Elder Kaden Smith: December 19, 2016

Hello Everyone!!!

Christmas is just around the corner and it is only getting hotter and more humid here in Mthatha. (About 34-38 C yesterday and humid)

This week was a lot of traveling again. Monday for p-day we did a lot of cleaning and just hanging out, with a DA at the Mbonyana's. Tuesday and Wednesday were normal days but Thursday was where the fun began.

We had been planning on leaving for zone conference in East London about 3pm so we could get there by 6pm. But as we were doing some of our studies and planning at 11am we got a call saying that we were having an emergency evacuation drill so we had to be in East London by 3pm..... Wohoo. We grabbed our stuff- thankfully already packed, and got driving on the road to East London. We arrived about 2:45 and from there we began our Zone Conference Activities.

It was fun to see many of the Elders in the East London zone, especially those from my MTC Transfer. That evening we went to an area along the beach front (by a park, where Elder Kruse and myself took the picture the previous week) and did finding. We were split into groups and given about 50 books of mormon to give away in an hour. The catch was, we had to sing christmas hymns to attract people to come hear our message- the only problem, several 19-20 year old guys don't sing very well haha. We probably drove more away than we attracted. We soon abandoned the singing partially and started talking to people around. It's amazing to see how willing people here in South Africa are to hear messages about Jesus Christ. And luckily, we got all of our BOM given and many contacts made.

Following the activity we watched a video about the Book of Mormon called Journey of Faith about the Book of Mormon which was a wonderful movie, and we got Roman's Pizza which was great!

Elder Thulari and myself stayed with the EL Zone Leaders and in the morning we went for zone conference!! The first part of zone conference was given by President Merrill and he gave a powerful lesson on the coming forth of the Book of Mormon as prophesied by Old Testament Prophets. The lesson was full of great scriptures and much learning.

We had a break after that first half and then took a picture of the Zone and had a wonderful lunch.

After Lunch we had a lesson from the Health Specialist for the Africa Southeast Area, Sister French, and she shared a great lesson about mental and emotional health and how we can lift each other up and as we trust and rely on Jesus Christ, he is always there for us. Following her the AP's gave instruction on increasing our "Standards of Excellence" or our daily goals as missionaries.

Following that we got some more pictures and started the long journey home.

We've had a lot of success in getting referrals and new people to contact and we're praying they'll have a continued interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mama Njinsane is still progressing and hopefully the Qovane family will continue as well. Keep them and our other investigators in your prayers.

Our recent converts are doing great as well, especially Mama Mayeki and Brother Albert.

Brother Albert was able to bless the sacrament yesterday for the first time and he did a great job! He'll be proposed in stake conference in February to receive the Melchizedek priesthood so that'll be awesome!

Mama Mayeki has such a strong love for the gospel although she has very little, and her daughter Lisakhanya is the best! Her son came back "from the bush" Saturday and had his traditional party and hopefully we'll be able to baptize him. Lisakhanya loves him so much and ran yesterday to tell him we were there so he could see us. She can't wait for him to be taught and be baptised as well!

All is well although time is flying, Christmas is just getting hotter and the work is still progressing. It couldn't happen without the love and support from back home. Thank you, and this Christmas remember Jesus Christ. The best gift ever given to this earth, Who gave his all just for us.

Merry Christmas..... Soon!

Elder Smith