IT'S BEEN A GREAT TWO YEARS IN AFRICA

Its the final email!!!!!!!!!!! How did we ever make it to this point!?
IT is so crazy to think that it has been two years and that I am
flying out tomorrow night. it has been a great two years here in
Africa but now it has come to an end. I had my final interview on
Saturday and it went great. I am leaving with no regrets and am ready
to start the next chapter of my life. It is very bitter sweet and I am
really stressed because of the excitement and because I am really
going to miss being here with the people. But I am ready to come home.
It was a very good and hard week to focus but we had a lot of good
things happen. We finally started having success in tracting. We
handed out a few copies of the Book of Mormon and made a couple of
appointments so that was nice, Sunday was my favorite though. I was a
able to speak and teach gospel principles and everyone was fantastic
and very loving as now the entire ward found out I am leaving (I hid
it pretty good) :) Well I will keep it short this week and I will see
you in a couple of days :) Well I got to go. Some members are taking us go-karting
today and then another family is taking us elephant riding :) Should
be a great last day in Africa. Love you and see you Wednesday  :)

Elder Coon over and out for the last time

MY MISSION AS BEEN EVERYTHING AND MORE THAN I EXPECTED

Things have been good in the area but they have also been difficult.
It is a very rich area and tracting has proven to be ineffective. We
are, however, starting a new member missionary program that should
hopefully get the members excited and more capable of doing missionary
work on their own. The Program focuses on educating members on how to
use "Preach My Gospel", teach the lessons that it contains, and
becoming comfortable in sharing the gospel with their friends. It is
very commitment based, requires weekly visits to the members homes,
and we must sign off on their homework assignments :) It is a very fun
program and the members are excited to start it. So we will see how it
goes over the next few weeks.
I look forward to coming home and being with everyone again and I
really look forward to school again :) Thank you for all you do and have done for
me. My mission has been everything and more than I expected.

Love you mom,

Caleb

-- 

IM NOW SERVING IN THE SOUTH AFRICA'S CAPITOL, PRETORIA

I am now serving in the Countries capitol of Pretoria. The ward is
great! They feed us every night and there are about 5 families from
the states in our ward. They are either working for the embassy or on
contracted jobs and are in the country for a while. One of the
families hooked us up with cereal from home and said if we needed
anything from the states to let them know because they can get it
(pretty awesome). Oh and we also have one of the richest men in South
Africa in our ward. He deals with diamonds. He helps missionaries get
diamonds for cheap. What would cost the regular person $5000 he can
get for $1000 and its legal :) So if anyone wants a diamond let me
know and I can work something out if they can get me the money.
My new comp is Elder Dirkmaat from San Diego. We already knew each
other very well seeing as we lived right next to each other in
Johannesburg for six months so we get along great and have a lot of
fun. In fact we just went golfing this morning :) Two years of not
playing really shows. We just had a baptism on Sunday and have another
scheduled for Sept 22. The area has a lot of potential and Elder
Dirkmaat and I are really excited to get some work done. Five weeks is
not a lot of time but it is enough to change someones life with the
gospel :)

Things are going good right now though. I am happy and doing great. I
hope that this email find you well and happy. I love you and will talk
with ya next week :)

Love,

Caleb

WE HAD A VERY GOOD WEEK

 Missionary work seems to be the theme for the entire church right now.
The new "Work of Salvation" training is exciting everyone and getting
wards moving in missionary work :) We have our zone conference

tomorrow and that

​​

s what we are watching and talking about so that
should be exciting :)

We had a very good week. The High light was we were invited to attend
a piano concert where various artists from the states performed and
David Glen Hatch was the main event. I don't know if you know of him
but it was fantastic! We had an awesome time during the rest of the
week though. We constantly stay busy which is a blessing. We have some
great ward missionaries who help us out and keep us very entertained.
Not to much to report on this week other than life is good and the
missionary work continues to progress :)

