Dear Family and Friends,
Hey everyone! Glad to know that the weather there isn't that different from here haha. its been raining and today its 60% chance of rain which it already has and it still probably will rain more. we have plans to go to Green Market Square as a district today :) so hopefully mom i'll be able to get your souvenirs there. its a big trading market.
well its been an alright week. Yesterday was really nice at church, we had 3 investigators there, came late and missed the sacrament, but i'm thankful they came! Anele, Rein and Jacob. all doing great. we gave Anele a baptism date this past week for the 24 july :) hes excited. he is still learning and he reads when he can. which should be a lot since he doesn't work or school. he's 20yrs and he really enjoyed church. he stayed all 3 hours this week. Sacrament meeting was very nice, had 3 speakers give talks. a youth bro Craigs son who spoke about the Priesthood, Bro Patrick, who spoke on what we can do to make Sacrament meeting more spiritual and meaningful. and then another brother who i can't remember his name spoke about the importance of keeping the family together by reading the scriptures and praying together as a family. he mentioned that the church is a place for the sick to come and be edified and uplifted and if we don't have our family prayer and scripture study then going to church would all be in vain. and coming from him, his wife isn't a member and she was there yesterday. so technically we had 4 investigators at church but we can't count her cause we aren't currently teaching her. but all 3 talks were very nice. i felt the Spirit as the brother was sharing his testimony. the rest of the day we visited Michele, would dropped us, she isn't ready for the restored gospel yet. she was interested in what we were sharing with Nomsa (RC) and thats all. she said she will still read her book of Mormon and will let us know when the time is right to teach her again. We saw it coming.... just from the reactions we were getting from her and her lack of commitment.
After that we saw the Hill family. haha i love spending time with them they are such a wonderful family. all boys. haha. eldest is 18 and the youngest is 2. they all just need to come back to church. they are less active. we shared a spiritual thought and prayer and they fed us some really nice mushroom sauce thingy on a roll. oh it was yummy haha. then we tried to see vicky last night and she wasn't home, like she thought she would be. I'm getting tired of her not keeping appointments. or commitments. she doesn't read, doesn't come to church and as of lately hasn't been keeping commitments. I'm tempted to drop her for a while and see what happens.
The rest of the week was descent. had good teaching with a our serious investigators. I went on exchanges with Élder Naylor in Bellville. we had a good day. not much happened tho. that area is really struggling with appointments and finding investigators. I'll see what happens on friday when i go with Elder Pearson. see if its better.
Wednesday we had the zone training with Pres and Sis Probst. it was really nice. we watched a talk by Elder Holland addressing the missionaries in the Provo MTC he basically told us that obedience is important and that our investigators need a teacher that knows the gospel so studies are important. i need to work on that as well. I'm reading the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time on mission and i'm in Ether now so almost done! :) i love the Book of Mormon. its so much easier to understand than the Bible, i'm also reading the New Testament, i'm in Luke and well its difficult sometimes ha. the training was a continuation of last transfer of We invite they commit and we follow up. Pres told us that finding isn't a proper word for it we should go lifting :) haha thats what the gospel of Jesus Christ is lifting people higher :) haha we all thought that as funny. President Probst is the man haha i'm gunna miss him.
that was the week for ya! transfers are next week i hope i stay but if i need to go higher in mission i will, president in interviews mentioned to me that he wants me to be a zone leader but i have to work on my morning schedule first. which it has gotten better. so i'm working on it.... just keep me in your prayers. Well i love you all very much i hope you have fun in Arizona! say hello to everybody there for me :) especially the O'Dells if you see them and Erin. love you guys!
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Love the Work
Dear Greatest Family and Most dear Friends,
:) its been a great week of missionary work. we are definitely finding success in the work of the Lord. WE've been busy teaching and visiting with members. and to my surprise we got some new investigators out of that, so the work is moving forward. The weather on the other hand hasn't been too great, its winter now. rain and windy. last night i was a woken by the wind blowing against the window and the rain. about 4:30 am. its very windy today. So the zone is having a pday at bellville chapel and we are going to play dodge ball and soccer and have a braii. should be fun i'm excited.
So about the week. On tuesday i was on exchanges with Elder Anderson, my zl. he came to my area. we had a good day. we met with Elijah he is a brother of a member but isn't showing much interest or commitment in reading the Book of Mormon. so we read with him again to help him. we only see him once a week cause of his work. but what else can we do. then we met with an investigator who has been away for a few weeks. Michele is her name, she has 1 kid and one on the way and isn't married yet, will be this coming August. so thats good for her. its very common here for sisters to have a child and not be married. the works of the adversary. but now they know what is right. She had a friend there also by the name of michele hah so mom your name is popular among Zimbabwians. She was very interested in finding out about the Book of Mormon. So we taught her that and she committed to read and pray about it and also be baptized. no date yet. still need to receive revelation on that haha. very wonderful lady who has 2 kids and wants to know more. her husband told her that she could go first with this and then he would follow so thats good that he also is showing interest. haven't met him yet tho. Then we visited Vicky. she has gotten her smoking down to 5 a day thank goodness there is improvement there. now she just needs to read her Book of Mormon and come to church. we read Mosiah 24 with her and it talks about burdens being lifted so that helped with her, she's going through a lot at work i guess. people aren't doing what they are supposed to and so she gets in trouble and so forth. but she has noticed a change in her life since the missionaries have come into her home. she said last night when we went there, that things turn out bad when she cancels our appointments. so i mentioned to her that maybe the Lord is trying to tell her something. she agreed. she's a wonderful lady. she fed us curry last night oh it was yummy haha.
