04 April 2010 – Sunday

Out of the house before 7 to go to Esikhawini’s PEC, then to Port Durnford for Testimony meeting, and then to Richards Bay to watch last night’s Priesthood session of Conference. Although many members were away, there was still a good attendance at the branches – Enseleni had about 65 and led the district. When I asked Elder Dimene how it went without President Vilane there, he said everything went well.

We spent the afternoon getting things ready for feeding the elders while listening to the Saturday afternoon session on the computer. Some of the elders arrived in time to join us at 6:00 to watch the Sunday morning session and the rest came later. I must confess that I will need to watch the session again because often my attention was elsewhere.

Elder Zondi really liked the potato salad. He had never had it before but once he tasted it, he came back for seconds and then took some home. It is interesting to watch some of the elders try foods that are new to them. I have to mention that elder Lieros carefully pointed out to me that he put catsup on his ham sandwich. I do not think he eats any meat without catsup and he pretty much drowns fries in it. Reminds me of how the Indonesians put hot sauce on everything. At least elder Lerios does not put catsup on brownies.

It was a good Easter Sunday for us. We got to hear the simple but strong testimonies of the Port Durnford saints and were fed by the spirit of the conference talks. Then we got to share dinner with a fine group of 12 elders who are trying their best to bring others unto Christ. This is our 4^th Easter in a row away from home but I know we are where we should be.

03 April 2010 – Saturday

We met the Zone Leaders at Esikhawini and drove out to meet with the Shandu group. Bongani brought one new friend who did not say much. Fortunate had written down lots of questions that we answered. The hour quickly went by and there were times when the spirit was definitely in the room. Fortunate, Goodman and Bongani each committed to come to church tomorrow. The new man did not. I must remember to ask Bongani who he was.

The elders had another appointment so they could not go to lunch with us at KFC so we dropped them off at their car and went without them. KFC was very crowded. As with last week the longest line was for ice cream cones but today it was out the door.

After lunch we went back to the Esikhawini chapel so Mary could have her piano lessons. Sazi, Musa and Sthembiso came for their lessons and we have pretty much given up on the other two. I tried to repair a garden hose but had bought the wrong size connectors. I will give it another try on Tuesday.

We then came back to our boarding so we could watch the Saturday morning session of conference on the computer. It took me a while to get things working but once I did it was like watching it on TV – a small one of course – at home in Utah.

Although all of the talks were good, I especially enjoyed Sister Beck’s and Brother Anderson. There were a couple of quotes in Sister Beck’s talk that I want to print out and suggest to the RS presidents in the branches that they give copies to each sister. One was from Eliza Snow and one was from President Kimball. Brother Anderson talked about the Church in Haiti and how it responded to the earthquake. The Haitian mission president it 30 years old – talk about youth in leadership positions.

We stayed up to watch the start of the afternoon session to hear the statistics. The Church did not hit 14 million this year but it will next year. Convert baptisms are down to around 280,000 but new children of record are up to almost 120,000 so it grew by 400,000 less deaths last year. I wonder how many deaths there are in a year? I know there are many actives as well as less actives who die but are left on the rolls for years before they are removed. Unfortunately the convert baptisms are not doubling as President Hinckley suggested they should – they have actually gone down about 50,000 a year since he made that challenge.

01 April 2010 – Thursday

No fooling around for us today! We did not hear any April Fools jokes yesterday and I did not play any. I can remember last year when I wrote an e-mail to all our mailing list saying that we were extending for an extra 5 months. Our good friends the Christensens in Hong Kong fell for it. Anyway this year I think we were just too busy to have time to think about a good idea.

We went to Zone Development Meeting where Elders Lerios and Nkosi did an excellent job of teaching about finding. When we got to the RB chapel we found an electrician working on getting the audio system repaired from the damage done when it was broken into a couple of weeks ago. They wanted it to be done so they could show conference on Sunday.

