Monday, March 28, 2011
Learning Continues
Dear Family and Friends, Hey!!! :) been a good week! how is everyone doing? sounds like you are all doing good and enjoying the mud of spring haha. Its been really warm here with some cooling breezes. So its been quite nice. been cooling way down in the evenings. about time to start wearing my suit coat. Its been good being a district leader again. good learning experience and good serving my fellow missionaries. I'm not as stressed about it as i thought i would be. its simple, all i have to do is use the training plan and implement it into my district meetings and practice it. Its good. We had zone conference on friday and it was really nice. we talked about the accountabilities and getting our investigators to come to church to receive their own revelation. I enjoyed it a lot. we had pizza for lunch and the Herberts made some good desert haha. The afternoon session was role playing and testimonies. President and Sister Probst truly do love us and care about us. I am in good hands. They are also preparing to go home in a few months. Its going be different when pres Woods comes to SACTM. We had good teaching lessons this past week. Bro Malinga is now a member and he has definitely seen and felt the changes in his life of the restored gospel. he got his scriptures yesterday and a few books like true to the faith and the gospel principles book. So he is fully prepared to move forward in the gospel. we are going to take him fellowshipping with us this week. he is excited about that. We had the opportunity to do some service on saturday for 4 hours. We painted a house :) Ivan Mablela, one of Bro Malingas friends. it was fun haha my comp and i thoroughly enjoyed it and we had good discussions on the gospel with those who were there. Ivan is also in the navy so he likes to tell us all the stories of outings he has on his ship, he is a navigational officer. so he is pretty important. really good guy who wants the gospel in his life. Bro Mngomezulu is doing really well. he has been reading the Book of Mormon and actually been studying it :). he understands everything which is big plus. his wife has now been joining on the lessons well at least she did on friday night. last night she was busy so she didn't. but we have moved on to in his progression and we taught him the plan of salvation. he was quite wowed by it haha. it was awesome. he hasn't been able to come to church tho cause of work. he works shifts so its difficult. he really wants to come tho. he has the desire and he is always disappointed when he can't make it. He is so looking forward to his baptism on the 17th of April but we told him that it might not happen cause of his readiness. he didn't like the fact of pushing it back. he said i cannot delay my freedom haha. we all just started laughing. but it is so true! when we are baptised we are literally making it possible for us to be free in Heavenly Fathers kingdom. the homes here are really nice. i would live in them haha so i guess that can answer your question mom. They are good living conditions but the crime is horrible. so lots of security on the homes. its not really a town ship. its homes. made out of brick and stone mostly. so yeah. i might use some funds from my home account today mom. MSF isn't in yet this week. its delayed again. and i need some milk haha and other things. The week was good but people are still not serious. we do more finding and teach one lesson but then its hard to go back, or we get a return appointment and find no one there. people really don't realize how important the Gospel is to them if they just listen to our message and implement it into their lives. but they all have that choice!! Well i love you all and hope things will continue to be good. have a good week guys! YOUR MISSIONARY, Elder Robert S Rigby. ps yes i got that package! thank you! i got my st patricks card too.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Post Card!
We got a post card from Elder Rigby today. In his email on March 14 he mentioned they were going to hike Table Mountain for P-day and last week he said that they did. On the post card he said, "Hey! Guess what I'm on top of Table Mountain and writing this here post card ha ha. It's so beautiful up here and I love it. :) It's nice and sunny! Ocean view is so much better than it was a year ago. One of the wonders of the world. :)" If you can see on the card he drew two lines pointing at the top of Table Mountain. The one of the left says Hike up and the arrow on the right says I am here! (click the picture to enlarge) We were surprised it only took 9 days to get to us.
Monday, March 21, 2011
District is Mine!~
Dear Family and Friends,
Hey everybody back in Idaho! :) how is everyone doing!? I am doing great and enjoying my mission even tho some days its hard. We had a baptism yesterday of Bro Malinga. He was truly touched by the spirit of the Lord and i felt so happy for him and for his wife, who is already a member. so it was a very exciting day for them. later that day we went to their home to have dinner and oh my goodness haha i had some gooder food! must've been a great day! haha. gotta top a baptism off with a good plate of food :) The other 2 missionaries were invited too so it was very nice. Enjoyed being with the newly baptized person and his family.
