Lord, Forgive me when I whine.

This is a letter is dedicated to a close friend of mine, who was a pioneer for the Church in South Africa and third grandmother to me: Bobbi Swanepoel.  She has recently passed on from this life and I wish to commemorate her passing by sharing one of her poems.

She was a truly gifted woman.  Her skill in watercolor painting are unsurpassed, her talent as a poet is top-notch, but her testimony of her life is one of legacy, sacrifice, and endurance.  She went through thick and thin, and yet her final words to the world include this amazing poem.  I hope we will all cultivate an attitude of gratitude, and see clearly with the amazing things we have been blessed with.

Lord Forgive Me When I Whine

Today upon the bus, I saw a lovely girl with golden hair. . . she seemed so gay . . . and I wish I was so fair. When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle. She had one leg and wore a crutch. But as she passed  smile.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine – I have two legs. The world is mine!!

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm. I talked with him. He seemed so glad – if I were late it would do no harm. And as I left he said, “I thank you. You have been so kind. It’s nice to talk to folks like you. You see,” he said. “I am blind.”

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine – I have two eyes. The world is mine.

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes so blue. He stood and watched the others play. He did not know what to do. I stopped a moment then I said, Why don’t you join the others dear?” He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he couldn’t hear.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine – I have two ears. The world is mine.

With feet to take me where I go, with eyes to see the sunset’s glow, with ears to hear what I would know . . .

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I am blessed indeed. The world is mine!!

Sorry for such a short email this week.  Load shedding and power outages are quite common this side.  More to come next week!

Sale kahle!

-Elder B

I'm in Utah

For those of you who believe Africa to be a blistering hot savannah, where children ride elephants to school and men fight off lions for their evening meal, think again.

Africa is more developed than the world believes it to be, and the stereotypes of underdevelopment are slowrly slipping away.  Dirt roads have been replaced with asphalt lions substituted with dogs; huts upgraded to Burger King.  True, these stereotypes do exist in many places in Africa.  but this new Arfrica is dominant and prevailing, especially here in South Africa.

Much of the world is aware of the rich heritage of Africa within the pages of history, and that heritage is evermore present in this wonderful country.  But there is one fact that history has failed to tell: Africa can and does get freezing cold!  Eish, the weather that I'm experiencing right now is so much like Utah!  Take away the palm trees and add snow, and it's another winter's day in Utah.  I feel right at home here.  If I'm honest, I had to play some Christmas music to make it feel more like a Utah winter.

I'm not sure if it's been in the news in America, but South Africa has been recently targeted by radical terrorists groups.  Their main target is America and their citizens.  As a result, us missionaries have been counseled to stay away from big malls, KFC, McD's, Dominoes, Krispy Kreme, and any other American/crowded location for the next bit.  But what a wonderful feeling to know that the Lord is protecting us, even if we are to be separated from our comfort food for a short season.

Earlier today, we found out that the owner of our apartment is coming to do an inspection.  We were counseled to do a deep cleaning, which involved the oven.  Eish, I really can't describe a more terrible chore to do than to clean a missionary's oven.  But I can say that, after four hours of scrubbing and scraping, I have prevailed!  The oven is sparkly clean, unlike my hands and forearms.  Pray you never have to experience the same.

There's nothing out of the ordinary to share from this week.  I can just share a story told by James E. Faust that I was relayed by my family this week:

[I'd like to relate] the story of a young piano student. His mother, wishing to encourage him, “bought tickets for a performance of the great Polish pianist, Paderewski. The night of the concert arrived and the mother and son found their seats near the front of the concert hall. While the mother visited with friends, the boy slipped quietly away.

“Suddenly, it was time for the performance to begin and a single spotlight cut through the darkness of the concert hall to illuminate the grand piano on stage. Only then did the audience notice the little boy on the bench, innocently picking out ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’

“His mother gasped, but before she could move, Paderewski appeared on stage and quickly moved to the keyboard. He whispered to the boy, ‘Don’t quit. Keep playing.’ And then, leaning over, the master reached down with his left hand and began filling in the bass part. Soon his right arm reached around the other side, encircling the child, to add a running obbligato. Together, the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.

