Yeah! We went to the hospital this morning and Mary came out with her pump. No longer does she have to look like she is carrying two purses when we out and around. To say she is happy does not cover her feelings. While she was getting her pump removed, I went shopping for things we need later today. I had just pulled up to the hospital again when she called to say she was ready to go.
We then went to Richards Bay DDM and we had a good experience with some role playing as investigators. After DDM we came home to get some lunch and to pack up everything we would need for an afternoon of classes at Port Durnford.
First there was English class at the Nzamas with gogos Nzama, Chirwa and Mlondo – they were all very happy to see ‘their teacher.’ After English Class we went to the chapel where we had seminary, played some BoM Bingo, and fed them ham sandwiches. After Youth Mary taught piano to Lungani who I think will turn out to be her best student after Sazi.
By the time they were done it was about 5:30 and we did not get home until well after 6:00. So we had about the first full days work since Mary woke up with pain some 6 weeks ago. What I found interesting was that Mary was not really tired but I was.
It was a lovely, warm day in Richards Bay and we took advantage of it to go out and make visits in Enseleni. I called Khulekani to find out if he was available to go out with us and visit some of the members and he was happy to do so.
Since he was able to get a copy of his receipt for his police clearance, the first thing we did was to review Khulekani’s mission application. Mary went through it carefully to find out what was still needed and where it needed to be signed.
We found out that he needed more passport pictures so he had to change from his everyday clothes to a white shirt and tie. He also needed to have a lot of his papers duplicated and certified so we decided to this first. One nice thing about South Africa is that you can go to the police station and have almost anything certified for free.
After the police station we went to the have some lunch at McDonalds before going to the mall for pictures. While he was getting his picture taken I did some other errands like getting airtime and some cash so I could then go to the hospital and pay a bill.
Having got all the errands done we went back to Enseleni where we visited Mama Zulu and Thandi  Mkhwanazi. When we got to the Mkhwanazi home, we found her mother sitting on a mat in the shade at the side of the house. So we joined her – I forgot to get a picture – there and had a nice meeting with her and Thandi. Thandi’s mother has not joined the church mainly because she does not know English well enough to participate. This is of course the problem for all but the youngest generations of black African women. Many of them never went to school or only went for a few years so they never learned English very well.
Thandi has been trying to get into Zululand University but has had some problems because they want up front fees that they just do not have. Sister B talked to me about this last week and I promised to follow up. So we made arrangement to go with Thandi to the university and to see if I can convince them to let her in to their program and pay the fees after she gets her PEF loan.
Our last stop in Enseleni was at President Vilanes where, after have a short visit with the president, we dropped off Khulekani so he could have his mission interview. Next week he can be interviewed by President Mann and then he can turn in his papers. We are hoping that he goes before we leave so we can be at his farewell. He is going to be a great missionary and I would love to be able to see him in 20 years. Who knows maybe I can.
As we were driving out of Enseleni school was just letting out. When we came around a corner the whole world seemed to be alive with students in their colorful school uniforms. They not only covered the sides of the road but the road itself so we had to carefully crawl through them so they could part long enough for us to get through. Mary took a couple of pictures but they just could capture the scene as it was before us.
We drove back to our boarding where I dropped off Mary and went took the car to the car wash. I was lucky because there were no other cars being washed so instead of taking the usual 45 minutes to an hour, I was out in 30 minutes.
In the evening I went over to the Richards Bay Chapel where I met with Calwyn Baldwin to work on the audit. While I finished up 3 of the branch reports – I left the hardest ones for next time – he made lots of copies of branch lists for me. Because Calwyn has everything so well organized, doing the audit is not hard but it is time consuming. However I can understand need for a closer look at the way the Lord’s money is handled but I am glad I will not be here for the next one.
Back at our boarding we watched an episode of Numb3ers and Mary started another puzzle. While she was doing that I looked at Facebook and was surprised to get a chat message from brother Hafen. He said that a woman they know told her that her parents who are in the MTC and was called to go to the Joburg mission was called out of class and asked to change to the Durban mission. If this is true, then they will be here next week. My guess is that since the re-alignment of the two missions the area asked for the re-assignment. I plan to call President Mann tomorrow morning to find out if he has heard anything about it. It would be great if it is true because there might then be enough couples that one could be sent here to Richards Bay.
