Vicious bull dog comes running out

So firstly, transfers on Tuesday! Ah already a big affair! Elder Benson is training again! My second companion, Elder Bonifaz is going home! And I got a car!

Which is a shame really because between walking and using a car I think that I enjoyed walking more, but ah well can't complain about having a car, Birch Acres was a biking area, so I'm glad that I don't have to bike, although you get more tired during the day using a car than walking because you aren't really moving around but alas!


So the first day was tough! Getting into a new area, and not knowing anything, and just following Elder Chingomanje around, it is always a learning experience. 

But pushing through that it taught me something new. Well I actually experienced something I already knew, that you should keep going, because tomorrow will be better. And it's true, while Tuesday wasn't so good, Wednesday was better so that has helped me get through the week.
So I'm happy to be emailing!

So the place where I am, Birch Acres, it's interesting.
It's more of a suburb than anything else, not a township at all, but that brings the problem of pretty much every house has a gate and a fence/wall.

So for the most part you are stuck outside the gate, there is one area though that is more townshipy (in the fact that the gates aren't locked) so that is the only place where we tract.

Also, most of the day, people are at work, so it's difficult to actually see people during the day, and unfortunately people cancel as well, but we keep going, we keep pushing!

One of the great things this week was that we went to a potential investigators house, and luckily they were home (after getting past the security) Now there was the sister, mother, and the brother was there. Now the brother works far away (like 4 hours drive) and only comes home once a month. So we get introduced and start talking, and the brother turns to us and says "Oh by the way I hold the Aaronic priesthood" I was like okay.... wait what?!? He'd joined the church in Durban but when he moved here he'd lost contact so yeah :)

One of the funny things too is that we were trying to find this less active using the ward directory. So we go to the street and start looking for the house, and we find 61 (looking for 60) and the woman was just coming home from work, she was white, and she accept the pass along card I offered her and she was quite polite about it, so that was nice. But then we find the actual house, and we knock at the gate, and we are about to go in when this vicious bull dog comes running out barking, so we're like no way! Anyway the owner comes out, and she says she doesn't want to come near the gate because she was scared of the dog... which is hers... anyway she didn't seem 100% and she didn't like us, but it was fine we left.


Another time we were visiting this member, her daughter is in the hospital being sick. Side note here, the hospital looked like a cross between a school and a prison! And we visited her on Saturday.
Anyway, we park outside their house, and someone is trying to get out the driveway, so I reverse so I don't block them, it being dark I don't realize that I've parked right outside the neighbour's gate. So they come and ask me to move, which is no problem. But they are in a bad mood :') They really aren't happy, so I just say, no it's okay, I'll move it, but they are still angry. I didn't get annoyed and just moved the car, they were ranting over nothing, so it was funny to see that just because you get older doesn't mean you mature!

Then on Sunday I was reminded of this great quote "A wise man talks because he has something to say, a foolish man talks to say something"

Elder Chingomanje is a cool guy. He's from Zimbabwe, and has been out the same time as my last companion, Elder Lino, about 11 months. He is pretty good Elder. But yeah, he likes to work hard so I think that we will get along well and that things will pick up here! We only had 5 investigators at the start of the week, but we've doubled that already! We just need the members to get involved and fellowship some of our investigators. The big problem is that most of them are at work like always, so better member relationships and then things will go well.

For me I'm taking the challenge of the former AP, Elder Pickup, to try and read the whole of the Book of Mormon in 1 month! So I shall see how that goes!

Lastly, something funny, last week when I went to post my letters I was sending one to Sister Tait, Germany, and then one to you, England
And the woman behind the counter asked me if England was US or UK...... I almost laughed in front of her :')

The main thing that I've cooked for myself this week for dinner has been noodles and pasta with baked beans! he heh he!

I also got 13 pieces of mail at transfers!!!!!! Including 4 postcards from mum, and one from nana, and also a letter from nana from 5 MONTHS ago! Wow!

