My South African Boy

Monday january 8th, 2018

Cheetau. We got to see some Tigers today, I raced two black panthers (AND I WON), watched a huge White Lion  charge the fence, and I played with a pack of white lion cubs:) cutest things ever! haha Good day:) 

 

Tuesday January 9th, 2018

Well Lucas Rafael left this morning for his new area, Madadeni 1, Lucky guy! Hes gonna be companions with Chicco... He's excited cause chicco speaks portugues I guess. 

I met Elder Futters new companion Elder HINNEN,.. He's a soft spoken awkwardly funny guy! haha In a good way of course. I like him! he's cool:) I am Excited to get to know the guy some more:)

Wednesday January 10th, 2018

Today was NIccceee... Elder Bennett made cookies! Which means, i get to eat some cookies! 

Thursday January 11th, 2018

Today was busy busy busy! We took Brother TK teaching with us and He has come a Long Way, Him and Katleho.. Lots of Improvement and Lots to look forward to in the upcoming weeks!

Taught a guy named thebiso; super nice guy. Bennett got a sesotho dictionary... Im still working on my zulu skills... You know, because Girls like guys with sick skills like nunchuck skills or Ninja hacking skills... Esspecially sick Zulu skills. And Im sick of Sesotho.. that stuff's too Complicated. haha

Friday January 12th

Saturday January 13th MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I just wanted to say that I have the best family and friends back home!! I got my packages with my christmas and birthday stuff in them:)) You guys are the best!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH! SIYABONGA KAKHULU! We spent the night shooting those sling shot things outside! IT was a lot of fun:) I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH:) But seriously.... thank you! HAPPY HAPPY DAY:)

 

Sunday January 14th

Church was nice.. we walked sister Lerato to and from church today:) She's such a kind lady! 

I was also asked to give another talk:) Topic: Baptism! Not too bad, pretty easy! It was quite fun in fact haha..... 

MONDAY

LIONS! it was so much fun, the Lions like Know me now! so I got to play with them some more and go in their den thing and all that fun stuff. We took Hinnen for his first time and he was SO scared! haha but he was fearless with the snakes, I couldnt do it, back home he had snakes. So we called him the snake master.. The people their got two new Boa constrictor snakes so hinnen held them and guess what happened. He was telling us all these facts about snakes when out of nowhere the dark brown one bit him on the bicep! haha The afrikaaner guy sent him to clean it up at his house while bennett and I stayed near the snakes and laughed about the whole situation! haha

The baby lion cub has gotten a lot bigger so he got a new enclosure thing. The guide said since he knows us we can still go in and play with him:) Super nice:))

TUESDAY

Eish we got bunked 8 times today. everyone was gone! so we checked up on some past investigators that were dropped... we certainly dropped them for a reason. But I love them all and I pray for them each night:)

we ended the night at president moeta's, we talked about the area and had a little FHE.. we played some scrabble. We ended up getting to the boarding at like 9:34 (Slow drivers in the rain) and Futter's freaking out cause were late. At least were alive and working! eish man, relax... turns out the clock on his phone was off and it said 9:39, but still.

WEDNESDAY

Well today was strange... Bennett and I taught a guy name Elias and I bore my testimony that we have a true living prophet whos name is Russel M. Nelson. Ive never said that before... haha

THURSDAY

today sister Karabelo passed her baptismal interview:))

Woop woop!!! good day:) she she should be baptised on either the 28th of january or the 11th od Feb:) I'm very excited for her:)

SATURDAY

well we did lots of stuff but we had some fun painting at sister Bale's house:) Her grandson was there so i painted his face and made him look like a true sotho, he also went around taking photos! haha Ill attatch photos for ya guys:) But she even gave us lunch:)) so that was nice:) 

SUNDAY

Today was awesome!!!!! We had two new investigators, that Ive never before taught, show up to church! It was awesome. One of them, his name is Flair, hes super tall and during gospel principles he was asking tons of questions, answering questions, and bearing testimony! he's such a nice guy, Im excited to teach him.

Also, Lerato(Girl) came to church and she brought a friend that is also interested in our message:)

I think We had such a good week at church because we worked really hard finding, staying busy, following up on people, etc. And because of that Heavenly fathers rewarding us.

