SPEAK WITH A TRUMP OF GOD

http://africase.lds.org/speak-with-the-trump-of-god#d

Collette Burgoyne

Many wonderful opportunities present themselves for sharing the gospel, sometimes in unexpected ways. Elder Jackson and his companion, Elder Brown, assigned to the Randburg Ward, were contacting people at a mall, trying to begin a conversation with them. They saw some young men sitting on a bench, so they sat down next to them and began talking. After about 20 minutes, one of the young men told the missionaries that he hosts a radio show and would like to interview them on his program. Of course, the missionaries accepted.
On 7 May they appeared on the Lifestyle Thursday show of Kofifi FM 97.2 at 7pm. Kofifi FM is a radio station based in the West Rand of Johannesburg and broadcasts over a 100 kilometre radius, with an audience of about 30,000. During their 45-minute interview, the missionaries told about themselves and discussed why they were in Africa and what missionaries do. They explained that they want to bring people to Christ.
The night before the show, a co-host of the program had recorded members of the public asking questions for the missionaries. One of the questions was about the “Book of Mammon” and included several misconceptions about missionary work, the Church, and baptism. They were able to clear up many misunderstandings and explained what baptism is and why we need to be baptised.
After answering the recorded questions, many live tweets came in with questions, which the missionaries were able to answer. An amusing tweet came from someone, not LDS, whose first cat’s name was Nephi. Some of this person’s extended family were LDS, hence the name. This tweet provided an ideal opportunity to talk about Nephi and the record which he kept, as well as who Mormon was. When the tweets ended, the show’s host asked more questions about the Church’s position on gays, interracial marriage, and polygamy. The missionaries were able to clear up many incorrect ideas and explain clearly the Church’s position on these topics.
They were allowed to talk freely and as much as they liked, and they had the opportunity of speaking briefly about Joseph Smith. As the show was on the Thursday before Mothers’ Day, the last question was about mothers, and the missionaries emphasised how important the role of a mother is. They spoke about their own mothers, paying tribute to them. At the end of the program, they gave their phone number to the public for anyone who had further questions or would like to know more about the Church. Afterwards, they gave copies of the Book of Mormon to the host and his two co-hosts.
That evening those missionaries were fulfilling Alma’s personal desire: “O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God… unto every people!” (Alma 29: 1). This radio interview allowed them to share much about the restored gospel and the Book of Mormon with a wide, local audience, as if with a “trump.” Those who accept their invitation to learn of Christ will be able to say of them, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; … that publisheth salvation…” (Mosiah 12:21).

P-Day at Sterkfontein Cave

Sterkfontein (Africans for Strong Spring) is a set of limestone caves of special interest to anthropologists -  located 23 mile Northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa.  

