15 October 2009 – Thursday

Elders Wengert and Maremela held their first ZDM and did a great job. There was no long discussion about Zone Activity and the rest moved right along with many of the elders participating. I think this was the best since one that Elder Bradley led in Swazi.

After the ZDM the Barts treated everyone to lunch at McDonalds. Twelve elders and two couples ate a lot of food and took up over half the seating places. It was a good last goodbye for the Bs with all the elders and you can tell they are going to miss each other.

We went directly from McDonalds to Port Durnford for English. Although we were missing Gogo Nzama, we had a good class. It was good to have Tembe there and hopefully he will soon be able to be baptized. As the class was finishing Sister Thandi told us that sister Mhlongo had died on Tuesday. While her death from cancer was expected, the fact that she had died two days earlier and no one had bothered to tell us, was rather a shock. Especially since it seems the elders knew on Tuesday, had not called us nor told us when they saw us on Wednesday nor earlier this morning. Also President Machaka had not called. I guess they all assumed someone else had told us.

Two of our three English students – Temba and Thandi. These are more of my experiment with changing ISO settings and I think both came out well. They show facial detail that I have been losing in the past. Maybe by the time we head home I will have the system down. One of the words we learned today was ‘plaid’ because of Thandi’s blouse. I loved her orange hat that she wears even when she is inside because she did not time to do her hair before we came.

We immediately went up to their homestead to offer our condolences and to sit with the family for a while. As mentioned I had spoken to sister Mhlongo’s daughter Manini on Sunday about her mother and about how the family could be together forever. She met us as we drove in and took us in to the family and friends gathering that they hold until the funeral. Manini, Gabi and us sang “I am a child of God” for the family – it is a tradition that people sing when visiting.

I met with brother Mhlongo and asked if there was anything we could do. He said they would need some help with the food. We agreed to pick up the daughters tomorrow and take them shopping for the funeral that will be held on Saturday. All the other arrangements had been made and she will be buried in the family plot on the homestead.

We excused ourselves and went to the PD chapel and held youth. We discovered that a memory game using the General Authorities would not work, so we started playing Book of Mormon Bingo which they really like. After a while, to make sure everyone went home a winner, we started eliminating winners and luckily the last two had Bingo at the same time.

While we were at Youth sister Chirwa, the RS President, came in and talked to Mary. We did not realize that sister Mhlongo had been through the temple and could be buried in temple clothes. Of course she did not have any and so we said we would see what we could do to get some on such short notice.

We then had to dash home so I could grab a little something to eat and go down to the Richards Bay Chapel for District Council Meeting. It was a good short meeting with lots getting covered before President Baldwin and Calwyn had to leave for something at school.

As we were leaving I told Elder B about the situation with the need for temple clothes for sister Mhlongo. He helped me find most of what we needed but some parts were missing. I decided if worse came to worse Mary could make the missing pieces tomorrow before giving them to sister Chirwa so she could dress the body.

So it was busy and surprising but it felt good to be able to be of service to the people here in Richards Bay. I think that we are going to find ourselves really busy once the Bs leave on Sunday. I am also sure that if we are diligent in our calling and follow the spirit we will be able to accomplish that which the Lord has sent us here to do.

2 Mite day…

14 October 2009 – Wednesday

Morning kind of the slid by with time spent on journal, putting pictures in the blog, talking to President Mann and Sister B on the phone, going to the mall to get air-time, and not getting the ATM to give me more cash. It is strange how quickly 4 hours disappeared without much in the way of value to account for it. I did give the young lady at Checkers a card with the time and location of the Esikhawini branch while she processed my air-time request. I am going to try to improve talking to everyone as the President requested.

We went to the RB chapel to make lots of copies for English and for the elders. While we were there I got some more sacrament cups so I can send them to Kosi Bay. Our next stop was our post office box where the only thing we found was a letter that was not ours. I got a call from the B’s and they had just driven by so they turned around so they could give me some WD-40 like spray to try on the elder’s bikes. The Bs are still busy getting last things done before they leave on Sunday. I then took some pants into the cleaners.

