Hablas Espanol? No se, mi amigo.

Hola! Hola!

Funny enough, I'm not speaking Spanish. Around here they use hola to say hi also. Fun fact for the day!

So Happy Missionary Monday!! I'm doing pretty well and I hope you are too!

Well, to start off, Training Elder Matjie has been pretty good so far. We get along and work well. He kinda talks soft though, but at least he talks! This past week we've been working to grow the area. We have 6 new investigators and a couple of them are really accepting so I'm quite excited. This past weekend though we've been really helping with getting people water. The villages were out of water for 4 days so people were beginning to suffer. But, it felt great being able to help.

One thing that has been interesting is our changed schedule. By this I mean for our area. We can't really be in our area when it gets late because it's quote, unquote, "not safe". I haven't really seen any harm in being in certain places though. But the thing is that the locals are all in and they lock their gates once it starts getting too late. So because of this we sometimes are left idle later in the evening. Since we have 4 missionaries in Lenyenye now, there is a walking area (Elder Bagoole and Elder Griffey) and a driving area (Elder Matjie and myself). And in Elder Bagoole's area they're more welcoming at later times so we've had a few nights of waiting for them. It's been a little frustrating just playing the waiting game...

I do have exciting news though! Well, it's exciting to me, anyways, I've just finished the Book of Mormon. So the reason I'm so excited is because this is the first time I've finished it and truly understood all of it. I was able to find new teachings and many interesting things that I had missed before. I can truly say, with no question, I know the Book of Mormon is true. I've always known it to be true but now, it's just different. I finally understand how amazing that little blue book is. I hope that everyone gets the chance to come to this understanding and feeling that I have found for myself.

I hope that you are all seeing the Lord's hand in your life and that you know he loves you. I thank you for the support and prayers, they're greatly appreciated. Enjoy the rest of this week!

- Elder Burgess

P.S. I might not be able to write next week. My zone will be going to Kruger National Park. So I'm going back!! I'll do my best to get a picture of a lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo (i.e. the Big Five).

A fortunate new adventure.

Hello world,

Well to start off, I hope you're doing well. I'm doing pretty well myself. So yeah, I've started training Elder Matjie (Maw chee ay). He's a good guy. He's very ready for the mission field. He's wonderful at teaching already. Honestly, me training him doesn't make sense, but whatever. I know I'm very fortunate to have him as a companion. 

Another thing that makes me fortunate is that we moved into a really nice flat! I mean REALLY NICE! It was the Campbell's (the senior couple that left just not too long ago) flat before. So it's intended for a senior couple. I somewhat feel like I'm staying in a hotel!

Although our area will be a struggle, Elder Matjie and I are optimistic. We started with no one in our teaching pool! As time goes on, however, I know it will improve. We've been trying to find less actives because there are many, like hundreds, many. Yesterday I was just driving and I saw a house down the way and thought, "let's stop there". As we are getting closer our member present says, "Oh there's a less active there," while pointing at my predetermined destination. Well it turns out that an entire family lives there!! And their two children that live in Johannesburg were up visiting. It was a wow moment for sure!!

I'd have to say that another reason I'm fortunate is because I have you all! I know that you have sent prayers my way because I've seen them, many times...this past week, my whole mission actually.

Thank you. 

- Elder Burgess

Here kitty, kitty! It's time for transfers.

Hello All!!

I hope your week was good. Mine was great!! 

To start off, last Monday, after emailing, I went to the Letaba Predator Park and played with lions... yes, you heard me right. I'll attach photos. I'm sure everyone knows of my obsession with wild life and especially exotic predators. So my joy was very much on the high side. 

Other than that we've had a good week. We've done some more finding and I've really enjoyed it! I love talking to people and sharing, to their bewilderment, gospel truths. But it is frustrating when a guy looks at the picture of Jesus and claims we're racist and worship a white man.... Here I'm being called racist with an African companion and the line he uses is far more racist than anything I've ever said or done. I think some people say stuff like that just to get us to leave though. Oh well, their loss. 

Our friend Nico has been away and just came back so we were able to visit him and his family again and boy, I missed them! I love that whole family so much!! 

Let's see, other than that, we received transfer news....... (drum roll).... I'm staying in Lenyenye! And so is Elder Bagoole! But, we're not companions. We will BOTH be training new guys and Lenyenye is being divided. My new trainee is named Elder Matjie. I'll be meeting him tomorrow when I drive down to Pretoria to pick him up! And the area of Lenyenye that I'll be in is called Tickyline. We don't really work there because it's far from the church but there's a lot of less active members. I'm hopeful that everything will go well...

I love you all and thank you for the support. I would like to ask for added prayers that training and leading an area goes well for me.

Love,

- Elder Burgess

Neature. How neat is that?

Hello Everyone!!

I'm doing great and now even better because I get to write to you all!!!

I hope everything has been going well. So last Monday, after emailing, we (Elder Bagoole, Elder Hunt, Elder Baldwin, Hunt's new companion, and myself) went to a waterfall that is just outside of Tzaneen. Wow! It's Gorgeous! Don't worry, you'll get pictures! 

Now the rest of the week has been okay. We had a lot of service (surprise, surprise). My favorite was helping Sister Letsaolo. Brother and Sister Letsaolo have been working on a day center for orphans in the area. They wanted to give them a place to go after school and be able to have a good home cooked meal. So we went to help put in a fence. Sadly, I forgot my camera...next time though. 

Teaching wise, well, that's where the okay comes in. Since it's Holiday here (vacation break), It's been harder to meet with people and people have kept dodging us. But we've remained optimistic and tried doing some extra finding. On that note, I have to say, there are way too many pastors here! We start talking to someone on the street and they're reading the pamphlet with a lot of interest and I start getting excited! Just to discover that they're a pastor... But this is mission life! I love my mission so much! I'm enjoying it so much and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else!

Thank you all for all the support you've given to me and I hope your week is a good one.

I know I didn't write much but I'll include plenty of pictures and a picture is worth a thousand words! 😜

Love you all!

- Elder Burgess

P.S. Oh and Happy Fourth of July, America! 

Me in front of the first waterfall, it's big!! 

The pools there are beautiful!! And so tempting to swim...but sadly, rules are rules.

Here's the lower waterfall.

Here we see a delicacy, grilled chicken feet smothered in chili sauce. It was actually really good.

Allotment came in and Elder Bagoole and I wanted to make it rain.