God Will Do The Rest

It's been quite the week of ups and downs in both experiences and emotions, which is why I haven't gotten around to this post until now. In my game on Sunday we were playing the University of Washington, and about 13 minutes into the first half I took a step and tore my left ACL. In order to recover from this I need surgery, and after surgery it will take 6-9 months to get back on the field. I've always been absolutely terrified of this injury so it still doesn't feel real that this really happened to me. The longest I've taken off of soccer was 5 weeks when I broke my collar bone in 5th grade and since then I haven't had any major injuries, which was a huge blessing. I know that there is something to be learned from this injury and that I will come out on the other end better and stronger both as an athlete and as a person, but that doesn't make it any easier for the moment. Mikel has always known that this was my biggest fear so I knew it would be hard for him to hear as well. This was his response to it, which really comforted me and helped me through this first week: "Well, I don't really know how to reply to this, I first read the news from my mah saying you tore your ACL and my heart sunk deep... you know that feeling you get when you get pulled over by a cop, kind of like that feeling but 100x worse. But then I read your email, and I see how positive you are being and I know partly hiding some emotion so I dont focus to much on you. What you said is true though. there is a purpose, a lesson, a reason. Why and what we may not know for now but when we sink in our lowest of lows we are forced to rely on Christ for our strength because we have nowhere else to turn to. I of course would like to be able to say the perfect thing to make everything make sense and to help make you feel better but I don't know what that is, but I do know where to find the peace, the answers and the comfort that you need, and it is through the gospel, sounds like I am just a missionary now teaching another lesson on how the gospel can solve our problems but I look back and see the times when I was talking to either my mah or yours and when they gave advise they would incorporate the gospel in it. I would usually disregard that portion of the advice and try and do it on my own, try to fix my problems, by myself. I know can look back and see that the advice they gave was the best thing for me to do at the time and would have helped me more than anything else. and the reason for that is because there advice was centered around the gospel, around Christ. I can know see in a new clarity that He is the solution, he is the one who has all the answers and will help us through our trials. I hate sounding like Im just talking gospel because Im a missionary, but it is so true that the gospel, the book of Mormon, the prophets, and Heavenly Father and Christ have all the answers. I know I dont have the answer, the reason, or the anything for that matter but I know who does and I know he will help us see the purpose behind everything."

He mentioned in his last email that his companion is really stubborn, but he is starting to realize that he needs as much improvement as he thinks he companion does. He says that Elder Mashava works hard though and always pushes him to be his best. He connects well with their investigators because of his age and what he has gone through which makes a big impact on them.

The Hul's and President Z and his wife and the missionaries.

The Hul's are going home soon.  Makes him sad because

sister Hul was a great help to him when he first arrived and

was missing his mom a lot.

In high school, one of Mikel's favorite quotes was "Do your best and forget the rest", but he's tweaked that a little since he left. "Do your best and God will do the rest", I love this! After all we can do, it is God who will make up the difference because He loves us.

He got to give another blessing this week, this time to a very troubled 8 year old girl. Here is what he says about the experience: "So I got to see the power of the priesthood as I was able to give a troubled girl a blessing. This young girl at the age of 8 was troubled emotionally, physically and spiritually, she was abused, mistreated and scared. She was seemingly beyond the help of therapist and psychologist alike, but not beyond the help of God. I had the opportunity to give this girl a blessing. We came back to visit the family a few days later and to their amazement their daughter was back to her normal self after quite a lengthy period of being troubled angry, and aggressive. Trough the power and grace of God she was "healed" from her troubled state, I was a firsthand witness of the true divine power and authenticity of the priesthood, God lives and loves us and I know it for sure!"

There were a few questions he answered in the mass email that I thought were interesting, so I'll share them here.
Do you keep your passport on you?  I don't carry my actual passport with me, it is in a safe at the mission home. I carry a paper copy though.

What are the professions of the people you teach?  Most people are in construction, nurse, or teacher. There is a lot of unemployment.

Are there really no sister missionaries in South Africa?  There are no sister missionaries not even native ones. They used to have sisters in the mission but cars get hijacked too often, people get robbed a lot and then two sister missionaries got raped so they no longer allow them in the whole of South Africa. It is a pretty dangerous mission, just two days ago a senior couple got robbed. Every 2 months or so you here about some missionary getting Hijacked which is when they smash your car and take it and everything it or they do what we call a smash and grab, when you are parked at a robot with a car in front and behind you so that you can go anywhere they will smash your windows and grab everything out of your car and by the time you realize what is happening they have already taken everything. Missionaries get robbed at knife and gun point pretty often, I've heard of since I have been here a couple of smash and grabs and of a couple missionaries getting robbed at knife point, one got sliced in the foot. So if you go through your two years without getting mugged once then you are pretty lucky it seems. haha.
(this last question really freaked me out.. haha. Let's hope he is one of the lucky ones!)

