We love to go to Port Durnford because it is so peaceful – except for the taxis zooming along the road – and there is just so much to see and love. Small woodlots produce income about every 7 years. This one belongs to the Nzama homestead. We grow to understand piles of debris, stacks of cement blocks, and unfinished buildings as just part of rural Africa. The blocks and unfinished buildings are hopes for a better future. The debris is the result of a successful remodel. But of course what is really important is the people – especially the children. No matter how humble the circumstances the children seem to always be clean and know they are loved by everyone. Everyone are truly brothers and sisters no matter what family they belong to.

Looking across the Mlondo garden at the neighbor’s laundry. Laundry is hung anywhere. We recently went by a fence covered with laundry and it was not near any house. It is almost like someone came out of the trees and hung it there to dry. Thandi Nzama is learning to teach Youth so when we are gone she can continue to teach Seminary and keep the Youth together. Blessing is the young man in the orange T-shirt who told us with a smile on his face about being in jail for 3 months to keep him from testifying in a criminal case. Sister Mlondo heads a household of more people than I can count. She works in the gardens to provide fresh vegetable for the family. It is the gogo – grandmothers – who hold much of Africa together.

We are truly blessed to know and serve here in South Africa in an area where in 30 minutes we can go from a modern mall to a rural community. It reminds me that it is people and family that really make happiness.

20 May 2010 – Thursday

The Bartholomews got to Durban yesterday and stayed at Little Haven. I called them to see if they could take president Vilane to a doctor that president Baldwin suggested but it turned out it would not work for them. Instead the made an appointment for him with Dr. Watson for tomorrow morning.

Martin, the garage door opener man, came by with his crew to finally replace the opener. He had a funeral to attend so he left his crew working and said he would come back later. When they were done we locked things up and got some goodies for the RB DDM. It seems like something is always coming up that keeps us from going to their meeting. Today is was that we had to quickly eat and then get back to our boarding so Martin could finish up with the garage door.

It turned out after they got it all in that it did not work properly. He was really mad because they had wasted about half the day and then had to take it all out. He promised he would have it back in tomorrow.

By the time they had taken everything out we were late getting away for Port Durnford. However thing pretty much worked out and Mary was still able to give her whole lesson before we had to leave for Youth. While she was teaching I got to thinking about the things that have made our mission so special. I considered the small, everyday things that have just become part of who we are. I wrote some of my thoughts down in my notebook and I am going to try to write something each day until we leave.

As we were driving from the Nzama’s to the chapel, we picked up Thobani on his way home from school. When we got to the Chirwa’s road, we were surprised to see Blessing standing there. He had disappeared from our lives months ago and we were told he had moved. It turned out that he was in jail. Not because he had done anything but so he could not testify in a rape case he knew something about.

What is amazing is that he is not bitter about this experience. He is the same old blessing with a smile always on his face. He is not a member but always came to Youth and church when he was here before.

Other than Lindani who does not get out of school until Youth is over and Lugani, all the youth were there and of course we now had Blessing. Thandi had a lesson, we worked on the theme, played some games and then I did a lesson/game about the Book of Mormon. They are really good young men and women and I just hope that Thandi can hold it all together until another couple come to help.

While we were driving to Esikhawini we got a call from the Bs saying they were in Richards Bay and we arranged to have dinner with them after Youth. It was interesting because they were using their US phone which means they would be charged for roaming when they were really only calling less than10 miles.

We had a really nice dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant . When they arrived, they were greeted by our server long lost friends. They said the same thing happened at McDonalds when they stopped for lunch. We talked about a lot of things that had happened since they had left and some ideas they had about helping the Youth in the area. It really was like old times and made me realize how much we miss not having another couple here to get together with from time to time and just talk about our experiences and sharing ideas.

All over Esikhawini and Port Durnford there are huge bushes covered in daisy like yellow flowers. These along the PD road are about 9 feet high and stretch for 40 – 50 meters. There always seems to be some tree or bushes flowering in South Africa.

Most of the time we find geckos climbing the walls inside the house, but I noticed this little critter on the outside of the sliding glass door. I put my hand next to it to give an idea of just how small it was. Notice the pretty pink belly. Now if I could train them to eat the ants…

Misc pictures from the month. The nice green bunch of bananas the Mickelsens gave us on Monday. They make an interesting table sculpture. The Blackburns were with us last Thursday and joined us at Port Durnford for Youth where they joined in teaching the gospel. Last Saturday morning I caught this picture of the trees and clouds at sunrise at Little Haven. It was a lovely, cool morning in Durban.

19 May 2010 – Wednesday

From one of the old mission blog posts:

Elder Andersen:
Ordination gives authority. Righteousness gives power.
To increase spirituality in a stake, teach the principle of tithing. Tithing for members is like mission rules for full-time missionaries. If they are obedient, they will have the Spirit.

For some reason this just hit home this morning, especially the first one. However the one about tithing is also so true. Many of the members here do not really understand the blessings that come with paying a full and honest tithe. When they are taught and understand the principle they start paying and then the Lord blesses them.

Out early so we could buy and deliver a food order to Enseleni. While there we took care of a request that president Baldwin called us about earlier and also stopped in to see president Vilane. President Vilane did not look good at all and the hospital at Engwelezane is really not helping at all. I am afraid he is dying.

We went to DDM where they reported their week of 2-mite days. The average was about 2.75 out of 7 which gives them lots of room to improve. As they do, the Lord will bless them and miracles will happen.

After DDM we had some lunch and then found that we would not be able to teach English this afternoon because our student would not be in town.

Instead we ran some errands – including helping the elders try to get a couple of bikes out of – and ended up spending an hour talking to our old landlady (I could not come up with a better term for ‘old’ – sorry Bessie) about birding in the area. She is a wonderful lady and just bubbles with enthusiasm for gardening, birding, and just about everything else she does.

We then came back home, where I finalized what I was going to train on this evening at District Council meeting.  I decided on talking about how the Aaronic PH committee is supposed to work in the district. It is an area that is clearly under the district president and that is not really working as outlined in the handbook of instruction right now.

The meeting was quite good. I think my training helped and president Baldwin made plans to instruct the branch presidencies when they come for training in June. All of the members of the council are good men and just need more training and experience.  We talked about finances, reviewed calendar items, and new branch clerks for a couple of the branches.

So the day did not go quite like we had earlier planned but some good work got done.