Dear Family-
I didn't have money to send your letter this past week, so you'll be getting 2 letters together. This has been an eventful week!
We've been busy all week preparing for the Easter Programme. The Branch President asked us 4 missionaries to do it. It was fun to prepare, but quite a bit of work. We had 4 musical numbers, two of them were by us missionaries. We sang His Hands by Kenneth Cope and then we also sang I Know that My Redeemer Lives. I've never sung in front of people lie that before. It was a cool experience though, it wasn't Mormon Tabernacle Choir or anything, but it sounded nice. We also each spoke. I spoke on the Resurrection. It was a short talk because I also had to say goodbye because I've been transferred.
On Friday our district leader came by in the morning and said that Pres wanted to see Sister Russell and I in his office. This was quite strange because Sister Russell and I are not companions. But, we went in and Pres told us that we are pioneers. He asked us how we feel about being the first Sisters to ever serve in a township in the mission. I was so excited! Sisters have never served in townships before because generally the townships are more violent than white areas. But there is a township called Madadeni on the very northern edge of the mission, which is very safe and which needs a lot of help in the branch. So, they've assigned Sis Russell and I there. I KNOW this is where I am supposed to go. I heard about a week ago that they were considering putting sisters in Madadeni and the Spirit told me that I would be transferred there. I've also always felt that I would serve in township at some point in my mission. The Lord has been preparing me my whole mission for this because I was quite a scaredy cat at the beginning of my mission and I have had many experiences that have given me nerves of steel. Some that you know about and others that I'll share when I come home. Anyhow, now i have no qualms about serving in a township. I am very excited. In case you're feeling worried, don't be because we are taking a lot of precautions. We will not be staying inside the township, we'll stay in New Castle with 2 other Sisters and also, we will be out of the township by dark every night. So, we will be really safe! :) I am so excited about this! Sister Russell will be a cool companion. We have a few personality conflicts, but it is just because we are a lot alike. We will have a good companionship.
It was hard to say goodbye. I felt like I was saying goodbye to my family again, except this time it was probably for the rest of my life. Oh, rip my heart out! Toti is my home in South Africa. If I were ever to move to S.A. it would be here to Toti.
Today is Easter. I'm writing on Sunday because we will not have time tomorrow. We are making Easter lunch and so we are all writing while the chicken is cooking. This is the first time on mission that I can remember a Sunday actually feels like a Sunday. It's actually nice, but it makes me a little homesick. We are having a nice lunch and then we did some Easter Eggs and so we are going to have a roller derby. Where did we pick up that tradition? I've told some people about it and they have all loved the idea. My companion & flat mates love the idea. I think that this will be a nice Easter. We have a couple of appointments with members this afternoon. It will be nice.
I want to stay on mission for the rest of my life! I am scared to come home. I'm scared to go back to normal life. It's so unpredictable! And you have to deal with dating and all that stuff! I wasn't going to write about this because I think I've written about Dean in every letter for a month and I'm sure you're all thinking that your daughter/sister is in South Africa flirting with boys, but I really am not. But we played a joke on Sister Sargent. All of my flat mates tease me constantly about him, but Sister Sargent is the worst of them all. So, Sis. Jensen organized a good joke. We were at the church arranging things for Sunday and Sis Sargent and Russell let to get a hamburger. So Sis Jensen and I phoned Dean (he's down for Easter) and we arranged for him to pick up a letter addressed to me from the church post box and bring it to our flat. When the other Sisters came back I acted like I was freaking out. I told them that I had phoned Sister Elliott to talk to her about Sunday and Dean answered the phone and I told him that I was being transferred and he acted strange and just said that he needed to bring something by to me. So I was acting all nervous and such. Sister Sargent thought that I was being dumb because she thought that I was over reacting to the situation. Well, so he brings the letter by and just puts it in the post box and leaves, that's when Sister Sargent started freaking out. So we go running out to get the letter. I grabbed it & ran inside and read it out loud this is what it basically said (Now, remember, Sis. Jensen actually wrote this letter)
Sister Zenger,
As I was sitting in your class on Sunday, I realized that I have feelings for you more than friends. You are a super person and I would like to get to know you better. I hope you feel the same way as I share my feelings with you. Please let me know if you feel the same way and if we can pursue anything. I know this may be inappropriate, but I know that you are going home soon and i am leaving son and don't know when I'll be back.
With love,
Dean Elliott
So, I read this and everyone was freaking out and I was sick to my stomach. I really, truly was. It was dumb because it was a total joke, but I still felt sick. Anyhow, we kept Sister Sargent & Sister Russell going until 10pm that night. They completely believed it. Sister Sargent kept calling him a jerk. She kept saying, "poor Leizel, he doesn't deserve her! He doesn't deserve you! What a jerk!" etc, etc. Sister Russell was just the opposite. She was saying how sweet it was of him and how she thought that he was one of those guys that you only drool over and isn't touchable etc, etc. They about killed us when we told them that we were just joking! But the thing is, we went to thank Dean the next day. He asked what the letter said. We told him and he goes, "Wow, Sister Jensen, I'm impressed, you wrote down my feelings & thoughts almost exactly!" He was joking I'm sure, but still, I've been sick to my stomach ever since then. I'm going to be wacked when I come home. I can't even handle a tad bit of flirting. Luckily, I'm being transferred and won't have to deal with it anymore! :)
I really need to know where I am flying into. They need to know soon, soon. So, if you haven't already sent info off could you please fax the mission office and let them/me know.
Mom, did you receive a letter from Shirley Naidoo? She has asked me a couple of times. She is so awesome. She will be baptized someday. She just really does not have a way to come to church. But, she is awesome! She feeds us all the time. The absolute best Indian food. I love it. She really can't afford to do it, yet each week she does. She's a really awesome lady!
Wow, it's been a while since I've written a letter home this long! I think I'm just usually in a big rush on Mondays because there is so much to do.
I love you all very much. I look forward to seeing you in June. I just wish that you all could come here for a while and then leave me here to be a missionary again. I love it too much!
I hope and pray that everything is going well for all of you!
I love you!
Sister Zenger :)
P.S. Service is like wetting your pants, everyone else can see it, but only you can feel that "warm feeling".
I Love you!
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