The food down here is amazing! I love it, so much!

Dear Family,

Here is the shortened video of Highway! Yes, that is pure raw meat on those tables. Sorry if it is hard to see. That place is crazyyy during busy times of the day. TIA. Did you like all those pictures I sent home?! I took a lot this week. (Pictures did not come through this week for some reason) Last p-day we went golfing....DANG! that was freakin fun. I asked the guy in the shop if he knew Torrey Pines...and he was jealous I was from there and asked "um why are you here?" haha.

Yeah mommy, I'm staying warm. I feel spoiled that I get to sit in a car all day, but people here don't have much heating in their houses, so sometimes lessons can be a tad bit chilly. Heck yeah I see mammas carrying things on their head ALL of the time! Its very common. I think their fake hair has something to do with it, and they put like a wrap on their head, so it balances it out.

Yeah, I've stayed at about the same weight. We watched all of those PMG DVD's in the MTC, but not really since then. I know they're from San Diego. that's good to hear you had a fireside..get that missionary work bumpin' in PQ! who knows, someday it's gonna be on fire like the work here in Mdantsane is!

It snows a tiny bit in Queenstown, and that might be the only place in the mission that that happens, but it probably snows other places in SA.

The food down here is amazing! I love it, so much. especially when the big Xhosa mammas cook a TON of food and the taste is indescribably! But some things that people feed us are...uhhh...African!  Elder Farley is convinced that he will never eat fish, cuz he always gets sick afterwards.  Last night on the drive home he said "Elder Haws, pull over" but he felt better after haha.

Yeah I keep a journal about every other day...and I don't write huge entries, but I do write down things I wanna remember.

Lets see, man, a lot has happened this past week. I had a blast with Elder Farley on exchanges. It was nice, cuz I went to his area, and he was totally in charge the entire day, so I could relax a bit.  Elder Barlow held down the fort in NU 1,3 & 4 while I was gone. At the end of the day, I really missed my area! and we walked that day, and it was kinda chilly and rainy, so I am grateful for the car. Thursday we had a booked day..taught 6 lessons, and Friday I drove over 130 K's cuz we went to the area, then at like 3 o'clock we had to drive the zone leaders back to town to fetch their car from the shop.

Like the pictures show, we did that sweet service project on Saturday. It went very well. It took us most of the day, but it needed to be fixed. The shack looked like it was going to fall over. Shakes, the guy who used to stay there, who is now on mission serving in Uganda, will be happy to know that we did that for his grandma. Shakes is a legend in Mdantsane. while he was still here, if he wasn't with the missionaries fellow-shipping, he was either visiting members, cleaning the chapel, or doing service. I kid you not. It was unbelievable. He is for sure one of the most Christ-like people that I have ever met before, and yessie he knows the gospel!

Yesterday was our 2 baptisms! wow, what a special day. I told Chris that missionaries come and go, but people in the ward most likely stick around, so it would be nice if one of the members baptized him, but he told me he was like super-glue..he was stuck on ME! I was honored that he wanted me to. then, mamma Pam, who is over 60 and not so limber as she used to be, also asked if I would baptize her. so I did! What a special experience! yoahh the water was chilly, but it was perfect. I dunked mamma Pam, then Sinothando (Chris) was next. it was awesome. They both were SO happy! and I was too. and even better, we had 2 investigators that are well on their way to be baptized there and they witnessed the baptism.

Sad news, I saw a dead guy laying in the street next to a car with a big dent in it. sad. most likely was drunk. Rest in peace.

But, on a happier note, on Thursday night, after a busy day in the mission field, our district decided to spend the night at Spur! now, Spur is a sweeeet restaurant in town! Just like any popular place in the states...and the naughty thing there are TV's! and it just so happened to be the night that the championship for soccer was on...Manchester United and Barcelona! hahah! oops. We watched the first half and enjoyed some dessert. We also got to watch some Rugby! WOW! What a freakin' awesome sport! sheesh! Those oaks are Massive! Big and super fast! I'm not sure about all of the rules of the game, but it was fun and exciting to watch, even though we weren't really supposed to. Trust me, there are a lot of missionaries out there who do a lot worse! haha

Well, this could be my last full week here in East London and Mdantsane! Who knows, but what I do know is that I have been in East London for a very long time. Everyone says EL is the place to be, and I can see why!  I'm excited to get transfer news...maybe I'll stay, maybe I'll go! Stay tuned.

So already this year I finished the Book of Mormon in 2 months, and have blazed through most the new testament and am currently in Romans. Check out Romans chapter 12. Short, but powerful. also, I discovered an amazing set of verses on the Atonement. D&C 45:3-5

The church is true!
Keep Well

LOVE YA!
Elder Dusty Haws

P.S. I just got a phone call from the mission vehicle coordinator and he said that today we're going to be getting a new car! yahoo!