Hey everybody everything is going really good over here. I have got a lot of interesting things this week. First of all I haven’t gotten any package yet but I will get them Wednesday if the are in Africa. I don’t know if you got it last time but I would like a nice leather football. That would be a really cool thing to have. I’m tired of rugby and cricket. Wednesday I went on exchanges with the zone leaders in Polokwane. That was a pretty good day. We taught a lot of lessons. One thing we did was we went to go give this less active ladies child a blessing, so elder Lane did that. After that she asked us to bless her home. So we opened our little handbooks and looked at dedicating a home. So I gave that prayer it was very interesting I had never dedicated a home before. Later that night we were teaching a guy and his mom. As we were teaching about the plan of salvation, He was very confused about a lot of things. He wanted to know the point of life if God knows where we go anyway. So I stared at him and asked, “What did Jesus do for us?” he replied he died for us. “What does that mean?” He didn’t answer for a few minutes and then finally said I don’t know can you tell me. So I taught the atonement. Probably the best I’ve ever taught it before. I spoke mostly about justice and mercy and what we had to do to obtain mercy. When I was finished and I bore my testimony. He sat there for a few more minutes and he told me,” you know I have been going to church for so long and no has ever told me that. I have always wondered why Jesus did that. They always say that he died and nothing else.” That was one of the best lessons that I’ve ever had. I’m probably going to never see that guys again. But that’s how it works sometimes. It is so hot up here you can’t even sleep. What ever you are doing you sweat so badly. All the time constantly the humidity kills you. On Saturday we had planned a branch activity and it rained the night before so it was canceled. We were planning on being there pretty much all day. But since it was canceled our day was blank than we had to find a lot of stuff to do. We also got transfer news this week. Turns out I’m leaving. We usually stay in one area for about 6 months, that is how long I’ve been here, but you never really know with president Poulsen. I’m going to Katlehong, in Roodeport. Back in township yahoooooo! No more stinkin' white people to deal with. My new companion will be someone from Madagascar. I’m really excited. Everything is good, Wednesday Ill be going to my new area with my new companion. I love you all. Thanks for everything.
Benjamin
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Some pictures
Pop and beef stew and beans, "I eat this a lot"
4th of July celebration
The Great Baubab Tree
Me and the Great Baubab Tree
My Trainer Elder Redd
Elder Kogo (my last companion)
Eric and Pineo's baptism
MTC Group
November 1, 2009
Well first of all I'm very sorry for last week. The computer decided to stop working. So I didn't have time to send off the last big email that every one reads. But hopefully today I'll get through the whole thing without a hitch.
First of all I'll try to fill you in on last week that you missed. I kind of had my life threatened. Elder Ehrenzeller and I were talking to some guys and then he left to the car to grab some pamphlets, and it was just me and this guy. He then says to me "you know I could just kill you and take your car, man that would be easy." Yeah so we just left after that. He didn't kill me so I'm very happy. We went to visit one of our investigators and he was gone but his mother was home. So we talked to her for a few minutes and as we were leaving she asked if we would stay for lunch. We declined because we didn't want to take her food. She said "No it's fine, In our culture we make enough food for a few people in case someone stops by to say hello." Just like we did. So we ate with her and there was plenty for the 3 of us. It's an interesting culture. Another lesson that day was really good. We were teaching a couple outside and in the middle of the lesson a bunch of monkeys started to run around us. In the trees above us too. It was really cool. For Like 5 minutes we watched monkeys. Where else in the world does that happen? One of our investigators gave us a very important piece of information. "If you have to marry an African marry a Venda lady. You can leave for 10 years and she will still be waiting for you. Don't marry a sotho because by the time you get to the gas station she will have another man." Unfortunately that is pretty true. The law of chastity means nothing out here. I ate chicken feet for the fist time. Not a fan its just like eating chicken skin and fat. Not very good, but some people love them.