We had a good day. Mary held up well but was happy to be able to spend the evening relaxing. Hopefully this will just keep improving so we can finish our last months of our mission doing what we can to build up the Kingdom here.
We had planned to go to St Lucia and take the hippo boat ride but I just was not in the mood so instead we finished the puzzle and then headed out to do some errands and some exploring. We went to Meer en See where we took some of my clothes to the cleaners and got money from the ATM. A quick stop at the Rhino Club to see how we could get into the bird watching area was nonproductive because the young man who was there was new and did not even know where the gate was. So we crossed that off our agenda for the day. We then went to our post office box where we managed to find 4 bills and a couple of drawings from Olivia and Charlotte to add to our fridge.
We then drove out to see where the road through Mzingazi went. We followed the paved road until it became dirt and then continued through a thick forest until we came out onto another paved road that was not on the map or in the GPS. It was strange to emerge from the jungle to this paved road that was really in better shape than the regular one that ran past Richards Bay Minerals huge plant.
We followed the road for just a few Ks until it dead ended at a large turn-around that over looked what appeared to be an old slurry pool and in the distance the ocean. After taking a couple of pictures we headed back the way we came and then went to see where the road went the other way. We found it ended very soon at looked like RBM’s dump for old liquid tanks and other equipment.
All in all it was an interesting experience and we wondered why there was such a good asphalt road that basically went from a dump site to a cul-de-sac. Especially since the only way to get to is seemed to be on a dirt road through the coastal jungle. Maybe at one time there was a working mining operation and it was used to move the slurry to a railroad spur that then went to the main plant is the only thing I could come up with.
We drove back through the jungle to the main road to Meer en See and then onto the mall where we had lunch, paid some of the bills we picked up earlier, and did some shopping. Mary needed to go to the pharmacy for her monthly re-fill of her prescriptions before we returned to our boarding.
The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, reading, and for me catching up on the blog. Pictures are much more time consuming than they should be but once they are on the blog I feel good.
Although we were away from the house for 4 hours or so, Mary was not overly tired when we got home and that is a good sign. It means we will soon be able to go out and spend a full day of service – the first time in almost 2 months.
 Just a couple of days after we arrived in South Africa at the end of February 2009 we were driven by the Johnsons up to Swaziland where we were to serve for a couple of months and where a Couples Conference was to be held just the day after we got there. It was a wonderful way to start our mission because we got to know the other couples that were serving in the mission and enjoy their great spirit.
On March 2nd -4th we attended our last Couples conference of this mission. The majority of the couples present were there in February 2009. The Uffens, Markums, Hafens, Sessions, Klinglers, and Bartholomews have gone home since then and only the Knudsens and Coxes coming in. With six couples going home in the next four months and three known to be coming couples are likely to be at a premium in the South African, Durban Mission
The conference was held in the very nice Pumula Beach Hotel and included all meals with much too much food available. The room we had was a little small but perfectly adequate for the two of us – especially since we did not spend a lot of time in it.
The weather was gray and overcast each day but that meant it was cool and comfortable. As I looked out at the ocean (and took 30 photos) the line after line of breaking waves made me think of growing up in the LA area and the summers spent at the beach while in high school. The last picture on the right shows the morning runners including President Mann and Elder Knudsen going over the point of the small bay. Elder Harmsworth, who is working in the office and ran 3000 and 5000 meter events in school, smoked the rest of them.
We really did spend much of our time reporting about our mission and talking about how we could produce a short DVD that could be used as a recruiting tool for couples to come to South Africa, Durban on a mission. However President Mann had to show off his Lesotho blanket, hat and stick and become Chief Mann. The Wilson sisters found the air-conditioning a little chilly so they shared a sweater to keep warm. When we sang Sister Johnson at the keyboard and Sister Swazi-Wilson as director tried to keep us on key and on the beat. Sometimes they even succeeded.
The Johnsons, on the left, came out on a proselyting mission but when the Sessions who were serving as the office couple went home they agreed to take over the office while still watching over their ward. Then when the couple to replace them was delayed not once but twice, they kept extending so they could train the new couple before they go home. They are true heros and we were sadly happy to say goodbye to them for the last time. The Ladysmith-Wilsons are on the left of the center picture and the Swazi-Wilsons un-huddled from their shared coat long enough to take some pictures of President Mann in his Chief’s costume. After that they quickly covered up again. The couple in the right hand picture is the Griesmers. During the week they serve in Durban as Mission Employment Specialists and on the week-end they come up here to Richards Bay to work with the Engwelezane branch. We certainly enjoy having lunch with them on Saturdays. I think that Elder Griesmer is one of the few people I have met that is crazier than I am.
