Jarod's's pictures

I'm not sure why these didn't send the first time, but here they are! (Thanks for all of you who asked to see them! I didn't realize they didn't attach!)

Fwd: BEST CHRISTMAS EVER

Yesterday was perfect! It was so fun to see Jarod's face and hear that voice! He is so happy and it was fun to have his phone ring during our call and hear him as a real missionary!!!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>

HEY! So this week was really great!

We had a lot of appointments set up, but because of the holiday, some fell through and that was unfortunate, but we were able to meet a lot of new people, and hopefully we can find the elect that are ready for the gospel!

As we meet new people, it is so fun to refer them to the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith! I love to see people embrace the gospel so quickly and be able to love it like I do.

Not much to say this week, but it was SOO FUN to be able to see all of you yesterday. I hope you all had an AMAZING Christmas. We got fed 4 times back to back to back to back and I don't think I've ever been so full in my life! Elder Hawkins was dying with his first feast day here. The Zitshu's, Venas, Mashiqas, and Oliphants fed us. It was so good, and I'm blessed, but after eating the same potato salad and beans and rice and chicken, and wors. BUT, IT was soooo amazing, and the people are so kind to serve us. Hopefully we can work on getting meals once a day, not 4 a day.

Me and Elder Hawkins are getting along great and I'm so glad we are companions! He has a 15 year old sister Heather and a 4 year old named Jessica. I love seeing him get so excited to talk about them! It makes me love all of you so much more too!

Some exciting news is we broke the record at Motherwell for number of people to come to church In December! We had 79! It was so fun! We had a great Christmas program with a lot of singing, and performances, and a great spirit that was felt. We got a lot of members christmas presents with a picture of elder Hawkins and I and it was super funny. Hopefully they liked them. 

Xolisani and Sheila are both doing well. Lisa's mom was at church and her cousin as well! Andiswa, her mother, starting this year will be off sundays! So she is starting to progress well, which is so great. 

I said this yesterday, but liked it so I'll say it again. But a funny thing this week was driving around we saw this boy and girl sitting in the street talking, holding hands, so we decided to stop and teach them the law of chastity. The guy was just so weirded out and the girl was more interested, it was just so funny to teach them and shut them down for the rest of the night. They didn't come to church tho, so that stinks, but it was still awesome!  

Christmas morning it was lightly raining, so I pictured it as snow, so that was a nice thing to have on Christmas, but I miss all the snow that comes at home, and am jealous of all the great skiing that will be done in the next couple months! 

I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and that you are all safe this time of the year! I am thankful for all the love and support given this time of year, and hope you feel the love of the savior as we have been celebrating his birth! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love, Elder Ivins

1. Vena's feast 

2. The boys

3. Holding Inam like the Mamas ha ha ha

4. Our Christmas card photo!

Fwd: NAKED, DRUNK, and LIZARDS

Skyping on Sunday!!! Best Christmas present ever!! This is such a great letter!! I love this missionary kiddo!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>
www.10Kmilesaway@blogspot.com

HELLO!

So wow, this week was awesome. 

In the earlier part of the week we had zone conference, and received great training from the AP's and President and Sister Merrill! They helped us a lot on how the Book of Mormon and the Bible go together! And how we need both of them to have the FULL truth! I loved it! 

Then the next two days we had service in the morning. We helped Cleary move boardings, and then the next day helped a member sand and paint all her cabinets! It was really fun, but incredibly HOT! THIS WEEK WAS SO HOT. I've showered 2-4 times a day, and changed clothes about the same hahaha. But I LOVE IT! 

We have been really busy teaching as well this week. We have had 2 days of appointments from 11 am and finishing at 9 pm. It is hectic, and we have been working really hard! It is awesome. Elder Hawkins is doing so great here, and has adjusted to SA very fast. He served in Manchester for a month, in which he learned a lot on how to be a great hard working missionary, which helps! We have a couple really good progressing investigators and met a lot of new people this week! We are hoping to have a baptism on the 14 of Jan. and then on the 18 of Feb!

