Greetings to our Wonderful Friends and Family,
Since October 1st, the shelves in the stores have been filled with Christmas decorations of every kind....lights, wreaths, Christmas ornaments, etc. By the third week in October, the Christmas gifts were filling the shelves. When store decorations appeared October 1st, I was shocked at how early it was. Elder Todd suggested that because we do not celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving here, they just get an early start. It is hard to think of Christmas when it was over 100 degrees. Then we saw a sign in a store window: The Sun is Shining.....It is Christmas! So we just have to change our mindset.
HOW LONG IS LONG ENOUGH????
Friday, we had an appointment to visit the Alvana family. Another blessing of our mission is to develop friendships with wonderful people. We arrived at the Alvana's at 3:15 and visited until 5:30 . As we got up to leave, the family was very upset. They announced that we "had just arrived" and said we had "not had a visit." We explained that we had another appointment at 6:00 in another town. However, they felt this was a weak excuse.
TO THE RESCUE?
While we were at the birthday party, the District President called Elder Todd and asked if we could provide breakfast for 20 people the next morning. They were going to do a training for the branch presidents/ministers. He had forgotten to make arrangements for food and needed "to be rescued" (those were his words.)
While Elder Todd was attending the financial training, I attended an emergency neighborhood meeting. As I have mentioned before, safety is a huge concern here---for your property and your physical well being, Two months ago, they hired 2 guards that patrol 24/7 and they set up some sort of group chat so people could report suspicious people or ask questions...this is in addition to the metal gates and security systems that most homes have.
However, just a few days ago a woman had her car hijacked one block from our home. The woman was shot, but she will be fine. She was stopping to pick up her child at the neighborhood creche (daycare center) when a man with a gun stopped her. We heard all of the commotion and had seen the police cars but we weren't aware of what had happened. They are asking for each resident of our neighborhood to pay more money each month for more guards.
However, just a few days ago a woman had her car hijacked one block from our home. The woman was shot, but she will be fine. She was stopping to pick up her child at the neighborhood creche (daycare center) when a man with a gun stopped her. We heard all of the commotion and had seen the police cars but we weren't aware of what had happened. They are asking for each resident of our neighborhood to pay more money each month for more guards.
CAN'T STAY AWAY
After being in charge of the Young Adult (Singles Ages 18-30) activities for months, they asked someone else to be in charge. We felt ready to pass the baton to someone else. But Saturday afternoon we decided to just stop by for a few minutes and see if they needed any help. We discoveredWE LOVE WORKING WITH THE YOUNG ADULTS and missed seeing them. On our way to the activity, 2 young adults called and asked to be picked up at the Taxi Rank. After people ride the taxi into town they are dropped at the Taxi Rank, but it is still another 30-35 minute walk to the church. We stopped first at the church and discovered that no one had the keys to get inside the gate or the building. (We are discovering that people often forget small details....like keys to get into the building!) Elder Todd quickly unlocked everything and then drove to pick up the group at the taxi rank. These youth are very laid back, and no one worries if things are late...even hours late! As we helped get the activities set up, we found out that no one had thought of refreshments. By that I mean, no one had thought to purchase or make food---but everyone would be expectingfood. Luckily, we had food left from the morning training so we brought that out. They played the game Twister (no one had ever played that) and another African game that we were not familiar with. I was supposed to be the score keeper, and Elder Todd was the judge but everyone was yelling (being so enthusiastic) in Zulu and we had no idea who won the point or what the rules were, so we just enjoyed the chaos.
We stayed to lock up the building, supervise the cleanup and the drive groups to the Taxi Rank to go home. We don't know who was supposed to be there to help, but we had so much fun and were glad we stopped by.
WHAT A DEAL!
Today we took a young man to get a blood test at the hospital. It cost R15, which is 15 cents in US money. When is the last time you were able to get any blood work done for 15 cents??!!! This is a young man we are help preparing to serve a mission.
WOMEN OF COURAGE
Our church has been looking for an opportunity to join with another church to help give service. A senior missionary couple in Durban heard of the Jewish Women's Union and their fundraiser. We wanted to be a part of that effort. Eight women from all faiths, were selected to come share their story of how they overcame adversity in their life. Each women had suffered unbelievable hardships and had survived and triumphed! What inspiration. One woman was missing both legs (not even stumps) and one arm. Her mother had taken a morning sickness drug, thalidomide, while she was pregnant. Later they discovered this drug caused birth defects and that is why she had 3 missing limbs. She was put in a boarding school at 5 years old where she was teased constantly. The staff asked her parents to not come and visit her because it made her want to go home. She had no idea why her parents left her and never came to get her for years. She felt abandoned for the next two decades. Her story was heartbreaking and eventually, inspirational. She has no artificial legs because of lack of medical treatment so she scoots around on her bottom or uses small crutches. Another woman was a refugee from another country, another was sexually abused by her father, etc. You get the picture. Afterwards, they challenged everyone to begin today to: DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF. Step off the treadmill of life. Get in touch with your inner flame, and become a woman of courage. I thought it was a great message.
We have had so many opportunities to serve people of all ages. We try to share our message as we do so. We feel so blessed to live in such a wonderful country. We will never forget these amazing people.
I have so much more to share, but I know you are ready to hit "Delete" if you haven't already. Last night was our last night teaching our religion class in Enselini, until January (it is their summer break.) We decided to have a party after a short lesson. We brought soda pop (They LOVE it!), ice cream, bananas (bananas are a MUST), and all the stuff to make strawberry shortcake. They had never seen or tasted it. I showed them the cake, strawberries, blueberries, whip cream. They LOVED it....they had me make them larger and larger. We had white cake or chocolate cake and they wanted layers of both. They took pictures of the strawberry shortcake and us and posted them on facebook! Such a simple thing....building a strawberry shortcake was a thrilling event. Can you see why we love these wonderful people???? We brought plates and forks and napkins. One young man said, "I will never forget this day. I am using a fork, a serviette (napkin) and eating shortcake. I am turning into an American!" We can't wait until January, when our classes start up again!
If you are sending out Christmas cards or letters, we would love to hear from you via email or mail. Our mailing address is:
If you are sending out Christmas cards or letters, we would love to hear from you via email or mail. Our mailing address is:
Elder and Sister Todd
P.O. Box 101907
Meerensee 3901
South Africa
We know Jesus Christ lives. We know His gospel is the way to happiness. We are grateful to be able to serve him full time.
Love,
Elder and Sister Todd
Grandma and Grandpa
Mom and Dad
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