Letter From SA April 2010

1. Elder & Sister O'Dell at a senior conference in Port Alfred in Sept 09 It was a beautiful Golf Course where we had breakfast

2. Elder O'Dell taking pictures of the Ostrich on our way to Cango Caves

3. The Young Women in the George Branch that Sister O works with

4.  The O'Dells Bedroom in George

April 1st 2010

Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones,

I will start off by saying that Sister O and I have really enjoyed our mission so far and have had some truly remarkable and memorable experiences. Lately we have been contemplating what we could do more to help the people in SA and to help bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the lives of more people. We came to the conclusion that we needed to spend more time in seeking out less active members of the church and work with and fellowship them more to bring them back to activity to the gospel.  We have a lot of inactive and felt a great need for this to spend more of our time doing this and especially in the outlying areas as Mossel Baai, Great Brak River & Oudtshoorn.

Well our plans came to and end on Saturday when we received a call from Pres. Probst.  It was something we had no thought about and was rather surprised!  Pres. Probst asked me to be the Branch President in a small town call Port Alfred  about 185K from here and about 2 hours east and north of PE.  About a 6 hour drive from George. I told him that if that was what the Lord wanted me to do then that is what we would do. We will be leaving George on April the 9th. Sister O is really sad about leaving as she loves it here and has really gotten so involved and has made so many friends here and she is really needed here. There are many people that will be hard to leave and it will be hard for some of them.  But we can't put our personal feelings first.  We need to serve where we are called and serve with all our hearts. Hopefully we will be able to fulfill our callings and be able to touch some of the peoples hearts where ever we will be and serve. Because we love our Savior with all our hearts.

Well yesterday we finished our SS class (marriage & family relations) and it was really and enjoyable class to teach, and I feel the class enjoyed and learned from it.  On Monday P-day we went golfing and it might be my last opportunity because I am not sure what I will be doing or what my schedule will be from here on out. I know the Elders Really did enjoyed this and so I just HAD TO DO IT!  I will spend a lot of time going through cupboards, books & paper work trying to get organized and ready to move to Port Alfred.

Well a week ago today Sister O and I Celebrated our 3rd Anniversary. It has been a wonderful 3 years and she is such a wonderful person to be with. Beautiful, Fun, Happy, Loving & Spiritual. (If she could only spell) We had things we needed in the am and then we went to a movie call "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock it was a fabulous movie and I would tell every one to see it. It is a true story!  Then we went to dinner to a new restaurant in Wilderness. It was all glass on the sides and back with large decks and you looked right out over the ocean and saw the beautiful beaches of Wilderness.  We saw a beautiful sunset while we were eating over the ocean front.  What a wonderful way to spend and Anniversary! It was unbelievable!!

Last night ((on Friday )we had 2 appointments and tonight we have 3. One is with the maid of Desiree who we recently baptized and is so strong in the Gospel. Part of her family was there also.  The home was very nice and furnished nice. They came out to church and seemed to enjoy it and some of them said they want to come next Sunday and hear the conference talks. We then visited a single older lady who was quite funny to talk with but was really nice and seemed really interested in learning more about the Book of Mormon. It was quite funny because it was obvious she really liked Elder Hanson  and she is old enough to be his grandmother.




Well today is Saturday and we just finished a service project of weeding some flower and plant beds for our RS Pres. Sister Sonja.  We have to leave in a few minutes because we have a baptism of George Chabalala. It turned out to be a great service and of course Sister O made lots of cookies for everyone and a punch drink.

We had a senior couple (Spear's) come by and we went to dinner with them. They are staying at a
B & B tonight,  they will be at church tomorrow and spend  Sunday night and Monday night with us. For Dinner on Sunday we had a Braai for the Elders and the Spears which was very good  We had steak, potatoes, corn on the cob & salad which was very good.

On Monday for P-Day Pres. Probst gave us the OK to go to the Cango Caves. Normally he doesn't do this but I think it is because we will be leaving in a few weeks. I forgot to mention that we had a visitor at church on Sunday. Gary Player's Wife is a member of the church and she came out Sunday as they were having a senior PGA tournament hear this week-end. She also came out to Knysna earlier when they played at Plett. Baai.