Xolisani, is a 19 year old boy who comes to church every week and loves it! He is progressing well, and Sheila, a 60 year old mama is amazing. She knows so much so fast!! There are a lot more but those two are doing the best right now!

On Friday, we went to a wedding of 2 people in our branch, Thembela and Sihle. It was so funny, they were kinda awkward the whole time, and when it came time to kiss, they were hesitant, then just started making out! So that was dope.. hmmmm haha

Then last night, we went to stop by this house to contact a referral. When we knock on the door the guy yells come in, but the door is locked. He just keeps yelling come in! I'm like yomie, the door is locked!!! And he comes and opens it, and is like, sorry.. but we notice, this guy is NAKED! AND DRUNK! he quickly grabs his underwear (a super tight speedo thing) and then wraps this blue towel around him that looks like a toga. Like how amazing! hahahha then his wife comes down and is super embarrassed and like it was just soooooo funny! Then the his friend comes in even drunker and just wearing a towel! And so when they started to fight and wrestle each other, it fell off. So man. HILARIOUS! His wife and sister in law are really interested and we will be meeting with them later this week! They are really nice and apologetic, and really want to be able to learn more about Christ. which was so cool to see, that even in that situation, we were able to share how their lives can improve from our message! Her name is Celiwe!

Another thing that was funny this week, is how hot it is, so every morning you wake up in pools of sweat. You study: sweat, you teach, sweat. but the other day, I wake up, and this LIZARD is on my face. It was soooo amazing ahhaha. Just this little guy, scared the crap outta me. 

On top of this week, I realized just how much I love my mission. Every part. Even though it is hot, and long days and really tiring. The spirit I constantly feel, and the people I meet and the great lessons we have, make everything so much better. I hope you all find the Joy in this Christmas time and have a great week! I cant wait to see you guys next week and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

PrayForANNIE

🎁🎁🎄🎁

LOVE, ELder IVins

1. Boys coming back from 4 weeks in the bush. They get circumcised, then go out and become a man.

2. At the wedding with the old makhulus

3. Mowell boys

4. Deep in thought

5. Hmmm

6. The wedding, aren't we funny?

7. Sheila turned 60 so we had cake and drinks with her.

Fwd: well hey

From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>
www.10kmilesaway.blogspot.com

HEY!

This week was really awesome, fun, sad, great! 

Elder Mac n Roll blasted on Wednesday morning, and elder Hawkins didn't come until Saturday night! So this week I was with some other elders in our district, Elder Bozer and Elder Adam. 

But, because Elder McCarroll left Wednesday, we saw and said goodbye to a lot of people Monday and Tuesday. It was really fun and he had a great impact on all of the people here, and was a great example that hopefully I can keep up. 

To drop him off on Wednesday, we had to get up at 430, supa early. which was not fun, and the rest of the day was suuupppper long, but I was able to chill with Elder Bozer and Elder Gibbons, both in my transfer (MTC group). It was really fun to be able to see how much we have grown and be able to hangout together.  

So Wednesday and Thursday we served in Cleary, and then Friday in mowell and then Saturday I was able to hangout with the Watsons again! Then we were able to get Elder Hawkins. He is from just outside London, and his a powerful guy. Tall and skinny and about 6' 4". He had visa problems, so he was able to serve a month after the MTC in the Manchester mission! So he already has adjusted well and is a hard worker, which is awesome. We are getting along great so far and I hope it only gets better. 

We had a great Christmas devo on Saturday and he could meet some members.

Sunday it was raining and cold in the morning, so we didn't have that many at church, so that stinks, but the people that were there were great! I love church and being able to go every week! and that no matter where we are in the World, we can partake of the sacrament. Mosiah 18:8-11 talks great about the baptismal covenants we make, and it is great to renew those each week. We taught gospel principles on covenants, and how we can make personal covenants with God, and that we can always receive those blessings from Heavenly Father.

