04/20/2015

Hey,                                                                                                                                           April 20th,2015

Another week has come and gone here in George, South Africa. We had zone training in Port Elizabeth last week. We arrived Tuesday evening after a three hour drive. The next morning we had the training which consisted of a lesson by the zone leaders and then an interview with President Merrill. 

After the interview, President Merrill got up and gave a powerful talk in how we need to press on and do our very best to endure to the end. At the conclusion of the training, we were fed lunch.

The interview went very well. President Merrill is a very spiritual guy and it is easy to see that he cares deeply for every missionary serving in our mission. Overall, the zone training was a an uplifting experience which motivated me to try my best to reach my full potential as a missionary.

After that, we drove back to George. The next evening we had a meal with a super friendly Xhosa family in the branch. Our meal consisted of rice, lamb, pap,( It's kind of like corn meal) and some orange, mushy stuff that I can't name. But, it was all delicious.

Winter is fast approaching here. For the first time in a long time, I woke up feeling cold. It gets down to like 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night now. Though from what I hear, the winters here are nothing like the winters back home.

The branch here had two baptisms last Sunday. It was these two ladies that the senior couple the Kjars, were teaching. A big portion of the branch turned up to watch the baptisms. Which was awesome. 

Our teaching pool right now isn't the best. A lot of people have dropped our appointments which is never fun. So the work is still rather difficult.

Last P-day was fun though. We drove down to Mossel Bay and went to the mall there. After that, we visited the light house and some very old caves that were apparently first inhabited in the Stone Age.

Transfers are coming up soon and I am wondering whether I am going to stay in George or not. There is a only a small chance that I am going to get transferred I think.

Overall, it was a powerful week. I have a sincere desire to change, grow and become the person that I have always aspired to be.

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

Pics George South Africa

Zebras spotted during a drive on P-day.

Over looking Indian Ocean

Beautiful scene near George,S.A.

Elder Herrick and Elder Brown with Branch member?

4/13/2015

Hey,                                                                                                                                April 13th, 2015

I just want to open this post by apologizing for not posting anything last week. The only time we have to email is Monday morning and last Monday we got really busy and had next to zero time to email.

So a lot has happened recently. The work here is progressing forward. We have expanded our teaching pool considerably. Elder Brown and I have been working extra hard to strengthen the members of the branch. We have set a goal to visit every person on the branch list. Active or less-active.

I think we have been somewhat successful because attendance at sacrament is getting better and the members are really starting to trust us and rely on us. Hopefully, by the time I leave George, we will have sown enough seeds for future missionaries to harvest. So yeah we are staying busy.

General Conference was awesome and spiritual as always. I really appreciated Elder Jeffery R. Hollands talk as well as the really powerful talk that the church Relief Society general president gave. It is so weird listening to the talks and thinking how far away from home I am at this time.

The weather here is still pretty warm. It got up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit last Friday. The last few P-days here have been awesome. A couple of weeks ago, we went for a long drive in the mountains surrounding the George area. It is a thickly forested area with some spectacular views and scenic wildlife.

Apparently, there is a small leopard population that reside there so we kept looking for them. We actually saw some zebras and springboks for the first time. It was very cool. Going on a random driving adventure has been our primary source of entertainment recently.

There our a ton of cool places to see and take pictures of here. We see a lot of crazy stuff here on a daily basis. Ranging from witchdoctors walking around in the Xhosa township to the insane drivers here.

The members of the branch here really trust us. They keep us busy with all kinds of stuff. It is funny when we plan for the day as a companionship. Because nothing every go according to plan here.

Everyone here operates on African time which means there is no set time for anything and a lot of thing just randomly happen. For example, a random phone call asking for us to come instantly is rather commonplace here.  So there is never a dull moment while serving a mission in South Africa.

Yeah, it can get a bit hectic at times. But, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love serving the people here in George. I am so thankful for this gospel in my life and for the privledge of serving a mission for the Lord.

Cheers!

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

Pics-George, South Africa

Township Houses



Elder Herrick and Elder Brown          George, South Africa

03/23/2015

Hey everyone,                                                                                                  March 23, 2015

A lot of the changes have happened over the course of this last week. Elder Moliki left and went for his next assignment in Fish Hoek in Cape Town. It was transfer week. My new companion flew in from Cape Town on Wednesday. His name is Elder Brown form West Jordan Utah. He is a pretty cool guy. We have been out on mission for the the same amount of time. Just under 5 months. So we were in the Joberg MTC together.