Love,

Caleb

WE HAD A GREAT BAPTISM ON SUNDAY

 Chad looks like a beast in that picture haha. It looks like he is
  having a great time with football. Thank you for getting the supplies
  off for me. Sorry for cutting it so close again. I get caught up with
  other things sometimes and forget to keep a good inventory of
  everything. Thank goodness I have a super mom who can do anything :)
  So we had a great week. We stayed very busy and had a great baptism on
  Sunday. Nothing very new has happened since last week besides the fact
  that time just continues to fly by. Elder Tuttle and I are having a
  blast working together and accomplishing so many awesome things. we
  continue to have about 6-10 investigators at church between the two
  wards so that is fantastic. It is a struggle to see everyone as often
  as we would like because everyone can only see us in the evening times
  so our schedule gets packed very quickly for the entire week :) Its so
  weird to think how close the end is right now. I know that back home 9
  weeks is still a long time but here it just flies by. I am doing my
  best to stay focused and endure to the end. I have started to
  study the last week of the Saviors life to see from the best possible
  example what it truly means to endure to the end. I know I will finish
  strong but I know the battle is coming to stay focused but I am ready
  for it :)
  I am doing good. I am sending emails to Cameron, Caity, Chad and
  Jordyn requesting emails for the rest of my mission though :) I want
  to do my best to start emailing everyone again. My health is good
  right now and we continue to workout every other day at a members
  place so hopefully I can come home in a half decent shape :) Caity
  cracks me up how she just struggles to enjoy being home but I know how
  that feels. After serving a mission I will never dread going home :) I
  love and miss you and hope you have a great week :)

  Love your son,

  Caleb

 

HE ORCHESTRATES OUR LIVES

-- We had a great week! Things went perfectly and everything just seems
to keep falling into place. We had 10 people at church this week
between the two wards; 2 in one ward and 8 in the other. The work just
keeps progressing and the time just seems to keep flying by. I am
continually amazed at how personally the Lord works with each one of
us. The way He orchestrates our lives and just allows us to put the
pieces together amazes me. When we put our trust in Him and his
servants and follow his counsels everything will work out like he
needs it too.
I love the tie and music that you sent. I am doing great and the
members here know what diabetes is so they help and remind me of a lot
of things haha. I love and miss you very much and hope you have a
great week!

WE ARE WORKING WITH WONDERFUL PEOPLE

I am happy to hear that work is going so good for you right now :) It sounds like you are going to have a busy week ahead of you but busy weeks are nice :) So I am now covering the areas of Weltevreden Park and Florida so that means six hours of church on Sunday! Florida is an awesome ward and there is a lot of work to be done so we stay busy over there. As for Weltevreden Park, it is in the top two hardest areas within our mission so there is a lot to do to keep it going. It does have the coolest ward by far though. Our Bishop in that ward is awesome, we play rugby every Saturday morning and we have a member, Brother Maritzs, who lets come over his place every other morning at six to use his gym so I am enjoying lifting again :) We are working with a lot of wonderful people but my favorite has to be a young family we are seeing. Their names are Latson and Trizza and they are doing great! They came to church yesterday and brought their little two year old son with them. Latson should be getting baptized on the 28th of this month and Trizza should be getting baptized early next month. She just needs to come to church a little longer. My new companion is Elder Tuttle from South Jordan, Utah. He is a blast and we get along great! He is from my MTC group so we both have two transfers left and are pumped we get to work with each other :) Other than that life is great and the work continues to press forward.

 I am very happy to hear that they are starting to push missionary work more and more with the members. It really is a combined effort and I look forward to doing more missionary work when I get home :) I got a package with a tie and awesome cd and oil container but I don't know who it was from. MOM you are the BEST!!!!!!!! When it comes to being a mother and a real estate agent you take the cake :) I hope you know that I love you and am so very proud to be your son. LOVE YOU!!!!!
--

I AM LEAVING TOMORROW FOR A NEW AREA

 I am surpriseds they are already getting my travel stuff put together. I
 guess I do only have twelve weeks left and that means only two more
 transfers. Its crazy to think about that. Things were good for us on
 this side of the world this last week. Went to conduct a baptismal
 interview for a white guy (doesn't happen very much) and it went
 great. We also are finally starting to establish a good teaching pool
 with investigators that are committed and that is really exciting us
 but with that being said I am leaving tomorrow for a new area. I have
 three possible places to go; it will either be Weltevreden Park,
 Krugarsdorp, or Fourways/North Riding. They are all very white and
 rich places so I will have to apply every aspect of the work if we
 hope to be successful so that should be a blast for my last three
 months. Other than that not to much is going on. Some of our members
 are taking us hiking today in an area where there are still wild
 leopards so we are pumped for that :) But that's really it on my side.
 I am excited to come home but at the same time I am still wanting to
 get more work done here. I have really refocused myself over this last
week and am ready take the challenge a new area always brings :) I
 hope that you have a great week and know that I love and miss you
 momma. I am healthy and doing great. 

