Confirmations and Conference Explained

Things are going well over here in Africa.

General Conference. I have to admit that I am very jealous that you all got to watch it. I was odd knowing that this past weekend you were all home watching conference. And we were here in Africa just a normal weekend, normal Sunday. We had the option to watch it live, well the ward had the option. But they decided that we should watch the recording because it would be more likely that people would come if it was a recording. Because if we watched it live, it would have been at odd times. So we are watching it recorded on the 26th and 27th. I am super excited. I love conference. I can't wait! It will be good to hear what all of the General Authorities have to say. And to learn from everything they are going to talk about.

Next. We have totally changed our eating habits. It's great. Hard. But great. We decided we are going to eat healthy. So I haven't had fast food this whole week! We have been eating a TON of vegetables, fruits, and basically no sugar and no pop. We have a lot of salad. You kind of get sick of it. We will need to find new healthy options! But it feels good. We have also been running. We wake up and go do sprints and stuff at our complex. There is a rugby field that we planned to go to. We went there the first day and got eaten alive by mosquitoes! I had twenty three bites! Haha! So now we just stay on the road next to the field! It sucks to run, but it makes you feel so much better! Like the days we haven't been able to go, like Sunday, I find myself missing it. And looking forward to it the next morning. Who knows why? I hate running! Haha! But it has been good.

Friday was great. We got to go to the temple. They try to do a temple trip once a transfer. So we didn't go last transfer, but they made sure we could go this transfer. It was so nice. I love the temple! The spirit was so strong! As it always is when you go to the temple. It was so nice. A good time to uplift myself and get back to centre. Ya know? If that makes sense.

I can't think of too much else that happened. Like really. This week wasn't too eventful.

Oh! The confirmations! Haha! That was eventful! Haha! So yesterday, we had five confirmations in our ward. I was asked to confirm Sheila, she and her two girls were baptised. It was nerve racking, but everything went well. I was really nervous that I would mess up and have to do it again! But I didn't! A successful first confirmation is now under my belt! Ha! Elder Wilkinson confirmed her older daughter Phatty, and Brother John, the ward mission leader confirmed the youngest, Mphumi. And then the bishop confirmed his niece, and Dmitri. It was great.

We still have five people on date. It used to be ten, but with all of the baptisms, they went down! But five is still great! We have just been having a struggle getting all of them to see the importance of coming to church. I mean, they act like they see the importance. But then they don't come! It is so frustrating! We don't know what to do! We have one girl that comes to church every week. So that's good. And then a lady that comes every other week because she works every other Sunday. And then the other three have been doing great with lessons, but they don't come to church! But we are really going to work on that with all of them this week!

The weather is still nice here. It still feels like summer to me! The days are still hot, it cools off a lot at night. Which is good. But it is still hot. During the days it feels like the weather hasn't even changed! But it is funny to hear all of the African people talking about how they can feel that winter is coming! I mean, come on! The weather hasn't even changed! Hah! But we will see. Supposedly it gets pretty cold here in the winter!

It is good to hear from you. I love you so much! I hope that everything goes well for everyone at home! Have fun over spring break! I love you so much! So so so much!

Baptisms! the Window is Fixed!

Turner, Dmitri, and Elder Wilkinson - Baptism Day

                                     Lerato with her uncle, cousin and Elder Wilkinson and Elder Richards

Sheili and her daughters: Phatty and Mphumi

So this week was good. We had our baptisms. It was nice. I mean. I didn't have to do that much. We were pretty prepared. The funny thing was everything was going well. But we decided to wash the baptismal clothes at our flat so they would be clean for the people getting baptised. But our washing machine decided to stop working! So it would like wash for half of the cycle and then we would have to take them out to dry them and the were literally soaking wet! Like we got them out of a swimming pool, not a washing machine! Anyway. We got that all worked out. I mean, the clothes worked, but the washing machine is still being weird. Then we got to the chapel on Sunday and started filling up the font. It was filling, but the water wouldn't go warm! So it was filling up with ice cold water! I mean, I didn't care that much because I wasn't doing any of the baptising! I mean that in the least bratty way possible! But we finally got the warm water working. It filled up good, but the water was like green and gross looking! Haha! But it was fine. It all worked in the end. 

The cool thing though, was that Dmitri's family came. When him mom, Rahlda, was baptised in January, none of the family came, but they got them to come for Dmitri. So it was cool that they could be there for that and experience and feel the spirit that was there! Everyone will be confirmed next week during sacrament meeting! It will be exciting for them to be confirmed! I am kind of nervous though, because I will be confirming one of them! So pray for me so that I won't mess up! Haha!

