"What a great birthday present to all of us as God’s children!! The ultimate gift!!"

WHAddup er’body! Hey hey hey it's been a freakin great week and guess who got a typie for their birthday!? Yebo, muzungu Clegg! Haha he's kind enough to let me use it to again start doing my blog post in my short spare time so I can manage my email time better! :) Email time is golden so we don’t waste a single second!! But this week had a ton of great moments! My 1st of 2 birthdays on mission, Soweto towers, birthday lunch (thank you VERY MUCH grandma and grandpa!!!!!), transfers, adding to the list of crazy stuff that happens to SAJM missionaries, and many many wonderful miracles! So let's get to it eh?
                Well, I've heard from many different missionaries about their birthdays on mission and I'd say that the positive vs. negative responses were about 50:50. Which IS a shame but I decided that I wasn’t going to be a part of the pessimistic club. The wise advice of “you get out what you put in” as well as the reminder that "these two years are the Savior’s" helped me to really get the most out my birthday! In the several times that I remembered “hey, I"m no longer a teenager” and “it's my birthday today” I was able to think about the Atonement! What a great birthday present to all of us as God’s children!! The ultimate gift!! (John 15:13) And what a great opportunity to be able to share the message of the Atonement with the wonderful people of Daveyton! I thoroughly enjoyed it and even the bishop was kind enough to invite us over and feed us dinner and then a birthday cake!

Birthday dinner at the Bishop's house

I don’t know how anyone couldn’t love these wonderful people! So from breakfast, to all the great things Elder Clegg did for me, and to the sharing of the best present ever, I had a wonderful birthday!! I was also blessed with the sweet birthday emails from all my friends!

Thank you guys it means more than I can put into words! I even got a present to go to birthday lunch with three of my favorite mission friends: Elders Clegg, Maraetefau, and Allen!! We went to Soweto towers (and couldn’t go up cause the electricity was out -_____-) and got SWEEEEET pictures and then went to lunch! Ah just a sweet beginning to the week!

Soweto Towers
(The Orlando Towers used to be cooling towers for a coal power station but now they are used for bungee jumping and other activities.)

Birthday Lunch

               My birthday was on transfers so we went and dropped Kewuti off (he is going to Soweto) and picked up the new elder in our district: Elder Melese from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape; another Xhosa boy!! Haha he's a sweet guy! He spent the first 8-9 months of his mission in Sierra Leone (where he was originally called) but they shut his mission down because of the Ebola virus that’s killing people left and right in central and west Africa. So we’re lucky he’s safe and glad to have him in our mission! And since Clegg and I have another transfer to go, we stayed together!! Elder Allen went to Germiston which is a town in the Bedfordview zone but he's only 20 minutes away so maybe we can chill on p-day who knows!? Other than that, that’s transfers!
                Hahaha now to add to that list of crazy experiences. So townships on the weekends are full of drunk people! So idk, have any of you guys back home been kissed by a drunk man that you’ve never met before? I hadn’t until Saturday but that’s changed! Haha luckily it wasn’t on Elder Clegg’s or my mouths but the neck is probably even more awkward! Haha eish that’s really all we have to say about that. Haha mission stories :P
                But aside from the fun and unique birthday as well as the drunk guy, this week has been miraclulous. And I use that word because we have seen miracles all week! And I can't thank my comp enough for saying “let's look for miracles this week!” we met about 4-5 less-active families we’ve never met before, had people progress towards baptism, and had 2 new investigators bear their testimonies yesterday at their first time at church! One of them, Samuel met us on the street on Tuesday and said he had a revelation experience that confused him and that he wanted to stop smoking (holding a cig in his hand). So we gave him a pamphlet and arranged an appointment to meet with him. To our delight he was waiting for us!! Sweeeet already haha he didn’t ditch us!! But he told us he's ready to live a gospel life  and wants to do it right so he's going to come to church and he did! But not only did he come he participated in the classes and bore his testimony! Telling the congregation that since he's read the pamphlet, he hasn’t had any desire to smoke! And he read a line from the pamphlet about how he wanted to change his thoughts and actions to do good and follow God! Afterwards, he told us he felt at home at church :) Couldn’t ask for a better miracle! Maybe the runner up is finding a place to possibly open up the Chris Hani cluster of the Daveyton Ward!
But this week has just been all ups! Hardly any downs and any downs that maybe crept in were swallowed up in the greatness of our week! This is mission! This week was the shot in a round of golf that keeps you coming back! It’s the save in a lacrosse game that gets the team and crowd fired up! It's what makes all the hard work and trials worth it! I LOVE IT!!
Cheers until next time! Salani kahle bafwethu, ngyikuthanda
Elder Smith

Elder Smith and Elder Clegg celebrating their birthdays together.

(Thanks Grandpa & Grandma- they look like they had a fun time!)