so i had a good exchange with Elder Anderson. he said i'm a good missionary thats good for the mission. i thought that was cool. also learned that i can improve on door approaches by talking to the people more than just say hello we have a message that can bless your life blah blah blah so i have been working on that. i enjoy exchanges i learn so much from my leaders. i guess thats why we have them :)
Wednesday we had a good day. had a meeting in the morning with the zone leaders and the rest of the district leaders in the zone. we talked about giving stats right and also working effectively with members. it was a good review of what we are supposed to do. yesterday we had 3 dinner appointments. haha my zone leaders commented that we'll thats good that you are using members effectively haha.
the rest of the week was full of appointments and visiting members. Saturday we had the ward carnival which was a big success :) food and games for the whole family. haha we even had a few investigators show up. it was cool. Bishop made fun of us for eating before he did haha. he said i knew i would find the missionaries eating. now i must keep my eye on you haha i love our bishop hes a cool guy. Bishop Tiam.
Sunday was good we had our ward conference and the chapel was full! Mostly because of all the stake auxiliaries that were there haha. but it was good to see the chapel full. and we had 6 investigators at church. :) the theme was unity. being unified as a person, ward and family. it was good. then the afternoon we taught our french investigator Rein. our lessons now are just helping improve her English so she can be baptized soon. Shes improving and my companions skills as a teacher is helping tremendously. Love the ward love the area.
Well that was pretty much my week. lots happened. my relationships with members as improved as you can tell from the DAs haha. but i love you all very much. Bro seans house flooded because his geyser burst or something of that matter. we didn't get the chance to visit him this week, we'll this coming week. we have zone training this Wednesday, theme is teaching more effectively. so excited on that one. Well have a good week everyone! love you
all i can say for advice is to read the Book of Mormon every day. Revelation comes as we read the Book of Mormon. Personally and together as a family. That has been this past weeks accountability and it really does help to receive answers to prayers.
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)
ps i sent my card today, sorry about that i got distracted.
:) its been a great week of missionary work. we are definitely finding success in the work of the Lord. WE've been busy teaching and visiting with members. and to my surprise we got some new investigators out of that, so the work is moving forward. The weather on the other hand hasn't been too great, its winter now. rain and windy. last night i was a woken by the wind blowing against the window and the rain. about 4:30 am. its very windy today. So the zone is having a pday at bellville chapel and we are going to play dodge ball and soccer and have a braii. should be fun i'm excited.
So about the week. On tuesday i was on exchanges with Elder Anderson, my zl. he came to my area. we had a good day. we met with Elijah he is a brother of a member but isn't showing much interest or commitment in reading the Book of Mormon. so we read with him again to help him. we only see him once a week cause of his work. but what else can we do. then we met with an investigator who has been away for a few weeks. Michele is her name, she has 1 kid and one on the way and isn't married yet, will be this coming August. so thats good for her. its very common here for sisters to have a child and not be married. the works of the adversary. but now they know what is right. She had a friend there also by the name of michele hah so mom your name is popular among Zimbabwians. She was very interested in finding out about the Book of Mormon. So we taught her that and she committed to read and pray about it and also be baptized. no date yet. still need to receive revelation on that haha. very wonderful lady who has 2 kids and wants to know more. her husband told her that she could go first with this and then he would follow so thats good that he also is showing interest. haven't met him yet tho. Then we visited Vicky. she has gotten her smoking down to 5 a day thank goodness there is improvement there. now she just needs to read her Book of Mormon and come to church. we read Mosiah 24 with her and it talks about burdens being lifted so that helped with her, she's going through a lot at work i guess. people aren't doing what they are supposed to and so she gets in trouble and so forth. but she has noticed a change in her life since the missionaries have come into her home. she said last night when we went there, that things turn out bad when she cancels our appointments. so i mentioned to her that maybe the Lord is trying to tell her something. she agreed. she's a wonderful lady. she fed us curry last night oh it was yummy haha.
so i had a good exchange with Elder Anderson. he said i'm a good missionary thats good for the mission. i thought that was cool. also learned that i can improve on door approaches by talking to the people more than just say hello we have a message that can bless your life blah blah blah so i have been working on that. i enjoy exchanges i learn so much from my leaders. i guess thats why we have them :)
Wednesday we had a good day. had a meeting in the morning with the zone leaders and the rest of the district leaders in the zone. we talked about giving stats right and also working effectively with members. it was a good review of what we are supposed to do. yesterday we had 3 dinner appointments. haha my zone leaders commented that we'll thats good that you are using members effectively haha.
the rest of the week was full of appointments and visiting members. Saturday we had the ward carnival which was a big success :) food and games for the whole family. haha we even had a few investigators show up. it was cool. Bishop made fun of us for eating before he did haha. he said i knew i would find the missionaries eating. now i must keep my eye on you haha i love our bishop hes a cool guy. Bishop Tiam.