Some good news. I took the driving test. I passed! Haha! So now I will get to have a card that says that I can be the "designated driver" for the companionship! Haha! But I still don't like driving here! But when we went to the office to take the driving test we saw the senior couple that was in charge of fixing the flats. Elder Wilkinson told them that we have been climbing in and out of the window for like the past few weeks. So they felt bad and came down that day! So OUR DOOR IS FIXED! It is nice to be able to come and go through a door! Hah! So our door is fixed now. And they also did other stuff for us. They gave us a new toilet seat. I don't know if I have said this, but our toilet seat has been broken the whole time. But now we have a new one! They are also sending us rugs for our kitchen and our bathroom. So that will be nice. We won't have to use towels! Haha! Now they are also sending us things that we can use to clean the mold off of our ceiling in the bathroom! They are taking our extra torn apart couch, and they are going to get us a nice chair! So it's like our flat is new! Or it is going to be new when they give us the new furniture! Haha! But it's nice!

Nothing too exciting happened here this week. Other than what I said! I hope everything is going well at home I love and miss everyone so much! I think about and pray about everyone every night! I love you guys so much! I love you Mom and Dad. Thank you for all that you have done and are doing for me! I love you!

Love,

Turner

Windows and Preparation for Baptisms

 Turner's District

It's good to hear from you! 
The window. We make sure that nobody sees us climbing in and out. More for the fact that it would just look weird for them to see us climbing in and out of the window. Also, our room is back in a corner, so people don't really see us. And all the people that live by us are old people! So don't worry. I think when you read about the Elders that get robbed and stuff it just unnecessarily scares you! But we are trying to get the door fixed. It's not like we like climbing in and out of the window. But the Senior couple that is supposed to come fix it won't call us back. They were actually supposed to come today or tomorrow. So we will see. But it has to get fixed soon, because we can't really get Elder Wilkinson's stuff in and out of the window when he gets transferred.

Let's see. What happened this week. Not much honestly. Elder Wilkinson and I were actually trying to figure out yesterday what had happened the past week so that we could email home about it and neither of us could think of anything too crazy. So we will see what I can come up with as I start writing!

I guess the first thing is that there were transfers this last week. There are three sets of elders in our district and one elder, Elder Thomas was transferred. He is actually still in our zone, which is odd. But he was the only one that got transferred. His companion, Elder Wood, is now training Elder Arthur, he is African. I can't remember where in Africa that he is from. But yeah. We also got a new Zone Leader because one of them went home this last transfer. There is also a new AP. His name is Elder Bodily, he is from PG. Is he the kid that you emailed his mom? I haven't met him. But Elder Wilkinson says he is from PG, so I wondered if it was the same kid.

What else happened. I feel like the next thing that happened was on Thursday. On Thursday we met a kid named Abednigo and his sister. I talked about how we have been handing out pass along cards. Anyway. Abednigo got one and actually called us. He said he wanted to know more. So we went and met him. He is 25 and his sister is 19. They are both students. Anyway. They told us that they grew up going to church but neither of them were really ever interested in the church that they went to as kids. They said that it never made sense. But we watched the "Finding Faith In Christ" video with them. They loved it and wanted us to come back. So we went back on Saturday. Since then they had watched the DVD multiple times. They both said they wanted to be baptised. So we will see how it goes. But I think it is just a blessing that we are doing our "finding activities" and because we are, the Lord is helping us find people that are really ready for the gospel.

Also on Thursday, our Zone Leaders came down. They came for the baptismal interviews. They have to do interviews for us, because usually the District Leader does them, but Elder Wilkinson is the District Leader, so he can't do them! Anyway. There were five interviewed. The five I talked about last week. They all passed! So they will be baptised this coming Sunday. And then confirmed the next week in Sacrament Meeting! So awesome! I am super excited for them. So Lerato, the bishop's Niece will be baptised by the bishop, and then the rest of them asked for Elder Wilkinson. So he will be baptising them. Then for their confirmations, I will be confirming Sheila, and then Elder Wilkinson will be confirming Sheila's seventeen year old daughter Phatty, and Brother John will do the youngest daughter, Mphumi. Then the bishop will do Dmitri and Lerato.

Let's see. I don't think much else has happened. But the week has gone good. And I am excited for next week! Oh a just a warning. So April 23rd is Elder Wilkinson's birthday. It is also the last week of the transfer, and he will be getting transferred from this area. He has been here for a long time, seven and a half months. So for his birthday and saying goodbye to people that he has come close with, we will be doing some things that I will have to pay for out of my own pocket!