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
