week 31

Life is still good, this week however did mostly uhm, well. It blew. It is school holidays yet again so everyone is out of town. Sometimes we will go tracting for 3 hours and only place 1 pass along card. Nelspruit is hard. Oh well, we should have a baptism next month! Woo!

Honesty nothing exciting happened this week like... at all. We had some service and 75% of our appointments ditched.

Our day today is going to be boring, oh well, I like prep days like that to be honest. Today I did 2 hours of personal study because my companion never showed up for study at all. Hmm, I could complain, but what's the point?

President Dunn is coming to visit us on Thursday to do interviews.

This week or next we will be implementing a new tactic. Dropping LAs (less active members) who are wasting our time. It usually makes them more serious.

Sorry for such a lame letter, nothing happened that's worth reporting.

Lately I've been reading a special edition of the Liahona on the temple. It is pretty darn powerful, you should find it and read it.

Spiritual thought, from Psalms 18:30 - "as for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him."

Love, Elder McClellan

week 30: God's Window, waterfalls and work

Alright, this week was sweet.... it may or may not have been because I only spent 3 days in the area haha.

Monday:

The entire time I was in the North East Zone (Limpopo) I kept hearing about a place called God's Window, unfortunately it was just a bit too far to go to, but Monday that all changed! We had to go to Joburg Wednesday so we went for it. So we drove the hour and a half to God's Window and oh man... it is South Africa's Grand Canyon. It is amazing. It is basically a 1500 ft cliff looking out over the vast forests of Mpumalanga. Since I've been on mission I have kind of disregarded safety and fear so I decided to lay down on my belly and look strait down the cliff... It was all well and good until the wind dun near took me off. 

All in all it was an amazing day. After God's Window we trekked to 5 different water falls, all of which were astounding!

Later that night we went to Sabie to visit some members and had a Braii. It was a sweet day. 

Tuesday:

One of the few days spent in area! We had a great day and pulled out a strong 5 lessons, quite hard to do in our area during school holidays! We had a huge shambock lesson with a less active brother named Elvis. His excuse for being less active and not doing what he should was because he was only in the church 3 years.... that ticked me off. We shambocked with love and he yet again promised to come to church. He did not. Hmmm reading this it sounds like we beat him verbally, please do not mistake how this was worded as a lack of ability and sensitivity in reaching out to  LAs. We reactivated 50% of our less active members in my last area. I do infact know how to do it. So yeah...

Wednesday:

Well, on Monday our fearless leader President Omer was replaced by the new up and coming President Dunn. Wednesday our zone had a chance to meet with him. It consisted of first a 4 hour drive (during which we saw multiple heard of wild horses as we drove through the mountains!) Once we got to Gauteng we stopped by Santon. Now let me teach you a bit about Santon. It is the richest city south of the equator and as such it is infested by Americans and Brits. We stopped by Santon city mall and oh boy, it was like being a kid in a candy store. Literally at times actually... 

Let me step back and explain something to you right quick. I spent 6 1/2 months in what you call a township, basically a poor nasty area no white person in their right mind would want to go to. So, when you first get to the area everyone seems weird and the girls are uhm... to put it nicely... uhm... Not pretty? So imagine if you will going from a township to the richest city in the country which is inhabited with Americans and Brits. Now, imagine further, it is school holiday and every single woman in the city is at the mall. I know on a mission girls are a no go, but if they know you're American, the women flock. It is pretty funny. Anywho, now you understand why this trip to the mall was such an amazing occasion haha. Though it may have been slightly unfortunate... I may or may not have walked into a pole when I turned to look at an American girl who was speaking. Technically speaking I did nothing wrong so don't you judge me.

After we left the mall we went to meet President Dunn, he is flipping sweet. As one person put it he has the "greeny fire" and it appears as though he is going to begin cracking the whip fairly soon. Only time will tell.

Thursday:

I went to KaNeymazane on exchanges. The best part of the day was driving the Backie around. We did have 7 lessons, but I missed manual so much. It was nice. I did however almost roll down a bank. There is an area there called Penar and man it is sketchy. The roads are about 3 feet wide in places, made for a fun time!

