When Mitchell was a little boy we always referred to him as our little man. I am loving his emails and realizing each week how much he is growing and maturing. I am so happy to share his insights and adventures with others. Even though he will always be my little man, he is growing into such a fine man that my heart is just full of joy!
Monday Feb 5th, 2018
Today as you probably already know, we went to the lion park! All of the missionaries here said they’re sick of it and they’re scared they’re going to die, except Elder Fullmer. He hasn’t been yet. That was my only excuse that could get me to go! So we went and the other guys stayed in the tower and they took pictures and videos from a safe distance! I love the lion park so muchJ When I come back to S.A. Im Definitely going to stop by againJ
When we first started going it was terrifying and the Afrikaner guy that works their was a huge grouch.. turns out its cause he hates white people, but now were good friends! Haha that’s cause were one of his only customers this time of the year. No because weve become such great friends, he gives us super cool tours. Now he’s cracking jokes, telling us the ins and outs of raising lions, he said next time he might give me the opportunity to try and ride his ostrich. Sadly his ostrich isn’t tame so it’ll be quite difficult.
Today he even showed us his rabbits and Parrot’s. He turned to me and told me to sit next to his parrot, put out my finger and have him walk on to my hand. So I did as he directed and when I put out my finger the Parrot freaked out and tried to bite me, so I jumped back, turned to him and said What the heck!? Haha he laughed and said “Well the lions like you more than they like other people, I was wondering if my Sexist parrot would…”
“Your What?!?!” I Replied
“My sexist parrot, the damn thing hates other males..”
“why didn’t you tell me that before I sat next to him?”
“Ag, Man.. I didn’t think you’d actually do it if I showed you the risk! Hahaha sorry, nice try though.”
Great guy!
Oh he also let us play with all his other cat things.. like the Lynx (I have no idea how to spell that) and the cool spotted one that was in last week’s pictures!:)
_____ then we went home changed, emailed___
We were supposed to have FHE but there was some hard core rioting going on… it didn’t look pretty…
You know how these guys are; If the city turn off your power, what are you going to do? Im gonna burn Tires, destroy traffic lights, tear up the sidewalks, and throw glass bottles in the road.. and to put the cherry on top today they climbed up and destroyed a transformer, Now if they were going to even give them electricity THEY CANT! Guys it doesn’t work like that! IF you want your glass filled with milk, you don’t throw the glass on the ground and break it, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA PUT THE MILK IN!!!???? ugh… frustration.
Tuesday Feb 6th, 2018 – Protests in the streets
Well today Elder Hinnen and Futter left at roughly 9:45 to their area. They returned at roughly 9:51… that’s about all that was done… they drove to the main road that leads to both our areas and it is blocked with a barricade of burning tires, huge rocks, broken glass and lots of angry Africans. We informed the Zone leaders, then we received a phone call from the AP’s, then sister Thompson Basically telling us not to go outside or be seen by any other people… so today is going to consist of some area book updation, scripture study, and I don’t know… maybe Ill take a nap.. I wanted to go play catch outside but Elder Jantjies made fun of all of us for being white and he doesn’t want anyone to see us at all… So I’ll just study Zulu and the scriptures..
This kinda sucks, We had a busy day scheduled!
Wednesday Feb 7th, 2018
Anarchy! Today was very similar to the Purge… except it was mostly fires, broken glass, Hundred of road blocks all over the place, huge rocks in the road, garbage everywhere, and stores that were broken in to… we went to a few lessons but we called it off when it started to get dark… we’d be driving down a road and it would be perfectly fine, then a few minutes later we’d be on the same road and then theres a HUGE road block. These guys are crazy fast! We almost got stuck once, a guy threw a decently large tree in the road and was about to roll a second Boulder in the street so we sped up, drove over the tree and made it out safe! It was definitely a day I will remember. Just picture black Friday at Walmart, now make everything free and throw broken glass and fire in to the picture… that was my day. Super interesting…
We had some strange lessons, First we went to Lerato and a girl that was clearly on drugs came in, My guess is she was on Flacca! Either way, she was very strange, kept trying to bash and all that. She also gave me and Bennett sotho names. Mine was Khano (merit/Oath) and bennetts was Nnete(truth)…
We also were leaving another appointment and some guy come to us in the middle of the road and drops to his knees and asks us to heal him from his addiction to alcohol. We helped him up, went in to his house and taught him about the word of wisdom, then we gave him a blessing as wellJ Really nice guy, but he definitely needs to stop drinking!
We met with a guy named, Lefa. He’s super cool! We took branch President with us and we taught him the Restoration, it went wellJ He wore some very exciting clothes. He had red boat shoes, Super tight skinny jeans rolled up at his ankles so you could see his Pink blue and red polka dot socks, an army green Poncho that was clipped with a bow tie pin, and to top it all off, A ten gallon hat with colorful feathers hanging out the side like peter pan! He looked Dressed to Impress! And Personally I was impressed!
