THE END!

Hello Family and Friends,

This is the last email that I will be sending from South Africa. I really dont like this feeling. I'm so stressed and in result, my face is breaking out. Yesterday was my last day going to Orange Farm and Sister Ellen, the big mama, cried her eyes out and it was not fun for me. I really am going to miss all these wonderful people. Ellen was talking about when she first met me and the thoughts she had. It's nice hearing what kind of first impression I made on people. She said that she didn't even see me as a missionary, but her very own son. I dont know if that's a good thing or not. I got a picture of the Orange Farm unit that will soon be a branch!

Mpho and Wandile got baptized yesterday. It was stressful at first, like always, but afterwards it was so nice! Mpho was so happy! She's the pregnant one and she said she's going to name her child Jordan. She doesn't know if its a boy or a girl but with an awesome name like that, she can't go wrong either way. She said that she is now the new Mpho and the devil cannot shake her now. We stopped by in the evening to see her as we were passing by and she was so happy. She said she'd been smiling all day! She gave us some good food too. I've decided that I probably wont eat this food ever again so I'm eating everything and trying to enjoy it. Mpho fed us some mala mogodu the other day. Thats what they call cow stomach and intestines. It was not too nice. Potter about threw up everywhere when he first put the piece in his mouth. It was funny.

We had misison tour on Tuesday and it was rough. I had to bare my testimony there and it was a struggle to keep the eyes dry. We closed by singing the mission song and I lost it. I couldn't fight the tears anymore so I just let it go. I'm really going to miss being able to do good stuff everyday. I wish I could've enjoyed it more sooner on mission instead of hating everyone and everything. We'll be able to talk more about it when I get home because I dont think I'll be able to sleep when I first get home on Friday night so I'll stay up telling stories. Do we have time? Ok, sho. I can't really think of anything else to say. Oh yeah, we are having a party today and I get to help purchase food for a party that was planned for me by someone else. I love how they do it here. This will most likely be the last time I use the AmEx here in Africa. I've got my bags pretty much packed and I'm leaving a lot of clothes behind for the branch and other missionaries who dont live near Seagull Book.

I sure do love you all and can't wait to see you! In the words of Ozzy, "Mama, I'm coming home."

Love,
Your African boy,
Elder Jordan T. Langston

I think you already know, but just to be safe, the plane lands Friday night around 9:30. See you then!! Oh yeah, if you can organize Pres Graham to be around sometime soon after I get home, like the next morning, that'd be dynamite! Take care and CTR!

PADDLIN' PEOPLE

HELLO WASHINGTON...er UTAH

so can you even beleenat I'm coming home sometime soon? I can't. It feels weird. Yesterday at church one of the old APs from this mission came back to visit for a couple weeks and he bore his testimony and said how happy he is to be able to come back and see everyone. He was so pumped and it got me excited to be able to come back. I love mission now but I think once I leave it I'll be able to love the time I spent here even more. As the time draws nearer for me to leave, the more sad I get knowing that I have to leave these wonderful people behind. A lot of people have said that they want to come visit America sometime so, of course, I offer a room in the house. Hopefully by the time these people get enough money to come, most of us will be moved out. It'll be like a foreign exchange student living in the house again. I bet you miss those days, right?

Yesterday in Orange Farm, we met a family that moved from Vereeniging to Orange Farm and they are already members. The dad is a priesthood holder and his brother who lives down the street isn't a member. They both have a wife and kids. We are starting to teach the brother and the member man is going to come to the cottage meeting next week so he can start getting use to things and when the branch opens up, gauranteed he'll be in the presidency. He's a great guy! Orange Farm is really being blessed now days. Its cool to see that things are happening for a reason. The member moved his family because his old house was too small. His new house is small as well but he's happy. I know he moved to help the work of the Lord progress in Orange Farm. It feels good being a part of it.

This next week will be pretty busy because we have mission tour tomorrow. The time is flying by so fast and I just want to soak it in being in South Africa with awesome people. We have 2 to be baptized the Sunday before I leave. I am also giving in talk in Sacrament, i guess to prepare me for when I get home.

I cant really think of much more to say. I want to save some of my stories for when I get home. I sure can't wait to see you all! Take care and CTR.

Love,
Elder Jordan Langston

p.s. sorry i gots no pics

Almost Home!

Hello family and friends,

This week was a good one because it was full of traveling and Temple trip. Tuesday was Katlehong and I've attatched a picture of the Thulo family. Do the kids look familiar? This is my most favorite family! I want to come back here and spend time with this family some time in the future! But it was nice seeing some old friends and meeting some new ones in Katlehong for the day.

On Friday we went to the Temple and it was really nice. It was my last time going here in South Africa so I soaked up the moment and only fell asleep for a short while. I also got some CDs for Ellen and Mpho, another lady that is on date for baptism. She's cool. She's powerful too. She teaches everyone she meets about the things that we teach her. She is also throwing a going away party for me. We are going to have some food and cake and all that jazz at the church the monday before I leave. She invited some of the people from my old areas like Wandile and Moya and they said they'll try to come. I think that'd be the coolest ever! President Poulsen came to Orange Farm yesterday for our Cottage Meeting and afterwards wanted to see the area. He's talking about getting missionaries to just work Orange Farm and start renting a school so there could be its own branch there. Looks like my goal of getting a branch there before I leave is starting to look more and more like a reality. It feels great to know that I've helped with this. To help the work of the Lord build up to this.

I'm starting to get real trunky but trying to keep it under control till later. I seriously can't wait to see everyone and share good stories with ya'll about how awesome South Africa is. I hope no one there is getting too trunky!:) Oh yeah, do you know what I'm suppose to speak on in church or can I just tell stories and relate them to something gospel? I could take up some good time with stories! I sure love you all! I really can't wait to see you all but I want to come back here with some of you so you can see my families in South Africa! Plan for that! Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder Jordan Langston

"The Field is White Already to Harvest"

Hello family and friends,

This week has been a good one. Earlier in the week we just said goodbye for Elder Whittle and everyone was shocked to see him leave. Mama Ellen shed some tears for him so that made him feel better. Transfers was on Thursday and I gave my departing testimony, and it hit me so hard knowing that I'm done with my mission, almost. I've enjoyed teaching people and seeing these wonderful black people happy. I'm going to miss them like crazy! I got a new companion, Elder Potter from Orem Utah. He's kinda cool. We're getting along just fine.

We had a baptism on Sunday. It was Ellen and her two kids, Bonnie and Annah. Ellen was scared that I would drop her because, as you can see, she's big. But I didn't even drop her so she loves me still. She's a powerful lady! She said "hell no" in her testimony and everyone still loves her because we can say that here. Everyone in the branch is counting down the days till I leave and they are planning a sweet party for me. I'm pretty excited.

The Mokoena family is still awesome as ever! They want to be baptized in September and Mpho, another awesome investigator, wants to be baptized real soon too. Things are going well and I'm doing good. I'm starting to collect things that say South Africa on it. I got Jacob a skateboard that says South Africa but its no longer new because we rode it a bit, but its' still way nice. Don't tell him though!

I can't really think of much more to say. Oh yeah, I'm going on exchanges with Katlehong tomorrow because my companion has to go to some leadership meeting so I'll get to see some old friends and families there. I'm pretty excited! I hope you enjoy these pictures. I hope everyone is doing well. Oh yes, check the mission website soon cuz there will be a video of us missionaries singing the mission song. I'm up on the stage and I think you can see me good. Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder Jordan Langston

Here are a few pictures Jordan sent today. You know as much about them as I do! I love all the pictures with the children. I think he's going to really miss the kids in South Africa.

This isn't the only picture where Jordan is wearing an apron. I hope he keeps it up when he gets home!

Hello Familia,

This past week has been so cool! Things are going shwaka! First off, yesterday we had 10 investigators at church!! I gave the lesson in Gospel Principles and it was great! I did a lesson on the Holy Ghost, and did the whole blind fold someone and have them try to get somewhere when everyone is talking and only one is telling them where to go. The class LOVED it!

Earlier in the week we met this family that we saw for a split second at a members house and they are AWESOME!!! They are the Mokoena family and they have three kids, Tsepo who is 16, Jr. who is 10, and Lerato who is 3. They came to an Open House we had on Saturday and then they came to church and they loved it! We are seeing them again tonight! They haven't been going to church for a few years because they found faults in the one they were in and they left it and said they wont go to church till they find the true church. I love finding people like this! I think it was because I fasted this week. The night of my fast that I started was when we found them. They will be baptized, I can feel it.

