Teaching with President Z; majestic soccer move

Well another week down and what a week it has been! I feel like we have done so much and we have been so busy! Just lots of meetings and activities and the week just cruised by! (Not that its a bad thing!) 

On Monday after the normal routine we went back to the boarding and got together with the elders from Umlazi and we went and played soccer on a little soccer pitch down the road. It was super fun and we all had a blast! It was a decent field and I was wearing sandals so I figured I would take them off and just play bare foot. It wasn't bad at all. Only one sticker the whole game and things were fine. Well we went home and thats when the problems happened. I must have broken the arch of my foot or something cause I could not walk!! I ended up limping around for 3 days wanting to cry! But it is back to normal mostly and only hurts if I step weird. But it was a fun day! 

Tuesday we took off early and meet with a new investigator named Shadrack. He is definitely prepared for the Restored gospel. He is annoyed with all the religions and knows his isn't even true. We talked about Joseph Smith and the Restoration and he was taking notes like crazy! We got done and he was like thats all great but now he is dead so you are all as lost as the rest of us. Well let us tell you about a man named Thomas S Monson ;) Very good guy! We also got a call from Khetiwae and went to see her. Well someone during the night had tried to break into her home. They had kicked in the door and broken it. When they couldn't get in that way (and somehow no one woke up) he broke a window and used a long stick with a hook on the end to reach in and grab her purse. As he was pulling it across the ground and lifting it up to the window level, thats when Khetiwae had gotten the impression to wake up. She looked over and her bag was floating in mid air! She screamed, grabbed it and fought with the man and took it back. He fled. Crazy story but no one was hurt and nothing was taken. We got the door fixed and her windows replaced. We went to a member family for FHE and dinner and I meet my new best friend named Nokwanda. She is 5 and loves everything I love. Dancing randomly, singing primary songs, and playing guns. We had a lovely time haha.

Wednesday we helped Bro Stephen move a huge concrete picnic table thing from one side of his house, across the back yard, through a fence, and onto the patio by the pool. It was a bunch of pieces and each piece took multiple people to carry. It was seriously one of the worst things ever. But despite almost losing fingers and toes, (Dad, you weren't the lucky one this week I guess) we got it all put together and it looked really nice. We went to the area and meet with Innocent and family. They are all still fantastic and he has just been working hard. I also had a lovely time playing catch with his son. Kids love me. I think I will take over some bubbles some time and we will have a bubble party. We saw Khetiwae again and everything is fine. We sat down and her kids actually meet with us!! Well 2 of the 3 anyways but still! They participated and read and it was a great lesson! We read 3 Nephi 11 and the son wants to be baptized now. The Sis also wants to come to church again! Hopefully the family can join her! 

Thursday we spent the morning at the Deaf school that is across the street from the church. We are going to start doing service there so they invited to come over for their sports day. The school was having races and games and whatever so we went and watched and meet some of the teachers and parents. Got some good contacts and had some fun. We also had our interviews with President Zackrison today. It was kind of a normal interview and we just talked about how Toti has been improving and he is glad I am working hard in the town and not as much in the township. Said to keep working hard because the Lord is pleased with what I am doing. Pretty nice to hear that :) Well President also came teaching with us today too... That was definitely intimidating!! You don't want to mess up and you just get so worried! I was so nervous for some reason! But we went and it was actually pretty normal. We went into the first lesson and it was a lady named Elizabeth (Who happens to be Khetiwae's good friend) and Lucky (Who is Khetiwae's son). We were just chatting a little and President asked if she was married. Then talked about how he has been married 40 years and they were both shocked! Then he proceeded to teach the Law of Chastity from step one hahaha. And they were so excited about it! He was just telling them not to have sex and going the whole 9 yards! This was the first time meeting with her so we were kind of scared but she loved it! It worked perfectly some how! Guess we need to start tracting using the Law of Chastity haha! We meet another guy and President talked straight to his soul and the guy accepted the Restoration and Book of Mormon without hastle. I don't know how he does it...? We finished the day with seeing Roger. We planned on sharing the Word of Wisdom. Well we showed up and it was a little late for that. I think he was a little on the tipsy side and the lesson was sort of upside down... Roger also had given us a Bible DVD and he started talking about how he had bought a new video and we needed to watch it and he was going to give it to us and I thought President was going to smite us! Cause he never mentioned Bible or anything spiritual so President probably thought Transformers 4, Frozen, Fast and Furious whatever else. I just stared at the ground trying not to look him in the eye haha. But we got done and went home and talked about the day and he said he was really very impressed with us and he trusted our companionship and everything we were doing. He said the Lord would really bless us if we keep it up. Weight on my shoulders lifted!! Success!! 

