What Mom Was Waiting For

Will's words are big and bluish.
Lorinda's words are small and red. 
Mom,

I am glad that the family hasn't forgotten me. I love you all.  I had a thought... Grandma Beadle needs to record her voice telling some of her stories. It would be beneficial to me and my posterity. the thought came when I was reading "ATTITUDE POINTS THE WAY What We Have Learned from Adversity." I read it in her voice and it would be so nice to have some of her family stories. Maybe grandpa too. Maybe all my grandparents.
 
Also, I need some stories about Edward Hopper, did he write a hymn? I think you told me once and I remember singing it. 
 

Edward Hopper 1818-1888

I'm not sure if all missionaries are required to do this, but Will was asked to bring his genealogy (4 generation chart) and some stories of his progenitors. Here is a link about Edward Hopper and the song, Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me. I sent him with as many as 9 generations on some of his family lines because many of our ancestors have come from England and since Zimbabwe was a British colony up until 1983, I figured that some people may be related (do you think any of them will have 9 generations of family history so they can check?). I don't even know if Edward Hopper is our ancestor but he shares our name.

Will's brothers miss him pretty bad. Landon cried when we read him Will's letter last week. 
When I read that Landon cried and I started crying... you can't do that to me. My companion thinks I am crazy. Haha. I saw a black Landon. he looked the same except black with bigger lips. It is hard to get pictures of the kids without being a creep.  
Your Aunt Jen does it all the time. Check out this blog. I'll ask her how she does it without being creepy... maybe she's creepy :).

I sent a letter home and I hope that I will be able to get some of your letters soon. I don't have any really cool pictures yet but I will try to get some at this monkey fest we are going to. One thing that I have really missed is Disneyland. I will never complain again if we have to eat cuties to stay alive just as long as we can be together as a family. I also really miss the temple. I am going everyday when i get back. I also miss The Lord of the Rings for some reason.
 
It is really hard to find stuff to buy here. I am doing fine and I need all the prayers O can get because I just am not quite getting the teaching down yet and the English is hard to speak. Sometimes when I am teaching I find that I am using a baby-talk voice. It is kinda funny but not really all that useful when I am trying to invite the thoughts of the spirit. My voice is really big and booming compared to everyone's voices. I feel like i am yelling a lot.  

I figured out how daddy Michael learned to eat his chicken.
(Mike used to crunch the cartilage at the ends of the chicken drumsticks with his teeth. He learned it on his mission in the West Indies). 
I have eaten some stuff that is really chewy and crunchy. also I have to change clothes standing up because I can't touch the floor and sitting down isn't an option. This is a crazy place to be. there are some child care centers that have these paintings on the side of deformed pooh bear and mickey mouse. I can't wait to get a picture to send.

We had a zone conference with Elder Grow of the seventy and it was amazing. we had the previous mission president who is Elder Dube, now in the seventy and he said he'd give a message to Pres. Mcmillan, so if you see Pres. McMillan tell him to look out for the new seventy from Zimbabwe and ask about Elder Beadle. It is so weird carrying the title Elder as the apostles do. President McMillan and Elder Dube have already had conversations about Elder Beadle.

Elder Edward Dube

Elder C. Scott Grow 

Anyhow, it is great to hear from you and one email a week is fine. i have a lot to do. So thank you. Ha ha. I have been sending him a message on Monday, answering his letter and then usually one in the middle of the week with random stuff and then another one on Sunday afternoon about the family and Michael also writes to him each Sunday. And sometimes we send him one from the little kids, too. In the future, I will save my random messages as a draft and just send them all on Sunday combined with Michael's. 

Chitungwiza

Elder Beadle sent some pictures this week, so we can get a feel of what it is like to live in Zimbabwe.  The name of his area is Chitungwiza (Shotonguesea was last week's spelling, so I'm assuming that is closer to phonetic for Americans):
 
Our little compound. Everyone has fences... unless you are rich.  Then you have a concrete wall with spikes on top.

where i hand bathe in the mornings. burr the well water is cold..