So as it was transfers last week there were some changes made in the district. Elder Mhkize as you know is now home enjoying himself surrounded by his family and friends. So i am now the district leader and its going alright. i was/am nervous to take the district and to lead. but as president told me to just put my faith and trust in the Lord and let Him lead you and guide you to where He wants you to go. So i am hopefully taking that advice and well things are not as bad as i thought it would be. district meeting was good as i got feedback from the zone leaders and they said everything was good. so i hope i continue to do that well. Elder Morris is still here and his new companion is Elder Vilikazi. He is from ladiesmith just north of Durban. he is an interesting fellow. he hasn't used computers his whole life so he doesn't email or anything. I had to help him order some stuff from the office using his email. i helped and it was done. He is funny, kinda like elder Opolot was. he is from the African culture for sure so he wasn't privileged with technology and stuff. so its all new to him. he has only been a member for 2 years now. so still learning!
I am still with my wonderful companion Elder Mantinto! :) we are so enjoying working together for another transfer hehe. we laugh and teach and have fun in the area and in the work. so now we are good and are ready to work hard and smart to help the branch grow! :) Which it really needs to!
Bro Mngomezulu had to work yesterday so he didn't make it to church. :( he wants to be baptized and all but his working schedule is getting in the way of that. we saw him twice and read with him and then taught him about prayer and scripture study. he is reading but he was reading the stuff that he already read. so we couldn't exactly move on with anything new. He needs to read in advance so we can go further. he was disappointed on tuesday when we told him we hiked table mountain and that we couldn't go again on wedensday like he wanted us to haha. he wants to go to "the mountain with the Elders". which would be fun but we can't go without permission, and we just went so to go again just wouldn't work. he likes running and hiking.
Other than that no one else is progressing. We are busy sifting out our teaching pool and trying to find new investigators to teach. The ones that we have just aren't serious and won't keep appointments. So its a struggle there. and then when we do tracting we never find anyone home cause they are at work or are busy with other stuff. when we try them at night they tell us they are busy or tired and that we should come on the weekends and then we go and don't find them. its really annoying! So as i said before, Mitchells Plain is a tuff area! haha
well i don't know what else to say since i didn't get an email from you today. :( what happened there?? not exactly sure what we are doing today for pday. might go to muizenburg and play some mini golf and get ice cream. its a beautiful day :) as most days in south Africa haha. hows the snow??
This week we have zone conference so i am excited. good learning from the leaders of the mission! :) well have a good week and i will keep you all in my prayers. I love you!
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)
Hey everybody back in Idaho! :) how is everyone doing!? I am doing great and enjoying my mission even tho some days its hard. We had a baptism yesterday of Bro Malinga. He was truly touched by the spirit of the Lord and i felt so happy for him and for his wife, who is already a member. so it was a very exciting day for them. later that day we went to their home to have dinner and oh my goodness haha i had some gooder food! must've been a great day! haha. gotta top a baptism off with a good plate of food :) The other 2 missionaries were invited too so it was very nice. Enjoyed being with the newly baptized person and his family.
So as it was transfers last week there were some changes made in the district. Elder Mhkize as you know is now home enjoying himself surrounded by his family and friends. So i am now the district leader and its going alright. i was/am nervous to take the district and to lead. but as president told me to just put my faith and trust in the Lord and let Him lead you and guide you to where He wants you to go. So i am hopefully taking that advice and well things are not as bad as i thought it would be. district meeting was good as i got feedback from the zone leaders and they said everything was good. so i hope i continue to do that well. Elder Morris is still here and his new companion is Elder Vilikazi. He is from ladiesmith just north of Durban. he is an interesting fellow. he hasn't used computers his whole life so he doesn't email or anything. I had to help him order some stuff from the office using his email. i helped and it was done. He is funny, kinda like elder Opolot was. he is from the African culture for sure so he wasn't privileged with technology and stuff. so its all new to him. he has only been a member for 2 years now. so still learning!
I am still with my wonderful companion Elder Mantinto! :) we are so enjoying working together for another transfer hehe. we laugh and teach and have fun in the area and in the work. so now we are good and are ready to work hard and smart to help the branch grow! :) Which it really needs to!