The Coxes and us in front of our identical blue mission Nissen Tiidas. They have very quickly got involved with CES in the stake and are going to be a great strength to the seminary and institute teachers they are working with. I had to take a picture of the Tidy sign… We had not seen one like that before.
When we went to Durban before going to the Couples Conference we went over to the Griesmers to have FHE with them, the Coxes and the Mickelsens. After watching an hour of BYU TV on studying from Isaiah there was some good food and then a high-stake poker game to see who had to pay for dinner.
I am of course kidding but Elder Griesmer did show us a card trick that is pretty amazing and the picture shows Mary and Elder Mickelsen practicing it. One of the blessings of being on a mission is sharing experiences with other couples who are about the only ones who really understand what you are talking about.
These are some of the last pictures we have of Elder Wengert who ended his mission here – the elders say that he died in Richards Bay but sister Mann does not care for that term. Maybe we should just say he passed here? He said that the first thing he was going to do when he got home was to eat some of his grandmothers real Mexican food. However until then he seemed to enjoy our taco nights.
Mary waiting to go in to have her first operation – she did manage to smile. A couple of weeks later she could get up and walk around so we went and visited the ICU ward where she spent over a week recovering. This is just one of the many nice nurses that she got to know during her long stay. She really hopes she has said goodbye to all of them for the last time.
When we finally got her out the first time, she went right back to work. First there was Zone Conference in Durban where we got to greet the arrival of our friends the Coxes who are now serving as the CES couple for the mission. Mary and Bob Cox pretty much grew up together in the Lennox Ward. The elder in the picture is Elder Weaver who is from Texas and who we really grew to love because he is really crazy…especially when you mention anything about Texas. Elder Mann had to show off his new hat from Lesotho.
Mama Zulu in Enseleni had to have her picture taken with one of her big pumpkins. I think it weighed more than she does. Mary with the two sisters we took to Durban to get their recommends signed. They are from Engwelezane and have been members just over a year. The last picture is our good friend Sister Mickelsen helping a student apply for a PEF loan. The Mickelsens get up to see us about once a month and we really enjoy their company.
Elder Reeves and Elder Kitili were first in line for food – Elder Reeves was a runner before his mission and can put away more food than anyone we have had here since Elder Maremela. Elders Moremong, Dishon, and Mutraiswa filling their plates. Elder Mutraiswa does not seem to smile for pictures but loves to laugh and smile any other time. It is great to have the elders come over for dinner a couple of times a month.
07 March 2010 – Sunday
The missionary white handbook says that the missionaries are to be out of bed by 6:30 – for the third day in a row I was up and taking a shower by a little after 5:30. I think couples are on a slightly different schedule than the young missionaries.
We decided that I would go to Esikhawini and Port Durnford and then she would join me for Enseleni. It was a good plan and pretty much worked out but there were some additional blessings.
The Esikhawini PEC was short a number of members but they did get a number of things done. Elder Larios and Knosi are good about getting the missionaries there on time – something that has not been true since Elder Mbithi left the zone. They also came with prepared missionary correlation reports so the President Nyawo knows what is going on in the branch. He had gone out with the elders to meet the new converts in their home and I suggested they are given a good home teacher right away.
I then went to Port Durnford for sacrament meeting and was surprised to find that none of the Chirwa family was there. 20 minutes after the meeting was supposed to start Sandy and Thobani came and I found out that one of their older brothers had been put in jail because some product was missing at work. Although still recovering from having the flu sister Chirwa was going up to see him.
As I was taking the sacrament, I felt the need to go and see sister Chirwa and I found her walking from her house to the road to catch transportation. I decided I would drive her to Empangeni so we could talk, she would get there without walking a long ways, and she would save money.
She is sure he is innocent and she found no cosmetics in his room. Hopefully he will be released soon. He had been giving the family a good portion of his pay each month and it has been what has kept them in electricity and other necessities.
