The last E-mail from SA 7-13-2015

Elders Near Simonstown, SA viewing Penguins

Elder Truscott and  Elder Vanfleet

Elder Truscott and Elder Castro

Last Hike up Table Mountain at Sunrise

I can’t believe that this is my last email home. I am feeling very strange about it all to be honest. I have had a tough week thinking that it’s going to be over. It just hits me really suddenly sometimes and I get really sad about it. I don’t even know how to describe my emotions.
I'm writing a bit later this morning because today we woke up super early (4 am) and hiked Table Mountain before the sun went up, so that I could watch the sunrise onto Cape Town. It was a super awesome time.
It was something that I wanted to do, and since it’s only today and next week left, today it was :) I have some pretty sweet pictures from the last week. Last Monday we went to an area where there are penguins, so we have some pics around the penguins there, and then it was a super nice drive home in the evening so we took some pretty sweet pics as we came over one of the mountains. And then of course the pics from this morning are super awesome. We went with the Khayletsha Elders, so my friend Elder Mariner (not sure if you remember, but I was around him when I was in Sada) was there and it was a nice time! Cold as can be...my finger actually split from the cold I think, ha ha, but it was worth it to see the city from there in the morning. I guess all I will say about our week was that it was really nice.
Wednesday I was with Elder Vanfleet on exchanges, and then on Friday I did my last exchange ever. I  was in Paarl with Elder Castro. Elder Dangerfield and I worked hard and we had an amazing weekend. Gave out 3 baptismal dates on Saturday, and are teaching some people that are really doing well. The story of Bellville has just been trying to improve. We have been working in the area hard since I got here, and I'm super happy with the progress we've made in the Bellville area.
I guess I won’t email you next week huh? cause you will be on the plane this time, so I was planning on telling you my two year experience next week. But it makes sense that I'll send it today.
The past two years, everyone says that they are the best 2 years of their life. I would agree, it has been the best 2 years for my life as well.
I look back on the person that I was before I came here and had these experiences and I feel like a totally different person. It’s a really weird feeling. I know you said that among the list of my converts was you, but somewhere along the way I was as well. I don’t know how to put the last 2 years of my life into words. It’s really hard for me actually. I have had amazing experiences that I know have matured me and helped me realize what is important. Out of it all I have learned so much. I truly hope that Heavenly Father is proud of the work that I've done. I guess it’s normal for everyone to think what they could have done better.
I have changed, and I have learned that having an Eternal Family is so important. It’s something I took for granted back home. But being here where family problems and broken homes are the normal has opened my eyes to how blessed I have been in my life. Not only with the circumstances of our family, but that I have such a great mom and dad and siblings. I'm still learning and trying to fully understand the eternities, but what I do know is that God is our Father in Heaven. I think the whole "testing the promises of God" thing that came into the mission a while back exploded my testimony of the fact that God is mindful of us and will magnify our righteous efforts in what we do. I was pretty skeptical of the whole thing when it came out. I won’t lie....but when I started doing it in Sada I fell in love with it and
it has grown my faith in my Heavenly Father so much. I know that missionary work is His work. Why else would he help us accomplish every goal that we take to him?
I have found so much joy here in South Africa. I don’t really understand how or why, and it still blows my mind how when I see or call people that I served almost 2 years ago they get so excited and how they miss me. I don’t know. I didn’t do anything special. Some of God's greatest children have hard lives, and I can’t even begin to say how grateful I am for the people here who have loved me and helped me so much. I can’t wait for you to meet just a few of them.
Through the hard way at times I have learned that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I came on mission and I didn’t really know my purpose or why I was here. That was a bummer. But I know that only Jesus Christ could have helped me change. I have changed so much.
Obedience brings blessings and happiness. It’s the only way. I probably learned that lesson the biggest over the past 2 years. That if you want to be happy, just be obedient.
You asked about my favorite scripture, I would have to think about it. But I can tell you that my two favorite people in the scriptures are Paul the Apostle and Alma the younger. They are two missionaries who changed a lot to be how they were. Mission hasn’t always been easy. It’s been pretty tough mentally (not really physically besides watching any muscle that I had disappear, ha ha). I've learned that Satan loves to play mind games with me. Maybe I'm mentally weak or something, but he gets me every time. I love the people, and it’s incredibly hard when you get an SMS telling you not to come anymore from a family that you really want to have these blessings. You have to learn how to get along with many people. And through it all it’s taught me that you should enjoy every moment, because the past two years, as long as it seems sometimes, went so fast. It still hasn’t fully sunk in that I'm almost done. I can’t even begin to tell about the great experiences and all the hard times, but I am so glad that I told dad while driving in the truck that I think I should serve a mission. It’s been a life changing and improving experience for me. One that I'm very grateful for. I feel like I just scratched the surface of what I've gained here, but I still have lots to learn and improve on. I can go on and on. But I guess how I sum it up : I love my mission. I am terrified to leave because I absolutely love what I'm doing. I know that Jesus Christ is there to help us change and that He and our Heavenly Father love us. I am very grateful the gospel in my life, and for the time I've had to share it.
The only thing that I can think that you NEED to know before you get on that plane to end this wonderful experience, is how grateful I am for you and everything you have done for me mom. I love you so much. I can’t wait to hug you and tell you all about these 2 years in person :) I love you.
Love,
Elder Truscott

July 6, 2015 - 2 Weeks left!!!