“In our lives, unpolished though we may be, it is the Master who surrounds us and whispers in our ear, time and time again, ‘Don’t quit. Keep playing.’ And as we do, He augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created. He is right there with all of us, telling us over and over, ‘Keep playing.’”

I think we can all relate to the young boy, especially when we compare our small and simple works to the wonderful and marvelous works of our Heavenly Father.  But, as always, Heavenly Father makes our simple melodies into a mesmerizing song that capture the hearts of all those around us.  Like the song 'Glorious' states: "It's like a symphony.  Just keep listening, and pretty soon you'll start to figure out your part.  Everyone plays a piece in their own melodies..."  May we all play our small, yet incredibly important part in this work of salvation, that we may be able to have joy with those who we rescue in the next life.

Have a marvelous week!

Elder B

Zizo with her picture of me:

Fun with the camera:

Repeated Robberies and False Doctrines

Sanibonani everyone!

This week was incredible! Nothing here was out of the extraordinary in South Africa.  The majority of this letter will be snippets from the entries in  y journal that I've written in the past week.

Tuesday, April 30th, 2016

I was robbed... again!  What an amazing experience it is to have your home card taken away.  No worries, I'm still in one piece.

Friday, June 3rd, 2016

You know it's going to be a rough day when your companion has to wake you up when you fall asleep while kneeling in prayer.  He said to me, "God doesn't understand your snoring."  Eish, what a way to start the day.

Afer we dropped off the other guys in their area, we went to see Sphiwe and Lerato, two of our investigators on date.  We taught the most epic lesson on the Law of Chastity.  We taught them the doctrines of the law of sexual purity.  In return, they taught it back to us in Zulu!  We both had a blast and a headache from that lesson!  They're on date to be baptized on July 3rd.

Our next appointment was with Peace, another investigator on date for Jun 12th.  When we arrived at his house, there was something off about him.  He was acting very distant and very awkward, a complete opposite to the fun-loving, chill guy that we know.  After a prayer and some persuading, he opened up to us and told us what the matter was.  He said, "I talked to Sister [blah blah] last week, and she told me that I need to get married after I'm baptized.  Do I really have to get married to a girl straight after baptism?  You know the girls around here..."

..... Are you serious?! It is not a requirement to be married after you are baptized!  Eish, miscommunication is a major pain to deal with on your mission, but is a story to laugh at when it's over.  We all had a good laugh about it, and we continued on with the lesson.

As promised, I drove the district to get some McD's.  After we had ordered our food, an young Indian man walked up to the car.  He introduced himself as Zach (funny coincidence, neh?) and that he had recently lost his job.  He had no money, had no interest in our money, but was very hungry.  He kindly and humbly asked us if we would give him some food.  We got our food, and I gave him my order.  After a million thanks and gratitude's, he walked off.  But just before he rounded the corner, I saw him pause and say a prayer of thanks.  He then opened his eyes, and raced around the corner of the restaurant.

Some may identify this as an award-winning act, which it might have been.  Regardless of whether it was or not, which I thought it was, an amazing feeling was in my chest as I drove towards our flat tonight.  This pressure that entered into my heart brought floods of emotion to my mind. ...Although Zach may not have been a close friend, that enormous feeling of love was pressing deeply into the fabrics of my heart as I saw that hapy man run around the corner of McDonalds.

What an amazing feeling to have when one forgets about themselves in the service of others and to their God (Mosiah 2:17).

Fiddler on the Roof (African style)

When in Midrand (AKA Diabetes)

The Divine Dove

I've come to have a more firm testimony in the power of the Spirit.  It all began when we visited a less-active recent convert last Saturday named Simon.  He lives next door to two taverns, which are usually crazy on a weekend.  We drove past his house, and we were well on our way out of there.  But that calm prompting came: go see Simon.  I was super confused, especially since we would have to visit him at the height of the night.  Again it came: go see Simon.  After a pretty heated internal debate between logic and the Spirit, I gave in.  We parked the car in the safest place we could find, said a prayer to protect us and the vehicle, and we sprinted to his house.

