So, there they are! 18 months of, pretty much, weekly letters written home to my family. I cannot express how huge of an impression those 18 months made on my life. I LOVED my mission and all of the experiences that I had while in South Africa. As I have taken this journey of reading/transcribing these letters on to this blog, I have been reminded of my love for missionary work and my love for the beautiful country of South Africa. This time will forever hold a special spot in my heart.
I am so grateful to my loving Heavenly Father for knowing me well enough to know that I needed to serve a mission and that I needed to serve it in South Africa. He knew I needed the many wonderful experiences that I had to strengthen me and prepare me for the rest of my life.
I am grateful for my loving and wonderful Mission President. I miss him dearly .. he was tragically killed in a car accident about 12 years ago. I am also very grateful for President and Sister Mckay and for their love and support of me and my family through the entire length of my mission. My parents went through some very difficult times while I was on my mission including my mom being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, my parents lost a business, lost their home, moved to a different state and they were falsely accused of being involved in some illegal investment schemes which they had to go to trial for etc .. of course, they were found completely innocent, but it was still very emotionally traumatic for them, and as I mentioned throughout my letters, the Mckays and their entire family continually prayed for my family. I will be eternally grateful for that!
I love this Gospel and feel so blessed that I was entrusted with the task of teaching it to Heavenly Father's children in South Africa. My husband and I plan on serving a mission together when we are older (though we debate whether we hope to be called to South Africa or to his mission of Lithuania) and I am just that much more excited to be a full time missionary again, after re-reading these letters.
I am grateful for the Book of Mormon and the knowledge that it give us. I am grateful for Joseph Smith and the sacrifices that he made to bring us the restored gospel. I KNOW that it is true!
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Madedeni (05/26/97)
Okay, this letter is my last letter from mission, but it also requires a little bit of background. Because of the different circumstances of Sisters serving in a township, we were required to spend an abnormal amount of time with the Elders. Because of this, we got to know the Elders in our Zone a lot better than we had any other Elders during mission. There was one particular Elder who I got along really well with .. well, not at first actually ... if you'll remember back to the letter that I wrote about the Elder that I got in a fight with and who swore at me and said that I was different than any of the other sisters etc. Well, after that got all cleared up, I actually discovered that he was actually a really cool guy. I started feeling like I had a little crush on him. In any other area this would have been fine, because there really was no need to see the Elders very often, so I could have just avoided him. But because of the circumstances we had a lot of contact with each other. After struggling with this for a couple of weeks, I finally asked him for an interview (he was my Zone leader). I shared with him that I was experiencing a "little mission crush" and that I really needed some distance away from him, so I asked that he would do everything he could to make sure that he and his companion avoided us. He let me know that he didn't feel the same way about me, but that he was more than happy to avoid us. I was glad that he didn't share the same crush, made things easier for me. So, he went about ignoring me. This lasted for a few days, which were awkward and uncomfortable. But then he wrote me a note and told me that he had lied to me in our interview and that he was feeling the same way etc. We both wrote letters to Pres. to tell him the circumstances and suggest that one of us be transferred immediately and then set out to try to deal with emotions that we weren't supposed to be having while on mission until we got the call for one of us to be transferred. I am leaving out some of the details, just for the sake of the Elder, I am not sure how he would feel about me making this whole thing public. :) This is the letter that I wrote to my mom a couple weeks after this all happened. I made sure that it was addressed ONLY to my mom. I didn't want my whole family to know about this drama)
Mom-
Howzit? Well, this week was about as exciting as last week. I'll tell you, if the weeks keep going like this, I won't have the time or energy to get trunky. Everyone keeps asking me if I am trunky. I don't think I am and my companion says that I'm not, so I guess I'm not. I just don't have that much time to think about home. there is still so much work that needs to be done here and I can't just sit by and watch it not get done!
We had a 3 branch conference yesterday. It was really nice. Each of the 3 branches have new meeting houses. We met in the New Castle Chapel. It was really nice. In all the conference lasted for 5 hours. We had 10 baptisms after the conference. That's what took the longest. But it was really nice. We were all dead tired afterwards! I haven't been sleeping well lately, I think I lay in bed awake more than asleep, or at least that's how I feel. So, in the evenings I am so tired!
