Daily Archives: February 7, 2010

A couple of thoughts about Summer in Richards Bay

Heat Notes  â€“

 Each day gets hotter. I do not see how the bike riding elders live in this. On Sunday night Elder Wengert mentioned that although it is hot outside, when they go into a house it is like walking into a furnace. He said that they felt like they needed to be wrung out after each visit. I am thankful that we now have air-conditioning at our boarding.

The Richards Bay boarding has air-con in just one bedroom and that was long ago claimed by the Enseleni elders because the boarding was originally their boarding and the RB elders moved in about 8 months ago. Elder Lemmon said he offered them R200 a month if they would switch but he go no where.

They said that when summer really hits, the breezes stop. So far that is not so but the breezes bring no relief. They are nothing but hot, moist air that actually makes you hotter than you would be without them.

If we park the car in the sun even for 10 minutes, when we come out it is like a furnace. At the branches, parking spots in the shade are like gold. Everyone wants one. Unfortunately at both Esikhawini and Engwelezane there is almost no shade. You can just see the waves of heat coming off the metal. And of course at Port Durnford there is not even a fan.

I look at the 2 feet of snow they got in Washington DC and think how nice it would be to have some of that here.

On Sunday night I was sitting around with the elders talking about how hot it has been. Elder Wengert – who will go home this week to a cool Arizona climate – was telling about his companion Elder Nkosi going from the heat of the day into a house where it was even hotter. He asked the investigator if they could turn off the heater and he was laughingly told that they did not have a heater.



07 February 2010

07 February 2010 – Sunday

One more day without my companion…not fun at all.

I made the usual Sunday morning trip to Esikhawini to pick up President Nyawo and brother Nkosi for PEC. Sne was not going to come to PEC because he needed to be at the RB branch conference but I told him if he came to PEC I would drive him to RB.

President Nyawo still has not quite figured out how to use the PEC meeting but he is trying. I think I am going to ask President  Baldwin to have President Van Thiel do a mock PEC at the next training meeting so the branch presidents can see how it should be done.

I talked to Sne about how he was doing and how Solo and Musa were coming on getting ready for their mission. We had a good visit and it was nice to get to know him better. I just wish we had three or four good returned missionaries such as him in each branch. But that will come in the future.

I decided to stay for the sacrament part of the branch conference and I am glad I did because a couple of the talks – especially President Baldwin were very meaningful to me. Because I am a counselor in the mission presidency I was invited to sit on the stand – I was glad I was wearing my coat.

After the meeting President Baldwin asked me to go back to Esikhawini and get some PEF papers he needed for one of the loans. So I made a quick trip back and got some paperwork but not what he wanted. A call to the Mickelsens got me the information that the loan was not far enough along for the form that he thought he needed. I went back to the RB chapel and told him the situation.

However it turned out that he promised to get me a copy of a Career Workshop certificate that was vital for the loan application to continue being processed so in the long run the Lord’s work got done and the Mickelsens were happy to hear that we would bring the paperwork to Durban on Monday. Hopefully!

I almost slept through afternoon visiting hours at the hospital. It was the first nap I had taken since Mary went into the hospital almost 2 weeks ago. She looked fine, has stopped taking pain pills, and if she was not in a hospital room would be quite happy.

I fixed dinner for the elders. We had planned for it to be simple before we even knew Mary was not going to be here. Yesterday I bought everything we needed for sandwiches, chips, fruit salad, drinks and ice cream. About all the preparation I needed to do was slice tomatoes, separate the lettuce, and cut up the fruit.

The elders started arriving about 7:40 and continued coming over the next hour. Actually Elders Nare and Tsegula did not come at all but I sent food home for them. Since it is Elder Nare’s last Sunday on his mission I would guess that he and his companion got fed all day.

I enlisted Elders Wengert and Nkosi to drop some clean clothes off at the hospital so Mary would have something to come home in tomorrow…he says hopefully. It also gave me a chance to do the clean-up which mainly consisted of throwing away paper products and washing lots of forks and spoons. No pans and only one bowl – it was very nice indeed.

Before going to bed I called Mary and made sure she got the care package. She sounded upbeat and we really think Dr. Kelling will let her out tomorrow.

During the day we got a nice long e-mail from the Bs that suggested that they might come back for a visit sometime in the next few months. I also got a call from Elder Greismer telling about their experience in Engwelezane today. It was all positive and it turned out they had 5 students for their temple prep class instead of 3.