Elder Truscott and Elder Fonua in Panorama

Elders Celebrating the 4th of July at the Starlite Diner

This week went pretty fast for me as well.
Last Monday we just went to the mall and walked around. We were exhausted and I didn’t want to play sports, so we just walked around and then Ryno Kruger came and we ate dinner together. It was a pretty nice day and a much needed rest. I've been so tired lately. I guess it comes with the lifestyle here.

I am super jealous that you got to spend the 4th at the cabin. I miss that place. It seems crazy that it’s been 2 4th of July's since I've been home. Sometimes it hits me how long it’s been since I've been in Utah.
Wednesday I was on exchanges with Elder Fonua in Panorama. So we did that testing the promises thing, but instead of just testing the promises for a ton of lessons the mission realizes that the way to get real growth is through member referrals....so we had the specific goal of getting 3 referrals. From anyone. So we just asked for them all day long, and we got a ton. It was great and showed Elder Fonua and myself that you don’t get them unless you ask and that sometimes you just have to be bold and ask. But it went great and we had a nice day, and got decent list of referrals for Panorama to follow up on.

On the 4th of July we went to Starlite Diner (kinda funny cause I was there last year too!) But we went with Elder Carnieletto and his comp Elder McCarroll and Elders Pahulu and Me. It was a nice time and we had a good dinner and desert :) Made for a good time after a day of work!
The week was a pretty average one to be honest. It went really quickly and we were just trying to do missionary work. The average lesson per day in the zone right now has been 3, so we decided this week to try and teach 4 every day just to up the goals and try to get the average a bit higher...so we were shooting for that, some days we got it and others no...but it was a good week.

Sunday we got some bad news, the taxi service that was picking up people in the Kraaifontein area was cancelled cause the taxi drivers were getting into arguments about the different routes....so we had to call a great member to give Sam a ride to church cause she usually takes the taxi, but was getting  confirmed so she needed to be there! But it worked out and she made it and was confirmed. Ryno confirmed her and it was really nice! She was excited.

We are still teaching Simba and he's doing well. For some reason he wasn’t able to come to church this week, we were expecting him, but we will see what happened when we see him tomorrow. We're also teaching a guy named Michael who is pretty cool, and another guy named Jose who really is loving the Book of Mormon, the only thing holding him back is the work. So we are working with some nice people, but again we are trying to build the numbers in our teaching pool....looking for some member referrals! But they will come we're trying to work with members more.
Crazy to think that I only have 2 weeks left. It actually freaks me out.....ha ha. But I'll keep trying and  working hard!

I love you so much mom! I hope you know how much I miss you! I had a dream that I was home and it was super wierd. hahaha. I love you and miss you tons!
Love,
Elder Truscott

101 Weeks Down and 3 to Go!!!

Elder Truscott and Elder Takavingei

 

Elder Truscott,  Elder Dangerfield, Elder Malpage and Elder Lafleur

Elder Truscott and Elder Dangerfield

Elder Lafleur and Elder Truscott

Elder Malpage and Elder Dangerfield

Yesterday Samkelisiwe Ndaba was baptized!

Well this week had a lot going on...
Tuesday we had our zone training. It was supposed to be set up to show the correct format of a district meeting, cause Pres. Merrill has been feeling that district meetings have been losing their purpose a bit and not being as powerful as they could be. So Elder Dangerfield both did a meeting using the District meeting outline of things, and then we split the zone and did half with me, half with Dangerfield, and then switched. It was really good. We did it on the Book of Mormon. He did his on likening it to our investigators, and I did it on finding with the Book of Mormon. They both went really well. After that it was lunch and then out to the area to do some work! After that on Tuesday we taught a few lessons and it was really good.
Then Wednesday we were on exchanges with Milnerton. I was with an Elder Takavingei here in Bellville. We taught a few lessons and had a really good day. He's a nice Elder. He's newer on mission, only been out about 2 months, and he is from Zimbabwe. Nice dude though and we had a nice day!
Thursday and Friday were slower days, an then Saturday we were on exchanges with the assistants. We were both working here in Bellville, and I was with an Elder Lafleur. He's a funny guy and we had a good day! We didn’t have tons of appts set for the both of us to share, so we did lots of finding. Bellville area has been doing a swing lately. We had some great progressing people, and they kind of are fading out, so we have to hit the roads again and try to keep finding new people, but the way here is through  ember referrals....so if those would start coming in it would make things lots easier! But until then we are working the old fashioned way! Ha ha. So we did lots of finding, taught a good amount of lessons between the both of us, and found some more people to go and see and pray that they will progress!
Sam was super excited for her baptism! Yesterday Samkelisiwe Ndaba was baptized! She asked me to do it, and I was happy to. She is awesome, and I only pray that she stays active and stays in tune with the church and gospel. But it was held right after church, and a few members stayed to support so that was nice. After the baptism and church we went out teaching! Met a referral from a bro. John and she was great, and then taught another family and finished the week off at the Krugers! Like I said, we're  teaching some good people, but I want  to teach lots of good people, so we will be finding and trying to find the prepared ones this week, probably until the end of the transfer, but it’s going well!
It was a good week, can’t complain, and I hope this coming one is as well!
Love,
Elder Truscott

