Preparation for Transfer

Dear Family:

At the moment, much of our time is spent in the temporal world getting ready to leave for Namibia, but we have also had some refreshing spiritual moments also.

Since there will not be a replacement couple here when we leave, the senior couple in Queenstown (2 hours up the road), Elder and Sister Searle, will cover our area as well as their own. They are quite active in proselyting and need to be in Queenstown to follow through with their investigators and new converts as well as support for their 12 elders. They will spend 1 day a week here in EL [East London] and stay in our apartment. Obviously, that's not enough time to do much for our 34 elders, so we are trying to leave things in good order so they will not have to finish any projects we left undone. We are also trying to prepare our elders to be self reliant when there is no senior couple here. So, a couple of weeks ago we invited the EL and MD [Mdantsane] Zone Leaders for lunch on their planning day. After enjoying a tasty lunch (we asume it was "tasty" since we didn't have anything left!) we all sat down in the living room and we told them we are being transferred and no replacements will be here for 6-8 weeks and they will need to assume our elders support role. Their first response was one of unbelief! We could not have scripted a more shocked reaction! By the time they left they realized that they really would need to pick up the slack and even joked about being the "senior couple". They are very capable and willing and will do a great job. We began by dividing up all of the printed materials Books of Mormon, pamphlets and DVDs that we have stored in our garage. It is now their responsibility to give these to their elders as needed, as well as order these materials from the mission office when supplies run low. We have also make arrangements to have the Zone Leaders pick up the post at the airport each week.

As you know, another of our responsibilities relates to doctor's appointments and prescriptions needed by the elders. We are not sure what they are going to do when a large co-pay is required when seeing a specialist. We have been paying for these and then getting reimbursed by the mission office. But the elders don't have access to enough money for some of these specialists. We have found out, which we didn't know before, that one of the pharmacies has an account with the church, so the elders can get their prescriptions filled there and charge them.

Another of our elders support activities is to provide cleaning supplies for their flats, so we have gathered together 16 bags of supplies--one for each flat. We placed in the bag enough supplies for approximately 2 months. This coming week during our last round of car and flat inspections we will leave the bags . Depending upon when the new couple arrives, the Zone Leaders may need to do 1 round of inspections.

Some of the elders support activities are totally unpredictable. For example, one evening about 7:00, one of our companionships from MD Zone called us and said that their car quit on them while in their area. MD is not a place we want our elders stranded at night (it is dangerous after dark), nor do we want to abandon a car there overnight (there will be nothing left in the morning). We made arrangements for a tow truck which is operated by one of the bishops here in EL to go out to MD and rescue the car and the elders. The next day he towed the car into a dealership and they found that the housing over the thermostat had come loose resulting in loss of coolant. As it turned out everything got fixed and the elders were back on their way with only 1-day loss of a car. Dad said that he has never heard of the thermostat housing coming loose on a vehicle, but we've never seen roads quite as bumpy (to put it mildly!) as there are in MD. Some places make the roads in Hansel Valley seem like interstate highway!

About 2 weeks ago in our monthly mission newsletter, we were informed that there would be 15 new elders come to the mission on June 11 and 6 would be going home. Of these 15 new elders, 9 are from the US, 2 from South Africa, and 1 each from Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia, and Lesotho. That means several new flats would be needed across the mission. We were assigned to find an additional flat for a new set of elders to serve in MD. (By the way, the couple we are replacing in Namibia were asked to find 2 additional apartments. We hope they are able to accomplish this before we arrive.) With so little time and so many other things needing to be done, we prayed earnestly for help in finding a suitable apartment. The Lord truly answered our prayers and we were able to find an unfurnished flat through one of our current landladies. It will be available June 1. We have spend a considerable amount of time and money buying used furniture and new kitchen items for this flat. The bakkee (buckie--pickup truck) has been traded in for a car, so we no longer have its services to move furniture. We obtained approval to get a tow bar (hitch) installed on our car. We will rent a trailer to move the furniture. We will be done with this project on Saturday, May 31, if all goes well.

