Week of Witnessing

                        April 1-8, 2015

                         Easter Week

In tandem with a world wide initiative by the Church called #BecauseHeLives, President Dunn felt inspired to use this opportunity with outstanding visual materials and an amazing online video about the Savior, to call upon our SAJM missionaries to focus from April 1-8 in a "Week of Witnessing" of the reality of the living Christ. It is an intensive finding effort where groups of missionaries descend upon malls, petrol stations, parks, etc. to share this unique Easer video and message.

"As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ in these latter days, we have also been charged with testifying of the realities of the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection...Like those angelic messengers in the meridian of time, we also declare, 'He is not here, for He is risen' (Matt 28:6)
 He lives. And because He lives, we too can know peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come. (D&C 59:23)" ~Elder Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, March 2015


This initiative and our unique approach to it in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission (SAJM) has brought renewed energy for contacting and finding. The day our banners arrived was exciting. The office couples took pictures of the two banner versions and the AP's, who worked with President Dunn to order these for every zone.

Each zone has one visual aid to use in and record numbers of pass along cards specific to this initiative. Below are missionary zones that we have been able to contact with. It has been a great experience to share the message of Easter with people, while driving them to the website.

Day One: Two districts in the Bedfordview Zone gathered together on Wednesday April 1 and made plans of where to go contacting. We split up and headed out after instructions were given.

These 4 beautiful seminary students helped the effort by neatly writing the missionaries numbers on hundreds of pass-a-long cards before we headed out.

The Kwa Thema District enjoyed the chance to ride in the mission van en route to the contacting spot.

On the streets of Kwa Thema Township near the Taxi Stand

Lots of opportunity to talk to many people during the 2 hours we were there.

Every now and then, members would come by to see how we were doing and let us know they were happy to help. These two men are currently serving in the Kwa Thema Ward as the mission leader and the elders quorum president.

President Dunn was great at talking to anyone and everyone!

Elder Stilgoe even contacted cars that stopped in the road. He was fearless.

As the sun started to go down, we ran out of pass-a-long cards. Instead we stood by the banner and waved at cars and people going by, pointing to the website.

We then drove over to ShopRite, where the other half of the group had gone. We took a quick picture before we packed it up for the evening.

You can see the missionary efforts to pick up the sign and move it to where the people are. This is a cue for the ATM. While standing in line, missionaries put this banner right on front of people. We had good reaction from this contacting effort.

Day Two: We join with the Benoni Zone out in Secunda. We met up at a local mall and talked to everyone that came by. It was fun to be with these Elders.

Elder Cluff, Elder Ratsimbazafy, Sister Dunn, Elder Natwijuka and Elder Wild did this fun contacting with us. We later followed them to the Secunda Chapel and met up with a young woman preparing for baptism this Sunday. All in all, it was a great visit.
Day Three: Roodepoort Zone
On Friday April 4, 2015, we gathered at the Roodepoort Mall and did contacting with another set of great missionaries.Pictures above is  Elder Kairu, Silvester, Smith and Quigley, getting ready to descend upon the area of Krugersdorp.

Elders Silvester and Quigley set up to have members from join together with this effort. Here they are all singing with the Venski and Swarts family. It is great when the children, Jaden and Crystal join together with their parents to come and sing and hand out pass-a-long cards!

Elder Brown and President Dunn

Lots of contacting happened outside of Presidents Mall.

Again, the coolest part of this effort with the Roodepoort Zone, was taking the initiative to invite members to participate. It was thrilling ot have 2 families come and share the message of Easter with the Elders. Below is the Ryall family. The parents sent a great example and these young children made a big effort to talk to as many people as possible. Great effort today!

Other pictures sent into our office from other Zones:

Sunnyside Elders in Pretoria

Elder Thompson being creative with the signage.

Transfer Day is Here Again!

Transfer Day is Here Again!

An  early morning has the departing Elders (Kalani, Stapley, Matos and Kolditz) waiting for the 7 am hour so they can greet and meet the newest Elders to the SAJM.

Walking from the Johannesburg MTC into the South Africa Johannesburg Mission is a very short distance!  We are so lucky that the Johannesburg MTC is located on the same property as our SAJM Mission Office. 

President and Sister Dunn and the AP's then get to formally receive them. 

We love the morning hour we spend together to ask questions and share experiences. It is one of my favorite parts of the transfer day. The departing elders always share such honest, genuine advice and feelings. They often plead with the new missionaries to try to realize now that time is fleeting and a mission is the most special opportunity they will ever have. 
Following the morning orientation for the new Elders, we move into the transfer meeting.  Our AP's and President Dunn go to a lot of effort to get all of the changes made and ready to announce.

We have loved and appreciated Elder Malapula as our AP for the past 12 weeks. He goes back into the field as a great missionary on every level. Below are candid shots after the transfer meeting when everyone is transitioning.

Pictured above 1)Elder Taylor, 2)Elder Stapley and Elder Malapula, 3)Elder Masoka, 4)Elder Koyle and Elder Worton.

