Dear Richard
I did SO well last year with writing to
you just about every week! And now it’s been practically a month L But it is an indication of how hectic
things have been… Veronica was off for 3 weeks over Christmas and New Year, so
we were having to do all of the house work, and in my normal time to write to
you each week (Monday evening) we were hectically busy doing things like having
an ironing marathon, where Andrew and I both ironed for nearly 2 hours! And
last Monday we were over to Fish Hoek because Sarah was getting baptised on her
8th birthday. So although the baptism was finished by 6:00 because
it was a Monday, it still meant a late night home. But it was really special to
see her getting baptised, and it was great to hear our kids getting all excited
about when they get baptised themselves J
After Christmas we had another 2 weeks of
holiday before the kids went back to school, and so we did lots of holiday
stuff which the kids enjoyed. We also did quite a bit in our garden, and we’ve
had some beans and 2 strawberries from what we had planted before. We’re quite
enjoying trying to get our garden going J The kids are
loving their swimming again this year, and Caleb is doing all the crazy things
that the others are doing, like jumping into the pool, and wanting to be taken
down to the dolphin. Crazy kid J But it’s great
to see his development! And Josh can now swim down to the dolphin without help!
The new year has brought all sorts of
changes for the kids. Hannah has moved up to Primary and has changed to a new
class at school for the first time, after 18 months in the first class, so she
has struggled a bit to settle with all the changes at once, but it will come
soon. Joshua is now in the preschool class which has been his best move ever!
No tears a single morning, which is mammoth!!! Caleb very quickly decided that
he didn’t want to be at Aunty Wendy anymore now that Amy and the other older
kids have all moved to the school… He was just getting bored, so we’ve decided
to move him to the school from 1 February, instead of waiting to April, because
he is just so ready J My work is
pretty much the same, except that I’m doing things for the second time round
this year for the most part, which definitely makes it a bit easier J
We had Andrew’s cousin, Bernard, staying
with us for a couple of weeks. He’s from Joburg, and he was working in Cape
Town on a contract. He’s back in Joburg now, finishing his contract from home
(he’s a programmer), but they’re busying looking for a place to stay in Cape
Town, and the plan is that he, his wife, and 2 sons will move down in February.
It was an interesting experience having someone staying with us, but a good one
for us, on the whole. And the kids just love Uncle Bernard! He’s also got a son
named Joshua Herbert who’s about a year older than our Josh (we didn’t know
that when we chose Joshua’s name…) so if they end up in our ward it will be
quite hectic having 2 Joshua Herberts in Primary!
The kids have really been enjoying having
Andrew back with Mom and Dad. He’s been inviting the kids over to watch movies
with him, he comes to swim with them whenever he’s home, and on Sundays we’ve
been going there and he’s playing nicely with the kids. The new game with Josh
is that they set up the little army guys and then use blocks as ammunition and
have a battle… Joshua’s really enjoying it! But it’s just been so amazing
seeing how much Andrew is becoming part of the family in a way that he wasn’t
when he was at home before J
I don’t know if you remember back in
September we had the missionaries helping our friends move? Well the one
missionary, Elder Burton, is going home this transfer, and I felt that it would
be a good idea if they stopped by and just tried to make contact before he
left. Well they did, and they got an appointment, and this evening I went with
them to go and have a first appointment/lesson/meeting with the family!! :D
It’s interesting to see how missionary work has changed over the years (it’s my
first time out with the missionaries in a few years) and I think the current
approach that I’m seeing is really great. They worked today on building a
relationship of trust, and then spoke a bit about having a gospel message, and
the way their lives are blessed by the gospel, left the restoration pamphlet
for them to read, and then have another appointment with them for Saturday. It
was so great to be involved! I don’t know how far it will go, but for now the mom
at least is very open to the gospel message J We also had 2
baptisms for the ward yesterday – the husband and wife of a sister who got
baptised a year or so ago. It’s been an interesting journey for them, but
they’re now baptised!
I’m busy looking at my journal to see
what’s happened over the last month, and it’s amazing how many times I
mentioned having a bad night’s sleep! Caleb especially is sleeping pretty
badly, and Hannah a bit as well. It’s actually amazing that we’re walking! But
we’ve worked out a proper schedule for ourselves in the mornings, and so far
we’ve gotten the kids to school on time each morning, even though we’re so
tired! Progress, one step at a time J
So that’s the short version of the last
month… It’s so great to hear that you’re enjoying your new area. We’re wishing
you lots of success J
Love you lots!
Shelly
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