08/31/2015

Lately I feel at a loss for words. The weeks are all blending together and I feel like I don't have much to share because I feel like I already shared it. I hear that my siblings are starting school tomorrow for the second time of me being away and I wish them the best. My brother is a senior now? This week I saw some pictures that made me reflect on the past. I don't know if any of you have done that before but it feels strange. I think of who I was and what I have done and all the things that have changed. I'm still changing and trying again and again. That is a gift from God. I thank God for giving his beloved son to perform the atonement. The atonement allows us to repent which is change. Without the atonement we would all be lost and more especially me. I've been grateful to see the atonement work in my life and also in the lives of those I am here to serve. Jesus Christ truly is our savior and redeemer and I think to often we easily forget that. This week we had zone conference. It was an all day thing. One of the things that I took away from it was the lesson taught by the assistants. They shared this challenge called the purification challenge. The mission will be doing it in the next transfer. It is a great opportunity to change even more. I know that we feel sometimes comfortable the way we are but God sent us here to progress. I also went on exchanges with the other two elders. I took the greeny to Khutsong. It was his first time in township. He really enjoyed it but he doesn't like the food so much. It made me thing of how much I've changed since those days as well. As we talked I asked him if there is anything I can work on. His answer was no and then he said I hope one day to be like you. I don't feel like one to look up to but it made me feel good. Yet I still feel like I have a long ways to go. The area of Khutsong is doing really good. We had many people at church on Sunday. We are always working hard because there is no satisfactory substitute. I know that I talked about change a lot today but sometimes change is the best thing you can go through. Have a wonderful week everyone. What can you change?

Elder Hepworth

08/24/2015

This week I could say that is was normal. I realized that next week I will have been on mission for 18 months. I don't know if that sounds as crazy to you as it sounds to me. Mission is a great experience. I won't be able to admit it was the best two years but I can say that it was the most difficult, rewarding, and best decision that I have ever made. I don't know anything else that can change someone more than serving a mission. We have seen it countless times of people coming back changed but when it happens to you in becomes a testimony. This week I felt the spirit as I avoided stressing and desired to do what the Lord would have me do. Every week we have multiple challenges but one rewarding lesson or spiritual experience makes it all worth it. A lot of the time I forget that I'm in Africa serving a mission. Life tends to pass us by to quickly when we are enjoying it. Time is one of the most precious gifts God has given us. He allows us to use it the way we want to. My mind recalls the scripture in Joshua which says choose this day whom you will serve...but for me and my house we will serve the Lord. It is my prayer that we may not get caught up in the world and use our time on to many worldly things when we are here for a purpose. It is easy to get caught up in the world but it is never worth it. We have to focus on the light. We have to focus on the savior. I'm grateful everyday for the life I have and the people and things I have in it. May we all take some time to look heavenward and say thy will be done. Elder Russell M. Nelson said the Lord's way is the only way for us to experience enduring happiness. Have a blessed week everyone.

Elder Hepworth

08/17/2015 - VISITED THE TEMPLE

Winter is finally starting to come to an end and I'm happy. We have cold days here and there but nothing to bad. I will probably freeze to death when I get home in March. This week has had it's challenges but overall we found a lot of success. Last Monday we went to get our car fixed but here in South Africa if a holiday is on Sunday they take the next day off too ha. So we didn't get that done and have to go this week as well. We ended up playing rugby which I wasn't prepared for because I was in proselyting clothes but I'm not a party pooper. On the way home we made a friendly bet over ice cream on who would have the better stats at the end of the week. That was the start of a lot of hard work this week. We have been doing a lot of finding. We found so many new people and have been asking for referrals like crazy so the area is going to boom in the next few weeks. I must admit that we won the bet but it's not about the bet because this week made me push out of the laziness I was feeling. One of the days this week was rough for both of the areas in this district so we came home at night and had dinner together. We have a lot of fun in this district. It is important to have fun as a missionary. On Friday we had the opportunity to go to the temple. It was a great experience because we don't get to go to often but more than a lot of missionaries. After the temple we went to a restaurant and had lunch and then went to a mall to grab some things. When we were in the mall we past an eyebrow place and Elder Taylor who is from Utah talked us into doing it. We thought they would like wax it or something but they used this floss like string and a weird technique to pluck it out. It hurt a lot and I will never do it again ha. I have said it before but I'm so grateful to be a guy. On Saturday as far as missionary work it wasn't to good but we witnessed an engagement. Our bishop invited us to a fireside they were having and since our appointments fell through we went. It turned out to be a big set up for a return missionary to propose. It was pretty cool but it made me think about getting married to much ha. At least we had a nice dinner after with everybody. On Sunday I gave a talk at church. I wasn't nervous until I heard there was a member of the area seventy there ha. It was on the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is definitely one of my favorite things to talk about so everything went well. The rest of our Sunday went well and the week ended. Days may go by slow sometimes but the weeks fly by. Mission is one of the greatest blessing in my life. I can't imagine if I hadn't served. Have a great week friends, family, and others. You are in my prayers.