I must say in reading the above, the day sounds busier than it really was.



06 February 2010

06 February 2010 – Saturday

Mary still in the hospital…probably will not get out until Monday at the earliest.

I met the Greismers at the KFC at Empangeni and took them to their B&B. They seemed to like it and thanks to some instruction from Elder Mickelsen I was able to put it in their GPS. I then showed them where the elders lived – it was already in their GPS as the Bs boarding. I also took them to the nearby small store where they can get snacks and things if they want them. We put that in the GPS.

Then it was to Engwelezane where they were supposed to teach three members a temple prep class. There was also going to be a social where I thought they could meet some of the members. It turned out their students did not show up and the social did not start anywhere near on time. However they had a nice meeting with the elders and found out some of their concerns and how they might help. After that they went back to their room and took a nap.

The Elders cleaned out the font for a baptism tomorrow.  It was very hot and the only thing that saved them was that they had a hose to keep them wet. Later it turned out that the child who was going to be baptized was 9 instead of 8 so she will need to be given the lessons and the baptism was put off until the 28th.

I met with President Nyawo about some things. He told me that he was glad that I had warned him a couple of weeks ago that he needed to know each of his YSA because the area is going to focus on them in the coming year. I did not know at the time that the training on Sunday would include the branch presidents going through the lists of their YSA and telling about them. Also because I was visiting Mary, I had not been at the training so it was all news to me. I am just glad he was prepared and I hope that President Vilane was also – I had kind of talked to President Mngadi about this but can not remember if I really stressed the importance.

After I visited Mary from 3-4 I met the Greismers at the mall and we had dinner at Maxis. They told me about their day and we talked some about their work with Employment. They are a great couple and Elder Greismer and I have a great time giving each other a hard time. I found out that they are in their middle 70’s and they were home 5 years between their African missions. I think they will be a real help to the Engwelezane branch.



05 February 2010

05 February 2010- Friday

Mary does not get released from the hospital so she wanted me to bring her real clothes so she can at least dress like a human and not a model for hospital gowns.

I had one of those spiritual experiences today that just kind of sneaks up on you. Elder and Sister Greismer needed a B&B for Saturday night and it made sense to find one near Engwelezane. I tried on line but did not see anything that looked interesting but remembered there was one on the road to the Empangeni elder’s boarding and that would be convenient for the Greismers if they needed help.

It turned out that the Anchor B&B did not look well kept up – there was green stuff growing in their pool – but I had passed a sign for another B&B along the road and decided to give it a try. It turned out that that B&B was located somewhere out of sight on a dirt road that did not look too friendly so I decided not to even give it a look. But once again there was a sign for another couple of B&Bs – I guess there are lots of them in Empangeni. The Panorama B&B was well kept, the pool was blue and the rooms were very nice. This was all shown to me by a very nice young man who looked familiar. When he called his mother to tell me the prices it turned out that they were members of the Richards Bay branch and I had actually seen the young man only a couple of days before as he was playing basketball at the chapel.

So the Lord led me to a nice B&B where the people know about missionaries, is just a few blocks from the elders and has easy access to the road to Engwelezane.  

04 February 2010

04 February 2010 – Thursday

I must say that I did not really do much today. We expected Mary to be released from the hospital but it was not to be. She was crying when she called to tell me that she had woke with a small fever and the doctor had ordered some tests and a anti-biotic drip. I guess she was very upset when she was told this and was not all that nice to the doctor. At least this is what I got from my conversation with him later in the day. She said that she did not think she was like that but Mary does not realize how cutting she can sound when she is angry.

Since she was not released and needed me to comfort her at 3:00, once again I had to cancel Youth at Port Durnford. I really do not like to do that but until Mary is at least at home it seems the thing to do.

In the morning I was on Facebook and  came across my cousin Melissa Fernald Hoyt. We had a nice chat and I got caught up to date on what is going on in her life. I do not think I would have known her is I had ran into her some place but she is very happy being retired with her husband in Banning. She says Loren and Lea are still doing fine – they must be in their early 80’s or so.

While I was visiting Mary during the afternoon hour, Elder Wengert and elder Nkosi came to visit and Mary asked them for a blessing. She decided that since this is a new problem, she could ask for one.

To end a less than perfect day I broke a piece off one of my front teeth. It had been lose for  a number of months and I should have gone to the dentist but didn’t. Looks strange but does not hurt – more work for Shauna when we get home.