We had a tornado and buildings were destroyed

The biggest news this week was we had a baptism!!! YAY! So Durrity got baptised!

Which is amazing. He's really powerful, several people have said so already, and it was amazing to witness him being baptized! 

I was so glad, and I think that this has

made a change in his life! We had a couple of disasters he he. The first one is that the father almost ruined it. WE were visiting him and the father was there (he isn't usually around) but he doesn't like churches, and when he heard he was being baptized he started to argue that he wanted him baptized into the Catholic church. But thankfully his mother, who we get along really well with, defended him and said that he was old enough to make his own decisions.


The other was that the tap for the font doesn't work properly. Well it does, it's just that the water heater for it must have a very small capacity because it got about 1/4 or 1/3 full until the water slowed down to a dribble! But no fear, we got the fire hose to fill up the rest! It just meant that the water was kinda cold!

We did a service project on Saturday! We went to this center for girls (I think it was kinda like a foster home) and we helped them with some gardening that needed doing! All those years at the allotment paid off :P Anyway we were there for like 2 or 3 hours, doing all this gardening, there was quite a few of us there. It was really good to give some service and I really enjoyed it. Even though I was fasting that day :') Something that came to my mind was like what happened back home. When we did service (beach clean) afterward we'd come home, maybe take a shower, have lunch and then relax for the rest of the day. But as a missionary you can't, you have to go out and keep working! But it was okay.


The main reason that this week has been so long is because I'm learning how to get along with Elder Lino. He likes to be very tidy, so a little clash there between our personalities, but it's okay, nothing major. I have learned a lot of patience so far. Elder Lino is a hard worker and is very dedicated. So in reality, it's all okay, I think it prepares me for life and you need to learn to get along with everyone so yeah :)

Another one of our investigators, Brother Rams, who is a retired scientist, after watching the DVD: Families are forever, said that he wanted to get back with his ex-wife and be baptized together! Which is amazing, and it was wonderful to see that the gospel can unite families!

On Sunday we went to this appointment, now this was another miracle, because when we made the appointment, he was kinda drunk and so I doubted if he would be there. To my great surprise, he was, with his wife and their 1-year-old son! It was amazing, although the lesson was kinda difficult because they said they were born again Christians and they were not interested in being converted (didn't deter us) it was still a good experience!

So this week as well, something that has never happened before, happened. There was a tornado in  South Africa. Where? Pretoria, and it worked it's way down to Tembisa, which is maybe 10 miles or so away from us, so close! In fact, Elder Samuel was in that area, and he get's a call from the APs, they ask him that apparently there is a tornado in Tembisa, to which he replies: "yeah there is, I'm looking at it!" he he he, He is funny, anyway they told him to get out! Miraculously as well, no one died, one of our members was working in a KFC there which was destroyed by the tornado! But it turned out okay because she's been transferred to the KFC here in Mayibuye which is very convenient for her!

I met a guy who claimed that he loved Satan, and he also had 6 fingers! Which is the second person I've met with 6 fingers! The first is the baby of an investigator. With both of them there is in a sense an extra finger coming out from the joint of their thumb.

An investigator came to church by himself for the first time since I've been here, and we haven't seen him in like a month! it was amazing so I was really happy at that!

Something that I've realized I'm missing is simply the ability to casually go into a shop and just sit down and have lunch or buy some chocolate. Mission is always go go go and sometimes I kinda long to just sit down, have a drink and read the paper. But I remind myself that this is 2 years I will never get back and it is amazing.

I've learned a lot about not arguing with people because you never get anywhere like that. I can apply this in so many situations on mission, investigators, companions, leaders, people at church etc.

Love Jack

Just be careful around the clerk

Ah, what an interesting week, I will have to try and remember everything that has happened! It feels not only fast but it also feels like last Tuesday was months away! Ah, it's kinda weird!

Annyyywayyyy, so the first thing that happened was that on Monday we went down to the mission office and boom, no one there, we actually got there kinda late so all the normal missionaries had gone and the MTC missionaries had come out for sports.

Then on Tuesday we had the FIT (Finding investigators Team) Elders come for just an hour and went on a split with us to find some people. We talked to like 36 people in total and I had some really good conversations. I enjoyed contacting. It was hard at first (when I first started trying hard 3 months ago) but as soon as I start talking it just flows naturally, the promise being fulfilled in D&C! So it was good. We also met this guy, I can't remember his name, but he was from the DRC (Congo) and he was just such a sweet guy. Super nice, really humble, and working as a bouncer at a betting place! He'd seen the church before and wanted to know more, so we passed on his number to the missionaries who live in his area.

Another amazing experience was on Sunday. After church we were talking to some people, just mingling and someone calls us over because there was an investigator who wanted to meet the missionaries. I was confused because for us we only had 1 investigator at church :/ so we went over. His name was Thabo, he was a coach for the Mamelodi Sundowns (a football team in the PSL, a bit like the Premier league back home, so a major team) and said that he'd met the missionaries in Nelspruit (4 hours away!) and saw the church and wanted to know more! He had one of our "Blue Books" and found it interesting! I was amazed, somebody actually came to church by themselves!! So that was awesome!

