August 13, 2018

This week has been a lot of wrapping up. 

Monday we went on a self tour of the Albany Museum and ran a few errands. 

Tuesday was a normal day, but wednesday I went to PE for exchanges with Elder Warren. Wow we had a good time. Worked hard and had fun. Found some good people to teach too. It's good to have him in the zone. Thursday we had interviews with President Lebethoa and then I went on splits with Elder Shaw in Cleary. We were able to do some nice tracting that side to try and find some people. That night we all went and got really nice ribs.

Friday was the highlight, it was my last zone conference........ crazy. The training was really nice. I also got to meet another Elder from St. George who just came in. He was good friends with Marshall. I had to bear my testimony........ that was sad.... I remember my first zone conference seeing people do that and I thought it was so far away. 

Saturday we had a nice dinner appointment with Brother Alan and his friend Matthew. Sunday was my last in South Africa, it's crazy. 

Well mission has been the best and the hardest two years. I've learned a lot but i think more than converting those we teach we end up converting ourselves as missionaries. The reward is worth it. Can't wait to see you all soon! South Africa, ndiyakuthanda kakhulu. 

Elder Smith out....... 

August 6, 2018

Elder Mofokeng and I have been trying to work hard this past week in spite that we both may be leaving Grahamstown..... it is yet to be told.....

This past week we almost finished the ward list (updating and checking records and people's information) It's taken a while but it's good to have it almost done, we'll be able to give that to the branch to have.  

This week started out with our last tour with Brother Alan and then a second to finial DA during the week. He came and bore his testimony on Sunday which was great.

This week I got a haircut too, shorter than normal but I kind of like it. Feels good. 

Mission has had a lot of ups and downs but I'm looking forward to this coming week... zone conference, interviews, and exchanges. A lot of good stuff in store. Can't wait to see you all soon!

until the Next...... and last 

Elder Smith 

July 30, 2018

Well for the weekly

This week was alright..... although i've had some great days and some not so great...

Monday of course we were on a tour with bro alan. We had a good FHE with the Kewuti's too. 

Tuesday.... kind of the slums of the week..... got bit by a dog on the ankle....... that didn't feel too good....

We still have our car which has made it nice still... we'll see what happens this week. Wednesday through Saturday we were working on the ward list to try and get it all up to date...... It's a little bit behind. 

We're still trying to find solid people..... they are hard to come by; the biggest challenge most face is getting to church. It's good to have most of the Rhodes students back though. Hopefully in these last two real work weeks we will be able to have some good appointments with them. 

Saturday evening, Sister Audrey and her husband Chris had us over for a nice Braai. We had everything from warthog steaks to bacon wrapped cherries....... wow....... they are an amazing couple. I'll miss them a lot. 

Sunday was nice. Church was good.... pretty decent amount of people there too. The third hour combined 5th Sunday lesson turned into a 4th hour block discussing how the church does funerals... it's kind of a challenge and misunderstanding here sometimes. 

Today we went on our last (probably) tour with brother Alan, we visited the College of the Transfiguration (the only Anglican Priest Training College in SA), the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (the only in SA) and the South African Library for the Blind (again, the only in SA)

We were taken on nice tours of the three facilities. Pretty cool stuff...... 

Well until the next week #17

Elder Smith

July 23, 2018

Well for the weekly

Hello everyone, another week down,.... crazy

Time is going so fast. 23 months tomorrow....... 24 more days

This past week was a lot of work and staying busy, the transport fund hasn't come in so we're still using the car a bit. We've been having a lot of success with some of our less actives. We were able to get several of them to church. We've also found a pretty good investigator named luthando. 

I also got over my Stomach flu and strep throat which was nice.

We were in KMG on Friday again for district meeting and I was able to see some more people from when i was there. A lot changes in just 1 year since I was there....... crazy. 

We went on a tour again this morning with brother Alan, he took us on a tour of the 3 major Anglican boarding schools, it's the second best school in SA too. 

Sorry for the short email..... time is of the essence.... so is mission.......

Love you all, see you in a few

July 16, 2018

so........ this week started off by finishing painting at sister anelisa's house and then going to Bro. Alan's to wash his windows..... by climbing like a 20 ft ladder haha. Fun stuff. After our email was interrupted by no wifi at the chapel which was disappointing so we had to spend big bucks at a internet cafe

Tuesday-Friday were normal days although sicknesses have had the best of me this week

Wednesday after breakfast my stomach kind of felt upset. Later I developed rounds of high fever, chills and then headache. 

Thursday morning I woke up, puked, and then had the worst stomach ache and cramps of my life, thank heavens those are over. 

Friday things were on the downhill which was exciting but you've got to love sicknesses..........

Saturday I woke up with Strep. Yup. Fun......

Anyway, Saturday we went to the funeral for Sis Anelisa's boyfriend..... at the Ethiopian Orthodox church haha. The preaching was pretty funny but the singing and dancing was nice... overall nice funeral though. A lot of us members were helping out in the kitchen, it was fun though. 

