Family-
Sowbona! That's Zulu (it means hello):) Things are well here in SA! Just to let you know right off, it only takes about 5 days for you to get my mail right? But it takes 3 weeks for me to get post from the US. So, I haven't received any mail yet if you have sent any. I have no clue what is going on there.
Things are well here. I am getting used to being a missionary. I love teaching people. We have met some really cool people lately. It's been kind of difficult because I can't remember if I told you or not, but Sister Merkley and I are re-opening this area. So we've been trying to get used to the area and get to know the people. There hasn't been a baptism here in a few months. Our goal for Feb. is 6 baptismal commitments. I really think that we can do it. The branch members here are the greatest. They are very kind!
I've been a bit frustrated right lately because of the disobedience of the other missionaries. I'm not saying that I am perfect at following all the rules, but it shocks me that some of them just don't even try. For instance, our mission Pres let us watch the Super Bowl. Because of the time difference it started at 1:00Am this morning (Monday) So we were basically having an all nighter. I guess they all decided that since we had this special privileged that they could be slackers. Sunday night after a missionary fireside that we put on, we didn't have anything to do for a couple of hours until we went to the members home for the game. All the missionaries in my district changed clothes and went and played football. I was so frustrated. I just sat on the sidelines and read my missionary handbook. I think they all think I am a prude. Oh well, I guess it does not matter what they think. Sister Merkley is an obedient missionary except when it comes to peer pressure from the Elders. It's kind of frustrating!
We are in the hottest part of the mission, in the hottest months of the year, but it really hasn't gotten too bad yet. There have been a couple of days where sweat just is constantly flowing from our bodies, but overall the days have been pretty cool. The hottest it has gotten is about 105 F.
I'm pretty much over the greenie joke thing. I'm still a little paranoid, but it's not bad. just to let you know a little about the violence and crime here. There isn't any violence like civil war violence, it's just that when the blacks were only allowed to live in the townships they got ahead by murder and stealing, that's how they became successful or whatever. Then with the whole Apartheid thing, they just do the same thing they were doing to each other to the white people. Right now the whites are discriminated against by the blacks. The blacks are taking over. There is a lot of uneasiness about the state the republic is in, but it isn't as bad as the media portrays it to the world. There is a lot going on, but we just need to be really careful.
I am so grateful for my opportunity to be here. I can't believe that I have already been on mission for a month! My time here will really fly by! I have learned so much while I have been here. I am already picking up the accent and the lingo. There are a lot of words that are different here, like, mail is post, just now means in a few minutes, now now means right now, they use "is it?" in place of really. French fries are chips, chips are crisps. there are a bunch more things. The culture here is just really quite different than the states. There are just so many cultures that it is interesting to learn about it all. The food is quite different. I don't like a lot of it. They really don't have good restaurants here. Today we all went to a place called the Spur. It was pretty sick. I also had my retainers on my lap while I was eating. I forgot about them and got up and left. I panicked when I realized that they were gone! But we went back and fetched them.
Well, I had better end. I'm running out of paper :) I hope that all is well at home. I miss you all and love you very much! I can't wait until I get a letter from home. Oh1 One more thing, the men here just stop and pee anywhere. You always see them peeing on the side of the road or in the mall ANYWHERE! it's sick! I love you all!
Michelle
(As I read this letter, I laugh at myself and cringe at the same time! The bit about the disobedience of the other missionaries makes me laugh, mostly because that was SO me! I was such a straight arrow and a bit of a prude! Life has taught me to relax quite a bit, not that being obedient is any less important, but reality is, there really is no black and white when it comes to each persons choices on how they follow commandments or church guidelines etc. Yeah, mission rules are pretty black and white, but I don't think there was a singles mission rule stating that if you have no appointments and you are given permission to stay out all night to watch the Super Bowl that you can't play football while waiting for it to come on at 1 am! lol I cringe at the information I am giving my family about the crime and social situation of the country. At this point in my mission I had very little if no contact with any Zulu people. I was getting all my information from the Afrikaans people, which was quite biased. I am not saying that none of what I was writing about had any truth to it, but once again, I was seeing the world as black and white and since I had been told that is how things had been, that is how they had been. There is a lot more to the history of South Africa and the Apartheid than what I understood then, or even what I understand now)
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