Happy St. Patty's Day 3-17-14

I don't have much time today we today but it has been super cool so far. We drove to east London and went to Mpongo game reserve :) it's super sweet, we got to see lions up pretty close (not out in the park, they have them in cages as you drive in), warthogs, a bunch of deer things, and lots of giraffes! It was tons of fun, and i got to pet another giraffe! This one was either a child or a midget :)

Things were a bit hectic beginning of the week...and some bad news for me! Haha.

Last Monday we just hung out, all 4 of us and it was the first real p-day of the transfer, well that night we get a call from Elder Olsen (AP) and he's like, oh sorry, are you with elder Bell by chance? And I was like ya here he is.....and then Elder Olsen told Bell that he was getting transferred and that he was leaving tomorrow morning. Totally sucks! Apparently someone had to leave their area, they were having some problems, so Elder Bell was moved there to cover that gap, and in his place Elder Howe came here to be with Elder Manda.
So Tuesday Manda came with us while the Chases drove Bell to P.E. and picked up Howe. Well then my day got a bit worse....cause Howe has a drivers license.....(the car is originally in the other Elders area).....but luckily, still not great, but luckily, we are going to be sharing the car for the time being. Like we get it some days, they get it some days.

So Wednesday was my first day as a walking missionary....and I'm not a big fan. You can't see nearly as many people as before just walking from one appt. to the next!

Grant and Shanice wanted to do a waffle and ice cream thing a while ago, when they found out I had a waffle iron, but we never got around to it, so Thursday night we had a lesson and I brought all the stuff, and after we had the lesson we had waffles and ice cream :) then we had to get back cause we had an unexpected and pretty sudden  exchange with the zone leaders.

Saturday we were back to walking..... We saw a few people, but walking needs careful planning....ha ha,  so that we don't walk from one end of town to the other and then back again....so we were pretty much moving all day.....but we were doing lots of going around and inviting the people to church.

It worked though, cause we had 8 investigators there on Sunday! Leticia and Diego, Emerald and Kaylin, the Sinama kids (the mom was at work), a new guy named Mbongheni who is super cool, and we walked to church with Grant. It was a good turn out, I was super happy!

We met with Sandiswa earlier this week and taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ, and asked her to be baptized and it was great, she said yes and we told her March 30, but I'm starting to think that will be
too soon, and we might have to push it back a week or so, but we will see! The important thing is that she said yes :) haha.

Emerald and Kaylin have come to church two weeks in a row now, so that is super good, they just leave after sacrament but I'm really glad they are coming. I'm hoping that them coming will ignite more of an interest in becoming members, and if they start to love it and feel the spirit there it will be great :)
Leticia is the other one who is still doing great! She's been off the smokes for a while now, and her only thing is that she's super scared that she'll make the promise and be baptized and then make a mistake and slip up. So we just have to show her how faithful she is and how she can do it and then it will be good to go with Leticia :)
The new guy we saw this week, well one of them, is named Mbongheni. He's a super cool guy, came to church with one of our recent converts a few weeks ago and we just got to have an appt with him. He said he's looking for a better relationship with God and stuff, and he's a smart guy and it should be really good! I'm excited to start teaching him cause he came to church again!

The only thing I'm worried about is how we're going to see all these people with no car half the week....but we will figure something out  ;)

Sorry, I don't have much time today....................But I love you and miss you!
Love,
Elder Truscott

March 10, 2014

Elder Truscott and his Comp. Elder Ramosoeu

Driving was pretty much the motto for this week! I did LOTS of driving around! Ha ha

Monday night we got our transfer news, and Ramoshaba was the only one from Grahamstown who was leaving. Ramosoeu and I were staying the same, and Elder Bell was getting Elder Manda as his new companion.

