Two Wonderful Things: Baptisms and Oreos June 2, 2014

Could there be any more delicious treat from home! Thanks to Taylor:)

So great to hear from you. Good to hear the news of the family. Since a lot of it I don't hear from the siblings! But it is fine. This way I don't stress about writing everyone back. But Rachel has sent me some pretty funny emails lately. Haha! She told me that she is stills ending me Snap Chats so I will have a ton to look through when I get home! She is so funny!

At the mall I bought protein powder and laundry detergent. I figured it would be good for me to get some protein powder. I don't think I am getting all of the nutrients I need. The protein has helped.

Okay. Let's see. This week. Let's start with Tuesday. So a new stat, or goal, that President Omer has given us is to have 5 "Gospel Conversations" every day. So basically the areas that have to do tracting, it actually shows that they are working. But anyway. It has been frustrating to try and find the right time to do it, and motivate ourselves to, especially since our investigator pool is pretty full. Anyway. On Tuesday we set out to meet the quota of five for the day. We were driving into the area, and drove past a guy sweeping his porch. Elder Rako kept driving, but then turned around. Told me that he wanted to talk to the guy. So we went and talked to him and his wife. Which was great that they were married, because most people aren't here. Especially because they have this thing called Lebola where they have to pay the wife's family a ton of money. So people just move in together and don't actually get legally married.  Anyway. We taught. It was a good lesson. When we left, we discussed how we both had a very distinct impression that we needed to go back and talk to him. Great experience.

Interesting experience number two. So during our "Gospel Conversations" time. We found this older couple. Anyway. We didn't really plan on going back to visit them. I mean, they weren't first on the list. But then the wife called us and asked when we were coming back to "pray for them". (people here think that's what we do) Anyway. We went back and only the husband was home. We started teaching and all of the sudden he stood up and took his pants off! He had boxers on, but still! Anyway, something was bugging his leg and he was trying to figure out what it was. So we were just sitting there awkwardly, not knowing what to do with this old wrinkly man standing in front of us with out his pants on! Bahah! So funny. Finally we were just like, "uhh..we need to go". Haha!

We also had some frustrations this week. So we had the four prepared to be baptized this last Sunday. We go to visit Alex and Mandela (the two nineteen year old friends). Anyway. Alex tells us that his mom won't let him get baptized. She said that he was baptized by a "white man" in Mozambique when he was a baby, and that you can't get baptized twice! They trouble was that he was legally old enough to sign his own baptism papers, but he hasn't graduated high school yet. (still grade 11. People here just stay in school until they pass) Anyway. She said that since he was still living with her, he couldn't get baptized, but that he was welcome to when he moved out after finishing high school. So Alex, sadly, didn't get baptized.

This is what a portable font looks like!

Mandela was baptized by Elder Hunt

Turner and Rako with Mandela

Father and son, George and Pascal

Baptismal Group

The Branch

Richards and Rako

However, we had three wonderful baptisms. Mandela was baptized by Elder Hunt. And then I was asked to baptize George and Pascal. Such a cool experience. It was odd at the same time though. We have a "portable font". Basically..well I don't know how to explain. I will send a picture! Anyway, it was just outside of the school. Everyone sat outside for the service. It was great though. After the baptisms, the new members get the chance to bear their testimonies. It was great! The three of them bore powerful testimonies of how they knew it was the true church and how it had changed their life. George was very thankful. He used to be a heavy alcoholic I guess. But with help from the missionaries he has stopped. His wife even told us how thankful she was, because George has changed so much! Too bad she has "her own church" and won't listen to us.

Anyway. Here was good news. Mandela's family came. We have been teaching his sister. Like just started. Like one lesson. So she isn't on date or anything. But she told us that she wanted to be baptized! Her name is Nomagogo (Cynthia). Anyway. Mandela's mom was there. She has her own church as well. But she is very supportive of her children. She was SO excited for Mandela to get baptized. Hopefully after Cynthia does as well she will open her heart a little and listen to the missionaries! She also told Elder Rako that she as going to talk to Alex's mom and tell her that she is being stupid about the whole baptism thing. So hopefully we will be able to get him baptized on the 29th.

We have also been teaching a kid. Thobekani. He knows a lot about the Bible. Anyway. Smart kid. I really like him. We haven't even talked about baptism with him yet. But he told us that he wanted to be baptized soon! So cool!