Sunday was good we had our ward conference and the chapel was full! Mostly because of all the stake auxiliaries that were there haha. but it was good to see the chapel full. and we had 6 investigators at church. :) the theme was unity. being unified as a person, ward and family. it was good. then the afternoon we taught our french investigator Rein. our lessons now are just helping improve her English so she can be baptized soon. Shes improving and my companions skills as a teacher is helping tremendously. Love the ward love the area.
Well that was pretty much my week. lots happened. my relationships with members as improved as you can tell from the DAs haha. but i love you all very much. Bro seans house flooded because his geyser burst or something of that matter. we didn't get the chance to visit him this week, we'll this coming week. we have zone training this Wednesday, theme is teaching more effectively. so excited on that one. Well have a good week everyone! love you
all i can say for advice is to read the Book of Mormon every day. Revelation comes as we read the Book of Mormon. Personally and together as a family. That has been this past weeks accountability and it really does help to receive answers to prayers.
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)
ps i sent my card today, sorry about that i got distracted.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunshine
Dear Family and Friends,
Hey! Its a sunny day today compared to the cloudy/foggy days we have had this past week. Sat and Sun were very foggy. Couldn't even see table mountain at all. crazy stuff. I'm enjoying being next the the ocean :) even if it is the Atlantic and we have a nice coldish breeze come every day. its all good it reminds me of home haha. The view of table mountain is really nice, on days that you can see it clearly of course. Pres told me that everyone wants to come here to milnerton just because of the view :) so i'm special i guess. Had interviews with pres on wednesday it was very nice to talk to him. we talked a bit about Elder Zulu and what i've learned and how i felt and so forth, then he also asked a question, When was the last time you went to the temple. i said 16 months ago. he then said well it takes an hour and a half to go through a session so, take that time at least once every month and take your self to the temple Sitting and thinking about the whole session and pondering about it he told us we could literally see ourselves checking in at the desk and then walking in and putting our temple clothes on and so forth. i thought that was cool, but its going to be very difficult for me to do that, i get bored just sitting at my desk thinking for that long. so i'll have to work on that. Pres and Sis Probst are preparing to go home. its been 3 years. Sister Probst was talking to us while each others comps were in with pres and she was saying how she hasn't seen grandchildren yet and that she is really excited for it. I would be too haha. but i don't know what i would do without the Probsts :)
We had good teaching opportunities as always this week. We've been visiting less active members this past week as well as our investigators. On Monday we had a very wonderful FHE with the Mthembu family. just a family of 3. The Husband, Martin is originally from Lepompo and served his mission here in cape town. So now he lives here with his wife jacky and they have a little girl about 2 years and expecting another in 2 months. SO exciting for them. Bro martin is less active but he knows everything is true, i think he just has a problem with past offense or has leadership problems. that seems to be the case everywhere in cape town. members don't like the bishop or don't like someone in leadership so they get offended and go less active. its stupid! we are supposed to sustain our leaders. he is a wonderful guy and has a great family we had a wonderful evening with them. i gave the lesson, it was about using the Book of Mormon in answering questions that we get from non members. they came up with questions that they have gotten like, are we Christians? and what is this Bible that you use? so i challenged them to find a reference using the Book of Mormon :) it was fun. they came up with some good ones. they also fed us :) oh it was yummy rice and curry. i need to learn to make that so i can make it at home.
Tuesday and Wednesday we had a few appointments and then visited members to build relationships and get them to do missionary work. We saw Tientus a few times this week. He is doing really good, at church every sunday. We finally got him a french Book of Mormon and when i gave it to him he just smiled and said oh! he was happy. We also taught him about following the prophet and being obedient to our Heavenly Father. We watched a talk by Pres Monson from April 2010 conference, "He is risen" its a really good one. then on friday we taught him about prayer and scripture study now that he has his copy to read and he can understand. he had a question about what we learned in gospel principles class last week, we spoke about covenants. he really didn't understand on sunday but then we explained to him better in his home and he understood. he just needs to continue to read and pray and get the answer to his prayers on our message and then he will be ready to be baptized on 12 june.
We've started teaching a new lady named Caroline. She is originally from Transky in the eastern cape. xhosa lady. She has been going through some tuff times i guess and she asked us if we gave counseling, we asked what type of counseling and then she replied, marriage. of course we said no but then said that we knew someone who is just perfect for that. Christ and the Bishop. :) so we talked about the Atonement and then came back on Friday and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. she accepted the invitation to be baptized we even gave her a date of 10 july So i hope things go well for her and that she makes it to church next week. She is married and has 2 children a boy about 6 and then a baby girl. the husband really wasn't interested when we were there.