So I left Rabie Ridge really strong, I hope they continue the good work. Although I'm going to miss a lot of the members there because I got really good friends with them. And I also got to go back this week yesterday for Mbali's baptism which was wonderful to see! As always the water was pretty cold!

I'm looking forward to getting the work going here in Birch Acres

For this transfer our mission president took his time to write to me in person to tell me why he was sending me here and that was a great motivation.
So that was nice to hear!

Oh and the church meets in this like office space, kinda small and almost reminds me of a chapel building that you might find in England. So it is interesting!

Hopefully this week goes well and things are okay!

Elder Jack Jorgensen

This week I waterproofed a roof

On Monday for P-Day, mostly all we did was play Uno and stuff with the other Elders for P-day, as usual, it went far too fast. We spent the rest of the day checking up on some investigators and inviting them to the ward activity that we were having the next day.
So the next day, Tuesday, we were continuing our service project at this member home, and I got the special job of going on the roof and waterproofing the tin roof on top. It was quite fun actually :P But don't worry I was careful and no accidents :P

Before we went into their yard though, there were some Jehovah Witnesses tracting in the area, and one of them offered me a flyer, so I took one but then I gave her a restoration pamphlet, and I don't think she liked that but she took it anyway :')

Then we went to the ward activity, because it was Women's day, a public holiday, and it was actually pretty good, a lot of them played football, but some of us played some board games, like chess, and I enjoyed that :P We had a small BBQ which was nice for lunch, but then we stayed too long :') we didn't get into the area till later, and then a lot of our appointments fell through, so on that day we got only 2 lessons that day :') but ah well, those sort of things don't bother me too much anymore, so long as I am obedient!
Then on Wednesday was interviews with President Dunn! And I was the most relaxed that I've been than in the past two! It was actually really nice to talk to him! We talked about my mission and how it's going. It was scary when he pointed out how long I have been out. AHHHH It's going far too fast!!! It is really scary, but I am loving my mission! It's great right now and I'm enjoying so much.

The only other main thing that we talked about is being obedient, and we identified where I need to improve. Don't worry :P the only thing was to exercise in the mornings for 30 minutes, it's part of the schedule. Now I never like exercising in the mornings, but I made a resolve to do so, and I have! It's been going well and I've done it every day since Wednesday, and even though I don't like it, I've been praying hard for help to do it, and I feel that Heavenly Father has really helped me with it! I am able to do it in the mornings, even if I end up sweating by the end :P

Funnily enough none of the companions that I've been with have exercised either! Elder Lino is actually a sweet missionary and I'm getting along better with him now!
Then after interviews, they finished at 2, then the disaster came. We had to pick up some supplies from the mission office, then the other Elders had to get some new tires for the car, so we went to the tire place and they didn't have any, then back to the mission office. All in all we didn't get back until 5:30! And then we only got to teach one lesson, and then we went to this members house for a practice? The YSA did a musical item on Sunday and they wanted Elder Lino to teach them a verse from Rock of Ages in Portuguese! 


Then Thursday went okay, long with Friday. A good thing happened on Friday, which left me a little disappointed but not too much because I knew it was the right thing. So one of our investigators, Tshepang, who is my age and we get along really well. He's on track to get baptized, but he smokes weed, now he has to get over this to get baptized. But amazingly he realized that he needs to get baptized because he wants to, not because we want him to, and then as well that he needed to be clean to do that. All in all he understood really well about not smoking and determined that he would get baptized when he knew he had quit. Which was really good that he understood, but a little sad for me because I've been really close with him and I really want to see him get baptized, but ah well, the Lord is at the helm!

Saturday was another disaster!! So we went to correlation with Thabo, the ward mission leader, and he's a great ward mission leader, he served in Durban and has been back about a year or so. He's really pro-active and really clued op on everything, so I really like working with him!

