So our questions are
1. Where are you in South Africa these days?
1.Well I'm am serving now in place called Pretoria East.
2. Will you be traveling all over and what are the names of the areas that you will cover?
2.Yes and the areas are Pretoria east, Mamelodi 1and 2, Centurion, Sunnyside, Soshanguve, Mabopane, Attridgeville and Saulsville
3. Who is your new companion, name and where is he from?
3.His name is Elder Seastrand. He's from Orem Ut. He is soon to finish his mission but he's doing really good at making sure it doesn't show. He is very obedient and I think that is going to help me to be obedient as well. It's really easy when you have a companion that wants to be obedient. It's positive peer pressure.
4. Did you have to write a letter to the parents of your son(companion he trained) also when you left him?
4. No we didn't do that, it would have been a good idea though.
5. Was it a bitter sweet parting?
5. Well yes I really loved Tzaneen, but I'm going love Pretoria as well. Pretoria is a big change from Tzaneen. 90% of the ward is white people and it's the same in our area. I think I'm going to have to start learning Afrikaans.
6. What will you miss the most about the son you have trained?
6.Well that's really a hard question for me to answer. I just enjoyed being companions with him, and it feels like it was really short.
7. What advice do you have for your brothers about learning to clean that will help them while serving there missions?
7.Just learn to clean up the messes you make when you make them.
8.Tell us the story of why the young man was being forced to leave church early before his interview by his Aunt.
8. Well the young man was scheduled to be baptized after having attended church for two weeks, the only problem was that he was going to be moving to Eastern Cape for school, on the same day. I was told that I should interview him but really just discern if he was ready and really converted. So we set up the interview and it went well. He, was personally prepared, but I still felt that the situation wasn't going to be good for him. Despite those feelings, I didn't want him to feel upset or discouraged so I filled out the record and said it would be ok. I really had two things pulling on me, the one was that I was afraid he would get upset and stop progressing if we said he should wait, and the other was guilt in feeling that I wasn't doing what God wanted me to do by saying yes. Well it turned out that his Aunt who was going to be taking him to Eastern Cape was a little impatient and said they would be leaving on Sunday morning before church and being unable to get baptized. So I really believe that was supposed to happen, and it was a humbling experience for me. I should probably do exactly as the spirit prompts me to do next time because the Lord just might not be there to save me the next time.
1. Where are you in South Africa these days?
1.Well I'm am serving now in place called Pretoria East.
2. Will you be traveling all over and what are the names of the areas that you will cover?
2.Yes and the areas are Pretoria east, Mamelodi 1and 2, Centurion, Sunnyside, Soshanguve, Mabopane, Attridgeville and Saulsville
3. Who is your new companion, name and where is he from?
3.His name is Elder Seastrand. He's from Orem Ut. He is soon to finish his mission but he's doing really good at making sure it doesn't show. He is very obedient and I think that is going to help me to be obedient as well. It's really easy when you have a companion that wants to be obedient. It's positive peer pressure.
4. Did you have to write a letter to the parents of your son(companion he trained) also when you left him?
4. No we didn't do that, it would have been a good idea though.
5. Was it a bitter sweet parting?
5. Well yes I really loved Tzaneen, but I'm going love Pretoria as well. Pretoria is a big change from Tzaneen. 90% of the ward is white people and it's the same in our area. I think I'm going to have to start learning Afrikaans.
6. What will you miss the most about the son you have trained?
6.Well that's really a hard question for me to answer. I just enjoyed being companions with him, and it feels like it was really short.
7. What advice do you have for your brothers about learning to clean that will help them while serving there missions?
7.Just learn to clean up the messes you make when you make them.
8.Tell us the story of why the young man was being forced to leave church early before his interview by his Aunt.
8. Well the young man was scheduled to be baptized after having attended church for two weeks, the only problem was that he was going to be moving to Eastern Cape for school, on the same day. I was told that I should interview him but really just discern if he was ready and really converted. So we set up the interview and it went well. He, was personally prepared, but I still felt that the situation wasn't going to be good for him. Despite those feelings, I didn't want him to feel upset or discouraged so I filled out the record and said it would be ok. I really had two things pulling on me, the one was that I was afraid he would get upset and stop progressing if we said he should wait, and the other was guilt in feeling that I wasn't doing what God wanted me to do by saying yes. Well it turned out that his Aunt who was going to be taking him to Eastern Cape was a little impatient and said they would be leaving on Sunday morning before church and being unable to get baptized. So I really believe that was supposed to happen, and it was a humbling experience for me. I should probably do exactly as the spirit prompts me to do next time because the Lord just might not be there to save me the next time.