Without going into detail, the rest of our "temporal" to do list includes finding, purchasing, and delivering 4 bikes for 2 sets of elders (1 in EL and the other in King William's Town, 45 minutes up the road), installing security bars on the windows on one of the flats where the widowed landlady just can't seem to get it done, cleaning our house, doing laundry, and packing.
Lest you think we are totally consumed with temporal affairs, we also want to share with you some special spiritual highlights of the last couple of weeks--with a few temporal details! The day before Mother's Day, all of the elders had the opportunity to call their mothers.

Arrangements were made with the bishops to use the phones in each of the 2 chapels in EL. The elders were to call their homes using an international calling card, which we arranged for, to tell their parents the number to call them back. The parents would then call the number and pay for the call. The elders were limited to 40 minutes each. For those black African elders who are on missionary support because their families cannot afford to pay for their missions, the calling card was used for their entire call. On Mother's Day, Mom taught the lesson in RS.

The highly anticipated wedding day finally arrived for our Institute student, Thobeka [Toe-beck-ah). The civil ceremony was to be held in the Belgravia EL church at 6:00pm. We were planning on going to the ceremony, extending our congrats, eating a few refreshments, visiting a bit, and that was it--or so we thought! About noon we were downtown shopping for the new flat when we got a call from Thobeka needing our help. She was in MD but her wedding gown was in EL. She asked us if we could pick up her dress and deliver it and the woman who made it to MD to help her get ready. It seems big deal to dress the bride, which also includes hair and makeup, because it is a cultural thing that the bride must leave her family's home in her wedding gown. Luckily, we did not have any "appointments", although much to do, so we agreed to help. We went to the apartment where the dress was, only to find that it was not quite finished--an hour and a half, the seamstress said--so we went about our business and returned later. We waited there for another hour and then took the dress and the seamstress to MD. We waited there to see if we would be needed for transport (which we were), and after much coming out of the house and going back in with this and that, FINALLY the bride emerged and 2 carloads of family and friends were off for EL (20-25 minutes away). It was a like a church service. After the bride and her attendants came down the aisle to meet the groom and best man, they all sat down and the ceremony began with a prayer. There were hymns, a couple of really good talks and then the marriage officer, who is also a member of the church, gave a few remarks and performed the marriage. He made an interesting comparison between what he would say, "as long as you both shall live", which is quite negative, to the sealing ceremony in the temple "for time and all eternity" which is very positive. Because Thobeka and her husband were leaving the next morning for the Johannesburg temple, a lot was said in the talks about the temple. The meeting closed with prayer and then very American-type refreshments were served. A lot of people came to support the young couple and it was a very lovely evening.

We feel blessed to have been able to finish teaching our classes this week before we leave. At the close of Institute the students sang "God Be With You Till We Meet Again" to us. It was so heart-felt and beautifully done it brought tears to our eyes. These are such wonderful young people, the leaders of tomorrow if they will stay strong and faithful. We think most of the members of the temple preparation class are planning to receive their endowments this summer when the ward is planning a temple trip. Two of the 3 families in the class are also planning to be sealed; we're not sure about the other family.

Zone Conference was also a spiritual highlight. President and Sister Egan always have very insightful, scripture and Preach My Gospel-based messages. One part that was especially good was about the 5 stages of conversion: converted to (1 )people--"my" missionary, family members, fiance, etc; (2)the church--programs, benefits; (3)the gospel--teachings, principles, doctrines--the message; (4)Jesus Christ--the messenger whose life is central to the message; (5)the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is only when we are converted to the Atonement that true conversion, a mighty change of heart, can result. Food for thought, huh?

This is w-a-y long, but may have to do for a while because we're not sure what internet services are available in Namibia. We'll keep in touch as best as we can.

We love you and pray for you daily. We bear testimony that this is the Lord's work. We have felt his hand guiding us in our missionary efforts. We are safe, healthy, and very, very happy.

Lots of love from South Africa,
MOM and DAD/Grandma and Grandpa, Karen and Stan