A not so good thing happened on Sunday. It seems like something always goes wrong on Sunday. First off our lunch appointment canceled (that wasn't so bad :') )
But the another thing was that while we were trying to find some baptismal records with the ward clerk I upset him, I was waiting for him to come back and when he appeared in the doorway, I motioned for him to come over with my index finger, and he really didn't like that, in fact I was holding my name tag in my hand and he slapped it out of my hand and it bounced across the room... 
Now I'd been praying a couple of days ago on how to improve as a missionary and here came my answer. I realized that sometimes I was a little too friendly/relaxed sometimes around members.
But I also noticed something else as well, a change inside me. Instead of getting angry I looked at myself and (thankfully) realized that I had been in the wrong, so I was able to apologize to him there before we left the church, and he didn't appear to show any grudge against me.
So I'd apologized but I also felt bad for most of the day, but this morning in studies I read a bit more about the atonement and the Comforter, and because of the situation which happened I was able to learn something new.
So all in all, while I made a mistake, I learned a lot from it, and I was able to apologize to him, and learned how to avoid it in the future, so a really interesting experience that has been for my good.
I feel kinda weird like I was completely surprised by his reaction, most of the members here like to smile and joke, one of them Bro. Mogalaka, he often looks serious but is actually joking, so this took me by surprise, but I learned a lot from it. So yeah :3 Just be careful around the clerk.

On Friday we also had exchanges with the Zone Leaders because Durrity is getting baptized next week!!!!! So exciting, so they had to come and give the interview! So he passed the interview! And he's excited, I'm so pleased that he's made it!
Anyway, the exchanges actually went really well. I was with Elder Wegrowski, who's from California, and that went well! He's a really powerful teacher, and a super nice guy so :) It was a good exchange. I also got a bunch of letters (like 6) including a Card from Carol (please thank her for me!) and I also got mum's package of magic stars!!!

One of the problems that we encountered this week was that we tried to talk to some people (this happened twice actually, once in person, the other over the phone) and they claimed that they didn't speak English. Which was pretty stupid because at first, they were replying to me in English, then switched to their own language, and then said (in perfect English) "I'm speaking in Sotho/Shona" So we just had to leave them :')

We also ran into some really racist EFF supporters. The EFF are a political group here that basically are pro-black and if they could they would introduce apartheid in reverse! So I started talking to one of them and he was just really racist to me (I kept my cool don't worry :P) He said that I was white, so I'm super rich (I wish!) And that after I finished my mission the church were going to pay for me to go to university, and that they were paying for me to be here in South Africa, claiming that a missionary told him this. And he wouldn't listen to me! He also said that the white people were rich and that we wouldn't tell the black people 'the secret'. So that was an eye-opener.

That's about it for my week!

That's really interesting hearing about that couple who visited from Germany! I'm kinda jealous because I'd loved to hear those people stories from WW2 and the Cold War!

I get asked what I miss.
Something I miss is just relaxing on Sunday's, here it's go go go every day, which isn't a bad thing, and I love it. It's just a different way of living :')
Something else I miss a lot is Danish chocolate. Mentioning that I still remember when we went to Denmark and we had that cake stuff from the bakery? I think its name was "Student Bread"

That's about it for me!

Love Jack xx

A guy throws crisps at my feet and believe I can see the future

A couple of main things this week. We've made some real progress with some of our investigators and had 4 of them at church this week!

One of them, Tshepang, who is actually my age and we get along really well, he smokes weed but wants to be baptized, so that is his only hurdle to try and overcome. But at first, he said that his only friends smoked weed, but the only time he smoked weed was when he was with his friends! So at first he wasn't too sure if he wanted to give up his friends, so we went away a little down, but when we came back the next day and talked to him, he said he'd thought about it and come to the conclusion that if his friends weren't willing to accept his decision then he would leave them and get new ones!!!! What an answer to our prayers!! I really want him to get baptized because he's a really cool guy and he loves the gospel.


Another intervention by the Holy Ghost was when we went to see this lady, who we'd met like 2 months ago in the mall of Africa. Anyway, I felt inspired to give her a call and we arranged an appointment. As it turns out she was ill and had a swollen eye, but agreed for us to come. We were a little bit wary because we didn't know what to expect so all 4 of us went. As it turns out we just got to know them and brushed briefly over the message that we have, now the roommate (who she'd lived with for only 2 or 3 weeks) was interested also, but quite skeptical and a bit wary, but there was this one point when she asked what the basic beliefs were, so I talked about God and Jesus Christ and then immediately she softened up, in her words, she'd been looking for a church for a long time but hadn't found any that she'd liked, but when I was talking she said that she had felt the Holy Ghost, and from then on she was quite open! I was amazed but very thankful and it was great to see. So hopefully the other elders will continue teaching them and they will make progress.