Afterwards, we drove around with President Moeta looking for bread. ALL of the shops are closed, too much Rioting. However we went to the bread factory and the y were giving away bread for only 10Rand, great deal! Haha
We also saw Mpho with TK and I made him sit next to her. It was hilarious. We were only there for a few minutes because we were late to another appointment, so we set up a time to come back and answered a few questions!
Thursday Feb 8th, 2018
Boarding checks and then appointments… it was pretty slow today, we didn’t want to test anything. We could have doe a media stand but I was like, Nah we probably shouldn’t today… turns out all the stores at Neladi mall were broken in to, Including a huge meat factory called meat masters. They took all their meat while they were rioting and had a braai… Right outside the store. I feel bad for whoever owns that placeL They also burned down all the buildings that sell electricity…. I Don’t know why they did that, clearly weren’t thinking, Because now the electricity is back but everyone running out and they cant buy more BECAUSE THEY BURNED DOWN ALL THE SHOPS THAT SELL IT!!!!! Eish. *face palm* get it together guys.
Today I leaned that they call metal barrel’s “Riot tubes”.
I also saw what rubber bullets do to human flesh… I’m glad Im not being shot at! And I now know how to escape tear gas… Wet rags!
Also, all schools have been canceled for the week.. what else….? Oh they used our churches parking lot to have an Anarchy meeting where the community voted on what shop they should destroy… they voted on the Mayor’s Brother’s shop.. I also saw my first helicopter in over 6 months, they did an overlook to see if everything’s calmed down, Which it has! Its way calmer now… now they just need to clean everything up and open the shops again, were running out of food!
I feel like Moroni when he was writing his record when everyone was all wicked and going crazy and all he wanted to do was help people.. However he couldn’t because they’d kill him… poor guy, he had it rough..
On the bright side for lunch we drove to Bluegumbosch to get a skambani. We talked to the guy working there and told him a simple lesson about Jesus Christ… the he gave us a free coke!! Super nice guyJ)
Friday Feb 9th, 2018
Today was really productive, we had a bunch of lessons and they were all solid! We started wit hThebiso and read with him 1 Nephi 1, and told him to, basically, keep goingJ he’s a nice guy. I asked how he did amongst all the riots and if he joined in and he said, “you guys taught me better than that. I don’t want to get in to trouble and have repent because of it.” –atta boy!
After that we went and saw Lerato the guy because he just got back from Kroonstad. He’s doing awesome, he said he’ll be here for about another week and then he’ll be going BACK to Kroonstad again, so that’s kind of a bummer..
We went and taught Tia, with TK, she has questions every now and then. This week we came up with a plan to help her family become unified… it was pretty productive.
Tried to see Mpho but she “bunked us”.. I think we saw her running away down the street….. no worries, we’ll try again another timeJ
Visited the Kiri family, taught all the kids the 10 Commandments… pretty darn good lesson..
Visited the OTHER Kiri family. The mom doesn’t want anything to do with the church so we usually just teach the kids in the other room while they watch TV. However, Last time Sis Kiri went to the kitchen and stopped and read a few verse with us (progress). This time the Mom pressed pause to the TV, listened to our whole lesson up until after the closing prayer, then she pressed play again. (Were getting somewhere with her) haha
The nit was about 8:00 so we called it a night just to be safeJ
Saturday Feb 10th, 2018
We started the day by teaching sister Mamotlatsi. She is friends with Tia, she came to church last weekJ We taught her the Restoration, and she really enjoyed it… She had some good questions and asked for a few pamphlets to give to all her roommates. I hope those guys are interested too! J
After which, we visited Thebiso. Nice lesson about the 10 commandments!
I don’t really remember what else we did, besides having a priesthood meeting with president Thompson and some members from Bethlehem.. it was nice! Haha We ended the day at the Uithelars and they made us some Muffins… well they bought the muffins but still… It was nice! Haha
Sunday Feb 11th, 2018
THEY CAME!!!! We had 10 investigators at church for 2 weeks in a row. Phuthaditjhaba has lead the mission for two weeks in a row nowJ So that made me feel like I did something hereJ hahaha we had Sister Tummi and her son Katleho, Ithumelang and Tsiamo, sis Nomphile Kiri, Lerato, Sister Precious and her cousin rejoice, Hope Moloi, Refilwe and her daughter Keoraptse, and this new guy who I totally forgot the name of… Also, it was branch Conference so President Thompson was there and he gave a POWERFUL TALK!!!!! It was very upliftingJ he talked a lot about going to the temple, and Obedience, diligence, Sabbath day, Prayer, etc.. he was kinda all over the place but it was just what our investigators needed to hear!
After conference he Interviewed Lerato for baptism and she passed so we are excited for next weekJ so we will have those two baptized next week (Lerato and Precious)… and we should have four baptismal interviews that need to be done soon soon! I’m loving the work! Haha
At the end of the day, we came back to the boarding with our new roommate president Thompson! We had a great time, honestly I was Kinda nervous… I thought it would be superrrr awkward… but It was actually a ton of fun! He’s a pretty nice guy!
