Podcast Translation

October 28, 2019


Sou bona ladies and gentelmen from around the corner and across the globe, it's Elder Moser with his companion Elder Gomez. Welcome to the pday podcast. Just came up with that.

We are just enjoying some pizze while emailing our families. It has been one heck of a day because we woke up at 4 o'clock this morning actually because we have been kind of arranging with a member of the ward, his name is Elder Pitzo, to go fishing with a member. President Lions said its ok because he likes fishing himself. So we were going to fishing with him today to go to Lion Park. So we got up at 4 but when 4:30 came around he still wasn't there so we went back to bed again waiting for the call and we didn't get a text from him again until 11 o'clock. He sent us a text:  "Aish, totally forgot. Yo! Had some family come over and a bunch of crazy stuff and my phone went totally flat at church yesterday so I totally forgot to come and get you." We made up for that by doing some fun activities with our zone today.

We actually had some... sorry my mind is drawing a blank... we played chair soccer with about other 6 Elders. They were dropped off by a senior couple.  We rode our bikes all the way up the hill to the chapel as fast as we could. We played chair soccer with everyone and if there is one thing I learned today, it is that I still suck at playing football.  That's kind of a bummer but I haven't really had much of a chance to play it on mission. But it was still fun. I only broke a few toenails. We had a chance to play some rugby and I was better at that except the ground of the chapel was super slick and I was sliding around all over the place. Some of the elders were being poo-poo about it because they wanted to play soccer but you can't play soccer for like three or so hours.and we had a lot of time. It was fun.


This week has been a roller coaster. It's been crazy. first of all my best friend Daden just got back from his mission. Just the thought of that has me feeling excited but also a little bit anxious just because he's home now. But I've really, really looked up to him as a good example of how mission is supposed to be and how mission is supposed to be kind of performed. I have seen that he has changed a lot, just in his countenance and his confidence... everything! I'm really excited to meet up with him but he sent me an e-mail today and it was really comforting because I've been struggling a lot this past week just because we've been trying to shift our work from the University to town and I feel like I'm just not very good at organizing finding out or trying to determine where the best place to go is or what the best thing to do is. The motivation part is hard as well because the people here are just...!

So our area has just been kind of a drag. We've been traveling a lot of houses getting a lot of big dogs all up in our faces just shouting and we haven't had a lot of people being very receptive to us. This past week we set a lot of appointments, a lot of appointments fell through. One of the days when we were knocking, we actually got into the house of a white family. We kind of opened the gate, which is usually a risky move in a place like this because everybody has dogs. So we opened the gates and went to the door. There are two doors but we only knocked on one. Then the dogs came out and started barking from behind these gates. Instead we left because we didn't want the dogs to like make somebody mad. As we did that, some white lady, an Africans lady, came to the door and she just said, "Come, come." and immediately she let us inside. We didn't even have to say anything.
And then she got her grandson (or son) and he came and was speaking in English to us. He said, "Who are you here for?"
"Oh we are missionaries. We just wanted to talk to you about Jesus Christ." So we gave him the whole Shpeel. So they came back and they let us share the message of the restoration with them. But I think just out of pure shock becaue of them letting us in so quickly, we didn't even get to introduce ourselves, we just kind of blew through that lesson. I don't feel super satisfied about it but we'll have to go back and check up on them just to see how they are going.

A problem that we've been facing a lot with the people that actually do let us talk to them, is that they all believe it doesn't matter which church you go to. "Oh every church is fine!" We don't really know how to respond to those objections or concerns. It's a bit of a struggle. We have met a lot of University students that have the same belief, that don't even believe in God, and don't even want to give us a chance to say anything to them so. It's been hard.

