Our Joy is Full

Dear All,

What a wonderful week we have had!  Highlights included a very inspiring and instructive bi-zone conference which was presided over by Elder Stanley G. Ellis of the Seventy.  He is the first counselor in the Southeast Africa Area, and he and his wife toured our mission before his becoming an emeritus General Authority later this year.  He is a master teacher and our time with them was so enjoyable, but just too brief.

Our two zones were blessed by having 22 people baptized this weekend, 10 of whom were from our beloved Motherwell Branch.  It was an amazing Sacrament Meeting yesterday as all 10 were confirmed members of the Lord's church.  It has been a wonderful experience to interview several of these people and learn of their strong faith and of the very positive and dramatic changes which they have made in their lives while preparing for baptism. 

One who was baptized on Saturday is Yamkela Adons.  We spoke of him in early November.  He was the one who was introduced to the church in a taxi by one of our branch members.  He had received a few lessons, and had gained a strong testimony, but then had to move a long distance back to his family home and making it impossible to attend church.  We stayed in touch by phone and missionaries closer to where he lived were able to make occasional visits, but he could not be baptized due to not having access to a church.  Well, he moved back to Motherwell about three weeks ago and was one of the 10 baptized on Saturday.  He bore a strong testimony in church this past Fast Sunday, and then again on Saturday after his baptism.  After being confirmed yesterday, he was approved to receive the Priesthood and was sustained as a counselor in the Young Men's Presidency.  He will be an awesome teacher, leader and example to the youth of the Branch, and to all who know him.    

We must tell you about Lisakhana Billy, who was baptized this past November.  She just turned 13 years of age, is beautiful, very bright, and is an awesome missionary.  She regularly invites friends and family to attend church with her saying: "you don't need to join, but just come and see if you like it."  Well, three of the 10 baptized on Saturday were because of her obvious love of the church and her obvious desire to share the great gift which she has received.  What an example she is to us all!   

Every once in awhile we have the opportunity to take a break, and today is one of those. Elder and Sister Hansen, one of our office couples are coming to stay with us for a couple of nights.  The four of us, along with Elder and Sister Smith, who serve 3 hours from us, are going to visit "Penguin Island" this afternoon.  As the name denotes, there are reportedly huge numbers of penguins to be seen there, along with dolphins and other wildlife.  We'll report later.

Our dear Elder Lloyd is recovering well from the open heart surgery and is being released from the hospital today.  Considering the seriousness of his problem, it is likely that he and his wife will be sent home to Australia before completing their mission.  This will be a sad thing for them and those they serve.  We consider each day that we are able to arise and serve as missionaries is a precious gift.

All our love,

Elder and Sister Watson

The pIcture above is Lisakhana with two cousins who she introduced to the church.

 Elder and Sister Ellis on their mission tour.  We enjoyed our day with them so much. 

Here are the ten new members of the church, in the Motherwell Branch.

This is the preschool where we teach English and numbers most weeks.  This was on Valentines Day when most wore red.  There were 41 attending that day.  Can you imagine spending all day in a 12' X 12' room with that many?!  The two teachers are angels!       

Never a Dull Moment

Dear All,

It has been said that the work of salvation is hastening upon the Earth.  We certainly find that to be the case here in South Africa.  There is no doubt that the Spirit is touching the hearts of the good people here and the work in which we are blessed to be involved certainly is hastening.  While the young Elders do the majority of teaching, we have some outstanding senior couple  missionaries here who are also doing much to further the work.  Two such couples are the Stubbs and the Lloyds.  Both are working in towns with relatively small branches of the church.  They are providing very valuable support to the members and leaders in those areas, and they are finding good success in teaching and baptizing.  The Lloyds had four converts last month and the Stubbs had five.  Way to go senior missionaries!  

Elder and Sister Lloyd live in Grahamstown, which is a one and a half hour drive from Port Elizabeth. Last Friday Elder Lloyd noticed a major reduction in his energy, and his pulse dropped to half the normal rate.  They visited a local doctor who told them to go immediately to an emergency room in Port Elizabeth.  Well, they waited until the next day before so doing.  We met them at the hospital and the first diagnosis, by an ER doctor, was that Elder Lloyd was in need of a pacemaker.  We were all relieved that it wasn't as serious as it might have been.  With it being a weekend, the cardiologist didn't examine him until the next day.  After so doing, the diagnosis changed and the report was that Elder Lloyd had a major blockage and would require open-heart bypass surgery.  That surgery was successfully performed this morning and Elder Lloyd is resting well tonight.  Two amazing things transpired in all this.  First, given the very severe condition of Elder Lloyd's heart, it was a miracle that he did not have a major heart attack before getting to the hospital.  Second, it was amazing to witness the coordination which took place between the cardiologist in Port Elizabeth, the church doctor in Johannesburg (Area headquarters), and those at the church headquarters in Salt Lake City.  Even a member of the Seventy was involved in the decision regarding the care of Elder Lloyd.  The Lord and His church leaders obviously care about the missionaries and great care and attention is given in their times of need.    

Today, we participated in our monthly Mission Leadership Council meeting, which includes all the zone leaders, two assistants to the president, and the Mission Presidency.  This is held via Skype at four different locations, one being at our home with four zone leaders.  It was about a four hour meeting in which many different subjects are discussed.  At the end of the meeting we heard testimonies from those Elders who will be going home prior to our next meeting.  What a wonderful experience it was to hear these young men, and to see the growth, wisdom and strength that each one had obtained.  Elder Greening is one who spoke and is one of the zone leaders here in Port Elizabeth.  He is a big, strong, and good looking young man who has showed little emotion as we have worked with him. Well, there was much emotion shown as he spoke of his love for the people of South Africa and for the gospel.  He told of one of his first transfers, and of telling President Merrill that he didn't want to leave the area he was in, that it would hurt too much to leave the people he loved.  The President told him "good".  "That means you are doing things right."  Well, he certainly showed emotion today as he contemplated going home and leaving these wonderful people.

Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and was chosen to usher in the restoration of all things in this last dispensation.  We know this to be true.  This is the work of the Lord.

All our love,

Elder and Sister Watson

The picture on top is Nanau from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  He was just baptized and will undoubtedly be a strong member and leader in the church.  He has quickly become our good friend and dear brother.    

  

Elder Stubbs with the five wonderful people he and Sister Stubbs taught and prepared for this 

great day

 Nanua and others were baptized in a river about two blocks from the chapel in Grahamstown.

One of our beautiful South African sunsets...weird because the ocean is on the other side!