“Everybodies(is it y’s?) got a water buffalo, yours is fast but mine is slow. Where did we get them, I don’t know but everybodies got a water buffalooooooo! Tune in next time to hear Elder Smith sing “Everybodies got the African Big 5, we saw three but missing two….”
Hahaha gotta love Veggie Tales :) but on tha real, yesterday was so siiiiick!! Haha before I came on my mission, I knew very little about the physical part of South Africa, except that the Kruger National park was located in our mission boundary. So with that little gem I told people that I would be able to go the park and, it took me 11 months but yesterday I made it!! Our whole district, thanks to the generosity of the Scotts and Swans, got to go to Kruger! Man it was so cool!!! The layout was exactly what we all THINK our mission looks like and what we all think of when we hear “Africa”. So what you do is you drive around the park, kind of like Yellowstone but not nearly as many people or stops. So you drive around about 30kmh and just keep your eyes peeled for the animals that roam the park! We saw: tons of Springbok and Impala, turtles, warthogs, monkeys, kudus, Zebras, Giraffes, crocodiles, hippos and 3 out of the 5 Big 5! Yo they aren’t kidding when they say “big” either! The water buffalo were big and so were the elephants (it was cool to see that they still had their tusks) but the thing that amazed me the most was the size of the Rhinos! Those things were tanks! Their horns were about a yard long and they were huge! Haha we were glad to see them as well because we’ve heard they are getting relocated because of poaching :/ So unfortunately we missed the leopards and lions but the rumor is that if you see 2 of the 5, you’ve had a great day and we saw 3 so there are no complaints! It was so cool to be able to see these things outside of a zoo setting where they just chill and do their thing in the wild.
That’s really the biggest thing to report on from this last week, or at least it was one of the highlights. Elder Ah Wong and I are having fun trying new finding ideas by going around to different lodges and Bed+Breakfasts and offering copies of the Book of Mormon for their rooms! Some of the owners reject but we’ve had great success from the receptionists who also ask for a copy of the book! In fact, yesterday morning we got a call from one of the ladies who said that she loves the book and wants to learn more about it and more about the church! SWEEEEET! The Book of Mormon really can convert and it is the greatest tool! So that’s been really fun to see and to do as a part of our finding. We have a baptism on Sunday of a brother named Esrom. Elder Ah Wong and McClellan recontacted him from former investigators and it was inspired because he wasn’t ready before but he sure is now! And the cool thing is that his daughter is going to be baptized the week after him! Then hopefully we’ll start teaching his son! Ahhh I love father led families! Haha so powerful! I love mission!
On another note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! You’re getting to be an old man! :) I hope you had a great birthday!
Well, I love you guys!
Love,
Elder Spencer "Tony" Smith