 Love,

 Caleb

-- 

 

I TOUCHED A HIPPO

I am happy to hear that you had such a good birthday :) It sounds like

 everything went good for you and that you had a quiet but nice
 birthday celebration :) I was every happy to hear that you got to go
 see and cheer on Judy at her Ironman race. That had to be fun.
 Sounds like you have a busy summer ahead of you. I

 We had a good week here. Lots of tracting. We have tracted at least
 three hours everyday this last week and have been trying to find as
 many people as possible to teach. Its been hard because the people
 here are not very committed and struggle to keep their appointments
 but such is missionary work. We are trying very hard to increase our
member work and are seeing a lot of the families and individuals in
 the branch right now to get them excited for missionary work. So that
 should be picking up in the next couple of weeks :) This will probably
 be my last week in this area and then next week I will be transferred
 to my final area. It is crazy to think I only have 13 weeks left. In
 missionary time that is every little time and so I am going to use it
 to the best of my ability :) The Hippo was awesome!!!!!! I have now
 achieved my dream of touching a hippo in Africa :)
I will be sending pictures but I am going to mail them in a disc so
 that I can send all the pictures I have and you can just go through
 them. I hope that is okay. The drive to Rexburg shouldn't be to bad in
 July (I cant believe it is July). That should be fun to go to a
 graduation and then get Caity. She isn't going to have to much down
 time before school starts again.
 Well I love you mom and hope you have a great week. Dad sent me some
B-day money so I am going to buy some souvenirs today :) Know that I
 love and miss you.

 Love,

 Caleb

 P.S. Happy BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It was a blast to go back to Nelspruit and Kanyemazane

Thank you for the birthday wishes :) Its funny because I like telling

people how my mom considered taking back to the hospital during the

first nine months haha. We had another great week here :) It was a

blast to go back to Nelspruit and Kanyemazane. We held our Zone

meeting there and our mission president showed up so that was a blast.

The Senior couples there fed us everyday and made me a birthday cake

which had to have been the best cake I have had in two years! The

Baxter's and the Hunt's have to be the best senior couples in the

mission right now. While I was on exchanges with Elder Parrish in

Kanyemazane we tracted up a small mountain. We were looking for some

where to tract and we saw all these little shacks going up this little

mountain and we thought for fun we would tract them all. When we got

to the top we found someone living up there and he was more than happy

to invite us back. The next day they went back it turned out the guy

was a traditional healer and had two wives so it didn't work out.

Polygamy is something that a few of the African tribes practice so we

have to be careful who we teach sometimes.

My birthday was awesome. We had our branch conference and one of the

members got me a present :) (a chocolate bar). There are so many great

members here and they all have such strong testimonies. We also got

fed Sunday lunch which was great and then went tracting the rest of

the day. We are emailing early today because we are having our Zone

activity and we are going to go see the only hippo in the world that

you can actually touch! Its a place about three hours away from here

so we are all car pooling to get there. So I will have some good

pictures next week.

I am so happy you got to go to Judy's Ironman race. I know that meant

so much to her. I got an email from her this week so I am excited to

email her back. I am excited to see what you senta package but I probably

wont get it for at least another couple of weeks because I am so far from our office. 