Transfers were phoned out on Saturday. I'm staying here. I guess I figured that, but I was still a little concerned. Pres was so mean to me on Saturday, we had interviews and I kind of got into trouble. Not really, it's just that he was stern with me for the first time ever. I was kind of excited because everyone else I've ever talked to tells stories of his yelling at them or being upset. And he has never even been stern with me before, so it was kind of nice to feel like a normal missionary. See, what happened was, well, I have this Zone Leader from ********** and well, put it this way, I'll probably be taking a holiday to ********* in January. Pres was a little upset because we didn't tell him earlier that we had feelings for each other. But, we actually tried. When we realized it (a few weeks ago) we both wrote letters to pres to explain the situation and hope that he would transfer one of us. Well, he didn't ever read our letters. He took off to the islands for a while and we never heard anything, so Elder ****** (the Elder) phone the 1st counselor in the mission presidency, Pres Mckay and explained the whole situation. We expected Pres. Mckay to phone Pres. Stevenson and tell him the situation, but apparently he didn't. So, Pres didn't find out until in my interview which must have seemed funny to him because I thought he knew, so I sat down in the interview and said, "Well, you're probably wondering what's up with Elder **** and I" He just acted like he knew what I was talking about. Anyhow, it's all fine, but in the interview Pres says, "Well, we'll have to transfer you." I sat in shock and he says, "did you hear me?" I said, "yes, you're going to transfer me" Then he says, "no, I'm just kidding!" I burst out into tears! He felt so bad! He tried to totally change the subject. But Elder ****** was up for a transfer anyway and he's leaving tomorrow. I'm glad because the whole thing has been a distraction for the both of us. It will be good to be totally focused again. Plus, Elder ***** has a real dork of a companion (he's the one that asked my companion to make out with him- he's a real jerk!) Now, he'll have an awesome companion.
Well, I wasn't planning on telling you all this. I was going to wait until I come home because who knows, it totally could just be a crush that blows over. Oh, by the way, Pres was, in the end (after he found out that nothing inappropriate happened) was completely excited about the whole thing, he highly recommended us to each other as marriage partners. Who knows what will happen. (To ease any concerns, if we did get married he would move to us)
Mom, I decided that I don't want the family to know all of this just yet, I'd rather wait until I know exactly what' going on before I say anything. So, please don't let anyone else read this and please don't tell anyone else. You can tell Kim because I know it's difficult to not tell anyone a "secret" but please keep it quiet until I come home. Thanks! I love you!
Love,
Michelle
(I left the mission just a few weeks later. On my journey home we (the 2 Elders I was traveling with and I) got to stop in Johannesburg, South Africa and attend the temple there. By the time I left the temple, I knew that even though this Elder was a great guy, it was just a mission crush and that nothing long term would come from it)
Mom-
Howzit? Well, this week was about as exciting as last week. I'll tell you, if the weeks keep going like this, I won't have the time or energy to get trunky. Everyone keeps asking me if I am trunky. I don't think I am and my companion says that I'm not, so I guess I'm not. I just don't have that much time to think about home. there is still so much work that needs to be done here and I can't just sit by and watch it not get done!
We had a 3 branch conference yesterday. It was really nice. Each of the 3 branches have new meeting houses. We met in the New Castle Chapel. It was really nice. In all the conference lasted for 5 hours. We had 10 baptisms after the conference. That's what took the longest. But it was really nice. We were all dead tired afterwards! I haven't been sleeping well lately, I think I lay in bed awake more than asleep, or at least that's how I feel. So, in the evenings I am so tired!
Transfers were phoned out on Saturday. I'm staying here. I guess I figured that, but I was still a little concerned. Pres was so mean to me on Saturday, we had interviews and I kind of got into trouble. Not really, it's just that he was stern with me for the first time ever. I was kind of excited because everyone else I've ever talked to tells stories of his yelling at them or being upset. And he has never even been stern with me before, so it was kind of nice to feel like a normal missionary. See, what happened was, well, I have this Zone Leader from ********** and well, put it this way, I'll probably be taking a holiday to ********* in January. Pres was a little upset because we didn't tell him earlier that we had feelings for each other. But, we actually tried. When we realized it (a few weeks ago) we both wrote letters to pres to explain the situation and hope that he would transfer one of us. Well, he didn't ever read our letters. He took off to the islands for a while and we never heard anything, so Elder ****** (the Elder) phone the 1st counselor in the mission presidency, Pres Mckay and explained the whole situation. We expected Pres. Mckay to phone Pres. Stevenson and tell him the situation, but apparently he didn't. So, Pres didn't find out until in my interview which must have seemed funny to him because I thought he knew, so I sat down in the interview and said, "Well, you're probably wondering what's up with Elder **** and I" He just acted like he knew what I was talking about. Anyhow, it's all fine, but in the interview Pres says, "Well, we'll have to transfer you." I sat in shock and he says, "did you hear me?" I said, "yes, you're going to transfer me" Then he says, "no, I'm just kidding!" I burst out into tears! He felt so bad! He tried to totally change the subject. But Elder ****** was up for a transfer anyway and he's leaving tomorrow. I'm glad because the whole thing has been a distraction for the both of us. It will be good to be totally focused again. Plus, Elder ***** has a real dork of a companion (he's the one that asked my companion to make out with him- he's a real jerk!) Now, he'll have an awesome companion.
