Hello,
So I was sent back to Botswana! That was a huge surprise, I'm glad to be back. It’s just that the bread is terrible here and it is freaking coooold. I had somewhat of an emergency because I don't really have a jacket to wear for cold weather. When I say cold, I mean like very very cold. I was freezing the first few days and had to go buy something so I tried to find an inexpensive jacket. I do have some bad news though; I only have 6 pula ... which is next to nothing. I have nothing on my mission card cause I was helping out Nelson with food right before I left, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do there. We do not get paid tell this Friday, I think, and I literally have no food. So the next few days will be interesting.
On a brighter note, I’m right in the main city of Gaborone, in Gaborone west. It’s supposed to be a town area but is nothing close to the way Nelspruit is. My companion is Elder Mokasa from Zimbabwe. He is a very cool guy and works very hard. We recently just had 4 baptisms yesterday. Obviously none were really from my efforts, and we should be getting 3 more in July and 3 more in August. So it’s not a super high baptizing area but a lot better and easier than Nelspruit. Since coming here I have realized how much Nelspruit helped me. I can go up to anyone and just start talking about anything and I don't get nervous at all; and I just feel very confident in missionary work. Not saying I am like this powerful missionary but just that Nelspruit, I think, really brought me out of my comfort zone and made me a better missionary. Also something very cool that happened right before I left was we got a call from our old investigator Irene! I don’t know if you remember her but we had to drop her due to how her husband was very against the church. So she called us and told us we need to come teach her again and just really wanted us to come. Sadly we had to make the appointment on Friday so I missed it. She was our best investigator and that would be awesome if she was still able to be baptized. I’m not sure about Nelson but I’m sure everything went fine with his wife.
As for the package I will get it whenever someone comes down to Bots from South Africa, or I go down there, and that would be sometime in August, unless someone goes down sooner. But I am really excited to get it. That’s really cool mom that you are liking your piano lessons. I’m excited to see how good you are when I get back. I have recently started playing the ukulele and its pretty easy, just because I think knowing the guitar made it allot easier. But I like playing it.
I don’t have too much to say I guess this week, just been very busy. It’s always very hectic when you get in a new area and a little stressful, just a lot of stuff to learn and a lot of people to see but it is a good area and I feel I will like it here. I was able to get residency in Botswana, which a lot of people are not able to get. They just pick and choose a few so I was one of the lucky ones which is why I was sent back up. So I could be here the rest of my mission if more missionaries don’t start getting residency, but we will see, I really have no idea. But love you guys allot and tell the triplets they better behave for their awesome teachers. Take care.
Love, Justin
Monday, June 27, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
My last week here.
Hey Mom and Dad,
Hey so the week went very well, we were able to find lots of people, and I also got news that I will be leaving this wed to a new area and am leaving Satins cauldron. No, I actually have really grown to love Nelspruit and I think it has refined me, not all the way but almost. The worst news of the week is that Neilsons wife comes this Friday! I mean its good news but 2 freaking days right after I leave. I was super bumped and Nielsen was pretty upset. I'm going to miss that guy quite a bit but hopefully his wife will come to know this gospel is true and get baptized then I will be able to go to the temple with them in about a year, that would be awesome! Neilson really wants to go to the temple, almost more then he wants to come to America, He is a good guy.
Ha ha... I nearly died when you told me about that Erie, I cant believe that she came back. Oh the memories I have in my mind of her. Oh. and by the way dad, HAPPY FATHERS DAY! Just thought I would put that out there. I hope you had a good day we had a good time here all the primary kids sang for the dads during elders meeting, it was pretty cool. I'm glad to hear that girls camp went good mom, Why is it that the girls are always just playing pranks on you? I think there has to be a reason :)
Thanks for the phone numbers, Nielsen will give you a call sometime I'm sure. Me and my companion are putting together this package with some videos in it that I want to send to you guys and we will try to get some good videos for you guys. Sorry though, I have to keep this short because we are going to go pick up some people for soccer and we don't have to much time but love you both and hope you guys have a good week, oh and thanks for the package I'm excited to get it.
