2. Pres O'Dell napping on the job
3. Putting 324 lunches together
4. Sister O helping in the kitchen
5. A Picture of all the kids at Camp
6. Having fun on the play ground
7. Climbing the wall
8.Sibongeseni with the Camp Prayer
September 27, 2010
Dear Family, Friends and Loved Ones,
Well after a trying time in the hospital I was finally able to take Sister O home on Sunday. She still was not good, but she was better. She is still taking medication and will be for 2 months when we need to go back for another endoscopy. She pretty much has her strength back. We are so grateful for the good friends we have in PE and the love they showed us. Everyone in our branch had her in their prayers and I believe the whole mission as word got around quite rapidly that Sister O was in the hospital. Even people in Jo Burg called to ask how she was doing.
We got home on Sunday after she had a big breakfast at the hospital. I think she was starving for food instead of IV's. We passed a McDonald's' leaving the hospital and she wanted a milkshake & fries. She slept all the way home (2hr). As sick as she was and had been she had the Elders over for dinner. She had some homemade soup (thank goodness) and some rolls. It seems, like everything went good at church. I was kind of worried. The next Sunday (sept 19) was our branch conference and I had a lot to do during the week. President Probst & President Mason were both there with there wives. The theme of our conference was taken from D&C 101:22 "GATHERING TOGETHER & STANDING IN HOLY PLACES" I talked about temple ordinances and focused mainly on eternal and celestial marriage. It was such a great conference but I talked too long. I was supposed to talk for 10 min & it lasted 15min. We had a fireside after church from 1 to 2pm. We started church at 9am and I thought we would lose most people by then but we only lost 2 people in number. I thought that was really good for our little branch. Sister O & I were at church at 8am and didn't get home until after 3pm. A long day for sister O. She bore a beautiful testimony before I talked. She always does such a wonderful job on everything she does. I had a total of 9 meetings Saturday & Sunday, but it was worth it as everything turned out so good.
The Elders wanted to golf on Monday as they may not have many more chances as transfers are in a few weeks. We went to Alexandria (50 K's away). It cost us R40 which is between $5/6 dollars. Sister O stayed home to get more rest as we walked the course and it is quite long and a lot of ups & downs. When I got home Sister O & I made 4 visits to branch members that I needed to visit. On Tuesday I had a lot of book work to do plus I needed to fix some things at our flat that needed fixing. "But" the best part of the day was that Sister O was finally feeling better. We are watching her diet closely and that she doesn't over do it like she usually does. It is so hard to get her to slow down.
One good thing is that I finally have the signed lease in place for our new church building where we will meet. It begins October 1 but it will probably take most of the month to get it ready to move into. I was able to get a job for a member of our branch to do the painting inside. He is such a good and strong member and really needs employment that is permanent. He is one of the 4 members that attended the PEF seminar. We had to get him groceries the other day as he didn't have any food in the house or any money. He also takes care of his 11year old sister who was baptized a few months ago. So for I have paid for all the welfare and budget out of my own account. President Probst said it would be straightened out soon so that I can be re-reimbursed. I will also be glad when the hospital bill is re-imbursed. That was over R14,000. That will really help.
We recently had a Zone Conference in East London to get more training on the new approach of teaching by the spirit following the doctrine and teachings of Christ. We had to get up at 5am to get ready and get to EL by 9am.
We didn't finish until after 5pm & Sister O was really tired so I had her lay down in the car until we could get ready to leave. We got home shortly after 8pm which was a long day for Sister O who didn't have all her strength back yet.
On Monday after conference it rained some in the morning but the Elders wanted to go golfing. We were lucky it quit raining before we golfed. I talked to the golf shop and got a great deal for the Elders to play the Royal Port Alfred Course. He let them play for R63 for 13 holes. We are back to the club house after 13 holes. That comes to $8.75. We have been treated so good here every place we go and we have appreciated it so much.
Elder & Sister La Pray were here that night to give a PEF seminar that I mentioned earlier. The PEF stands for perpetual education fund. This is where they can get loans for schooling to qualify them to hopefully get better jobs. We had 4 in attendance. The next morning we went to Fish River Sun for a wonderful breakfast before they had to go back home to PE which is about 2 hours away.
On Wednesday & Thursday Sister O & I had to meet with some members of our branch getting ready for a Youth Camp at a place called "Hobbiton on Hogback which is about 21/2 hours away. We have 3 youth from our branch attending. We have Olwethu Ngcibi, her brother Sibongeseni and a cousin Xolisa Ngcibi. They all live in the same house. We then had to drive to Alexandria to home teach & visit teach, which is over 50k's away ad the next day to Kenton on the Sea which is about 25k's away.
Well I guess I have rambled on enough of what we are doing and boring you. Again we want all of our family to know how much we love them and how important each of your are in our lives. I have been talking and teaching a lot about temples to our branch members. There is so much poverty here that it is so hard for the people to afford the trip to go. Some may never afford to go and some maybe once in a life time. You (family) don't really know how blessed that you are to live so close to the Lords Holy Temple and the blessing that it brings into your life by attending and hopefully often. Also the blessings we can have in our life by being temple worthy. I really hope that we as a family will all try to go more often and let our liefs be more blessed. You each live so close to a temple. It is something we all need to take advantage of more often. I promise that each of us will be blessed in our lives by this simple effort. It was great to here from all of you that went to the sealing of Kent & Kim's new baby Kiira. Meeting as family in this beautiful setting always brings us closer to each other.
We love each of you and love hearing from you. We love the phone calls & e-mails that some of you take the time to do. Thanks for that it means so much to us. Until the next letter we hope all is well in the GREAT USA . Take care and know that you are loved and missed.