The Elders really had a great time at the caves except for Elder Maja as he found out he was claustrophobic like Sister O but not quite as bad. We then went to an Ostrich farm and all 6 of the Elders rode an Ostrich. They also let and Ostrich take food from there lips.  I got some really good movies of all this.

Last night we had a very good visit with John O and Gary, we talked about Temples. We showed the Movie "Between Heaven and Earth" which was really good and went over well.

Well it is time to close,  we want you to know that we love you all so much and are so home sick to see all of you and  also just to be home.  We are loving it here and the great and spiritual blessings and experiences, BUT there is still no better place then being home around family. We Love You So.

Please send us your e-mails because we really love to hear from everyone at home.

Until next time Love Sister & Elder O'Dell

2nd March Letter from SA

1. Elder & Sister O'Dell at Storms River

2. The Elders at Storms River

3. Elder & Sister Miller

4. The O'Dells Flat on Sunday Night

March 21, 2010

Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones,

Well we are 2 weeks into the new transfers.  We lost Elder Caine, he went the Cape Town area. His Grandmother lives in the stake that he will be serving in, and he was quite happy to go so he could see her. The Bishop of the ward he will be in is a good friend of his parents, he was really happy about leaving.  Elder Hansen who is our new District Leader transferred from Windhoek, Namibia. It took him several days to get here as flights were changed or canceled.

We had the Millers (a senior couple) come on Friday from PE on there way to Cape Town and spend the night with us. Saturday morning Sister O & Sister Miller HAD to go shopping before they left for Cape Town. I don't understand why women like to shop so much. I'm like most men, I know what I want, and go buy it then go home. It is done, so done. Ha!

We have been visiting a family ( the Meyers) in Great Brok River about 25 miles away. They are trying to be active again the best they can. They have the same problem as most people here----NO transportation and they live far away(25 miles) from the church. They are really showing interest in the Temple and wanting to be sealed to each other. We then visited Gary & John O, they are doing so good and she loves being in Primary and working with the little children.  She really loves little babies!

We had a great fast and testimony meeting on the first Sunday of March.  The testimonies seem so spiritual here. I had the opportunity to bless the Meyers baby girl in Sacrament meeting,  they named her Electra  and there 4 year old little boy. I have really been blessed with many opportunities to give blessings to people while here in Africa.  Our SS class still seems to be going good. We have one or two more classes then it will be over. 

For Sunday Dinner the Elders wanted to try lasagna. Sister O didn't want to make it from scratch,  so we went to the store to get frozen lasagna to fix and they don't have Big ones so we bought 11 single serving and combined them into 2 pans.  It was OK but not my or Sister O favorite. But we did have a good pineapple up side down cake, salad and garlic bread.

We really haven't had to much HOT weather BUT Sunday & Monday of that week it was really HOT, about 38' and not one ounce of a breeze. All we have for cooling is a floor fan. In PE it was in the low 40' and 44' in Oudtshoorn. It is always hot there. It is supposed to cool down to about 28' & 22' for then next week or so.  The Millers came back by on Monday when it was so HOT. They were on there way back to PE and you guessed it the Girls went shopping again.

We had a great meeting with Desiree & her daughter Elizabeth on Tuesday evening. Gerard was still in France.  The Elders committed Elizabeth to baptism, but I'm not sure she is quite ready so we have to give her a few extra weeks. Desiree is so strong in the gospel, she will really be a big help to both her daughter and husband Gerard.

On Wednesday we went to Zone Conference in PE, we left about 10:30 in the morning. We will have Elder Koellicker of the 70's speaking to us. It was a combined Zone Conference with 2 Zones. Elder Koellicker is also the area president and it is always a privilege to have a general authority here and give us instructions.  On the way we stopped at Tsitsikamma to see the bungy jump bridge as all Elders haven't seen it. While there we taught Elizabeth (Georges cousin) a lesson. I'm sure  it is only a matter of time before she is baptized. We also said hello to his Aunt.
                                                                                -2-

We then stopped at Storms River Mouth to see and walk over the 3 swinging suspension bridges. It is a rather long hike and very steep in a lot of places but it is a wood planked walkway all the way. I was worried about Sister O making it but she did really well. The Elders really enjoyed it.