Okay now to this week. For our P day we decided to do some service. We went to a members house and decided to kill some cockroaches. OH MY GOSH!!!!!! Never again. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever done in my life. The smell, every step you hear the bugs crunching. It was terrible. But we did help the members. That day has been haunting both Elder Ehrenzeller and myself. In our dreams there are cockroaches every where. Every time we see some movement we think its a cockroach. It is driving us crazy. I really hope I never have to do that again. Well we are going to have to. Because it took all day to do their kitchen and we still have another room to tackle. (sigh). Anyway The next day we were in Motupa and one of the members there has a dog named Danger. He is very random. He has bitten me before. He will come up to you like he wants you to pet him, then when you start he bites you, and sometimes he doesn't. But we heard the miraculous story of Dangers life. A few years ago he was hit by a car. And every one thought that he was dead. But there son who was 10 at the time cleaned him up and fed him for 2 months. Put food in his mouth and one day he just woke up. I have never heard of a dog coming out of a coma. It was very interesting. We were talking to a lady named Jossie Reed. I don't know if i have talked about her before. But the other day at her house she called the temple and what goes on in there Bullsh*t. Oh man I was really mad. Any way no one has ever said anything like that before. She is a Seventh Day Adventist, and she believes everything that she reads. Oh well, i think she is justified because she is crazy. We had our zone conference last weekend. Those are always good. I always learn a lot of stuff.
Well I love you all. Thanks for everything. I'll email or at least try next week as usual.
Benjamin
First of all I'll try to fill you in on last week that you missed. I kind of had my life threatened. Elder Ehrenzeller and I were talking to some guys and then he left to the car to grab some pamphlets, and it was just me and this guy. He then says to me "you know I could just kill you and take your car, man that would be easy." Yeah so we just left after that. He didn't kill me so I'm very happy. We went to visit one of our investigators and he was gone but his mother was home. So we talked to her for a few minutes and as we were leaving she asked if we would stay for lunch. We declined because we didn't want to take her food. She said "No it's fine, In our culture we make enough food for a few people in case someone stops by to say hello." Just like we did. So we ate with her and there was plenty for the 3 of us. It's an interesting culture. Another lesson that day was really good. We were teaching a couple outside and in the middle of the lesson a bunch of monkeys started to run around us. In the trees above us too. It was really cool. For Like 5 minutes we watched monkeys. Where else in the world does that happen? One of our investigators gave us a very important piece of information. "If you have to marry an African marry a Venda lady. You can leave for 10 years and she will still be waiting for you. Don't marry a sotho because by the time you get to the gas station she will have another man." Unfortunately that is pretty true. The law of chastity means nothing out here. I ate chicken feet for the fist time. Not a fan its just like eating chicken skin and fat. Not very good, but some people love them.
Okay now to this week. For our P day we decided to do some service. We went to a members house and decided to kill some cockroaches. OH MY GOSH!!!!!! Never again. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever done in my life. The smell, every step you hear the bugs crunching. It was terrible. But we did help the members. That day has been haunting both Elder Ehrenzeller and myself. In our dreams there are cockroaches every where. Every time we see some movement we think its a cockroach. It is driving us crazy. I really hope I never have to do that again. Well we are going to have to. Because it took all day to do their kitchen and we still have another room to tackle. (sigh). Anyway The next day we were in Motupa and one of the members there has a dog named Danger. He is very random. He has bitten me before. He will come up to you like he wants you to pet him, then when you start he bites you, and sometimes he doesn't. But we heard the miraculous story of Dangers life. A few years ago he was hit by a car. And every one thought that he was dead. But there son who was 10 at the time cleaned him up and fed him for 2 months. Put food in his mouth and one day he just woke up. I have never heard of a dog coming out of a coma. It was very interesting. We were talking to a lady named Jossie Reed. I don't know if i have talked about her before. But the other day at her house she called the temple and what goes on in there Bullsh*t. Oh man I was really mad. Any way no one has ever said anything like that before. She is a Seventh Day Adventist, and she believes everything that she reads. Oh well, i think she is justified because she is crazy. We had our zone conference last weekend. Those are always good. I always learn a lot of stuff.
Well I love you all. Thanks for everything. I'll email or at least try next week as usual.
Benjamin
Monday, October 19, 2009
October 18, 2009
Well it’s good to hear from you all. It is so good to get emails. This week has gone by really fast. I turned 8 months today. It’s really hot around here but thankfully we have had a little bit of rain. It’s really hard to get people to come to church. I don’t know why. Everyone promises to come but then for some reason or another they never show up.
