Letter to Richard (27 October 2014 - Special Conference with Elder Quentin L Cook)

Dear Richard

Things are finally really calming down, which is much needed! A lot of my work last week centred around the exam for my students, between finalizing the paper, consulting with students and then the actual writing. But the exam went well and now it's into the marking. What's nice while in doing the marking is that I know that I won't be marking anything for 6 months once I finish this exam marking because my sabbatical has been approved for next semester! Very exciting :)

But what is really hectic that happened last week was that one of my students died! It was actually on the day of my exam and when we first found out about it I thought it was suicide, but I found out today from another student that it was internal bleeding and was natural causes. But she was a student that had so much going for her, and it's so sad! But she really lived well and it seems that she's inspired some students to live life more fully so that's good! And a reminder that life is really short! We need to be preparing to meet God at any moment!

On Friday morning Andrew and I ed a bit of shopping and we are 90% ready for Christmas! But with 2 months to go until Christmas I'm now so eager for the kids to get their presents!! There will be a lot less stress as we get closer but I don't know how I'll handle the anticipation!

I pulled out some cross stitch that I haven't worked on for a few years and Josh and Hannah we're very interested and wanting to help me...  And then I finally succumbed to Hannah's requests of the last few weeks to make her a bag. I made a handbag for Hannah and then Josh wanted a bag, but a snake bag - a long thin bag. And then Caleb also wanted a bag... So all 3 kids got new bags. But for Hannah especially this is just her perfect situation! Give her a bag or a box to put her collections in and she's the happiest girl around!

On Saturday morning Hannah had her dress rehearsal for her ballet concert which is coming up. She didn't want to get changed into her costume initially, but once we did convince her to change by taking her to the foyer to get changed by the cool couch then she joined the other girls and just loved it! They had to sit on the stage a while waiting for their turn and she was quite happy and then she loved the dancing! It was so awesome to see her so settled :)

And then the big part of the weekend was that we had Elder Quentin L Cook here, as you know. On Saturday morning I went to the women's session with all of the wives of the visiting general authorities. It was a really nice meeting! The emphasis for me was on living the Gospel in our homes. And there was also a good talk on teaching to help youth in that example, but everyone, learn by experience and by getting them to discover the answers for themselves.

And then for the Sunday meeting we actually had Elder Cook visiting our stake. Being a new stake has its advantages :) He's a really is a nice down to earth kind of man. His message was also about our personal spirituality mainly and having Christ centred homes. I'm seeing a theme here!

So it's been a good week. And thankfully my work is going to be quieter the next little while because our family life is going to be crazy with all the year end stuff! But there are fun times ahead at this time of year too :)

Love you

Shelly 

Letter to Richard - 20 October (T&L Conference)

20 October 2014

Dear Richard

The semester is over! It’s been a long year! But now we just have the exams and all of the marking and admin around that, and then planning for next year and trying to do some research as well… But at least there isn’t the pressure of teaching all the time :)

With the start of the 4^th term at the schools Caleb has started swimming lessons again. He’s been a bit resistant, and when we tried getting him into our pool he was very unkeen. But this week he had a much better lesson, so that’s all good :) Josh and Hannah are doing great, of course, but they just love their swimming lessons!

I had a very crazy week in terms of work last week. We had to get a whole lot of editing done for the new groups textbook, and I was having to prepare a presentation for the UCT Teaching and Learning Conference today. I was working until 23:00 every night after the kids went to bed! I was definitely exhausted by the end of the week! But I got through it all by the deadlines on time, which I was very relieved about!

For the last lecture for my 3^rd years we had a video premiere, showing the top 5 videos that they made for their projects, and then they voted for the best. Our Head of College also came, and a few other lecturers, and it was a really nice event :) Not a huge showy thing, but just nice. The winning team did a Survivor themed video, which was really cool! And it was the first time that the HoC has seen me in front of a class, and he liked what he saw, which is great :) I also got really nice ratings and comments in the student evaluations that came through last week. Really nice!!!

And we had our first School Governing Body last week, and then the AGM the following evening. So we have been officially voted in now, and in November we’ll have a meeting where we allocate responsibilities etc. It’s quite exciting, I think, to be involved now :)

Today was the T&L Conference, and I presented a slot on how I got the students to do presentations within the tutorials. Mom came along for the day and went to a whole bunch of presentations, and then for the first time ever got to see me doing an academic presentation. I have a good sized audience, and there was a lot of discussion afterwards, which was so gratifying! There were 5 concurrent sessions, so having a good-sized audience depends on how appealing your topic is. But I’m really happy with how it all went!