Sunday was really good teaching wise as well, we had a couple referrals from the pass along cards we have, and they are awesome boys! Bulumko (15), and Lwandile (14) accepted the first lesson very well! Lisa, our recent convert has a friend who is 13, Zandisiwe, and is awesome. we taught her yesterday as well. she has been coming to church for 3 weeks, and also accepted baptism for the 14 of January! The boys as well for the 18 of February! It is great to see their joy and how well they accept the gospel!

This week is very busy, and hopefully we can keep that up through the Christmas season!

We were going to buy this cow head for a going away dinner with elder McCarroll, but we had no room in the boot for it. so ugh. next time! ;) Hopefully we can eat more stuff!, but as long as it is good....

Not much else happened this week, but it was a great week. I'm so jealous of the snow and skiing, it is a lot different than the hot sun here, but it's still a little weird to think that Christmas is in 2 weeks! and I'm so excited to see you guys!!!  

1. 2 homies eating chocolate pies

2. Aphelele Oliphant, working for Jan. 14th baptism

3. Sam family - so awesome!

4. Anyone hungry?

5. "Summer girls" all grade 12, one in white shirt wants to serve a mission!

6. Huge wolf spider! (Zoom in)

Fwd: Bye Mac n roll.

3 weeks and I get to see this face!! Who wants to come and see it too??? Enjoy our crazy missionary!

From: Jarod Jason Ivins 

<jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>
www.10kmilesaway.blogspot.com

HEY HEY!

Well this week was really good and went by SUPER fast. It has been awesome and I loved it. i received my Xhosa clan name: Tshawe. and my Xhosa name: Qamisa. So while we drive I will just yell in Xhosa greetings and funny things that Mzo gives me to say. It is so funny and people are soooo shocked that a mlunghu is yelling at them. Everyone smiles and goes nuts. Its awesome. Other things I will say is where is my girlfriend, funny jokes that people who have come from the bush know, and just agh its awesome. 

We haven't been seeing investigators too much recently and need to update our teaching pool, but we do have 2 sisters preparing for baptism! one has been prepared really well to receive the gospel and knows it is true, we have the 17 for her, but it will be moved cuz she will be busy out of town. her name is Sheila and is super nice and learns a lot very well!

The other, Mama Makoba has been taught for about 3 years, and is finally accpeted baptism! it is awesome and she has finnaly realized that it is true, and has been coming to church so much like why wouldn't I do this sooner. I'm proud of her. We have a couple more working for baptism and it is great to see them come to church!

This week was our last week of the transfer and we got our transfer news. Elder McCarroll will be transferred to Bellevue in Cape Town and I will stay here in Motherwell and be Training! My new comp is Elder Hawkins! He is from the UK and had visa troubles so went to the MTC there, but now will be here next Saturday! Elder McCarroll leaves Wednesday so i will be in a tri this week and then the party begins! But I am super excited. A little nervous, but the Lord will help. 

We had a really cool experience yesterday while contacting a referral, Lilian. She wasn't there, but her daughter Nandi (27+-) was. We had a great lesson with her. She said she feels that God has been offline to her, and not there. It was sad to know she thought that, but we helped her a lot and focused on prayer. When we promised her that God loves her, and that he is there, she started to cry. We just sat there for about a minute in silence. and the spirit was really strong, and we know she felt it. we closed and asked her to pray. In her prayer she was so sincere and by the end was bawling. She got up after and left and it was really cool. She lives in Mthatha and I really hope that she will continue to meet with the missionaries there. 

Yesterday was awesome. We went to the Cwele's house, members, and they fed us SOOOO much. They had a great dessert as well. After that, we went straight to X's mom, Sis. Oliphant. MORE FOOD. hyped. We couldnt finish it, and then Mzo and Elder McCarroll got soo full, that after, we went to a field where they just puked. then later at the Willie's more! it was pretty awesome. I guess the relief society pres rebuked everyone on how we don't get fed, so I'm excited to see what happens.... hahhaha 

This past week has been awesome to see the amazing love from members. I am gonna miss Elder McCarroll so much. He is amazing and gonne be a great guy, and I'm so hyped for training!

