11 July 2009 – Saturday

Another gap in this blog because I did not take the time to sit down and write at the end of the day or early the next. Each of the missing days were spent out serving in our branches – mainly working with the youth on the road shows.

Today was busy because of a farewell party for Sister Nonkululeko Mazibuko of Esikhawini branch who is leaving next Wednesday for her mission in Ghana. They had a slumber party at sister Khumalo’s for the Young Women on Friday night and then a party today. Sister Mavundla, the  Young Woman’s President, organized it all and when she arrived at the chapel today she said that she was exhausted and too old for slumber parties. But she pitched right in and got things set up for this one.

Mary helped with decorations and I ended up being the taxi for running around getting things that were left behind or came up short. In one way it was really good because I learned where a few people lived and I am now more comfortable driving through the township. I also used the time to set the sprinkler to water some of the gardens – I decided that I could do this whenever we had meetings at Esikhawini to help the sisters with their gardening.

The party was scheduled to start at 2:00 but as usual it was about 3:00 before things really got going. Most of the people who came were women and of course all the youth – including those who came mainly for the food. They had a nice program with Elder Mokopotsa as host and a number of speakers including Sister Mazibuko.

I spoke with the soon to be missionary a couple of times over the last couple of days and she is of course a little anxious about what it will be like to be away from home for 18 months in a completely strange country. It helps that elder Mathalane recently returned from the same mission and has been able to tell her something about what to expect. He had wonderful experiences there and told her about how it really was the best two years of his life.

Speaking of now brother Mathalane, he got a good job as one of the managers for Mug and Bean, a restaurant in the mall we have eaten at a few times, almost as soon as he got back. Unfortunately they are short one manager and for a while he must work on Sunday. However he is able to attend sacrament meeting before heading to work. Once they fill in the last position he is hoping to be able to get Sundays off. I am sure the Lord will bless him so he can.

I helped cook the worst and then clean up. I must say that the sisters here are very good at cleaning up after a party and I was surprised how quickly things were made ready for tomorrow’s services. I then helped lock up and the elders closed the gates behind us. While we were taking sister Mavundla home we came across one of the articulated buses that they use here broken down almost in the middle of a major intersection. It seems that one of the axles broke and it was not going anywhere until they got something big there to lift it up and then tow it to be repaired. Luckily there was room to go around it or we would have had to make a very big detour to get to her home.

We made a stop at the grocery store to get things for tomorrow. While I was doing that, Mary bought some fish and chips from a new take away restaurant near the store. By the time we got home it was pitch black and of course I had not left any outside lights on because I was sure we would be home before they were needed.

We had been home for a few hours when we got a call from the Barts asking us if we could take some things to Esikhawini for them. We agreed to meet at the Richards Bay chapel. When I hit the switch to raise the garage door, something snapped and it stop working. To make a longer story short, we are now parking our car outside until we can get someone here to fix whatever is wrong.

One more story about the day. When the program ended and the eating started, the gogos – grandmothers – and a couple of other women sat in a circle so they could talk while they ate. I stopped by and talked to them for a while. I mentioned to them that single women could go on missions so if any were interested they could put in their papers. Sister Mhate said “So they give you a companion when you get there?” and I said “Yes but unfortunately it is another woman.” This completely broke her up and she almost choked to death because she was eating when I said it. The gogos here are amazing and have a wonderful sense of humor while being very responsible.