Merry Christmas

hamba kunjani!  

Happy Christmas peeps!  This week has been super crazy!  This festive season is a mad house!  I love it so much. I had a crazy experience giving a blessing to a girl the other day that I don"t know if I am going to tell anyone.  But just know it was a crazy experience involving the pre-existence.  

We have been running around like crazy.  I baked like 100 cookies the other night and we've been giving them out to a bunch of peeps.  But just this weekend we had our ward Christmas party that was so much fun.  And then for Christmas eve we hung out at the senior couples house the HICKS.  And yes its the Hicks from Blackfoot.  They used to live in Poky.  But yeah Cam Hicks is coming next month so hopefully we get to see each other which we will. 

 I hear Pebble Crik is open today!! Everyone go shred those rocks and ruin your skis but have the best time of life.  

Anyways we played games last night and then went caroling and giving out candy.  We made a bunch of old people cry. It was sweet.  But today I've made three batches of my famous bread pudding.  Peaches and Cream,  banana chocolate, and apple cinnamon.  So yeah I'll have to make it when I get home. 

Anyways gotta go have fun!  I'll talk with you guys next week.  

much love!!

Almost Christmas

Almost merry christmas everyone!

So this week was super crazy!  Saturday was the worst because it was the 16th which is the day the party ended so there was parties all weekend.  We tried to schedule people for that day but they looked at us like we were crazy.  No one goes to work all the shops close down and there is music all day and all night and the streets are full!!  No one cares at all.  So yeah we didn't teach a single lesson that day.  We just tried to find people and then excepted our fate and went to a members house for coo drink and biscuits. 

So there is this less active guy whose name is Zolile.  His life is at the lowest of the low.  He takes care of his 95 year old grand dad with dementia.  He is embarrassed to go outside with him because everyone makes fun of him.  His family left him alone to take care of him like basically ditching him because they don't want to take care of the grandpa. So yeah he gets in fights with people because he loves his grandpa.  All he does is sit at home taking care of him.  So we are planning to bring him a Christmas this year.  I got the members to make some food and we will bring it to him sometime this week.  We will share some Christmas videos with him and just enjoy the season with him.  So hopefully this is a Christmas to remember.  

Another awesome thing.  There was a huge fire in the mall in town.  So there  was 80% off all stores!! It was insane but we were able to get some cool stuff for insane prices!  Merry Christmas right?

Okay well love you all and enjoy the snow!  I haven't seen a single cloud this week.

some pics from the christmas party and a huge beetle and basically just a insight on where im serving right now.

Crazy storm

Merry December peeps.

I hope everyone is enjoying the festive season because we are not!  haha the entire month of Dec. people just go crazy and get so drunk.  It is very dangerous but it is heating up down here so I am very jealous of the cold you guys are getting.  

This week was super nice!  It rained alot and we had a crazy storm.  There was the craziest lightning I've ever experienced.  Like everyone and over our heads just striking every second it felt  like!  I took some videos so hopefully you guys can see them.  Other than the storms we had powerful experiences with people.  This week was the first time in my life where I physically saw the spirit testify to a Mama while I was teaching. It was very cool and super hard to describe.  Other than that we have a ton of people on B date for Christmas eve and the 31st. And also the 7th.  So hopefully they don't fall through and I can finally have some baptisms.  This place is powerful and growing like crazy.  

Recently weve had a few soccer games going on.  We live right by a stadium by the way.  I hope to go there and see a game here.  But the streets are packed with people and its super fun becuase there is music everywhere!  So were always dancing with kids and I found myself in the middle of a dance circle this week so of course I started jamming. It was super fun and these people are the best people in the world. Even if they are wasted to a point where they can barely stand. 

Also we went over to a members house to eat lunch and somehow Trump got brought up and then everyone started roasting Trump.  haha poor Donald is getting hate all over the world.  But the food was nice. And they gave me a nice update on the NBA.  Sounds like the cavs are stacked.

anyways salahathle all you children. 

love ya fools

here is a pic of a Skambane.  It consists of bread, fries, ham, sausage, egg, archar, and cheese.  Its very unhealthy but this was my first and maybe my last one.

Bloemfontein

Dumela everyone!  So now I'm in the Province of Free state and the Zulus are gone!  Its only Sutho'

s now so I gotta learn another language. But this place is awesome.  All the missionaries in the mission want to come to Bloemfontein because it is so nice.  We live in the township in a flat complex.  The elders next door have weights and we go running every morning so that is super nice.  The rocklands area is very busy!  We are in a ward and have about 150 every week which I am not used to but its super nice!  

So my companion is Elder Nielsen from Bluffdale Utah.  He has been out 14 months and he is super into theater so he can be very dramatic at times but overall hes great.  He looks like Ellen Degenerous off the Ellen show.  Like super blonde hair.  Has a baby face.  He looks 12 basically.  But hes awesome.  

Okay so its December and its crazy dangerous this festive season!  Everyone just partys and drinks!  We knock on doors and they literally say its December go away.  So the work sucks this time of year.  And the other night a huge fight broke out right outside our flat.  This ma was holding a kid and got knocked down and then people starting kicking and punching and I was so close to running in on it but I didn't.  I was furious. I wanted to grab the baby and run.  Luckily a big ma ran in and grabbed the baby.  

So yeah there is a huge gang here called the Romans and it is horrible what they do!  So all I ask is just pray for these people to stay safe because it is gnarly here!!   My companion did not want to go to a dangerous place so he is always afraid to get out of the car.  