Well, I wasn't planning on telling you all this. I was going to wait until I come home because who knows, it totally could just be a crush that blows over. Oh, by the way, Pres was, in the end (after he found out that nothing inappropriate happened) was completely excited about the whole thing, he highly recommended us to each other as marriage partners. Who knows what will happen. (To ease any concerns, if we did get married he would move to us)
Mom, I decided that I don't want the family to know all of this just yet, I'd rather wait until I know exactly what' going on before I say anything. So, please don't let anyone else read this and please don't tell anyone else. You can tell Kim because I know it's difficult to not tell anyone a "secret" but please keep it quiet until I come home. Thanks! I love you!
Love,
Michelle
(I left the mission just a few weeks later. On my journey home we (the 2 Elders I was traveling with and I) got to stop in Johannesburg, South Africa and attend the temple there. By the time I left the temple, I knew that even though this Elder was a great guy, it was just a mission crush and that nothing long term would come from it)
Madadeni (05/19/97)
Family-
Hello! This will be another one of those short letters as I don't have a whole lot to write about. This week has been a crazy week, one that I hope not to repeat on mission. I won't go into detail here, but thing just kind of hit the fan after I phoned Pres. about the situation with Elders in our zone. I'll tell you details when I get home.
We finally moved into the new chapel this week. It was so nice to be there this Sunday! We had 26 investigators there yesterday between the Elders and us. The people are just so excited to have a new church in their township. The church is already too small for the amount of people that attend. I don't know if I explained it, but what they've done .. but, we need 100 people attending each week before they'll build a chapel, but the branch here didn't have anyplace suitable to meet. They were meeting in a dirty, run down day care center where all the classes had to meet outside. They pulled in some of those trailers, almost like mobile home type things and turned it into a meeting house. They put it on half of the lot so as soon as we reach 100 they can start building a real chapel on the other half of the lot. Then they'll pull the temp. buildings out and put them somewhere else where they can start up a branch. It's really a smart idea.
We are sitting in a clinic right now. Yesterday my companion went into a dog cage. The dogs got excited and were playing with her. She got a little scratched up and so now she's worried about tetanus and rabies. I guess it's good to be cautious especially in the township. There are a lot of interesting diseases here.
Well, this may be my last letter home from South Africa. I don't know how long it takes for my letters to arrive there. I won't be able t send this one until next week. So, we'll have to see.
I love you all!
Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
(Just a little explanation in regard to "things hitting the fan" after I called Pres about the situation with the Elders in our Zone. I don't remember all of the details now, but I know that we all kind of started getting a little laid back, by mission standards, at least. There was one set of Elders in our Zone that my companion and I got along with really well and somehow we got into a practical joke war, things like putting Vaseline on door handles etc. It was all innocent and all, but the last joke that the Elders played on us, caused a few issues. They made a wedding cake and left it on our front porch and then decorated our car in "Just Married" fashion. And I think they even decorated the front of our house a bit... though I can't remember for sure. So, anyhow, several of our neighbors commented on it and asked which one of us got married etc. Not the best impression to make in regard to Mormon missionaries! :) I was concerned about this and wanted to explain things. I told him about the wedding prank, but he didn't really give me a chance to actually explain anything else, he just simply said that he was due up in our area for interviews anyhow and that he would be up the next day to meet with us and learn the details. I was fine with that, and hung up. Well, I guess Pres changed his mind about that, instead he made the Elders drive down to Durban and reamed them! They got some major chewing out. I felt horrible, because of course, they took all the blame and we got off scott free for our part in the pranks. There was some other underlying issues that I had wanted to talk to Pres about also, which I will talk about in the next letter that I sent home, but I was disappointed that I didn't get that chance)
Hello! This will be another one of those short letters as I don't have a whole lot to write about. This week has been a crazy week, one that I hope not to repeat on mission. I won't go into detail here, but thing just kind of hit the fan after I phoned Pres. about the situation with Elders in our zone. I'll tell you details when I get home.