Elder Hepworth

08-10-2015 - TWO BAPTISMS IN KHUTSONG

 

Elders Willombe and Hepworth in Khutsong

Happy women's day! It is a public holiday here. I don't really know what they celebrate other than a day off but what would the world be without women. Last week the internet went out in the chapel so I couldn't email. I guess it will make this email more interesting though. I'll start with the week before last. On Monday we had zone meeting. We played dodgeball in the chapel for awhile and then went outside and played rugby. Rugby was way more fun. I've enjoyed rugby since I got here. After zone meeting we went as a district to eat a Kg of ribs again. We had really good lessons during the week but I didn't know it was my last week with Elder Adjin. When we visited with one of our recent converts she asked a question and suddenly I remembered a scripture and quoted it for her. It was definitely a testimony of the spirit because I haven't seen that scripture for almost a year. On Friday President did his calls for leadership. I was called to be a district leader and Elder Adjin was called to be a zone leader. That meant that he was leaving even though his time here was short. The people were surprised that he was leaving but it was his time. We spent the rest of the week saying goodbye to the members. On Monday we had to go to the office for meetings and then hurry back for a braii (BBQ) with some members. Tuesday was transfers. The mission is shrinking so much. 22 Elders went home. We took a mission photo and the whole mission fits in a pretty small chapel. My new companion is Elder Willombe. He is from Zambia. He is a really cool guy and is really good at drawing. This week was pretty good. I don't know if I was ready to lead the area yet but it has been good. The zone leaders came on Friday to interview two people for baptism. They passed and were baptized yesterday. There names are Martin and Aletta. They were both invited to church by their friends and it shows how important members are in missionary work. Both of their friends gave talks at the baptism which was awesome. I got to baptize Aletta. The work is moving forward. We are focusing now on finding people to teach. We have a few awesome people who will get baptized soon but have dealt with a lot of jokers. I'm grateful to be here in Khutsong. It is an awesome place. Winter is coming to an end here and I can't wait for it to be over ha. Have a great week everyone. Enjoy your summer!

 

Elder Hepworth

Martin and Elder Hepworth

Aletta and Elder Hepworth

08/03/2015 - ELDER HEPWORTH IS BEING MADE DISTRICT LEADER

So I'm at the mission office right now. We have a meeting at 4 for all of the new district leaders. Yeah that's me! :) The internet was out where we email so we had to do it here.

07-27-2015- ELDER HEPWORTH IN KHUTSONG and MATCHING SUSPENDERS FOR PRESIDENT INTERVIEWS

If you aren't having fun on mission then you don't understand what a mission is. A mission is supposed to be enjoyable. Life and mission life isn't always fun though. It is what we make it. As mission rolls by I'm figuring out more and more what life is all about. It makes me excited for when I get home and use all the things I've learned. Last Monday after emails we went to a nice restaurant called "The Diner". It has an American feel to it. I had the Kg. of Ribs and it was so amazing. I was eating meat for almost an hour. What more can a man wish for?

This is when we ate a kg of ribs. Look at my arm. ;) jk haha

On Tuesday we had interviews with Mission President. The day before we all bought matching blue suspenders and wore blue ties to the interviews. His wife loved it as soon as she saw it and we took some legit pictures with them. It was a coincidence that they matched us as well.

The interviews went well and while the interviews were going on Sister Dunn had a workshop on table manners. I missed it because of my interview. I probably needed it because I've been in township using hands or a spoon for my whole mission ha. The rest of the week a lot of people were ditching us or cancelling. That is probably my least favorite thing because then you have to find something else to do and go to your backups. We are working hard though and everything is wonderful in the great township of Khutsong. On Friday Elder Taylor in our district had a cheat day from his diet and we ate so much sugary things at district meeting. It made me feel sick all day and I decided I don't want to participate next time ha. Saturday we found a lot of success because nobody canceled on us and the day rolled by quickly. On Sunday there was a guy from the Stake who talked about relationships. It was great because he helped me realize how important the relationships of our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, our self, our families, and others really are. If I'm ever unhappy it is because one of these things is off and we need to try everyday to make them strong. After church we had an amazing lunch with many delicious things including potato salad and coleslaw. Which I miss from home. After that our day went downhill because there was loadshedding on one side of our area and the other didn't have water. So which ever side we went to they were stressed about something. All in all it was a good week and I can't complain as each day my time here shortens. Continue to enjoy life and it's many blessings and I will be back in a week.

Elder Hepworth

07/20/2015 - ELDERS HEPWORTH AND BERGMAN ARE REUNITED

The district. I'm back with Elder Bergman on the left.

I don't understand why the weeks are going by so fast. Every time I blink I'm back in the e-mail shop. We have an excellent week. Tuesday started off kind of crazy. We have been teaching this SDA family and we taught the son. I could sense something was off. Then he just let out his feelings. Basically he rejected our truth we brought to him. We bore our testimonies then he gave back the Book of Mormon and that was the end. He wouldn't pray about it and wanted us to prove it to him so there was nothing we could do. All you have to do is read the book of Mormon and pray about it and you can know. Then the very next lesson we taught a recent convert who started crying. She wouldn't tell us the whole story but she is haunted by her past and the trials she faced. It is hard to see people go through hard things but that is where the atonement comes in. I know that Jesus Christ can heal us and Heavenly Father has a plan. Without trials, temptation, and all manner of afflictions we wouldn't learn and grow. We are teaching an investigator named Bongani. He is so sweet and loving the gospel. When he saw the baptisms he came up to us and said I'm next you need to visit me more. We taught him the word of wisdom and he drank coffee and tea but he said he will stop right then. I can't wait for his baptism in August. Saturday was Mandela day. On Mandela day everyone should do 67 minutes of service. We helped bring water to someone and helped an investigator clean her house. She was very thankful because her son and herself are having health problems. Yesterday was painful for me because I love food. Our lunch after church wasn't planned so we ended up fasting until 6 before someone could feed us and it is to far to go back to the house. I made it and it put a whole new meaning on enduring to the end. On our P-day we are spending it fixing the car because other missionaries here didn't take care of it. It is so important to be responsible. What I have been noticing lately is that the gap between what is popular and what is righteous is widening. Being popular isn't worth it anymore even though every teenager wants to be popular. Seek ye first the kingdom of God! I hope everyone is enjoying life. It is a beautiful time to  be alive. Live it up!

Elder Hepworth