It Snowed and Everyone Went Wild

It did snow and everyone went wild. It was so fun to watch all the kids get out of school and start playing in it. For most of them it was the first time they had ever seen snow. I don't have my A1C yet I will get it today. I have put off calling the doctor because we have been so busy and having fun :)

So here is the weekly update. Things are going good here in Protea Glen. We are tracting a lot and trying to find knew people to teach which is pretty fun in a township :) Lots of great, funny, drunk, happy, and Religious people :) Friday and Saturday nights are avoided because mostly every man is drunk. I feel like Manti when he emailed me and told me that people in Jamaica struggle with the Law of chastity except here people really struggle with the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity. Other than that though the ward has called a new ward mission leader and a new assistant ward mission leader. They are both very powerful members who are excited about the work and are ready to hit the ground running :) Life continues to move along swiftly. I cant believe how much time has gone by and how little time I have left (14 months looks really short from my point of view). I love being able to work and have fun. Learning is my favorite thing to do now which is weird for me haha but there is nothing better than a good book especially the scriptures because there is so much in them that I thought I knew that I realize now I know absolutely nothing (for the most part). Its weird how happy I am right now. I am tired and I know it is gonna be a crazy week but I am just happy. Its really weird I am sitting here smiling and I don't know why. Life is good :) This last week we had our Zone Conference and our Zone Activity. For our Zone Activity we barbaqued and played Basketball, soccer, and dodge ball :) The only bad part of all of it was my Companion when throwing a ball threw his arm out of its socket and now is not allowed to play sports the rest of his mission but other than that it was fun. Elder Sibandze's spirits are high and he is doing great. His arm feels much better but he is now sick with a cold. He's had a rough start to his mission but he is loving his time right now. At our Zone Conference President Omer talked about our Stewardship in taking care of our Flats, cars, bikes, and Allotment money. He also talked a lot about receiving personal revelation which was awesome. There is no greater feeling or experience than being taught by an inspired leader. Sister Omer is the best as well. She talked mostly about using our money wisely and told us to stop eating out as much haha She told us she was tired of getting phone calls from missionaries telling her that they are out of money halfway through the month. All in all it was a very rewarding experience and I learned a lot!

One day all three of us will get to bless the sacrament together it will just have to wait 14 months :) Things are all good here and I am sending a letter today :) I hope you have a great week and are starting to realize you might be moving to Rexburg in a few years haha Love you to heaven and backI knew that I realize now I know absolutely nothing (for the most part). Its weird how happy I am right now. I am tired and I know it is gonna be a crazy week but I am just happy. Its really weird I am sitting here smiling and I don't know why. Life is good :) This last week we had our Zone Conference and our Zone Activity. For our Zone Activity we barbecued and played Basketball, soccer, and dodge ball :) The only bad part of all of it was my Companion when throwing a ball threw his arm out of its socket and now is not allowed to play sports the rest of his mission but other than that it was fun. Elder Sibandze's spirits are high and he is doing great. His arm feels much better but he is now sick with a cold. He's had a rough start to his mission but he is loving his time right now. At our Zone Conference President Omer talked about our Stewardship in taking care of our Flats, cars, bikes, and Allotment money. He also talked a lot about receiving personal revelation which was awesome. There is no greater feeling or experience than being taught by an inspired leader. Sister Omer is the best as well. She talked mostly about using our money wisely and told us to stop eating out as much haha She told us she was tired of getting phone calls from missionaries telling her that they are out of money halfway through the month. All in all it was a very rewarding experience and I learned a lot!