We spent the last few days working with less actives. Which isn't the most fun work in the world but it is still rewarding. We had a awesome dinner appointment with a familt last Friday in possibly one of the most scenic locations on the coastline.

The work is still slow here. We still haven't manged to find any progressing investigators. We decided as a companionship to work less in the township and focus on more prosperous areas to serve. Teaching and finding in a township is very easy. But finding really committed people who have transport to church is a real challenge. Since many people can't afford cars.

The weather has been pretty mild here. Not very hot and not that cold. Mornings here are always a real treat because you look up and see the mountains always covered in clouds and stuff. The birds here are also way cool. They sound and look quite different than the ones back home.

I haven't seen any major wildlife in awhile but it is rumored that leopards roam the mountain forests just above George. I would like to check it out some time in the near future.

My spiritual highlight for this week would be a lesson that we taught to a lady who was going through some really serious challenges in her life at the moment. She lives in such poverty that would be unimaginable back home. I could tell that she and her family were really struggling and that the message that we shared brought here to tears. She was so thankful for the comfort that we gave her and the spirit that she felt.

The most rewarding part of being a missionary is the when you get to see the joy that the gospel brings to their lives. It is so awesome when you get to bear your testimony to people and you can tell that the spirit has touched their hearts.

I am so grateful for the restored gospel in my life and all the joy and peace that it has given me.

Sincerely,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

03/16/2015

                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                     March 16th, 2015

Hey,

So the weather is getting progressively cooler here and it is raining almost every other day. So I think that Summer here is drawing to a close. 

Transfers are this week and on Saturday the Zone Leaders called us and said that Elder Moliki is going to be transferred to Fish Hoek in Cape Town and my new companion is Elder Brown who is in my transfer. We know each other from the MTC.

Something scary happened in one of the townships that we work in. Apparently, a young man fell out of favor with the gang that he was part of so about 30 of them stabbed him to death in the middle of the street. We heard about it from one of the people that we see and we were warned not to go into that area. So I think that we will definitely steer clear of it.

On the bright side, We have been teaching some truly amazing people. Last week, I mentioned a guy who walked a very long distance to our church because he felt it was the true church. His name is Ernest. He is really humble and wants to seek to find a church that will strengthen his family.

On Friday, George held an international food festival which featured food from U.S Germany U.K S.A Japan etc. Some of the food there looked good. I went to the America booth and I wasn't surprised when they were serving hamburgers and brownies. Stereotypes never die.

It is true that serving a mission is difficult. But, it is so worth it. I know that I go through these trials for a reason. There is always a lesson to be learned. My faith grows each time. 

I am really looking forward to continuing on as I learn more and grow as a person. Every day.

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick 

03/09/2015

                                                                                                                                 March 9th 2015

Hey,

So we had zone conference in Port Elizabeth last week. It was a very long drive from George to Port Elizabeth. But, it was also a beautiful drive. There is a lot of scenic stuff on the way there. The drive is by the sea. We arrived in PE in the evening. We spent like an hour just driving around the city and just exploring the area. After that, we met up with the zone leaders at their flat and our whole zone gathered for a zone finding activity. It was pretty cool to see all the other missionaries.

The finding activity was pretty fun. We spent some time tracting in a very prosperous area. But, we were actually quite successful in talking to people. We spent the night with some of the missionaries at their flat and we had a pretty good time. We bought some South African KFC talked for awhile.

The next morning was zone conference. Our mission president, President Merrill gave a really power training on how to be better teachers as missionaries. We then were fed with some really good lunch from a South African fast food place known as Wimpy's.

After the conference, we said farewell to everyone in Port Elizabeth and started the long journey back to George. We have been teaching a lot more people recently. Some of them have set really powerful examples to me of detected people. 

This one guy walked all the way from his home in another town to our branch in George. He did this because he felt that his life was empty and he was looking for the true church. My faith has been definitely strengthened by the example of this man. My testimony of the this restored gospel has also been increased by the examples of others. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to serve the Lord for two years.

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick