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| At the Northern Cape boarder leaving the free states and heading back to Kimberly |
Area: Kimberly, South Africa
Companion: Elder Jena
Week 9
Wow how crazy is life? To all my friends and the people my age back home, isnt this insane!? in two short months most of us have either gone on mission, or are about to leave on a mission. Have gone to college, or about to leave to college. That means most of us have or will be soon moving out of our parents house and be on our own. Crazy how fast time flies and how old we feel and how much it sucks to get old and lose your friends and say good bye. One thing I've come to notice though is I'm so happy! Life is tuff, but life is good! This critical time in our lives is to either go on mission, to go to school or to even go and start working is a pivotal point in our lives that will set up the rest of our lives! Sure saying good bye really sucks but the good far out weighs the bad. I have learned so much in these two short months of being on mission. I've learned a whole heck of a lot about who I really am, what I believe, what I stand for, what my goals in life are and so much more. I love being on a mission and just serving, Your calling is to SERVE and that's whats important, not if you baptize anyone or this or that but if you went out and served the people and loved them with all your might, mind, and strength! So all you going through these major changes in our lives.... of your friends leaving, look at change as a thing to help you grow. "the more things change, the more they stay the same." I know that God has a plan for all of us, Its not easy, and sometimes not even fun. I can promise you its worth it. That this time in our lives is for us to learn and grow far more than we could have ever done back in our little circle of living. Where ever you are, on mission, at school, at home or at work. Go and do. Go and do whatever you can and learn and laugh and grow!
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| Elder Ikube left also. He was our Zone Leader but just got transferred and is heading to Lesotho. I had the chance to teach with him during exchanges and he is super powerful and I look up to him a lot. |
This week has been an interesting one. It was the end of transfers (transfers are every six weeks) and Elder Agyeman left. We got a new Elder, his name is Elder Razafindrakoto. He is from Madagascar and a way cool dude! He speaks Malagasy and French and isn't very good at English, but he is super funny!
The week in terms of work was hard because we were in Bloemfontein for two days and didn't get to work with any of our investigators but all is well. We got to meet up with Deane. Those who don't remember, Deane is a young guy prob around his late 20's and plays rugby. He also smokes a ridiculous amount. He is an awesome guy who loves to learn more about the gospel. Our lessons with him just seem to click and he understands. It had been over a month since the last time we saw him because he got a new phone and we couldn't contact him. We thought we would have to reteach and review but he had been studying the material we gave him with enthusiasm and it was such a shock to see his desire to know more. Sadly he didnt come to church though ;/
We did some service and painted a room for our investigator Erica. She belongs to a church called Salvation Army and is the equivalent of a primary president in her church. She seems to know what we are teaching is true but it will be hard for her to leave her current church.
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| me and Elder Done he played for Alta and goes home in two transfers, I look up to him a lot, he is way cool and a great missionary. |
The best part of this week was while in Bloem I got mail! A whole lot of it in fact. I got mail from aunt Amy, Gogo marry x3, Haiyx4, Abby and Emily Skolmoski x2, Mahx3, Sister White, Karoline, and President Ghiz. I also received my greenie package which had many letters from friends and family it was so great to hear from so many people. The mail range from being sent on June 17th to July 29th. So mail this side is weird it either takes 3 weeks or 2 months maybe more haha. I love getting mail and I promise to write back those who write me. Mail is so much better than an email too! and it makes all the other missionaries jealous.
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| The senior couple were joking saying they think I stole the whole missions mail. |
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| Letter from Grandma Pam |
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| From all my friends and family |
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| Yay for mail and being green because you get extra mail and sweets! You call soda a cool drink and we call candy sweets this side. |
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| Love me some mail |
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| Elder Jena didn't get any mail so he wanted to steal some of mine. |
So there is a pizza place called Scooters this side but it recently got bought out by Dominos. I heard about it in the MTC but this week they all got changed to Dominos and it made me so happy to see it I almost cried, the pizza taste the exact same too!!!! It's amazing.
So the temperature was super cold for a while but now for the past two, three weeks its been getting hot and now its getting really hot and I'm starting to sweat. Summer is going to be a beast. Its like the tell me though "you'r in Africa" that is most peoples response to anything. I may say, eish my back hurts. The reply would be well "you are in Africa now, pain is 10x worse" haha
I always get people who meet me saying oh your Elder North from the North! They always laugh so I laugh with them like it Isn't the 83rd time I've heard it haha .
Here are some pictures of my boarding.
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| Elder Jena and my bedroom. |
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| Front door |
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| Kitchen and study area |
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| from laundry to the bathroom |
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| kitchen |
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| laundry room |
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| Living room |
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| Study area |
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| Typical male bathroom (at least the TP is on right) |
Some quote I liked this week are...
"We become more substantive as we serve others - indeed it is easier to find ourselves because there is so much more of us to find."
"A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying" if we dont try we are latter day sinners, if we dont persevere we are latter day quitters.
"When we put God first all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives."
"Being a latter day saint is a way of life, something 7 days a week."
"Who does Gods work will get Gods Pay"
"The great test of life is obedience to God
The great task of life is to learn the will of God and then do it
The great commandment of life is "thou shalt love the lord thy God with all thy hear, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength."
I love you all and miss you dearly but I'm enjoying most of my time here haha. It's hard but I can already see that it is worth it.
Please also write me!
Romans 8:28 "All things shall work together for good to them that love God"
If you want a good read, start in 3 Nephi chapter 10 and continue through chapter 11
Love
Elder North
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| Exploring the boarding hoping to find buried treasure but we came up empty handed :/ |
WRITE HIM AT
Elder Mikel North
South Africa Durban Mission
PO Box 1741
Wandsbeck 3631
South Africa
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