Love, Justin
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Hey so the week went very well, we were able to find lots of people, and I also got news that I will be leaving this wed to a new area and am leaving Satins cauldron. No, I actually have really grown to love Nelspruit and I think it has refined me, not all the way but almost. The worst news of the week is that Neilsons wife comes this Friday! I mean its good news but 2 freaking days right after I leave. I was super bumped and Nielsen was pretty upset. I'm going to miss that guy quite a bit but hopefully his wife will come to know this gospel is true and get baptized then I will be able to go to the temple with them in about a year, that would be awesome! Neilson really wants to go to the temple, almost more then he wants to come to America, He is a good guy.
Ha ha... I nearly died when you told me about that Erie, I cant believe that she came back. Oh the memories I have in my mind of her. Oh. and by the way dad, HAPPY FATHERS DAY! Just thought I would put that out there. I hope you had a good day we had a good time here all the primary kids sang for the dads during elders meeting, it was pretty cool. I'm glad to hear that girls camp went good mom, Why is it that the girls are always just playing pranks on you? I think there has to be a reason :)
Thanks for the phone numbers, Nielsen will give you a call sometime I'm sure. Me and my companion are putting together this package with some videos in it that I want to send to you guys and we will try to get some good videos for you guys. Sorry though, I have to keep this short because we are going to go pick up some people for soccer and we don't have to much time but love you both and hope you guys have a good week, oh and thanks for the package I'm excited to get it.
Love, Justin
Saying goodbye to some of the recent converts
Hello
Hey Mom and Dad,
This week was not to good in the sense of missionary work but everything is still going well we just seemed to have some bad luck with people keeping appointments so the result was more and more track-ting and its very hard to track t right now because it gets dark at about 5 and its getting very cold here so people do not want to open there doors so its just been hard lately. I do on the other hand have pretty good news. I think me and my companion have solved the roach problem in are flat! I know that is not exciting to either of you or anyone that reads this but we are very excited. It was funny the other day we went and got more roach traps and they are like little cardboard box home things and they are like really sticky on the inside. So when the roaches think they are going in a dark home they get stuck, the thing was was that we found one and put it inside, and we just looked at it and felt so bad for it that it was just stuck there and would not die for several days, we felt so bad for the stupid insect that we threw away all the traps we bought. I guess I do have a soft spot for bugs I never new was there. As you can tell by what I have written, the week has not been to exciting but its still going really well if that makes sense. Me and my companion get along really well and to answer Dad's questions... I am the junior companion, he is about 2 months older then me on the mission.
As for Nelson how he worked it out with the money was he sent all of it to his wife and she is just using it to get here. She left last Tues and should be getting here in about a week or so, we are all just praying and fasting that she makes it safe, its not easy traveling across Africa with a little baby. But Nielsen said she is very smart and clever and she handle herself. I trust him, so I really hope she will get here in safety. I might not actually get the chance to see her because I might me leaving next week but we are not sure yet. I would be pretty sad if I was not able to see her but hopefully someday. Nelsons biggest goal in life is to someday come to America. I swear he is more patriotic to are country then any one that lives there. It is so funny he has like an American flag that he uses as a blanket when he sleeps and he always says he wants to speak better American not better English. He is an awesome guy! I love him very much. And Elder Robinson's dad already helped but was not able to help to much he gave him about 1000 rand for his ID. Nielsen is still trying to get it which is apparently the biggest pain in South Africa because no one will listen to him because he is from another country, its very bad.