One day all three of us will get to bless the sacrament together it will just have to wait 14 months :) Things are all good here and I am sending a letter today :) I hope you have a great week and are starting to realize you might be moving to Rexburg in a few years haha Love you to heaven and back

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY

-- Here is the weekly up date. We continue to see the Lords hand in our
lives and in our area. We have been studying the Book of Mormon and
Preach my Gospel so much lately that I have realized that I have a lot
to improve on. We are being asked by our mission president to focus a
lot more on Families that have Fathers. Africa is struggling to be a
more established area because of the lack of worthy priesthood holders
in the ward and branches. So it was a blast in our last district
meeting to discuss what we could do better in our finding efforts and
in our teaching to hold onto Father Led Families. I have found that
there is such a sweat spirit present when a whole family is actively
listening and learning about the gospel. It was a great district
meeting and the spirit was so strong :) I love being a missionary!!!
We are teaching an awesome family right now and we have had some very
spiritual lessons with them the past couple of weeks. They are the
Zondo's and they are a couple in their early thirties with two young
children and I hope and pray they can feel the truthfulness of our
message. We are still seeing Thabong Moanakwena and he is doing great.
He is a recent convert of about two weeks now. He was the first person
that I taught from start to finish and then baptized. He is doing
great! He's in the choir now and is preparing to go on a mission in a
years time :) There is so much I could go on about but I am a slow
typrist and we have a busy day ahead of us. I would like to end on a
more spiritual note though. I am learning more and more of the Love
our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us. I am learning that
there are things that we could never hope to comprehend in this life
concerning the designs of Him who created us. This much I do know, we
are son's and daughter's of a very real Father in Heaven, Who loves us
more than we know. He watches over us, He cares for us, and He wants
us to be happy. He provided a way for us to become like Him to enjoy
perfect Happiness and Exaltation with our Families forever. He is
willing to speak with us and to listen to us. He knows our sorrows and
He knows our pains and He is willing to come as close to as as we are
willing to come close to him. The veil that is over our minds is a lot
thinner than we think. I have been learning so much since I have been
here. I have learned more about my Father in Heaven and His great Plan
of Happiness for us, I have learned more of my Saviour, Jesus Christ,
and the true role He plays in my life. I owe them both for everything
that I am and everything I hope to be. The thing I am most grateful
for is that I am learning about myself and what I need to change to be
more like Them. I was so blind before I came to South Africa to what
really mattered and what meant the most to me. I see now what I need
to change and slowly, very slowly, the Lord is purifying me and I pray
that I may ever let Him. There are three scriptures that I have
committed to live my life by. They are D&C 122, Malachi 3:3, and
Moroni 7:48 in that order. I know each of us has a divine potential
that we can reach if we are will to step aside and let the Lord help
us get there. These past ten months have been the hardest of my life
but they have been the most rewarding and wouldn't trade them for
anything. There is no end to love and there is no end to progression.
We are more than we are led to believe and are capable of more than
the mind can imagine and with the Lords help we can be who we are
meant to be, as our Father in Heaven is we can be :) I know That Jesus
is the Christ and that He has suffered all that we may return and that
He lives. May we all hold dear to our hearts these truths that are so
precious and go out of our way to share them with all who will listen
and obey.

