1.11.16 Tests and Trials

Good Morning Fam!   1/11/16

At the request of my beloved mother, I'll begin by answering questions about the area and last week!

What are some of the working professions for people there?

Basically  many of the working professions  that are in the states are here in Africa. You have your Doctors, Lawyers, Government Professions and everything else. But here is a list of some of the funny jobs that they have here in SA. The roadside repair people employ about 20 people to do a job to repair a pothole. So about 2 people work and the other 18 wave flags and surround the hole, you have banana sellers on the side of the road that will sell you everything from Banana's to the software from Microsoft 2001 :) 

How are they learning about the Church?

Most of the members have come into the gospel through.........................their friends. No surprise there! Like in most places, the members that help build the kingdom usually join through friends and familes! 

 How is the retention after they are baptized? 

In other places besides Nelspruit, I would say out of every 10 that join the church in a year, 7 remain active for the entire year. Here in Nelspruit it is 10/10, because with the help of a senior couple and a dedicated branch, these converts continue to grow after their baptism!

What’s it like to visit and learn from an area Seventy?

Last week visiting with Elder Hamilton was pretty amazing. He has a lot of information about what is happening over the entire South East area, some pretty exciting things are happening in Africa!! Stakes are growing and splitting in the course of 5 short years and his gospel knowledge is profound, time went so quickly with him. I would compare it to sitting down and visiting with Christian Ekins for an hour :)

Other than those questions are there any other ones that I can answer for you?

This week has been a week a Trials and Tests. It has seemed like everyone we have taught and contacted just isn't ready at this point in their life to make and keep commitments. This upcoming week will be better though. On Saturday, President and Sister Dunn are coming to do his Bears and Prayers presentation. Google it and you can read up about it. So it is something that we are both looking forward to!

Wednesday- Headed up and out to Mshadza to visit those people that I told you about last time. We meet at the Primary Presidents home and all of the recent converts come and bring their friends. So we are at her house with the Elder Scott, the senior missionary, for about 3-6 hours teaching person after person after person! It is amazing and I don't think that there is any place or experience quite like it. After we get done teaching, our mouths and throats are killing from talking so much.

Sunday- Well, Nelspruit struggled this week in the musical side of things............I was called on to play the piano :))))) You can tell Lisa Powell right now that I apologize for never ever practicing. So the hymns went alright, very choppy but got through them. Then I gave a talk about the Worth of a Soul, so pretty busy sunday. and then appts cancelled and we ended up just talking to people outside of their homes. Anyways little down the line, we ran into a girl, her dad is actually a member and she was baptized however she had a disagreement with her dad, but is still willing to have us over! "When amid the conflict you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, count your many blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done" Name “dem” one by one!

I love Africa and I love you all!

Elder Broadhead

1.4.16 Ringing in the New Year

Whatzzzz  up fam,                1/4/16

2016 began with a literal bang! It has been a great week out in the blazing hot country of Nelspruit. (This week we topped out at 100 degrees with 60% humidity). This week has had its ups and downs.Over the last 16 months  I have been able to gain a great appreciation of the power of prayer but especially lately because of some unique circumstances.  In Nelspruit we face some unusual challenges when it comes to missionary work. With members literally coming from all over the area ( many walking great distances) and a new addition of a beautiful chapel offered both an exciting and daunting task to help carry out the work here and fill the chapel. Elder Kuyangepi and I have been discussing and praying together to find out what ways that we can best help contribute to the building of the kingdom here. We have studied, talked to the members and even enlisted the help of the senior couple here to help us in our ambitious goals. I have really come to understand the scripture in D&C 8:2-3 about how the Lord will tell us in our mind and in our heart. So we prepared for Sunday and our prayers together for the past 5 weeks were answered. We were privileged to have area Seventy, Elder Kevin Hamilton attend our branch. When sacrament started there were about 8 of us, including the Hamilton’s, but by the end of the 3 hour block there were about 50 members/investigators in attendance. Maybe too much food during the holidays had them moving lethargically towards the church, but we were able to discuss our problem with Elder Hamilton and he shared some great guidance with us! Prayers are answered!

Another great experience this week is that we had an exchange with the Kanyamazane Elders. They work in a village about 30 minutes away and I got to spend the day with Elder Smalley from South Carolina (his southern drawl is almost completely gone, but his love for deep-fried catfish is still alive and well) It was an amazing day, and made me think of what David A Bednar said concerning Africa, "There is an eagerness and light in the eyes of the African Latter-day Saints. This is a place where many people live challenging, difficult lives. They don’t have many of the temporal comforts and blessings that people in the Western world have. Many of these Saints are grateful to have one substantial meal a day. Yet because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have great light and hope. I learn a great deal from the people every time I visit the African continent.” 

We were privileged to meet a lady who the missionaries had met at a tazi rank the week before, she just expressed the feelings that she has had and the bad decisions that she has made and her desire to change. I love the people of South Africa, I learn from them every day and I love being a missionary!

