Monday, February 28, 2011

Conference Reunion

Dear Family and Friends,

hey! :) its been a decent week in the Mitchells plain area. We have taught and found and tracted and talked to lots of people. yesterday was stake conference for the whole of cape town. the theme of the conference was to increase our faith and act upon the faith to help meet the goal of splitting the stake. it was cool. it was fun to see all the missionaries that are in cape town and also to see members and people that i served with when i was in meadowridge. They all said wow i don't even recognize you haha. i guess i have changed appearance or something. saw the tonkins and the Thorn sisters again. it was cool. Ines and Michael. elder heydenrych and i were there for Ines baptism. she is now a member for a year! and she is going to the temple soon. she is happy and excited.

So just a follow up on a few investigators that we've been seeing. The Little family is still struggling with keeping appointments and coming to church. On wednesday we just met with Andrian, the father, and watched the Restoration DVD with him. it helped him understand more about what exactly happened to Joesph Smith and how the Book of Mormon came forth. The wife was still at work. she is a very busy person with her clothing business. So hopefully we can meet them again this coming week and get them to come to church. also strive to have bro Hartzenburg come with us to the appointment to help fellowship them and influence to come to church more. its difficult to have fellowshippers with us since we are walking and most of the members are working during the day so its tuff to get member present lessons. but the work will go forth.

The Mngomezulu family are doing very well and we were able to meet them on friday. The father, Stephen, was planning to come to the conference. but didn't make it, i guess he had to stay at work. he works shifts so its difficult for him to come to church every Sunday. His wife on the other hand wasn't there so we didn't really get how she is doing. With Stephen we watched the Restoration DVD and talked about the Book of Mormon. He understood everything very well and wants to read it and find out if it is true. as we were watching the dvd i looked at him and i could tell that he was really paying attention to it and was taking it into his heart. It was cool and very heart filling to see.

We are really trying to get Brother Malinga baptized on the 13 of March which is in 2 weeks time. he hasn't been making it to church tho so its putting a strain on that. We went there on saturday and they were busy watching a soccer match, the chiefs vs pirates. he is a die hard chiefs fan and the pirates scored during the last minute so it was a draw 1-1. he wasn't happy about that at all. so it wasn't the best time to teach or share anything with him. but we will be seeing him tonight and will be reading with him to help him. Sister bobo, his wife said she is going to cook for us tonight :) i'm excited haha.

Thats mostly all who we are really focusing on at the moment. we weren't able to see the Okonwko family. they have gone to the Eastern cape and will be back next week so yeah. Others are just one visit and then they hide from us it seems like. Oh i forgot the Khamewdo family. we saw them on tuesday and taught them about Baptism and Holy Ghost and then Joseph Smith and gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon. They were like what is this book and what is it about haha. so we told them to read it and find out. they accepted. They also are planning to come to church this coming sunday. they didn't come yesterday since transport is difficult sometimes to get to Bellville. so yeah that's mostly everyone that is serious at the moment. Been tracting when no one is home or appointments fall through yo, that has been a struggle this week. people say come and then we come and they aren't there! its not fun!

my companion is great we are good buddies by now haha enjoy laughing and Smiling at people as we walk by them. :)

Well my time is almost up i got to go. i love you guys! LOVE YOU!

Your Missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby SACTM

Monday, February 21, 2011

Work Moves Forward

Dear Family and friends,

Well this key board is very dumb and the space isn't working like it should so bare with me on that. IT was a good week. We have done lots of followups and finding and i hope now that all of that is starting to pay off. we found 14 new people to teach this past week. some of them families that could really use the gospel in their lives. Its been really hot and windy at the same time. My face is definitely red and my comp and the other 2 elders are making fun of me. haha silly me for not putting sun screen on my face. walking makes a difference on that part thats for sure.

It is very wonderful to serve around my old companion Elder Mhhize he is ready to go home haha been thinking about that a lot but he is also working and dieing strong or so he says haha. Yes i met Elder Shelly. He took hold of my old area in Mdantsane. and trained there, so that was good of him. We played sports on Pday a few times. soccer and Rugby. but yeah.

Elder Morris, Mhkizes comp, is from California. Comes from a big family and he is the 3 child i think. He served in Mthatha before he came here so we have been talking about that place since i served there too. ITs good to hear how people are doing that i have served around. We stay in a 2 story flat. we stay downstairs and the other 2 stay upstairs. its the old meeting house actually. Its in strandfrontien. on berlin square. so have fun trying to google it haha. white building with a fence around it for security. ITs a nice little flat. not as good as port alfreds was but its alright. I'll do a boarding tour again haha after i get my SD card and figure out what is wrong with my screen on my camera. i think the micro chip in it is going bad cause the color is all messed up, i think the incident with the water back in Mdantsane is now having an effect on it :( so we'll see. I'll take it to a camera place and have them look at it.

