Obedience Brings Blessings, Exacting Obedience Brings Miracles

Hello everyone! Well this week was pretty awesome I must say! I think I say
that every week but awesome things happen every week! So actually a lot of
really good things happened this week and I don't have a lot of time to
write about everything so I am kind of going to focus on a few of the main
highlights. So welcome to the SADM Top 10 at 10am:

Number 10: Just kidding theres not ten.

Anyways so on Monday we had a zone activity at the Mission Home again. We
went and played some games in the house because it was raining way too
much. We played a game called Quiddler which is just like 5 Crowns but with
making words instead of runs. It was really fun and I absolutely destroyed
the other guys! By like hundreds of points! Thank you mother and giving me
your vocabulary genes! haha. We had a nice Braai and then watched the
Saratov Approach again. Nice day though.

Wednesday was interviews with the Mission President. Basically I spent the
day being the taxi for all the elders during the day. Finally around 5pmish
it was my turn. It was probably one of my favorite interviews I have had
with Pres Z my entire mission. We were talking about how I have enjoyed the
first half of my mission and what I want to accomplish in my second half.
He was asking about what was my next step and all these things. I told him
though that I wasn't worried about leadership and other things but the
thing I wanted to be sure of is that in every area that I serve in, I want
to make a real difference in the lives of the members and the people I
meet. I don't care about the other things but I want to know that I did
everything I could to really help everyone become converted to the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Of course the next question was, Well thats really good
Elder Peterson, but how are you going to do that? Insert epic stupor of
thought hahaha. I thought for a minute and told him kind of the obvious
things, I will work hard, try my hardest to be effective every hour of the
day, talk to everyone, things like that. We said yes that is all good and
what you need to do but there is something else. He then started to explain
about obedience. He said that he knew i was a very good missionary. I was
obedient, others had told him I was very good and he has never heard
anything bad. He said he knows I will have a successful, fantastic mission
if I stay where I am now but then he said something awesome. He started
explaining and basically telling me that if I were to increase my level of
obedience that the blessings of heaven would basically fall upon me and I
would have an even more incredible mission. I kind of didn't know what to
say. Here he had just told me that I was obedient and doing great and my
mission is going to be awesome. Then he is saying, if you find ways to be
even better your mission will be greater beyond anything you can imagine!
For some reason it hit me so hard! Then Bro Carter just sent around an
email this week that talks about obeying the commandments and obeying the
Thou shalts as well as the Thou shalt not's. So maybe I need to really look
at my mission and study the white handbook and really find where I can
improve and get these extra blessings from Heaven! It was really such an
awesome interview and it really set the tone for me and makes me want to
have my last year be 10X better than my first! There is a lot of work to be
done and it looks like I am in a position to do a lot of it!

We also talked a lot about the idea of me transferring from Toti town into
the Illovo township. I really really love this area and love the members
here so much. I want to stay but I have been in Toti for 6 months now and
the odds are I will be transferred in December. Illovo has just split off
into its own unit under Toti Ward and they want to make it into a branch
before the end of December. The missionaries there are good guys, bless
their hearts, but they are getting a little finished. haha. Illovo is in a
position to boom!! and I want to help it happen. So I have been emailing
President for weeks begging to go there and he has been ignoring my pleas
haha. I finally go to ask him in person and he just started shaking his
head. But I explained why and his mood changed. I have worked with both
members and the leadership in both. They all trust me and I am ready to
work. The area is set up like PJ and if I work there it would be so fun and
there could be lots of success happening. President actually agreed with
me!! But just to put the  nail in the coffin I have been talking to the
couples incharge of splitting wards and they are all onboard and making
plans to get me there. The Durban Stake President has been informed and
wants me there haha. All the members in Toti are calling and want me there.
Basically its kind of awesome. So hopefully I get to stay!

Thursday we did some more service at Bro Stephen's house. John Louie (JL)
the returned missionary invited a non member friend to help and we are now
working on him. I think he might have emailed you a pick mom I don't know.
But he is a super cool guy and should progress well. On Saturday we went
with JL, the friend whose name is Arnu, and Storm to the Bafana Bafana vs.
Sudan soccer game in Durban! We got permission to go and it was awesome!!
The 5 of us seriously lost our minds! We had those weird trumpet things
called Vuvuzelas and just went all out! We were trying to get on camera but
it didn't happen. We zoomed in on a part and we could tell it was us but no
one else would be able to see us unfortunately... It was fun though and
Arnu was happy to see us again! SA won by the way 2-1 and are qualified for
the AFCON Cup next year! This is the first time since 2008 so ya we were
there for this part of SA History!! But my lips hurt so bad from blowing
those things non stop for 2 hours! The drunk guys behind us actually asked
us to calm down we were so into the game hahaha. Oh good times.

