April 6, 2007

Mom,
I sent a letter about a week ago, but it takes forever to get there. Conference was awesome. We cant see the Sunday afternoon session though. But i saw you a lot. All of my flatmates know what you look like.
I guess Ill answer all of dads questions now...
Well we have to get up at 630am every day. And then we study for 2 hours personal then comp. Eat breakfast then shower and out the door by 1100am. Then we are back at the flat by 900pm. We only have a washing machine, so we have to hang dry our clothes. I only have 130$ to spend each month so money is kinda tight.
Teaching lessons is very interesting. Nothing is memorized. Its really just you teach them according to what their needs are. We can pretty much teach anything at anytime. On p day, we get up at 630 clean the flat and the car. Out the door by 1000am to email and shop. By 1200pm we are back at the flat eat lunch then go play volleyball till 500pm. Then we go teach till 900pm.
Tracting and street contacting is fun. When we tract, at every house we walk through their gate and knock at the back door, that's just how it is. Not one person uses their front door on the township. Almost everyone invites us in and they act interested (that stinks) so we waste time teaching someone who doesn't really care. Afterward they give us Rhoybos tea. Its okay we can drink it. Then we set up a return appointment then they are not there when we go back. We never see them again. Its okay though we have enough investigators at the moment to keep us busy all day.
At church me and the other elders are the only white people there. It is an all black township. Me and Elder Redd have 8 baptisms coming up and I'm really excited because they are all good people. It turns out that there are 3 types of people here. Bob Marley's, Gangsters, and Drunks. Especially during the weekend, everyone is drinking. And they play house music. Now let me explain house music...
It is basically techno that people play from there houses at the maximum volume level. So at any given time you can here 5 different songs. Some of it is good, and some is bad. At month end its really bad. Everyone gets paid month end so everyone just has parties. They spend all there money on beer and drink the whole night.
I don't know if you guys know anything about the elections coming up but they are going to be pretty interesting. The person everyone thinks is going to win is Jacob Zuma. Who has no history of education and is currently under trial for money laundering.
Anyway there is an Elder from Holland in our flat. Hes really cool, another one is from California, and Elder Redd is from Idaho. We have lots of fun. All of us are doing pretty well too.
So you guys can send me packages and stuff, just make sure what ever it is that you mark it missionary supplies. American candy would be nice. Hey Dad if you still have that Innovators CD I cant find it anywhere here. And send me some of those classical CDs as well.
Well today was the zone P day we went to a lion and rhino park. Got some really good pictures. I also got to play with lion cubs that was fun. Ill upload some soon... probably next week. Tell Brent that the water does flow the other way here we tested it like 5 times. But anyway thanks for everything and the prayers.
So i guess the plan is ill email just mom, and when i can ill write everyone else. If you have some more recipes or something that would be nice. Thanks for everything. I love you all.
Benjamin J Earl