Racing a black panther

I love getting to hear his voice! 

Happy New Year

Monday December 25th CHRISTMAS PARTY

We went to Bethlehem for christmas! It was a lot of fun:) Hoopes and I played Catch in the back yard, they had like a thousand dogs, Tons of food, and we played a bunch of games! It was at the Van derLeeks, Super nice family:)

before that Elder Bennett and I handed out 20 copies of the book of Mormon:) SUPER FUN!

Tuesday December 26th

Officially Arrived in africa 14 months ago:)

Wednesday December 27th

Bennett and I were looking for a spot to go tracting.. while we were driving a random guy was walking down the road with a rifle... I didn't think too much about it until he pointed it at the only two white people in Qwa Qwa... so we drove away.. 

Friday December 29th

Today we went to Bethlehem to fix our flat tyre... We also went to fix the Bluegumboch elders FLAT attitude. Yeah they're still arguing, so they went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders (and because hoopes is gone) And we took Elder Futter with us... so it was all 3 of for the day! We were back and forth between each others areas... but we ended up visiting brother Kiri at the end of the day. He's a police officer, and we wasn't shy to tell exactly what the crime is like in our area! some of the information he gave us was kinda cool, some was helpful, but most of it was just terrifying!

Sunday December 31st

Today was really nice:) People came to church! we had a good turn out, so that was nice! But man, Elder Lucas and Futter are still argueing so we got a phone call from the AP's and they said that Lucas is gonna be my companion for the next few days, and Bennett is with Futter.

and the fireworks were BEAUTIFUL! The people here didn't buy too man BIG ones, But everyone bought something... and I mean EVERYONE! the entire township was just covering the sky with fireworks! I have never seen so many! 

And next year, I'll be home....... Actually........

Monday January 1st, 2018

......... This year I am coming home:)

Today we went to the lion park one last time, gotta start the year off fresh!:) The lion cub was in a great mood mood so We wrestled! haha He's gotten a bit bigger:) it was awesome! I was talking to the lion guy and he was telling me where they buy all their lion and he said they bought one of them in a place called "Cheetau". Turns out its 10 minutes away from Bethlehem, so we went to check out that place and they have LIONS, BENGAL TIGERS, and BLACK LEOPARDS! We're gonna go there for my last P-day:)

After playing with the lions today we went and had a braai with Wilson, Isooba and Brown:) I'll try and send some pictures:)

Tuesday January 2nd, 2018

regular Day, not much to report... Lucas and I are working hard...:)

We saw an adult women take a pee in the parking lot of Akofang Elementary school..... I question what goes through some peoples minds before they do things?

Wednesday January 3rd, 2018

We Went to go teach the Royal Family again:) Nice guys! and we ate dinner at the mabulas! told them Lucas and I are probably going to leave and they were super sad... that means we're doing a good job I guess? If they're happy then I guess it would be a super awkward farewell? haha

Thursday January 4th, 2018

We Met with Lerato the girl today, with Elder Futter as well, She's doing awesome! We taught Word of Wisdom and she had some good questions! We asked if there is going to be anything that she might struggle with and she said is COW-COW okay.... I looked  at her and it got super quiet... I thinking what the heck is cow-cow? If its and Illegal drug... then no you can't do that.. turns out she was talking about Hot chocolate... Darn lady needs to quit speaking in tongues! but shes awesome:) and should be baptized early Feb:))

Friday January 5th, 2018

Today we visited with Brother Khoma (Translated the BofM to sesotho), He's such a funny guy:)) he signed my journal and all that fun stuff:))

Visited, Katleho, the Kiri family, and the other Kiri family, and We did some service this morning... And to top it all off Im killing everyone in chess right now!! I Destroyed Futter 3 times in a row, then Lucas 2 times, then I beat Bennett twice, and I just beat Lucas again! 

what do you call a game of chess when your camping? : In-tents (intense) ... I know, Im hilarious... haha just kidding.. Im going to bed.

