2019 June 2-29 Interviews and Training

President Leavitt enjoys interviewing each missionary and I enjoy helping missionaries. The training this transfer was focused on many small ways the missionaries could improve their teaching. Using Preach My Gospel, Lesson 2, The Plan of Salvation, each companionship did some role-playing to help those they are teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ have a more personal, spirit-filled experience. If time permitted, we read Elder Dallin H. Oaks October 1993 General Conference talk titled "The Great Plan of Happiness". Each had a copy to read later. 

Sunday, 2 June 2019

Sunday evening, President Leavitt and I drove to Glen Ridge flat with Protea Glen area.

Elder Gaigulo & Elder Sande, Elder Hess & Elder Previatti

 Role playing

Drove to Kagiso 2 flat with Kagiso 1 area:

 Sister Leavitt, Elder Chifarimba, Elder Campos, Elder Bogosavac, Elder James

3 June 2019, Monday evening, Mission Home
Munsieville and Krugersdorp areas:

Elder Muh, Elder Yasa, Elder Hamilton, Elder Dos Santos,

Sister Leavitt

4 June 2019, Tuesday, Mission Home
Pimville and Ridgeway areas:

Elder Dupaix, Elder Dakuiyau, Elder Sol, Elder Macario

Soweto and Dobsonville areas:

Sister Leavitt, Elder Mtyobile, Elder Trammell, Elder Hlatswayo, Elder Mickelson

Orange Grove and Bedfordview areas:

 Elder East, Elder Eriksen, Elder Bindrup, Elder Kirby

We also went through their area book and trained on a few things.

11 June 2019, Tuesday

We drove to Rynfield flat with Mayfield area:

Elder Mlenze, Elder Stoddard, Elder Maylett, Elder Eldredge,

Elder Ratshikhopha, Sister Leavitt

We went to the Daveyton 1 flat with Daveyton 2 and Daveyton 3:

Sister Leavitt, Elder Ricks, Elder Leterme, Elder Lubwama,

Elder Mthembu, Elder Daybell, Elder Wailagala

We went to Etwatwa 1 and Etwatwa 2:

Elder Andrus, Elder Nganda, Elder Taylor, Elder Bah, and 

Sister Leavitt

We drove the zone leaders, Elder Truman and Elder Ratshikhopha, to President McAravey's home for dinner and a correlation meeting with us, him and two of his high counselors over missionary work in the Benoni Stake.

12 June 2019, Wednesday

We drove to Tsakane 2 flat with Tsakane 1 and Springs areas:

Elder Newell, Elder Odro, Elder Burlaka, Sister Leavitt, Elder Rea, Elder Lubelwana, Elder Robison

We drove to Kwa-Thema 1 flat with Kwa-Thema 2 area:

Elder N. Rocha, Elder Mills, Elder Bete, Elder Rodgers,

Sister Leavitt

We drove to the Florida 2 flat:

Sister Leavitt, Elder Thompson, Elder Bonfim (hand recovering from being burned by hot oil)

13 June 2019, Thursday

We drove to Joburg 1 & Joburg 2 flats:

 Sister Leavitt, Elder Witts, Elder Molteno, Elder Harr,

Elder Daniels

We drove to the area office and President and Sister Koch followed us to the Eswatini Border, across, and on to their hotel in Ezulwini. We had dinner a nice dinner and visit.


14 June 2019, Friday at Sr. Couple empty flat where we stay.

Ezulwini area:

Elder Jolley, Elder Boshoff, Sister Leavitt

We drove to the Mbabane flat with Sidwashine area:

 Elder Lopuliak, Elder G. van Thiel Berghuijs,

Elder W. van Thiel Berghuys, Elder Walker, Sister Leavitt

We drove to the Ngwane Park and Fairview flats in Manzini:

Elder Barnum, Elder C. Lee, Elder Kisembo, Sister Leavitt,

Elder C. Smith, Elder Santos, Elder Matayaunga

 16 June 2019, Sunday

After attending the Mbabane branch with President and Sister Koch, we picked up Elder G. van Thiel Berghuijs and all his luggage in our car, and with the Kochs following us across the border until they turned right at R33 to return home, we continued on to Secunda were we stopped in Secunda for interviews.