Sunday we were able to have 2 baptisms!! Tokoso and Gogo Phungula were both
baptized! It was awesome because Storm was able to baptize Tokoso. He was
the one that gave us the referral way back when I first came to Toti and
has been helping us teach until now. It was awesome to see and Tokoso bore
a power testimony after! He was so excited and has been asking every week
since we meet him when he was going to be baptized haha. Such a good kid
and we are very excited for him. Gogo is a funny story. So she is the
mother to one of the members in the ward. She has another son who is a
bishop in a different ward in the stake. Basically everyone in her family
is a member but her. Well Gogo is 78 years old. She was a sangoma, which is
a traditional healer or witch doctor basically. Like her grandson was
telling us that she use to use serious drugs and get high and start to do
some funky things. Well the family has been working with her and praying
and fasting for years that she would join the church. They got her to stop
all the black magic things a while back and then it was a battle with a
drug called snuff. Finally after another long while she started to give
that up and come to church. She has been attending church for years. Like
so long that all the members here thought she was already a member. We have
been teaching her lately and she wanted to be baptized by the right
authority. She seriously used the word authority the first time we meet
her. Power. We taught her and she knew everything and my companion even
retaught in Zulu to make sure she really understood and she was absolutely
perfect. Well she was baptized by her grandson and it was perfect. We were
worried about her going backwards under the water and coming up but they
only had to do it once and it was perfect! It was funny, after they were
done they were in the bathrooms changing and I was out in the hall waiting.
When she came out she saw me, gave a huge smile and started to give a
little dance walking down the hall haha. A 78 year old Gogo that can barely
walk, doesn't speak much english, starts dancing and grooving down the
hall. I laughed so hard! She said she was so so happy and she could feel
she was clean. She bore the strongest testimony. It was in Zulu so I had
Alfred translate for me but it sounded so powerful. She was just the most
excited lady I have ever seen. After the service we were invited up to the
house for the family get together and had lunch with everyone. She just
introduced us to everyone as her missionaries. It was such a good
experience.

After church on sunday we had like 5 food appointments. It was outrageous.
But the best was in the evening we went to the Riese/Russell home for JL's
homecoming party. He was just telling stories and we had a good time. But
the cool thing, There was a camera crew here from SLC that was filming for
a new teaching ciriculum that is being introduced soon. Durban stake was
chosen to be the guinea pigs. The Riese family was asked to be in the film
so they have been working with the crew for a few days. Well they all came
over just to say goodbye and we got to meet them. It was cool because they
were some of the guys that had filmed the district, Legacy, Meet the
Mormons, Like all the church movies! We talked and they showed pics of them
being with like the characters and a bunch of famous people like Mitt
Romney and all the musicians and star sports players that are all mormon.
It was way cool! I took a pic with the guy and he said he would email it to
you mom. He also knows the apartment where Marissa lives. He is from PG.
Pretty cool though. Everyone was laughing though because one of the crew
was a Native American and they all wanted a picture with a Lamanite
hahahaha. The only time they will have one in their house haha. It was
pretty funny.

Its been a great week though! Seems like a lot of random things but lots of
good random things! We are just staying busy and doing all we can to get
some good people to teach! Just 15 more baptisms in Toti and I would be
happy ;) Its been a spirit filled week and I am looking forward to this one
coming! I hope it goes great for all of you as well! I love you all!

Elder Peterson

In a State of Lemuelism

Hi everyone!

So ya basically you probably know what scary thing I have been thinking
about lately... But I don't want to talk about it too much cause I don't
know how I feel about it honestly. Good and bad but we will focus on that
later. Let me tell you about this week!

Before I even begin I want everyone to know that I absolutely love my
companion Elder Merile! When you say Merile though its not how it looks.
When you get to the 'r' you have to make like a throaty H sound. Its hard
to explain and even to say so a lot of times I call him Elder Merls,
exactly how it looks. He is seriously the coolest guy in the world! You
could not ask for a better companion! I was telling dad, he has that
perfect combination of play hard, work harder! The best honestly.

Monday, P-day normal stuff, then had a family home evening with the Riese
family and watched the halloween party dance movies. I am still trying to
upload them but it takes a looooooong time! Some day you will see them all.

Tuesday wasn't very exciting cause we were getting some help from members
trying to target less actives that we could work on and going through
seeing who each auxiliary wanted us to focus on. The mission really wants
us to work closely with the wards and see what the bishops want help with
and being tools for them, not seperate things happening in one area. Good
advice buy yo less actives are hard! Funny story coming up soon about them.
We did some easy contacting around the town but nothing too exciting. We
finished at Sis Sue for dinner and played a ravishing game of Barbie Uno. I
got beat by a 94 year old Gogo... Self esteem destroyed haha!