Anyways I was finally able to set my hammock up in our flat..  It was super nice and I missed it like crazy!  

Okay so the work here is crazy.  My comp has had 13 baptisms here.  Everyone is super nice and we have already like 14 new powerful people we are teaching.  So there is no doubt I will baptize here.  Also that big family from Stanger called  me the other night and I miss them like crazy!  My dying wish on mission is to go back to Stanger just to say goodbye to that family.  So they will be baptized all next week by Harper.

Peace and Blessings

Transferred again!

So I am getting transferred again and I'm not to happy about it.  The main reason why I'm not happy about is just because this big family  that we are teaching is going to be baptized on Dec. 10th and 4 of them want me to baptize them and the other 4 want me to confirm.  So yeah I won't be able to do that and I don't when I will ever meet a family as big and as powerful as this one.  

So this next area will be my 4th area that I will be in.  Remember I am only 5 months on mission. Anyways this new area is 12 hour drive clear out into the desert of Africa!  It's a township called Rocklands in the city of Blomfontein.  The city is very nice and I have  actually always wanted to go to Blomfontein.  It will still be hot of course but at least it will be dry!   But then I wont get to see any green for awhile... aww.  My new companion is Elder Neilsen and I have no idea who he is so I will write about him next week.  So yeah I am very sad to leave Harper.   I really thought I was going to get to kill him but I guess not. (to kill a companion means that the companion will be going home and that he will be in his last transfer) This was a big surprise for both of us and we tried to talk to President about it but he said its not for us its for our companions we will be getting.  

Anyways glad you guys all chowed down like crazy.  Have a jolly good time jumping into December but oh wait there is no snow so that sucks.  But I heard the ghee has the most snow in the nation? True or nah?  Everyone go skiing and if you don't ski then learn how.  Send videos and pics too so I can dream about skiing.  I miss skiing.  

Live it up, Love it down!

the big family sitting in chairs is the family we are baptizing and the little boy on the far right is insane! We call him Bunka. 

But the ma of the family only has 3 kids which are in the pic but the others she just takes them in and takes care of them.  Like the one girl who looks older sitting down on the right next to Bunka. The ma took her in when she was 13 and pregnant.  Some of the kids mother is living in America but left her kids in South Africa so the ma just takes care of them.  She is amazing.

Hello from Down under, in Africa

The V family they are teaching 

Hello from down under!  howzit to everyone?

This week went by super fast.  It rained and rained and then got super hot so its brutally humid outside.   Has it snowing in Poky yet?  I heard the ghee is opening soon!  Go shred!  So the other day we were walking to the Vilakasi home and someone was playing space oddity and it made my day.  THIS IS GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR TOM.  

Anyways this family is so dope guys.  Like they are the most prepared people ever and we put them on B date for December 10th.  There is a total of 8 or 7 and a few of them are super down but a few are a little edgy about it.  It will come though.  But we have finished teaching them everything so now we just go over and play games and read with them.    They all are reading the Book of Mormon and not understanding any of it but its fine because it took me like 10 years to begin to understand it. But I think I'm just weird or something because every time I read or even just sitting at church I think about skate boarding or skiing.  I have to slap myself.  

Other than teaching this family nothing has really happened.  Everyone we try and talk to run away from us.  And sometimes literally run away from us.  But its mango season and there is a mango tree on every corner so I eat so many a day its the best. 

Okay so we have this member, brother B.  He's an Indian guy who does magic tricks and is crazy.  We went over there the other night to eat and he wanted to argue about how we need to serve people not Jesus and how praying doesn't solve crime.  The Samoan Elder that is with us just gets super mad.  Its kind of scary.  But his wife makes super nice chicken curry. 

Okay well this is ground control to group email and y'all have a fantastic time stuffing your faces with lots of turkey and pie and I'll be eating peanut butter knocking on doors.

Autographs

How is everyone?  good good. 

Okay so this week it rained for a few days and we don't have a car so we were soaked to the bone!  But we have had some great experiences this week!  First I will talk about living and comp!  

So we are living in a 2 man flat with 4 guys so its a tight squeeze having only one bathroom. Its a good thing I like sleeping on the ground cuz, well were sleeping on the ground.  Its a newer flat though so its clean and up to date I guess you could say.  We got broken into the other night though while we were sleeping.  Nothing of mine was taken though. So we got some new locks and everything is good.  

So my companion is a master at games and the electric guitar.  He has one out here and he can play Knights of Sadonia.  If anyone doesn't know that song please go look it up so you can understand this talent this kid has.  But the other two elders are Elder Nuusa from Utah.  He is a 300lb Samoan kid so its super fun to see him get in a car. And then there is Elder Kamara from Sir Leon who is the funniest person I have ever met. 

So we have this family  we are teaching.  A huge family and they are in love with the gospel and us.  They have us over every day.  We play games and then teach.  But this family is powerful and the Ma really wants to join the church.  All of them know its true and have received their answers!  So we will be baptizing them soon!  

Anyways have fun in America.

So about the Autograph thing.  So here in Stanger there is like 6 high schools.  Yeah no one obeys the law of chastity. And every day when were walking around we get called out and waved to because were white.  And we had a group of kids come up and want autographs so we signed restoration pamphlets and gave them to them. Told them to read and pray and to call us. so hopefully they will. Angazi

laterz

PICS

Zone conference - met up with some Elders from the MTC 

Elder Kamara from Sir Leon

His mission 'brother' Elder Dooley