After dropping her off I thought about the need to call President Mann, President Baldwin, and President Nyawo. The first two I called just to inform them of the problem and the last to see if he had any advice on how we might help the Chirwas get him out of jail.
I picked up Mary and we went to Enseleni for their services. President Vilane was not able to start the meeting until almost 10 after because there was not enough PH there to pass sacrament. Once it got started it was an excellent meeting with lots of people bearing testimonies. You realize how many YSA women in the branch when six or seven in a row share their testimonies.
Before the meeting I asked Khulekani if he had his police clearance yet and he said no. This was very disappointing because that is all that he needed to send in his papers or so we thought. After sacrament was over I went out and made a number of calls to let leaders know about the problem in Port Durnford. One call was to President Mann and after telling him about the arrest, I happened to mention the problem with Khulekani’s clearance. He informed me that as long as he had the receipt showing he applied for one he could send in his papers. I had never heard that before and when I told Khulekani we both rejoiced. He will get the receipt tomorrow, get interviewed by President Vilane and then on the 18th he can be interviewed by President Mann.
During PH, President Vilane took my advice and separated the Aaronic Priesthood from the older group. I went with the AP and we had a wonderful class with everyone getting to take a part. It is much better than when they are all together and most of the Youth do not participate much.
Along the way I got a call from Calwyn Baldwin asking if we could postpone the audit that we were going to have at 3:00 until Wednesday evening. I was happy to do this because we were going to have the elders over for dinner and this would give me a chance to help Mary get prepared. Also I thought I might get in a nap. I did not get the nap – the afternoon just slid by – but I did my part in preparing the house and the food for the missionaries.
10 of them arrived before 7:45 which is very unusual. It turned out that some of them came fasting so they were eager to end their fast and eat. We had ham sandwiches, baked beans, and a huge fruit salad. I am not sure all the African elders were thrilled by the selection but I think they got their fill. Dessert was big moist brownies and custard. Elder Tsegula and Elder Dimene came a little late but quickly caught up.
This particular group of elders seems to really enjoy each other’s company. All zones that we have had do to some extent but these come in laughing, laugh while they are eating, laugh when they are through and are still laughing as they left.
After cleaning up and washing the dishes, we collapsed. A good day in Richards Bay for the most part – hopefully the Chirwa young man will be able to soon re-join his family.
I finally remembered to take a picture of Mary and her newest companion – her pump. I do not imagine that most women are going to want to have a hernia operation just so they can get one of these beauties. We are always happy to take people to have their patriarchal blessing. Some day I will remember to take a picture of Partriach and Sister Jaba who are very warm and kind people.
While waiting for the Patriarch to give the blessings we went to the Pottery Shop outside of Ballito that Sister Mann found. They have lots of things to see besides the pottery they sell. We thought the striped cat on the shelf with the zebra patterned pottery was a nice touch. The big pig did not even open it’s eyes when we walked around it and took pictures. Wish I could nap like that. The cat and the artist share the same water cup – hopefully the artist does not drink from it.
The shop includes a playground for children and has a gorgeous view of the ocean. It had a better view before they started building homes down at the sea shore. We bought a bowl and vase decorated with a guinea fowl feather pattern.
06 March 2010 – Saturday
We were up by 5:30 and got ready so we could take three members of the Esikhawini branch to get their patriarchal blessings. We picked up sister Tanya Mathe and then the Mavundlas and headed off to Ballito. The weather was perfect and the landscape along the way is gorgeous. There are Kilometer and K of green cane fields between K after K of tree plantations. Here and there are homesteads, sometimes with three generations of buildings – round mud and wattle huts, round concrete homes, and then the new ranch-style house – all on the same lot, side-by-side.
As usual we got there early but Patriarch Jaba is always ready. We dropped off the three members and continued on to Ballito where we did some shopping – I had to get a new charger for my cell-phone because I left mine down at Pumula Beach. We also found they had real, made in the USA Bugles. Now if they just got in some A&W diet root beer I would be in heaven.
After shopping we went out to the Pottery Gallery that is just off the M-4 and spent a couple of hours looking at the animals, buying a couple of pieces of pottery decorated with Guinea fowl feathers designs, and having a piece of freshly made carrot cake. We then found a quiet place to just sit and read until we got a call that the Patriarch was done. On the trip back to Esikhawini, everyone got good naps except me…I must say that I was jealous.