We had an Open House, like I said. The chapel has been in the township for 5 or 6 years and no one had an open house for people to see inside it, so I decided to do it. We played movies of Jesus Christ, like Finding Faith in Christ and To This End was I Born. Then one of the members took it upon himself to take them for a tour of the chapel and tell them about everything which was totally sweet! He's a cool guy! We've been trying to get him and his family to do missionary work but they have a hard time getting out of their bubble to do stuff and here he felt at home and did what he did and afterwards told us how good it felt to do that. We told him that that's misisonary work and now he's excited to do more. We also bought him and his family KFC that night because we've been borrowing their DVD player for our movie nights during this school holiday. He's a good guy.
Last Sunday we went to one of our investigators church because we made a deal with him. We'll go to his if he comes to ours. He's a pastor there and is pretty stuck in his ways but he said that after he comes to church and reads the BOM he'll sit with his wife and make a decision. He came to church on Sunday and last night we chatted with him for about 2 hours and we went no where with it. But he's got potential.

So Elder Whittle is going to be Zone Leader in Botswana on Thursday and I get a new companion for 4 weeks. Pretty lame if you ask me. our area is huge and it'll be hard for him to learn it all in 4 weeks. I barely got it in 6 weeks. We'll see what happens. I get to give my departing testimony on Thursday so that'll be pretty trunky like. Grandma said the word trunky in her email to me. She is so cool! And Grandpa is too! I can't even wait to see them! I got an idea, I've got a lot of people wanting to come to the homecoming and I was thinking of how cool that'd be to make invitations that I can email to some of my mission friends who are home now. If you wanna make something fun and exciting for the homecoming and then email it to me and I'll just email it to my friends, I think theyd enjoy that.

i'm going to buy some stuff to bring home that is African and then just leave my white shirts and a chunk of ties here for the branch because they keep asking the brethren to bring some for those who cant afford them.
I'll be sure to send pictures of the baptism of Sis Ellen and her two kids next week. No, she's not married. A lot of women aren't married. Thats what kills me. The guys around here are horrible people that just get pretty girls pregnant and then leave them and dont support the kid, that's why abortion is legal and almost everyone does it. I so want to marry a good girl so she doesn't have to marry some jerkish jerk that treats her like a slave. Even members of the church treat them like that. The wives have to make the food and serve everyone and they usually dont even sit with the family to eat because they are so busy servign their husbands. I guess its just a culture thing. Oh well.

I love you all. I can't wait to see you in 4 and a half weeks! Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder Jordan Langston

Yebo!

Jordan, giving himself a haircut

In a 70.00 suit.

monkeys just outside his flat

Yikes!

Hello Family and Friends,

The past couple weeks have been pretty sweet! The work has been not so great but we received answers to what we need to do. We've been working around the chapel for so long and trying to find people by getting the members involved in missionary work and getting them to do stuff. They dont' do stuff so we end up finding on our own. The finding isn't going so sweet, and when we do meet some people that seem like they'd be cool, they end up just wanting to use the chapel for something of their own business or asking us for wheelchairs. They aren't interested in the gospel that we share. The guy with epilepsy has a company where he helps disabled people do things on their own. He was beatin around the bush for the longest time when we visited him, but finally asked us, "Will you get us some wheelchairs?" It was so dumb!

We continued trying to find people and we'll get a couple but nothing real sweet. One day we went up to Orange Farm, about 50km away from the chapel but still our area, and we did some work up there. That is where we have the cottage meeting and take the Sacrament and all that. Any way, we went around with a member and we found two guys and a girl, in one day! One of the guys came to the meeting yesterday, but the others didn't. We also found out that missinaries never did any work up there so the people will see us all the time at the members house for the cottage meeting but they dont know whats going on. I like to trek on un-paved roads so we are starting to do more work up there than we do in Sebokeng. We're going to get a unit going someday, I can feel it. We are baptizing the future RS President on the 19th along with her kids. They are so cool! She loves MOTAB and has ever since she was a kid but didn't know who they were or where they were from, she just listened on the radio and fell in love. I gave her that CD you sent me, of the most recent CD of theirs and I think I'll buy another one when we go to the Temple. I so wish I could get her to come to watch them live. I wish I could do a lot of things for these people, but sharing the truth about Jesus Christ and His Church is about all I can do now.

The pic of the monkeys was taken right outside our flat. They just walk around when we study. I also cut my own hair sometimes. The snake was what we did a few p-days ago. We got to hold a lot of snakes and see some cool things.
I can't think of anything else to say. My brain really does just turn off when I get on the computer and I remember it later in the week what I wanted to say.

I love you all. Hope you enjoy the pics! Take care and CTR!
Love,
Elder J. Langston

Where You Is?

Hey family,
Just wondering where you are. I was a little bummed to not get anything from you but I understand. I hope all is going well back in the United States. Did you and President Poulsen figure out a good day for me to g home? Things are going well here in SA. We are still finding people and trying different techniques that the branch loves and tells us every day how cool we are for coming up with these ideas. We'll see if they work. I can't really think of anythihng way awesome to say. Sister Thuli is back at home now, and I guess she's doing okay. We haven't seen her lately. Take care and CTR.
Love,
Elder Jordan Langston

I sent Jordan two emails this week. Don't know where they went but it sure makes me feel bad that he didn't get anything.

Letter from Jordan 6/22/09

Hello family and friends,

I sure hope this email works. I wont send any pictures because I'm scared. But I will tell you about the past couple weeks and the frightening experience I got to witness.
First off, the weeks have been fine. I dont' remember much from last week but I remember it was a good one. Elder Whittle, my companion, is working me real good and keeping my mind off trunky things.

On Sunday, we had some random guy come to church and I taught Gospel Principles and Elders Quorum so I got to see him twice and answer his questions. He made a comment in E.Q. that he's never been to a church like this one and he likes how everyone is so kind to him and they can answer his questions. I later found out that other churches wouldn't let him stay because he was epileptic so they'd kick him out sayin he's got a demon in him. We are going to see him this week and he seems somewhat promising. We did some tracting on Saturday and found a lady and taught her. We went back yesterday and her husband and her 12 yr. old son was there. It was great. I love teaching little families like that, especially when they are somewhat interested.

For my lessons on Sunday, I forgot about the G.P. class lesson till Saturday night, and Sunday morning, the Elders Quorum Pres. called me to give the lesson but I didn't have the book so I had to read through his during Sacrament mtg so I could get the jist of what I was suppose to teach. It's amazing to see how the Lord works. Both classes turned out a success and people were feeling good with the lesson. The G.P. lesson was on the Atonement and I did the classic "pushups for donuts" move on my companion. I didn't have donuts though, just buscuits. Everyone loved it and my companion got a good workout.

I'm gonna tell you a story now that probably wont disturb you as much as it has distrubed me the past couple days. Thursday night, we went to see a family to do some finding stuff with them but they were busy doing renovations in their home. While we were there we got a "please call" from some number I didn't know. I called it and it was a guy saying he's from the church and he's there now with a lady who is bleeding from the head. We hurried in to the car and drove over there to find a group of people gathered around a lady being supported to sit up on the ground. She had a rag on her head and it was a deep red color and there was blood all over her jacket and her face had blood drippin down it. The story is that she use to sell veggies on the side of the street for a living, but got pregnant and went on a "maternity leave" but when she came back after giving birth to re-claim her veggie stand, some other ladies had taken over and weren't giving up their post. Keep in mind, these ladies are in their thirties. Anyway, I guess one of the ladies hit the bloody lady(Thuli) and then others joined in to beat her down with bricks and other things. She got away but collapsed from exhaustion in front of the church.

