13 October 2009 – Tuesday
 
The elders enjoying a bit of playing around before the Swazi Zone heads back home and the RB Zone go out to teach. In the middle are the Bartholomews and Elder Mbhiti who always likes to get his picture taken.
I woke up and the sun was pouring in the window. I thought it was at least 6:00 but the clock soon told me it was just after 5:00. Since there was no chance that I would go back to sleep I got up started reading Alma chapter 5. I got so interested in that chapter that an hour went by very quickly as I read and pondered what was there.
We enjoyed having breakfast guests – we even sat around the table and talked. The Wilson’s told about how when they were first married and quite poor that Elder Wilson’s bagging of deer during hunting season was often what allowed them to have meat on the table. Elder Wilson said when he was young that his mother used every eatable part of the deer for food for their family of 12 (or was it 15?) Obviously even today there are times when hunting is not a sport but a family necessity.
We arrived early for the two zone conference, but there were already lots of people there. I helped a little in getting things ready – mainly with getting the lunch drinks in pitchers – before the meeting started.
As always, President Mann’s talk to the elders was powerful. He talked about how the mission was exploding, and only a less than 3% increase in the percentage of investigators being baptized would allow us to reach our goal of doubling the baptisms for the year. He covered the main tools we need to perfect to get this done and how they could be used. He challenged the missionaries to live the mission equation so that miracles could happen.
The highlight for me was the testimony meeting where in 2 to 3 minutes each elder told of a miracle that had happened to him and his companion. Of course some of the missionaries had been out less than a week but some of them already had one to tell. The two testimonies that touched me the most was Elder Babeeyo Jr. – he is going to be stuck with that his whole mission I am afraid – and Elder Wright’s. One who had been in the mission field for 5 days and one who is in his last cycle. Both of them spoke to me by the spirit. It was a great spiritual experience.
After the testimonies and a short break, the elders got a chance to hear Elder Holland’s talk at the New Mission President’s seminar this year. He spoke on having the Holy Ghost as a member of your companionship. I had already read it and had shared it with Elder Mbhiti so I knew how powerful it was. I am going to print a copy for each of our elders for their personal study. I think they will get more from that then just listening to it.
After the conference the Elders had their usual pizza and brownies lunch. The Scooter’s pizza is quite good and since it was thick crust, the 6 pieces each fills them right up. Even Elder Maremela had enough to eat so that he did not take any of the Magnum ice cream bars that came out last.
After lunch we started to pack up to leave but the elders just like to stand around and talk to the friends they have served with and get to know the new missionaries that they did not know. They kicked a soccer ball around while the Bs had their good-bye picture taken with a number of elders and the Wilsons. I must say they are holding up well as part of their hearts is with many of the young men who served in Richards Bay.
The elders and the Wilsons finally climbed into their bakkies and headed out leaving only ourselves, the Bs and the Assistants left in the parking lot where we said goodbye to Elders Mbhiti and the new assistant Elder Crowther before coming back to our boarding.
I packed up what sacrament cups I had and got them ready to send to Kosi Bay. Mary and I went to the old mall where we were pleasantly surprised to find a very nice post office with friendly workers. It was certainly cleaner and nicer that anything we saw in Indonesia – in fact it was nicer than most post offices we had in Los Angeles.
As we stood in line at the Post Office I struck up a conversation with a woman who it turned out had 3 children and lived in Enselini. We talked a little about the Church and we gave one of our small pictures of the returning Christ with all the information about the Sunday meetings. For some reason I was reluctant to ask for her name and number which was probably a mistake.
Mailing the package was easy and in-expensive but when I tried to buy air-time from the clerk I found that their connection with MTN was down and so they could not complete the transaction. I then went to the mall to get cash from the ATM and found that one was being worked on and the other close by one would not give me the amount I wanted. I then tried to buy air-time at Checkers only to find there was only one clerk working and the wait would be very long.
I had just about decided that I would have to wait until tomorrow to get anything done when I remembered the main Standard Bank building was close by and they had lots of ATM machines. It took me only a couple of minutes to drive there and get my cash. Finally something worked right for me.
I should mention that President Mann talked to us for a few minutes and made my call as a counselor in the mission presidency official. He explained that he had not done it earlier because he had to get the approval of the Area Presidency and they had just gotten back from Conference. He also talked about how we should concentrate on Port Durnford and Enselini, the district will watch over Esikhawini, and the Mickelsens will help out with Ngwelezane until another couple can be assigned here. He mentioned that he should know more about missionary allotment after this weeks meeting with the Area Presidency.
