"MANNA FROM HEAVEN"

I know e-mail is the greatest and Skype is unbelievable but.........
may I now repent for all the letters I did not send to Scott, Kami and now Elder Alex Henderson. As I watch the elders and their excitement and now feel first hand what is is like to get a real letter in the mail.....wow 2 in one day, how do I rate?
"HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO US!"

"It Must Be Halloween"

Sister Oldham is below, she is such a sweetie! Mother of 7, grandmother of 32.


Today was a crazy day at the office. It all started when we were the first to arrive and Elder Henderson punched in the wrong security code. The alarm went off, the phone started ringing, then security police arrived on the scene. The three of us had a good laugh, him all dress like a one man swat team.
Then all the elders arrived and we had 15 of them coming and going at the same time. Amid all this, a group of elders wanted to walk to the office. When they were let in at the security gate and a young man dress somewhere between a circus clown and a beat nick followed them in. He claimed he was there to help out the painters, who are presently painting our building. I thought he looked a bit fishy. One of the elders thought he was just an elder dressed for "P" day. Oh My Goodness! Anyway, as I watched him from my window I noticed he was acting a bit strange. He claimed he wanted some water for his bottle to drink and rinsed it about six different times. Then he walked in the shed that sits on the property. Pretty soon he has hauled boxes out of the shed and was putting them all in a big black garbage can with 2 inch letters on it saying LDS. Off he goes....yes that is right......he was there to rob us, right in front of the 15 elders all mingling in and out of the yard. He must of been very experienced to have such gall. In the end Elder Oldham spoke with him, called the police, got the guy to repent, admit that he was there to steal and say he was sorry. So Elder Oldham sent him off with several items from the shed that he was planning to get rid of anyway. The moral to this story. "If you want to rob someone, look for Elder Oldham and say you are sorry."

Mitchell Plains Continued

On Thursday of last week we went to the stake center with Elder and Sister Mahler from Texas. They are working with the Family History Department recording records. The purpose was a training meeting with Pres. Wood and the elders. We were there to arrange and serve the lunch. The training was exceptional. After the meeting the Mahlers were kind enough to take us to see the Mitchell Plains Branch chapel where we will be assigned. A beautiful brand new chapel set in the mist of a township with, of course, iron fence and coded gate. It even has air conditioning. We were to start there today, however, with Elder Henderson leaving for the states this week we will postpone starting until he returns.
His mother is close to passing and he must return home. I will not be going home, cannot bare to say good-bye so soon.

MITCHELL PLAINS

OUR FIRST SUNDAY HERE

We attended the Parrl Branch with Elder & Sister Oldham, they are the other couple in the office. They have been here since August. They are from Kaysville, Utah. In the short time we have been here we have become fast friends and love them dearly. Elder Olham was a pilot with the 419th Air Force Reserves when Elder Henderson was a member and they knew other then. He has a wonderful since of humor and Sister is just a sweetheart, she is also helping to train me.

The Sunday meeting was incredible. Sister Oldham is a pianist and leads the young adult choir. She invited me to sing with them. There was 9 of us with Sister Oldham on the piano. We sounded pretty darn good. What a change to be in the minority. The members are so very loving and accepting.

After church Elder Oldham wanted to show us this quint little park on the hill side. Wow! is all I can say....don't take my word for it just look at the pictures.

"CAPE TOWN MISSION BARBER SHOP"

Cutting the elders hair is such a pleasure. They are so friendly and certainly appreciative. Also very eager to clean up the mess so Sister Henderson can get back to her desk.

Our Apartment

LIFE IN CAPE TOWN AND THE MISSION OFFICE

We arrive on a Tuesday and as I said we stayed up until the wee hours unpacking. We were picked up the next morning and headed for the mission office. The office sets on about one and a half acres and is approximate 1200 to 1400 square feet. There are five elders, President Wood and two senior couples. Elder Henderson has been assigned to take care of the finance department. Sister Henderson has three hats, entering new baptisms, writing letters of congratulation to the new members, writing letters to the elders about their transfers and change of assignments, along with a letter to their parents. She also is making all the travel arrangement for elders and the president and his wife; including booking of flights, hotel stays and car rental. Her shadow leader and trainer, is Elder Naylor, who is a miracle trainer and she is thankful he will be around for another 3 weeks. There is so much to learn. The hair cutting tools were brought because there was no doubt heads needed cutting and saving money is what the elders are all about. Fridays have been "Barber Shop" day.

Whew....we made it!