We found out that one of the branches did not get the word that there would be no transportation to RB on Sunday and that they needed to hold a regular Fast and Testimony meeting. When I heard this from the elders I put in a call to the branch president to let him know this. I am pretty sure I had told him this earlier but perhaps I just thought I did. With 4-5 branches to watch over sometimes things just get lost.

We had lunch at McDonalds before driving to Port Durnford for English, Youth and piano lessons. But before we did this we stopped in Esikhawini to see if Musa had the copy of his police clearance so we could fax it to Joburg. I forgot to write that yesterday we got a call from the mission office saying that they could not send Musa and Khulekani’s mission papers in because they needed a copy of their police clearance and the receipt for the application would not do. So we called the two young men and found that both of them now had them so all they needed to do was get a copy certified and get it to us. I am afraid that Khulekani is going to die from anticipation before he gets his call.

We took the paved road out to Port Durnford to see if they had filled in any more of the potholes. They had not but it is no worse than the sand road. However there are a lot more cars and people to contend with so we will probably go back to using the alternate route in the future.

As we were approaching the turn-in to the chapel I saw that a young lady who was standing nearby had a pile of groceries sitting next to her and no one seemed to be coming to help her get them home. So I made a U-turn and asked if we could help get them home. She was happy to do this so we loaded up the car and ended up driving her to Bernard Mhlongo’s  homestead where she borrowed a wheelbarrow to take her supplies the rest of the way home.

We were very surprised to see Bernard working at clearing his yard. Just 10 days ago he was taken to the hospital with what we were told was a heart attack. Obviously it was not a bad one or he has a very strong constitution.

Half of those who usually come to English class were away so Mary taught just sisters Nzama and Chirwa. Because we knew a number of the youth were also gone and we had a 5:45 appointment with the Richards Bay elders, we decided that Mary would have her music lesson with Lungani and I would play games with the Youth that came.

It worked out well. Besides Fufu and Thobani we had a number of young people who are staying at the Mlondos for the school vacation. I decided to play Book of Mormon matching with the hope that they would learn some of the people in the BofM and what they did. I think everyone had fun and I know all of them liked the bananas we passed out at the end.

We stopped at the Mthalanes on the way home and picked up Musa’s police clearance. I was surprised to find President Nyawo there. It turned out that he had gotten an e-mail telling him about the problem with the clearance so he had dropped in to see if he could take care of it. He is an excellent branch president.

We had just enough time between appointments to rush home and grab a very quick dinner before meeting the elders at the Engen station and them following them to where we were to teach Morris and his family. Unfortunately Morris had to work late and although we said we would be available all night, the elders never called. I suggested to the elders that they make the next appointment later in the evening when Morris would be more likely to be home and we would be happy to go with them and teach about the temple.

So it was a busy day. Not as busy as we would have liked but a good start to another month.

31 March 2010 – Wednesday

I took the car into Nissen today to find out what was making the steering so loosey-goosey. This meant we were without a car for most of the day. Once it was fixed we went to Esikhawini and met with the elders and President Machaka for a short PEC. Elder Lerios talked to us about having FHE for YSA in Port Durnford. I had suggested this a week or so ago and I guess that the elders decided to give it a try to see if they could get some of the inactive YSA back to church.

We then stopped at sister Manamelas to drop off the April VT message so she could get it copied. I need to do the same for HT. We then stopped by the chapel and had a good visit with sisters Khumalo and Mathe who are starting to work in their gardens. They are great women and it is just a shame that their children are not out there helping them.

While we were in Esikhawini I called Bongani and asked him if he had any questions about what we asked him to read. He is the man who we introduced to the gospel last week at the Shandu homestead. He said that he had done what it asks in Moroni 10:3-5 and had received a witness that it was true. He said that he would bring more people to our next meeting on Saturday. We may end up with something like they have in Swaziland with a whole flock of people coming to Esikhawini from 10K away.

