The work is hastening!

Dear All,

As hoped, we are becoming increasingly busy.  It seams that every time we see President Zitshu (the Motherwell Branch President) he has some more people he wants us to assist in some way.  Without exception, each family we have visited has given us a warm welcome and have become instant friends.  We visited the father and grandmother of a missionary now serving in Ghana.  Neither are church members and we heard they did not like the church because their son/grandson left for a mission after becoming a member.  They both agreed to allow us back to teach them the things which there son is teaching the people in Ghana.  They had a neighbor visiting and he even agreed to listen to our message.  We're excited to share the gospel message with these fine people!   

  

We are making progress in learning the members names and putting them together with faces.  It has been more of a challenge than we realized it would be.  Most families don't speak English in their homes so the children don't learn English until they go to school.  The adults and children have a strong accent and so it is difficult to understand what they are saying unless they speak very slowly which they don't normally do.  They also speak very quietly which is not good for two people who don't hear well but the Lord is blessing us everyday and we are making progress.  This is a wonderful place and we love the people so much.

We attended our zone conference this past week and enjoyed the company of our mission president and his wife, President and Sister Merrill, along with his first counselor and his wife, President and Sister Pershing.  The Merrills recruited the Pershings and had some influence in so doing because the two men are first cousins.  We might be concerned about the nepotism but it so happens that Elder Watson is a distant cousin to both men.  Anyway, the conference was great as we received valuable training and were able to associate with some great people. 

The young woman here (we call her Joy because she is) is a member and her mother here is planning to be baptized next month.  They are examples of how the youth are leading the way!

The Powerful Port Elizabeth Zone

See the family resemblance!