June 22, 2015

Elder Truscott at a Lion Park in Paarl, SA

Well this week....it was a long and tiring one. I am so exhausted I don’t even know why.
But this morning we went up towards Paarl where there is a lion park. It wasn’t as cool as the ones in the Eastern Cape, but it was a good time, and I was able to get some good pics for Carley with me and Flat Carley with lions and stuff. haha. And there was also a chimp part where they had a few chimps. It was a fun time, and made for some good pics, but some cool videos I'll have to show you guys as well!
Most of this week was just basic missionary work. Nothing too exciting happened the 2nd week of this transfer honestly. We did lots of driving for things in the zone, but when we weren’t doing that we were trying to teach and find people!
We have zone training tomorrow, and one of the things we are going to talk about it using the Book of Mormon, so we asked everyone to specifically try to find and teach with it. So we were doing that this week, and we found a few people...lots of them live outside our area, but hopefully good things come of it! I guess that is what you get when you find in the main town of Bellville, people come from everywhere. But it was an alright week of proselyting and working, I can’t complain!
The coolest part of this week was that Sam passed her baptismal interview yesterday after church! She has been progressing so fast, and we set the goal of the 28th with her. Then we weren’t sure if she was at church cause we didn’t see her, so we thought we may have to push it back a bit and talk to her, but she was there! Super excited and wanting to be baptized! So they announced it in sacrament, and then the interview was straight after church and she did well, so it looks like next week Sam will be baptized! That is exciting for her! She's super smart and it will be great for her! She also sent me an amazing SMS thanking me for introducing God to her life. It was pretty nice :)
Besides her, we had her cousin Ntomethembu, and Andisiwe's sister Aphiwe at church. So we had 3 people we're teaching. We were actually expecting more, but next week should be good as Sam will be getting baptized and we are going to try to invite lots of people to join us for that!
The work is coming along here in Bellville. We are teaching some sweet people, like a guy named Simba who is starting to read the Book of Mormon, Aphiwe and Ntombethembu, and Patricia, whose husband is a member. But we are filtering through people....it’s a process as always! But it’s been good.
We have zone training tomorrow, then I’ll be on exchanges with Milnerton on Wednesday, and then with the Assistants Saturday, and then the baptism Sunday....so hopefully it makes time go by quick!
Crazy to think that I will only email a few more times before I get to talk to you face to face...I can’t wait.
Love,
Elder Truscott

June 15, 2015

Saying Goodbye to the District on transfer day

Elder Kupka, Elder Carnieletto  and Elder Truscott

Elder Truscott with his new companion Elder Dangerfield

This week for me was long. For some reasons the last few transfer weeks have been long.
Monday and Tuesday we went around and did some follow ups, but lots of it was saying goodbyes for Elder Prisbrey. He was off to East London!
Then Wednesday we were at the mission home pretty early cause everyone was leaving. It was super crazy to see Kupka there and talk to him. He said it didn’t feel real...I'm sure I'll be in the same boat. But I saw him for the last time for a few weeks, and saw off Elder Prisbrey.....and towards the afternoon Elder Dangerfield came in. He's a cool guy! He's from the Isle of Man, just off England and it’s a small island. He's pretty cool though and we're getting along good, he's a funny dude. I'm glad, lets my last transfer be peaceful. haha.
Elder Dangerfield and Elder Mei are now here in the Bellville ward! Elder Mei replaced Elder Mendenhall, and he's from Fiji.
So it was a kinda slow week with the whole transfers and stuff, we didn’t really teach a lesson until Thursday, but from then on we had great days! We are seeing a few people that are really starting to progress and its exciting! Sam and Ntombethembu, even though they weren't able to come to church cause they were working at their mom’s braai stand, are still loving it and wanting to be baptized, and we just started seeing a guy named Jose who is really interested in the gospel and we have high hopes for him as well.
The people we saw this week, even though they weren't tons in number, are progressing well and we set up lots of times to meet different families next week, so that should be awesome.
I am thinking that it will be a great transfer, I want to finish strong and the thought that next time its transfers I will see you guys really freaks me out, it doesn’t feel real to me, but I am still 5 weeks away so I have time.
There isn’t tons to talk about honestly this week, my new comp, visiting some nice people, and the only bummer was that a family that we have been seeing and was doing really really great....dropped us this week cause the board of their church found out we were visiting them apparently and weren't happy with them. We are going to stop in to grab some of the stuff we left them, but that was a bummer. We will keep trying though!

