Monday, November 28, 2016

Thanksgiving 11-28-2016

Ahhhhhht the food looks soooooo good. im way jealous but my comp and i figured a way out to make stuffing and it tasted soo good haha.

Hope all is well.

It is soooo hot here!! i dont know how hot exactly but oh my lanta we were in a lesson the other day and it was in a tin shack so the heat was absolutely radiating. i look over to my companion and he is dripping sweat i kid you not. like every 5 seconds another drop falls and i just start laughing.

This week in district meeting we learned about how important goals are. When we write down our goals we are covenanting with God of what we want and how we are going to work our hardest to test the promises. Its way cool to see how everything works out in the end.

Ok ill will try to take pictures of the township but im scared to cause if people see me they might get suspicious but ill be sneaky. The ward here is not very helpful with referrals. its hard to get the ward involved. but we are revising the ward mission plan so hopefully it will kick start them to get going on missionary work. We find some people tracting  but usually we get referrals from the church. Yesterday we went tracting for 2 hours and didnt get a single lesson which was rough but we got dinner after so i was happy. transfers are next week so i am almost done with my first transfer!

If you look at how the Lord teaches its really cool cause he always reverts a question back to the person and they end up teaching themselves by answering there own question basically. This emphasizes the importance on asking inspired questions. Also when he heals someone he either says something along the lines of you are healed or your faith has made thee whole or something like that. i cant remember but thy faith has made thee whole if you look into it, in D and C 93 versus 33-34 it talks about how you receive complete joy and so having faith in Christ will lead to complete joy and there is a way cool chain that goes along with it.

Elder Shaw

Tuesday, November 22, 2016



Hello,
Its crazy to see how little kids grow so fast cause i dont even recognize them. Olivia looks super cute i wish i could hold her. People here dont celebrate thanksgiving so i had no idea it was here till someone told us yesterday. We have 3 Das (dinner appointments) this week and i couldnt be happier. man you look forward to those soooo much. Oh and i definitely dont have enough money to have one every meal HAHAHAA maybe one a day if im lucky but i dont really remember when the last time i had a vegetable. . I saw the picture of the cabinets and i thought it was tiffanys house it totally looks different but good.

This week went by so fast but im pretty sure i say that every week. we had a  ton of lessons but like always they dropped of they forgot of whatever the excuse was. One of my favorite excuses so far while tracking was, sorry i cant, my dogsisacting up. you look in and its dead asleep hahaha, there goes their salvation. I had a really funny story to tell but i seriously cant think of it anymore. I dont know why but i feel like it happens to every missionary but you just loose your memory haha like you dont remember anything from back home and everything is just a blur. Like i couldnt think of the artist of my favorite song to tell my companion. Its so frustrating.

One thing i learned this week was to trust in the Lord. I gave a few blessings this week and my companion always turns to me and tells me to teach a lesson that we didnt plan for and all i do is say a small prayer and i always come up with something it is sooo cool. You just have to trust in the Lord and He will direct thy path. its totally true but sometimes its hard to. cause your thinking about what your going to say or do but all i did was put all my faith in Him and it always turns out,

Ya my area i learned is the hardest in the mission. they have had 2 baptisms in a year but yes we do have progressing investigator but only 2.  they have potential so we will see. My area is pretty dangerous. All of SA is dangerous. the other elders we live next to got robbed twice last week and the other set got robbed once so they will probably get pulled out next transfer. Its kinda way scary but i dont really realize it. The whole are gets dunk at like 8 so we have to be in early and the place the other elders serve which is Mandaly they have to be out by 7 soooo everywhere is dangerous.

This whole week especially yesterday i have thought about how blessed i have been especially all the many things i took for granted back home. so definitely thinking of how blessed i have been

. The senior couple that’s in my area the Tatro's are amazing. i am calling you to repentance right now cause going on a mission is the best thing especially for senior couples. they have such an impart in the mission especially for the missionaries so you guys need to go on a mission haha well when you can. Ive loved getting to know the people in the ward because some of them really love the missionaries and its awesome because they kinda fee like my parents.

Elder Shaw


Here’s a picture of my comp which is the one taking the pic and some other elders in my Zone. The other picture is my whole Zone. my comp is bottom left and its weird to think but only my comp, the senior couple, and one other elder are from america in this pic. all the rest are from SA, Australia, New Zeland, South america and some other places. (80 countries are represented in his mission.)

Monday, November 14, 2016

November 14, 2016



South Africa is amazing! I miss playing with little kids cause the black babies here are sooooo cute!! here its like 90s i think.  i don’t really know but its so hot. we did a service project Saturday and i got soooo burnt holy cow it hurt to shower but hopefully i wont peel. I finally found a cord for my camera.  in the pictures, the Tongan g guy is my comp. i dont really remember which ones i attached hahaha but there are some pictures hopefully you like them.