The best news of all is that Elder Dimene was released from the hospital this morning. Of course we could not go get him because the car was in getting fixed, but the elders took care of that and got him out. Later in the day he dropped by our boarding and we had a chance to talk. He is to go back to the hospital on next Wednesday. By then they will have the report from the Joburg lab as to just which of the three less dangerous malarias he has and will know how to treat it. He was very excited about being able to go back to work in his area. Most of the elders just want to work, work, work – President Benson would be proud of them.

It has been a good month for us. Starting with a wonderful Couples Conference and ending with an opportunity to introduce the gospel to others. The Lord does bless and watch over his missionaries.

29 March 2010 – Monday

Elder Dimene being in the hospital made a radical change to our plans for the day. We were going to go to Durban so we would be there for Zone Conference tomorrow. But instead we spent the day relaxing, checking up on Elder Dimene, going to lunch at the mall and finally going to see ‘Blind Side.’  The movie was very well done and when we got home I looked up the real story on the web and found that the film was pretty close to sticking to the facts. Sandra Bullock deserved her Oscar but the whole cast was very good.

Elder Dimene was still having headaches and they found that he did have the less dangerous form of malaria – that is while it should not kill him, he still will probably have attacks every 6 or 7 months for the rest of his life.

We finished the leopard puzzle – you know a puzzle is hard when you only have 20 pieces or so to go in a 1500 piece puzzle and it takes you an hour or more to get them all in.

28 March 2010 – Sunday

With the change in the wedding plans, our Sunday plans changed. We did go to Esikhawini for PEC and then sacrament as planned. We only go to Esikhawini’s sacrament meeting about every 5 or 6 weeks so it is always a treat to get to see our friends there. Since school is out, the youth that are away at boarding school were there. I was so happy to hear from Lisa Mathe that she passed her accounting exam.

Mary played the piano and since Yaya Mathe was not there, Musa got up from the sacrament table and led the singing. He is going to be an excellent missionary because he is always looking at what is happening and quickly rises to help where he thinks he is needed.

The speakers today were all sisters and they gave good talks. Each was different and one seemed to be mainly a condensed version of a conference talk but each of them used the scriptures and bore beautiful testimonies.

One of the exciting things about the meeting was Fortunate Shandu came all the way from his homestead as he said he would. Goodman unfortunately did not come with him but I think Fortunate is the more spiritual of the two. I just hope he felt the spirit while he was there. 

As we were about to leave I noticed that the blind sister was sitting by herself in the front while the rest of the people had turned their chairs around and moved to the back for class. I introduced myself and led her to the new front row so she could hear the teacher better. She is a lovely woman but does not come often because she is completely dependant on others for getting to church. I need to talk to President Nyawo about arranging someone to pick her up each week. I also need to check to see if she is getting the Liahona on tape or CD.

We stopped by home to get some things and then went to Enseleni. Even though there was no rain, there were less than 20 members in the room when the meeting started. I am proud of President Vilane’s determination to start as soon as there is enough priesthood for sacrament. By the time sacrament was passed, there was about 35 in the audience and by the time the meeting was over there was well over 50. There were not as many primary children as usual. Perhaps since school is out they have gone with their families to their homesteads.

When Priesthood started I noticed that Elder Dimene was not with his companion.  I found him in their car having another malaria attack. I immediately got Mary out of RS and loaded the her and the elders into our car for a trip to the hospital. Mary remembered that all the equipment and supplies that the elders bring each week needed to be taken care of once the meetings were over. So we gave the keys to the elder’s car to President Vilane and told him to please gather everything up and lock it in the car. I suggested that he take the car home so that we could pick it up later.

To make what turned out to be a long story short, they ended up admitting elder Dimene to the hospital. I now know Maggie, the admission clerk, by her first name and I signed a number of documents as elder Dimene’s guardian and guaranteed the cost of his treatment. I called the Manns and told them of the problem and Sister Mann sent a new fax so the bills will go to the mission.

