Daily Archives: December 22, 2009

22 December 2009

22 December 2009 – Tuesday

An interesting day where we basically had to work around making sure we were available to meet Sister Mann when she and her visiting family passed through on their way to St Lucia. She was bringing Elder Weaver’s X-Rays, 3 copies of ‘Joy to the World’ DVD, and assorted mail for the elders.

We started our day by buying two food orders for members in Enseleni and then delivering them. We picked up President Vilane along the way so he could take part in the delivery. The first one went to Mama Zulu who we found sitting on the floor of her living room knitting a dress that she can then sell to make a little money. She is the gogo who is taking care of her grandson that was dropped off by her son.

Next we went to Mama Rose’s – Thandeka’s gogo – who has taken in three abandoned orphans. She is a small woman who is as strong both physically and spiritually. She is not a member but Thandeka and one of the orphans are. She would make a wonderful member and I keep trying to figure out how to get her to come to Church and let the missionaries teach her.

Once we left Enseleni we decided to get some lunch at Mc Donalds – we figured that about the time we ordered, Sister Mann would call to say they were close and we would have to pick up our lunch and dash to the N2. However it turned out it was the elders who called and they came to get payment for our Zone T-shirts that had just ordered – we have no idea what we are buying but are happy to be a part of it. After lunch we came home to re-fill my wallet – it had been an expensive morning – and wait for Sister Mann to call. She soon did and we arranged to meet her at the Enseleni off-ramp of the N2. We got there just before she did and we happily got what she was delivering. (I do not know why the type style changed when I made a correction in the post…oh well.)

 

Her son and daughter-in-law got in Sunday for a two week stay and they had brought some children-size comforters that their 4-H club had made. They were taking them to Mtubatuba to an orphanage where they have some babies. We asked if we could have three of them to give to the orphans that Sister Rose is taking care of and they said certainly. I am sure the young ones will be happy to have them – at least once winter comes around again.

After saying goodbye to them we went to mall to buy another food order – this time for the Chirwas out in Port Durnford. We called elder Weaver to meet us at parking lot to get his x-rays and some mail. They pulled in right beside us as we parked. Talk about timing.

The delivery to the Chirwas went without a hitch and we happen to see the missionary’s car at the Zondi’s homestead so we stopped there to give them their mail. So everything worked out perfectly. By the time everything was finished it was time to head home.

During the day parts of Richards Bay lost their power. The RB elders said the power was out at their boarding and a number of robots were not functioning, but the power at our boarding was always on when we got home.

However at about 7:00 everything in the neighborhood went black and stayed that way for over an hour. We found flashlights and even lit a candle. Once we realized the power was going to be off for a while, we started reading by using flashlights. After a while of doing that I was ready to just nap through it, when the lights flashed back all over the place. We had been told that they had many outages during last summer as the consumption exceeded capacity – when that happens they have rolling black-outs through out the area. I do not know if that was what happened tonight but it well may have been.

21 December 2009

21 December 2009 – Monday

It was very hot and humid today. Luckily we spent most of the time in the house with the fan blowing, in the air-conditioned car, or in the air-conditioned theater. But when we were out in the open it was rather brutal – a taste of what they say is coming. I read in the online papers that the East is having a blizzard and I wish they would send some of that cold air our way.

We had kind of planned to go somewhere today but neither of us really got started this morning and by the time we had started thinking about what to do the gardeners had showed up and that meant we would stay home until 11:00.

So we decided to have a nice lunch at the small boat harbor. We found that the Thai restaurant that we wanted to go to was closed until dinner and so we went to Portuguese restaurant instead. I have now tried Portuguese food four times and except for some excellent swordfish we had the last time, I did not care for any of it. After lunch we went by the Zimbabwean carvers and found that William still did not have the sculpture the Bs paid for some 2 months ago. They should have not paid for it in advance because now William has no real reason to get it done. Mary bought a couple of carved animals from a rich green stone and another carver tried everything he could to convince me to buy something.

We spent the afternoon at the new theater watching Invictus. I was surprised that there were so few people at this showing. It is a great movie about the early days of the new democratic government and South Africa winning the 1995 World Cup.

When we got out of the movie we got a call from the Zone Leaders. They had been trying to call us but I had turned off our cell phone while we were in the movie. It seems that President Mann got a phone call saying that two of our missionaries had been kidnapped and were being held for a ransom so they were calling all the missionaries to find out if they were OK. Most were quickly found but they had problems locating two of the elders but eventually they made contact and found they were safe. That meant it was a hoax and President Mann could start breathing again.

At home we had a left over dinner, watched an episode of Numb3rs on the computer, read some, and then went to bed.

20 December 2009

20 December 2009 – Sunday

Out really early to pick up Esikhawini elders because the Zone leaders were in Kosi Bay. PEC at Esikhawini – had a nice talk with brother Malinga (hard not to call him President.) Sacrament at Port Durnford – poorly attended with many members just not coming. President Machaka talked about his decision to go on a mission and the problems he had with his parents. Had to decline the first call but went 4 months later – without parent’s permission.

On way from PD to Enseleni stopped at Richards Bay chapel for two temple recommend interviews. Poor attendance at Enseleni but 7 good investigators there – mainly single men from 25-35. It would be nice to have a couple of good families but will settle for some dedicated PH so President Vilane would have some help. Khulekani gave an excellent lesson on Christ’s birth – many people participated and he also called on responses from the YM. He is a good teacher and is well prepared. Tandeka is back from King George hospital and hopefully will take her meds so she will not die. Gave Khulekani his mission papers…he has not cut his dreadlocks.

We get home in time to eat some lunch, relax for a while and then prepare dinner for the elders.

What does it take to fill up 10 elders – 9 lbs of mince (hamburger), 12 cups of homemade re-fried beans, 15 huge – 11″ – tortillas, lots of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and salsa, a large watermelon, 7 liters of pop and 10 ice cream bars.

The elders – especially the US ones – loved the burritos. Elder Vinson closed his eyes as he savored the first bite. I think most of the African elders enjoyed them also. Elder Maremela had two huge burritos with just meat – he said that beans just filled up space that could be used for meat. Elder Weaver said it was the first burrito he had since he left home 18 months ago. Elder Weaver and Elder Reeder had to leave early to go give a blessing to an investigator – President Baldwin’s neighbor.

Once they are gone there are lots of clean-up, dishes to wash, etc. When that is finished we settled down to catch up with e-mail and Facebook.

Any Sabbath day that starts with picking up elders, give me the opportunity to take the sacrament, hear gospel centered talks, and participate in a discussion of the importance of Christ’s birth and life,  and ends with watching a zone of missionaries leave full is a great one.

19 December 2009

19 December 2009 – Saturday

Out early to get food order for Port Durnford, then to Esikhawini for piano lessons that ended up stretching over almost 4 hours. 2 hours late to Engwelezane’s Christmas social but it was just really getting started when we got there. They did a good job entertaining the many children and then had a number of impromptu acts by different groups – including some fancy dancing by some of the older members including President Moloi. They had a nice dinner for everyone including chops and worst.

We were rather tired when we got home.