Gogo (Grandmother) Mhlanga! the 90 year old Xhosa version of Great-Grandma Homer!
(Gogo Mhlanga has offered her home to be the new meeting place for the Chris Hani cluster- a pilot program that will allow members to meet together every Sunday for church, even if they can't afford the taxis to take them to the meetinghouse.)

 those little kids giving high 5 are the funniest naughtiest kids!
they're a crack up in sacrament meeting but sometimes its too much!

my old seminary scriptures now covered in really cool rino leather.

catching up: three emails to mom

With the loss of "Typie," Elder Smith has less time to email each week so we haven't received an email written specifically for his blog as he likes to do, but he has given me permission to share his emails to me. Below are excerpts from the last three weeks. 

July 28, 2014
MOM!!!
Yo this week’s emailing with all the pictures and stories is really making me feel close to home and I love it! hahah I still can’t stop laughing at how you and Clegg's mom met*, you really are stalker friends ;) hahahaha 
I can’t wait to get those presents and I promise I won't peek! Pinky promise! haha That’s the fun thing is the surprise to make my birthday special! If I peek, then I won’t have as special a birthday! When you’re 9000+ miles away, you need all you can get to make it special! But a couple members have said they’d do fun things so I hope it’ll be a great day! And I’ll make it even greater for Clegg and yes, the package will get to him! And still no peeking;) haha and tell Sis. Youlton thanks from me! :)

Goodbye Elder Stilgoe

As far as transfer news, Stilgoe went to a place called Ennerdale and Graham went to a place called Klerksdorp! Elder Kewuti's new companion is our DL. Elder Bizimana is from Rwanda and he goes home in 4 1/2 months! So Daveyton will possibly be his dying area. He is a sweet guy for sure! Now, for life as a "father" haha Yo I love Elder Clegg!

Hello Elder Clegg

We have mutual friends so that’s cool! And now our parents are mutual friends hahaha But seriously we were wondering just how long it would take for you guys to have dinner or something and there ya have it! What I can say about training: it is mentally exhausting for sure haha.  At the end of the day I am soooo sick of thinking so I appreciate sleep even more :P but man I love it! I love being able to serve him and I’ve ironed his shirt for him every morning so far and I think I want to make it for 3 months. :) He is super willing to work and excited as well! He is a fireball ready to work! Each day he has just leaped from where he was the day previous! I think training is better for me though than for him! He can learn how to be a missionary anywhere but for me, I’m learning how to again be disciplined! I love it! The fact that I set the tone for his mission is very motivating to be exactly obedient! We’ve set a bunch of goals together and so it’s going well! But all his questions and experiences and the things that he prompts me to do are taking me back to the beginning! "This is where we got the job, this is the beginning." hahaha! I love it! And though almost all of our lessons have ditched this week, it’s been successful! Daveyton needed our companionship because we are going to drop a lot of people who just aren’t ready yet. Elder Stilgoe loved them too much to let them go but sometimes you need to give certain people time. At least we can rely on the spirit or else there’d be a tone of mistakes! But that’s training in a nutshell haha!
 I was telling dad how much I appreciate being able to email you guys! Seeing and hearing the joy and hope in your messages really uplifts me! I love it:) I especially loved this part of your RS lesson "They never force righteousness because righteousness must be chosen. They make righteousness discernible to us, and They let us see that its fruits are delicious." Wow how powerful! I love it!
Thank you mom :) I love you and think about you and the family daily and pray for you guys daily as well! I don’t have a ton of time but enjoy your week at Hebgen and I REALLY hope I’ll be able to receive some emails from you this coming Monday :) hopefully you guys can find some WiFi up there :) and look over observation point for me :) I would love a picture of that!
Love, 
Elder Smith
PS. 1/3 done? Crazy!!!! 8 months and over a year since my call came and was opened!!!!

*Mom's Note: The day after we knew transfers would occur, I got an email saying that someone had commented on Elder Smith's blog, 
"Hey to the family of Elder Smith, from the family of Elder Clegg...the new "son". President Dunn sent us a picture of your son and his name, and I've been looking through blogs to see if I could find him, and I think I did. From what I've been reading, it's a perfect fit and I couldn't be more greatful in advance to your son for teaching mine. My son's blog is tannercleggsouthafrica.blogspot.com."
So of course I had to do some research of my own and I found Elder Clegg's mom's email address.  One thing led to another and of course we had to meet!  

