31 March 2010 – Wednesday

I took the car into Nissen today to find out what was making the steering so loosey-goosey. This meant we were without a car for most of the day. Once it was fixed we went to Esikhawini and met with the elders and President Machaka for a short PEC. Elder Lerios talked to us about having FHE for YSA in Port Durnford. I had suggested this a week or so ago and I guess that the elders decided to give it a try to see if they could get some of the inactive YSA back to church.

We then stopped at sister Manamelas to drop off the April VT message so she could get it copied. I need to do the same for HT. We then stopped by the chapel and had a good visit with sisters Khumalo and Mathe who are starting to work in their gardens. They are great women and it is just a shame that their children are not out there helping them.

While we were in Esikhawini I called Bongani and asked him if he had any questions about what we asked him to read. He is the man who we introduced to the gospel last week at the Shandu homestead. He said that he had done what it asks in Moroni 10:3-5 and had received a witness that it was true. He said that he would bring more people to our next meeting on Saturday. We may end up with something like they have in Swaziland with a whole flock of people coming to Esikhawini from 10K away.

The best news of all is that Elder Dimene was released from the hospital this morning. Of course we could not go get him because the car was in getting fixed, but the elders took care of that and got him out. Later in the day he dropped by our boarding and we had a chance to talk. He is to go back to the hospital on next Wednesday. By then they will have the report from the Joburg lab as to just which of the three less dangerous malarias he has and will know how to treat it. He was very excited about being able to go back to work in his area. Most of the elders just want to work, work, work – President Benson would be proud of them.

It has been a good month for us. Starting with a wonderful Couples Conference and ending with an opportunity to introduce the gospel to others. The Lord does bless and watch over his missionaries.