When we got there we offered all we could to help but nothign helped. She was getting really cold and we offered to put her in the car with the heater on till the ambulance comes(we didn't take her because the hospital would've waited even longer to cater to her if we took her). She couldn't move without feeling really bad pain so we just pulled the car to her and blasted the heater out the door on to her while she was covered in some blankets. After an hour and a half of waiting for the ambulance, they finally came and we left. We went to the hospital to see her on Saturday. She was laying in the bed unable to move( I think there are broken ribs) and unable to speak because of a busted jaw. Her head had gashes all over on it and they were stitched up. We found out that she was an old investigator and knows the church. She comes a lot and the Branch Pres. said she pays tithing even. We said a prayer for her when we saw her and she seem to like that. While we were there, I noticed some people walking around the hospital looking for someone. Thuli's daughter leaned in to whisper in my ear and what she said got me so fired up. I was honestly ready to kill someone. She said, "that's one of the ladies that beat up my mom." This lady has the crazy mind to beat an innocent woman down to the ground, almost to death, and then to rock up to her hospital to see how she's doing? I was furious! As she walked closer to Thuli's bed, Thuli caught a glimpse of who it was and she freaked! She was screaming and crying and trying to move but couldn't. Thuli's 12 yr old son started crying because him mom's murderers were there at her bed side. I thought they came to finish her off so I was on edge the whole time. I was honestly ready to punch someone so I left with Elder Robinson and told one of the nurses to keep an eye on them. I learned more about Thuli and that got me thinking about her and feeling more pain for her and her family. She's a single mom and has about 6 kids. If you could keep her in your prayers, that'd be good. Thanks.

There is going to be a baptism this Sunday. A guy named Thato. His whole famliy has been a member for quite some time but he's just now coming around. It's cool stuff. He says he wants me to baptize him too. I'll try to send pics.

I love you all so much! Thanks a bunch for all you'r support while I'm here. I'm trying to do what's right these last few weeks of my misison and I'm feeling my Savior's love as I do. The Church is true! Christ lives and loves me too! The Spirit whispers this to me and tells me it is true. Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder Jordan Langston

I'm Angry!

so I just tried sending an email to you on this piece of junk email service, because we are suppose to use this one, and the price for being obedient is absolute anger! It lost my email again, and my pictures. I'm ready to punch something right in the face. I'm sorry I'm so negative about it but when I only get a small amount of time a week to talk to my family and it gets screwed up, then my week turns out crappy. The area is going well. Me and Whittle are getting along well. I love you all. Take care and CTR!
Love,Elder Langston

This is Sister J and her daughters, Lerato(sitting) and Sthembile(checkin me out). This was an awesome family and its the only pic that shows up on my card.

Elder Burnett and Elder Langston
Elder Langston and Elder Morris

Hello Family and Friends,

Sebokeng is a decent place so far. I'm still paranoid at night driving around in the township but I'm startin to calm down some. My companion is Elder Thomas Whittle from Blackfoot Idaho. He's a cool guy. I can tell that he'll help me do what's right so that's always good, right? The chapel we meet in is so big! It's beautiful!! But we are only a branch. I bore my testimony because I was invited to do so and after church everyone had to tell me that I have a deep voice. I made some friends already with some of the Mamas and we had two invitations for dinner last night, so we hit them both up! They told us that they want us to come back another night and have FHE with them. I said, "sho." We are going to an FHE tonight with a less active family and I'm going to take the guitar to sing hymns with them. I can tell that they will love it too much! After church, we go to the other end of our area where a handful of members and some investigators meet to have a "cottage meeting" or a meeting to hear talks and take the sacrament. We have 5 on date for the 28th of June so that'll be cool, except one lady is HUGE! She's awesome but I dont know how we'll baptize her. The Lord will give me extra strength to lift her, like Nephi got to break the cords from which he was bound.

I've had some cool dreams the last few nights and I even made sketches for a great idea for when I get home. I'll open up a restaraunt to serve South African food. It'll be a set up like Bamboo Hut or Panda Express and I'll call it "JOZI" or "KHAYA"(that means home in zulu). I'm going to organize for some of my mamas that aren't working or whatever to come to America and work in my restaraunt to make the best food that Utah and the rest of America has never tasted! What do you think? I'm pretty excited about it. Everyone I meet, I've wanted them to come to America so you can meet them and so they can see the states. I could never think of a way for some people to come and this is what I came up with.

I still haven't gotten the exact date for my release but I will see President on the 16th for a Zone Conference and I think he'll tell me then.

I dont think we have to go to court, and Elder Morris is going to go back to the house to get our stuff so I think I'll be getting some more of my stuff back. If I get my camera, I'll just give it to Wandile for his mission or something. I keep trying to think of some cool stuff to bring home for everyone but I can't think. I'll just do a small african thing for each family instead of buying something for everyone, if thats cool. I know everyone wants something african since no one will probaly ever come back here, unless I get married;) but I'll get the families something that'll last.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. I'm going to buy a new white shirt today because my other ones smelled like onion rings after church and it was embarassing. Plus there are nasty stains. I'll try some bleach first, but if not, I'll get one shirt that I can wear on Sunday. I love you all so much! Thanks one million for everything! Take care and CTR!

Love,
E. Langston

June email

Hello family,

So I guess I didn't get an email from you. That's ok. I'll still send something to you.This week was a good week. We did some tracting and also some pointing of bad guys. We went to the prison to point out who it was that hijacked us. That was the most craziest thing ever. You know how in movies they show this happening and the good guys are behind a one way glass and the bad guys are on a line with numbers and the good people say who it was and what not. Well, ours was nothing like that. We were in a waiting room, the 3 of us(Wandile and Morris and me) and then some indian guy called us to another room. Before we entered through the big metal door, he made us turn around. Oh yeah, we go in one at a time too and I was first. So I turned around and walked backwards into a room that I had never seen before and I just stared at the wall as the indian introduced himself and stated the case that Im' there for. After his shpeel I turned around and I was in the same room with 15 or more criminals, not hand cuffed or anything. I was to pick out the bad guy while all these black people were staring at me. I don't remember what the hijackers looked like but I wanted to point out a few of these guys on the line just because of the look they were giving me. I told the indian I can't remember what they looked like so I left and Wandile went in. He pointed someone out and he had to touch the guy on his shoulder and pull him out of the line and get a picture taken with him and the bad guy. It was crazy. On Tuesday we are going to the house where the guy blew his brains out to get the rest of our stolen goods that aren't covered in HIV+ blood.

I also got the call that I"m leaving Tsakane on Wednesday. I'm going to my last area in Sebokeng which istn' too far from Katlehong and in fact, its in the same stake. I hope we have stake conference sometime soon. I'm glad to be leaving for only one reason, tsotsi's. That is the word for bad guys. Friday morning, the people we stay with got their house broken in to and they think that we are next so they told us to always lock the gate when we leave and all that jazz. I'm sick of gettin things stolen from me.

The investigators are doing great. The Zweni family came to church yesterday, the whole family! While Sasa was going down the stairs of the school to go to Sunday School, she fell on the last step while holding her baby. She protected the baby and the baby didn't even cry or nothing. Sasa's knees were hurtin her pretty bad though. I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting and it was nice. I got the whole congregation laughing. I was talking about missionary work and going the extra mile(Matt. 5:41) and the blessings that come with it. I also taught Sunday School and almost the combined class the third hour.

Well, I can't think of anything else. I haven't gotten the package yet but hope to get it soon cuz I'm fresh out of money and I'm eating almost nothing now days. By the grace of God I'm able to get enough to get by though. Whether it be by members feeding us or Morris being a nice guy and cooking too much. It's great to see the blessings come from doing what needs to be done. I love you all. I still dont know when I"m coming home but I think in a couple of weeks, I'll have my flight plans and I'll fill ya in! Take care everyone and I hope y'all are doing well. CTR!
Love,
Elder Langston

Hello family and friends,

Today is Tuesday and I'm emailing. The reason for this is because we went on a 1 hour drive to Witbank early yesterday morning and didn't get home till later that night. The reason for our trek was to seek and destroy the enemies with paintball guns. I had a wonderful time shooting the people in my zone and even shooting my district leader. I got shot a couple times and even smashed my knee pretty good. I have developed a new lump on my knee and I'm hoping it goes away. It is the knee that has already gotten surgery.

The week was a good one. Bob, Rita's brother who use to be a wine bibber, is coming along nicely. We taught him the law of chastity and also the word of wisdom. He said that he hasn't drunk anything for a long time(a week and a half) and even his drinking friends don't come anymore because he's got a new friend. He said the Book of Mormon is his new friend and he's always too busy with his new friend so he can't hang with his old friends. He's pretty cool. He has to work every other Sunday so he didn't make it this week. We are putting him on date tonight for July. We were suppose to see the Zweni family yesterday, but we were in Witbank way too long. They came to church and even the movie night on Saturday.