Mitchell and Companion - Elder Asay

May 25, 2015

Dear Mom, 
It has been a great week here. It is so strange how fast each week goes by, but the individual days are so long! It is always great to have another week over. I am glad to hear that everyone is safe and happy! I am a bit jealous you are in New Port! I am sure you are having fun, and I hope you are enjoying the company of the family. I remember it was always exciting to be in a bigger city when we would go on vacation and things. I am now a bit sick of the busyness, and just being surrounded by people. I guess I am used to it, but I am looking forward to being in little old Cedar again. I miss just open space, and the mountains! I also just can't wait for vacations again. I miss being with you guys when you are on vacations. I just miss relaxing, and taking time off! My week has been good though. I am doing great with Elder Asay. He is a super fun guy! He is super easy to get a long with. We have a lot of fun together. We joke and laugh together a lot. He is a good people person too, so he does a lot of talking too. With some of my companions I am the one doing all the talking, and so it is really nice to have a companion that also can talk and socialize. We are working hard together, and doing well with our obedience. We are really helping each other to be better. I enjoyed the pictures you put on dropbox! It is always fun to see pictures. I got some good pictures this last week, but I am having trouble uploading them, so I might have to try again next week.   Tell Calvin he is wearing a nice hat! 
The week was really good. It is weird because it felt like a really good productive week, but we didn't teach a lot. I guess that isn't the level of productivity though. We did a lot of good. Monday we went to the Sterkfontein caves. They were really cool. You will have to Google them. It was really cool. We had like a 30 minute tour down inside the cave. They found like some ape/human fossil in there back in like the 90's, so they had a weird like evolution twist. We were in a tour group with some Chinese guys! The coolest thing was the lake inside the cave. It isn't a huge lake, but apparently it is super deep. They had a dive team exploring it, and they only got to 60 meters deep, and it still went deeper. One of the guys got lost, or had complications. He died in the cave, and was found in a dry pocket. We also found a random hill to climb to take pictures. It was a lot bigger than we thought. We just pulled over on the side of the road and climbed it. We took some good pictures. There were some huge ant hills that looked like termite mounds. It was super fun. We were just out in the bush, so it was nice to get out of busy Jo-burg. Every other day was pretty normal. We didn't see Jackie this week because she was really busy. We did see Abibi and Smart once, then they went out of town. They are progressing well. They came to church last week, but they are not reading the Book of Mormon like we would like. They are probably our best investigators. We only taught about 6 investigator lessons this week. We also have a new lady named Anna, and her friend Jerry. She got on the church website, and requested a Book of Mormon. We then got her contacts though our office, and went and gave her a book of Mormon. We are now teaching her and her friend. We have only seen them 2 times, but it has been good. We have some great members here. On Wednesday we met with the Van Schalkwyk family(try to say that). They are an older couple, like in there early 60's. They lived in the states for a while, and so they are citizens. They were a lot of fun. Brother Van Schalkwyk does photography, and makes videos. He kind of inspired me to want to get into photography. I guess that is a hobby i will have to take up. We also met with the Randall's, a great family in the ward. They have like a room they rent out on the back of their house. They two tenants that are staying there they invited them over for dinner when we were there. We shared with them, and it was great. We are going to go back and see these new investigators that are the Randall’s tenants this week. Welhemina and Esther are still doing well, and we are still just reviewing the lessons with them. The biggest challenge with new members is just getting them integrated into the ward. On Friday morning we did a soup kitchen type of thing with Sister Malpage who is our bishops wife. She cooked a ton of soup, and got bread and stuff. We loaded it all in her car, then we drove into the nearest township which is Alexandra. We just set up on the side of the road, and we were serving people that really looked like they needed food. We were discouraging people that could feed themselves, or had work. It was a great service, and it was a really cool thing that Sister Malpage thought of. She is going to try and do it weekly, so we might be helping her with it this upcoming Friday. More cool members we saw were the Steyn's. They are a cool young couple. They have two little kids. He has been working for a long time up in the DRC. He now is moved back here working. he is really into hunting and stuff, and so he showed us his man cave with all his trophies, and his reloading station, and his guns. It was super sweet. The white people here love there guns just as much as American's! I can't wait to come home and do some good shooting! I got to go singing two times this week with the old geezer's! We went to two different homes. They are both owned by the same member. It is a lot of fun singing with them, and the best part is we always get fed after haha!! On Saturday we did some good service for some members. There is actually a missionary that was my zone leader back when I was in Secunda that is now returned living in my ward with his wife. They live at her parents house. It is still weird to see him here, because I want to call him Elder Louw, but his name is now Brother Louw. We helped them rip out a bunch of tree's, and a bunch of tangles vines. It was some good manual labor! I enjoy doing service because it is just different than what I am normally doing! To keep busy we are hunting down less actives, and passing out pass a long cards at stop lights. We just walk between the cars and give people cards. It is nice because we have had a great response! Normally contacting on the streets in town noone will take our cards, only the black people. But with the cars we have a lot of white people rollilng their windows down to take our cards. We have even got a few calls from it. I am sorry to hear about Shasta. That must be really hard. I know it is always hard to loose a dog, they really do become part of the family. I hope that you are doing alright with her loss. I am glad you still have Lucy and Russen. I hope they will keep you good company. I guess that pretty much sums up the week! 
 I guess I am not too picky about where I fly in. I guess it would be nice to come straight home, but either way. Flying to St George would be a lot less driving, so that would probably be the easiest!  It is crazy to think that there are already plans for me to be flying home! I am down to only 10 weeks left, I can't believe it!!  I hope that you guys enjoy your fun in the sun, and try not to get too sunburned! I love you and miss you.Love 
Your son
Elder Brown