 So Tuesday since I'm the only one who can drive I had to drive Ramoshaba down to P.E. so we could pick up Manda and Ramoshaba could get on his bus. Well we had to find a place to stay on Tuesday night, so we stayed in Kwano with Elder Hlophe and Kuhmalo :) it was cool to see them and chill for the night, and we were supposed to be at the bus stop at 6 Wednesday morning.

We woke up and got ready and headed out to go pick up Manda from his boarding in a place called Despatch. We picked him up, and it was already past 6, and headed into P.E .for the bus stop, but
boy was traffic bad.....so it goes without saying that Ramoshaba missed his bus....ha.ha.
So from there we had Manda and his companion at the time, and we had to take his companion to the airport to get his new comp, and then we had to figure out what to do with Ramoshaba! The plan was that we would take him back to GT and the Chase's would drive him to East London, but talking with President Boyce, we decided that if we could get to GT before the bus got here he could just hop on it and go.....so we drove BACK to GT trying to beat the bus that left quite a while before at this point..... We drove pretty quickly back to GT where we found a bus going to East London! It was a different bus....but Ramoshaba just hopped on and the Chase's paid for the trip! So it worked out :) except Manda didn't have his stuff cause he was planning on grabbing it after we dropped Ramoshaba at the bus stop.....hahahaha. So we had to drive BACK to P.E. and get his stuff together and then BACK to GT that night....it was a long day of driving! Bro. Alan had all of us for dinner that night and I was dead tired....ha ha ha.

Then the driving continued on Friday....we got news Thursday that we had Zone Training on Friday morning, so we woke up Friday morning and drove to East London for the training by our Zone Leaders, Elder Swenson......and guess who......Gertzen. So after that little training we went back to GT and continued on for the day with appointments.

I was surprised at the turnout on Sunday to be honest with you! I was thinking that there wasn't going to be anyone there cause it was a really rainy day. It rained all day and when it rains people don't come out, especially not to walk to church! But we had 7 investigators in sacrament meeting! And it was awesome because Emerald and her daughter Kaylin came for the first time! The Sinama kids came again, Nandile, and Leticia and Diego walked in the pouring rain to church, and I was so happy to see them :) it's so cool, Leticia is super dedicated! And after church she cancelled our appointment cause she "had wet feet" and was going to bed :) haha. So after church we visited Emerald and asked her how she liked church and everything, she said she enjoyed it and so did Kaylin, so that was good :)

The Sinama's are great :) I love them! After church we went there Sunday night and they fed us a huge dinner and desert before we read from the BOM :) and they love us coming and they always love church :) it's really cool, I just wish the mom would realize the need to be baptized into this church, you know? But we're just reading through the BOM with them and asking them to always pray about it.

 Leticia is great, she reads by herself and comes by herself to church....and she's still not smoking! We're pushing that promise thing with her so she can get ready to be baptized :)

Nandile is another awesome lady. You know that the investigator is sweet when she SMS's you and reminds you of their appointment and that she's feeding us :) but we teach her and hopefully she'll SMS about another appointment this week cause she said she didn't know her schedule.

Sandiswa is another perfect investigator that we're teaching :) we are looking to extend a baptism invitation this week! So hopefully all goes well :) it should be good though :)

 The work is going alright! The students are back and we're teaching a few of them mixed with the GT locals :) it's been alright though! Kind of a crazy week, but not a bad one :)

Love,
Elder Truscott

March is here!

Elder Truscott in Grahamstown, SA

This week was an interesting one for sure.

Tuesday was my 7 month mark! I can't believe that I've already been out for 7 months, time keeps on ticking by! And this month will be 8 and then my 19th birthday. It will be cool :)

Wednesday was a good day, I got to know the 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency better. His name is Bro. Solomon and he's super cool! He invited  us to come to his place Wednesday night. It was really cool and he's a super cool guy.

Thursday we had quite a few dropped appointments, kind of a slow day, but we had our home teaching with Bro. Alan that night. We go with Solomon and a recent convert named Lonwabo and visit Bro. Alan.

