The first picture is of the car that the angels who helped us find the right place were in. I think this is the first peacock we have seen in South Africa – we did see some in Swazi. Beautiful flowers grow everywhere.
Mary is standing in front of the main police station in Kosi Bay. We all got a laugh from this sign but of course it is not a laughing matter since a whole generation or two has been wiped out by AIDS. I was going to send a picture of this car to Elder Johnson and say it was the recovered car but I resisted. The mission car looked OK on the outside and has now been towed back to Durban.
I started to go back and put these pictures in the posts that they belong but decided that was too much work and probably no one would see them because they had already read the old posts.
These pictures from our September 21 zone trip to the game parks proves that Mormons do have horns.
I will not put very many pictures from this drive on the blog because there are already so many. But I thought these were good enough to share – especially the one of the large animal in the tree. I think it must be related to the babboon in some way. Sorry Elder Weaver I could not resist.
Elder Petersen wanted to get a good shot of this elephant. To try to get it closer, Elder Weaver is holding out a large container of peanut butter. Luckily it did not work but he did managed to get a large quantity of the peanut butter on the side of the car where it did not look like peanut butter.
About a month ago we got these three beautiful pictures from Olivia of ourselves and her as missionaries. We have put them on the side of the refrigerator where everyone can see them. In the middle of September we finished our latest puzzle. We have not decided it we will bring them home or not.
This morning I took these pictures of the huge pink bottle bush and the unusual tree that sits right off the patio at Crystal Stream Manor. It was a beautiful morning until about 8 a.m. and then a coastal layer of fog seemed to roll in.
A last picture of the Richards Bay District. Tomorrow evening Elder Petersen and Elder Muthoka, who are in the front, will be gone and Elder Otieno and Elder Weaver will have new companions, who have only been out 6 weeks, to finish training. I will miss both of these elders but know they will serve well in their new areas.
07 October 2009 – Wednesday
Slept well and had an enjoyable morning. I sat out on the patio and read the first few chapters of Alma and the start of the Nephite nation under the judges. It is not a pleasant period with lots of death but also where there are many who live righteous lives – even when they are well off – something that does not happen often in the Book of Mormon.
We enjoyed having breakfast with the Knudsens and we were able to learn more about their area. Since they are in the same district and zone, they often work closely together. The branches in the townships seem to be solid and the district is functioning well.
The Barts picked us up at 9:00 and we headed home to Richards Bay. As we traveled along the Bs realized this would be the last time they would travel that way as missionaries. There will be a lot of ‘last times’ for them in the next 10 days. We stopped at the Super Spar in Ballito where we were able to get real Campbell’s tomato soup, egg noodles and lasagna pasta. We did not find any of the Dr. Pepper that sister Mann said she saw there a week or so ago.
When we arrived home we expected to have some lunch, a quick nap, and then head to Esikhawini. Unfortunately we had a rather large and wet surprise waiting for us in one of the bathrooms. It seems that the valve on the toilet that I opened wider so it would fill faster leaked and there was water in the bathroom, hall and two of the bedrooms. Luckily it had only been dripping for about 26 hours and so it was not very deep. However it took quite a while to clean up the water but I needed to wash the floors anyways so it was not a complete waste of time.
The only real problem – and we will not know for a while how big it will be – is that I had put Mary’s computer under the bed in one of the rooms that got wet. Thankfully the water was not deep where it was, but it was wet on the bottom. Mary used the air only setting on her hair dryer to dry up any moisture we could see and we are going to let it set for a couple of days before we turn it on. Hopefully it will be fine but if not we hope the hard drive is OK because there are pictures that we have not backed up. Everything else can probably be found on one of the external drives we back up on.
I should mention that today we got a small feel for what it will be like in Richards Bay in a couple of months – that is hot and humid. By the time I was done getting up the water and drying the floor, I was exhausted. So once I put all the wet towels in the washer I just went to bed and we will do what we were going to do this afternoon tomorrow.
After I woke up I drove down to the mall to pick up the repaired speaker system for Esikhawini. While I was waiting for them to bring the unit to me, I talked to the young lady who was at the counter and mentioned that it was warm today. She didn’t think so – she said it was still winter weather. But she did warn that December and January are terrible.Â
I went to the bookstore to see what they had on sale. As I was browsing the books, I heard a voice call out ‘There is Elder Pier.’ I turned to find two elders coming towards me. They eagerly shook my hand and asked how I was. I found out they were elders Tembo and Nkosi who are now serving in Swazi and they were on the way to Durban for transfers tomorrow. I must confess I did not recognize either of them and am not sure how they recognized me. I am pretty sure that we have not served with them and the only place where we could have met was at All Zone a few months ago. But we were all wearing Swazi ties and I was able to ask about the Manzini branch and talk about the way the work is blazing in Swaziland. When we said goodbye I said that we would see them next week in Richards Bay for Zone Conference.
