Living in the Mission Office

Well, I have some time to email now, due to my unique housing situation. I’ll explain that later. 

Well Mom you asked to hear more about last week. Last week was pretty great. This highlight was teaching Letti and Brother Clyde’s home. We taught her there on Thursday and Sunday night. Brother Clyde has really caught the missionary spirit (I think he always had it) and has been helping as with Letti a lot. He has really encouraged Letti to get baptized and Letti agreed to get baptized in three weeks. I don’t think that is going to happen now, Elder Khoni told me she is now going to be out of town on that Sunday, she will get baptized soon. The cool thing is just Clyde and his wife participating in missionary work the way they are supposed to, and it is making all the difference. Letti was not found through brother Clyde and his wife, but they live close to one another so they are really befriending her. 

On Saturday and Sunday was stake conference. I got to see Alastair on both days. He is not baptized yet, but I pray he will be soon. Stake Conference was awesome. It was all about Hastening the Work of Salvation, and in the leadership meeting President Wood and President Holmes (the Stake President) trained the Bishoprics and other priesthood leadership positions and the missionaries on how they should work together, as described in that broadcast we had a few months ago. I think it will really get things going here in Cape Town. The whole conference was very missionary themed, it was great. Sunday was great too! For the first time in recent memory, the whole stake was together! Usually they just broadcast the conference to like 5 different chapels, but this time they decided to rent a venue at the Cape Town convention center, there was over 1000 people there. It was great, I got to see Fish Hoek people and lots of Missionaries. I got to see Sipho and Nomsa, who are getting baptized on Sunday! I get to go to the baptism and I guess I am also preforming it as well. I am so happy they are getting baptized. They are a family that could be to the temple in a year or two. 

One interesting thing about stake conference was it was two days before transfers so rumors and speculation about who was going to go where was going like crazy. This transfer day was pretty hectic too because 4 Elders who were in the MTC in Joburg were bound for Kenya but did not get visas, so last thursday President got a call asking if they could come, so he prepared their trainers, 3 missionaries flew in from the Eastern Cape, and two new areas were going to created to handle the greater number (the mission already was opening two here in Cape Town). The hectic part is that it was never for sure, and basically we weren’t going to find out if they were coming or not until they got on the plane. At the last minute they went to Kenya. It was kinda sad because on Monday night when we called for Transfer news we couldn’t tell a couple of Elders where they were going, just that they were going because if the other Elders came it would effect where they were going to go. 

The whole transfer day thing is hectic. Tuesday we picked up the greenies and shuttled them around in the mission’s big 9 passenger van. They are so funny. The joke in the mission is if you are getting old on mission when people ask you how long you have been out you just say “A little over a year.” We all told the greenies that and they were so impressed how long we have been out. Elder Chikara told them the same thing and he is going home this morning. 

We have been eating a lot at the mission home! 

Wednesday sucked. One thing that is pretty crazy right now is that I am literally living in the office. One of the new area’s opened does not have a flat yet, so they are staying where we stay with our Assistants (the office Elders are called the AAPs) and we moved to live in the office. It has everything we need, but its just kinda weird. Hopefully it doesn’t last long. 

But Wednesday it was crazy shuttling people back and fourth between the airport and the mission home, trying to get people to leave the mission home when they have their new companion, and rebuking Elders you told not to come to the mission home because they aren’t being effected by transfers. It was not the greatest day of my life. Then that evening we had the Veterans dinner and training, where the Assistants are the “SACTM Servers.” It was interesting because the group is only two Elders and both were Assistants. So during the training I was the only one who was hearing it for the first time. It has been really interesting to get to know the Woods a lot better and see them in different lights. The training was really good but also terrifying because its about going home, which will happen to me relatively soon. 

So today we are taking them to the airport. Because Elder Chikara leaves for Joburg this morning, we will be chilling with Elder Browning the the afternoon before he flies out. Your last day you are kinda free to do whatever, but Elder Browning does not seem to have many ambitions for what to do today, which is unfortunate, because I do (Robben Island, anyone?) Its been pretty busy this whole assistant thing. Anyway, so that has been the week up till now. I should probably go shower before the office couples get here!

Love,

Elder Martin