week 16: pictures!!

Okay, just got back from playing with lions!

This week was pretty awesome. So after email last week we went to the Polokwane Game Reserve on a hunt for rhinos. We found them! For some reason we thought it a brilliant idea to chase them. This logic is
flawed and will get you killed. DO NOT CHASE RHINOS! They do not like it very much haha, but each time they were about to charge us we backed off and then went after them again haha.... YOLO I guess.

The week was okay, we were still on the slow side but managed 20 lessons. We confirmed Thabang and we ordained him to the Priesthood. That was awesome.

Our area is kind of dying, so we will be applying liberal amounts of droppage to our investigators in the following weeks and start our teaching pool over anew. Who doesn't love two strait weeks of tracting (knocking door-to-door)? Well, this guy doesn't. Oh well.

We had a few cool experiences, but anyways a few weeks ago while on exchanges we were informed there was a roaming band of thugs searching us out to rob and beat and well do other stuff to us. I saw them three

days ago, but they failed to approach. It appears they are afraid of the two mahwhoas (white guys, spelled totally wrong) in the middle of a township. That's the second time thugs have failed to come at us when they planned to do so. Fun times down here.

The rains in Africa have not been blessed lately. It's been hot as flip, but it's looking like there will be an amazing storm tonight, so we are really looking forward to that! 

Today was amazing, we went to a place called "The Ranch". This is the place where they trained the lion in the Narnia movies. We played with cubs, half grown lions, and saw tons of full grown ones. We also played with a full grown cheetah. What an amazing experience. The cheetah was my favorite, his name is Milkbar. Just so everyone knows, lions and cheetahs are just big cats. The purr and everything. Anyways, Milkbar really took a liking to me and started licking me all over. I guess you could say it was love at first sight. I'm really glad humans don't do that, it'd be awkward. Anywho, it was so fun!

The baby lions (2 months old) are super cute. 

We wrestled with them, and of course I had to hold one up like it was Simba!

Pretty epic, also one was kind enough to pee on me. Where else can a missionary get peed on by a lion cub? I'm seriously in the best mission in the world. After the baby lions and the cheetah we played with 7 month lions, and those things are rather large. About the size of a German Shepard. They were very awesome, accept they tried to bite and scratch us. Oh well, battle stories to help woo my future wife I guess. 

Also hyenas are huge! Lion King does them no justice, they are bigger then a full grown wolf. They are also scarier then a full grown lion. Such an awesome time, and so worth that 15 bucks I spent on it! We also went on a guided safari in an Indiana Jones style truck, pretty darn sweet.

Yesterday a member invited to take us to the world renowned Kruger National Park! WOOOOO! We couldn't go otherwise, and I'm so excited. Plus he is paying for it! Such a sweet deal, I'll get to go there for my birthday basically. Nat-Geo films a ton of their Africa shows there. Like when you see videos of Africa, a lot of it is shot there.

Life is pretty darn swell, can't really complain to be honest. Had lots of fun this past week. My new comp is awesome. He is so much like Paul. They do almost everything the same haha. We get along great.

I didn't prepare a spiritual thought, I lost my debit card so I looked for it all this morning. :( dat sucks, but oh well. At least I got me a credit card haha. Just got to remember to pay the bill every week. The money they give us for allotment is not enough, the past three days all I've had is toast. haha. Oh well.

Let's see here, not sure what else to report. Life is shap. The work is good. Couldn't be much happier. Well, I could if I had a woman, but well - yeah. Anyways, hope all is well back home!

Love, Elder Kelly McClellan

week 15: new companion

So my new comp is Elder Jacob Brasher from Idaho falls. He has been out about 9 months. Wow I'm already at 4, that's pretty crazy. The time goes by so very fast. Anyways, I really like him. We give each other a lot of crap, he reminds me a lot of Paul. Also I haven't been sending pics because I didn't want to get my camera stolen. But I'll attach some next week. 

Thabang's baptism was amazing, he was the first person I have personally baptized. We had been working with him for about two months, he had to overcome a lot, but the whole time he pushed forward and it was amazing to see the change in his life. He was born in a village a few Ks from Seshego called Blood River. It's a pretty sketchy place, and as such he kind of grew up as a thug, but when I pulled him up out of the water he had tears in his eyes and he told me he had never felt so happy. When he gave his testimony he talked about how he had never felt such a feeling of belonging as he did in the church. We have had quite a few baptisms since I've been here, but at none of those was the Spirit's presence so strong. 

