Week 82: Four is ALMOST a crowd

Hello Friends and Family,

This week we had the opportunity to gather and hear from Elder Terrance Vinson of the Presidency of the Seventy. It was a great meeting and the spirit was so strong. One moment I won’t forget was when all 100 of us missionaries sang "Called to Serve". I realized how precious this time is to serve the Lord and I’ll never get an opportunity like this in my life again.

Well Elder Willison, Spencer, and I got another companion! We are now in a quadruple companionship. Weird right? Our new companion is Elder Nau, from Oakland California. The reason for him coming to be our companion is that he has been having some medical issues that they are trying to figure out. Over a period of  2-3 days he passed out 3 times. So they’ve brought Elder Nau to be with us so he can be close to President and Sister Leavitt and so we can monitor him while he gets tested to find out what the problem is. It’s been a blast so far. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried fitting 4 missionaries into a 2 man flat? It’s a job!

On Sunday, we had another lesson with Wayden. It was just him for most of the lesson but at the end his brother Jermaine showed up.  It was nice because we were really able to focus on Wayden’s need. He is still struggling to know what to believe. He is leaning towards believing evolution. We had a great discussion about God and how he answers prayers. We talked about how God will answer us in a way that we will recognize that it is from Him. At the end we promised Wayden that if he would experiment by reading the Book of Mormon and by asking God if it is true then God would answer him in a way that he would recognize that it is from God. As we were about to close Wayden said something that I’ll never forget. He said, “You guys have something that I want.” It’s moments like these that you have to just take a second and thank Heavenly Father for leading you to this certain individual.

I love being a missionary. It is the greatest decision I’ve made in my life thus far. 

Sincerely, Elder Rash

Hangin with Elder Willison

Elder Nau and Elder Spencer relaxing after a long day

Elder Nau and Elder Willison keeping it real

Elder Vinson of the Seventy visited Johannesburg

Learning from a General Authority.  Elder and Sis. Koch in the background

Where's Elder Rash?

Week 81: If you could all be flies on a wall

Hello Friends and Family,

This week was great!

On Tuesday we drove 2 hours out to a place called Klerksdorp to drop off a refrigerator and to pick up a few things.  On the drive we passed by the World's deepest mine.  It wasn’t that spectacular but at least I can say I’ve seen the World's deepest mine!  On the drive back we began playing I spy.  Let's just say this game turned into an hour and a half long game until we arrived back at the office.  My brain was hurting after playing.  Here’s an idea of how deep this I spy game got. “I spy something that starts with an E.... Exhaust pipe!" "I spy something that starts with an S... South Africa!. “ it was an intense game.

On Wednesday we had Zone Conference.  It was pretty crazy when my companion, Elder Spencer, got up to bear his final testimony!  Time flies.  I still remember the good ole days when we were chilling together in the East Rand in 2017!

On Friday we had interviews with President Leavitt.  I’m pretty sure each interview I have with him gets better and better!  You always leave an interview with President Leavitt feeling loved, motivated to do better, and confident.  Also after a long day of tracting in town with no success we returned to our car.  As we were approaching our car a car pulled up next to us and asked if we were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints.  It turns out as we were tracting he saw us and recognized us because he had met with missionaries a few years back in Bloemfontein.  We scheduled an appointment to see him that Sunday (yesterday).  His name is Jermaine.

Well once again this week we had an experience where I wish all of you could have been flies on the wall.  Lately, we have been struggling to find new prepared people to teach.  On Sunday we were all feeling a bit heavy with the knowledge of knowing we didn’t have many people to teach or people that were progressing.  After sacrament meeting we met two ladies whom a member had brought to church.  They were both super excited to be there and to have us come visit this week.  One of them kept saying “come teach us at my hair salon because there will be a lot of people there who will be able to listen as well!" After church we decided to go check on a less active member.  On arrival we discovered that the member no longer lived there.  We decided to ask the lady who did live there if she knew anyone who would be interested in hearing our message (she didn’t seem too interested).  She referred us to a house a few doors down.  As we knocked on this house a colored lady came out. She actually recognized Elder Willison because he had contacted her a while back when he was on exchanges in this area. The missionaries back then ended up never visiting her.  She allowed us to come in to share a message right then.  After talking about Joseph Smith and the first vision she stated “I felt this warm feeling as you talked. This has to be true.” The spirit was very strong in her home.  We are excited for our future lessons with her.  After that lesson we ran over to the lesson we had scheduled with Jermaine.  When we got there his brother, sister, and girlfriend were all there and joined the lesson (they are all in their 20’s).  They each had many questions, his brother Wayden in particular.  Wayden grew up Christian and still has Christian beliefs.  He expressed however that with all the confusion that is in the world he is beginning to think that the theories behind science are actually true.  He said he really wants to believe Christianity but he just doesn’t know what to believe at the moment.  After we finished sharing about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, Wayden made some comments that caused the spirit to rush in even more.  He said “ Wow Joseph Smith was similar to me. I guess I need to do what Joseph Smith did and God will answer me.  If the Book of Mormon is true then I will be convinced that I need to join your church.  Man there is no one else that has this.”  They each happily accepted a Book of Mormon and an invitation to read it. 