Good news! We looked at Mary’s computer and it seemed dry so we decided to see if it would open without catching on fire and thankfully it did fine. I count this as a tender mercy of the Lord.
While eating dinner and afterwards we watched and recorded the audio of Elder Holland’s talk on the Book of Mormon and then I recorded Elder Renlund talk on the way to keep our spiritual heart strong Elder Sitai’s talk that includes a comment on labola (the African version of a dowery) and Elder Choi’s talk on the 9 rowdy boys. I am going to try to use all of them in either Priesthood or Youth meetings over the next few weeks.
Yesterday I forgot to write about transfers. Elder Richey called to tell us that Elders Mokopotsa, Petersen, Mholo, Muthoka, and of course himself are leaving the zone. That means all the companionships will change tomorrow. We always dislike to see the elders we have come to know and love leave but it is also exciting to meet the new ones that come in. Two of them will be from the new group of 15 who are coming in today – which we will not know until after they get here.
At a little after 9:00 we went over to the Richards Bay district boarding to say goodbye to Elders Petersen and Muthoka. We let them know we would miss them and wished them well in their new areas. Elder Petersen will once again be in a white area – he is becoming a specialist in white areas. I told Elder Muthoka that if he did not get his drivers license he would find himself walking the rest of his mission. We left them some Magnum bars to snack on while they packed. They head for Durban and their new areas tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. so I am sure they will be up most of the night.
I should mention that we either get weekly letters or read weekly blogs from a number of our friends on missions. Sister Creer writes about their week as they preside over the Ireland, Dublin mission, Elder and Sister Taylor are now reporting on their new mission as office couple in New Jersey, and Elder and Sister Nelson usually write about their mission in Nauvoo. The Mickelsen’s and Sister Mann write weekly blogs about their mission here in South Africa. Each letter or blog reflects the differences in our experiences but they also reflect the similarities we share as we work with wonderful young missionaries, other couples, and of course the great members. I doubt if those who have not been on a mission as a couple get quite the same feeling from these blogs and letters as those of us who have or are now serving.
Listening to Elder Renlund’s conference talk about how we must keep taking care of our changed spiritual hearts just as those who have a transplanted heart must take care of their new physical heart. He told a story about how he found himself drifting away from the patterns that keep our spiritual hearts well and how he caught his error and changed. This goes along with Elder Bednar’s talk about how consistency is an important part of our spiritual lives. I did not know he was a counselor in our Area Presidency.
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Elder Weaver said the reason he was wearing this T-shirt and not his white shirt was because he had washed them all and they were not dry. Nice try Elder Weaver! The Richard Bay elders came over to try and make copies of some DVDs for elder Peterson. Unfortunately we did not have a good transfer program so they could not get it done before the Barts showed up so we could go to Durban for a meeting.
Sister B was feeling a little better – still not really well – so the trip was filled with lots of good talk about the mission, family, etc. They showed us where the Stake Patriarch lived in Salt Rock and then we had lunch at our favorite restaurant in Ballito before going on to Durban and our boarding at Crystal Stream Manor. We got the same big room we had last time which is quite nice and comfortable.
We went to the mission office and were soon joined by all the couples in the mission. It was a kind of mini-couples conference. Before the meeting started I had a good talk with Elder Markum where he told me some of his interesting baseball stories. He has had a life that is full of sports – as a participant, a coach and an official.
All of the senior proselyting elders plus elder Mickelsen met with President Mann to discuss the mission and the plans for the future. Before we started, Elder and Sister Helms who are the area Public Relations directors for the area talked to us about how we could get more involved with the community and help get the church good press. I wrote down a couple ideas and will try to find time to pursue them.
There is still no word on any couples coming to the mission so it seems we are going to go it alone in Richards Bay for the foreseeable future. There was good news that the Mickelsens may be able to come up and help at least one Sunday and a few weekdays each month. Any help will be greatly appreciated. While thinking of the Mickelsens, I should mention that they have been without any internet for a week and that is why they have not posted to their blog this week. They thought that they might get it back later in the day- hopefully they will.
It was a good open meeting with everyone sharing their troubles and triumphs. At the end President Mann asked Elder B to share his testimony and he truly poured out his heart about his love for the people and the work.
After the meeting we adjourned to the new Butcher Boy restaurant in Hillcrest where we enjoyed a great meal and lots of good discussion with the other couples. We shared a table with the Sessions, Barts and Ladysmith Wilsons.