(Comment from Shannon - I forwarded some of the missionary experiences Casey Sorensen is having in England to Kelly, and that is what he is commenting on here.)  Casey's teaching people while they are nude is pretty similar to lots of experiences we have had. Here in Africa it seems as though everyone is half nude and sometimes full. You'd be surprised at how many doors we knock on, people tell us to come in, then they are completely naked. The just don't care.

We had a crap week. Everything fell through, but oh well. Next week....that's going to be quite the week. I can feel it!

Our General Conference is at the end of April, I'm pretty dang excited for it too haha.

Woo Joe is a nerd, good work kid.  (In response to State Knowledge Bowl.)

We are going to an animal reserve today to hunt down the rhinos that have been hiding from us! They shall not escape again. We looked for 7 hours for them last time haha.

Life is well, though I'm really tired.

Also, that backpack I bought sucks. It broke already. I hate it. 

So last night we were at a DA (dinner appointment), and after we had filled ourselves I decided to exclaim that "aiee the church is true." Sis Ruth laughed, so that was a pretty good time. I think I'm starting to talk funny, I've stopped pronouncing my "R"s.

Hope all is well, oh yeah, my birthday is soon, so I'm going to buy a 44 oz stake for about 5 dollars US and cook it. Super excited haha.

Love, Elder McClellan 

week 14: Seshego is on fire!

Let's see here, this week was outstanding! We had 36 lessons, 7 investigators at church (very hard because everyone has to walk), and well yeah! It was awesome. Yesterday I confirmed Lecton and this Sunday I'm baptizing Thabang. Uhm yeah, Seshego is on fire. The people we are finding are super powerful. We were told half a dozen times this week and it was even mentioned in sacrament meeting how awesome of a job we are doing. This area is about 3 years old, and everyone in our group agreed that we are the best missionaries it has had yet. Apparently we work really hard or something, I'm not quite sure what they're talking about to be honest. :)

Today is my last day with Elder Wadsworth, we are about to drive to Joburg and go to transfers tomorrow. We get to stay in the mission home tonight! Its super cheesy so that's pretty awesome haha. We are having problems with our water again, but its currently on so that's quite a blessing! I never realized how awesome it is to have running water until I came here. 

It is slowly transitioning to fall now. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder. This morning there was actually condensation on the car! It is still hot and humid as flip during the day, but oh well. We have had 2 weeks of storm after storm. There has been some outstanding lightning! 

Yah know, Africa is quite a strange place. The people are kinda different. Like they will say they are busy, but they will be watching tv. My favorite thing is when you ask if you can teach them then they tell you "ish man I'm busy, come back next year" haha. Fools. 

Okay so we had a few crazy appointments this week! First off, we taught a guy who told us he was a terrorist in Mozambique. That was sup-awk. Apparently he went to be a terrorist, "got to filthily from the blood" (his exact words)  and then decided to stop being Muslim and go back to being Christian. His friends didn't like that so they slit his throat, but he lived and now he is just mentally challenged. Yeah, we are not going to teach him. 

Second: We have an investigator who told us "Yeah, I'm a science experiment". Upon further questioning he informed us that he could see through walls, hear people at the police station, and said there was a white man in his tv who talked to him and on occasion would come out and walk around the block with him. I could not stop laughing during the lesson. Elder Kafusi (we were on exchanges) was super freaked out by this guy. He is never going to be baptized but he told us "I'm going to drink my coffee, be baptized, get a woman, and there is nothing you can do to stop it" Dude is a loon, but we go there when we want to laugh. 

Also, while eating lunch a guy ran up to us pouring custard all over himself and started yelling in Septie at us haha. I told him "Hakuna matata" and he walked away.

Id love to hear about the track meets, and especially Joe, Willy, Panda, and Bridger. If i forgot any of my best friends, please feel free to include them as well.

Well, only had 5 min left, lets see here. Life is awesome, I'm not sure I've ever been so happy. The work is progressing and there is not a place in the world I'd rather be. 

The Church is true, don't worry about all the other crap.

Love, Elder McClellan

week 13 in the field

Well, we did a lot this week.

On Monday we drove to Joburg, which took 6 hours. It is a 3 hour drive... The zone leaders got us lost trying to find the hike, that was lots of fun. We ended up on a muddy dirt road, which got our cars super dirty. We got shambocked for this because we are supposed to have super clean cars when we show up at zone conference. 

Zone conference was great. President Omer taught us about our missionary purpose, Sister Omer taught about finding, and the Apes (AP's - Assistants to the President) taught about preparing people for baptism. 

