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.
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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
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