The reason Sister Sessions is not in either of these photos is that I did not get any of her that she would want to see on this blog. I am not sure the Bartholomews will appreciate their picture either.
Sister Sessions is a real hero in my books. When they got their call to come to South Africa, she said she would not go because she was afraid for her safety. But she decided that their call truly came from a prophet of God and so even though her fear did not go away, she agreed to come. When she got here she continued to be afraid and it did not help that they were assigned to work in a huge township where they were often the only white people around. But as time passed she came to love the people, served them, and now is finding it hard to leave them. I told her she was my hero because she was willing to walk into the darkness until she came to the light.
But the Lord had even more challenges for her. When the office couple finished their mission and there were none coming to replace them, President Mann asked them to take their place. Sister Sessions had no computer training and her new call was almost all done on the computer. But once again she accepted the call and has done an excellent job. What a wonderful experience it is to know and work with such dedicated couples and see their great testimonies in action. The Sessions will leave South Africa this weekend, but I doubt if Africa will ever be far from their thoughts for the rest of their lives.
I spoke to the President about the idea of renting a retail space in Kosi Bay as a chapel. He said it sounded like a good idea so I am going to call Iras and find out what he pays and if there is another space his size that we might rent. President Mann said we should get maps we need to get the paperwork started to make Kosi Bay a branch.
After dinner we rode with the Knudsens back to our boarding. It was a busy day – not hard but busy – and I was glad to go to bed. I tried to read from D&C 1 but my mind was too tired so I soon turned off the light and went to sleep. Another day that approached being a two mite day.
We started the day by watching the Sunday afternoon session of conference. After elder Holland’s talk on the Book of Mormon everything else was rather anti-climatic. I am need to go back and listen to the other talks again to mine the words of wisdom that I am sure are there.
Our plans for our p-day was quickly changed when we got a call from President Mann asking us if we could come into Durban on Tuesday. We said sure, called the B’s to arrange to go with them, made a reservation for a B&B, and then spent part of the day doing things we were going to do on Tuesday today.
One thing we did not change was Mary going to the pharmacy for her monthly supply of medicine. The lines are often out the door – as I believe I have mentioned before it must be a very profitable business – but today she only had to wait about 30 minutes. We then went to Port Durnford so Mary could write a letter for sister Chirwa. She was turned down for her medical pension because they said she was healthy enough to work. She isn’t so she is appealing the decision. We then went to president Machaka’s tuck shop so she could print the letter and have the president take to sister Chirwa when he goes home. We had made arrangements to take sister Tembe to physical therapy on Wednesday and since we did not have a phone number for her we stopped by to make other arrangements.
After getting everything cleared up, I dropped Mary at our boarding and went to get the car washed. Because of the rain that seemed to come on any day when I had time to get the car washed, it had been getting dirtier for over 2 weeks. Today’s trip to the Chirwa homestead added a new coat of mud to the already dirty car so I decided I would get it washed so it would be nice and clean when we got home from Durban.
We spent the rest of our p-day just being wonderfully lazy. I did spend part of the time organizing and captioning pictures, but I think that was the most useful thing I did in the evening.
Since it was the last time this Richards Bay Zone would all be together in their whites, I took the traditional last picture. The one showing their backs started because Elder Mokopotsa lined up that way – I decided it would be an interesting shot if all of them did. Of course, unless you are sister Mann, trying to get 10 elders to all cooperate in a pictures is almost impossible but this one came close. Elder Otieno and Elder Maremela wanted the last shot. Right after taking it I pushed them over – the Devil made me do it.
04 October 2009 – Sunday
Today was general conference day in Richards Bay. Members were transported in from all the branches with only a small glitch when no taxi showed up at Port Durnford. When President Machaka called to tell me the problem, I told him to grab one passing by and make the arrangements. They ended up needing 2 but that was great news. There were about 170 in attendance for the 5 hours of conference broadcasts. We got to see the Priesthood session and then the Saturday afternoon session.
I thought Elder Ballard’s talk to Fathers and Sons was excellent and should be used in local Priesthood meetings on the 4th Sunday. I am going to suggest this to the branch presidents. Elder Choi’s talk about the ‘rowdy young boys’ who through his love and caring became powerful Priesthood leaders today was also inspiring. As usual President Uchtdorf’s recalling of his difficult, early life in Germany was an excellent back ground for his talk on the importance of work and learning. I especially liked his comment that ‘Retirement is not part of the plan of happiness and the idea that it is, is unworthy of a priesthood holder.â€Â
President Eyring reminded us that we should not wait for the call to become prepared. We need to prepare young men for missions. It fits well with Elder Bednar’s talk of a couple of years ago about preparing to be missionaries not preparing for a mission.