We visited Vicky this week. managed to see her on Tuesday and Thursday evening. she is doing better, didn't run away from us this past week haha. she didn't read, but she prays every day. We followed up on that and then decided that we should just start from the beginning and we watched the restoration dvd and then read with her from the Book of Mormon. She has a daughter, 18 yrs, doing her Matric this year. and her exams were this past week, she wanted us to give her a blessing that she would pass. So i gave the blessing and well the Spirit just kind of took the words out of my mouth. i really don't remember what i said but i remember the feeling and the comfort which i had and i sure hope Lauren felt it. it was nice. Vicky is one of those investigators who promises to come to church and then doesn't show. yes mom i know i was the same way haha. i have been to church every sunday the past 16 months. so i think i learned my lesson. i love church.
Jacob and pumla are doing good. they haven't made it to church yet either. they have a date for the 26 june but they need to make it to church. jacob is from Burundi and Pumla is from East London, i think. not sure how they met haha. a great couple, they actually stay with members that are less active that come from Zim. haven't gotten the surname of the family yet. still learning themselves haha. but they are progressing.
Bro Kitchings, a less active, has been for 8 years out of the 16 he has been a member. He just recently got divorced and is left with the 4 kids. I feel really sorry for him and wish things will get better for him. he is a great guy, knows everything is true but admits that he hasn't been to church for a very long time. don't know why yet. i think its because he doesn't have very much support from his family. his wife is a member but just left him because she decided that partying was better than raising a family. the oldest is 18 and the youngest is 4. so i really feel for Bro Sean. and to top it off his home just flooded last week and the ceiling was literally on the floor so hes been busy getting his house back in order as well. he is a plumber and loves baseball he and 2 of his sons started up a league here in cape town. i thought that was pretty cool. base ball really isn't big here. just starting. its all cricket and soccer and rugby.
Well that was pretty much the week, it was a good one i think. taught the people of south africa the gospel and built relationships with members. Oh bro Piert Mayburg, the guy who lived in Idaho for 6 years, he was a builder there and now he is a farmer and also a builder. he drives 150ks everyday to get to work. and then back. so 300 ks everyday. thats alot of fuel. but they also come to church every sunday. its cool. They are a great family. i want to visit his farm but we aren't allowed cause its too far. :( oh well.
well i love you guys! i hope everything is good and well :) express my love to everyone for me back in idaho
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby SACTM
PS haven't sent the sd card yet kind of forgot my bad.
Hey! Its a sunny day today compared to the cloudy/foggy days we have had this past week. Sat and Sun were very foggy. Couldn't even see table mountain at all. crazy stuff. I'm enjoying being next the the ocean :) even if it is the Atlantic and we have a nice coldish breeze come every day. its all good it reminds me of home haha. The view of table mountain is really nice, on days that you can see it clearly of course. Pres told me that everyone wants to come here to milnerton just because of the view :) so i'm special i guess. Had interviews with pres on wednesday it was very nice to talk to him. we talked a bit about Elder Zulu and what i've learned and how i felt and so forth, then he also asked a question, When was the last time you went to the temple. i said 16 months ago. he then said well it takes an hour and a half to go through a session so, take that time at least once every month and take your self to the temple Sitting and thinking about the whole session and pondering about it he told us we could literally see ourselves checking in at the desk and then walking in and putting our temple clothes on and so forth. i thought that was cool, but its going to be very difficult for me to do that, i get bored just sitting at my desk thinking for that long. so i'll have to work on that. Pres and Sis Probst are preparing to go home. its been 3 years. Sister Probst was talking to us while each others comps were in with pres and she was saying how she hasn't seen grandchildren yet and that she is really excited for it. I would be too haha. but i don't know what i would do without the Probsts :)
We had good teaching opportunities as always this week. We've been visiting less active members this past week as well as our investigators. On Monday we had a very wonderful FHE with the Mthembu family. just a family of 3. The Husband, Martin is originally from Lepompo and served his mission here in cape town. So now he lives here with his wife jacky and they have a little girl about 2 years and expecting another in 2 months. SO exciting for them. Bro martin is less active but he knows everything is true, i think he just has a problem with past offense or has leadership problems. that seems to be the case everywhere in cape town. members don't like the bishop or don't like someone in leadership so they get offended and go less active. its stupid! we are supposed to sustain our leaders. he is a wonderful guy and has a great family we had a wonderful evening with them. i gave the lesson, it was about using the Book of Mormon in answering questions that we get from non members. they came up with questions that they have gotten like, are we Christians? and what is this Bible that you use? so i challenged them to find a reference using the Book of Mormon :) it was fun. they came up with some good ones. they also fed us :) oh it was yummy rice and curry. i need to learn to make that so i can make it at home.
