I feel bad that I haven't really been answering your questions. I do mean to, but I always seem to run out of time.
Is it safe working in the townships?
Crime seems to be a pretty large concern but none of the missionaries here have had any problems. I feel pretty safe in the township, whites are afraid to get anywhere near them, but they aren't that bad, the people are generally friendly and open.
Can you understand the people? What do they speak?
Almost everyone can speak english, the few that can't are often little children or some of the elderly. The native language for most it Sotho, apparently each township has it's own dialect. The kids are also taught Afrikaans in the schools, but that lanuguage is only native for the Whites. There are many different accents, at first it was hard to understand people, but I think I've adjusted to it. Some people have a hard time understanding our accents, we have to speak very slowly and make sure to ask questions so that they understand. Many of the words used in the scriptures are new to them. The biggest challenge we run into is people being able to read effectively. Many people struggle to understand the words in the Book of Mormon, we have word help-guides that we often leave with people.
Where do you live? What is it like?
I live in a flat (apartment) 10 minutes outside of the township. It's in a security compound (similar to a gated community). I stay there with my companion and two other missionaries. We have 2 study rooms, a living room where our beds are, a kitchen, and two bathrooms. It's about the quality of a typical NJ apartment. Everything is in pretty good condition except my mattress - I can feel the springs poking into my side. It hasn't been too bad though, it stays pretty warm at night so normally I sleep on top of my duvet and it makes sleeping more bearable.
How many lessons do you teach each week?
We teach a lot! Our schedule normally gets booked about a week in advance. We can normally schedule 7 appointments in a day, most of the time 2 to 3 will fall through, but we always have people to check up on. We've never been stuck with nothing to do.
When is P-day? What do you do?
It's on monday. We clean the flat, go shopping, do other chores, email, sometimes meet up with some other elders to play some sports, do a service project, then go back and teach in the evening.
This week has been even better than the last! Things are really great! It crosses my mind several times a day that I am so blessed to be here. I am much more confident in talking to people, and I think I understand more about how I should be teaching. It's also nice that I'm beginning to see people more than once instead of a completely new family for each appointment.
So I'm sure that you are wondering about the subject by now. Yes, I had Mopane worms this week. A member family fed them to us, they built up to it the whole week. I even had a chance to see live ones at an investigator's house a few days before. They look exactly like the grubs Timon and Pumba ate in the Lion King. At full size they are a little longer than my middle finger and are about twice as thick. They are predominantly green with blue and yellow color patterns and have small spikes across their body. They have black or red heads. They shrink and turn grey when cooked, but still look very much like a grub. They don't taste that bad when you get over the fact that you are eating a bug, the texture is awful though. You can feel the spikes and legs rubbing against your tongue, they are gritty too... Luckily, they serve them with pap (it's like mashed poatoes, but made with corn, it's gritty and much more bland)
There have been a lot of great experiences this week, including a baptism, but the best by far was our opportunity to give a preisthood blessing. One of our investigators called and asked if we would come pray for her uncle who was very sick. She had only been taught twice so far, but her faith is really strong, she already knows the chruch is true. We followed her to her uncle's house and met with the family. We found out that the uncle has diabetes, but I don't think that was the only thing wrong. When we went into his room he was laying on the bed with a scorching fever, completely delirious. He was very thin. We explained that through the restored power of the priesthood that we could give him a blessing of healing and that through their faith he could be healed. We laid our hands on his head and gave him a blessing. During the blessing the spirit flooded the room, everyone was touched. After the blessing we stood in silence for several minutes, then left him to rest. Afterwards we said a prayer of thanks with the family. I don't know if that man is better yet, but I know that he will recover, I think the whole family knows it too. They invited us to come back whenever we are nearby. Sadly the uncle doesn't live in our area, but we passed his address to the missionaries there so they could stop by and check on them later in the week.
I know that the church is true and love being able to spread the message of the restoration! I know and have seen that its blessings are real! I love you all, thanks for the many letters!
Elder Halterman
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