We are staying really busy too. We come back to the flat every night totally bushed. It is so hard to get anything done at the post office. When you’re standing in line people just walk to the front and get what they want done. The people in line don’t care either. Finally I couldn’t stand it and told one guy “Hey the end of the line is over there” This was his reply, “Akasibe Selungu” (I don’t know English) what a liar, lol. Oh well I dealt with it and got out of there. I'm trying not to complain. So somewhere in our flat is a cockroach nest. It is probably somewhere in our room. Because every once and awhile we find a huge 2-3 inches long crawling around. The other day when we got back to our flat I saw one. And we were trying to decide how to kill it. It was on top of Elder Ehrenzellers laundry bag. He decided to shoot it with his wrist rocket. I’m not exaggerating when I say it exploded. Pieces flew everywhere. It was pretty awesome.
We taught a lesson to a guy named Jeffery on Thursday. He was pretty much crazy. But he said a phrase like 5 or 6 times and to this day I don’t know what it means. “We’ll see what fries the fish, if not oil.” It was so funny to hear him say. During the lesson he asked us to explain the word restoration to some other people that were there. He knew what it meant but he was sure no one else there did. So we asked him to explain the meaning. “I can’t because I don’t want them to think that I’m better than them so you have to do it.” That was fun.
Yesterday at our cottage meeting in motupa, we were going to pick someone up for church, I mean walk with someone. They didn’t show and we started back towards the house. And we realized that we were going to be late. So we started to run. Now if you’re an African living in a village far away from town, and you see 2 white guys in suits running through your village something is wrong, lol. We got all kinds of strange looks.
Anyway thanks for the prayers and the emails. I love you all, Benjamin
We are staying really busy too. We come back to the flat every night totally bushed. It is so hard to get anything done at the post office. When you’re standing in line people just walk to the front and get what they want done. The people in line don’t care either. Finally I couldn’t stand it and told one guy “Hey the end of the line is over there” This was his reply, “Akasibe Selungu” (I don’t know English) what a liar, lol. Oh well I dealt with it and got out of there. I'm trying not to complain. So somewhere in our flat is a cockroach nest. It is probably somewhere in our room. Because every once and awhile we find a huge 2-3 inches long crawling around. The other day when we got back to our flat I saw one. And we were trying to decide how to kill it. It was on top of Elder Ehrenzellers laundry bag. He decided to shoot it with his wrist rocket. I’m not exaggerating when I say it exploded. Pieces flew everywhere. It was pretty awesome.
We taught a lesson to a guy named Jeffery on Thursday. He was pretty much crazy. But he said a phrase like 5 or 6 times and to this day I don’t know what it means. “We’ll see what fries the fish, if not oil.” It was so funny to hear him say. During the lesson he asked us to explain the word restoration to some other people that were there. He knew what it meant but he was sure no one else there did. So we asked him to explain the meaning. “I can’t because I don’t want them to think that I’m better than them so you have to do it.” That was fun.
Yesterday at our cottage meeting in motupa, we were going to pick someone up for church, I mean walk with someone. They didn’t show and we started back towards the house. And we realized that we were going to be late. So we started to run. Now if you’re an African living in a village far away from town, and you see 2 white guys in suits running through your village something is wrong, lol. We got all kinds of strange looks.
Anyway thanks for the prayers and the emails. I love you all, Benjamin
October 11, 2009
Another week of emailing. I love hearing from everybody. Its good to hear that everyone is doing so good. Everthing id fine over here on my side. So I guess my b day is coming up. First of all I want to wish Pattie a happy birthday. Shes what 18. Oh man everyone is leaving me behind. lol. Anyway first of money would be nice. But Music is always nice. The one motab that i do have is reqium by mack wilberg. I would like consider the lillies. I think the other one is called showtime, or something like that. Some classical cds would be really cool. I want the at one of Bach where he pounds away on the organ. That one song that is on fantasia. That would be pretty cool. Music is always good to have. If it is possible some shoes would be nice. Like p day shoes. I have those ones i brought but they are almost done. And they dont make my size anywhere in Tzaneen. I have literally looked everywhere. I need size 13 wide or 15. But only if its possible if not its okay. I cant really think of anything else at the moment but i will tell you some more next week. Things are going good. We had 2 confirmations yesterday. We have just had a good time. There is a sangoma ( a sangoma is a traditional healer ) they belive in ancestors and where crazy stuff, Ill send a picture sometime. There is one named rainbow. He is a famous one around Tzaneen. Anyway elder couch wanted to go see him before he left. He is one interesting character. What he says makes absolutly no sense. But anyway he has some really weird stuff. He has a goat purse. A gout that he killed and took all the suff out but made him a purse. Head tail legs and stuff is still on there. He even sewed a zipper into it. He also has a monkey head on the end of one of his staves. He is weird. He has a gun that is made out of wood that will take peoples power. Anyway, we found this tailor whos makes really nice suits. He is like the best tailor is SA or something like that. But they are exspensive. Like 300 to 400 dollars for a nice 3 peice suit. I want one really bad. If i had the money I would get one. Elder Ehrenzeller wants to get a zebra print 3 peice suit. So he is going to see how much it will be. Other than that stuff everything is going good. Time is flying by. I love you all thanks for everything. Benjamin