We then went to the chapel where Mary gave three piano lessons. She did not seem to get tired so maybe she is almost fully recovered. When we were finished we hurried home so we could unload the groceries we bought in Ballito before going to dinner with the Griesmers.
We had a wonderful dinner and visit with them at the Thai Wok down in the Tuzi-Gazi waterfront. Elder Griesmer loved the sweet and sour stirfry with prawns that the Mickelsen’s discovered the last time we ate there with them. The Griesmers had a good afternoon of visiting members in Engwelezne. It gives them a chance to meet with the people in their homes which is a special part of being missionaries. They are actually called to be the Employment Resource couple for the mission which is what we did in Indonesia.
After bidding goodbye to them we went back to the Richards Bay chapel to make copies of the Home Teaching message for the branches. We found Colwyn Baldwin there putting in some of the cabling for the new computers that recently arrived. We are hoping that no one breaks in and steals them as they have done in other chapels in the mission.
When we got home there was a fax from the Esikhawini elders for a baptismal service they will have tomorrow. Two members of a large family is being baptized and hopefully the rest will join them in the near future.
We got a call from the Bartholomews and we talked about everything that is going on in the branches. They may be living in Utah but their hearts are actually here in Richards Bay. Sister B said that she felt that all they needed was to come home for a couple of months between missions and then head out again. Her children are capable of taking care of themselves and each other while their parents are needed in the mission field. I wish more couples would understand this and not use the needs of the family as the reason for not going on many missions. With 30 to 50 High Priests in a ward and 200 to 300 in the Stake, who needs another one…but how much they are needed to guide and train the twigs and branches in so much of the world. BTW Mary is hinting at another mission more often – so I do not think it is any longer if we are going out again but when and then where.
So it was another busy but wonderful day serving together here in South Africa.
I was up early because I needed to take the car in for it’s 60,000K service. I even managed to get the trash out to the curb before I left. The trip to Engwelezane went quickly but then I had to wait over an hour to get a ride back to our boarding. I could have asked some of the elders to pick me up and take me home, but I do not like to ask them to get up that early.
However we did ask the Enseleni Elders – Tsugula and Dimene – to take Mary to the hospital to get her pump cleaned out. They arrived about 20 minutes early and insisted on using that time to sweep out our very dirty garage. At the couples conference we talked about how couples help elders but no one pointed out how the elders are always ready and willing to help us when we need them.
After making the garage beautiful, they took Mary to her appointment. Later when I called to see how they were doing, they said they were using the time to do contacting at the mall. They ended up with 20 new contacts – I think the Lord blessed them for their service and their efforts.
While Mary was gone, I did some house cleaning. We had not cleaned under and behind the bed since we got here so I should not have been surprised at the amount of dust that had gathered during those months but I was. The daily breeze off the ocean seems to push dirt through any small crack and this house has more than its share of them.
It turned out that Mary had to keep her pump for at least another week. But at least now she knows how to turn off the beeper that comes on when there is a problem so if it goes off during a meeting she can silence it and fix the problem after the meeting.
In the afternoon we got a ride back to the dealer and picked up our car. On the way home we did most of our shopping for feeding the elders on Sunday. We are going to keep it simple so Mary does not have to do a lot of cooking. By the next time we feed them, hopefully she will be back to normal.
In the evening we got a call from the Hafens asking about some of the members. It seems that once you get the people of the Richards Bay area in your blood you never forget them.
We had a wonderful Couple’s Conference at Pumula Beach – the last time this group of couples will all be together. We shared experiences, testimonies and love. President Mann recorded the couples talking about their experiences and is going to put together a short recruitment DVD in hopes of encouraging other couples to come to South Africa on a mission.  There really is no way to share the feeling that is there when a group of couples gather together.
Perhaps it is all summed up in the simple statement by one of the sisters – “It is all true.†All I can add to that is ‘Amen.’
We drove the Vans back to the mission home, picked up the mail and headed home. Along the way we made a short stop at Ballito for a late lunch. Once home we unpacked the car and settled in the evening. However we got a call from a member from Enseleni who was at the Engwelezane hospital and had no way to get home. So we went and picked her up and took her to her boarding. We would have not thought anything about it during the day, but at night there are parts of the drive that is rather interesting. But since we knew where we were going we did not really worry but we were careful.
