Mission Life According to Elder J

Letter from Michael 1-12-2015 (Witbank, Mpumalanga )

The new transfer was last week! So much has happened this week and so much to tell. I don't know where to begin or end. So my new companion is Elder Perez from St. George, Utah. He is the district leader and goes home in just five weeks. It has been great serving with him in Witbank, Mpumalanga. It is a branch and we don't share it with any other missionaries. The branch is stuggling quite a bit. There are hardly any active members. The work here has not been good here for a long time until last week. We actually got to teach many people. Our area is huge it is in Town and also township. The township is too far away though so we only go out there for members. I think it is one of the biggest areas in the mission. The roads are horrible here. Technically they are potholes but to me they seem more like craters. It is strange being around so many white people again. The area in which we work in is about half black and half white. I have met some very interesting and great people here. It is great to enjoy this new experience.

On Saturday the alternator on our car went out. So we have not had the car since then. We had to walk so much in our big area. On Sunday night we lost our keys. We checks all pockets and our backpacks... nothing. We prayed and vuala... the keys were in Elder Perez's pocket. We still had to wait outside our flat complex for a long time though because our clicker is broken. We had two investigators come to church and some less active. The investigators that came were Johnathan and Dewald. They are both Afrikaans. Johnathan's mother is already a member.

"When I do good I feel good. When I do bad I feel bad. That is my religion." - Abraham Lincoln

When was was Adam put on the Earth???

- A little before Eve.

- Elder Johnson

Part of his letter to his mom:

Hey! My companion is pretty cool. The flat is nice. I am back to sharing a bathroom now though.

I can't beleive that gas is really under $2! Never thought I'd see the day. Here they call it petrol, never gas.

The people were great! i love them already. They had interesting bACKGROUNS. We are taching a man and his family. The man's name is Stanley. I can see his testimony of the restored gospel begin to grow.

We did some tracting. Some were just people that the Elders just never got a hold of.

I am a 2 hours drive from Roodeport where the MTC and Mission home is. I am up adjacent to Limpopo.

(When asked if there where senior missionaries in his area and what his zone is, he answered: No senior missionaries. Pretoria East zone.)

Part of his letter to his dad:

I am doing great! I am excited about this new area for me. Since it is in town so many more people either have cars or can afford transportation. So is gas really now under $2 a gallon? I remember it being significantly higher that that. Hope you had fun losing to Mom in Othelo! She told me all about it. You should step up your game now and compete, Dad.