What happened next was amazing: we knocked, Simon let us in, and we had an amazing lesson with him.  He expressed much gratitude for our visit, and that he had prayed earlier in the week for us to come see him.  Afterwards we quickly left the scene, and no sooner had we started driving away did we see a fight ensue.  Some may attribute this to luck or to coincidence, but I've come to learn on my mission that there really are no such things.

We continued throughout the rest of our week.  We had many more visits of the Spirit in the form of a small and simple prompting, all of which lead us to being able to testify, in power of that same Spirit, the truthfulness of gospel principles and of the restoration of Christ's gospel.

If we'd all trust in those prompting of the Spirit, which is a small but powerful voice, this world would be so much more peaceful and happy.  It really starts with us, and I think that we'd be smart to listen.

Here's a poem my brother wrote about this Divine Dove in our lives:

The Divine Dove

A voice soft and delicate,

Heard clearly though inaudible.

Where nothing will replicate,

Which the world finds insensible.

The message is distinguished,

Be sure to give ear.

Wherein is the pain relinquished

a message soft and clear.

The voice is not its own,

But that of the master.

Such understanding has grown

When heed is given faster.

Behold the Holy Spirit,

Feel his presence grow.

Notice your soul be lit

As you see the revelation flow.

Your soul He will sanctify,

Of a once considered loss.

As to gold does fire purify

He removes all the dross.

No man is out of His reach

We only need to change.

Let him our hearts breach

And with our life, rearrange.

Of His power and majesty

No words can describe.

Nor the happiness so readily

To all does He provide.

To this member of the godhead 

This tribute has been borne

From one whom He readily lead

To show a Savior is borne.

I give thanks to him

For all that he has done

To fill a heart once dim

The light of God's Son.

I love you all!  I love receiving emails from you all, and I look forward to seeing you in 16 months!!

-Elder B

Peace speaks with the Spirit

Man, one week left in the transfer!  It is so funny how quickly time flies when you're having fun.

One of the highlights this week was our zone activity.  What was it?  Scavenger hunt in the mall of Africa!  When Lehi saw a great and spacious building in the vision of the tree of life, he saw Mall of Africa.  The place is huge!  I forgot my camera cord at the flat, so pictures will come next week.

There's an investigator here who is truly blooming. A few months ago, while teaching two investigators about the Plan of Salvation, Peace walked in and joined in on the lesson.  He soon started with the missionary discussions, although our visits with him were scattered.  A few weeks ago, we felt that we need to reteach him the message of the Restoration.  We did so on Tuesday and we invited him to take Moroni's challenge in Moroni 10:3-5.  He agreed to do so, but he stated he already believed it to be true.  We congratulated him on his belief, but we stated that we wanted him to know it was true.  On Friday, we visited him again.  As we began to meet with him, we were really struggling to hear him through the sounds of stereo, TV, and children that were coming from all around his house.  If you can remember, my brain can't handle distractions very well.  My mind started to falter and it started to wander a bit.  But then I was moved to listen to him more intently.  With my focus redirected, I tuned in to what he was saying.  No sooner that I did so did he say this to us: "I read a bit of the Book of Mormon, like you asked me, and I prayed to God and asked if it was true."  As he spoke, the Spirit entered into the room with tremendous force.  Peace continued: "When I prayed, I just felt so good.  I know it's true."

This moment really defines what missionary work is all about.  I mean, I could tell you of being robbed, being attacked by guard dogs and African viruses, but the Spirit really is the key in this work.  I love being able to be a conduit of the Spirit, and it gives me such a spiritual high like never before.  With this miracle of conversion that I've had the privilege of witnessing, I've come to realize more fully and more completely something that i haven't really grasped before.  I've come to realize that the Lord's hand is truly in every aspect of our lives.  As President Dun put it so perfectly: "...What we don't realize is that Heavenly Father is there in [these spiritually] moments, but more importantly is there in the broader spectrum of our lives.  he's there in the days, in the weeks, and they years which lead up to [these] events, and we need the spiritual eyes and the sensitivities within our spirit to hear, listen, and understand.