Thank you so much for everything you do for me mom. I really don't know where I would

 be without your guidance and love. I am doing great. Had a little to much junk food for

 my birthday but still great haha. My health is better than its been for a long time and

continues to improve. Know that I love and miss you and hope that you

have a great week :)

Love,

Caleb

I FINALLY ATE A MOPANI WORM

Hey Mom,


 So let me fill you in with whats been happening on my side of the
world. We are working harder than we ever have in our missions. Elder
Leftwich and I are both approaching the end of our missions and we
both decided that we are going out fighting. We have stopped using our
car because we feel that if we can get more people to see us,
especially the members, they will stop us and see what we are doing
and it is working great! We walk no less than six miles every day but
its a small price to pay and besides we have been sleeping very good
at night because of it :) We also have taught in an Anglican church
and were invited to start helping with the youth groups at the local
Methodist church. We gave them both the For Strength of Youth
pamphlets and have gained the trust of the leaders of those churches.
It was fun because we went to one of their youth firesides (I guess
you could call it that) and they had a great discussion on being
leaders as youth. They also fed us dinner which was a big bonus :)
Speaking of food, I finally ate a mopani worm! They are big dried
caterpillar things that are nasty but I can say I have eaten them now.
We had interviews with our mission president last week as well and
they went great. President Omer is the best! Well was my week. Lots of
tracting and lots of teaching. We taught 15 lessons this week which
was awesome and we had one of the families we are teaching come to
church! They will hopefully be baptized in July.
Well I am jealous that you will get to go down to California this
summer because it is starting to get really cold up here and I know I
am just going to freeze when I get back Rexburg. So I forwarded the email that
BYUI admissions sent me about still being able to defer for my
mission. Do you have a copy of my mission call? If you could please
help me with that that would be the greatest blessing and relief ever!
I have been really stressing over it this last week but I know that
this is the answer to my prayers.
I hope you have great week and that it is just as fun and busy as the
last :) I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Caleb

I AM AS HAPPY AS I HAVE EVER BEEN AND FOCUSED ON FINISHING STRONG

So this week was a great week. It started out very slow but things started to boom right at the end. We found three families to start teaching and all three of them have great potential and were very interested in the Book of Mormon which is always a good sign. We are starting a lot of member work as well and are getting families to start supporting us more in the work and not to just feed us which is nice. Things are looking up in Polokwane and we continue to work as hard as we can to build the area and branch. It has been a great week with a lot of spiritual growth for me. My eyes continue to be opened to knew things and possibilities. Learning by the spirit really is the only way to learn eternal truths and to find true lasting peace in all that we do. I really owe everything that I have become to the Gospel and I really don't know where I would be with out it. 

 

I am doing good and eating healthy :) My numbers are doing great and my diabetes is in good shape :) I am taking the least amount of insulin I have ever taken and my body is using it perfectly (for the most part) I am healthy and striving to be healthier :) I love you momma and hope things go great for you this week. I am as happy as I have ever been and focused on finishing strong.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP IN POLOKWANE SOUTH AFRICA

Its your Birthday month too! Can you believe you are turning 35! I
never thought you would get to be that old but here we are haha.
Things are good this side and my new comp is great! Elder Leftwich is
from Colorado Springs and is one of the best missionaries in the
mission. He goes home six weeks before I do and so the work is going
to BOOM here :)
I don't really know what I want for my birthday. I would say save the
money from sending a package and I would love to have a gym membership for the three months that I am home but anything would be great :)

I am eating good and doing good. My numbers are where they should be and I am still striving to be more healthy. We are going down to the
office today and staying at the mission home so that should be fun.
The whole zone will be there so it should be a blast :)
I don't have to much to report on today but just know things are going
better than they have been the past three months. Things are looking
up for Polokwane :)
I love you so much and pray for you daily! Sorry its so short but I
promise more next week. LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE HAVE SOME GREAT THINGS PLANNED

 Well I am getting my new companion tomorrow and I am really excited for that. I have been requesting a younger, hard working elder to come help me here in Polokwane to get things going to where they need to be so I am excited to see who I get :) We are going down to the office today and staying at the mission home for Elder Holmans final interview tonight so that should be fun. We had a good week or at least better than the last few. We taught seven lessons and had the father of a family we are teaching come to church on Sunday so that was great! We have some great things planned for the next transfer and will be having our mission tour where one of the seventy are coming to instruct us. I have learned a lot over the few months about faith and the power it has in the work we do. Its one of those terms we throw around a lot but one that I feel we don't fully understand nor comprehend all the time. I feel like I am only now beginning to understand the true power it can produce if used righteously. I look forward to this new week and the promise it holds :)

