Pictures of Katlehong and email 7-28-08

Greetings Family and Friends!

First off, if you want to view pictures of me, you can see them from Elder Smiths blog page because he got a nicer computer than me and he has better pictures as well. (These pictures are from Elder Smith's blog)

This week has been an amazing week! We are teaching this one girl named Moya who is a referral from a member. We gave her a Book of Mormon and we went back about 4 days later and she finished 1 Nephi and she is praying and everything! We also taught her boyfriend yesterday and got him caught up to where she is (Plan of Salvation) and he asked about being married in the celestial kingdom. We told him about temple marriage and he was excited! He seems like a good guy for Moya and the sweet part is is that they dont live together!! That makes our life a little easier and theirs too!

On Wednesday we spent a good chunk of the day just painting a roof. We were doing it for a member family and one of the guys that married into that family served with Brett back in the day. His name is J. Mutanbarika. He's from Zimbabwe. Ask Brett if he knows him so that way I'm not much of a faliure for finding people from his mission.

We tracted in a new section of our area and we met a lot of cool people there. We are teaching a lady and her daughter. She said that she hasn't gone to church for a while because she doesn't know which church is a good church. She liked what we told her.

On Sunday we didn't have the same people come to church but they told us ahead of time their reasoning. Instead, we had a new one come. One that says she is our new family. We've been working with her ever since we came to this area and she was loving church! She told us that definately she'll come next week. Even when church was over, she asked if there was any more. We told her its all over and she can go home. She was a little sad, I think. Also, we saw Nosisa and she told us the cooles thing EVER! She said that when her daughter came to visit her, she was reading the BOM and was loving it but sadly she left it behind when she went back home to Durban. Nosisa called her a while ago and her daughter said she left the BOM behind but it doesn't matter because there was one at her house. Actually there was two at the house and they never knew it before. Its cool becuase Nosisa's cousin also enjoyed the BOM so she has one of her own now. The Lord truly has a hand in this! I love this gospel! I love teaching people and seeing them receive blessings! I love you all so much and thank you for all that you do. Tell the ward thanks for all that they do and did for me as well, but dont' read this on fast and testimony meeting.
I'll answer some questions now. The DVDs and book I got from the office. They purchase some stuff from the distribution center in Joburg and I just buy it from the office. They dont have much of a selection but they gots the essentials. I love you all! Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder Langston

Birthday with Tshidi Family

"I just had to send some pictures while the other elders are trying to do some stuff here in town. These are some pictures of some fun with members. There are some pictures of the hawaiian haystack birthday party and the braai we had with the Tshidi family. They did some human sacrifices and pushup contests. It was quite fun stuff. The girl with the cone hat on is the birthday girl. I hope you enjoy some of these pictures".

I'm not sure about this picture. This must be the human sacrifice game. I think you'd have to be strong to play this game and very hungry.

I looked up Braii on the internet. This is what I found: On the surface, the braai (it rhymes with "eye") is similar to a barbecue, but they should not be confused. The braai tradition is intimately intertwined with our laid-back, outdoor lifestyle. It has everything to do with the year-round sunny skies and temperate climate. It's a ritual practiced in homes, restaurants, and camps, at game parks, on the beach, in the bush ... pretty much wherever you find one or more of us South Africans.

I never thought of having push-up contests at a birthday party. Looks like they're having fun. I don't see Elder Langston down there. He needs to stay in shape!

Jordan - Before he was Elder Langston

Here are a few pictures of Jordan to show that he really does have the "Right One, Baby". Who would have thought this cute little boy would grow up to be serving half way around the world in South Africa at the age of 19!


Look at those eyes, those freckles and that smile. Can you tell we didn't get new pictures from Elder Langston and that I'm reminiscing today?

Email 7-21-08

Dear Family

So this week was a good one. I'll start from the beginning. Tuesday we went to see a lady we tracted in once we got here. She had lots of questions. She didn't like that "the church is run by white Americans." I told her whats up then I bore my testimony to her. It was awesome because she came to church for the first time yesterday.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference and I got to chat with President and he said that he got to meet you at his farewell. We later went to a members house for a girls 18th birthday party and she was bummed when we first got there. I dont even know why but she wasn't too happy. We made Hawaiian haystacks for them and they LOVED them! That made her a little more happy and she also got a cake from one of her boyfriends. She set the cake out on the table and went to get a knife. While she was gone, I secretly switched it with a cake I made that was personalized for her and she loved it even more. The cake turned out good and she didn't even want the other cake her boy gave her. It was cool! She was smiling when we left.

I went to the doctors again on Thursday and he took a picture of my lungs and told me that I dont have TB so thats good but he sent it the specialist to check it out and I haven't heard back from him yet.

We saw Prudence and showed her some General Conference talks from the last one. I bought the DVD because, c'mon, they were some good talks! Especially Faith of our Fathers because everyone believes in anscestors. If you wanna send me any other DVDs that would be great! Even a mini DVD player would be lekker!

I bought a Book of Mormon Stories book for a recent convert who is 10 years old and he likes it. His father likes it even more, I think. We walked in his shack and caught the father reading from the book and he tried to hide it real quick when he saw us. It was like he was doing something bad or something, but I saw that it was the actual book he was reading.

Yesterday we had 4 investigators at church and it was great! I was asked to talk in Relief Society about missionary work and referrals. I am an idiot and I said, "knocking doors is good, but member referrals are gooder." I quickly explained that thats a word that we use where I come from but its not a real word. I felt like a real dummy.

The work is going well here, though. I really am loving the power of the Spirit as I testify. I'm starting to do that a lot more now because I see the power. I love this gospel so much! I love the people here lots! I wish the very best for you all back home!

I love you all so much and am so thankful for the support you give me and for the support from the ward that I'm getting as well while I'm serving the Lord through my fellow men here in South Africa! I love you! Take care and CTR!

Love, Elder Langston

Bedfordview Zone

Jordan is serving in the Katlehong area. President and Sister Bowden were released from the South African, Johannesburg mission on June 30, 2008 They went to each zone and had a picture taken with the missionaries before they left. Jordan is the top row 4th from the left.

Nosisa's Baptism

This is a picture of Nosisa and her friend who introduced her to the church. Elder Smith baptized her, Jordan conducted the service. Nosisa had to get dunked twice but it was ok. The water was freezing because the power went out during church and the water heater didn't work. After the baptism Jordan helped her to the microphone to bare her testimony and she asked if there was a time limit. He told her take as long as she wants, and thats exactly what she did. She told stories and stuff for about 20 minutes. It was good though!

Fun with Balloons!

Jordan has decided not to hand out sweets to kids because they already have bad teeth so he makes balloons for them to play with. Its more healthy.

The New Butchers!

One of the recent converts was having some party for her dead grandpa on Sunday and invited us to come. We went there on Saturday to see if they needed any help. They had us take parts of the cow that they just slaughtered and we had to cut off meat for a stew. It was kinda fun because everyone was watching us and making fun of the white guys doing a black mans job. They even got video of us and i'm going to try to get a copy to send home. It was fun! I think I want to buy a cow when I get home and cut it up and eat it. We got so much meat off of one leg.

Elder Smith, Elder Butler, Elder Anderson, Zekeyo, Elder Langston

This picture was taken with Elder Smith's camera and taken off his blog. Thanks!