Friday:

We spent literally all day at the chapel draining the font. Hours and hours. It sucked. What we had to do was use a garden hose to drain it after creating a vacuum. Sometimes Africa is just too ghetto to be fun.

Saturday:

Anytime we have a lesson planned on Saturday or Sunday they drop, so we have turned these days into service days! First we went up to the McCarthy's and grabbed some machetes. Our task was to clear a perimeter around their property. After a few hours, lots of sweet, and a little blood we were finished! Next we went to the Mahule family (investigators), we mounted cabinets for them. After both of these service projects they both fed us. I nearly died from being stuffed.

Sunday:

Sacrament was powerful this week! The testimonies were sweet and I had the opportunity to confirm Shanella. 

This was hilarious, when the confirmation was about to start the branch president stopped us and called every Melchizedek priesthood holder in the branch to come up. There were about 10 of us. I guess he forgot the memo about large groups of brethren being encouraged to all help at once. Oh well. The day continued quite routine until we got to Elders Quorum. We basically practiced every ordinance. It was a special experience to see a book given a baby blessing and the branch president be ordained to the office of a deacon teacher then priest. Sometimes I just have to shake my head at the things that happen haha. Oh well, I'm not presiding. I did however take it upon myself to correct them when they said a teacher could ordain a deacon. lol... Africa...

That night we had a BBQ with 5 Americans, 1 South African, and a Malagasy. It was to celebrate all of our countries statehoods since all of our independence days were in the past few weeks. It was sweet.

Not much else to report, however as I read Psalms 18 this week it really hit me, so you should read that. It was good.

Love,

Elder McClellan

week 29

Well let's see here.  I'm not sure why, but starting is always the hardest part of these emails.

I guess let's start off with the highlight, we had a baptism! Shanella Chitsora was baptized yesterday by Elder Brackett and will be confirmed by me next week. It was another amazing experience, each baptism I've had thus far has been spectacular in its own way. This one was the circumstances under which it was performed. Our chapel is above a furniture store and funeral parlour. Its ghetto. Our font is basically a huge fibre glass tub. To fill it we have to hook a garden hose up to a normal tap in the kitchen of the "chapel", this means we have a garden hose with each end cut off running about the chapel while it's filling. It took about 5 hours to fill... Anyways, the baptism was flawless but due to a lack of bended knees it ended up a bit like a show at Sea World. Got me and the rest of the front row nice and wet! We are now however left with a problem. The font will not drain... so this upcoming Friday after district meeting we are going to use buckets to empty it, "how great is my calling" (Bruce R McConkie.)

The week went well but once the weekend hit all fell apart. We did not have a single lesson Saturday or Sunday. Not only did our Sunday lunch cancel, but so did Saturday and Sundays dinner. That's all right though, we managed to.... uhm... well actually we did not accomplish much of anything these days. Well, actually (yes it is again an actuality) Elder Brackett did manage to break the gate at the church when he flung it open as if he were a lumber jack. Due to my cleverness and the Leatherman in my pocket we were able to get it fixed in a jiffy. As the gate fell off of its track Brother Admire just looked at me and softly spoke "aye wena" ( I think that's what he said), I nearly fell over laughing.

On Wednesday we drove to Sabie again to have a lesson with the family out there. On the way there we drove through a forest fire, all the long while I was following a logging truck. As soon as the smoke cleared I was pulled over by a very grumpy traffic control officer. She claimed I was going 116 in a 100. There was literally no way, I was behind a logging truck in thick smoke. Anyways, I was polite and pulled the "I'm a pastor from America going to teach a family about Jesus" card. She went and consulted with her fellow officers and then bid me farewell failing to give me the 500 Rand ticket she had previously mentioned. However, before I left she did not fail to ask for the bribe she was originally seeking. It was freezing but she said "ïsh you know... its hot out here. On your way back why don't you bring us a few cokes?" I drove away after assuring her I would. We did not pass that point till 10ish that night sooo.... No coke for the crooked cops. Once we got to the home of the members we had a nice chat, ate dinner, shared a lesson that turned into a he said/ she said debate, and looked through some night vision goggles. Pretty sweet way to spend the evening if you ask me! The family we visited have the surname of Weitsz and I love them. They are some pretty awesome people.