Well this week has been great, but it feels like it has taken forever. it started with transfers on Tuesday which was really suspenseful. They didn't announce where we would be going until the very very last minute before it was time to leave. Finally when I found out where I was going I was kind of excited because of my companion. I served around him a little bit in Soweto zone and he is a great missionary. I have already been learning alot from him. I'm no longer a senior companion but that 's kind of a good thing because it takes alot of pressure off of me. It's difficult sometimes being a trainer because your comp doesn't always know what to do and you have to try and make up for that yourself. So it's nice. so far we have both been able to talk and give ideas to each other so it's going well. Being a Zone Leader is nice because you have someone else there to get your back. One of the Coolest things that happened during transfers is that Elder Lechner is now my District leader here in Pretoria so I still get to hang around him. It's way cool! The other thing is that there are alot of Missionaries from my MTC group and missionaries that are older than me in the zone so it can be kind of intimidating to have to give them instruction. But the lord qualifies who he calls. A lot has happened this week, first we had Zone Leader council and that was great. It has helped me get in the swing of things. After the Zone Leader council President Poulsen took us to "The Top Of Africa" It is the tallest building Jo'burg. I had never walked around down town Jo'burg before and I got to tell you it's a little scary. Talk about big city! I could see one of my old area's from the top so that was really cool and if you look hard enough you can see the temple. I have some pics but I don't have time to send them today. The week has been alot of running around trying to organize things and doing interviews so I can't wait until we really get to crack down on our own area. Well that's all for now so I'll talk to you later
Elder Jones
Dear Elder Jones
So its been a very busy week again. Life with all these busy children just never seems to be quiet. Right now we are non stop after school. As soon as they hit the house we are hurrying to eat, run to do chores and fire stoke and then race to be on time to wrestle practices. We pick C up at 7:00 who of course wrestled right after school and then head for home. On nights when there is a match we have to hurry even faster to get all that done so that we can drive over the Mt. to where ever the tournament is happening. Thank goodness J is some-days able to stay with Jer and Z so that they are not always having to go off somewhere or with us. Pretty soon though it will be Zs turn to go to practices and Mc will start to slow down. On Fri Dad and I drove to Provo to watch the Hales Theater Play Foreigner that he got for my Christmas present. We missed the first 15 min because of how bad the traffic was but they still let us in. It was really funny to watch the play. We stayed in a hotel without any kids, strange for the first time in 4 years to not have at least one with us. The next morning we drove up to Heber city to watch C wrestle but it was so foggy that we got lost trying to find the arena that they had the tournament at. By the time we found the spot after going around it about twice he was all done and had gotten beat out placing him 7th out of 68 in his bracket. He felt really good about the time spent considering that not many freshman get as far as he did at this particular tournament. It was called the Rocky Mt Rumble and there were like schools from everywhere, 66 to be exact. We watched for awhile and then after falling asleep in hard spectator chairs we headed for home.
Today in Church the Parker family told about preparing to go to the temple and how when they were ready as a family to go Tiffany was not able to go and yet she had been the one that had needled at her Dad for most of her life until she hit her teen years. She told how she had to sit outside while her family went in and were sealed and how alone she felt. She said I know things happen for a reason and I am grateful that Brent came when he did because he helped me to get to a place where I needed to be to go and become a forever family. It was really a neat sacrament meeting today. Preston Parker said it was sad that he had the attitude all his life that things had to be his way or the Highway and then one day he realized that maybe the Highway he was on wasn't really going anywhere all that great. It almost broke his heart when Tiffany was unable to be with them when he had finally gotten ready to go to the temple. Several very close loved ones that passed on helped him to know that there was an urgency and he needed to be sealed to his family Now and to not waste any more time getting it done. I have never heard such urgency in a guy who never ever seemed that serious about anything to me. He made tears come to many an eye.
Well tonight I went to a Prom Dress check to make sure that J lovely lime green prom dress is temple garment worthy and then we went to a fireside. The boys would not come with us so it was just me and her. It was fun to be with her alone for a min.
That is so fun that you would get to eat dinner with the public affairs Rep over video production. I have always hope that would be a direction that the Lord would somehow open for you in your life. I guess time will tell right.