  Secunda and Embalenhle areas:

 Sister Leavitt, Elder Bird, Elder Randrianary, Elder GVTB,

Elder Briggs, Elder Bishop

We continued on to the Bedfordview Chapel (see separate post). Returned home.

17 June 2019, Monday
Mission Home

The Nelspruit and KaNyamazane missionaries drove in for interviews, training and dinner and to attend their zone conference on Tuesday as part of the Mission Tour. The Eswatini zone leaders also drove in from Ezulwini today to eat and sleep at the mission home to attend MLC Tuesday morning as part of the Mission Tour. We also had two other areas come in for special interviews and to eat and sleep over to participate in the transfer and zone conference Tuesday morning.

Left: Elder Jolley, ZL, Elder King, Elder Osmond, Elder Blaauw, Elder Neeley, Elder Rocha, Elder Boshoff ZL, Elder Durrant, Elder Leavitt

Mbombela District: Elder Neeley, Elder Blaauw, Elder Cressler, Elder B. Rocha, Sister Leavitt

20 June 2019, Thursday

We drove to Vanderbijlpark flat with Vereeniging area:

Sister Leavitt, Elder Thornton, Elder Forward, Elder Durrant,
Elder Leavitt

We drove to Sebokeng flat with Sharpeville area:

Sister Leavitt, Elder Silva, Elder Vaughan, Elder Maylett,

Elder Kireta

We drove to Ennerdale flat with Orange Farm area:

Sister Leavitt, Elder Ondricek, Elder Periera, Elder Reidhead,

Elder Almeida 

21 June 2019, Friday

Benoni/Boksburg and Kempton Park came to the Mission Home. They held District Council in the basement after interviews:

Elder Reeves, Elder Delvaux, Elder Atkinson, Elder Egay,

Sister Leavitt

Roodepoort and Welteverden came to the Mission Home. They held District Council in the basement before interviews.

Elder Butler, Elder Williams, Elder Romney, Elder Aguilar,

Sister Leavitt

We also interviewed and trained the assistants, Elder Simmons and Elder Mpapa but didn't take a photo. The four of us traveled to the Mission Office for a staff meeting and a three-hour meeting with leaders in Salt Lake to discuss and be trained on a trial initiative.

24 June 2019, Monday evening we had interviews and dinner at the mission home with Elder & Sister Rees and Elder & Sister Truman.

25 June 2019, Tuesday

We drove to Katlehong flat with Germinston and Alexandra areas:

Elder Andrews, Elder Garcia, Sister Leavitt, Elder Rattana,

Elder Shaffer

Elder Neuenschwander, Elder Mwiyawanyoka, Sister Leavitt, Elder Rodrigues, Elder Steiner

25 June 2019 

Elder Flood and Elder Willison

26 June 2019, Wednesday

We drove to Midrand flat with Centurion and Rabie Ridge areas:

Elder Pickford, Elder Gabriel, Elder Mendes, Elder Rash,

Elder Jangard, Elder Ellaso Sister Leavitt

We drove to Birch Acres flat with Hospital View area:

Elder Diniz, Elder Kireta, Elder Sommer, Sister Leavitt,

Elder C. Smith

We drove to Tembisa 2 flat with Tembisa 1 area:

Elder Esele, Elder Papenfuss, Elder Tobiasson, Elder Nelson,

Sister Leavitt

27 June 2019, Thursday

We drove to Randfontein flat with Phokeng and Rustenburg areas:

Elder Manzini, Elder King, Elder Julander, Elder Flynn,

Elder Nielsen, Elder Kunjuzwa

Drove to Carletonville flat with Khutsong area:

Elder Green, Elder Souza, Elder Davis, Elder Banda, Sister Leavitt

We drove to Klerksdorp and had a nice interview visit and a delicious beef stew, salad and hot bread dinner at the Fugals' flat with Elder and Sister Fugal.