The Mamas

We sent the photo to our sons and surprised them that we knew each other already even before they had told us who their new companions were! 
Elder Smith's reply: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA me and Clegg were talking about how our parents might even meet up one day and: here we are! hahaha How funny! That's awesome! Me and Clegg have huge smiles on right now!"
Take a look at Elder Clegg's blog.  It provides another perspective to serving in Daveyton that I have really enjoyed.  "Tanner Clegg, Called to Serve in Africa"


August 4, 2014
MOM!!!
Yo I have very much looked forward to emailing you today! Week 2 as a father is great! Me and Clegg are getting along better and have a ton in common that we discovered last night! Haha it’s now becoming funner and funner! :P I love serving him and ironing his shirt and stuff but I have had to learn to let him serve me! Crazy haha I know but it’s a fun companionship! haha As far as funny food stories go, Clegg doesn’t like pap so he has a long 2 years ahead of him....

Pap (also known as mieliepap) is a traditional porridge/polenta made ground maize (corn.)  It looks like mashed potatoes in the photo above.  They eat it with almost every meal.

I can remember that as well haha but he'll adjust! Hopefully :P 
I have a cool story to tell you but I only want to type it once so you have to show dad too kay?
So on Saturday, I started my fast that I could receive strength to keep my commitments. So it was a nice day Saturday but the cool part happened Saturday night. I had a dream where Elder Clegg and I went to the mission home for a missionary class (idk why but we just did and it made sense in the dream haha) and so we got there and sat down at the table and in walks M. Russell Ballard, Jeffery R. Holland, and Richard G. Scott to teach the class. So they sit down with us and we have a great class learning and laughing! I loved how real they were and how they really cared about our areas when they have a whole world to care about. But anyway, after the class, Sis. Omer (yeah it was Sister Omer instead of Sister Dunn but Pres. Omer wasn’t in the dream) anyways, she gave us glasses of ice water and we went down to the basement to sit on the couch. In walks Pres. Monson and he sits next to me. I greeted him with "Hello Elder" and I was horrified that I just ruined the title of the president of the church! haha He laughed and said "Hello Elder Smith" and we just started talking! I remember looking into his eyes and just seeing pure love and concern! He made me feel like the most important person in the world and I knew he had the love of Christ! But after laughing with him and talking with him, I said "President Monson, I have to thank you." He asked why and I said "Do you remember being in the SLC temple 22 years ago and being sung happy birthday to?" He said "Yes, by Lynn Stephen Richards" and I said "Yes, he was my great-great-grandfather and you sealed my parents in the temple. I wanted to say thank you because now I’m on a mission." haha I’m tearing up right now actually as I type but it was such a great dream! I woke up and just had the biggest smile on my face! I said a prayer to Heavenly Father and just said "Thank you!" :) but it wasn't the end there. When I woke up, I read in 2 Nephi 4 where Nephi glories in the Lord. And as I was reading how Nephi feels wicked, I thought how he really wasn’t and the spirit told me that it was like me! I’m my own worst enemy sometimes but when I can remember who my trust is in and who is guiding me, I can only rejoice and my heart "no longer droop(s) in sin!" It was really cool as I was preparing for the sacrament that morning:) and that was a great sacrament meeting with all the testimonies:) as I took the emblems, I could only say thank you in a prayer! The rest of the day was golden as well and I loved it! I thank you for the strength I was able to feel from your prayers:) THAT is my testimony building experience for the week and possibly whole month of August!! So that was wonderful :) 
Oh also, I had a cool scripture experience in Alma 26:1-8 where you substitute Joburg for Zarahemla and omit "Lamanites." Read it and see. :)  It really is amazing to see how faith is such a big part. Yo it’s hard but this week I’ve really felt I made progress! I love you very much mom! I love your emails and all the love that is jam packed in here! I’ll keep you posted on the b-day package for sure:) Please tell Sis. Youlton thank you for that very much!!! 
 I LOVE YOU!!!! I hope you have a great week!!!!!! And keep your health well :)
Love, Elder Smith :)

August 11, 2014
MOMMY!!
I need a good smile and laugh and testimony building experience this week in email! Eish, I’m feeling like death but I talked with Sis. Dunn and she’s scheduling me a doctor’s appointment this week. I’ve had this stupid cough for as long as I’ve been with E. Clegg and now last night I got the aches and couldn’t sleep. Plus I have a tingling sensation (not painful) under all of my teeth in my mandible (still pullin' out medical terminology! :) ) E. Clegg must think he got a broken companion.... haha So it’s rough and I don’t feel good at all!  But I push thru to email you!
As far as the families here in Daveyton, I love Daveyton! The people are genuine and even when they’re drunk as all get out, they can be nice to us whites haha!  Except that when they see us they start speaking Afrikaans haha so we have to tell them they’ve got it wrong! haha We have several "favorite members" I guess you could say! The Madumane family feeds us every Thursday and even though there are rats running around the kitchen, we enjoy the time there! They are the nicest I would have to say! I also like the Tsibogo family! The whole family are members but the granddaughter’s fiancé isn’t a member so we teach him and he really digs on the gospel! Hopefully soon they can get married and he can get baptized! Yo and one other of my favorite members is Gogo Mhlanga! (Gogo means grandma) she is 90 years old but can still read small text in the scriptures and still comes to church every Sunday! If I had to compare her to anyone it would most definitely be Grandma Homer! :) The baptism this weekend was mine and Clegg’s!! (Well, the Lord’s haha!)  Nyiko Masiza was baptized by his father! It’s an interesting dynamic here how many kids that should be children of record- or baptized when age 8 - aren’t because the parents want the missionaries to teach them! So they become convert baptisms haha but the baptism was so great! Bro. Eddie (the dad) was so nervous he had to start the prayer over 5 times and baptize 2 times but eventually it was done properly! Yo what a cool thing to be a part of! And askeese, I can’t remember the photo you’re referring to! My mind isn’t working very well… eish I hate being sick! Especially on p-day!!!! :( But then I’d have to say some of the beauty we see here IS the poverty but the smiles on the people faces! They beat the band! As well, we get amazing sunsets and sunrises and the clouds are by far the coolest part! It’s amazing here! Truly beautiful! 