With the good lessons that we've had this week, it has brought a lot of hope. We actually have a baptism this next Sunday. A lady named a Laphlapanie, who I've been writing about. A lady who has progressed super well in the gospel. She's kept all her committments and she continues to read the book of Mormon. Right now she's in 2nd Nephi chapter 5. She comes to church every Sunday except for when she goes back to Lesotho to renew her visa, and she just asks a lot of good questions. She listens to everything we say. She is trying to observe a lot and wants to gain as much knowledge as she can before she gets baptized. She's asked me to speak at a baptism so that's another I get to give, that's talk number 4 this month.

Then another one, EnKopani, has progresed for baptism. He's been taught by missionaries for a while now. We finally got him to commit today be baptized He is really looking forward to it. He is a very smart guy who has been living gospel principles even before he met the missionaries so he has been kind of a a golden person to be progressing in the gospel. He will be baptized next Sunday with his fiance. She is actually coming down from the Johannesburg area just so that they can be baptized together. That's pretty exciting! Those are probably the two most exciting things that have been going on. Yesterday we went to lesson after church with two people that are getting engaged but then some crazy stuff went down and we actually had to leave because we don't get involved with the relationship advice. I kind of worry for them now. We'll have to keep them in our prayers.

Elder Gomez has almost been killed by cars 14 billion times this week. There was one day I was texting on a phone. We were walking home from an appointment. I was just kind of looking t it,k down, trying to decide what we were supposed to do and I took a step forward not realizing we were on a road and something told me "Don't go any further!" Just then a car went by us Zoom! right past us and I was like, "Oh! Ok!" It didn't really phase me until later. But then another day this week we were riding bikes and we were turning right at a robot (a traffic light) and there was a car that we were kind of turning with that was yeilding and Elder Gomez was wondering why he wasn't going. He was like, "I'm just going to go." and I shouted at him and just then there was another car coming full speed from the other direction. Man! I was scared I was going to see my companion all over the road but we were fine. The Lord proteected us.

We have been trying to meet with less active members. We got an updated list yesterday, trying to meet some new people in town. The only way we are going to be able to do that is with help from the members. The only problem is this isn't like other towns. People here have really good jobs and won't be home until later and we have to be home at 6. And also calling people on the phone doesn't really help at all because invitations on the phone are more likely to be declined. It's easier to show up at their door. With the addresses and stuff it should be a lot better.

Yesterday after the appointment with the engaged couple that went south, we went to the University to visit with a lady named Shonie who was baptized about a year ago by some missionaries in Blugonbush, which is the the area my last companion, Elder king, went to. So when we were doing our weekly companion planning, we came across this name and we were wondering who she was. So I texted Elder King to ask about her and he said her number won't work but that they had just met with her family there and gave us her number. She said we can call her any time. So yesterday we went to campus and just kind of got to know her. She is rearing up on her final exams at university and is kind of stressing. We talked to her about her Book of Mormon reading. She said she is truggeling with that. She said she is slowing down on her journey in the gosplel. She used to read pages and pages a day. Now she only reads once a week when she feels she needs it, instead of every day for her benefit. So we read some scriptures with her, Moshiah 1:6-7, where it talks about studying the scriptures diligently will profit us greatly and keeping the commandments will help us to prosper. That prospering comes through anything we see as important and for a good cause. What we think is important is also important to God. So we shared with her that reading the B of M should be a priority, even above her studies. So we set a goal with her to finish her B of M by her birthay, which is the 20th of next month. We offered it as kind of a joke, but she took it. That is 8 pages a day. She was super willing. I did the calculations on my calculator watch and she was up for the challenge. I told her, "Just make sure you are studying it and not just reading it to finish it." She also texted us today about a guy living at her board house who also wants to meet with us. Referral work. Woot!

Our diet is pretty good. I spent this last week eating corn flakes and Future Life which is super healthy and helps me with my workout gains. And my companion has been eating eggs and toast and leftovers because we have been cooking! Which is super bad just before bed. And we are making milkshakes so we are doing good! Hopefully this next week our motivation will be super good.