We stayed at the mission home which was awesome. We also ate at a super expensive restaurant, this I had not money for, so another missionary bought me dinner which was super nice of him. I'm not sure why the ZLs decided to go there, but yeah it was tasty. 

On the way back from Joburg we stopped at a place on the N1 where a truck full of explosives blew up, that was exciting. 

One of the guys in our zone drove 180 ks/h all the way down. As you can imagine this is very very fast, and well he kept getting lost so it was just super funny. We all left the restaurant and were about to go to the mission home and then all of a sudden we see his bockie fly by us going the wrong way. We all started dying, this was the third time that day he had gotten lost. 

We had a great week, very productive. We had a baptism yesterday, of Lecton Moyabo Macheru. We baptized his niece a few months ago, so that was pretty awesome. His dad was a member so that's also good. His dad was a priest for 22 years... he was baptized when he was 45 and was active the whole time... sometimes Africa is a little behind on the whole doing things the correct way thing. After Lecton was baptized he thought he was done so he left, and everyone was inside the chapel waiting for him, haha. We had to run him down and tell him to come back, that was pretty hilarious. 

I'm very very tired. Zip lining got canceled today because of rain, so we are just going to go hang out at the flat.

Also if possible, I could really use a USB and sd card. They are flipping expensive here! About 3x as much as back home.

Not sure what else to say. I'm just very very tired. Going to go get food after this then nap the day away. 

Hope all is well.

Love Elder McClellan

week 12

Well, this week was good and bad and fun and suck and hot and cold. 

We were extremely productive! We went on two exchanges, and cleaned the car for zone meeting and then proceeded to get it dirty, then clean it again! 

We met a girl named Audrey on Tuesday, and we saw her again Friday. I put her on date 2 min into the lesson. I've had the opportunity to perform 3 baptisms right now and should have 2 more this month. 

The mission leaders have complimented me and say I'm doing quite well. That's a plus. 

In about 2 hours I'm driving the 3 hours to Joburg (Johannesburg). We have a zone meeting tomorrow. On the way down we are stopping at a private ranch and going for a hike. They have giraffes and such there. 

I was able to confirm Rachel Rasetja Mapolla yesterday. That was pretty cool, and I'm confirming someone else in two weeks. 

I'm  glad Kurt's mom is getting well, I've been praying for her. 

Let's see here... not a lot happened besides teaching this week. Uhm, hmm. Oh yeah, I'm done being trained.  In two weeks there is a 95% chance I'm getting a new companion and there is a 50% chance I'm going to train - my ZLs (Zone Leaders) told me that, but they don't really know anything, haha. 

I like that whole prayer story, its pretty darn cute and I appreciate it. 

Our area is redieing because we are baptizing or dropping everyone. We tract alot alot alot. On Tuesday we were on exchange with the ZLS and we walked for 3 hours in the rain. That was fun. 

Let's see here... oh yeah, there was an explosion on the N1 (kinda like I-5) It was  HUGE! It was a truck full of c4 and blasting caps bound for the mines in Zimbabwe. We drove past where it happened and wow. Everything was destroyed and the truck +2 cop cars were torn to shreds about the size of a dollar. 

I've almost killed 4 Baboons this week. They are worse then deer. 

Yeah there's not really anything else. I'm happy I get to go to zone conference and see one of my best friends from the MTC. That should be fun.

I was just talking to Bridger about track! It honestly almost made me cry when I realized that track starts so soon. Please tell everyone that was there last year that I miss them.

Life is awesome, the Gospel is true.

Love Elder
McClellan

week 11: this week was outstanding!

I've felt pretty terrible for the email I sent all last week. I was having a terrible day and well... yeah. This week was outstanding! 

The mail strike is over! I got the package yesterday from President Omer and it made my day! That was a perfect package and I can't really put into words how much I appreciate it. I love the little hand outs you give me. The investigators love them as well. My clothes are becoming destroyed already. The African sun really has a way to kill slacks. 

On Friday I drove us up to Tzaneen (Zuh-neen) for our zone meeting. It was a beautiful drive! You go through mountains, rain forests, and forests like the ones that Oregon has. I almost ran over a baboon who decided to dart in front of the car. On the way back the fog rolled in, that was terrible. It was super sketchy, the roads are terrible and well yeah. TIA (This is Africa.)

