Help the Missionaries with the work!

Mom, I am soooooo happy with all those pictures and about the Women's Conference! :) It's so sweet!!  haha Eish. I miss you guys! Want to just come up here in 15 months? Time is FLYING!!! Lesotho is too cool. Time just goes. My companion is once again Elder Allen from Texas...aka my brother from another Mme. We really enjoy working together. The work is progressing and we are setting up some activities and ideas and centers of strength here. This work is so amazing. How is the ward back home? HELP THOSE MISSIONARIES WITH THE WORK! Chances are they care more for the growth of the ward than you do! Serious! Missionaries Pray and work and slave just to bring people unto Christ! Help them! Throwing food in there isn't too bad either! :P We really don't get that much here. 

How are you all? This week was nice. We were knocking on a door when we realized a pig (HUGE PIG) was out of it's pen....we talked to the Ntate (man) there and asked to help herd it back. I got a stick then and ran it back into the pen. My companion and I cornered it and tried to push it back but it reared up and charged my companion hahahaha I was laughing soooo hard but we managed to get it back in hahahaha :)  I have also been charged by a ram but he was on a chain so I stood just out of reach and laughed as it ran at me and hit the end of his chain  :P hahaha Oh animals....

So the YSA's (young single adults) are going to start doing couple visits with us every Sunday for two hours...they get the free date and ride and the spirit is invited too! What more could you want besides two spiritual giants sitting in the front seats ;) hahaha I ride in the back :) 

Has my package arrived yet?? Eish it takes forever!!!! I sent it January 7. 

I went to Bloemfontein this week too with the Carliles. (couple). He served here a long time ago and speaks Afrikaans. I am going to learn that language. It is really cool. I also  got to go to South Africa a little bit and it felt like home....I love you all sooooo much! Ngiyanithanda Kakhulu! Kelerata hahulu!!!!! :) 

Love, thanda, rata,

Elder Petrie

Fully Invested in the Work!

Wow, you’re right; I’m almost 20…where did the time go? Eish. Oh well...probably still going to play with army men scratch that...I WILL :P haha This time it will be Zulus versus Basotho ha.

So now I think I can say I know Sesotho. I can understand it. I can speak it. Not exactly like a native but I'm trying... I just had a talk in church and I talked about Faith and the need for acting on it so we can receive miracles...it was pretty nice to address all at once instead of just individually.

The branch is growing and some groups may get started. We had a baptism for a very VERY powerful man that has been taught for 9 years.

To answer your question about the food we eat, we have a store we go to and the yes, the water is still bad, it tastes weird but I drink it anyways. Sometimes you pay for it, sometimes you don't haha.

 I don't really think I'll need a jacket guys...haha I'll just give it to an African. I'll just wear my Basotho blanket. Mom I'm wearing those boots now and also the hat haha.

Sooooo what's good? How is home? It seems so weird to think about home. It's like a dream but not…but it is…but it's not.....U Utloa? I don't either haha. It's weird to think I'm in the land of The Lion King haha

I love this work and I feel so fully invested in it. I am working very hard in Lesotho to see this place GROW!!!! I love you all sooooooo very much! Have a good week!!! Ngiyanithanda! Kealerata!!

Love,

Elder Petrie
 This is a picture from the Johannesburg MTC back in July 2013.

The spirit of Elijah!

Lumela lelapa laka! Sorry this letter was late! I was doing interviews with my President this week on Monday and it took our whole Zones P day but we love President too much so it's all good ;) haha

So, my new companion is Elder Jensen and he is from St. Johns and he is a hunter. He’s hunted a LOT. Makes me jealous haha but we get along real well. He has his thick Arizona accent and I have my girly sounding South African accent. That makes me jealous too...haha I love the guy though.

The work has been going really well lately. People are accepting the message a LOT!!! Our President has given us a new resource to use that they said we would be piloting. We are the first to use them. They are books to fill out family history. The brethren feel as if the internet is not available to some, so they will be providing a book that they can use to write down family history, I love these things. So I have been able to feel the spirit of Elijah as we do this work now and I would ask for my grandparents name and my great grandparents name so I can fill in my own booklet and then any stories or memories you have of them. I love this work!

So, I have been able to speak Zulu this week because we had ward conference and some Xhosa's came. They speak isixhosa which is similar to Zulu so we talked to each other. Other than that...I can understand some Sesotho and I can speak a little as well; enough to communicate as a little child hah.