That's cool to hear you are working on some yard work. I wish I could help you. I really like doing that stuff! I miss doing it alot. And that's good to hear that young woman's is going well for you mom. Its very true what you say about receiving rev, its a very cool thing. I did finish reading the book Return along time ago I thought I told you but I guess not. Right now me and my companion are really trying hard to get very good in the B.O.M. we are trying to basically know what and where every chapter is so we came up with this system to help us. One of us will read a chapter heading then the other one has to guess what book its in and the chapter and I have also just been reading it like crazy. I figured out I cannot read more then one book at a time or I get very confused. So I'm just trying to know the bom very well then I will work on other books. I think the next one I'm going to read is Jesus the Christ. That's a pretty sweet book.
Oh, I just wanted to add a note for Angie if she is reading this. I sent you a package (just so you know) a while ago for your birthday and I just want to make sure it does not get stolen. So just let me know if you got it yet, okay.
Oh and as for Nielsen calling you its actually alot cheaper then emailing and calling international is actually very cheep if you do it over a pay phone which he does it will coast him about 30 rand to talk to you guys but he reminds me every single day to get your number so he can call you but its really up to you but he would really like to.
But its good hearing from you guys excited to hear form you guys next week!
Love, Justin
This week was not to good in the sense of missionary work but everything is still going well we just seemed to have some bad luck with people keeping appointments so the result was more and more track-ting and its very hard to track t right now because it gets dark at about 5 and its getting very cold here so people do not want to open there doors so its just been hard lately. I do on the other hand have pretty good news. I think me and my companion have solved the roach problem in are flat! I know that is not exciting to either of you or anyone that reads this but we are very excited. It was funny the other day we went and got more roach traps and they are like little cardboard box home things and they are like really sticky on the inside. So when the roaches think they are going in a dark home they get stuck, the thing was was that we found one and put it inside, and we just looked at it and felt so bad for it that it was just stuck there and would not die for several days, we felt so bad for the stupid insect that we threw away all the traps we bought. I guess I do have a soft spot for bugs I never new was there. As you can tell by what I have written, the week has not been to exciting but its still going really well if that makes sense. Me and my companion get along really well and to answer Dad's questions... I am the junior companion, he is about 2 months older then me on the mission.
As for Nelson how he worked it out with the money was he sent all of it to his wife and she is just using it to get here. She left last Tues and should be getting here in about a week or so, we are all just praying and fasting that she makes it safe, its not easy traveling across Africa with a little baby. But Nielsen said she is very smart and clever and she handle herself. I trust him, so I really hope she will get here in safety. I might not actually get the chance to see her because I might me leaving next week but we are not sure yet. I would be pretty sad if I was not able to see her but hopefully someday. Nelsons biggest goal in life is to someday come to America. I swear he is more patriotic to are country then any one that lives there. It is so funny he has like an American flag that he uses as a blanket when he sleeps and he always says he wants to speak better American not better English. He is an awesome guy! I love him very much. And Elder Robinson's dad already helped but was not able to help to much he gave him about 1000 rand for his ID. Nielsen is still trying to get it which is apparently the biggest pain in South Africa because no one will listen to him because he is from another country, its very bad.
That's cool to hear you are working on some yard work. I wish I could help you. I really like doing that stuff! I miss doing it alot. And that's good to hear that young woman's is going well for you mom. Its very true what you say about receiving rev, its a very cool thing. I did finish reading the book Return along time ago I thought I told you but I guess not. Right now me and my companion are really trying hard to get very good in the B.O.M. we are trying to basically know what and where every chapter is so we came up with this system to help us. One of us will read a chapter heading then the other one has to guess what book its in and the chapter and I have also just been reading it like crazy. I figured out I cannot read more then one book at a time or I get very confused. So I'm just trying to know the bom very well then I will work on other books. I think the next one I'm going to read is Jesus the Christ. That's a pretty sweet book.
Oh, I just wanted to add a note for Angie if she is reading this. I sent you a package (just so you know) a while ago for your birthday and I just want to make sure it does not get stolen. So just let me know if you got it yet, okay.