Wednesday was kind of awesome. We were in a suburb called St Winnifreds
that is a totally rich part of town. We were looking for members there
cause there are some big families somewhere. We decided we might as well
knock some doors on our way. Obviously no one really let us in but we
talked to a lot of people and just had a fun time. We went to Innocents
house in the evening  and talked to him and his wife. He is still in the
same position waiting for some good news about a job. We read the BoM with
him and he still loves it and wants to be baptized. We talked to the mom
for a bit and she is looking seriously ready to pop! She has been pregnant
for I swear 2 years. But she is still just happy to see us and Innocent is
still teaching her when we leave. She speaks french though and a newly
returned missionary named John Louie served in a French speaking area of
the Caribbean so he is going to come help us teach her too.

Thursday was probably the best day of the week. We found a newly moved in
member that didn't know where the church was so we talked and told her and
everything and sure enough she made it on Sunday! We had Sis Duplessis
translate Innocents CV so that he can look for more jobs. We went to a park
that is in the middle of town kind of close to the beach so lots of people
move around there. We usually contact there so we went and started talking
to people. There was a guy painting so we went and started talking to him
about his paintings and soon started sharing about the Book of Mormon. We
started reading from it and letting him read it and soon we were teaching
him and a few other people that were selling random things. We asked if we
could return tomorrow with BoM's for everyone and they agreed! (skip to
tomorrow if you want to learn more quickly) We left and headed to Tokoso.
We talked and finished up all the commandments with him and just reviewed
everything we have been talking about. He is preparing to be baptized this
coming week so we have been talking a lot of things. It seems like he has
been waiting for so long and finally he is able to do it. He is such a
great kid and its awesome to see him ready to accept the gospel. His mom
and family even said they want to attend to see it. Hopefully they will
feel the spirit and want themselves to be baptized!     This is now where
the funny less active story comes in. We found a family called the Gumede
family that hasn't come for quite a while. We had visited briefly and were
returning for an appointment. As we pulled up we saw the gate was open and
the non member baba was outside. We parked out on the grass and said a
prayer. As we got out of the car and grabbed our bags, my companion says,
"hey this guy just closed the gate on us!" I turn and sure enough he had
locked us out! We walk over and start talking to him from outside and he
tells us that mom is sleeping and we should leave. We didn't want to fight
it out so we said alright and walked to the car. Well as soon as we get to
the car, the gate starts opening right back up. Eish haha. We just laughed.
Some people these days.

So friday now. So we went back to the park, with a billion BoM's. Probably
looked crazy walking around with them all but whatever. Sure enough they
were all there waiting for us and a new family was with them waiting as
well! We passed them out and they were so eager to get into it. We circled
up and started to read from the Introduction together. As we read they
would ask questions and someone else in the group would answer for us haha
it was awesome! We talked and explained and the spirit was there so strong!
They all said they wanted to read more and find out more about it. We
committed them to read from 2 Nephi 31 and they were reading before we had
even crossed the road! It was powerful! One of the best lessons in this
area for sure. They all wanted us to come back and share more so hopefully
we have some really good investigators here now! Saturday we had a game so
Friday we practice with the ward. We went and played and had a lot of youth
come and some investigators. Had a good time.

Saturday we played the game against Kwa Mashu. It ended up being a draw
4-4. But I want to make it known I played the first half and the score at
half time was 2-0 for us. I didn't pay second half and you see what
happened. Now I'm not saying anything but lets just think about that ;) It
was really fun though. Some good fellowshipping moments with investigators
so it was good. Soccer has been one of our best teaching opportunities.
After we got a call from Innocent that his wife was in the hospital! She
had finally popped! I knew it was gonna happen! We rushed to go find him
and went and visited her. And they have a lovely new son to join their
family! That makes 3 kids for him now. He was so so excited and it was fun
to see him that way. Work has been taking its toll on him so it was good to
see some joy in his eyes. He asked me to offer a prayer for the child and
we had a lovely moment in the labor ward of the hospital. It reminded me of
the day that E was born! Seems like yesterday!

Yesterday was crazy. The ward split this week so the other elders area
called Illovo split and is meeting that side now. So we were crazy trying
to help them get that side running and getting to our meeting and getting
investigators worked out and eish it was fun! But it turned out wonderful!
We had an attendance of 61 in Toti and Illovo had 65! Huge numbers for this
area! That side is growing to grow so fast I am telling you now. I would
love to get transferred there! I am going to tell President in interviews
on Wednesday. I have emailed him many times about it haha. After church we
had John Louie come with us and teach. It was really fun. We meet lots of
less actives and gave some gentle fire. Taught a few lessons and just had a
nice time. We went a little over board and didn't get done until past 9 so
that wasn't good. We fetched the other guys and got home about a quarter to
10... In and safe is 9 haha. But my favorite quote that I heard today,
comes from Sis Khetiwae. We were talking about Laman and Lemuel and how
they were disobedient and she says and I quote, "I was in a state of
Lemuelism before I learned about the gospel." We all laughed pretty good
but its so true! We are all in a state of Lemuelism before we choose for
ourselves to follow the gospel.