The other time that this happened was when we were walking to another appointment (the one that we wanted to go to wasn't there) and there was this group of guys on the street just sitting, so I approach them and start talking. One of them was a self-made atheist (because of the contradictions in the bible he didn't believe in god and didn't want to talk to us) but a couple of the others would so we talk to them. When I introduce the Book of Mormon the niece of the man I'm talking to gets interested, so I explain a little and she was interested, so we got an appointment with her, and then as well her uncle, he said he studied the Old Testament but said he couldn't find Jesus there. So I sit down there on the street and go over it with him, explaining about how when it says LORD it was translated from Jehovah, and how Jehovah is Jesus, and I finish by showing him Hosea 13:2 (which I'd only come across that morning!), he reads it (it talks about I am the lord god, there is no saviour but me) no joke, he stares at the page for like 30 seconds (up to this point he was being a little difficult and not really interested, couldn't make an appointment) then he looks at me and simply says "continue" and I knew he was interested! In the end, he accepted a Book of Mormon and a return appointment which made me quite happy :)

The other was a little weird. This drunk guy calls us over and starts talking to us, wanting us to pray for him. During the conversation, this kid comes over with a back of crisps, trips and some fall at my feet. Now I don't notice this, but while I'm talking he interrupts me and points this out. Now background information, one of the ways that the Sangomas work (the traditional witch doctors) is that they will 'cast bones' so they will throw a bunch of animal bones and then apparently can foresee the future. So this drunk guy claims that this small child has 'cast' these crisps at my feet, that there are spirits in the air, and then asks me what I think of it... or what my interpretation is. It takes all my strength to not laugh, but i explain I only believe in what is true... he he he ah it was weird

Also, a guy in Mayibuye apparently used to eat the rats that live around! Yummy!

Okay now that's all done

Elder Lino is actually a really good missionary! He's a powerful teacher and likes to work hard and be obedient. So I think that this transfer is going to be good. One of his strengths is making commitments. At times I think he is a bit forward but it seems to work well. I just hope that I can work as hard :)

One of my wisdom teeth is coming through but no problems for me :) (Lino actually means tooth in Setswana)

I love being a missionary. Yes, it is hard work at times but there are so many days when you just don't want it to end. It is a great feeling being a missionary and it is a work where you actually mean something, the work you are doing is extremely worthwhile, you feel you are part of something so worthwhile and you get to do it every day! I just have to have that feeling all the time then I will be the happiest guy ever :P 

Till next week

Jack 

Found a woman who believed she could raise her cousin from the dead

So transfers are this week!!! As it turns out I am staying (which I am glad for because that means I am going to see some baptisms!) and Elder Samuel got a call to be a District Leader! In the next district! So he is staying in the zone. Actually the area he is going to borders our area! So it is quite funny

So my new companion is Elder Lino and apparently he is from Mozambique so we will see how that goes! Means I'm going to have to tidy the flat!

Last week we had zone activity which was actually quite fun. We played Mormon Mafia and then also human battleships. I think that they wanted to do more, but most of the people didn't turn up until like 2 hours after it was meant to start!! So in that time we played 3 on 3 football because President Dunn had come up with some friends, and to my great surprise, for a 50+-year-old he is pretty good at it! Anyway it was actually quite fun!

So we are going to "Bounce" today because It is Elder Clegg's last time, he's going home, I actually really like him, he's a cool guy, and President and Sister Dunn are coming so that will be interesting! And don't worry I will be super careful!

I forgot last week but one of my Wisdom Tooth is coming through! I can feel it! Which is a weird experience, something I haven't had in a while!

So for food I made this pasta and mince thing that Elder Bonifaz taught me (he's now a Zone Leader!!) and it's actually really nice, i made a panful, it only costs like 4 pounds, but it's enough for like 5 portions, so I have frozen the rest of it so I'm going to be living off that! The main struggle for me is lunch, i just don't know what to have, so I'll use some of those ideas! Also as well, because Elder Musiiwa is training and we share the car we are going to have to stay in the flat till 12 so I can eat lunch

Last week and this week at church, even though it is a big ward of like 200 people, they still have to get the missionaries to help them pass the sacrament :') So I was conducting the music this week and then the other Elders were helping pass the sacrament! Just like home

The weirdest thing last week was that this lady came up to us while we were leaving an appointment, and said that the holy spirit had lead her to us... so got a little excited and launched straight into a compact version of the message of the restoration, it was going fine until i reached the apostasy (the order goes, Godhead, Gospel blesses families, Prophets & Dispensations, Saviour's earthly ministry, Great Apostasy, Restoration, Restoration of the Priesthood, Book of Mormon then Prayer and Holy Ghost) and at that point she announces to us that she is the chosen one and she IS the church. I stop at this point in surprise (although this isn't a new thing) but it gets really weird when she says to us that she's come here to 'prepare' because the next day she was going to try and raise her cousin from the dead... so at this point I got really weirded out and I was just finished writing our mobile number on the back of a restoration pamphlet when I changed my mind and put it back in my bag :'). She tells us this story of what happened to her, and we politely listened. I'm looking at Elder Samuel to say something but nothing, so I don't know how but we eventually got away. At one point she invited us into her house, and we said no (I was worried she might do something to us!) But yeah that was exciting! And a little weird!