Oh and as for Nielsen calling you its actually alot cheaper then emailing and calling international is actually very cheep if you do it over a pay phone which he does it will coast him about 30 rand to talk to you guys but he reminds me every single day to get your number so he can call you but its really up to you but he would really like to.
But its good hearing from you guys excited to hear form you guys next week!
Love, Justin
This week has been very good!
Hey Mom and Dad,
I was very confused there for a sec because dad always writes first. So at first I thought I was reading dads, but anyway its great hearing from you guys. That's cool that you guys are on a trip. The week here has been very good, first of all Nielsen blessed the sacrament yesterday and I was able to do it with him. He only messed up 1 time and I had to help him with some of the words it was a very cool experience though, just seeing how much he has grown. I look back on when we first met him and he could not understand anything you said and you could not understand anything he said, and now he is blessing the sacrament in church its very cool. Everyone loves him in church because he always makes funny remarks in class because he just speaks straight out of his mind, kinda like a child but its just really funny some of the things he says. I was able to take out just enough to give to him, he was extremely grateful and wants me to get your cell phone dad so he can call you. I do not have your number memorized so I will need to get it from you next week. I don't know if you want me to give him the home phone so you guys can both talk to him or just your cell phone just let me know but he will probably call you around 6 or 7 or 8pm are time because that's when he is of work. But this week we were actually able to find some people to teach finally and now have four on date and are teaching about 7 people. Yesterday we had a nice lesson with a 7th day Adventists (who worship on a Saturday) and he fought us to the death that the sabbath is on Saturday it was very annoying and we gave him a book of Mormon and told him to pray about it. Then his wife said that she would also give us a book on how we are worshiping on the wrong day...some people are just so confused, I swear.
Its crazy that school is out already. I bet that is nice for you mom you have only been telling me about it since Christmas so that's good to hear that your fantasy has finally come true. Summer break is pretty awesome and that's really cool that you are taking piano lessons! Dad should start to take voice lessons then you guys can be like Simon and Garfunkel and tour the country...that would be pretty sweet. Just let me know what you think. I'm going to try and send some pictures, but its good talking to you guys and tell grandma I say hi and take care.
Love, Elder Justin Brey
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I was very confused there for a sec because dad always writes first. So at first I thought I was reading dads, but anyway its great hearing from you guys. That's cool that you guys are on a trip. The week here has been very good, first of all Nielsen blessed the sacrament yesterday and I was able to do it with him. He only messed up 1 time and I had to help him with some of the words it was a very cool experience though, just seeing how much he has grown. I look back on when we first met him and he could not understand anything you said and you could not understand anything he said, and now he is blessing the sacrament in church its very cool. Everyone loves him in church because he always makes funny remarks in class because he just speaks straight out of his mind, kinda like a child but its just really funny some of the things he says. I was able to take out just enough to give to him, he was extremely grateful and wants me to get your cell phone dad so he can call you. I do not have your number memorized so I will need to get it from you next week. I don't know if you want me to give him the home phone so you guys can both talk to him or just your cell phone just let me know but he will probably call you around 6 or 7 or 8pm are time because that's when he is of work. But this week we were actually able to find some people to teach finally and now have four on date and are teaching about 7 people. Yesterday we had a nice lesson with a 7th day Adventists (who worship on a Saturday) and he fought us to the death that the sabbath is on Saturday it was very annoying and we gave him a book of Mormon and told him to pray about it. Then his wife said that she would also give us a book on how we are worshiping on the wrong day...some people are just so confused, I swear.
Its crazy that school is out already. I bet that is nice for you mom you have only been telling me about it since Christmas so that's good to hear that your fantasy has finally come true. Summer break is pretty awesome and that's really cool that you are taking piano lessons! Dad should start to take voice lessons then you guys can be like Simon and Garfunkel and tour the country...that would be pretty sweet. Just let me know what you think. I'm going to try and send some pictures, but its good talking to you guys and tell grandma I say hi and take care.
Love, Elder Justin Brey
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