May 28.2012

Hello All,

This week has been a good one, but sad at the same time. My companion, Elder Peterson, has been baking a ton of cookies, which are really hard to come across here. Good American cookies. It has been awesome. The bad news is that he is leaving at transfers on Tuesday, and that I'm going to be training some new missionary. It sucks. I don't really even know what to do, how am I going to teach some new missionary what to do? It's kind of freaking me out. I hope I get another American at least. I really only hear nightmares about the African missionaries.

We've been working a lot. We've still been teaching a lot of lessons even though the number has been dropping. For some reason we can't get anyone to keep any commitments, which means that they'll never progress. It really sucks and is super discouraging. We keep on catching the people we're teaching doing horrible things. For example there is a family we are teaching, the wife is pregnant, and she sneaks off to smoke all of the time. Lots of things like that keep happening. Sometimes when I stop and look around at the people in these townships, I really can't imagine a more lost or fallen people. All you have to do is imagine the most horrible things that a person can do, and you can bet that it happens on a day to day basis here. And to top it off this week almost everyone in our flat has been sick, which is making it really hard to be diligent. I fail from time to time, but I'm trying.

A good thing is that having a green missionary will probably help me to be better at serving and loving the people. Another good thing about this week is that I finished the Book of Mormon again, and I applied the promise given in Moroni 10:3-5 and I can tell you that it is true. Without a doubt I know that this is the true church. I can't even begin to describe the worth of the scriptures in my life. They help me more than anything else really. They do make me feel like crap about myself a lot of the time, but they are what makes me humble and willing to serve. I promise that if you all make them a priority in your life, you will only be more and more blessed in every way. But you have to bite the apple to see what it tastes like for yourself.

Oh, and I also hit 6 months this week. 1/4 the way done.. What, what..

That's all that really happened. I am grateful for all of your prayers. I love and miss you all. 

Elder Balmforth

1. My burning a tie at my 6 months. I failed horribly. It was incredibly anticlimactic. 

2,3. Me eating a chicken foot.

4. My companion's look of disgust after I made him eat a chicken foot.

5. I just thought this one looked cool.