The world cup is huge right now. South Africa is huge! Everyone is wearing Springbox jerseys. It unites this country. They are all wearing their jerseys. We haven't seen any of their games but apparently they are doing pretty good. That is going to be super exciting for this country. We even try to talk about it with people we first meet. With such enthusiam too. Things are good. I don't know if I have anything else to say. We are going to crank it out this week, mate!

Love you all, Have a good week.

Please like and subscribe. Thanks!

South African Wildlife

Multi Zone Conference!!!

October 21, 2019

Goie Dag!

We had a pretty crazy week. We had zone conference in Bethlehem on Thursday, so we had the Thaba Nchu elders with us for P day. We had to be up at 3 the next morning to be ready by for so the senior couple could pick us up by 4. I was awake the whole ride, but maybe because I rode the hump seat. The zone conference was with 4 other zones and we had over 65 missionaries and Elder Sitati. I got to be one of the only speakers at the conference, and it went pretty well. I talked about how the PMG can make us more spiritually mature missionaries. I also gave a talk at church on Sunday, and gave another talk at District Council, so I must be getting prepared for something amirite?

This week was pretty good. Nothing better than looking at the days in your planner and seeing the hours filled with things to do. Although many times we get bunked, We still find other ways to stay busy. We have done a lot of finding on the campus, but not as much as usual because they all will be gone soon. We got declined hardcore a few times by people telling us to never speak to them again, but we also met some super sweet people. Sometimes we gotta get creative with how we talk to people like, stopping them as they go into the building and then ask them what building it is they are going into (even though we totally know) and then proceed with telling them about the gospel. It's fun. I like it.

Mahlapane is interviewed and ready for Baptizm!

Nkopane is also ready for Baptism! WOOT! I love it!

Gotta go on exchanges tomorrow! Not excited but still, woot!!!

I love you all! have a gud week!

-Elder Moser

LONG time

October 14, 2019

Goie Dag Everybody! I'm doing good in sunny South Africa! My shirts aren't white anymore and the sweat is hitting me full force and my shirts are slowly getting less white, but I'm enjoying the work a lot. Working on a university is super challenging and super different from ANY other sort of missionary work you could do, but the small miracles are really rewarding. 

We have been meeting with a student named Yamkela. We ran into him while he was eating his food alone in an amphitheater. We started talking to him about the gospel and he has expressed to us that knowing how to repent is something he has been wanting to learn more about because he wants to start changing his life. We have met with him a few times and tried to get him to come to church with us yesterday. He was planning on it, but when we went to his place to walk to church with him, his phone was off and we didn't know which house he stayed in. We said a prayer and hoped for a miracle and knocked some gates to find him, but then we ran out of time and had to go to chruch without him:(

We also ran into a white family this past week. That probably sounds super weird, but it is really uncommon to have white people let you in this mission. We decided to do more town work this week because pretty soon all the college students will be going home. We are doing more in town so we will have things to do when that time comes. We knocked on a few gates and got barked at by many doggos and had lots of people tell us to Voetsek, but after some gates we rang a doorbell on a small looking, clean nice house. After maybe a minute of standing there, A nice 84 year old lady came out and OPENED her gate for us from inside her house. We went in and talked to her through her door, then she very quickly invited us in to tell us more about herself. Her granddaughter and I think her Granddaughters boyfriend were there as well, and they allowed us to share the Restoration with them. They come from different churches but were very receiving to us and even let us come back yesterday. We shared the Book of mormon with them, and I'm just really excited to teach them more. 

 The work is good, We are having fun while doing it, and my companion looks just like cousin Ben. :)

Have joy this week!

-Elder Moser

This Brother bought us 10 PIZZAS

"I Love You."
My companion Elder Gomez

Is that a STorM I see coming?

 Roti face

To answer Mom's questions: You know, I feel everybody hears something different from conference. The answers I got all have to do with patience. Both with myself and with missionary work.

From your kitchen, I really miss roast beef with mashed potatoes, and Sweet n' sour chicken. MM. 

Fav sibling is Bella. 

Belly isn't really better, but it never bothers me during the day. Usually right when we get home, so it doesn't concern me too much. 

