Sister Mann posted this on her mission blog. They will be leaving 4 days before the Griesemers gohome and a week before we do. For some reason the same picture taken on the day we arrived does not come up in our arrival post. I guess it was censored so not to scare anyone thinking about coming here. Now it is safe because we are leaving.

 

28 June 2010 – Monday

We were up early so Mary could get her incision re-dressed before we headed off to St Lucia and the hippo boat ride. While she saw the nurse – they have become great friends – I got gas and some supplies to take with us. Although the sky looked threatening and the weather report said there was a good chance of rain the weather ended up being perfect – cool but not really cold.

Before we went for the ride we stopped and took pictures of the pod of rhinos that hang out near the boardwalk down to the beach. They were all in the water so I did not get any really good pictures but I did take a video that captured some of the sounds they make.

The boat ride was made more interesting by the fact that we had FIFA film crew along taking video of the attraction that will become part of a 10-15 minute clip that will be shown during half-time or between games later in the week.

The animals co-operated nicely with a number of crocodiles actually being out of the water. This was surprising to the skipper of the boat who said that since the water was warmer than the air, the crocs would probably not be found on land. We got to see a really big croc and a number of smaller ones. One of them was fully out of the water and just sat there while we happily took pictures from about 6-8 feet away.

The three hippo pods were all in the water of lumped together near the shore of islands. But we did get to see two hippos come out of the water but at a distance. The best part of the ride for me was the birds. We got to see a fish eagles – the main road that passes near our boarding is called Fish Eagle Flight – some Egyptian geese, and the best of all some small kingfishers. The kingfishers can hover almost like humming birds as they stare down into the water until they see something interesting and dive down and nab their prey. I tried to take some video but who knows what it will look like.

After the ride we went back to the boardwalk area and found almost all the hippos out of the water but on the other side of the lagoon. There was a really young hippo – probably less than 3 months old – that was fun to watch and hopefully the pictures will turn out.

After that we had lunch in St Lucia before going on our last game drive there. Although we did not see anything spectacular – none of the leopards that they swear are somewhere in the park – we did see red duiker, common reedbuck (not sure we ever saw these before), waterbuck, bushbuck, kudu, and of course blue wildebeest. So we saw a wider variety of antelope than we normally see. We also saw the normal zebras and warthogs. We did not see a single impala which was rather strange.

We stopped outside the gate and went to the crocodile exhibit where Mary bought a coffee table book on Africa to take home. Then we bid goodbye to lovely St Lucia and drove back to our boarding for the evening.

We had been trying to contact our replacements the Nuzmans by e-mail and I tried to call them on Saturday but without luck. Mary suggested I give it one more try so I called them and luckily caught them at the airport waiting to fly off to visit their daughter. We had a good talk and I answered some of their questions. I suggested they make a list of questions and call us when they had more time to talk. Hopefully we will be able to see them when they are in the MTC and have them over to our home some evening.

I worked on cleaning up the garage and making hard decisions on what to keep for the Nuzmans, what to give to others and what to throw away. When in doubt, I just left things so the Nuzmans can decide if they want it or not.

For some reason the day at the park pretty much wore Mary out so she was not up to doing much before going to bed. I am sure a good nights sleep will restore her to her healthy best.

27 June 2010 – Sunday

We did our usual run to Esikhawini for PEC – the elders never did make it because they were late and then had to walk with some of their investigators. Unfortunately it drizzled and then rain fairly hard so those walking came early or late or when there was a break in the rain.

While we were waiting for sacrament to start, sister Manamela came and said that sister Nyawo needed a blessing so I got elder Musisi to help me. She was having some sharp pains in her chest and I told her that through her faith she would be made well and be able to take the sacrament. As we were finishing president Nyawo joined us…I should have gotten him out of his meeting but for some reason I did not.

Sacrament went well with sister Nzuza – one of those we took for her blessing yesterday – gave a good but a little long talk on becoming Christ like. Since she is blind she did not take anything to the podium with her so everything was from her heart and mind.

After the meeting I ordained Sitimbiso to be an elder. It was good to complete the cycle from when I baptized him about 13 months ago. We have become good friends and I will miss his smiling face and warm hug.

We then went over to Richard Bay where I spent the next two hours working with Calwyn Baldwin on making sure all ordinances were recorded, asking for some records, and getting new lists to make up branch packages for the new couple when they come. I also got a check for some things I put in up to a couple of months ago.

Much of the afternoon was spent relaxing and I managed a short nap. Then it was time to get busy with putting everything together for the new couple so I spent more time than I like writing up procedures, making up branch books, etc. I am sure we will forget something important but it will only because we did not think about it and write it down.

I also spent part of the day working on pictures. I always seem to be playing catch up with them.