2019 March 6-April 6 Training at Interviews

Interviews and Training

Taking Upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ

Easter Sunday is April 21, 2019. A day to reflect and ponder upon the great gifts our Savior gives to all mankind. At our three zone conferences, we watched two Bible videos: The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane and Jesus is Scourged and Crucified. We witnessed His love, patience and long-suffering in these inspired depictions.

To help us connect His suffering to ours, we read the account in Doctrine and Covenants where Joseph Smith was languishing in jail. Our Savior answers his questions with a list of awful things that do and could happen to Joseph, and continues: “…know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” (Doctrine & Covenants 122:7-8)

Our training during interview time was centered on a talk given in the October 2018 General Conference by Elder Robert C. Gay of the Seventy, titled: Taking upon Ourselves the Name of Jesus Christ. Elder Gay said he was pondering President Russell M. Nelson’s charge to call the Church by its revealed name. He turned to where the Savior instructed the Nephites about the name of the Church. He also told the people that “ye must take upon you the name of Christ.” This caused Elder Gay to look at himself and ask. “Am I taking upon myself the Savior’s name as He would have me do so?” (3 Nephi 27:3-8, also see Doctrine & Covenants 20:77)

Elder Gay covered three main points from his pondering about taking upon ourselves the name of Christ. First, we must faithfully strive to see as God sees. Second, we must do His work and serve as He served. Third, we must trust Him. His grace is sufficient. He alone descended below all things. The power of His Atonement is the power to overcome any burden in our life. We discussed in depth these concepts.

Finally, each companionship completed a Time Use Evaluation Sheet. Looking at their planner at the last week, the missionaries wrote down how much time they spent traveling each day. Traveling was defined as riding in a car, biking or walking without seeking to introduce the gospel to those met along the way. We then summed the total of their proselyting activities for each day, which includes: teaching, finding, study, missionary meetings, companion study and planning, church meetings, meaningful member visits, service, and recording in the area book.

This exercise helps each missionary assess whether they used time wisely to forward their missionary purpose.

March 6, Wednesday

After welcoming Elder Hamilton from England at the mission home (the day after transfers) with breakfast and an interview with President Leavitt, we drove to Tsakane flat.

Tsakane Area:
Elder Gaigulo DL
Elder Romney
Springs Area:
Elder Dmitri ZL
Elder Boshoff ZL
Kwa-Thema 1 Area:
Elder Rodgers
Elder Leavitt
Kwa-Thema 2 Area:
Elder Sommer TR
Elder Mills

March 7, 2019, Thursday

We drove to the Daveyton 3 flat.

Daveyton 3 Area:
Elder Wailagala DL
Elder Neuenschwander
Daveyton 1 & 2 Area:
Elder Ricks TR
Elder Mthembu

Then we went to the Rynfield flat.

Rynfield Area:
Elder Truman ZL
Elder Ratshikhopha ZL
Etwatwa 1 Area:
Elder Andrus
Elder Bah
Etwatwa 2 Area:
Elder Kunjuzwa
Elder Taylor

March 8, 2019, Friday

We drove to the Fourways flat:

Fourways Area:
Elder Flynn ZL
Elder Bowen ZL
Randburg Area:
Elder Flood
Elder Clawson
Cosmo City Area:
Elder Kani DL
Elder Tobiasson

March 11, 2019, Monday

The Mbombela District drove to the mission home for dinner, interviews and training and slept over to attend their zone conference on Tuesday.

Elder & Sister Groesbeck and Elder & Sister Fugal also slept at the mission home. They all went out to eat with the office couples, Elder & Sister Rees and Elder & Sister Truman.

Elder & Sister Groesbeck joined their district for training with Sister Leavitt. President Leavitt became sick and couldn't do interviews Monday night. He did five-minute interviews Tuesday morning. We drove to Nelspruit from Eswatini to do full interviews and complete the training on the evening of 30 March 2019.

 
KaNyamazane Area:
Elder Ncwadi DL
Elder Neeley
Nelspruit Area:
Elder Daybell
Elder Rocha 
Nelspruit Couple
Elder & Sister Groesbeck

March 15, 2019, Friday

We drove to the Dobsonville flat.

Dobsonville Area:
Elder Forward DL
Elder Mickelson
Soweto Area:
Elder Mpapa ZL
Elder Trammell ZL

Then we drove to the Florida 2 flat.

Florida 2 Area:
Elder Avanitele
Elder Bonfim
Florida 1 Area:
Elder Spencer MOL DL
Elder Rash MOL
Elder Williason MOL

We drove to the mission office for an office staff meeting. President Leavitt interviewed Elder & Sister Truman after the meeting.


