Exchanges in Cleary

Dear Everyone,

This was a pretty good week. Monday night we had an FHE [family home evening] with the YSA at the Kibblers, the American family that is really helping the ward. Sister Kibbler made proper chocolate chip cookies. Don’t know how long it’s been since I had those, it was sweet. Before the FHE we also had a really nice lesson with a guy named Luvuyo, a student who is friends with a member. He is a little quiet, but he understands well what we teach and he has come to church two Sundays in a row. On Saturday we gave him a baptismal date, but not till beginning of August because soon he is going to go home for about a month, after his school semester ends.

On Wednesday I went on exchanges to Cleary! It was pretty sweet. We were with Duwayne the whole day fellowshipping. I was wanting to surprise him, but I guess Elder George had to spill the beans because he wasn’t going to be available that day. He is doing really well, still gunning for a mission. I guess just getting his police clearance has been giving him a lot of troubles (because of lame SA bureaucracy, not because he dodgy past as a hoodlum). It was pretty sweet to see him, he is a funny kid. Other than him though in some ways my visit to Cleary was kind of depressing, not a lot of progression there.  He was the last person to be baptized in that area, and they are still teaching Leville, and Theo, who are still just still caught in the grasp of sin. I showed Elder George Malabar, he had never been there before. We went by Rajan and Prinetta, who haven’t been visited in almost a year, but no one was home, I told him to visit them, and Rajan’s mom, Sister Kay, a blind lady who has been a member forever but now attends a different church. 

Elder George is training Elder Freitas who is from Sao Paulo Brazil. That district consists of an American, a Brazilian, a South African and a New Zealander. I got to see some other families I was close to in Cleary, but just for a second. I think we are going to go back there in a few weeks. 

Thursday we had our second lesson with a girl named Babalwa, she is almost 14. Her mom has been a member since November, and she wants to get baptized. She is pretty smart, and I guess after our first lesson with her she has started to read the scriptures. If everything goes according to plan, she will get baptized at the end of the month. 

Friday we had a Zone Leader Skype Call, basically a conference call with all the zone leaders all over the mission with President and the APs [assistants to the president]. It was kinda a waste of time, though. The highlight was President stating that missionaries are not to purchase and kill animals, and should try to avoid Xhosa sacrificial ceremonies (Yeah, the really traditional ones like kill cows for the ancestors). I guess one of the Zones for a P-day activity went in on a sheep (a live one) and braaied it, and a stake president found out and flipped. So that was interesting.

We also visited a sick member in one of the public hospitals here, man they are pretty scary. People with insurance go to private hospitals which are pretty close to like our hospitals back home, but people without go to these scary public hospitals. Hopefully I didn’t catch TB while I was there. 

Sunday was good, three of our investigators came to church. We had a DA [dinner appointment] with this kinda hipster lady who would be right at home in Moscow, in fact her meal really reminded me of the Co-op. Some sort of couscous salad, ciabatta bread and hummus. She is a vegetarian. Elder Washburn got sick later; he attributed it to the lack of meat.

Well, that was the week.

Love you all!

Elder Martin