I've been feeling the Spirit a lot more lately. I notice it as I testify of things and it feels good.
We have to go to Roodeport to drop off the other car that we borrowed while the stolen car was getting fixed up. Oh yeah, about that whole thing. I got my Bible back and my DVDs that were in my bag. Morris got his hymn book back and scripture bag. The way we got it was the Detective went to the guys house and got some of the stuff from inside the house. He said he left a lot of the stuff because they were covered in blood and brains because one of the guys shot himself in the face when the Detective rocked up to the house. They have all the others in custody and we are going to have to go identify them sometime this week. I can't do it, because I dont know what they look like.

I'm glad your memorial day was nice. I love seeing pictures of the family and can't even wait to be there with you all in less than 11 weeks, or something like that. I dont even know for sure. President still hasnt' told me the for sures but I'll ask him when I see him. Actually, I'll just write him a letter and ask him. I'll let you know as soon as I find out. I hope everyone is doing well. I got an email from Grandma and Grandpa Travis and it sounds like they are doing well. I sure love them. I've been slacking lately and haven't gotten around to writing Grandma and Grandpa Langston. If you talk to them, let them know I'm sorry. I love you all so much! I love this gospel! This work is so true and powerful and what a blessing it is for me to be here to share it with everyone! Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder J. Langston

Greetings!

It sure was nice chattin with everyone on Mother's Day. I remembered when I got off the phone that I didn't even wish you(Mom) a happy mother's day, so, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM! How was that? How was your mother's day? I hope it was great!
We didn't really do much on the P-day after mother's day. We were suppose to go paintballin in Witbank but they postponed to this Monday, but for some reason, they postponed that as well. I'm not complainin because I dont have much money to go paintballin, although I would like to shoot some people with it, just to set them straight.
So this week was probably my most favorite week ever!! We met a family, the Zweni family, and they have been prepared for the gospel, I know it. We met with the fam on Tuesday and left a BOM with them. That night, we ran a Zulu BOM over there for the mom to read and we came back on Thursday night. The mom was speaking Zulu to Wandile and showing him the BOM. I was trying to follow and I was picking up the jist of things, but didn't understand everything. She had a bookmark in 2 Nephi 9 and was talking about her reading. I thought, "that's cool she read some," but when I looked at Wandile's face, I realized it was more than "some". She started from the beginning and read all the way to 2 Nephi 9, IN TWO DAYS! I asked her if she prayed to know if it was true, and she looked me straight in the eye and said, "it's true. I know the book is true." Holy COw!! The dad(Simon) and son(Khaya-7) and the daughter(Sasa-17) came to the movie night on Saturday and came early to church on Sunday. When church was over, Sasa asked what class to go to next. She wanted more! We went over there last night to begin the Plan of Salvation and they said they loved church! Oh yeah, the mom had to go somewhere for some family stuff so she couldn't make it. We taught up to the Atonement and when I mentioned the 5 things we need to do here in this life, Sasa spoke up with a question. She said she had done something and doesn't know if it was right or wrong. Now I got a little nervous because she has a baby that is about 5 months old and I was thinkin that that's what she was going to ask. She said, "I got a tongue piercing and dont' know if its bad." I shared the scripture about our bodies being a temple and I gave them a picture of the SLC Temple and asked if she would graffiti on that. She said she'd never do something like that. She took out her tongue ring and gave it to her mom to throw away right there on the spot. That girl is amazing! I am loving mission when we teach people like them! The family is so warm with us and they are gaining a testimony. We are seeing the whole family on Saturday and the game plan is this: if the mom continues reading, she'll run across 2 Nephi 31(baptism) and they will be reading the pamphlet we left where I circled the principles and ordinances of the gospel, and when we see them, we'll put them on date for baptism! I love that family so much! I'll take some pictures with them and send them home.
We took everyone that was on date off baptism date because they all are jokers and now we have 3 people who are serious on date. We had 8 people come to church yesterday and 5 of them was their first time to church. Rita, the girl that was baptized last month, came with her brother who we are teaching. He's about 25 and was a big time drinker and druggy, but he's stopped lately and is listening to us. Before he'd run away and avoid us, unless he was drunk. He's startin to come around so that's way cool! There are two girls, (20's) that are on date now and they are doing good. The one, Lovelight, was taught by missionaries before but wasn't too serious about it. Now she has stopped smoking and doesn't go clubbin and comes to church with her cousin, Wandile. The work is going AWESOME! I love mission so much! I just wish I got this spark of love at the beginning of my mission. Blessings come to those who are obedient.

Another blessing that came our way on Thursday morning was a call from the police saying they have our car. We got our car back but the bags and everything else is still gone. Wandile said he saw the gun man yesterday so they never caught the guys, I guess. I'm afraid to drive that car in the township so we are switching cars with some other missionaries. I couldn't sleep the night after we got the car back. The car just brought back a flood of bad memories and I was terrified of all the possibilites of what could've happend that day. I just keep thanking God that I'm alive and well. I have been sick lately though. I wear two coats sometimes because it gets freezing at night in the area and it gets dark around 5:30. The freaks come out at night!

Well, dearest family, this is my report of how things are going here in Tsakane. Oh yeah, that reminds me, we got to go to the temple on Friday and that was nice. I gave some socks to a member who recently had a baby and told her they were from you. She said she'll write a letter of thanks. They are the same socks that you sent a long time ago when I was in Thaba Nchu. Thanks for the socks.I'm gonna end this now so I can write a short one to Jeanette before I have to get off. I love you all and can't wait to see you.

Oh yeah, I haven't gotten an exact date of when I'll be home but I'm thinking maybe the same time as Jeanette. I'll go to the office on Thursday to switch the car and I'll chat with Pres. then to find stuff out. I dont know if I'm being transfered yet, but I asked him to let me just stay till I go home because I want to see all these people baptized to finish my mission off strong. Ok, I think that's all that is poppin into my head at the moment. I love you all and thanks for all your support during these hard times on my mission.

Take care and CTR!
Love, Elder Jordan Langston

Robbery

Good Morning Family and Friends,

I'll start from the beginning of the week first. I had my party on Monday and it turned out real nice. A few people showed up and sang songs and ate hot-dogs(my choice) and played a game called 30 Seconds. It would've been a fun game if everyone wasn't cheating and yelling at everyone. I did make the cake but I made them cupcakes so I could give them to some people. The senior couples here made the muffin mix for me because we dont have an oven. She made it a loaf and Elder Teare, from N.Z., ate almost the whole thing. It was good!

The week has been an okay week. We've been doing a lot of tracting this week trying to find new people since a lot of the people that we are teaching and are on date, aren't really doing much to progress towards baptism.

Ok, ok, I'll tell you what everyone wants to hear right now. So, Saturday morning we went out doing our regular thing, but I am broke so I decided to bring my $40 that I've collected from my awesome family and convert it to rands so I can get some lunch that day. We checked on Agent, but he wasn't there. We then went to Wandile's house(branch misison leader) and ate some food there. By food I mean cupcakes. We had a 1 o'clock appointment in an area that I didn't know. It was a referral that we were going to see. As we were going there, we started to drive slow so we could see the numbers of the houses, I think that was the bad idea. We finally found the house and parked the car to go teach the gospel. We got to the gate and it was locked. I decided to call the lady to see if it was indeed her house and why the heck she wasn't home at the scheduled time that we had. I got a hold of her and figured things out. As I was getting off the phone, I noticed three guys walking towards us quite swiftly and suspiciously. I then heard the gun "cock" as they were next to E. Morris. Morris had the key in the door to get in the car and they took the key from him and one guy got in the car. Another guy went to Wandile and took his scriptures. Wandile told him that its just scriptures and that he doesn't want them. He took them anyway and came to me and told me to put the phone in the bag. I was so confused because I'd seen this done before by members trying to scare missionaries so I thought that this was what it was. I put the phone in and just had a befuddled look on my face as I watched this all play out. I remember seeing the guy with the bag pat down Wandile and Morris and as I was watching that, I suddenly saw a gun in my face. The guy asked for my bag and I reluctantly gave it to him and he started pattin me down. He emptied every pocket on me! Even a receipt that I had in my pocket, he took that too! He took my name tag and white handbook that had my temple recommend in it. I was just in a stage of shock and confusion as I watched the gunman get in the passenger side of the car and I watched our car drive away. We were lucky enough to find some random guy that was kind enough to take us to the police station to file a report but when we got there, we realized that we dont know the license plate number. One thing after another started to phase me as I realised how much I really lost. The keys to our flat were in the car along with all my church cds. In my bag were my scriptures that I had spent 20 months marking and I even started in the book of Revelation so I had loads of notes for that, but that was gone along with my rhino skinned scripture bag; my camera was also in the bag because I was starting to take pictures of every day things in the township, but not no more; all my church DVDs were in the bag as well; my license, military ID, credit cards and $40 were in my wallet; they took my planner that had everyones numbers in it and it was also the one that Jeanette decorated and sent to me; there was a copy of my passport in the white handbook; and everyones phone numbers in the phone were now lost. More things started to suck as the day went on. I spent an hour and a half filing a report in the police station and that night was a long night since we had to sleep on the floor of some other missionaries flat since ours was unable to open. The days have gotten better but my nights are still restless. I stay up all night thinking what I should've done or what could've happend to me. As we were walking around the area on Sunday, I was so paranoid. I would watch everyone and would always be lookin over my shoulder. I wouldn't even go out at night. Even tonight, we are canceling an appointment because we dont want to walk around at night. I remember when I used to not even care. I would walk around at nine at night without a fear in the world, but now that I've had a gun pointing at me being held by a scared black man, my mind goes wild of what might happen at night now. The crazy thing was that it happend in the middle of the day! There were people outside watching, but no one did anything! That's what angers me.

