09 August 2009 – Sunday
 
We usually need to leave at 7:15 to make Esikhawini’s PEC meeting but because we were picking up the Esikhawini elders we left at 6:30. Elders Mokopotsa and Musemare were almost ready when we got to their boarding and so we got away on time. We really did not need to hurry because when we picked up president Nyawo he had no idea about what a PEC meeting was so we did not have one. I did open everything up and help get things ready before we had to leave for Port Durnford.
 
Since it was the 2nd Sunday there were District speakers in each of the ward. Calwyn Baldwin was speaking at Esikhawini and they brought Arthur Wilson so we could take him to Port Durnford to speak. The Baldwins also brought their new baby, and Mary got a chance to hold him.
 
Three of the Port Durnford youth dressed for church. They are a great group of young people and of course love to have their pictures taken.
Brother Wilson had never been to Port Durnford chapel and when we arrived at the yard he asked where it was. We explained it was out in the back. It was a typical Sunday with almost no one being on time but once sacrament meeting got started it was fine. But after Sacrament we found that there was no Primary or YW teachers so I got things organized by asking Mary to teach Primary and Sister Chirwa to teach YW.
I then asked Siya to help with Primary because the children do not speak much English and of course Mary does not speak any Zulu. This turned out to work well as she taught them ‘Familys can be together forever, the story of Lehi and his family and then had them draw their family. This is all done under the tree in the front yard. I sat with the priesthood near the house and we had a lesson on Testimony. The YW sat under another tree and seemed to have a good lesson. I have learned you just do what you can do and things tend to work out. After the meeting we took President Machaka out to visit sister Nzama who is still not feeling very well.
We then drove back to Esikhawini where the meetings were almost over. I was talking to president Nyawo when there was some excitement in the chapel. It turned out that one of the sisters had an epileptic seizer. After a blessing and some time, she recovered enough that she could be taken home. Someone said that she had a history of epilepsy and may not have been taking her medicine.
While Mary taught her only piano student that was left after the excitement, I started teaching president Nyawo about his calling. Since I had not really come prepared to do this, all I did was give him some manuals and asked him to read them. I told him next week we would have a quiz on what he read. He is going to be a good PH leader and a great help to the presidency. Mary was still teaching her lesson when I ran him home. By the time I got back she was finished so I closed up the chapel and locked the gates and headed home. It seems we often are the first ones there and the last ones to leave each Sunday.
Part of the afternoon was spent taking a nap and then it was time to get everything together for the elders coming over. We prepared meat loaf, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, fruit and green salads, and garlic bread. For desserts we had the fixings for banana splits but most of them just ate lots of ice cream.
The elders seem to really enjoy eating and talking together. Elders Torgerson and Muthoka were the first to arrive and so they got to eat as much as they wanted. Elders Mbithi and Babayeeo came and then went over to the B’s for some reason so they were the last to eat and while there was plenty of food it was not very fresh.
After eating, talking, gathering and sending in the statistics for the week, it was well after 9:00 before they left. I am afraid some of them did not get into their boardings by 9:30. We of course had a lot of clean-up to do. But we did not have to worry about leftovers – all of the elders were more than happy to take something home with them – including the leftover ice cream.
By the time all was done, we were very much ready for bed. It was a good Sabbath in Richards Bay.