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY

Dear Mother Dearest,

I am happy to hear that everyone is doing so well!. Thank you so much for
getting the supplies ordered and if you could pack a multivitamin in
with it all that would be great! They are very expensive this side but
if you can't I understand. Things are good this side. We are at our
mission office emailing today. I had to sweet talk the Assistants to
the President to let us do it but I persevered :)

We are still struggling to get our area going and at times I get
really down on myself but I snap out of it and just get back to work.
Day by day, one by one are the children of God served and that's what
we just need to keep doing. Things are great though. I am oddly just
happy most of the time for no apparent reason, its kinda weird but I
know it is because the Lord is sustaining us in our work.

I love being a missionary. It has truly changed my life and has shown
me who I really am deep inside. We all lived before we came into this
existence and we all had are own personalities and even with the veil
covering us it is that personality that breaks through and shows us
who we really are :) I love you mom and hope you have a great week.
I love you so much and miss all of you.

love,

Caleb

I'M LEARNING AND GROWING MORE EVERY DAY

I loved the pictures!!! It was great to see everyone doing so well and
so happy. I stressed myself out the past couple of days. For some
reason the thought entered into my mind that what if you got into a
car accident but I was very happy to open my in box :) I am glad
everyone got along so well and that the wedding went so well.

Things were okay this week. The area I am in is very hard! We tract
for hours everyday and meet with very little success but I have a good
feeling about this week :)  But yeah things are very good right now :) Some
music is playing in the internet cafe and it is making me a little
trunky haha Some good songs have come out :)

I am forwarding some pictures from our last zone meeting. Nothing
special just some of the elders in our zone. There are four more but
they live to far away to come for the meeting so we go to them :)

But that's really all that's happening here. The weather is getting very
cold because of winter but that's nice :) I hope you have a great week!

I am doing good and have no complaints.  I am learning and growing

more and more everyday :) We got to watch conference or at least most

of it at our flat. We are not watching it in church until this week but we take

time to watch it at our flat because we have the DVDs for the branches in our zone :)

We have watched the Saturday Session and the priesthood session :) I love
conference! Love you MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE HAD A GOOD EASTER THIS SIDE

 Thanks for the pictures. I am sure Cameron and Brandi are both super
excited for this month :) And as of today I have six months left,
where is the time going? We had a good Easter this side. We had lunch
at a members, went and taught a couple of lessons, and then had dinner
at another members so nothing too exciting but it was nice. No ham and
cheese potato's I'm afraid haha. A man we recently baptized, Thabang,
 is the assistant ward mission leader in his ward and preparing to go on
 a mission so that makes me excited :)

Things are still moving along this side. I will be on exchanges for a
few days this week in Tzaneen and Lenyenye so that should be fun but I
miss being able to just stay in my area. My health is doing good and I
am having no problems so that is nice :) I think I am going to take a
break from my intensive studies of the creation and resurrection. I
have spent the last two weeks really trying to understand those two
things but now I am going to turn my attention to developing greater
Faith and Spiritual gifts so should be fun :)  I have come
to realize that I just need to read, study, memorize, and understand
my scriptures more. If I am able to do that then maybe and hopefully I
can receive my own revelation and be enlightened by the spirit a
little more than usual, or at least I can hope :)

Well nothing too exciting going on right now but things are moving
along slowly but surely. Our mission is struggling to reach its goals
but we just need to have a little more faith and work that much
harder.

I hope that you all have a great week and know that I miss you all so
much. I always get a little home sick around the holiday seasons but I
would have it no other way. Home is still where the heart is :) Love
you mom, have a great week!

