Dedeli Igazi - Let the Blood Flow!

The title of this post is a zulu phrase: Dedeli Igazi which means let the blood flow or relax. Mikel said he and Elder Adams love that saying. It's been a great reminder to me because I'm the kind of person that is constantly go go go-ing and stressed about all the things I need to do. But sometimes I just need to relax and "let the blood flow" instead of stressing. It makes life a bit more enjoyable :)

A little story to start out: "To start off the week we had DDM (district development meeting) we drove down to margate which is about an hour away (How far? about an hour) (Inside joke for the fam) when we arrived at the chapel we were called to action! the whole chapel flooded! a pipe in the cycling burst causing about 2-3 inches of water in the entire building. Needless to say we were unable to attend our meeting, we instead spent the next 3 hours bailing out the chapel and sorting all the ruined books from the still okay ones. It was quite the mess indeed. The best part about the trip to margate though was fish and chips. there is an amazing fish and chips place that is to die for, any time we go to margate we make sure we stop for the best fish in SA.... well as far as I am concerned."

They had their ward soccer game last week which he said they were training for, and I guess it's a pretty big deal haha. They have uniforms and everything. He said that he played keeper because he didn't trust anyone else back there and he was happy not to have to run in the heat, but they lost 3-0 so you can see where that got them haha. He said it got pretty heated but that's typical for a church sporting event. Out of control haha.

"an interesting statement said in church this week was "by keeping the commandments we are becoming heros" we really are, they arnt easy and we are overcoming such temptation when we obey Gods commands. its no easy feat by any means.

Its been an interesting feeling throughout this week when I have reflected to see how I have been doing, am I working hard enough? Am I doing what the Lord expects of me? I must admit I have felt pretty lax this past week in the sense of feeling like I wasnt working hard enough. I brought it up with elder adams mentioning my concern that I dont know what else I could change to work harder. We then went through the week to see what we have accomplished. We came to realize that we have been working very hard and I think why I dont feel like it is because I was used to tracting all day and getting nothing out of it but a sweaty shirt and stinky feat. We realized that every single time we have gone tracting we have found people to teach and it ends up taking all of our time. I felt like we wernt working hard enough because I wasnt knocking 100 doors a day but it was such a great realization to see that I have been working very hard and it is paying off. So I guess thats what I would like to report on a bit is how your promise is definitely coming to pass and we are finding people and there are so many people who are being prepared and have been prepared and we just need to talk to them, put our selves out there and let the Lord guide our paths. So all in all its been a good week and I feel very satisfied with the work put in and I do feel we did work hard and well. Of course there is always room for improvement. dont get me wrong, we have been working hard and the Lord is definitely in this work!"

Their car is now in the shop which makes it hard for them to contact people as far as they would like, but now they get to do more street contacting and walking around.

He had two really cool stories that I wanted to share as well: "I have had a couple of powerful tender mercies this week from less actives opening up to us and telling us there concerns and struggles and how we are trying to help them overcome them, to powerful strong members giving us encouragement and lifting us up even higher. I have felt the Lord work through me this week. I was asked a question about some doctrine that I had never been taught. I have never even thought about the question myself but I began to answer, not necessarily knowing what I was saying but knowing that it was true. I could feel the spirit confirming every word which proceeded out of my mouth and I pray that they could fee that same confirmation. It was a testament to me of the power of the Holy Ghost and how he will guide us and direct us on what to say in the very hour as long as we have prepared our selves. Being a missionary has thus far been the greatest experience of my life.

I ran into Elder Ikube who is currently going through the post mission training thing. He working at the car dealer ship that we dropped our car off to get fixed. He goes home in a week and is now preparing for that and no longer proselyting like we are. Now he didnt say this but to me I saw the look in his eyes, it looked as if he was looking in envy and hope, with passion, love, faith and devotion, and in a sense it seemed like he looked up to us. Now I dont know if this was just me being crazy but it seemed so to me. It was just a witness of how we as missionaries are changed, we are representatives of the Lord and people can see that, people can feel it. I have had members tell Elder Adams and I that when we begin teaching a lesson, our countenance changes and we become something else, no longer young boys, but into real men and servants of the Lord. Now of course you would like people to distinguish you always and not just as you teach, hopeful I can get there someday.

a week full of tender mercies for sure and blessings from the Lord. I am so blessed be able to hold the Priesthood and wear the name of Christ boldly across my chest"

