The Black Tag Connection

I know, I know: many at home keep asking what we do all day here. Suffice it to say that we keep very busy and still have to be selective in which work we attack first. I promise to devote the next post to a better description, but I am trying to keep things in chronological order and will tell you of an unexpected "tender mercy" we received from the Lord as we began our work here.

As happy as we are to be here, we do miss family and friends at home, and sometimes get a little teary (well, I, Debi, get a little teary) as we think of those we miss.  We really believe that the Lord's hand is in the details, and saw a great example of it during the first week we were here.

It started at the Atlanta airport as we had a 3 hour layover. A lovely young black sister came and introduced herself to us. She has the beautiful Christian name of "Blessing", and she was returning from her mission in Jamaica. We talked a bit, and then saw each other as we arrived in S.A. Her home is actually in one of the stakes we are responsible for in Seminaries and Institutes. We said we would somehow cross paths in the future, and said goodbye. Well, our second Sunday here, we looked at the wards we thought would be good for us to visit for our assignment. It turned out that as we entered the chapel of the ward we had chosen, there was Blessing sitting on the stand, prepared to give her mission report! We were able to connect with her in the meetings following sacrament meeting, as well. It was a welcome reunion for all three of us, and gave us the reminder that the Lord is in the details of our lives, as we were beginning to feel a bit lonely.

Also at that meeting on that Sunday, we met the Elders (young missionaries) serving in that ward. As we traded information we discovered that one of them is from Alpine, Utah, and the other from Highland! That left us with thankful hearts to meet people from home. We hope to be able to take them to lunch in the next week or two. Unfortunately I didn't think to get pictures of them or Blessing, but hope that will happen soon.

Perhaps the most surprising "tender mercy" is pictured above. Before we left home we had been teaching Temple Preparation to the youth in the Stake preparing to go to the temple. One of our "students" was Chris Morrell, who we discovered was going to serve his mission in Johannesburg, and would go to the MTC there before we left.  We agreed that somehow we would cross paths sometime during our stay here. We were "flabbergasted" when the very first Monday we were here (less than 4 days in S.A.) we arrived at our CES office and noticed two Elders who had come to the MTC (on the same campus) to do some athletics on their Preparation Day. As we walked up and shook hands we were so surprised to notice that one of them had a black tag with "Elder Morrell" written on it. I looked him in the eye, and sure enough, it was Chris. We've been fortunate to see this wonderful young man on some Mondays since.

There have been other things, as well, that we don't think are coincidences, which have made us feel comfortable, or safe, and helped us to know that the Lord knows us and watches over us as we do His work. I know that He has a great concern for this work, and Lynn and I are so happy to be able to be part of it for a short season!