I'm so SO grateful for Mikel and his awesome family, especially his mom. Every day this week she has taken time out of her day to come and visit with me and brought me a present "from Mikel". Each day it was a present with some of my favorite things in it and a card with something Mikel told her to put in it, which usually included a scripture or an uplifting quote. They almost make me cry every day :) It's so sweet and thoughtful that even halfway across the world he is thinking of me, remembers my favorite things and that his mom is willing to do something for me that he can't.

I know that the next little while is going to be hard for me, but I know that I won't be alone and that I will be able to rely on the Lord. He is my strength and I find so much comfort in knowing that this is His plan for me and that everything is going to work out. I'm so thankful for Mikel and his uplifting words of encouragement and that he will be by my side every step of the way, even if he can't physically be here. The road to recovery begins now!

"I miss you so much babe and as much I was want to get on the first flight back home to see you and hold your hand and help make everything okay I know that, that would end up doing more harm than good, I need to be where I am right now no matter how hard things get and how much I wish to see and be with you. I need to still learn so much so that when I do get to be with you again I can be what you need. It looks like we are both going through a bit of the refiners fire at the moment now to become something else, something better and stronger.

With all My LOVE,

truly forever yours, Elder Mookie North"

Short but Powerful!

He didn't have much time to write today, so I got a reply to the pictures I sent him and this, which is the mass email he sent out:

"So I actually dont have much time at all to write today because we have to head down to Bloemfontein again this week and will be there for two days. its about a two hour drive so we have to leave soon so if I dont reply to anyone this week I am sorry but I will be emailing again on Friday!

This week has been awesome though, I learned a lot of things and a lot of patience with myself, investigators, and others.

So Ill write about my adventures and trials on Friday, so for today ill just share a short testimony. :)

I know that God lives, I know that His son, our Elder Brother Jesus came to earth and was reserected and lives as well. I know for sure that they love us dearly. I can testify to you that they understand you, and long for your happiness. I can promise you with a sincire and willing heart that they will lead and guide you through every decision and choice you make in this life. I am so blessed to know that truth of the restored gospel. Priesthood power, the power and authority to act in
Gods name, is real and has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I love my family and find peace and comfort in the knowledge I have that through the bounds of that priesthood we are sealed together forever not just here on earth but in heaven for all of time and eternity. I know that any question and trial can be answered through the gospel of Jesus Christ, It may not happen now, or even soon but in Gods time and in His way it is bound. I love this gospel, I love my family and the support they and my friends have given me to come out and serve mission. I know that the Lord has so many blessings in store for each and every single one of us. As we are honest, faithful, and obedient the gates of Heaven will be opend and the blessings will fall upon us as rain from the sky. I have come to notice it isnt during the trials or even the good times that we realize the hand of God in our lives, but it is after a time of reflection, when we look back. We then notice that he indeed never left us but was with us through it all. I know that God will uplift you and strengthen you. You will never come to a hill you cant climb, nothing is impossible with God on our side! Trust in him, Believe in Him and love Him the very best you can and I know that if we strive to do our part, He will pick up the rest and carry us home. 

Its my testimony, Small but firm, and ever growing that He knows and loves you and me. He will never leave you, and He will strengthen and comfort you. 

I love you all and am thankful for your prayers. 

"Love the Lord and serve Him the very best you can!" this is why I am here, this is my purpose, and this is what I will try my best to do every single day for the rest of my life.

Love from the other side of the world

Elder North"

:)

Remember Your Worth!

2 months down already?? Time has flown! It's amazing to think back on the first day after he left and how I felt like time couldn't go any slower, and now it's like it's never going to slow down (which I'm totally okay with). I've loved noticing the change in him already. His love and testimony of the gospel has grown and his desire to share it has grown as well!

He had a meal of goat head this week, which sounds absolutely disgusting to me. He said it tasted really good but the texture wasn't very good. It was the last week of transfers and he said sometimes missionaries get lazy during that time. They had to take their car into the shop again but luckily it was given back to them more quickly than last time.

street soccer is everywhere there

I was just kind of laying in bed thinking the other day, and I was thinking about Mikel and I and our relationship and how we could strengthen it these next two years. So I had the idea that we could choose something to study from (scriptures, church books, etc) and study those together and then talk about them in our emails. He seemed way excited about that idea so we're starting this week! He chose to study from The Teachings of the Prophet Ezra Taft Benson. I'm excited for us to learn together and share our testimonies!

