October 30, 2009 - Letter from SA

Gerard, Desiree and daughter, Elizabeth


Gary, John O'lene and twin sisters





October 30, 2009


Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones,

Well last P-Day (Oct) 19th the elders wanted to hit some golf balls as they had never played any golf and wanted to try it. it was really windy but they did quite well. There was a short golf course next door (6 par 3's & 3 par 4's) and they wanted to play it so we did. It was only R35 for 9 holes and R45 for 18 holes. We only had time to play 9 holes. I think they are already golf addicts. They said that it was the most fun they have ever had and they talked about it all week.

Tuesday night we had a great lesson with Gerard & Desiree (the couple with the farm.) Gerard showed us some plans that he had for a vacation next year to America for 3 weeks, mostly in the Northwest. They had Utah (SLC) on their plans and we talked to them about going to Temple Square. Then Desiree stated that it would be nice and that they might be members by then and it would mean more if they were. That made us feel great. They are such wonderful people.

We also had a strong lesson at Gary & John O' lene's (a girl) They want to be baptized but they would have to get married first as they are living together. The problem is he is 50 and she is 22. We are not sure if this would work out. Another problem is that Gary's family doesn't like her and Her family doesn't like Gary, so there are some major obstacles to over come.

Sister O and I spent a lot of time with John O' lene on Wednesday, taking her around and putting in applications for a job. Then Sister O and John O' lene had lunch together so they could just talk. Sister O is so good at that, ha! Then Sister O had to go to RS meeting and I came home and started preparing two talks for church. I'm not assigned yet but they want me to be prepared in case someone doesn't show up or if the have time left over. It took me most of the rest of the week in my free time to do this.

One talk is on commandments and keeping them and the second talk is on “Temples: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need.” I'm pleased with them.

On Thursday we went to Tsitsikamma to meet with our Africa son George. We picked up the Knysna elders to go also. The lesson was on the “Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Sister O and I gave most of the lesson and it is such a joy to do this. We also met George's Aunt from the country of Malawi. That is where George is from. The lesson next week will be on the priesthood as George will soon be receiving the priesthood. When we got home we had a FHE on Thursday at Sonja Classens home. It was her sons' 13th birthday. We took him a chocolate cake. Sister O got some candles and after we sang happy birthday, he tried to blow them out. They were trick candles that wouldn't blow out. We had a lot of fun with this. We were going to watch the movie “Facing the Giants” but it wouldn't work. So we watched "Flywheel" instead. It is not nearly as good. Her son's name is Urich, he would really like to be baptized but his father won't let him. He and Sonja are divorced.

Friday was district meeting and it was an hour late getting started as all the elders had to complete a questionare for Elder Hinckley of the 70's. He will be here and speak to us at zone conference in a few weeks. We are really looking forward to this. It should be a special treat for all. We had several visits to make on Friday night.

On Saturday we had 3 baptisms. We had them at the river. I love having them there. It is such a lovely setting and it seems to add so much to the spirit of everything. Sister O made over 100 cookies and of course there were none left over. She could have made 500 cookies and they would have been all gone. They can't seem to get enough of sweets and cookies or any food that is give to them.

Friday PM we had a going home braai at Pres Goodger's Lodge for Elder Nyoka. It was great and we all had a good time. For meat we had steak, pork chops & chicken plus all the trimmings. His lodge is in Great Braake River which is about 25 to 30 min drive.

Sunday we went to Knysna so that I could confirm George and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was raining off and on so we were worried about him getting a ride to church but he made it and was even a little early. We had to leave early before the last speaker at church to get back to George and we wanted to be back for the last hour as the senior couple (Millers) were presenting their PEF program which is “Perpetual Education Fund.” There are so many people that need some education and jobs and this helps them a lot and it is a wonderful opportunity for many of the people. Pres. Hinckley started the program several years back under the inspiration of our Heavenly Father.

Sunday evening Sister O and I had a farewell braai for Elder Nyoka who is going home. We were hoping that Elder Lusk could make it also, but was unable to. Elder Nyoka said he wanted try Ostrich meat and not many of the 8 of us had had Ostrich meat. I believe I was the only one who had. We had Ostrich, Lamb chops, Pork ribs & Wors. It was great and the Ostrich was really good. We also had baked potatoes, vegies, salad, rolls, and carmelized chocolate cupcakes and ice cream for dessert. I'm sure I'm not losing any weight. It rained most of Sunday and Sunday night and sometimes quite hard.

