The Missionary Training Center
in Johannesburg South Africa
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| I found this picture on LDS.org. I have yet to receive pictures from Preston. |
When Elder Winn arrived at the MTC, he was able to send us a quick email. After tracking his plane off and on through the night and morning, we knew the precise time his plane landed. I could fill this page with the questions I wanted answered. Did all of is luggage make it? Did he sleep. Did his legs fall asleep on the plane? Was he comfortable? This is the email we got.
Dear Mom and Dad,
The plane didn't crash, so I made it to the MTC!
No need to worry.
I can send a real email on Tuesday!
After one of the longest weeks of my life, his first real email came in at 5:38 am on Tuesday, September 12. What was I doing? Trying to sleep while anxiously awaiting the sound of my notifications to alert me that the email had been delivered to my inbox. Oh, the glory of those emails. Here are excerpts.
mamhueyi muri shamwari!
(Hello Friends and Family)
I survived the 24 hours of fly time. our flight from Atlanta got delayed because of a freak storm, so we got some extra time to hang out in the terminal and bond as a group. It's amazing how many weird looks a group of 24 well dressed young men and women get when they are hanging out in an airport terminal.
I have been at the South Africa MTC for six and a half days now! Hard to believe, isn't it? If you went to, or are at the Provo MTC, I feel bad. It is so awesome here! I know every single one of the 38 people here at the SA MTC. Our district has eight people in it, and we are the dream team.
President and Sister Ashton are the most hilarious/inspiring people. When we walked in they had bags of laundry soap sitting on the table for us, and they continually refer to them by the name of various illegal drugs.
Unfortunately, I can't send you pictures because I only have 25 minutes to write to you all. However, it is beautiful here! Every time we go outside we are reminded of the fact that we are in africa, the plants are all so unique, and are nothing like the ones in america. We have palm trees, cactuses, as well as these funky looking trees that have red spiky flowers on them that look like something from Jumanji! A field on the campus caught on fire last week, and it is still smouldering, the smell of the smoke reminds me of home! The Bananas are spectacular here.
We get to go outside and play volleyball, soccer, basketball, or frisbee for an hour. This is the most amazing thing ever because the weather is perfect here. A cool 85 degrees all day every day.
I know you have all missed me immensely, but unfortunately my time is running out on the computers. I just want to let you all know that I love and miss you all and that once I finish my MTC time my emails will get a lot better. There will be plenty of pictures.
See you all next week!
Having a missionary out is such an emotional experience. You never know when a drip will escape from your eyes. Some things are a given. In my case "Africa" by Toto. That song gets me every time. And it's not just that I miss my boy. There are so many emotions behind it. I just really can't describe all the emotions here but then the next email comes in.
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| Johannesburg Temple. Another picture from LDS.org since I have not yet received any photos from Preston |
Hey Guys! 'm Still alive!
I have not been eaten by lions yet!
Once again, I don't have a lot of time to email, and won''t until I get to the field. I apologize if I don't get to reply to you
On Thursday we went to the temple, it was pretty cool. It was especially cool because we got to drive through JoBurg, and see what it is like during the day (we flew in at night).
So, a little description of Johannesburg. Every building in the city is surrounded by large fences topped with Barbed or Electric wire! Luckily, here at the MTC we have a nice guy who sits in a security booth to keep us safe!
Anyway, All three African Elders who were going to the temple for the first time were in our District, so all of us (besides the sisters) got to go early and explore the grounds. There were cool trees and stuff. Very unique compared to the ones in utah!
Once Sister Gubler, and Sister Sehlako (Sek-La-Ko) arrived we took a group picture. I have all sorts of cool pictures, but I can't send them to you yet.
By the way, I fly out to Uganda on next Tuesday, so I won't be able to email. You probably won't hear from me again until the following Monday.
The Cleaning Ladies here are literally ninjas. I put a load of laundry in the washer before class, and came down later to switch them around. They were dry and neatly folded on the washer! #Blessings
I don't know what else to say,our district is amazing! we are like a nice little 10 member family. We play jokes on each other, and have more fun than we probably should. I'm having fun, and could probably write lots of stories but you probably wouldnt find them as funny as I do, so I will refrain.
Anyway, Thanks Ya'll for the love and support! Catch you next Time!
PS. I have heard more Africans say "eh" at the end of a sentence in the last week than I ever heard a canadian say. Food for Thought!
Love,
Elder Winn
Uganda Kampala Mission