Something that came to me was about Stake Temple week, I always remember that the missionaries who were serving used to email their testimonies and then someone would read it out in the testimony meeting and they were some of the most powerful! 

Because I can say that I have become truly converted. I've always known it was true but it is really different now. I am totally at easy with it and brings so much inner peace to me.

I like this scripture in Psalms 52:2 that I came across ;)

I also like this poem byLorenzoo snow:

Hast thou not been unwisely bold,Man’s destiny to thus unfold?To raise, promote such high desire,Such vast ambition thus inspire?Still ’tis no phantom that we traceMan’s ultimatum in life’s race;This royal path has long been trodBy righteous men, each now a God:As Abra’m, Isaac, Jacob, too,First babes, then men—to gods they grew.As man now is, our God once was;As now God is, so man may be,—Which doth unfold man’s destiny.The boy, like to his father grown,Has but attained unto his own;To grow to sire from state of son,Is not ’gainst Nature’s course to run.A son of God, like God to be,Would not be robbing Deity;And he who has this hope within,Will purify himself from sin.

That's about it from me,

Love Jack xx

Seen my first dead body

So first of the main thing this week was that on Thursday we get a call from the Zone Leaders asking us to come and help them with some service, so we cancel our appointments and as it turns out that they needed some people to help them move house! The good thing was that there wasn't a lot of stuff and we were able to make it all in one trip, using a flatbed truck, a bakkie, and a couple of cars.

It was us missionaries (6 of us) and another guy with his 2 sons who owned the truck who came and helped with it. It was actually quite fun moving everything, getting everything onto the truck and loading it, then I got to ride on the back of the truck on the 2-minute drive to make sure that nothing fell off. It was actually quite fun, and the guy who we were helping to move was so very grateful for our help for moving and stuff so that was nice :) He took us to KFC afterwards which was pretty good :)

The funniest bit though was the guy who came to help with the truck, his name was Duke, anyway he was a really funny guy and I really liked him! So all in all it was a pretty good day!

I really like this area, the people we have are really awesome and i like them a lot. Also we are going to be having a baptism in 2 weeks! Durrity is going to be baptized and he is really powerful. There is also a couple more maybe, Tsepang, and also Brother Rams. Brother Rams I have to mention, so he is a friend and coworker of a member, and he has been taught for over 2 years now, but we have finally got him to accept a baptismal date. He has had lung cancer I think and has several operations on his jaw, but he is a super sweet guy, a retired scientist and really clever. So that will be really exciting. Going to try to get pictures with everyone this week!

The thing I've really learned is that people have to make decisions for themselves and discover for themselves. Some religions here are trying to force things on people but you can't do that, you really can't force anyone to do anything even if you are right. They have to make that decision for themselves.

Another investigator that we found this week, accepted everything we said concerning apostasy and the like, but as soon as we showed him the Book of Mormon he got all funny and was a bit wary, which is quite funny :')

Other than that this week has been another life in the missionary life!

Tuesday was super duper hot, like I was sweating in a lesson, the thing is is that during the day in the sun it is really warm, but at night, it gets quite cold. And none of the houses in the township have proper insulation or heating... so it's interesting (saying that neither does our flat)

So iI also saw my first dead body this week! We were driving to Klipfontein (another township) and there had been an accident in the road (involving a taxi as always) anyway there was this human figure shape lying on the floor so obviously a dead body, luckily no accidents for us!

Although on... Friday i think it was, we were waiting for the other guys to come pick us up, it gets to 9:30 and they're still not there, as it turns out there was a massive traffic jam (it is really funny because the drivers here are crazy, they completely blocked the traffic lights by trying to get through and as a result it was gridlocked! That was at 6pm and there were still queues by 9. Anyway they told us that they couldn't get through and we had to walk to them. Now we stop proselyting at 8 because it gets dark and a little dangerous, and the way they wanted us to walk was through a passage, (wide enough for a car) but it is right next to a pub, and to mention someone had got beaten to death there... last week! So I was a little concerned, particuarly because I'm white, but thankfully the two twins, their sister, and then another member came with us, so we got to the car safe and sound with no problems :)

One of the other things that brought back memories is that one of our investigators owns a tuck shop, and in the front he has this old arcade machine with Kingdom Fighters on it (don't worry we haven't played it :P) but it reminded me of the stories my dad told about how people used to play on these arcade machines before games consoles.

I really grateful to be on my mission. It is such a great opportunity to help and serve people and to see and experience so much in such a period of time so it really helps you grow and mature so quickly. My dad always said there is no other time where you grow and learn so much that will also be so useful for the rest of your life.

Anyway, on to another week full of surprises.