The past few weeks I've started doing some service hours in an elementary school for one of my classes, and I love it so much! I was telling him all about it and the kids I get to work with and how happy it makes me and this is what he said: "Oh my days Haiy I could just picture you in class helping these kids, I know its perfect for you and it just made me smile so much hearing about how much you enjoyed it, you are going to learn so much from these kids, it will blow you away. what a wonderful opportunity you have to get some real experience in a class, with real kids that you can and will ahve an affect on for the rest of their lives! Kind of scary but kind of incredible right? wow you are one amazing women, thats for sure. I just had a second where I could almost see us together and you coming home from a great day at work telling me all about the kids and the funny thing that the boy kaden said to you and what natalie the little girl in the back did to the boy next to her and all the funny things and amazing moments that will happen. I am excited for the future, I am excited for our future. I love you so much!!! :)"

I have loved reading his stories and getting updates about him every week for the last 7 months. Even though I wish that he was just a call away, I'm thankful for this time that we get to spend apart for him to grow into the man he needs to be and for me to grow into the woman I need to be. It's been amazing to see the change in him and to see his love and testimony of the gospel grow.

"I have been thinking a lot about you recently, Like a lot a lot. I am not sure why but its made me just a tad home sick, I just miss you so much and I miss being able to show my love to you every day and to see you and hear your voice and see your smile and your face light up when you talk about something you love like teaching or soccer or even those times when I look at you and you get that cute little smile. Just everything a bout you. maybe its because  Ihave opened up to Elder Adams more about you and just talked about how much I love you and some of our adventures and I think it just made me miss all of that. But dont worry I am still focused here and on what I am supposed to :) Its just that I cant not think about the best two years of my life and how much fun I had and how much love I have for you.

You are the best! I am so lucky to have you, I mean most guys girlfriends stop writing by six months or the letters get really short, but nope not for you, even when I am so bogus and suck at writing my emails and letters you still stay strong and I am so thankful for that. I think the Lord knew that I would need it.

Love always
Elder Mookie"

Hope

"It was interesting last night as we were reviewing the week and realized that we actually did a lot! (wahoo) The weeks just keep coming and they don't slow down at all. It is true what they say, the days are long, the weeks are fast, and now this transfer is coming close to an end which is sad because I may be leaving Elder Adams when it is over.  That's not for a little while so I wont depress myself quite yet by thinking of such." He really loves having Elder Adams as his companion, they work hard and get along really well. He said this last week they wanted to focus more on working in the town to get more members there. I guess that there are a lot of Afrikaans people there, because he said they get yelled at a lot by them haha. They don't want much to do with any religion compared to the Zulu people. He said that they have been focusing on working hard lately because "We were promised by our mission president that if we worked hard and had the desire that we would be able to find a new family to teach every week. He wasn't kidding. ever since then (two weeks ago) we have found a fam to teach. Sadly none are really progressing but good things come to those who wait (so I am told)." Hopefully those people they are teaching progress and have the desire to come closer to the Lord!

"The area is still great, I still just love the view all around and seeing all the green vegetation and beautiful ocean! It is such a pretty place here and I would love to come visit as a tourist on holiday when I can just relax and soak up all the  beauty. They said that they had 2 million foreigners during the holidays here in Durban! crazy!!! You can see why I say life was tough during that time as a missionary haha."

He found his mom's name on a license plate!

"I do it for the FAM"

"So the ward I am in is really into soccer, we get to play a lot. Every Friday to be exact. We have that as our weekly practice and now they are starting up the season where we will have games more often. We play against other wards and we are probably the second best soccer team in the stake. (We still arn't that good)  I was just now assigned to be in charge of running practice and doing drills and what not, so I guess it looks like I am the new appointed coach which is a little weird. I have been playing full back and its been pretty okay but our goalie was not up to par so I will now replace him in hopes of not being scored on every shot. Its really fun being able to play soccer frequently. Perks of serving outside of the states I guess. The only problem playing here is the humidity. You are super sweaty by the time you have taken a short jog. It can be rough in the heat. We are playing against another ward on Saturday so I am supposed to come up with a game plan and practice to make us win.... we will see haha..."

They got to go to a place called Croc World for their zone activity last week which means we got awesome pictures!

Tucans!

An Eagle

Comforting sign

Croc burger!