I hope all is well at home and everyone is enjoying skiing and getting ready for Christmas!

Love everyone and talking and hearing from you guys!

Love, Elder Ivins

1. Cwele's fat feast

2. Makhulu, Mama, and Nikki, Mzo, Makhosi, Us

3-4. Nikki and Makhulu

Fwd: Hot Hot Hot

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>

10Kmilesaway@blogspot.com

Hello! This week was awesome! It went by really fast and had a lot of laughs and great smiles.
As it is starting to get really cold and snowing home, here it is getting hotter and hotter. yesterday at church was the hottest and we had 100 people there\\! Most it has been in months! so that was awesome! 

Earlier in the week i went on exchanges with Elder Bozer! my companion from the MTC! It was really fun to be with him and see how much we have both learned and grown in the couple months in the field compared to what we thought we knew in the MTC. 

We had a lot of stuff to do before the baptisms on Saturday. we had a great tender mercy from the Lord in finding baptismal clothing. The other elders had a baptism earlier in the week, and the font didn't work, and they couldn't find any clothing. We went again on Thursday to look, and we thought we were in trouble because they couldn't find any the day before. But then we opened a closet and found 2! and they were the exact sizes we needed! It was really cool!

Then on saturday we had to move the baptism to 830 because of conflicting events throughout the day. So at around 5 we got up to get everything ready, and when we got to the church in kwama kxaki to fill the font, and it was half filled, with old smelly, green water, full of bugs. HUGE cockroaches, spiders, and ants. we didnt know what to do, and called some people and the font wasn't even draining. so we did our best to hang from the glass and scoop out as much as we could, then fill it up the rest. The baptism was really great! Elder Watson baptized and then confirmed Nozi sunday, and then I was able to baptize Lisa and Elder McCarroll confirmed her! The spirit was really strong and they both have great testimonies! It is so great to see the whole process of them coming to the church. Lisa from her aunt, and being able to see her start from lesson 1 and not be baptized, and also Nozi, who was very stubborn but finally realized it was true. But after the baptism, the font wouldnt drain, and President Zitshu, the Branch president asked if we would stay till it was empty, so no one would fall in and drown, or anything. We couldn't figure out the drain, so we decide we would take 2 gallon buckets and scoop out the 250 gallon font. It was SO HOT, and we got so sweaty and wet and man, it took about 45 min. 

This week, also was ruined by me and elder McCarroll having fleas, either from Cleary boarding, and also from Motherwell.. so it has been not fun at all having all of them biting us and everywhere. i think we are getting rid of them, but still awful. 

We are working more with the members to introduce the Light The World initiative. which is really well! They are all soo kind and loving. I love them here and growing closer to them is so much fun. some families we saw this week were the Mgwanqa family, and the Flekies and Willies. we will be seeing more this week! Hopefully they make food as well ;) hahaha. 

I love learning more about the Restoration and about the Book of Mormon. Teaching about it and prayer builds my testimony that it is true everyday. I love the gospel and i can see the blessings it brings to peoples families here everyday! 

I hope all is well and everyone is great! Thanks for all the pics and emails and love and support. Keep being amazing. 

Love, 
Elder Ivins 

Fwd: THANKSgiving

From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>
Subject: THANKSgiving (Said in the Blindside accent)

SUP people

This week flew by. It was really good! We have been working really hard and been seeing a lot of people. I was able to go on exchanges with Elder Greening and Elder Takavingei, and both times we got fed. Maybe they are the goodluck charm. they are awesome Zone leaders. This week we ate mphukoqo, 7 colors and a lot of chicken. which is really nice.