President Monson gave a powerful talk on anger. Two comments stuck with me: “Anger does no build anything.†And “No one can make us angry, it is done by choice.â€Â
My favorite talk from the Saturday afternoon session was Elder Andersen’s about repentance. I think the comment of the older couple who returned to the church is one that too many have had to say “We are back, but we are alone.†Their children and grandchildren who do not have the blessings of the gospel in their lives is a heavy burden.
President Packer gave me “Prayer is your personal key to Heaven and the lock is on your side,†to ponder.
After the conference sessions Mary went home to get things ready to feed the missionaries and I stayed to make sure everyone had a taxi to get home on. It is an interesting exercise to see the taxis straggle in and the members who are happily talking to each other board and leave for their home.
The elders seem to enjoy their food and we remembered to take a last zone picture of the 10 who will probably never be together again – unless it is on p-day – because Elder Richey is heading home in just 4 days. Today marked the anniversary of his going into the MTC and he plans to burn his coat to celebrate. I suggested he instead give it to someone who needed it but he pointed out it had now served two missions – his brother had taken it on his mission – and it was far from being in good shape.
After the elders left, we cleaned up most of the mess and then watched the Sunday morning session of conference on the computer. I have to confess that I did not really listen very well and in fact fell asleep during parts of it. I am glad I can later go LDS.org and listen carefully to the words of wisdom that I am sure I missed.
The only part of the day that was not good was that sister B had managed to catch her son’s cold and felt terrible. She of course tried to soldier on but Mary and I managed to convince her that she really should go home after the Relief Society meeting and rest up because there is so much she will want to do in the next 2 weeks. In the evening Elder B came to dinner with the missionaries and brought more than their share of the things it takes to feed 10 hungry elders. Sister B wisely stayed home.
They are a super couple. The members in their branches will greatly miss them as we will. Of course they are going to also greatly miss the wonderful people who have touched their lives as they have served here in Richards Bay for almost 2 years.
How much are they going to be missed? Here is a good example: There was a planning meeting for the YM-YW activity that will be in late November. President Baldwin had originally thought to have it as a 3 day activity, then he cut it down to 2 days, and in the meeting he said that since Sister B would not here to organize it they would have it for just one day. Yes they will be missed.
Today was the first day of sunshine we have had for a while. Another nice thing about the day was that there was a crisp breeze that kept things from getting too hot.
It seems we spend a lot of our time shopping for things we need in the coming days. Today it for supplies to help a young man start a car wash business, food for feeding the elders between sessions tomorrow, and a couple of other stops.
In the afternoon we went to Port Durnford to meet with a non-LDS family that we are helping and to deliver the car wash supplies. To see the smile on these people’s faces for the little that we did more than pays for our service. It brings to mind King Benjamin’s comment on serving God by serving our fellow beings.
We then went to Esikhawini where Mary had a couple of piano students show up for their lessons. Unfortunately three others did not make it. The idea of practicing regularly still is difficult to get across to them but they seem to be improving.
While Mary was teaching, I tried to clean up the track of one of the big sliding gates that we must use each time we come. It helped a little but it still is hard to open and close. I am going to see if a lot of WD-40 might help.
I tried to make sure that transport was arranged for conference tomorrow but Sister Joyce was not answering her phone. Later when we went by we found that she was in Durban at a funeral. I was pretty sure that she had made the arrangements but just in case I told the branch presidents to be prepared to gather taxis if none showed up at the chapels tomorrow.
We got home in time to watch the opening session of conference. The talks by Elder Osguthorpe and Elder Bednar were especially important to me. Elder Osguthorpe’s relating of stories of how teachers touched his life was especially meaningful. I noticed how close his thoughts blended with Elder Bednar’s recent CES talk. These talks have got me thinking about how I teach and what I can do to improve the spiritual content. Elder Bednar’s comments on consistency in having family prayer, scripture study and family home evening is something I will always remember and I am sure I will use.
I did not stay up to listen to the afternoon session of conference. My guess is that they will have in available on the web in a day or two. How amazing it is to live in a time when we can watch and listen to General Conference in real time and then go back an listen to it again and again in just a few days. What a great blessing this is for all those who have a computer and access to the internet.
Woke at about 4:00 and could not go right back to sleep. When I finally did, I slept until after 6:30 which is unusual.
I had a frustrating morning trying to post to our blog. I made a number of mistakes that I had to go back and correct. Then the blog stopped responding and so I kept getting ‘not responding in time’ messages which meant I had to start over. I finally gave up and decided to try later tonight.
