Watsons Serving in South Africa: Act and Not Be Acted Upon

Dear All,

As mentioned in our last post, our Motherwell Elders were accosted by three armed men and driven to an area outside Motherwell. Due to the trauma of this experience President Lebethoa decided to transfer them to Queenstown, an area about 4 hours to the northeast of us. They left on October 10th with little time for goodbyes. It was a sad day for these missionaries, the branch members and us, but it was the best thing for their health and welfare.

As you may have heard in news of the church, there is a plaque spreading throughout the island of Madagascar which is quite serious. Therefore, the decision was made to evacuate 69 of their missionaries, 9 of whom arrived in our mission this past weekend. We now have Elders Van Niekerk and Modisakeng serving in Motherwell. We have spent some time this week introducing them to members and investigators and helping them get settled in. They are both fine missionaries and we know the work will not be hindered regardless of the actions of a few.

About one week following the incident in Motherwell, two armed men entered a home in the Zwide Township (not far from Motherwell) and demanded the car keys from two Elders who were teaching a man there. They were polite and non-threatening but the car was gone none the less. This incident was the forth one in less that three months when cars have been taken from the missionaries within the two zones where we labor.

In counseling with President Lebethoa and local leaders, we decided against putting cars back into Motherwell and Zwide. In recent missionary training President taught the principle of acting in a wise and righteous way, and thereby not allowing ourselves to be acted upon by others with less than righteous designs.

2 Nephi 2:6 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon.

It was decided that we would take action which would lessen the likelihood of our missionaries being acted upon. In the case of Motherwell and Zwide, the cars were too great an enticement to potential thieves, so they are not being replaced. Given how large both areas are, and that the missionaries live some distance from their areas, it was not possible to do the work while walking. Consequently, we devised a plan to utilize individuals from the community to transport the missionaries as needed. You might say it is similar to Uber, in that we will have pre-selected drivers who will respond to a phone call from the Elders for transport. We are still in the process of getting it all organized but at this point we are very optimistic about the plan. President Lebethoa believes it may establish a pattern with increased use in the future. We will keep you updated on how it goes.

We are staying busy and sometimes overwhelmed with the responsibilities we have, but missionary service is unbelievably rewarding. One must experience it to believe it!

All our love,

Elder and Sister Watson