The crowning point of the week was the opportunity we had to give a blessing to a young woman that would soon be leaving this world. We gave the blessing with Elder Harward (a senior missionary), and in all honesty when I left that hospital room I was heart broken. For the next few hours that followed I just could not get my mind off of her condition, and it really was hard for me. Later that night we had a meeting with Elder Harward and he shared with us that a few hours after the blessing she passed on. I'm not sure I have ever felt as happy as I did at that moment. I had a peaceful feeling come upon me, and I was no more troubled by the experience. When we left the hospital I thought that I was sad because of her impending death, but thinking back on it now I have realized that it was just because of her state. That was quite a testimony builder of the plan of salvation, and it is something I know that I will never forget as long as I live. I wish I was better with words so that I could better convey the experience to you.

Since coming here I have pretty much given up meat. I can't afford it, and the way Africans cook it is nasty. Oh well haha. I kind of enjoy not eating it, fruit es muy bueno. 

On Friday I had the opportunity to give a sick 4 year old a blessing, it was so bad she was nearly hospitalized. The next morning she was perfectly fine. That was pretty great.   

Yesterday we had district conference and Elder Bricknell of the Seventy presided. This man is outstanding! He is hilarious when interacting with us missionaries. He put one of my friends in a head lock haha. He is a great man. The two key speakers here were him and President Omer (another outstanding man). The topics included the work of salvation mainly, but branched off into most principals of the gospel. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:
During one of his talks Elder Bricknell mentioned the time Peter walked on water (Matthew 14: 25-31)

"And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

His mention of it yesterday prompted me to study it this morning. At first I was thinking, what the flip. How on earth can I apply this to me? After a few minutes I finally figured it out. At first all is fine with Peter, he walks across the stormy sea without incident, but eventually the storm becomes too much for him, he takes his eyes from the Savior and begins to sink. Luckily the Savior was there with an out-stretched hand to save him.

Let's compare the walking on the sea to our life. Just like the Sea of Galilee there will be times of calm and times of storm. It seems to me that every time we have a great spiritual experience or are doing what we are supposed to (study, prayer, church) it is relatively easy to keep our eyes on Christ, but if we shirk off the things we are instructed to do and put them as naught our faith begins to waver and we are too consumed with the storms of life to remember to keep our eyes on Christ, and without a doubt we will begin to sink.

Luckily, just as Peter did, we have a loving Savior with his had outstretched to us at all times. All He asks is that we cry out in faith, and He is willing to save us from the inevitable. (John 16:33). 

It is, however, a much better idea to just avoid sinking at all. No one I know likes to be spiritually "wet". We have been instructed from the prophets of old as well as modern that in order to brave these storms with strength all we need to do is  study the scriptures and pray. If we do these simple, but important things, it is much harder for the adversary to pull us down to his level.

Elder Bricknell taught that in order to become a spiritual giant of sorts all we need to do is look towards the example of the sons of Mosiah. (Alma 17:2-3). "The three steps to increasing our spirituality is to first- pray like crazy, second- feast on the scriptures, and third- fast regularly... That's the best recipe for spirituality I've ever seen"- Elder Bricknell

Hopefully this can help y'all. 

Last week I read Paul's words in 2nd Timothy where he says:

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:  and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

I honestly want nothing more than to be able to say this at the end of this mission as well as my earthly mission. Before reading this I had lots of desire to do better, but had struggled with putting that desire into action. This was just the motivation that I needed. Sure I've always worked hard, but I always knew I could also do better.

Kind of running out of things to write. I hope all is well back home. Mission is going swell. 

Love, Elder McClellan

week 10: some bumps in the road

(Elder McClellan had a hard week last week.  These things happen during a mission, and I know he will overcome his obstacles, but it is still discouraging to read.  Short letter - I hate to put it out there on the blog, but this is how he was feeling when he wrote.  We can all keep him in our prayers.)

We had permission to confirm Rachel, but the branch first counselor said we couldn't because no one ever told him, and she left before we could figure things out. She will have to go another two weeks without the Holy Ghost. 

This week was okay. We met all the Standard of Excellence. Had a baptism. I  hate having a companion. hate it. hate it. hate it. Thursday we got into a fight and I was about to knock him the flip out but I decided to walk away. Never getting married, going to be a hermit when I get home. I do not like people.

Also there is a mail strike on, so there is a good chance the package you sent me got burned.There is also a good chance everything I sent last week got burned, so I doubt anyone will be getting letters for a while.

I'm glad my grandma enjoyed the flowers.

Not sure what else to say, I was sick yesterday. Sick today. Yeah. 

Can't wait for the March 18th transfer (change of area/ companion.) I kinda wish I could go into a coma until then. 

Picture is of Rachel, and a snake I saw.

Love Elder McClellan