Saturday (TRANSFER NEWS) January 6th, 2018

Well the votes are in... for the next six weeks Elder Merritt will be serving in a small town called Phuthaditjhaba. Meaning, no change... Not at all.. I get to follow up train Elder Bennett. So, yeah... Right now mixed feelings....... I wanted to go to KZN but now I get to stay and play with some more lions, go on some more hikes, and baptize some of these super cool people:) then again.... 6 weeks is a long time hahaha.. and I already said a bunch of goodbye, and some people gave me gifts and stuff... that'll be awkward... oops..

 

Sunday January 7th, 2018

Well church was nice:) people came, I taught in Elders Quorum again... read the story in Helaman 5! I think they liked it:)) 

After church we went to visit the uitelars and they gave us a ton of food!!!! It was delicious. They're such a nice family:)

Monday January 8th, 2018

Gonna go to Bethlehem for the afternoon today, see some panthers and tigers hopefully! I'll take tons of pictures for you guys:) haha 

December Emails

Monday December 4th, 2017

 today we went back to the Lion Park, but with Hoopes and the rest of the Bethlehem Elders. This time we got to pet the lions Mane and its face and all that fun stuff. we also got to play with the a female White Lion! super pretty! but the Huge Male one got pretty ticked off when i was Petting it... which was super scary. I ended up petting its face and it tried to bite my hand so I obviously pulled my hand back... then Its Eyes got super big and terrifying. He gave me the "Im about to eat you" look.. I dont know if you guys have ever sat two feet away from a full Grown Lion and looked deep Into Its Eyes as it looks back at you Like youre dinner... Because I have, so I stood up slowly to walk away.. that was a bad Idea... that made it stand up too and we all nearly died. Luckily I am now officially a qualified Lion Fighter... I did exactly what I thought I'd do in that situation, I froze and stood there as it circled me. It was so cool! but I don't think I'm gonna go back any time soon.... at Least until after I Christmas and my birthday:) 

Tuesday December 5th

Today was really nice:) the best part was when we went to Leratos house and he brought a bunch of his friends; Andries and a guy named Dork... he refused to tell us his real name.. oh well.. they're cool:) We had an interesting discussion about all types of random stuff... either way they said they'll come to church! and were gonna see them on Thursday (Bennett and Futter will, I will Be in Bluegumbosh with Lucas)

Wednesday December 6th

Today we went to Bethlehem and had a nice meeting about the Christmas Party.. President gave like a billion goals and challenges for us to attempt... but we got to Plan our christmas party and we decided to do a secret Santa thing.. everyone drew a name of a missionary and they have to buy them a gift (30R) and bring it next week for the party..... guess who I got... fricken MISSION PRESIDENT! What the Heck Am I gonna get this guy????

After the meeting we went as a Zone to get Lunch and we found a CHINESE RESTAURANT! I havent had Chinese food in Forever!!! It was awesome! but it took the guy TWO HOURS to bring us our food! then another hour to eat it! Then our whole day was gone! But Im not complaining, it was Delicious! On the way home we stopped in a small town called Cestel and we found a little store that Sold ROOT BEER and DOCTOR PEPPER!!!!! It was a good day! 

When we got back to Qwa Qwa we were still able to teach sister Connie and her daughter.. she wanted to learn about Temples, it was a good discussion:) and we also saw sister mabula and her family and we had afun FHE:)

Thursday December 7th

we had a DDM, we taught sister Queen (SHES SO SMART, IT'S AWESOME), Visited Tia before she Leaves for the summer to Jo-burg (ill add Pictures for you guys), taught some other lessons, and finished the day at Lesegos house.. also, I wanted to beat up a guy in a goblin mask.... Luckily he ran away when I got out of the car... Its a long story, dont worry about it:) hahaha

Also, Elder Futter traded me for one of his cool Ties from Madagascar! so that was a highlight of my day:) hahaha

Friday December 8th Exchanges 

Today I was with Elder Lucas Rafael and we had an awesome day, got to bake Muffins and visit with Thabo before she leaves for Jo-burg as well.. (Pictures as well). Thabo is the girl we met at Basketball... She wants to get baptized Sooooo bad but her mom isn't letting her.. Darn Catholics. Keep her in your Prayers:) she was super nice so I let her sign my journal, so Lucas and I signed her journal as well!

we taught a bunch of other people, But I dont remember their names... Lucas is a funny guy! haha

Bennett and Futter were in PJ... they taught Lerato and his friends and they got them all on a solid B-date! 

