Week 11

Sawubona! Hope everyone is having a #1 day! Things have been lekker, or perfect, here in Thema. Dad, I just saw those pictures and wow i am surprised to how much snow is already up there!! I would be lying if i said that I don't miss the mountains.... But hey, the desert here isn't that bad I guess!! Speaking about mountains, this week we did a little excursion up the "mountain" here, after our fail last week trying to reach the BIG "mountain". anyways, yeah we rode for almost 4 hours to a mountain just to find a gate that said, Do Not Pass, Radiation area. So, we made it up this one and it was very cool to look over Kwa-Thema. It is a lot bigger than i thought. While we were just about to crest the hill, we saw a snake! now I am used to garter snakes, or rattle snakes...but not Cobras!! it was pretty scary at first. 

Besides our fun adventures, we found a lot of new people this week. While we were tracting houses one day I felt prompted to knock on one houses door. But, this was not a normal house, It was probably the biggest mansion in Kwa-Thema. There are only like four 2-story houses here, and this one was 3-stories. we walked up to the gate and there was an intercom. So i thought no one would answer, but then we noticed the gate was open. So, we walked in! the family invited us in and we had a great discussion. Come to find out, the papa has heard of church. actually his grand-daughter served a mission!! actually we had lunch with his grand-daughter last week!! it was a crazy coincidence, but i know the Lords' hand was helping us. he is very accepting and kind, which is always a pleasure. 

    Sometimes it is hard to hear the still small voice of the spirit. However, as we strive to live our lives in accordance to his teachings then it becomes more clear to us. We should always pray to have the spirit to be with us. I know Heavenly father has a plan for us, but we all have agency. I was reading a book this week called "Faith precedes miracles". I've never thought of it this way before. God asks us to trust in him, and he will bless us. But first we have to show our faith, showing that we really do trust him. For example, in 1 Nephi Lehi leads his family into the wilderness, and they are not happy with him, calling him a visionary man, and mad that they left their gold, silver, and house behind. However they pressed forward and were blessed with a promised land! I know He is there to help us, but we should trust in him! He promises to help us and everything will work out. I love you all, and say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Elder High

Week 10

Hello everybody! sorry that i forgot to write a letter last week. I kinda didn't have much time... and also kinda forgot!! I hope every had a great week though. So, this last two weeks have been great here in Kwa-Thema. We actually had 3 baptisms last week! Ntokozo, Nlakhanipho, and Thandi. Ntokozo and Nlakhanipho are both brothers and they are great. they have an uncle who is a member but that's it. Both of their parents attend different churches but are happy that they were both baptized! they want them one day to become missionaries, which is what we love to hear. Sister Thandi attend our church for a funeral awhile ago. In case you didn't know, we literally have a funeral every week. We even have one coming up on wednesday. And there is an area here called "Rest in Peace." Literally named R.I.P. So, yeah. But she said she felt something different in the chapel and eventually met missionaries. It took off from there. she has devoted her life to God, and has changed so many habits she had, but has seen the blessings already. In her job, she was working full-time, but wasn't yet hired as Permanent. We've been praying for her, and she found out on sunday that she made it permanent! She has 2 little girls who are so funny. 

    Other than that we had a pretty slow week. A lot of crazy things happened here in South Africa, but they have calmed down a lot these past few days. I'd just like to share a little bit about love. We are commanded to Love one another. people of every religion understand this. It is a simple thing to comprehend, that we show love each other! Even our enemies, strangers, family, etc. We are ALL children of a loving God. it does not matter where you are from, or what color of skin you have. it is so sad to see the violence here because somebody is a little more black than you, or born in another country in Africa. Even me being whiter than white, it doesn't matter! God sees us all the same, not by skin color, but by our spirits and by our actions. We should strive to see an individual by their heart and their soul, no matter how they look. I have been learning to love everybody as God has commanded, and as Jesus Christ did. Sometimes this is hard, but I always end up in a happier mood because of this. It truly does make a difference. I hope you all are full of love for each other, and for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love you all. 

Elder High

Week 8

Hello everybody! Well, another week has passed here in South Africa! I'm so glad to be in Kwa-Thema, this place is great. This week has been pretty busy. on Wednesday we were in Roodeport for our Zone Conference. It was really good to be able to see some friends from the MTC and be able to learn more about mission and tools we can use. We've been pretty busy everyday meeting with our friends who are progressing in learning more about the gospel. I have been humbled by these people and their experiences with the Holy Ghost. a lot of the things that we talk about here are very new to people, and are sometimes opposite of what they have grown up knowing for their whole lives. One of the hardest things to teach is the Godhead. How we believe that Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, and Heavenly Father are 3 separate beings, but who work together for one purpose. We showed up to an appointment with Itumelang and him and his friend were arguing about this as we walked into his house! So, we sat down, prayed, and turned to the scriptures. We read a couple scriptures with him and asked him what he thinks about them. Never did we say that we believe in the Godhead, not the Trinity, but when he looked at these verses logically, he came to the conclusion that they are separate. I know this is because of the Holy Ghost. His heart was open and was searching for the answers because he wasn't sure. Because of this the Holy Ghost could let him know these truths. That is what is so special about teaching with the Holy Ghost. We could be the best teachers in the world, but people would still not believe us. That is ok. But, when you have a feeling in you telling you these things it is completely different. It is so much harder to deny these feelings when you receive them. 

