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| A cool soccer ball in Bloem. |
Date: November 16, 2015
Area: Amanzimtoti, South Africa
Companion: Elder Sibeko
Week 21
These were the missionary predictions of what would happen for transfers that live in Kimberly.
Well I didn't get email last week because of transfers. transfers are when you get sent to a new area in the mission. I was serving in Kimberley which is in the middle of south Africa and now I am in Amanzimtoti, Toti for short. It's south of Durban on the coast. our boarding has a beautiful view of the ocean so that's pretty tight!
It was weird leaving Kimberley there were some family's that I really miss. I left home to come on mission and Kimberley became my new home and had several ma's and great families that I just loved! but the work goes on and I am called to the hills of Toti to spread the good news!!!!
My new companion is Elder Sibeko, he is Xhosa (the X makes a click noise with the the tongue placed at the back of the maulers (is that what the back teeth are called?). He is 26 years old just like my last companion and is 20 months on mission so he is almost home! He loves to work and work hard which is awesome and rare to see in a missionaries so close to the end of his mission. This transfer will be 5 weeks and then the one after will be 7.
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| Saying good bye to some friends in Bloem. Elder Ikube, Chuma, Mashava, and Katimbo |
So a little bit about Toti. the word Amanzim means weather, and Toti means sweet so when the Zulu King Shaka came to this place and tasted to water he exclaimed Amanzimtoti saying that the water her was sweet to the taste. They speak Zulu here a lot so I am trying to learn, the only sentences I can remember is greeting people, goodbye, I love my girlfriend, nice to see you and see you later, sorry, thank you, my name is, what is your name?, and other stuff along those lines, I hope to pick up the language because you meet quite a lot of people who cant speak English.
Toti is full of hills, its crazy green and beautiful! it reminds me of the pictures my brother in Guatemala has sent. our car is broken so this week we walked baba! we walked and walked and walked as the famous primary song sings. I don't know how many miles but we would walk an hour to an appointment going up these crazy hills that are just shy of being called mountains and then walk an hour back to another so its been hectic but good for my health. Always a bright side.
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| This is looking out my window. |
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| Just beautiful from my flat |
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| You can look but you cannot touch! |
Found a giant cockroach in our boarding around 11 at night, we were up till about 12 I think trying to catch it. Me and Elder Dean spent our time that night on the hunt to capture and kill this pest and we would not rest until our mission was complete, after long minutes of struggle, disappointment, close calls and attacks and defense we finally won the battle against the mighty roach and were able to pronounce victory across the lands of our boarding! At one point the roach climb on the sealing and fell right on Elder Dean and started crawling around him, needless to say we screamed like school girls, um I mean he did... ya I was there standing manly with my mop in hand that I was using as a spear. haha. We eventually caught it and put it in Tupperware and poured bleach in it. It died within a minute and then within the next 48 hours the acidic bleach disintegrated all of the roach. There was nothing left, quite cool actually. We left it in the middle of the room so we could watch it die.
I took a bus ride on Monday night at 8 and arrived the next morning at 5:30, went around the area and then started teaching. I was exhausted and by the time we got home I was finished! Its also humid hear, we have been blessed with some rainy weather because its kept the humidity down because the sun isn't out and its cooler. It has been rough walking everyday in the rain, we get to appointments just dripping with water but its better than dripping with sweat?
The people here have seemed to be very nice and especially when I try and fail to speak Zulu to them, they like that a lot. It really shows your love for the people just trying to immerse yourself in their culture instead of bringing in your own.
Didn't get the privilege yet of trying chicken head or feet but hopefully soon. We do see monkeys in the street every now and again.
There are ship containers everywhere converted into tuck shops where you can buy candy or they maybe make it a hair salon or a drives ed place.
We have had some good lessons and found a couple new people to teach so we will see how things go, I am excited for this new area and to really get to work.
Some mission buddies.
I forgot to mention about the baptism I had. So my last Sunday in Kimberley I had the amazing opportunity to baptize Sis Philda Williams. We have been teaching her for only a month or two but she has really been prepared for us. She was awesome to teach. When the day of baptism came the water was really low which made it quite difficult to actually put her in the water but it all turned out fine. The font was full but but the plug was not tight and we didn't know so when we went in after church to do the baptism we found the water just to my knees. haha I had to leave her in the water a bit long because her jump suit filled with air and didn't want to go all the way down. It is such an amazing experience to see someone make so many changes in their life to follow the example that Christ gave us. I am truly blessed to be able to see these changes take place in the hearts of so many people. We get rejected by a lot of people but the few, the elect, make it all worth it!!!