Im tired but yeah, everything went well! Im excited for our area:)

Saturday December 9th 

Eish... today was a struggle. Not gonna lie.. We tried to work alllllll day...but nobody was helping us out! all our investigators are leaving for the Holidays and nobody tells us! So we ended up tracting for a few hours today:) we had some good Lessons though!

We taught Doctor and his family about the 10 Commandments and it was a lot of fun! we also helped him with his garden when we got there:)

I really hope these people come to church tomorrow:) Im excited for these people, they've changed a lot as we've visited them but They really need to start coming to church more consistently! haha

Sunday December 10th? I think?

Either way church was nice! sister Tummi came to church with her son for the first time, and Sister karabelo came with her niece as well... Relebohile was confirmed and is now officially the newest member of the true church! Elder Bennett was given the opportunity to confirm her and he nailed it!!:)) 

Monday December 11th

Today we met with Jenifer and we walked to setsing (The Saturday market) to look for stickers.... we didnt find any... so we walked allllllll the way to the other side of town to a little shop called Magestic signs, and he made us some cool stickers! I got a silver one in the shape of africa that says MERRITT. it looks pretty cool. I put it on the back of my Uke. Bennett got the same thing... except its colored like the south African Flag and it says BENNETT... I told him he should get one that says MERRITT but he wouldnt listen! 

I also had the guy make me a sticker for Mission President (For the Secret Santa thing) and he did.. it looked pretty cool, it was our mission logo with Africa and Moroni and all that... pretty nice! haha

Then we went to FHE and there was only 2 people there. EVERYONE IS LEAVING FOR THE HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!! But it's okay, I'm sure their all having fun:)

Tuesday December 12th

pretty typical day.. everyone is doing pretty good:) we taught Karabelo's mom today and she said she'll be coming to church so that'll be fun:)

Wednesday December 13th (CHRISTMAS PARTAAAYYY!)

the Christmas Party was a lot of fun! I hung out with Hoopes, Bennett, Lucus, wilson, gelbach, and well basically everyone else in our zone... it was different this year... Last year all of KZN Came together which is Multiple zones and we had a HUGE party! this one was smaller... but kinda nice:) We had a lesson from president, Played Christmas Mafia, had Lasagna for lunch, watched the End of the year slide show, and then we played chair SOCCER!

First of all the slide show was actually pretty good:) there was a lot of people in it from madagascar so it was cool to see who's new in our mission. President Thompson had a strong Desire to learn more about the Lion Park that we went to... So he might come with us next time? hahaha I'll try and send you guys the Slide show so you can see how everyones doing..

Chair Soccer was pretty fun too... but man, it was exhausting... Im so out of shape! hahaha

also president told us that last year our mission had 250 Baptisms!!!! which is pretty good... but this year we nearly hit 600!!!!!! which is... like... a lot better! so that was cool to hear:) everyones working a lot harder, and president is doing a great job leading us:)

on our way home we went through Clarens, got some Dr. pepper... then we saw a huge pack of like, 20 Baboons!! Those things are Pretty darn ugly.

Friday December 15th

Eish today I was with Elder Futter in PJ on exchanges and Every single appointment we had fell through. But we stayed positive and made it through the day. 

Saturday December 16th

just got done at Jenifer house. President challenged us to do a ton of service as we come closer to Christmas... so we helped her with the Garden... it looks niccceeee now! haha

Sunday December 17th

I totally forgot to write in my journal so ill do that now.... Sorry guys!

