New Area

Area- Pretoria, South Africa

Companion- Elder Center

Letter #81

Hey Hey Hey!

I'm now back in Pretoria! This time I'm the the Pretoria 2nd ward and it's in a different zone even though it borders the Sunnyside ward. It's gonna be a  learning experience for sure! The ward is predominantly white which is different. The communication is different and I almost feel like a greenie again cause I'm different again! I hope this is not gonna be how it feels to go home! I'm gonna be a weirdo!

My companion is Elder Center from Ely, Nevada. He grew up on a farm and is a total country boy with a big truck and all! ha. His previous companion was from Australia and also was a surfer. We get along really well so far and I think we'll be able to do some good work! He's been on mission for 15 months but he's 9 days older than me. 

So far we have taught 3 lessons, 5 or 6 dinner appointments and tracted a lot. Lots of people like to hand out flyers at the stop lights so we decided to also do that on Saturday. We handed out 59 pass along cards in almost an hour! When we went to church the next day we found out that at least  the members had seen us doing it and they thought it was cool except for one of the youth that is preparing to be a missionary. He thought we were crazy and he said he doesn't want to go on mission if he has to do things like that. Hahaha. We even got two phone calls within an hour of passing them out and got to deliver 2 free dvd's! That was cool and I think we'll do it again and even bring some of the young men along to help us. It's nice to do that instead of tract cause more people are able to see us and we get to give the details to more people. We still gotta tract but I enjoyed doing that. 

I really hope that everybody in Vosloorus is still doing well. It was a bummer to have to leave after only 3 months. Now this might be my last area and it will be for 6 months! 

I don't really have too much to say except that I love you and I'm glad to hear all the stories from home! Keep learning and growing in the gospel! I hope when I'm your age I'll be solid members like you! Ollie is gonna be the star running back when he's in high school!

Have a super week! 

-Elder Dirkmaat :D

Becoming a Zone Leader!

Area- Vosloorus, South Africa
Companion- Elder Kelebogile
Letter #80

The Baptism for Sinethemba!

Here's a story I read during my talk a few months back.

MY FRIEND
Given during testimony meeting in 1970's

"Brothers and Sisters, as you know, I have been awaiting my mission call. During the time I was waiting I had a dream. I know it was not an ordinary dream. I dreamed I was in the pre-existence and I was awaiting my call to come to Earth. I was filled with the same excitement and anticipation that I had before I received my mission call. In my dream I was talking to a friend. He was a very dear friend to me and I felt a special closeness to him even though I have never met him in this life. As we talked, a messenger came and gave me a letter. I knew it my call to go to Earth. In great excitement my friend and I opened the letter. I gave it to him to read a loud. The letter said, ' You have been called to Earth in a special time and to a special land. You will be born into the true church and you will have the priesthood of God in your home. You will be raised with many advantages and blessings. You will be born in a land of plenty and a land of freedom. You will go to Earth in the United States of America.' My friend and I rejoiced. The messenger returned. This time he had a letter for my friend. We knew it was his call to go to Earth. My friend gave me the letter to read a loud. The letter said, ' You have been called to go to Earth in the circumstances of poverty and strife. you will not be raised in the true church. Many hardships will attend your life. Your land will be fraught with political and social difficulties which will hinder the work of the Lord. You will be born in Costa Rica.' We wept, my friend and I, as we read this call; and my friend looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, 'When you are down on Earth, you in your choice land and me in Costa Rica, my friend, come and find me.'

"Then this young missionary with tears in his eyes said, 'Brothers and sisters, I have received my mission call. I am going to Costa Rica.'

There is a sequel to this story. About a year and half after this sacrament meeting the bishop in this ward received a letter from the missionary in Costa Rica. The letter had one sheet of paper in it and on that sheet, in high letters, was written four words: 'I FOUND MY FRIEND'"

Hello's!