Monday Feb 12th, 2018
Today we had our P-day with President Thompson. We took him to see the Lions and it was pretty darn funny! I didn’t get a lot of pictures because I was mostly working his super huge nice camera that looks like something an Astronaut would use under water..(‘Picture’ that in your mind.. Pun intended)… either way, we went to see the big lions first. Because it was hot all the lions were in the brush, kinda hard to get to, and cranky so we didn’t get very many photos with those. Then we went and played with my Lion cub! He was CRAZY WILD TODAY! He kept charging and jumping on us… by the end I looked at my arm and it was bleeding so now I am going to have the COOLLEST LION SCAR OF ALL TIME! Probably the highlight of my Life! We then mingled and had some fun looking at all the other cats and stuff.. it was nice, The Afrikaner guy didn’t really like President because he asked a ton of questions!! Hahaha it was pretty funny!
Then we went to spur and President Thompson bought us all Lunch! He is the best!
Tuesday feb 13th
Today we started at Sis Clourina’s houseJ She is so funny haha we read with her Alma 7… she struggles with English so we grabbed her a Zulu Book of Mormon and that should help her out!
We also visited Lerato and read 2Nephi 32 with her and we asked what she wants for her baptism. She said she had a dream of her and I dancing in a field while music played… Kinda made me a tiny bit uncomfortable but she took it as, I should baptize her and Elder Bennett will play the Violin while everyone changes!
We got Bunked 5 times today so we tried staying busy, calling people, trying to find passed people that we’ve taught, setting up more appointments for the week, etc. And we finished the day at President Moetas house. Bennet read a verse in the bible about listening or something, I’m not sure I wasn’t really paying attention… either way we played Scum after that with 3 decks of cards! It was pretty darn fun! President Moeta is the COOLEST guy ever and has the nicest family! Haha
Wednesday feb 14th
DDM: Pretty Affective… The rest of the day… Not so much… up until the Kiri’s.. and then it was niceJ I Love those guys!
Thursday Feb 15th
Today was nice… I think the Highlight of my day was when this drunk guy was arguing with some children at the entrance of Lesegos house, as he waited for his food… They had some disagreement about the gospel. I entered the conversation and asked what the disagreement is about. He claimed to say that Jesus Christ was NOT the Son of God. I asked him “Do you believe in God?”
“Of Course..” He Replied
“Do you believe the words of the Prophets, such as Moses, Noah, and Abraham?”
“Ummm.. Yes I do” He answered
“Now, Have you read the Bible or any of the Holy scriptures?”
“Yes I have.”
“THEN YOU CLEARLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEM! FOR THEY TRULY TESTIFY OF A MESSIAH THAT WILL, AND DID COME TO THE EARTH AS THE SON OF GOD!”
Then I walked away because I knew nothing good was going to come from arguing with a drunk guy that fights with little kids… But still, it felt nice. He totally looked like a Sherem in Jacob 7:10-11.
Saturday (TRANSFER NEWS) Feb17th
Well today was pretty slow but Im sure you guys don’t really care about what happened today you’d rather hear whats going on with Transfers!!!!!!!
DRUM ROLL PLEASE…… eriucfniubgiuvnsbfbew… Ok Elder merritt is going to stay in Phuthaditjhaba with his new companion Elder Bennett!!! Nah Im just kidding I’m going to go serve in ROCKLANDS with Elder PHILIPS as one of the Zone Leaders of Bloemfontein! Im excited, Ill get to do some more exchanges, getta see some new areas of the mission, and they speak Sesotho and XHOSA… (That’s what Black Panther speaks) so Ill definitely practice some of that so I know what he’s saying in the movie! LOL
OH and guess whats happening with Elder Bennett!!! HE IS GONNA BE A ZONE LEADER TOO! He’s only been out 4 months and now he’s big people! Phuthaditjhaba is gonna be the new ZL spotJ That makes me feel really happy, kinda what happened to Amanzimtoti when I left! Hahaha Im excited, nervous, and Happy for elder Bennett. He’s mosty terrified! Haha but He’ll do a great job! Im proud of him, President Thompson when he called basically just said that he’s proud of the work that we’ve been doing and then he called me to be ZL and bennetts like, “Nice job”.. then He called Bennett and Bennett was like “Wait What? Are you serious? Umm..okay?” You should’ve seen his face!!!! Priceless!
Sunday Feb 18th, 2018 (LAST SUNDAY IN PJ2)
Well Sunday was awesome, in fact, it was so darn awesome that I don’t have enough time to write about what happened, so you’ll have to wait until next weekJ
Just know, we had some baptisms, And church was super emotional… it was hard saying goodbye to all these guys… especially when branch president heard I was leaving and called me and told me to give a talk about Unity and Love