Bro Mngomezulu had to work yesterday so he didn't make it to church. :( he wants to be baptized and all but his working schedule is getting in the way of that. we saw him twice and read with him and then taught him about prayer and scripture study. he is reading but he was reading the stuff that he already read. so we couldn't exactly move on with anything new. He needs to read in advance so we can go further. he was disappointed on tuesday when we told him we hiked table mountain and that we couldn't go again on wedensday like he wanted us to haha. he wants to go to "the mountain with the Elders". which would be fun but we can't go without permission, and we just went so to go again just wouldn't work. he likes running and hiking.
Other than that no one else is progressing. We are busy sifting out our teaching pool and trying to find new investigators to teach. The ones that we have just aren't serious and won't keep appointments. So its a struggle there. and then when we do tracting we never find anyone home cause they are at work or are busy with other stuff. when we try them at night they tell us they are busy or tired and that we should come on the weekends and then we go and don't find them. its really annoying! So as i said before, Mitchells Plain is a tuff area! haha
well i don't know what else to say since i didn't get an email from you today. :( what happened there?? not exactly sure what we are doing today for pday. might go to muizenburg and play some mini golf and get ice cream. its a beautiful day :) as most days in south Africa haha. hows the snow??
This week we have zone conference so i am excited. good learning from the leaders of the mission! :) well have a good week and i will keep you all in my prayers. I love you!
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Change Lives
Dear Family and Friends,
hey everyone back in Idaho! Sounds like its wet and even more wet haha. sucks for you! its been really sunny and breezy the last week here in the cape. I love it haha. My face sure shows that i've been in the sun oh and my arms, gotta nice farmers tan like always haha. on pdays i wear shorts just cause its too hot to wear my jeans. and well lets not get into details on how white my legs are haha. not good. but what can a missionary do! Glad to hear that everyone, well mostly everyone is good. get well Krista and jared! not good to be sick. I wasn't feeling too good one of these past days. i can't remember which day it was, my stomach hurt again. wasn't my idea of fun, so we chilled in the boarding an extra hour at lunch so i could feel a bit better to go out and work. which i got to the point where i had enough of the laying around and told my comp that lets go. i can't just sit here anymore. i'll be alright. he was kinda worried when i said that but it was fine. :) went out till the rest of the evening. The rest of the week was good.
Monday we went and played some pool at the family center in the Pramanade mall in Mitchell's plain. it was fun haha i didn't do very well, its been a long time since i played pool haha. that evening we went to the area and checked with the Little family to see how they are doing and well we went there and they had a big concern about the Book of Mormon. They said that their church doesn't agree with it and so forth so we had a nice little discussion about how they need to read it and pray about it to know if it was true. and by the end of the lesson their whole view of it and attitude turned around. so they said they would read and pray. we went to follow up on friday and didn't find anyone home. so its very difficult to see how they are doing with that.
Brother Mngomezulu is doing very well. he wants his whole family to be baptized all at the same time. which is possible except for his 6 year old son haha. The wife has been really showing interest now and they told us that they really like us visiting them and sharing the word with them and that we have changed their life. So that was a plus :) i love when the people we teach start to see the change in their lives and they want more. its the spirit working in their bosom :) The Book Of Mormon truly does wonders to people that want to come closer to the savior. They have been reading and praying. so its going good with them. but unfortunately they didn't make it to church yesterday. Stephen had to work night shift and sat so he was really tired. the rest if the family and i guess the Khamwendo family as well went to the Mountain to pray. Elder Mantinto and i were like uh ok. we didn't really see why they had to go to the mountain to pray. some of the things that people do is interesting like really. So hopefully we will see them again this coming week in between transfers and sit down with them and have a lesson about prayer.
Brother Malinga is doing really well we had his baptism interview on sat night, while we were on exchanges. he passed :) few things that needs more explanation on and things so we'll get that all done this week before his baptism on sunday :) I was with Elder Morris in his area for exchanges and i had a good day. it was fun to teach with him and learn more even from another missionary. their area is huge tho haha lots of homes, we kinda even went exploring to try to find where a few former investigators stay and we ended up exploring haha good times. Elder Morris is a good missionary and also likes movies so we had fun quoting movies all day haha.
