The Month of the Rains

Hello Friends and Loved Ones from Lesotho Africa,

That’s right!  Rains have finally fallen here in Lesotho.  We had about ten days straight of rain off and on.  It was absolutely fabulous.  The rain felt heavenly even to those who were walking.  We all were loving it, every single rain shower.   It was just lovely to watch, feel, and walk in.  The flowers, trees, scrubs, animals, and even the streets were soaking it up.  We have a few small lakes around finally.   For a few weeks water was flowing in the streams again.  The grass is growing tall tall tall and the animals are loving it.  Their skinny little bellies are getting full once again!  The unusual heat wave is gone!  Thank you Heavenly Father for answering the prayers of so many!  The weather is back to normal in the 70’s and 80’s.  Whee!!

We had a wonderful month of cooking dinners many times this month, starting out having our neighbors, Pastor Hong, and his family over for dinner.  It was such a wonderful evening.  We showed our Christmas video we had prepared for them even though it was January 2^nd.  We talked about the Savior and enjoyed a wonderful evening with Elder and Sister Roberts from Bloem joining with us too.

One night we invited a young couple who are recent converts over to share an evening with us.  She looked so very cute!  I thought she needed to be somewhere fancier than the Chandler’s old boarding and kitchenette.  We felt so honored she dressed up so much for us.  We enjoyed our meal together and then we watched the “Testaments” after. We had a wonderful discussion about the Savior and our blessing to know and love Him so much. The new convert wife, said "it wasn't the nails that held him on the Cross, it was his Love for Us". Our hearts were touched by what new converts bring to the Kingdom. Wow!

January actually has been a much slower paced month for us.  A month filled with a few rough days and one fairly difficult week.  Our sweet MaPlesa, that you have seen pictures of, is very sick and has been in and out of the hospital.  She is in kidney failure.  She is one of the most amazing members of the church I have ever met.  Powerful testimony of the Restoration and the Temple!  Best of all she is gifted in being able to verbalize her feelings to others.  She makes my spirit soar when I am around her.  We have been missing our FHE on Friday evenings with all of the little children since she has been so sick.

A couple of the families we have been teaching have had a few set backs and struggles this month.  SATAN works overtime when he thinks someone is getting closer to the temple.  But we just work harder, meet with them more frequently, and pray even more fervently for their spiritual success.  Who said a mission was a breeze anyway!  Not Elder and Sister Chandler, that is for sure.

Two things we saw this week that might help you to know a little about what some of the people go through here. One day we were driving down the street and saw a very very poor woman wearing socks that were made from a black garbage bag.  Her sandals were completely worn out,  clothing tattered and torn, her body & hair unkempt.  She had all the signs of being homeless, which she probably was. My heart ached for her. Then a few minutes later we were parked waiting for Matsiu to come out from the Bank, when a man walking down the street, picked up a wrapper from off of the sidewalk, brought it to his nose and smelled it deeply.  Then he just looked and looked at it. Finally when he was finished savoring what smell there was he began licking the wrapper over and over and over again.  When he was finished he took out a little plastic baggie, placed it in the baggie, then placed it back in his pocket.  Now that was heartbreaking!!

Be grateful, oh so grateful for what you have!  Let Heavenly Father know how grateful you are.  Tell Him every single day.  We have so much when at times we think we have so little.  Always always, be aware of your blessings. 

We have spent time this month training leaders, giving lessons, and planning activities for the youth.  We started Self Reliance classes in two of our Branches, which we are so excited to see beginning.  That program is so inspired and is such a blessing for second and third world countries.  They take a 12 week (2 hour class each week) course filled with several hours of homework each day.  It is amazing what you can learn in these classes and by doing your homework.  In our little Maseru Branch we had 23 sign up for “How to start and grow your own business”. 

To end this blog on a high I want to tell you about our temple trip this month to Johannesburg. Oh, how much we have missed the temple!  What a beautiful temple it is.  Matsiu and Lucky, whose parents both passed away a few years back, went with us to do the baptisms for their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents.  It was such a wonderful experience, partly because our good friends from our home ward where we raised our family, run the Baptistery there.  We had not seen each other in years.  What a happy wonderful reunion.  Then Elder Chandler and I were able to do the rest of Matsiu and Lucky’s parent’s temple work.  Now when Lucky goes to the temple before his mission to do his own temple work, we will be able to seal them together as a family!  What a blessing that will be for them and for us!  We have two families who have set goals to go to the temple the end of April, so we are praying to be able to attend with them then.  Oh, how we miss the temple!

We pray you have a wonderful month!  We enjoy your letters so much so please drop us an email.  We would love to hear from you.

 

Saying Goodbye to Elder Icube.  He finished his mission strong!

Elder C, Elder Icube, Sister C, and Elder Patterson

Dinner with the neighbors, the Hong Family

Teaching in a little tin shack Quashile Ruby with Elders Wright and Mbusi

Darling little Natasha and her Uncle

The Khrumba family that we are teaching.

What a happy neighborhood party to start the New Year!!

Happy Birthday Elder Chandler from the Elders

Elder Chandler's Birthday Dinner