24 December 2012 - The Mad Farm, Christmas Caroling

Dear family and friends,



Elders in my District. L to R:
Madsen, Strauss, Gillespie, Tekulve

This week there were lots of fun Christmastime activities. On Monday we went to Sister Steenbeek's farm for a Ward Christmas Party. She rehabilitates animals and describes it as "The Mad Farm." As far as I could count there were 18 cats (!), 8 dogs, 3 mules, 2 donkeys, a handful of geese, an ostrich, 3 emus, 20 goats, 5 or so pigs, maybe 3 rabbits, countless chickens, a crow, a dove, a cockatoo, a rainbow lory, another type of green parrot, 2 grey crowned cranes, a turtle, and a swan. We're going back tomorrow for Christmas Day and I'll call you from there.

2 New London Ward Members at
The Mad Farm

Father Christmas giving gifts to the children.
It's certainly a lot hotter down here
than at the North Pole.

We also went caroling on Friday with some ward members, much to my dismay. It went smoothly enough, though.

 

On Saturday I went on exchanges with Elder Strauss. It definitely gave me a great appreciation for the Elders in the walking area. It's starting to get pretty hot outside...

 

Merry Christmas and talk to you tomorrow!



Everyone who went caroling

 

-Elder Tekulve

 



hOnK

 

17 December 2012 - Mission Christmas Party, Sokhululeka, Gospel Principles

Hey, Christmas is next week!

The main highlight this week was the tri-Zone Conference and mission Christmas Party. That was on Wednesday and lasted all day. There were musical numbers by each zone (we sang "Oh Holy Night"), testimonies, training by President and Sister Wood, lunch and dinner, something like a white elephant gift exchange (I got a packet of cat food...), and as per SACTM (South Africa Cape Town Mission) tradition we got to watch a movie. Unfortunately it was a movie I've seen before; the same one I watched at the YSA movie night back in George. Like I said, I want to watch the movie with my family when I get home so I want it to be a surprise.

One other highlight of the week was an investigator that we met named Sokhululeka. She is very motivated to change and works hard at it. On Sunday she got a Gospel Principles manual to take home and by Tuesday she had finished half of it. You don't see that kind of commitment often.

East London 3rd is a good ward. It has some great Ward Missionaries and an awesome Bishop who gets things done and really connects with his ward. It's hard this time of the year because very many people only live here for work and go home to the rural areas in December. As a result most of our investigators have been lost until mid-January. That's okay though, we still do have people to teach and I'm having a great time.

-Elder Tekulve

10 December 2012 - New City: New London

What was that sound? Oh yes, it was the time flying out the window.

Transfer news! I am now the District Leader in East London 3rd Ward. My companion is Elder Gillespie. His father is in the Air Force so he moves around a lot but he was born in Colorado. Elder Krieger's new companion is Elder Martin from Moscow, Idaho. Elder Martin and I switched places; he was Elder Gillespie's trainer. So I am the oldest in this 4-man district by at least a year.

Missionary work here is much the same as Fish Hoek. The principles are the same, but here we have a lot more appointments and people to teach. Some fall through but I've met some interesting people.

East London, South Africa, from the air

My camera is broken for good. I'll get a new one maybe next week as an early Christmas present. So no pictures today.

 

But here's an Old Testament fact: Shem outlived most of his posterity all the way down to Abraham. I don't have the numbers in front of me but that's something like his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson that he outlived. To put that in prespective, if Shakespeare lived as long as Shem he would still be alive today.

Shem lived to be 600 years old

William Shakespeare 1564-1616

Love,

-Elder Tekulve



03 December 2012 - Brother Mike, Basson Family

Hi, I'm Elder Tekulve. Would you like a Book of Mormon?

It's December! Yay!

For P-day yesterday we went to Meadowridge to visit a convert named Brother Mike. He runs a catering business and the Mowbray and Meadowridge Elders are frequent customers. He is also a very nice and interesting person. He has an incredible testimony for only being baptized about 7 months.

In the evening on Monday we taught another powerful lesson with the Basson family. The Spirit was strong and even though they didn't understand it, they felt it. Other than that it was a pretty slow week...

Elder Tekulve in the kitchen at his flat

It looks like my camera is beyond repair, but I have a few pictures for you this week.

Old Testament trivia: Jewish tradition says that Shem, Noah's son, is Melchizedek. I personally believe this is true. He actually outlived Abraham. The Bible Dictionary seems to agree with me.


Love, Elder Tekulve

26 November 2012 - Plan of Salvation, Peer's Hill

The Plan of Salvation
Credit: helamangallery.com

Well, it's been a hectic day. Mostly because my camera broke. Sigh. I have some awesome pictures that I may be able to get to you next week. We'll see if it can be repaired.