So on the 29th we should have more baptisms. Two girls named Nunu and Hlengiwe. And a kid named Elvis and then hopefully Alex. Nunu and Hlengiwe are very quiet. But their guardian is a member, and has really pushed them to be baptized. Hopefully they will be ready. Nunu will, but Hlengiwe is sometimes a little too preoccupied with the boys. Elvis has shown a lot of growth. His Gogo (grandma) is a recent convert. Anyway. Super excited for him!

Exciting news about next week. We have Zone Conference. So we have to drive down to Joburg on Wednesday, so we will make it for the meeting on Thursday! So Wednesday night we stay at the mission home. We are planning to leave early on Wednesday so we can explore Joburg a little bit! I am excited for that! Anyway. It will be fun to be in a little bit of a bigger place. Somewhere not so far out of the way!

Also. Transfer news comes this Saturday night! There has been a lot of talk about what will happen. (the transfer ends June 10th) Anyway. So we think one of the four of us will be getting transferred. So we will drive down to the mission home again on Monday, stay the night and then be there for Tuesday's transfers. We will see though. I feel like Elder Rako and I will stay together for another transfer. And then he will leave. But we will see. He is worried he will be leaving this transfer. But we will see! Anyway. Not much else to report on. At least I don't think!

Oh. Here is another interesting tidbit! Nothing important. But thought I would share! So there are a TON of orange...farms? orchards? Anyway. There are a ton of them here! So this past week I finally took advantage of that! I bought some oranges! They are SO good! Like usually when you buy oranges there are a couple in the pack that aren't that great. But they are all delicious here! I think I might turn orange from how many I have been eating! Haha! Mmm. Oranges with cheese. So good. Anyway. That is all. Love you!

Watch out or you'll get PICKPOCKETED!!! May 26, 2014

First. I would love a couple pictures! I want to see what dad looks like! I have heard he looks quite different! Taylor did send a package and it had a little 4x6 of our family picture! That is nice to have! Actually she sent a whole bunch of pictures! It was great to get them! Good to see everyone's faces again! Haha! It also makes talking to companions about people a lot easier because now I have pictures so they can connect faces with stories! It makes it more interesting!

Anyway. I heard you guys went trail running while in Ely! I am so jealous of that! I also heard of your snake experience! Yuck! That is not cool! I would love to go train running here, but first, Elder Rako doesn't really work out! I guess he used to run marathon's back home, but he doesn't want to run anymore. So there has been no running for me since I left Elder Wilkinson. It is odd, and probably something you probably would have never expected to hear from me, but I miss running! Probably because there is no way I can go swimming, so running is the next closest! Haha! But I am sure there are great places to go trail running here. But the problem is snakes. In SA there are these snakes called Black Mamba's and I guess Green Mamba's too. But they are very poisonous. And there are supposedly a ton in my area. I have yet to see one, which makes me very happy. I would probably never leave our flat if I saw one. So it's good that I haven't! Blessings from heaven?

Okay. Next. We have exchanges again this week. I went back to Nelspruit with Elder Mukasa this time. Because Elder Brackett had to interview our baptismal candidates. Anyway. The split was fine. Nothing too exciting. But I did miss KaNyamazane again.

The next excitement happened on..Well I guess it was the morning that we switched companions for the exchange. We were at the grocery store with our branch president. He had to pick up food for a family in the branch. Anyway. We went early in the morning. So we weren't dressed up. I was just in sweats and a hoodie. I was picking up some food as well. I had a bunch of stuff in my arms and this kid came and talked to me. All of the sudden he was talking about pants and then he was like feeling mine. I don't really know. I was kind of annoyed because I was trying to pick out a candy bar, and that needed my full concentration! Plus he didn't speak English too well, so I didn't want to carry on the conversation too badly. Anyway, I looked down at what he was doing to my pants. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw someone watching. So I looked. It was only Elder Rako. But by the time I looked back down at my pants. The kid had stopped. And he just walked away. I grabbed my candy bar and then felt my pocket. Realizing that I had been totally oblivious to what he was actually doing. He was pick-pocketing me! He stole our phone! Luckily it wasn't my wallet with my cards, money, license and copy of my passport! But still!

