Dear Friends:
The new year has certainly brought new changes for us! We entered the MTC on December 31st and experienced seven days of intense motivational and highly spiritual instruction. Our lessons were from Preach My Gospel and then we had the opportunity to teach the principles to church service volunteers who played the roles of investigators, less actives, and recently baptized converts. We were given so little time to prepare that we had to rely on the Spirit, which was what they were really trying to teach us.
In our group there were four senior couples called to serve in South Africa--2 in Johannesburg, 1 in Durbin, and us in the Cape Town Mission. One of the most fun parts of the MTC was being around the young Elders and Sisters. They were always so polite to the senior couples and their enthusiasm was very infectious. In a devotional and fireside, we had the opportunity to hear Brother and Sister Douglas L. Callister of the Seventy, and Bruce D. Harper of the Missionary Department.
On Monday, January 7th we departed the MTC and arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on Wednesday, January 9th via Chicago and London after 22 hours in the air. We spent one day with our Mission President, Richard Egan, and his wife. They are wonderful leaders and they were so kind to us. He gave us the assignment to provide missionary support for 30 elders in the East London area. We will also be working with leadership development for one of the wards in Mdantsane, a black township. After just 24 hours with the Mission President, we boarded a "puddle jumper" commuter plane to go to East London which is further east from Cape Town along the coast on the Indian Ocean.
The weather here has been hot and humid for some days and rainy for the others. The countryside is incredibly lush and green. We have been told that sometimes there are monkeys playing in trees in our back yard! We are living in a house that is part of a retirement community with a beautiful view of the Gonubie River and Valley. It is not a hut in the desert!!! It is as nice as we could have ever dreamed of. Our home serves as a Bread and Breakfast when other couples come to the area for conferences or training having to do with their special assignments such as church employment or CES.
We were busy from the time we stepped off the plane getting oriented to driving on the opposite side of the road, finding key businesses and shopping locations, and locating the four chapels in our area. There are 5 functioning wards and 1 branch in our assigned area. All wards have members of European decent, primarily English or Dutch, and also of the native African Xhosa tribe. We have found that the members are very warm and welcoming, especially the Xhosa. Seven of the 30 young elders are black, from various areas of Africa. They speak excellent English as well as their own native tongue. We have never heard so many variations of the English language as there is here!
So far we have attended our district meeting, an LDS/Xhosa funeral, and Sunday services in two wards. Elder Allen was called on to speak at a memorial service at the home of the deceased prior to the formal funeral, and we both were called up from the congregation to bear our testimonies on Sunday.
It appears that we will be teaching the Old Testament Institute class once a week in the black township, in addition to our missionary support efforts.
It is hard to believe we have been here barely a week--so much has happened! But already we love the people and the land. We know this is the Lord's work and bear testimony of God, Our Father; Jesus, the Christ; Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration; and President Hinckley, the Prophet of today.
Love to all,
Elder and Sister Allen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hi Mom and Dad. We loved the letter! When we read it to the girls they thought that it was pretty cool that you have monkeys that play in your back yard! If you see some, you need to be sure to take pictures. We are so glad that your home is comfortable and that you are enjoying working with the Elders, Sisters, and ward members. You both have so many talents that will help lift those around you.
Hi Mom and Dad! It was great talking to you. Hopefully once your computer is up and running, you'll send some pictures. Really enjoy the letters. Life here is pretty much the same, the Aggies are ruling the WAC, football is coming to an end :( and work is keeping me busy w/new projects, but I love being at Zions. The new bishopric is getting alone really well, I think most of the ward members really like the new bishop, it's certainly keeping me busy trying to keep track of all three of their schedules, making sure we cover everything in meetings and fellowshipping everyone in the ward, certainly busy, but love the calling. Glad that the adjustment to S. Africa has been good. I'm sure it's easier when your focused on teaching the gospel. Look forward to hearing from you soon!
Post a Comment