Anyway it was during correlation I started getting a bad pain in my stomach! I thought I might be sick too! I thought it was food poisoning (that I would have given myself :') ) but now I realize I was bloated? and had wind. I know because that morning, my belt was tighter than usual and I had to have it 1 thing looser, but on Sunday it was back to normal. 
Anyway it was causing me a lot of pain, that would kinda of get better for a little (maybe 5 mins) and then get worse! So my companion asked me if we should go back to the flat, but I said no. I had made a resolve to myself that for my mission, as long as I could get out of bed, I would go out and work! So we did! We made 3 appointments, the pain came and went, and it was hard! (I had a 30 minute rest at a members home  at one point) but I felt good that I had kept going!

We taught some really good lessons, and it was actually very helpful that we stayed out, because we visited Mbali that night, and she was meant to be baptized yesterday. Her mother is a member and she was going to come for the baptism, but when we get in the house she looks a little upset. Her mother had gone to KZN (another county!) admittedly for her brothers funeral, but she hadn't told Mbali! Anyway we cheered her up and she decided to wait 2 weeks until her mother was there for her to be baptized. I brought some cake I'd made to cheer her up, and she liked that, and coincidentally we got to meet her dad, who isn't a member and works a lot, and he isn't really keen on the church. Anyway he comes from Mozambique! Which is the same country that Elder Lino comes from! And so they talked and he agreed to come to the baptism!! Which was a little bit of a miracle.


The last thing as well was that we were able to give Durrity his new member kit, which has like a Triple Combination, a Bible, a For the Strength of Youth pamphlet and stuff. Anyway, he was super happy about it! It was like Christmas! It was so nice to see his excitement and he's turning into a really strong member of the church! Which makes me happy

We also had a record 6 investigators at church! Noxolo, one of our investigators, brought her friend who has been sitting in on some of the lessons!! They both have 2 kids, and they didn't go to primary, so Gospel Principles class was a little louder than usual, I sat right behind them and tried to help contain some of the drama so that they could focus on the lesson.
Transfers are next week on Tuesday! So I shall see what happens, Personally I think that I will be transferred! But you never know!

Ah and then on Sunday, a member fed us, and it was super good!! And she even let us take the 7UP and Custard home with us! Elder Sorge (from America) loves the custard :') And he also loves English chocolate. I really like him, he's a cool guy!
One of the things I have been thinking about this week is how much I have learned since I have been here and how much I have experienced. It would have taken 20 years at home.
I am being safe don't worry, always careful :P

About to switch off life-support machine and then he woke up

The main thing this week was the people that we talked to!

So last week was Zone Meeting and they reviewed the goals that we have as a mission and the benchmark which we need to be at. And we have this goal called OYM (open your mouth) which is essentially to try and have a gospel conversation with someone.
So the goal for the week is 70 for every companionship, and we as a zone had been falling behind, so we decided to try and do something about it.

We got 229 this week!!!!!

Ah it was an amazing experience! The first day (Tuesday) we all in all talked to 76 people! And now we are getting to the point where the people we talk to, we've already talked to them!! Ah it's funny when you offer someone a pass along card and they reply, oh I already have it! 


The main thing is that after talking to all those people, at the end of the day, one thing I noticed was that I was happy!! Like a massive joy inside of me, simply from forgetting myself and talking to so many people about the gospel! So that was an amazing experience which we are going to try again this week, only we are going to try and talk to 300 people this week!!!

Of course talking to that many people you meet some interesting people and have some interesting experiences!
The first one was that I met this guy, his name is Dino. He's from New York City, and has a strong American accent. Sweet guy and I enjoyed talking to him. But as soon as he saw the Book of Mormon pass along card he immediately claimed that the Mormons were a cult and that he didn't want anything to do with it!
I didn't argue with him but I talked to him for a bit and reasoned with him that if he's never read it then he can't know that it is a cult! So I hope that he calls the number, because he was a sweet guy.

The other thing that happened was that we were walking along (actually right before I met Dino) and there was this woman walking along, obviously at work (turns out she is a construction supervisor) and I felt impressed to talk to her. Now all I said to her was if I could give her the pass along card. I didn't tell her anything about me, not even my name (although I have a name tag) I just asked her name, what she did for work, and then I asked her for her address and phone number, and she just gave them to me! Afterwards I was quite amazed, that this stranger had just come up to her, and asked for her address and phone number and she'd just given it! Which was a testimony to me that truly people recognize us as servants of the Lord!