Well everyone wants me to tell you that they love you. Aunt Jamie said she thinks about you each day and she should be better about writing. Uncle Jathan is going back to school in the medical field. He does work at times with Uncle Brocks company but he got shocked and lost the feeling in his finger on a job that they had sent him out on and that is the thing that made him start to consider Physical therapy after having to go get the therapy done again, This is something he considered many years ago already once. He says its about time he does it and stops just thinking about hints and directions that he keeps receiving. Brock is back to work but his leg does get to bothering him at times. He has to wear one of those compression socks. Papa is still driving truck and Nana has her birthday today. Uncle Brock took us Jan. birthday girls out for dinner yesterday and he paid for it all it was kind of fun to do together. I love you your Dad loves you and we hope that this week is super great for you and we are all on pins and needles waiting to hear where and what you are now up to these days.
Love the family
Elder Jones
Dear Elder Jones
So its been a very busy week again. Life with all these busy children just never seems to be quiet. Right now we are non stop after school. As soon as they hit the house we are hurrying to eat, run to do chores and fire stoke and then race to be on time to wrestle practices. We pick C up at 7:00 who of course wrestled right after school and then head for home. On nights when there is a match we have to hurry even faster to get all that done so that we can drive over the Mt. to where ever the tournament is happening. Thank goodness J is some-days able to stay with Jer and Z so that they are not always having to go off somewhere or with us. Pretty soon though it will be Zs turn to go to practices and Mc will start to slow down. On Fri Dad and I drove to Provo to watch the Hales Theater Play Foreigner that he got for my Christmas present. We missed the first 15 min because of how bad the traffic was but they still let us in. It was really funny to watch the play. We stayed in a hotel without any kids, strange for the first time in 4 years to not have at least one with us. The next morning we drove up to Heber city to watch C wrestle but it was so foggy that we got lost trying to find the arena that they had the tournament at. By the time we found the spot after going around it about twice he was all done and had gotten beat out placing him 7th out of 68 in his bracket. He felt really good about the time spent considering that not many freshman get as far as he did at this particular tournament. It was called the Rocky Mt Rumble and there were like schools from everywhere, 66 to be exact. We watched for awhile and then after falling asleep in hard spectator chairs we headed for home.
Today in Church the Parker family told about preparing to go to the temple and how when they were ready as a family to go Tiffany was not able to go and yet she had been the one that had needled at her Dad for most of her life until she hit her teen years. She told how she had to sit outside while her family went in and were sealed and how alone she felt. She said I know things happen for a reason and I am grateful that Brent came when he did because he helped me to get to a place where I needed to be to go and become a forever family. It was really a neat sacrament meeting today. Preston Parker said it was sad that he had the attitude all his life that things had to be his way or the Highway and then one day he realized that maybe the Highway he was on wasn't really going anywhere all that great. It almost broke his heart when Tiffany was unable to be with them when he had finally gotten ready to go to the temple. Several very close loved ones that passed on helped him to know that there was an urgency and he needed to be sealed to his family Now and to not waste any more time getting it done. I have never heard such urgency in a guy who never ever seemed that serious about anything to me. He made tears come to many an eye.
Well tonight I went to a Prom Dress check to make sure that J lovely lime green prom dress is temple garment worthy and then we went to a fireside. The boys would not come with us so it was just me and her. It was fun to be with her alone for a min.
That is so fun that you would get to eat dinner with the public affairs Rep over video production. I have always hope that would be a direction that the Lord would somehow open for you in your life. I guess time will tell right.
Well everyone wants me to tell you that they love you. Aunt Jamie said she thinks about you each day and she should be better about writing. Uncle Jathan is going back to school in the medical field. He does work at times with Uncle Brocks company but he got shocked and lost the feeling in his finger on a job that they had sent him out on and that is the thing that made him start to consider Physical therapy after having to go get the therapy done again, This is something he considered many years ago already once. He says its about time he does it and stops just thinking about hints and directions that he keeps receiving. Brock is back to work but his leg does get to bothering him at times. He has to wear one of those compression socks. Papa is still driving truck and Nana has her birthday today. Uncle Brock took us Jan. birthday girls out for dinner yesterday and he paid for it all it was kind of fun to do together. I love you your Dad loves you and we hope that this week is super great for you and we are all on pins and needles waiting to hear where and what you are now up to these days.
Love the family
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