26 November 2009 – Thursday

Our errands for the morning were to go grocery shopping and try once again to cash my check. So Mary went shopping and I went to the bank. Since the line was long and the manager who helped me yesterday was not in evidence, I gave up my task.

We went to RB DDM – that is Richards Bay District Development Meeting. While we were waiting for the elders to arrive Mary made copies for the English class and I read D&C 50 again. As I read verse one I realized that it was because the assembled Priesthood had come to a unity about what they wanted to know and then asked with sincerity that this great lesson on how the Spirit was necessary for true teaching came about. Although as individuals they were not perfect, as a unit they had a power or strength that brought about a great experience.

After DDM we took our groceries home and fixed a light lunch before heading out again for Port Durnford. As we drove through Esikhawini we saw Bongomusa walking along the road so we picked him up and gave him a ride home. Then we stopped and picked up three of the gogos that are attending the English class at the Nzamas. We had 4 of them and Thandi for class. Gogo Nzama and Tembe did not come – it is probably a good thing since there was no where for them to sit.

Mary taught four of them while I taught the gogo with almost no English in another area. I decided I needed to teach her the ABCs because she had no idea how to sound out a word so she had to memorize it and this was not working well. Since we really could not communicate, it was lucky for both of us that Zinhle – a young woman who is a long time investigator – came over and took over the teaching.

After English we took the now four gogos home and Zinhle to Youth. This is the first time she has come to Youth since the Roadshows. I must say getting four large sized gogos in the back seat of Tiida was really something and I drove very slowly over the dirt road because I was pretty sure there was not much clearance under the car.

When Youth started I thought it was going to be a disaster because it looked like only one or two could work on the banner at one time. However Mary got things started and then I managed to come up with a way that almost everyone ended up with a brush or a pen in their hand. In this way everyone had a part in the creation and was kept busy. I was disappointed that a couple of they young men did not make it until very late and one did not arrive at all. But I am learning to just love them for who they are and try to help them gain a testimony that will carry them through the hard parts of their lives.

We ended up spending two hours at Port Durnford so by the time we headed home, the over-cast skies and light rain made driving not a lot of fun. But we arrived safely and fixed fried eggs sandwiches on Portuguese rolls for our Thanksgiving dinner. I decided this is the first Thanksgiving in my life that I did not have a turkey dinner with either family or missionaries. But it did not seem like a sacrifice at all – it just seemed that we did what was right and needed to be done.

Later in the evening we called our children and talked to almost everyone except Brian and Ryan. I was happy to find out that Bob and Cindy’s family were having dinner together. Jim and his family were in Michigan with Kristy’s family. Tom and Shauna were at home and we think Brian was at his girlfriend’s. The news that Brian had a girlfriend was a nice surprise for us. Cindy said that although they were not coming for dinner with the family, they were coming to Taylor’s reception later in the week.

All IS well.