Week SEVEN in the Mission Field!

 Week SEVEN in the Mission Field!



Here it is … Week SEVEN in the Mission Field. I can’t believe how time flies when you’re trying to figure out how the other half lives in this part of the world, Johannesburg, South Africa. It’s beautiful here. It’s supposed to be summer but so far we haven’t experienced hot temperatures to be uncomfortable.

 Our flat doesn’t have air conditioning, but does have lots of windows, some that don’t open and some that don’t close all the way … but at least we typically get a nice breeze which flows nicely through the flat. We understand that it can get quite cold in the winter and it won’t be as nice when the breeze blows through the flat with no central heat. Brrrr … I can feel the cold already!

Sister Hansen has been appointed to be the designated driver while the children have requested that Elder Hansen be the Co-Pilot and navigator due to some past driving incidences in his past life. He still claims he wants to learn how to drive in South Africa but Sister Hansen won’t give in. Perhaps out in the open country she may consider. He may be able to outrun an elephant! Getting used to the slipways, motorways, using the right turn signal instead of the wipers, looking for stop signs on the left, driving on the left side of the road, finding the gear shift on the left and finding the rear view mirror on the left has been quite the challenge. Not to mention that many motorists do NOT stop for Red lights and you DO need to watch out for them, plus pedestrians who have no fears of motor vehicles. It takes TWO to drive in South Africa. One to navigate and one to call out the twists and turns and ‘watch outs!’ We laugh at the signs that say, “No Hooting”. That means “No Honking”. Every time we hear a horn honk. We laugh and say, “No Hooting!” They’re most likely “Hooting” at us! Sister Hansen has only turned in oncoming traffic once. The look on the oncoming motorist’s face was priceless.

We have been assigned to a Group on Sunday for Church. A Group is smaller than a Branch. We had (16) people in attendance this morning and that included (4) full time missionaries. We meet in a classroom in a Sr. High School. The room is surrounded by a court yard and we compete with other congregations not of our faith, who preach very loudly and sing louder. Our metal door sticks and is noisy as our members often arrive late to meeting because many of them have far to walk. It takes us about 30 minutes to drive to Wadeville where me meet. It’s out in the country and it’s a beautiful drive from Johannesburg. I believe we’re most likely the only White’s in the area for it’s a Township where we’re meeting. There’s only one outlet in the classroom and I bring my portable keyboard and provide the organ music for Sacrament meeting. They are enthralled with the music since they’ve never had anything like it in the past. They’ve asked me to help start a Choir and teach them music, beginning next Sunday. I’m thrilled with the challenge. They soooo want to learn, as well as the keyboard. I’ll do my best since I’ve never had piano lessons. But voice … I CAN do! There’s only about (4) women in Relief Society and they’ve ALL been endowed members of the Church. It’s wonderful hearing their conversion stories and testimonies. I love them already!

Many of you have asked, what are we doing? Most days we ask that of ourselves. The Elder we report to is on leave until April 1^st and our Director has been busy with the Durban Temple Open House we have been kind of left to ourselves to figure things out. We are NOT proselyting missionaries but have been called as Public Affair Specialists. We work with Opinion Leaders who have an influence on the Church for either good or bad. We work with the Public Affair Committees throughout the 24 countries we have been assigned. We ARE responsible for the financial accounts for the public affair committees. We have to reconcile bank accounts, write articles for the Newsroom for the various countries and Facebook. We’re not sure what our responsibilities, if any, will be for the Durban Temple Open House. Basically, for now, we show up at the office by 8:00 a.m. and try to leave by 5:00 p.m.

(View from our Office Window)

(View from the Distribution Center)

Stores close by 6:00 p.m. so it’s hard to do any shopping on the way home from work or grab a quick bite to eat. There is no dishwasher in the flat or disposal, but there IS a washer and dryer and we are so grateful! Meals and grocery shopping need to be planned accordingly. My first purchase here was an electric pressure cooker, similar to my Instant Pot, back home. It’s been a life saver and I use it a LOT!


I’ve finally mastered my oven. The controls are different than here and learning Celsius and adjusting accordingly as well as the metric system in sewing and baking has been a challenge. I DO have a conversion chart on my cupboard door, thankfully. It took quite a few tries to get a good batch of rolls to turn out, but finally I think I’ve got it figured out. The flour just isn’t the same here. How I miss my good ole Lehi Roller Mills! Nothing better.

During the holidays the Area Office full time staff, most of them anyway, leave for their homes for a couple of weeks, so the office is a like a ghost town. Several of the Senior Couples decided to fly to Cape Town for a few days to visit the sites. We were invited prior to even leaving for the Mission Field. We bought and paid for our trip before we were even set apart, knowing this would be our Christmas present to each other. My favorite part of the trip was visiting Robben Island where Nelson Mendela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. It was a humbling experience and one which really touched my heart. To actually see his tiny prison cell and to see the view from his cell, which was surrounded by a cement wall where you could see nothing but the sky. I have nothing to complain about when I look out my windows from the 4^th floor of my flat and complain because all I can see is a partial sky and the apartment building across the street!

It wouldn’t be Christmas if Sister Hansen didn’t think of a last minute craft to do. The day before Christmas we went to the fabric store to buy batting and supplies to make Kozi’s for the Senior Couples for their Christmas gifts. Sister Hansen spent the entire day sewing Kozi’s and was able to deliver the gifts on Christmas Eve to the couples. She wanted to make ‘2’ for each couple but ran out of time. She told them that if they were here next Christmas, they would get their second one.

And last but not least our first little great granddaughter, Holland, was born. Although we weren’t there for her birth, we were there in Spirit. We’ve been able to FaceTime and see her through Video. What a blessing technology is.


My New Year’s Resolution is to update my Blog every Sunday so it won’t be so long and so dreaded for me to write. We’ll see if I can keep my New Year’s resolution, starting next week.


May God Bless and Keep You!


Elder and Sister Hansen with Elder Sitati (Counselor in the Area Presidency)