a letter from Bartholomews

Dear Family and friends, May 24, 2009

We are enjoying beautiful fall weather. That seems strange to be saying during the month of May. My mind still thinks that it should be summer. However, Larry is so grateful to have summer behind us. We will not suffer with the heat again before coming home. We have perfect days of blue skies and cool nights. Yes, this is paradise. If only all the other problems didn’t exist here.. Like poverty, crime, wicked traditions, Aids, corrupt politicians etc. etc.

We have just returned from Swaziland. It is probably our last trip to this beautiful country with such wonderful loving people. Beth and Heather, I gave many of the beautiful dresses and shirts that you sent to the orphanage in Swaziland. I will send pictures when I get them. Thank you again for sewing all those darling dresses. We also gave away many of the little beanie babies. I will put a picture of Dad giving one away at the market.

Thank you ALL for the contributions that you have given to our mission. I love to remember the members birthdays….they don’t celebrate birthdays …well actually they don’t get gifts for anything – so anyway it is fun to give them a small gift on their birthdays. I use the wonderful things given by family to do this. Many of the things the Skinner family has sent to us – my brother and Merilee and her husband – have come in so handy for this reason. The people will text me to tell me that they are having a birthday. I have their records so I know exactly when their birthdays are. I will bake/or buy a cake and give them a small remembrance. This has been such a fun thing to do. Larry is so great to contribute to this. I especially like to let the woman know how special they are – they don’t get any recognition – so a birthday is a great time to celebrate how wonderful they are!! We could not do this mission without the help and support from home. How blessed we feel to have such a good family and friends! That reminds me, we also sent another woman to the temple to take out her endowments this past weekend. She is 29 years old; has two children and is our District YW counselor. Of course there is no father, but she is beautiful and is waiting now for the right young man. She was able to go to the temple because of the love of you wonderful people at home who have been so generous. We have a small amount left and we’ll see that it is used to send our members to the temple. For some reason, the money just seems to multiply. I often think of the “loaves and the fishes.”

Elder B. has been working hard to get all of the records up to date and correct with all of the branches. This has been a frustrating and consuming job. But he is the right one for it. He also has Presidency responsibilities along with District and Branch responsibilities. Never a day when you wonder what to do!!! I like that, I think we both like being very busy. Right now training is the big thing. We finally have our branches mostly staffed. This is not easy – you must have enough members to call to various positions. Because of great elders, we have been blessed with many baptisms and the branches are growing. Eager new converts accept callings and are doing their best. It is a whole new world for them as their previous experiences in church have not required them to give service and actually teach. No more going to church, clap your hands to the music, listen to a preacher yelling about the love of the Savior and then go home. I think, in many ways, that is what touches their hearts when they come to our church. The sweet feeling of peace that is there. Not the loud yelling and singing with amplifiers. Some people say feeling the spirit is just heartburn, I can tell you that it is not. So many times I have had people tell me of the feeling that they have as they listen to the missionaries, as they come to church and participate in our services. We used to have people tell us the same thing when we worked at the Joseph Smith building and the Conference Center. They didn’t necessarily want to listen to the missionaries, but they felt a spirit as they came to these places that were different than anything else they have felt. We heard this many, many times. I am so grateful the people here in Africa are listening to the spirit and changing their lives. Because of this, they are becoming stronger and will be the leaders that will needed in the years to come to help this country.

This is planting season and we are buying plants for our Nseleni branch. We have a budget and we are using some of the money to supply our Relief Society President, Queen, with plants so she can distribute to other members. She is also going to start a cooking class and a sewing class. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. My goodness, this is an Enrichment Meeting. We are actually starting to sound like a normal branch. We are having our first District Relief Society Conference this Saturday. Sister Kumalo, the District President has worked hard to make this successful. It may not be like our big stake Relief Society Conferences at home, but I am certain that I will enjoy it more. I will love to see the Relief Society leaders as they conduct, give talks, sing and help put on a luncheon. Whatever is presented will be the best the sisters have ever seen!! As missionaries, we have tried to stay in the back ground and just give ideas when asked. All the R. S. Pres. of the branches are speaking and there will be two choirs singing. Sis. Pier and I will help with the food and Elder B. and Elder Pier will do clean up!! We hope to have 60 women in attendance.

The last two weeks we have had six baptisms and in two weeks we will have four more. Both of our branches average about 50 for attendance in church. A year ago, we were at 20-25. Next year hopefully they can double again – 100!! Wouldn’t that be great?

We have been busy with Fathers and Sons and YSA the past two Saturdays. Both were very successful. I think we had 75 attend the “Priesthood Camp”. That is what they call Fathers and Sons. There were definitely more sons than fathers!!

We have had so many sick in our branches and have tried to help with medicine etc – because there is no decent health care for these people. Our little Thandeka has had runny tummy (diarrhea) for the past three weeks. She went to the doctor in Durban for her TB and told them she was having problems with her stomach and had major sores in her mouth. They told her they didn’t do stomach problems, only lungs. I am here to tell you they don’t do that either!! She now weighs 66 pounds. They will not admit her to the hospital because there is no room. Gave her some tablets, told her to come back in a month. I worry that she will make it in a month. She looks horrible. Her mouth is full of large sores and she can’t eat anything that doesn’t go right through her. It is so frustrating. My heart goes out to her – I know she understands that her life is never going to be better and her own mortality is so fragile. It makes me weep.

Yesterday in church we had a crazy experience. The speaker was talking when from the back of the room we heard a growl. I thought what is happening…a girl about 15 years old was bent over in the chair. I quickly went to help and immediately saw she was having a seizure. However, our YW president and our Primary president informed me - no, she wasn’t having a seizure she was full of evil spirits. Nothing I said would change their mind. Finally, Dad and the Elders gave her a blessing and she quieted down. I wanted to call for medical help….then realized we were in Africa. Who do you call – you don’t. They just kept telling her that she was full of an evil spirit and to try and push it out. I kept saying …no, she is having a seizure – oh well, I realized again that their culture and mine are far apart at times. There is so much yet that they need to understand. They still go back to their crazy traditions and superstitions. We serve in the heart of Zulu Land and the people are not as progressive as in other parts of South Africa. I wish I could explain, but you just have to be here. That is what makes the Gospel so wonderful. It helps these people in all aspects of their lives. They learn to lead, to be more aggressive and to look to a future – to have hope. But, there are those times that you scratch your head and can’t figure out what they are thinking!! The girl is going to go to a doctor – hopefully they will find what is wrong. I can’t even write that sentence without laughing. Of course they won’t find out what is wrong!!

Well, I have rambled on too long. I must say – my letters are getting worse. Please delete if you want. I want you all to know who much we love these people. They are our dear friends. They have taught us things that we could have never learned anywhere else. We hope to stay busy, busy the next five months – and then it will be another couple’s privilege to be here. At least we pray that there will be another couple. By the way, we miss the Hafen’s. It is not the same without them – but we go forth.

May the Lord bless you and sustain you. Keep the faith and remember the equation for success. Obedience with exactness + hard work + FAITH = Miracles. I know this to be true. We all can have a miracle – we just need to try.

Dad and I are very happy and send you all of our love. See you soon.

Mom, Karen, Grandma and Sister B.