Its been a nice week! It might not sound like it but trust me it was! It
seriously flew by so fast! Me and Elder Merile are just kicking butt and
teaching people like no ones business.

But to the question about how I feel about reaching the " Hump Day"... I
really don't know what to say. I am so so happy I have actually made it
this far! I honestly didn't know if I would make it to this point. It
seemed like it would never come when I first got out here but now that I am
here, I realize just how fast time flies. Every older missionary says once
you hit the year, you might as well start packing cause it will be over
before you know it. I don't know if I like that or not. I am starting to
figure mission out, figuring out my way of teaching people and learning so
much. I can tell I have grown a lot in the gospel and even as me. I have
learned more about myself in the last year than in the 18 years leading up
to it! It really is such an awesome thing. I kind of can't explain it. And
I kind of don't want to admit that I am getting old on mission. Doesn't
seem right. But its a good thing. I am glad time is going by fast, it means
I am enjoying my mission and lots of good things are happening around me.
Obviously I miss you all so much and can't wait to be home and join back in
with the shenanigans but I still have a ways to go :) Mission is really fun
and I am really enjoying it! I just want to make the most of it while I
still have the time to be here! :) I am sure this is what every missionary
says because it really is such a weird thing haha.

Maybe next week I will have a few other thoughts since I will officially be
on the downhill side of things ;) I love you all so much and am so thankful
for the support you have given me each and every week for this last year.
It really helps so much knowing you are there cheering me on and your
prayers help so so much! and trust me, I have needed them!

One year down, one year to go! :)

Decisions Determine Destiny!!

What a week this has been! Been full of really fun good things and some not so good things but all in all its been a nice time! 

So last Monday we went to the Umlazi boarding and we played a huge soccer game between us in the Umlazi zone and the Hillcrest zone from Durban. I would say it was fun because we were building unity and team work whatever, it was really fun because we DESTROYED them! It was like 6-0 haha. And it was awesome cause Elder Makande was on the other team and he is a striker and I am a defender so anytime he got the ball I just shut him down like a true champion! There was one time he had a wide open shot at the goal and he was just about to take it and I came flying in with my slide tackling skills and perfect deflection, saved the goal. (feel free to applaud) Everyone was like 'OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH' haha it was sick as punch. So much fun! Then we went and had a zone braai. Super fun again. It started raining on our fire so we picked it up and tried to put it in the garage then realized how stupid that was so we set it up under the patio sort of. Elder Clayton from Moab bought chicken feet and I got to try one. Disgusting. No meat, just ligaments and bones and really long nasty toe nails. Not recommended. 

Tuesday was a pretty normal day. But it was so awesome. We were going to our last appointment and it was about 6:30-7ish. We had to walk into the township. As we were leaving the town and into the township there was a guy in a wheelchair trying to push himself up the hill. People were just walking by like nothing was happening and I couldn't believe it! So of course I ran over and started pushing him. I started talking to him with the little Zulu I know and learned his name is Mongeni Mkhize. Well Mongeni has no legs. He works as a car guard trying to make enough money to support his family staying in the township. Every day he wakes up early early early and pushes himself some outlandish distance. (It takes me about an hour to walk from his house to the church, and he works about a 20 min walk past the church.) So he gets there, has to work for a few hours, then starts home early to get home before it is too dark because it isn't safe. Now from his work to home is entirely up hill. Like steep steep uphill. It was a serious exercise to push him up it. But I talked to him and we eventually got about half way home. We needed to go the other way but I wanted to get him home. Luckily right as we got to the junction another young guy came over and said he would take him from there. I looked down at him and he just had the biggest smile on his face. I couldn't really tell him that much. We couldn't communicate very good, but I knew at that moment we were both feeling the exact same thing. Little acts of service are seriously my favorite thing. If my mission was filled with absolutely nothing else but doing little things for people and making them smile, I would be the happiest returned missionary ever. Awesome!

Wednesday we were finally able to resume work on Innocents garden. We got more land cleared and got it all cleaned up and ready for planting. We will probably be doing that sometime this week. 

Thursday we spent the day with Bro Rob the Elder's Quorum President. He came with us into Kwamakhuta to visit the families and set up home teaching. We visited a ton of people! The only problem we encountered is that there is no Melchizedek priesthood... We have priests and all but no men. So the missionaries are going to do splits and teach with the priests which will be fun. We also are now asked to focus in Khutha and find men. Total change from what was happening before. Thats alright though we will do what we need to to help the church grow here. And teaching will be easier haha just getting them to come to church will be the true test. 