I love you and miss you so much. I can’t believe that it’s so soon now. Thanks for all that you do, oh, and to be honest I still have to find out about the place in Joburg....
Love,
Elder Truscott

Last Transfer!! June 8, 2015

Elder Kupka and Elder Truscott

Elder Kupka and Elder Truscott

Elder Truscott, Elder Pahula, Rayno Kruger, Elder Prisbrey and Elder Mendenhall at the Kruger’s Braai

Well this week was kind of a long one looking back at it!
This morning we went into Cape Town to a place called Green Market Square. There are just tons of vendors there selling all kinds of things, so I got a few paintings that remind me of Africa that are kinda cool. So it was a good time!
Last Monday we were planning to go there, but by the time we got towards Cape Town we didn’t have time to go there and then make it to Mowbray for our finding activity that we did as a zone. So we just went straight to the chapel and waited with some other Elders. The finding activity was good though! Everyone in the zone, except for Paarl, was there and we all split up in different parts of Mowbray and handed out Books of Mormon and got details and stuff! It was a good time and there was some nice experiences that the Elders had. I think I talked about it last week, but our car has been broken, the clutch was out. Well it was out all week until Thursday, so as I tell you about my week just know we got rides everywhere until Thursday morning. hahaha.
Tuesday was MLC, so we went to Cape Town and sat at the office for a while and talked about things in the mission...and then got a ride back to our flat, but like I said, we had no car....so we just kind of prepared things for when we did. Luckily one of the days we were car-less I got to be on exchanges. hahaha. On Wednesday I was with Elder Kupka in Panorama. It was his last exchange ever. Dang. Haha, Elder Kupka is going home this week! Totally crazy, he has about 2 days left in SA! But it was a great exchange and we taught some good people, and did some good finding, even though it was rainy all day, so we did some finding but got pretty wet....haha. I love Elder Kupka though. He's awesome. Thursday it was back to Bellville, but luckily we got our car back that morning, so we could start our work! We  taught a few appts and did some follow ups from the beginning of the week, and got a referral contacted who is pretty cool and we will be seeing him again this week. Luckily we got our car back in time for the Botha's. haha. The week was pretty hard in general for Bellville cause of no car, and then on Friday when we were going to go to appt's we got a call from Paarl and we had to rush down there cause they got in a car accident. It wasn’t a big deal, but we went down there cause we had to give them stuff for a chapel open house they were doing, and it just made it first priority when they called and said that they had an accident, so because of that we stayed way longer than we were planning and pretty much had to cancel our people for Friday as well....made for a REALLY slow beginning and middle of the week.
Saturday I was on exchanges again with Elder Decebal Cuza in Milnerton. It was a nice time with him, he's a funny guy. We had to end our exchange at half 5 cause we had to be at the Krugers, but we had a goal to teach 5 lessons before we ended exchanges....and man, things dropped, but we did it! We taught 2 lessons in like 30 minutes at the end to meet our goal, it was pretty good! Then like I said we ended exchanges and we went to the Krugers cause they had a Braai for me cause I'm going home!  I know it’s not until next transfer, but they wanted to have the braai with us 4 since new elders are coming and they like this group, so I got a going home braai a bit early. It was really nice of them though and it was a great time!
Transfer news came out Saturday night as well! I am getting an Elder Dangerfield, and Elder Prisbrey is going to East London. Elder Pahulu is getting a new companion as well and Elder Mendenhall is going to Uitenhage, so we've been talking about that a lot! But it will be good! I'm hoping for a good last transfer.
Sunday was church, and Sam and Ntombethembu were there! It was great to see them cause we weren’t able to teach them all week! The car being broken and the Paarl thing really made us behind this week, so Sunday was spent looking for the other people we're teaching and trying to make times to teach them again!
It was a bad week in terms of teaching, but a good one overall I guess. I can’t complain too much! I'm looking forward to my last transfer on mission. I have some pretty crazy feelings about being almost done. It feels surreal to think that I'll be home next transfer....I can’t picture myself doing anything else or being anywhere else....but I guess it has to end. I still have 6 weeks though, so I'm going to work hard and hopefully some success will come!
Well I love you and miss you so much!
Love,
Elder Truscott

June 1, 2015

 The sushi bar: Elder Pahulu, Elder Truscott
Elder Malpage, Elder Prisbrey, Elder Fonua, Elder Mchunu, Elder Kupka,
and Elder Mendenhall

