My son who played with lions now walks with giraffes

Monday Feb 26th, 2018

well today I turned 16 months, Maybe it was yesterday? but either way it was a great day..... mainly cause it was P-day and we went into Bloemfontein and I got to walk with a Giraffe! Pretty darn cool... they were pretty tall... I guess thats what theyre known for but still! the pictures dont do it justice! haha theyre at this big animal reserve thing called Naval hill.. either way they have a HUGE statue of Nelson Mandela and its pretty cool. Kinda like in rio where they have the huge Jesus statue... accept its not Jesus, Its just a guy that was in jail and then they voted him President..  Boom roasted.

(Dont be offended if youre south African, I love you guys!)

The Best part was definitely the Giraffes!!! on the top of the hill they have tons of Animals. Zebras, Wildebeest, Some Boks, and even two or three Giraffes! It was really exciting because you can get out and walk up to them and stuff! Super cool. Definitely gonna go back. If you have any suggestions for pictures to take with them let me know! 

after that we went shopping.

then We had a few lessons, We got Bunked and I destroyed some kids in soccer. they were trash.. then again they were like 10 so they just need to catch up!

then we visited a few peoples empty houses cause they werent home... But the houses were cool, Not really they wee just normal Township houses. But our final appointment was home. The Mantje Family (Kele, Thandi, John, and Kabelo) . Super nice! We taught them How to teach us the Restoration! It went well, theyre kinda quiter, but we got some energy out of them.

My companion is Elder Phillips if I Havent mentioned it. He's from Saint George Utah, 19 years old, He's been out 17.85 Months, He's been here in rocklands for 6 weeks, he's probably the nicest and Happiest person I've ever met, but he doesnt really enjoy it here... But it's not too bad so far! I do wish they spoke Zulu and it would be nice if our area was closer to the Chapel. It takes 2 taxi's for our investigators to get to church. Therefore, the Missionary work has been a bit slower... all of last year our ward had 4 Baptisms... so our goal is 5! haha

Tuesday Feb 27th, 2018

One of the duties of a ZL is to plan Zone Conferences... so thats what we did! Monday the 5th is gonna be ours and its gonna be combined with the Phuthaditjhaba Zone! That'll be nice, I'll get to see a lot of Missionaries especially Bennett and Wilson! We coordinated with them today so were all on the same page for Zone Conference. Im gonna speak about "Finding Joy and Dealing with Discouragement". Super nice and fun to talk about! 

Either way we visited and taught some really cool people. I met the Fesa Family, and we read Ether 12:27. We tried to find brother Mei's house and we drove around for an hour and a hlaf.... then we gave up... and then we met the Fefa Family and we discussed "Do unto Others as you would have them do unto you" Perfect lesson. And it was pretty darn funny to. We had everyone write down what they their neighbor to do. For example, do an Imbarrasing dance, make weird cat noises, do 20 push ups, etc.. then we make THEM do it, not their neighbor. Super funny. they basically picked their own punishment. 

wednesday Feb 28th, 2018

DDM by Elder Larsen and Motlhankanyane (Elder Mots for short). we also stopped at the Senior couples house and printed off the Zone Conference agenda. The Hicks are HILARIOUS!!! Brother Hicks brought us some Watermelon and helped answer so of our questions:) 

We tracted, Met a guy named Mpho... very humble man with great questions. We visited Simon and taught Him the Law of Chastity, I dont think I've met such a humble man that loves our message this much. He's definitely ready to be baptized. then we picked up Trapnell and Allen and took them with us to the Tsoeu Family. We taught this family about the Importance of the Book of Mormon and then they DROVE US TO GET BURGERS FOR DINNER! It was Crazy!! They are the nicest family Ever! haha

Thursday March 1st, 2018

Started the day off by writing my Zone Conference talk.... Pretty simple and Straight Forward:)

Before we had Lunch we Visited a Man Named Lucky. He said that he really wants to change and stop smoking and doing drugs and that he wants to go to rehab.. so we told him to talk to bishop.. then we read from 3 Nephi 12 or 13, about being a Light to everyone and coming unto Christ! fingers crossed he comes to church! Really nice guy. After that the Hicks called and we came back to the boarding so they could give us some new bowls, cups, and silverware stuff! Super nice! haha

Friday March 2nd, 2018 (Exchanges)

I was In Bloemonda with Elder Matlankanyane today (Mots). The area didnt have a car and it was like a thousand degrees outside so I have a really bad sunburn on my neck. The day was pretty slow at first but it ended off nice.

Our last appointment was at a Part-member families house... the babe was sitting on the couch staring at the coffee table when I introduced myself and went to shake his hand... When I stretched forth my hand he didnt even blink an eye, and Did Not shake my hand. My first thought was "Whats this guys problem? What'd I do to You man?" But I think I might have rolled my eyes, However, I kept quiet smiled and asked about his day.... Turns out the guy was Completely Blind. Yeah he can't see a thing. Zero Visibility from this guy, So it's a good thing he didnt see me rolling my eyes! Haha I talked to this guy 1 on 1 for like an hour and a half. we went on and on... He asked where I'm from and usually I just say Oregon, its right next to California. HE ALMOST EXPLODED WITH EXCITEMENT. Turns out one of the only things that brings him joy is Music, and his favorite band is the Eagles... So he sang word for word, and a little bit of guitar, of "Hotel California". It was actually really Impressive. We also talked about Billy joel, the Beatles, other bands, We talked about farms, hunting, fishing, Lions, Grizzly bears, etc.. I explained what an Elk looks like and how big it is, which is very difficult to do to a blind guy. And most of all the book of Mormon. He listens to the Book of Mormon on tape and explained a bunch of Book of mormon stories and his reactions as he listend for the first time. He said that his heart was pounding and he was shaking when the lamenites passed by mormon as he cried for the soldiers that he lost. He was such a giddy man who was just so happy! 

I asked him about how he went blind and when he was 40 years old he slipped and fell, and he knocked his head on the ground... Kinda like Anchorman 2 style... then the Missionaries found him 8 or 9 years later. Poor guys had a rough life But he's definitely my new favorite Member out here in Bloemfontein.

Oh before I forget, when the lights turned off He turned to his family and said "Welcome to My world." I died laughing when he said that!!! 

Saturday March 3rd, 2018

Ton of Bunks... this area's making me frustrated..

Sunday March 4th, 2018

Church was nice, I think the lord likes me! I scheduled an Appointment with  Bishops WIFE, in an attempt to visit bishop. Bishops Wife is Zulu so guess what, She made us lunch:)) haha and not only that but bishop was being really cool!! I think he's starting to like us a bit more!!