Tuesday and Wednesday we had a few appointments and then visited members to build relationships and get them to do missionary work. We saw Tientus a few times this week. He is doing really good, at church every sunday. We finally got him a french Book of Mormon and when i gave it to him he just smiled and said oh! he was happy. We also taught him about following the prophet and being obedient to our Heavenly Father. We watched a talk by Pres Monson from April 2010 conference, "He is risen" its a really good one. then on friday we taught him about prayer and scripture study now that he has his copy to read and he can understand. he had a question about what we learned in gospel principles class last week, we spoke about covenants. he really didn't understand on sunday but then we explained to him better in his home and he understood. he just needs to continue to read and pray and get the answer to his prayers on our message and then he will be ready to be baptized on 12 june.
We've started teaching a new lady named Caroline. She is originally from Transky in the eastern cape. xhosa lady. She has been going through some tuff times i guess and she asked us if we gave counseling, we asked what type of counseling and then she replied, marriage. of course we said no but then said that we knew someone who is just perfect for that. Christ and the Bishop. :) so we talked about the Atonement and then came back on Friday and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. she accepted the invitation to be baptized we even gave her a date of 10 july So i hope things go well for her and that she makes it to church next week. She is married and has 2 children a boy about 6 and then a baby girl. the husband really wasn't interested when we were there.
We visited Vicky this week. managed to see her on Tuesday and Thursday evening. she is doing better, didn't run away from us this past week haha. she didn't read, but she prays every day. We followed up on that and then decided that we should just start from the beginning and we watched the restoration dvd and then read with her from the Book of Mormon. She has a daughter, 18 yrs, doing her Matric this year. and her exams were this past week, she wanted us to give her a blessing that she would pass. So i gave the blessing and well the Spirit just kind of took the words out of my mouth. i really don't remember what i said but i remember the feeling and the comfort which i had and i sure hope Lauren felt it. it was nice. Vicky is one of those investigators who promises to come to church and then doesn't show. yes mom i know i was the same way haha. i have been to church every sunday the past 16 months. so i think i learned my lesson. i love church.
Jacob and pumla are doing good. they haven't made it to church yet either. they have a date for the 26 june but they need to make it to church. jacob is from Burundi and Pumla is from East London, i think. not sure how they met haha. a great couple, they actually stay with members that are less active that come from Zim. haven't gotten the surname of the family yet. still learning themselves haha. but they are progressing.
Bro Kitchings, a less active, has been for 8 years out of the 16 he has been a member. He just recently got divorced and is left with the 4 kids. I feel really sorry for him and wish things will get better for him. he is a great guy, knows everything is true but admits that he hasn't been to church for a very long time. don't know why yet. i think its because he doesn't have very much support from his family. his wife is a member but just left him because she decided that partying was better than raising a family. the oldest is 18 and the youngest is 4. so i really feel for Bro Sean. and to top it off his home just flooded last week and the ceiling was literally on the floor so hes been busy getting his house back in order as well. he is a plumber and loves baseball he and 2 of his sons started up a league here in cape town. i thought that was pretty cool. base ball really isn't big here. just starting. its all cricket and soccer and rugby.
Well that was pretty much the week, it was a good one i think. taught the people of south africa the gospel and built relationships with members. Oh bro Piert Mayburg, the guy who lived in Idaho for 6 years, he was a builder there and now he is a farmer and also a builder. he drives 150ks everyday to get to work. and then back. so 300 ks everyday. thats alot of fuel. but they also come to church every sunday. its cool. They are a great family. i want to visit his farm but we aren't allowed cause its too far. :( oh well.
well i love you guys! i hope everything is good and well :) express my love to everyone for me back in idaho
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby SACTM
PS haven't sent the sd card yet kind of forgot my bad.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Good to Talk to You!
Dear family and Friends,
WOW! :) i so enjoyed the phone call yesterday. it was so nice to talk to everyone and i'm so glad that everyone is doing good and well. Yes i thanked sister Dollman for letting me use her phone. she said it was a pleasure. :) She is such a wonderful woman who basically is a mother to missionaries. it is great. yesterday wasn't the best day of missionary work. all of our appointments fell through so we had lunch at sis Dollmans and then just kinda hung out till phone calls. yes we were there longer than we should've been but its ok. had a nice afternoon with them. Church was really good. i gave a talk as i mentioned and then we had 4 investigators at church too :) so that is always a plus. they all enjoyed it as well. In gospel principles class a brother taught which i haven't had in a long time haha one of the missionaries has had to teach in my past areas. so it was good to just sit and interact with the visitors and RCs good discussion on the Lords covenant people. we are that because we promise with GOD that we will keep things in the agreement He makes with us and the portion we get in return in blessings. Priesthood was about tithing and offerings. Bro Petier mayburg taught the class. he is the farmer i spoke about last night. he and his wife lived in preston for 6 years and then they moved back to south africa where he farms winter wheat all dry farms. and have some sheep and a really big pig too or so i'm told haha. so i thought that was cool. his wife is American her family lives in Idaho so thats why they lived there i guess. as i was talking to him he mentioned that they miss Idaho, its quiet and wonderful. i just smiled.