Yesterday I had an interesting experience at church. There wasn’t anyone to really be teaching for the YSA class, because most of them needed to be attending the Gospel Principles class, as ward missionaries, because of which investigators were at church (that Gospel Principles class is HUGE at the moment!) So I just went to the Gospel Doctrine class, but I really struggled to focus and stuff, because I was so tired after working so hard and sleeping so little during the week. But then Grant arrived at church 15 minutes into Sunday School, and we decided to pull Vaughan out of the Gospel Principles class and we had a class with the 3 of us. And from being so sleepy in the adult class, as soon as the opening prayer was said I was completely alert, and able to give the lesson really effectively, and I was aware of the Spirit guiding me in some of the things I said. Wow! What an impact it can have to be led by the Spirit! And it was a really nice intimate lesson about the Saviour and His atonement. Probably one of my more favourite lessons in the end :)

And then I was kind of led to my FHE lesson topic for the afternoon as well. I used Elder Scott’s talk from this conference on the 4 things we need to do to strengthen ourselves, being prayer, scripture study, family home evening and temple attendance. And although the kids were going a bit crazy we were able to have a nice little discussion with them too. I feel like I really am doing better at being guided by the spirit!

So that’s my week. Crazy busy, but at least the semester is over now, so it’s a different kind of pressure now…

Love you!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 13 October 2014

Dear Richard

There is just 1 week left of the semester, and I am SO ready for it to end now! I thought that this week would be a bit lighter, but yet again I’m disappointed… I’ve got lots of deadlines for the end of this week, but then a lot of stuff will really, really be over… I hope!

A big move here last week was that Caleb finally had his first haircut. At 2 and a half it’s about time, I guess, but it was a big thing to cut off those curls! But he looks so gorgeous now still! And now his big dark eyes are really standing out! So beautiful!

The kids were on holiday last week, although they still carried on going to school. We took Josh to meet Carol, the aftercare lady, and all of the kids seemed to like her.

I was lecturing the second years again, but thankfully the traffic was lighter because of the school holidays, so it was all good :) And I was lecturing financial analysis, which is a section that I really enjoy lecturing, so it was way better than the previous week :) And I got to finish off the week (the last time I’m lecturing the second years for the year) with a video of the kids saying good luck for the exams, and then Josh spontaneously added “And I wish you a merry Christmas” and that started off the others too. The class really enjoyed it!

On Friday Andrew and I went to Charmaine Boreham’s birthday party, and Chante Bird came and looked after the kids. It was the first time that we’ve ever paid someone to babysit, and we weren’t sure how the kids would react to her, but they really enjoyed it! So now we know that we have another option if we want to go out :) We quite enjoyed the night out too, socialising with members of the ward.

On Saturday we took the kids to the aquarium. It was a long-awaited reward for the reward chart we did with them for being reverent during prayers. They had to be reverent to for all of the prayers in the day to get a sticker, and they had to get 20 stickers each. So it was well earned by the time they all finished. And in general they are being more reverent now after that whole reward chart process. But they absolutely loved the aquarium! We haven’t gone for quite a few years, so it was the first time that Caleb had really been, and Hannah was a baby last time, I think. And Josh is just at the perfect age to appreciate it now! They didn’t want to leave, even though we pretty much went around the whole aquarium twice!

I was asked to teach the adult Sunday School class yesterday. So Andrew taught the YSA for me. It was really nice to teach a different class, and they all seemed to get a lot out of the lesson. But it was a real challenge to prepare, I must say! I definitely relied on the Spirit a LOT with that lesson! It was on the different attributes of the Saviour that Isaiah describes. It was really nice to discuss with the class :)

And then in the afternoon Andrew’s parents came to visit us, and also Bernard’s mom, who has just moved down from Joburg. So we all had a nice visit together. I also showed Andrew’s mom how to enter a whole lot of her Strydom family history onto Family Search. She’s so excited to know about her family and get the work done! And because it’s an old South African family there is a lot of work that has been done in compiling the genealogy!

So we had quite a nice weekend, but now the craziness has started again… I think I’ll be bringing work home to do quite a bit this week :( But we’ll get through, like we always do!

Love you

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 6 October 2014 (General Conference)

Dear Richard

I was lecturing the second years last week, which means 8:00 lectures. That’s pretty hectic for the family because I have to leave really early, and Andrew has to take the kids to school then. But we managed well, and except for the day that there was an accident and I was late, I made it nicely on time every day. We’ll have to see if I can keep it up again this week. But the lectures at least went quite well. I also got my exam paper finalised and sent off to the external examiner to check through. I got it sent off 20 days before the students will write, which is SUPER early, especially for me! I’ve been doing much better at being organised this year in general :) And I’ve marked all of the video projects that my students submitted. It’s lots of fun to mark those, and there are some really creative submissions! And I’ve also started marking some more of the board course papers again. This is the final exam that they’ve written for the preparation course we offer, in preparation for the actual exam they will write in November. So big stakes here!