Haha One thing we also have been dealing with this week is something called load-shedding. Since electricity is in short supply in the winter, in all the townships they kill ALL electricity for several hours haha. So that means lessons by candle light and with my torch that we bought that looks like a light-saber!! haha But it adds a unique dynamic because I kid you not, it ALL goes dark! Streetlights, robots (traffic lights), houses haha everything! It’s hectic and we've had to cancel a dinner because of it -______- hahaha not cool!
Mom, I love you so very much! Thank you for your prayers and the wonderful messages you share with me and the hope you inspire in me! I couldn’t do this without you or dad or the Lord! Please keep my health in your prayers and I’ll let ya know how the doctor appointment goes tomorrow! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Elder David Spencer Smith

"I am glad I was able to follow a prompting of the spirit to help to answer my companion’s prayer and our question!"

July 7, 2014
   I felt a disturbance in the force... it’s as though millions of voices screamed out for joy at how cool the Dunns are! Haha yo I miss Star Wars tooo much!! But it’s all good I’ll focus on that in due time :) This week has been pretty great and filled with so much room for activities! We met the Dunns, had a BBQ and a braii, had a great answer to prayers, and many cool moments!
                The first thing that we got to do this week was on Tuesday we got to go to the mission home and meet our new mission president and wife! I have heard a lot of great things about them from family (especially the Ryttings) and we all got to see it this week as we met them. We spent a couple hours as we got to know them and as we introduced our companions to them! It was a cool unique way to do introductions as we got to introduce our companions. I speak for myself and hopefully most of the mission as I say that I'm excited to see where they take this mission! I loved the respect they gave to the Omers and the vision that they have as they know they have been called here to progress the work even further! Haha the biggest thing that makes me laugh about “meet the Dunns” is that when we got there, Sis. Dunn just says with a huge smile “SPENCER!!” Haha and I laughed as I shook her hand and said how I haven’t heard that name in 7 months :P What a funny experience.
                Also this week... HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!! To celebrate, we had a BBQ! Haha none of this “Braii” stuff cause on the fourth, it's American! Haha we all went to Benoni chapel (our district and Benoni dist.) and had a BBQ! We tossed a football and then, out of the normal 4th activities, we killed a chicken to cook! Haha welcome to Africa! We had some members tell us how to do it (okay, really it was the Benoni elders that did it but we were there and participated) and then we did it! We killed it, and cleaned it and, unfortunately had to go back to the flat before we could cook it but I’m sure the other guys enjoyed it after it was cooked! Haha that’s how ya celebrate the 4th in Africa! I missed fireworks tho.... #trunkytime haha eish but then on Saturday we got invited to another braii! (Yeah, this time it was a braii cause it wasn’t an American holiday) some members were celebrating their daughters 1 y/o birthday and they invited us! The nice part besides the food was the fact that we were able to meet with some less active members that we never had before met as well as get two discussions with some potential investigators! So we had a good time and got missionary work done as well so we were blessed!
                In addition to all this fun stuff that happened, we had a cool experience and answer to prayers! So full story: on Thursday night, we all 4 went to the Tsotetsie family for dinner. When we got there, there was a program on TV called “the bible vs. Joseph Smith” and at that specific time it was comparing the prophesy of Micah to the prophesy of Alma in Alma 7:10. They were saying that clearly Alma wasn’t inspired because he said that Christ would be born in Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem. They got all these archeologists and yada yada saying that they were right and blah blah... anyway, we asked them to turn it off because 1-it was distracting and we’re missionaries and 2-it wasn’t bringing anyone closer to Christ. So what they were saying on TV made sense to our ears but I knew inside that the Book of Mormon was true and that whatever they were saying was wrong; I just felt bad because I couldn’t respond adequately enough to this anti-Mormon stuff. Well anyway it came to Friday morning and in study, I was in King Benjamin but kept getting the feeling that I needed to search more into this Alma 7:10 thing. So I flipped in my [Book of Mormon Institute Study] manual to Alma 7:10 and surely enough there was an entry about it that explained it perfectly! The prophet Alma said the words “AT Jerusalem which is the LAND...” not “IN....the CITY”. The latter is what this program was implying with all their “wisdom” yet they couldn’t read the words right but when you look at it, of course if Alma had said “in the city of Jerusalem” he would have been wrong but he didn’t, he said “at the land” which is true! And in 1 &2 Kings and Luke 2:11 we also find that “the city of David” is referred to as both Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the bible. It just goes to show that in 2 Nephi 3:12, the Bible and the Book of Mormon really do come together to confound false doctrine!! The next cool thing is that when I shared this with Stilgoe, he said “ah it makes so much sense now!” and I found out later that day that when he started his study with a prayer, he asked for help to understand the false doctrine encounter of the previous night. I am glad I was able to follow a prompting of the spirit to help to answer my companion’s prayer and both our question! It just teaches us that we WILL get answers and we can help people get answers if all things are done by the spirit!
               