Friday was interesting. So the other companionship has been kind of fighting/not talking at all for the week. They have been on splits all week with members and things are nonsense. So today I was on exchanges with Mastara in Illovo. We had a good day and taught a number of lessons. We took a member with us named Sandile. He is a recent convert and hilarious! We just walk down the road singing, "Dont worry, Be Happy" and everyone was just smiling at us and we got contacts galore! Pretty fun honestly. 

Saturday we were finally able to watch Conference! Now that its been weeks since it happened haha. It was super good though! Priesthood session was fantastic as ever! Always my favorite session. And mom, I am sure no one heard the small munching of Peanut butter M&M's haha. Thank you for the package! Loved the notebook! My favorite talk was probably Elder Quentin L Cook about choices. My favorite line, "Decisions Determine Destiny!" That is such a powerful statement! I liked the whole idea of the conference with how there are things of the world that aren't necessarily bad but do they really help us on our eternal objective or reaching exaltation. And the importance of a strong faith in Christ even with making our decisions. He also said something along the lines of, "A divine faith in Christ is the dividing factor between the Celestial and Terrestrial kingdoms." Faith is really the most important principle even if it is the very first principle of the gospel. It was awesome how they all talked about following the prophets council and obtaining our own faith and personal revelation on the things we hear. Conference rocked my world! We also received the transfer news tonight. Me and Chapps knew we were staying so dropped the other two home and went out for some ice cream. We came back and they told us the news and we almost dropped the cones. Chapman is leaving already. He is serving in Mpumalanga now so eish. Ngandu is also leaving to Kwa Mashu. Not so down about that haha. My new companion is going to be Elder Merile. If you remember he was in my district while I was in Botshabelo. He is a good guy and works really really hard so that will be awesome. Elder Mastara is staying as well again and his new companion is........ Elder Kakaire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my heck you have no idea how excited I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I get to be with that crazy Ugandan again hahahah yes!!!!!!!!!! So pumped I love that kid so freakin much! Oh wonderful day its going to be awesome!

So sunday we watched more conference. I think I enjoyed the Cantonese message the most! Not just cause it was in an awesome language but that was awesome, but I loved the parable and idea of everyone working together. So so important in the work of the lord that we are united in all we do. Such a good talk. We spent the rest of the day visiting families and saying byes. We finished at the Riese family and that was baaaaad. We had finished dessert and we needed to leave. We were saying goodbye and Ngandu just left without saying bye to anyone. Sis Riese said excuse me and asked him why he doesn't greet them or say thank you or anything and it went downhill quick! Thankfully we got out of there with no blood spilt. But the Riese's had a son serving in the West Indies mission. He just came home Friday so we got to meet him and talk to him. He is really cool and still really in mission mode haha. He wants to come with us and teach so that will be fun. Only thing was, made me miss my mom.... One year and it will be some other missionary looking at me thinking the same thing. The circle of life I guess. 

Mostly it was kind of an upside down week but a good week. Things are looking good for some new investigators. Some friends of the members that have been making appearances and thinking about the gospel. Hopefully it will give us some people to work with cause as of now, Merile is showing up to not a very big teaching pool or puddle. But I am feeling good and ready for another transfer in Toti! Just loving the people and loving life! I hope everyone has a great week! I love you all!

Elder Peterson

Plans for Tonga

Alright well another week bites the dust! Seriously it was a pretty quick
week. The days dragged on like never before but as a whole it flew by!
Probably cause every day it just rained like crazy so it all just blurs
together into one massive day of wet. So ya you can probably already guess
how my week went. Was not fantastic really at all. Would have preferred
being at Jordan's homecoming and the funeral. Sounds like it was a really
good service and everyone had a good time.

Well as for me and South Africa this week, I can't remember if I told you
but our new car got stolen. Again. By missionaries. But they didn't even
tell us why they needed it?? Just took it and told us to walk so with all
the rain this week we have been pretty stranded. Running for cover and
trying to stay somewhat dry. When it rains here, it rains. Its awesome if
you are inside but when you are outside in it you feel like you are
drowning! Looots of rain this week. So the work has been kind of hindered
because of that. We were still able to get some good new contacts and meet
with some of our investigators. Unfortunately its looking like a lot of
seeds that won't grow for a few months.. On the good side though, Tokoso
has made a re-appearance! He has been to church 2 weeks in a row, he has
gone to the youth activities, he is preparing to be baptized, the members
are asking him all the time if he is preparing so he seems really
determined to do it. So we think on the 9 November he will be baptized.
Pretty awesome to have him back.