May we all develop the eyes to see and the ears to hear the tender mercies of the Lord in not only our lives, but in the lives of those around us.  I can promise that as you seek to strengthen your ability to hear, listen, and understand the promptings of the Spirit, you'll come to find that,"there really is no such thing as coincidences in our lives, that God is indeed in the details of all of our lives, or can be, or wants to be, if we understand how to listen to him (Elder Neil A. Andersen)."

Mom, the Word of Wisdom is all about balance, I've come to find.  It's a guideline to allow the human body and the spirit which resides therein to be in balance.  Not only that, but that there can be balance in what we eat.  I've been eating too much grains, which is putting my butt and my belly out of balance, eish!

Mother's Day

Speaking in Xhosa, a clicking African language.

Sawabona from Rabie Ridge!

This week was an amazing one for sure!  Our plan last week was to have a district fast, starting on Thursday night which lead into doing what we've called the All-Out Blitz on Friday.  It's an all-out finding opportunity, where we set up a banner at the busiest corner in the other guys' area and do some major contacting.  Our primary purpose is to jump start Jorgensen and Samuel's area (since they're whitewashing), but also to become more consecrated missionaries.

This is the letter to President Dunn about the result (and about the district as well):

"The All-Out Blitz was a success!  We passed out over 20 BoM's, a little over 300 pass-along cards, and received over 20 referrals.  Above it all, it allowed the whole district to work hard and grow together.  Thanks for the banners; they were a big help in talking to people.  All of the elders who were involved had a blast, and we look forward to what lies ahead for Rabie Ridge 1 (the other guys' area).

I need to give a huge shout-out to Elders Samuel and Jorgensen!  They are both polar opposites, but they work great together.  Jorgensen loves to work hard and knows his schedule, and Samuel loves the people and knows how to enjoy the work.  Their work is clearly showing up in their stats, but more so in the ward.  The ward was skeptical of having three new elders, but they wouldn't trade these guys for anybody else.

Elder Musiiwa is a joy to work with.  He's either on the side of absolute silence or absolute crazy, which makes for a fun ride!  The people here in RR2 are warming up to his quiet nature in lessons, but they love the guy!

An experience I had in the All-Out Blitz really highlighted the whole experience for me.  As we started the Blitz, everyone went to work straight away.  I was struggling getting into it for the reasons of hunger+thirst but also for the reason of fear.  I've always had a bit of a hesitation to open my mouth to complete strangers, so this day was really going to test me.  As I started contacting, there was a lady that I saw was a sitting duck on the corner.  Immediately, I went up to her and started talking.  After a few laughs and a few words, we started up a conversation.  She at first was extremely closed off but over time opened up.  She eventually told me of her failing home life and struggling faith.  A few moments after she had finished, I found myself talking to her, bearing testimony of our Saviour Jesus Christ and His Gospel.  I saw her shoulders relax, her eyes soften, and her interest heighten as she began to ask more questions.

It is always a good feeling when you recognize the miracle of conversion take place, and knowing that you were a proper conduit for the Spirit to speak to people.  I'm grateful that the Spirit gave me the prompting to have the Blitz and for the huge success  it was.  From the Elders in Rabie Ridge to the woman I spoke to, I think we have all been a bit more converted and a bit more humbled.  The Spirit truly is the key in this work, and I'm grateful for the privilege it is to be a missionary in the SAJM."

Thank you all for the help in allowing the amazing work here to progress, from your letters to your support.  More to come next week!

iNKOSI INATHI!!

(The Lord is with us!!)

-Elder Benson

This is the Golden Investigator, Moagi!  He decided one day to walk into church and immediately wanted to be baptized!  Future general authority this one!

"No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing.  Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame.  But the purposes of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent 'til it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; 'til the Great Jehovah shall say 'The Work is Done'."