The craziest thing he said to me in our personal email was that he wants to read books when he gets back... What??? He always said he didn't like reading or "What are books?" haha so this is a pretty big deal. I'm quoting exactly what he said so I have evidence that he actually said it :) "You sound like you are happy and doing verry well, I dont know I could just hear your voice in this email and they way you were saying things haha its seemed like you were happy and it made me super giddly, I giggled a couple times reading your email haha. Classes sound both great and bad haha hopefully the teaching ones will be nice! I am kind of jealous that you get to be learning all these cool things and I feel like I am becoming more and more uneducated. I have decided that I actually have a desire to read some books now, not necessarily story but books about economics or how things work and what what. I really do enjoy learning and just having knowledge over a wide range, as a missionary we meet lots of people and its always cool to talk to super smart people that just know a lot of things and how they got to that point was usually by reading books. so there is some incentive now for me to read.... weird, I really am growing up arnt I.... I dont wanna grow up, I like being a silly kid haha, I guess I will just be one of those adults who is still a teenager at heart :) I am excited to go on camp outs and stuff with my kids especially the boys when they are in scouts and stuff :)"

He talked about hope in the group email and I really liked what he had to say. Hope has always been a topic that I've liked studying because I think hope is a wonderful thing for all of us to have. "HOPE

I love hope, Hope is a bit different then a lot of people think. It isn't just the want for something good to come your way but it in fact is the assurance that good will come your way! It is quite interesting. according to wikipedia "definitions include: "expect with confidence" " it is something that we optimistically look forward to with confidence in the good will of God sure that He will uplift, support, encourage, and give good things to us. The world now a days has put a connotation of hope being a wishful type of thought and not really believing that it will happen

From a talk that President Uchtdorf gave he said:

"We hope in Jesus the Christ, in the goodness of God, in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, in the knowledge that prayers are heard and answered. Because God has been faithful and kept His promises in the past, we can hope with confidence that God will keep His promises to us in the present and in the future. In times of distress, we can hold tightly to the hope that things will “work together for [our] good” (D&C 90:24) as we follow the counsel of God’s prophets. This type of hope in God, His goodness, and His power refreshes us with courage during difficult challenges and gives strength to those who feel threatened by enclosing walls of fear, doubt, and despair." (Conference Address, October 2008)"

It's so crazy because as of tomorrow, Mikel and I will have been dating for two whole years! Looking back on it it feels like time has flown by. And also as of this week, he's been out for 7 months!! I have no idea where the time is going but it's both wonderful and scary all at the same time. Of course I want him to come home and by the time 2 years is over I'll be ready for him to come home, but I always worry that time will change me in a way that will lead to our relationship not working out. I know that no matter what happens it will be exactly what the Lord has planned for us, but I like to think that I have control of it sometimes :) I just hope that by the time he comes home both of us will have grown as a person into exactly who we need to be. 2 years goes a lot faster than you think, and there's only 17 more months left!

"My week was pretty great :) I dont know, it was interesting, I feel like we didnt work super hard but yet our stats beg to differ so I guess we worked smart not hard haha we found some success in finding a couple new people so thats always good. Um I am not sure what thing I focused on the most, I dont really have much time to just study what I want, I usually read some of PMG and then book of mormon to just learn more and to better teach. I guess I studied a bit on peace and hope this week though, I really love hope and Ill talk more of it soon. I also have been reading my patriarchal  blessing to become more antiquated with it. um I guess something that I am struggling with is being more optimistic and having that hope (assurance for good) in mission and after mission, you know me, I worry to much and think to much in my head then just with my heart and hoping and believing that all will work out. In isiZulu (I dont know how to spell it but you get the idea) de deli kas which means let the blood flow, just relax and let the blood flow haha.  Um I dont know if there really is anything that I am excelling in, I am still just trying to learn how to be a good missionary so I think excelling may come much later :)

I never thought that I would be day dreaming of the love of my life 10235 miles away and praying for the day I get to see her again.

With all the love of my heart and soul

Elder Mookie"

Investigators

Ah it has been a wonderful week. The start of a new semester, soccer starting up, being able to jog and juggle again! I think it's going to be a great semester. After this semester is over the team is going to Germany, Austria and Switzerland for 10 days and I am so excited! Mikel's companion is from Germany and he told me about a couple different kinds of pastries to try, so that will be awesome! And then by the time we get back from that Mikel will have almost been out for an entire year. How crazy! Time is flying.

