Dear Brethren:
Sister Todd has sent several emails to sisters in the ward and I thought I needed to let you know how we are doing. We are assigned to the Richards Bay Area. It is a seaport about two hours north of Durban. It is on the Indian Ocean and is a big sea port for different minerals from mining. It is about 20-30,000 people but it is the shopping area for a large area. To the north and west there are no other towns of any size for two hundred and fifty kilometers. It is the hottest location in the mission with weather like Houston. On Christmas Day it got to 114 degrees. It has not hit that hot since we got here but it is a challenge. We are in the Richards Bay District which is made up of five small branches. When apartheid existed they made the blacks live in what are called townships. They are towns made up of small cement homes with very little amenities. Even though apartheid no longer exists the townships do. This is where 90% of the blacks still live. Where we live it is a study in contrasts. We live for security reasons in a mainly white area which would remind you of a normal neighborhood in the US. Four of the church branches are in townships from 30-45 minutes from our home. The entire home in the townships could fit in our family rooms at home. In some of the branches there is 95% unemployment. The biggest challenge is for the members to become self reliant. The opportunity for employment throughout the entire District is very low.
Sister Todd and I are assigned to work with the five branches. We have three separate assignments. The first is to work with the young missionaries. For safety reasons there are not any sister missionaries in our mission. There are ten missionaries that we are a mother hen for. We are assigned to look after their boardings (apartments), cars and general welfare. We have learned to love them already. For safety reasons the elders do not live in the townships but travel there every day. The second assignment is to work with the district and branches. Patience is a virtue especially in Africa. Sister Todd is not a very patient person and wants to have everything done right now but we are learning it with the Lord's help. There is a saying "TIA" this is African, relax. We are loving the people, they are wonderful but they take their own time in doing something. In the last general conference one of speakers spoke on if your country and family traditions do not match the church standards you must chose the church stands and leave behind the traditions. The area presidency for southeast Africa has really been hammering this subject in very blunt words. So far it is being accepted very slowly. Our third responsibility is our own personal ministry, doing missionary work. We love to wear our missionary badges. We get lots of comments and have turned several names over to the elders. We walk every morning through our neighborhood. To get exercise but to see if we can meet the neighbors. The whites are very unresponsive to the gospel but we are trying.
The gospel is true and we love what we are doing.
Elder and Sister Todd.
Sent from my iPad
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