WE HAVE BEEN VERY BLESSED IN OUR EFFORTS

So here is the weekly update. We had our Zone Conference up in Tzaneen and it went great!!! It was one of my favorite Conferences yet on mission. The topics were great and the spirit was just strong, oh and the food was wonderful :) Our area is still suffering a lot when it comes to the number of investigators we have but we are striving very hard to find new people to teach and we have been very blessed in our efforts to find families. We went tracting in a new development for a few hours and every house we knocked on was a complete well off family that was interested in learning more about the restoration of the gospel (for the most part). It was just a huge testimony to me that even though they all won't stay with us, that the Lord is preparing the hearts of His children where ever we go :) This new week is gonna be a busy one as well. We are going on three exchanges and two of them we are going on a long trip because they live so far away. Nielspriut is four hours away from us and is a beautiful drive so I will get some pictures but we will be spending two to three days with the Elders that side. So we are staying busy and always trying to do as much as we can to keep things moving forward :)

MY NEW AREA IS HUGE

 Last week was a very slow week on the account my companion had to get a root canal done and so he was on some pretty heavy pain pills (codeine) . So we basically spent the week at the flat and I had a lot of time to study and clean. The flat was so dirty that I didn't even want to live there when I walked in the door the first day but it is now clean, for the most part, and disinfected :) So with that being said there wasn't to much missionary work done but on Sunday we got a lot of work done. I went on an area tour and my new area is huge! Oh, and my new companion is Elder Holman and we get along great! He is a great Elder and goes home in two months so things are good in that department besides with so much time at the flat we have great companionship unity now haha. We are having our Zone conference this week so that will be fun. Its being held up in Tzaneen which is one of the most beautiful places I have been to in South Africa so far (I will get pictures). The area itself is not doing so great. We have maybe two investigators and nothing going on. The members are great but they have been a branch since 1980 so they have been hounded by missionaries for a long time for referrals but we will continue to hound them, the squeaky wheel gets the grease:)

 I found a couple of books that no one claimed when I came to this flat that I have claimed for myself (I think I will bring more books than clothes home) that have really added to my knowledge of the Gospel. One of them is the Lectures of Faith, and the other is a book written by Cleon Skousen entitled "The First 2000 Years" which is all about the creation, plan of Salvation, and the Patriarchal lineages. It is an amazing book and even though it doesn't claim to be pure doctrine of the church it really makes me view and read the scriptures differently inspiring new ideas and thoughts :) I have just obtained such a thirst for knowledge since coming on a mission and there is so much to learn and even more to apply in that learning process. Things are going great though and this week looks very promising. We have an appointment with a new family (that we found last week) Monday (today) that I hope goes good, families are the best to teach.
  

Being a Zone leader is stressful, having to worry about my area and all the other missionaries is very difficult. I just feel overwhelmed at times but I am praying more fervently than ever for divine help is always nice. Things in the flat are going ok. I am in a four man flat and am so tired of an Elder in the flat (I won't use names) but he is just the most prideful person I have ever met and does not listen to anyone and its driving me insane but I think its because I prayed for patience about three months ago haha be careful what you pray for :) Well I am doing good and my numbers have been good. Love you and have a great week :)

Love,

Caleb

I AM NOW BACK POLOWANE

I am now back in Polokwane which is a city (kind of) in the province of Limpopo. I am in the flat where I started my mission :) The zone I am in charge of now is HUGE! The closest area is 30 minutes away and the furthest area is four hours away so we do a lot of traveling. Things are good though :) I am glad Sister Hatch called you and the ribs were so good!!! That was the first time I had ribs on my mission. I hope you got the pictures I sent. The elephants were awesome!!! And that is the wettest kiss I have ever had haha. I am glad to hear things are going good at home still.   My zone is huge, my new companion is Elder Holman and he is awesome. Things are looking good for missionary work in the new area I am in and I am excited for what the future holds. I have fifteen minutes left and you are the first person I have emailed (as it should be) But it takes forever to load pictures. I love you and hope you have a great week :)

 I am serving really far north right now, its the farthest zone from the mission office so its nice to be trusted enough to be sent up here. I hope everyone is getting along back home. Know that I love and miss you all very much but I am loving where I am at and learning so many great and marvelous things.  Love you and I am out of time. Have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Caleb

P.S. I am happy and healthy Love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- 

