01 October 2009 – Thursday
October starts in Richards Bay with rain and cold. Actually the rain does not start really falling until after noon but it is cold from the when we wake up.
We go to the Richards Bay chapel to have DDM with the Richards Bay District and to use the copier to make lots of copies of many things including the Home and Visiting Teaching messages for October, calendars for the next 6 months for Esikhawini, and other things. We were surprised to find Sisters Wilson and Baldwin doing a deep cleaning of the building. They are a marvelous pair of sisters who are the backbone of the branch.
While we were making copies, Ray Holder –the area Physical Facilities Manager –showed up to install some desks and shelves in a couple of the rooms. He gave me some supplies for Esikhawini and Port Durnford and we talked about some of the things that are needed at Esikhawini. He told me that in February we would get a new pulpit for Esikhawini that will include an amplifier and microphone. We can not get it sooner because of the budget.
The elders did not start their DDM until after 11:00 and so we did not stay for all of it. We had to run a couple of errands and have some lunch before heading for Port Durnford.
We were happily surprised when this young lady would let Mary hold her so her grandmother and great-grandmother could do their English lessons. In the past such an attempted only caused lots of tears.
By the time we got to Port Durnford it was pouring rain and I was glad we got a large umbrella a couple of weeks ago. We had a good English class at the Nzamas but we found that we need to do more reviewing as they have forgotten much of what they learned earlier. Gogo Nzama continues to get stronger – she is back working in her garden. She said that some day when it was not raining she wanted to show it to us.
After English class we went to the PD chapel for Youth. Even though it was pouring rain, most of the youth showed up and seem to have a good time learning about the members of the Quorum of the 12. Gabi was able to recite the YW theme without any help and Lindani came close to reciting the 100th Psalm. They are a good group and I hope we can help them increase their testimony of the gospel to help them as they go through their teen-age years.
We dashed – but not to fast – back to our boarding so I could eat left-over Kingklip and rice before going back to the Richards Bay chapel for District Council Meeting. We discussed fund raising, budgets, finished the audit, discussed those who have accepted a call as District Councilors, and other things. We managed to finish just after 8:00 and by 8:15 I was back at our boarding.
I got on line to check about the earthquake that hit Sumatra and the tsunami that hit Samoa impacted the church and the members. We knew of one young man fairly well who had a business on Sumatra and we were worried about him. It turned out that I remembered the city where he lived incorrectly and was glad to hear he was probably safe. I do not think I would want to live on the West coast of Sumatra it seems to be the Southern California of Indonesia.
Although we were busy all day, I think for me it was about a 1 ½ mite day.