 

 fetching water from the well. in the morning.

Iron Man! (those were my words)

 

Morning study. Bleh.  

Our little guest who eats our garbage pile. we don't have cans so it is free game. all the dogs here are the same breed and they have no food to feed them and it is sad (can you tell that is a cat? the eyes are right next to the bottom of the fence--I know. Now you are creeped out. It looks just like Abby. I should differentiate between my words and Will's. Mine are in parentheses... this time).

 My only shirt for exercise. I will buy a new one soon.

 our kitchen full of delicious bugs mmm. 

Add caption

This was just a little pinch but it oozed for days. I would have died of infection if not for the first aid kit MarDiene made for me. It also saved my companion's life.  Thanks, MarDiene.
  
















We need dad to come clean our bathroom!!(Michael is kind of funny--by which i mean awesome and amazing--he has cleaned our bathrooms every Tuesday morning for a couple of years now).

Washing clothes in a bucket. My arms are sore!

Dad, the mission is inspiring and tough. I need all the prayers i can get. We have a number of investigators and I don't really communicate well but my testimony is so much stronger and gaining everyday. The other day one of our investigators was put down by her father for trying to join our church and her landlord won't allow us in the house or on the property anymore. I almost threw up. She was so excited to learn and be baptized she had a date all set and she was ready. My comp and I just walked home depressed. It was a sad day, but things are looking up. We have new investigators that are willing to learn. there are so many different churches out here and everyone has faith in one thing or another and they are all lost. There is a "prophet" here who created a baby in 3 days and offers all sorts of crazy miracles. The thing we tell people is that Jesus did miracles but gave credit to the Father not to himself. They ask us for miracles and if we believe in them. We do but not these crazy money making deals that happen here.

African life is hard. and very different. Megan, I miss popcorn and I want some but don't send any that be nasty haha. I got a black person haircut and it looks funky. You'd love africa, Megan. All the girls have short hair that is just like a boy's. Sometimes you can't recognize that it is a girl unless she is wearing a skirt. I love you all family. More than ever I have realized. this mission has shown me that i can't do it without. and i miss you all so much. We get to watch conference this week i am so excited. it will be in Harare Highlands or something. Love you. Bye.

How to Write a Letter to your Missionary

The easiest and least expensive way to send a letter to a missionary, if you are in the United States of America, is to use "the pouch." The Church has this thing called "The Pouch." They send a package of stuff to each mission in the church every week. They will enclose your letters in that package if you mail them to the missionary department in Salt Lake City. I think they want to keep those packages as light weight as possible, so they have asked that our letters not have enclosures or envelopes.  Just one page of paper.  

The paper needs to be heavy and straight enough to function as its own envelope, so not a sheet ripped out of a notebook:

Write it just like you would a regular letter: 

If you want to include pictures, they must be drawn or copied directly on to your one sheet of paper.  
 
Fold it once.

Fold it twice.
 
Tape it with one piece of scotch tape.

Turn it over

and write the address on the back.

Make it look like an envelope.  Use one U.S.P.S. first class stamp. 

Put in the mailbox. 

You may also send postcards via the Pouch. 

Any items that do not fall under pouch guidelines may be sent through the USPS or UPS or FedEx. I sent a small package via the USPS the other day and it cost me $22.00. I'm hoping that this will cost a little less.  
 
To do this, you must send it either directly to the missionary (which i wouldn't recommend, since they move ever 5 or 6 weeks) or to the mission home.   
 
Sending it from America is no guarantee that it will get there in one piece. Will told me that it is more likely to arrive unopened if you put a picture of the Virgin Mary somewhere on the outside of the box. I'm not sure how true that is, but it can't hurt, right?  

I bought some cute stickers here.  

Fortunately, they also have the internet in Zimbabwe and the missionaries are allowed to read and write email to their family for an hour on P-day(once a week). This is one of my favorite parts of this century.  