                So another cool event of the week happened at church. There was a man and his wife and their two kids who came that we didn’t recognize so we invited them into our gospel principles class. They enjoyed it and asked questions and participated in the lesson so we were anxious to get their details after sacrament meeting. So since it was fast Sunday, it was testimony meeting. This man got up and said that he was baptized in 2001 but in 2005 went inactive. Since yesterday he hadn’t been to church in 9 years! But the sweetest part is what he said in his testimony. He said that he knew the church was true because as he looked at his kids and as he felt the welcome of the ward, he knew he was back in the right place! What a cool experience! So we got his details and are planning on seeing their family and hopefully start teaching his wife who is a nonmember  :) the Lord works in many mysterious ways!
The last thing I want to share from this week actually happened Sunday night. There is a part of our area named Mayfield and it is far from the chapel and a poor area (all housing is free from the government) so people can’t really pay for the two taxis that it takes to get to the chapel. So the Lord has provided a way for his children to again become active in the church by authorizing a branch to be formed in Mayfield!!! It starts Aug. 1 and we already have a place to rent out for meetings! So we were visiting a sister who lost her husband in December and left here with no job and six small kids. Things have been rough for her (as you can very well imagine) but when she heard that the church was coming closer to her so she didn’t have to pay for taxis, she was happier than words can describe! We had been sharing a lesson with her from John 8 about how Christ is the Light and even warmth of our lives and compared it to the stove that her neighbour just gave her to heat her house. We discussed about different ways that we could make Christ more a “stove” to give us heat in our lives and church attendance was brought up. So as we talked about the new Mayfield branch, she said with tears in her eyes: “the stove in Mayfield is coming!” My friends and family back home, the stove in Mayfield, and wherever we live, is coming! Let us all make it a part of our lives and let its warmth warm us :)
Tha’s ‘bout it! Until next time :)
Elder David Spencer “Tony” Smith
PS Elder Latouche, congratulations my friend and brother :) I’m stoked for you Dude!!!!!!

"...Johannesburg City is too dangerous for missionaries!" (alternately titled "...I love all the fatherly figures I have in my life.")

“...And now to Elder Smith with the Mission Update.”
“Well guys we have a pretty crazy week happening here in the South Africa Johannesburg mission. News highlights for you include Johannesburg areas getting closed down by a member of the Area Seventy, Father’s Day, transfer updates, Elder Smith can drive, and a cancelled temple trip. Stay tuned....”
Haha it’s a good thing I haven’t run out of bad blog openings ne!? Haha This week has been very eventful! Starting with transfers that happened on Tuesday! Our whole district still stayed together for another transfer which is nice! Me and Stilgoe are getting along better and better and Kewuti and Graham are still working hard and seeming to get along as well. The other guys in the flat next to us had some changes though; my mission brother (trained by Matos) went DL, Raymond and his son got Joburg 2 closed and are now opening Sebokhang 2 in the south part of the mission. Man that bummed me out for sure! Both of the areas I’ve served in now are closed -_____- I guess the Lord has some purpose to bring about that I don’t know about! Still a shame though, I hope those who are on baptism date don’t fall through and that the Ward can handle it all. And that even brings me to the next crazy part of the week. In district meeting we got an SMS from another area in the Joburg zone saying that ALL the Joburg areas were now closed!!!! =O WHAAAAAATT!?!?!? They pulled Elder Dalton and his companion out of Joburg 1 and now all 3 of the Joburg areas are closed! I called him up and found out that Elder Cook from the Quorum of the Seventy heard about what happened to Elder Raymond and closed the areas because Johannesburg city is too dangerous for missionaries. It makes sense having served there for 5 months but man that news is just crazy! I’ve heard that the church will be doing some surveillance to see how to move along the work there in Jozi. Crazy stuff!! And on top of that bad news, we found out that the Benoni Zone’s temple trip this transfer (we get one every-other transfer) is cancelled :l Duhhh! Haha What’s going on these days! We are hoping that it will just be re-scheduled instead of cancelled.
                But “enough of the poopy stuff”, it’s time for the cool stuff!!! Like first, I finally got my permission to drive so I’m back behind the wheel :) and secondly but most importantly, Father’s Day on Sunday!!!!!!!!!! And from the Daveyton District of Stilgoe, Smith, Kewuti, and Graham, we wish all of you fathers a HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And from my side, man I don’t know how to put it other than I don’t know how I would have gotten this far in life, much less mission without my Dad, someone who has been there for me from before day one. How blessed I am to have a dad who loves his family enough to have prepared himself even before his family. I think it sets such a cool example for all of us sons and daughters to live in a way that when we start families of our own, we have solid a foundation to start upon. And so I don’t brag too much but all I need to say is that I love my dad with all my heart! As well, I love all the fatherly figures that I have in my life. From my Grandpas and Uncles to my Lacrosse Coaches and Priesthood Leaders/Teachers and everyone in between, I have been blessed to have “fathers” in my life that have taught me valuable lessons. I express the feelings of many when I say thank you for everything you have done in our lives!
Well, tha's 'bout it!
-Elder Spencer "Tony" Smith

