Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones;
Greetings from South Africa! We had a great zone conference in Port Elizabeth a week ago. We want to share a wonderful experience we had on our way. First, we will back up some to bring you up to speed. Six weeks earlier when we went to zone conference Elder O'Dell met a young black man at Tsitsikamma. He started talking to him about the Gospel and told him of the Book of Mormon. He was very interested in it and asked if he could have a Book of Mormon. We didn't have one with us at the time. Elder O told him if he would be there Saturday morning, he would bring one to him. Well we had to come back from PE on Friday night later so we didn't get to see him and give him the book.
Well, when we went last Thursday, we stopped there again with the Elders to see the bridge & the bungy jumping area. This young man saw us and came running over to Elder O (did I say that he works at the bridge?). He had tried to reach us via e-mail but Sister O might have deleted his e-mails thinking it wasn't anyone we knew. He really wanted the book and asked Elder O again for it. We had one so we gave it to him. He lives about a 1 1/2 hour drive from George, but said he wanted to come to church the next Sunday. Elder O was really excited about it and was sure hoping he would come. He seemed so nice & sincere and seemed like he really wanted to know more. Elder O talked to Pres Probst and he said it would be fine for us to visit him at times.
We got back to George about 10:30am Saturday morning. The Elders had an open house that was starting at 11:00am; it went until about 1:30pm. Then we had to get ready for baptisms at 2:00pm. We normally do the baptisms in Sister Day's Pool, but we couldn't use it this time, so we went to the river about 10 minues away from the church. It was so pretty with such a beautiful setting. After the baptisms Elder O told Pres Matsaluka that our Stake Mission President stressed the importance of teaching people to pray more. He should not have said anything because he asked him to speak in church and wanted him to take about 20 minutes. But all said and done, it turned our very well. Remember he also had to teach the Priesthood lesson that day as well. He said he must be pretty wicked as they say “There is no rest for the wicked”
The Monday after this very busy weekend, which was our p-day, we didn't get to do anything fun :) We have a new member of a few months and he was asked to give a talk this last Sunday. The subject was faith. He was very nervous about it and asked if Elder O could help him. Well of course the answer was "sure", so he got up early Monday morning and prepared the talk for him. Then we spent about 4 hours helping a man that will be joining the church soon, working on getting him a drivers license. They are very hard to get in SA. Then on Monday night the brother that Elder O wrote the talk for came over with his wife and son to visit and have Elder O help him with his talk. They talked and Elder O told him to put in some personal experiences if he could, as everyone loves to hear about uplifting personal experiences.
We had a great lesson with an investigater on Tuesday night with the elders. She told us she would come to church on Sunday and she did come with her sister. Her husband is in France right now for a few more weeks. We sure hope she will be baptized. She would be a such a good and strong member. She seems really interested.
We are working with an older couple that the missionaries have been visiting for about 3 years. They believe in the Church and tell us that the Book of Mormon is true. He has read it several times. Right now they just don't see a need for a change but the last few weeks it has been somewhat better. We have also been visiting with an older man that has been inactive for some time and he is coming to church quite regularly right now. He always wants us to visit with him and wants to sit by us in church. We also go to a single sister's home (she is the RS Pres) each week. We often go with 2 of the elders. She has 2 children that are non-members. Her daughter is 16 and pregnant and the father of her son who is 12, won't let him join the church even though he would like to. Nothing in life is ever simple.
We had District Meeting Friday morning and tried to get the mail for the Elders but NO POST and that is BIG when the mail doesn't come. The Elders are never happy when the letters don't come.
Sunday was a very busy day for us. We got a call from the young man at the bridge (his name is George Chancy) saying he would be coming to church and would be hitchhiking to get there. Remember it is 1 1/2 hours by car. He came and was only 10 minutes late (Mormon standard time don't you think?) Also we had the investigator lady and her sister at church. There were quite a few others as well. We have a man and his girlfriend and their baby girl who want to join the church, but we first have to get him a driver's license, then get him a job, then get them married, and then we can baptize them. Oh the joys of missionary work. We pick them up for church, and bring them with us. So we have to start early. We had George with us all day Sunday and he ate with us and the elders Sunday night. He was taught a lot by Elder O and the elders. I'm sure it was a lot to talk about in one day. He stayed with us Sunday night. Today is Monday we took him back home to the bridge and picked up the 2 Elders in Knysna to meet him and set a time to start teaching him. Then we went to the Victoria Bay with the elders for the rest of p-day and watched them play frisbee in the grass wishing they could go in the water. It has been a busy day for us. It is now 12:30 TUESDAY morning and I need to get to bed. We are going to close this one for now.