Our African Son George has moved and is now living in Storms River Village and it was getting late so we didn't get to visit him. We felt bad about this as we like to visit him and I know he likes us to visit him also. When we got to PE we went to dinner with 2 other senior couples. The Millers & the Spears who replaced the Stones. We spent the night with the Spears. Conference started at 9:45am and went to 1:30pm with no breaks except to stand for a minute a couple of times. The Senior couples provide lunch ( after conference is over) and only have R 60 to spend which isn't a lot so the couples furnish salads & deserts. We got home to George at 9pm that night.

On Friday morning and after District Meeting we met the Tenney's who stopped by on there way home from Cape Town to PE and we had lunch with them. They will be going home from their mission in about 9 days. They live in Denver Co. So we just wanted to say Good By.

We had a great Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.  We will be through with our SS class and Pres Matsaluka wants to start a genealogy class that is needed. We also need a Temple prep class which will start shortly. Either  Brother Hogben or I will be teaching this class I'm sure. Brother Hogben has been on a 71/2 month vacation and tour of the U.S. And will be home next week. He taught the last Temple prep class. He served in the Temple Presidency in Jo Burg a few years earlier.

Well on March 15th  I called my Brother Wayne to visit with him as it was his Birthday. On Tuesday Sister O and I visited with the Elders, a man named George (seems to be a very popular name in SA) He has been coming out for about a month. He has been reading, studying & praying about the gospel and is committed to baptism in a few weeks. We then visited a strong member of our branch named Deanna with the Elders. Her husband is a member but has not been to church since we have been here. She also has a son about 19 who is inactive as well. We had a great visit with them and her husband seemed to really like us as he talked a lot. He seems like a great person. I hope we can get them coming out more and become active.

We continue to visit John O and Gary regularly to continue teaching them and fellow shipping them. We had a great visit with Elizabeth (Desiree's daughter) and she is really progressing. After our lesson, Desiree had a wonderful dinner for us. We had filet mignon steak, potato pie, vege dish, calamari, and a really good mussel soup, fruit plate and 2 good deserts. We really enjoyed this and she really went to a lot of work fixing the dinner. She gave Sister O a present to open. It was a really nice jacket that Sister O had seen with Desiree at a favorite store at the mall. Sister O  told her that she loved the jacket and really wanted it. So Desiree bought it for her.  It is a very nice jacket and looks nice on Sister O. That is the kind of person she is. Her husband Gerard is now home from France.

Well I guess I have rambled on enough and time to close. We just had our 10 mo. Day on the 18th. Time seems to be flying by. We want all of you to know how much we love and miss you. Our grand kids will be so grown up we won't recognize them. Yes we are homesick to see all of you. Above all we want both our families to know how proud we are of you. We have been blessed to have such wonderful children and grandchildren.


Please know that we love all of you so much and miss you more!

Always Yours
Elder & Sister O'Dell
Mom & Dad (Linda & Woody)
Grandma (Linda) & Grandpa Woody

First March Letter from SA 2010

1. Baptisms at the River Elder Maja, Yolanda, Desiree, Elder O'Dell Elder Caine & Niko

2. Our Train Ride through the Pass with the Millers

3. We have the baptisms at the Beach. Everyone that was there.

4. The Pass with the Millers

March 4th, 2010

Dear family, Friends & Loved Ones,

Well it is pass time to write again.  Week before last we had Elder & Sister Tenney here with us for 3 days as they were doing a career work shop in our Branch. There was a total of 10 hours of classroom work. We had a great time enjoying their company and classes. We played a little golf, went out to eat, played some cards etc.  They were here Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They went with us to sing Happy Birthday to Desiree on Friday the 19th. She really enjoyed this and actually shed a few tears. We took her a nice bouquet of  flowers and she had a lot of great delicious treats for us.