There was a number of things we had to do to get elder Zondi , the car and elder Dimene’s effects all together but thanks to the Zone leaders – they had to come by our flat three times – and the Richard Bay elders it all worked out. It did make for an interesting afternoon but at least it happened during the day and not during the early morning hours.

27 March 2010 – Saturday

This was another special day for us because we got to take the elders out to the Shandu’s homestead and help teach them and Bongani the gospel. Bongani is the man who has called us almost everyday since last Saturday to make sure he could meet with us to hear more about the gospel.

We met elders Lerios and Nkosi at the Esikhawini chapel and drove them out to the homestead. We had called earlier and asked if someone could stand out at the turn off the sand road that we needed to take to get to their boarding. I thought I knew where it was but did not want to get lost.  I guess I was not clear about where they should meet us because we came across Fortunate Shandu walking out to the main road to guide us. Since it was a very hot day I apologized for his extra walking. It turned out I knew right where to turn but his effort was greatly appreciated.

The lesson went well and the elders and us answered many questions. I think perhaps we answered too many and did not teach as much as we should. But I got a definite commitment from Fortunate and Goodman to come to church tomorrow. Bongani said he had a funeral to go to so he could not come. Even that was encouraging because so often people commit just to be polite while they know they have no intention of actually doing it.

After our meeting we took the elders to KFC in Esikhawini for lunch. They insisted that it was not inconvenient for them at all. By the time we drove them back to the chapel to get their car it was time for Mary to start her piano lessons. Only Sazi and Musa showed up so they got long lessons. Sazi is doing very well and is really trying to be able to play for sacrament before we go home.

By the time Mary got through with her piano lessons she was very tired. The heat in the chapel just drained her. Even having a fan blowing right on her did not help much. However she perked up for our dinner appointment with the Griesmers and we enjoyed a nice meal and light conversation with this delightful couple. Their weekly visit to Engwelezane and getting together with us makes us feel less isolated.

We then had a quiet evening at home with some of the time working on the latest puzzle. There was one disappointment for today. I called President Machaka to tell him that although we would not be at their meetings tomorrow we would come out to get them and take them to be married. When I called he said that there had to be a change in plans and that they could not get married until he goes back to Zimbabwe and get a new passport. I guess we will just hang on to the wedding rings until they finally get married. When I called sister Hafen to tell her about the latest news, she was very disappointed.

26 March 2010 – Friday

We started and ended our day’s activities at the hospital. In the morning we went to have Mary’s incision looked at. While she was doing that I went to mall to look for packing boxes – we decided we should start packing up some things and send them home now so we do not have to worry about it later. They should arrive about the time we do. I did not find any good boxes at the grocery store, but Is stopped at Ken Trade and was able to get everything I needed there –including a huge roll of bubble wrap that I think would wrap up the whole outside of the house if we wanted to ship it home.

When Mary came out of the hospital she was happy to tell me that she didn’t need to come back again. We then ran a lot of errands that needed to be done before coming home for lunch.

As we were packing up to go to Enseleni to have English lessons and to help with the Youth activity, we got a call from sister Mann saying that Elder Dimene was having a bout of malaria and was going to the hospital. She asked us to just make sure he was OK and we said we would keep tabs on him.

It turned out that he was so sick that he could not drive so president Vilane drove him to the hospital. This meant that there would be no English class so we dropped off the apples and what was needed for dunking for apples and headed back to the hospital.

They were having trouble getting Elder Dimene registered. Sister Mann had sent a guarantee by fax but they still had not let him into the emergency room. I got the lady to agree to let him go in for treatment while we finished up the admittance paperwork. I signed a dozen places as his parent/guardian and guarantor before he was official.