You always have so many fun things to do! I'm so happy for that and I hope it continues when I get back! haha. Thanks for sending the pics and the stories. Ollie and Sophie are huge and I think those glasses fit Sophie well. ;D

I hope you are all choosing to be happy as well! Did you send that story to Nate? It's funny you made that example about marriage cause last night we were visiting one of the families in the ward so that I could say goodbye to them and they started to give me marriage advice and everything they said sounded it like it could have come straight from you(mom and dad). That's one thing I have been learning about missionary work though is that everything I am doing is preparing me for everything that I am going to do for the rest of my life. Even something that Sara just wrote to me about that we have preparing for missionary service since before we were here on this Earth and it's true! All the things that we learned and callings we received before were preparing us for now and the things we learn now and the callings we receive are preparing us for the eternities! What a cool thought to have. Thinking about the talk Pres Uchtdorf gave where he made the example of him and his wife riding bicycles. We need to choose to be happy and enjoy what we have and every situation that we are. On top of that, the only way to be happy is to follow the example of Jesus Christ. I'm sure he would have been the kind of person to choose to be happy always just like Jerry. Funny enough, I have noticed that happening with brother Manana over the past couple weeks. He has been more happy every time we see him and I'm sure it is because he is finally learning the gospel of Jesus Christ and Hearkening to what we are teaching him rather than just letting us come in a listening to us. I'm almost positive he will be baptized in the next month or two! I'm just bummed I wont be here to see it!

Yes, I won't be here because I'm getting transferred after only 3 months! I'm becoming a zone leader and maybe I'll be going to Bots! Probably not though. Elder Wilkinson is training already! I'm a grand-daddy! and elder Jenkinson is a great grand daddy! ha. I'll let ya know next week where I am!

Love you!
Elder Bobby Dirkmaat :D

Photos!

Here are some pictures taken by Brother Gruen.  He is from my home ward in California, I saw him at the Johannesburg Temple!

Me and my companion, Elder Kelebogile

Left to right:  Me, Elder Kelebogile (my companion), Elder Laban, and Elder Max

Me, Elder Max, Elder Kelebogile, Elder Laban

Me and my companion, Elder Kelebogile

The Plan of Salvation

Area- Vosloorus, South Africa
Companion- Elder Kelebogile
Letter #79

Family :D! How are you!?

Soooo I read the book you sent me this week (The Engine 2 Diet) and now I feel bad about my list from last week. I still want it all! But I realize how you must feel sending that stuff ha. You can consider me a progressing investigator though. Based on the fact that I kept the unspoken commitment to read it and that I have shared it with my fellow missionaries. So far the only defense they have is "Well I need my protein" and "I love my meat" which we all know are lame excuses...If you've read the book. I'll have you know that I can't progress any farther until I get home. I still feel bad every time I eat things that are "not approved" but the change will have to come at a future date. Let me add some things to my order list though. I need more of those pens(Pilot G2 0.38) and that chap-stick(Ocean Potion).

Thanks for the sweet pictures! Can't wait to take a spin on the Green Machine! When was the last Daddy Daughter Dance? It seems like you just barely went to one. Ollie is gonna be a pro surfer pretty soon! I hope that story gets published! You'll have to let me know cause that would be awesome. Also I am so down for the surf trip before I go back to school! Hopefully my skills can cope with the quality of the waves. Eric told me he got to go surf in Kaui'i and that he saved some waves for me. Another trip in the making? haha.

So here's the best part of the week...Besides the fact that every week is awesome and missionary work is the best. We went to see Br. Manana on Tues and we came in while he was busy watching "Our Heavenly Fathers Plan", one of the church movies about the Plan of Salvation. For the past weeks we have been going to his home to be friends with him, read chapters from the Book of Mormon and just help him feel the spirit. We decided that we are just gonna wait until he tells us that he wants to be baptized. The only problem is that we don't really know what he needs to make him say that. Heavenly Father provided the answer with His plan! When we found Br. Manana watching that movie we immediately knew that we now had a teaching plan. When the movie finished we talked to him a bit about what he learned and how he felt. He told us how he has truly been enjoying our visits and looked forward to every Tuesday and Thursday and that he was learning new things that he never understood before because we had been reading with him. He saw that DVD in their collection and decided to watch it since we were a bit late and thought we weren't going to come. As we talked about the Plan of Salvation I noticed that his eyes started to water up and he shed a tear. He started asking all kinds of questions. We answered and even on Thursday we went back to teach the Plan. We asked him things like, "What do you have to do to be able to receive the blessing of eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom?" and he knows all the answers from our discussions! The only problem is that he is shy or scared to actually go to church and be baptized. He will do the things that he can do in private without anybody seeing him and giving him praise. With him the secret is time. I'm so happy that he is finally having a desire to learn and act. he told us that he was never interested and he doesn't know why but he now has a huge desire to learn and he never knew that there was so much that he still could learn. We shall see what happens in the future but so far very good!