Well it's time to close again. In closing I thought I would mention D&C 131: 1-4 especially the youth
of our families. It tells us about the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and the importance of a temple marriage. We want all of you, Sister O's family and mine to know that we both LOVE you with all our hearts and the love and joy you bring into our lives. We are so happy that almost all of you have entered into this covenant of marriage. We hope the rest of you will bless not only your lives but ours as well and that as we enter into this holy covenant that we will honor this great blessing that is ours and that we can be an eternal family. We would ask and pray that this will be an eternal goal for all of us. We love you all so much.


Love to all

Elder & Sister O'Dell
Mom & Dad (Grandpa & Grandma)

George's Baptism

A couple of pictures and weekly letter:

Elder & Sister O'Dell with George Chance at his Baptism

Sister O'Dell in the sack race at the ward picnic.

October 20, 2009



Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones,

Well last Monday P-Day on Oct. 12 it rained most of the day and the Elders were downhearted as they wanted to do something fun. They wanted to go to the driving range and hit some golf balls, but couldn't because of the rain. And it was really windy. At about 5:30 they all came over and of course they were hungry and they like to “hang out” at our house with Sister O & me. Our house is always open and we enjoy having them as much! :) Then we all went to Sister Sonjo Classen home for FHE and she shared a movie with us called “Faith Like Potatoes” It was good but not like “Fireproof “ and “Facing the Giants” We all had a very enjoyable evening with them.

The man who made the movie “Faith like Potatoes” came to George about a week & half ago and had a prayer meeting or day at a big stadium here in George. They had a Prayer Day for Rain. We are in such a drought and the water, lakes are at an all time low.

On Tuesday we had a great lesson with Gerard & Desiree. I know that she knows the Gospel is true but is having a hard time making a commitment as she seems to feel so much worldly pressures and commitments that she is struggling to give up. I hope she can continue on the straight and narrow path forward. We also visited Gary & John O lene after that. They are close to setting a Baptismal date but still have a beak down with a word of wisdom problem now and then.

On Thursday we had a workshop with Pres Probst and his assistants (AP's) For lunch before the meeting we had a Braai (Bar B/Q) of hot dogs and wors and some chicken salad sandwiches. Then we took lunch to the meeting for them to eat on the way home to Cape Town (5 hours away) as they didn't have time to stay and eat. On Friday we had district meeting and correlation meeting for 2 hours plus meeting.

Saturday we had a Branch Picnic at the Botanical Gardens. We had a great turn out and everybody had a really great time. We had a lot of fun games that everyone participated in. Sister O had somebody come by and wanted to know what the name of the church was, so she told them. The lady told Sister O how great it was that we could do this and that everybody participated and was having such a wonderful time together. She said she was really impressed. I guess that is the way the gospel works.

On Sunday we went to church in Knysna. We enjoyed it so much, but especially because Elder O had the opportunity to baptize our African son George. He has come so far and is such a good young man. He will be confirmed next Sunday, so we will be going back to knysna. After the baptism they had George bear his testimony. It was unbelievable how good it was. It was so touching and he gave it so forceful and with no hesitation. We are really proud of him. It was at least 15 minutes. He still calls us Mom & Dad and we still call him our African Son.

Well I guess we have written enough except this important thing and that is to tell you how much we love all of you family and friends and also how we love the gospel and its teachings. It is so important in our lives.

We Love you so much and realize that we can be together as an eternal family if we do what we know to be right. When we look back on our lives, we realize that we all have made many mistakes. I know that I have made my share of them. Isn't it wonderful that because of the gift of the atonement that we can be forgiven if we are willing to repent. I am asking each of you my children and grandchildren to forgive me of my weaknesses I have and of my wrong doings. As you get older you really learn to have love and charity in your heart and in your life. I love each of you so much and if I have hurt or offended any of you, that you will forgive me. I hope all of you will read D& C 64.
Especially verses 9&10 where it says “ Wherefore, I say unto you that you ought to forgive one another: for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord: for he remaineth in him the greater sin. I the Lord well forgive whom I will for forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.”

Sister O and I love you all so much and miss you more then you will ever know. Our Prayers are with you always.



