Hey peeps‏

Hello to all my favorite people!

So things on this side are going well. Basically not too much has happened since I wrote you guys like two days ago, but I still have some things to say.

I went on exchanges with Elder Bohn, and it was awesome. We taught our first lesson to a guy that I have been working with for a bit to a guy named Mveleli. He is a great guy. A total church goer and really is always willing to listen to our message. The real issue is the fact that he doesn't seem to understand that our church is the ONLY church with the Authority from God. Meaning, the Priesthood. We taught him the plan of salvation. We answered all his questions and did a good job teaching, the issue was the spirit for some reason was NOT in the lesson. Elder Bohn and I are both good teachers, but we realize that without the spirit we pretty much fail. There wasn't power and authority with us as we taught. Yeahh, we answer questions and taught principals, but the true teacher, for some reason, wasn't there. It really just reminded me how ESSENTIAL it is to have the spirit with you teaching in the lesson.

We then went and taught Happiness the Plan of Salvation as well only to have his cousin walk in and join in the lesson. They both felt the spirit SO much and his cousin Cuma, asked for us to come see him later today! So that will be awesome.

We then went and found that two of our appointments had dropped, so we biked to brother Gcina's to go with him and follow up on some people he wanted us to teach. Basically all of them didn't work out except for a lady named Sibongile. After we told her our purpose and set a time to come see her this weekend we walked out, only to have Gcina then tell us that she was a lesbian, and she has a girlfriend... So yeahh, that kinda puts a kink in our plans, but he said she really has a desire to grow close to God, so hopefully this can help her change.

Continuing on with all the awesome things that have been going on for me and Elder Bohn yesterday..... We then went and taught a non member father led family. The Mgise family. They are ULTRA united and really big leaders in their church. We taught the restoration. The spirit was so apparent and we taught extremely well. It was just a stellar lesson. Elder Bohn was whipping out scriptures while I was testifying, expounding and teaching. Bohn just knows his scriptures.. we would have been in the same transfer if I had gone out in March when I originally was supposed to... but who cares!? I am here now, I wouldn't have it any other way. Too many wonderful things happened when I was at home and now that I am here. It's been perfect. So yeahh, teaching was awesome. The issue was at the end of teaching the lesson to this guy I invited him to pray and come to know for himself if what we taught was true... he said that he will study and wait for God to reveal it to him... DAHHHH FAIL!!! We kept telling him he needs to pray to receive his answer... he wouldn't budge though. So frustrating. Over time he will hopefully progress.

Then we went and went over the baptismal interview questions with Florence Ncube. She needs to be refreshed on a few things, but I have no worries. She has the spirit of conversion, she loves church, she will continue to learn and do great!

So yeahh, then Elder Bohn and I rode our bikes to the chapel, which is just a business complex building that is being rented out, and did hands up stands up competitions with the youth that were there for mutual. Then I was doing my karate kicks while elder bohn was doing the windmill, it was pretty sweet! Haha then we shared a scriptures with all of them and got picked up by Elder Mashigo and Elder Olsen. We had a quick mcdonalds run (second time this transfer, be proud of me) and then we went home and crashed. It was a good missionary day. We usually teach five or more lessons a day. And we did that, so it was a good day. Elder Bohn is a great guy and I learned a lot from him. I cannot wait to be that knowledgeable towards the end of my mission. Elder Bohn and I are FOR SURE hanging out when we are both home and going to BYU.

Tal, just a shoutout, your email was the best thing ever. Thanks so much. I'll talk to you all soon!

Love,

Elder Thayne II

VII Months Old‏

Well something insane happened this week. I hit seven months on mission. Seven months since I have seen my family and friends. Seven months since I put Christs name on my chest for the first time as a set apart servant of the Lord. What a blessing it has been.