 

Great pictures of Johannesburg

New Companion: Elder Asay - Pictures of Mitchell's Apartment (nicest flat on his mission - he claims)

May 18, 2015

Dear Mom,

It has been a good week, and I feel that I have been really motivated from talking to you last week. I haven't felt homesick or anything. I think I have been excited more than anything!  Transfers were exciting, and I wasn't nervous at all. My new companion is Elder Asay. He is from Provo, Utah. He is 23, and has been on mission for 13 months. He is super fun, and we have already had a lot of fun together. I think I have been blessed with good companions. At my last interview with President he told me he would give me good companions to finish out. I have already seen that, and I am excited to serve with Elder Asay. He is from a big family, he is the youngest of 7 kids. He went to Mountain View, so the same high school as Alex and Levi, but he didn't know them. He graduated in 2010. 

I am glad you are getting more rain! You guys desperately need it it sounds like. I am sure it is weird to go from warm spring weather to rainy cold weather! That is sad to hear about Shasta! I hope that she is doing alright.  I am jealous about Calvin and Carson being out of school and headed into summer vacation.  I am jealous you are going to California. I just miss relaxing on vacations, and especially swimming! I just can't wait to swim! 

 It has been a good week. I guess just a normal one in Randburg. We are still teaching our normal people. The best ones right now we are teaching is Abibi and Smart. We are also teaching Abibi's sister, but she is about to move back home. We taught them the first vision, and about the book of mormon, and they really felt the spirit and loved it. We also got them to come to church, and I think  that they really enjoyed it. Jackie is still the same. She is still stuggling with smoking, and she keeps cancelling our appointments. She didn't make it to church yesterday either. I am sad because i know the gospel can bless her. I hope that she will come around this week. We also started teaching these young boys. The parents are members, but the kids haven't been baptized yet. The one is now 11, so he will have to be taught and stuff through the mission. They are a really cool family, and we taught them twice this last week. I guess we are still just trying to find new people to teach. We have a new method we have been trying. We go to stop lights and hand out book of Mormon pass a long cards. It is really cool, and people take the cards. I hope that something good will come out of it. I guess nothing else really exciting. 

We tried to help sister masters get rid of some of the bamboo we cut down. There is a huge pile in her backyard. We tried burning some of it, and we found out that bamboo doesn't burn very well. People always just have open burns here to get rid of stuff. That would be crazy if that happened back home. 

I guess something else I haven't really told you about is Load shedding. They cut peoples power because they don't have enough power supply. It is not just in town ships, but even in rich developed areas. We had that a few days this last week. They cut the power to the whole area for like 6 hours. it is super crazy.

Thank for all the pics! I don't recognize the family that President Dunn baptized. My bite is great. It has basically completely healed. There is still a red mark that I am sure will go away. I am pretty sure it was a spider bite because the skin started to fall away. I finished the antibiotic on like Thursday or something. But it is great, and not a worry anymore. 

Today we are maybe going to some caves to hike or something, so that is fun foe p-day.  I will get some good pictures of that. I hope you have a great week, and that all continues to go well. I know the work I am doing is truly the Lords work, and he is constantly watching over me. 

Love

Your Son

Johannesbrug South Africa in Avengers Movie

FILMING the Avengers: Age of Ultron on the streets of the Johannesburg city centre worked out very well for Africa’s economic hub — 300 South African crew were used in the 10-day shoot,

Mitchell and Companion Elder Jackson on a Radio Show

Mitchell and Companion where doing contacts at local shopping mall.  They where approached by a radio announcer and asked "why someone there age was out teaching?" He then asked if they would join them at the radio station - a local station in JoBurg.  The radio show was a talk or forum where ideas and view are discussed about youth service in the area.   The two missionaries where nervous but agreed to go.  The radio show took questions from the public and the church's beliefs where discussed for about 45 minutes.  Mitchell said the first person that called said he knew about the church and said they where evil because they believed in the "Book of Mora" and mora meant evil.  Mitchell said he quickly explained that they where Christians and that the book was another testament of Christ.  Mitchell said the time sailed by fast and they felt very good about being able to answer all the questions asked about marriage, priesthood, and gay relationships.   