We finally moved into the new chapel this week. It was so nice to be there this Sunday! We had 26 investigators there yesterday between the Elders and us. The people are just so excited to have a new church in their township. The church is already too small for the amount of people that attend. I don't know if I explained it, but what they've done .. but, we need 100 people attending each week before they'll build a chapel, but the branch here didn't have anyplace suitable to meet. They were meeting in a dirty, run down day care center where all the classes had to meet outside. They pulled in some of those trailers, almost like mobile home type things and turned it into a meeting house. They put it on half of the lot so as soon as we reach 100 they can start building a real chapel on the other half of the lot. Then they'll pull the temp. buildings out and put them somewhere else where they can start up a branch. It's really a smart idea.
We are sitting in a clinic right now. Yesterday my companion went into a dog cage. The dogs got excited and were playing with her. She got a little scratched up and so now she's worried about tetanus and rabies. I guess it's good to be cautious especially in the township. There are a lot of interesting diseases here.
Well, this may be my last letter home from South Africa. I don't know how long it takes for my letters to arrive there. I won't be able t send this one until next week. So, we'll have to see.
I love you all!
Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
(Just a little explanation in regard to "things hitting the fan" after I called Pres about the situation with the Elders in our Zone. I don't remember all of the details now, but I know that we all kind of started getting a little laid back, by mission standards, at least. There was one set of Elders in our Zone that my companion and I got along with really well and somehow we got into a practical joke war, things like putting Vaseline on door handles etc. It was all innocent and all, but the last joke that the Elders played on us, caused a few issues. They made a wedding cake and left it on our front porch and then decorated our car in "Just Married" fashion. And I think they even decorated the front of our house a bit... though I can't remember for sure. So, anyhow, several of our neighbors commented on it and asked which one of us got married etc. Not the best impression to make in regard to Mormon missionaries! :) I was concerned about this and wanted to explain things. I told him about the wedding prank, but he didn't really give me a chance to actually explain anything else, he just simply said that he was due up in our area for interviews anyhow and that he would be up the next day to meet with us and learn the details. I was fine with that, and hung up. Well, I guess Pres changed his mind about that, instead he made the Elders drive down to Durban and reamed them! They got some major chewing out. I felt horrible, because of course, they took all the blame and we got off scott free for our part in the pranks. There was some other underlying issues that I had wanted to talk to Pres about also, which I will talk about in the next letter that I sent home, but I was disappointed that I didn't get that chance)
Madedeni (05/04/97)
Dear Family-
Well, another week went by without me sending off a letter, so you'll be receiving 2 at about the same time. This week has just been so hectic that I haven't been able to get to the post office. We went to Durban for a mission conference. We ended up staying two nights there instead of one like we had planned. The mission conference was great. It was very refreshing. It got me excited about missionary work again. Not that I've been particularly un-excited, but I've been getting a little tired.
Things have been going extremely well in the mission. Do you remember I told you all about the prophecy that Elder Ballard made that if we would make 10 contacts per day, the number of baptisms in the mission would double, triple, and quadruple? Well, this past month (April) there were 4 times as many baptisms as there were at anytime before Elder Ballard came. I've seen with my own eyes a prophecy fulfilled. It's incredible to look back on my mission because it's like I've served 2 totally different missions, the first w/o much success but the second with much success. It all changed when Elder Ballard came.
We had New Beginnings for the YW on Saturday. It went really well. I was happy with it. The girls are really excited about personal progress. I love those young women. They are so great. I really love each one of them.
We have the most awesome investigator! Her name is Phumzile. She is GOLDEN! She is the greatest. She is going to be baptized on the 25th of this month. She is going to be a great leader in the women's auxiliaries here in South Africa some day. She's only 17, but she is so clever. She will make an awesome missionary someday as well. I have quickly grown to love her probably more than anyone in South Africa, well, with the exception of Johan & Leslie. But she is the greatest!
It was nice this week because we were able to go visiting in Amanzimtoti and Isipingo. It was nice to see old friends.
We went to visit an investigator family. They are way cool. They have a 4 year old there, she is very, very active. We sat down and within three seconds she had my mace out (which is on my key chain) and sprayed it into her face. It was terrible! She and I both were gagging and coughing. The poor thing was in complete pain. She was spitting, trying to get the burn out of her mouth and throat. I was in extreme pain, so I can only imagine how she felt - I guess at least I know that the mace work! :)
Sister Mckay wants to adopt me. Is that OK? :) She is such a neat lady. I love her to death! Maybe I'll marry their son! They have a 21-22 year old, 6 foot 2, son who will be coming here to visit in June. Yeah, right! In my dreams will I be a Mckay! :) It's funny because Sister Mckay has slipped and called me Michelle, I don't know why, since she only knows me as Sister Zenger, but it was cute. Mom, she always asks about you and your health and also about the family in general. She's a neat woman.