Friday we had a really big district meeting. The Port Alfred Elders came, we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders so they were there, and the Boyce's came from East London! It was a good District meeting, and then afterwards we had a nice lunch and went out for the day. I was with Elder Gillespie for the exchange, and we had a super interesting day of appointments....from blessing people to rebuke spirits.

Saturday Bro. Solomon had us over for a braai cause transfers are this week, and we figure at least one of us is leaving, so he had us over and braaid and it was a nice dinner appointment :)

The students in Rhodes are all back now, so church is actually really full, and the cool thing is that the member students are starting to bring some friends with them to church and they are in our area! We had a big turn up at church this Sunday :) 9 investigators! Leticia and her son Diego, the Sinama's kids, Sandiswa, a lady named Nandile, and 2 new students from Rhodes :) it was great to see them come, we were expecting Emerald and her daughter Kaylin, but we can't complain with 9 ;) The people are doing really well. Nandile and Sandiswa, they are really great :) they accept what we say, keep their commitments, and are doing awesome. It's cool to see an area that hasn't had much success have people who are really progressing.

Emerald and her daughter, Kaylin, are great. They are lots of fun to sit with. We see them every Monday and Thursday and read the Book of Mormon with them. Trying to get them a testimony of it and then lead that into the church, cause the only problem right now is that they have their church....I hate that problem.

And of course the Sinama's are awesome :) that goes without saying. It's cool, Sokhana, the oldest daughter, prayed to close our meeting yesterday and prayed that I would stay in Grahamstown :) it's cool to have people really like you! Ha ha ha ha.

Transfer news is tonight! I imagine I'm staying, but you never know, it's all subject to change! We will see!

I love you guys and miss you like crazy!

Love,

Elder Truscott

February 24, 2014

Elder Ramosoeu and Elder Truscott with the Sinama's

Elder Truscott holding Shanices new baby girl



This week wasn't a bad one ;)

Tuesday was just a normal day of appointments, but in the afternoon we had to take Shanice up to the hospital so that she could have her baby! We dropped her off, and went out for the day, obviously.

Wednesday though we didn't have tons of appointments so whenever we didn't have anything we waited at the hospital with Amanda (Shanice's mom) for her to finally have the c section done and have the kid!

Finally late in the afternoon she went down with the doctor and had the baby :) it's a little baby girl :) we couldn't really stay cause we had appointments in the evening, but we saw the baby and Shanice :)

Then Thursday we went back up in the afternoon to visit and see how Shanice and the baby were doing, and she let me hold Casey ( the baby's name) and take some pics and stuff :) it was nice and Shanice was doing good :)

So on Friday we had to leave early and go to East London for the training by Elder Maynes. So we left Grahamstown by about 9:30 and made it to EL by the 12:30 time we were supposed to be at the chapel. We sat through the training and since no food was provided, we grabbed McDonalds and came home :) it was a nice day though to change it up and the training was good. It was about connecting ourselves to the missionary purpose.

The theme seemed to be slow afternoons this week, cause Saturday we had a few dropped appointments too. But that night we were making some visits, so we stopped by Emerald to invite her to church and see how she's doing. Well she agreed she wanted to come to church, so it was great and we left. Then later that night she calls and says that her car is having trouble again! (It happened last week and that's why she wasn't at church, ha ha). So we were like crap....and I thought about it and told her I'd get back to her. So I phoned a member who stays in township, and asked them to get a mechanic that I know she knows and we would go try and fix Emeralds car! Sooo we went up, picked up the mechanic and the member, and drove to Emerald. It was kinda late now, but Emerald said she'd wait. The mechanic looks at the car, and decided it was the fuel pump....which he couldn't fix right then, so then she cancelled church, ha ha . But at least she knows the problem now and she wants to come at least once :)

Sunday was nice....we did lots of visits to people since not many came to sacrament meeting. :)

For the others, Leticia is still doing well! Tomorrow will be 3 weeks of her not smoking! We reminded her that its only a week away from a whole month she's been off the cigs, and she was feeling good about it :) We are hoping that she keeps it up and I don't think that it will be long before she gets baptized....at least assuming she keeps off the smoking.