We had a momentous week when it comes to hair… we cut Caleb’s hair for the first time ever! All his curls are gone :( But he still looks so beautiful, and now you can really see his eyes standing out! I also cut Andrew’s, Joshua’s and Hannah’s hair, but all of those aren’t that exciting. And then I found my first grey hair too! Well, it’s white, not grey. But that’s the cool thing about red hair is that I should go white instead of grey, which just looks cooler ;) But I think it’s impressive to get to 31, and have 3 kids, and this is my first grey hair!

And then it was General Conference this weekend! We also had really great weather, although it was a bit too hot yesterday… But Mom and Dad were looking after Amy and Jesse, and our kids enjoyed having the time to play with them. But Conference itself was great! We got to watch much more than we’ve managed to watch since the kids were born, so hopefully this is setting the trend for what is to come as the years pass by :) For me the very strong message was on the need to be personally righteous. We need to each be preparing to meet the Saviour again. Also, we can’t help others if our own faith isn’t firmly rooted, like Elder Anderson said.

And I need to have all the help I can get when I try to talk to Andrew sometime soon. I’m hoping that the prayers and fasting will help to prepare him. He’s already a different person to the one he was when you left, and I think he might be ready to think about coming back now. And I certainly don’t want him to be left behind!

So a good weekend! But I always love General Conference weekend, and each one is getting a bit easier, like so much else in life, as our children get bigger.

Hope you’re enjoying Bulawayo!

Love you

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 29 September 2014

Dear Richard

So you’ve gone to close to where Andrew was born! Hope you enjoy taking to work forward in that special part of the world :)

I lectured the first years last week, and I’m very glad that it went much better than the last time I lectured them, when I was teaching something that I pretty much knew already, and I was also sick. And when I finished off, which is the last time I’ll see them this year, I even got some applause :) I was lecturing financial analysis, which is also becoming one of my favourite things to teach.

Wednesday was Heritage Day so we got to have the day off. In the morning I took the kids to a few different parks while Andrew did the groceries. We went to the one on De Grendel avenue with the exercise equipment, and the kids were really taken by it! They keep on asking us to take them back to the exercise park. We also went through to Fish Hoek for our traditional braai for National Braai Day, which is the really fun part of Heritage Day ;)

On Thursday evening we had our ward temple night. I couldn’t go at the beginning because we were getting the kids to bed, but I went for the end part, where the endowed members were specifically invited. And Dad did a session on how we need to be preparing ourselves. The messages are all around right now! We definitely need to be listening to these messages!

On Saturday we had enrichment, with a few activities for personal development. We learnt a bit about herbs, and some things about cars and then also self-defence. And then afterwards Mom and Dad, and Colleen and her family joined us for a braai. Jesse is getting big enough now that he also joins in a bit with the other kids playing, which is really nice to see :)

Today I did most of the application for my Masters next year. It really is going to be a big thing, but I’m determined to get it done next year! So I want to be finished before you become a student ;) But I’m getting closer to finalising my topic at least, which is taking quite a bit of work… But I’ll get there soon hopefully!

I feel like there’s not that much to be saying right now. Life is pretty routine at the moment for the most part. Oh, one thing is that I’m going to be on the school governing body. The existing SGB will be handing over to us mid-October, so that’s going to be an interesting new side of life. But it’s following the counsel of one of the apostles, not that I can remember who… We’ve been encouraged to get involved in our communities like this, to help make sure that Christian values are present. So I can do my part :) I’m quite excited to be involved!

So that’s about it. I’m looking forward to the term ending very soon now, but there’s lots to do before we get there!

Keep well, good luck in your new area! Love you

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 22 September 2014

Dear Richard

Things were back to usual a bit more last week, which I have to say is a good thing! I was lecturing and tutoring, and it felt great to be back in the classroom. I was working with my Corporate Reporting class the whole week, and I have such a nice relationship with them that it’s great to be with them :)

I also really got into the gym, and got started on a new intense exercise program that they’ve launched. It’s been hard work, but I can already see results! Not that I haven’t had some major stiff and sore muscles… Hopefully it will make a good general improvement!

I took the kids to the library on Wednesday evening just before they closed for bedtime story time. They specifically said that the kids should come in their pyjamas even, so it was a big adventure ;) And the librarian who did the reading was great. She had them searching all over the room when the dog in the story was searching for the lost cat, and when the boy in the other story was wanting to know the name of his new baby sister the kids all decided that it was going to be named Hannah. So my kids had a great time!