That's the main thing I wanted to share with you this week. We are seeing great success every week and I am loving the people more and more each day! It seems like the challenges of being a missionary don't really matter when success is happening. We are going to have another baptism this week for the friend of the bishops sons and then in June we might have a father of a part member family and also the Ntimane family. Sister Ntimane told she has gone from 3 cups of coffee/tea per day down to only one in the past week! And that's in the middle of winter too!

I hope you have a wonderful week. Thanks for all that you do for me and being good examples at home!

I love you all!
-Elder Dirkmaat :D

Tearing It Up!

Area- Vosloorus, South Africa
Companion- Elder Kelebogile
Letter #78

Hey wena's! Unjani?

Eler Kelebogile and I are tearing it up in Vosloorus! We are meeting more of them members, exploring more parts of our area and still teaching tons! My district is leading the zone! Don't even feel like we are working hard cause of how fun and awesome it is but we are doin tons!


I'll talk to ya more on sunday but here is something that i wanted to share quick:

One thing that I have been doing personally is trying to make Jesus Christ a bigger part of my teaching. Naturally we talk about him during our lessons but I have been trying to emphasize His role in every thing more than I have been in the past. I used to think it was difficult to make peoples problems and concerns relate to Him but as I have been thinking about it more often and applying it in our lessons I have found that it is really quite easy. I have strengthened my testimony of Him and I have been able to feel the spirit more powerfully during our lessons. I used to think that teaching the lessons would help me fulfill my purpose pretty well of inviting others to come unto Christ but I have realized that we have to do more than teach them the principles. I have found myself teaching more simply but powerfully what Jesus Christ has done for us and in turn it has helped them to understand the lessons that we are teaching them better. It was an interesting thing to learn seeing that I thought I was already doing a pretty good job at helping people feel the spirit and become converted to Christ. I am definitely going to continue the practice of seeing how He can play a bigger role in the things that I am doing every day and especially in my interactions with others for the rest of my life!

In my district we have been working on one Christlike attribute per week to improve on and learn more about. We have been doing for 8 weeks now so we have almost finished all the attributes in PMG chapter 6 but then we are gonna start over! It's so cool how much you can learn about something that you thought you already knew so much about and even when you are doing it together with other people to be able to hear what they have learned and be able to add to your knowledge.

the best part is that we learn all these new things we get to go out and Immediately apply them with the people that we are teaching! Even though we had less church attendance than usual this week it was just Satan's way of trying to make me think that those changes that i made were for nothing when I know that the changes we make to come closer to Jesus Christ don't always receive their blessings immediately. Example: We were at the temple recently and the Joburg and Sunnyside wards were both there so I got to see tons of people that I used to serve around. They were telling me about all the changes and improvements and even the people who were getting baptized. About 10 people they said got baptized or were going to in the next week were people that I had taught while I was there!

Love you family!
Thanks for all your support!
Have a super week!
-Elder Bobby Dirkmaat

ps I got your package from Bob! Thank you! Please dont tell me that I'm coming home to a vegetarian diet though.... I need time to get used to it and I don't think that time will be spent on mission!

WAHOOOOO!!!

Area- Vosloorus, South Africa
Companion- Elder Kelebogile
Letter #77

WAHOOOOO!!! Gonna have two full time missionaries in the fam bam! Crazy, neh? I am super excited for Nate! I was only one country away from guessing that one right! Did anybody guess it correctly? He is gonna be a great missionary. Just make sure he reads the Book of Mormon! Bummer he is going before I get home. It's alright though, imagine how happy we are gonna be to see each other again! Dad, did you not see any of your brothers and sisters for longer than 2 years when you went on mission? Has Jaren put in his mission papers yet?

WAHOOOOO!!! again! We had 2 baptisms this Sunday for Vusi and Nqobile and also the district had 4 more all at the same time! I got to baptize Vusi, Nqobile and Musa which was really cool and I was the one who interviewed all but one investigator before they got baptized. Conducting the baptism interviews is such a cool experience! Sometimes people don't talk a lot and just give you the answers but other people really tell you about their testimonies and it is such a spiritual experience. When I was interviewing Musa he told me that his goal is to go to the temple and to be sealed and he is going to keep all of the commandments to do it. He is only 16 and a brand new convert but he has already caught part of the bigger vision of everything which is powerful!