This week is such a blur i honestly don’t even know what to say so it might be short. It started off with a lesson with a less active and we didnt have anything prepared. we just went in there to see how its going and get to know him but then my comp told me i had the lesson and i was like whaaaaat. ok so i just opened my scriptures randomly to 2 nephi 31 or something like that where its feasting on the word of Christ and gave a 5 min lesson on it and i have no idea where that came from but it was perfect cause he wasn’t reading his book of Mormon. it was so cool!! now my comp does that to me all the time. 
Pretty sure im a pro a teaching the first lesson now cause thats all we teach i have the pamphlet all memorized! we taught lesson 3 the other day and i came out laughing so hard cause it was sooooo bad hahaha my comp was laughing at me during the lesson cause he knew it was bad so i definitely have some work to do.

Funny story of the week and sorry if it doesn’t make sense in advance but ill try. sooo we left our phone in the other Elders flat and they already left and it was locked and we needed to get inside before we left. Where we live is a huge apartment complex. so anyways we see if any of they’re windows are unlocked and we find one but it only opens so my head barely fits through, like it hurt trying to get through with my head. but this was our only way in sooo i shimmy my way through the window till i get to my belt and im not getting through without taking it off. sooo while my companion is holding me sideways holding me up hes taking off my belt to get through the window and im dying laughing cause what if you walk up on someone holding another persons stuck in a window taking off there belt hahaha. he finally gets it off and i get through barely and we get our phone but oh my goodness i was crying laughing for like 30 min cause that how long it took hahhahahahaha it was soo funny. Hope all is well back home and you like the pictures.


Elder Shaw

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

October 31, 2016

Sorry for not answering questions but i didnt have time, but my MTC president was awesome. very strict on obedience but hes awesome and Sister ashton was so blunt. to the large funny kid she said that the gym was going to be his best friend for the next 2 years in front of everyone we all died laughing but he got a little offended. the kitchen looks amazing and it makes our house actually look new. so cool I love the halloween costume hahahaha and tell jamo not to ruin that truck!! so many good memories in that baby, i bet dad is jealous. (Jameson bought Jake Stephenson’s truck)

So sad you sold my car but thats good it was for that family. i miss home so much but i dont like to think about it cause it makes me tired when i think about it.

These past 2 weeks were crazy! so many changes and to start i got sick in the MTC. it was not fun at all and i missed a lot of important stuff but i got all informed of everything and all worked out. said goodbye to the best MTC group every. i got to know all 30 kids super well and i miss them already. i cut my own hair and i should send a picture home but im not going to tell you how well it went hahaha. it looks pretty good just soooooo short . 
I got to the mission home and President and Sister Merrill are amazing! they act as parents and its was so nice having a civilized conversation to someone older cause i was in the MTC forever but they’re awesome! I stayed the night and got informed of a lot of stuff. In the MTC i lost probably 20 pounds cause i was sick and ive turned a lot of muscle into fat. its rough and i always feel weak but im starting to work out every morning.
The mission field is awesome!!!! its so nice to finally teach real people and experience the culture. the segregation between the Whites and Blacks is crazy here. One town you have a township and the other its condos on the beach. oh btw im in Summerset West which is right next to the ocean and its gorgeous!! soooo pretty. The weather is just like California with humidity. Some days cans be so hot but others can be freezing. So glad i can be in a first world and third world country at the same time. First day i was here i ate a chicken leg and they’re actually good!!! now i have them like every other day cause they sell them in the township for like 5 cents. Look op pictures of summerset west cape town south africa it is awesome and you get a little taste of what its like. 
I miss having food made for me when i get home! so much like its a pain to cook and i go hungry all the time cause they dont give us enough MSF but we get by. Not a lot of people feed us which is a bummer cause dinner appointments are awesome. FEED THE MISSIONARIES it so nice and make lots of food hahahaha we get fed lunch every sunday and maybe once a week. I miss fruit and surprisingly i dont really miss my phone. i just miss being able to communicate with someone right away.
I drive because my comp didnt ever get his licenses and i dont know why. Here in cape town, they drive on the left side and its was hard to adjust to but ive got it now.

My companion is Elder Fonua and hes awesome. He trains me then heads home so hes a little lazy but i think ive whipped him into shape. Hes from Hereman Utah and he is so funny. we get along great
After getting out here, ive realized there is so much i dont know hahaha but i study for like 3 hours a day to try to catch up. i teach gospel doctrine which is good for me too.The scriptures are awesome and i love reading them. I could read them for hours. but i still dont know as much as I should. This week has been awesome and such a culture shock, still getting use to it but i love it so much


Elder Shaw
An all green meal for Caleb's first day in the mission field. (A Greeny) He is eating at June Holmes home.