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| African headdress |
Date: November 21, 2016
Area: Richards Bay, South Africa
Companion: Elder Thorsen
We met a family about a week ago and have started teaching them, this week we had a very touching moment as we sat with a women named Ntombi Futhi. She had just recently been involved in a big traffic accident where many lives where lost and she lost part of the mobility of her hand. She shared with us the pain and trouble she went through and her feeling of being lost and without purpose. We came to the lesson ready to teach her about the restoration and then very quickly found that the message she needed was the plan of salvation. We then decided to proceed with lesson two. As we began we again were shown that it was not the time yet. We sat and listened, and listened some more, then testified of the love of Christ. We followed that pattern the remainder of our meeting. We were able to feel the spirit guide us in how we should bring what she was saying to what God wanted her to know. She was able to start seeing the big picture of Gods plan for her. We sang a song with her and were able to give her a blessing. The spirit was strong and we all felt it. We left that appointment simply buzzing. the feeling didn't go away for the rest of the night. It's moments like that, that make me love being a missionary more than anything else. These really are the best two years!
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| Elder's Harper, Reed, Thorsen, Batemen, and MEEEE |
After leaving Ntombi Futhi's home we didn't have anymore appointments and we were trying to think what to do. It was dark and late so we couldn't go to a random peoples houses, we just started driving when we got a call from the Vezi family. She asked if we could come over and give her daughter a blessing. She was having some serious pains that have gotten worse and worse over the past few weeks. The doctors can't seem to find a cause. We of course were honored at the opportunity to give a priesthood blessing.
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| This is Brother Chiliza |
We were able to meet with Londeka again this week. Londeka or Londi for short is a young girl I have been meeting with for a while now. She has been off and on when it comes to being serious about our discussions. We went to go see her this week and her whole family was present. Her father is a reverend at another church and we have had short occasions to pass some vesres by but this was great chance to teach a discussion with him and his family. I really hope he will read and pray sincerely about the book of Mormon so that he gets a testimony, he has a bakkie and would be able to bring a lot of people to church. It was a pretty good, and bold lesson that we taught about the true church, and the authority of God being present today in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
We are trying to ingrain our purpose of inviting ALL to come unto Christ by looking for opportunities to speak everywhere, do service for everyone and to get out of our comfort bubble. Even when we are in a hurry, we can stop and share a brief lesson with those by standards or passing by. It's amazing how you really can just talk to everyone. It's a great feeling to do so as well.
Beautiful scenery around Richards Bay.
We are currently in the process of starting a relationship with a youth center in the Mzingazi Township. This youth center hosts a lot of kids and is a non profit organization all headed and managed by one incredible woman. We will hopefully begin teaching the youth their next week and helping them gain a perspective of the value of a morally clean and centered life. Elder Thorsen and I were able to go to the center this week to do some service for a little bit. We helped make and clean a garden, and we will be going back to finish the job. After that we shared a story with about 40 little kids around the ages of 3 or 5, they dont speak english but it was still fun.
I am thankful for my new companion Elder Thorsen, he has been awesome. This week we were able to work out our teaching some more as we learn more about each other and build in unity. He has always been a missionary who I respect and admire a lot and now I am thankful that I get to learn from him. He loves the scriptures and loves to really have meaningful study, boy do I need that! We have had some amazing companionship studies together where we have learned so much and felt the spirit teach us. We are also trying to learn the first lesson in Zulu so that we can teach more people, plus it would be pretty rad. He is such a loving and charitable companion and I look forward to our time together.
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| Some super fantastic bunny chow! |
We are heading down to Durban tonight to go to MLC tomorrow. We are stoked to be able to go for some extra training. Heaven knows I need all the help I can get. It is always good to be around the mission president, he is so energetic and loves to work hard and always seems to boost my spirit when I am around him.
We have also started running in the mornings, most of my mission I havn't exercised... like at all... I am so out of shape it is not even funny.... it just hurts.... and now I am always sore..... getting in shape sucks...... eish.....
haha We run to the beach and run down the peir every morning and then on our way to our boarding we have to run up this hill that loves to kill me every time so that sucks but at the same time its good. I just dont know how I feel about working out anymore. we are trying to find a place where we can play squash, almost like racquetball, but havn't had any luck yet :(
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| I found a beanie in the church, don't I look fly! |
We got to celebrate Thanksgiving this week which is awesome. Last year I didnt even know it was Thanksgiving until I got home that night and saw other missionaries eating chicken because it was the closest thing they could get to turky. We went over to the Colton family, american family but they live in SA working for Rio Tinto. They were celebrating thanksgiving becasue they would be out of town the next week. That was a tender mercy for sure! cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie! oh my days and nights! It was fantastic.
Friday was a super rough day, we got fed three times... I wanted to die.... Usually we don't get fed but I dont know what happened this week all of the sudden people wanted us to get fat. On Friday we went to a less active members house and she gave us food. it was nice, then we went to a braai with the missionaries in Nseleni with one of their new investigators (Elder Bateman, and Reed) and we stuffed ourselves with some fantastic meat, borewores, mutton steak. not to mention the sweet corn, potato salad, and curry beans! We were stuffed. then we headed to our last appointment of the night with a member who heaped a mound of pasta and chicken our our plates. All of these were back to back and in that last appointment Elder Thorsen and I exchanged glances of impending doom and pain as we chowed. I didn't feel like eating for the rest of my life. This was on Friday and I still don't have an apatite to eat any food as of today Monday.
One other awesome thing we have been doing a lot this week is singing. We sing in most of our lessons now which is awesome. Singing hymns is an awesome way to invite the spirit in a very strong way. Although we may not be the best singers it's still a wonderful experience every time. The cool thing is that most of the Zulu people know the song Come Come Ye Saints because a popular radio station Ukhozi fm had a dj who would play the Motab choir singing come come ye saints all the time. This was years ago and the presenter who did this has since died, the station still from midnight till like 3 they play it on Sunday. The church actually brought the crew to utah and gave them a tour https://www.youtube.com/
I love you all so bad!!!!
Elder North
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