Love to All

Elder & Sister O'Dell
Mom & Dad (Grandpa & Grandma)

Oct. 13, 2009 - O'Dell's Weekly Letter

October 13, 2009


Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones.

Greetings again from South Africa. Time seems to fly by so fast as it is time to write again. We love telling you about our weeks and adventures and hope you enjoy reading about them! Ha!!

We hope you all enjoyed conference as much as we did. It is always so spiritually uplifting to hear the Prophet and all the General Authorities. It strengthens one's testimony so.

We didn't have anything planned for P-Day so we went to the church in the afternoon and watched the movies we told you about last week with the elders. They really enjoyed them.

We had a family home evening with Gary & John O lene and we watched one of these movies. They really enjoyed it. They are anxious to be baptized but we have to get them married first as they are living together. I think this will happen before long. The smoking problem, I believe is pretty much over. They seem like such such good people and they want us there everyday but we can't be there all the time.

We have been very busy this week on teaching lesson appointments. So many of the people we visit want us older missionaries there and we enjoy this. I think they have a respect for the older people. People over here don't live very long; they die at young ages for the most part.

On Tuesday we showed Desiree an old conference talk by Pres Eyring. She was not able to attend Conference. She had tears in her eyes during the whole talk as she was so touched. She always tells us how grateful she is for us. She says her life is happier now than it has ever been. She is worried about her husband as he seems so unhappy. He always seems to be gone a lot. He has been there a few times and seems like such a good man. We know that the gospel could bring much happiness and fulfillment to his life, like it has to his wife Desiree. Desiree just got a new car, it is BMW convertible sports car. It is white. It is so nice, she wants to take us for a ride some time. We are so glad for her as she is such a GREAT person.

We pray continually that the church will grow here and that the people will open their hearts to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ into there lives. Especially when you know the joy and happiness that it brings into their lives when they embrace the gospel.

We have been working a lot with Clifton and Elizabeth. They want to be baptized so bad, but again we have to get them married first. BUT, first Clifton has to get a divorce from his first wife. He has put in for it and hopefully this will be complete shortly.

Well I had another birthday last Friday. They keep coming and making me older even though I don't feel older. I guess the gray hair (what hair there is) and being hard of hearing is a definite sign. I guess things could always be worse. For my birthday we had a 2 hour district meeting as we do every Friday and sometimes for 3 hours. Them we came to our flat and Sister. O fixed cheese crisps, ham sandwiches, cookies, ice cream, fresh chocolate covered strawberries and some cup cakes filled with strawberries. It was all very good!! They had me blow out candles several times, but we couldn't get them up to my age before they were burning up. The elders gave me a nice card they all wrote on.

Sister O made my birthday really nice. She is such a wonderful person and everyone loves her so much. She is such a great wife and I love her so much. She gave me a beautiful card, a really nice golf shirt and a used driver, like new. It is like I have at home so that I can go to the driving range and hit some golf balls once in a while.

Then we went to Plettenberg Baai for a baptismal interview for our African son George. I am going to baptize him next Sunday Oct. 18. This is really exciting for us, our first one. We got home after 6pm. We had some more strawberries, cupcakes and Sister O fixed some nachos with jalapeno. We were tired and ready for bed by this time. ( old remember) Ha!!

On Sunday we had a young man about 20 double over in pain during sacrament meeting. Pres. Matsaluka went to check on him and I went with him. Pres. Matsaluka asked me if I would take care of this and I said I would be happy to do so. I got Elder Botes and Nyoka to help walk him to the car as he couldn't walk. We then took him and his mother to their home in Thembalethu to get his medical card so that we could take him to the emergency room at the hospital. On the way I stopped and got my anointed oil to anoint him and to give him a blessing. After this we took him to the hospital. I got them checked in and I needed to get back to teach my Priesthood lesson. After church Sister O and I went back to the hospital to check on him and his mother. When we got there the young man seemed fine and was walking around. Sometimes it is so amazing the strength that a priesthood blessing has. I have had a number of opportunities to give priesthood blessings. What a privilege it is to have the blessings of the priesthood in one's life. It can enrich our lives more than we can realize and in so many ways. The young man had taken a few of the missionary lessons, and when we took him home he and his mother stated that they wanted the missionaries to keep coming and teaching them so they could be baptized. They need to have all the lessons and be qualified in order to do so.

