:) Speaking of Plans MONDAY IS GONNA BE AWESOME!!!!!! were going to go Into Durban as a Zone, do you remember the HUGE soccer stadium I showed you guys pictures of? Its where they played like the world cup a few years back? either way Its also, the WORLDS LARGEST SWING SET. and Im doing it on monday:) they said for a little bit its just a free fall and then the cables catch you:) IM realllyyy excited:) after we do the swing hopefully we are gonna go to the church and play basketball as a zone. Its the only church in our mission with an indoor basketball court:)

after ZTM we took a short drive down to a market because Lesueur said they sold Dr. Pepper! its one of the only places in our mission that offers it:) so of course i had to get a can or two.. but then i saw something beautiful. in the corner of my eye I saw candy from an angel, In a small red back, hand sculpted by the Gods, created so perfectly that Jesus Christ Himself sheds a Tear. Covered in a think candy shell I saw Peanut Butter M&Ms:) today was a great day

after that we went and taught a lesson to two of the Investigators that came to church, Syabonga and xolani. they've been to church a few times growing up with very inactive parents... They're 23 and 19 years old.. we talked with them for a little over an hour and we told them about mission, the gospel, and our main lesson was on the restoration of the gospel (Joseph smith and the B.of.M) It was very productive and i felt the spirit Super Strong! Im never going to forget what happened at the end of our lesson... I asked them to "promise me that tonight before the go to bed to pray to know if what weve taught them is true.... and if you receive a yes if you two will be baptized by someone holding that priesthood authority of god? were going to be holding a baptismal service The second week of March?"

Before i even Finished Syabonga jumped me and said yes. But he asked me my Favorite question... why do i have to wait that long? so we moved him up to the last week in Feb:) it was awesome:))))) xolani was a little more hesitant, he said he has some stuff he needs to work through before then, but I know that hes going to be ready by march.. I can just kind feel it and I know Syabonga will help him as well:)

these guys are both super nice and funny guys to teach:) If Everything goes to plan we should have 4 Baptisms before I leave Toti.. Im Loving Mission right now:) 

Then we went to Jean Loise or ward Mission Leader and we went over all the stuff weve been up to, all the people weve been teaching, etc. His job is to make sure were doing stuff, and how we can improve all our teaching as a whole and for each individual person. and my favorite thing to hear is "Toti's on fire". On January 1st him and I completely started over, we prayed and fasted about it because we were just wasting time on investigators that would just lie straight to our faces, wouldnt keep commitments and never came to church; One Month later, "Toti's On Fire"As Jean Louise said.  Im really excited for the future of this ward all lot of stuff is going on and Im really starting to love it. Elder Lesueur and I are getting into good rythm and were just now seeing our results. Honestly im going to be really sad if he gets transferred because he wont be here to see these people in their whites. sometimes when you train you will also Follow up train which means theyrs a chance i could get him for another 6 weeks and we could finish what weve started together:) we get transfer news Next week. and hell Most likely be gone next wednesday. :(

OH AND I HAVE AWESOME NEWS!!!! The Reise's, who are as super strict family and have been known to be really mean to missionaries in the past, Love us. Steven said that next monday if we come early in the morning we can watch the super bowl after its recorded!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOP WOOP!!

Friday

Well Im gonna get a hair cut today. 

it doesnt look too bad:)

great week:)

World's Largest Swing

Mitchell Thomas at Bigrush

Holy cow!! This is the video link to see Mitch take off of the World's biggest swing!