After a quick lunch at Wimpy’s – it will never be my favorite place to eat – we went to Esikhawini to wait for the Elders to come with their bikes that need work done. It turned out they had been out to Port Durnford putting in a garden for one of the members – I think Elder Wengert will have them busy all the time.

 

This is the garden the elders put in for the Molondo family. I have been experimenting with different ISO settings on the camera to get better pictures of the African elders. This one of elders Dishon and Musemare came out better than most. I was trying to take a picture of this bird at rest and instead got one of it in flight. It shows the white underwing that is not visible when not flying. So I ended up with a better picture than I planned. Notice the barbed wire that surrounds the grounds.

The Esikhawini Elders brought their bikes and it was obvious that they needed full tune-ups so I called Elder Johnson and he said to have it done. So thanks to Elder Maremala’s experience on loading bikes into cars, we were able to get both bikes in and take them to the cycle shop in Richards Bay for service. It will be a week before they get them back but they should be in top shape.

We then headed back to Esikhawini where we met with President Malinga for 30 minutes. Our main purpose was to pick up the quarterly report but we ended up talking about a number of subjects including home teaching and presidency meetings. I explained that his family needed the blessings that would come when he did his home teaching and of course the families he visited would also be blessed.

From there we went to Sister Manemela’s and found she was not home yet. So we chatted with her son and daughter for a few minutes and dropped off a birthday card and present. I think this is an excellent idea and I hope we can do this for most members of the branches.

We had a quick dinner at McDonalds – we are becoming fast-food junkies – and then went over to the Bartholomews where we spent a couple of hours talking about the branches they have been working with and what they thought we needed to do. We decided we would come back on Saturday and finish going through things while they finish packing up for the trip home.

By the time we got home it was rather late and so we were soon wending our way to bed. I would rate this a good 2 mite day.

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.

12 October 2009 – Monday

It was an unusual P-day for us because we had guests arriving in the afternoon. So of course we spent part of the day cleaning up the house so that they would not find out how messy we usually are. Of course if they read this they will know.

The first thing I had to do was drop off our flat tire to be fixed. Later we went out to lunch – McDonalds – picked up the tire and did some grocery shopping so we had things for breakfast. Back at our boarding Mary put together a batch of her delicious brownies and they were still in the oven when a caravan of bakkies showed up and 12 elders and the Wilsons got out. We knew a few of the elders but the majority were new to us and of course I will never remember most of their names until we meet a couple of more times. After shifting them around – some had come in the Wilson’s bakkie – the elders went off to meet the Richards Bay elders at the internet shop.

We had a very nice afternoon and evening with the Wilsons. We got to catch up with everything that is happening in the area where we were born. Swaziland is going like gang-busters and Ezulwini is growing again.

Elder Wilson, Sister Wilson and Mary, Mary and light house on the Richards Bay pier. It was very overcast and late in the day but it was still beautiful. It took me back to when my family lived right on the beach front and the sounds of the waves lulled us to sleep.

 

Looking down the Richards Bay beach towards the point with a warning light on the top. William – on the left – who brings carvings from Zimbabwe and loves the couples because they buy so many things from him.  His son the salesman stands next to him.

We took the Wilson’s for a quick tour – a very quick tour – of the Bay and ended up coming across William and his carvings. Both couples of course bought a few things as well as having a good talk with William and his brother. We showed them the small boat harbor and then the beach. We walked out on the mole and took some pictures. Unfortunately it was quite overcast but some of the pictures turned out pretty good. After that we went out to dinner where we had more time to talk as we enjoyed a nice meal.

We were not home long before we took pity on the Wilsons – they had driven for 5 hours today – and had family prayer before they went off to bed. We followed not long afterwards.

I should mention that I got a call from Iras at Kosi Bay saying that they had used the last of the sacrament cups and would I send more. I said I would get some off and then thought how nice it would have been if he had called when they got down to a couple of weeks worth. But maybe no one mentioned it to him until yesterday when they ran out.

It was a nice P-day for us.

Richards Bay Zone with the B’s – Elders Wright and Potter are honorary members for the week. Elder Wengert and Maremela – together again. Elder Weaver with Elder Reeder who has been in the Durban mission for 5 days.