Nozi and Lisa both got interviewed and will be getting baptized next saturday! I am so excited for them and it has been really awesome to see them accept the gospel and to gain a testimony! Anawe we havent seen in a while, but hopefully after exams we can be able to help her progress. Her sister, unfortunately is falling behind, we went to see her on her birthday, and her friends came and told us to come back later, and Mzo was able to find out she didn't want to see us cuz she was drunk. ugh. Kind of a set back, but we will hopefully be able to help her see that those things do not bring true happiness, and that the gospel does.

We have a couple people that are doing well, like a young boy named Ayabulele who loves the BOM, but unfortunately this week is leaving for the bush, so we wont see him for 3 weeks. but hopefuly he will keep reading there!

Another guy is Andisiwe, he works at the gas station by our house. he works so much, but is a great guy. and really interested. I hope he can learn more and can see that even though he will make sacrifices, God will bless him. That is where faith is so important, trusting and hoping that Heavenly Father really is there and will help us. 

This week is Thanksgiving, and it is a lot different not to be going to grandmas. People dont really do anything for Thanksgiving, so we might be doing a big dinner next Sunday for it, which would be really nice. It is crazy how fast everything is going. That 3 months are down. but, a lot of work is left to be done. 

This transfer has only 2 weeks left, and Elder McCarroll thinks he will be leaving, which is really sad, but i hope we will have a lot of fun these last two weeks. 

This week was also full of a lot of unfortunate sights, of seeing multuple dogs get hit and smashed, many people saying come in and then having onl;y their robes on, and those being wide open. Agh sketchy. hahaha, last week we played rugby and soccer, and had a couple kids from the university play with us, and now are interested and meeting witht the elders! And this week we are going to be playing paintball. Should be fun!

I hope everyone is doing well and I love to hear from everyone. It makes my days and weeks so much better to get pictures and to talk to all of you! Thank you for the prayers and love. I am so thankful for my family and friends and everyone. Thanksgiving is a great time to tell people you love them. I love to serve in this beautiful and amazing place. 

Elder Jarod Ivins

Elder Greening and I with mphukoqo.
Elder Takavingie and I
3rd meal from yesterday from the Mashiqa family!

Fwd: TRUMP

If you have missed any of Jarod's emails, they are also on his blog 10kmilesaway.blogspot.com
My new favorite pic of him is also attached! Have a great week. We love our missionary!!
From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>

HELLO!

This week just about everyone that we met with, asked us if we are happy about trump, or if we knew, it was so funny, and usually people just dont care but love to talk to us about it, and act like they know so much about politics, it is pretty funny. pretty sure all of the riots aren't as bad as here, it is sketchy.

It has been kind of rainy this week and windy, summer is coming and it is getting hotter! I love PE and Motherwell!

This week was nice, the Oliphant sisters are doing well. They open up more and more each week, but because of exams and not being able to see them as often, we may push their baptism back. but it is okay. We just want them to be converted to the gospel, and to the BoM, not us. It is awesome to see people gain a greater testimony daily. 

Lisa is doing well and will most likely be baptized next week! Nozi is also well, but we haven't seen her as much as we would have liked to, when people miss, it is hard becasue it puts a stop on their progression.

We have also been working more with members, and usually when we go there, they love to feed us. one family, the Flekie's,have been really instrumental in the conversion of many people, are so awesome and feed us too quite often. They have a huge family and most of them are members, they are trying to get everyone to be a member so they can be sealed in the next year. They take a bus every year from Motherwell to Joburg, 15 hour drive and it is about 50 people that go from the branch each year. The temple is so cool, and i love seeing how much the people sacrifice here to go.

This week wasn't much different than the others, but very busy! I was able to go with Elder Hugo on tuesday for excahnges! and he is a great teacher and I learned a lot from him. Church was really great this week and we taught about the difference of the Holy Ghost, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. The gift of it is one of the greatest gifts from God, and we are able to have the constant companionship of the spirit. We need to take advantage and always repent when we sin, and look for the promptings of the Spirit. 