Sunday was average, sacrament meeting attendance was 25..... still on the increase but hopefully it'll improve.... maybe.

Today we went on another brother alan tour, this time of the Cathedral of St. George and St. Michael (anglican) and the Methodist church. They were both beautiful buildings. Cool stuff, I just wish i had got to play the organs lol.

Well

Until the next week, 

Elder Smith

Monday July 9, 2018

Another busy week, things will be changing soon as soon as we stop using the car, the area will be relocating them sometime in the future so we'll see how it goes.

We've been having some struggles with the work as far as appointments falling through and getting solid investigators but hopefully that'll change sometime.

Friday was one of the best days ever, we were in KwaMagxaki for our district meeting and I was in charge of getting the keys from bishop philip. When I was there I was able to see 2 of my recent (well no longer recent) converts from when I was there with Elder Milne and Reedy. Zuko is doing well and so is Kanyiso. Kanyiso surprised me by telling me he only has his immunizations before he can turn in his mission papers! His sister is even getting baptised that we started teaching this coming Sunday...... cool stuff.

The chapel (as always) was having internet issues so we are at another shop that is quite expensive so until the next week!

Elder Smith

July 2, 2018

This week has been a lot of travels

Monday was good, we went down to Port Alfred to get an update on how the work is going that side. We had a nice DA there with one of the ward missionaries. 

Tuesday was a normal day but with a lot of drops, still trying to get more investigators..... 

Wednesday we drove down halfway to PE to meet the zone leaders for an exchange. I picked up Elder Collett, he's a great elder. We had a really fun time together and got along well... I only got lost once in the area........ luckily. I even got a Dr. Pepper............... :) Elder Cole found them in PE and I ordered one haha

Thursday we got up early to drive to PE for interviews....... needless to say, it turned into a sightseeing tour. We saw giraffes, several types of deer/bok/kudu etc., wildebeest, zebra, and best of all- rhinos, WITH their horns, 5 of them. That was way cool. Anyway, got to PE, had lunch with the zone leaders, 

Following that we had interviews with President Lebethoa. Much needed. And following that we went proselyting/splits with the Motherwell elders. I was with Elder Dicarolo from Italy, he's a way cool guy. In the evening we played guitars together. 

Friday was Zone Conference and was really nice. President Lebethoa could be a good stand up comedian but you'd have to be a missionary to get the jokes. We might be losing the car,......... the area is relocating and decreasing the number of vehicles....... so we'll see what that brings. Following zone conference I renewed my temple recommend. In the evening we drove back to Grahamstown.

Saturday and Sunday were normal.

Today was nice although the city was without power for a chunk of the day.... we went on a 5 hour walking tour with Bro. Alan and he showed us everything from his old age home to getting to meet the senior magistrate at the court haha......... Bro. Alan really has some odd hook ups. Afterwards he made us some microwave dinners in the short span of electricity we had......... nice stuff. Reminded me of Grandma Reeder's house.

Well, another week........ Time is going

Elder Smith

Monday, June 25, 2018

This week has been ups and downs.

We started the week of course with Bro Alan's tour. 

Tuesday - Friday we were really busy... We're having trouble finding fellowshippers so we've been reshuffling our teaching pool to include more males 16+, so we can teach them. Of course the downside is we've had to drop quite a few appointments with sisters (some naturally disappeared being Rhodes students so they're at home now for winter vacation). 

We've found two cool kids, one is Siyabonga and the other is Ibanathi.

Siyabonga we met on the street, he's been investigating the JW a bit but we were able to sit down and share some messages with him. He actually came to church on sunday which was awesome! I'm proud of him. Hopefully we'll be able to see a continuation of the progress he's having. 

Ibanathi is a cool kid, he studies at Graeme College. The cool part is he plays drums in the jazz band so he and I get along really well. He's been reading the Book of Mormon really well so it's exciting to see his growth as he learns it, last appointment he brought some friends too, cool stuff. 

Sunday was nice, it was weird cause a BYU professor showed up for sacrament meeting and told me I had an accent. Weird stuff. We also had 2 da's, one from Sister Remi the R.S. president from Sierra Leone, and the other with the Branch President's family.

Cool Stuff.

Until next week

Elder Smith

Monday, June 18, 2018

Well this week has been good

Monday we started early by taking the car into service, we then walked to the chapel and emailed and then went back to our boarding and did some much needed cleaning. Following that we went and picked up our car from service

Tuesday through Thursday were busy work days, but with the winter holiday coming... students are becoming more and more scarce as they are going home...

Friday was really cool.... we went in for our bi-weekly combined district meeting in KwaMagxaki- needless to say it was soooo weird going back to a previous area, I got to see bishop Philip again which was really cool. The drive was nice, we saw a bunch of baboons (vervet monkeys) and I saw two big bush pigs (warthogs)

Saturday we went to a funeral and then without realizing it... it was youth day (public holiday) so like no one was home...