Well that was pretty much the week. nothing too exciting. so as for the conversion of Bro Hola in Port Alfred. When i first got there he was smoking and didn't have work. He really didn't seem like anything was going to change for him or at least thats what i observed. then Elder Aphane and Elder Lebala met with him and started to teach him more. then when i got moved to that area we really started to teach him and help him see the importance of church and how important the Book of Mormon is in his life. He came to church once with his family and they liked it, but it took a few almost a month to get him to come again. He told us that he had the desire to stop smoking to be baptized. so Elder Lebala and I continued to visit and work with him to help overcome smoking and getting him to read and pray everyday. We set up a plan for him to over come smoking by only smoking 5 a day then get it down to 3 and down to 1 and so forth. he got it down to one and it was really hard for him to quit completely. We talked about how prayer is a wonderful tool to help with that. So he committed to pray every time he wanted to have a smoke. then one day Elder Lebala and I went there and follow up on him to see how he is doing and he told us that he had quit :) and said i'm never going to smoke again. I feel happy and i know that the Lord has helped me and my family. We just smiled and shared the excitement with him. So from that point it was just helping him understand the scriptures in the Book Of Mormon in preparing him to be baptized. he was humbled, just like the people in Alma. Humbled because of his afflictions. I really felt success when Bro Hola told us that he had quit. it was such a great feeling... He is happy and wants his family to be baptized. so i hope things are going well for him and that the elders are continuing to work with his family and helping them come unto Christ.
had an interesting experience yesterday afternoon. We decided to do some tracting and we knocked on one door and the door was open, we saw in the corner of the home leaned up against the wall saw some swords and dragon swords. the big ones! YO! when the dude came down to answer the door he was a stout man with a ponytail. We asked him what those are for and he said well i'm a martial arts teacher. haha we were pretty fascinated by the swords and ninja stuff. i made a remark about how those things are monsterous and then he said that he was the monster and that its all about the ability of the one operating the swords and whatnot.... he was a Muslim guy that lived in China for 12 years and then came to south africa and is actually going to move back to china. He just basically told us that he believes Jesus to be someone totally different then what we believe him to be. They believe that he was just a prophet and that he never died and resurrected. it was interesting to chat with with for a few moments.
I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. it brings happiness to families as they apply the Atonement and the principles of Jesus Christ into their lives. i have seen miracles. Bro Mngomezulu is proof of that. he has seen the light and wants more of it in his life and his families lives. I KNOW God loves me and that Jesus Christ His the Only Begotten of the Father and that He atoned for me. I love my Family and am so grateful for what they taught me as i was learning in my youth. I Know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ and that it is Convincing evidence that the Restoration occurred. I am so grateful for a wonderful mission President and his wife for all they do for me as a missionary. I am grateful for my companions and what they have taught me and what i have gotten from them. Elder Mantinto and I enjoy each others company. i love my companion. I can't do it without him. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost in my life and for its guidance, comfort and protection in my life. I leave you all these things in the name of Jesus Christ. amen.
with LOVE,
Elder Robert S Rigby (sactm)
ps....we are hiking table mountain today. i'm excited :)
hey everyone back in Idaho! Sounds like its wet and even more wet haha. sucks for you! its been really sunny and breezy the last week here in the cape. I love it haha. My face sure shows that i've been in the sun oh and my arms, gotta nice farmers tan like always haha. on pdays i wear shorts just cause its too hot to wear my jeans. and well lets not get into details on how white my legs are haha. not good. but what can a missionary do! Glad to hear that everyone, well mostly everyone is good. get well Krista and jared! not good to be sick. I wasn't feeling too good one of these past days. i can't remember which day it was, my stomach hurt again. wasn't my idea of fun, so we chilled in the boarding an extra hour at lunch so i could feel a bit better to go out and work. which i got to the point where i had enough of the laying around and told my comp that lets go. i can't just sit here anymore. i'll be alright. he was kinda worried when i said that but it was fine. :) went out till the rest of the evening. The rest of the week was good.
Monday we went and played some pool at the family center in the Pramanade mall in Mitchell's plain. it was fun haha i didn't do very well, its been a long time since i played pool haha. that evening we went to the area and checked with the Little family to see how they are doing and well we went there and they had a big concern about the Book of Mormon. They said that their church doesn't agree with it and so forth so we had a nice little discussion about how they need to read it and pray about it to know if it was true. and by the end of the lesson their whole view of it and attitude turned around. so they said they would read and pray. we went to follow up on friday and didn't find anyone home. so its very difficult to see how they are doing with that.