That was the longest flight I have ever been on. We left Salt Lake about 10 am on Monday, crying our eyes out. Flew to Atalanta, Georgia and arrive with a tail wind about 3 hours later. We laid over for about 3 hours in the company of Elder & Sister Hatch from Panquich, heading to Johannesburg as PR persons. We encountered some elders and sister heading for Chili, When they saw we had cell phones they were freaking out. And yes, we told them that they may use our phones to call home. Long calls home;0)

Then it was on to Johannesburg, South Africa. That was about a 15 hour flight. My bottom felt like it was going to fall off it hurt so bad. At Salt Lake they told us our luggage was checked through to Cape Town so when we De-boarded we went directly to the British Airways to check in for our 2 hour flight to Cape Town. It was on the second floor up and about the length of the whole SLC airport. We had a 2 hour layover there. They said; "Where is your luggage?" The law says you must enter customs when arriving in any country. So we literally ran down two flights to try to get back to the luggage. No dice! We couldn't get back through. I said a prayer, ask a attendant for help. She said; "Follow me." We followed her out a side door into the parking lot back in another side door and right there in front of us was a guy with a cart and asked us if we were the Henderson's....on the cart was all four of our bags. We gathered another cart and stared running again.......does anyone realized Karl just turned 70, anyway, when we arrived on the 2nd floor a young man came to our rescue. He took us to our flight desk by way of a short cut, and lifted all the bags on the belt. I took out my rands (money) and he promptly took two bills, I don't even care how much it was I was so happy and felt so blessed to have had the help. We made it to our flight with plenty of time to spare.
Two hours later we arrived in Cape Town. We did stop long enough to take a picture with the custom officers when we arrived, they were so cute! Elder & Sister Oldham from Kaysville were there at 10 pm, Tuesday night African time with smiles on their faces to greet us. They took us to our apartment. We stayed up until about 2 am to unpack and slept in until 11 am the next morning.

THE TIME WENT MUCH TO FAST

Red, Red Eyes

It was such a great idea to take our car to the MTC and come home on weekends. Packing our house seem to take forever so the weekends gave us the opportunity to hang out with Kami, Joe and the kids. We are so grateful for their hospitality. There were a few that wanted to say their last good-by's and dropped by to visit....we thank you.

Chrystal and Chris invited us to dinner while we were in Provo. Great company, great food.

Kami, Misti and Michelle took us to the airport the morning of the 17th. I hope it is a very long time before I have to experience the sad good-byes that took place the night before as well as at the airports. My heart is still healing. We were in a circle having family prayer Sunday evening when Amanda made an announcement. She stepped into the circle with her 9 year old Sniffy (her Wooky blanket) with a large pair of scissors. She asked her mom to cut a piece out of it to give to me. Of course I lost it. She is inseparable from her Sniffy. Kami then cut a heart about 6 inches long from the blanket. Later I told Amanda that I thought it was pretty amazing that she had done that. She replied that she was pretty amazed at herself as well. I carry it in my purse and now I am sniffing it.

Last Hair Cut

Noah won't be getting hair cuts from grandma for awhile. He was being really funny when he place a wad of his cut hair on the top of his head. He looks like a Chinese guy.

LEARNING CAN BE FUN

Two weeks of education was made fun by being with very special brothers and sisters. This is a picture of our first group. They are bound for all parts of the world.

"WHAT AN INCREDIBLE TWO WEEKS OF HEAVEN"

What an incredible two weeks at the MTC. You know people talk about "Heaven On Earth." All I can say is they must have spent time at the MTC. We met so many wonderful people, seniors as well as young adults. Elder Gerber was from New York, while his companion was from the old 2nd ward in Roy where we once attended. Elder Gerber looked so much like Noah. The more we talked with him the more we thought so. What a cutie!!!

The one day we were eating lunch when two elders sat by us on an empty table. They started the conversation and sat with us for at least 20 minutes after we all finished easting they said they loved talking to the seniors as they had such fun stories. Elder O'Connor and Elder Munsey both going to Phoenix, Arizona. The only drawback was the food....to much and too good. I now need to transfer to Ethiopia so that I can loose all the weight I gained. Ugh!

On the very last day we even we able to say "Hello" to Sister Russell from our ward, this is amazing considering the amount of brothers and sisters there. She is heading to Little Rock, Arkansas with President Steve and Sister Polly Petersen. She was soooo happy!

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO WRITE TO US?"

Here is our address in Cape Town:

Elder Karl & Sister Linda Henderson
South Africa Cape Town Mission
PO Box 181
Observatory
Cape Town
7935 South Africa

Phone: 27 21-447-5530

AWESOME TEACHERS

Brother Silitoe and Sister Grover had been the very best in educating us in correct principles where by to teach with the spirit. Our District Leaders are Elder & Sister Ball from Boise, Idaho. They will be returning to Boise as proselyting missionaries, under a new pilot program.

NOTICE THAT BROTHER SILITOE HAS THE "FLAT KIDS" ON HIS LAP;0)

MTC LIFE IN PROVO, UTAH

It has been all of four days at the Mission Training Center and I think we have both gained 10 pounds. The food is out of this word and with four choices to choose from each meal you find yourself overindulging. Ugh!!! Classes start at 8 am with breaks each hour, an hour an half for lunch. We are done by 4:30 just in time to eat again. During the afternoon we have to really work really hard to stay awake.....all that food.....I know.

There are 102 senior couples here at this time. They are going all over the world. They said it is the largest group of seniors this year. 2500 elders and sister make up the difference. What beautiful young souls they are. So happy as the walk down the hall singing or whistling to themselves, you can tell they are pleased with their choice to serve the Lord.

The training is marvelous. Tuesday evening we had a devotional. Elder and Sister L. Lional Kindrick spoke. Sister White would have been proud of us as we volunteered to sing in the choir singing "I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus." Wow! We sounded spectacular!!!

I ordered some "Flat Kids" of Joshua, Lukas, Noah and Amanda. Today I had fun taking them with us and getting pictures.