Pres and Sis Stevenson asked me to bring grandma home with me (Pres. Stevenson's mother). She is old, not really sick, but acts like it. She's in a wheelchair and such. It will be interesting. It probably means I'll fly first class. She just needs someone to give her, her medicine. So don't be surprised when you see me coming off the plan pushing a wheelchair. :)
Well, I had better go! I love you all! Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
Well, another week went by without me sending off a letter, so you'll be receiving 2 at about the same time. This week has just been so hectic that I haven't been able to get to the post office. We went to Durban for a mission conference. We ended up staying two nights there instead of one like we had planned. The mission conference was great. It was very refreshing. It got me excited about missionary work again. Not that I've been particularly un-excited, but I've been getting a little tired.
Things have been going extremely well in the mission. Do you remember I told you all about the prophecy that Elder Ballard made that if we would make 10 contacts per day, the number of baptisms in the mission would double, triple, and quadruple? Well, this past month (April) there were 4 times as many baptisms as there were at anytime before Elder Ballard came. I've seen with my own eyes a prophecy fulfilled. It's incredible to look back on my mission because it's like I've served 2 totally different missions, the first w/o much success but the second with much success. It all changed when Elder Ballard came.
We had New Beginnings for the YW on Saturday. It went really well. I was happy with it. The girls are really excited about personal progress. I love those young women. They are so great. I really love each one of them.
We have the most awesome investigator! Her name is Phumzile. She is GOLDEN! She is the greatest. She is going to be baptized on the 25th of this month. She is going to be a great leader in the women's auxiliaries here in South Africa some day. She's only 17, but she is so clever. She will make an awesome missionary someday as well. I have quickly grown to love her probably more than anyone in South Africa, well, with the exception of Johan & Leslie. But she is the greatest!
It was nice this week because we were able to go visiting in Amanzimtoti and Isipingo. It was nice to see old friends.
We went to visit an investigator family. They are way cool. They have a 4 year old there, she is very, very active. We sat down and within three seconds she had my mace out (which is on my key chain) and sprayed it into her face. It was terrible! She and I both were gagging and coughing. The poor thing was in complete pain. She was spitting, trying to get the burn out of her mouth and throat. I was in extreme pain, so I can only imagine how she felt - I guess at least I know that the mace work! :)
Sister Mckay wants to adopt me. Is that OK? :) She is such a neat lady. I love her to death! Maybe I'll marry their son! They have a 21-22 year old, 6 foot 2, son who will be coming here to visit in June. Yeah, right! In my dreams will I be a Mckay! :) It's funny because Sister Mckay has slipped and called me Michelle, I don't know why, since she only knows me as Sister Zenger, but it was cute. Mom, she always asks about you and your health and also about the family in general. She's a neat woman.
Pres and Sis Stevenson asked me to bring grandma home with me (Pres. Stevenson's mother). She is old, not really sick, but acts like it. She's in a wheelchair and such. It will be interesting. It probably means I'll fly first class. She just needs someone to give her, her medicine. So don't be surprised when you see me coming off the plan pushing a wheelchair. :)
Well, I had better go! I love you all! Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
Madadeni (04/28/97)
Family -
Hello! How has this week been for all of you? I'm talking to my companion asking her if there has been anything exciting going on this week. We really couldn't think of anything. Sometimes the weeks just go without any thing too unusual happening.
We had a single young adult fireside last night for the branch and we watched a video of a talk given by Henry B. Eyring at BYU. It really made me homesick, mainly because they were doing a shot of the congregation and they filmed Brandon Stienegal. It was weird! It shocked me!
Who is Regan? I keep getting these letters that talk about Regan like I should know who it is, maybe I do and I'm just being dumb and forgot or something, but I can't figure it out.
Transfers were phoned out this weekend. I am not affected by them. I didn't figure I would, but there was a small chance that I could have trained. But Sis. Sargent is training instead. I'm glad for her. She will do a good job. My companion and I will be companions until I go home. She wants to marry Erik. She fell in love with his photo, she keeps telling me to set them up.
On Saturday we are having the first New Beginnings in Madadeni. I am really excited for it. I hope goes well. I think that it will. We are having speakers from America and England. They are the daughter and old mission companion (of the daughter) of Pres. and Sis Mckay and they both are in the YW programme in their stakes It really should be nice.