Anyway. That was dramatic. But in the end, it all worked out. The Zone Leaders were making the long journey down to KaNyamazane to give us the Zone Meeting details that they had given the week before, and to go on splits with Nelspruit and us. So they just brought us a new phone. It was good to have the miniature Zone Meeting. It was a good motivation to work harder. We needed it. Basically Elder Rako has been having a rough time because he is so close to going home. (Only about three months) and his uncle who has been serving in Ivory Coast is going home today. So he has been struggling to find motivation. But this was a good motivator for me, and hopefully we will start working harder this week. That has been my goal. To work harder. There is a lot of time that is being wasted. And I don't like that. The thing we need to realize is that the time will go by faster if we are working. And get wrapped up in the work. So I am trying to give Rako a little fire before mine dies out! Haha!

So Zone Leaders. We were with Elder Searle. He is a nice enough kid. From Idaho. He only has one more transfer left. So about one month! Well a little over a month! I guess almost two months. Okay. So he has eight weeks. There we go! Haha! Anyway. One annoying thing. I was working out in the morning. He was as well. But then, in the middle of my workout he comes in and says, "Want a good ab work out?". Umm. No. I don't. What I want is to finish mine. I didn't say that. I just kind of looked at him. So he brings all of this stuff in where I am working out and takes over my workout! The stuff we did was good. But still. Don't disturb me! Haha! No, in reality, it was fine. But just a funny story I guess.

Oh here is a bonus. He fixed our shower! We have been waiting for a plumber. Because the shower was broken. So because I refuse to take baths (because that is pretty disgusting) I have been showering with a cup for the past four weeks. But now the shower is fixed! Hallelujah!

Here was another bright thing from this week. Taylor sent me a package and it arrived! So the ZL's brought it down! I was so happy! So fun to get stuff in the mail! But I basically have just been pigging out the past couple of days on the candy she sent! She also sent a whole bunch of pictures with stuff written on the backs! It was so fun! I love having pictures to actually look at! And memories! To remind me that my life is still happening. That I haven't actually been stuck in this black hole my whole life! Haha! Even if it feels like an eternity some times! Haha! I really do like it here though. Don't worry!

This coming Sunday we should be having four baptisms! George and his son Pascal, and Alex and Mandela! I am excited! They are too! I hope everything goes smoothly! We have a portable font that we use I guess! It has worked, I just hope it works this week! We had eleven people come to church Yesterday. So that was promising! I hope they all continue to grow and learn and love the church like I do!

I am so thankful for this gospel. I am thankful to know that I have a Father in Heaven that loves me and is watching over me and helping me. Especially on the hard days. It is good to feel the little pushes he gives when it feels like I don't feel motivated enough! I am so thankful for the family I have at home and the love and support they give me! Some days I feel like these two years are never going to end. But then I realize that four months have already come and gone! The next few will feel the same. And before I know it, this adventure will be over and I will be home! I just hope I can make the most of this time I have in Africa!

I love you so much mom. I love you and miss you a ton! Especially this past week! But I know, like I said, before we know it I will be home! I love you so much! Thank you for all that you do!

Love,

Turner

Beautiful Hell

More beautiful . . .

And more. . .

Our great missionary!

Highway to hell?

This week has been so much better! I mean, there are still struggles and frustrations, but I have really had an easier week this week.

It all started with Thursday. We were originally having baptismal interviews, but all or our baptisms that were supposed to happen yesterday ended up being moved to the 1st of June. So we didn't do interviews. But we still did exchanges. But because there were no interviews I went to Nelspruit with Elder Brackett. He is the one that is from California. He is also the District Leader. Anyway. When I first got to our area I wished that I was in Nelspruit with Elder Brackett. But during exchanges I realized that I am in the right place with the right companion. It was nice to have that realization. Elder Brackett is super nice, and I like him a lot, but I just realized that Elder Rako is truly meant to be my companion. Also, driving around Nelspruit made me realize that I actually missed KaNyamazane! Who knew I would ever miss that little corner of Hell? Haha! But for real. I never thought I would say that. It was just super nice to come to the realization that I am in the right area with the right companion. I just have to remember that even though it is right, doesn't mean it is going to be easy.