The week was good. we had some good teaching opportunities with our investigators and they are slowly progressing. with the 6 people that have baptism dates 3 of them were there yesterday. Tientus, Tatanda and Rein. Tientus is from Congo. he is a good guy who struggles with english a bit but we are able to communicate with him and teach him. he comes to church every week. but his understanding is slow, mainly because of the language barrier. going to get him a french Book of Mormon to read so it'll be easier for him to understand.
Tatanda is from Zimbabwe. he is 26 and has been in south africa for 4 years i think he knows a lot about Christian philosophy and the Bible. ha so its kinda interesting to teach him sometimes, he brings up interesting questions that my companion and i are like uh we don't know about that haha so i guess we need to study harder for him. He has come to church for 2 times now. he works for a restaurant and also studies different things at the same time. he loves languages, he can speak English, Shuna, Spanish, and is learning Greek and French. i was surprised haha. thats intense to know those languages all at once. so a very intelligent dude haha
Sister Rein is also from Congo. She is the girlfriend of bro Sebastian who is a member. she really struggles with English so Sebastian has to translate everything for her into french. so as of now we will be teaching her english cause she has been taught pretty much everything so now its just making sure she understands the gospel. she is excited to learn and wants to be baptized so her and sebestian can get sealed in the temple at the end of the year. Sebestian is our ward mission leader, he moved so now its difficult to have correlation and things, he now lives in the bellville boundaries but still plans to attend milnerton cause of his calling.
So it was a good week. we have some other investigators that really aren't progressing too much. Anele who is originally from Mdantsane, he and his mother stay here in Phoneix. haven't made it to church yet but are reading the Book of Mormon. We saw him saturday evening and he is really excited to know more. he just needs to make the effort to come to church. he is 20. We are also trying to teach another lady from Zimbabwe, Lorrain, she is 19 and stays with sister Nomsa who is a recent convert. she seems to always make the commitment to church and then at the last minute she has excuses why she can't come. so as my comp says she is a joker haha. they just say yes to please us and then don't do. so i don't know how much more this is going to go on.
I love the ward. the members are awesome. :) we visited some this past week. the mthembu family. Bro Martin is less active but his wife, jackie is active and is in the presidency of the sisters of the society :) they have a little girl who will be turning 3. they are a wonderful family. martin served his mission here in the SACTM and here he found his wife :) haha. he is originally from Limpopo. we are having FHE with them tonight, we are excited. we have lots of less actives that the ward wants us to visit so we will be focusing more on that this next week if we can find them home.
the district members are Elders Naylor and Pearson in Bellville. and then Elders Anderson and Bradshaw in Panarama ward they are the ZLs. its a good district. i will send my SD card home this week there are over 800 pictures on it haha so enjoy and yes i got a new camera from GAME. its a L22 Nikon 12mega pics so i hope its a good one. very similar to my old one.
Well i love you all and hope you all have a Fantabulous week and enjoy the weather :) i know the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy we must do our part to make it happen. loves
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)
WOW! :) i so enjoyed the phone call yesterday. it was so nice to talk to everyone and i'm so glad that everyone is doing good and well. Yes i thanked sister Dollman for letting me use her phone. she said it was a pleasure. :) She is such a wonderful woman who basically is a mother to missionaries. it is great. yesterday wasn't the best day of missionary work. all of our appointments fell through so we had lunch at sis Dollmans and then just kinda hung out till phone calls. yes we were there longer than we should've been but its ok. had a nice afternoon with them. Church was really good. i gave a talk as i mentioned and then we had 4 investigators at church too :) so that is always a plus. they all enjoyed it as well. In gospel principles class a brother taught which i haven't had in a long time haha one of the missionaries has had to teach in my past areas. so it was good to just sit and interact with the visitors and RCs good discussion on the Lords covenant people. we are that because we promise with GOD that we will keep things in the agreement He makes with us and the portion we get in return in blessings. Priesthood was about tithing and offerings. Bro Petier mayburg taught the class. he is the farmer i spoke about last night. he and his wife lived in preston for 6 years and then they moved back to south africa where he farms winter wheat all dry farms. and have some sheep and a really big pig too or so i'm told haha. so i thought that was cool. his wife is American her family lives in Idaho so thats why they lived there i guess. as i was talking to him he mentioned that they miss Idaho, its quiet and wonderful. i just smiled.
The week was good. we had some good teaching opportunities with our investigators and they are slowly progressing. with the 6 people that have baptism dates 3 of them were there yesterday. Tientus, Tatanda and Rein. Tientus is from Congo. he is a good guy who struggles with english a bit but we are able to communicate with him and teach him. he comes to church every week. but his understanding is slow, mainly because of the language barrier. going to get him a french Book of Mormon to read so it'll be easier for him to understand.