We've started having YW activities every week, something they have never done before and it's great. Less active girls are coming back and they are all excited about YW's. I love being a YW leader!
Tomorrow we are going down to Durban for a mission conference on Wednesday. (Durban is 4 hrs away). We will be staying over night in Amanzimtoti. I am excited. We will be able to go and visit some people there. We are having dinner with Sister Elliott. That will be nice. She is one of my favorite people in Toti.
It will be nice to come home to summer. I am freezing here! New Castle is just a cold place! The thing is, it's not close to as cold as Utah, but the houses are not insulated and don't have nay type of heating and I really don't have the appropriate clothing. So, I'm cold. During the day it's fine. It even gets hot. It's just at night and in the morning.
Hey, I don't know if any of you are interested, but there is a guy in Madadeni that makes sandals. They are so cool! I don't know how to explain them, but they are definitely South African. If any of you want a pair you can tell me your size and send the money and i can have him make you some. They are cool. But you'd have to do it A.S.A.P so that I'll have time to have him do it. They cost $37 - that
s 150 rands. Mine look like this (I drew a picture, but I will attach a picture I took of them recently) Ok, so the drawing looks stupid, but they really are cool! He had like 20 different styles. That's just the one that I chose. So, if you're interested let me know.
Well, I had better end! I love you all! Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
Hello! How has this week been for all of you? I'm talking to my companion asking her if there has been anything exciting going on this week. We really couldn't think of anything. Sometimes the weeks just go without any thing too unusual happening.
We had a single young adult fireside last night for the branch and we watched a video of a talk given by Henry B. Eyring at BYU. It really made me homesick, mainly because they were doing a shot of the congregation and they filmed Brandon Stienegal. It was weird! It shocked me!
Who is Regan? I keep getting these letters that talk about Regan like I should know who it is, maybe I do and I'm just being dumb and forgot or something, but I can't figure it out.
Transfers were phoned out this weekend. I am not affected by them. I didn't figure I would, but there was a small chance that I could have trained. But Sis. Sargent is training instead. I'm glad for her. She will do a good job. My companion and I will be companions until I go home. She wants to marry Erik. She fell in love with his photo, she keeps telling me to set them up.
On Saturday we are having the first New Beginnings in Madadeni. I am really excited for it. I hope goes well. I think that it will. We are having speakers from America and England. They are the daughter and old mission companion (of the daughter) of Pres. and Sis Mckay and they both are in the YW programme in their stakes It really should be nice.
We've started having YW activities every week, something they have never done before and it's great. Less active girls are coming back and they are all excited about YW's. I love being a YW leader!
Tomorrow we are going down to Durban for a mission conference on Wednesday. (Durban is 4 hrs away). We will be staying over night in Amanzimtoti. I am excited. We will be able to go and visit some people there. We are having dinner with Sister Elliott. That will be nice. She is one of my favorite people in Toti.
It will be nice to come home to summer. I am freezing here! New Castle is just a cold place! The thing is, it's not close to as cold as Utah, but the houses are not insulated and don't have nay type of heating and I really don't have the appropriate clothing. So, I'm cold. During the day it's fine. It even gets hot. It's just at night and in the morning.
Hey, I don't know if any of you are interested, but there is a guy in Madadeni that makes sandals. They are so cool! I don't know how to explain them, but they are definitely South African. If any of you want a pair you can tell me your size and send the money and i can have him make you some. They are cool. But you'd have to do it A.S.A.P so that I'll have time to have him do it. They cost $37 - that
Well, I had better end! I love you all! Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Madadeni (04/20/97)
Family-
Well, another week has gone by and I didn't even get a chance to send off my last letter. It was quite an eventful week for us.
The grandmother of one of the members of the branch here died and so we were involved in the funeral proceedings. They do funerals so differently in the Zulu culture. They have an official time of mourning for a couple of days and during that time people come to pray and sing with the family. But it is so depressing. The house is just dark and cold and everyone was quiet. I didn't lie the feeling of that. There is some kind of grass mats that they women visitors sit on (after taking off their shoes) I sat next to a woman whom I didn't know but I was later told that she was a relative of the family and she wants me to marry into her family because she loves me and was so impressed that as a white woman I sat on the mat like a Zulu and that I knew Zulu culture etc. The thing she didn't know is that I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I was just following everyone else and was actually experiencing culture shock. I just thought it was funny. They slaughter a cow as part of the custom. I saw it being done. That was a new experience! And this was all before the day of the funeral even! Saturday was the funeral. It lasted 3 hrs (for the pre-cemetery service) They had all 6 missionaries sit up front with the other priests and pastors. They were going to Sister Russel and/or I speak but then decided to have a member do it so that it could be in Zulu. I was glad! But it was a wacked service, there were like 15 speakers and the whole congregation would break out into some song. They probably sang 30 songs. There was dancing and clapping involved. The whole thing was in Zulu so I was pretty lost. They called on one of the Elders to give an impromptu talk. I was glad it was him and not me! After the cemetery everyone goes back to the house (the service is held under a huge circus looking tent in the yard of the house) and they (the family) feeds everyone. There were hundreds of people there! they eat the slaughtered cow. They made a special meal for all the LDS people there because we don't eat slaughtered meat. The slaughtering is part of the ancestral worship that the Zulu's do. They believe that their ancestors are their mediator between them and Jesus Christ.
