April 5th WOO!! Oh man.... life sounds so awesome, hectic, fun, crazy. Kevin is going to university! i'm glad he got my b-day card! i sent it a week before leaving selcourt! it got there quick! wow thanks for calling president! i'll be having an interview with him this week! so i'll ask him about it and apologise for you! haha Things are great! we're still keeping super busy i'm over the stomach adjustment phase of township.... let me put it this way i was eating a lot and still lost weight my first few days here. stuff goes right through you! So that was awesome! And i am now speaking more tsotsi talk than english with people on the street! ACHTARE! LAMANJYE! EITA HOLA! SHO SHO MFYWETU! it's pretty awesome! The guys around the township love us! which is crazy cause usually they hate the mulungus riding around township! But we're teaching some pretty sweet people! some of our investigators are being interviewed for baptisms this week! so that will be great it sounds like they'll be baptized a week from sunday! :) The people in the pics i'm pretty sure it was norbert and tariro! was it the wife and the husband?!?! Or was it the family home evening?! the FHE was with Norbert tariro and obert and sabina! it was fun! Those families are gonna be so powerful! I'm excited to continue to hear about what they will be doing over the following year! o and conference has been pushed back a few weeks for africa! so i won't be seeing it until the 24th or something like that! bummer eh? anyways! have a great week! i'm just about outta email time! the church is true! -elder johnson
April 12th Yup... Tsotsi isn't a real language.... it's pretty much just a bunch of slang that all the "gangsta's" and taxi drivers speak! Achtare is afrikaans for "behind you" Lamanjye means "right now" in zulu, eita hola means absolutely nothing and sho sho imfweytu is i'm good brother! Pretty much you use these words in no particular order and communicate nothing intelligible and the guys LOVE IT! In bigger news we are in the ward choir and i'm in a quartet that will do a musical number in sacrament this week! as well we are learning african traditional songs! it's pleasing! We are most likely going to be having 5 baptisms this week! We're very excited!! 2 of which are future priesthood holders! YES! It is a ward! Its entirely run by members in the township.... which is nice and sometimes not too nice! But we love it anyways even when it's not as organized as usual.... for instance the ward is run on Africa Time. So sacrament starts at 9:10 every sunday! and most of the ward shows up around 9:30. And the bishop is only at church every other week. sometimes less! so it's pretty great. The good news is that we're actually rejuvenating the ward a bit..... wow... i just used a 5 syllable word. The best township food is KOTA!!!! It's the diet of the missionary... let me put it this way it's about 8 rands which is about a dollar. and it's a quarter loaf of bread emptied out and stuffed with fries, cheese, meats, and sauce. It will probably give me a heart attack someday.... but yo! it's good and filling you can eat one and be full for the whole day! I'm going to send you guys some pictures of me and my son (elder matunya)and me with a family here in hospital view that we're teaching (tanki and samuel!) Tanki is a member but samuel isn't. he likes to drink too much but we're gonna change that. Don't worry mom. i did cut my hair when we got back to the flat that night and my hair is now incredibly short and missionary like. Pretty much a #4 all around my dome! OH and we're going to the temple this friday! i'm so stoked! I love the temple. i listen to a lot of talks about the temple. i'm pretty sure it's my favorite place in the whole world and my favorite thing to think and ponder upon! it's so sweet! THE CHURCH IS TRUE! _elder johnson
April 19th WOO! 5 BAPTISMS! It happened for sure! It tied the record for my mission thus far! :) We have some very solid people in that group as well! Siphiwe is already talking about going on mission and all that. So that would probably make me happier than anything else! As well Lucky is the man and our others bore awesome testimonies following their baptisms! Sister hilda didn't go down without a fight elder van vuuren had to baptise her like 8 times before she finally got under! haha But it was definately a spiritual experience. it's always the best. As well we had the rubbish collectors all over Gauteng go on strike this week! There is trash and junk all over the streets everywhere! today we drove down the street and there was a dumpster in the middle of the street! sweet. as well i ate chicken head and chicken feet yesterday at siphiwe's after the baptism! The juice inside of a chickens eye is not pleasant in case you ever have the urge to try it. haha The temple was sweet! as usual! it continues to blow my mind! Jo burg has the best temple grounds in the world! What else is there to tell about...... oh ya we're on bikes 5 out of 7 days. we get the car for two days of the week! And bishop came to church again! sweet, The vibe in the ward has been awesome the last two weeks. lots of smiling, jokes, and just a sweet vibe. Aside from that... not much else. Just working hard. And doing the work that the lord wants us to do! it's great! But i hope everyone has a good week! i'll hope to hear from y'all soon! the church is true! -elder johnson