Eish.... rough week at church... But I gave a talk and it was pretty funny! haha it was about the light of christ:)

MONDAY DECEMBER 18th

Today was Elder Hoopes last real P-day, so he came and spent the night at our boarding last night.. Today we left bright and early to go hike Sentinel Peak again.... Sadly, it was super cold and Extremely Foggy! we got to the water fall and we met a guy at the top... apparently  Its one of the largest water falls in the world! (its the second highest, next to Angel falls in south America). Google it, its called Tugela falls! hahaha.... if it is, I totally Peed off of it! Im sure its super pretty, too bad it was so foggy... If it truly is that tall, that explains why we met so many people from Germany, and Belgium, and... ummm Jo-burg.. hahaha

Also we crossed the Boarder of Lesotho in our hike!!!  Now I can say that I've been there.... ILLEGALLY! Mwahahaha

To finish the day we did a combined FHE at Phuthaditjhaba with Bluegumboch and Pj and it was a lot of fun! we played 30 seconds and Elder Lucas gave the lesson:)

Also, Yesterday, Branch president taught the youth about dating... including our newest member Relebohile... president told them that they shouldn't date until she's 16... guess what she did right after church... she broke up with Katleho!! hahahahaha it was so funny! she's awesome! Katleho's cool with it! hahaha

TUESDAY DECEMBER 19th

Today was nice:)) We taught some good lessons and met some cool people... We met Lawrances daughter... apparently she had been going to  church in Bloemfontein so that was awesome! 

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 20th

We did service again today for Sis Jennifer... her roof started leaking again so that was a shame... We fixed it up for her and then went home to shower and go tracting.... However our water was out again, Like the 1000th time its been out, so we couldn't shower... so we called president Moeta and went weeded his garden and all that fun stuff! then we came home and the water was back on!! And we had a pretty darn good day after that:)

THURSDAY DECEMBER 21st

Today I went on exchanges in Bethlehem with Elder Wilson, He served his first 15 Months in Madagascar but now he's here because of the Plague! He's a cool guy! We taught some very... interesting people... and for lunch we went back to the Chinese food place with Brown and Isooba:) Elder Brown is pretty Darn funny!  

FRIDAY DECEMBER 22nd (MY  BIRTHDAY)

Blew up a chicken.... visited tons of people.. had a bunch of water thrown in my face because its a "South African Birthday tradition"....  So that was.... cold.. hahaha our land lord surprised us with a bunch of Meat so we had a birthday Braai with hoopes:)

We had cake and stuff at the kiris and they sang happy birthday and all that fun stuff:))

SAUTURDAY DECEMBER 23rd (MEGAN'S BIRTHDAY)

Well we had service this morning for sister Mohohlo and it was probably the easiest service ever! we mowed her lawn, WITH HER LAWN MOWER, Yes I repeat, She has a LAWN MOWER. We Didn't have to use Slashers this time!!!!

SUNDAY DECEMBER 24th 

Relelebohile gave a talk!! So it was the first time I got to here someone that I found, taught, and baptized, give a talk:)))) She did awesome! We helped her out this week:))

The boy who tamed lions

MONDAY November 27th, 2017

well I'm gonna start right off and say this was an Awesome day! I WAS ATTACKED BY A FULL GROWN HUGE baby LION!!!!!!! we found out theres a small animal park on our way to Bethlehem, and it could have contained lions... possibly. we did not have a lot of information going in to this... either way the senior couples invited us over for lunch with the other elders in Bethlehem so we decided to check out the little animal park on our way... because its Takau last P-day:)

We Arrived at the Animal Park, Known as "My Little Africa" and admission was 20R, cheaper than a two liter of coke. first thing he had us do was fill out a insurance forum... he said "If a lion Reaches through the gate and tears your arm off, its not my fault. You can take me to court, but you signed for this.. be smart.. now go inside and find a guy named Samson"

so we did as he said and found a guy named Samson and he took us to Lio. Lio is a cool guy... he's actually not a person he's a Lion cub and he was the most adorable thing in the world. he's 11 weeks old (Ill attach Photos). we played with Lio for for about 15 minutes then Samson took us to the Snake pit. Eish... I dont do snakes... so I mostly took Photos of the other guys:) but I did hold some for a bit, until i realized the orange snake had a 'Hissy' attitude. (Pun intended). then we went to our next activity... the big lions!