Anyhow, everyone was amazed that we (white people) were there at this funeral. They treated us with so much respect! It almost made me feel uncomfortable. A member later told us that the speakers kept mentioning how God is blessing this lad because now there are white people attending their funerals. The whole thing was an interesting experience.
Serving here in Madadeni sure can be a boost to a person's self esteem! Being proposed to is flattering especially when the man isn't even drunk. Also, the single young adult men were telling the Elders how they all have crushes on us. I think it is so funny! It's totally because we are white. They just are not used to having white girls/women talk to them, let alone be nice to them. So they are all freaking out having Sisters in the branch. It really makes me laugh. I'm going to come home and feel neglected because marriage proposals won't happen daily! :)
Well, what a week, hu? Oh, also, I got in a big fight with one of the Elders. He even swore at me, well, actually, not at me but around me. It was pretty bad. The dumb thing is, I didn't and still don't know what we were fighting about. He just one day began being rude to me. I asked him about it and he went off swearing (on the phone), then hung up. We baked him cookies and now we're friends again, I guess? His only explanation is that I'm different than any of the other Sisters. Whatever! He's South African - explains some of it!
Well, I had better go! I love you! Oh, I'll phone sometime in the afternoon your time on Mother's Day. It's too complicated to try to figure out the time difference etc. I look forward to speaking to you!
I love you!
Michelle :)
(I had to laugh while re-reading and typing in this letter. It's just funny to see my perspective on things at this point. Obviously I was in major culture shock as I was trying to adjust to township life. But the part that cracks me up is about the Elder that I got in a fight with. I still don't know exactly what that fight was about, but the fact that I blamed it on him being South African makes me laugh. I had seen a few men be rude to their wives/mothers and so I had the impression that all South African men were like that Obviously I was just making a blanket judgement. That Elder and I ended up being great friends by the time I left the area.)
Well, another week has gone by and I didn't even get a chance to send off my last letter. It was quite an eventful week for us.
The grandmother of one of the members of the branch here died and so we were involved in the funeral proceedings. They do funerals so differently in the Zulu culture. They have an official time of mourning for a couple of days and during that time people come to pray and sing with the family. But it is so depressing. The house is just dark and cold and everyone was quiet. I didn't lie the feeling of that. There is some kind of grass mats that they women visitors sit on (after taking off their shoes) I sat next to a woman whom I didn't know but I was later told that she was a relative of the family and she wants me to marry into her family because she loves me and was so impressed that as a white woman I sat on the mat like a Zulu and that I knew Zulu culture etc. The thing she didn't know is that I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I was just following everyone else and was actually experiencing culture shock. I just thought it was funny. They slaughter a cow as part of the custom. I saw it being done. That was a new experience! And this was all before the day of the funeral even! Saturday was the funeral. It lasted 3 hrs (for the pre-cemetery service) They had all 6 missionaries sit up front with the other priests and pastors. They were going to Sister Russel and/or I speak but then decided to have a member do it so that it could be in Zulu. I was glad! But it was a wacked service, there were like 15 speakers and the whole congregation would break out into some song. They probably sang 30 songs. There was dancing and clapping involved. The whole thing was in Zulu so I was pretty lost. They called on one of the Elders to give an impromptu talk. I was glad it was him and not me! After the cemetery everyone goes back to the house (the service is held under a huge circus looking tent in the yard of the house) and they (the family) feeds everyone. There were hundreds of people there! they eat the slaughtered cow. They made a special meal for all the LDS people there because we don't eat slaughtered meat. The slaughtering is part of the ancestral worship that the Zulu's do. They believe that their ancestors are their mediator between them and Jesus Christ.
Anyhow, everyone was amazed that we (white people) were there at this funeral. They treated us with so much respect! It almost made me feel uncomfortable. A member later told us that the speakers kept mentioning how God is blessing this lad because now there are white people attending their funerals. The whole thing was an interesting experience.
