18 October 2009 – Sunday

Woke at about 3:30 and could not go back to sleep so I sat up reading until I gave up and had breakfast.

We were out of the house by 6:50 and drove to Esikhawini to pick up President Nyawo and tried to picku up President Nkosi but he was not ready but made it to PEC anyway. Sne Mthalane joined us but the elders arrived 30 minutes late when we were almost done. I took some of the time trying to encourage them to do their home teaching.  After PEC Sne told me that he was applying for a PEF loan so he cango to a school in Durban that specializes in teaching cargo handling and paperwork. He feels it is a good specialty for South Africa and that it pays well. I think he is doing the right thing but the branch is really going to miss him. Mary met with sister Khumalo while I was at PEC as a District RS Presidency.

We then drove to Port Durnford for Sacrament meeting. It looked like almost no one was going to show up but by the time it started a half hour late, there was about 30 people in attendance. After sacrament we stayed long enough for President Machaka to ordain Lindani as a priest and give brother Chirwa – who was baptized two weeks ago – the priesthood and ordain him a priest.

We then stopped by home for a snack before going on to Enseleni for their branch conference. The Bs were there being busy as usual making sure everything was ready for Sacrament. We only talked to them for a minute before sitting down. We were surprised when President Baldwin stood at the beginning and announced that they would leave during the meeting to avoid a big goodbye scene. We were disappointed because we never really had said goodbye to them. During the meeting Elder B passed me the keys to their boarding and that was about it for parting. Like so many in the audience we really would have liked a parting hug and handshake before they left, but we understand their decision. Unlike the people here, at least we will get to see them again in about 9 months.

The highlight of the talks was President Vezi mentioning how a Book of Mormon that he found in a pile of magazines that he bought at a used book store. That ‘accident’ changed his life completely.

After sacrament we left to go back to Port Durnford so I could spend some time training Presidents Machaka and Zondi. President Zondi has only been a member for a year and is going to conduct his first sacrament meeting next week. I gave them a couple of suggestions and some homework from the 2004 WW Leadership meeting on Bishoprics. I think this will help them understand their callings and hopefully help President Zondi feel more confident.

We were going to make a couple of stops in Esikhawini but found out the people would not be home so we will do it on Tuesday or Wednesday. We finally got home at about 5:00 after a long and fruitful – I think – day. With the Bartholomews gone, I think we will have many very busy days – especially Sundays.

I was so tired that I almost immediately lay down and napped for two hours. Mary finally woke me because she was afraid I would never go to sleep tonight. I told her that I did not think that would be any problem. I spoke to sister Mickelsen for a few minutes about Elder Holland’s talk “Divine Companion.” Sister Mann has asked her to transcribe the talk from the DVD so the elders can all have a copy. She had read in my blog that I was making copies of it for the elders in the zone. She was hoping that I had access to the whole talk but I had to tell her all I had was the report in the Church News.

The rest of the evening was very quiet and restful. Mary’s knee gave her trouble through out the day but she did not let that slow her down. However she was glad to be able to put it up on the couch and let it heal.

1 7/8 mite day! Always room for improvement.

Note: I just realized that I did not mention that Saturday when we got home from Esihkhawini we had almost no water pressure. We thought that because we had forgotten to pay our water bill and so they reduced our pressure until we did. It is not legal for them to completely cut off the water so they leave enough for people to get some drinking water and if they are patient to get enough for washing up a little. But there is not enough for taking a shower or washing clothes. Since by the time we discovered this it was too late to go pay the bill, we were resigned to the fact that we would not get showers on Sunday or Monday morning.

However when we got home from the dance on Saturday night, lo and behold the water pressure was back up. It must have been a system problem for the whole area and they fixed it while we were gone. When I found this out, I said a prayer of thanks and I will pay the bill first thing Monday.

17 October 2009 – Saturday

Another busy day in Paradise. Our day of service started with our going over to the Bartholomews to go through the house and make sure we knew what was the theirs or the church’s, talk about Enselini and its needs, and other last minute wisdom they might have.

Then we hurried to Port Durnford and arrived just as the funeral for sister Mhlongo was ending so we got to sing the closing song, go to the gravesite, fill in a couple of shovel fulls of dirt, and share a meal with the family and mourners. After the grave was filled and President Vesi was ready to close the graveside service, the tribal counselor who was there gave a talk in Zulu that at one point had everyone look at me. Later when I asked President Vesi what he had said he told me that the official had said it was good that the Church was in Port Durnford because he had never seen a white man take part in a funeral. He said that whites went to white funerals and blacks went to blacks but today we were all together. Perhaps this will help the elders when they are finding and teaching in the area.

After the funeral we went to the Esikhawini chapel where Mary had three students show up for piano lessons. All are at different levels but none are practicing as much as they should. While she was doing that I put some de-odorizing tablets in the men’s urinal and got the sound system tuned up. By the time we left it had started to drizzle. It had been over cast all morning but had not fallen at all at the funeral.

When we got home the RB elders came over so Mary could make a program for a baptism tomorrow. It will be very unusual for South Africa because it is a white woman and her son. After the elders left we had a quick dinner of macaroni and cheese – with real Kraft cheese thanks to Cindy – before heading off to the YSA dance at the RB chapel.

I could write pages about the dance but will just say that it was one of the best activities we have been to. Over 50 YSA came from all over the district and had a great time talking, eating and dancing. The credit for the success of the evening goes to Theunis de Klerk – a member of RB branch whose family drive 2 ½ hours each way from their farm to attend church and other activities.

Once the young people got started dancing – and it took the efforts of both couples to get them off the walls – they hardly stopped. The DJ knew just what to play and the natural love of dancing that the people have – including the older ones – took over. They do not really dance as couples but they often formed a circle and danced to the beat while one or two of them either jumped or was pushed into the center to do a short dance. It was great to watch and after a while I even forgot the headache I had when I came.

It was kind of a last hurrah for the Bartholomews as they will leave tomorrow during the Enseleni branch conference. They love the young people and have spent much of their time and talents building them up in a way we could never have. Our challenge will be keeping them moving on the path they have started them on. Everyone had a great time and I think that they would have danced all night if we had not pulled the plug at about 10:00 so they could get back to their homes and get some sleep before getting up for church tomorrow.

We and the Bartholomews did most of the clean-up and tucked all the youth into their cars or taxis before heading home ourselves at about 10:45. It was a much better night than I expected and we did have fun. Unfortunately Mary had managed to twist her trick knee earlier in the day so she spent most of the time sitting on the sidelines or trying to get everyone involved.

It was a very busy but rewarding day. We will miss the Bartholomews greatly.

1 ¾ mites