Love

Elder Jack Jorgensen

Attacked by flour and egg

So the weather has been warm here, it's actually quite like a British summer, I can wear my short sleeve shirts, the only problem is that it gets quite cold at nights. But for me, I can take it, wearing shorts for 2 years I discovered the secret of not getting cold. You still get cold, you just don't show it :P But it's all good. Especially because we are walking we feel the weather, luckily it hasn't actually rained, saying that I think it has only rained a couple of times in the past 2 months! Not like back home eh :P

We are walking too, which I really like. I've really grown to like walking areas. We get to talk to many more people and it makes me feel like a proper missionary! Walking with my name tag and everything!

So the work is progressing really well, we have someone scheduled this month, and 5 others in the pipeline for the coming months which is really exciting! They are all solid people too (exception of 1) They are all (almost) adults and are very sincere. But something that I realised and discussed with someone in my group at Zone Conference was that the people who are progressing the most and are on track, are those who we have the best relationship with as they are sincere.

Another experience was that one guy we meet confided in us some serious problems that he'd had with his wife and how things had got quite bad for them (His wife had gone to a Sangoma, witch doctor, and had come back, finding her taking a bath in the blood of a chicken she'd slaughtered..... yeah that happens!) we finished the plan of salvation which he liked and he said that whenever we come he feels happy and good. Leaving the appointment I thought to myself, wow, I really don't have or have had any real problems in my life!

My back, luckily, is getting better. I can now run and it doesn't hurt as much, only when I've been sitting for a long time, like at church. But I've resolved to exercise every morning, and I'm actually getting up early every morning to learn Afrikaans for an hour. I have a book that I borrowed from Elder Benson to learn it from, it's actually very similar to English, apart from the grammar is a lot simpler. So gonna see how that goes. I got the idea from one of the Elders that is dying (slang for going home soon), Elder Clegg. He can speak Afrikaans, Zulu, seTswansa and Spedi, and he's from America!

So we had zone conference on Wednesday which was really nice, I learned a lot from it and it got us going again, then the temple on Friday which I really enjoyed too! It was nice to go to and learn some more which is always nice.

One big struggle we had this week was we were at this teaching appointment with this family, and the mother has been a member of her church forever, now this is the thing, she believes the Book of Mormon to be true, but doesn't see the need to be baptized. I totally respect if people don't believe what we say but to believe part of it only doesn't make sense. We are going back on Thursday with the Bishop.

We are having zone activity next week (4th of July) and they asked me to be the captain of the "British" team because we are going to do capture the flag.

Also, I had someone offer me their child and wanted me to take them to England with me.... so :)

The real disaster actually happened to one of the other Elders. So Sunday night (last night) they were an hour late to pick us up, as it turns out he'd been 'attacked'.

What had happened was that a group of kids had come at them with flour and eggs and basically attacked them. His companion Elder Musiiwa was clean because he'd just ran, but he had gone for the car and got nailed. He had his good suit and an 80% silk tie on.... so he's gonna need to get it dry cleaned. Which while thankfully didn't happen to me, it reaffirmed my resolve to not wear my good suit or tie in the township! 

Township is "crazy"! Especially during load-shedding! (Loadshedding is when the power goes out because there isn't enough. The government gives free power to the houses in the township, but only like 1 power station, so they buy a lot of their power from neighbouring countries, and load-shedding is when there isn't enough power for everyone, so it goes out!) Which means the street lights go out too!

Well that was all for this week.

Take care.

Elder Jack Jorgensen

Going to learn Afrikaan

Church this week was pretty good! 3 of our investigators came to church which made me really happy. One of them, his name is Durrity, he's just finishing high school, and he is going to be baptised! He knows the church is true and it's a delight to see him there. Another woman came and a member was really helpful to come with her and . Her 3 children settled in primary, but she kept the youngest with her.

Thinking about learning Afrikaans too, but will see how that goes, I know mum is making another package, so an Afrikaans For Dummies would be good :P (or a Danish for dummies, i don't mind which :P)

So for us it looked impossible to meet the 5 lessons that we had scheduled, only having 2 hours, and one of them being in Klipfontein, we have to take a taxi to get there and back, and the family likes to talk. 

But as we were picking up the member we wanted, he was with another person, I had a brainwave and we went on splits! Managed to cover all but 1 of the lessons! 

It was awesome! I was very happy with myself for thinking of that and very grateful to Heavenly Father for inspiring me and making it work. I am still learning on being decisive and not waiting for anyone, because then nothing gets done. But we did get a less active to come back.

The lesson was on baptismal covenants, and he said he wanted to come to church, and he came. And he said something like i want to get back on the path, okay we were happy, but then something struck me and I asked him this question: "What do you need to do to do this?" Which produced some great results and also gave him a goal: to be worthy to baptise his brother!

We also had Zone meeting but then we helped some people paint their house. We also had some funny discussions with them. Also working on getting some of the admin work sorted but mistakes of the past as we have a list of children but no records of them being baptised.

It is not really our job but if we can help to get it sorted then we do it. Happy to help. Not easy but I sat down to work it out. It will take some time.