28 June 2019, Friday

We drove to the Klerksdorp flat with the Jouberton area:

Elder Pueblo, Elder Rakotonindrina, Elder Nalesoni, Elder Harris,

Sister Leavitt

We drove to Potchefstroom 2 flat with Potchefstroom 1 area:

Sister Leavitt, Elder Gcwabe, Elder Earl, Elder Avanitele,

Elder Truman

We drove to our hotel in Three Rivers, four minutes from the Olivers' flat. Elder and Sister Oliver met us and we had a nice dinner and visit. We drove home Saturday morning.

29 June 2019, Saturday

Randburg and Sandton areas came to the Mission Home.

Elder Dmitri, Elder Osmond, Elder Mercado, Elder Clawson,

Sister Leavitt

Cosmo City and Fourways areas:

Elder Kani, Elder Carlson, Elder J. Smith, Elder Bowen,

Sister Leavitt

Florida 1 area came: Elder Willison and Elder Flood, see photo above eating at the Mission Home.

All done for this transfer with interviews. We enjoyed our visits.

2019 June 15-19 Mission Tour ZC, Transfer, MLC

Beginning of SAJM Mission Tour with Elder Joni L. & Sister Michelle Koch. Pres. Koch is the 2nd Counselor in the Africa Southeast Area presidency.

15 June 2019, Saturday Eswatini Zone Conference
Mbabane Chapel

Eswatini Zone
Front row: Elder Barnum, Elder Santos,
Sister & President Leavitt, President & Sister Koch, Elder Jolley, Elder W. van Thiel Berghuys
Back row: Elder C. Smith, Elder Matayaunga, Elder C. Lee,
Elder Kisembo, Elder Walker, Elder Lopuliak,
Elder G. van Thiel Berghuijs

16 June  2019, Sunday

Elder G. van Thiel Berghuijs is reunited with his family at the Bedfordview Stake Center on Sunday night at the end of his mission, as part of the mid-transfer this Tuesday. His parents and brother came up from the Durban area to attend the Joburg temple on Tuesday and Wednesday and do family names with their second return missionary son! It was a fun reunion as we had previously met his parents at the temple and his brother at a YSA Convention we spoke at.

18 June 2019, Tuesday--MID-TRANSFER DAY

At 7 am, President Leavitt with our assistants, Elder Simmons and Elder Mpapa, and I picked up Elder Mathenjwa and Elder Pereira from the MTC and brought them across the parking lot to the mission office and CES classroom. As they ate breakfast, I oriented them on health and Adjusting to Missionary Life. The rest of the staff did their orientations on Monday morning after our staff meeting (we borrowed them from the MTC for a while). Elder Bonfim helped with translation today and Tuesday for Elder Pereira, who has only had three weeks English training.

Elder Bonfim (translates), Elder Pereira (had three weeks of English in MTC), Elder Mathenjwa (from Durban)

Elder N. Rocha, trainer, and Elder Mathenjwa

I took a few quick pictures before Mission Leadership Council with President and Sister Koch and all of our zone leaders and our assistants as part of our Mission Tour. MLC started at 9:30 am.

Elder Ondricek, trainer, and Elder Pereira

President & Sister Leavitt with Sister & President Koch

18 June 2019, Tuesday, ZC-MO, RN, RS, SP, VL zones

11 am at the Florida Chapel.