I love teaching about Joseph Smith and the first vision. It is the greatest lesson and I know it is true! 

Cleary slept over again last night and we had a nice breakfast this morning! we also are getting ready to carol and sing for this coming month. the work slows down a lot because people leave for holiday and summer break, but there are a lot of fun things we are planning for! Some malls are decorating for Christmas, and it makes me miss the snow and Christmas at home, but I am so excited for it here! 6 weeks! So you all better be ready to see this good looking elder, hahahhaha jk, but I love you all and hope everything is well! 

Elder Ivins

Church attire. It went over quite well!
Breakfast with friends after a missionary sleepover.
Nice digs
Killing Motherwell
11:11 on 11/11 (of course)

Fwd: Novemba is here

Goat heads??? Really??? Read on...
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>

HEYA! This week was very good, but a little longer at times. Appointments are dropping more, but it is okay, we just get to meet more people! 

Lisa is doing well, but didn't come to church so that is unfortunate. She remembers things so well. Like stuff we taught over a month ago, she can remember! It is awesome!

Nozi is also well, but also didn't come to church. The excuse of no money for taxi is always what people say, but it is hard because if you have a desire, and aren't lazy, you will get to church haha. We called out a lot of recent converts and less actives on it this week. 

Yamkela, man, the Watsons called him to teach him on the phone. He read over the word of wisdom pamphlet, felt it was right, and stopped coffee completely. he has been reading the bom for a couple weeks, and is almost done with Mosiah. Man, he is so powerful. I hope he can get a job soon close to a church so he can be baptized!
The Oliphant sisters are also doing well! Anawe (20) and Aphelele (17) are reading more and both came to church! They are also hoping to be baptized at the end of the month, but I just hope they will be ready, it is good to know that everything is done on the Lord's time tho. and He knows when it will be right. But we hope to have it be then! 
The other day, we were in a lesson with an investigator sister Zintathu, and we about 15 min in, and a drunk guy came barging in, yelling for his soul mate. She was so embarrassed and just went into a different room. The guy sat down and then just made it really awkward. The sister was in there for like 10 minutes and didn't come back. The guy was yelling, you know Joseph! where is the Pillar? and it was funny but confusing. then he made us pray for him haha. SO we just left, and then she came out and asked us to come back, and he was getting dragged out by his brother yelling at us again. 

We also went to a recent convert's house, who just moved from a place called Zwide to Motherwell. They are really powerful family. the Vena family.They make us food often, and this week, made us one of the biggest meals ever. They cooked chicken in two ways, and then had pasta with meat, and rice that was amazing, and then these butternut squashes, with chicken and spinach in it. SO DANK. the next day they made us lunch with some sheep liver and it wasn't bad! ha ha They are so nice, and the old elders that taught them took a nice family pic, so we tried to top it by adding the rest of the family.Ours is definitely better. 
We were teaching there family about temples, and it was really cool to show them the picture of the Birchards getting sealed in Switzerland. They are going to be going to the temple trip in January, but just for baptisms. The sacrifices to go to the temple here are so crazy, but the blessings people receive are amazing. I love the temple!

We were able to teach a lot this week about the Holy Ghost, and how he testifies of truth. Sometimes we dont know if we feel the Hole Ghost, but anything that is good, comes from God. We sometimes over look the mark of what the feelings or answers will be. But they are there. I love to have the Spirit with us as we teach. It is sometimes hard to know if I am teaching with it, or if i can listen to it during lessons, but when any thought comes to mind, and it is good, do it! and see and pray to ask if it is right. If we get another good answer, Trust it, and trust our faith! I love learning more about the Book of Mormon. Reading it with investigators and seeing them understand is so great! IT IS TRUE! 

This week during our studies, I heard a bang and chirping, our windows and doors were open, and I said to Elder McCarroll i think a bird is in our house? And sure enough, we got a little birdy flyin around hahaha so we caught it and named it McIvin, man he was so cool, but he made a huge mess. But then we thew him and he flew home. What a cool bird.

