"The Lord knows ALL of His children and so he knows how to match them up so that the greatest good can be accomplished!" (Leaving Nelspruit)

Bandile Mdluli decided if I was leaving, he would
spend the rest of my mission with me, on my shoulders.  

Well, it never gets easier when it comes time to leave an area; especially when that area is Nelspruit. I think the emotions of leaving are then compounded by the fact that it was a total surprise that I would leave this transfer. It’s been rough saying goodbye for the last time and people telling you, “just ignore what he (President Dunn) says and stay here!” haha if only it worked that way :P
                I’ve learned that instead of being sad or bummed about it, it really helps to be thankful for everything that this area has taught me! I can say that the phrase: “you don’t teach town as much as town teaches you” is very consistent with Nelspruit and boy am I grateful for everything I learned! Being able to be with elders Kankkunen and Ah Wong as well as being with my other parents the Scotts and even the Kanyamazane elders and the Swans. Haha from day one up here I asked myself, “what did I do to get sent up here!?” and even 4 months later I still ask what I did. I guess if I had to answer it I could only say that the Lord knows ALL of His children and so he knows where, when and how to match them up in this mortal life so that the greatest good can be accomplished! (Moses 1:39) Haha, I laugh but maybe it’s to avoid some tears that want to come as I think about just how loving He is to us! Do we understand that? Maybe not fully but maybe we won’t ever understand it fully but we can sure catch glimpses here and there; my glimpse has been 4 months long :)

The last District Meeting Breakfast with the Nelspruit District.  R-L:  Elders
Kankkunen, Willombe, & Pulley, Me, Sister Scott, Elders Scott & Swan.  

                There is a lot that lies ahead of me and I look forward to it! Who knows where I’ll go and who I’ll be with but it’s nice to know it’ll be the right place to be. What really gets me is that the group that goes home tomorrow has some of my favorite missionaries! And I was there when they celebrated their year mark and here they are going home! What the heck!? Haha Elder Perez and Dalton from the Joburg district, Elder Reed from Joburg zone, my mission-grandfather Elder Lucking, and Elder Kewuti from Daveyton!! Eish, time won’t stop and it’s starting to be... scary! I want my two years back!
                We had a great (what I found out to be my last) week this week and I’d say an even greater weekend! We saw Ben and Thuli after like a week of no contact and after a follow-up lesson on prayer and praying about the BOM, we weren’t terribly satisfied with Ben’s answers just because I guess we wanted him to jump up and yell, “Its true!!” haha But what happened after was his wife looked back and forth between us and was kind of laughing. She looked at Ben and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about” then looked at us and continued, “He already SMS'd the pastor and told him we’re leaving that church.” Now it was time for me and Elder Kankkunen to jump up and yell “IT’S TRUE!!” hahaha Can you believe that!? All of the prayers and fasting have been paying off (and we’re keeping them up) to the point that they are making the transition between churches! Hahaha yes!!! I have no doubt that they will all be baptized as a family just because 3 missionaries decided to listen to the promptings of the Spirit! They came to church and participated fully yesterday :) Could you ask for more?? Maybe only for no hugs  ;)
                Saying goodbye is very hard, not knowing if you’ll see people again is even harder, but the hardest is the hugs that come from girls when you can’t hug back…. Let’s just be real! Haha I can say my conscience is clear and I’m glad I always keep the rules but it sure is awkward when you don’t hug back! I’d rather just avoid it :P haha What am I talking about!? Oh well its part of my weekend so I guess it has some relevance ;)
                Can’t wait to see what lies in store for me next week! I’ll make sure to give an update next week! Until then, Salani Kahle
Ngiyakuthanda,
Eldah Smeeeth