Well this week in Bellville went quickly.
Last Monday after hiking Devils Peak we were pretty exhausted, but that night we started exchanges and got right to it!
Tuesday I was with Elder Fonua in Bellville. We had a nice day, but since it’s starting to be winter time here, it has been colder and rainy all week. So Tuesday was a really rainy day. We didn’t really want to go out and tract in the rain, so we did some following up in the morning, got some nice lessons, and then it stopped raining in the afternoon so we did some finding and met our goals for the day and had a nice time! We had a sweet lesson with a guy named Simba. He was saying how he really likes the way we do things, and how we just talk about what we believe and then invite him to find out for himself and stuff. It was really cool. He understands great and it was one of the best discussions we've had with him!
After our last appt. Tuesday we were back on the road and went on exchanges with Mowbray on Wednesday! I was in Mowbray with Elder McCarroll. It was a nice day. Elder McCarroll is a sweet guy and totally spoiled me all day. Like I even felt bad, ha ha. He made me a big breakfast and bought me dinner, I told him the next exchange was on me.  But we had a nice day. We did work in the office (Mowbray is the office area) in the morning, and it took more time than we thought it would, so we were running late all day, but we still had made the goal to teach an unplanned lesson, find a father led family, and hand out a Book of Mormon and get the guy's details. Well like I said we were running super late, but we just took a few minutes to find in the main area of Mowbray. We taught this guy working security, first guy we talked to, a father led family, we taught him, got his details, and gave him a Book of Mprmon....so Heavenly Father definitely helped us out with that since He knew we were late. But it was a good day.
Thursday, I’m not going to lie, I was dead tired. After the hike Monday and then two days of going hard on exchanges I was exhausted. We had a great lesson with Sam and Ntombethembu though. They are doing super well and they loved church last week! I'm really excited about them and they are really happy and excited about learning. Finished off Thursday at the Bothas, which I always look forward to.
Friday was a super slow day, but then back to the exchanges game on Saturday. We were with the assistants, so I was with Elder Malpage, and Prisbrey was with Elder Mchunu, and we were all working in Bellville.
Elder Malpage and I had a really nice day. We went out in the morning before lunch with one appt. scheduled, and ended up teaching 4 before we went and ate quickly. Then we went and contacted a DVD referral and taught one more lesson, before meeting up with the Panorama and Durbanville Elders, Prisbrey and Mchunu for dinner. We went out and got all you can eat sushi at some place that Kupka and Fonua knew. It was pretty fun! But then on the way home the clutch on our car pretty much completely gave out! It wasn’t going into gear, and we were on the equivalent of the freeway and the revs were just going high and no speed...we were like ohhh crap. So we drove in 2nd gear the whole way home and it was pretty much pooped. Sucks big time on Saturday night!
So Sunday we were left with no other choice but to take a taxi to church. hahaha. Won’t forget that, it was pretty fun. But this morning we took our car to Toyota and who knows when it will be finished. I'm hoping before we have to drive to Cape Town for MLC tomorrow. haha.
Church was good I guess. Unfortunately nobody we are teaching was there. Sam and Ntombethembu were waiting, but I don’t know what happened and they never got picked up at the stop by the taxi, and it was rainy so they left. Sucks big time on that one. Then after church since our car was out of  commission we got a ride home from Bro. Hein, and then Elder Prisbrey and I had an appt. with a family that we had to get to, so we ended up taking Durbanville's bikes and riding all the way to our area. Hahaha, took us just under an hour, but we made it there! Shauwn and Carey joined us with the family we were teaching and it went really well!
The work is going alright. I can’t complain. We've just got to get these people to be at church and stuff, but we are teaching a good few, and we have a nice list of people, and we are always trying to find more!
This week is the last full week of the transfer, next Wednesday is transfer day! So we'll find out news on Saturday! Crazy to think I'll be getting my last companion! But it will be a good week! MLC tomorrow, and then I'm with Elder Kupka in Panorama on Wednesday, and the rest we're still planning.
I love you!!
Love,
Elder Truscott

May 25, 2015

Elder Truscott climbing Devils Peak

Elders eating at Starlight Diner

Well this week went a bit faster than last week did for me, so I guess that is a good thing!
This morning we went and hiked Devil's Peak early...that is why I'm emailing later today! It was a really fun hike, and it’s the one that I hadn't done. Kupka hadn't done it either, and since he only has like 2 more P Days, we decided to do it today! We hiked up and it was in the morning, so it was kind of cold, but then we got towards the top and went into the clouds and it got SUUUPER windy and cold. It was actually really fun. We have some cool videos and pics from the top with the clouds all around us (we couldnt see Cape Town...haha) and it just being windy as can be. It was a good time but our legs are all dead....then we went and got some EFB cause we deserved it ;) ha ha.
Last Monday we went and had a braai at Bro. Hein's place that night, It was lots of fun.
This week was a lot like last week in terms of lessons taught...we did teach a few, but lots of them dropped and stuff.....so we ended up teaching a bit, like time went faster than last week, but not as much or as many as we wanted. One good thing is that we have been getting a few new investigators, and the ones that we have are really starting to progress. Which is cool. I think I was just getting tired of having people to teach but nobody progress, so we've been more bold about baptism with the people, and it seems to be doing really well. People are committing to be baptized once they know that what we're sharing is true, so that always helps stay positive even when the total lessons wasn’t as high as we wanted.
Friday we had a really good district meeting about observing, listening, discerning, and THEN teaching. It was good, makes me be more patient and not just rush into a lesson or a principle, but it really helped us later that day with a lesson we had, so that was cool.
Saturday was awesome too....we went and had breakfast at Shauwn and Carey's house. It was super nice. We cooked, I won’t lie though I kind of slacked on the cooking part, so I will say the other Elders cooked. Ha ha ha. But it was a great morning with them. Then after that it was just an overcast day of missionary work! The weather is slowly starting to transition into winter here, I love it.
We've been teaching girls named Sam and Ntombethembu, they are relatives to a recent convert. They are super awesome and they are loving the gospel. Reading the Book of Mormon and doing super great! We've also been teaching a mother and son named Julia and Yolisa....all 4 of them came to church this week! It was super cool!
Then 2 of Andrew's (Elder Gertzen’s) friends came through as well for the first time, and I don’t know about his friends, but the 4 we've been teaching really enjoyed church! It was great!
Like I said, this week was a decent one...I can’t complain. Less people taught, but the most visitors in sacrament meeting since I've been here, so I'm pumped about that! I guess that is what really counts as well! We are going to keep seeing these new people we've met and try to get them to progress! haha. Just another week!
Love and Miss you,
Elder Truscott

May 18, 2015

Hahaha, I guess the other thing is that on Friday after district meeting we went to the mall for lunch, and Elder Pahulu has a cool leather jacket, so we all bought one. 