Elders Otieno and Tsugula, Elders Musemare – who’s name it seems I never get correct – and Dishon who I will call our French elder even if he is not. Elders Kekana and Babeeyo – the best smiles in the zone. We will get to meet Elder Babeeyo’s little brother on Tuesday at Zone Conference.

Elders Wright and Elder Potter – the traveling elders who are visiting us this week. Elder Bartholomew in his South Africa T-Shirt doing what he likes to do best. Mary, Sister B pointing at Elder Wright with Elder Wengert looking on.

11 October 2009 – Sunday

As we drove out this morning to head for Esikhawini something did not feel right. When I stopped and looked I found we had a flat tire on the rear passenger side. So I called the men I usually pick up and told them that they would have to get their own transportation and started to change the tire. Unfortunately the lug nuts had been put on by an impact wrench – or some one with a big lug wrench – and I could not get them to move. I put in a call for help from the Elders and they hurried over. While they were on their way I figured out how to use the metal rake handle as an extension on the wimpy wrench that comes with the car and managed to break the nuts free. Elder Weaver was kind enough to finish changing the tire.

I had changed my clothes before starting on the project but I had worked up enough of a sweat and had enough dirt on me that I took another shower before trying once again to get to church. We did not have time to stop at Esikhawini so we drove right to Port Durnford.

As usual the meeting started about 20 minutes late but this gave us time to meet and get to know a little about our new Zone Leader Elder Wengert. We talked a little about the Zone and what we would like to see happen. He was the trainer for elder Maremela and now they are back together. He figures he will finish his mission here.

 

When the weather permits Port Durnford holds the Priesthood, Young Women and Primary outside. Elder Wengert can be seen teaching the Primary children over by the house. I noticed that the outdoor baptism font at Esikhawini had a new member who seems to have been held down too long.  Elder Wright served in Richards Bay just before we got to the mission field. Here he is with some of the Esikhawini sisters who he knew.

It is almost a good thing that the meetings start about 20 minutes late on Fast and Testimony Sundays because that leaves just about the right amount of time for the number of members they have to bear their testimony. We had a pretty good turnout of 33 or 34 with about 11 of them being younger children. The one thing that is still missing is any couples – there are no families headed by men in the branch.

After Sacrament Elder Wengert got to teach Primary while Mary and I got to go to the adult classes. The RS meets in the building and the rest of us meet outside – at least when it is not raining. It is a great experience to listen to each of the groups sing an opening song. ElderWengert even got the Primary to sing.

After the PD meetings we took Thandi Nzama and her flock home while a number of the branch plus Sister Khumalo went up to see Sister Mhlongo who is dying of cancer because she would not let them operate. We then went to Esikhawini for the last 20 minutes of their meetings. After the meeting Mary taught a piano lesson to Sazi Mthalane while I helped close up the buildings. It turned out President Malinga had to work a double shift and President Thusi left early so President Nyawo and I were responsible for closing things up.

Elders Wright and Potter were recently called to be traveling elders for this cycle. They are going around to each of the zones except for Swaziland and work with the missionaries to help them. With 24 new missionaries who have been out 6 weeks or less, they will be able to see how things are going and help train where necessary. The two came out together and at the end of this cycle they will leave together. Since Elder Wright served in Richards Bay, he was excited to see how all the people he met and in some cases help come unto Christ are doing. Unfortunately he is finding a number of them are no longer active.

Back at our boarding, we had some lunch and then I pretty much crashed for a couple of hours. It is strange how that happens most Sundays.

In the evening we went to the Bartholomews for the first dinner for the new Zone and the last dinner for the Barts. As always there was lots of good food, discussion about mission experiences, and how everyone was doing. Elder Babeeyo told how when he met his younger brother, who has just come to the mission, in Durban he hugged him for 10 minutes. I took lots of pictures of the new elders, the new companionships, and a final picture with the Bartholomews and the Zone – but come to think of it, it may not be the last one since there will be a tri-zone conference on Tuesday and Sister Mann will probably take a picture. But it will be a formal one where this one is anything but.

After a not so good start, it became another wonderful day in Richards Bay. 1 ¾ mites?