October 5, 2009
How's it every body? things are going great over here in the African Jungle. Thankfully we have a satellite to watch conference. It's broadcast live so we miss the last session but don't worry I saw Mom. I made sure everyone else knew it. Whenever I pointed her out everyone says in unison,"Oh earls gettin trunky" for a second I get trunky but then I snap out of it. Everything is going great. Last Saturday we went to a funeral. Oh man that was really interesting. It is so different from your usual funeral. There was never any silence. Not for the whole 3 hours we were there. Even between speakers there are people singing. How it works is if some one knows a song they just start singing then everyone else joins in. So it starts to turn in to a competition. Walking around, between every speaker. Whenever someone gets a chance they start singing. It was really weird. I enjoyed it though. we were the only white people so we were treated like kings. It was nice. Taking to the front of the food lines and everything. They spoke in sotho so I couldn't understand anything they said. And there was even a pastor who preached a little.
It is starting to get really hot. Lately it's been raining and it has been nice. But when the sun is out, in 5 minutes your sweating. The mango's are almost ready. In some of the villages the only trees around are mango trees, just hundreds of them that are natural. Ill get a picture one of these days. But anyway I love you all. Thanks for your prayers. and everything else.
Benjamin
It is starting to get really hot. Lately it's been raining and it has been nice. But when the sun is out, in 5 minutes your sweating. The mango's are almost ready. In some of the villages the only trees around are mango trees, just hundreds of them that are natural. Ill get a picture one of these days. But anyway I love you all. Thanks for your prayers. and everything else.
Benjamin
September 27, 2009
Hey everyone, how is everything going over there? From what it sounds like things are good. I'm doing great. Things are looking good up here in Tzaneen. We had 2 baptisms yesterday and i got to do the honors. First time baptizing someone that was really cool. I love the spirit while you are in the water. It was scary because that morning we got a text from one of them saying that they weren't ready. So we dropped everything and went to talk to her. She was in tears, but she said she would come. After the baptisms she bore her testimony and she said that she was so dumb for being scared. The spirit is definitely real and its only in our church. That much i know.
This week was Zone Conference, and it was really cool. Before that we went to a cheese farm. That was really interesting. We learnde how to make cheese. And it is so easy. Pretty much you mix bacteria and milk and yogurt then heat it then let it dry. Depending on how long you let it sit makes the type of cheese. It was interesting. We are staying really busy. Our days are always full which is different than from a few weeks ago. Its very interesting how things around here have changed. Me and Elder Ehrenzeller are getting along great. We work well together and have fun as well. Transfers are coming up and we will see if I go anywhere I don't think so but you never know with Pres Poulsen.
We are kind of running out of things to do on p day so we are coming up with some interesting things. Like today we are going to try a bicycle super-cross. There is a little track in one of the parks around here and we are going to do some time trials. That should be a lot of fun. Anyway thanks for everything. Keep the commandments and all that stuff. Heavenly Father will continue to bless you.
Benjamin
This week was Zone Conference, and it was really cool. Before that we went to a cheese farm. That was really interesting. We learnde how to make cheese. And it is so easy. Pretty much you mix bacteria and milk and yogurt then heat it then let it dry. Depending on how long you let it sit makes the type of cheese. It was interesting. We are staying really busy. Our days are always full which is different than from a few weeks ago. Its very interesting how things around here have changed. Me and Elder Ehrenzeller are getting along great. We work well together and have fun as well. Transfers are coming up and we will see if I go anywhere I don't think so but you never know with Pres Poulsen.
We are kind of running out of things to do on p day so we are coming up with some interesting things. Like today we are going to try a bicycle super-cross. There is a little track in one of the parks around here and we are going to do some time trials. That should be a lot of fun. Anyway thanks for everything. Keep the commandments and all that stuff. Heavenly Father will continue to bless you.
Benjamin
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