Andrew was given a copy of a radio interview by Pres Kruger last week and we listened to it. It’s a lady who had a near death experience a while back, and she was actually shown the whole plan of salvation, and particularly the last days, in detail. Based on her account the last days are really upon us, and things are heading very speedily towards the end. She didn’t say anything that was against church doctrine, and there is no reason to doubt her account. And she’s by no means alone in having an experience like this, but it was very eye opening to realise just how close everything is! But before listening to that I’ve been telling my Sunday School class recently how I can feel the hastening happening. It’s like there’s an acceleration in things, without a doubt. And Pres Monson’s First Presidency message in September stressed again how important it is to be prepared, both spiritually and temporally. We definitely need to heed his counsel!

We had a very social weekend, strangely enough! But then having our gas braai is going to make it easier to have people over now… On Saturday we had the Sibotoboto’s and Sis Jean over. Our kids really enjoyed playing with the 2 Sibotoboto boys, and it was good to visit with Sis Jean. And then on Sunday evening Matthew and Lee, and also a brother that works for the Area Office that was a youth when Andrew was on mission, and who spent a lot of time with Andrew and his companions, came to visit us. They’re in Cape Town conducting some focus groups on behalf of the Area Presidency to assess how the members want the Area to use technology, and how they can improve on what is currently being done. Cape Town was their last stop in South Africa, and I know they’re also going all over the rest of the Area. But anyway, it was another full house again. So a very busy weekend! But we survived, and it was all good fun :)

We’ve had a bad couple of nights with Caleb who is sick again… But he’s started antibiotics this evening for tonsillitis, so hopefully things will improve from here! Both Josh and Hannah are doing fine though. We just have great kids :D

But I’m falling asleep here now, so definitely time to end this. Love you lots, have a great week!

Shelly

PS. Please let me know if you’re getting these letters? There should be one from every week…

Letter to Richard - 15 September 2014

15 September 2014

Dear Richard

Last week I finally managed to start getting my life back in order :) I got my office sorted out, and I got lots of things ticked off on my to do list, even if quite a few of them were later than my original deadline. But at least they got done, and I’m happy with how they turned out. One of the things was creating a brand new module for my course, which is always difficult to do, but I think I put something together that will work well. My students also wrote their third term test on Wednesday, so it was a really long day for me, because I was at work until 20:30, but things went fine for me, and  things were also fine with Andrew at home with the kids, so all good :) And then it was on to the marking, but I’m doing well with getting through it so far. I also got my application in for my sabbatical, or study and research leave, for the first semester next year. It’s not an automatic thing that you’ll get the sabbatical, but I’m really needing to get my Masters done, so hopefully it will get approved!

What was really great last week though was that I got lots of unsolicited positive affirmation from a number of different people! I’ve been feeling quite down about how I was missing all of my deadlines etc, but on Wednesday 2 different people at work who I was talking to about my sabbatical for next year told me that I’m someone who can really get going on a project and work hard and produce results, and they’re both very confident that I’ll be able to do a lot on my Masters next year during those 6 months. I really needed that! And then the other thing was that yesterday at church I got a lot of separate positive feedback on my teaching too! We’re getting to the end of the Old Testament, and these lessons are much more difficult to teach than the earlier books which have familiar stories etc. But it’s good to know that I’m being appreciated :) Heavenly Father obviously recognised that I needed to have some building up!

I also had some stress because we hadn’t heard back from the lady that we were wanting Josh to go to for aftercare next year about the forms that we needed to fill in to get him registered. We went to her 3 months ago, and then when I sms’ed her about the forms she didn’t get back to me. I eventually phoned her nearly a week later, and she wasn’t in, and wasn’t in, and wasn’t in… But I eventually spoke to her assistant and she said I should come over the next morning. And Carol then told me when I was there that Josh is definitely on the list and everything is fine. Stressful! But at least it’s all fine now :) We were hoping that Josh’s friend Dane was also going to go to Carol, but that’s not going to work out, but Josh is very positive about it, saying that he’ll make new friends. Previously he would have fallen apart! And when I took the kids to the park by their school last week Josh realised that he’d forgotten something inside, and he was willing to go back inside without me and get it. Also big progress! My boy is getting all grown up…

We got to try out our new braai this weekend, and it works nicely :) We had Andrew’s parents and Alan, and his son, Luke, over for a braai. The kids all played together so nicely! It’s so great to see how our kids are getting so good socially :)

So a busy week, but things are at least coming under control now!

Love you lots :)

Shelly