Watsons Serving in South Africa: 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.