What happened this week? We met a new family, the Basson family. The father's wife passed away some years ago so it was great to be able to testify about the plan of salvation. The Spirit was very strong.



Clovelly from Peers Hill
Fish Hoek is nearby

Last Monday we climbed Peer's Hill. By the way, that cave that Dad posted on the Blog a couple of weeks ago? It's labeled as Peer's Cave, but it's not. It's actually what I think is called Tunnel Cave. We found that near the top of Peer's Hill last week. It's a really sweet bunch of rocks, but the camera is broken and I'm e-mailing a bit late today so I don't have time to upload pictures.

Thinking of you (but not too much),
-Elder Tekulve

19 November 2012 - Zone Meeting, Thanksgiving at Panerotti's

Fish Hoek Chapel from the mall nearby
where the internet shop is located

Hello Family,

This week has been a good week. A pretty uneventful week as far as news home is concerned but a good week for me just because we were kept busy. We are starting to find and meet new people and continue to learn about cricket.

On Saturday and Sunday was Stake Conference. On Saturday it was broadcast from the Stake Center in Bellville and on Sunday it was a recorded conference from Salt Lake City that was sent to all of Africa. There were some great talks given there about the Priesthood and service and reactivation.

On Friday was a Zone Meeting. Among other things I learned some news: My last day in the mission may be moving. Until now it was to be July 3rd, 2013. Because of the reduced MTC time there will have to be adjustments to the transfer schedule. It could be moving to anywhere from the 26 of June to the 17 of July. I'm not sure yet but just as a heads up there it is.

Next week for Thanksgiving we plan to go to Panerotti's with the Zone. They have all you can eat pizza on Thursday nights. Yum.

Elder Krieger,
Brennan's Companion, says 'hi'

I heard Elizabeth got baptized. Wasn't she just a toddler the last time I saw her? Or was that the other Elizabeth? I can't keep track of all my cousins because every time I check I have more. Did you know Jacob married his cousins Rachel and Leah? Just an Old Testament fact.

Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving week,

-Elder Tekulve



 

12 November 2012 - Alma 5, Repentance and Cricket

Hello,

This week was an unusually busy week. We visited members we haven't seen before, some of whom were very glad to see us. Last Sunday we had an entertaining and informative fireside about the history of the English Bible. I also worked on giving a CD to one of our recent converts. People in the township will just soak up anything about Jesus Christ they can hear, whether it's true or not. He had an anti-mormon CD that he got somewhere, and we advised him that while we can't tell him what to do, it wouldn't build his faith. So I put some powerful General Conference talks on a CD for him to listen to instead.

Flag: Democratic.Republic
of Congo

Later in the week we met with more of our investigators, Alastair and Ronald. On Friday I was on exchanges in Mowbray with Elder Itina from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We talked to a less active member who was baptized many years ago but had let transgression take over his life. He noticed how at the time he was baptized he was happy and life was going well, and that he was not so happy now. I was inspired to share with him some scriptures in Alma chapter 5 and felt the Spirit strongly as I testified that the arms of mercy were extended to him on conditions of repentance.


Cricket is a popular sport in South Africa.
Click here to understand Cricket

On Saturday we met with Borther Norbury and his cricket friends. It was the first time I've seen a live cricket game. I still don't understand how it works.

On Sunday we spent most of the day helping Sister Rose move.

I love and pray for everyone and love to hear any news from home there is. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord on a mission.

-Elder Tekulve

05 November 2012 - Loving every minute..., Noah's Birthday

Brennan's brother, Noah,
celebrates his 16th Birthday

Hello,

Today is Noah's birthday! Happy birthday, Noah! Sorry I don't have a hat for you this year. Right now it's only been his birthday for 3 hours. Oh, and happy Halloween too. They don't really celebrate Halloween here.

As I said last week, our area is now split and Elder Krieger and I are working in Fish Hoek, Simon's Town, Oceanview, Kommetjie, etc. Most of our investigators were in Masiphumelele which is now the other Elders' area. So the tone of our missionary work has changed.We are doing a lot of working with and visiting members, some who we have never visited before. We will have to rely a lot more on the Spirit to guide us to those who are being prepared.

We haven't found any new investigators, but Ronald who I think I told you about earlier, is doing well. We taught the Word of Wisdom and found that he was taught by his mother that alcohol was bad, that there are really no drug problems in Zimbabwe where he's from, and that he doesn't like tea and coffee and hates cigarettes. He's definitely prepared, now he just needs to sort out work so he can come to church.
 

Elders Nkosi and Ramosoeu,
both from South Africa

I'm loving every minute of mission and it has brought me so many blessings. Not the least of which is the opportunity to bring blessings into the lives of others.

Love,
-Elder Tekulve


Elder Dladla from South Africa and
Elder Ricketts (the Greenie) from Nevada

Simon's Town is a Naval town. This is part of the harbor.