Pouch address:

Elder William Douglas Beadle
Zimbabwe, Harare Mission
POB 30150
SLC, UT 84130-0150

Other letter and Package address:

Elder William Douglas Beadle
Zimbabwe, Harare Mission
65 Enterprise Road
Highlands
Harare
Zimbabwe       

The Field is White... and Mostly Black.

Got an e-mail this morning from Elder Beadle.  I guess he's on regular Monday P-day schedule now.  He had a little more to share this time, including individual messages for each family member.  I can tell he's missing his brothers and sisters a little but he is happy and grateful to be serving. 

I wish I had pictures to share with you. He is taking pictures, but he doesn't have a port on the computer where he is emailing me to upload the files. His area is called "stongueasea."  He and one other missionary are the only white people in the area. 

The children yell, "Marango" at him. This is what they call white people. He has learned that and 7 or 8 other Shona words. 
He says: 
The MTC was fun. President Reber is so powerful. he is a patriarch and been mission pres. like 3 times bishop and stake pres. i think. it was a great experience. I felt like i was home the whole time there. I didn't think i was in Africa. but that all changed when i got sent to Zim. I am so tired all the time and managing the meals is tough. but i am getting used to it. Four of us share an apartment. The two Elders from Africa are just like " Don't die elders!!" and laugh and say "This is Mission!!" 
my schedule is like this:
     *wake up and fetch well water in which i bathe
     *then eat what crumbs i can put together
     *then study
     *study
     *leave and go to appts. it is tough.

I wasn't ready for this at all.
My apartment is crazy. If you think your house is dirty come live with me. I inherited a hole in the wall that has electricity when it wants to (like three-four days out of the week) and water that shuts off when you need it most and it is infested with roaches and huge wall-crawling spiders and my carpet.... is pretty much fungus and the bathroom is terrifying! And i love it. coming home and resting from a hard days work is nice. The work out here is good. The whole of Zim is ripe and I am still sharpening my Sickle!!! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! all you future missionaries. My trainer is from Uganda, Elder Dwoka. He is powerful, most of these Africans are.

One thing that Will has mentioned several times is that the way to find happiness is to serve others.  

4 April 2013--Your Missionary is in the Field!

We got one note from Will on Thursday, March 21, the afternoon he arrived in Johannesburg.  We got another short message the following Thursday, including mostly messages for his friends. We were told that he would be in the MTC three weeks, so we expected another message today, but when I opened my email, I got this message from Sister Reber:

Your missionary is in the Mission Field now.  This is our last group photo....
I wish I could go in the Field with them and continue to document their mission.  But we receive a new group of missionaries today so I will stay here and help them prepare to serve.

I'm kinda freaking out, but I'm sure not as much as 

Elder Beadle is and I am so grateful for 

President and Sister Reber for all their hard work and love.  

Can you imagine getting 30 more grown-up children 

every two weeks?

 

Easter Sunday

Here is a photo of the MTC Choir.  They sang for three local Wards yesterday on Easter Sunday. They did such a nice job. 

Sister Worlton brought everyone Easter candy that she passed out at lunch.  Then there was an Easter egg for everyone after later that night.  Other than the two candies....the focus was on the Sabbath and Christ....so appropriate for Easter.

Love,
Sister Janet Reber
South Africa MTC

One More Thing

I really do love this kid. 

                                              And his drums... 

  And he really thinks that they aren't causing any trouble(and that nothing will happen to them) in my living room for two years.  

Leaving Home

Sing to the tune of page #38 in the LDS Children's Songbook(When Joseph Went to Bethlehem):

When Will went to South Africa, I think he took great care_ to place his shoes and pack his room and leave no garbage there...  NOT!

 leaving his canvas sneakers out in the open is one thing, but his

 PALLADIUM BOOTS? 

I can't tell you how long he went on about these boots. He ordered them online and to hear him talk about them, you'd think they were as cool as... well, The Legend of Zelda.

 

 dirty laundry? seriously? it's a good thing I love this boy.

 Yes.  There is money in that pig! And I guess he had another copy of Preach My Gospel

So what's the vote? Should I pack it all up for him? Or do I let his little brother have it?