March 19, Tuesday

We drove to the Joburg 2 flat:

Joburg 2 Area:
Elder Witts SA
Elder Lubelwana SA
Joburg 1 Area:
Elder Harr DL
Elder Bete

We drove to the Bedfordview flat:

Bedfordview Area:
Elder Papenfuss DL
Elder Bindrup
Orange Grove Area:
Elder Matayunga ZL
Elder Eriksen ZL
Alexandra Area:
Elder Blaauw
Elder Campos

We all went down the street to the Bedfordview Chapel and after taking a photo with all the missionaries, Elder Terrance Vinson and President and Sister Koch, we went into the chapel for a fireside with them from 4-5:30 pm.


March 20, Wednesday

After dealing with a medical emergency and other medical issues with some of our elders, we drove to the Roodepoort flat at 9:40 am.

Roodepoort Area:
Elder Mbaki
Elder Bishop
Welteverden Area:
Elder Gray
Elder Butler DL

We drove 1 1/2 hours (included a construction detour) to the Pokeng flat.

Pokeng Area:
Elder M. Lee DL
Elder Julander
Rustenburg Area:
Elder Pueblo
Elder Cressler

Before returning home, we drove with elders to a flat for President Leavitt to conduct two interviews of people preparing for baptism and confirmation. We stopped at KFC to pick up our chicken twisters for Thursday before going to the mission home. We arrived about five minutes before our assistants, Elder Simmons and Elder Lopuliak (who came straight from Ennerdale on exchanges), arrived at 8 pm to talk about the transfer on Tuesday. Two of our visa waiters, Elder Ellaso and Elder Egay, in the Philippines received their visas and will arrive at 6:10 am next Tuesday, 26 March 2019. We need to open another area.

March 21, Thursday

President Leavitt and I drove to the Krugersdorp flat.

Krugersdorp Area:
Elder Ondricek
Elder Barnum
Randfontein Area:
Elder Gcwabe ZL
Elder J. Smith ZL
Munsieville Area:
Elder Eldredge TR
Elder Hamilton

We drove to  the Kagiso 1 flat.

Kagiso 1 Area:
Elder Kirby
Elder James
Kagiso 2 Area:
Elder Bogosavac DL
Elder Dos Santos

We drove to the Protea Glen flat.

Protea Glen Area:
Elder Hess
Elder Newell
Glen Ridge Area:
Elder Sande TR
Elder Banda

March 22, Friday

We drove to the Ennerdale flat.

Ennerdale Area:
Elder Dakuiyau
Elder Diniz
Ennerdale Couple:
Elder & Sister Todd
Orange Farm Area:
Elder East DL
Elder Thompson

We had a visit and lunch with Elder and Sister Todd at their flat after interviews and training at the Ennerdale flat where they had joined us during training.

We drove to the mission office for an office staff meeting at 3:30 pm.

March 26, Tuesday
Mid-Transfer

Elder Spencer, Elder Rash, Elder Willison and Elder Nau picked up Elder Ellaso and Elder Egay at the airport and brought them to the mission home where we all ate breakfast. Then we drove to the mission office. President Leavitt interviewed Elder Ellaso and Elder Egay. They also received the usual training and orientation by Sister Leavitt and the office staff. After their interviews, President Leavitt matched them with their trainers. We took pictures and we left to drive to the Vanderbijlpark flat for interviews.


March 26, Tuesday Interviews

Vanderbijlpark Area:
Elder Stoddard DL
Elder Lubwama
Vereeniging Area:
Elder Thornton ZL
Elder Burlaka ZL

We traveled to Sharpeville flat:

Sharpeville/Sebokeng Area:
Elder Silva
Elder Vaughan
Elder Randrianary

We visited during dinner with Elder and Sister Oliver, then drove back to the mission home.

March 27, Wednesday

President Leavitt and I drove to the Secunda flat.

Secunda Area:
Elder Santos DL
Elder Durrant

At each interview, President Leavitt lets the missionary pick an exercise from his list for President Leavitt to do as part of his goal. Sometimes the elder does it with President Leavitt. Today Elder Durrant and Elder Santos did planks after finishing the interviews.

President Leavitt usually stops at 2-2 plus minutes.

Elder Santos did a 4-minute plank!

We drove on to Eswatini, meeting our zone leaders, Elder Reneer and Elder Jolley, at our empty couple's flat with the keys and gate clicker. We went over to Luxy Garden Restaurant at Corner Plaza and ordered take out for President Wiseman (second counselor) and Maria Simelane and us to eat dinner after the SAJM presidency meeting ended at 8:15 pm --via WhatsApp with the others gathered at our mission office.

March 28, Thursday, Eswatini Zone Conference (see separate post)

March 28, Thursday

After the Eswatini Zone Conference, President Leavitt interviewed and I trained:

Nhlagano Area:
Elder C. Lee DT
Elder Hlatshwayo
Ezulwini Area:
Elder Reneer ZL
Elder Jolley ZL

After, we met with a wonderful family at the chapel. Some of the family members were recently baptized and others are still learning about the gospel. We had an uplifting visit and discussion.