Sunday we had rain off and on all day. We had the elders for dinner as always, and we all enjoyed spending time together and sharing some spiritual thoughts etc.

Well it is about time to close. We want you to know how blessed Sister O and I are for serving here in South Africa. We love all of you so much and miss you more than you know. I want to thank all my children for the calls wishing me a Happy Birthday. You are a joy to me always.

We are so grateful for your love, prayers an support. Stay close and live the gospel principles and we promise that your lives will be blessed, as ours have.

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

Oct. 2, 2009 - Hello From South Africa

Dear Family Friends & Loved ones,

Hello again from South Africa. We are coming to the end of September and we have more to share since our last letter. On Sunday the 20th Pres. Goodger had us and the elders to one of his lodges (in Great Braak River) for lunch. It was a lot of fun and Sister O didn't have to fix a BIG Sunday dinner. Pres Goodger lives on a beautiful golf course in Mossel Baai and he invited Elder O to play a round of golf with him on Monday, which is our P-Day. You could see the ocean from every hole. It was really a beautiful setting and sure was a LOT of fun. It was only Brother O's second round in about 5 months. There are so many beautiful courses here and he wished he could play more.

When he got home from playing golf we had another senior couple at our flat by the name of Elder and Sister Harms. They are from AZ. He is from Safford, Thatcher area and she was from Elder O's little town of Franklin where he was raised. Her dad was Elder O's bishop at one time. They really didn't know each other, as he is about 11 years older. It is a small world. Sister O fixed a nice roast beef dinner.

On Tuesday we meet with Pres. Matsaluka and one of his counselors, Pres. Mtyobile. Sister O made a nice lunch with her left over roast beef. The Harms are a new senior couple here dealing with public relations. There are only 30 public relations couples worldwide and we have 3 in Africa. After about a 2 hour meeting with them about public relations, we took the Harms on a mini tour of George. We went to see Victoria Baii, Herolds Baii and a beautiful overlook of the beachfront of Wilderness. Then we showed them the river place where we have had the last few baptisms. Then we drove up on the mountain above Wilderness and showed them the Map of Africa. That is a large area that looks like the African continent, created by a river and some large canyons.

We then needed to get home as we had a teaching appointment with the wonderful family of Gerard, Desiree and daughter Elizabeth. The Harms went with us as they don't have the opportunity to teach in their calling. They really enjoyed the opportunity. They left Wed. AM and will be gone for about a month. They will be going way up to Durban with there call on public relations.

We left about 7 am Thursday to go to Port Elizabeth (4 hours away) for Zone Conference. All the senior couples were meeting for lunch together. Then in the afternoon we toured a game farm called “Kappa Gramma” We saw Warthogs, Bontebok, Giraffe, Impala, Duiker, Cheetah, Bush Buck, Water Buck, Ostrich & 3 Rhino's. On this game farm we drove our own cars around. On Friday all the missionaries met at a VW plant about 1 hour out of PE. We had a mini tour there and it was enjoyable but we didn't get to see the assembly line because of the number of us. There were about 50 of us. That evening we had dinner with Pres. & Sister Probst and that is always enjoyable.

On Saturday we had Zone Conference and we really enjoyed it. We started a 8 AM and left to come home about 3PM. Our next Zone Conference we will have Elder Hinckley of the 70's. That will really be a treat for all of us and everyone is excited about this.

We stopped at Tsitsikamma on the way home and visited with our Africa son, George, for a bit. His baptism is set for Oct. 18. We are really excited about this and he is really excited and can hardly wait.
He is such a great man and wants so much to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in his life. His life seems to already be blessed and he is so happy and has such a joy in his heart. That is so great to see and to see the changes in someones life.


It rained Saturday evening & Sunday. Being gone to Zone Conference, Sister O never really had time to prepare for her big Sunday dinner. So I suggested we have a Braai (Bar B/Q) hamburger, Vors, and hot dogs and she was all for that. The problem was it was raining, so we did it in the garage with open doors and windows. It was really good and the elders enjoyed it. Gary and John O Leen also came for dinner. We went to get them and bring them to the house. We had heard earlier that they had no food in their home, so we talked to Pres. Matsaluka about this. They are not members yet but we didn't want them to go without. Sister O and I went and got them some groceries and took it to them. They had nothing to eat. They really appreciated this so much and it is such a blessing to help people such as this.

