So A Lot Happened.

Here's the email from this week! And our Elder sent us some pictures, too! Enjoy!!

I got 2 flat tires in the same day... yay. But it was really cool.

After me and Elder Eki left our area at 9pm, I was driving and noticed that the car was pulling to the left. I figured we needed to get the car aligned, so I kept going. As I began to speed up, a voice IN MY HEART told me to slow down. I obeyed and then I heard the CLUMP, CLUPM pf the shredded tire hitting the road. That was super cool that I heard that. I even got to use the skill my dad taught me on how to change a tire... Shout out to my pop.

So that's a cool story, right? Well I popped another tire 1 K from our home... Yeah, I borrowed Michael Kimble's luck for a night. We had to borrow Benoni's tire as we were stranded.

Next, we did some yard work for about 4 hours digging a water canal for sis Maebela. Yeah, nothing special there.

The highlight of the week was when we drove to Secunda from Benoni. that drive was super long and I hated it. It's an hour and half from where we live... we drove there andback twice in one day to pick up elders for Zone meeting.... Joy. 

Not too much to say, but here's some pictures to prove I'm still alive and well.

Stay strong back home

-Elder Schnepf

...I Baptized Two Kids on Sunday.

Sorry for the late post!! This is his email from last week, enjoy!

First off I wanna talk about the rain in south Africa. Cultural. Celebration. Level. Of. Wetness. My rain proof jacket was soaked. Yeah, it was awesome.

So once upon a time me and Elder Eki were filling up the Baptism font. I testify and let heaven be my witness as I say we did not crack the pipe.... but heaven also testifies that we 100% broke it off. Not my fault. you can't prove anything. However, me and Elder Eki did some engineering that would have made Nick Thwaits proud of me: We shoved a hose over the piper and it fit perfectly.

And that brings me to the fact I baptized two people on Sunday. Jabo Bale and Matepelo Maloto. a 10 year old and a 9 year old. the water was so cold but I put on the fake face and said it wasn't' that bad.... then they seemed to be super cold after wards. I got to wear all white and I felt amazing wearing white again.

Also, so last monday we played doge-ball with 4 Elders. It was super fun to avoid a volley ball being thrown at me by people who could wrestle bears. Because of how small and fast I was they couldn't really hit me.... but when they did. EISH.

Then we played 2v2 basket ball. I still got some skills even though we lost by one point. Just saying.

Oh, so the awesome mission bag I bought from that place in mesa is a piece of junk. The zipper broke, the strap broke, and the shoulder pad ripped. However, I can say I have never been more proud of myself than to be able to learn how to sow a button hole, strap, and fix a rip on my mission. Pretty soon I think I'll be able to tailor my own suit.

Know that I am doing well, that milk here expires months after it's boxed, and that I am buying so many spices in preparation of the leave of my trainer. I am Alive, doing well, and I haven't died yet. As a fellow missionary once told me:

Stay alive, stay awesome, stay frosty. Elder Peterson, I'm gonna do just that.

-Elder Parker T Schnepf.

PS

Shout out to Nick Thwaits. Taught me how to fix broken stuff in a way no one else could have.

And Here's Another Week Gone By

Here's another email from our Elder. This had to be edited a lot because he is learning Zulu; and for those of you who have learned a second language, then you understand how hard it is to spell in English when learning that other language!

Yeesh, it seems that weeks fly by. I email, and then it's like I email again.

Anyhow, so Hi. How's everyone been? It's fun being here.

On Sunday I gave a talk in same sacrament that I was asked to give 2 hours before the meeting. It was the first talk I gave with no paper to use as a guideline. The Spirit used me like a speaker as I addressed everyone about charity, My favourite topic. It was awesome to hear words not your own come to you and see the light fill in peoples eyes.

I also was able to confirm Lizzy Ratshisu, a new member of the Church, on Sunday. It was awesome, I messed up 2 times in front of 39 people! But it shows that everyone messes up, right?

So I saw someone get hit by a taxi. It sucked, because I literally was not allowed to do anything to help this man as he laid there twitching.... California Drivers and Utah drivers are saints compared to the devils on the road here. I testify of that.

Also, I never mentioned that the McDonald's here has a share box that feds a family of 5 for less that $12 (or ONE Elder Lefthand. That guy is not human). And McDonald's here is just as sucky as it is back home. I don't go often, but I had to try it to say I did.

In order to be able to relate with the people here, I must learn Zulu. It's not easy, nor is it like anything back home, but I've got a Zulu Book of Mormon and a lot of time (A whole HOUR) to read every morning. You watch me come home being able to speak like a real south African, because I already can click pretty well.

Stay safe everyone. Make sure you appreciate your family too.