okay heres where it gets good. THE LION DEN. *Cue intense Music* 

we arrive to a nice safe area where we can view about 10-12 full grown Lions  from a distance:) it was nice. a ig gate with a viewing area. completely safe. then the man told us to go inside. So he turned off the electric fence and we all followed him. with every step I swear the lions got bigger and bigger and bigger! Prior to taking photos he gave us a powerful pep talk and training. He said "these are lions so If you run, if you scream... then you will die." and thats it. it was pretty straight forward and the scariest thing I have ever done. He threw a rock at one of the lions while it was sleeping, then he told us to come out and take a photo next to it. As Takau and I walked out it flinched just a bit and I'm gonna be honest I almost Peed my Pants. We had to walk passed what felt like 100 lions to get to the one that he threw a rock at and Takau was going to pose next to a different Lion and the guide stopped him and said... " don't sit next to that one, my friend, he will kill you". Takau turned to me and the fear that I saw in his eyes was... well looking back it was pretty funny. but either way we all took a photo next to the lion and it was pretty fun and TERRIFYING.

Im gonna be honest as I look back this Lion Park is terribly unsafe. First of all, the area where we posed with the Lions was also their Feeding Den, the guide did Not have a tazer or any way of defending us or himself (besides the contract we signed),lack of protection, lack of communication, lack of supervision, Zero back up plans (if it attacks you then you die), it was only TWENTY RAND ($1.25) ! I would not have have been surprised if Samson would have let us hold the black Mamba!!! it was AWESOME! #BLESSINGS

then we had lunch with half the Zone at the senior couples house! I showed hoopes the scratches that a lion gave me, and bragged hard core about the pictures we took:) 

Then we had Takau farewell FHE it was really nice:) Im glad Im staying! but I'm gonna miss Takau.

Tuesday November 28th, 2017

Well today I met elder Futter.... he's from Jo-burg. He's gonna teach me Malagasy and Afrikaans! haha He said the Missionaries in Madagascar should be going back in February if the Plague thing gets better:)

also so a few nights ago I had a weird dream? in it some guy was standing at the corner of the road a few houses from the Mofokengs and he was pointing to the house across the road... I figured it must be a sign! so we went to visit and one of the nicest ladies ever was home and she invited us in and let us teach her:) she has three sons and had lots of good questions for us and wants to learn more:) I thought I'd include her in this Email because I thought the dream was cool and it would be super awesome if she ends up being baptized!!

Friday DECEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!! 1st, 2017

today we had weekly planing... or should I say, WEAKLY Planing.. haha Just kidding.

then we went to see Lerato! We taught him about the Law of Chastity... at first you could tell that he was super disappointed but then he understood why it was important and the blessings that follow living it... I old Lucas about it and he said "well if he's disappointed... then it was a good lesson and he understands it."... That made me laugh! haha

We also went to teach Lesegos mom... and we helped a little in their shop... well we didn't plan to but she went outside to talk to a customer and a big ole grease fire started in the kitchen! it was scary but awesome! I felt Like a Firefighter.... Im glad I got the Fire safety Merit badge and I knew how to take care of a grease fire;) (Theres a reason they named Merit Badges after me! hahajk)

Saturday December 2nd, 2017

well talk about an answer to my prayers! last night I got a phone call and the Lesotho and Bloemfontien Zone Leaders got lost and their GPS accidentally took them to our boarding instead of Bethlehem so they called me and told me theyd spend the night! so last night was a Party! Lahue, Simiyile, Hicks and Legas spent the night with us. 

This morning was the best though... Elder Legas and I played catch in the back yard and it was so much fun! Lega's the guy that has the full ride to Play Quarterback for BYU next year! So it was pretty darn awesome! hahaha ! hope were companions!

But eish the rest of the day was tough... and it ended with us going tocheck on the font in between appointments only to find out the its completely NASTY! the guy that was tiling it did a... ok I don't want to be super negative, but I had higher expectations for this thing... Im tired and stressed. we ended up spending the last three hours of our day scrubbing gunk out of the font so we can have a baptism on Sunday! i hope all goes well.

Sunday December 3rd

well today went really well... we got to church and the electricity was out... not gonna lie I got super stressed out I thought we were gonna have to have church in the hallway... I  dont enjoy that, its not classy!! but we said a prayer and it turned back on:) BLESSINGS! But hey the baptism was super awesome! sure the water was pretty dirty... I could barely see my feet! but I guess its not really about the font or the lights! And everyone knew that! an we had a great time:) Brother Moshoeshoe and Sister Relebohile were so happy! and both their families came and supported them, and they bore their testimonies and they were perfect!

