07/06/2015

Hey,                                                                                                         July 6,2015

This last week has been what you would call an average week serving a mission. Full of highs and lows. 

This last P-day we went to down to the water front mall to explore and check things out. The water front mall is vast and sells brands of clothing from just about everywhere in the world. It also includes a harbor with some cool ships that someone can pay to ride.

On Tuesday we spent a healthy portion of the day doing some street contacting. It was a mixed bag of success. Finding in our area can be a challenge at times so we are trying to get the ward behind on us in boosting member missionary work.

We've had some good results and members are starting to give us referrals. We also had exchanges this week. So on Tuesday night I went over to the Milnerton elder's flat and stayed the night. The next day I went out and worked in their area with our district leader. He is from Chile and very proud of the fact that he is Latin American. 

Their area extends into the more urban part of Cape Town so it was kind of refreshing to work in that kind of environment versus the suburbs. 

We taught some very spiritual lessons this week and some less spiritual ones. We taught this one guy you just wanted to argue and debate with us the whole time and he got very angry when I told him that we weren't there for a debate and that he should just try listen.

The fourth of July was on Saturday so we celebrated by having a braai with some of the members of the ward who live in our area. We also went to an American themed diner and I bought some pork ribs. It was so nice.

I have come to learn that the key to be successful missionary and a successful person is consistency. We have to learn to stay consistent in the face of the discouragement, long days, and all kinds of  adversity.

I am always grateful for the small lessons that I learn every day I am trying be always a better man each day.

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

06/29/2015

Hey everyone,                                                                                    June 29th, 2015

Sorry for the lack of a blog letter last week. Things got sort of busy and I ran out of time emailing I'm starting to really love my area though. It is a very beautiful place at times.

It is very a different environment than George. Our area is on the edge of the city and is mostly gated suburbs. One thing I like about my new area is that is that English is the majority language and most people here speak it beautifully. 

There is a township on the edge of our area called Dunoon. It is easily the most densely packed township I have ever worked. The streets are tiny and very narrow. Often, people just park in the middle of the street so driving is very scary.

There is a large number of people from Angola living in our area. We have been visiting members and teaching quite a few people who speak Portuguese. We placed three Portuguese Books of Mormons last week. South Africa is just an incredibly diverse country.

There is a less active in area who recently graduated from BYU-Idaho. The school that I'm attending after my mission. He has some really funny dating stories about that place and is a lot of fun to talk to. He just needs to go to church.

We had a really fun last Monday. We went to a lions park near Paarl. Most of our zone also went. We nearly got kicked out of the park because some of the missionaries started messing around and trying to provoke the lions.

The previous P-day we went to the Fort of Good Hope in downtown Cape Town. It is an old Dutch fort built in the 17th century. It was endlessly fascinating to me to read about the history of the old cape colony and the very complex history of South Africa.

We have had some very powerful and inspired lessons with people and I have seen the difference that teaching by the Spirit can make in peoples lives.

I am so grateful for this amazing time to serve the Lord.

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

06/15/2015

Hey everyone,                                                                                      June 15,2015

Last Wednesday, I left George by plane and arrived in Cape Town. The AP's picked me up at the airport and drove me to the mission home where I met my new companion. He is Elder Gurney from Utah. We then drove to Tableview.

I am now serving in my new area. It is a part of Cape Town named Tableview. It is named after its view of Table mountain way on the other side of the bay. It is a very beautiful place. Especially closer to the sea.

The area in which we work has a lot of suburbs and flat complexes. Most of them are heavily gated so tracting is very ineffective. That means we have to do a lot of street contacting in order to find investigators.

We are attached to the Milnerton ward in the Bellville stake. It is in the same stake as Paarl. Which was cool because yesterday was ward conference and people serving in the stake from Paarl were there.

There are six missionaries total serving our ward. So we kinda have to share the members with them. The ward is greatly different then the small branch in George. It has a lot of members and is predominantly white.

It looks like Elder Dangerfield followed me into my next zone because he is now my zone leader which is very funny. The weather has been very cool and rainy lately across Cape Town due to the fact that it is winter.

I have a funny story for this week. We were teaching this Zimbabwean family and their child was crying so the mother decided to quite the child through breast feeding. The crazy thing was that she didn't even try to cover herself while feeding the baby.

 So the lesson got very awkward because I couldn't even look at the family. I then made the decision to cut the lesson short because there was no way I could feel the spirit anymore.

I am very excited to serve in Cape Town and for the experiences that I will have here.

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

06/08/2015

Hey everyone,                                                                        June 8,2015

My most sincere apologies for failing to write last week. My Mondays have been a bit hectic recently. 

Well I got my transfer news. I am going to serve in Cape Town in the Tableview area. My new companion is Elder Gurney from Utah U.S. Like Elder Brown he is in the same transfer as I am. But, he came from the Provo MTC instead of the Joberg MTC. So I haven't met him yet. I leave for Cape Town by plane on Wednesday. 

It is going to be a big change of pace for me. Cape Town is crawling with missionaries while there are only two who serve in George. Tableview is attached to the Milnerton ward which has a total of six missionaries serving in it.

It looks like my time spent serving in George is over. I have served here for four and a half months. Looking back, when I first got I didn't think I would enjoy my assignment here. George is one of the hardest areas to serve in the whole mission. I didn't think I could handle it.

But now, I can honestly say that it has been probably one of the biggest growing experiences for me in my entire life. The memories of this place will be forever burned into my mind. I love this place and the people who I have grown close to. 

Although statistically speaking I didn't have very much success, I know that I planted seeds and helped strengthen the Lord's church here.

My last few days here have been somewhat emotional. I have always been terrible at goodbyes. 