1)Elder Christie and Elder Taylor, 2)Elder McCartney, 3)Elder Stapley and Malupula and 4)Elder Matos

Elder Kolditz had the distinction of wearing the infamous "brown suit" for this transfer. It is passed along to whoever it fits and worn each transfer meeting by someone. They all sign the inside lining as well.

After the transfer meeting, we headed to the mission home with those departing today, Elder Stapley and Elder Kolditz. We also invited the Tzaneen Elders that were headed back to Limpopo. Elder Dye stayed with us to pick up his new companion and Elder Koyle, as our new Assistant came for lunch with his group and then heads up to do some training in his "whitewashed" area in Modjadji. Busy and memorable times in the mission home.


Our Three Assistants: Elder Menendez, Worton and Koyle! What a great team this is. We value the experience they bring. Collectively, they pretty much have covered the entire mission and areas in their time here. They will bring great ideas, energy and example to the SAJM!

High Five!

 Five new Elders joined the SAJM

on March 31, 2015

L to R

Elder Aaron Reynolds from the United Kingdom

Elder Owen Masiya from Malawi

Elder Joaquim Mapenda from Mozambique

Elder Eric Souza from Brazil

Elder Tanner Roberts from Utah (below) *he arrived on a later flight on transfer day from the Provo MTC.

 

Pick up of the new Elders from the departing elders heading home. 4 arriving from MTC and 4 departing! 

Elder Roberts with the Dunn's, then Elder Mapenda, Elder Reynolds, Elder Masiya, and Elder Souza.

Elders with their new companions below:

Elder Mayenda* with Elder Mapenda

 Elder Rini* with Elder Masiya

Elder Leman* with Elder Reynolds

Elder Farnes* with Elder Souza

*Great trainers for our new missionaries

Elder Dye* with Elder Roberts (below)

 

During transfer meeting the new trainers are announced and they get to meet each other. It is an exciting day in the mission. Everyone can remember the day they were in this place and the entire mission is asked to welcome and help these new Elders get acclimated.  We are excited for this awesome group of missionaries that joined us today.

March 30 Departure Dinner

March 30 Departing Dinner

Elder Kalani and Elder Matos departed the mission on April 16, 2015, just 2 weeks after the other's left. It is such a bittersweet experience to say good-bye to these great Elders. They will be greeted home by loving families.Elder Kalani heads home to Kenya and will wait overnight in the mission home and then re-unite with his family. He has 2 younger brothers that will be so impressed to hear of his experiences firsthand.
Elder Matos heads home to Venezuela. He has exciting plans ahead and his family is so excited to get him home. We hope to keep in touch with all of these great Elders.

We enjoyed our 7^th transfer dinner tonight with 4 Elders and a wonderful senior couple. Pictured above is Elder Kalani, the Meldrum’s, Elder Matos, Elder Kolditz and Elder Stapley.  We all gathered together for a memorable evening in the mission home. 

It is always meaningful to have them get dropped off by their companion and district and watch the parting. It is a tender and special time for these Elders. Two years is a long time and you can feel the bittersweet parting.

 Leaving us with a scrapbook page is a nice way to begin the evening.

Dinner was nice with this smaller group tonight. It was also our last night with Elder Malapula as an Assistant. 
He is leaving and going back into the mission field. He has become part of our family in a very special way. We love him and love his countenance and style. He will be missed.

After dinner we gather in the living room and have a meaningful discussion and reflection on the past 2 years. We heard from the Meldrum's about their experience and then had an opportunity to have the departing elders share specific examples from their experience.

We ended with music and the mission song. Elder Stapley got to take a look at the famous baseball signed by Willie Mays that his mom gave to us before we came to South Africa. It was a special night in every way.  These four elders stayed downstairs in the missionary pad. We loved having everyone spend the night.

The next morning starts bright and early. They had to be at the MTC at 6:45 to pick up the new missionaries. 

On transfer day, each of the departing Elders shared their testimonies and also participated in the morning with the new Elders. 

Airport good-byes are always hard. We expect to stay in touch with all our Elders and hope they will stay in touch with us. Elder Kalani and Elder Matos leave in two weeks, so they will be pictured later.

Right before we dropped off Elder Kolditz and Stapley for their flights back to the USA, we were able to meet a new Elder to the SAJM, Elder Roberts.
*Elder Roberts, Elder Dye (his new trainer) President Dunn, Elder Kolditz, Elder Stapley, Elder Menendez

Elder Kolditz and Stapley with President and Sister Dunn

Elder Stapley with the Dunn's. What an awesome Elder that leaves a strong legacy in the mission. 

Elder Kolditz with the Dunn's. We were glad to send him home with all his belongings! :) What a happy and effective Elder on every level. 

In an effort to be compliant with the missionary department and eliminate backpacks in the mission, Elder Kolditz is taking home a SAJM mission messenger bag, which almost every Elder in the mission will soon have.