The days here in Nelspruit are long and hard. Town is not nearly as productive as township, but we kinda take what we can get. This past week we did go on exchanges with the APs (assistants to the president) and as Elder Davis and I trackted we found 3 father-leds and set 6 return appointments. That's pretty dang impressive! That was sweet day. On Friday the ZLs (zone leaders) came up and went on splits with us and KaNyamazane. Elder Searil from Idaho joined us and we had a blast. We spent most of the time talking about irrigation, but before he left he did manage to lasso me. Literally, he took a lasso out of the boot (trunk)of his car and lassoed me. Pretty sweet day.

That's kind of the big updates for the week... today however is going to be amazing. A few months I spoke of a place called Gods Window. Well, we are going to visit today! From what I've seen it is the most beautiful place on earth, but I'm not sure yet. I'll send lots of pictures next week to show you. After we go to Gods Window and a few other places the Weitsz family is going to have a Braii (like a bar-b-q) for us and the KaNamazane Elders.

Yesterday I hit my 7 month mark. That's pretty crazy, mission is flying by and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The more time I spend here in RSA the less I want to leave. If it weren't for the terrible economy, the terrible race issues, lack of chastity, and over use of alcohol I would even consider raising a family here. It was funny the other night a member compared their president to Hitler. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but as beautiful as it is and as much as I love these people this country's problems run deep.

The sad news for the day is that this is president Omer's last day as president of the Johannesburg mission and President Dunn will be taking over. I have mixed feelings about it haha. Sad and happy. In his last letter to me he wrote:

"The assistants returned from their exchange with you very impressed by you as a missionary. I second their impressions. Thank you for your faithfulness. You will learn many things from this experience and others you will have. Learn the lessons well for you will draw upon them as life goes forward. Thanks for all you are doing. Please know of the love that Sister Omer and I have for you! President Omer"

I'm definitely going to miss that guy but hopefully I'll be able to attend our mission reunions in the next few years. 

Life is well and after a spiritually amazing week I'm more sure now then ever that this church is true.

I wish time was moving slower.

Love, Elder Kelly McClellan

week 28

Well, this week was not quite as easy as the last. We worked super hard, but since we are in an Afrikaner and rich black person area, the successes have been minimal. We did manage to pull out 15 lessons this week though, 4 more then the previous week. I'm again finding myself drawn to the less active work, so beginning tomorrow we are going to start tracking people down and finding out what their status is.

We have one young woman prepared for baptism and she will be taking the plunge this Sunday! Her name is Shanella, she is from Zimbabwe and is currently here staying with a member.

We are working with quite a few other super hopeful investigators, and the area is slowly picking up; we did have 3 investigators at church on Sunday.

Friday night me and my comp had a bit of a fight. He assumed that we could find no males to take to lessons the following day. I told him if we did not have said males, the lessons would have to be rescheduled. He said no, I said yes. Luckily, the white handbook (missionary rule book) was on my side so I won. I proceeded to find all the members we needed to be able to have all of our scheduled lessons. If I was not as humble as I am haha I definitely would have said "I told you so".  

Not a whole lot to report.... Oh wait. Yes there is!

The best part of this area is the service we get to give! Tuesday of last week we went to sister McCarty's (she calls herself mama Africa.) Our task was to take machetes and wack our through the bush and then cut down 30-40ft trees with the machetes. Sounds awesome right? Well right from the get go we hit an obstacle. We first had to go and get tools out of a shed... infested with black mambas. Hmm, in case you are unaware, a black mamba bite (depending on size) will kill a grown human in 4-10 minutes. Yes, this service was going to be sweet. We got the tools and ran out of the shed about as fast as we could and then proceeded to the bush. It was at this time we learned that the bush also had black mambas in it. Fetch. Well, after manning up a bit I took my machete and begun clearing a path to the first tree. I cut it down, then proceeded to the second, and so on and so forth until all of the trees where cut down. This was a great experience, kind of.

I had to go to the doctor the other day for my ear. It was all jacked up. Not sure what was wrong or how he fixed it, but I can now hear better then ever. All I remember from the experience is that it was super painful.

