16th July 2012 in Knysna South Africa

Mom and dad,

Thank you for the updates! Sounds like everyone had a blast! I wish I could meet Tristan now! Sounds like he's a new person! Burgers and hot dogs sound more delicious than it ever has! I actually bought some Ostrich Burgers, so I am going to cook them up and see how they are! I wish I had a BBQ though... but I don't... pan seared I guess... I have not yet received the police records ... I'm sure they will mail it to me here in Knysna as soon as they get it there at the office... Thank you so much for doing that mom! Sounds like the tree and garden are doing well! That’s sweet, love you both!  Now let me fill you in with last week.

Let's just say that last week’s P-Day was pretty sweet! The Elders came here from the city George, and we all went to Spur for their Monday special, then we went to the Knysna Heads, which is where the Knysna Lake funnels through an opening to the Indian Ocean! It's amazing! There are some pictures I've attached.

 Also while I was there, this guy and girl walked up to us missionaries and said, "Hey we are members! Is there any of you who are from Canada?" Huh?!?!? "ME!!" I exclaimed! Then they asked where and I said, "Southern Alberta." Then they said, "Really? Us too? Which place?" I said, "Raymond," then they said, "Cool! We are from Taber!" So turned out that the girl was going to school in Pretoria, and the guy (they are siblings) was going to school in East London, and they were both on vacation seeing the Knysna Heads as part of their trip! How crazy is that. That the moment they were at that spot at the Knysna Heads, us missionaries had decided to go to the Knysna Heads that day, and were in the same spot at the same time!! That was insane! I just keep meeting people from back home! So there is a picture of me with them as well! So that was just lekker (awesome in Afrikaans)!

The week picked up too! It's sweet how our appointments are holding now and that we are having success finding and teaching people! We even managed to find a few white less active families! So that'll be a huge support if they come back! Oh ya!

 So about those 2 couples I mentioned a couple of weeks ago who haven't been able to get baptized  because they are not being civilly married yet... Recently the church sent out an update for the allowance or non-allowance of couples being baptized. Here in Africa there are different ways to be married. You can be legally married by civil law which is recognized by the government in all countries. Or you can be tribally married between tribes. The issue with the tribal marriage is that there are certain countries that the government views it as an acceptable legal marriage, and some countries where the government does not view it as an acceptable legal marriage...

These 2 couples that we are working with just so happen to be from Malawi... now we were just informed when we went to Port Elizabeth for Zone Training, by President Wood, that tribal marriages in Malawi are deemed acceptable in the eyes of the government and that if they have been tribally married, then they aren't living in sin, “aka” breaking the Law of Chastity, and they are able to be baptized without getting civilly married (for the ordinance of baptism only, but will need to be civilly married before being sealed in the Temple for Time and all Eternity).

Now let me just quickly mention once again what they have gone through the past month... These 2 couples have been SO faithful, and have SUCH a desire to follow the commandments of God, that they were willing, and did, separate from their tribally married wives, “aka” not sleep with them, for an entire month. They even went as far as to organize a way that the wives would stay in one house, and the husbands would stay in a different house so that they could be baptized. Now we are informed that they are on track to be baptized on the 5th of August!!! So that’s sweet! They are incredible people! so Faithful, it’s amazing!!! I feel better now is back on track.

 So that was the week... I did bake a cake for a 16 yr old member who had her birthday last week, but nobody did anything for it, so we arranged a small bday party and had some people over in their shack and played games and ate cake! I would have taken pics but I forgot my camera! The cake turned out good too! :) You taught me well mom!

And it has been raining pretty much all week, which has been bitter sweet... I love rain, but it just makes everything really muddy... especially in township! Well, till next time! Take luck!