October 13, 2014

Elder Truscott with Lazola and Sihle 

Saying Goodbye to Lazola and Sihle 

This week we just did the same old same old....worked and tried to find some people to teach! But it was a good one I suppose.

Last Monday was incredibly hot....like one of the hottest days of my whole mission so far. We would go outside; and it would be BURNING! And then not just that, but instead of having a cool breeze, it was a hot wind! How is that possible?

The middle of the week was pretty average. We taught a good amount of lessons on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday was kinda cool, we went to go and follow up on a referral named Jonathan. He had stopped the other Elders and said he wanted us to visit. So we did, and turns out that he had sat with missionaries in the past, but once he got work he stopped going to church, but now he wants to go back. So we introduced the restoration, and he told us that he had just been praying cause he thought the missionaries forgot about him! Kinda cool, invited us back the next day, so this week we got to see him like 3 times and then he came to church! Super cool!! We have high hopes!

Thursday was zone training and interviews, so all morning we were there. We had to walk actually.....our car has a leak, so when it rains the water gets in and it just pools in the back seat....which is pretty nasty, and it smells TERRIBLE.....so we took it in to Toyota on Thursday morning to see what they could find out, and then had to walk to the chapel for zone training. The training was great though. President Merrill's training was really good I thought.

Friday was weird. We were tracting around and then went to teach the big 5, so we were teaching the one sister the restoration, and in the middle of the lesson all these bumps started popping up on my hands!! Like my hand was red and tons of bumps! We just kept teaching, and then afterwards we went to the pharmacy, and they had kind of died down, and the pharmacist said it didn't look serious , but then that night there was some on my face I think too, still are.....and my skin was just crazy this weekend. Like even the Frans family noticed and was like "what happened to your skin?!"....I'm dying or something. So I'm getting all my sheets washed today and who knows....

Sunday was a great day! We had a nice turnout at sacrament meeting! Jonathan was there, Claudia and Phelicia, a guy named Neal who is dating a member, and Motlalepula went to church too but not in Uitenhage, so it was good!! The other guys had lots as well! And the meeting itself was really good.

It was a sad day at the same time.....Sunday Lazola and Sihle officially left to Tsitsikama. It sucked. It was tough, they wanted us to come over one last time after church to say goodbye, so we were there, and they were saying goodbye to mama Frans and it was so sad. Lazola was tearing up, and it was so sad, and then Mama Frans was talking to us, saying how grateful she is for how much we love her son and his wife, and she was crying, and Kupka and I were tearing up big time, and it was just a sad time....but we will definitely see them again. It was great to be able to get to know and love them so much while I've een here. They are great people and I’m glad that Lazola is progressing with work and having these opportunities.

All in all it was a good week! The big 5, especially Claudia, still really want to be baptized, and we are pushing for Nov. 9th with her, and then we have high hopes for Jonathan as well. We are trying to get more people really progressing, like moving towards baptism instead of just sitting with us and then not doing anything....so it's a struggle but were doing alright! I just hope my skin and bump problems go away!
I love and miss you so much!
Love,
Elder Truscott