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