Friday we meet the Mhlanga Family and their older daughter who has been in Sudan fighting the war just came home so they were all excited and just wanted to hold a huge feast so thats what we did! We ate and ate and ate and celebrated her coming home. Don't know her but I will celebrate sure! Wooooh! We saw Khetiwae and family and talked more about baptism and the restoration. Things are looking good there other than the sons best friend belongs to a... not so normal.... church. He is convinced he can speak in tongues and his parents are over taken by the spirit and people fall down and eish churches here are like nothing I have ever seen before. Like almost hilarious. But we will see what we can do. 

Saturday we played some epic soccer in the morning! The ward was practicing and some guys from a club wanted to play us. We did and obviously these guys are really good. Well there was one guy that was a striker and he was way high minded and I didn't like him. I was playing defense as a left back. Well this guy got the ball and was going to score and I couldn't let that happen. So I come running across from the side and just before he can get his shot off, I slide tackled him like a straight superstar! I flew across laying my body on the line! I hit the ball perfectly out of the way, hammered his ankle so he knew not to mess with me again and then stood up all in one fluent majestic movement. I felt absolutely invincible! Everyone was cheering and I looked like a total stud. Then the pain came. I looked down and I had some major road rash up my leg and on my arm and it hurt bad! haha. But I played it off and hobbled around for the rest of the game because obviously I can't show pain in front of all my brethren! But its pretty painful when my pants just rub it all day but it was totally worth it! Well we went home after and me and Elder Rasmussen (Serving in Margate, from Manti, here for exchanges) decided to get pizza. We ordered 3 for some reason and feasted! We ate and ate and ate and pounded them all! Nothing can make you feel emotionally so happy and physically so unhappy as eating 3 large pizzas. Worth it again. We then went to Durban for an Adult Fireside by Elder Cook. They were talking all about families and young couples getting married (President wanted missionaries to attend for this). There was a lot about culture stuff like lebola and paying families and whatever but they wanted people to understand how important it is to start families and be sealed in the temple to complete the Plan of our Heavenly Father. It was a really nice meeting. I am just glad I don't have to pay 11 cows to get married ;) (Don't get any ideas!!) 

Sunday we had 9 investigators and less actives at church! It was packed! Very nice service and everyone enjoyed. After we went on exchanges again and I went with Elder Mastara into Illovo which is the township. We went to a members house where they have a Cottage Meeting every week. Basically the members gather and sing, pray, and have a lesson. Like a mini church service. Well I was asked to speak. I talked about how all of us come from different cultures, whether it is from our forefathers or the culture of the world, and how we need to change and adopt the culture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Focused on how it doesn't matter what the worlds culture is, it is wrong if it is not following the teachings of Christ. Talked about how we can change our culture by keeping the commandments as starters and then developing Christ Like attributes. It was kind of last minute but it worked really really well. A couple missionary always comes and they even said they were really impressed. It was a fun meeting and fun to meet in a semi formal way and teach. We visited around and meet with Bro Cosmos. He is a member that is very very poor. He builds for work and does jobs for poor members of the church for free. He is very humble and doesn't want to ask others for help though. We talked and he hasn't had money for 3 weeks. He hasn't eaten in days. We went on a rescue mission and gathered a bunch of food and took it to him so he could survive another week. Super sad to see but it is so common here. We finished up and came home. 

Now this morning I wrote a letter and we went and washed a ladies windows and she made us some cow intestine soup. She wanted us to eat there but we said we were in a rush and asked if we could take it to go. I will not be eating that. Now its off to the beach to play beach volleyball with the zone and to have a braai after! Should be a good day today! 

I hope everyone is doing good and has a great week! I love you all very much! 

Elder Peterson

Preach My Gospel, Chapter 1

Hello everyone!

This past week has been full of many different experiences but will definitely be a week that I will remember more on my mission!

On Monday we came to email and after spending too long here we went home and just chilled around. I was writing in my journal and I started having lots going through my head and I started to have kind of an emotional breakdown or something... I don't know but I was asking myself some deep soul searching questions and then I kind of snapped and eish it was a dark day for me. But whatever I went to sleep and I woke up and thats when it got better.