The weird/ Awkward thing was some black girls making weird gestures at me. I saw it in the wall mirror at mcDonalds haha. Was super Awkward. 

My favorite phrase is "She'll be right mate" It's kinda just like, an Australian phrase that you say whenever something could go bad but you risk it anyways. We say it a lot haha. 

Afrikaans is really hard to speak, but we are actually teaching an afrikaans family, so I'm trying to learn it, but I can't get the guterall sounds haha. 

I'm afraid of Spiders and we saw a GIANT huntsman spider just crawl accross my stuff while watching conference. I freaked out a bit haha. 

I'm being obedient:) Keeps me motivated. 

Everyone here is pretty much a student. It's becoming easier for me to talk to people, but pretty soon all the students will be out of school, so we will have to be working in town more. This place is a lot like the Bluff, except EVERY house is really nice.

Email to Mum

October 7, 2019

Ello mum! I am going to write you but I might end with that. I have been trying not to cuss at my computer because I am seriously having problems with it today. I am doing everything in my power to not shove my fist into it. We have been here over 2 hours and I have spent most of my time just trying to open my email. It is slow. I'm frustrated.

But other than that things are looking up! We have had a good week. My new companions name is elder Gomez. He looks exactly like Cousin Ben. He is super cool but has expressed to me that working on a university has made him feel like a greenie again. I understand. Talking to smart cute girls is hard. Talking to people our age is hard. The way I see it though is they already think we are different for dressing up the way we do, so talking to people won't hurt. We talk to so many people in a day and we trade off speaking very well. He is from Australia, so I hear lots of aussie phrases. My accent isn't changing, but I do say his words. People here tell me my English is garbage and not as proper as theirs. I don't care haha. It's whatever.

Talking to people on University is fun, but I'm sure we sometimes intimidate people just a bit. Sometimes students sit on these long walls and we just talk to them one by one, so they see us coming from miles ahead. We get a lot of people "answering their phones" and then leave. One day this week when we were talking to people and we didn't know who to talk to, I looked accross the bench and saw a girl studying but I had an impression to talk to her, so I just kinda shouted at her from where she was sitting and said "oi, do you have time that we can talk with you?" and, like she was preparing for us to say something, said, " I can spare 5 minutes." that really made me happy and we are going to see her again on Thursday. We also have had a lot of people NOT bunk us, which is such a blessing in an area like this. 

I have been having stomach problems in the past 3 days, like I have eaten sugar free gummy bears, but it has never slowed me down. Always happens right as we are heading home for the day, so things are still okay:)

We are pushing forward and having fun doing it! Love you mum!

-Breadly boopah

It's been a while...

September 30, 2019

Sorry I haven't said anything for 200 years, I have been struggling with computers. My companions computer always works fine, but mine continues to struggle with crippling disease or something...

This week was fun. One of the Highlights was Thursday, we went on splits with the Moshoeshoe Brothers, who were out of school for the week. I went with the younger brother, Koena, to the University and just walked around and talked with people all day. We found a lot of success from that and a lot of students confused with religion. We hand out these surveys  titled "Joy in Purpose" with lots of questions to the soul that they can have us give them answers too. It is a really good way to introduce the book of Mormon.

We had Heritage day this week, so on Saturday, we were able to go to the ward party. Only problem was some of the food. We were served Tripe and chicken feet. And there was a LOT of it. some of the members fed it too us during the week as well, so I haven't been feeling the best... I'll put some pictures down below.

We also met with Mahlapane, who, by the way, didn't want to be baptized last time we met with her. She was a little skeptical about things, and she was scared she would drown if she tried. We left with her last week a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet and met with her this last thursday. She Read all of it, understood everything and now wants to be baptized really bad. We set a date with her and she wanted it to be even sooner! Now we are going to baptize her in 3 weeks from now:) Super exciting for everyone! And to top it off, her nephew will baptize her:)

Well, thats just about all I can fit in before my computer melts down again. Have a blessed week!