Saturday February 20th was a GREAT DAY! For us. We had 3 baptisms that day.  Being baptized was Desiree Danjean (the people with the farm from France), Yolanda and Niko (her son) Addendorf. Sister O gave the BEST talk on the Holy Ghost I have heard for a baptismal service. Making and giving beautiful pillows as a comfort to them as is the Holy Ghost a comfort to each of us when we live righteously and let the Holy Ghost into our lives.

I was privileged to baptize Yolanda and Desiree. This is always such a wonderful experience and especially to see the joy and happiness that comes into the lives of these wonderful people and their families.  Desiree had a family friend come with his family, he is studying to be a minister  and wanted to see how our church did this. He and his family also came to the conformation on Sunday.  Elder Maja baptized Niko. We had our Baptisms at the river in the regular place and there was plenty of water. The Baptisms went a lot easier there than in the ocean.  The Tenney's stayed for the baptisms before going home to P.E.

On Sunday we had a wonderful service. I confirmed Yolando, and was going to confirm Desiree also  but Pres. Matsaluka wanted to and did so that was great. Elder Caine confirmed Niko. Sister O had tacos, burritos & spanish rice for Sunday Dinner. It is a real treat to have spanish food as you don't find it here.  It started a light rain on Sunday morning and rained all day and night. Monday all day and night and even some on Tuesday. I feel we are being blessed for the special fast and prayers we had for rain. It was a slow rain that soaked in and had some good run off. Now we need some hard rain to get a good run off. We did get some heavy rain at times on Tuesday & Wednesday. I believe that the rain brought up the water supply by about 2% so you can see we need much more.

We met with Desiree and her husband Gerard on Wednesday as he couldn't be here on Tuesday. He is leaving on Thursday to go to France for 3 weeks. We feel he will be baptized but it will take a little more time. Sister O and I tried to order him a quad in French BUT couldn't get one, so we had to  ordered a triple combo in French.  This will help him if he has his own scriptures in French, he will understand better than English.

On Friday the 26th of February we met another senior couple (the Spears) they came by to visit and go to dinner with us. They live in PE and had a presentation for the Seminary & Institute teachers in our branch in George on Saturday morning. They are from SA but have lived a lot of there lives in Ireland. Also the Millers came on Saturday morning and stayed with us on Saturday, Sunday and went home on Monday. We went on a 2 car train ride up through the Outenique Mountain Pass and back. It was called the Outenique Power Van. We tried to get reservations for the Spears but it was filled. Both the Millers and the Spears had presentations to give in Knysna on Sunday.


It was another great week-end and a wonderful Sunday Our SS class went really good. The RS room was pretty well filled. We have about 4 weeks of this class left. For dinner we had a great roast beef and also a great roast lamb that Desiree fixed for us. I think I like lamb better than beef most of the time.

We got an e-mail from some friends in Jo Berg telling us that a senior couple they know, he was just made Mission President in Ghana told them that they need 50 senior couples here in the southern part of Africa. I hope many of you that are thinking about serving your Heavenly Father will seriously consider going on a mission and enjoy the blessings that can be given you and your family. Sister O and I are really enjoying our service here. Yes, it is hard being away from family & friends, but the rewards and blessings are worth it.

Well I guess I should close for now but we want you all to know that we truly love and miss you. It is such a treat when we can hear from our family and our friends from home. Please don't forget us while we are away.  We just talked to Scott & Suzanne on Ichat and we played with Tessa she is so cute and is walking. We got to see her walk she will be a year old next month. They are all growing up. Kim sent me pictures of Forest & Brayden and the Birthday party they are so cute.  It is great to see pictures so soon after the party it makes me feel as if I were there. Thanks for all you do for us!!! We are grateful for our Children and all the Grandchildren & the Great Grandchild Tessa (she is so cute and what a personality she has) Thanks for sharing take care. We will write again soon. 

Love Elder & Sister O'Dell
Mom (Linda) & Dad (Papa Woody)
Grandma & Grandpa
Linda & Woody