Tatanda is from Zimbabwe. he is 26 and has been in south africa for 4 years i think he knows a lot about Christian philosophy and the Bible. ha so its kinda interesting to teach him sometimes, he brings up interesting questions that my companion and i are like uh we don't know about that haha so i guess we need to study harder for him. He has come to church for 2 times now. he works for a restaurant and also studies different things at the same time. he loves languages, he can speak English, Shuna, Spanish, and is learning Greek and French. i was surprised haha. thats intense to know those languages all at once. so a very intelligent dude haha
Sister Rein is also from Congo. She is the girlfriend of bro Sebastian who is a member. she really struggles with English so Sebastian has to translate everything for her into french. so as of now we will be teaching her english cause she has been taught pretty much everything so now its just making sure she understands the gospel. she is excited to learn and wants to be baptized so her and sebestian can get sealed in the temple at the end of the year. Sebestian is our ward mission leader, he moved so now its difficult to have correlation and things, he now lives in the bellville boundaries but still plans to attend milnerton cause of his calling.
So it was a good week. we have some other investigators that really aren't progressing too much. Anele who is originally from Mdantsane, he and his mother stay here in Phoneix. haven't made it to church yet but are reading the Book of Mormon. We saw him saturday evening and he is really excited to know more. he just needs to make the effort to come to church. he is 20. We are also trying to teach another lady from Zimbabwe, Lorrain, she is 19 and stays with sister Nomsa who is a recent convert. she seems to always make the commitment to church and then at the last minute she has excuses why she can't come. so as my comp says she is a joker haha. they just say yes to please us and then don't do. so i don't know how much more this is going to go on.
I love the ward. the members are awesome. :) we visited some this past week. the mthembu family. Bro Martin is less active but his wife, jackie is active and is in the presidency of the sisters of the society :) they have a little girl who will be turning 3. they are a wonderful family. martin served his mission here in the SACTM and here he found his wife :) haha. he is originally from Limpopo. we are having FHE with them tonight, we are excited. we have lots of less actives that the ward wants us to visit so we will be focusing more on that this next week if we can find them home.
the district members are Elders Naylor and Pearson in Bellville. and then Elders Anderson and Bradshaw in Panarama ward they are the ZLs. its a good district. i will send my SD card home this week there are over 800 pictures on it haha so enjoy and yes i got a new camera from GAME. its a L22 Nikon 12mega pics so i hope its a good one. very similar to my old one.
Well i love you all and hope you all have a Fantabulous week and enjoy the weather :) i know the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy we must do our part to make it happen. loves
your missionary,
Elder Robert S Rigby (SACTM)
Monday, May 2, 2011
New Month -- New Area
Dear Family and Friends,
hey everyone :) Milnerton is a really nice area with lots of Foreigners, mostly Zimbabweans and Congo, and a few from Malawi. Its a really good place. most of our investigators are foreigners haha. they come down to south africa to work and get away from the horrible government of their country. So the area is great i love it. need to find more people to teach tho, don't have very many. The ward is very nice as well, it is functioning! :) we have a very wonderful bishopric and auxiliary leaders. in elders quorum yesterday we broke into 3 groups, yes its nice to have priesthood, and discussed missionary work. one group was on preaching the gospel, which i was in of course, one group was perfecting the saints and the other was redeeming the dead. so it was good to know that the ward is excited about missionary work and that they are working on it. the chapel is very nice as well its a bit different than normal but its still a chapel :)
My companion as i said last week is Elder Mukula, from Kenya. He is really short haha i didn't expect that at all cause normally Kenyans are tall. but in his case he is short. He has been a member for almost 2 years. so he is still learning but aren't we all learning. He is really excited to work with me and get things done. I guess he didn't get along too well with his last companion so he is excited to work with me. the work is kinda slow but we have a few investigators that are getting close to baptism. We just had a Recent Convert get baptized 3 weeks ago, sis Nomsa she is powerful haha. she is from Zim from the same town as Elder Mantinto was from so the know the same language. Indebele. its very similar to Xhosa and Zulu. She stays with a few more Zimbabweans that we are trying to teach as well so hopefully the whole house hold will me members in the future.
We are teaching a few people from Congo. Bro Tientus and Sis Rein. they both struggle with english so its sometimes difficult to teach them and have them understand what we are saying. So french translators are needed haha and french copies of the Book of Mormon. They both came to church yesterday. Tientus stays with a bunch of other Congo guys and has this little room that he stays in. he is excited to be baptized. He speaks French but can also speak Swahili as does my companion, Elder Mukula can explain in swahili if needed. which helps. Sis Rein is a girl friend of a member brother Sebastian. She hardly speaks english but comes to church every sunday. so bro Sebastian has to explain to her in french a lot. she is getting baptized on the 22 may. so we hope.
We have good members that take care of the missionaries :) so i am well taken care of here hehe. The dollman family. they are the best ever haha. Sis Dollman does our laundry for us and feeds us often. the family have been members for a very long time. since the 80s so they are fabulous. they love the missionaries and one of their grandchildren, Kimberly who stays with her granny and mother loves playing with the elders haha. it reminds me of Brady. she is 6 so just a year older than Brady. but yo she loves to play. Sis dolllman unfortunately has back pain that is unbearable we went there on wednesday and then on friday she had just come back from the hospital and then she went again sat and yesterday. i hope she gets better. shes such a sweet lady.
another member family that i met yesterday at church are the Beajies. they are originally from the states :) and they joined the church in Idaho falls Idaho haha. oh did my ears perk up when i heard that haha. bro beajies work is in the nuclear business. so he worked out at arco for a while then has been moved around a lot. and then 4 years ago they came to south africa and they love it here. they are an older couple. all of their children still live in the states they actually just came back from visiting them on holiday.
