About 5 months ago when I was called as branch president in Potchefstroom, both president Omer and his counselor president – now elder – Mdletshe took me aside and told me that my goal should be to train a local member to replace me with in 6 months. The provided someone in just 5.

Today President Dunn came to Ikageng and called, had sustained, and set apart a new branch presidency. He also kept busy doing lots of interviews that only a member of the mission president can do because we are a mission dependent branch.

The new presidency of the Potchefstroom branch. Myself as 1st counselor, President Kwaikwai and brother Mokate as 2nd counselor. Brother Andries Louw is the new branch clerk.

We took the opportunity to have our picture taken with President and Sister Dunn. This last picture did not come out well at all but it was the best of two where everyone including elder Lohmann in the front and tall elder Perez in the back joined the rest of us for a final group picture.

They say that a picture is worth 1000 words. Well here are some of the pictures I took this week. Of course it does not include the 130 I took at transfers but it covers much of the rest of the week.

On Wednesday after transfers we met the new missionaries that will serve in Potchefstroom for a few months. Elder Loumann is from Germany and elder Perez – on the right – is from St. George. We took him to our office and showed them around the rooms we will use on Sunday. Then we took them to see sister Florence who requested we drop by and introduce them. Unfortunately she will be leaving the branch early in August and we will truly miss her and her ready smile and love. She has been a member for 20 years!

We visited an orphanage and on the way home I spotted this tree that looked to me like a rabbit. It has been completely covered with either ivy or some other vine. It was Mary’s birthday on Thursday so we went out to a nice restaurant for dinner. When they found it was her birthday they gave her a bottle of wine with a sparkler instead of a candle. They also sung and danced for her. I think she would have preferred a nice piece of cake.

Today – Saturday Nomsa – our great cleaning lady – did an extra good job because President and Sister Dunn will be coming to the branch tomorrow. The street scene is a wedding party in progress. Note the tent is all the way across the road and the road itself is blocked off. What is interesting is that last week there was a funeral in about the same location and the road was blocked off for that. Funerals and Weddings are not just a family affair here but the neighbors from blocks around come and get something to eat. Not just after the ceremony or burial but the day before also. Weddings expensive events – especially after the groom has had to pay labola!

So that was part of what was going on in our lives this week! It is great to be a senior couple serving in South Africa!

We went to the first district meeting of this transfer. With transfers comes change and this transfer really changed the Ikageng district. Only 2 of the elders who were here last Friday are still here. Potchefstroom was whitewashed – that means both elder were taken out – when Elders Kelem and Msangi departed for home after serving powerful missions. Elder Perkins was transferred out of Klerksdorp and elder Mdletshe was transferred out of Jouberton. So here is the new Ikageng District in all their glory…

I know it is hard to tell the difference but the one on the left is the serious one while the one on the right is the crazy pose. From left to right in the pictures we have Elders Graham, Larsen – who serve in Klerksdorp, Fidl, Otieno – who serve in Jouberton, Loumann and Perez who serve in Ikageng.

Elder Fidl wanted a picture with the senior couples so he joined us and E/S Dummer. Elder Fidl came out with two other elders from Rwanda – the first missionaries ever to serve from that country. What I found interesting is that he pronounces his country Wanda with a completely silent R. We talked for a little while and he said that in the 19 months he has been on his mission his ward has been divide 3 times. But he is concerned about what he will do for a living when he goes home – it is a problem that a majority of our great African missionaries face. Hopefully the new self-reliance program that two of our good friends are involved in will help solve this problem in the future.

I went through the pictures that I had taken and downloaded on to iPhoto and noticed I missed using some. President and Sister Dunn spoke for just a few minutes each.

These departing missionaries sat on the stand through the meeting. As you can tell some of them seem to already be on their flights home – or at least dreaming about it. Elders Brown and Authur were kind enough to allow me to take their picture.

Another brother Brown with our red-headed friend elder Johnson. And last but not least elders Warton and Kairu get their picture in our blog this transfer meeting. Goodbye to transfers until September…

So here are the rest of the companionships and where they are serving. I am pretty sure I got 95% of them but if I missed your missionary I am truly sorry and hope you can find him in one of the other pictures that I took.

 

Transfer meeting was held in the chapel with Elder Bodily conducting. Each new missionary was invited to come up and quickly introduce themselves and bear a very short testimony. Unfortunately I either missed getting some of them or the picture came out so bad I could not stand to post it. I apologize for those I missed but I may have caught some after the meeting with their new companion. The rest of the pictures have the names of the missionaries, who will be their trainer and where they will serve.