Check out some hair pictures!
My ponderize this week was Alma 37:6
It talks about how you may think it is foolish that by small and simple things are great things brought to pas, but in many instances small means confounds the wise. I later after studying and thinking replaced the words small with the words Book of Mormon. it reads something like this. (off of memory so if there are any discrepancy please forgive)
"You may think it is foolishness in me, but behold by the book of Mormon and simple things are great things brought to pass, and in many instances does the book of Mormon confound the wise. well compared to the bible the book of Mormon is a relatively small and simple thing. Yet it does confound the wise scholars and priest. yet simple for a child to understand, truly divine!!!
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| My brother Elder Adams |
Ngiya Xolisa (sorry) I wasn't more descriptive on whats been going on, its just been hectic haha. sizoku bona ntambama (spelling may be wrong but it means ill see you later this afternoon. but not true, I just don't know how to say in the future so I say this instead haha)
Ngubani igama lakho (N-gu-bon-E e-gah-mah la-koo) what is your name?
Anyways Zulu is cool and I love the clicks, they call white people qoqe whis is just two clicks and awesome haha.
Answers to some questions from mom:
Um I have ripped two of my shirts already haha but I am getting them sewn up, they wont look all to nice but they get the job done which is all I need. One ripped on the sleeve it got caught on the door handle and another ripped in the back as I left a members house and a wire from the gate caught it. My shoes seem pretty good, I am going to start polishing them more oft to try and keep the leather happy.
What have been the biggest challenges thus far in your mission? The biggest challenge is actually getting investigators to come to church, they will progress and keep commitments and will really feel the spirit and wont show up which is sad but work is work.
We get to do service just about every week, usually making gardens or weeding, its a bit different than back home, how you make gardens here is you use a pitch fork like thing and pull up the ground or if there are plants already
you pull up the ground around it and I guess it helps it grow. Weeding you get a shovel and you slice under the roots and then you rake them up, its pretty labor intensive though and there is usually a ton of weeds, I climbed on top of a house one day and helped nail the roof down, we do painting pretty often as well. Now that I am in a new area I don't know how service goes this side so we will find out!
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| The Rand |
In Kimberley we were staying in like an apartment attached to the main house where some Afrikaners (white people) lived and they were our land lords. Now in Toti we live in a flat so just a big apartment building.
My sleeping in Kimberley wasn't to bad the bed was nice and I had extra pillows for my back problems but I don't have pillows here so my back is starting to act up but we have been walking a lot so I have been exhausted every day which causes me to sleep well.
For breakfast I will eat maybe eggs and toast or cereal, sometimes I eat yogurt and sometimes french toast but not often. I also have started eating an apple in the morning to try and be healthy.
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| FOOD |
Where do you email? Seems like you have a lot of time each week? I have been lucky in Kimberley we email in the chapel so it doesn't cost and same with in Toti so that's really cool. We usually get about two hours.
How are the people different there then in Kimberly? The people are very different because they are Zulu people so their culture is not the same at all compared to the Stwanna people. The white people here are usually English instead of Afrikans like in Kimberley but they are amazing people and I love trying to get into the language.
It seems like there are a lot older missionaries there. Is that true or have you just been paired with the exceptions? If they are older why is that? Most African missionaries are in their twenties or twenty when they leave. I think its because of trying to finish their highschool before mission and most people don't graduate when they are 18 they have to redo a couple years. There are also a lot of converts, but most missionaries are probably 20 I have gotten the two oldest in the entire mission. A little odd but good experience I guess :)
What are he languages spoken in new area? I am in the Kwal Zulu Natal so its only Zulu and English, you find a lot of people who don't speak English especially the older ones.
How are the houses? Do you go into any tribal areas? The houses arn't that bad here, I work in town which is pretty nice and township isn't too bad but there are shacks and we do teach in some very small houses. There isn't much of what you would picture tribe wise through anywhere is south Africa, they do have their traditions and a lot of them worship their ancestors. They believe that your ancestors carry the message to God on your behalf. So we meet them a lot this side.
Is it hard being so close to the water and not being able to go in it? I do want to go surfing and canoeing and deep sea fishing but can't which does kind of suck haha.
Pictures of my new apartment. MOM NOTE: Looks like the whole thing could use a good cleaning!
Love you all
Elder North
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