We did a lot of work with Less actives lately. Figured we can reactivate
some people if we can't get new members. We have been moving with a few
members to show us some houses and have had a really good time and a lot of
them came to church! We had 9 come! So that was awesome yesterday! Its also
been so funny to walk around with them. We went with 2 of the young men and
1 of their friends around KwaMakhuta (the township) yesterday and they
showed us a lot of members. We were walking and talking and we are going
down a long street. At the end of the street there is a small tuck shop
with a lot of guys outside. Well as we get closer they all start yelling
Hey Mulungu!! Mulungu! Come here Mulungu! Picture Mulungu!? Picture! Well
the 3 guys we are with just start laughing. Some drunk guy comes out and
meets us and asks me if I will take a picture with him. Obviously I agree
and about 15 camera phones come out and we took a small photo shoot haha.
They were all laughing and probably saying some crazy things but I didn't
care I was just laughing and having a good time. I wanted to use my camera
and take a pic with him but I was too afraid they would steal it haha. We
kept going and about 2 blocks away we meet some guy on the road and he asks
me if I have any Wunga I'm not using. The 3 guys just bust up again and I
have no idea what a Wunga is. I say no and we start walking again and they
start explaining that Wunga is a serious drug here. Kind of like cocaine is
what I am thinking. So ya people think I use cocaine I guess..? Oh how I
have missed my townships haha. Such a weird experience to be there. I can't
tell if I am excited or just scared to death when we are there.

The only reason we are going there now is because the Elder's Quorum
president wants to set up a better/new home teaching list so he needs to
know who lives there and who can visit who. But its kind of fun. Haven't
been in one for so long haha.

And so now to the fun stuff with my companion. So things are still
spiraling out of control here... Every member comes up to me and says he
did something or said something. And the thing is, nothing dumb is ever
said when I am there, but as soon as we are at church and he is not right
next to me, something gets said. I don't understand! Then when I ask him
about it I get a different story and I don't know what the truth is.
Basically I will have to put a leash on him and never let him leave my
side. Like how do you offend people at church???
Yesterday, 2 random missionaries came to church, no one knows why. Well half
way through sacrament meeting they and Ngandu get up and walk out. A huge
group of people get up and follow and they all go outside and start taking
pictures. Bishop approached me and gave me fire! I was sitting in the front
with a recent convert and so I didn't see anything happen. Then other
members came and gave me fire and I am just sitting here going uhhhh
because I have no idea what happened! But I guess a bunch of people are
calling the Mission President. I loved the guy to death but he has been making some
stupid stupid choices and it is ruining the area and making me look bad.
Transfer news is this Saturday and he will leave and I will have to spend
the next transfer trying to rebuild the relationships that were torn down.
Awesome. Only good thing is the members here seriously love me and I love
these members more than any other area. I will stay here for 9 months if I
have to!

Now that I am done venting, things are awesome. Me and Elder Chapman are
best friends. We are making plans so that I can go stay with him in Tonga
some time. See, even if I didn't get called to serve in Tonga, I still
found a way to get to Tonga through my mission! We talk a lot and make
awesome plates of nachos haha. He is struggling with his companion too so
we try and help each other out and keep us afloat. Been a good time. Well I
don't have much else to report. More of a story week than anything else.
But I am sure with going back into the township I will have lots of good
stories for you! I love you all very much and hope you have a loverly week!

Elder Peterson

How Great is This Gospel

Well this has been a different week. Seems like whenever good things happen, bad things happen. I am very sad that Grandpa has passed on. I will miss him so much and I wish I could have said goodbye to him. But I am so happy he is finally happy again. What a blessing that is for him and for all of us. I am sure he is just loving every second there. The Plan of Salvation is true and I know that without a doubt. I know God loves each and every one of us and has a plan that will allow all of us to see each other again and be with those that we love. How great is this gospel. 

Maybe thats why my week needed to be so great this week. The work seriously went fantastic this week. We meet so many great people and had awesomely awesome lessons! We worked a lot this week with members and had more members present than ever before in this area. Mini came with us a lot and helped out a lot with some new investigators. Only downside is now that they trust him, he is moving to Johannesburg! :( He is probably leaving today or tomorrow and doesn't know when he will come back. Not awesome. But he is looking forward to starting his mission papers there and going to the temple so hopefully he can get that all done. But things have been really good. The area is growing slowly and we are getting more referrals from the members so that helps. 