Elder Schnepf

P.S. It seems Grandpa Burke still has some things to say to me because I received a Priesthood manual from the 80's from past missionaries. As I read through it, H. Burke Peterson had a very good insight about how to use your priesthood on your family... I can't tell you how long I stared at that page in disbelief. 

Brookie I Lied

Here's this weeks email from our Elder!!

I got into a car accident. First, no one was hurt, and second the cars were fine (mostly). The guy behind us tried to swerve around us while we were turning and... well he hit us. The kid then called his father because he was the one who owned the car and they were super worried because they had no insurance and the kid didn't have his license on him... Let that be a lesson to all of you drivers.

So Transfer week was last tuesday and guess what? I didn't change because I'm still being trained. I do, however, miss a few of the Elders that got moved out of the area to others. Elder Kilgore and Lefthand will be missed by me, but I'll see then eventually.

First Baptism was yesterday and I got to conduct it. It was awesome to see a whole branch laugh at my few quick puns before we got on with the Baptism. It was awesome to see my Trainer go into the font that we had just spent an hour cleaning the day before. It was an awesome experience to see Lizzy Ratchisa get baptized. I will confirm her next week, so oh boy do I not want to mess that up.

I've also been doing alot of blessings since I got here. I'll be a pro at them by the time I return from my mission.

So to tell you more about the environment here, it's never a good idea to leave anything in your car for fear of a smash n grab. Also, people fear no cars here. They walk on the road like they own it... before they get hit by a car. Yeah, there's that. Another thing is everyone communicates with the lights on the car, hazard and high beams are ways of saying please and thank you.

The candy here are cough drops. I don't remember if I told you guys that, but I'll tell you that now. ALSO, there is no such thing as Steak Spice here. My heart sank when I found that out.

But to tell you about Africa overall, just picture in your mind what you think Africa is like. Got that image? Good. Now throw that in the trash because that's not africa at all. African people are some of the nicest people on the planet. They always are willing to feed you, invite you in, and listen to what you have to say. They share what they have and never complain about what they don't have. They are super proud to be called South Africans, and to tell you the truth they have every reason to be. I have never met a nicer group of people. They do live in shacks in some places, but these shacks have laptops and phones and they use facebook and all manner of electronics. There's some shacks that are even nicer than where some of the suburbs are. They have bathes and toilets and sinks. THEY HAVE ZOOS for the animals not in South Africa. Every other person is happy that I am here because they say;

"Now you can go home and tell people what Africa is really like."

That says something right there. 

Now here's the more Missionary part of me, so if you don't wanna read it then just skip it.

The Church grows so fast here. People love to hear the Gospel and strive to make it part of their lives. Though they seem jealous that I was raised in the church, I am Jealous of their testimonies because They get a strong testimony and build off of that. I wish I had started out like that.

Ok, before I go I just have one more thing to tell all of you:

 

The Book is Blue

The Church is True

And God's a Mormon.

Those are facts. Deal with it. See you next week

_ELder Schnepf

So I Got A New Quote

Sorry for the late post! Enjoy our Elder's email this week!

First off I want to dedicate this quote to something my friends Adam, Wes, and Michael Kimble would say:

"Work first, complain later."

"What's the point of complaining then?"

"Exactly. With or without complaining, you're gonna do it so just do it."

I took that one to heart.

So Month two is gone already. Time fly's when you're serving the Lord. 

There's a baptism on Sunday for a investigator named Lizzy and she might as well be the next Relief Society President. She's that powerful.

So, it seems that people in townships stare at me more than I thought. We did yard work for a Sister on Tuesday. and come Sunday she fed us and said that everyone was commenting on how she could get a White Guy to do her gardening. That... I have no words to say how sad that made me. The Africanze (White people) here are not the nicest of people, but that statement.... It just upset me that they have grown up with racism as part of their community. Breaks my heart.... But she goes on to tell them that in her church they don't believe in racism and that I even volunteered for the service, so it turned out to be a missionary lesson.

So with that out of the way, she also made the best meal I have ever had here in Africa (on an unrelated note, pumpkin cook is super good).

And to add to my week, I started driving. What a heart attack I had. But I'm an expert driver now on the left side of the road!

It seems that the more I am here the more this country seems at home. For example, Winnie the Pooh and Spider-Man are huge here. This is my kind of country.

To tell you the truth I miss you guys back home, but I don't need to go back there. Home is where the Lord wants me, and as of now he wants me here.

(Oh, I invited someone to baptism and got a straight up no. That was fun.)

For those of you that pray, I'd pray for the members here to realize the importance of church so we can start bringing them back to the light. For those of you that don't believe... would it kill you to try?

With those things being said, one last thing is how much I drive around a day... 80-90 Km (1Mile = 1.609 Km's). You do the math on that.

-Elder Schnepf

PS

Shout out Tyler Jones for loving the MTC