Until next week. . .
Love Elder Broadhead

12.28.16 Keep Pressing On

Hey family,                                                                 12.28.16

It was so great to see you all! I will apologize for the last couple of weeks like I said it has been incredibly busy which is a good thing! Christmas truly is a busy, busy time but I'll give you an update of some things that we have experienced in during this December season. Elder Kuyangepi and I have been working hard to try this Christmas season and on Sunday night we had an absolutely great experience. It is one of those days when things just didn’t seem to work out. Our appointments had fallen through and we just said a prayer in the car and decided to knock some doors. Then we got yelled at by an old african lady and shunned at the next few houses but we knew our prayer was heard and just had to wait for it to be answered.  I saw some little kids kicking a soccer ball in the street with this younger guy coaching them.  I started to kick the ball around them and Elder Kuyangepi decided to talk to the younger man coaching. Turns out that he was very interested in what we had to share and he let us in and we shared a message with him. He is about 30 years old and works high up in management at a local mining company, so he is pretty well off. He introduced us to his wife and we just started talking and he opened up and told us although he has succeeded in the business side and is happily married he just feels like there more. I looked at Elder Kuyangepi and it looked like he had seen a ghost, his eyes were huge! So my message today is keep pressing on even when you feel discouraged, don’t question, just keep going and blessing will come! And when you are blessed with gifts from the Lord , open your eyes really really wide (like elder Kuyandepi) to see all that he has given you. 

That’s the experience this week!

I love you all and enjoy your week together!

Love, Elder Bhead

12.21.15 No Letters but More Pictures.

It took so long to download all the pictures Landen didn't have time to email except sykpe information I think the fact that we get to talk to him in 4 days may have also had a little to do with it,
so all is well!

12/14/15 Drum roll. . . . . .

Hey Family,          12/14/15

It’s been a big week so can I have a drum roll please......................  after much consideration I have decided to take my talents to Costa Rica  . . . . . . 

Alright it might not be Costa Rica, and it may not have been my idea but thanks to the inspiration of President Dunn

I have been transferred to one of the 

most beautiful places on the earth.

 I am out in a area called Nelspruit in the Mpumulanga Province and the size of the areas continue to grow bigger and bigger. So our area boundary runs from the top of Botswana, covering all of the Kruger National Park (so if you know some elephants that need a visit from the missionaries go ahead and fill out the card;) Down to the border of Swaziland and all the way out to Mozambique. So that being said we have some pretty unique circumstances when it comes to missionary work. With 20+ recent converts in the past 6 months this place is ON FIIIYAHHH. So I'll share the story a group of our amazing saints in the Nelspruit Branch.

 #1 The Mshadza Crew

This began with a family of three. A faith-filled mother, her Aaronic priesthood aged son and younger delightful daughter. They stay in a village about 45 minutes from the chapel. When I first received my call to Africa, this is the placed that I imagined. Mango and avocado trees dot the mountain with homes situated in the weirdest places. This family found the missionaries in Johannesburg and proceeded to live the gospel and stay faithful when they moved to Mshadza. Since they have been here, they talk to everyone they stay with and share with them the message that has blessed them. And most of them are young, single adults with a burning desire to live a better life. So it started with one, then another, and then another and yesterday we confirmed the 6th recent convert in the past 4 months from Mshadza! Despite the long drive and lack of transport they and their friends continue to find a way to come and worship! I am continually taken back by the humility, dedication and genuine desire to be obedient that I learn from those I have been called to serve. I often feel  I learn so much more from them than I could ever possibly teach them.

I am alive and well and feeling very blessed to be serving the amazing people of South  Africa!

Love you all,

Elder Broadhead

12/7/15 I'll go where you want me to go. . . . .

Hi Fam            Dec 7, 2015

I know I promised a longer email this week  but the big surprise for the week is. . . . . . . .after a short stay in Vereeniging I will be leaving ;( Pretty quick 6 weeks in this area, but the Lord has need of me in another place. So I will be leaving tomorrow which means there is a lot to do today. I got a call from President on Friday and I'll find out exactly where I will be going on Tuesday. But, amidst the turbulence of that call we were able to be instructed from President Hamilton of the Seventy. He mentioned some pretty poignant ideas that I wrote down and wish I had time to share. I also wish he could stay and  just teach us for a week and I feel like it would help me out as well as all of our missionaries. He spoke plainly of the doctrine of the temple and eternal companions and it just made me think how important it is to bring families into the gospel. That is one of the best things about missionary work! I’m so sorry for another short email. My time is completely up. I promise to do my best next week for a fully detailed email!

Love you all,

elder bhead

11/30/15 Possibly the BEST Thanksgiving ever!

Hey Fam,

A year later and it was great to celebrate another Thanksgiving in South Africa. The highlight again this year was definitely when went we on a wild goose/turkey chase in Pick N' Pay to try a find a turkey or as they phrase it  "a large big chicken" hahaha good memories. We got up early and started preparing the turkey and all the foods, again it was funny to see who actually knew what a turkey was. . . What a different  week this has been,  we had each missionary in our district prepare a food from their home country, so it was sweet as we celebrated Thanksgiving as missionaries with food and  experiences from Malawi, Australia, Denmark, US and South Africa!

Enjoying our Thanksgiving feast

This one may go down as one of my all time favorite                        Thanksgivings.  

Before

After

Even better than that, has been our time proselyting, Elder Nwokedi and I have made it a goal to try and talk to everyone that we can, and we are being blessed abundantly. Yesterday, while we were walking to our appointment and we happened to speak to a lady and her husband (his car was broken down so he was pretty angry)  as we talk we found out  that she is actually a member of the Church that hasn't been for about 4 years :) The Lords timing is unexpected, but I love it when I get the opportunity to be an instrument the Lord uses to help others along their way.

I'll send a more lengthy email next week my time is short today , but just know that I am grateful to be a missionary and represent the Savior for what is becoming a very short 2 years. 

He Is The Way!

Love you all,

Elder Broadhead