We went to Monkey Town this morning, 

This week was a long one here. It honest feels like ages since skyping. Ha ha. The common theme was dropped appointments..... We made up for a terrible week though with a sweet lesson Sunday and this morning's p-day.

We went to Monkey Town this morning, which is a cool place here in Cape Town that just has lots of monkeys (shocker). You can go into the cages and they will jump on you and stuff, and it was a really fun time! So that is why I’m emailing a little bit later than usual. But it was a good time. We went with Kupka and Fonua, and then Elder Wright and Elder McCarroll came with us as well. It was nice!

Tuesday last week we had MLC, which is just a big skype call that lasts a long time and we talked about stuff in the mission. After that we just went out to work, even though I was super tired.  And pretty much after that it started. Dropping like it’s hot.

People weren’t holding appointments at all this week, and we were trying hard to stay motivated and work hard...we did lots of finding in new areas, passed out lots of pamphlets, rescheduled, and made return appts with new people. We are working, it was just a tough week for us.
I really don’t have tons to say about my week....besides MLC we were working all week in Bellville. No exchanges this week.

Hahaha, I guess the other thing is that on Friday after district meeting we went to the mall for lunch, and Elder Pahulu has a cool leather jacket, so we all bought one. Ha ha ha, so now our boarding all has leather jackets, kinda funny.

Sunday church was good. We have been working with a dude named Norman. He is a really nice guy who has struggled to come to church, but he came through this week and we were super happy to see him! Besides him nobody we were really working with came. One of the things mentioned at MLC was that we should try to build relationships with members, so a few days this week Elder Prisbrey and I didn’t have anything in terms of stats, but we taught members all day....so I guess it wasn’t a total fail, it was good. Just didn’t look as good when you're reporting, but it’s not about that.
After church we had.....dropped appts. But we did have one hold and it was a great appt. Then dinner at the Krugers, which is always nice :) We are seriously hoping that this week more appts. hold and we have more success in terms of teaching non members and less actives.....I guess we needed a bad week since we've been on the steady uphill from the time I got here...haha, it was time for a bad one, but next week should be better! We start it good tonight with a braai at Bro. Hein's house! That should be tons of fun!

I love you so much and miss you like crazy!

Love,

Elder Truscott

May 11, 2015

 Monday after emailing we went to Mzoli's, the braai place in Gugs

I was able to take all the things that you sent to the Sibotoboto's! I love that family

Sibotoboto's

Exchanges with Elder Kupka 

Mother's Day Skype Home

A pic of Elder Truscott at the Kruger's (sent to me by Sis. Kruger on Mother's day)

I guess nothing compares in my week to being able to skype with you...but I'll tell you about the rest of my week as well.
So last Monday after emailing we went to Mzoli's, the braai place in Gugs, and we all got some nice meat and had a nice time there! After that I was able to go out and visit a few of the people I know! I got to see Sibu and his grandma, which was really cool! Sibu's grandma remembered me and was like Truscott why are you so scarce!? We miss you!" and it was really nice to see Sibu again. Then I got to see Zuko and Sasa if you remember them! They are doing alright, Sasa is still sitting with the missionaries, but Zuko hasn’t seen any in a while, but they are still awesome! And the Plaatjies werent home, Bantu and Akhona were at work, so we had to head out, but it was awesome to see a few folks from Gugs! Then that night we had a great FHE with the Adam's family!
Tuesday was a decent day. We had 7 set appts, and 4 of them held, but we taught 5 lessons that day. It was good. We were at Bro. Hein's house that night for dinner. He is in the bishopric and has an EXTREMELY nice house. It was very nice to be with him and his family, and they are super nice people! Then after that dinner we had a 2 hour power discussion with a guy who is going to study in Kentucky to be a pastor.....we talked about pretty much everything we believe, from Jospeh Smith and prophets, to the temples, and everything in between. Flip. I felt like Elder Prisbrey and I answered very well and used the scriptures to explain and expound everything we really wanted to say! We gave him a Book of Mormon and hopefully as he reads he'll feel how true all of it is.
Wednesday was a slow day, we taught a few lessons, but I was super exhausted and started to get a little sick that day. Then that night we had to set up for zone conference the next night...luckily for us the senior couples in the cape town area were there as well and they did lots of it which we were very grateful for!
Then Thursday was zone conference! Elder Evans, from the missionary department, was there and spoke to us. It was nice, except I was sick and had a runny nose and stuffed up sinuses the whole time...but he taught about good stuff and since he was a General Authority it was mainly him  speaking.....
Friday we had a REALLY slow day, but it ended great cause I was able to take all the things that you sent to the Sibotoboto's! I love that family. It was a great night there. And after that we started exchanges cause I  was with Elder Kupka on Saturday in Bellville.
We had a really nice day Saturday. We taught a good amount of lessons and had one cool experience! Before lunch we had some time and we went to an area I had never been to. I didn’t know what a realistic goal was for this area, cause it was a nicer area. We asked for one lesson in an hour. We walked and tracted for the whole hour. Nothing. On our way back to the car there was a white man working in his driveway, so we started talking to him. He opened up the gate, talked with us, and spent a solid 45 minutes teaching him points from the restoration and talking! He does import/export stuff so he travels lots, but we got his details, and regardless of what happens, Heavenly Father blessed us AFTER the hour, for our hour of hard work to meet our goal. I count it as a success.
Sunday was of course Mother’s Day. I am so grateful for you mom. I love you so much. Skyping was pretty much the highlight of that day of course, and like I said I’m super grateful the Ellis' let us use their home and stuff....and then after that we went to the Krugers. It’s cool that she sent you that pic :) She is a very nice lady and that family is great!
Well I’ve been excited to chat and talk with you mom.  I also know that you are proud of me mom. I really do. I know I've changed a lot into a better man in general, and I know that you know that as well. Thank you for helping me through it all. I love you and I miss you more than you can even imagine.
Love,
Elder Truscott