The misison is getting me some new cheap scriptures for free and reimbursing me of my lost money. I dont know if I'll be able to drive while I'm still here since my license is gone, but we'll see. I might try to make a bag or do something so I can carry my stuff around with me. When I leave areas, I'll just buy a disposable camera to take photos with. I think I"ll be able to make it by with these last few months. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay.

So, for Sunday, or whenever, I dont know what we're going to do. I dont know where we will call from or what. Maybe, if you want to call our cell phone whenever you get a chance that'd be good. If we get the same number when we get our new phone tomorrow it is 084-264-7120 then you just have to do the 027 or whatever you do to call in SA. If the plan changes, I'll try to let you know before it's too late. Thank you so much for all your prayers! Thanks, Camille, for the "count your blessings" sign. I've really been counting them this past weekend, belee dat! I sure love you all! I can't even wait to talk to you this weekend! I'll tell you more stories, since I have a plethera of them! I'll just talk to you more later!
Take care and CTR!

Love,Elder "lucky" Langston

Happy Birthday to me!

Eita da Family and Friends,

Thanks for all your birthday wishes that have been sent to me! I sure do appreciate them and feel your love! I have a feeling that my birhday will be a good one! I already had a lady call me and sing happy birthday to me over the phone! This weekend has been full of birthdays! A member turned 12 on Saturday and we stopped by to watch her blow out her candles and munch on goodies before we went to the movie night. Yesterday another young man turned 12 and we went there to eat some wors and pap and it was nice.

So the movie night was nice. We watched "The Other Side of Heaven" and everyone was loving it. It was kinda cold in the school house that we were meeting in and so I would make sure that the door would stay closed but not shut because the handle was broken and if the door shut completely, we'd be locked in. I was doing pretty good at doing what I do the whole movie, then at the end one of the girls was getting a little bit cold and Shimmy, the recent convert, noticed the door wasn't shut all the way so he took it upon himself to do the honors. Boy was everyone upset with him. Right when he did it, I said, "NO!" He then tried to open the door and felt no handle and said, "Eish." We were all locked in the room and Shimmy said, "lets just get someone outside to open it." He doesn't think well because he did a lot of drugs back in the day. We are on the second story of the building and in this huge field with no one around. We finally got one of the little kids to wiggle his way out of the window with bars on them and open the door from the outside. That was sure a relief.

Thanks for the package! I've been rationing the goodies and I'm about out. I am trying to find a member with an oven so I can fully enjoy the delightness of the cake! I might just eat the frosting with a spoon. Say that reminds me, I came up with a new invention: peanut-butter syrup. You know how everyone loves to put peanut butter on their pancakes and then throw on some syrup? Why not combine the two for a tasty treat? I've been making that but I find that I just put it on bread or if I'm real desperate, I'll just eat it with a spoon. I'm getting so fat, if you can't tell from the pictures. But check out my suit. It's nice, right? I got compliments on it. The material is what they use for the school boys uniforms so everyone was trippin that I would make a suit out of it. I call it my birthday suit! The work is going well. We struggled this week because elections was going on and no one was home because they all go to their rallys to support the new rapist president. I don't understand why they choose people who are prisoners or ex-prisoners rather, to be their president. I dont get it. We've been meeting a lot of people that just want to bible bash because we are only trying to teach father-led-families and other males. They are the difficult ones but they are what we need in the branch, so they are our focus.

I'm glad to hear that Dan is doing okay after the cutting of the arm. Thats a nasty cut. I am also happy to hear that Troy is fat. I can't wait to call and talk to everyone on Mother's Day. What day is that, by the way? I dont even know because out of the many holidays here, they fail to remember their mothers. I talked to President in a letter and told him the situation and am leaving it up to him. If he'll let me go home a little early than I'll hit up Fall semester, if he wont than it looks like I play the waiting game while I earn money.

I always have dreams that are so real of me being home and doing things, then I wake up in South Africa. I need to make the best with the time that I have left. I love you all so much! I can't wait to talk to y'all! Enjoy the week, and thanks again for all the birthday wishes. I'll be sure to take pictures and videos of the party tonight! Thanks Camille for the journal and the little sign. I sure love you all!

Take care and CTR!
Love,Elder Jordan Langston

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELDER LANGSTON!

Monday, April 27th is Jordan's 21st birthday.

He has always been a happy, fun, energetic, loveable, boy. When he was born, an older neighbor woman looked at him, saw the dimple in his chin and said, "A cleft in the chin, the devil within!"
He has proved her wrong...well...maybe a little devil.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JORDAN!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Letter from Jordan

This picture was taken by Wandile, a man in the area. Jordan is wearing the tie sent to him by Bryce Christensen's mom, Wynette. Notice the houses and road in the background.

Love the pictures of baptisms. Jordan with Siphiwe, Rita and Wandile.

Hello again to all my friends. I'm glad you came to play. The fun and learning never ends! Here's what I did today(this week). A little quote from Barney, if you will.

How is everyone? I'm doing great. No, I'm not getting transfered this transfer, so that means in my last area I'll only be there for three months. I'm still here with Morris and things are getting better between us. We are getting along and have good times together.

I made the mistake to mention to people that I KINDA know how to play the piano. Everyone thinks that I'm some pro now and they want me to play in Sacrament Mtg. That's not even the worst part! One of the previous missionaries use to teach piano to the people here and he's long gone. The members are now wanting to me to teach them how to play. At first, I thought it was just for people who know notihng about piano so I thoughts to myself I thought, "ok sho. I can do this." Only to find out that the people that are in the "class" are gooder than I thought. One of the ladies, yeah a 28 year old lady, said "I'm ok, I just struggle with my left hand sometimes." "Struggle with the left hand?!?" I have a hard enough time with the right hand, nevermind the left! They all think that I can play cuz I just say, "I took lessons when I was younger." (failed to mention that I never practiced) and they think that I'm just being modest when I say, "I"m not that good." Man, I'm an idiot.

Sunday was nice. Rita and Siphiwe got baptized and it all went well. When I baptized Siphiwe(big kid) they said it was like a tsunami that came out of the font and it wet the carpet about two feet out from the font. When I was in the bathroom changing and he was in there, he said, "Elder Langston?" "Yeah?"I asked. "Thanks." He'll be a good priesthood holder. He'll be 16 in June. Rita is 26 and was baptized by her neighbor, Wandile, who introduced us to her one Sunday evening about two months ago. The other picture of me was taken by Wandile yesterday while we were in the car.

So my party has been moved to the actual birthday date since I'm staying longer. One of the members accidentally slipped something about a party when she was talking to me and her sister got mad and said "its a surprise!" I pretended I had no idea what is going on, but I knew. I knew.

My knee is doing better. The one that was operated on is starting to hurt more though, my and wrist and sometimes my shoulder will hurt. I dont know what's going on but I dont like it. The weather is still being crazy. It'll be way cold in the mornings and in the evenings, but its hot in the day still. The leaves are starting to change colors and its making me trunky.