Tuesday was probably the best day in forever. After falling apart I wanted to get myself back together and thats what I did. I got up, started exercising, got everything prepared and went straight into studies. I decided to go back to the beginning and studied Chapter 1 of Preach My Gospel, Your Purpose. As I was studying there was a lot that was just hitting me so much and I could really feel the spirit actually helping me understand how I could fix what I was feeling. As we started our companionship study I wanted to share what was going on sort of and some of the things. I was reading a part and the thought came to me that I needed to contact more. Now I absolutely hate contacting. Like I would rather tract and knock on doors all day then have to stand on a corner and contact people for 1 hour. Like I hate it. But I was reading and I kept having the thought that to fulfill my calling as a missionary I needed to 'Find through contacting.' Well Elder Ngandu loves contacting people like he will talk to anyone. So I started to tell him I think he needs to teach me to do that. I explained that I wanted to fulfill my calling better and I read from the last section of that chapter under "A successful missionary' and I stopped and just said, "I want to feel that the Lord is happy with what I am doing."and then I started to cry a little more and had to try and hide it. Such a powerful experience to me. Well as we continued through the day that spirit stayed with us and seriously we taught the gospel. I think we could have converted the Pope today! The only down side to the whole day was when we went to James. James has been doing so good and has loved everything we have told him. But we went today and his Muslim family has cancelled our appointments with him. We are no longer allowed there so the teachings will have to stop... We gave him all we could and then had to part ways... I am just praying that some day he will be able to receive the fullness of the gospel in his life.

Well Wednesday we put that contacting challenge to the test! I knew what I needed to do and we went and did it! We spent the entire morning contacting and got 8! I know you were expecting like 50 but 8 is a lot here in Toti. Thats more in one day than we usually get 2 weeks here! We were walking down the Beach Road talking to people and stopped at a younger couple. We offered them a pass a long card for a free DVD and they explained they were homeless and couldn't watch it. We talked for a bit and told them how much God loved them and offered to come back and meet them again. I was having one of those "the gospel is totally going to change these peoples lives"moments! I gave them 20Rn to go get some food and we took off. Well down the road a ways we talked to a security guard to the high rise and she told us about all these druggies that beg for money cause problems. Then she says and the 2 worst ones are those 2! And sure enough it was the ones I just gave 20 bucks to. Nice.... Thats why I hate contacting haha. But it felt good to fulfill my purpose more.

Thursday was the first day it has rained in months! I swear I can't remember the last time it rained! Well we had a great day and taught lots. We were able to meet with Innocent and every time we talk I just feel so bad for him. He is the most humble man I have ever meet. He has had the roughest life and it is still so hard. His wife is pregnant with baby number 3, he still works as a car guard where he makes no money, he lost his papers that say he is a teacher, and he still tries to come to church every time he can. I just want to buy them food, give them clothes, and find him a job! I feel awful but I am so thankful for him. He is such an example of patience and humility. We talked a lot and he has decided to be baptized at the end of September and then work on teaching his wife so he can baptize her later on. Hopefully their situation gets better and it can happen soon! But funny story. We were there talking and sharing scriptures and all of a sudden his little son walks into the corner pulls down his pants and starts peeing in a pot haha spirit took off but we all had a pretty good laugh.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all full of very great lessons and we were able to meet with everyone we needed to. So basically we have some great investigators!

Roger is number one right now! I enjoy going to him more than anyone else I think! He is reading the Book of Mormon like crazy, he understands the lessons we share, and he came to church for the first time yesterday! He loved it and wants to come again! We went over after and talked and he had lots of questions and all basically went back to Joseph Smith receiving the priesthood. I think he is really understanding finally that this is the only true church on the face of the earth. At first it was shaky but now he is really understanding I think. Now we have to teach him the commandments and help him prepare to be baptized soon!

Tokoso and his family are doing good! He came to church but no one else. They are however reading the Book of Mormon and doing missionary work. We meet a new member each time we go there and the room is filling up when we teach! We want them to be baptized together as a family but he will be ready way before them.... We will see though!

The Mhlanga Family actually progressed some! We have been teaching mom english lately and she came to church yesterday! She really liked it and said she will come again next week. Hopefully when she starts coming more the other kids will come more as well.