-Elder Moser

1. My AREA

2. Peekaboo hehehe

3. My KINGDOM

4. The food, as mentioned above :l

Quick Note

September 23, 2019

Aye mum, I'm planning on calling you later today, so maybe I will just answer your questions for now. eh?

We cook a lot because my companion likes to. He makes some good food. We have dinner just about every night, even though for most of my mission I have had a small dinner like some yogurt or fruit. We also just experiment with things, and I have made some of our american fried food. We never really go home to make lunch. Kinda stinks, but at least we have dinner

About my slacks.... I have torn 2 pairs pretty bad and am down to 3 pairs. They fit pretty tightly, and the wash made them shrink even MORE so now I'm pretty scared. But I mean, I can't wear my jeans, right? The terrain is... pretty flat, but there are hills. I'm loving the biking though. I want to get more into it when I get home, maybe bike accross the US with Nathan. I found I have really good balance on them and can pedal in a straight line pretty easily lol.

Winter is GONE

Permanent lifestyle change? MAybe making my bed and cleaning. We put a big sign in our living room that says cleanliness is close to Godliness. I really like that. I'm getting better, the trick is just to keep my momentum with it.

Talk to you soon! :)

-Bread

Flat tires and torn vocal chords

September 16, 2019

Muli Bwanji! Sawubona! Muri Sei! Dumela! Hoe Gaan Dit! Did I get them all? We greet people in a lot of different ways.

Riding bikes, like I said, is fun and all, but I'm getting sick of the whole "Flat tires everyday" thing. Whenever we are far from home, and I mean FAR, my companions tire goes flat and we have to walk like 2 hours to get home. It's pretty fun, but that's because it hasn't been super late in the dangerous hours.

Our baptism didn't go through this week. There are some complications that came up with her past church, so hopefully we can work with her so she can get through it. It is really sad for us to see because she has had so many witnesses of the truth, but if she really wants to know, she won't fight it. Just gotta have faith.  Nelly, the girl, didn't come to church last week because she needed to tell the members/ pastor/ friends from her old congregation that she was going to be joining another church. She belongs to the CRC which is a HUGE happy- clappy chursh in Bloemfontein, and you can probably guess what happened. They tried convincing her to stay. WE met with her on Tuesday to talk with her and bore our testimonies, but she isn't so sure anymore, even though she has already had many witnesses. It kinda seems like she is fighting against it which is a shame. She said she was going to pray about it fervently and see us at church, but she didn't show yesterday and I just have this really bad feeling. I have had the feeling all week.

We had an AMAZING lesson with a guy named Pappi. We were invited to brother Spencer's home, from Zimbabwe, to teach a 12 apostolic guy who is currently studying at CUT right now. We taught him the Restoration and it was SO cool to see how much he understood. He perfectly understood the priesthood, and I felt the spirit so strong in that lesson. The only complication will be his commitment he has to his current Apostle, as he was explaining to us. But we are excited to meet with him again this week. What was really cool was how the member reacted as we were leaving. He was super happy and impressed. It is so important to earn the trust of the members so they will be more willing to help. And side note, I absolutely love People from Zimbabwe.

 We have been making American food! We made funnel cakes this past Monday, which was cool. While eating them we played a Brazilian game called Truco. I lost the game to some dumb odds and so I did a funny scream and now my vocal chords are a bit torn. I can't sing anymore, so hopefully it isn't a permanent thing, or I won't be able to get the band together in the future.

Love you all! Have joy this week!:)

-Elder Muesli

Oh! and I got pooped on by a bird for the first time in my life. YUCK!

p.s. Sounds cool that you guys are going to be famous mermaid mothers now. I just saw a picture on facebook of it and my comp said "Crikey what is that" haha. Now I gotta explain the story to him.

We made ginger beer!!!!! YO ITS GOOD.
 I want to bottle it when I get home.

We made this goulash thingy. it was really good.

 My comp gave me this cool tie from Japan and it has a buterfly painted on it.