I Feel More Empowered Than Ever Before

 This last Sunday we had a baptism of a young man of 21 years old. His name is Thabong Moanakwena and he is a great powerful new convert. He tells us that he wants to serve a mission so we are still working very close with him and are gonna start involving more members in the recent convert lessons. Elder Sibandzi and I have been studying Preach My Gospel very in depth lately and have found a lot of things that we can be applying in our work that would help us so much! We have also been watching the District video segments as part of the New missionary training program and we had a very powerful study yesterday. We focused it on working with members and I about kicked myself in the pants because we have not been using the members as effectively as we could! So we have some big plans that we are gonna put into action this week and it should start making our work a lot easier and flow so much better. Training has definitely made me see what I can improve on. Last night I told Elder Sibandze that we were both being trained together haha. I cannot believe what new insights keep coming and how much I am learning. There is absolutely no end to intelligence that can be gained throughout our lives. Its so funny to look back before I came to Africa thinkig that I thought I knew a lot about the gospel only to realize that I have learned so much more now and that there is still so much to learn. I can truly say that my mission means everything to me and will define who I am when I come home. I am loving every minute of my time I have here. Last night, before we came home, we were having dinner at a members home and it was a great time. There were three different families over for dinner and one of our ward missionaries and it was just one of those times that I don't want to forget. Khwazi, the ward missionary, and I volunteered  to do the dishes after we ate and while in the kitchen I looked to where everyone was sitting and laughing having a good time and for a split second I felt as if I was at home. I felt like I knew each of them my whole life and I could not imagine leaving them. It was a great feeling to have. I love this work, I love the gospel, and I love the Church. I still wonder sometimes how I have been so blesssed to be in a family who honors the Covenants we have made to have a mother who is a perfect example to me and a father who always encourages me and puts me strait when I am out of line. Its a funny thought but these are the things I remember most from my life thus far. Its the fun I have had with friends, the moments of counseling and teaching from my older brother, the lessons learned from being a good and bad older brother, the tender mercies of the Lord that have flowed throughout my life, and most of all the love I have had from family, friends, teachers, and leaders through my life. I can look back anyone moment and feel the love of that time or the sadness. All of these things have prepared and shaped me for this time. I feel that I am being held in the refiners fire and at times it is more painful than I could have imagined but at other times I feel more empowered than I have ever felt before. It is my prayer that we always remember who we are and our divine potential and then focus our efforts on achieving that potential.
I love you Mom and I hope you have a great week. I am loving my time here and we are gonna have a great week. Love you MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Training Elder Sibandze from Swaziland

Good to hear that you and Cameron will have some time together while the other Kids are out living like the pioneers. We have been pretty busy this week. The Training is going good and so is being a district leader but it is hard at the same time. We are working a lot more with inactive members, doing all we can to find them and meet with them so we can get them to come back to church. We are in a ward of 900 with 750 less or inactive. So we are staying busy and we will be having a baptism this Sunday so that should be fun. Other than that though there isn't to much going on. Life is good and the work is better :) I am very excited to see what the next few weeks hold for my companion and I with all the all the inactives we have to find but it should be an adventure :)
My new companion is Elder Sibandze from the Kingdom of Swaziland. It is a land locked country in South Africa. He is a lot of fun, loves the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and to work hard so things are going good with him. I am doing fine I have my up and down days but thankfully I have way more up days and very few down days :) My health is doing good. I don't think I need anything but I let you know if I need anything. I am loving the work and all that it holds. I know it sounds like I am playing a broken record but I cannot get over how much I am learning and how much I am changing. These last couple of weeks have been hard for me because I think I am going through some pretty big changes that are requiring me to take a good hard look at my life and see what I need to do to correct so mistakes and mend some character flaws but I know with the Lord anything is possible.
That is exciting to hear about everyone getting their mission calls and going on their missions. I am sure Justin is excited to be going where Brandon was. Its always fun to see and feel the love that comes from members who have known your family :) Have a great week mom and know that I love and miss you too.

WE TAUGHT ANOTHER TWENTY NINE LESSONS

I am glad to hear things are kinda back to normal around the house with Cameron being back. I am glad to hear Jordyn is doing better as well. I have included a document of some gluten free deserts that I found this morning so I hope they will help. My companions' sister also has to eat a gluten free diet so he is trying to get a bunch of recipes from his parents so I hope that will help.

Things went very good for us this week. We taught another 29 lessons, put Thabong on date for the 22nd of July for baptism and had a baptism on Sunday. Over all I feel very good about this week. I think its funny that this is the second week in a row that we got 29 lessons. We are trying very hard to break the 30 mark so hopefully this new week we will do it :) It amazes me how fast time flies when you are working everyday. I have discovered a love for planning out my days now. Missionary work takes the motto "Be prepared" to a whole level. Its nice going through the day always knowing what we will be doing every hour of everyday.

I had a good birthday, we just worked and now today we're going to a mall to spend some of my birthday money so I hope to get two or three things.