I sure love you all! I love this gospel. We were talking with Agent about prayer because we noticed he never prays while we are there and so we were wondering if he even knows. We taught him and asked if he'd pray and for the first time in three months that I've seen him, he offered a simple but powerful prayer. It was just awesome! About the whole HIV AIDS thing, yeah. Almost everyone has it. Not really, but I'd say a safe guesstimate would be 65% of all South Africans are HIV+. Honestly. We are teaching a couple of them. It's almost not a big deal anymore. Like if you were to hear about someone at home with AIDS, I'm sure people there would flip. It's kinda just a common thing to find here. Same with deaths. So many people die here, and it just kinda flows like a natural thing. Sad, I know.

I'll send home some pics on a DVD and also the flash drives. I also got me a suit. There are some young girls that are members and we are teaching their mom, but their father wont even let them come to church when the mom isn't around. He's being a real bum. I went to his business that he's got, and I ordered a suit. I chatted with him for a bit and I'm hoping that it'll lighten the tensisity between us so he'll listen what we are teaching his family. I hope it'll all work out.

Well, I'm going to quit typing because the more I type, the more angry I'll get when myldsmail loses my letter. I love you all so much! I hope everyone is doing well! Know that I"m doing fine and I am thankful for your many prayers. I hope the best for Dan. I'll keep in my prayers! Love ya'll! Take care and CTR!

Love,

Elder J. Langston

Sanibonani

Sanibonani Family and Friends!

Things are going well here in South Africa. The weather is starting to get chilli in the morning and evenings and still hot during the day! I finally got a car so I dont' have to ride the bikes all the time, which is a good thing because when I'd be riding and my knees were feeling ok, I'd see a jump that would tempt me. Being the sucker that I am, I swerve to hit the jump and fly like ET on my bike. When I land, I regret the whole thing, but hearing the cheers of the black kids around me and seeing the little girls giving me some attention makes up for all the pain. Then when I sleep that night, I hurt again.

Remember how I said that we had 9 set for baptism this week? Well, only 2 are getting baptized now. One guy, Agent, is still smoking. Portia doesn't know if she has a testimony or not. So Rita and Siphiwe are getting baptized on the 19th. Siphiwe's mom is a member and she loves me so she said she's going to throw a huge party for me on the 20th of this month for my birthday! I"m so excited!

Easter season around here is crazy! Everyone is drunk from Thursday till Monday, because today is "family day" in South Africa. We went with our investigator, Portia, to her old church on Saturday. They fed us and sang good songs, everything else about the thing was so false. There were people speaking in tounges, the pastor telling everyone to "take" blessings from God, and all they did in their preaching was talk smack on other churches. I didn't hear one thing about Jesus Christ. I can't wait to see her this week so we can talk about it.

The rest of this week has been ok. Nothing too exciting, again. The service on Sunday was a good one. Nice talks about the Atonement and things. Last night we went on splits to do some home teaching with recently ordained Melche.... Priesthood holders. It was nice. I hadn't been home teaching in so long and it was weird being with someone who wasn't a missionary. We saw this way rich family and we played UNO when we were done with the lesson. We are going to the family's house to play tennis right after emailing.

I'm sorry I dont have any pictures. I dont take any anymore. I need to start taking some of the townships and stuff because it wont be long till I dont get to see it anymore. Well, Sorry this isn't much, but I think it'll do. That'll do pig. That'll do. Oh yeah, did I tell you we got more dogs? And one reminds me of Beuford? (sp.?) Ok, family, I'm gonna go now.

We at a ghetto email shop and the computer is no bueno. I love you all so very much and wish you all happy days! My knees are doing good. My relationships are doing good with everyone. And my faith is strengthening as I do what's right. Take care and CTR!
Love,
El. Jordan Langston
AKA Johnny King(Nkosi)

Happy Easter!

Hello Family and Friends,
I'm not going to try to attatch any photos this time because I'm afraid of what might happen. I'll just write a nice short letter.
First off, I got word that the package of contacts is here but I haven't gotten them yet. We'll be going today to get them after we play a bit of tennis at a members house. I'm not going to be playing but I'll sure watch.
Second, I did watch conference and I loved every minute of it. Good news, I only fell asleep for about ten minutes out of all the sessions! I'm getting better. We also got to eat at the senior couples place and we ate some good American Chilli!
So my knees are doing good now. Well, they are doing okay. Things are going okay with me and Morris. I got my "trunky call" the other day and I'll be getting home on the 28th of August as of now. I kinda want to see if I can come home just a week earlier so school doesn't just crash on me especially if I have no money to get to and from school. I think Pres. will let me register for class while I'm here. I'll try it and if I can't, then I'll let you know. He's pretty cool about the whole school thing. He told me to start school as soon as I can and not wait.

We got some new dogs at the flat. Two new basset hounds that are huge! They aren't ours, but the owners of the place where we stay. They run in our flat any time the door is left open for even a second. They are kinda fun though.

The work is going well. We are trying new finding approaches and getting the members more involved. I have a feeling that I will be leaving this area on the 22nd but I dont know for sure. The baptism of Shimmy went well and we have another baptism coming up on the 19th. There are nine on date for that, but I dont think they will all make it. Pres. is telling us all to put people on date early, but I just seemed to get disappointed when the people bail on their date. But I still think its good for them to have a goal and know what we are there for.

I can't really think of anything else to say. Thanks for everything. I've got some good suveniers..(I can't spell) that I'll be coming home with and I think I'll get some more for everyone to enjoy. Yes, its getting cold here. No, I haven't been to the dentist. I haven't worn my retainers for a while, but the teeth still look good. ;) No, we haven't moved to the township.

We've met a few crazy people and we even had a guy try to steal our bikes while we were in the car and they were locked to the rack. I had to get out and re-tighten them on the rack and as I was, he just kept doing some weird chant and dance right in front of me. The other guys wanted him to try something so I'd get to punch him, but he didn't.

I sure love you all. Tell Grandma and Grandpa Langston that I got their letter and I'm working on sending them one back. If you could just get me their address, because I've got three different ones for them and I want the real one.
Take care, dear family, and CTR!
Love,
Elder J. Langston

Lost Email

I'm sorry this will be a short one and I'm not in a good mood now. I just spent so long writing a good letter with stories and jokes in it and even had a picture and of course, this junky email system lost it. I am so furious now and I dont even want to write anything else because it might get lost as well. Just know I"m doing good. My knee still hurts. I'm getting along with my companion. And I hate myldsmail.net. I'm sorry this is short but my time is gone and I have nothing to show for it. Goodbye.
I love you all.-
Elder Langston

Happy Autumn!

Hello Family and Friends,
How are things going in America? Things are going good here. Its still pretty hot here but the leaves are starting to fall from the trees and leave the dirt ground covered with fall colors. The sky is a warm blue color with a few cotton balls scattered in it. I only wish I could go swimming. I did get the envelope from you, Mom, so thank you very much. It had a lot of good stuff from Bryces mom so tell her I say thanks one million. I was listening to the cd's and getting a little sad. It was nice hearing familiar voices of people that I like.
The doctor said that I'll drive a car for a couple of weeks and take some pills that smell like old fish and we'll see how the knee feels after that. If it's no good, then I'll go under the knife. The doctor said that nothing is wrong in the x-rays but its making too much noise that shouldn't be in a knee of someone my age. It still hurts every now and then and pops on occasions.
Yesterday we had the baptism of Shimmy and it was a good one. I'd send you a picture but I forgot my stuff at the flat. Everything was going well. I taught the combined Priesthood and RS class and we talked about Elder Wirthlin's last talk that he gave. It's a great talk and I like it a lot.
Take care!
Love,Elder Langston

Yebo, Yebo, Yebo!

Hello Family and friends,
How is everyone doing this fine Monday morning? I'm doing ok. I'm still hanging in there. Just some news about the knee. I saw the mission doctor who was expecting to just give me some pain killers and maybe a shot to make me feel better but after looking at it and hearing where I pain, just a little, he is making me go to the orthopedic surgeon to have some x-rays taken and all that. I'm going on Thursday and I'll find out if I need surgery or not. The mission doctor was thinking that surgery might be the thing to do. If I do need surgery there is a good chance they'll just send me home to get it done, which to be honest, I'd rather have done. My last knee surgery went ok, but I wasn't able to take the proper time to exercise it and get it back to normal. My knee still bothers me sometimes and I dont want to have two messed up knees my whole life. I still got a long way to live and if I have two bad knees that keep me from doing things that I like to do, I'll go crazy. But I'll let you know what happens.

