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.