Skype with Mitchell on Mothers Day - May 10 , 2015

We are thrilled as is every missionary family that we got to talk to our Elder on Mothers day.  Mitchell's email was short today because he had covered all of his weeks activity in our skype conversation.  I will quickly try to paraprase some of what he shared with us.  Mitchell confirmed that his visa expires and that his itinerary will be set soon for his return.  He will be leaving mission August 4 so will be flying into Utah on August 5 or 6.  Excited he will be home for school(SUU), and will most likely will be talking in church on August 9. MARK YOUR CALENDARS.  Mitchell will stay in his area- this week being transfers, but he will be getting a new companion.  He has really enjoyed his past companion but was optimistic about change.  He said the weather is getting a little colder, and non of the homes have heat to keep warm during winter months so people just wear a lot of layers.  He told us about doing service at an old folks home where they go sing.  He related several fun stories about the elderly people there.  He was optimistic about a few investigators they have, and are working hard with members to find more investigators.  When doing contacting at a shopping mall they where invited to come to a radio station and talk about the church - I post a few pictures he sent.  Mitchell was funny, and upbeat, but we could see a lot of spiritual maturity. He shared his testimony of the Doctrine and Covenants that he is re reading at this time.  He said how much he believed in Joseph  Smith and knew that he was a true prophet and he received revelation for the church.  He acted humble but also he came across to be confident and emotionally stable.  He said his area is very difficult.  He lives in a very affluent area where most are wealthy and white.  He jokingly said he was going to be all mixed up when he got home because they avoid talking to any whites, because they where usually rude, and had no interest in the gospel.  His ward is a very stable ward with mostly white members, and they are so good to the missionaries.  He has really been spoiled by the members in this area compared to all black areas he has served in prior to this.  Mitchell said he felt safe, but he said you have to be smart.  He said in his area there was no threat from the violence that happened a few weeks a go in a close township of Alexander with several xenophobia killings.  They have a car full time and he described some of the wild traffic in Jo-burg.  He talked about the insects and spiders they have.  He has another spider bite (4th or 5th he has had) but was on an antibiotic already.  He said it turns into a boil or large abscess  and then he can drain it after a few days. (semi - painful) He knows he is being watched over and protected. 

May 11, 15

Dear Mom, 

Well it was great to talk to you and the family yesterday! Everyone is looking great, and seems to be happy and well. It is weird that I have been gone for 20 months, and it just seems like I left yesterday. It seems like talking to the family that really nothing has changes, and that I guess makes me happy

I am happy to stay here in this area. I really have enjoyed this area, and I am actually quiet happy and comfortable to stay here. So don't feel bad or anything about me staying. I know that Jackie our investigator is a huge reason for me staying. I hope that in these next six weeks she can start to progress, and maybe make it to baptism. She told me yesterday that i am the one meant to baptize here, and so it is up to her to make it in these next six weeks. 

 I guess I really told you everything about my week yesterday, so there isn't much to tell you. I guess I am doing well. I will let you know next about my new companion next week, and I am sure it will be good. I am pretty used to the change of new companions, so it is nothing new. I guess it is always a bit nerve racking though. 

Well I hope the week goes well, and I will hear from you next week. 

Love Elder Brown 

Your Son

Chapel in South Africa

Die Kerk van Jesus Christus van die Heiliges van die Laaste Dae 
(Engels: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Pictures of Mitchell @ Crocodile farm

kissing a baby croc

holding a python 

petting a turtle

Doing service for Sister Masters- clearing a bamboo crop 

May 4, 2015

Dear Mom, 

Mom I miss spring in Utah and all the blossoms, and green but maybe not the birds.  It is always nice to just sit and enjoy nature. I feel like there isn't much of it around me being in a huge metropolis of a city. I guess in our flat complex, and out our back window we have a little garden, and it is nice to see the birds. But the birds aren't always pleasant. We have these birds called Hadeda (Know as the odd duck of South Africa)  that are just super annoying and loud. You asked if I can see the stars and if they looked different in the southern hemisphere. 