Brother Mngomezulu is doing very well. he wants his whole family to be baptized all at the same time. which is possible except for his 6 year old son haha. The wife has been really showing interest now and they told us that they really like us visiting them and sharing the word with them and that we have changed their life. So that was a plus :) i love when the people we teach start to see the change in their lives and they want more. its the spirit working in their bosom :) The Book Of Mormon truly does wonders to people that want to come closer to the savior. They have been reading and praying. so its going good with them. but unfortunately they didn't make it to church yesterday. Stephen had to work night shift and sat so he was really tired. the rest if the family and i guess the Khamwendo family as well went to the Mountain to pray. Elder Mantinto and i were like uh ok. we didn't really see why they had to go to the mountain to pray. some of the things that people do is interesting like really. So hopefully we will see them again this coming week in between transfers and sit down with them and have a lesson about prayer.
Brother Malinga is doing really well we had his baptism interview on sat night, while we were on exchanges. he passed :) few things that needs more explanation on and things so we'll get that all done this week before his baptism on sunday :) I was with Elder Morris in his area for exchanges and i had a good day. it was fun to teach with him and learn more even from another missionary. their area is huge tho haha lots of homes, we kinda even went exploring to try to find where a few former investigators stay and we ended up exploring haha good times. Elder Morris is a good missionary and also likes movies so we had fun quoting movies all day haha.
Well that was pretty much the week. nothing too exciting. so as for the conversion of Bro Hola in Port Alfred. When i first got there he was smoking and didn't have work. He really didn't seem like anything was going to change for him or at least thats what i observed. then Elder Aphane and Elder Lebala met with him and started to teach him more. then when i got moved to that area we really started to teach him and help him see the importance of church and how important the Book of Mormon is in his life. He came to church once with his family and they liked it, but it took a few almost a month to get him to come again. He told us that he had the desire to stop smoking to be baptized. so Elder Lebala and I continued to visit and work with him to help overcome smoking and getting him to read and pray everyday. We set up a plan for him to over come smoking by only smoking 5 a day then get it down to 3 and down to 1 and so forth. he got it down to one and it was really hard for him to quit completely. We talked about how prayer is a wonderful tool to help with that. So he committed to pray every time he wanted to have a smoke. then one day Elder Lebala and I went there and follow up on him to see how he is doing and he told us that he had quit :) and said i'm never going to smoke again. I feel happy and i know that the Lord has helped me and my family. We just smiled and shared the excitement with him. So from that point it was just helping him understand the scriptures in the Book Of Mormon in preparing him to be baptized. he was humbled, just like the people in Alma. Humbled because of his afflictions. I really felt success when Bro Hola told us that he had quit. it was such a great feeling... He is happy and wants his family to be baptized. so i hope things are going well for him and that the elders are continuing to work with his family and helping them come unto Christ.
had an interesting experience yesterday afternoon. We decided to do some tracting and we knocked on one door and the door was open, we saw in the corner of the home leaned up against the wall saw some swords and dragon swords. the big ones! YO! when the dude came down to answer the door he was a stout man with a ponytail. We asked him what those are for and he said well i'm a martial arts teacher. haha we were pretty fascinated by the swords and ninja stuff. i made a remark about how those things are monsterous and then he said that he was the monster and that its all about the ability of the one operating the swords and whatnot.... he was a Muslim guy that lived in China for 12 years and then came to south africa and is actually going to move back to china. He just basically told us that he believes Jesus to be someone totally different then what we believe him to be. They believe that he was just a prophet and that he never died and resurrected. it was interesting to chat with with for a few moments.