Thanks Bryson for the pictures, we love them and are grateful for them. Keep the e-mails coming. We look forward to hearing from everyone. We love to see and hear from all the family! We understand it is really HOT at home. It is winter here. We get a little cold at night by the days are generally very nice and sometimes pretty warm.
Well in closing we want to tell everyone that we LOVE and MISS you always. Stay close to the Lord and keep up the good work. We pray everyone will stay close and help each other when there is a need. Love the Lord God with all our hearts, might, mind and strength. In doing so we can love each other as we should and our neighbors. For us there are 2 great things in life one is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and two is family. The beautiful thing is they go hand in hand as though they are one. As the Father and Son are separate beings but one in purpose so should our families be.
We Love & miss all of you
Elder & Sister O'Dell
Dad, Granpa Woody Mom & Linda
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
August Letter from South Africa
August 12, 2009
Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones,
Well it has been several weeks since out last letter so we decided it was that time again. We are so busy it seems like you don't make the time like we should.
We have been doing a lot of teaching lessons with the young Elders. A lot of people they are teaching want us to come, that makes us feel really good. It is great to help people better understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can be so rewarding but can be frustrating at times also. It seems the more we get involved with the people and the more you can do to help them & teach them the greater is our joy and happiness to be here in SA and to serve our Heavenly Father. It is wonderful but at the same time it is sad to be away from everyone. We love the people and we know that they truly love us but we miss friends, family and loved ones at home. We pray for each of you every day and we feel of your prayers and ask of your continued prayers for us. We can feel the love of each of you and of our Savior & Heavenly Father with us. Being here has really strengthened our love for the gospel, for each of you and for each other.
Sister O is such a wonderful sweetheart and missionary and everyone loves her dearly.
She works so hard for the people and the missionaries. The Young Elders think because Elder O was a Dentist that he know everything about medicine. But they do love to ask him questions about what they should do in life. He is really good with the Elders and they can learn a lot from him. He studies hard all the time and is getting good at talking to others about the Gospel. He enjoys it and is learning a lot. He really seems to love it.
A few weeks ago Elder O got to go golfing for the first time in ages. The course was absolutely beautiful. It was really fun for him. They have a number of pro tournaments there. He played with an Elder Tenny who stopped by from Cape Town on his way to PE and spent Sunday night with us. They played golf on our P-Day. Sister O and I went to Victor is Bay and Harold's Bay(Baa) as they are very close by and they are breath taking beautiful. Also a place called Wilderness that is absolutely beautiful. We saw a whale swimming although we were on a mountain at a place called “ Map of Africa” It is a place formed by some canyons and rivers that have formed a place that looks like the African continent.
Last Monday on our P-Day Sister O and I went to a place about an hour away called Outdshoorn. It is probably the Ostrich capital of the world. We probly sew 200.000 to 300,000 Ostrich while we were just driving. It is on the other side of the Outeniqua mountains where we went one time before. It is beautiful. We saw some beautiful caves called “Cango Caves” We went to and Ostrich farm where Sister O rode and Ostrich. Ha! It was so funny! It was a lot of fun and she did a great job and didn't fall off. In fact they had to pull her off as she wasn't going to let go. I got a good video of this. We have another senior couple coming by in a few weeks and they want to go again with us. We also went to a place where they have some crocodiles, with lions, leopards & cheetahs etc. It is so fun to do things together.
We have to go to PE tomorrow (Thursday)for Zone Conference and will have to leave early Saturday morning about AM ( it is a 4 hour drive) as we have an open house at the church from 11:00am to 1:00pm Then we have 2 baptisms at 2:00pm. It will be busy but a very good weekend.
