I SURVIVED 12 WEEKS OF TRAINING

 

Guys, why is it so hard to write these emails?! I hope you’re reading them! It seems there’s just not enough time in the day! I have zone conference in the morning and found out I gotta write a talk still. MISSION IS SO COOL! But I love you all, so here's a quick update.

Anyway, I'm skipping the whole week other than transfers.

First off- I was the envy of all when I walked up to the packages and grabbed the Dr pepper everyone was eyeing- thanks mama!

I'm finally out of the undesirable place that is Stanger, South Africa! My new area is called uMnambithi.

This area is what made me realize a mission can be fun, especially since I got a new companion! His name is elder Fenn and he's from St. George UT. Definitely gonna hang with him when I'm home! Everyone says we look like brothers so that’s cool. Maybe I’ll have a pic with him next week.

But seriously, your companion changes your mission experience. If I told you all the things that happened the last 6 weeks, you would know why the subject says, "I survived" and not "blissfully lived through" my training.

Oh yeah, I'm no longer a greenie. Not that it changes anything since my trainer didn't do much for me, but hey it's ok we're figuring it out as we go.

I gotta go to bed so here's a quick story.
We were teaching a friend named Phumlani, and his wife. After the lesson we were just talking and learning more about each other. Then she brings out food for us. It was so kind of her, most people don't have just extra food sitting around so we were very grateful for what we got. After we finish eating and are about to leave, she asks us, "Aren't you going to pay? That’ll be 6 Rand."
Uhhh Uthini? (What did you say?) 

Yes, you read correctly. This lady wanted me to pay her for the food she gave us in her home. Now I was trying not to laugh bc I did not expect this at all. We don’t carry cash. But we were able to leave without paying, so I guess it was a dine and dash. Not too sure lol.

This ward in LadySmith is so big! There are also 8 friends on schedule for baptism, so the work is progressing and we’re helping people find God and themselves ❤️

Our car here is a Nissan Magnite - google it. It’s pure trash, been in an accident and “fixed”, but something ain’t right. The door is barely hanging on 😬

Also, in my new apartment which is huge and so much nicer than my last, you can't really shut the bathroom door because we have to share the space with a fat laundry machine. So, there's some chunky cords going through the cracks of the door.

A question you might have,

Well, Elder Cottrel,l how do you close the door to shower and use the bathroom?
And the answer is something that only some teenage boys could come up with.
A fat bucket of protein powder.
If you wanna shut the door for some private time, don't forget your protein or else you'll have an audience when you step out if the shower.

Spiritual thought:
Choose the right ... because the other way is wrong 👍