26 September 2009 – Saturday

We had a wedding to attend in the morning and a party in the afternoon so we kept fairly busy.

Even though President Baldwin did not realize that it was going to be a formal wedding so he did not come dressed for one, the wedding between Happy and Patrick went well. The President had a private meeting with the couple for about a half hour and then we had the ceremony. Mary played the piano, including a solo of Love at Home. President Baldwin had some good counsel for all married couples but he included some jokes that probably went over the head of most of the African guests. After the ceremony there was lots of pictures and cake and punch. By 11:00 we had cleaned up and locked up and headed for some lunch at the mall.

In the afternoon we went to Enselini to attend a branch party. Although it was to start at noon, we did not get there until 1:30 which turned out to be right when they started. That was a little late even for South Africa. The youth had planned a very nice program which included a tribute to the B’s. I forgot to mention that one of the Bartholomew’s sons and his wife arrived here yesterday for a visit week’s visit so they got to see how much the branch loved their parents.

A group of 5 young men put a very interesting dance program with original choreography by one of them and only a week to practice. There was singing and talks including goodbye talks by the Bartholomews. As I have said before, the Bartholomews have done a tremendous job getting the two branches they have nursed over the last 17 ready to run on their own. They not only love the people, they care for them as if they were family. As you see sister B greet each one with a big smile and hug, you understand how much they are going to miss being here. Elder B is not as demonstrative but when he talks about them, he knows each member intimately and he will shed many tears at their parting. Hopefully some time in the near future they will go on another mission –there is certainly a great need for couples like them through out the world.

By the time they were done it was almost 3 and so we left to come home to wait for the handy man to come once more. Early in the morning I had started to wash dishes when the repaired faucet jumped out of its socket and started to spray water everywhere. Luckily I was right there and could quickly turn it off.  When he finally did come, it only took him 10 minutes to fix the problem. It just takes the right knowledge and the right tools to get most things fixed. 1 ¾ mite day