Elder Richey came over to check his e-mail to find out any last minute changes in his parents coming to pick him up and to copy any of our pictures that he wanted to take home. He found out that another couple was coming with his parents and also that he could not drive the rental car because you have to be 23. This means his mother gets to do all the driving in South Africa. They will have an interesting time in Port Durnford and some of the townships where he served.
Mary is assigned to make cookies for the Relief Society meeting on the 10th. I took advantage of her baking time to try and catch a short nap. I am afraid if I had a nap it was a very short one and it did little to energize me.
The only thing we did really well today –besides make lots of cookies – was spend money. Bills got paid, groceries got bought, and errands got run. At one point I thought we had actually run out of cash, but we just had enough and that told us it was time to stop.
When we got home I started to put things in the freezer and noticed one of the drawers did not want to go all the way in. An inspections soon showed that our self-defrosting freezer was not doing that so I spent a non-enjoyable 20 minutes cleaning out the rather thick accumulation of ice.
It reminded me that going on a mission does not mean you do not get to enjoy the same chores you do at home. Plumbing still goes haywire, appliances – like our printer – stop working, and some one has to cut the grass and dig up the weeds. What a mission does mean is that you are given the opportunity to love and serve others. You get to help train them in their callings, to visit them when sick or discouraged, and to invite others to come unto Christ. You also get to learn about cultures you only have read about in books or newspapers.
“The call of the humpback whale tale.†Some of those who know me well are aware that I collect 20th and 21st Century classical music. Among my collection is a couple of pieces that include a work by Alan Hovhaness called “And God Created Great Whales.†Hovhaness build the piece around the actual recording of the call of the humpback whale.
The reason I am writing this is that the water pipes in our boarding run across the beams that hold up the ceiling. This is great unless they spring a leak and then you get a ceiling full of water. Luckily – at least up to now – this has not happened, but somewhere along the path of at least one of them they rub against the stud when the water is turned on in one of our bathrooms.
So any time we flush that toilet or take a shower, we get a wonderful deep sound that each time reminds me of the whales calling and of course the piece of music. To stop it I am either going to have to go up in the attic myself, find the spot where it is rubbing and cushion the pipe from the stud, or pay someone else to do. The other choice is to just put up with it until we finish serving. Of course we will warn anyone who stays with us in the future to not worry when they hear the sound – it is only our pet whale asking to be fed or taken out for a swim.
In the evening Mary made a flyer to hand out about the up coming District Relief Society Conference and we went over to the Barts to print copies because we did not have any colored ink for the printer. Their daughter-in-law had made some wonderful creamy chicken soup and she had some home made bread. Since we had not gotten around to eating dinner, it made our trip doubly nice. Their visitors – who are leaving for home tomorrow – liked the game drive so much that they are already planning on coming back to go on a multi-day safari. Perhaps the B’s will come back with them.
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.
DDM this morning with the Empangeni District was the last one of this cycle. Some time spent with who would be transferred. Elder Richey is of course going home so that was a no-brainer. Elder Mokopotsa has been here for 6 months so he will move. Either Elder Babeeyo or Elder Mholo will probably go with there being a split among the group of which one it will be. With 15 elders coming in and 10 or so leaving it will be a fun transfer.
Elder Maremela gave a short talk on the reasons for being obedient with love of God being the highest. There was a short exercise on planning for a specific investigator that included a short video. As the district discussed their investigators it was obvious that the Esikhawini – Port Durnford elders did not have much going right now. Their investigator pool continues to shrink in those branches. Empangeni is doing quite well – Babeeyo and Mholo seem to work well together. Elder Richey bore a strong testimony of the work here in South Africa – I am interested to see how he does when he gets home to San Diego.
It is enlightening to hear about how missionaries came to serve a mission. Not all Utah young men have prepared since childhood to serve. In fact I believe the majority that I have met and talked to here, did not really decide to go on missions until a year or two before they came. Of course most of the African elders are converts and their stories about how they chose to serve a mission are varied. Many of them seem to have had run into problems getting out after they had decided to serve. Everything seems to happen to them from lost or hard to get documents to branch/district/ward/stake leaders failing to send their papers in. Satan does not want the Lord’s Missionaries in the field.
After the meeting we had lunch and then went to Esikhawini for PEC with President Machaka, got bunk by a student I was to help with Accounting, and did some visiting of members including Sister Tembe. We volunteered to take her to the hospital next Wednesday for physical therapy.
We ended the day by eating dinner at the mall and then returning to our boarding for the evening.
For the last couple of months I have been tired almost all the time. I am not sure if is because I am getting no exercise and gaining weight or if I have managed to catch something that is sapping my strength. Â
