31 July 2009 – Friday

We spent most of the morning at home. We were waiting for our neighbor to send a crew over to mow and clean up the yard. But right at 8 I headed down to the car wash. It was the perfect time to go and I did not have to wait at all but drove right in. However because of the full service they give I was still there almost 45 minutes.

As we planned for the day we realized we needed some new games for the youth. We found a matrix for making a customized Bingo game so we printed out a set of cards. Once she got started Mary made another.

Mr. Justice finally came by at about 11:00 and sent his crew to work on our yard. It really needed it because it has not been done for almost 2 months. During the winter the grass does not grow very rapidly –however the weeds do so it was looking scraggy around here. It bothered Mary more than it did me but it will look better when the crew is done. I took some pictures to show the before and after.

We ate our lunch and then headed out to our area. First we went by the Bartholomews to pick up some games for our youth activity. Sister B had spent the morning having a lot of blood samples taken so they can find out what is wrong. She is still feeling quite bad and I am going to suggest to the elders that we fast for her on Sunday.

Along the way we ran some errands but still got to Esikhawini early. We stopped so I could get some KFC for Thobani Chirwa so he would know we cared that he missed the cast party yesterday. We then went to Port Durnford where we dropped off the list of foods someone with an ulcer should and should not eat at the Nzamas and then went to the Chirwas. After giving Thobani his treat – including one of Mary’s delicious brownies – we took sister Chirwa back to the Nzamas so she could visit gogo Nzama. Sister Chirwa is the branch RS president and takes her calling seriously. If we had not come by when we did she would have walked the 3 or 4 Kilometers as she usually does.

We then went to Esikhawini where we found one of the Buthelezi sons wanting to take the CPU from the branch computer to his home so they could send e-mail to Nkule who just left for her mission and is in the MTC in Joburg. We gave him a ride so he did not have to carry it back to his house.

On the way home we did some exploring and ended up at a couple of dead-ends – there are lots of them in the townships because the South African government under apartheid did not want people to be able to move quickly through them. There are only 6 roads that exit the township. All they had to do was block those and no vehicles could leave without being searched. There are also only 2 roads out of the area – once again so they could easily control the flow of traffic if they wanted to.

But the exploring paid off because as we were finally back on the road we knew, sister Mathe drove by and blinked her lights. At first I did not know who it was and then looked back and recognized her car. We waited while she drove back and we both got good hugs. She is a wonderful and very busy woman and like so many gogos here takes care of many of her grandchildren.

Back at the chapel we had our youth meeting. About ½ of them came. Some were sick and some just did not come. But I think those who did come had fun and enjoyed the treats. The biggest need they have is to develop some leadership among the youth. Everyone pretty much keeps to themselves and so they do not have a bonded group as it seems Port Durnford is developing.

After the meeting Mary met with Sister Khumalo as a District RS Presidency. The other counselor did not come – she was working in Mthubathuba which is about 1:40 minutes away. We wondered if she went there each day – because if she does, she spends a lot of time on public transportation.

Once again we got out of the township fairly early so we arrived home just as it was getting dark. Mary made tuna sandwiches and we spent the night reading, writing, and working on the puzzle. I am trying to put together something for president Malinga to help him with conducting his presidency and PEC meetings.