18 January 2010 – Monday

It was a nice P-day for us. We spent the morning buying and delivering some food orders to families in Port Durnford. We love to be greeted by the children at one home who thinks our name is ‘How are you.” Some of the members do not have money to pay even the very modest school fees or to buy shoes for their children. Yet even with these problems they serve in the church by walking many kilometers to visit other members and to check on their needs.

After making the deliveries we headed for Enshowe to go to the aerial boardwalk above the Dlinza forest. We had heard about this since we arrived here and had been looking forward to experience walking through trees.

The boardwalk runs about 35 feet above the forest floor and there are some amazing trees growing along the walk. At the end of about 400 foot walkway there is a tower that goes up another 35 feet or so which gives us a wonderful view of the surrounding area. We were not really above much of the forest canopy so there was not the see of green that I saw when we visited Eureka hot springs and I climbed the 100 plus foot tower there.

What was amazing was the quiet – other than a few employees, we were the only people there. I should not say that it was truly quiet because there were sounds of some insect that might be a cousin to the crickets at home that kept up a continuous drone for most of the time we were there.

After the boardwalk we went to the Fort Nongqayi Museum Village. There we ate a very nice lunch at their restaurant that sat among beds of beautiful, blooming agapanthus. As soon as we saw them I was reminded of Dona’s beds that were in bloom each summer when we visited there. I certainly miss all my family that are waiting for me on the other side.

There was an interesting exhibit in the fort that told the story of the area and the native and other troops who were stationed there in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. It also told about the great Zulu chiefs who lived in the area and how they came to be subjected to the British.

There was another exhibit at the fort of native beadwork. Using trade beads the different tribes and areas developed elaborate designs to be used on clothing and decorative pieces. Unfortunately the sun reflecting off the glass of the cases made taking pictures difficult.

The final and perhaps best exhibit was the craft museum. Mainly it had pottery and woven pots and baskets from different areas and periods. It was built to house the 3000 piece collection of a missionary couple who lived and ministered in the area but who had to leave when the husband got ill.  To help the natives earn money they developed a demand for the crafts and in this way thousands of Zulu families were blessed. What made the experience special was the curator who was able to tell us about how the pottery was made and about some of the artists who’s works were on display.

The drive to and from Enshowe is on a two lane road that went through some beautiful valleys and across rolling hills. The fields are full of cane, pineapple and in some places citrus trees. The multi-shaded green landscape stretches up into the blue of the sky. Well today it was more gray-blue then blue-blue but that was good because it kept down the temperature. All it all it was a nice 6 hours of getting to know about this amazing country and it’s history.

At one point in the early evening 6 of the elders showed up at our boarding so Elder Wengert could print out the weekly graphs that show how the zone is doing. They were here only for about 15 minutes but having them around even for that short time makes the day a little brighter.

17 January 2010 – Sunday

It was a very busy day until after 2:00 and then very restful. Great weather – overcast, slight dampness in the air, and a pleasant breeze much of the day. It was very cool for summer here – everyone enjoyed a nice Sabbath.

We picked up president Nyawo and brother Nkosi for PEC at Esikhawini. There is still a number of PH leaders who do not make it to PEC and some training needs to be done, but they have only been in for about two months so it will take some time. It was great to have president Thusi with us just a week after his accident.

I interviewed brother Malinga and brother Nkosi about the change in the Elder’s quorum presidency. Hopefully this will help get the home teaching going and some of the less active visited. If I accomplish nothing more than getting home teaching firmly established in Esikhawini I will feel the 15 months here was worthwhile. It is something that has been tried and failed for many years – going back to when they were part of the RB ward.

We then drove to Port Durnford for sacrament. It was good to see Quinton and we talked about how he might help get some of those who are missing back to church. 25 members and no investigators…the missionary work is not going well at all there. I am worried about some of the families who are not coming – in a branch as small as this it does not take too many being gone to make a difference.

After sacrament we went back to Esikhawini where I took care of sustaining and setting apart the new Elders Quorum presidency and then watched three young men be advanced in the priesthood. I am glad I stayed because they forgot to confer the AP before ordaining one young man to be a deacon. I spoke to Elder Wengert about how for us who have been in the church so long and have taken part in so many ordinations it comes easy, for the members in South Africa it is still pretty new as most of them have been in leadership positions for only a couple of years at the most.

Because of the business at Esikhawini we were late getting to Enseleni. However they started a little later than they usually have been so we did not miss much. I had a brief meeting with president Vilane and we will meet again on Tuesday to fill out the quarterly report.

By the time we left Enseleni we had been to three branches and one of them twice. It is great to be able to meet so many members – it is too bad we have such a terrible time remembering all their names – and enjoy their spirit.

We had an appointment with the father-in-law of the man who we rent from. They are going to put not one but two air-conditioning units in the house next Saturday. What a blessing that will be and we can return the portable unit that we bought that does not work properly. Maybe we will survive the winter here after all. Also we can not recommend the boarding to the next couple who comes to RB when we leave.

We enjoyed reading the Mann’s and Mickelsen’s blogs for the week. Each couple has such different experiences and yet all share the excitement and satisfaction of serving our missions. Too bad more couples do not take advantage of serving one or more missions – they do not know what they are missing.