Oh, my Brothers and Sisters, Lumela (hello), from the
country of Lesotho! We are enjoying
another amazing mission here in this beautiful country of Lesotho!
We had an amazing experience in the MTC in preparation for
our mission. We are truly grateful for
such an uplifting beginning.
We arrived in South Africa at the Durban South African Airport on
September 17th and have not looked back. President and Sister Zackrison welcomed us
with open arms. We met that evening in a
meeting with Elder Packer, who is Boyd K. Packer’s son! It was a marvelous meeting on using the “MY
FAMILY” booklet in missionary work. Then
we were wisked off to dinner with other Senior Couples. We were treated like royalty for 4 days being
loved and nurtured by the Senior Couples, with 2 meetings with President and
Sister Zackrison mixed in. It felt like
a warm winter blanket in Heber City when it is 10 degrees out and snow is
gently falling to the ground.
We stayed in the cutest little B & B for the four
days. We were awakened each morning
around 4:30 a.m. by the South Africa rooster known as the hadeda
ibis bird. It
has an extremely loud and distinctive "haa-haa-haa-de-dah" call --
hence the name. The call is often heard when the birds are flying or are
startled, early in the
morning in residential suburbs. While roosting they produce a single loud
"haaaa". It just felt like home
sweet home! Elder Chandler says it sounds like a Magpie on Steroids! Not
Pretty.
Our first experience with church was in
a little branch in Durban. Church was
held in a school, which reminded Elder Chandler and I of the schools on the
Island of Pohnpei. One of the Elders
serving in the Branch was a good friend of Elder Nelson serving on the Island
of Pohnpei when we were there. It is a
small world. So many little details in
our lives!!
Now driving on the wrong (well right for them) left side of
the road has been an experience like we have never had before. When Elder Chandler sees the whites of the
black person’s eyes widen to huge circles, he realizes, yes, we are definitely
on the wrong side of the road!
We were given a Bakki (pickup truck) with a standard
transmission to drive on our mission.
Imagine if you can, steering wheel on the right side of the car and
shifting with your left hand. Elder
Chandler has it down, but me not so much with a little grinding of the gears.
I will share with you one funny experience we have already
had on driving the Bakki. Our number one
responsibility is to our Elders here in Lesotho. We have 10 Elders serving here. Half are natives from various countries in
Africa and half are serving from the United States & England. We get to go to each of their boardings
(apartments) every transfer and see what needs they may have. (Mainly to make sure they are keeping their
boardings in good condition and clean). One
area we are over is Leribe. It is 1 1/2 hours from Maseru. We needed to go one Wednesday to deliver some
things the Leribe Branch needed and to take the Elders things they needed for
their boarding. I drove down and thought Elder Chandler was going to drive
back, since I missed 5th gear 9 times and drove off the road once, but he is a
glutton for punishment. Well on the way home we got stopped at a road
block (they do road blocks all the time here, so nothing unusual) and they
wanted to see my drivers license. No problem, right! It is just
right here in my purse! Well, where in the heck is my purse anyway!
No where in the vehicle! For 30 minutes we discuss this with this jolly
chap about where my purse might be and what they do in America when you do not
have your license on you. I finally say to the officer, “Take me to
jail! Write me a ticket! Or, I will just get out and let my husband
drive,” who has shown the officer his license and visa! But no! He just
wanted “the bribe!” Finally Elder Chandler broke down and offered him a
200 rand bill to pay my ticket to him, which he graciously accepted and we
drove away with Elder Chandler behind the wheel. I knew they just wanted
the money, because we had been warned, but I was guilty. My purse was
sitting on the counter at home, which was a miracle, because I thought I sat it
down to lock up the door outside! We prayed so hard that it was safe and
it was! All was okay. I just figure my ticket was about $17 in
American money, so not too bad, huh?
We live in Maseru Lesotho. Our little Maseru Branch is wonderful. We love the people so much. They are a humble, loving, and a welcoming people.
The beauty of the message our first Sunday
was incredible. Keeping families strong and united! Each person
left an incredible spirit filled message about setting priorities of prayer,
family prayer, scripture study and FHE to strengthen families. You could
just feel the love they have for the Gospel! We then attended the Gospel Principles class
and again we were so grateful to be in such a spirit filled meeting. We had new
converts and investigators discussing how the "Holy Ghost" can work
in their lives. It helped them to identify the language of the Spirit in their own life.
We have the blessing of either going out with the
missionaries several times a week or teaching new converts! We have already had amazing experiences with a
couple of new converts. A young couple
with one child was just baptized. They
have been attending many churches for several years looking for the true gospel
of Jesus Christ as was found on the earth when Christ was on the earth. The spirit was so strong when the Elders
first taught the mother, that she could not wait for her husband to come home. She wanted to
tell him she finally found the church they had been looking for.
The Holy Ghost taught them every lesson and their hearts burned within
them. They rejoiced together!! We enjoy
so much being with the Elders as they teach them.
We love going to FHE (Family Home Evening) with the Elders
to member’s homes. This Friday we went
to MaPlesa’s home. She is an older woman
who has been a member since the 1980’s.