Serving here in Madadeni sure can be a boost to a person's self esteem! Being proposed to is flattering especially when the man isn't even drunk. Also, the single young adult men were telling the Elders how they all have crushes on us. I think it is so funny! It's totally because we are white. They just are not used to having white girls/women talk to them, let alone be nice to them. So they are all freaking out having Sisters in the branch. It really makes me laugh. I'm going to come home and feel neglected because marriage proposals won't happen daily! :)
Well, what a week, hu? Oh, also, I got in a big fight with one of the Elders. He even swore at me, well, actually, not at me but around me. It was pretty bad. The dumb thing is, I didn't and still don't know what we were fighting about. He just one day began being rude to me. I asked him about it and he went off swearing (on the phone), then hung up. We baked him cookies and now we're friends again, I guess? His only explanation is that I'm different than any of the other Sisters. Whatever! He's South African - explains some of it!
Well, I had better go! I love you! Oh, I'll phone sometime in the afternoon your time on Mother's Day. It's too complicated to try to figure out the time difference etc. I look forward to speaking to you!
I love you!
Michelle :)
(I had to laugh while re-reading and typing in this letter. It's just funny to see my perspective on things at this point. Obviously I was in major culture shock as I was trying to adjust to township life. But the part that cracks me up is about the Elder that I got in a fight with. I still don't know exactly what that fight was about, but the fact that I blamed it on him being South African makes me laugh. I had seen a few men be rude to their wives/mothers and so I had the impression that all South African men were like that Obviously I was just making a blanket judgement. That Elder and I ended up being great friends by the time I left the area.)
Madadeni (no date)
Family-
I feel like I just wrote yesterday! This week flew by quickly! I think it was probably because I was sick for part of it. We stayed in one day of the week and also since we can't work in township after dark we come home most nights at about 5:30pm, so the days go quickly. I don't like coming in early, I feel lazy. I think eventually though we will have more branch work to keep us busy.
The work is going well, we have three people scheduled for baptism in May. I also talked to the Sisters in Amanzimtoti last night and one of my favorite investigators is getting baptized on the 27th of April! I am so excited! He is so cool! I'd marry him if he was older and not Zulu! :)
I was proposed to on Friday. It was a tempting offer but I had to decline the invitation. The Zulu men propose as a pick up line. It's kind of funny. This guy was really distraught when I explained that we are missionaries and can't get married. My companion was proposed to 2 times last weekend. One of the Elders was with us and he discouraged the guy by telling him that she costs 20 cows. (They buy their wives with cows, but 11 cows is the most that any man will pay for a wife, so he was pretty upset).
This really has been an uneventful week. I've already run out of things to write about.
Have you heard from or about Diane? Did things go OK with the baby? I knew that she was due at the beginning of March, but I haven't heard anything.
I just want to warn you all again, I'll be getting off the plane FAT! So, I don't want to hear any remarks or see any shocked looks, just plan on having a fat daughter/sister for a while until I can lose it.
I know this is a way short letter, but I am going to end for now. I love you all very much. Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
I feel like I just wrote yesterday! This week flew by quickly! I think it was probably because I was sick for part of it. We stayed in one day of the week and also since we can't work in township after dark we come home most nights at about 5:30pm, so the days go quickly. I don't like coming in early, I feel lazy. I think eventually though we will have more branch work to keep us busy.
The work is going well, we have three people scheduled for baptism in May. I also talked to the Sisters in Amanzimtoti last night and one of my favorite investigators is getting baptized on the 27th of April! I am so excited! He is so cool! I'd marry him if he was older and not Zulu! :)
I was proposed to on Friday. It was a tempting offer but I had to decline the invitation. The Zulu men propose as a pick up line. It's kind of funny. This guy was really distraught when I explained that we are missionaries and can't get married. My companion was proposed to 2 times last weekend. One of the Elders was with us and he discouraged the guy by telling him that she costs 20 cows. (They buy their wives with cows, but 11 cows is the most that any man will pay for a wife, so he was pretty upset).
This really has been an uneventful week. I've already run out of things to write about.
Have you heard from or about Diane? Did things go OK with the baby? I knew that she was due at the beginning of March, but I haven't heard anything.
I just want to warn you all again, I'll be getting off the plane FAT! So, I don't want to hear any remarks or see any shocked looks, just plan on having a fat daughter/sister for a while until I can lose it.
I know this is a way short letter, but I am going to end for now. I love you all very much. Take care!
Love,
Michelle :)
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