Elder Reeves presenting elder Musisi with the first ever Empangeni District ‘Goof Ball.’

12 May 2010 – Wednesday

The days seem to be flying by. We are trying not to think about our mission here in South Africa ending in a couple of months but there is so much to do before we leave it seems to always be at the back of our mind.

Today we went to Elder Reese’s fist DDM as a district leader and his enthusiasm was just bubbling. His goal is to make a difference which is a good one. He started a ‘goof ball’ tradition – in Swazi there was a Zone Bone – that is given each week to the elder or sister who made the funniest mistake during the week. The first elder to get the ball was elder Musisi. When asked why they had knocked on the gate he responded with a new door approach ‘we have come to eat your food.’ Of course he was making a joke but the lady said OK and prepared them some food. Too bad he did not say ‘we have come to baptize you.’

They set the district goal as improving the number of 2 mite days they have as a district each week. They should already be keeping track of 2 mite days for their letter to the president. But it seems some have not been too good about writing and this will focus their attention on the idea of giving their all each day.

After the DDM we found that president Vilane came home from the hospital this morning so instead of visiting him there, we bought some fruit juices for him and after lunch at KFC went to see him. He seemed to be a little stronger and was able to talk some. If we understood him correctly his wife said they took 600 ml of liquid from his stomach. He also has stopped being constipated which should also help. We will keep in close contact with him to see how he is doing.

We went from Enseleni to Esikhawini so Mary could give an English lesson. While she was doing that I went to see President Machaka about how things were going with him getting to Zimbabwe and getting his passport renewed. He said he needed someone to watch his shop while he was gone and I suggested he contact Musa and Solo and see if they could fill in.

After the lesson we had to go shopping for some of the things we will need for feeding the missionaries on Sunday. I hit gold by finding 7 boxes of Mary’s favorite brownie mix at Pick N Pay while she shopped at Spars. When I got back to Spars she was outside the store looking in the parking lot for me and I must have walked right by her when I went into the store to look for her. It took us a while to find each other but we finally made connections – luckily she was wearing a very distinctive Indonesian patterned skirt.

Unfortunately they delivered the wrong motor for our garage door opener so it will be another weekend without it…hopefully it will come before we go home!  

In the evening we called the Coxes and set a date for our trip to the midlands. We have been meaning to do this for almost a year but just could never fit it in to our schedule. Hopefully this time it will actually happen.

 Some people are very good about getting their pictures captioned, edited and on their blogs right after they take them. I keep telling myself that I should do this but seldom do. So here is catching up some of the May pictures that I have taken.

Look Ma – no gate. Stolen in broad daylight with us inside the house not 25 feet away. They must be very good at lifting gates. The new gate with the new feature that I suggested to make it harder to remove. Of course nothing will stop a truly determined thief. I think I have posted this sign from the mall before, but it always makes me wonder how much a threat the workmen at the mall really are.

I did not take many pictures at Reptile City. Riannan was a great host for a personal tour. He has over 100 crocodiles of all ages to go with birds, snakes, spiders and fish. Oh and of course some farm animals including this gorgeous rooster that I present for Sister Mickelsen’s collection.

As we walked through the mall on the day before Mother’s Day we came across a number of booths where they were offering free face painting along with a number of craft projects that children could make for their mother’s. As I saw the mixture of children, I thought how wonderful it will be when all of South Africa will be as color free as these children are.

The children in the townships do not often have money for fancy toys but they have a very fertile imagination and the ablility to make their own toys. We thought this one was one of the best push toys we have seen. The young man said he made it all himself. Hope that he is able to use that talent when he grows up.

Khulekani and the precious envelope.  You have been called to serve in the South Africa, Johanesburg Mission. We will fly out of Durban on the same day but at different times.

Solo Mthalane with his call. The tense waiting as he opens it with his family looking on.  You have been called to the Florida …lots of shouting her…Tallahassee Mission. He will be at the Provo MTC, just minutes from our home, in September.

11 May 2010 – Tuesday

For the most part it was a great day for the Richards Bay District and for us. In the morning we went to the opening Zone Development Meeting of this cycle. We finally got to meet Elder Bentley who has been on his mission for 3 months and came to us from Sanger. He is serving with Elder Musisi in Esikhawini.  Elder Lieros and Elder Sichinga Sr. (his brother is also on his mission here) – did a good job of going over President Mann’s concerns – mainly about finding and retention and set zone goals for this cycle. They also decided it was time to go to a game park – we have a number of new elders from the states who have not seen any parks yet.

After the ZDM we went down to pick up the Nativity sets we ordered 4 months ago – they had called and said they were finally in – and of course they were not ready. However I did buy some soapstone cheetahs that I had not seen before and are very well done.

After lunch at home and a short nap – I am still not 100% – we went to Enselini to delivery Khulekani’s mission call and then for Mary’s piano lesson. The elders and Thokazani joined us for the great event. He is going to the Joburg mission and leaving for the MTC on the same day we are flying home. It was wonderful to share this experience with him. He is going to be a great missionary and leader in the kingdom.

Mary was bunked on her piano lesson. With so little time left for teaching Mbali, it is a shame that this happened. We used some of the time to go see Mama Zulu and tell her that the B’s are not coming to visit. I am not sure that she fully understood what we said – it is a problem we have with many of the Gogos who’s English was not learned in school – often because they did not get to go to school.

After a short stop at home to pick up some things, we headed for Esikhawini and the Mthalane house where we delivered Solo’s mission call. His mother was still on her way home from writing exams, so we sat and talked until she got home. We made guesses of where he might go and we kidded him about going to Salt Lake. We decided that he would be going to Kenya.

When he started reading the call out loud he got as far as Florida – and the house went crazy. No one could believe that he was going State side. Very few missionaries from South Africa are sent to the states.  He is going to the Florida, Tallahassee mission and leaves in September for the Provo MTC. What a great call for this special young elder. His brother Sne was working but we called and he listened in while his brother opened his call. Later there was a call to the US to tell his sister who lives in Southern Utah about the great news.

When we got home I got a call from the elders saying that President Vilane was back in the Engwelezane hospital and we said we would go see him tomorrow after DDM. I called the Bartholomews to tell them Khulekani and Solo’s call and they were excited for them. They had been trying to call President Vilane and had found out he was in the hospital. Sister B gave me some instructions about what she thought needed to be done. She sounded quite sad that they could not be here to help.

Next I called the Hafens and told them about the calls. We talked for a while about some of the members and how they were doing. Those two fine couples basically were the fathers and mothers of the branches and so they consider them as their children. It is hard for them to see them struggling.

So there were some worries today but over-all it was a marvelous missionary day. Not too many senior couples get to be present when one mission call is received. We have been blessed to be at four in just the last three weeks.