Week 5- Africa

Sawubona!
It's been a great first week in South Africa. Imbali is huge! I was driving a couple days ago, and accidentally ended up on the wrong side of the road, the car I came face to face with pulled up next to me and asked "What country are you from?" When I said America, they said "I KNEW IT" and drove away. 😂

Talking to people is hard here. They all speak Zulu and I don't know Zulu, but I'm slowly picking up some things, like greetings and saying goodbye. Since everyone here has houses fenced off, we have a way of knocking with our voices that Elder Magot has helped me figure out. I even have a Zulu name to help me relate to the people here more. The name is Nkosinathi, meaning "The Lord is with us". I'm hoping that as I reside here I'll be able to understand people better. 

We had a baptism on Sunday! Her name is Natasha (she gave me my Zulu name) and she's pretty cool, she had a cool experience when she was reading the book of mormon, where she asked for a sign that it was true, and her phone that had been broken from falling in water for a week just came back on.

I met the rest of my district, Elders Halcomb, Palmer, Mwingira, and Nzaramuroyi. They're super cool, and Elder Halcomb is a great DL. They've really made me feel more welcome here. They got me to do a park run 5K (I mostly walked) and we did service at a future homeless shelter with them as well. It's rally touching to see future plans that are solely to help the less fortunate.

On Thursday, we had zone conference, which is where the members of the zone (big area of missionaries) get together fro training from the APs (Assistants to the President) and the Misison Leaders (the Mission President and his wife). This time though, we got to hear from an area authority, Elder Aidukaitis, who talked to us about being confident in our work. He also answered a really good question about why the BoM is the keystone of our religion, pointing out that the inclusion of the three witnisses, and what happened in their lives after they gave their tstimonny, is proof that the Book of Mormon couldn't have been made up.

This week, I've really come to learn that throwing yourself in the work is the way you enjoy the work, and bessings will come from doing so. I'm excited to continue forward and really make a difference.

Sala kahle!
My area, Imbali. It's absolutely massive..!
Our church building, it used to be a tavern and is next to a car wash.
Me and my companions with Natasha!


Comments

  1. April R.September 24, 2023 at 2:04 PM

    Yay! I’m glad you’re adjusting. Best solution to anything really is just throwing yourself into it. Love you!!

    ReplyDelete

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