Our prayers were answered this week.  Each time we feel like we can’t go any longer or work any harder the Lord has blessed us with new people to teach.  He has given us a renewed sense of hope.  I know the Lord is aware of each of our circumstances and desires.

Love, Elder Rash

 

The Three Amigo's (Elder Spencer, Elder Willison, and Elder Rash)

Sunday dinner with Bro. and Sis. Truman (Senior Couple)

Relaxing in Elder Truman's Lazy Boy Chair

Week 80: Three is a good number

Hello Friends and Family,

Well Elder Spencer and I have a new companion!  We will be in a trio for the next 6 weeks with Elder Willison, from England.  Elder Willison is a great teacher! He is able to teach in a way that grabs everyone’s attention and they are able to understand.  Elder Willison has been on mission for about 10 months.  He is in the same MTC group as my son, Elder Bindrup.  We are having a blast together.  One of the highlights of us all being together this week was Elder Spencer and Willison teaching me how to drive a manual! 

This week Elder Spencer and I lost quite a bit of sleep due to having to wake up at 4 am two days in a row to make airport trips.  In total we drove to the airport 3 times this week. 

We spent quite a bit of time tracting this week.  We witnessed the Lord test our faith once again but he blessed us in the end.  After about two hours of tracting with no success the Lord blessed us with a return appointment on the last house we knocked.

On Friday we had the privilege of attending the temple!  I’m so grateful for a modern day prophet and the revelation he receives on our behalf.  I am also eternally grateful for temples. The past week or two have been stressful.  Filled with many questions and concerns about the future.  As I sat in the temple and pondered, I was able to receive much comfort and many answers that I was searching for.  The temple truly is the house of the Lord. 

Love,

Elder Rash

Missionary Work at it's finest

Missionary Training

Saying Goodbye to Elder and Sis. Wold heading home to good ole Mesa Arizona

Week 79: Some of the strongest members of the Church are in Africa

Hello Friends and Family,

This week was great. We were able to move 2 flats this week, take the Wolds to the airport (they are headed back home to good ole Mesa, AZ), and get all the necessary preparations for the transfer done.

On Sunday, there were some amazing testimonies. Many if not all were focused around the atonement of Jesus Christ. One of those testimonies came from the Sister I talked about in my letter last week. She also mentioned how grateful she is for the Relief Society and the service they render. We also had an amazing lesson in Sunday School. The discussion covered many different topics from the past 2 weeks come follow me lessons. We even had a few people we are teaching give input during the lesson and one of them gave the closing prayer. 

The Florida 1st ward is amazing at fellowshipping and making visitors feel welcomed and a part of the ward.

We had the privilege to attend ward council on Sunday. Our newly called bishop, Bishop Ntombela, is doing an amazing job in his stewardship over the ward. He is one of the humblest men I’ve ever met. He still has yet to accept the title of Bishop. Anytime we call him bishop he gets uncomfortable, laughs, and tries to convince us and himself that he’s not the bishop. He is a very dedicated servant of the Lord. When the church receives guidance from the Lord through the prophet and apostles he puts it into action. We saw this during ward council. 

As I was sitting in sacrament meeting, I looked around at all of the members in the ward. Many of which are still very young in the church. As I heard their testimonies an impression or realization came to me “Some of the strongest members of the church are here in Africa and many, if not all, are converts.” 

I’m so grateful for the blessing I have to be serving in Africa. I’ve been called to teach the people of South Africa, but honestly they are the ones teaching me. The gospel is true. It is the same throughout the world and it is touching the lives of many, especially mine.

Love, Elder Rash

President Leavitt needed a ride home.....he volunteered to sit in the middle!