    We had a baptism this week! it was a very interesting baptism.; The city shut off the water to the chapel, so whatever water was in the system was all the water we had! secondly, it was cold water! The water level after almost three hours was a little below the knee... but hey! we made it work( even though she had to sit down instead of stand)! Her family was all there to support her, and a lot of the ward was also there. All in all, it has been another great week here in kwa thema! Hope everyone has a great week.

Elder High

Week 7

Happy monday! That's great to hear that you had a great week. Well, this week was transfer week and nobody from the springs zone got transferred, but we added one person to the zone. A couple weeks ago Elder Burlaka, from Ukraine, finished mission and went home so there was a trio companionship. The new elder is named Elder Davis, from Utah. he is a huge Samoan and he's pretty relaxed. So yeah for our zone it was a chill transfer but for everyone else it was hectic. There was a lot of people swapped around. 

    As for our bikes this week, We had no problems with them!! Elder Bete got a new bike and it seems like good luck because we didn't even have a flat tire this week. Truly a miracle! As for the week, it was a super good week. I am so happy to be here. It's hard to explain, but up to this point I haven't felt quite like myself. Maybe it was that I was adjusting to life here, or not quite comfortable with the ward and members yet, but I feel like myself now! I just feel great and happy. We were able to go to the temple on Saturday with the ward and the branch. We had to take a taxi there which was super sketch. In the taxi we sat next to two young women. One was named Lonwabo and it was her first time going to the temple. she was really excited and was asking about baptisms for the dead! she also talked a lot about Joseph Smith. She said that she has visited a lot of churches. Her uncle is a pastor and they have a family church. She visited church with her friend about 5 months back and had a great feeling. she described that she had a feeling that as she continued to go to this church great things will come forth. Anyways, we got to the temple and we go to enter and Bishop pulls her to the side and explains she cannot enter yet. Come to find out... she hasn't even been baptized yet! what a surprise to us! So she stayed outside and got to explore the temple grounds and ride in the golf cart. She says she had a great experience. 

    We went to teach her yesterday and it went great. She basically knew everything about the restoration and a lot about Jesus Christ. Come to find out we actually had an appointment scheduled with her mom for next week! haha what are the odds of that? But the temple was so special, I love the temple so much. I just felt so happy when we were there. The Joburg temple is pretty small, but it is the only temple in South Africa so it is very busy. 

On Sunday our mission president came to our ward for sacrament meeting and to do some baptismal interviews. It was great to see him, he is always happy and is always teaching us new things. One lesson I learned this week was to make sure that people understand what we teach. Many speak English here but do not understand big words, like restoration. this leads to a lot of confusion if we do not clarify some of these words. I want to end by talking a little bit about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. being a member born into the Church is such a great opportunity, but can sometimes make us take things for granted. There are SO MANY people that just have a hole in their heart and don't know where to go to fill it. For example, The branch President visited over 20 churches trying to find one that filled this whole, but none felt right to him. So one day he visited our church, and said he knew this was the one. It brought him so much happiness and joy. His questions were answered and he wanted his family to have this joy. now, 5 years after joining he is a Branch President. Think about this. If you didn't know about the gospel how would you feel? some might say, I'm fine without it if I have money.. But, there is some things that money can't cover. I testify of the power this gospel has in changing lives. I could go on forever about people I have met that have had their lives changed from knowing the gospel. I know how much joy it brings my heart. I love it so much and am so grateful for it and Jesus Christ, for making God's plan possible.  Hope everyone will look for Gods' hand in their lives and learn to appreciate his love more, As i am still striving to do!

Love, Elder High

Week 6

Hello Everybody! Hope everything is going great. Another week has passed here in good ole' Kwa-Thema. It has definately been an interesting week, that's for sure! this week started a bit rough as I have been overcoming a flu. We went out and did a lot of work with people that we have already taught a couple of lessons of and it was great. A lot of them came to church this sunday, which is a huge thing here. Not many people have cars, and a lot live more than a mile away from the church building. so weather usually affects how many people come, and this sunday it was very bitter. My companion and I were worried. But, to our surprise we had 14 people that we are teaching there! it was truly a blessing. Church is a very important thing because we are able to renew our covenants that we have made at baptism, and are able to learn more about our Heavenly Father and his son, Jesus Christ. Even if they have not been baptized it is still important to them and also to us. It shows that they keep commitments and are serious about wanting to learn more!

   On friday we had a meeting to gain our new smartphones! we a blessing it is to finally have smartphones. We have been using a small nokia which is such a pain. One big reason why we now use smartphones is because of an app called Whatsapp. a lot of people here do not have that many minutes or sms, but instead they have data to use free calling apps. We have noticed already how people answer us back now, And... Text us first!! it is so surprising haha. 

   I would like to talk a little bit about action. "Faith without works is dead" James 2;17. In life, God wants us to have faith. It is the 1st principle of the gospel. It makes sense that we have to have faith, if we don't then why would we change, or strive to follow him? Now, faith is to Hope for things which you cannot see. Even though we cannot see God, we have faith that he is there and he cares for us. Once we have faith, is that all? No, having faith encourages us to act upon that. For example, you have Faith that if you go to college for 4 years of your life, then you will be able to get a good job and be happy. you will put in action upon that faith of getting a good job. You will go to school, and try your best to make it happen. That is just like the gospel! we have faith in God that we will receive blessings from him as we Act, and do our best to follow Him! He doesn't expect perfection from us. We are human and He knows this. That is part of life, to go through trials to learn and to grow our faith! This is why we need to try our best as we have faith in him, because Faith without works is Dead. Hope you all have a great week!

Elder High