My favorite thing that he shared this week was in his mass letter home and it was about our worth. "A topic I have been emphasizing to a lot of people the past couple weeks is that we all have value. Our value dosnt change upon the mistakes we make or our decisions. The world sees otherwise, as you do something bad your value decreases but this is not the case. Our Father in Heaven sees us all as his children and loves us more than we can ever know. No matter what we do He will always love us. He sees our true value, a value that is never changing and always great. Remember that YOU have value and even when we feel like rubbish and like we are worthless, think again and embrace the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for you!" 

A place to get haircuts, but they don't know how to cut white people's hair haha

photo booth! He said it reminded me of him, it was one of our things :)

Life just keeps right on changing but I'm so grateful that I still have him. His testimony every week is exactly what I need to hear and I always look forward to Mondays. 22 more months to go!

Elder Katimbo, Mikel, Elder Agyeman, Elder Jena

Mikel and his companion with some investigators.

"I was thinking a lot about you last night but the strangest thing happend, Instead of crying like I usually do and I did at first, I started to just smile because of all the tings you are! I was just thinking about how soft your cheecks were and how I would play with your hair and how I loved looking into your eyes, how I loved trying to make you giggle, reading lips and laughing, kisses on the forehead and so much more and I just started to smile because I just realized how happy those things made me, just being with you made me the happiest I have ever been and I couldnt help but smile while I thought of us.

I gave a blessing to a little girl 8 years old yesterday and it just made me feel as if I was a father giving a fathers blessing and I just felt so good afterward I cant explain it I was just happy and filled with joy! It made me excited to be able to bless my children with power and protection and guidance. I love the power found in this incredible gospel!

Im the same way absolutly everything reminds me of you and not a day goes by where I dont miss you and remember us.

I love you babe so much!

Love you then, now, and forever

Elder mookie"

Families

This post has gotten pushed to the side a little throughout the week because of soccer, moving into the dorms and whatnot. So I'm just barely getting around to it and it's almost Monday again!

He had a way cool experience on P-day last week where he got to pet some African animals! There was a lion, cheetah, black panther, and another animal that he couldn't remember the name of. These pictures are so cool!!

baby cheetah!! Can't decide who is cuter.. ;)

black panther

wolf

lion!

cheetah!

he wanted a hug haha

That awesome day they had turned into a long night. Elder Jena, his companion, has been sick for a few weeks now and started to get some sharp pains in his chest. They went to the hospital and it wasn't as much help as you would like, they spent over an hour waiting for a doctor. They left there by 2AM after an IV and some medication and the doctor just said its probably worms from the water. Mikel said he didn't like the water.. good call!

eating pap at a member's house

his planner :)

nasty spider!

I told him about my dad giving me a blessing before I moved out, and he said some really sweet things about my dad. He looks up to him and how he holds the priesthood and respects the Lord and the Spirit. That was cute to read :) In church that week he said they focused a lot on families, and I really liked what he wrote: "I love the respect the teach that you should have for your spouse and I love the way they teach about raising families, Elder Jena always says to fams we are teaching that "A family that prays together, stays together." Its so true and all sunday I was just thinking about how great Im going to strive to treat you as my wife, and how much Im going to love our kids and how much I look forward to family study and prayer it is just ah I cant wait. I just love how family oriented this gospel is. A quote I heard by Elder Bednar in the MTC was "Salvation is Individual, Exaltation is a family matter." Another thing in church while learning about families and raising kids and what not, I really liked that in the book we were reading from it said to council and rely on the lord, pray often as a couple for guidance. as parents you can receive revelation for your children and that made me so excited as well."

little rodeo he said reminded him of me

cool stone lion at a house

He said he's been missing home a lot this last week, which makes him easy to frustrate and upset. He misses his mom and is really sad that my letters haven't gotten to him yet :( I'm really sad about that too, because I've sent like 5 and none of them have gotten there. So I hope they get there soon. 

Almost two months down! I've really been struggling lately, but without the bad days how could we have the good?

"I cant eat oranges anymore without thinking of you haha, even just the color orange because its your favorite color. I started the otherday to Mark any scripture that makes me think of you in orange :) I really like it and it helps comfort me :) I left my scriptures but ill have you tell you what I highlite. Also chap stick You know how I dont really use it that often but I pulled it out the other day and Its the same one from my car and now whenever I put it on I just think of you and how whenever you got in my car you would always put it on, or if you had some you would re apply frequently and if it was flavoured I would find out what it taste like haha. Pretty much everything makes me think of you, smile and reminisce.

So I talk about you alot of course. Me and Elder jena were at a members house who just got engage and we were talking and the women said that we didnt know about love and we were all like eh! what do you mean! Jena told me that he actually prayed that we would stay together and get married because he said a dear john would destroy me because I talk about you so much haha so I was like sweet I got another person praying for us to be together haha. 

while on our way home from some service saturday morning we saw some people getting on horses and decided to go and check it out. It turned out to be like some horse event where they ride the horses through poles and what not, it was actually quite boring but it made me think of you. Seeing all the cowgirls and what not just made me think of us listening to country music and how you made me fall in love with country.