I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. it brings happiness to families as they apply the Atonement and the principles of Jesus Christ into their lives. i have seen miracles. Bro Mngomezulu is proof of that. he has seen the light and wants more of it in his life and his families lives. I KNOW God loves me and that Jesus Christ His the Only Begotten of the Father and that He atoned for me. I love my Family and am so grateful for what they taught me as i was learning in my youth. I Know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Christ and that it is Convincing evidence that the Restoration occurred. I am so grateful for a wonderful mission President and his wife for all they do for me as a missionary. I am grateful for my companions and what they have taught me and what i have gotten from them. Elder Mantinto and I enjoy each others company. i love my companion. I can't do it without him. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost in my life and for its guidance, comfort and protection in my life. I leave you all these things in the name of Jesus Christ. amen.
with LOVE,
Elder Robert S Rigby (sactm)
ps....we are hiking table mountain today. i'm excited :)
Monday, March 7, 2011
Working in the Vineyard
Dear Family and Friends,
Hey! what a week! haha been quite busy and teaching the Gospel from the bottom of my heart to my fellow brothers and sisters in Gods vineyard. I truly love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and missionary work is hard but i do think that its teaching me things that i will remember the rest of my life. We had a decent week with lots of teaching actually. so that was gooder. my fellow district missionaries are working hard and enjoying our time serving together. although
Elder Mhkize is dieing, slowly but surely. he has one week left but he is doing a wonderful job of leading the district. We had exchanges on saturday. he came to be with me in my area and oh my goodness haha when old companions get together for the entire day haha some intense and funny things happen. I really enjoyed the time i had with him, he is such a great teacher who, in any situation can discern the thoughts of the investigators and really try to understand their concerns. Its unbelievable. most of the day we visited less actives and it was good time spent with them to help resolve their concerns. Met with the cupido family. the wife is less active mostly cause she is 55 and doesn't like to go out when its hot. bro Cupido came on sunday for the first time in a while. he is in the young mens presidency in our branch. it was good to see him there.
We met with Stephen Alfreds. he is in his thirties and not married. he is also a returned missionary. he served in Joburg back in 1998-2000. so he didn't have Preach my Gospel. he loved his mission but now he doesn't like what is happening at church with the leadership and all the offences people are taking. its really bad in Mitchells plain. Thats at least one of the reasons he doesn't come to church. He knows it Heavenly Fathers Kingdom on Earth but just has many problems with whats happening in the church. He is a very cool guy tho. loves music and movies, like i do haha. he plays in a band well 2 bands actually. so something to look up when i get home. See how good his band is. His mother is the Stake Relief Society President. So she also knows why he doesn't come so its going slowly but i think he will eventually come around. we are going to ask him to come fellowshipping with us when we feel the time is right. hopefully that will spark his interest in coming back to church soon. SO overall saturday on exchanges was really good. i had fun with Elder Mhkize and learned even more from the "dieing" missionary haha.
That night we went to a members house and had a braii to celebrate Elder Mkhizes and the members birthday. He is the big 21! haha and feeling it too. She is 24. had other people there to celebrate it with us. four missionaries outside braiiing the meat and oh my goodness i have never seen so much meat for one birthday party in my life haha people in south africa love meat! So Mkhize and I started up the braii and braiied all of it haha it was fun! and then there was cake! and well, all of you know how i am with cake haha. IT was yummy!
Sunday was very nice. We had 2 investigators attend church. Bro Malinga and then Bro Mngomezulu came. it was great to see both of them. We went early to show bro Mngomezulu the way to church, so he followed us in his car. Oh and by the way my comp and i have a car now haha! :) its fabulous. the Plenns went home so the APs are now driving the car that the Plenns had and so now we are driving the APs car. i love it haha. work had improved too! we can now go to the area that is far and see people that need to progress!
We had zone training with President and sister Probst on Wednesday. It was on the importance of introducing the Book Of Mormon. We role played introducing it and repracticed. Then we had lunch. The Herberts prepared the food and oh it was good haha. sloppy joes and watermelon and macaroni salad. with cookies for dessert. i loved it haha everyone did. the afternoon session President took us through the importance of the first couple of chapters of 1 Nephi and how it even relates to Joesph Smith and what he had to go through. It was pretty cool. Nephi and Joseph Smith had to go through a lot of the same things. So everyone read the first few chapters of Nephi and compare it to Joseph Smith and see what you get. :) After that we watched "Facing the Giants" a movie about a football coach who puts his faith in God and helps his team win state. it was cool. SO look it up.
Well its the start of week 6 wow. time is flying by. I have 10 months left. Steve is doing good tho haha him and i are in good touch. Hes enjoying his mission in Ghana. Next week is transfer week. i will be staying and will be taking Mhkizes leadership position here in Mitchells Plain. Pres told me that when i first came here. Don't know if I'm ready for that again. i pray that i will be.