Second. The boys that have been bugging me haven't really bugged me that much lately. Prince, the ring leader, left on his mission his past Thursday. Anyway. I don't know if they do this in every mission or if it is just a thing in ours. But we all have a journal that people write in when we leave. So people from Vereeniging and Elder Wilkinson signed mine. But anyway. Prince signed mine before he left. He had some super nice things to say. It was very nice, and unexpected. But I was glad that I could at least have some sort of positive influence on him before I left, even though I only knew him for about two and a half weeks. Anyway. The other boys have grown on me a lot. There are two that I really like. Thabong and then Peace. Peace doesn't speak English super well, but he is the nicest kid. He has the biggest smile I think I have ever seen. Thabong is nice, and has grown on me a lot. I actually bought some watches from him. They were both eight bucks! So it was nice to get some replacement watches for the one that I had that broke!

Okay. President Omer. I knew there weren't going to be changes in my area or companionship. I just wondered if anything would happen with the Nelspruit elders. Nothing did. President was super busy while he was here. He got here in the late afternoon on Wednesday and left fairly early on Thursday morning. He had to set Prince apart and to some training meetings and a couple of temple recommend interviews. In the end, he didn't get to see any of us while he was here. He did call Elder Rako and I about some of our investigators. KaNyamazane has a problem with modesty. Big time. Anyway, we are teaching these two girls that their aunt or something is a member. Anyway. They have a problem with modesty as well. He just wanted to make sure everything was going okay with us and teaching them. Everything is fine, so we just reassured him. But that was all of the contact we had with him.

The weather. I guess it doesn't really change to much here. As in the winter isn't actually cold. But it has been chillier the past two days. Cloudy and then in the afternoon it starts to cool down. So yesterday and today I have worn a sweater. Really, it is that kind of weather that you could survive with out, but I just figure if I don't wear one, I will end up wishing I had. But overall the weather is nice here.

You could put some work gloves in the stuff for Ty to bring! I forgot about that. Elder Wilkinson had two pairs and they came in handy. Very handy when we moved the poopy fridge and other treasures from that home. And I don't really want to end up going to something like that with out gloves. So it would be nice to have some, and be safe rather than sorry. So like two pairs? They don't have to be super nice or anything, but yeah.

Our investigators. We have four baptisms planned for the 1st of June. Alex and Mandela. They are two teenage boys. They are both really great. We got Mandela's sister to come to church yesterday and she liked it. So hopefully she will keep coming and we will be able to keep teaching her. George and Pascal are also getting baptized on the first. George is the dad and Pascal is the son. They are great. George is pretty smart, but very quiet. Pascal is a good kid. he is probably thirteen or fourteen. I like going to their house. The rest of their family isn't interested, but hopefully with the influence of George and Pascal, one day they will be.

We also have Nunu and Hlengiwe. They are the girls that president talked to us about. They are super quiet. But things seem to be going fairly well. We also have Goodwill, Surprise, and Wandile. They are all coming along fairly well. They just haven't been coming to church lately. So we need to get on that. We started teaching a girl named Sheila. She is in her teens. She has been coming to seminary and church for a while. Rako thought she was a member, but on my first day here, we found out that she isn't. So we have been teaching her. She is smart. Which is nice, to work with someone that understands a little bit more. At this point, those are the investigators worth mentioning.

Hmm. I hope I answered all of your questions. I don't feel like I have much more to tell. Nothing too exciting has happened here. Today we are going to drive around and take pictures of all of the pretty places we have seen! So next week there should be some pictures! This place is beautiful! That would have to be the number one bonus!

Best Mother's Day Gift! So good to talk! (5/12/2014)

 I am so glad that we were able to talk this last week. Saturday was so great. It was kind of a rough day, but then when I got to talk to you that night it melted all of the frustrations away. I looked forward to talking to you again on Sunday. It was great being able to Skype and then to have the chance to talk to you again. I hope you didn't care that I called Taylor and used one of the cards. It was probably good that I didn't use them both for the family though, because then it would have made it harder to say goodbye.

 

I also got to email back and forth with Elder Wilkinson a bit today, so that was good to talk to him.

 

This week has been good and bad, a little bit of both. I have had some good days and some bad days. I don't really know where to start so I will just kind of start typing and see where it goes from there.