I'VE BEEN CALLED TO BE A ZONE LEADER

 
So here is the update. I am being transferred today. I have been
called to be a zone leader and am hoping to be sent up to Botswana
before it becomes its own mission in July. Things were very good this
week, it is always hard to say good bye to people but that is the life
of a missionary. I had the craziest P-day of my life yesterday and
when I say crazy I mean crazy fun :) I went on an exchange with Elder
Bais, who is going home today, for his last P-day. We went to a
different province and I will send pictures next week because of time
and went to three different animal reserves :) The first was a monkey
park were we got to see all kinds of monkey's and lemurs (King Julian
from Madagascar). Next we went to an Elephant Sanctuary where we got
to feed, pet, and get kissed by them (the kiss was nasty but now I can
say I have been kissed by an Elephant haha Then we finished the day at
the lion park where we got to play with the lion cubs again. All in
all it was a great day :) Then I went to a family home evening and
packed until one in the morning. I am gonna miss Johannesburg for a
lot of different reasons but I must say I am happy to be getting out

of the city. I am excited for my new assignment and next week I will
let you know where its at :) Time seems to be flying by so fast and
there is little time remaining. I pray that these last months I may be
able to learn and grow even more as I go about the Lords work :)
I know you don't want me to worry about you but I do and I promise we
will all take care of you when we get older (not put you into hope
village even though it has two hair salons). I hope you have a great
week mom and yes I got my package, thank you for the goodies and ties.

I am nervous about my new assignment but I am really excited to see where I am
going. The mission just got brand new cars and the Zone leaders get
them so I will get a brand new car today. I love and miss you a lot, more than usual
lately. I got to go now and pack everything in the car. Have a great
day mom :) LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

WE TAUGHT 23 LESSONS THIS WEEK

I am happy to hear that things are going good for everyone at home
though. I am glad Caity, Chad, Jordyn, and Cameron
are doing good and are happy :) How are you doing? I know that you
don't really ever tell me anything about you beyond work and how
things are with the other kids. 
Things were good this week, in fact it has been the best week of the
transfer. We taught 23 lessons and most of our investigators are doing
great. So story time. After emailing last Monday Elder Bais (Elder in
my district) and I  went to a walk in game reserve in his area that
has Zebras, spring boks, impala, and many other non-carnivorous
animals. So we hiked up this huge hill and when we got to the top we
found ourselves in the middle of a herd of wilder beast  and they had
little babies with them. So to our great misfortune we scared the
little ones and they ran and their mothers went with them and the big
bull came running at us. He stopped about 50 yards away pounding his
feat in the ground, kicking up dust and pacing in circles moving a
little closer every time. We turned to run but he started running at
us again so we stopped and just stared at it, then we started backing
away slowly, walking backwards it was so freaky yet amazing at the
same time. We are going back there today with more elders but it was
great :)
I hope you have a great week and please let me know if there is
anything I can do to help. I love you and
please send my love to everyone else.

Love,

Caleb

THE LORD CONTINUES TO BLESS US

So the week was very good. The Lord continues to bless us with more
and more people to teach. We had a baptism this Sunday and it went
great! It was for Brother Sithole. He is 47 years old and his whole
family were members and he was the last to be baptized and his son who
served a mission got to baptize him and it was awesome. We also had
four of our other investigators at the baptism and they all told us
they wanted to be baptized as soon as possible which was great news :)
the spirit was very strong. I also interviewed another gentleman for
baptism and it turned out that he and his wife were not legally
married in their country and they wanted to be married on the spot so
he could get baptized and our bishop almost came over to do it but we
needed more paper work to have it done properly, but we almost had a
wedding in 30 minutes notice, pretty cool :)
Well I hope you have great week Mom and know that I love and miss you
so much!!!!!!!!!! Tell everyone hi for me and I hope you have a great
week :)

Love you MOM!!!!