Yesterday in priesthood class we had a lesson about the temple and it wasn't very clear so Vusi and Kgaugelo were a bit confused so we went to teach them more about it and help them understand. They were amazed at it all when they actually got it. In the priesthood class the teacher was referring to the talk from last conference where Elder Whiting talks about the construction of the temple and cleaning even the smallest grit or fixing the smallest cracks before completion. Kgaugelo, after we got done teaching him last night, says "Wow, now I understand why they had to be so perfect and precise building the temple. And now it makes so much sense why we have to keep ourselves clean, not just to go to Heaven but so that we can go the temple now." He and Vusi want to go so bad. They were scared that their families would not accept the gospel and be able to be sealed to them for eternity. We are gonna have a family home evening with Kgaugelo tonight and just try to slowly get his family into the gospel. I love it when we get to teach people like these guys and they have such a huge desire to learn more and to share it with their families. It shows that they are truly converted and that they understand the purpose of the gospel. Every time we go visit them we end up just answering all of the questions that they have and they understand cause they let the spirit teach them. They have become humble through their conversion and the spirit can now touch their hearts. Sometimes we take them to teach with us and they love to talk and answer the investigators questions cause they can relate. They will say things like "Yep, I also used to think that when the missionaries first came to teach me but..." They both want to be missionaries but they have to work on raising money. I hope they can make it!

It's funny that we have these baptisms for a lot of young people and in the next couple months its gonna be more families and parents that are getting baptized. WE are currently teaching 3 or 4 families that could be baptized within the next 3 months! So exciting!

It has been a great week and I am enjoying being with my new companion Elder Kelebogile! He is way mature compared to me cause he is almost 24. I don't know about mature but I guess more serious and less joking. Having a great time though! I still haven't got a bad companion! They are all excellent! :D Sorry, Elder Foote is still the only one of my companions that has a blog.

Love you all! Till next time,
Nkosi Sikileli Africa!
-Elder Bobby Dirkmaat :D

New Companion!!

Area- Vosloorus, South Africa
Companion- Elder Kelebogile
Letter #76

Cannot wait for Nate's mission call! What are everybody else's guesses for where he is going to go? Anybody guess Africa this time around? Haha.

Everybody is changing and growing so much, it's crazy! it's gonna be a whole new world when I get back! I have come to decide that it is a long time to be away from loved ones but it is soooo worth it! I am loving everything about being a missionary! Seeing people change and become new people when they see the light of the truth of the restored gospel is amazing! There is a man that we are teaching who has been "investigating" since 1995. His wife is a member and his daughter as well. He went to church twice for both of their baptisms. We decided to just start reading the Book of Mormon with him one chapter at a time. He has started to read it on his own when we are not there. Every time we go to his house there is brighter light about him. Last time we went he told us that he doesn't like to read cause it is boring and he would rather do other things like watch soccer. 10 minutes later he told he was just joking. He is a really funny guy and will keep a joke going for a really long time. We were so worried and then of course so relieved when he told us that he is actually really enjoying reading and will even turn soccer off to w\read and watch the recorded game later. He says that he is starting to understand why it is so important and is learning many new things. We've been able to have really great conversations with him in relation to the chapters we red that are usually started by the questions and thoughts that he shares with us. I am super excited for this man and even if it takes him a long time to transition, i know that we are doing a great work now and the fruits will be made manifest in whole is some time when he gets baptized and takes his wife to the temple to be sealed for all time and eternity!

My new companion, Elder Kelebogile is from South Africa! He was companions with Elder martin in the MTC so that's cool. W are having a great time together so far. He is a convert of 3 years but he used to go with the missionaries for weeks at a time so he has been able to develop much knowledge and a very strong testimony. he is kinda like Kgaugelo. Baptized and 20 and preparing to go on mission now. This is going to be great transfer with him!

It is starting to be winter now and it is getting really cold! Well maybe just a little chilly, but still. We are having 2 baptisms this Sunday again! Woot woot! Kgaugelo's friend Vusi and also a members ex-girlfriend, Nqobile. Can you say that one? We are baptizing a lot of YSA age people now and then in the next coming months it's gonna be pure families!

They are getting ready to split the Botswana mission, do you think that i will get to go back? I think it would be awesome to go back and broaden the missionary work there and help prepare the land for a few stakes and a temple! It is ripe and ready to harvest!

Well have a fabtastic week family. Do missionary work!
Love you all!
-Elder Dirkmaat :D