Love
President & Sister O'Dell
Mom & Dad (Linda & Woody)
Grandpa Woody & Grandma Linda
Dear Family, Friends and Loved Ones,
Well after a trying time in the hospital I was finally able to take Sister O home on Sunday. She still was not good, but she was better. She is still taking medication and will be for 2 months when we need to go back for another endoscopy. She pretty much has her strength back. We are so grateful for the good friends we have in PE and the love they showed us. Everyone in our branch had her in their prayers and I believe the whole mission as word got around quite rapidly that Sister O was in the hospital. Even people in Jo Burg called to ask how she was doing.
We got home on Sunday after she had a big breakfast at the hospital. I think she was starving for food instead of IV's. We passed a McDonald's' leaving the hospital and she wanted a milkshake & fries. She slept all the way home (2hr). As sick as she was and had been she had the Elders over for dinner. She had some homemade soup (thank goodness) and some rolls. It seems, like everything went good at church. I was kind of worried. The next Sunday (sept 19) was our branch conference and I had a lot to do during the week. President Probst & President Mason were both there with there wives. The theme of our conference was taken from D&C 101:22 "GATHERING TOGETHER & STANDING IN HOLY PLACES" I talked about temple ordinances and focused mainly on eternal and celestial marriage. It was such a great conference but I talked too long. I was supposed to talk for 10 min & it lasted 15min. We had a fireside after church from 1 to 2pm. We started church at 9am and I thought we would lose most people by then but we only lost 2 people in number. I thought that was really good for our little branch. Sister O & I were at church at 8am and didn't get home until after 3pm. A long day for sister O. She bore a beautiful testimony before I talked. She always does such a wonderful job on everything she does. I had a total of 9 meetings Saturday & Sunday, but it was worth it as everything turned out so good.
The Elders wanted to golf on Monday as they may not have many more chances as transfers are in a few weeks. We went to Alexandria (50 K's away). It cost us R40 which is between $5/6 dollars. Sister O stayed home to get more rest as we walked the course and it is quite long and a lot of ups & downs. When I got home Sister O & I made 4 visits to branch members that I needed to visit. On Tuesday I had a lot of book work to do plus I needed to fix some things at our flat that needed fixing. "But" the best part of the day was that Sister O was finally feeling better. We are watching her diet closely and that she doesn't over do it like she usually does. It is so hard to get her to slow down.
One good thing is that I finally have the signed lease in place for our new church building where we will meet. It begins October 1 but it will probably take most of the month to get it ready to move into. I was able to get a job for a member of our branch to do the painting inside. He is such a good and strong member and really needs employment that is permanent. He is one of the 4 members that attended the PEF seminar. We had to get him groceries the other day as he didn't have any food in the house or any money. He also takes care of his 11year old sister who was baptized a few months ago. So for I have paid for all the welfare and budget out of my own account. President Probst said it would be straightened out soon so that I can be re-reimbursed. I will also be glad when the hospital bill is re-imbursed. That was over R14,000. That will really help.
We recently had a Zone Conference in East London to get more training on the new approach of teaching by the spirit following the doctrine and teachings of Christ. We had to get up at 5am to get ready and get to EL by 9am.
We didn't finish until after 5pm & Sister O was really tired so I had her lay down in the car until we could get ready to leave. We got home shortly after 8pm which was a long day for Sister O who didn't have all her strength back yet.
On Monday after conference it rained some in the morning but the Elders wanted to go golfing. We were lucky it quit raining before we golfed. I talked to the golf shop and got a great deal for the Elders to play the Royal Port Alfred Course. He let them play for R63 for 13 holes. We are back to the club house after 13 holes. That comes to $8.75. We have been treated so good here every place we go and we have appreciated it so much.
Elder & Sister La Pray were here that night to give a PEF seminar that I mentioned earlier. The PEF stands for perpetual education fund. This is where they can get loans for schooling to qualify them to hopefully get better jobs. We had 4 in attendance. The next morning we went to Fish River Sun for a wonderful breakfast before they had to go back home to PE which is about 2 hours away.
On Wednesday & Thursday Sister O & I had to meet with some members of our branch getting ready for a Youth Camp at a place called "Hobbiton on Hogback which is about 21/2 hours away. We have 3 youth from our branch attending. We have Olwethu Ngcibi, her brother Sibongeseni and a cousin Xolisa Ngcibi. They all live in the same house. We then had to drive to Alexandria to home teach & visit teach, which is over 50k's away ad the next day to Kenton on the Sea which is about 25k's away.
Well I guess I have rambled on enough of what we are doing and boring you. Again we want all of our family to know how much we love them and how important each of your are in our lives. I have been talking and teaching a lot about temples to our branch members. There is so much poverty here that it is so hard for the people to afford the trip to go. Some may never afford to go and some maybe once in a life time. You (family) don't really know how blessed that you are to live so close to the Lords Holy Temple and the blessing that it brings into your life by attending and hopefully often. Also the blessings we can have in our life by being temple worthy. I really hope that we as a family will all try to go more often and let our liefs be more blessed. You each live so close to a temple. It is something we all need to take advantage of more often. I promise that each of us will be blessed in our lives by this simple effort. It was great to here from all of you that went to the sealing of Kent & Kim's new baby Kiira. Meeting as family in this beautiful setting always brings us closer to each other.
We love each of you and love hearing from you. We love the phone calls & e-mails that some of you take the time to do. Thanks for that it means so much to us. Until the next letter we hope all is well in the GREAT USA . Take care and know that you are loved and missed.
Love
President & Sister O'Dell
Mom & Dad (Linda & Woody)
Grandpa Woody & Grandma Linda