Nathan, look at this funnel cake I made!

Pretty sure this is copyrighted.

I am a CHEETAH CHEETAH CHEETAHH

September 9, 2019

We got to go to the Currie Cup final at the Toyota stadium in our area! We were the only missionaries in the whole mission who got permission to go from our ZL's, and it was a total slap of a game! Cheetahs vs. Lions, and the Cheetahs ( home Team) won! It was so cool! This is the Super Rugby league, so like, the biggest rugby association in SA. And what was cooler is that a big airliner flew over the stadium a few times SUPER close! It was really fun, and I don't think the Afrikaans guy who was talking to me the whole time knew that I only speak English haha.

This week has been a tough one. We did some contacting on the Campus and found some really cool people. We handed out a lot of copies of the Book of Mormon. I have already seen in the past 3 weeks how it changes lives and answers questions to the soul. The mission is kinda trying to pound the universities since varsity students are hungry for truth. I would say the only problem we have been running into is the students finding every reason to not come to university to meet with us, or just skip classes in general. There have been a lot of protests to the many things that are happening in South Africa right now from.... various things...

I got to go on exchanges with the ZL's in Rocklands. I was with a Brazilian elder, Elder Silva. We had a pretty good time and also ate some Makwenyas that looked and tasted like grandma Moser's scones! The only thing that was missing was the honey and butter to go with it.

We are going to have a baptism this next sunday, of a girl named Nelly. She is so powerful and has had so many witnesses of the truth. She is really excited. I'm excited. I'm happy. There is a specific Christlike love that you develop for the people we have stewardship over. It is a love that only comes from worthiness, and the worthier I get, the more love I get and it's so great:)

Love youz guys! Have JOY

and sorry, no pictures. I mean, I have them, but the computer wont recognize my card. Oh well.

-Elder Moser:)

BLOEMFONTEIN ZONE CONFERANCE

Bloemfontein Zone September 2019

UFS Lyfe

September 2, 2019

HEYYY all you slenderman fan's!

I have been having a pretty darn good time here in Bloemfontein. There is so much diversity. So much family stability. SO many people who are smarter than me. I have been getting a whole lot of new names. Mosiah and Mozart are the most common. I just kinda run with it now.

Things have been so amazing here though. We have already seen so many miracles. We had an experience on friday where we rode our bikes out to kingdom come to give a man a blessing. His name was retselisitsoe, and I can promise you if you try to say his name, you will pronounce it wrong. He had place himself in a rehab center and asked for a blessing from the Elders Quorum, but nobody could go, so we got asked. It was quite the suprise to him, and it took a while to get there because our bike tires went flat, but we had the most spiritual experience that I have had on mission. We read with him from Alma 36, verses 17-20, how The thing that made Alma want to change was the thought of the Saviors atonement, and how the joy that we can feel through repentance will always exceed the pain and guilt we feel. As we testified this, We all felt that burning sensation in the bosom that comes from the spirit. Then we Gave him a blessing, and the spirit was even stronger. we felt so much peace and reverence. Through all the hard days on mission, these days make it worth it. 

We had zone conference this week as well, I got to see some of my mission heroes who are leaving this transfer. We have such a powerful zone, this place is on fire! The good kind, not the kind that can put holes in carpets;) The zone conference was the most spirichal one I have had, and the whole focus was on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We all got miracle journals to write our daily miracles in.

My companion hit his year mark, Crikey! We had a HUGE braii, and burnt a shirt. I have some pictures from it.

We Went to a rugby match too. It was super cool. We were in an Alcohol free zone, but there was still a lot of Alcohol unfortunately. It's funny because everyone was Afrikaans and thought we were too so it was awkward. Where did all of them even come from? They hide in their houses.

I'm impressing a lot of people with my languages. I don't know a lot in each language, but I at least know how to greet, and that's about all I need XD

Love you all! HAVE JOY!

-Elder Mosiah

We made Corndogs. They were amazing.