ALSO>>>>>>I heard Oregon Won Last week... soooo...

November Emails Continued

Monday November 13th, 2017

FHE At Bluegumboch! They brought treats.... so it was nice:)

Tuesday November 14th

Today we gave Elder Bennett and Lucas a Hair cut!!!!!!! Thats all Im gonna say about that! the Members have been very... surprised? hahaha

Wednesday November 15th

Well Today was Tough... but we brought T.K. With us again and he's getting really good at teaching! :) He's a nice guy and I hope he'll Decide to go on a mission! he'd do awesome:) 

Thursday November 16th

Eish!!! it is soooo cold!!!!! Last night was FREEZING and on the Mountains around us, theyre covered with snow!!! so it looks super pretty:)

Today i worked in PJ with Elder lucas-Rafael, he's a pretty cool guy! We had a lot of fun:) It was funny we found this drunk guy and he was asking for money and were like, Sorry man Im not giving you any money.. and he asked us our names and I told him I was Elder White and Lucas told him his name was elder black! Man the look on that guys face killed Me! hahahaha 

we tried to teach people today, but it was cold and raining and people didn't want to talk to us. However, we went for dinner to one of our members houses, Lesego, they own a tuck shop.. so we got dinner there and they needed help so we worked the tuck shop for a bit, making skhambanis! it was fun:) 

Quote of the day; (While working the tuck shop)

 "Lucas, Fetch the russians" Russians are sausages.. but when he heard it he was Like "Yeah, Fetch the russians, Fetch those guys, who needs 'em!"

Friday November 17th

We taught a lady named Queen about the book of mormon and I dont think I've had a more inteligent conversation than the one we had. we showed her the introduction page last time and she kept reading and had tons of questions about the three witnesses..... So thats what we talked about! it was really nice:) She just needs to come to church!!!

Saturday November 18th

We were supposed to teach Khayas sister, Bongiwe. However she said she was busy, she had to do her grandmothers hair..... so instead we said we were their to visit her brother Khaya so we went in to their living room and we taught Khaya and TK How to teach someone about the Book Of Mormon. (the Lesson we were supposed to teach Bongiwe) But we taught this lesson really loud so she could here it in the other room while she was doing her grandmothers hair. It was nice, bongiwe understood the lesson, Tk and Khaya now know how to teach the Mook of Mormon to someone.

Sunday November 19th

Well I'm gonna be honest this week was exhausting. Im so tired! I totally forgot to write in my journal so I'm sorry! Ill try to go back and add stuff we did this week...

today church was.... interesting.. the branch president found out last night that we, along with the rest of southeast Africa, have to watch a video thing.. it was like a mini conference thing? but it was nice..

We had three Investigators at church for the First time so they were surprised! And we coudnt have the baptismal service because the font has a crack in it and is leaking:/ So that was disappointing.. but It was nice seeing Lorato at church, and he brought his friend! after the conference Branch president said we can now go home..... so we pulled Lorato and his friend and our other investigators aside, and we taught them a quick lesson:) I felt bad, its not easy for some of these people to get to church, So I want it to be nice for them:)

After church we took TK and Khaya teaching with us and they Taught a girl named Precious about the book of Mormon. She's only 10 and her mom was baptized a few month ago:) Really nice family, were preparing her to be baptized!:) and TK and Khaya did a great job! hahaha

Monday November 20th

Today we went and taught a few people, Elder Takau and I played football in the Back yard, and had an FHE With the Youth. we Played a game called 30 seconds; we should not have done that... it got intense... 

Also, Elder Lucas got a chess set, and Weve been going crazy with that thing! It's pretty fun:)

Tuesday November 21st 

I FINISHED READING THE BOOK OF MORMON COVER TO COVER! And ya know what: The Church is True, the Book is Blue and Gods a Mormon.

I actually really enjoyed it:) It's a pretty darn good book! Like remember a few years ago when everyone went crazy reading like the hunger games? this book is like a Lot better! I encourage whoever actually reads these emails, to read the Book Of Mormon! And if you already have, READ IT AGAIN!