They had a Zone Training Meeting (ZTM) and a lot of other meetings this last week and he said they were wonderful! "We did learn a lot in these meetings and found out that we have some things that we need to do to become more consecrated and dedicated servants of the Lord. He does have a marvelous work and a wonder for us to bring forth at this moment in time to the people here in Amanzimtoti,  but just like with any marvelous thing in the world, just like with anything that you love dearly and appreciate and reflect on with great passion and love. It began with the nitty gritty hard work. and that's what us as missionaries just gotta do. Its gonna take work. We are here to show these people what a fantastic joy, peace, and hope that can and does come from hearing what we call the good news of the perfect plan of happiness!!!! I do in deed love be a missionary, it's by no means an easy task but its a worth while one. I think I can honestly say I have never put so much effort into any work in my entire life. It takes all you can give and a little bit extra, but when you serve with all your heart the reward is so great. Getting investigators to come to church is a real struggle and usually we don't have any but this past week we had two! Ya that's right! Two new people came to church! I literally jumped in the air did a lil heal click and squeeled. There isn't many greater feelings than when you see that person take their first steps toward eternal joy."

He told us about the two investigators that came to church that he was so excited about: "Our new investigators were Vanilla and James, so Vanilla is going into 8th grade, she is Xhosa from Eastern Cape, her mother dosn't seem to interested which is a bit sad but we met her through her friend Thandeka who we are currently teaching. Unfortunately Thandeka couldn't make it to church. We met Vanilla for the first time on Saturday because she just happened to be there when we taught Thandeka and she decided she would stay. she listened in on the lesson and when we invited her to come to church she said she would be there. Well I dont want to say I didn't believe her.... well I didn't haha. I mean its a 13 year old girl saying she is going to come to church, that dosnt really ever happen. I hope she enjoyed and we are looking forward to teaching her some more! :)

Next was James, he is from Malawi and works here in SA as a cook at a bed and breakfast. He is a really kind guy and his english isnt too good. we knocked on his door and gave him a book of mormon and asked him to come to church, he said yes as they all do and we were on our marry way again hoping he would come but knowing that it pretty much never happens. HE CAME what! This was just crazy so needless to say church was fantastic this Sunday!"

In his email to me he told me a gross story about some maggots in his apartment and it almost made me gag haha, so gross! "My week was pretty good, we are trying to work really hard, which is hard  because I am a naturally lazy kind of guy haha but we are pushing along one step at a time, one door after another after another after another haha. The best part of this week was when the Elders from Margate came up and stayed with us so we played risk, it took 4 hours, it was insane and super fun haha we were all making secret combinations and what what and would gang up on each other then back stab each other it was a whole big thing haha it was fun and just enjoyed I dont know we have a lot of inside jokes about risk now so it was funny, also just the people coming to church that I talked about in my mass email that was flipping awesome. I am happy, healthy is a different issue haha. oh wanna know a gross story haha, so were were cleaning our boarding the other day and me and elder adams dont use the kitchen much and when we do we actually do our dishes so we cleaned the whole place and left the kitchen for the other two guys, but of course they didnt do it so it sat and sat and sat. until oneday while they were going into the kitchen and found maggots all over the floor and counter top haha it was super super super gross I wanted to die, then we found some tubawere which had some food left in it that didnt get cleaned we opend it up and if was full of these tiny white maggots who turned all the food into this nasty mush and we had to clean it and I just wanted to cry haha. anyways that my super gross story, boys are yucky icky yack gross creatures, I am so glad I am a boy so I can like girls :) :) :)"

There are going to be a lot of challenges in the coming year and it will be strange to not have him here to go through them with, but I know that it is for the benefit of both of us. I'm excited for this coming semester and for all that this year will bring!

"a great quote I loved this week was... "2 years commitment to mission rules assures eternal commitment to future wife and family"

 love you babe, have a great week starting school again!

Always

Elder Mookie"

It Carries Us

 Kimberly reunion

"Elder Benissan was my mtc comp and we got to see each other again at the christmas party, it was a happy reunion. "

Mikel, Elder Adams, Elder Benissan

They get a new planner each transfer and they decorate them!

Lion dog!!

Oh man, I'm definitely a slacker sometimes when it comes to typing up a blog post every week. Maybe now that school is starting up again I'll get into a better routine :) Man I have always loved the mass emails he sends out, but this week it really touched me. I don't usually do this, but I'm going to in order to include all of what stood out to me in his email this week. This is what he wrote:
"Well this week was an interesting one with the holidays still going and new years. some thing I heard about the new year that I liked was this. During the new year we hear a lot of people saying things like new year, new me. well we have something better. we have this gospel and through the gospel we learn about the atonement which enables us to repent and change and become better, we do this partly by taking the sacrament ,which resembles Christ, every week. At this time, the beginning of the week after taking the sacrament we get to say, New week, new me!