May 4, 2015

Tuesday was Elder Pahulu's 6 month on mission mark! We picked them up from their last appt. and went out to Burger King to eat!  Elder Truscott, Elder Pahulu, Elder Prisbrey and Elder Mendenhall

So my week here was flipping long. I don’t know why, transfer week maybe, but it seemed like it took forever. haha.

Monday last week we did that FHE at the chapel. We did a little skit on using the Preach my Gospel in FHE's, and it went pretty well I guess. People laughed and hopefully they start using it. Then we had some games and food, and it was a nice evening.

Tuesday was Elder Pahulu's 6 month on mission mark! We picked them up from their last appt. and went out to Burger King to eat! It was a nice time and then we went home and he burned his tie...it’s nice to be around people who have big click days like that :) My next big one will be with you and we will burn my suit! Ha ha.

Wednesday this week was transfer day, so everyone who was leaving their area flew out. Elder Prisbrey and I were at the mission home making sure everyone was on time and that the few changes from our zone went well. It was a nice time to just be able to see everyone honestly. Ha ha, it was cool. But we stayed the same, so we spent a bit of time there in the morning and afternoon and then came back to Bellville!

We had a normal week of missionary work after transfer day. We worked and tried to get some good lessons in. I will tell you about a super weird lesson we had this week! haha, so we were having a lesson with a member who always invites her friends.
Well we were in the room with 5 Christians (including us), a muslim, and 2 guys who used to be satanists. We had a weird discussion and it really went nowhere.....but made for an interesting time. Made me happy to believe in Christ after that one.

The people here are doing alright. The Pienaar family decided not to go on with our lessons....so that sucked. Billy is doing good. We had a lesson with him and his brother Joseph yesterday. They haven’t gotten to read the BOM yet, but they are interested still. I think Billy is easier to teach than his brother...but Billy got robbed this week so he wants to go back to Zimbabwe...we will see how that goes. Patricia has a baptismal date now, we were shooting for May 10, but we are going to push it back cause we haven’t been able to see her, and her husband sold their car so they haven’t been at church. Throws a wrench in baptism for sure ;) But it will still happen!

And this week we got a new baptism date too! So we have been seeing that girl named Sam, who we met at the recent converts house. Well we were teaching her the plan of salvation this week, and as we started, I just got the feeling to follow up on her prayers of the Book of Mormon, so I asked her. She was super happy to tell us that she prayed, and felt like these things were true, and wants to learn more, and we committed her to be baptized on the 31st of May and she said yes! So as long as she can come to church she'll be golden! It was good :)

We are still trying to find some really good father led families. Trying hard.....but we have some we need to follow up on , and the numbers game continues, the more we find, the better changes one will progress. Flip it’s a process though.

Hopefully this week goes fast and it’s a good one! I'm excited to skype home and see you though!

Love,
Elder Truscott

April 27, 2015

Elder Truscott, Elder Kupka, Elder Pahulu, Elder Prisbrey, Elder Fonua and Elder Mendenhall
"The Panorama District"

Pahulu, Elder Truscott, the random asian lady that jumped in the pic, Prisbrey, and Ryno
The top of Signal Hill