Khetiwae was confirmed yesterday by Bro Rob (The elders quorum president). She was soo happy to finally have the holy ghost and kept telling me she wanted to feel the 'Bubble Bubble' inside of her haha That is spirit in Sis Khetiwae language haha She is a little off her rocker but in the friendliest way! She is the nicest lady here for sure! Now we are working on teaching her more about the church and the way it works and things are going great!

Mini is still doing great and just working on preparing to receive the Melchizedek priesthood in November. He is taking a special class with Bro Rob and should be ready by then. He is also preparing to go to the temple in a few weeks with his grandma to do baptisms for the dead! Should be an awesome experience for him!

Other than that we are still just working on finding people and getting them progressing. I hope things will keep up in the area and keep going as well as they are and start getting better! The ward is still helping us a lot and bringing us new people to teach and we are just trying to work together to make Toti ward grow. We are also still having fun with them too. We played a soccer match on Saturday against Umlazi W ward and beat them 4-0! I guess I am also getting to be quite the soccer player because I started defense as a left back and played the entire game! What can I say ;) And I look pretty good in the bright yellow kit even if the shorts only go to half way down my thigh haha.

Toti is great and we should have another great week. We have interviews with President on Thursday and he asked if he could come teaching with us after for the day.... yippee.... Hopefully we don't get too much fire and things will go well! I hope he likes tracting ;) But I hope everyone has an awesome week and enjoys school and work and whatever else is happening! I love you all very much and am so thankful for all the support and prayers! Salagathle

Elder Peterson

Rebellious Missionaries--with permission, of course!

Unjani! 

Hello again everyone! And Happy Birthday to Brenner and Jacey! Looks like you had quite the celebrations going on! Glad you all had a good week. This side things were quite fantastic as well! I do have very limited time today because we are going to the Mission Home for an activity so I will just touch on the highlights quickly!

Monday we went bowling with the zone. Hilarious to watch the african elders try it out haha. But they caught on quick and did pretty good! I don't mean to brag but I took 3rd place with a whopping 83 points ;) 

Saturday we had the ward soccer like usual. It was awesome though because a kid that we talked to on the street (white kid by the way) actually came and played with us and brought his mom to watch! They said we could go over whenever so lets see what happens! Talk to everyone, you never know!

Sunday night, last night, we went over to the Riese family and watched the world cup final! Bro Stephen called President Zackrison and just asked if we could watch and he said yes! So we all showed up for the game at 8pm, the game started at 9 which is normally "in and safe", and we watched until past 12! I feel so rebellious but it was approved so its awesome! 

So thats some of the fun things but the teaching this week was awesome too! Yesterday we had the baptism for Mini and he asked me to perform it for him. It was a fantastic service and the talks were perfect. His gran spoke and talked about how she has been praying for a priesthood holder in her home and now he was going to be able to serve that family. It was very very good. 

We have been meeting with Khetiwae still and she is doing awesome! She reads the Book of Mormon more than I do I think and always has questions for us. She came to church and watched the baptism. She even invited her son to come and join lessons! She is doing wonderfully.

Tokoso is still power! We went over again and talked about the Plan of Salvation. He understands well and reads the Book of Mormon. He came to church and brought his cousin with him. They both enjoyed and want to come again. He is doing great, mom is a little bit less interested but always participates in lessons. We are hoping to put him on B-Date this week. 

The Mhlanga family is still doing good too. The one less active brother came to church with the active brother and the investigator sister. We went over after church and talked about Book of Mormon reading. They all read but only the 1 sis comes to church. Gotta work on that but they are doing great! 

Those are our investigators that we are working with. We have fewer numbers, but they are all awesome people with lots of potential! Not only to accept the gospel but even to help the ward. We have been tracting lots, contacting, trying to get into more highrises, just trying to find more quality people. Its been an awesome week and I am looking forward to this week as well! Should be a load of good things happening! Just gotta keep working hard and pushing through the rough finding times. 

But all is well and its been a great week! I look forward to talking to you again next week! I love you all!

Elder Peterson

Moved to the Coast and Must Avoid Attack Dogs

Sawibona! Unjani?

Hello everyone from the land of the Zulu! Oh my goodness I love Zulu eleventy billion times more than Sutu! Mena Kaluma SeZulu!