Well have a good week everyone! I love you all and hope all is well!
Your Missionary,
Elder Rigby (SACTM)
Hey! what a week! haha been quite busy and teaching the Gospel from the bottom of my heart to my fellow brothers and sisters in Gods vineyard. I truly love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and missionary work is hard but i do think that its teaching me things that i will remember the rest of my life. We had a decent week with lots of teaching actually. so that was gooder. my fellow district missionaries are working hard and enjoying our time serving together. although
Elder Mhkize is dieing, slowly but surely. he has one week left but he is doing a wonderful job of leading the district. We had exchanges on saturday. he came to be with me in my area and oh my goodness haha when old companions get together for the entire day haha some intense and funny things happen. I really enjoyed the time i had with him, he is such a great teacher who, in any situation can discern the thoughts of the investigators and really try to understand their concerns. Its unbelievable. most of the day we visited less actives and it was good time spent with them to help resolve their concerns. Met with the cupido family. the wife is less active mostly cause she is 55 and doesn't like to go out when its hot. bro Cupido came on sunday for the first time in a while. he is in the young mens presidency in our branch. it was good to see him there.
We met with Stephen Alfreds. he is in his thirties and not married. he is also a returned missionary. he served in Joburg back in 1998-2000. so he didn't have Preach my Gospel. he loved his mission but now he doesn't like what is happening at church with the leadership and all the offences people are taking. its really bad in Mitchells plain. Thats at least one of the reasons he doesn't come to church. He knows it Heavenly Fathers Kingdom on Earth but just has many problems with whats happening in the church. He is a very cool guy tho. loves music and movies, like i do haha. he plays in a band well 2 bands actually. so something to look up when i get home. See how good his band is. His mother is the Stake Relief Society President. So she also knows why he doesn't come so its going slowly but i think he will eventually come around. we are going to ask him to come fellowshipping with us when we feel the time is right. hopefully that will spark his interest in coming back to church soon. SO overall saturday on exchanges was really good. i had fun with Elder Mhkize and learned even more from the "dieing" missionary haha.
That night we went to a members house and had a braii to celebrate Elder Mkhizes and the members birthday. He is the big 21! haha and feeling it too. She is 24. had other people there to celebrate it with us. four missionaries outside braiiing the meat and oh my goodness i have never seen so much meat for one birthday party in my life haha people in south africa love meat! So Mkhize and I started up the braii and braiied all of it haha it was fun! and then there was cake! and well, all of you know how i am with cake haha. IT was yummy!
Sunday was very nice. We had 2 investigators attend church. Bro Malinga and then Bro Mngomezulu came. it was great to see both of them. We went early to show bro Mngomezulu the way to church, so he followed us in his car. Oh and by the way my comp and i have a car now haha! :) its fabulous. the Plenns went home so the APs are now driving the car that the Plenns had and so now we are driving the APs car. i love it haha. work had improved too! we can now go to the area that is far and see people that need to progress!
We had zone training with President and sister Probst on Wednesday. It was on the importance of introducing the Book Of Mormon. We role played introducing it and repracticed. Then we had lunch. The Herberts prepared the food and oh it was good haha. sloppy joes and watermelon and macaroni salad. with cookies for dessert. i loved it haha everyone did. the afternoon session President took us through the importance of the first couple of chapters of 1 Nephi and how it even relates to Joesph Smith and what he had to go through. It was pretty cool. Nephi and Joseph Smith had to go through a lot of the same things. So everyone read the first few chapters of Nephi and compare it to Joseph Smith and see what you get. :) After that we watched "Facing the Giants" a movie about a football coach who puts his faith in God and helps his team win state. it was cool. SO look it up.
Well its the start of week 6 wow. time is flying by. I have 10 months left. Steve is doing good tho haha him and i are in good touch. Hes enjoying his mission in Ghana. Next week is transfer week. i will be staying and will be taking Mhkizes leadership position here in Mitchells Plain. Pres told me that when i first came here. Don't know if I'm ready for that again. i pray that i will be.
Well have a good week everyone! I love you all and hope all is well!
Your Missionary,
Elder Rigby (SACTM)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)