Is this your excuse for swimming? -Bishop

"Is this your excuse for swimming?" Bishop

August 28,2018

This week our baptismal pump is still broken, so my companion and I took an hour out of our day to bail the font.  It went a lot faster than we were expecting.  That was fun!  My back was a bit sore afterwards. It was a great work out.  The subject line is what our Bishop asked us whilst we were bailing  Any who I know the reason you read these is for the stories, so here they are.

Story Number 1: Pass along cards can work.

The other day my companion asked me if i had ever had someone call us because of a Pass along card.  I had to think, and out of twenty one months on my mission; I had never ever had someone call because of a pass along card.  Then last Monday we got a text message at four thirty in the morning from a gentleman that said "he needed Christ in his life."  We made an appointment for the next day, when we were actually awake.  When we went there we asked how he found our number.  He just pointed to a pass along card.  When we looked on the card, guess whose hand writing it was! It was mine!  I felt super cool! That was awesome, then we had a great lesson with him.  Unfortunately he has vanished lately.

Story Number 2: You never know what your news might be.

This last Saturday was transfer news, which was given to me by my Zone Leaders.  Now from my time in Uitenhage I have had some interesting plot twists during transfer news.  This was one!  Mid-training my new companion they are transferring me to a new Area!  IT came as quite a surprise, a real Shocker! The other day as I was contemplating if I felt that I had done everything I could have done in this area.  I looked back at the people I had taught, the friendships and the relationships I had made here, and felt that it was enough. I will miss my companion. I have really loved serving in this ward though and I will miss it, but I am very excited for my next area.  Which is Queenstown!  Sometimes there is Snow there, I hope I can see some. I will be a Zone leader in Queenstown which is really the only area of the mission I have not seen.  I am very excited about that.  

Well I love you all and have a wonderful week.

Elder Tucker

Elder we have no food for breakfast. I am making cookies.- Elder Plumb

"Elder we have no food for breakfast. I am making cookies." Elder Plumb

August 20,2018

So this MSF cycle was kind of long, and we ran out of some breakfast foods like cereal, and someone, broke all the eggs on the floor one morning.  Luckily we had things for cookies.  We had snickerdoodles for breakfast and basically every other day after that at some point in the day we have cookies.  It has been really good, probably not good for us though.  We did eat a ton of oranges though so I think they cancel out.  Any who on to stories.

Story Number 1: What can I do to get baptized?

This week we had no people on baptism date, now I know in some missions that is usual, but for Africa its pretty easy to get people on date.  Now this week we were at a lesson and we were teaching the plan of Salvation, and as we were closing up the lesson he asked this question. So we opened up into the scriptures to Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 and discussed it.  Then after we had expounded the scripture, my companion extended a baptismal invitation.  He accepted and we set a date for him.  The coolest thing about that was it was my companions first Baptismal invitation ever on his mission.  He was on a different level after that.  It was kind of scary.  He was very excited, as was I.  That was a powerful Lesson!

Story Number 2: It's funny what you see at a bus station bench.

This is what I told the elder that I was on exchanges with. We were having a day full of drops, so we sat down at a bus stop and just watched people walk by.  The best thing we saw was, wow that is a palindrome!  Sorry, any way, the thing we saw was this little tiny dog that thought it was the big dog.  Hated passerby's so it would bark and nip at them.  We watched this dog go at a few people until we saw this wonderful gentleman coming home from work swing his lunch box ever so nonchalantly down the road.  Then the dog came at him.  I have never seen anyone give less care than that man.  He just gracefully picked up a pebble, not a rock but a pebble, and continued to walk by swinging his lunch box.  After the dog started coming back he just lobbed the pebble with a hook shot and kept walking.  Me and my companion were laughing so hard.  I love the care this gentleman gave.

Congrats to my grandpa! He is a 100!  I could never ever seeing him like attention Ha Ha.  That does not sound like grandpa at all.  Open house sounds like it was fun.  Here was a very usual week, nothing really happened except I am finding I am way more upfront with people about their questions, especially drunk people. Then I mess with them, my comp. told me that you can tip them over by swaying.  I hope I can try that this week.  It will be funny.  Dad sorry no travel plans this week.

Well I love you all, have a lovely week  

Elder Tucker

"What is going on Elder? I have no idea."

"What is going on Elder?" Elder Plumb "I have no idea." Me

August 19,2018

This quote doesn't necessarily come from a specific story, usually this happens at least once or twice a day.  This week though, it was quite memorable though, so onto stories.

Story number 1: Subject line

This week we had about a five minute walk to our appointment in about forty minutes.  In order for us to kill some time we decided to do some tracking. When tracting we came in contact with this one dude, who wanted to sell us a phone.  We did not want the phone; but I have been asked a lot of times if I knew someone who was selling a phone.  After the which  he asked what type of phone we had, which is a simple call or text phone.  But then he just took it and started calling some people.  I looked at him and was like, "Mfethu, what are you doing?"  He just kept saying, "No its your phone I will give it back now now."  I got quite frustrated and my comp was asking what was going on.  The guy had our phone for like three minutes just trying to guard it from us.  That is when I knocked it out of his hand and the battery came out.  He was not happy but serves him right.  Then he just kept asked if we trusted him.  Moral of the story don't trust any one.  Not even your reflection.

Story Number 2:  I will let you off with a warning

So this week we went to Addo,  and one of the elders was taking pictures but the car was in the way.  Unfortunately he was not aware we are not supposed to be out of the car.  So we were going out of the park and the ranger almost slammed him with a huge fine,  luckily he did not.  It was a pretty good laugh though.

Also there was a baptism this week. Here are some pictures.

"NOPE! I am not going anywhere. I will sleep in this chair, Plumb can sleep on the floor." Me

"NOPE! I am not going anywhere. I will sleep in this chair. Plumb can sleep on the floor." Me

August 13,2018

First off let me start by saying.  It finally rained.  Which is super nice because it has not rained in a very very long time. There was only one problem though.  To explain the problems, we move on to stories.

Story Number 1:  Subject line

Luckily I come from Utah where most all Utahans know,  the weather is kind of moody, so we are pretty prepared for anything.  Now we lost our car, the mission took it for some of their reasons, so we walk now. I felt like I should take my jacket and I told my comp that he should take his too.  He did.  As we were walking to one of the houses that we were visiting, it started pouring rain hardcore.  Then came the quote above because there was no way that I was walking all the way to our finishing point in that downpour.  Luckily PE is like Utah so the weather changed five minutes later and we were able to get to the chapel without getting too wet.  Then we were able to get home via cab.  It was awesome.

Story Number 2: ITS YOU!  YOU BROUGHT THE CURSE!

This last week, in the last few minutes of having our car  we had not one, not two, but three flat tires!  We figured the last one out after the car was taken though.  The first one was because of rocks on the road and small roads and big trucks,  it was not fun.  The next one we are not sure how it came to be, and we don't know about the last one either.  The tire place knows us though.  They are pretty cool people, with nice beards. To explain the title of the story though, my companion was telling me in the week before he came on mission he had four flat tires on three different cars.  Two of those tires were at one time.  I am pretty sure he cursed us. 

Well that is all I have for this week, love you all.

Elder Tucker