On the downside again though, the companionship is not as good anymore... He has been asking for an emergency transfer all week. Its not because we fight, we get along really well, but he hates how hard the area is and wants to leave. Then now its awkward cause I know he doesn't want to be here and Im just stuck sitting here like what the heck? So I don't know. He doesn't like the members and says some really not smart things to them, then they come to me and tell me they don't like him and I can't say anything. Obviously the work is hard and we don't just teach 24 hours a day like a township and that bugs him so he hates Toti and tells me all the time. He wants to go to the more humble people and I just think, isn't that where all missionaries want to go?? Doesn't make sense. So thats weird and  its been a slippery slope that I don't think will end well. I think I will be staying here again and he will be leaving. Glad I will get to stay with the cool people I have meet here but eish 6 months in one area I think can kill a man! Thats a looooong time but we will see what happens. Still have a few weeks before the decision is made. 

But things are going swell here. Don't have a lot of time to email you a lot of things but mostly things are going good. I hope everyone has a good week and everything runs smoothly. Tell the entire family I love them so much! And tell Jordan to email me! I love you all!

Elder Peterson

The Lord Will Do His Own Work in His Own Time

Sawibona!

Well its been another good week here in South Africa! The Sun finally made an appearance yesterday and everyone is recovering from being swept away in the floods so I would say its a great day! Ok, thats a little over dramatic but ya its been just rainy and windy and normal tropical weather here this week. But today its very sunny (so far) and looks like a beautiful day! 

This week has been pretty nice. We have kind of decided that we need to do a lot of finding here. We were doing our weekly planning and realized theres not that many people to plan for. Most everyone is kind of falling away and we are dropping them for now. When you make phone calls and show up and no one is there, it gets pretty annoying. So this week has been finding finding finding! We seriously have contacted for multiple hours each and every day. We usually have somewhere around 3 or 4 appointments each day but the rest of the time its just standing on corners passing out materials and trying to talk to the world! Sadly its been a very normal week and I don't have much to share but there was something I thought was very cool. 

So kind of all week we have been struggling getting contacts. We talk to hundreds of people but only maybe 1 person will give us a number or accept us to come again. Its not been very successful and I was starting to really get down. Seemed like no matter how hard I tried I couldn't find a single person. Well yesterday we got to church early so we could greet everyone that came and be there when investigators showed up. It starts getting to 8:55 (church starts at 9) and no one has come. I was pretty disheartened and we went in and sat down. But surely just as the meeting starts, 2 members come walking in each with a friend they brought for the first time. And a few mins after that, Ntombi (who is Tokoso's aunt and one of our investigators) comes in with her son! Never ever have I been so excited to see someone new faces come in to the chapel! As soon as we could we went up to them and talked and scheduled appointments and they wanted to learn more about the church. At this point it seemed like an answer to our prayers. New investigators, at church, with member friends! Well just when I thought this was cool enough, Sis Tish (who is the librarian) comes out into the foyer after sacrament with a big box of old books and magazines that were for whoever wanted them. I knew that Gran (whom we take the sacrament to every week) would love some new reading material. I grabbed a few ensigns and started flipping through them. I love reading the 'Latter Day Saint Voices' and started reading them. Well the first one I read was in one from like 2002. I started reading and it was about how the Lord will do his own work in his own time. I found out this week how true that really is. There are people here whom the Lord has prepared to receive this gospel. Its just our job to find those people and lead them to the truth. And sometimes they even find us. It was a blah week, but this experience on Sunday, this made it awesome! 

Other than that the highlights of the week have been:

On Tuesday we went to Innocent's house and we helped clear the jungle and make a garden. I attached pics in dropbox. It was seriously a thick bush but I got to use the machete and hack through it like a real african. It was pretty legit. But we got rained out so we have to finish the rest sometime this week. 

Wednesday we had ZTM and talked more about finding. Seems we aren't the only area in the mission having the same problem. But it was a nice meeting and we learned a lot. I also received the Halloween Package! Thank you mother! Elder Ngandu thought the Ghost Poop Tic Tacs were hilarious haha. 

Saturday we went to the Riese/Russell family and watched the South Africa vs. New Zealand rugby game! SA won by the way! It was super fun! They made a bunch of hot dogs and we were going to have a competition until we remembered Elder Chapman is from Tonga... He ate like 15 in the time I ate 3. And I was finished after! haha. But Elder Farmer and Elder Neilson from Durban came as well so it was fun to talk with everyone. 

But thats about been my week this time. Not too much really happened but its been a good normal week. This week we have zone conference on Wednesday which should be good. But other than that its going to be more finding! Yay!! I hope everyone has a great week and I look forward to hearing from you soon! I love you all

Walking, Walking, Walking….

Well hi again everybody! I kind of can't believe this week is already over. Honestly it was a super short week and I feel like I must have slept through half of it. Weird. But this week has been very interesting. I can't say it was a 'bad'week, but it was not a nice week. 