OH!!!! I got to see the King this week at a funeral...He addressed us in the audience and it was super cool! He is a humble guy that acts just like everyone else. I couldn’t help but think about the difference I felt when Elder Bednar came. I love Lesotho sooooo much though. I am feeling a lot of stress from my responsibility but things are going good. I still love the people more than anything and this work is my tool to help them! I love this work! Have a good week! I love you all so much :)

Sharp Sharp!

Elder W. Clay Petrie

Having a lot of Success!

To answer your question, yes, they wear rubber boots here called Gum boots and I'm 

actually getting some today. 

You have to let me know when you get my package!!! 

 I love my companion soooooo much. He is leaving though. It's the middle of transfers but it's Presidents order. There was an Elder riding his bike in Leribe (another area in Lesotho) and he got in an accident and broke his arm. Since we drive a bakkie, he will be coming to me, so Elder Allen will replace him. We are both pretty bummed because we are getting along so well. The good thing is is that we will continue to keep in contact and hopefully even stay friends at home as well. This guy was such an awesome companion. Life is easy. So, I will be getting Elder Jensen who is also cool. He is from St. Johns Arizona and I rode on the bus with him up to Lesotho. 

So I tried to post pictures, but the computer here is lame sauce so it won't upload. 

We have been having A LOT of success with bringing people to the truth of the gospel here. Many are accepting the message and this place is really preparing to grow. I walked this week with an elder on exchanges and it was POURING. I didn't take an umbrella cause those are for girls, (haha), and by the end of the day we saw ONE person. I was walking through the puddles by the end of the day haha It was pathetic. Eish. Oh well. This week was pretty nice though!

 I love you all and hope you have a splendid week in the promise land. 

 Love you! Kealerata!

Love,

Elder Petrie

I am now umsotho!

Sorry I couldn't email yesterday...I was at a zone activity at Semonkong. You could probably Google it and find it. We hiked all the way to the falls and the water from the mist soaked us. We then hiked up and had a braai (bbq) and it started to rain so we carried the braai stand all the way up to the bakkies (trucks) and put it under some cover and continued our braai haha in the pouring rain and the lighting here by the way during storms is as loud as a gunshot holy cow....But it was sweet! Then I drove on some muddy roads through the mountains and almost got stuck a lot haha But didn't!!! :)

Our winter is still coming and it is still summer..ish here; rainy season. But winter will come in April or May, I think. It MAY snow but maybe only in the mountains. It gets cold but the people here wear these blankets as cultural wear so I'll probably just do that.... The water isn't completely clean but my body has grown accustom to it. Also, those purifying bottles don't work cause they were going to give them to us but apparently they don't do much so they stopped giving them. It's OK, I am now umsotho; a person from Lesotho. I don't need any jackets and I don't need any boots. I'll be fine. People survive here with what they have so I can also. I find if you really want to love the people you live like they do with the exception of the sacred calling we, as missionaries, have. So I'll get through don't worry. If you send anything I'll probably just give it to the African kids that need it. There is no air conditioning in any houses in SA or Lesotho. It\s cool. The houses are colder or hotter than outside cause they are built out of concrete. haha We have ways of making it hot though so we'll be fine. We're just being cautious with bed bugs. The mission has helped but there are still some in some areas. Not our boarding for now though.

We have to find an email shop to email. In Lesotho, it's hard sometimes because the internet can go down and most shops then won't have it....The scariest thing here is the drivers!!!! This place has the craziest drivers!!! It's even worse than South Africa and that is saying something haha. Man!

It's pretty peaceful though, because it's mostly rural where I serve; just poor people with their farms and stuff. We eat alright; the people don't feed us really because they don't have enough. Branch President does, they give us some crops sometimes. We get corn now because it's in season. We also got some pig meat cause a family slaughtered one not too long ago so we cooked it on a fire outside our boarding.

My companion and I are getting along really well and we are doing a lot of good work here. I love this place!!! We are surrounded by mountains and there are people just riding by on horses or donkeys herding sheep or cattle. 

The language is coming. We have many people that are beginning to trust missionaries again and many are starting to accept this message and choose to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. This, of course is only the beginning of their journey though. Well I love you all and I hope you have a nice week!!!! Ngiyanithanda! Ke le rata! Sala kahle Sala Hontle!!

Love, Thando, Rato,

Elder Petrie