I love you and miss you!
Have a great week !
Love,
Elder Truscott
 



February 17, 2014

Elder Truscott giving "G Man" Garth a B-day Present

Well this week has a bit more to talk about than last week :)

Last Monday we went to Port Alfred for our P Day that we are allowed to have with them! We drove down there after emailing, and we just met up with Kreiger and Bohn at the Spur (pretty much missionaries go to this restaurant on Mondays). Then we didn't have anything to do after lunch really so we played around PA a bit and then went to play some basketball at some air school place they get access to. It was fun just to talk with Kreiger and stuff cause he's super funny, so even though we didn't do anything really exciting it was fun :)

That Monday night, after the FHE we went to, I got a phone call from a very excited Sibu back in Gugs! He was called to be the second counselor in the young men's presidency back in Gugs and it's super awesome for him!! We talked all about it, how excited he was and stuff. I'm so happy for that guy. Seriously he is the best! And he told me something else super cool! So you know the Gova's maid that we started teaching? Sandy? Well she got baptized too! Which is super cool!!

Well last week you jinxed the tire thing.....haha. Cause this week on Tuesday we went to the shop to get some stuff, and when we came out our tire was COMPLETELY flat. Which sucked tons cause our spare was flat too....so we had to call the Chases who had to come and take our tires to get fixed and then bring them back to us so we could go about our day!

Wednesday we went back up to the Thomas's farm to help them and do more work up there. We were up there pretty much the whole day, just cleaning their house, and moving a few boxes and stuff to where ever they needed them. Then we came back, and surprise, the AP's, who I like were passing by Grahamstown so they stopped by to say hi! It was cool, they are cool guys.

Friday was Valentines Day, so that was pretty much just a regular day for us. District meeting as usual, and then appointments with people, most of which didn't stick cause they were busy. BUT I did get the family calendar that grandma and grandpa chase sent me :)

Sunday was a super great day for us! At church we had a great turn out :) we had Grant, Leticia and her son Diego, and the Sinama's came!! It was so cool they even stayed for the whole 3 hours, and they loved it!! We walked in and the meeting was actually really full ( I waited for them outside cause I knew they were coming), and the mom, Sihle, and Sokhana were sitting behind and me and Kuhle were sitting in the row ahead. Just sitting there with them was one of those moments where I was just like "this is awesome, I kinda love this".... We saw them after church and the mom was saying how she knows it's true, and that she was jealous of our church and stuff! Plus the members welcomed them and they want to come again next week, they all agreed :)

Leticia is probably our most progressing investigator right now! This Tuesday, she will have quit smoking for 2 weeks now! I'm super happy for her and we just want her to keep going and keep the excitement and determination, but it has been cool that she is putting in so much effort and is quitting :) Hopefully it lasts!

But that is about it for my week this week!

I love you and miss you,

Elder Truscott

Happy Valentines Week 2-10-14

Elder Truscott teaching in the township in Grahamstown

Nothing too exciting happened this week to be honest. I think that's a trend here so far, nothing really exciting. Haha.
Well I guess the best thing about this week would be the bit of progress that Leticia has made! So I told you how the only thing stopping her from baptism is some word of wisdom trouble, but she's been coming to church every week. Well we saw her on Tuesday and really just set goals and plans to quit using the word of wisdom pamphlet, and then we said that instead of seeing her maybe twice a week, we want to see her every day or every other day. She agreed, so we saw her almost every day this week, and so far she hasn't smoked since last Tuesday when we made the goal! I know it's only a week, but still I'm happy about it :)

Thursday I was in exchanges with Ramoshaba, so that was a nice break

Friday morning before district meeting the Chases gave me the package of the journals and the book for Alan and the sprays and ointments :) thank you :) the ointments are good since I'm constantly getting bitten, hahaha. But that night we were having dinner with Brother Alan, so I took the book you sent for him to him! Ohhh boy did he love it :)

We average about 3 or 4 lessons every day, and just like it was in gugs, the real appointments don't start until around 2. Like I said, we've been focusing on Leticia a lot, so we've been seeing her almost every day to help her quit. The other one we are trying to help quit is Grant....