  

Wednesday November 22nd

Well today was pretty interesting...... TK and Khaya came to wash our car as our district gave a District Development meeting.. Elder Takau Gave his Final DDM and it was super good:) it was about setting goals and not only for our areas, but for ourselves... either way it was nice, then when we finished, TK and Khaya were still working on the car... so we decided we'd go grab them some food and we'd be back in 10-15 minutes.... well when we got back they had taken our car and drove it down the road... not too far maybe 200 meters.. Eish did they Learn their lesson. Bennett and I had to pull them aside and explain why that's a bad Idea..... then we had to call branch president and they had to apologize to him.. then I had to call mission president and explain to him what happened and ask him to give them a call and talk to them. I was so scared that president was gonna yell at me, but he was super cool and glad that I gave him a call instead of hiding it. so we actually had a nice time talking, he's a pretty funny guy! and I think what helped was that he asked about my book of Mormon reading so that boosted his spirit and we had a good ol' time! haha 

20 minutes later: I got a phone call again and guess who it was... go ahead guess... nope guess again... youre never gonna get it so I'll tell you.. it was Lesegos mom (the Tuck shop Family) and she FOUND MY WALLET under her couch while she was doing her spring cleaning! prayers are being answered! whew! THANK YOU! we had some time so we went to pick it up, and helped her finish up her cleaning around the house. 

also we had to clean the boarding hard core today. the Senior couples are coming over in the morning to check and see how we did! fingers crossed its better than last time! hahaha

GOOD DAY

Thursday November 23rd

Happy Thanksgiving! Today was nice! the boarding was "Perfect" they said. last time it was a struggle.. oops.. but today nobody wanted to feed us so we went to KFC, got a tub of chicken, did some shopping, and we had a nice thanksgiving feast! and we watched Joseph King of dreams.. (The Bible story of Joseph the one that is sold in to Egypt)

Friday November 24th

Today was very nice. we met with Lorato and talked with him about Priesthood blessings. and he ended up asking for one so he can have extra strength to quit smoking and drinking:) it was really nice to see his desire to Repent and to change and to become more like+closer to Our savior Jesus Christ:) 

 

Saturday November 25th

we got our transfer news today and I am going to stay in Qwa Qwa for at least six more weeks! and Elder Takau is gonna Be replaced by Elder Futter? never met him? he's from the Madagascar mission... so Now we get to hear what its like to have sister missionaries! LOL haha just kidding! 

oh but Elder Huntington is going to go to KWAMASHU! He's gonna love it there! and they're gonna love him:) He's a lucky guy! 

Sunday November 26th

Church was nice! Lorato and his friends came to church again(Found them because of Basketball) Clourina was Confirmed, and a few other investigators were able to make it... we've been teaching a family that lives near the church sister karabelo. she was the first person I ever met in Qwaqwa, but she has been very hesitant to leave her church. either way, She Came to church this week!!!!!!!! she was unable to stay for ALL of it but she had a good reason. Elder Bennett and I both had to give surprise talks during sacrament so we were unable to talk to her and answer her questions as church went on. therefore, we went to visit her and see what she thought of church, at this point we didn't know why she left, but like I said she had a good excuse. But we asked her how church went and she LOVED IT!!! we talked about how next week is going to be Fast and Testimony meeting and she bore her testimony at the end of the lesson and it really touched my heart. she said that as the missionaries have been coming to her house these last 12 weeks her family has never been happier and they've never been closer together wit heach other and with their heavenly father. It made me feel sooooo good:)) <3

and like I said elder Bennett and I got to church and like none of the members were there? all three of the people that were asked to talk were either NOT THERE or they weren't informed that they were to speak... so Elder Bennett and I were the two speakers and it was actually pretty good:) haha then we went to Gospel Principals class and our teacher didn't show up either, so I had to Give the Lesson there as well!! so we read Lehi's vision of the tree of Life and I got to draw pictures on the white board... I liked that part the best:)) haha

we found out Takau is leaving on Tuesday morning 4:00am so tomorrows his last day. He just did his packing and he gave me tons of stuff! I love that guy!

My Cheesey Boy!!