10 October 2009 – Saturday

We had a busy day but a quiet evening. Mary kept busy this morning getting the last few things ready for the conference and loading everything in the car. We took lots of plates, cups, etc. that we ended up not needing but better to be prepared than sorry.

While the sisters kept busy getting things set up, I put out tables and chairs for their meal that they served before the meeting. It was a good way to let the late comers make it to the conference and for the sisters to enjoy some time to talk to each other. Elder B and I did have to go back to our boarding to get the brownies that were left on the counter.

The conference went very well. Sister Mann and others gave excellent talks, there were a number of songs sang by sisters from three of the branches, and they said a nice goodbye to Sister B. I was happy to see that during her talk the Lord supported her so she could speak clearly and with power. The District is really going to miss the Bs.

 

Sisters in Zion after a very successful and spiritual District Relief Society Conference

After the conference we had lunch with the Bs at Maxi’s in the mall. As always there was lots of discussion about the branches and some things we need to do. It may be the last time we have lunch with them and certainly the last time we will have lunch with them at Maxi’s.

While Mary was teaching brother Mhlungu piano, Sister Mathe arrived to work in her garden. I had to get a picture of this wonderful gogo in her bright gardening attire. I missed taking her picture at the RS conference when she was more conservatively dressed.

We went from the mall to Esikhawini where Mary had one piano lesson – the other three did not show up which is always discouraging. Before the lesson I got the amplifier working so they will have sound tomorrow. Quinton had called earlier and we arranged to meet for a while as he passed through to Port Durnford. We tried to figure out what we could do about transport for the dance. He had a number of good ideas.

My evening was mainly spent working on photos and backing them up on to an exterior drive. I also called and talked to Bob about how things were going at our house and found out that they had to replace one of the hot water heaters. I did not ask how much that cost because I did not want to even think about it. From his comments the yard was not very well taken care of this year but he promised it would be cleaned up before we got home. I just hope the majority of the plants make it through so I do not have to replant half the yard.

09 October 2009 – Friday

Woke much too early but after reading for a while I went back to sleep. Mary slept well and woke feeling –and sounding – much better. Maybe she only had a rough throat yesterday.

Our mission continues to get more expensive as the dollar weakens against the rand – it is down to under 7.4 per dollar. It was about 9.2 when we came out 9 months ago.

It seems that the plumbing god is out to get us. This morning as I was showering, the whole valve stem to the cold water came out of the wall. Thankfully it was the cold water and it was in the shower. If it had been one of the basin taps there would have been water everywhere. I jumped out, grabbed my robe so I could go out and shut down the main valve. I then went in and figured out how to put everything back together again. I even had the right tools. Although no real damage was done, it was a little more excitement than I planned for this morning.

While I was dealing with that I heard the gardening crew starting to work on the yard. I was glad that they could work outside the fence for a while so I could finish my plumbing repair and get dressed before they needed to work close to the house.

While Mary baked a number of batches of cookies, I went to see if I could get Esikhawini’s sound system fixed. They were very nice and I went with their technician back to their work room. When he found that it did not work on batteries but was fine with wall power. He then found that a couple of the batteries were not good and assured me that if I replaced them, the unit would work.

I made a quick stop to get some cash and to buy batteries at Games. They have most of their Christmas display up and I thought how different this Christmas will be from the one we had in Indonesia where only a small percentage of the population is Christian.

Soon after I got back, the Bartholomews arrived to deliver their elliptical exercise machine. I now have no excuse for not exercising each day. I do have to figure how I am going to entertain myself while I exercise. This is always the hardest part for me – I get bored before very long.

Mary continued working on things for tomorrow’s District RS Conference. I pretty much just stayed out of her way until she asked for me to do something.

In the evening we went to the mall to have dinner with Elders Clark, Richey and Davis. The Bs and Us sat at a table for 14 and waited for the others to arrive. We got a call from Elder Davis saying they were still an hour away. Then the Clarks arrived and we sat and talked. After a while Elder Richey came in and told us that he and his family were at another restaurant – there are two with about the same sounding name – and had already ordered. It was decided that they would eat and then come join us. So we ordered and while we were waiting for our food the Davis’ arrived. They had had to detour off the N-2 because of an accident.