Its been fun teaching with Elder Mantinto, he is funny guy who just loves to work and have a fun time doing it. we are always laughing and smiling in the area between appointments and when we are even in lessons sometimes haha. makes the work go alot better. has a very positive attitude. We have found a good family originally from Soweto in Joburg. the Mngoniezulu family. They are a family that go to church but really aren't that active i guess the father works for Escom as an engineer. So he works sundays a lot. We taught them the restoration last night and invited them to follow Christ's example and be baptized by someone with the authority for the 27 March. They accepted and were very happy that we came to their home to teach them the word of God. so we'll see what happens with them. We've also met with the Okowanko family again. we just met with the father on sat and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. He was kinda surprised and wanted to find out for himself so that was a plus. He has never heard of it and it was intriguing to him. committed to read and pray about it. unfortunately he didn't come to church yesterday. we didn't have any investigators at church :( Bro Malinga i guess was ill again. we stopped by his place yesterday afternoon to see what happened and he was there just watching soccer, didn't expect us to come either. I'm wondering if he just didn't want to go or what. he didn't look sick but oh well.

Well that pretty much sums up the week. We do get the monthly Liahona and i have read February. It was very much on reactivation. Funny how that is so what needs to happen in the church. lots of less actives in Africa. The new mission Pres is Mark I. Wood from Alaska. don't know much about him other than he was the executive secretary for Southeast Africa Area. Pres Probst knows him and says that it he will be a good mission President for SACTM. got an email informing of that today.

Well i love you all and hope you have a wonderful week back in the snow :) work is moving forward!

your south african missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy V Day

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry about last week i guess my email didn't send like i thought it did... so i sent it again today. Thanks for the V day wishes and happy Vday to you guys as well i love you all!

Well I'm back in Cape Town since my email didn't get to you last week. I'm in an area called Mitchells Plain. Its a small branch not as small as Port Alfred but the past 2 Sundays feels like it is as small. people for some reason don't like to come to church. We had about 25 people in attendance yesterday and about 30-40 last week. So lots of reactivation to do as well as find those that are in search of the truth.

Well its been a good week actually. been a long week too oh my sick. i was very tired yesterday. dozed in sacrament meeting too much. ha. We've been doing lots of walking and tracting. Finding those that are prepared by the Lord and we have found a few families that are in need of the Restored Gospel. We have met with 2 families the Little family and the Oconco family.

The Little family consists of Adrian and Martirida, the parents and then they have 3 kids. Adrian was a lawyer by profession but then was hit by a truck back in 2003 so he was in a coma for 3 months and now he is walking again and doing fitness training at a school for kids. Hes a really nice guy. His wife owns her own business. Its a clothes factory and what not. They haven't been doing too good lately with making money. they were telling us that they had lost R1 million a couple years ago. but i guess they are doing better now. Very humble family. Adrian was baptized in some church but doesn't remember it now cause of the coma. His wife was never baptized. So we met them and got to know them and we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ (lesson 3) We really focus now on the baptism and the Holy Ghost and following the Savior's example. they understood as we read the example of the Savior in Matt 3:13-17 when He was baptized and then we turned open to Acts 8 to read about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how it is given. they both committed to be baptized on the 27 of March. and committed to come to church but they didn't come. we are seeing them tonight again so we will definitely follow up on that.

As we met with the Oconco family we first met the mother and her 2 little daughters. We set a return appointment so we could teach them as a family when the father would be home. So we went saturday and didn't find anyone home...:(... But we checked again yesterday after church and found everyone home. :) we had a nice visit. They are originally from Nigeria. They go to the Universal Church. As we were teaching them about baptism the father asked us which baptism is right. so we again opened up to the example of the Savior and read there and well they understood and we are pretty sure they realized that their baptism, which was as an infant, was not the right form of baptism. So they also committed to be baptized. We haven't extended a date yet. that will come this coming weekend when we see them again, we can only see them on weekend cause they work during the week. The father works for African Foods not sure what the mother does. Great family and willing to learn and hear the "word of God".

The rest of the week was alright. we met with a few former investigators that we found records to in the area book. but none of them are still interested. We sat down with one and he wanted to know more about he BofM so we intended to get to that after we had explained what exactly the gospel is, cause lots of people have different views on that. as we were teaching he had some very interesting questions about reading in the spirit and other weird questions that my comp and i didn't really understand. We attempted to explain that there is a difference on reading BY the spirit and reading IN the spirit. He says that you have to read IN the spirit where we say that we read BY the spirit so that we can understand what the scriptures say. he didn't understand at all and just wanted to bible bash with us. he also tried to tell us that we sometimes are forced to do things. We always have a choice!!!! yeah it wasn't good haha. didn't even explain the Book of Mormon at all. he didn't want to know more since he thought that if he did then he would be wanting to join the church. very interesting young man named Bhongani.

We did some service on Saturday morning we helped clean the chapel. its a very beautiful building. it was dedicated last year in march so its fairly new.

On Thursday we had interviews and training with President and Sister Probst. Pres and i had a good chat on why the Lord brought me here to Mitchells Plain and that i need to prepare to take the lead of the District. Pres said that i look a lot better than i did before Christmas. and i told him i feel better and have joy doing my work and that i've got great support from my family and friends back home. he just smiled and said good. Yo, president Probst is a great man. Its going to be quite different when he leaves in July.