Anyways, the transfer was awesome! and this new area is awesome! and my new companion is awesome! and Amanzimtoti (Toti) is awesome! Basically so far everything is awesome! (Cue the Lego Movie music now…!)

So first my new companion Elder Gonzales. He is so cool! He is from Boise Idaho, he is 20 and has been on mission for 14 months. He is very talkative and we talk about a lot of random things but its way fun to have someone who can talk about something. He is very into computer/electronic things. We can talk about video games or movies and it all works out fine. He also really enjoys singing so we get into some pretty epic car singing times! Mostly Rolling in the Deep haha. Good guy though and it should be a great transfer!

So the new area is called Amanzimtoti. That is the name of the town. The name of the township is Khamakuta which is also part of our area. We stay in a place called Illovo Beach in the Forest Hills building. Toti is a big city/town right on the beach. Like we run from the boarding to the beach in like 3 mins! The view from our window is right onto the beach! The whole area stretches along the beach which is awesome. The problem with this place is that because of the location it just attracts old rich white people who won't listen to anything... We have been told to focus on town and not in the township so teaching is hard. Elder Gonzales has done some cool things here though. He has gone into all the big apartment buildings/hotels and put cards in all the lobbies since we can't tract there. Also he has set up Family History stands in the city libraries and put articles in the newspaper to get people. We also made a plan to do a car wash in a few weeks where people can come and while we wash the cars they can go into the chapel and watch a short video on the restoration. Gotta think out of the box. We tried tracting the other day. All the houses have huge electric fences and attack dogs. We knock and knock and knock... We went to one house and there was a sign about the dog that was funny and as I was trying to take a pic of it, the dog attacked us haha. I ran like a frightened little girl! But got some funny pic that kind of shows when the dog attacked. We did get to the top of the HighTide building which is the highest point in Toti so that was pretty cool! Should be an awesome area!

The teaching isn't all bad though. We have 2 people on B-Date that will definitely be baptized it sounds like! Mini who is about 20. He has come to church like 11 times in a row and will be baptized on 13 July. And Khitiwae who has come prob 7+ times and loves everything. She is set for the 27 July. There are a couple of families we have been working with and 2 look like they will be baptized sometime. 1 actually comes from Congo where they had found a French BoM. So thats pretty awesome!

But its going to be interesting here. I feel so awkward around white people... Like I don't know what to say to them!! They are some sort of other species and I feel so weird haha! I really forget that I am not black. I just belong with the Africans so much more haha Its so weird I can't even explain it right now! Kind of missing my breadbag soccer playing township kids though...  But Toti will be an awesome place! Just gotta be creative and see what we can do! But my Zulu is coming along slowly. The members are teaching me and I already know more Zulu than I do Sutu! Gonna be fluent soon!

I hope everyone has an awesome week and I look forward to talking to you all again next week! If I left anything out or you wanna know more, let me know! I love you all!

Elder Peterson

Farmer Peterson is Moving to a New "Field"!

Well I guess Farmer Peterson planted enough seeds in this area that I am ready to go somewhere new! I am going to Amanzimtoti!! It is about 15 mins outside of Durban and right on the coast! Going to be so warm and sunny and fantastic! (Thanks for sending the coat mom but now I might not need it.. haha) My new companion will be Elder Gonzales who is from the states somewhere and supposed to be really really cool! I am so excited! Elder Halford served in Amanzimtoti right before here and says he absolutely loved it the best of all his areas! Going to be a great time there! Also Elder Makande will be my ZL there which means I will get to see him all the time!!! Too much excited! Elder Halford is going to Newlands which is Durban as well. There are 6 of us leaving Bloem and all riding together on the bus to wherever. We leave tonight at 8pm and arrive Tuesday morning at about 6am. Not looking forward to that though. But really, prayers answered! 

But this last week has been pretty lame honestly. Not much progress has been happening and not much productive finding either. But I can share about some of the things we did. So on Monday after emailing we went to a place called Naval Hill and started chasing giraffes, zebras, and deer through the savanah! I am sending pics now too. But today I really felt like I was in africa! We went charging through the bush chasing the animals and it was seriously so funny and so much fun! Giraffes run in like slow motion and its hilarious!! Oh good times.

