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
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