Admin work I am learning is also very important. And I am actually enjoying sorting this, feels like a challenge.

Apart from that not much else. 4 people on date and a couple of investigators are at the "make or break" stage. We teach them what we believe and as always we leave it to them to make a decision on where they want to go with it afterwards.

I heard about the vote back home. I cannot help but to the think of Patrick Keatons talk from General Conference.

A couple of talks to recommend: First you could listen to this for Family Home Evening: Bears and Prayers by Michael A Dunn (My mission president!) It's a really good story about prayer and the holy ghost, true too.

That's it for me this week, temple trip on Friday so i'm looking forward to that! Staying safe too!

Love you all lots

Jack xx

Another accident from Jack

So this week is only the 2nd in the transfer. It feels like it has gone soooo slowww but knowing that i've now been in Rabie Ridge for 8 weeks now (2 months!!) It doesn't feel so long.

So the main main thing is that my birthday package came!!!!!!! I was so happy! The funniest thing was that on Thursday we were out finding some investigators and we get a text from the zone leaders telling us that they have a package for me!!!! I could hardly sleep that night!!! Then on Friday the Zone Leaders dropped by and gave me the package!!! I was so happy! I loved everything inside.

I also got cards from most of the family. 

So I'm going to eat a packet of the chocolate digestives today :) Since it is so rainy and cold we're not going anywhere, we're just going to rest!

I wear my Star Wars PJ bottoms every night, they are very comfy and I love them!

Got a letter from President Spedding which was very nice!

This week we also decided to walk to church together with one of our investigators.I was able to give a talk this Sunday at church, I talked about the importance of being an example. And it went down really well. It was nice for plenty people to thank me for it.

The other funny thing that happened at church was that as usual I was conducting the music. Now the sacrament hymn had no automatic accompaniment, so that meant just singing, which I have no problem with. So one two three and...... NOTHING! Nobody sang :') It was quite funny. I went over to the piano and got Elder Benson to play the first line and then we sang, 

One of the main things this week is quite ironic. We were at bounce (for free) and i try to do 2 consecutive backflip (one straight after the other) The first one goes fine, but the second one, after landing the first one I mess up the jump, which meant that I only got about half way round (upside down) when I landed! Luckily i didn't land on my neck, but I did land on my shoulders which caused my feet to come to my head and hyper-extend my back, and i winded myself. After a little bit of making weird noises because i couldn't breathe I was okay, they brought me an ice pack which helped and then I was able to walk. But the problem was and is that the muscles in my back are still sore, I can't run or jump and if I turn in certain directions it hurts. But I can still teach and walk. So although I was in quite a bit of pain we still went out and worked that night,
and every day since, which I was quite proud of myself for doing!

Funny thing was that while at bounce, one of the staff members comes up to us and tells us she's a member! And she got back off her mission 6 months ago (when i came out!) We asked her where she served she said England, I asked where again and she said Leeds! In fact her last area was Newcastle!! It was a funny experience!

After that we went to Spur for lunch (a nice burger place) and I had a rib burger! They were very nice. And they came and sang and gave me an ice cream because it was my birthday. (Elder Benson told them :') ) So it was a good birthday.

This week has been very cold! I got goosebumps for the first time and right now my fingers are cold making it a little difficult for me to type!

We walked into one of the members houses to go to the toilet, and found them painting the walls. What did we do? Well we grabbed a paint brush and proceeded to help! It was actually quite fun and by the end of it i didn't have a single spot of paint on me! They also said I was very good which was nice :P

Really felt the spirit working this week with people, seeing it in their eyes when they hear it.

One of the best experiences was when we go visit a member and since she wasn't at church I shared my talk with her and she said that it was exactly what she needed. It was a wonderful experience. I really enjoy all the teaching we are doing.

I think that is all for this week.

Love Jack xx

Mooti (black magic) and Sangoma (witch doctor)

Something significant this week is that we are trying to play on each others strength and learn from each other. I think I have mentioned before Elder Samuel remembers people really well and I am more the organiser.

He can take one look at someone and then if we pass him on the street then he'll recognise them which is really useful and something I am very grateful for from him. He's also very good with the members of the ward, he remembers most of them, something that I find difficult to do, especially people I may only see once or twice So that is a big help.  I am better at organisation so I tend to focus on the taking care of the calendar and todolist so in that way we complement each other. I am learning to take the lead during lessons too.

Something that I've become so grateful for is the childhood I had, especially the nurturing in the gospel. Seminary has taught me many things and skills that I use for studying. And if i use my study in the mornings effectively then I find that something i learn applies to someone that day. Also I'm able to draw lessons from things that I learn and apply to others. Something that made me very happy was actually 3 things. 

