We have been home for nearly a year now. I can't believe how time has gone by so fast. I have had a lot of time to reflect on our mission and the things we learned while serving in South Africa. I have always said that missions are more about your own personal growth. The first few months of serving in the Area Office were challenging for both of us. We had loved being Humanitarian Missionaries on our previous mission to Ukraine. When we first arrived in South Africa it didn't take us long to see that we would be spending most of our time in the Area Office and NOT in the field as we had done in Ukraine. I have to admit, that was difficult for both of us. One of the things we had loved about serving as Humanitarian Missionaries was going into the field and meeting with the people who were serving the poor and needy. We loved being a part of the community and meeting so many amazing people who had dedicated their lives to helping others. We loved representing the members of the church and offering to partner with organizations who were serving the less fortunate. Another thing that made our mission to Ukraine so special was the amount of time we were able to spend with the younger missionaries. We loved attending zone conferences, transfer meetings, and district meetings with the young elders and sisters. Our position in the Area Office was more administrative. We were not assigned to the mission, we were assigned to the Area Office, so we would not have much contact with the younger elders and sisters.We were there to support to the humanitarian couples who were serving all over South Africa. We reviewed their proposed projects, took their proposals to the Area Presidency for approval, processed their payment requests, reviewed contracts, trained new couples as they arrived in the country, provided ongoing support and training as well as put on a yearly conference for all the humanitarian couples. It took some time for us to adjust to the new assignment. However, we were so blessed to work with some wonderful people who made the adjustment so much easier. One of the people was Sheree Clarke, Sheree worked in the Welfare Department as the Behavioral Health Specialist. I recently found a note she gave us just before we left. I have included a few excerpts here because her words meant so much to both of us.
I will miss your smiles and the times I popped in to your office, Never, ever underestimate the contribution you have made in the Area Office and for Welfare Services in the Africa Southeast Area" She went on to mention other things that are too personal to share here but I shall save the sweet note in my journal.
Another person we were so grateful to have worked so closely with was Kenneth Mofokeng. Kenneth was our Water Specialist but he was much more than that. Kenneth was a very dear friend. When our children came to visit, Kenneth and his wife, Lesidi, had our whole family over for a barbecue. We attended the baptism of two of their children. Kenneth taught us so much about the people of Africa and shared wonderful stories about his family with us.
While serving in the Area Office, we didn't have a lot of opportunities to go into the field, as we did in Ukraine, and meet wonderful people who were serving the poor and needy but we had the opportunity to serve with three amazing people who have dedicated their lives to service. Sheree, Kenneth and Phillip were such great examples to us. We will never forget that no matter how difficult the day was, we would be blessed to hear the sounds of laughter coming from Phillip or Kenneth's office. Phillip and Kenneth's positive attitudes were contagious. I will be forever grateful for Sheree's kind and loving support throughout our mission. When we said good-bye it was like we were leaving our family. Words can not express how much their friendship meant to us.
Once again, this mission taught me that Heavenly Father knows each one of us. He knows each one of us by name. He knows what we need. We loved our mission to Ukraine. We loved serving with the young elders and sisters. We loved serving and working in the community. When we accepted the call to serve in the Area Office we knew that this mission would be different from the mission experience in Ukraine. However, when we arrived in Africa and realized just how different it would be, we were a little disappointed and I must say, we may have even murmured a bit. However, Heavenly Father blessed us with something different. What a lesson we learned. Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us. Often we don't see the end. We can only see the beginning and that is where faith comes in. Life can be difficult. We can find ourselves in a place that we didn't anticipate, illness, divorce, unemployment, wayward children. We may be confused and perhaps even disappointed. We think "how did I end up HERE?" We may even think Heavenly Father has abandoned us. But I have come to know that he his plan will unfold and it is ALWAYS so much better than we could have ever imagined. That was the case with our mission to Africa. It is true, in Africa we didn't get to work with young elders and sisters but we got to meet 20-25 couples from all over the United States who had dedicated 18-24 months of their lives to serving the Lord in Africa. We worked with two amazing couples, the Lee's and the Petersen's. As Area Welfare Specialist we were required to work very closely with the other Area Welfare Specialist couple. The first 9 months we worked with the Lee's who we had previously worked with in Ukraine. When the Lee's went home they were replaced by the Petersen's. We came to see the Lord's hand in calling us all to work together in the Area Office. We could see the unique talents that each of us brought to our callings. We learned so much from the Lee's and the Petersen's and their dedication to the Lord and examples of Christlike service. Both couple's taught us to serve with a willing heart. We were blessed to work very closely with General Authorities whose love and devotion to the Lord was inspiring. (I had to pinch myself each time I found myself sitting at the conference table in the Area Presidency Office) with Elder Ellis presiding. We came to know and love President Cook and were blessed by his kind words and support throughout our mission. This mission, just as our previous mission to Ukraine did, taught me to trust our Heavenly Father, to be patient with his plan and to live in the moment. If we had continued to complain and focus on what was "different" about this mission, we would have missed the joy of living in the moment. That is what AFRICA taught me, to live in the moment. There was so much to be grateful for in Africa and now that I am home I long for Africa. I had no idea those first few months of adjusting to life in Africa, that Africa would change me. That a piece of my heart would always be in Africa. I had no idea that my soul would cry out for Africa. I found this sweet poem that makes me so grateful that I had the amazing opportunity to serve in Africa. I pray everyday that once again my heart will unite with those that I came to know and love on African soil. I pray that I will once again sit in a game vehicle and feel the warm African sun on my face and hear the distant roar of lions.
I will be forever,
DREAMING OF AFRICA