"I soaked it all up like I would goalie skills at a lacrosse camp! That’s how excited I was for Zone Conference!"

Bonjour, howzit, kunjani, whaddup!?
Hey guys back home! How’s life!? Here in SA it’s still as crazy and wonderful as ever! Elder Matos and I have the coolest experiences, both spiritual and regular, daily! We eat some crazy food at least once a week, meet some cool and weird people, and grow as companions and servants of the Lord!
I guess the most prominent experience we've been going through is the 10 days of consecutive rain haha. Being from Utah, I think the longest time I’ve experienced rain was one whole day, not 10 :P needless to say, we've really found out what about us and our stuff is waterproof haha shoes? For the 1st half of the proselyting day yes. Raincoat? Yes. Umbrella? When I can fit all of me under it, yes haha. Boot of our car? Nope! Looks like we have several waterlogged copies of the book of Mormon to prove that one :P but its all good! It’s a new experience and even tracting in the rain produces more results haha I think it because people feel bad for us so they actually listen to what we have to say. that and the rumor goes around that the more you tract in the rain, the more beautiful your wife is:) so we spend a lot of time in the rain ;) hahaha But yeah, we also have tried more crazy foods! Some better than others but new nonetheless. We’ve had muhodu (cow intestines), sardines, semp beans, and green mangos with salt and chili powder. The first two were fo' sho' nasty and the last two were freakin' amazing!
Are you ready for the Zulu phrase of the week? Here goes: valumnyango = close the door, vulumnyango = open the door. I expect perfect pronunciation next time I see you:)
So another crazy bit about SA, words like the H-word, D-word and the A-word are acceptable here! Yes, even in church and by members! Haha It kinda takes me a second to catch my breath after hearing them AT church but I guess it’s normal for them haha! Welcome to SA!!
We near the 23rd and the 30th where Elder Matos and I have baptisms! It’s cool because both of these sisters, Sandra and Jeanethe, were people that WE found and that WE started teaching. We literally get to see the fruits of our labors:) and they’re very sweet!
We had zone conference this weekend and I loved it!! I soaked it all up like I would goalie skills at a lacrosse camp! That’s how excited I was for ZC! We learned how to internalize our purpose as missionaries (to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel thru faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end) so that we can be Christ-like missionaries and not just do missionary things. We have also been issued a challenge at zone conference to read the BOM in 86 days starting yesterday! If any of you would like to join the SAJM, its 6 pages a day:) keep me posted on your insights if/as you decide to read with us:) **
I hope all is well back home and I want to thank Tangee (my lax momma) for her package of CH Lax gear and schedule so I can cheer on from afar! I love you guys!!
Tha’s ‘bout it!
Elder Smith signing off :)
(**Editor's Note: Elder Smith has invited us all to take the SAJM (South Africa Johannesburg Mission) Book of Mormon Challenge to read the Book of Mormon in 86 days (starting March 9th).  If you would like to know why the Book of Mormon is so important, why Mormons call it the "cornerstone of our religion,"  click here to learn more.  On this page, you can read about the BOM, watch a short video clip, ask questions via instant messaging and order your free copy.  As Elder Smith said, "I promise, if you really want and need to know of its truth, and are willing to ACT when you get an answer, you will have the truth made known to you!"  Anyone who would like to share insights, feelings, thoughts and questions can send them to spencer.smith@ihomer.net)

elder smith's first three month in johannesburg- a video

Celebrating Elder Smith's three-month milestone with a photo video!

