Kunjani from Joburg!

Area - Johannesburg, South Africa
Companion - Elder Mabuza
Letter #51

Kunjani! Means hello, so you were correct ha. Chesse boy! Means you are rich ha. It's not something you would say if you are talking to somebody you don't know but with you're friends, it's just a joke. For example, I have not run out of allotment this month so I still have money while lots of other missionaries do not so they all call me cheese boy.

But how are you family? Camping again?? Man I miss camping. glad that you're getting to go to all these cool places though! Nate is funny. I guess that's how I was too. Since being on mission I've been able to learn how to go for 2 weeks without money! Proud? ha. But I have also learned, as so demonstrated this month, to not have to do that. Instead, i bought my district lunch the other day cause I'm "cheese booooy!" haha.

This week has been great. We have still been visiting all our investigators regularly. We were expecting to have 12 people at church yesterday and we only had 4. We were so happy they came but it was honestly weird that the others didn't come. A few of them were supposed to come with members and the members had gone to pick them and they were not there and would not answer their phones either so even us, we were not able to go visit them later in the day cause they just disappeared. We did get to visit one of them though. Brother Onethe. We found him at his place alone and asked if we could come share something with him. He let us in and told us that he didn't come to church cause his wife had just arrived that morning from Zimbabwe. I asked if he was happy his wife is here and he just shrugged and said "eh." The whole time we were with him he seemed a little scared or nervous and then when we were about to go his wife came back. She walks in, doesn't say a word even when we greet her and sits down and starts watching the t.v. We continued and then 5 mins later all of the sudden she blows up and is yelling at us in Zulu. Good thing Elder Mabuza could understand. She lives in Zim and came to visit and found her husband wanting to go to a different church and so she got angry at him for that and didn't allow him to go to church that morning. She told us that she had people outside waiting to come inside and pray for her from her church. Then she was angry that he didn't tell her we were coming (He didn't know we were coming. Basically she was talking the same thing over and over and just being angry. We said okay we are going to leave. Onethe wanted us to pray before we left so we did. She was so disrespectful, talking during the prayer and then when we finished she stood up and shewed us out. When we got outside we found that she lied, there was nobody outside. I gotta be honest, I was mad at her. Of course I didn't do anything but it makes me so angry that she can be like that. Onethe loves the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and church and still wants us to come back and she is basically a tyrant in the home. Why is it always that the investigators you have the most success with are the ones who are the most difficult to be baptized? Pesky little Satan eh? My week was really good but I guess I got carried away with that story. i am still happy and optimistic for this area and even for Onethe!

Here's some good news. Remember Donny from Kanye who moved to gabs? He got baptized last week!!!

I think all of the people that we are teaching want to be baptized and are looking forward to that day but they each have individual issues that are stopping them. One with repentance. One with working on Sunday. Another has to come for 6 months straight cause he is only 15. One is 18 and she is scared of her parents so might just wait till she is 21 when you are legal in South Africa. Is that how it is in America also? Or are we legal at 18? I'm pretty sure 18 but I've been gone too long ha.

Good luck with the neighborhood party!! I hope that all goes well and that everyone enjoys! Make sure the spirit is there! That's THE MOST important part!!

Love you family!
-Elder Dirkmaat :D