Well one always hates to admit that they are getting older but I guess that I'm getting to that point. My hearing is getting very bad. I had it checked earlier and I have about 60% hearing loss but it is too expensive to get hearing aids over here. They run between 2 to 3 thousand dollors. Maybe later. I know it would be a big help in our missionaries efforts to hear better and to understand what people are saying. It is English, but it is still hard to understand.

Well it is time to close, I can't hear but I can see that this letter is getting long enough. We love all of you and miss everyone so much. We are so proud of our families and are so thankful for the great friends we have. We really enjoy hearing from everyone. You could all do do better (Please).
Those who haven't kept in contact – it is time to!


Love to Everyone

Elder & Sister O'Dell

Here are some new pictures:

O'Dells Update from SA - Sept. 14, 2009

September 14, 2009

Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones,

Well it is that time again! Greetings from BEAUTIFUL SA again. We have really been busy and time is flying by so fast. We had a baptism on Sept. 5 (Sat). We had it at the river again. It is such a beautiful setting but the water is really cold. We went back to the church for refreshments & for them to get warm.

We met with Pres. Matsaluka about a week ago trying to set goals and branch goals for our missionary program. It was really a good meeting, and we accomplished a lot. We then had the elders over for a braai on Saturday. We had hamburgers, sausage & hot dogs before we had workshops and interviews with Pres Probst. It was supposed to be from 7 to 8:30pm, but it lasted almost until 10:30pm.

The next morning Pres Probst was at church and we had the confirmation. We had one of the most spiritual testimony meetings that we can remember. We had nearly all the people at church that we have been helping to teach. We had one lady that couldn't be there because of the death of her father. She has invited all the missionaries to their farm (where they buried her father) for dinner. We are hoping that we can make it but we are not sure as it is 150 k's away.

We have been visiting and teaching this lady for sometime and she has a pink Bible. You know how Sister O'Dell loves the color pink. Sister O has commented on how much she likes her pink Bible. Well we were at the mall and we saw her there; her name is Desiree. She went to the mall to get Sister O a pink Bible and she gave it to her while we were there. Sister O was nearly in tears as she was so touched by her kind & loving act. She is a large lady and her heart is large & kind also.

Last Sunday we had a senior couple come by and stay the night with us and they had dinner on Sunday with the elders & us. Then on Monday (P-day) we all went to Oudtshoorn to go to the Cango Caves and an ostrich farm. We couldn't leave until after 11:00am. We took 3 elders with us and the Millers took 3 elders with them. We went straight to the caves. I was able to get a discount for the missionary group. They have a standard tour and an adventure tour. The elders went on the adventure tour (about 11/2 hr.)
You have to crawl through a lot of cracks and crevices and can see a lot more rooms. Sister O and Elder Maseko get very claustrophobic and the Millers couldn't do it so we did the adventure tour.

When we finished the caves it was too late in the day to do the ostrich farm so we did another farm closer by. A couple of the Elders rode camels, and so did Sister O. I got a good video of it all. Sister O is so much fun to be with and the elders really love her (me too). Then we rode a zip line across a little lake. I guess you know who the star of this was. RIGHT! Sister O. I got a good video of this as well.

Then the elders did some bumper boats, but they were so slow that there wasn't much to it. We all had hamburgers, chips (fries) and a drink and then we needed to get started back home. It is such a beautiful drive there and back through Outeniqua pass. Everyone enjoyed this day a lot.

We were really busy Tuesday & Wednesday with teaching lessons etc. On Wed. Pres. Probst called and asked if we would like to come to Cape Town on Thursday & Friday. There is an orientation at the office that we didn't get that he thought we may enjoy. We met with him for about an hour and 2 other couples and then he let us go.


He said he mainly wanted to give us a few days away and enjoy ourselves. We thought that was so nice of Pres. Probst.

One of the couples there (the wife) was from Franklin, AZ like I was. Her dad was my Bishop at one time. Small world. Their names are Elder and Sister Harms.

The next day we went to the top of Table Mount on a cable car. Talk about vertical. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! You don't always get good weather up there but it was a perfect day! After that we went to Cape Point which is the southernmost tip of Africa. On the way we stopped at one place and had lunch and then we went to see some penguins. The Cape Point is the point that separates the Atlantic & the Indian Oceans. Then on the way back we saw about 30 baboons with a lot of baby ones. They are quite cute when young. I guess they are like humans and then we grow up. We then had dinner with the other couples (3 couples in all).