Music:  "Give It All to Him" by Tel Dyer from Arise and Shine Forth- the official album of EFY 2012.

Click here for hi-res version.

SAJMmom

"since I'm serving in Jozi I guess it had to happen sooner than later."

Well howzit guys!?
This week can best be described as a roller coaster!! Some great highs and some extremely low lows! haha so I’ll start with the good news first:)
I finally got my Christmas package!!!! All I have to say is that I love Christmas in the end of February!!!! haha really though, it was just what I needed! It gave me the perfect boost in my mood:) I got it from the ZL (Zone Leader) at Zone meeting on Friday along with another package and took it home but we had an appointment so I couldn’t open it till Friday night. But when I opened it and saw all the amazing presents and stuff, I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing!! And yes my family, I did put on Raffi's Christmas Album and listened to the whole CD as I went thru the package:) Elder Matos didn’t even mind either! In fact, he thanks you for his stocking!! We’ve had too much fun eating the candy and stuff as we study haha. I love those ties from Grandpa Richards and decided I’m going to wear one of his ties every Sunday! I loved the testimonies and wonderful Christmas cards from the ward, seminary, and the family:) I think most especially I loved the photo album. I had to show and explain about every person and situation in the photos to my comp and I’m sure he was just as excited as I was... (PSYCH!! haha I still showed him though and he had no choice;) ) I want to say a big thank you to all those who contributed to that present:) it was the boost I needed to get me ready for what would  happen Saturday...
Yep, Saturday is the low of all lows so far, but since I’m serving in Jozi I guess it had to happen sooner than later. Elder Matos and I were walking and taking pictures from this hill near where we were tracting. (The pictures of the valley and the panoramic photo is the infamous hill). All of the sudden, this guy walked by and we said hi and moved on without walking... well this guy wasn’t too nice because he robbed Elder Matos and I... he took our phone, my watch and my camera.... luckily he was nice enough to give me my memory card with my pictures, our SIM card and he gave us our car keys back after we told him we were pastors... haha pretty crazy ne? Oh well! So I apologize there will be a lack of pictures until I get a new camera -____- at least we're safe and still have our car right!? It was at that moment that I was too grateful for the Lord's watchful care over his servants and I just hope and pray and would ask that you back home will pray for our safety. Please also pray for this man who robbed us. How sad is it that he was in a situation where he thought the only escape to buy food was to steal... I hope he will find the missionaries one day in a little different setting than he found us.
That was our week though! haha We have 5 people on baptism date and we're set for 3 solid baptisms in march!!! Elder Matos and I are too excited!!
Oh here is another funny story from a couple weeks ago. Dad, I’m sorry but this one mostly fall upon us haha. So we were tracting right? And we went into this one guy’s house, Prophet Enoch (I know right?). Now Prophet Enoch has 299 churches! And he is writing a book! I think he has gotta be true!..... haha The thing is, we introduced the Book Of Mormon but his daughter had to translate for us (they are from DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) so he only speaks a little English and my little French just wasn’t cutting it). The language barrier got so frustrating though that he said to me" your father speaks French, why don’t you speak French!? Your father should have taught you and now since he didn’t and you can’t preach the Word effectively you and your family are doomed"........well..... hahahahaha sorry family! But I guess when you’re doomed by a prophet of 299 churches, it’s gotta be legit.... hahaha ohhhhh Johannesburg :P
I love and pray for you all! Please keep us in your prayers:)
Tha’s ‘bout it!
Love, Elder David Spencer "Tony" Smith

"he was talking about the temple and he was literally giddy with excitement!"

Welcome to South Africa! A few stories about the realities of mission life in Joburg :) 

Headline: Haircut Time!

Story: Elder Matos cut my hair!!!! haha He did a great job too!! I thought I would have to go with buzzed head for 2 years but nope! I can rock a regular, almost-Spencer haircut for my mission:) cheers!

Headline: Pap is of the Devil

Story: Well, if anyone says they love pap? They’re probably African. If anybody not from Africa says it, they’re probably lying haha Eish, that stuff is soooo heavy and its making me gag every time we eat at a members haha I’m complaining about food, yes its true. but I’m 99% sure you would too if you had to eat 1 kg a week of this stuff -______- haha 

Headline: South Africa: Where the world is your toilet!

Story: hahaha for real, yup, you read it right! Here in SA, if you have to go, don’t worry, just drop your pants and pee on the sidewalk! Never mind that people are watching and might see..... eish. And if you have a bucket! You can go #2 on the sidewalk too! Oh the things you see.... even when you don’t want to see them haha.