I'm pretty sad, due to my current assignment I'm not going to be able to attend the temple for nearly a year unless something changes. Seven months of that year is already over, but it'd be really nice to be able to go.

Not sure what else to add to what I've said, I hope all is well!

Love, Elder McClellan

week 27: transferred!

(First paragraph is in response to news that he is an uncle - Bronte and David's baby is here!)

Well then, she's pretty darn beautiful haha and I'd rather be home at the moment. I have to give it to Bronte and David, most newborns are funny looking, but she is not. Not really sure what else to say about that... hmm... yeah, I'm sort of having a lack of words at the moment, pretty darn amazing.

This week was flipping crazy. Transfers were on Tuesday, so I got a new area! I am again way the fetch out in the middle of nowhere! Woo! I've been transferred to a place called Nelspruit* in Mpumalanga Province. It's a rich town (lots of mines in the area) and... there are white people! I have to admit, I missed white people, this is nice. Before I was in the land of milk and honey but now... I'm pretty sure this is the garden of Eden. The landscape is amazing, baboons and monkeys run rampant. The city is rich enough that its almost like America. Also, I have a chapel now! Also, our area is huge! Our branch president lives 100ks away, we made a 65k drive to a place called Sabie on Saturday to teach seminary. Sabie is the location of the largest man-made forest in the world. When we went there we had to wear jeans instead of slacks because we had to walk through the woods and such haha. Pretty darn sweet. Within the bounds of our area is Kurgar national park and Gods Window. Both of which are absolutely astounding.  

My new companion is Elder Brackett from northern Cali. He is a pretty sweet guy, has about 6 months left. He reminds me a ton of my brother actually, so we get along fairly darn well.

The branch I'm in from what I've seen is not in such good shape. I experienced the most irreverent sacrament meeting of my life on Sunday. The members however are amazing! We have a handful of white members which is pretty cool, haven't had that before!

The work is pretty slow, we don't fill our days too well, but I'm hoping that within a few weeks that will change. We have town, township, and village in our area so that's kind of nice. Unfortunately, most of our area is too far to teach in. Our K limits are awful, I hate it. (Missionaries have mileage limits on their cars.) Not really sure how this whole hastening the work is supposed to happen with limited resources.

There are two other missionaries within 30ks of us, but besides that you have to drive 220ks to see any others. We are very isolated. We are close to the border of Mozambique and Swaziland.

That's my weekly report!

Love,

Elder Kelly McClellan

* Nelspruit – or Mbombela – is a city in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province. Located on the Crocodile River, Nelspruit lies about 110 kilometres (68 mi) by road west of the Mozambique border and 330 kilometres (210 mi) east of Johannesburg. For more information, click here or here.

week 26: hiking and zone conference

Alright this last week was crazy. Lots to report. Lots of pictures.

Let's first start off with the hike. Last Monday we had a zone activity that turned into a district activity because half the zone did not show up. That was awkward. Anyway, we went to a waterfall called Debengi. It was beautiful! Though I slipped on a rock and if Elder Kaufusi had not caught me I would have went for quite a good plunge. #neardeathexperience1 It was pretty sweet, and it was a super easy hike. Honestly the whole time it made me think of Shannon, pretty darn sure she would have loved it. After we discovered that half the zone would not be attending, we went off on a trek through the brush (not part of the hike.) This is ill advised, and I was very vocal about it. Brilliantly, we pressed forward, and by the end I only received two ticks on my bum! #Ihatewhenimright Eventually we made it out and I - once again - nearly fell on a slick rock. 

After leaving the hike we made the 5 hour drive to Joburg for Zone Conference the next day. We (well, I) chose that we would go the long way through Gianai just so I could take a picture of a rock. I've been trying very very hard to suppress my desire to take pictures for hours, but I could no longer be contained on this day. 