Getting rained on is still not a favorite activity of mine, but it's something I signed up for, so I guess I just can take comfort in the fact that I'll be blessed with a beautiful wife because of all the rain I have walked through. #missionarybenifits
We had a crazy week this week. Essentially we were only able to go to the area and do work four days last week. Monday we had our preparation day and then we had to end it with our Zone Leaders for a practice for Zone Conference which was the next day. So all Tuesday we were busy at Zone Conference. Then Friday we had our final interviews with President Wood before he goes home which is next week! Crazy thought! I am grateful for what I have learned from him, but I am excited to see how President Merrill runs things.
Zone Conference was awesome. It was all about how to and why we should study our scriptures. We were reminded of the blessings and promises of spiritual protection that comes with studying the words of God. 1 Nephi 15:23-25 gives a great explanation of that. Why would we ever miss an opportunity to read the scriptures when so much is promised to us?
"Prayerful study of the Book of Mormon will build faith in God the Father, in His Beloved Son, and in His gospel. It will build your faith in God’s prophets, ancient and modern." - President Eyring 
I have found that the FIRST thing people stop doing when they have fallen away from God or away from the church is they stopped reading the scriptures. As they stopped their study they damned their spiritual growth. The flow of spirit and revelation in their life eventually came to a standstill. As people stop reading God's word, they stop giving heed to it. Once they no longer give heed to His word they start living in a way contrary to what he has taught and no longer qualify for the spirit in their lives to guide and bless them. It truly breaks my heart.
Reading the scriptures changes peoples lives. As a lot of you may know when I was in Mdantsane I was working with a guy named Thabo. He was an alcoholic with no hope of going anywhere in life. As we started teaching him in our second lesson we gave him the Book of Mormon and taught him the importance of applying the principals he learns in there to his own life. As he did this his entire life made a dramatic turn for the better. Without any encouragement or prodding by us missionaries he threw away all his marijuana, completely stopped drinking, he broke up with his long-time girlfriend, got a new job at Hungry Lion and applied to go back to school for law. And I just heard he shaved off all his dreads and is now fully active and back in church. 
As Thabo read the scriptures and applied them in his life he was able to obtain those blessings and catch the Lord's vision for him. He didn't need to be pushed to change, he himself knew what he needed to do, and he acted on the knowledge he obtained and made that change.
Remembering Thabo's story as well as having received training on it from President Wood encouraged me to teach as well as remind people of the importance of personal scripture study in their life. I hope that they, and all of you, will catch sight of the blessings and protection that can come into your life as you study and give heed to God's words.
We had again another 20 people that were supposed to come to church, again we only had 1/4 show up, but some of the people that came were new investigators! We have found several people this past week that REALLY show so much potential and they show such a great desire to change. That desire is something I hope doesn't run out anytime soon.
I got asked by a sweet little girl why the colour of my eyes is like the ocean. It was probably the sweetest and most sincere question I have heard in a long time. I don't know, just thought I'd share that. It was so sweet.
Also, this week we got bikes! Sounds silly, but here in SA missionaries rarely have bikes, so we are super blessed. The issue is, my bike is WAY too nice for a white kid to be riding around in Khayelitsha. Luckily, most people know me so we are safe, but when we were riding past Cite C a bunch of thugs started throwing rocks and hit my comp. He was fine though. And then we saw some guys trying to mess with the locks on our bikes and we chased them off. So yeahh, we get too much attention with these bikes, but we get around a lot faster which is a blessing.
Well that is basically my week. We worked hard for the few days we were in the area. Only a few people came to church, but we still feel great about how things are going. My spirits are as high as ever and I am ever thankful for the love and prayers I feel coming my way. It means so much.
Love,
Elder Mitchell Ryan Thayne

Khangela. (Check me out.)‏

Just some shots of me in the area with people I love!

The one with the older couple and their granddaughter is the Nooi family who we found two weeks back. They have committed to baptism, so now we just need to help them progress. They are the sweetest people.

Then the other two pictures are me with monkeys we saw today. It was pretty unreal to have monkeys climbing and running all over you. TIA!

Just thought I would send you a picture with some people that I get to see all the time and work with. It's pretty great. Zodwa and Limo (The girls) are investigators. Milton (the boy) is a fellowshipper. Such a great kid.

Thought the cereal one obonye made would make you laugh. And then that is me and Elder Obonye. Love the guy so much.

I am my brother's brother.‏

Uze Uze Uze Ukuze Uzuze. (You have to come with a naked mind to understand.) - Crazy right? I swear I will never totally understand this Xhosa language.

Well everyone. It's been a good week. Honestly the weeks all blend together for me nowadays, so when I say it's been a good week I could very likely be talking about a week back in January. It's just that mission LYFE. I wouldn't trade it for the world though.

Elder Stegelmeier and I have made a covenant with God that we won't go a single week without teaching at least 30 lessons. I know we can continue to keep it up. It's been going really well and we have been loving it. The Book of Mormon is the most powerful book ever, you should try reading it sometime... like right after you read this email. Pull a Nike and just do it.

This week I think we gave like four blessings of healing to different people. One of them was to Dimpho Nkomfe. Now, Dimpho had some issue with her lungs, which we later found out was pneumonia, and we were called to rush over there and give her a blessing. So we did. We came in and she was wheezing trying to get enough air. It was really sad, then we hurried and gave her a blessing. I love giving blessings, you just see and feel what God feels and see's in that person. Now, of course it's not exactly the same, but you can feel a great love and understanding. Anyways, after the blessing these three Mama's were trying to pick her up and carry her to the car outside. She couldn't stand because she was just trying to breathe.. after a few seconds of them struggling elder stegelmeier and I just decided to do the fireman carry. We made a seat with our arms, sat her down in it and carried her out to the car where they took her off to the hospital. We went and visited later and had some good laughs with everyone at the hospital and gave some encouragement and advice to several people that were sick there. It was a really sweet little experience. Serving others, that's where the money is. I love it.