So in other words i am excited about this area and the people are wonderful. there is still lots of work to be done and i have the duty of looking out for 6 missionaries in the district. President told me on wednesday that that is one of the reasons i'm here, to look out for my fellow missionaries. i don't know exactly why but yeah. the district consist of the 2 elders in Bellville and the 2 zone leaders in panarama ward. Elder Naylor and Elder Pearson in Bellville and then Elder Anderson and Elder Bradshaw in Panarama its a good district. I think we are going to go play pool today at N1 City mall. we aren't allowed to go to centry City :( i'm not happy but oh well. another reason to come back in the future haha :)
Well i love you all and i'm really excited to call home next sunday. have a good week everyone i love you!
YOUR MISSIONARY,
Elder Robert S Rigby (sactm)
hey everyone :) Milnerton is a really nice area with lots of Foreigners, mostly Zimbabweans and Congo, and a few from Malawi. Its a really good place. most of our investigators are foreigners haha. they come down to south africa to work and get away from the horrible government of their country. So the area is great i love it. need to find more people to teach tho, don't have very many. The ward is very nice as well, it is functioning! :) we have a very wonderful bishopric and auxiliary leaders. in elders quorum yesterday we broke into 3 groups, yes its nice to have priesthood, and discussed missionary work. one group was on preaching the gospel, which i was in of course, one group was perfecting the saints and the other was redeeming the dead. so it was good to know that the ward is excited about missionary work and that they are working on it. the chapel is very nice as well its a bit different than normal but its still a chapel :)
My companion as i said last week is Elder Mukula, from Kenya. He is really short haha i didn't expect that at all cause normally Kenyans are tall. but in his case he is short. He has been a member for almost 2 years. so he is still learning but aren't we all learning. He is really excited to work with me and get things done. I guess he didn't get along too well with his last companion so he is excited to work with me. the work is kinda slow but we have a few investigators that are getting close to baptism. We just had a Recent Convert get baptized 3 weeks ago, sis Nomsa she is powerful haha. she is from Zim from the same town as Elder Mantinto was from so the know the same language. Indebele. its very similar to Xhosa and Zulu. She stays with a few more Zimbabweans that we are trying to teach as well so hopefully the whole house hold will me members in the future.
We are teaching a few people from Congo. Bro Tientus and Sis Rein. they both struggle with english so its sometimes difficult to teach them and have them understand what we are saying. So french translators are needed haha and french copies of the Book of Mormon. They both came to church yesterday. Tientus stays with a bunch of other Congo guys and has this little room that he stays in. he is excited to be baptized. He speaks French but can also speak Swahili as does my companion, Elder Mukula can explain in swahili if needed. which helps. Sis Rein is a girl friend of a member brother Sebastian. She hardly speaks english but comes to church every sunday. so bro Sebastian has to explain to her in french a lot. she is getting baptized on the 22 may. so we hope.
We have good members that take care of the missionaries :) so i am well taken care of here hehe. The dollman family. they are the best ever haha. Sis Dollman does our laundry for us and feeds us often. the family have been members for a very long time. since the 80s so they are fabulous. they love the missionaries and one of their grandchildren, Kimberly who stays with her granny and mother loves playing with the elders haha. it reminds me of Brady. she is 6 so just a year older than Brady. but yo she loves to play. Sis dolllman unfortunately has back pain that is unbearable we went there on wednesday and then on friday she had just come back from the hospital and then she went again sat and yesterday. i hope she gets better. shes such a sweet lady.
another member family that i met yesterday at church are the Beajies. they are originally from the states :) and they joined the church in Idaho falls Idaho haha. oh did my ears perk up when i heard that haha. bro beajies work is in the nuclear business. so he worked out at arco for a while then has been moved around a lot. and then 4 years ago they came to south africa and they love it here. they are an older couple. all of their children still live in the states they actually just came back from visiting them on holiday.
So in other words i am excited about this area and the people are wonderful. there is still lots of work to be done and i have the duty of looking out for 6 missionaries in the district. President told me on wednesday that that is one of the reasons i'm here, to look out for my fellow missionaries. i don't know exactly why but yeah. the district consist of the 2 elders in Bellville and the 2 zone leaders in panarama ward. Elder Naylor and Elder Pearson in Bellville and then Elder Anderson and Elder Bradshaw in Panarama its a good district. I think we are going to go play pool today at N1 City mall. we aren't allowed to go to centry City :( i'm not happy but oh well. another reason to come back in the future haha :)
Well i love you all and i'm really excited to call home next sunday. have a good week everyone i love you!
YOUR MISSIONARY,
Elder Robert S Rigby (sactm)
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