The Sinama's love us :) and the feeling is mutual. Haha. They had us on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this week, to go sit and have a lesson with them and chill :) the only thing that I want to happen is for them to start coming to church, so hopefully this week we can see about that :) One of our investigators, Elizabeth, is really confusing. She's been baptized twice, says that she knows the church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true, but being baptized three times is "too much"....so she doesn't want to be baptized, its weird. She's another one that we need to get to church more. We've gone to walk with her (as she requested) but she always has an excuse on Sunday morning .

Another person we sat with this week was a recent convert named Lonwabo. So here is the story, I met Sibu in gugs, and followed him to Grahamstown....and Elder Ingram met Lonwabo here in Grahamstown and followed him to gugs! The guy was baptized in East London during his break, but he got to go sit with Hlophe and Ingram in gugs before coming back baptized. So now we are starting to sit with him and do the recent convert lessons, which will be good :)

But that's it for my week! Today were going to Port Alfred for P Day, but I don't know what we're doing, hopefully something to write about next week ;)
I Love you and I miss you,

Elder Truscott

Feb. 3, 2014

Elder Truscott with Sibu's sister Sihle Sinama

Elder Truscott proving he received his package

Another week down here in Grahamstown! Nothing too exciting. It was just a normal week, no exchanges or anything like that, just me and Ramosoeu. We just sat with our normal people and actually found a few new people to teach.

We saw the Sinama's like 3 times this week. Once with the mom and the other times just the kids, but the mom still wanted us to come and be with them. So we didn't really know what to do on Wednesday when we saw them because the mom was gone and we didn't want to teach anything new without her. We decided to just review the restoration. Well we were going through the beginning and I could see that they were super competitive about the answers and stuff, so I decided to make it a review game and whoever had their hand up first and answered got a point, you know? Well it was super fun and they really enjoyed it, so I thought that was a cool way to do that! When we sat with them again and the mom was there, on Friday, we asked if they had been praying about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith. The middle daughter, Kuhle, said she "knows it's true" and just said that she "just does"....and the mom was funny. She was saying that she believes it's true because since we've been coming good things have been happening to her :)

On Thursday we were going to go see Emerald, and when we got there her car wasn't there. We decided to just go and knock a door or two while we wait, and the first house we walk up to, right across the street, invites us in, and it's this lady named Olwethu. She's just a younger lady and turns out that she had been sitting with missionaries a bit ago, like a few years, and she is super cool. So we have had an appointment with her, but we just talked the whole time, so it will be interesting what happens when we start to teach her!
Then we went back and saw Emerald. She is still going through a tough time, so sometimes when we get there she just says "let's just talk" and she doesn't want to talk about the lessons or anything, she just wants us to talk to her.

Saturday there was a HUGE storm here in GT. Like it was raining super hard, lightning and everything. We were at the Sinama's place, and they look after these puppies for some reason, so when the storm hit we had to go out and get them all and take them to their house. Then I guess a part of their house lets water in or something, so to help we propped up some tin thing against their door to block the wind and rain, just helping out, and when we got done we were DRENCHED. Haha, like my shoes were still kinda wet at church....haha.

For people, I've mentioned a few already, but I'd say the best investigator we have at the moment is Leticia. She keeps walking to church with her son Diego and she doesn't tell us to walk with her just in case she doesn't come, but she's come the last 3 weeks in a row! As soon as she gives up smoking she will be perfect for baptism :)

All in all it wasn't a bad week :)

Love,

Elder Truscott