We left to come home about 9am the next morning and Pres. Probst told us to go by Hermanus if we wanted and that we probably could see some whales and we did. It is probably about 100K round trip out of our way. We did see some whales, and I got some fair videos. About as good as possible. We also saw a few penguins. It was really a nice place to spend a little relaxing time. We got home about 6pm.

We had been told that we would have no power on Sunday from 6AM to 6PM. Sister O fixed a large potato salad & sandwiches for dinner and would've made cheese crisps if we had power- which we didn't. It wasn't her big Sunday dinner but it was still good.

Well it is getting long and Sister O has to type it and she doesn't like them this long. We want all of you to know of our love for you and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are really enjoying our time serving, even though it can get a little frustrating.

May you all be blessed in your lives and live as our Heavenly Father would have us do.


Love to All
Elder & Sister O'Dell

O'Dells Pictures from S.A.

September 2, 2009

Dear Family, Friends & Loved Ones;

Greetings again from beautiful South Africa. It has been an enjoyable but busy week. Tuesday was a great day. We met with a young sister, her mother and her 2 twin sisters and her boyfriend. It came about by this young sister (21yr) who had a dream about a book. The next day, 2 of our young elders knocked on her door. She saw the Book of Mormon in their hands and she told them that it was the book she saw in her dreams and knew immediately that she should invite them in and listen to their message. We went to see her 3 times last week. She has already read the introduction and the first 11 chapters in 1st Nephi. She wants to be taught everyday. She seems like such a great lady and family.

We also had a very good visit with the lady whose husband is in France. He will be home tomorrow. Last night we had a wonderful thing happen. We received an e-mail from our friend George form Tsitsikamma. It said “It was agreatiful time that i have neva had in my life u guyz u have really rocked my life i will alwez love u even in death u have printed amark in my heart i will alwez cherish u as my MAM & DAD .Linda-Elwood i will be ur true son of africa.i love u.”
We know it is a simple letter but it really touched our hearts. Things like this makes going on a mission worth your time and so fulfilling.

Well we e-mailed him later to see if he was planning on going to church in Knysna as it is so much closer to him. He said he was. We told him that we would come see him and go to church with him in Knysna. Then he e-mailed us back “Dear mam & dad.
It will b great 2cu again tomorol i cant wait 2see u, i just wish u a lovely drive,and 4mam pliz do not forgert 2b at left front sit 2give all the signs 2 dad! Joke! have alovely night ever love u.”

He said this because Sister O put him in the front seat to back seat drive for me.

Well Sister O couldn't make it to church. She had a tooth that had a root canal on it, maybe 30 years ago. Well it flared up on her just before we came on our mission, and again on Saturday. She was crying with pain most of the night. I gave her a blessing and I got a dentist to come to his office at 3am Sunday morning. It was so bad, we had no choice but to extract the tooth. I got her to bed about 4:30am. She didn't feel like getting up Sunday so I went to church in Knysna alone, about an hour away.

Monday on our P-day we had to meet with a clinical psychologist from 10am to 12 noon with the elders. Then we went to Victoria Baai with the elders for a few hours. Then we had to leave about 4pm to take some Primary children to Great Break River (about 30 kilometers away) for a surprise birthday party for their teacher. Well we got there and she wasn't home. The bad news is that we had 11 people in our small car in the back seat (never again!) Even worse news was that we had 2 little girls throw-up bad. Even worse was the smell. Brother O washed and shampooed the inside of the car the next day. Well it is about noon and we have a very busy afternoon so we are going to say goodbye for this week and sign off.

We finally got pictures from all our families. Thank you so much. We love you all so much and miss all of you, family & friends. We pray for all of you every day and ask the same of each of you. Thank you for your e-mails to us. Please keep them coming. We love to receive them and get news from home.

Here are pictures of

George Chancy, our one contact so far.


The Branch at Mormon Helping Hands Day


The elders having fun at the beach on P-Day


Love to All
Elder & Sister O'Dell

PS.
Chuck, have you been in contact with the lady renting our house in Trilogy. Has
she got anything yet for this winter? Let me know what you find out please

August Update from South Africa

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