This week was an ok week. Burnett left on Wednesday and I got Elder Morris. He's a cool guy. He also repeats everything I say when we are teaching a lesson and sometimes teaches false doctrine. Other than that, he's a cool guy. He enjoys going to the gym in the morning, which is good. This morning I benched 150 lbs. That's pretty good for not lifting since 9th grade. He's funny at times too. He's got the African humor, where he's only funny because he talks funny.

Yesterday was suppose to be two baptism interviews for our people, but neither of them were home. We are going to try to see one of them tonight, Shimmy, so he can get baptised soon. We've been postponing him for a while, but he's ready now. I'll let you know how it goes. I'll tell you the names of everyone on baptism date and their gender: Shimmy(M), Agent Meshach(M), Rita(F), Cindy(F), Portia(F), Magdeline(F), Jabulile(F), Khabo(F), Siphiwe(M). So almost everyone but the first two are scheduled for April 19th.We did a bit of tracting and found some more guys that are in their twenties to teach. In fact, one of them has had missionaries there before but he said he never bothered to pray to find out if its true. I explained to him what it means if it is true and how important it is. I gave him the challenge again to pray and read and he said he would. As we were leaving, his mom gave us some corn on the cob and we ate it as we walked. It was neat.
We had stake conference yesterday as well. They had it at the civic center because there was too many people to hold it in the chapel. Pres. and Sister Poulson spoke as well as Elder and Sister Young, from the seventy. They talked about member missionary work and family unity mainly. It was nice stuff. Sis. Poulson told a funny story that I'll tell you. In a kindergarten class the kids were drawing pictures. As the teacher walked around to observe the demented pictures that were being sketched with crayons, she came upon a young girl drawing a picture which the teacher found unique. She asked the girl, "what are you drawing?" The girl replied, "I'm drawing a picture of God." The teacher was then befuddled and told the girl, "you're nuts! You can't be drawing God! No one knows what God looks like." Keeping her crayon on the paper and focusing only on her drawing, she replied, "they will in a minute." She then used that as being missionaries. We know something that the world doesn't and so we need to share it with everyone. I added a bit in that story to make it more interesting, just to let you know.

So, the answer to your question is yes, I do live with another companionship. Elder Teare from N.Z. and Elder Hanson from somewhere in Utah. I think its Sandy or something, I would ask him but I dont want him to know that I'm writing about him. I got some shirts for some people already. Did you get sizes for everyone else? I think I'll just make some shirts that say South Africa on them. We've been having some sweet ideas but they'd only be funny here and only to people who don't like the government people.

Thanks for those pictures.
Well, I sure hope I dont lose this email. I'd be so angry if I did. i'm going to stop writing just in case I do lose it. If I write more witty things that are golden and I lose it, ah man, I'd be so upset! Thanks for everything you do for me! I hope Grandma had a great birthday and so did Cyrus. Happy birthday to Corban and Dave this week! Enjoy your special day! I love you all! I'll let you know what happens with the whole knee thing.
Take care and CTR!
Love,
Elder Jordy Boy

Chi-Chi-Chi-Chia

Greetings from South Africa,
Howzit? Thanks for the great emails and pictures. I wasn't able to see them all because these computers are slow and I didn't want to wait too long because my time would run out. I have to go see the doctor for my other knee. Its doing the same thing my right knee was doing at the beginning of my mission so I'm hoping I don't get surgery again. I'll let you know though.

So we got transfer news and Elder Burnett is going to Sandton to be a zone leader and I'm getting a guy from Kenya who's only been out six months.
The movie night was great! We had about 26 people show up(not including missionaries) and about 6 of them were investigators and a few were people that I've never met that members just brought and even brought to church on Sunday. It was a good activity. So good that we are planning to do one every month now. I am getting a few more videos from other missionaries that are church related and we're going to watch them. The senior couples made popcorn for everyone and I even saw some tears at the end of the movie. Towards the end the rains started coming but right when we ended with a prayer the rains stopped. We talked to Rita and Cindy, who probably lived the farthest away, and they said that almost right when they got in their house it started to pour that night. It's pretty cool to see how the Lord watches over us.
We had some members who are friends with Phumla's parents go talk to them and try to help the situation but when they reported back, they made it worse. Now we aren't even allowed to go over there. I just don't get it. If the kids are doing good things, reading scriptures, and being happy in their life, why stop the source of all these good things?
We also found a couple of guys that play in a band in their church and they practice almost every night at the church. We walked in one night and chatted with them. We just told them what we do and stuff and that they are sounding good. They asked if we played, and of course we said yes. Burnett rocked the drums and the guys were in awe. They wanted him to come and give them drum lessons. I tuned the guys bass for him and played a little solo on it. They want us to go back when we get a chance and just jam with them, but we'll see what happens. It sure was fun though.
We have one guy who is on baptism date for April and we've been teaching his sister lately. She's been doing okay. She came to the movie and wasn't feeling too good so we gave her a blessing before she headed home with her brother. She also said she was cold so I gave her a jacket of mine that was in the car and told her she could keep it. On Sunday she said that she's feeling much better and knows it was because of the blessing we gave her. She also told us that she wants to be baptized. That's always nice when the people ask to be baptized instead of us bringing it up. We're seeing her this week and we'll set a date and continue teaching her the truth.
Well, thats about all from this side. I'm getting bigger as we go to the gym every morning and I drink protien shakes and eat healthy. I'll try to let you know what happens at the doctors today. I can't remember if there were any particular questions you asked so I'm sorry if I didn't answer them if there were any. I sure love you all! It'll be no time till I'm home having band practice with the kiddies!
Take care and CTR!
Love,
Elder J. "Themba" Langston

Good Morning my family and friends,

Howzit? Things are going well here in South Africa! The sun is out with only a few clouds blocking it and there is a slight breeze warning us of coming rain. The weather here sure is crazy! The past few days it has been pouring rain! You know that Queen song "Under Pressure"? I always think of the lines, "it never rains but it pours" as I ride my bike or drive the car down the muddy roads here in Tsakane. Its nice though. Winter is coming and there will be not much water. I remember last winter in Thaba Nchu and the water would get turned off at our house in the township. Speaking of which, we are looking to moving to the township in our area now. We found a good house that a member owns and wants to rent it to us. She even offered to pay for a lady to come once a month and just clean the dickens out of the place. It sounds nice, but I doubt it'll happen. Plus if it does, I'll be far away from the gym and wont be able to get the huge body I need to defend myself from Jacob. He always tells me how many pushups he can do and that he'll kick my butt when I get home.

This week has been a busy one. Lots of highs and lows. One of the lowest lows was when we saw Phumla. She told us that her dad doesn't even want her to go to church anymore. It was pretty heartbreaking because she is very sad about it but we told her to not talk back to him and to do what's right and the Lord will provide a way. She's so awesome! In sacrament meeting, the seminary teacher got up to bear her testimony and she said that she got a text that morning from one of her students who wasn't a member yet just bearing her testimony and apologizing for not being able to come to church. The seminary teacher began to cry as she talked about how powerful Phumla is.

Testimony meetings in South Africa are more like story time. This Sunday, everyone was telling how gratefull they are for their friends and would give shout-outs to their friends. Right after their testimony, the friend would go up and return the favor by giving them a shout-out and telling how cool of a person they are. I was going nuts! Even the branch president talked for almost 20 minutes on stuff that wasn't even testimony. And my class was cut short because we didn't get out of Sacrament till half past. Yo! I was going crazy.

We are teaching these girls, Rita(25) and her sister Cindy(10), and we put them on baptism date. They have been having problems with their father, who doesn't live with them, come in their home and yell at their mom and be very abusive. He's been doing that for quite some time. They said that they can't even sleep because of fear that he'll come over in the night. We have been keeping them in our prayers and he hasn't been over for about a week now. Things are getting better for them and they love the gospel! Their mom sits in with us but doesn't understand english well.

We are starting to find some good father led families now. We are starving for good priesthood holders in the branch, but with the Lord's help and being obedient, we'll find them.
This Saturday we are doing a movie night at the school and we are inviting everyone. We told all the members and even made little flyers for them. We challenged each member to bring a friend with them and the senior couples said they'll make popcorn for the movie. Oh yeah, we're going to watch "The Testaments". Hopefully we'll find some new people to teach.

Well, thats how things are going here. Today we are taking the car in to get fixed because it'll rev up to 4000 RPMs when the clutch is in and so we're gonna get that fixed.
I sure love you all! Thank you for all your support and love. I loved the Valentines notes from everyone too. Thanks!

Take care and CTR!
Love, Elder Langston

I Did It!