I spent the next two plus hours sitting with him while they got his temperature down, gave him a shot for the pain he was having in his chest, and re-hydrated him. The first blood tests did not show any malaria so they took an x-ray and told him to come back tomorrow. By the time we got him out his temperature was down and he looked good.

Along the way the Richards Bay elders were a great help. They got the car back to the boarding, president Vilane back to Enseleni, gathered up Elder Zondi, helped with the branch activity in Enseleni, and then came back and got Elder Dimene and took him back to their boarding.

The doctor was very disturbed that Elder Dimene had first got the symptoms on Wednesday and did not come in until he could not function any more. This is not unusual at all. Most elders will not stop serving as long as they can walk and talk.

While lying on his hospital bed running a temperature of 103F or better, Elder Dimene asked me if once they got him feeling better, could he go back to their area tonight. I told him that was not an option. Later when we were getting ready to leave the hospital he asked could they go back to their area tomorrow. That is the kind of dedication that the young missionaries are always showing.

During the day we found out that the Machaka wedding was put off until Sunday. That of course meant we had to re-think what we would do on Sunday. We decided we would go to Esikhawini for sacrament and then go out and get the happy couple at Port Durnford, take them to RB to be married by President Baldwin and then take them home again.

So while our day did not go as planned, the Lord did keep us busy.

25 March 2010 – Thursday

It was a very, very, hot day today. I think it was the hottest and most humid day this year. But perhaps it felt hotter than other days because there were almost no breezes all day. Usually at Port Durnford if you are in the shade there is a cooling breeze that makes things bearable but that did not happen today.

We had a nice busy day which started with us driving to Esikhawini and picking up President Machaka to take him wedding ring shopping for his wedding on Saturday. We brought him back to the RB mall and after looking at a number of shops we found some nice bands within the price range we were looking for. They had to be re-sized so we will comeback tomorrow to get them. Since by the time we were finished it was time for lunch we all went to Maxi’s. Not only did we get to have a nice lunch but we also got to know President Machaka and about his family a little better.

After lunch it was back to Esikhawini. We left president Machaka at the Esikhawini mall and since we had some time before we needed to be in Port Durnford, we visited the Zibanis to see how they were doing. Percy still has not found a job and part of the reason is that he feels he knows what he should be doing and just has not found it yet. They are such a powerful young couple that it would be a great advantage to the branch if he could find a good job.

We then headed out to Port Durnford for English class, Seminary/Youth, and piano lessons. As I mentioned above it was very, very hot so we had Youth on chairs in the shade of a large tree. It made it at least livable if not comfortable. Unfortunately a couple of the youth did not show up but the rest seemed to enjoy the class. After Youth, Mary gave Lungani  a piano lesson. It is too bad that he started so late because I think with enough time and if he would practice he would do well.

Fall is rapidly moving across the land. The cane fields are starting to turn so soon the skies will be filled with the smoke of burning cane and the roads will be clogged with filled cane trucks heading to the mills. The sun disappears before 6:00 so it is often dark when we get home. We have been here in Richards Bay for almost a year so we have been through all their seasons which are much like Southern California but with lots more humidity.

24 March 2010 – Wednesday

We had breakfast with the two Wilson couples and the Knudsens. We realized that this would be probably be the last time we got to see the Ladysmith Wilsons as they head home very early in May. I am sure we will see them on one of our trips to Southern Utah but we will miss them until then.

We decided that we would take a small – 150K – detour on the way home and so we drove to PMB and then towards Greytown. I have to say that for the most part it was like driving through lots of other areas in South Africa with tree farms and cane fields running down each side of the road. However there were a couple of surprises along the way. We saw our first commercial corn fields stretching over the countryside. We also came across a Khulekani Primary School that we were sure was not named for Khulekani in Enseleni but made a good picture to show him.

Although the drive was worth doing once, I was very happy to swing back on the N-3 and head for home on a lovely multi-lane toll road. I was also very happy to finally pull into our garage and get out of the car after too many hours of driving.