Also those goat heads, is a meal people call smiley. They just cut the heads off and put them in these pots. We didn't buy any, but maybe this week we will. It is a little sketchy tho, cuz all the mama's and tata's just cook the meat and cow intestines and whatever you could imagine on the street, but no way it's cleaned. hmm, guess we will see when we try some.. hahaha

I love you all and hope everyone is well! Thank you for all of the love and support. I can feel the love and prayers. Keep going strong and never give up. 

1.smiley
2. McIvin
3.chef Ivins
4.DANKEST MEAL
5. Vena family
 

Fwd: MOVIN FERWERD in Motherwell

It was like Christmas morning with this email. Jarod sent tons of pictures. I've attached a bunch. Our Elder is definitely still himself. He's finally getting fed by a few members and he's happy to no longer be starving!
Hope you enjoy the wild pig story!
Love, one happy Mama!
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jarod Jason Ivins <jarod.ivins@myldsmail.net>

Man, this week flew by!

On Wednesday Elder McCarroll was able to go to Cape Town and visit with his transfer, because they were going home this week. So I was able to work with the Watsons Wednesday and Thursday! They are so kind and funny to know. they went to high school together and have been married 50 years, so hearing their jokes are just so funny. It was fun to be able to contact and meet a lot of people on my own, because without McCarroll I had to put on my big Elder pants. haha

But this week was really good teaching wise too, we are meeting with two sisters, Anawe and Aphelele who are Xolani's second cousins. They have been taught for about a year, and drop a lot. so he asked us to go see them. and now they are really opening up! they are explaining what they need help with, and their concerns. such as, what happens if i get baptized and then i sin again. or how can i know if my prayers are answered. It is really awesome when people open up and we can teach to their needs. They are progressing to baptism for the 26 of Nov. I hope they can do it. Last night, we were teaching them about prayer, and we decided to do this thing where we would sit 30 sec in silence and try to listen to the spirit and what it would tell us. Then we would ask a question and they would think about it again for another minute in silence. Elder McCarroll said he would ask the question. So during the first minute I had a prayer in my heart so strong for him, and also for me to know what question to ask just in case he didn't have one. As it got closer to the end, i had a question come of, What do you need to do to draw closer to Christ? I felt the holy Ghost confirm that question. And as Elder McCarroll asked the question, he said the EXACT same thing. It was really powerful and it helped them out a lot. It was another confirmation to me as well. 

Heavenly Father constantly blesses us with fellowshippers and opportunities to serve. His hand is doing all the work.

Lisa's mom is now being taught and is really great. She had the same question as Joseph Smith. And after the restoration, she knows our church is true. It is hard tho because she works on Sundays. She will have to take a large leap of faith.

Also, the past month and week I always try to teach little kids just a simple fun handshake, and they are remembering it! It is legit the cutest thing and brings the biggest smile to my face when this little boy named Spar, yells, ELDER IVIES. And we just play. He is so cute. 

On Tuesday, we found some wild pigs, and I thought I should go try to take a pic with them. As soon as I got the selfie, the mama pig got soooo mad, maybe cuz I tried to pick up the baby. yeah, Got chased as I sprinted across a field. Crazy. I've never ran so much in my life. I was actually terrified... 

Yesterday Xolani's mom made us some really good food! It was just rice and meat stuff, but it was a lot, and good. She is so kind and is always trying to help us. Her grandson, Soso is so cute and loves to play like gun shooting with us.

I gave a talk on Sunday on obedience. It went well and it cool to have everyone really close because we are in the school, so you have a close eye to eye contact speaking. One of the scriptures that really stood out to me while studying is Romans 5:19. What ONE are we going to be? I hope we will always be obedient and loving to everyone, and in doing so we can bring many souls to Christ!

I love you all and hope everything is well. Thanks for all of the love and support. 

Love, Elder Ivins