Same But Different

Dear Family:
We are beginning to think there is no such thing as "same ole, same ole" in our mission.
Even the weather is sometimes different from morning to afternoon and day to day. While you are enjoying the change from winter to spring, we are enjoying the change from summer to the winter season. We have not heard the locals here use the term "fall" or "autumn", just that it is getting "cold". They are in wool caps and scarfs, sweaters and coats, and we are still in short sleeves! It has cooled down considerably, though, especially at night and early mornings. One day will be alternating between rainy and misty, another will be torrential rain storms with strong winds, and another will be sunny and very pleasant.

Our missionary service also is different each day even while doing the same things--if that makes sense! Our Institute study is the same but the subject is different each week and we try to vary our presentation and activities. We are having much success with building attendance. What started out as a class of 6 has increased to 14. The newest member came for the first time last week even before his baptism this week. Most of our class members were there to support him. While he (and 4 others) were being baptized inside the church, the heavens outside decided to baptize us by complete immersion! It was like a mild hurricane with the wind whipping the rain around. Since it was close to the time for Institute and the Bishop's house is far from the church (like 15 minutes away), and no one had transport except walking, we decided to give the kids a ride to class. Problem was, our car only holds 3 others besides the driver, so Dad went back and forth 3 times to get us all there! Actually, the weather could have been partly responsible for 3 new members! We had talked to them before and they committed to come for sure this week. Getting a ride instead of having to walk maybe encouraged them to really come! We had a good discussion, the spirit was there, and everyone enjoyed it. Most of them are very strong in the gospel while some are less so, but they all are such good young people. We pray they can overcome their challenges of living the commandments in spite of being the only member of their family in the church, cultural traditions that are contrary to church practices, and peer pressure to live contrary to church standards.

Another "same but different" is our new teaching assignment, Temple Preparation, which began on Sunday--s0me diligent study is required but 7 different topics. All the members of the class have only been baptized within the last couple of years so are very inexperienced in the gospel. We will have to go slow, and be very thorough to make sure they understand, which means we will probably spend more than one week per topic. A ward temple trip to the Johannesburg temple is scheduled for June or July, so we are very excited to be able to teach and make ready these wonderful people to receive the blessings of the temple.

Missionary support continues to add spice to our lives. We received a "thanks, but no thanks" email from President Egan regarding our efficiency in finding a boarding for 2 new missionaries from the States who are coming to East London. Unfortunatley, their South Arican visas have not arrived so they are not expected until April 29. We immediately went to Sister VanToner's (the landlady who is building on to her garage to make a granny flat) and explained the situation. She actually was relieved to have the extra time so she can get all the little details done instead of leaving some things until after the missionaries move in. The contractor was there working and he, too, was glad because the hurry-up time frame did not allow for unexpected complications. All in all, it is a blessing for all involved--except for the missionaries who want to be here, but can't!

It is the policy of the mission to pay for the medical needs of the missionaries. Payments for office visits are put on the church's account which the mission office pays, but whenever a missionary needs a prescription filled, we pay for it and then the office reimburses us. It seemed like such a simple task--meet the missionary companionship at the pharmacy, pay, come back home. But it was not to be! A second set of elders were also there with the glass from their car window shattered in pieces on the front seat and on the ground. It seems that there was some sort of a malfunction and when they opened the door to get out, the glass shattered. Since they are the ride for another set of elders, we were greeted by 6 elders, standing around, looking at the glass all over the place, and acting like "What do we do now?" After Dad went in and paid for the prescription, he told one elder to clean up the glass and helped the other one fill out the Auto Damage Report, (several copies of which are in the glove compartments of all missionary cars) and the rest of us just stood around! We brought the damage report back to our place and faxed it to the mission office.

Monday through Wednesday are transfers, so we spent a good part of Thursday inspecting missionary boardings and cars. We left our house by 7:30am and, taking about 20 minutes per boarding, finsihed at 2:00pm. We drove to King William's Town on Friday morning (45 min away) and did our last 2 inspections, then drove back to attend our District Meeting.

A new mission president, another feeding-the-elders activity, "I'm not less active", "detective Tobeli", and an outdoor church are all adventures we will save for next time! We are especially grateful for the Atonement of the Savior at this Easter time and hope this is a significant event in your lives also. We are happy, healthy, and loving the work.

Love, MOM and DAD/Grandma and Grandpa