Hi everyone!!
Man it’s so crazy it’s been a week already! The MTC is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me! These elders are so powerful and so ready to go! I have never felt the spirit so much in my life! I have missed home though, but every time I do something happens here in Africa and it makes me feel like this is my home and Utah is my vacation. The days seem like they are so long during the day but before you know it you already back in bed. This week has honestly felt like two days! But so much happened this week and I have been waiting to tell everyone!
So this week I have been writing a lot in my journal and I can’t believe how much I actually love writing! We have had so much fun in the MTC, we are always playing games and making sick beats on chairs and glasses it’s just so much fun. It’s very nice to be really close to the president and the teachers because there are only a few of us. Our districts are so close and we have regular district vs district soccer games. The soccer down here is crazy! Everyone gets so into it and its so much fun! We taught Elder Lubamba how to play American football and he seemed to like it, as well as Elder rakutoamalala. Elder Lumbamba is from South Africa and Rako is from Madagascar. They are the funniest guys I have ever met. They are just always happy!
Elder Bateman is my companion he is from South Dakota and he is a living bible I swear! I'm always saying hey what scripture has the atonement of Christ and he just says it right off the top of his head! It’s pretty crazy! Without him I wouldn't be learning as much as I am. My scriptures are all marked up and tagged up and my knowledge of the gospel is growing so rapidly that there is no doubt that heavenly father is blessing me with the ability to retain that that knowledge and using it towards the investigators and role plays. The Holy Ghost is so real and without his guidance there is no way that I would be saying the things that I say to the investigators. It’s all about having the power of God with you in a mission and with that power comes a successful mission.
The food here is great we always have rice I swear and the deserts down here are kind of weird but I still love the food. I am never hungry but then again I’m in the MTC. They feed us all the time! We are always finding a way to entertain ourselves whether it be banging on desks or beat-boxing we find a way to get through the long school day. Lubamab and Raku are always doing there funny dances and yells but that is just makes the experience 10 times better. Sometimes the MTC fells like a jail probably because we have guards in the MTC entrance. We have only been outside the gate once and that was to go to the temple. The crime here is pretty bad. And so we can’t really go outside the gates so the only thing we can do is go to the sports field and to the gym so basically anything a cell mate does in a jail. But then again we are living right and people in jail aren't. ha ha.
When we did go to the Jberg temple it was so powerful. Everyone was so excited I don't know if it was because we were going to the temple or if it was just to get outside the gates. Anyway what an experience that was. Inside the temple was so peaceful and it made our relationships with each other that much closer. I love these guys!
So when we were heading to the temple they told us to keep the windows up and hid your things under the seat, because they have a thing down here call smash and dash. That’s exactly what it is and sounds like. They have a lot of beggars and the criminals blend in with those beggars and they will come up and look through your window. If they see something they like they will just smash your window and take it and walk off. So that's pretty sketchy. But other than that the people here are so humble and so nice and just good all-around people. They are just so chill!
So through our MTC experience they give us role plays of investigators and we teach them just like if they were real. So for an hour our teacher goes into another room and dresses up like someone else and companionship's go and teach the "investigator". And you would think that it was real because the teachers don't budge at all. Whether it be Muslim or atheist they play the part so well. At first it was hard but we got way good at it.
Today we were actually giving real investigators and we actually set up an appointment to have this guy be baptized. He was the Security guard at the front gate and me and my companion taught him and ask if he would follow the example of Christ and be baptized he said yes. It was the coolest experience ever he was a real nonmember and we converted him. He is getting baptized on the 11 of October and he is ready to be baptized. So we gave the date to the mission office next door and they are sending the mission missionaries to his house to start on the baptism lessons so I've been here for a week and I have already converted someone into baptism. Sorry, let me rephrase that the Holy Ghost converted Arthur, not me. Without the spirit there is no way I could have shared that lesson with him. This gospel is so powerful! And preach my gospel is the BOMB!
So today is my Pday and my next Pday I will be in Durban. I leave the MTC on Tuesday and go right into work. So my next email will be coming from Durban!!!! I AM SO EXCITED especially after the experience with author the security guard. The power of the Holy Ghost is so strong that if are fell prompted to invite someone to baptism the first visit we are told to do it. That's how much the Lord has prepared the gospel in Africa the people here are craving to become a latter day saint! Every night after I write in my journal I write I LOVE AFRICA! Because it's true I am truly home!
I love you family thank you so much for the support and the awesome little notes I find in my books and my clothes and bags ha ha ha they are everywhere! Happy Birthday mom I love you thank you so much for teaching me how to live day to day because trust me some missionaries don't even know how to start a washing machine ha ha !
veluma!
Elder Grange