Driving manual is ruff, Im a pro at driving it, its super easy now and feels normal, its ruff for two reasons. one because I think of the times when we would hold hands and shift together or I would shift for you and just having fun and laughing. and two because I cant eat food while driving which really bust my buffers haha. we were driving at night and the stars were super pretty and it just made me think of our night drive in my dad buckie and we would just get blankeys and go up the mountain and cuddle and talk and look at the starts. Every time we did that I just would re fall in love with you so hard!

with faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains, I have faith that we will be together again and forever and I know that with a little bit of faith all things are possible. I love you babe from my toes to my nose and Im always with you in prayer giving you strength in comfort.

Always in love with you

Elder North"

Honor the Priesthood

What a week! Life has been crazy, stressful and emotional lately and I'm so grateful for Mondays because I get to hear from my cute boy.

Soccer Match!

Nelson Mandela sign

His email to me this week was full of reminiscing on our adventures and memories, and one of my favorite things he said was "memories are the molecules of eternity." That was a really cool thought to me, I'm not sure why. I'm grateful for the memories I have with him because I love looking back at how much we've grown in the last year and a half together, and I'm excited to see how much more we'll grow the next 2.

"I was really missing you"

Some strange shrubbery there...

In his letter home he talked about how a mission is like a rollercoaster, there are so many ups and downs. He taught a few members in shanties (small huts) where the whole house was smaller than his room at home, and he said that was such a humbling experience. We are so blessed with what we have! He said they are some of the nicest, most caring and giving people you will ever meet. It would be cool to go back with him someday to meet those people. The sacrifices that the members make there are amazing. Some of them have to walk miles to get to church, have 6 families to home teach and callings on top of that but are always giving and loving with open arms. Those people are the kind of person I hope to be like.

He is learning how to greet in Tswana and Zulu, and greeting in Afrikaans is just like English. He said that the most common languages in Kimberly are Tswana and Afrikaans, but he likes Zulu the best. (Before he left, he was so excited that he might get to learn Zulu because it has clicks in it, so that might be why:)

A flamingo lake!

A youth named Bux that likes to work with the Elders.

He had me read an article by Richard G Scott called "Honor the Priesthood and Use It Well!" and then I loved what he said in his letter home about the priesthood: "I’ve learned a lot about honoring the priesthood which I hold. I had the opportunity to give three blessings this week, two of comfort for an audition and one for healing. It’s cool being a missionary because people come to you with their problems and seek comfort from you. I have always like being someone people can go to for help and now they do and I love being able to help in whatever way possible." I'm so grateful that he is a worthy priesthood holder who truly uses it well. 

He also had me read Doctrine and Covenants 6, and that was a direct answer to my prayers. One of my favorite parts was verses 22-23: "22: Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know the truth of these things. 23: Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?" I was really struggling and missing him last night and the part where it says "cast your mind upon the night you cried unto me in your heart" was like it just read my mind, because I spend every night just pouring my heart out to Heavenly Father about him and I have received a witness and peace in my mind that he is doing the right thing! So much good is going to come out of this.

I found so much comfort this week in his email to me. I talked to him about what I'm wanting to major in and if I should do a double major or not, how scared I really am to move out and other things going on in my life. And it gave me so much peace to know that he's still my best friend and I really can talk to him about anything and everything still, even when he's thousands of miles away and might take a week or so to respond. :) I'm also grateful for the comfort that I find in the prayers I have had answered through him each week. I love the gospel and I love him and I'm so excited for what the future has in store.

"It amazes me that most the things I wanted to say to you, you said. Like going to the temple is one of the things I miss most becasue there was something about you there that I just cant explain, You talked about preparing to be married for eternity and that was a huge thing on my mind the past couple days. I wrote you a letter that ill send today that talks about this but I was reading my patriarchal blessing and it helped comfort me so much in knowing why im here and what im doing, and who im becoming. I know that I am here to become the Loving Husband you need, the caring father our future children will need and the strong priesthood leader the Lord needs me to be. You talked about all those things and its just so great to hear that we are both thinking of the same thing haha. I know that this time will be short in the aspect of eternity with you!!!

Ive had some good and bad days, I honestly can say leaving you has  been the hardest thing i have ever done in my life! but being out on mission is such an experience and man do you learn a lot! Im so excited to one day when we get old together to go serve a couples mission and have these memories together! I just think about how great mission will be with my best friend and love of my life with me!

With all my hear might mind and strength, I love you always

Elder Mookie"