Hello family and friends,

Greetings from myldsmail! It sure is weird using this because the setup is different. I guess I can handle it for 6 more months.

This week was ok. Something not so fun happened. Phumela said that her parents sat her down and talked to her about baptism and asked why she needs to be baptized in this church if she's already been baptized. They don't want her to be baptized anymore but said she can still come to church and seminary. Phumela said she went in her room and cried. We taught her about the restoration of the priesthood and she understands now why she needs to be baptized in this church and said she'll talk to her dad again.

I got over my stomach sickness but now I think I'm getting the flu. Yesterday we had to ride the bikes through the rain and it had already rained a whole lot so we were riding through a river while it was pouring hard and it was getting late at night. We got to our last appointment and we were soaked! I now have the sniffles, but I'll be ok.

We are still teaching a lot of people and keeping busy. The weeks are going by too fast for me! I am sure enjoying mission now and I think its because I am striving to be more obedient. We also got to go to the temple on Friday and it was so nice. It has sparked so many more questions, going through the endowment again. The questions just force me to jump in to the scriptures and search for them, so I do it.

I hope that Camille can find a good vehicle now that her van is gone. Did she move into her new house yet? Are the house prices still really low? How bad is the economy there? Its hard not knowing what's going on with the world around me and only hearing bits and pieces from the people here.

I got your package, so thanks one million! I shared some of the candy with people we are teaching. Here is a picture of me in our flat with our dog. It's not really ours but it comes up to our flat every night and just hangs out for a bit. This is the shirt that Grandma and Grandpa gave me so if you could send them the picture too that'd be great! I sure love you all! Thanks for doing so much for me!

Take care and CTR!

Love,Elder J. Langston

Eita Hola!

This is a family in Gold Reef. The mom and daughter were baptized just before Jordan got there.
This lady, Sharon, was a good friend to the missionaries in Gold Reef. She helped organize the meals. Notice the cute one on Jordan's left side.

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a pretty good week. A lot happened and some more embarrassing things happened to me because I am sick.

The rest of the week went well. I had to give a talk yesterday and though I was very nervous, I guess I did a good job. I spoke about repentance and how we need to be prepared. I started out telling everyone that I had not prepared anything and that I had other things I had to do. I apologized and asked for everyones forgiveness and started to walk away from the microphone. Peoples faces were so shocked! I came back and related it to us here on this life and how many of us find excuses to not doing what's right and preparing for God. I was the last speaker and I had to fill about 20 minutes. I have never done that before but I just kept rambling on and telling stories and it filled the time just right. The teaching is going well. My studies are going well too. I keep learning great things as I read the scriptures. I was reading in Daniel the other day and found something funny. I dont remember what verse its in but in chapter one it talks about how Daniel found favor with the eunuchs. It made me smile. Good work Dan! Phumela is doing well! She got permission from her parents to get baptized and we are trying to set up a time to see her parents and visit with them.

My time is running out. I sure don't like this emailing because then I can't write a lot, especially without my adderall, I'm all over the place and can't focus. How's things going with UVU? I'm excited to see my new room when I get home. Maybe I'll just stay at home for a while! I dont need to move out, right? I sure love you all! Thanks for the many emails I got from everyone! I loved them and the pictures! I'll write more next week. Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder Langston

My Joy Is Full

Hello Family/Mom,

I just wanted to say thanks for the email. Thanks for all you have done for me and continue to do for me. I've only been getting one email a week now days, which is fine, I'm not complaining, and I think its because I come home soon so everyone is just saving the awesome stories for when I come home so we can all just chill and chat! I'm excited for that! (rhymes) I sure love you Mom!

The work here is going great! We have another "platinum investigator" in this area! I thought Moya would be my only one but I have found yet another! This girl is so awesome!!! She's 15 years old , going on to 16 and her name is Pumela. She just came to church one day out of curiosity in the end of November and has been coming ever since (when she's in town). She also enrolled in Seminary which is 4 days a week and goes every day! We usually have to wait for people her age to attend church for at least 6 months, consecutively, before they can be baptized. We got special permission to baptize her for the 22nd of March and let me tell ya, she's ready for it!! We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Friday and I talked about repentance. She asked how to repent and stuff so I told her. I also mentioned that if we have wronged anyone that we should ask them for their forgiveness so we don't have that problem in the back of our head. Oh yeah, she also knew the five steps(i.e. faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and ETTE) before we even told her because she read it in the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It just mentions it briefly but she recited the steps back to us by memory! Any way, we were at a members house last night just visiting with them and we got a text on the phone from Pumela. She said that she is writing letters to all the people whom she has wronged and she feels a great burden being lifted off her back! She said, "I'm crying as I write this because of the joy that I'm feeling." She mentioned that she had never felt this before he started coming to church. She is just the cooolest girl! She also said that when she makes time to read from the BOM, she somehow still has time to finish everything else that she needs to do like homework and cleaning and she feels much better as she does those other things! I love this work!!

On the flip side of things, we met up with a recent convert who hasn't come to church for a while and when we talked to him he said that he's torn between his old church, J-Dubs, and the LDS church. He can't decide which one is true, but he plainly told us that he has felt the Spirit as he reads the BOM and when he goes to church, but he wants proof. The whole time he was talking, not only was I frustrated because he doesn't understand, but I was thinking about Korihor and Alma. Alma told Korihor that he "has had signs enough" and Korihor said he wanted proof. As we all know, Korihor got his proof and later asked for the "sign" to be removed. Alma denied his request and Korihor eventually got trampled and died while begging as a mute. The one question that he had that has been confusing him is that the BOM talk of baptism before Christ was even born but the Old Testament says nothing of baptism. He was crosssed with that little question and because of that, has fallen away from the church. I so badly wanted to read 2 Nephi 31:14 with him, but we approached his situation a little more different and loving. I'm always just wanting to show people how dumb they are and what they are in for, but Elder Burnnett is teaching me better.

Burnnett and I are getting along great! We have a lot in common. He was a drummer for a band before he came out and listened to cool music like I did. He's a quiet kid though and everyone thinks he's young on mission because of his silence. He's got a strong testimony and a good teacher. I've been learning a lot from him.

Some more good news, I found out that a lady that I found at the pharmacy in Thaba Nchu got baptized and her kids are on date. I just met her when I was buying some chap stick and she wanted me to pray for her. I told her I would and I saw her again at the grocery store the next week. She followed up on my assignment, which I totally forgot, and so I just tried to make it up to her by setting an appointment to go visit her. She agreed and we starting seeing her but she wasn't getting it. I guess she finally got it and got baptized. The Gospel really is true. I seriously love meeting new people and sharing these wonderful truths with them to lighten their minds and help them find the right way to God. Some of our recent converts have been inviting friends to their house as we go there and a few of them came to church yesterday. They are so cool! The only problem is is that they are all females and the branch needs males to help them grow. We will find some soon because we are brainstorming to come up with new tactics for finding people. We are meeting with the Branch Presidency this Thursday to discuss our ideas with them and I'll give you a report next Monday.

I'm sorry I dont have any pictures here. The computers we use now dont have a USB drive, except one computer. I'll take a few pictures this week and I'll fight for that computer next week to send off some nice pics. Hopefully, the school will get back to you soon so you can pick some nice classes for me. We live above some ladies garage and she has a huge yard. I'll send you pics of the place next week.

Well, I'm going to end so I can write to Jeanette before I get off. I love you all very much! Have a very lovely Valentines Day. I can't really think of anything I want in the package. Some jerky or something? I dont know. Recent pictures of everyone would be cool, but if not just have Jacob draw pics of everyone. It would've been cool if we could get some of my friends to write a letter and just give it to you so you can send it off since they are no good at sending things. Also, if you could talk to Venus and get Leif's email address for me, that'd be great! I've been thinking about how he's doing now. Thanks one million for all you do! Take care and CTR!

Love,
Elder "Jordy-Boy" Langston

ps. they sell some cool curtains for cheap here in this country, since that is all people have on their windows, and I was wondering if you want me to purchase some for the giant window in front so you can get rid of the other, ghetto ones ;) If you do want some, let me know the size of the window and the color scheme you want and I can get you some with cool designs or even animals stitched in the curtain. Also, I want to get shirts for everyone before I come home so if you could give me the sizes of everyone, that'd be nice so I can start collecting them slowly before I go home! Sala Gahle! Ka o rata! (Stay well! I love you!)