Well, hello family! Wow, there is a lot to tell! First things first. My first area is Cleary Estate, a walking area in a colored township area in Port Elizabeth. Coloureds are a strange mix of (I think) mostly white and black. The mixed ancestry makes some of them look white, black, Asian, Mexican and just about every other race of the rainbow—and they speak Afrikaans.
Elder Bangerter is a from Pocatello, but grew up in Aloha, Oregon, and knows Alton! He is an awesome trainer, and I am so thankful for him. He is very kind and soft-spoken, and wants to be a good trainer. I am always catching him doing things like making my bed or ironing my shirt. He is very Christlike and very much wants to to a good job. I will be his last companion which means that I will probably be here in Cleary for 4 and a half to six months. He is a great missionary and a great example.
Meeting President Wood was also a wonderful experience. He is a great man, and both a former lawyer and also a runner. I am very excited to have him be my mission president. Being in Cape Town was really nice, it a beautiful place, and it was a really cool experience to stand on Signal Hill and over look the land of my forefathers so to speak. Sister Wood also found a copy of Samuel’s book in the mission home, which was really cool.
The other companionship in our district has the car and drives us to and from Cleary to our home every night. They are really awesome; especially the DL Elder Nielson. He reminds me a lot of the Clark twins. He is pretty funny. Our flat is one of the nicest in the mission, but we did get chewed out this morning for it being dirty, even though it has gotten a lot cleaner since I have gotten here. I think this area has suffered some in the past few transfers, and the flat has been abused a little. Elder Bangerter is very clean and we have set a goal to clean it better.
The people here are very kind. Getting into people’s homes is certainly not a challenge at all, as almost all welcome you in. Everyone recognizes us as servants of the Lord and give us a lot of encouragement. I think this also helps keep us safe. We have had some really good lessons with several of our investigators. One is named Cleanwell, a Zimbabwean, here working to send money to his family. He lives in some very humble circumstances, but is well educated (he has an english degree, and is a very intelligent man, its easy to teach him). It kinda breaks my heart seeing such a good guy living in a little shack. That is one thing that I have really struggled these last couple days with. As missionaries, we are representatives of Jesus Christ in our area, and are responsible to help these people as much as we can, and these people need more help then I feel like I am able to give. Alcohol is a huge problem (we have talked to many a friendly drunk), as are things like children born out of wed-lock, and just terrible poverty. I have seen some pretty terrible living situations in my first week being here. It certainly makes me feel incredibly blessed, and will be an opportunity to stretch myself. Inactivity is a bit of a problem here. I think largely because many people live further away from the chapel and don’t have cars, or [have trouble affording] the 8 Rand [~$1] to take the ghetto taxi buses to church. The church is certainly developing here, and me and Elder Bangerter are really excited about the role we can play here to help. We had a wonderful goal session the other day.
The mail is good here, but apparently other places further East of here, like East London, the mail is really shady. I would also like to hear about where granddad served here in P.E. Well, hopefully I can send you some pictures today, but if not, have a great week! Thank you so much for your prayers for me, I certainly need them ;)
Love,
Elder Martin
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