Eventually we made it to Joburg and went to a super cheesy (rich) pizza place (ha punny.). Any-who, we got there at like 8:30, we had to be in the mission home by about 9:30 in order to avoid receiving a verbal beating. We managed to make it, however as we left the pizza place we were charged by a group of homeless men. #neardeathexperience2

Zone Conference was the most powerful meeting I have ever attended, the Spirit rivaled that of the temple. First off, there is a special feeling when 100 Elders of the true church are gathered together, but second this was President Omer's last Zone Conference. After he bore his testimony he blessed the entire mission. I didn't even know you could bless hundreds of people at a time, but he dun did it. During his testimony I was fighting back  tears, but after the blessing they were flowing from everyone one in the room. As we left the chapel at the conclusion of the conference President Omer greeted each of us. I could not find words to tell him how I felt, so with tears still in my eyes I smiled and walked away. Now, you probably do not understand why it is that everyone (well lots of people) were so emotional, and you never will until you understand the type of man President Omer is.  He is the most Christ-like man I've ever meet. When he speaks he does so with power and authority. It's hard to describe him, but suffice it to say, he is an outstanding individual.

Friday we had a very interesting day. We had exchanges so Elder Brown and I went to Seshego. To sum it up there are 4 things I learned this day:

1) It sucks when your geyser (hot water tank) goes out and destroys your suit 

2) It sucks to get shot at #neardeathexperience3

3) If you turn off your car while driving it does not record the K's you drive, but it does lock the steering wheel #neardeathexperience4

4) Wear your seat belt or get ejected #neardeathexperience5

I feel as though all of those are self explanatory so I shall refrain from adding any detail in the slightest. 

Saturday was the big day, bum bum bum! Transfer News! On Tuesday President Omer had already told me that I was being transferred, so it was not a shock when that news came. My Zone Leader told me that the Assistants to the President told him I will be getting an undesirable companion. Elder Davis told me this transfer would be a growing experience... I'm terrified for tomorrow. I hate apostate missionaries. If I get one, someone will die, whether it be him or me, I know not, but the spirit of prophecy... or maybe pride... tells me that it won't be me! :)

Yesterday was my last day in Seshego, it was hard. During the announcements at church it was said that the group loves and will miss me. <3  As I bore my departing testimony I was having a pretty hard time. Over the past 6 months these people have become as family, I'm ready to leave Seshego, but never would I be ready to leave these people. From Brother Thabang to Sister Mary, these people range, and I'm of the firm opinion that these are the best Saints anywhere on all of the earth. It feels like I'm leaving home again, but this time I'll never come back. 

Two months after the fact we have finally finished general conference! Did you notice how Boyd k Packer practically bore his final testimony? 

I had not time to prepare a spiritual thought, but let it suffice for me to say that the things which I have spoken are true. Oh wait, fetch. Sorry, for some reason whenever I write my brain tries to use scriptural grammar and references.  Any-who, the church is true.

Love,

Elder Kelly McClellan 

week 25

Life is going well, but yeah, I had to disappoint more young women this week. They kind of use babies as accessories, and if it's half white, that's just for the better!

The investigator work is progressing! We will be baptizing.... the week after  I leave this area. I was sad for a time, then I realized it doesn't really matter if I'm here as long as they make it. LA (less active) work is going even better, last month we had 95% contact with the members of our group! That's up 30% from average per month last year haha. The group is on fire right now with reactivation and temple work!

I shouldn't know this, but one of the APs (assistants to the mission president) is my friend, so I asked him, and he told me that  I am getting a new area next week. I'll be able to let you know two Mondays from now where it is that I am.

Next week will be a much better letter because there will be things to report.  Today we are driving two hours north to do a hike, then 6 hours south to stay in the mission home because Zone Conference is tomorrow. It's going to be a long flipping day.

I'm quite sad to be leaving the group, last night I went around getting pictures with everyone. It's quite easy to learn to love these people.

Regarding the track team, Wow that's sweet! Not going to lie, I'm most proud of Willy! That is awesome he got over 40, I can't remember but I'm pretty sure I never did that in a meet. Good for him! What was Maddee's throw? Pretty impressive place for a freshmen.

I'm super excited to hear about Panda's mission call, I actually had a dream the other night he came here and I trained him haha. If he goes anywhere in Africa southeast I'm going to try to see him in the MTC. But, he will probably go to Oklahoma so yeah...

I'll send you a better message next week!

Love, Elder McClellan