IT WAS A GREAT WEEK

  Thing were very good this week. There isn't to
much to report on other than it was a great week but I will report on
the small and simple things :) Nigeria won the African Cup of nations
which was being held here in S.A. and the Nigerians went crazy dancing
in the the streets so that was funny. Got lost in downtown
Johannesburg and thought I was gonna die but all turned out ok. Almost
lost Elder Zulu and freaked out but we found each other very quickly.
The whole staying together rule is hard in Downtown Johannesburg, its crazy
there!!!!!! Sunday was stressful because our gospel principles class
turned into a battle field as the teacher and our investigators had a
bible bashing session needless to say I was upset with the teacher
and our ward mission leader for not being able to control the
situation while we were gone handling some paper work. What else, Oh
yeah I am still focusing on getting into shape, I am at the weight I
want to be at right now but now its time to just get rid of the rest
the fat and get my six pack haha Don't worry I wont get too skinny ;)
I am happy to hear everyone is doing good at home. Weather plays a
huge role is how we feel! South Africa is very nice when it comes to
weather and reminds me a lot of California so I am happy most of the
time :)  :) I hope you all know how much I love and
miss you and pray that you are all happy and doing great :) If you
could order supplies that would be great it is that time again. Have a
great week my sweet mother and know I love you to the moon and back

WE HAD TWO BAPTISMS

Things went a lot better this week. Like I said we had two baptisms that went great besides the fact that the font over flowed and got the carpet all wet but that just makes for a good journal entry :) I am learning a lot about myself right now. There are a lot of things that I need to overcome if I ever hope to become what I want to become. It has just been a week of the the Lord showing me my weaknesses and things that I need to improve on so that is what I am working on right now. You said something truly prophetic about how life can get to be repetitious. I was thinking about it the other day and in all reality that is how life is and that is how enduring to the end is. As we learn and apply the gospel in our lives it is not an every changing way of life but a steady way of life that involves improvement and progression but not in huge steps but in steady baby steps, line upon line, precept upon precept.  Its a change that occurs during a lifetime and not all at once. Now, we need to be actively fighting for that change and continually be watchful and prayerful so that the Lord can help us in those things we may struggle in or the weaknesses we may have and its not just spiritual things. It is in every aspect of our lives that we need to call upon the Lord to help us improve and progress whether it be in school, work, sports, relationships, and our own character. If we are not moving forward then we are going no where and if we are going no where than we are going backwards because everyone around us is striving to move forward leaving us further and further behind. This principle is just as true in the spiritual world as it is in the physical world and we all need to be striving for perfection, even with the knowledge we won't achieve it in this life, in all aspects of our lives. It has been a week of much learning for me and I know I have a lot of areas I need to start giving equal attention and finding the perfect balance, if there is such a thing :)

 

Thank you for all your love and support and please know that I am well and working on being better :) I hope this email finds you well. I love and miss you very much and hope that you have a great week :) Here is a huge hug (((((((((((((((HUG))))))))))))))))))

WE HAVE 20 INVESTIGATORS

Things are going good this side. We had nine investigators at church and are teaching a
lot more people now. We have in the up wards of 20 investigators that
we are seeing and helping to progress so we are staying very busy. It
is very stressful at times seeing so many people and worrying about
them and thinking of what we can do to help them keep progressing but
a little stretching never hurt anyone :)

Thank you for talking with the admissions office. I have started
updating my application today and I just put for fall of 2013 because
there was no option for winter 2014 but I am sure they will see that I
won't be back from my mission in October. I just want to get my
application in so I can just have the assurance that I will be going
back.

There really isn't to much to report on except i am just really
struggling with my area right now. The people are great but this is
just such a wicked place. getting stopped by drunk men all the time,
we found out that where one of our investigators live is a whore house
(he isn't), and there is just so much poverty I just get really down
sometimes to see all that is around me. Especially this last weekend
because we went to the temple and had a great uplifting experience and
then to go back to the city was really hard. I love my companion and
we have baptisms scheduled for the next three months but I am just
ready for a new area. Over all I am doing good though :) I am trying
to overcome a spiritual plateau I have seem to hit so those are always
fun to work on. I gt my package and I was very happy to get it :)
Anyway I hope that you have a great week.

I AM LOVING MY MISSION

Its been a good week though :) We are teaching a father right now and his family are all members but he was working far from home. He had the Book of Mormon and has read it three times from cover to cover already and is one of the most humble men I have ever met. In African culture it is not proper at all for young people to come in and teach older people or the "elders" but this man has just completely submitted himself to the Lord and to us and wants to learn what he as to do to repent and change. It has been an experience that has really touched my heart to see the Lord prepare his children. I am loving my mission more than ever right now and I am excited to see what this new week holds :)