Elder Turner McKay Richards

June 9th

Let me see. I will try to answer all questions first, and then talk about the week. So first. Gospel Conversations have to be with someone new. It can turn into a lesson, but a regular lesson with a person you have already taught before doesn't count. So like tracting, that is gospel conversations. I hope that sheds a little more light on that subject.

I think Elder Rako thinks some of the things that I think are funny are funny. But some things he doesn't think are funny. I guess that is one of the results of growing up in such a different way of life! And that is what makes it hard sometimes. Even our humor doesn't match up.

American names. Yes. But they are basically just American words, not names! Haha! Like the people named Goodwill, Surprise, Lulu, Princess, Prince, etc. Those are their American names. Then they all have African names as well. Like Goodwill's name is Bongani. Pretty weird. Like some of the names here are really odd. Well the American names. Like Patience, Peace, Service, etc. Yeah. That is what they consider names. I guess TIA (this is Africa).

Johannesburg was great! The drive was LONG. It's like driving to St. George. It's about four and a half hours. We went to a China mall, the Distribution Center, and the Sandton City Mall. The Sandton mall is HUGE! Like I am pretty sure it goes on forever. It was SUPER nice. Anyway. Then we slept at the mission home. Well. Basically I laid in a bed all night at the mission home. Not much sleeping happened. Zone Conference was great. As you know, President Omer and his wife are leaving. On the 29th? Maybe the 30th. Anyway, so this was the last time. It was great to be there. I love going to Zone Conferences. They are always great motivators. It was also nice to see people. Elder Wilkinson was there. I talked to him for a while. Good to get to catch up with him. I miss him. I also got to see Elder Rushton, one of my two MTC companions. And Elder Roybal from the MTC as well. We got to talk for a while it was nice. I also saw all of the Elders in my last district. That was nice.

Now here is the downer about Zone Conference. So we first, driving back down. Being with the other Elders was nice, but then leaving back to my own corner of hell kind of sucked. But anyway. We stopped at a McDonald's to go to the bathroom. While we were inside, someone broke into our car and stole some stuff! They took three backpacks. Mine, Elder Rako's and Elder Brackett's. In mine I had quite a few things. First, the backpack, also I lost a new pair of shoes I had bought like three days earlier, my suit pants, a long sleeved white shirt, the tie dad got me from Italy, socks, one of my t-shirts, my Under Armour shorts, my Nike sandals, and all of my toiletries. Which consisted of toothpaste, toothbrush, razor, shaving cream, gel, deodorant, and the cologne that Taylor got me for Christmas. You could say I was/am pretty upset. So now I have had to try and replace everything. That is why you will notice that there has been a decrease in my account. Because there is not enough money allotted to us each month to replace those things! The hardest will be my suit pants. Because they are kind of a weird color. And they will probably be kind of expensive to replace. I also want to replace the sandals fairly quickly, because walking around our flat bare foot pretty much makes me want to vomit. Oh, I also lost a watch.

Transfers. Nothing is happening to Elder Rako and I. We are still together in our own little cozy corner of Hell. I honestly wasn't expecting anything to happen. But all of the sudden, a couple of days before the transfer news came (news comes on Saturday night before the Tuesday transfer) Elder Brackett and Elder Rako decided that Rako had a large chance of leaving. They talked about it so much, that I kind of started to believe it. But then when transfer news came, Elder Rako and I are staying together. Anyway. We are driving down to Johannesburg today with Elder Brackett and Elder Mukasa because Mukasa is leaving. So we will sleep at the mission home tonight and then transfers will happen tomorrow. It will be nice to get to see everyone again.

Alright. I hope that I answered all of the questions, and that I answered them thoroughly enough.

So let's start with this week. So Tuesday was pretty uneventful. Didn't really do very much. Then Wednesday we went to transfers. Drove around Johannesburg, and did all of those things that I mentioned before. Then Thursday was Zone Conference. Again, see above stories about Zone Conference. Oh! Except there was something sad on my end as well. So Elder Wilkinson told me that a guy in Vereeniging died. His name is Casper. He owned a restaurant called Bunnies Bite. Anyway. He was pretty inactive because he worked every Sunday at the Restaurant. But for years he has been feeding the missionaries for free every Friday after district meeting. Anyway. The last week we went, he wasn't feeling well. So he asked for a blessing. Turns out a couple days after, he died. I was the one that gave the blessing and I remembered a kind of odd feeling. Like he wasn't going to get better. But I didn't really think much of it, because the feeling was faint. Anyway it was an odd thing to find out that the last blessing I gave was to someone that died very soon after. I didn't really know how to feel. Oh, I also got my package from Reggie. Fun to get those. I am sure that I will be getting yours fairly soon!

So. Friday was pretty uneventful as well. We went to the mall after district meeting. Mostly to start replacing things that were stolen from us. Saturday we went to Seminary. The Hunts teach seminary and like us to come. So we can help, and then we get to know the kids better. It is always fun to go and be around them! And I have been mentally preparing myself, because the Hunts are leaving in August, and they don't know if there will be a senior couple to replace them. So if there isn't, the missionaries will be teaching seminary. Of course, the one job that I always said I would never do! Haha! But it would actually be a pretty fun and interesting experience.

Saturday night we went to this family's house. Their kids are members. The mom wants to be, but she and the husband aren't actually married. Here you have to pay Lebola. Which basically the husband has to pay the wife's family a LOT of money. So in the end, people just move in and start a family with out paying lebola. But she can't be baptized if they aren't legally married. Anyway, they like to feed us. And the wife, Sonia is a really good cook. But they eat a lot of fish. Which I like. Apparently it is Angel fish that I have eaten there. And basically, I don't think that they bones all get cleaned out and the skin stays on. That is how fish is eaten here. Yeah. And chicken actually. Africans eat chicken bones. It is a very different experience at KFC here than it is at home! Haha! Anyway. This week they gave us this fish that had like everything on still. Head, tail, skin. yeah. Luckily, I only at the angel fish, which is breaded and nice.

Sunday was nice. We had the confirmations. They were kind of odd though. Our branch is really different! Haha! Elder Hunt is the Second Counselor and is there to help guide the ward a bit!

Today should be interesting. A lot more driving. Back down to Johannesburg. It should be fun to see everyone. We have a farewell lunch for Elder Mukasa at the Hunt's. Which is exciting. Because Sister Hunt is a really good cook!

Some last news. Elder Rako's family situation is not very good at the moment. His dad lost his job, and his mom has been really sick, and hasn't been getting better. I know we aren't supposed to do this. But we are going to fast for his family this Wednesday. And for him. He doesn't know if he should go home or not. But anyway. His situation is sad. I feel so sad that he doesn't have much to go back to. Especially since I have such a great situation to go back to. So if you or dad feel like it, you could fast with us on Wednesday. I know that is kind of a hard thing for me to ask you. You don't have to. But I don't know what else to do to help him. I feel so helpless.

Anyway. I love you so much and miss you like crazy. Thank you for all that you do. I love you!