Sunday was good, church was small, only 40 arrived.... we had some decent appointments after. 

This morning (monday) was cool, We took Bro Alan and he took us on one of his tours... we talked today about some of the early settlers and about his private section in the Cory Library Archives at Rhodes U. He has some really cool church books and music and everything. He lives at an old age place and has hundreds of classical CD's, he just finished half of them and he started over again Jan 1st. He's been to St. George twice. He's an awesome man, he even showed us a book signed by President Nelson.

Fun stuff.... Until the next week

Monday, June 11, 2018

My time has wrapped up in Mdantsane.... it just feels like yesterday I got there, my longest but quickest area... 

Monday was nice, 

We went to the Stevensons and cleaned our car and coordinated some travel plans for transfer day coming.

Tuesday we went and picked up orders from the Davies, man I'm going to miss both senior couples they are the best... Tuesday was also a lot of goodbyes, I'm going to miss all those people so much.

Wednesday was a long day....

We got up early in the morning to pick up an elder from the bus stop and then waited there about 4 hours for my bus. Elder Lupeni and I played some guitars to pass the time. Sooner or later I was on my bus to PE... The ride was quite nice, passed a big family of giraffes. We also passed grahamstown.... Wish I could've gotten off right there but my companion was in PE.

Anyway, got to PE and no one was there to pick me up hahaha, so had to borrow a phone and direct the elders to where I was. Later we went to burger king and got dinner and then we were on our way to Grahamstown. 

Thursday we were in the area after a run and planning... the boarding is really nice... the electric blankets are the best at night too.... 

Friday we had our two man district meeting.... next week we'll be joining with KwaMagxaki for theirs (every other week)

To be frank the municipal water is brown so we go to a well to get our drinking water. 

Rhodes university is beautiful... making me want to get back to school almost.... most of our teaching is there with students.

Saturday we played soccer with the men in the branch, pretty fun. had some good snacks after.

Sunday rolled around and the branch is nice, but small.... We meet in a house that's converted to a chapel... it's cozy and nice. The elders quorum president is really cool, he's great motivation in the post mission department haha. 3 of our investigators dropped us but it's alright because the investigator pool needs a good flush. 

Well lots of work to do... until next week

Elder Smith

June 4, 2018

Hello Everyone, another busy week down, 

with news.........

Monday was good, played some more piano, and had a nice lunch at the Davies, I'm going to miss them so much. We also took our car into the service. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were nice busy days.... We had several appointments and we were able to find some new investigators too which was cool. 

Thursday I started an exchange in the evening that went till Friday with Elder Paskett in my area. It was nice to be with him.

Saturday was a big day..... no one showed up from ward 1 to clean the chapel, so Elder Monoalibe and I did. Following that we were busy with several appointments which occupied the whole of the day. Saturday evening was the big news though... 

I'll be being transferred on wednesday to likely my last area of mission...... Grahamstown

Pretty excited, I'll be there in my little two man district follow up training Elder Mofokeng, from the same stake as Elder Monoalibe. Should be fun... about in the middle of PE and East London, I'll take a bus to PE on Wednesday to meet up with my comp and then drive to Grahamstown. 

Sunday was bittersweet, saying goodbye to everyone, It'll be sad to leave but the memories were great. Mdantsane has been one heck of a ride but I've enjoyed it. 

This week will be just a wrap up and start of everything in MD and GT, Love you all

Elder Smith

Us and Tata Hongana, Tata Magwaca (brothers) and Brother Richard

 Bro Kiti

Zizi's send off to Durban, Stevensons, Zizi, me, Tata Lubelwana, Aphiwe, Mama Lubelwana, Elder Monoalibe

Add caption

 4th ward Primary boys

Bishop Lalendle and I

4th ward bishopric

Mkwando family

Visiting a member in a TB Hospital Sunday Night

Mama Notemba

May 21, 2018

Hey everyone, 86 days left not counting today haha. 

It's crazy how fast time is flying, I'll be turning 21 months this coming friday. 

This week has gone by in a breeze. 

Monday was a normal P-day, got some good piano practice in on Clair de Lune

Tuesday and Wednesday were just solid work days. We've been trying to find father led families and this week we've been able to have 3 solid appointments with 3 different fathers. Cool stuff, I just hope one of them sticks.

Thursday night I began an exchange with Elder Dennis, a new elder in our zone from Arizona. 

Friday was a nice exchange, kind of reminded me of the times when I was on my first exchange as a new missionary. The only somewhat scary part was giving him his first driving lessons and letting him drive. We also had district meeting which was nice to get some training from Elder Armstrong, our district leader. 

Saturday and Sunday were alright, just good work.

Well until next week's email, this upcoming week should have some nice things happening. 

Elder Smith

heres a funny pic from when I was with Elder Palavi, re-enacting Moroni