05 July 2009 – Sunday
I crashed early on the couch last night and later staggered into bed. Of course that meant I woke really early and could not go back to sleep. But the Lord blessed me and I was able to stay fully awake for all the meetings.
President Malinga held a good PEC but unfortunately the Elders President was not there nor was the Branch Mission President. The latter had to work an extra shift because of a shortage of available men in his department. Hopefully once everyone realizes that there is going to be a PEC every Sunday morning, all of the folks will come and be prepared to be contribute to the meeting.
President Malinga started the meeting almost on time and that meant people kept coming in for the next 30 minutes. Hopefully if they continue to start on time people will get the idea and plan to be in the chapel by 9:00. It was a good fast and testimony meeting with some excellent testimonies being given. A non-member man, who the elders had blessed when he sick, stood up and recounted his recovery. Brother Themba – the man I had the privilege of baptizing a month ago- also bore his testimony. It is still being developed but he has shared it each testimony meeting since he was baptized. Earlier in the meeting he was sustained to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and to be ordained a Priest. I think he will make a solid contribution to the branch.
Elder Mbhiti taught the Sunday School class on the subject of sacrifice. They need to call a regular teacher for that adult class. As I sat there, I thought again how serving the Lord and His children is never really a sacrifice. Benjamin points this out very clearly in his great discourse and as we have served our missions we have found this to be true. As Benjamin says as soon as we do something in his service or keep any of the commandments, the Lord immediately rewards us. We feel the peace and joy that Mormon discusses in Moroni 7. Eternal Life is the bonus that comes after all the other blessings we receive when we keep the first principles and ordinances of the gospel.
Earlier during PEC while we were talking about Home Teaching and its importance, brother Thusi – the first counselor – suggested we have a Priesthood lesson on what home teaching was and how to be a home teacher. I agreed to teach it and then they surprised me by asking me to do it today. So I took some of the SS time and read the lesson on Home Teaching from one of the basic PH manuals so I would have some background for the lesson.
After a rather rocky start, the Lord blessed me with a knowledge of what to say. I think I was able to teach them why home teaching was important, how to work with your companion to be good home teachers, how to get to know your families, and the blessings to both the family and the home teachers. I got almost everyone involved in the lesson and used the manual only for a couple of good stories. Now all they need to do is to get the home teaching organized and in the PH hands by next week.
After the block, Mary taught piano to her five students for an hour. Without them having keyboards there is no real way for them to practice. Hopefully we will have some in a month or so.
Once we were back at our boarding we enjoyed a quiet afternoon reading and trying to take naps. I was sure that I would not be able to keep my eyes open long enough to eat lunch but when I finally laid down I could not fall asleep. So instead I read and wrote some e-mails.
In the evening we made our way down to the Bartholomews for the usual dinner with them and the elders. The Esikhawini elders told me earlier they would not be coming but they changed their minds and showed up. So it ended up that all of the missionaries were there to eat tacos. Some of the African Elders at first were not sure about this idea but they soon found out how good they were and dug right in.
It is great to sit around and talk about how our Sundays went. Elder Schlenker told me about a meeting they had with a Baba today. He had asked them to teach just from the bible and they started to do this but the Baba asked them questions that required them to use the Book of Mormon and he was open to that. The lesson continued along that way with the Baba asking just the right questions to bring in the spirit. Elder Schlenker said he thought it was the most spiritual lesson he had ever been a part of. It fits right in with Elder’s talk on the Spirit as a companion when teaching the gospel.
It has truly been a wonderful spiritual Sabbath for me. I felt the Lord’s hand and tender mercy a number of times.