Elder Bodily, one of the APs, conducted the meeting. I found out after the meeting that he would be going home between transfers in just 4 weeks so he can get into school. Elder Kufoalor is from Ghana.

Elder McQueen comes to the mission from New Zealand but most recently Australia. Elder Won is also from New Zealand and related his very mixed ethnic background that should make his genealogy really interesting.

Elder Garnica is from Mexico and proud of it as he told the group that he was a real Mexican! Elder Smith-Holley is  the third New Zealand missionary in this group.

Elder Clegg is one of three elders from Utah – in his case Lehi. Next to him is elder McCartney who is from Scotland.

Elder Reavely is from Utah as is elder Taylor who is from Lindon.  I am sorry that I missed getting elder Etiang from Uganda picture while he was on the stand. The terrible thing is I also missed his companionship picture.

Before the transfer meeting starts the new elders have about 3 hours of training. President Dunn uses this time to interview each of the new elders and then prayerfully considers who should be their trainer and the area they should be born in…that is where they start their mission.

I took some pictures before going in to the training meeting – we were only there for the last hour. After the training, President Dunn had the arriving missionaries play the departing missionaries in quick – 15 – 20 minutes – game of volleyball. In this first ever event, the powerful departing missionaries beat the arriving missionaries. Maybe it is because they have learned to work together as Unity was one of the subjects president Omer taught.

Elders Stomp and Johnson were two of the first elders I caught. They were closely followed by  EldersBrackett, Rako, McClelan, Richards

Elders Mukarti, Haynes, and Nherera – I think elder Nherera followed me around and jumped in when ever I was taking a picture. It is a good thing he is photogenic. Elders Rakotorimanana, and Nherera are to the right of an elder i do not know and could not read his name tag. If anyone knows who it is please let me know. I hate to not tag a missionary in a picture.

I have only known elder Ryan for a few weeks but I have been impressed by his testimony and hard work as he served as a Vaal zone leader with elder Flynn. He is now home in England and we hope to keep in touch. Elder Dummer instructing the new missionaries on finances.

Sisters Hansen and Taylor give instructions on how to take care of their flats. Like washing dishes, defrosting freezers, occasionally cleaning the floors, toilet, etc. This usually gets done at least once a transfer when the senior couple comes around for inspection. However we have been to a couple of flats when we were not expected that looked pretty good. But it is the exception to the rule.

Elder Hansen sits and listens. He has already told them about how to report problems with their flats and how to take care of their phones. He has a really big job because there are 60 plus flats to keep under repair. He and sister Hansen also are responsible for any moving of flats and of course finding new flats when there is a need and then seeing that it is completely stocked. I caught elder Clegg as he was getting ready to take off his coat and go play volleyball.

This the first official transfer day volleyball game between the departing and arriving missionaries. It only last 15-20 minutes but drew a good crowd who were probably mostly cheering for the departing missionaries who they had served with or at least knew.

Tuesday the 22nd was the first transfer day for President and Sister Dunn. It was done differently than when President Omer was presiding. Since President Dunn has a background in visual presentation it was not unexpected that he would use some for transfers. All of the missionaries – the ones that were heading home, the new missionaries, trainers, and those who were just changing companions and areas all gathered in the chapel. It looked to me like well over 1/2 the mission was there.

I took over 130 pictures and I will probably post two more sets of pictures. These first pictures are those that have special meaning to us.

Elders Loveless, Kelem, and Loumann are old friends. Of course elder Kelem served with us inIkageng for 4 1/2 months and it turned out elder Loumann was transferred into our area along with elder Perez so we will see a lot of him. We were also privileged to serve with elders Mdletshe, Harris, Bird and Perkins in the Ikageng area or district.

Elder Johnson is elder Harris’ new companion. Elder Larsen stayed in Klerksdorp but has elder Graham as his new companion. Elder Larsen decided to almost shave his hair so he does not have to get a haircut for the 6 weeks of this transfer.

Elder Dlamini is our good friend elder Perkins new companion and they will serve in the Matupa area. Elder Cummings leaves the Orange Farm area and joins his new companion elder Heki in the Modjadji area.

Elder Smith-Holley is a new elder from New Zealand – we have 3 new missionaries from there – and he will be trained by elder Olson. Elder Olson is the brother of a young lady that one of our missionaries from Fort Lauderdale is dating. Elder Garnica is being trained by elder Loveless. When he introduced himself in the transfer meeting elder Granica said that he was a real Mexican! You could tell he was proud to be able to say that.