The first was that one of the members we see on a regular basis was having an off day, so we teach him a lesson about the bread of life, and later that day he texts us and thanks us for the lesson. A similar thing was that the family who we go see on Fridays for family home evening, one of her daughters (who is actually adopted) thanked me for the lessons while we were leaving and she said that they were always good which made me feel good. Then finally one of the other members was Comfort, he's 22 and something funny he said was that he can feel and just sense whenever the missionaries are coming. He later expanded and said that he felt the spirit whenever we came which made me feel even better. One thing that really struck the lesson for the family home evening on Friday this week was emphasising the importance of not excluding people. One thing that was powerful was I shared what i knew about my dad's conversion story, and when I said that his son (having said his son went on his mission) it really made an impact.

One event that happened this week that really showed us that the lord puts people in our path was that we'd just come from a member and were about to walk to a potential investigator when a small kid came up to us and told us that her mother was calling us. So we go over and start talking to her. As a result it turns out that we got a new investigator from it and she sounds really promising. So really we were put into that path to meet that woman. Story about her was that apparently her brother or something had been performing Mooti (black magic) and cursed their house. So they'd called a Sangoma (witch doctor) to come and he determined that there was a snake underneath the house? And they wanted us to pray for their house and protect it. The trouble here is determining what is real and what is just myth. The people here, especially in the township are very superstitious and believe in black magic and sangomas, which are a problem for us, oh no wait I think they'd called a prophet to come and help them.... i don't know. But we gave her a pamflet, introduced the message of the restoration and obtained a return appointment which was quite good :)


So I think i'm on my way to become the chorister here and no one to play but they have one of those automatic pianos but i got asked yesterday to give a talk next week which was interesting. So I will have to think about what I want to talk about... probably missionary work :P We gave a good family home evening lesson on Friday, starting out with a scripture about worship and knowledge.

This one family, the Mlambo family, is really exciting, they're deeply rooted in their church (the Care Bible Church) (the churches here have the most interesting names) but they know what we teach is true, so the challenge lies in helping them transition, and we don't want to loose them because they are really good. The mother believes us and the daughter, Simphwe, she is 17, I showed her the gospel library mobile app and the EFY music and since then when we came back the next week, apparently she hasn't put the gospel library app down and has got rid of all her hip hop music and listens to the music i showed her! So it's really exciting about them.

We're really excited about the Mlambo family and really hope that they come to church one of these days!


Something i miss a LOT from back home is the BBQ's. They call them Braai's here but mostly they are just meat meat meat with nothing green so that is a difference. I shouldn't be thinking about food as I am currently fasting hehe. 

We are going to bounce soon. But i'm going to eat my fudge today that i still have from my Christmas presents :P
Going to treat myself to a maccyd's lunch :)

Anyyywayyy thats about it from me :) I hope that you have a good week and all goes well!

As always, lots of love

Elder Jack :)xxx

Reflection on first 6 months

So this week has been looooonnnngggggg long long long, or so it has felt like it! Probably because of transfers
Wow it is scary how fast time goes. Half a year! On the one hand it feels short, but on the other it feels like mission has been a long time (probably because i'm completely settled into missionary life now)

 

Yeah i'm staying in Mayibuye. I am used to Mayibuye, the people are nice and i'm getting to know everyone, a lot faster than my last area. And hopefully a baptism or too in this transfer so we will see how it goes.

So with taking the lead, i'm learning more and more. I'm almost always the one with my planner out. My potential inv, inv and member pages are full so its really good  as I am learning to be super organised with planning and scheduling. I tend to take the lead in the lessons most of the time and making sure we are always going and doing something. 

It is teaching me a lot. Especially the lesson that if someone doesn't do something they should, you do it yourself! MY companion Elder Samuel is a very good people person, he knows and remembers people really easily and on Sundays he talks to the ward leaders which is a big help. I don't know how he does it but we'll be walking down the street and just greet someone (an inv or a member) who I just failed to recognise, he's good at that which I am grateful for! So if we use our strengths to compliment each other it will work out.

I love my mission a lot! I am very glad that I came on my mission. I have learned a lot and it has really helped me spiritually to understand the gospel more and to strengthen my testimony and every day I learn SO much about life in general.
I have also learned I am so lucky to have my own family as we often see so many broken and challenging family situations here that I have never had to face because of the choices and commitment my parents have taken.
To those with very challenging situations I try to teach them hope that they themselves can break out and have the family life they want.

There will be something that happens that sparks me to research something, I take a course and I learn a new perspective on something, which I use as lessons to teach members. 
I have learnt how important it is for us to partake of the sacrament and how keeping the commandments is such a big part of it. You can't continue to sin and then take the sacrament feeling it will fix it. Actions are required.
So many people just need a helping hand to be "reached out to" because "the fire has just gone out a bit".