Well we had better be closing as Sister O has to type this. Buy the way, we have a vonage phone that Sister O's Family sent to us and anyone can call us at no charge. It is a local number. The number is 480-626-XXXX [e-mail the O'Dells for the number] It comes through the computer. Just remember that we are 9 hours a head of you if you live in AZ we are sleeping when you are awake and when we are awake you are a sleep. HA!
We want you to know that we love the gospel and hope that your love of the gospel will be strong as well. Prayer often and love one another be forgiving of each others weaknesses as we all have weaknesses.
We Love you always
Elder & Sister O'Dell
Mom & Dad Grandma & Papa Woody
And Friends
Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones,
Well it has been several weeks since out last letter so we decided it was that time again. We are so busy it seems like you don't make the time like we should.
We have been doing a lot of teaching lessons with the young Elders. A lot of people they are teaching want us to come, that makes us feel really good. It is great to help people better understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. It can be so rewarding but can be frustrating at times also. It seems the more we get involved with the people and the more you can do to help them & teach them the greater is our joy and happiness to be here in SA and to serve our Heavenly Father. It is wonderful but at the same time it is sad to be away from everyone. We love the people and we know that they truly love us but we miss friends, family and loved ones at home. We pray for each of you every day and we feel of your prayers and ask of your continued prayers for us. We can feel the love of each of you and of our Savior & Heavenly Father with us. Being here has really strengthened our love for the gospel, for each of you and for each other.
Sister O is such a wonderful sweetheart and missionary and everyone loves her dearly.
She works so hard for the people and the missionaries. The Young Elders think because Elder O was a Dentist that he know everything about medicine. But they do love to ask him questions about what they should do in life. He is really good with the Elders and they can learn a lot from him. He studies hard all the time and is getting good at talking to others about the Gospel. He enjoys it and is learning a lot. He really seems to love it.
A few weeks ago Elder O got to go golfing for the first time in ages. The course was absolutely beautiful. It was really fun for him. They have a number of pro tournaments there. He played with an Elder Tenny who stopped by from Cape Town on his way to PE and spent Sunday night with us. They played golf on our P-Day. Sister O and I went to Victor is Bay and Harold's Bay(Baa) as they are very close by and they are breath taking beautiful. Also a place called Wilderness that is absolutely beautiful. We saw a whale swimming although we were on a mountain at a place called “ Map of Africa” It is a place formed by some canyons and rivers that have formed a place that looks like the African continent.
Last Monday on our P-Day Sister O and I went to a place about an hour away called Outdshoorn. It is probably the Ostrich capital of the world. We probly sew 200.000 to 300,000 Ostrich while we were just driving. It is on the other side of the Outeniqua mountains where we went one time before. It is beautiful. We saw some beautiful caves called “Cango Caves” We went to and Ostrich farm where Sister O rode and Ostrich. Ha! It was so funny! It was a lot of fun and she did a great job and didn't fall off. In fact they had to pull her off as she wasn't going to let go. I got a good video of this. We have another senior couple coming by in a few weeks and they want to go again with us. We also went to a place where they have some crocodiles, with lions, leopards & cheetahs etc. It is so fun to do things together.
We have to go to PE tomorrow (Thursday)for Zone Conference and will have to leave early Saturday morning about AM ( it is a 4 hour drive) as we have an open house at the church from 11:00am to 1:00pm Then we have 2 baptisms at 2:00pm. It will be busy but a very good weekend.
Well we had better be closing as Sister O has to type this. Buy the way, we have a vonage phone that Sister O's Family sent to us and anyone can call us at no charge. It is a local number. The number is 480-626-XXXX [e-mail the O'Dells for the number] It comes through the computer. Just remember that we are 9 hours a head of you if you live in AZ we are sleeping when you are awake and when we are awake you are a sleep. HA!
We want you to know that we love the gospel and hope that your love of the gospel will be strong as well. Prayer often and love one another be forgiving of each others weaknesses as we all have weaknesses.
We Love you always
Elder & Sister O'Dell
Mom & Dad Grandma & Papa Woody
And Friends
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