So during the week we just got bunked like crazy, like I had 3 days in a row where every single appointment bunked us... How does that even happen?????? So we tracted lots, talked to lots of people, and just tried to keep busy all day long. Not much happened really. Sunday we went to Thaba Nchu to have a baptism. The other elders baptized a girl named Pulang. There is no water at our building so we packed the youth in Ntate Mnessa's taxi and drove to the chapel! It was a very nice service and I was asked to conduct. She will be a great member and she bore a powerful testimony. After we went cruising to try and say goodbye to as many people as we could and take pics. I had no idea I was leaving and wasn't expecting it so I only got to see like half the people I probably would have but thats alright. We will go back someday and I will see them again! Mostly the ones I will miss the most are the Mababe Family who feed us every Thursday and were like my family away from home, Tapello and Thato who are the Less Actives that are getting reactivated and we would bake with them all the time, and the Madibo family who is the Branch President. The two little daughters are absolutely hilarious and the littlest one was my best friend and would have to sit by me at church and any time we went over there. She doesn't speak any english other than "Missionary" and she can count from 1-26 and only skips 23 haha. Great area with tons of great people but I wasn't around long enough to really grow super close to many of them. So the pics on Dropbox have some of the people. The baptism is Ntate Mnessa and Pulang, then its me and my companion with Rihanna, then a couple pics of the ThabaNchabelo district Elders Merile, Jones, Okurut, Halford, Sarai, and me. Then its me with the Sehloho family which is Tapello and Thato, then its the Rampi family who was in the other area but they love missionaries and gave me a cup to remember them, then its the Seleke family who is the only mme that ever gave us a referral to teach anyone! The younger little guy always says, "Chicks man!" haha, and its the Madibo Family who is President. The little little one is my best friend and is super adorable, then its Sam who is the counselor in the branch who's a big joker, then its me on the couch with Kiketso, Mpho, Nthabeleng, and Mme who are less actives that come once in a while but are always wanting us to come visit. Very nice family. Then its, Mababe Family who is the best in the whole branch! Then its Pulang and her younger sisters whose names are seriously, Beautiful Stone, and Star. Haha awful names but nice kids.

But really I worked my butt off in this area and I was getting tired! But I am so so thankful to be going to the new area and to be going to the coast! Also means I will get to learn Zulu! Which is the fun language with all the clicks! So very excited for that one! Gotta learn to bare my testimony in Zulu obviously! Going to be a whole new world that side and I am ready to get a new start and really work hard! Also weird to think I am 7 1/2 months! What the??? Have a good week everyone and I hope you enjoy the photos! Love you all!

Elder Peterson

Snow in South Africa & Planting Seeds

Hello from the Frozen South!! 

Ok I was totally joking about winter being here a few weeks back but seriously this week got freezing! It snowed on Thursday thats how cold it was!!! I wear my shirt, a sweater, and my big coat and still freeeeeeze! My companion from Kenya hates his life mostly hahaha. It also sucks because all the houses are made out of cement blocks not wood and insulation so the houses are refrigerators! It is warmer out in the wind and snow than in the houses! Its awful! And people don't have money for heaters so they just lay in bed all day under blankets and don't move. This whole week people would bunk because they wouldn't open the door... We could hear them and sometimes talk to them but they wouldn't open the door and get off the couch... Gonna be a long winter here! But other than being a human ice cube all week, its been a decent week. I forgot to right down everything so I am just going to share some of the more important stuff.

So we have been trying to go back to former investigators that missionaries used to teach and see what we can find. We meet a lady and just started talking and she was telling us about just her life and how she was remodeling her house, working overtime, she was home alone with her kids, and just kind of everything. She mentioned about how the missionaries left her a Book of Mormon and she didn't know what it was. We very casually talked about it while she was cleaning and she stopped and just listened for a bit. She said she really wanted to read it so we left her a chapter and took off. She is very cool.

We meet a younger couple named the Myeko Family that was taught a little in December. We went over and they were asking about the Book of Mormon as well. We started explaining it and she said, "This makes the Bible make sense!" We kind of laughed but were just saying yes, yes it does!  They both wanted to read it too! Very nice young family as well.

Thursday was the day of snow! It was absolutely freezing! We went to a Less active named Tapello. He had asked if we could go over and bake some food and talk. So we went over and made brownies (Mom that recipe you sent rocks!) and 6 minute microwave cake. Very delicious food! We talked a lot and he wants to get active again. We are going to start taking him teaching with us and spending time with him so he can come back. If we can't find, might as well reactivate.