Well I will get right into telling you about my week.
It was an alright week for me I guess. The work went great but I just felt eh. Transfer news came out Saturday so I was waiting for that (Elder Prisbrey and I are staying together, in fact our whole district is staying together).
We cancelled all our exchanges this week because Elder Prisbrey and I wanted to hit the 5-5-5 (the mission goal) together since it was possibly our last full week together. So we just went out and worked worked worked!
It was really good though in terms of work, cause we hit the 5-5-5 and people started progressing and it was just a great week in terms of work.
I guess the highlights of the week are the people that started progressing. We met this guy named Billy last Sunday, and we ended up seeing him twice this week and teaching him. He's super cool, 31 from Zimbabwe and smart. The second time we were there he was explaining the difference between the Aaronic and Melchezidek Priesthoods from the pamphlet that he read! So he is cool, and we are really excited to keep teaching him and seeing how he will progress!
Another family that just started progressing this week is the Pienaar family. We went there on Wednesday with the intention of kind of dropping them, we just wanted to explain our purpose and we thought that would make them see they didn’t want to sit with us. Well we got there, started talking, and the dad asks "so who is Joseph Smith?". The mom goes and grabs the pamphlet, and comes back with it opened to the page of the Restoration, and then reads it to him. He asked questions throughout, and we answered, and then committed them to baptism. They said they would have to think about being baptized again, but fully understand that if it’s true, then they need to be. It was a pretty cool lesson.
Patricia is doing really well too. She is the wife of a member, named Tony. We've been teaching her, and she will be baptized next month! She is really smart, and its easy cause she wants to be a member and she's praying and feeling good about the things that we teach. Phew, another girl that is progressing is a girl named Sam. We met her at a recent converts home, and at the end of our lesson she was like "how do I join the church?"...so we made a time and have been teaching her.
Like I said, this week was pretty much summed up in teaching and teaching and teaching.....from week 1, when we taught 4 lessons the whole week....to week 6, when we just taught 26....Bellville is looking up.
Oh, and on Sunday we had a miracle ;) We didn’t have time to eat lunch after church, cause we had an appt and no time to cook, so we just decided to go to our appt...and it dropped. We just said we'd work and forget about lunch cause it was too hard with the schedule we had. Well we went finding around this area called Brackenfell, and we were getting hard core rejected....and then we passed this  apartment building. Prisbrey was like "We should go in there" and I said ok, and right then a car drove in, and we followed it through the gate....well we ended up finding and teaching a couple lessons in there, and then on our way out I was like "let’s go to that end room" cause the door was open and I knew the lady had seen us walk up the stairs. Well we walk up to the door, knock, and its 2 couples who live there. They invited us right in, and were like "do you like pork?" and fed us pork sandwiches! It was awesome! As we ate, we chatted, and they were asking questions like why are there so many churches when there is only one God....and we taught the restoration, and have a return apt and it was a really good time in that apartment complex! haha. So our miracle is that we found and taught 3 lessons in there, got fed, and got return appts. with 2 of them :) It was cool!
I hope this is another good transfer here in Bellville. I'm sure it will be. I'm glad that I'm staying. Hopefully the people can keep progressing and we can keep working hard so they will!

April 20, 2015

The Mehana family with Elder Truscott

Elders having a car wash and Braai (BBQ)  for P-Day

Well where do I start with this week in Bellville....
Tuesday I was on exchanges with Elder Fonua. It was a super great day! I was in Panorama again, cause he's Kupka's companion. We had set the goal to teach 8 lessons that day, so we got straight to work! We did some street contacting and taught a few lessons that way, and our last lesson before lunch was really cool. We wanted 2 lessons before lunch, so we were deciding where to go, we chose a street to go down, and there was a dude named Shane there. He was a security guard and was working, but he called us and was like "are you Jehova's Witness or Book of Mormon?" and we were like, we teach about the Book of Mormon. He said he wanted a copy so we ran back to the car, grabbed one, and taught him about it. He told us missionaries had once visited him, but then he started asking strange questions, like "how does God speak to us today?" and so we explained the spirit and prophets, and explained how the spirit feels. He asked "what if there are voices and they aren’t making me feel like that?" And so I was kind of getting like what the heck man....so I was like "well do you have a problem with voices?" and he told us no...but his 10 year old son has voices telling him to kill people and won’t leave him, say that they've chosen him....so it’s pretty crazy! I want to help him.But we ended up teaching all 8 lessons to meet our goal, and we had a super great day! Elder Fonua was really happy about it, and Iwas pretty pumped as well. Panorama is a sweet area!
Wednesday I was on exchanges with Elder Mmotong. He's an Elder from Pretoria SA, and is working in Table View right now. He came with me to Bellville, and we again had the goal to teach teach teach. We wanted to teach 7 lessons that day, so we prayed, and of course we got the goal. It was a great day as well. Back to back exchanges make you kinda tired though if you are going hard both days. haha.
People have been dropping us like flies this week....it was no good. We had a super sweet dude named Thabang who was really promising! Super smart, and he did some research this week on the church and stuff, and when we showed up for our appt, he was like, "I don’t think the Mormon is for me." and we persuaded him to sit down and talk about it....turns out as he googled Mormon it auto completed it and said that mormonism is a cult. He read that and was turned off. shocker. Totally sucks. A bit of false doctrine and confusion and he wasn’t wanting to sit with us at all. It sucks. We told him to go to mormon.org though and research there from the source, and then to ask God....and when he does he'll come back to us. He said he would....we have faith. haha. Also an older family that we met on my  birthday dropped us. Sent an SMS that said he was cancelling this Wednesday and wouldn’t change churches. I called him, he said there was nothing wrong with us or the message, but he's been a  member of his church for 40 years and it’s not worth it to change now....flip. I told him to continue reading the Book of Mormon, he said it was his intention, so we just left it at that. hopefully he reads and feels something. We've been finding like crazy, and are teaching lots, just hoping and praying for some progressing people!
One cool thing though. The Mehana family, from gugs, moved to Bellville....so they are in the ward now and Iget to see them! It’s super awesome! They had us over on Sunday and we are teaching and seeing them again! It was super awesome!! It was a great week for the zone though! We are trying to get to the 5-5-5 as the zone. And this week we were pretty dang close!! We hit it as Bellville, which is awesome cause the area is picking up big time, and the zone is following! We are hoping for another good week here. It’s the last week of the transfer, so we will be working hard to reach that 5-5-5! But it should be a good week. We have scheduled time each day to find father led families and prayed that throughout the week we will find 3 that are ready to progress!