Love your son,

Elder Caleb Coon

EVERY DAY HOLDS A NEW ADVENTURE

Things have been going great here in South Africa :) I know I say that every week but it is true every week haha. Everyday holds a new adventure but Friday had to be the funniest day of my mission. So on that day Elder Ray and I were making tortilla's all day for the young men and women's combined activity on Saturday. They were having a formal dinner and the Elders were teaching the young men how to make Mexican food :) Anyways, our other companion, Elder Maybee, took one of our ward missionaries out for the day to our appointments. At the end of the day we receive a call from Elder Maybee that he got stuck in "some crap"(using his own words) and then before he told us anything else the phone cut out. We could not get a hold of anyone because our phone was not working and we couldn't leave the chapel because we didn't ave the keys, Elder Maybee had them. So Elder Ray and I start freaking out thinking that Elder Maybee had crashed the car and we had no way of getting to him. To make a long story short finally a member pulls up the chapel and helps us out. Elder Maybee had called about five men from the Elders Quorum and they had gone to help him. So one thing to remember about Africa is that when you are serving in a township area and you are white everyone will come to help you and try to rip you off for all the money you have for that help so we were happy to know members were there helping. So here comes the best part of the story cause to this point Elder Ray and I were pretty upset. One of the members drives up, Brother Fulu, and asks us not to yell at Elder Maybee because he feels terrible. So then Elder Maybee drives up in the car gets out and comes over. We went and looked at the car and then him and then just busted out laughing! Both the car and him were covered in raw sewage, toilet paper and all. He had literally got stuck in crap. When all was said and done the drive home smelt terrible and we felt so bad for the men who cleaned our car the next day. All in all it was a pretty good day :)

--

"YOU" MUST BE YOUR GREATEST CONVERT

I cant believe Cameron is home and that Caity is graduated! Things seem to be changing rapidly at home for the Good. That must have been a very sweet reunion with Cameron at the airport. I cant wait to see him again. Thank you for the fax number and I am wondering if it would work to email you the receipts or do they have to be scanned? In any case I think I will just fax them to you. I should be able to do it today but I am not sure. We had a great week this week. We taught the most lessons I have ever taught in a week. We taught 29 lessons this week 10 of which came from Tuesday alone. We have been teaching like crazy and I having been feeling the spirit more than I thought was possible! I cant even begin to describe the wonderful feeling that comes from feeling the spirit work through you and touch the lives of others. We have also started a Saturday movie night that has turned into a huge success. Last Saturday we had less actives and investigators there with the members and everyone had a great time :) We showed "How to train your Dragon" which is a great movie. we had one confirmation on Sunday and we have one baptism coming up this Sunday so the work is going very steady and good. Being on the Lords errand is one of the greatest experiences of my life and I know that mission is just the launching pad for bigger and greater things. I was able to speak with my mission President not to long ago and the topic of returning missionaries came up. We talked about how in many cases missionaries will abandon most, if not all, they had learned while serving the Lord. It was him who told me that serving a mission is but a mere launching pad upon which we should base our life choices off of. Yes we do a lot of good in serving others and bring salvation to those who otherwise would have fallen by the wayside but when all is said and done you must be your greatest convert. We must learn all we can to be able to take those things that we do learn with us throughout our lives both spiritual and temporal. I am learning things that are opening my mind to new possibilities and understanding of our Father in Heaven and His great Plan of Salvation for us. I am seeing things as I have never seen them before and I thank God everyday for this new understanding. I am so grateful to be here in South Africa at this time learning these lessons in the way my Father in Heaven would have me. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been Restored to the Earth by Christ's duly called and ordained prophet and that through him His Kingdom has once again been established upon the Earth with His teachings in beautiful simplicity. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of the very living God, and that He lives. How grateful I am to know this and to be able to share this message with the world for the rest of my life.

Thank you for all that you do for me. I just sent a letter in the mail this last week so it should be there by the end of this week or beginning of next week. Thank you for the birthday wishes, its gonna be weird being 20 but I guess it had to happen haha. Have a great week.