 

So this week there has been some drama between the elders. So Elder Brackett and Elder Mukasa have had some troubles. They don't get along at all. Anyway. To spare physicality, Elder Brackett decided to sleep on the couch a couple of nights. Which is obviously against the rules, but if it was preventing him from killing his companion, I mean, it was for a good cause. Anyway. Elder Mukasa called President Omer and told him. President Omer then called Brackett to talk to him about his obedience issues. Anyway. Mukasa and Brackett have not been getting along to say the least. The zone leaders and trying to figure something out, but who knows what will actually happen. There might be some changes made, there might not. We will just have to see what happens!

 

President Omer is coming down tomorrow and Wednesday to take care of some church business and come to some meetings. Originally he wasn't going to have time to see the Elders. Then, because of the whole Brackett Mukasa situation I thought he was going to do interviews - with all of us, but it turns out that if he has time for interviews he will probably not interview Rako and me and just do Brackett and Mukasa. It was a little bit disappointing seeing as I was excited to be able to talk some things through with him. But who knows.

 

On the news of talking with President Omer - I expressed my concerns to him this past week in my email to him. I got an email back. Basically he told me that when he felt impressed to send me here, he knew that it would be followed by hard times for me. He said he knew it would be a special experience for me and that I would be able to do great things here in KaNyamazane. I don't really know how to feel about all of this. Knowing that I was sent here to get over rough times. I know that there are things for me to learn. But I don't know how much I want to learn if it is going to be this hard the whole time! Haha! But I just have to remember that we need to bear our afflictions with patience. Not that this is a huge affliction or anything. But ya know what I mean?

 

On a more positive not. I have a stronger desire to work harder here. I hope that I don't lose that desire. I just want to bury myself and let the time slip away as I get wrapped up in the work here. I have been able to see my purpose as a missionary here. I guess I mean that I have been able to think about and focus more on my purpose as a missionary since I have been here.

 

I am starting to like the area more. I hope that I will continue to see positive things about the area. Mostly I would like some investigators that actually know and understand English. Maybe someone that is over the age of like 15 as well. Yeah. That might be nice. I think that is what I will pray for.

 

I don't really know what else to say about this week. There have been good times though. I have been happier. So don't worry too much about me! :) at least in that sense of things.

 

My companion though. I forgot that you asked about that. So I have had kind of a rough time with him But it is hard being with him. I have tried very hard to find things in common with him. I have tried asking him about things at home and how living in Madagascar is. But it is still hard. At times I wonder if he likes talking about it. Teaching with him is very hard. He doesn't know how to stop talking sometimes. I will try to say something and he will just talk over me. When we teach he doesn't usually let me say very much. And when I do say something he goes back over what I said as if I didn't explain well enough. Even though he uses the exact same words I do. I don't know.

 

The roughest part this week has been the language barrier. I feel like I have a lot to offer as a missionary and teaching the gospel. I know the principles we teach well, and feel confident in teaching. I also feel like my personality helps things come across easier a lot, but here those things don't work. Mostly the people don't understand anything we are saying. Which is very frustrating. I just feel like I have a fire burning, wanting to teach, but it is just stuck inside of me because when I try to let it out the people don't even understand. The hard part is that people agree to being baptized, but I am afraid that they don't actually have a testimony of things. They just know how to answer the questions.

 

Well those were my concerns for the week. Sorry for complaining so much. Thank you for everything though! I love you all so much! It was so good to talk to you! I can't wait for these next seven months to be over so that we can talk again on Christmas! Mom, I love you so much! I can't even express it. Thank you for all you do! I love you!

Big Changes - KaNyamazane

 KaNyamazane

Turner, Rako and the truck

Big change is right. Big changes that aren't very easy. Let's start with the negative, get that out of the way. And then we can go into the positive things. The things that have helped and the things that I look forward to!

First. It is rough being here, in all honesty. I went from being in town; a town that we joked about not even being part of Africa. And now I am truly in Africa. Vereeniging was probably the best place that I could have ever started. The people there were so welcoming. I was seriously so nervous about leaving the MTC but when we got to Vereeniging and started meeting people those worries quickly melted away. Not to mention I had the best trainer I could have ever asked for. Prayers were definitely answered on that matter. Elder Wilkinson was the greatest. With him I was never worried. We got along so well. There were never any arguments. We had fun no matter what we were doing. The times went by so fast. I think things were so easy with him because he reminded me so much of Matthew. Literally. It was like I was out here serving with my older brother and that is what it ultimately came to. I look up to him like he is my older brother. He was a great companion, a great missionary and an over all great person. The problem was I never knew how much I was going to miss Vereeniging and Elder Wilkinson.