So yeah talking to so many people was a great event that happened this week! And we are going to try and go for 300 people this week!

On Tuesday we also had another service project for a member where we were doing a little bit of landscaping, basically trying to make a waterway for when it rains around the side of his house. It was pretty tiring but he was really happy for the work that we did, and they gave us lunch too which was nice! I got to use a pickaxe too which I've always wanted to use! So that was fun! (I uploaded some pictures of it!)

We had the (re)baptism of Durrity, because they said his name wrong in the actual baptism! It went well, it took a little longer for us to fill up the font, but we did it (it took like 3 tries, because he wouldn't go all the way under the water ;') ) and then he was confirmed this Sunday which was really good, and he's been really integrated into the ward so that is amazing! I hope that he serves a mission!

We also had the interview of Mbali, she's 16 and the daughter of a less-active member, because of her husband, who doesn't go to his church but doesn't want her to go to church either... although I think she was baptized after they were married. Anyway Mbali is really powerful and she loves the gospel. She goes to mutual and although she turned up an hour late, she passed the interview!! Another baptism this Sunday! 

We also passed the sacrament this Sunday (me and Elder Musiiwa) who I'm actually getting along really well with (he's from my group) And that reminded me of home as well, when I used to pass/bless and prepare the sacrament and conduct the music he he he :P

The other investigator we have, her name is Lebo, she is the friend of a member and we teach her at their (member) house. She is only 14 but at the end of the lesson, she bore her testimony and basically said that she know the church is true! It was a really powerful testimony and she also said that every day she prays for God to show her the way, and then she always dreams about the missionaries! So we just need to meet the family!

The other main event this week was that on Saturday we were asked to go give a blessing to a woman in hospital. So we go and we talk to her. She had got a blood clot in her leg and she hadn't slept all night because obviously if it moves then you're in trouble, lungs, it's an edema, heart it's a heart attack, brain it's a stroke (but you know all this :P) But she was getting better when we got there. her name is Sister Sharpe, she is actually from Russia! Now when we first came in I looked at her and thought she was probably around 30, 35. Then an attended comes in and asks her her birthday... 1966. She is 50! I was amazed! As it turns out she grew up in Communist Russia! And was one of the first students to leave Russia on an exchange! She is married to a man from Zimbabwe (who is white!) and all in all they are really really nice people! They also told us their conversion story!

Her husband had been skiing and there had been an accident, he'd hit a tree. He was in a coma and had suffered 68% brain damage! Now at the hospital all the people had been telling her to take him off life support, his spirit was gone. But there was a Latter-day saint Nurse there who told her not to, he was still there. Amazingly he woke up and was fine!! So they accepted the missionaries. And when they first arrived they said that the husband would translate because she didn't speak English, to her great surprise they pulled out a Russian Book of Mormon!
They own a company that makes Rice and cooking oil and stuff. Their daughter went to a school in Switzerland and is now studying at King's College Cambridge!
And we might be having dinner with them today!

Okay now to personal:
So the weather has been improving! it's been warmer this week, and I think that summer is coming back so I don't know how excited I am for that to be honest. No midges though, just some really big rats!!!
I just like talking to many people, I LOVE my mission. Yeah some days are hard and last night I had a headache, but really despite all the things that happen, investigators, companions, mission is the best thing I have ever done! I love it so much and I don't want it to end sometimes! I am working on becoming completely obedient, because that is the source of the Spirit and happiness (it's hard at 6:30am) but once I get there, and I know I can, I will be completely happy!

That's about it! I love you lots! It's funny, there is an RM in our area, he's been back about a year longer than Kieran, and the only thing we talk about when we go there is mission :') His wife is funny, because she doesn't get it at all :')

The temple is closed for the whole of this month :-(

Love you lots!

Elder Jorgensen