The training was on being a steward. Taking stewardship over our areas, car, materials, boardings, etc. it was good. He asked us to write down the things that we are stewards over and then check ourselves every day and see rate ourselves to see how we are doing and then he is going to follow up on it next meeting in march.

Well i am glad everything is goin well back home. Calving has begun huh? great! :) Well have fun calf sitting dad haha oh and Russ. Have a good week everybody! I LOVE YOU!

Your South African Missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)

LAST WEEK: And the news is...

Dear Family and Friends,

Hey guys! :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Its been an interesting week with transfers. Monday we went and played golf for the afternoon and well we didn't do very well haha. i guess i'm not that great of a golfer. i'm more of a baseball player, figures how that works. Then that evening we went to the Mtembu family (Part Member) to have FHE and it went pretty good. It was Jaromes birthday so we had a nice little party for him, played some cricket with him and his friends and then had some burgers and cake and then we shared our lesson with them. it was nice.

Tuesday we had the opportunity to go to Fish River Sun to have breakfast with the O'Dells. and oh my goodness, that is probably the best breakfast i have ever had on mission haha. Omelets and sausages and etc. it was yummy. Fish River Sun is a resort about 30ks outside Port Alfred. We had fun eating together and enjoying the morning with O'Dells before we got transfer news. President called us while we were still there so we all rushed out so we could all hear him and get the news. I answered the phone and pres was like. "well how is it that side in that area?.. Told him everything is going well and improving. He then stated well thats good. are you ready to leave?? and of course i said no haha then i said i would leave if he needed me to. he said well thats good that you have mixed feelings. So in all of that i am now in an area called Mitchells Plain! it is a colored area in Cape Town yes i'm back in Cape Town! :) :) i love it haha cape town has everything. So the rest of the day we had appointments lined up and so we taught and then i said goodbye. Yo i hate goodbyes its not fun. got a few pictures with the members and investigators that we've been teaching. Oh and i didn't find Bro Hola but my comp and I basically made the baptism happen so finished teaching. The name of the river is the Kowie River. its not the cleanest river in the world but it did what we wanted it to do haha. after saying goodbye to everyone i started packing at like 9:00. i don't like living out of a suitcase haha. packing and then un pack and then do it all over again. Didn't go to bed till about 11:30. Had a hard time making weight. 20kilos is tuff. so i put some stuff in a box and left it there for the O'Dells to take to the mission home when they leave. or another couple that comes through Port Alfred on its way to cape town.

Wednesday was the day of travel. finished packing and then left for east london air port around 9:30am and then arrived at the air port just after 11:00am. flight was at noon. so plenty of time. flew with a bunch of other elders to cape town and the flight was an hour and a half so not as long as i thought it would be. it was great attempted to sleep haha. got to Capetown around 1:30 and then waited at the airport for the APs to get everything situated to get us all to the mission home to meet our new companions. My new comp is Elder Mantinto. He is from Zimbabwe and 23 yrs old. He is just 3 months on mission so same group as Elder Lebala. He was trained by Elder Rapitse in Kwa Magxaki, which is in P.E. He is a funny Elder haha wow. the past 4 days all we have been doing is laughing as we tract. he always is so enthusiastic and loves to work. We are both new to the area so it is a challenge to find places. So there are now 4 missionaries in Mitchells Plain instead of just 2 so we are basically opening a new area. so lots of finding and looking at former investigators that the missionaries in the past worked on years ago. We are walking so another challenge but its ok i need the exercise to loose some pounds haha. i've got a belly now haha. from all the good food Sis O'Dell fed me. My District leader is Elder Mkhize :) it is so good to serve around him again before he goes home next month haha. we were so happy to get that news. His comp is Elder Morris from California who just came from Mthatha. its a good district.

So the rest of the week has just been working in the area and finding new people to teach the Restored gospel to. We really don't have too many members that stay in our part of the area. they mostly stay in the other elders area. the chapel is new it was dedicated last year in March. it is so pretty :) Sacrament meeting was very spiritual as it was testimony meeting. The Branch Pres is Pres Gordon he is a really nice man who cares about his members. He had us new missionaries bare our testimonies at the first of the testimony meeting. it was very nice. we had a baptism after church bro Grant James. he is a really nice guy who i think just by meeting him at church was prepared. his baptism was also very nice and spiritual. we had a branch lunch afterward. :) The branch is really trying to become a ward so the stake can split. we have 120 members on roll but only 30 -40 come to Church. so lots of less actives to work on as in all of my other areas. yo that is one of the biggest problems in Africa. members going in active. some get offended and others go to their old churches. Its not nice how many are in active.

Today we are doing an i don't know what day haha. i have no clue what the other 2 elders want to do so we might go join the meadowridge elders and do something. we'll see what happens. Pres Probst instructed me that this transfer is the time to show the Lord what i can really do. Pres knows i can work hard and that i make things happen. I just pray that i can do what the Lord sent me here to do. its a tuff area, or so the members say. i hope things get better and that the branch can become a ward soon.

Well my time is about up. i get an hour to email home and then another 15min to email president probst. So i hope you all have a fabulous week and that things go well! Glad to hear everyone is doing well. I love you guys! :)

Your Missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)