Headline: How to Eat Rotten Mangoes/ Achar

Story: I had a new food experience! Achar.....yuck hahah its rotten mangos with a TON of spices and it’s just nasty!! The taste stayed in my mouth for like 4 hours -_____- but the people here love it! They eat it with bread, kota, or just plain with a spoon. Nasty!
Other than that though its all sharp here in Jozi:)  Now for an update on the mish.

We've been teaching this lady, Ruth Mayimbi, with her husband Alpha (who is an returned missionary) and she is on track to be baptized, but its soo cool to see his love for his wife when he translates into French!  (I’m understanding more and more French everyday btw, cool huh!?) Last night, he was talking about the temple with her and he was literally giddy with excitement! 
Tha’s ‘bout it! 
Love, Elder Smith:)
P.S. We have 4 people on baptism date now!! Yes!!

"i finally can be at home now! i have a guitar and lacrosse sticks!!!!" (or- "ohhh to be pranked!")

sorry i dont have a ton of time this time but i have to share my experiences from this past week:) i finally can be at home now! i have a guitar and lacrosse sticks!!!!
the story of how i got my sticks is a good one tho so i hope your ready to hear it:) so the office tell you thru sms (*text) if you have a package. so i got an sms and immediately i couldnt wait for the ZLs (*Zone Leaders) to bring it! the thign was i had to wait 2 days because we werent home when they were in jozi so they gave it to joburg 1 and we didnt see them until friday night. so friday night we go over there and i see the box on the counter! now i had a pretty good idea what it was from the size and weight described to me by the APs but this box was heavey! (the APs said it was light). the box had my name on it and it was from amazon.com but it was heavy! so i opened it up and there was charcoal, word of wisdom pamphlets, ensigns, a Gauteng province license plate, dish soap and mints in my box. i was so confused and to be honest, mad! haha even more mad when i saw the packing slip that said "stx fiddlesticks". i wanted my lax stuff!! haha they were just like "oh thats so wierd!"  and "how did yourmom send you as GP license plate from utah!?" yeah, like i bought that for a second. so then they finally brought out the gold and i was happy:) hahaha ohhh to be pranked! just wait till i can get them back :) i shall ponder these
things:)
we also ran into a situation that was new this week! haha so you know how unless your in colorado that mary J (*marijuana) is illegal in the states??
well, not here in SA! haha we went in to teach this guy about the restoration and he was super drunk :/ then in the middle of the lesson, he pulls out his weed and starts rolling up! while we're there! haha we both looked at each other and ended the lesson. we didnt really want to leave a lesson smelling like we just smoked a freshly rolled joint.... oh johannesburg :p 
other than that this week was fairly normal! appointments fell through and we tracted but the 2 best parts of the work are as follows: 1- we had an investigator come to church!! yes!! hopefully if all goes well she can be baptized into the true church at the end of this month:) and 2- we had a family home evening with this powerful family, the Tsekasa family, and a family from our ward! we bore our testimonies on plan of salvation and what they mean to us and then the Kistons brought a fun game for us all to play! hopefully teh tsekasas will all be baptized:) its looking that way so please keep them in your prayers!!
tha's 'bout it:)
elder Smith
*editor's note- the editor-in-chief is dealing with a thumb injury this week which makes typing difficult so this week's (& last week's late) letter hasn't been edited for spelling, grammar, coherency ;) etc.  enjoy the speed typing of elder smith! 

"welcome to SA!"

-"lawn care in the fall": so you know how in the U.S. when the leaves fall you rake them up and put them in the trash or the greenwaste?
well here in johannesburg, you rake them too! but not into a bag or anything. into the road! then, you pour gas on them and light a
match:) thats how its done! then, ya just go back inside hahah welcome to SA!
-we hit a big concentration of Muslims here in Bez valley while tracting. the rule is, we cant talk to them because it endangers us and them. so, we thought of a good way anyway to intoduce our message (we wont really break the rules but its fun to joke) i thought that we can knock and instead of saying "hi we're missionaries from the church yada yada restored gospel yada yada" that when a muslim answers the door, we say "hi, would you like to learn more about the prophet muhammed?? *lets us in* just kidding! we're Mormons!!" hahaha we crack oursleves up ;)
-tomorrow ill have been out for 2 months!!!!!!! whoa!!!!!! only 22 more to go  hahaha;)
-big sean and kendrick lamar are coming to concert here in joburg.
elder matos and i decided we'll buy tickets and go if its on our p-day! haha if not, we'll just switch our p-day! (haha we wish
right??)
-oh! we also saw lil wayne here in bez valley.. or his twin.. but im sticking with tha carter himself :) cheers!
-thanks to those of you who sent mail!! im busy writing responses when i have time! keep em coming because mail is treated like gold here among missionaries!!

family and friends back home, i love you and appreciate your prayers on our behalf and my behalf:) i pray for you everyday!! uthando!
tha's 'bout it!
elder smith:)