International Families

Book of Mormon in Shona

In 1996, Dorothy and Abisha Peter Tembo moved their family to South Africa, initially planning to stay for three years while Peter learned new textile technology. “We made friends in the Church, and it was so nice; whatever help we needed, we had the Church,” Dorothy remembered. “It helped us settle much easier.” When Peter’s company eventually relocated to Botswana, the family decided to remain in South Africa. Eventually two of the Tembos’ daughters were educated at BYU–Provo and BYU–Hawaii and now live in Germany and Ireland.

Initially, Dorothy, who had worked as a schoolteacher, could not find a suitable new position. She spent much of her time driving family members to work and school. She later began working as a translator for the Church, which became her full-time job.

The family’s employment internationally has allowed them to help support family in Zimbabwe. “We’ve been a blessing, being outside the country, because we send funds home,” Dorothy said. “That’s what a lot of Zimbabweans overseas are doing.”

As a Church translator, Dorothy worked on the team that produced the Shona editions of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price in 2007. In 2020, she and Nolleen Chidzawo, another Zimbabwean sister in South Africa, worked to review this translation, using a scripture translation lexicon. “If we don’t have the words [in Shona] that match the English, we have to find the closest,” she explained. “Now because of the tools that we have we are able to really fix it and make it even better.”