We do see the night sky! We can see the stars, but I really can't pick out the differences from back home, except I can't see the dippers! We have had a big full moon the last few nights, and I knew that you were seeing it as well. 

Well I am glad that finals are over, and that you can relax ha! I am sure that Blake is really relieved, and glad that he made it through. 

We did confirm them yesterday! Welhemina and Esther are now officially members of the Church. With converts we do have to wait for the following Sunday to confirm them. I guess that is the biggest thing that happened this week. 

 The week has been busy, but not very busy with teaching. We are desperately trying to find people. We have really been trying to work with the members to get referrals, but we haven't been getting any. We really don't have any other ways of finding here. We have stayed busy with contacting people in parks and shopping centers, but it has not been successful. Right now we have 1 family that is good. We haven't been able to see Jackie this last week because she has been really busy, so we are just hoping that we can see her this next week. She didn't come to church either. We did find one new family last week, and we met with them for the first time on Friday! They are a father led family, which is what we are always looking for. This is really an answer to our prayers. We found them as we were looking for inactive members. They live in the house that a member used to live in. There names are Smart, and Abibi. They have 2 little girls, and a third child on the way this month. They are black. 

We found Sanghyun the Korean man again this week! We got his phone number, so we hope we can contact him later this week. We have been waiting for him to call, but he hasn't yet.

I went on Exchanges this week with an elder from Spain. His name is elder De le Cruise. He is fun, and the exchange went good. He came with me here while Elder Jackson went to his area and did baptismal interviews. 

We have been cutting out a bamboo forest in Sister Masters backyard for her. We finally finished this week. As we were getting into the back corner of the yard, and with not many bamboo shoots left, we started to see a ton of spiders!! There were huge spiders in there, and we kept freaking out. One almost fell on my head!! As we cut the last one out a huge gray thing started running between our legs, and we were just screaming and jumping around!! It turns out it wasn't a huge spider, but just a rat. We were very relieved that it wasn't the mom spider. 

We also had a weird scare this week. We were helping one of our members move into our complex we live in. It is Aimen and his mom Sister Williams. We carried some heavy boxes in for her early in the morning, then we headed to our district meeting. She then went later that day to keep moving a few more things in, and I saw some guys that are after here.  They live there as well, and they saw her and just stopped talking. I guess her ex husband, and Aimens dad is some crazy Algerian guy. The guys there were some of his friends. She called us in a panic and told us we couldn't go back to our apartment. I guess she was scared if they saw us moving stuff in to her place they would try to get us and beat us up. But we called our mission security guy, and he said we should be fine. That happened earlier in the week, and we are still fine, we even said hi to the guys. But it was just kind of funny that we thought we couldn't go back to our apartment, and we thought someone would have to sneak in and move our stuff out. But we were just overreacting!!

Really that is all we have been up to this week. We have a little bit of success with inactive. We are still working on more that the ward has given us. We are hoping doing all this we can get new people to teach, or get referrals from the ward. We are also just trying to go around and find service in the community so people can see us out in the community. I guess I will tell you next week if we find any good service opportunities. 

Well I am good to skype. If you want 9 there that is 5 here?? But yeah we will definitely be skyping not just calling. We have a lot of members that have offered there homes to us. We are all set up for Sunday. Ashley emailed me the passwords and everything too. Excited to spend time talking to you. 

 I am feeling pretty good I guess. I do feel like I am trying to cherish every day. I sometimes feel like I am forcing myself to have a good attitude. I guess the work is hard, and I am getting sick of it sometimes. I am grateful though to be here. I am learning so much everyday, and whatever challenges I am going through are all worth it. I know that I am learning so much that is preparing me for the rest of my life!! I wouldn't trade my mission for anything! I am really just trying to push through these last 3 months. I am really trying not to count down, but to enjoy everyday. 

 I am getting your letters! I got two of them this last week, not sure of the dates, but I am getting them. I enjoy reading your letters, thank you, and I hope that my letter will get there. 

I love you and hope you have a wonderful week. I am constantly thinking about you, and praying for you. 

Love

Your son