March 29, Friday:

We drove to Ngwane Park flat in Manzini.

Ngwane Park Area:
Elder A. Smith
Elder Rea
Fairview Area:
Elder Leterme DL
Elder Earl

Then we drove to Mbabane to the Mbabane flat.

Mbabane Area:
Elder G. Van Thiel Berghuijs
Elder W. Van Thiel Berghuys
Sidwashine Area:
Elder Behunin DL
Elder Nielsen

March 30, Saturday

President Leavitt and I had a meeting with some district members during the day and then drove to Nelspruit, South Africa (about 2 1/2 hours north).

We had dinner and a great visit with Elder and Sister Groesbeck. Then President Leavitt interviewed and I did some more training until 9:45 pm.

Nelspruit Area:
Elder Daybell
Elder Rocha
KaNyamazane Area:
Elder Ncwadi DL
Elder Neeley

March 31, Sunday
President Leavitt and I spoke in the Nelspruit Branch sacrament meeting and did a presentation and class discussion on the Atonement of Jesus Christ during the second hour. After church, President Leavitt did three temple recommend interviews and then we met with a newly married couple to teach about marriage (from what we did when President Leavitt was a YSA Stake President.)

Drove back to our mission home.


April 2, Tuesday

President Leavitt and I drove to the Germinston flat.

Germinston Area:
Elder Garcia DL
Elder Andrews
Katlehong Area:
Elder Robison TR
Elder Rattana

We drove to the Eastfield flat.

Eastfield Area:
Elder Gabriel DT
Elder Mwiyawanyoka
Vosloorus Area:
Elder Rodrigues
Elder Steiner

We drove to the Flora Life Hospital to visit with Sister and Elder Todd right before Sister Todd had surgery on her broken shoulder. They took her out of the room at 6:30 pm. She fell last night just outside her flat. Elder Todd stayed at the mission home while she was in the hospital. Sister Todd was released from the hospital on Thursday afternoon.

April 3, Wednesday
After MLC and staff meeting

Our assistants came to the mission home, ate dinner, and had their training and interviews with us. 

Discovery Area:
Elder Simmons AP
Elder Lopuliak AP

April 4, Thursday

President Leavitt and I drove to the Kempton Park flat.

Kempton Park Area:
Elder Dupaix TR
Elder Egay
Benoni/Boksburg Area:
Elder Harris
Elder Delvaux

We drove to Hospital View flat:

Hospital View Area:
Elder Muh TR
Elder Daniels
Birch Acres Area:
Elder C. Smith DL

Elder Kisembo

We drove to the Tembisa 2 flat.

Tembisa 2 Area:
Elder Bird DL
Elder Nelson
Tembisa 1 Area:
Elder Mtyobile ZL
Elder Molteno ZL

Centurion 1 & 2 Area:
Elder Nalesoni
Elder Carlson
Rabie Ridge Area:
Elder Mendes DL
Elder King
Midrand Area:
Elder Jangard TR
Elder Ellaso

We drove to downtown Joburg to a hotel so President Leavitt, along with Elder Witts and Elder Lubelwana (we needed to give them some keys). gave an area seventy a blessing before his surgery to fix his broken leg the following day. We arrived home at 10 pm.

April 5, Friday

President Leavitt and I drove to Carletonville (it has been rainy off and on most days all week).

Carletonville Area:
Elder Reidhead TR
Elder Davis
Khutsong 1&2 Area:
Elder Manzini DL
Elder Souza

We drove to Potchefstroom.

Potchefstroom 1 Area:
Elder Williams ZL
Elder Esele ZL
Potchefstroom 2 Area:
Elder Osmond DT
Elder Odro

In the middle of training, I noticed a car being pushed up the driveway. Knights in shinning armor to the rescue to jump the car and get them on their way. There were huge puddles to drive through as it was raining on and off all day.

It was raining so hard there was a river down the driveway--after we jumped the car and they had left. I was so glad by the time we were finished and ready to drive home, the rain had stopped and the river had drained away!

Elder Esele made us Rolex and a mango dessert--YUM!

We drove to Klerksdorp and had dinner and a nice visit at Elder and Sister Fugal's flat. They made us a delicious Mexican dinner with a Thai dessert!

April 6, Saturday--last day of interviews

We drove to the Jouberton flat.

Jouberton Area:
Elder Mercado
Elder Pueblo
Klerksdorp Area:
Elder Reeves DL
Elder Rakotonindrina

We arrived home at 4:40 pm and watched the Saturday morning General Conference Session at 6 pm and the afternoon session at 10 pm. It was so nice to relax into our comfy sofa and be filled with the Spirit as we enjoyed listening to our inspired leaders.