Elder Turner McKay Richards

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!