Mission Office Zone

Front row: Elder & Sister Groesbeck, Sister & Elder Truman,

Sister & President Leavitt, President & Sister Koch,

Sister & Elder Rees

Back row: Elder Bonfim, Elder Thompson, Elder Willison,

Elder Flood, Elder Simmons, Elder Mpapa, Elder Neeley,

Elder Blaauw, Elder Cressler, Elder B. Rocha

Roodepoort North Zone

Front row: Elder Dos Santos, Elder Muh, Sister & President Koch, Elder Hamilton, Elder Yasa, Elder Romney, Elder Aguilar

Back row: Elder Nielsen, Elder King, Elder Butler, Elder Williams, Elder Flynn, Elder Manzini, Elder Kunjuzwa, Elder Julander

Roodepoort South Zone

Front row: Elder & Sister Fugal, Sister & President Koch,

Elder Truman, Elder Pueblo, Elder Rakotonindrina

Back row: Elder Green, Elder Souza, Elder Davis, Elder Avanitele, Elder Earl, Elder Gcwabe, Elder Nalesoni, Elder Harris

Springs Zone

Front row: Elder Briggs, Elder Bishop, Sister & President Koch, Elder N. Rocha, Elder Rea, Elder Newell

Back row: Elder Robison, Elder Lubelwana, Elder Bird,

Elder Randrianary, Elder Mathenjwa, Elder Bete, Elder Rodgers, Elder Odro, Elder Burlaka

Vaal Zone

Front row: Elder Maylett, Elder & Sister Oliver,

Sister & President Koch, Elder Thornton, Elder Leavitt,

Elder Durrant

Back row: Elder Kireta, Elder Pereira, Elder Ondricek,

Elder Reidhead, Elder Almeida, Elder Silva, Elder Vaughan,

Elder Forward

4:30 pm. Dinner with the Kochs and all our senior missionaries in the CES classroom.

Sr. MLS Missionaries at dinner with President & Sister Koch.

Fugal, Koch, Sister Groesbeck, Truman

Rees, Elder Groesbeck, Pres. Leavitt, Oliver

This sight greeted us as we exited our car at the mission home tonight.

I noticed President Leavitt brought a hitchhiker into the mission home. I haven't seen one of these.

19 June 2019, Wednesday, ZC- BD, BN, CN, JO, SO zones

Bedfordview Zone

Front row: Elder Neuenschwander, Elder East, Elder Ncwadi, President & Sister Koch, Elder Kirby, Elder Bindrup, Elder Rattana

Back row: Elder Mwiyawanyoka, Elder Ndlelo, Elder Steiner,

Elder Rodrigues, Elder Andrews, Elder Garcia, Elder Eriksen, Elder Shaffer

Benoni Zone

Front row: Elder Lubwama, Elder Wailagala, Elder Mthembu, Elder Mlenze, President & Sister Koch, Elder Reeves,

Elder Delvaux, Elder Andrus

Back row: Elder Nganda, Elder Taylor, Elder Ratshikhopha,

Elder Daybell, Elder Eldredge, Elder Ricks, Elder Leterme,

Elder Egay, Elder Atkinson, Elder Bah, Elder Stoddard

Centurion Zone

Front row: Elder Diniz, Elder Sommer, Elder Jangard,

President & Sister Koch, Elder Papenfuss, Elder Esele

Back row: Elder Ellaso, Elder Mendes, Elder Pickford,

Elder Gabriel, Elder Rash, Elder Tobiasson, Elder Nelson,

Elder C. Smith

Johannesburg Zone

Front row: Elder Witts, Elder Macario, Elder Mercado,

President & Sister Koch, Elder Dmitri, Elder Sol

Back row: Elder Molteno, Elder Kani, Elder Carlson,

Elder Clawson, Elder Bowen, Elder J. Smith, Elder Osmond,

Elder Harr, Elder Daniels

Soweto Zone

Front row: Elder Hlatshwayo, Elder Trammell, Elder Mtyobile,

President & Sister Koch, Elder Previatti, Elder Campos

Back row: Elder Bogosavac, Chifarimba, Elder Dakuiyau,

Elder Dupaix, Elder Mills, Elder Mickelson, Elder Hess,

Elder Gaigulo, Elder Sande

After zone conference, we gave the Kochs a tour of the mission home and had our exit interview. They were eager to return home to pack for their home visit in Brazil. We had other missionaries who came later that evening to talk with President Leavitt and ate their dinner.