There is so many people who I am going to miss. I want to return and visit some time in the future. I don't know when that will be though.

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting. I got up and bore my final testimony to the members of the George branch. I hope it was powerful.

Today is my final P-day here and I am planning on making the most of it. The YSA in the branch are going to have a final send off braii for me this evening and Elder Brown and I are planning to eat somewhere cool for my last supper here.

I have now been out on mission for seven and a half months. Time keeps moving forward. It only feels like yesterday when I first stepped off that plane in Johannesburg.

Times like this make me reflect on how far I have come and how farther I want to go to reach that potential that I know that I have. 

I know that this church is true. There hasn't been a time in whole life where I didn't know it was true. I know that if stay true to the covenants that I've made and never stray from them that I will achieve eternal happiness. 

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

05/25/2015

Hey,                                             May, 25th, 2015

Another week has come and gone here in SA. The weather has been quite cool at night but it still gets warm during the day. 

This last week has been wonderful for missionary work. Elder Brown and I made the decision to fast and pray every single Sunday for the branch and for missionary work. The results have been nothing short of inspiring.

We have been teaching this one family for awhile. But up until now they haven't really taken the missionaries seriously. But, this last week every single lesson that we taught was powerful and spiritual. This family came to churchon Sunday and now are on the fast track towards being baptized. 

We have also had similar experiences with in-active members of the church who have decided that now is the time to return to the fold. I have a firm testimony of testing God's promises through fasting and praying. So the work is improving here. 

The members are finally catching the wave and stepping up to help this branch. We have a long way to go still and some big obstacles to overcome. But, I know that things are going to work out. 

The Assistants to the president are coming down this week to go on exchanges with us for about 3 days. Transfers are coming up soon here and the chances of me being transferred are high. So we'll see what happens.

The Kjar's fed us last night with a delicious meal of ostrich steak and gravy plus mashed potatoes. The local cuisine is really starting to grow on me.

The work is still hard but we are making small steps in the right direction. We are planning on doing a ton of finding this week with the Assistants. Hopefully, our teaching pool will be a lot better by the end of this week.

I can't believe how fast time has gone. At this time a year ago, I had just graduated from high school. Now I am serving a mission in a foreign country on the far side of the world. It is truly amazing how much can change over the course of just one year. 

I am so grateful to be out serving a mission and for the change that I have brought about in my life and in the lives of others.

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

05/20/2015

Hey,                                                                                                               May 20, 2015

Well this last week has been pretty busy. We have been working very hard to increase our teaching pool. Two weeks ago, a member of the seventy came to our zone conference and he gave a really powerful talk. It has motivated Elder Brown and I a lot. So we made a covenant that to always be diligent and to not get discouraged when times are hard.

We have been praying and fasting as a companionship for the branch here in George. For less actives to return to church and that we can find some people that can help strengthen the church here. 

So we did some finding last week and we've had some success.  We found a really wonderful family that lives in town. We had a super powerful lesson with them.
This last Sunday was branch conference. Our mission president,  President Merrill spoke,  it was truly amazing. He radiated with the spirit when he was talking.  I know that the message that he gave was inspired. 

The weather here continues to be very mild.  A South African winter is approaching soon. Which means the nights are getting a bit chilly. So last Monday was a real blast. We went up to Oudsthoorn to tour this very famous cave system called Cango Caves. It is a very popular tourist destination. We were led by a guide through the cave system. There were some parts of the caves that had stone age drawings on the walls that were made by bushmen long ago.

The tour was pretty awesome and we had a fun time. After we visted the caves, we went to tour an ostrich farm. We got to see and handle ostrich eggs and see how ostrich leather was made. We then walked around the farm and got to handle the ostriches. And finally,  I got to ride on of them. The pictures are priceless. 

So overall it was a good week. We stayed busy and taught some very powerful lessons.  Transfers are coming up soon and there is a big chance that I am going to be transferred somewhere else.  Which is going to be very difficult because I have been here for nearly four months now and I have really grown to love the people here and I have made some good friends in George.  

Serving a mission goes by very fast and right when you really start loving an area you get transferred to another area. However, I am so grateful to be here and for work that I've done. 

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick

05/11/2015

                                                                                                                 


Hey,                                                                                                May 11,2015

So It has been a pretty awesome last week.On Thursday we drove down to Port Elizabeth for a zone conference. The next morning we had a meeting with  Elder David Evans of the first quorum of the seventy.

He spoke to us about what we need to do as missionaries to build up the church here in South Africa. He laid out goals for us to meet and then took questions from missionaries about how we could implement these goals.

We were then addressed by President Merrill. He was just as powerful and spiritual as always. Following the meeting, we drove the long road back to George.

I have to admit that the zone conference had a real impact on Elder Brown and I. We have decided that we need to be more diligent and powerful missionaries. Which means we are going to hit the pavement this week and do a lot of finding. 

Our teaching pool as actually gotten better this last week. We have had several people referred to us by people and members so it has really gotten better and hopefully we will be a lot busier.

Sunday was mothers day which meant that we could Skype our families. Which was awesome. It was so wonderful to talk to my family and to see their faces and feel their love. Answering their questions about SA was a real blast. 

After talking with them, it felt like I was jolted back in to reality. 

The weather here continues to be fair and mild. Though it rains a lot more frequently now.

Attendance at sacrament meeting has gotten better steadily over the course of time. We have been trying very hard to work with less actives and help them have the desire to return to the fold.

The members of the branch are really starting to trust us now. It has taken awhile but they are really starting to lean on us and value our advice and council.

We have been working with the branch president often. We meet with him once a week at his house to discuss ways we can help out the members here.

The work is moving forward. Slowly but surely. 

Love,

Elder Sean Patrick Herrick