Dear Richard
It’s crazy that its September already! Somehow at this time of year
time just seems to speed up even more, if that’s possible L Probably not helped by the fact that my
students are due to write their final exam before the end of October, which you
consider to be the end of the year… So it really messes with your mind!
And I’m sure you must have heard that the main topic of discussion
anywhere in Cape Town this past week was the weather… We had days on end of
pouring rain, and the one day in particular the rain was just lashing us! I saw
photos of Edgemead drive completely flooded, as in the water was higher than
the bonnet of most cars! One photo I saw had a guy pretending to be fishing!
Thankfully our drainage is SO much better, so we didn’t have the floods, but
there was Dramatic rain, none the less. Our pool and the water that collected on
the paving around the pool just about touched at one point! And then on Friday
there was snow on Table Mountain, as well as a number of other places like the
Stellenbosch mountains! So VERY cold! But the great thing about Cape Town is
that even though we had a few days of such bad weather we saw the sun just
about every day for at least a couple of hours, and then today was a nice sunny
day, even though the rain is supposed to be back tomorrow. So we don’t have the
endless days of rain, but it’s also not the dry winter like the high veld has.
So overall I still love the weather in Cape Town J
I had a guy from the South African Institute of Professional
Accountants (SAIPA) coming to talk to my students last week, as opposed to
SAICA for Chartered Accountants. It was really interesting to hear the
different options the students have. My students are the 3rd year
students that can’t/don’t want to be CA’s, so it’s good to know how much else
there is for them.
I was asked to “sit” the second year September test last week, to
check the level and accuracy etc. I actually haven’t sat a test in that way for
years! It was a nice experience in some ways, but I must say I’m glad I’m not a
student anymore! J I also then
spent time setting my own course’s test. And I could see there how Heavenly
Father blesses us in so many ways. In every test for this course I choose a
company that the students then need to analyse their financial results. And I
had chosen which company I wanted them to do, and then in the news updates I get
emailed to me every day there was an article about this company which I could
use to test another area of the syllabus. So awesome! So things are coming
together nicely for my test as well J
The van den Bergs have moved back to our ward, and I volunteered to
take them some supper the day they moved so that they wouldn’t have to worry.
They were all really grateful, and Daphne said that it did so much for the
image of the church as well. The people she works with were amazed, and her
mom, who is still living with them, was also blown away. So a different kind of
missionary experience J
We decided to try to do something to get the kids, especially Josh, to
be more independent… So we modified the reward chart we had going for them so
that every time they did something for themselves they can move forward, and
then they can watch something, or play on the tablet or something for the
number of minutes they got. And they have responded so well! Especially Josh,
who is that much older to appreciate how it works. It’s so great to have him
doing more stuff for himself finally J
I taught the lesson in Priesthood yesterday and I think it went pretty
well! It wasn’t a normal lesson of course, more of instruction, so it was a bit
weird in that not everything I was saying was actually be demonstrated by me…
But I think it still went well. But it was interesting also looking back at
what I’ve done in the past and realising how my mind works. I really do have a
questioning, analytical way of thinking. And one of my colleagues actually
commented on the fact that he likes my questioning mind, and thinks I’m a true
academic… So I don’t know about that – I still don’t like research – but I am
seeing that analytical side of me coming out stronger. Interestingly I also
have come to realise that I’m not a creative person. I can take something that
someone else created and make it beautiful, but don’t ask me to do the initial
creating… It’s the difference between composing music, and playing beautifully
what someone else wrote. Even playing games with the kids I really struggle
with the imaginary games! Thankfully Andrew is much more creative than me, so
the kids can have a chance to play with one of us in that way… So different
talents for all of us!
Coming back to the lesson yesterday… What I hope I achieved, and I
think I did, based on what Charles said afterwards, was that the brethren came
out seeing how important gospel teaching is. I think this quote from Elder
Holland really sums it all up:
Speaking in general conference, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said: “We are
so grateful to all who teach. We love you and appreciate you more than we can
say. We have great confidence in you.” He continued: “To teach effectively and
to feel you are succeeding is demanding work indeed. But it is worth it. We can
receive ‘no greater call.’ … For each of us to ‘come unto Christ,’ to keep His
commandments and follow His example back to the Father, is surely the highest
and holiest purpose of human existence. To help others do that as well—to
teach, persuade, and prayerfully lead them to walk that path of redemption
also—surely that must be the second most significant task in our lives. Perhaps
that is why President David O. McKay once said, ‘No greater responsibility can
rest upon any man [or woman], than to be a teacher of God’s children’” (in
Conference Report, Apr. 1998, 30–31; or Ensign, May 1998, 25).
So a good week overall, and this week is the vac, so I can get to work
on a few other things, like the textbook for one…
Keep well!
Shelly
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