I was talking to an old lady about religion the other day when we got on the topic of relating religion to something you pick up. some people pick theirs up and put it down sometimes, some find it again and carry it once more while others never come back to it. To end our conversation she said something much more profound than my silly analogies. Her words were true, Christians don't carry their religion, their religion carries them. This made me think and again this took me back to the atonement and how it lifts and carries us through the  grace of Christ. Religion shouldn't be something we pick up and put down, it should be the thing that picks us up when we are down!

Something else that has repetitively come into my mind was the sentence, be an example of the believers. I'll just let you take or leave it and think about what it means to you.

I got a message from a friend today who said this. I will also share a quote from Henry B Eyring "If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill. The Lord is anxious to lead us to the safety of higher ground." I know all things that happen to us are for our eternal benefit, because the Lord loves all His children infinitely, and asks us to endure with patience, hope and faith in Jesus Christ, where with Him we can endure anything. I know the atonement stretches past any transgression or sin, His love is unchanging and unfailing, and though we may not always feel we are moving uphill in our mortal journey we can trust that if we are obedient, that He has prepared a  perfect way.

So my reply was that's an awesome quote thank you so much! It just makes me think of the fault in our starts when it says I am on a roller coaster that only goes up haha. Its true though, we may feel as if our ride is going down hill but (romans8) everything will work for good to them who love God. If we just keep pushing forward we will find that the hill we thought we were rolling down actually was a mountain we climbed. I dont know if that makes sense at all but just that we think things are all going to hell and then when we look back we see the growth and strength that we gained through those experiences and realize that God never left us but pushed us further, strengthen us more so we can accomplish great things to come."

Opening presents at 1 AM

Christmas candy!

Husky Puppy

"a lot of people us machetes to cute thier lawns, we did it for a while and took some nice pictures"

They gave a monkey a dum dum and he ate it.

This is what my reply to him was today:

"I loved the mass email you sent out last week, but I loved it even more when all of the things I experienced this week related to it! I'll start with the "new week, new me" part :) During the sacrament today I was just thinking about my past week and how much I have been struggling with different things and I was prompted to pull out my study journal. I just started flipping through it and I came to a page where I had taken notes on the talk "What Lack I Yet?" and I wrote down that each week during the sacrament, I should have a conversation with the Lord about what I can improve on. So that's what I did! I asked where I needed to improve and how and I set specific goals for the week based on the answers I got. It was a really cool experience and I'm going to start doing that every week during the sacrament to keep me engaged and focused on what the sacrament really does for me, you and everyone. It's a fresh start and a chance to change and be better every week! How awesome is that?

The next thing you said that I loved was that our religion carries us. Oh my goodness I have found that to be so true over the last few months. Today right before relief society the lady that was teaching asked me if I would bear my testimony about how my trial (injury) has helped me to grow closer to my Savior and to bring the gospel to the center of my life. Of course that was the most emotional testimony I've ever given haha but I shared two things that have been circulating through my head the last few months. The first is a poem about the Savior which I have always loved:
"One night I had a dream.

I dreamed I was walking along the beach
with the Lord..

Across the sky flashed scenes from my life..
For each scene, I noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand,
one belonging to me, and the other to the Lord..

When the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that many times along the path of my life
there was only one set of footprints.
I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest
and saddest times in my life.

This really bothered me
and I questioned the Lord about it:
"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why
when I need you most you would leave me."

The Lord replied:
"My precious child, I love you and would
never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints, it was then
that I carried you."

I don't think I need to explain that any further :) The second thing that I shared was from Mosiah 24:12-15. It's definitely worth looking up so I'll let you do that :) I just want you to know that I know that as we put the gospel first in our lives, we will be led to where we need to be. As we rely on the Savior and let Him carry us through our trials we will become much more than we ever could become on our own. I love my Savior and I'm thankful for this trial, because without it my testimony wouldn't have grown as I needed it to.

Be an example of the believers! As I was reading in Matthew this week, I read Matthew 5:14-16. We were given the light of the gospel to share it, not to hide it! Everything we do (be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation..) should share the light of the gospel with it. So anyway, thank you for what you shared! Your testimony has always strengthened mine and I'm so blessed to have you in my life. I love you!! :)"

Street soccer!

Friends :)

Reviewing what they are teaching

Leaf bug!

When you run out of tp...

I'm thankful every day for him and his testimony. Even thousands of miles away he continues to bless my life!