I got transferred to an area called KaNyamazane. There are two areas here. Nelspruit - which is a HUGE, very nice city. It is about twenty minutes away from KaNyamazane. It would be nice if we stayed in Nelspruit, but we stay in KaNyamazane. KaNyamazane is a township/village. It is truly Africa. Exactly what you would picture. Hills and mountains and houses/shacks built all through out. Dirt roads. Crazy potholes. Anyway. Because it is a poor area, the people aren't too well educated. Which makes it very hard to relate to anyone.

I am with my first African. His name is Elder Rakotoarimanana (Elder Rako) from Madagascar. He is very kind. But we come from opposite sides for the world. We don't have much to relate to with the exception of the Gospel. Which is very important. But at the same time, it is hard. There isn't much to talk about so I am left feeling alone. I just pray that I will be able to leave after this transfer.

Things are getting better though. My prayers are more sincere than they ever have been. When I pray it is literally like I am there with my Heavenly Father. Talking. And I don't want to hang up. I have truly learned the power of prayer this week. It is the most comforting thing in the world. I love the feeling I get when I pray for comfort. And the emptiness inside me leaves. I have truly learned that the companionship of the spirit is necessary. It helps me when I feel so alone to know that I am not actually alone. The spirit is so powerful and the power of the Atonement is amazing. I know that I can be comforted because the Savior suffered and felt these hard and discouraging feelings that I am feeling. Because of that I can be comforted.

Not only have I had to look for things that are spiritually strengthening, but I am having to find things that I truly enjoy about the area I am in. First. It is GORGEOUS. Gauteng, the Province that I was previously in is flat and dry. Now I am in Mpumalanga. It has gorgeous scenery. Very green. It is like a jungle here. There are mountains/hills. The houses/shacks are built into the hills. It is cool to see. I have to stop and think what a blessing it is to be in such a beautiful place and to be able to experience the uniqueness.

Second. There is a senior couple that helps our branch. It is a small branch that meets in a school. Anyway. They are the Hunts. They are from Sandy. Elder Hunt used to work at the Developmental center and knows Brother Dominguez very well he says. The Hunts live in Nelspruit. We see them less than I would like. But it is still nice to have them close. They give us cookies! That's nice! Haha! I guess it is pretty unique to serve around a senior couple. So I am grateful for this experience.

Third. Kruger. Kruger is known as the best wild animal park in S.A. I think. So I have heard! Haha! Anyway, my area is the area that gets to go there! Elder Wilkinson and I used to talk about going. But there was no realistic way we could have. We were five and a half hours away. But I have heard it is amazing. I will get to go! I keep looking forward to that!

There are some kind members in our branch. I hope to get to know them better. It is odd though. It feels like I am the only white person that these people have ever seen! (aside from Elder and Sister Hunt). The people in the roads will just stop and gawk at me with their eyes wide open! Haha! They all LOVE my hair! All of the little kids want to touch it! I love the little kids here. They are great! They make things easier! They are all fascinated by me!

We have some baptisms coming up, hopefully four that will get baptized on the eighteenth. That is always encouraging and exciting to look forward to!

There should be some pictures of KaNyamazane sent. Some selfies! Haha! And one of Elder Rako and I in our bakkie (truck). We have to drive a stick shift truck. If we didn't there would be no way we would be able to get around! It's like we are on a never ended safari! So many bumps and hills to climb!

Know that I am doing well. I was having a hard time when I first started emailing. But I have since calmed down. It is nice to look at the positives. Things will go by fast. Before I know it this transfer will be over. I mean, one out of six weeks is gone! And not to mention, there are only like ten more days and I will have been gone for four months! The first three months went by so fast, too fast. That's probably what made leaving so hard!

Just know that when you put your trust in the Lord, it will all be okay! I have learned that important lesson! I hope everyone at home will too! And remember:

"Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened!"

-Dr. Seuss.