We were in this tiny little room with MaPlesa, 14 children, 6 teens, and
6 adults. (The neighborhood comes to
join in) It was crowded, arm to arm, shoulder to shoulder, and the Spirit was
powerful!! Oh how wonderful our mission
is here in Lesotho!!
We also get to teach new converts. We make quite a team, Elder Chandler and I. We love the people, we testify of Christ and teach them principles of the gospel. One family we are teaching has been members since May. We have taught them about forgiveness, serving and loving their Savior, going to the temple ,and this week we will teach about tithing. It is just the best experience to love them and help them to understand the gospel a little more every day.
Since our mission is in Lesotho, I thought I would give you a few facts about the country. Lesotho
is a landlocked country in southern Africa completely
surrounded by South Africa. It is just over 30,000 km2
(11,583 sq mi) in size and has a population slightly over two
million. Its capital and largest city is Maseru and this is
where we live. Lesotho is a member of
the Commonwealth of Nations. The name Lesotho
translates roughly into the land of the people who speak Sesotho.
About 40% of the population lives
below the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day. In
the past, it was a strong public opponent of apartheid in
South Africa and granted a number of South African refugees political asylum
during the apartheid era. It is the only
independent state in the world that lies entirely above 1,000 metres
(3,281 ft) in elevation. Its lowest point of 1,400 metres (4,593 ft)
is thus the highest in the world. Over 80% of
the country lies above 1,800 metres (5,906 ft). Because of its altitude, Lesotho remains
cooler throughout the year than other regions at the same latitude. Most of the
rain falls as summer thunderstorms. Maseru and
surrounding lowlands often reach 30 °C (86 °F) in summer. Winters can
be cold with the lowlands getting down to −7 °C (19 °F) and the
highlands to −18 °C (0 °F) at times. Snow is common in the highlands
between May and September; the higher peaks can experience snowfalls
year-round. Elder Chandler loves the weather here. We will look forward to winter. We are in springtime now and are in a severe
draught with higher temperatures than normal. Today in church the members were warned to
keep their children in or protected if they are outside. Because Lesotho is geographically surrounded by South
Africa it is economically integrated with it as well. The economy of Lesotho is
based on agriculture, livestock, manufacturing and mining. The majority of
households subsist on farming (a few pictures will give you a general idea of
housing and agriculture). We love how in the middle of town there are little herds of 5 or 6 cows or sheep grazing along a busy road, with herdsman watching over them. The herdsman always have their blankets wrapped around them and a staff in hand. It has got to be sooo hot in those blankets. It just feels like home no matter where we are in Lesotho. The formal sector employment consists of mainly the
female workers in the apparel sector, the male migrant labour, primarily miners
in South Africa for 3 to 9 months and employment in the Government of Lesotho
(GOL). The western lowlands form the main agricultural zone. Almost 50% of the
population earn income through informal crop cultivation or animal husbandry
with nearly two-thirds of the country's income coming from the agricultural
sector. The country is among the "Low Human Development" countries
(rank 160 of 187 on the Human Development Index), with 48.2 years
of life expectancy at birth. Adult literacy is as high as 82%. Among the
children below the age of 5 years, 20% are under weight.
Water and diamonds are
Lesotho's significant natural resources.. The official currency is the loti
(plural: maloti), but can be used interchangeably with the South African rand.
The loti is at par with the rand. The
American dollar is strong here, so about a 13.3 to 1 right now.
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| Pretty much exhausted after 35 hours of flying and airports! |
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| The African Hadeda Bird (African rooster) soo annoying! |
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| Elder Chandler in front of our beautiful B&B in Durban! |
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| Wonderful Senior Couples in Durban treating us to dinner! |
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| The happy sisters that greeted us in Durban! |
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| Our first Sunday meeting Chapel, a schoolroom. |
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| Sister Sorensen with a few of her branch members. |
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| Elder Dean and his companion. |
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| Missionaries in Leribe: Elder Ncube and Elder Pentreath |
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| Typical Lesotho landscape |
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| Beautiful Lesotho |
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| Lesotho agriculture management |
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| One of the nicer homes in the countryside of Lesotho. |
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| Countryside mode of transportation. |
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| Young herdsman with his cattle grazing along the road. |
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| Typical countryside village. |
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| Elder Chandler's first baptism, Moses. |
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| Young husband and wife getting baptized the same day! |
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| A few of our Maseru Branch Presidency. |
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| Elder Nyirenda, Elder Mupumha, Elder Paige, Elder Wright |
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| Our mighty Zone Leaders: Elder Ikube, Elder Mulumba |
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| Elder Mears and Elder Grange |
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| A young adult trip to find a good convention spot for November! |
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| Isn't he cute! |
Maybe send a few extra prayers up our
way. The government is in civil unrest
and we have just been asked by the local members and by our mission president
to be in by 7:00 p.m. (before dark). The
plan is to stone and/or burn the government Bakki vehicles, which unfortunately
look exactly like ours with the similar license code! The locals fear for us, so we will be in by
7:00 for the next few weeks. It hampers
the work, so I hope it goes away fast. A
couple of years ago they had to evacuate all missionaries out for several months. I pray that does not happen again.
We hope you will enjoy the pictures of
our early beginning of our mission. We love you all.
