9/24/13

Hello everyone! The first week in the hills has gone great! I am so sore though. Every day we hike about five miles up and down hills to meet with all of the people. But anyways I will start from the beginning. So I got here on Thursday of last week at about noon. Our flat or apartment is actually pretty nice. It is meant for four elders but since there are three in our companionship it is just the three of us. There are two small bedrooms with two beds and a desk. Then in one of the rooms there is a desk and an armoire for our clothes. Then there is like a living room area with a few couches and a kitchen with a camp stove. The only bad part really is the bathroom. The bathroom is probably the grossest things i have ever seen. We do have a toilet and a shower though. The toilet is raised off of some concrete and the shower is basically right next to it. The drain is a hole in the wall and the floor is slanted a little bit, but the water does not drain well, so the ground smells really gross. I will try to take a picture this week and send it. My companions are Elder Hiltbrand and Elder Utonga. Elder Hiltbrand is from California, and is 19. He has been here for three months so he is just out of training, and now he is training me. He likes to talk a lot and hates it when there is silence, and I dont mind not talking, especially when I dont know someone. He hated it the first few days because i hardly ever talked but I think he is getting used to it now. Elder Utonga is from Tanzania and has been here for 7.5 months. He is pretty quiet too and speaks mostly Swahili. I get along better with him then Hiltbrand though, probably just because we both dont talk a lot. Our area is huge! because there are three of us we took over the area that the other companionship used to cover, so we do a lot of walking.And throughout the whole area you are either walking up or down a hill, so my legs are getting a real workout. The branch house is about a 40 minute walk from our flat, and it covers both areas as well. I am not sure how many members there are, but there are about 200 people at sacrament each Sunday. The people are all really nice. Or at least I think so. I dont understand anything anyone says, because few speak English and none of them speak it well. Most speak Swahili or Kikamba. That is probably the hardest thing for me because I would like to speak to people but I cannot so I just sit there totally lost in whatever is going on. The first day we went to seven members houses and I didnt know what any of them were saying. I taught a few of the spiritual thoughts though and they went well. They seemed to understand me OK but it was difficult. On Friday we visited some more members, and it was about the same as Thursday. I am learning a little bit of Swahili, and studying so hopefully I will know it well by the time I leave. On Saturday we went to a funeral which pretty much took up the whole day. It is frustrating because we dont leave until noon everyday because of training and then we have to be home by six because that is when it gets dark and there are no lights. And a lot of the time we get back a lot earlier then that. I wish we had more time, but oh well. On Sunday we went to church. The meeting house is small and it was packed. The branch president asked me to share my testimony in front of everyone which was kind of scary. Then in priesthood one of the Elders called me up to give the lesson. I had not known about it until that moment. It was difficult because it was about families and polygamy is a big problem here so they started asking a bunch of questions and then got into a big argument with each other, half of which I didnt understand. overall it went well though. Monday is the day we do service. We were supposed to shovel manure but the lady we were going to do it was for was not home. Instead we went and fetched some water for one of our investigators. That was not easy. They use 5 gallon containers and to get the water you have to walk to a river and fill it up. The distance to the river was about the distance from our house to the church. We walk down the hill with the empty container and walk up the hill with the full container. It was heavy. We carried them like the mamas here, tied around our back with a long scarf kind of thing. It was a cool experience though. We also taught the lady a lesson, and committed her to baptism, so that is awesome! That has been my only lesson taught so far but we should have some more. For food I eat pretty much rice and beans because that is all they really sell. I am going to have a tough time adjusting when I get home and eat food with flavor. The members usually feed us the same thing. Or rice with boiled cabbage and tomatoes. It is actually pretty good. The water we drink is good too because all missionaries have a water filter in their flat, and I just fill up a two liter bottle with that each day. We have heard about the shooting but it doesnt really affect us. The al shabob is the terrorist group that is doing it and they do that kind of stuff all the time I guess. But we are far from Nairobi. Where we are everyone is really friendly and you dont have to worry about that kind of stuff. All of the missionaries in Nairobi are locked up in their apartments though so I am grateful I am not there. The first day here was pretty tough because I was exhausted from climbing the hills, I was annoyed that I couldn't understand anyone, and I missed the family and Dalee, but now I am doing a lot better. My mission president told me that by serving my mission I was entitled to call down the blessings of heaven as long as I was obedient, so I gave it a shot. The first night I prayed for the blessings of the word of wisdom to walk and not be weary, I asked for the gift of tongues, and I asked for comfort. The next day I was not nearly as tired, I actually understood people a lot better, and I didnt struggle with missing everyone. I know that when you are obedient to a commandment that their is always a blessing attached and the Lord must give them to you. I am so grateful for that. I hope everyone is doing great and I cant wait to hear from everyone. I love you all so much! Elder Janda

Johannesburg Temple

Johannesburg MTC

9/5/13 Hey mom! I am here at the MTC safe. It is super small, but that’s OK cause there are only like thirty of us. The flight from London was long but I got a pretty good amount of sleep so that was good. I have two companions but I can' t remember their names right now. I haven’t really done anything with them. We haven’t started classes yet, just filled out paperwork got some shots and unpacked. President Reber and his wife seem super cool and she loves taking pictures so I am sure you can expect a lot of those from her. I have been taking some pictures but I wont be able to upload them until I get to Kenya, so don’t worry you will get them. We get to go to the temple on Tuesday I believe so that will be really cool. There’s nothing else that has really happened yet, so I am not sure what else to tell you. Don’t worry I will send longer emails once stuff starts happening. I love you so much mom. I am so grateful for all you have done for me in my life, and I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the things you did for me in my life. Love, Elder Janda Hey Dad! I am here at the MTC all safe and sound. The flight from London to J-Burg went pretty well, it was just very long. haha. I am in a tripanionship kinda thing. So there is myself and two other elders, who I can't really remember their names right now. I haven’t really done anything with them yet. The room we are in is super tiny and holds six of us. I will send a picture when I get to Kenya because I am not allowed to in the MTC. The Internet is too slow I guess. So far today we have just been filling out paperwork and doing other things for orientation kind of. I had to get three more shots. The MTC president and his wife seem super cool. She loves taking pictures though so you guys should expect a lot of those. I am glad to finally be here and doing something, even though it’s nothing really special yet. I am not sure what the number of natives or anything like that are yet, but I will let you know when I find out. There hasn’t really been much that has happened besides that since I last talked to you so I don’t really know what else to say, but I am sure by the next time I email you there will be plenty to add. I love you so much dad and I am so grateful for everything you have done for me. Love, Elder Janda

And Elder Janda Is Off

SETTING APART