To make a long – 3 hour – story short, we had a great time talking to the elders, their parents and in Elder Richey’s case friends. We told the parents how excellent their sons were – and it was the truth. We also shared some stories they had not heard. Brother Clark at one point said that knowing what they know now, if they had been visiting instead of picking up their missionary, they probably would have wanted him to go home with them.

 

Elder Richey with his new tie. The dark tie in the other picture is the one he wore through his whole mission. At his last interview with President Mann, the President cut it in two. Mary at one time thought someone should put a match to it but we decided it was so greasy that it would probably flash burn and hurt Elder Richey.

We all said goodbye and headed to our boardings. The Clarks and Davis were staying in Richards Bay and then heading for Swaziland tomorrow. Elder Richey’s parents and friends drove back to Durban because he spent almost his whole mission in that area.

08 October 2009 – Thursday

I noticed that I forgot to mention that yesterday while we were loading our things into the B’s car, a bird managed to relieve itself on my hand. Bronwyn, our hostess, said that it was good luck to be crapped on by a bird. At the time I did not think so but in reflection perhaps she was correct. We did come home to a mini-flood, but no permanent damage was done and it well could have been.

Today Mary woke with a very raw throat and we are afraid she has caught Sister B’s cold. If so I can hardly wait for my turn.

I spent much of the morning posting pictures on the blog. I really need to do it on a day to day basis but I usually just put the task off until it is so big I do not want to do it. I wish I could say it is because I am too busy doing other good things but the truth is I just do not do it.

Cold or no cold we had too much to do today to stay home another day. I had a good meeting with President Malinga for the better part of an hour. We talked about a number of things and I explained that when the Bartholomews leave, we will not be in their branch very often. We will try to meet once a week so he can continue to be trained and I can find out how to help the branch. Since it was becoming a very hot day, we met under the big tree in his yard. I just realized I missed a photo op.

We then went to the Esikhawini chapel to return their sound system. For some reason I did not check it when I got it from the repair shop – bad move because of course it does not work. I will take it back in tomorrow.

We then headed to Port Durnford where we stopped in to Sister Joyce’s to wish her happy birthday and to drop off a card and a candy bar. We did not really expect her to be there because she works in her shop most days, so we were happy to see her home when we got there. I think she may have taken the day off because it was her birthday. We had a nice talk with her about her family – 2 children – her business, and other things. She has not been active for a while but we hope she will come to church on Sunday.

We had a good English class at the Nzama’s. It would have been even better if, because of Mary’s lack of voice, I had not had to teach. But they seemed to be happy with their lessons and it looks like Tembu may finally get baptized.

We then had a great Youth meeting with our 8 or 9 fine young men and women. We did not play any games.  We had them report about what they got from Conference – Ayanda as usual had kept notes and so was able to mention each speaker and what they talked about. We then played Elder Holland’s wonderful talk on the Book of Mormon and afterwards we talked about what he said. I bore my testimony of how I came to know that the Book of Mormon was true through my experience in the Sacred Grove. I also talked about how I always find new things when I read from the Book of Mormon.   I have to say that the hour flew by and the youth participated all the way through.

The days are getting longer faster than I realized. Today we did not leave Port Durnford until after 5:00 but where just a month ago darkness would have fallen by the time we got back to our boarding, today it was bright and sunny all the way.

We had a quiet evening at home – mainly because Mary did not feel well and I was very tired. She worked on some things for the Relief Society Conference on Saturday, while I caught up with on-line news about the disasters in Indonesia, Samoa, and the Philippines. Members of the church have been greatly affected in the last two countries and of course we feel close to Indonesia.

2 Mite Day – Yes…

There is beauty all around – the jacaranda trees are in bloom. A good shot of Mary and I am not sure how I got a picture of me on my camera. I am glad we have a cell phone except when it rings during a meeting or after I am asleep. If I turn it off I never remember to turn it back on – maybe that is a good thing.

Us with Elders Babeeyo and Mholo. The Empangene District – Mholo, Babeeyo, Maremela, Mokopotsa, Richey, Musemare – at their last DDM. The Richards Bay branch had a great Helping Hands project and made this poster for the foyer.