Basically it all boils down to one thing. Our mode of transportation. So ok, Wednesday night we were at Sis Khetiwae's house. Well she lives kind of far from town, right on the edge of the township. It was late-ish around like 6:45 and it was dark and a little stormy. We had just finished a lovely lesson and were headed out the door. We needed to leave there and bike clear to the other side of town, back towards our boarding to meet with our last appointment. We grabbed our bikes (no they didn't get stolen, I know what you were thinking) and took off down the road. Well we were maybe a block away and I was a little in front of my companion. As I turned to start down the hill I heard him yell something. I stopped and turned back right in time to see that………………….his bike had a flat tire! Oh my goodness! (Hope I didn't worry anyone that time ;)) But ya his tube was totally done for and we had a long way to go and it was night and there's nowhere to get quick bike repairs done. So we started pushing towards the nearest gas station which is on the other side of town still. After a while we made it and tried to pump it up and hope it would last till we got to the appointment. We rode about 10 feet and it was dead again. So Elder Ngandu hopped on my bike and rode it while I picked up his bike and ran along side him. Now if riding a bike is an exercise, try being the bike! We must have gone 5 kilos! Halfway there, the pedals started falling off and I was dropping parts all along the road. It was a hectic evening. But then we took the bikes to Durban to get fixed and he said we wouldn't get them until Monday. Awesome. Now we have been walking all week and that absolutely slaughtered our lessons. We ended the week with the lowest stats of my entire mission so far and I feel so awful. Like I know we couldn't really do anything about it but its just not a good feeling. But the AP's found out and they called us and informed us that they had found an extra car and now we will be driving again today! Yay!! Means we will get to our good appointments on time but Elder Peterson will have to be doing some legit exercise in the mornings now! I still think we will try and spend a lot more time walking and maybe biking but it will be nice to get back on track with everything. Toti is just a big area to try and handle without one. 

But ya because of that our week was pretty finished. It was pretty normal and we meet the usual people but there was one thing that was really cool. So on Thursday we had to take the other Elders car into Durban to drop off the bikes. On our way back we decided we should stop by the mall where Innocent works and see if we could see him at work and find out how he is doing. So we made a quick detour and got over there. We asked around the car guards until one told us where he was. He was in the back on one of the sections that is less busy. We pulled up and he was so happy to see us! We started talking and he explained how his work works. The parking lots are divided into sections and the car guards rotate sections each day. Today he was on this section that he knew was the least busy. He said he wanted to call us and tell us to come and visit him at work because we would be able to talk but he didn't have any money to buy airtime. Me and my companion just kind of looked at each other really surprised then Innocent said, God really does allow miracles to happen. It was the best experience of my week! The Lord really will have his work go forward and make the ways for it to happen. We finally got to meet up and talk about everything. He still wants to be baptized but his new boss won't let anyone miss Sundays now... gotta see how that will work. His family is doing good but we could tell life has been rough for them lately so we went into the grocery store and bought him some lunch and a few extra treats to take home for his family. He was absolutely beaming when we left! I don't think I will ever forget that smile or this instance. 

We were able to meet with most everyone. We meet Mongezi again and had an awesome awesome lesson! We had dropped him and I had kind of forgotten about him but my companion really wanted to see him so we went over and it was the best lesson! Him and a friend were there and we talked all about the Restoration. We kept asking them if they would follow Christ's church and kept asking as we explained the entire lesson. At the end they both just said they wanted to meet again. It was a perfect lesson and I hope it continues! I can see them in the church now! They seemed so prepared to hear about the gospel. 

We saw Lucky and he sort of had a small step back. He is really good friends with a kid that goes to a very energetic church. And we saw him yesterday and he wanted to know why we don't speak in tongues... I know we have to but I really hate when it comes to the proving other churches wrong and tearing down some of the principles... I try and focus on the proving our church right aspect but sometimes there's no other way. But we tried to explain and we read from Corinthians and he seemed to understand. But he was going to go and share it with the friend and the friends parents (who are the pastors) and then let us know. I feel like we are in an epic tug of war with this other church for this kid. Its been interesting but I think he sees the truth in our message. Gonna see what happens. 

The Mhlanga house is still coming along nicely! All the walls are done and the roof is finished. Now its just putting on plaster everywhere and doing the tiling and putting in windows and everything else before Wednesday... the daughter that is paying for it all is going back to the army and it all has to be done before she leaves. But they have been working hard so hopefully it works! The family in the gospel is still at a stand still but should progress soon. 

Everyone else is either still the same or we didn't get to meet with them much. A lot of people were saying the whole come back tomorrow every day for a week... Some were gone to work outta town and some we just haven't been able to make it to. Its been a week but it really cruised by so fast! It'll be nice to be able to see everyone this week and get back on track. Hopefully we will find some more people as well. Should be a good week though! Gonna watch a rugby game for Family Home Evening on Saturday! I hope everyone has a good week! I love you all so much!

Elder Peterson