Sister Dunn was also taking lots of pictures. I asked her about her blog posts that seemed to have stopped after a great start and she said that she just has not had time to write. I guess being a new mission mom takes a little adjustment time. After transfer meeting we went to lunch with our very good friends E/S Taylor who are now officially in the Botswana mission. They can not live in Botswana in fact they can only visit there for 87 more days unless their visas are finally approved. But we know the Lord wants them to be there so somehow they will get their resident visas.

Elder Ramiliarijona has one of the longest names and yet is one of the shortest elders. He is now companions with elder Lyon who is one the tallest. This last picture is of three elders from Madagascar - Rakotomalala, Rakotorimanana, Ramiaramanana and their friend elder Nherera. I believe elder Ramiaramanana holds the title for the longest name. Imagine fitting all of that on a name tag or for that matter pronouncing it correctly.

This morning we had a hour’s drive to the town of Ennerdale where inspected two boardings or flats. It is always a pleasure to spend some time with elders that we do not know or do not know well. It is also a pleasure to inspect flats that are well kept up as these two were. We check to see if they have all the furnishings and equipment that they are supposed to have, check to see if they have any major problems with the flat, and check to see how well they are keeping things up. Of course they know we are coming so we probably see the flats at their best but a couple of times we have caught a companionship that had not prepared for us. One was a disaster but the other one was amazingly clean for two young men.

Elders Carpenter and Pedersen serve in the Ennerdale area and this is their flat. Elder Carpenter has two guitars and elder Pedersen is into health and exercise. Their flat was in good shape but there are always ways to improve.

This is what the complex looks like – actually that is not true because only a few of the buildings are two stories. Most are single story like the ones the elders live in. Elder Pius and Cummings serve in the Orange Farm area – at least they did until elder Cummings was transferred this week. Their flat was one of the best kept up that we have inspected.

 

This is the entrance to their flat. I was immediately struck by how neat their bookcase was arranged. Most of the time they are just kind of jumbled up – I know ours is. Also they had the cleanest toilet bowl I have ever seen. It almost sparkled.

 

The Daily Sun is the Johannesburg sensationalist newspaper and so their front pages often have headlines like these that the elders used as pinups over their study desks.

Our last pictures with elders Kelem and Msangi before they headed home. In the last picture brother Kwaikwai and sister Reghina joined us.

The structure that you can see between the two trucks is one of many that can be found around the city. I have yet to learn what they are for but I am guessing they are cell phone repeaters. If not some artist sold the city many copies of the same sculpture.

We were introduced by the Hafens and Bartholomews when we started serving in Richard Bay to the tradition of having a last meal with the missionaries in our district just before transfers. We called them Last Suppers. When we got to the Florida Fort Lauderdale mission we had to change them to last lunches because we could not have dinner with the missionaries as it would take them away from prime time missionary work. Now here in Potchefstroom we kept the tradition alive by having a last lunch right after the last district meeting before transfers.

Todays was some what tempered by the fact that the Potch elders were at the temple as both will go home next week and so they got to have one last trip to the Joburg temple. Hopefully they will both be back to be sealed someday.

But there was also good news. Elder and Sister Dummer have been working in the office almost from the day we arrived so they have not been able to come to district meeting. But they are now back in the Klerksdorp/Jouberton area so they were able to come to the meeting and enjoy lunch with us afterwards. Elder Dummer insisted on spliting the cost with me and that was fine.

The shot of the Ikageng district minus elders Kelem and Msangi. Elders Larsen, Perkins, Mdletshe and Otieno. E/S Dummer join the group.

 

We join the elders. We were taking pictures with 5 cameras and  that is why elder Otieno seems to be looking at a different world than the rest of us. The senior couples have a picture together.

Another picture of the group because I just love elder Larsen’s smile. We decided to eat outside because it was actually warmer and nicer then inside and we could all be together.

As we were leaving I saw this sign on the back of a truck and since I have an online friend named Henning I thought I would take a picture and ask him if he had family in South Africa.

For those who do not know anything about a District Meeting: It is a once a week meeting of the district where the companionships discuss their progressing investigator and can ask for help where they are having problems – such as how to answer a difficult question or over come some objection. Then there is a lesson. It is usually on some part of PMG – this week was on how the Book of Mormon can be used to answer questions. The last DM of a transfer usually also has the elders predict who will be transferred and where, who may train, and if there will be any change in District Leader. It is a fun little exercise and some elders are really good with their predictions. Elder Otieno says he is never wrong…it will be interesting to see how he does this time.