One funny thing that happened this week was we were walking to an appointment and this woman calls me over, so we go over and she is sitting next to a... shelter? With some of her friends (or sisters, people mix those things) Anyway she starts talking about because she is hungry she can't read the word of god (bible) or listen to us because she is hungry, this goes on for about 5 minutes during which she points out that I am white, and she is black, and because of that I need to go and buy her some food (or give her money to buy...."food") While they were all drinking. It was interesting to see, and a common thing, that some people see a white person they think money. Anyway i didn't say anything because i didn't want to be judgemental. I let Elder Samuel talk, gave them a pass along card and walked away. I always find giving people pass along cards work well, especially drunk people, if ever they are asking for something, usually money.
Interestingly what she wanted was Phuto. Which is Pap and Inkomazi (which is basically sour milk) Which people here love, but I haven't caught the same love for it :-)

ON Sunday we visited with the Bishop which was nice. He was sharing some stories of the experiences he has had. Oh ....the things that leaders have to deal with :') he he he.

Funny thing. So we... I mean I got mail this week!!! (the only one in the district he he he) I got the family photo album, which I love, the pictures are all really nice and I love them,.
But yes the mail came, and I got a letter from Nana... from 5 MONTHS ago! I was really surprised, it was quite funny, but i counted and i think that i'm only missing maybe 1 or 2 if they've wrote them every week.
Message to anyone who has written to me. If you write to me I will reply, it might take me a month or 2 (to get here and then for me to write back) But I will reply to any letter I get. So if you haven't got a reply.. write again!! (That being said please thank Carol and Ken for their cards, I love them and haven't had the chance to reply yet, i will soon just thank them for me :) )

So the fumigators came on Tuesday and found a nest of cockroaches behind the fridge! There was about a gazillion of them!!!! (I took a pic) It was nasty, so they fumigated the flat and now it is a lot better! Then on Wednesday, Elder Wells from the office came up to fix some of the lights in our flat. We thought it would take maybe an hour or so.. it took 5!! He he he, but Elder Wells bought us KFC so it was okay! It was delicious

The only other thing was Sunday! I love Sundays here. Particularly at church because it's so nice and peaceful. Although this week I was conducting the music. I have started noticing the spirit a lot more at church and I enjoy church a lot.

As a missionary you get asked an unbelievable amount of questions. This week in a lesson someone said "why was the Sabbath changed from Saturday to Sunday" Now there is a question for you to think about hehe. So many could learn a bit from the attitude of Nephi from 1 Nephi 3:7 as the first guide. 

I love you all and I am thankful to everything my parents have taught me in life.

Elder Jack Jorgensen
xxx

We were nearly robbed

Wow, the 6 month mark is here! Thursday will be so! It's scary to think, it's really gone so fast, the MTC feels like yesterday, I'm a quarter way through!

This week has actually been very fast. Thursday to Sunday went very fast, almost in a blur.

A very successful week, 34 lessons or so (23 inv lessons) Which is good, I really enjoy working hard and i feel like I am doing my best, I am very tired at nights and i'm exhausted, yesterday I was so grateful it was p-day today, and answered my question of "if it's the lords work why do we need to rest, won't he help us?" and yes he could, but our bodies still need to rest!

Currently we have over 30 investigators but of varying degree of understanding. Things are looking promising and hopefully this week we will be able to work with some members more, gain a better relationship and get them to commit as well.

Truly i love my mission. Its hard and tiring but then you also experience plenty of the times of the happiest I've ever been. We were talking to an RM about missions and it was a lot of fun!

One such conflicting moment was: We almost got robbed last night. We were walking to an appointment (it was lit, but as with everywhere not very well) anyway while we are walking we pass this group of mid aged people and they say something in Soto, now i'm always listening to around me and i hear the work Magkoa, so i know that they were talking about me (the racists) anyway two guy come along side us and start trying to talk to us. We don't stop and I don't look at them we just keep walking and answer their questions (they were slightly drunk) They ask us where we are going and we reply "this way"
They ask us a couple more times and ask who we are going to see. So we reply without stopping and thankfully they fall behind and leave us alone. :) so all safe :)

We had our carpet cleaned today by some people, the main guy was actually a member! Which was nice to talk to and get to know a little. He said he had family in England and I showed him a picture of Alnwick i have which he really enjoyed.

Will definitely use that family mission plan, which is something we could really use here. There were 190 people at church yesterday, it was full!  They are splitting the congregation soon though so we shall see!

Funny thing that happened this week was that i saw another amusing church name (there is a church on every corner practically) it was called "City of Hope with Prophet Sunshine" so yeah :) Here it isn't a case of do you go to church? More of which Church? And 70% of them you've never heard of. Though the Catholics are the most popular "mainstream' church.

Elder Samuel is a great guy and it is a great experience to be with him. We are from vastly different cultures but can learn a lot from each other.

The week has just gone in a blur i don't remember too much.

Had coco pops for breakfast this week which was very nice, no Weetos in South Africa sadly, i liked those, but all the more to look forward to when I get home
I love my mission and I enjoy it and sometimes I don't want it to end. 

A missionary shared a story in numbers 22 when a donkey talks to one of the prophets, very funny, read it with the family :)

Loved seeing the pictures and managed to upload mine this week. Will try to see if i can get some with the members this week!

Transfers are next week so we will be getting the news on Saturday! Will be a long week :P but always working hard!

Lots of love forever and ever and thinking of you all.

Jack xxxx