So you might remember a lady named Pontsho that we had found my first few weeks in Botshabelo. Well we went back to see her and I was asking her what she remembers. She seriously taught back the entire lesson of the Restoration and even said that she believes Joseph Smith is a prophet. She had the question if Joseph Smith had written any prophecies like the olden day prophets so we explained the Book of Mormon to her. She loved every second! We read on the Introduction where it says it can help men find peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come and she said thats all she wants and if reading the Book of Mormon can do that, then she was going to read it. Power lesson! Just wish we could meet her fiance and her at the same time instead of separate.

Ok, interesting story time. So on friday night we were trying to go to a less active family. I looked through the phone contacts and found the Mojakie family so I called and asked for directions to their house. Ntate told me so we headed that way. We showed up and it was not the Ntate I knew. I awkwardly started a conversation and introduced myself. Then Elder Sarai realized I didn't know these people. We started talking and found out that this was a different Less active family we didn't even know about. We shared a lesson and had a good time then left. At this point I was confused out of my mind! We went to a house number that I had heard was the house. We drove to a different section and knocked on the door. The ntate I actually knew came out and we then had a lesson with them. I was still so confused so trying to be smooth about how I asked, I asked him for his phone number saying we had lost his. I got it. Then I asked him to spell his name. (I don't know his name so I was pulling such a sneaky move.) He spells it out, Morakie! The whole time I thought Mojakie was the Morakie family! Really awkward but hey, we found a less active no one knew about. Power.

Well Sunday was cool. Elder Giddie of the Seventy was at the branch. He talked in Sacrament and gave a little fire about doing hometeaching, taking the sacrament, and some other stuff but it was so powerful! We had some less actives there so it was good for them to hear it.

Today before coming here to email we went to Cheetah Experience! Got to wander around and see and even touch some awesome african cats! Lions, cheetahs, leapords, roicats, panthers, and a bunch of other ones I don't know! It was way cool! I am sending bunch of pics so hopefully you can see some of them! It was awesome!

This week has been pretty good. Freezing, but pretty good. We taught a lot of lessons and although we won't be having our baptisms this week, we are still working hard. The progressing part of everything isn't going too well but I like to think I am the best seed planter in the world! Missionaries in the future are going to thank us when they get to harvest the fruits here! I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Elder Peterson

Elder Giddie of the Seventy (center)

Golfball Hail and Donuts

I didn't think it was possible, but it gets really really cold in africa!! People warned me that right after Easter it gets really cold and I didn't believe but sure enough on Tuesday, it started hailing golfballs! Crazy cold and I couldn't believe it! But I throw on the old BYU Cougars hoodie and it is all good! (And being in the driving area is pretty convenient) 

It has been a good week and quite busy! I did get some bad sickness last night and spent the whole night kneeling in the bathroom (not in prayer) and didn't sleep at all so I will probably forget half of the things that happened this week.. Oh well!

Monday was a pretty cool P-Day! After emailing all the missionaries in the zone went to a soccer game in Bloem. The Bloem Celtics were playing the Orlando Pirates. We missed getting tickets so we had to wade through a huge crowwd of people and try to buy them from random people. Luckily we all got real ones! The game was very fun and very loud! Celtics won so everyone was freaking out! Quite the experience! It was a fun day.

Tuesday we had DDM and after I went on exchanges with Elder Merile in Thaba Nchu. It was fine but that kid doesn't know how to stick to a point or let the other speak so I think I said 2 lines in a full day... And it was the day of neverending cold as well. 

Wednesday I was still in Thaba Nchu and it was more of the same thing. Wasn't bad but I was just so so bored I didn't know what to do. We did get feed some nice homemade donuts which I was happy for.

Thursday I was back in my area and it was so nice to be able to teach someone! We had a lot of appointments scheduled but it was funny because the people we planned to see weren't there but the people who were there were almost better! Meet lots of cool people and have lots of new investigators. 

Well we are at the couples house emailing and now they are leaving to Losotho so we have to leave. It has been a good week, my companion is still being a joker a little bit and runs away to watch soccer at the neighbors house and no one knows... Gonna fix that one. Other than that and being sick it has been good. I did get to watch conference and loved Elder Anderson, Elder Bednar, I think Sorenson/Stevenson about the Olympics, and even some of the Seventies' talks. 

I hope you all have a good week and I will let you know more next week. I love you all!

Love Elder Peterson