Then also we had to give a blessing to brother Libazi and his wife today as well because he had such low blood pressure he had to go to the hospital yesterday and spend the night. His wife as well was feeling sick. We were able to bless them and help them feel of God's love as well. It was great. Earlier this week we also helped them clean the chapel. I love those people. While I was sweeping I broke the broom in half, and while I was vacuuming the entire hoover (vacuum) stopped working. They kept teasing how I work so hard that the tools can't keep up. #mlunguprobs

Something that has been interesting to me is that as I have seen the mission become more obedient, I have also seen how the Elders have become more judgmental towards each other. This is a mission-wide thing I have seen. I was reading in Romans 14:12-13 and it really hit me. We shouldn't be putting stumblingblocks into our brothers paths. Rather, we need to help our brothers turn those stumblingblocks into their steppingstones. I have seen how us, as elders, having low expectations in each other results in us making others fall. I think about Elders who had all fallen for a time, and a lot of times instead of others letting us really repent and change, sometimes we had them bringing up the past, or defining us by our mistakes. I know that mistakes of the past don't define you, they refine you. We are accountable to help our brothers out here become better. PMG pg 150-151

So along with that, I have thought about how I personally have had to endure some correction and some chastening. And when I went through that, it helped me begin the repentance process and improve as an individual. I had a thought about how different my mission could have been, if the Elders who were my leaders, companions or even just those who served around me, had loved me enough to correct me and teach me how I could improve. Especially during the first year of my mission, but even now. We are here to serve the Lord. To give it all we got. I believe we are also called here to help each other serve the Lord and give it everything we got. If I am obedient, work hard and have success, I still will have failed in a way if I have not at least attempted to help the elders around me become the best they could be. Doing so would have brought so many more people to the truth and affected the rest of their lives.

So those are just some thoughts that have been weighing on my mind. And it's something I want you to look inward and ask yourself, "Am I letting others repent and change?" Even more than that, we need to ask ourselves, "Am I HELPING others repent and change." All the talents, opportunities and experiences we are given are to have us not only ensure our salvation, but help others become the people they need to be to secure theirs.

Love you all.

Mdala Thayne the First.

All this working out has done me some good.‏

Us white boys are trying to get on our black guys level.

Tell me how you are...

Tal...I miss you! Tell me whats up! I love you brother.

You STINK at keeping in touch. I expect an ULTRA long letter updating me on how you are and where you have been and what you have been doing.
How is your roommate and stuff? Is he cool? I am sure you have been such a blessing to him. Are you making lots of friends? Is school hard? Are you studying and keeping up well? Is it all colourful and stuff there or what?
love you tal!
Ohh here is a picture of me wearing a girls hat that she wore for her wedding. pretty sweet I must say.
Thats why they call us the TOOL SHED.

No Flash Photography, please...

Hey guys! So things here are going good! We had interviews with President Wood and they went really well! He told me that he was really proud of me for the work I have been doing here in Khayelitsha/Mandalay. So that was cool! P-Wood is gone in just a week and a half though and then we get our new Prez, President Merrill. We are super excited for that! 

Elder Mchunu and I have been talking and we have started cooking up a plan. We asked president for us to be companions. We both have such a vision for this work, and I feel like if I have a hardworking companion here with me in this area things will REALLY start to blow up and get done. People here really seem to like me, but I can tell that a few are annoyed because we haven't been visiting them multiple times a week like Elder Pebe and Mashigo used to do before I came. They would just sit at members houses all day most days. Some members miss that and want us to hang out with them, but I ain't about that life. I am here to work, making friends is only a bonus.

So yeahh, in a couple weeks we will find out if that plan works out or not. Hopefully it does, if not then we will just keep working as hard as we can wherever we are.

I have been a bit discouraged lately with the fact that I am having to DRAG my companion around. We only seem to really "get along" if we aren't working super hard. he prefers to just chill at brother gcina's house or something. I don't know, I love him lots, but I can tell he is tired of me dragging him, and I have been feeling a bit frustrated with that.

WE GOT BIKES THIS WEEK! So yeahh, that is pretty awesome! Elder Mashigo has a red older bike and I got a brand new fancy greenish coloured one. We had only had them for like 30 minutes and some guys started throwing rocks at us from the other side of the street for no reason. A few hit us, but it wasn't that bad. And the bikes are NICE. So we will probably be getting robbed in the next couple of weeks. I told the office when we got them that they were too nice, but they said just take them and don't get robbed.. Haha if only they knew.

It's all good though. Things are great, but there are little struggles and frustrations. Pray for me and pray for all the people we invited to church. Love you guys SO much.

Cheers.

Elder Thayne

Just a little end of the week update/email for all of you guys.  Things here in Khayelitsha are going great.  I am not gonna lie though, I am sick of getting rained on.  Here are a few pictures of me and the people I am working with here in SA.  

love you guys!