13 January 2010 – Wednesday

Since I wanted it to rain today, I took the car to be washed. The morning was quite fair but soon after I got home from the car wash it clouded up and by the time we left it was drizzling. At least the inside is quite nice and clean – the outside of course is clean but water-spotted.

Karen Bartholomew called to see which package we got yesterday. Mary had a good talk with her and found out she is still not well – they still have no idea of what is wrong with her. That has to be very frustrating for someone who is so full of life as sister B. Hopefully they will figure it out so they can come back to Africa on another mission.

At 9:00 we went to the RB chapel to see President Mann and make sure it got opened for his meetings with the elders. He gave me authority to take care of some changes at Esikhawini. We then went up to Enseleni to pick up Khulekani for his doctor’s appointment. He was excited about getting this done so he can send in his papers. While he was getting checked out we did our grocery shopping – it is scary what we spend on food. Especially since we do not eat all that well and often eat lunch out.

Khulekani got done at the doctors just as we were heading back to see how he was doing. We then took him over to the hospital for his blood test. Mary needed one also but she could not get it at the same time because she has to come fasting for 12 hours. Since by then it was just noon, I called president Mann to see if they were going to have lunch somewhere and he suggested we meet at the mall. So we had lunch with Khulekani, President Mann, and Elders Holmes and Crowther. It also allowed President Mann to see Khulekani sans dreadlocks.

After lunch we drove Khulekani back to Enseleni and went to try to visit Thandeka to find out how she was but we did not find anyone home. A neighbor tried to help but then remembered it was clinic day and so she would be there.

Our next stop was Esikhawini where Mary gave sister Ndlovu an English lesson while I went over and visited Wenzile Thusi to see how he was recovering from his accident. I was amazed to find that other than some slight bruises and scrapes on his legs, he was fine. His mother showed me a picture of the car and I was again reminded how blessed he was to just be alive. He goes back to work on Friday – just 6 days after a head on collision with a truck. Before leaving Esikhawini we made a quick stop to see elders Vinson and Dishon about their bike tire problems. I guess we are going to have to try solid tires because their tubes are a mass of repairs.

We drove up to Ngwelezane to help out with youth. While waiting for the whole group to gather we played some Skip-O and some BofM match game. Aftermost of them got there, president Mngadi talked to them about making plans for the future for about 25 minutes. I got to add a very short thought about making sure we live tomorrow a little better than we did today. We finished up with another round of the match game which we had to end quickly because the guard wanted to close up the library so he could go home.  We gave the kids some bananas and said goodbye until next week.

It was a good day and kind of made up for Tuesday being just an ‘errand’ day.

One fun thing that came up was that President Mann kidded Khulekani at lunch about wanting one of his dreadlocks for a souvenir. Later the President called to say that Elder Nare gave him two of Khulekani’s dreadlocks and he was going to use them as book marks in his scriptures! That means the magic Ostrich scriptures now includes real South African dreadlocks.

11 January 2010 – Monday

It was a beautiful P-day and we went to the game park. We did not see a ton of animals but ended up seeing enough to make the trip well worthwhile. It was nice just to be out and around after a couple of weeks of being too sick to care what we did on P-day.

On the way home we took a detour to Esikhawini so we could help president Machaka with a problem. All in all we traveled a little over 300K.

12 January 2010 – Tuesday

It was one of those days when we were very busy almost all day and yet we did not do much missionary work. It started with Mary going to the podiatrist to see if she could get rid of the fungus growing under

While she was doing that I made appointments for Khulekani to see the doctor and dentist for his mission application. Another stop was at the bed store where I bought two bases for the elders up in Empangeni. While I was at the shop, I had a nice long conversation with the two Indian ladies who run it. We talked about Christianity and told each other about our churches. I will go back later with some literature and how to get to the RB chapel. The day pretty much continued that way with us running around getting small things done.

10 January 2010 – Sunday

A very normal Sunday for us with PEC at Esikhawini, sacrament at Port Durnsford, and then up to Enseleni for another sacrament and then Priesthood. The only real difference is that I was the District speaker in both sacrament meetings and there was some District business to conduct. I had done some thinking about the topic – The Lord’s Health Plan – but as usual I pretty much worked off inspiration. I did use Titus 2:11-the end as an opening. Talking about how we were being prepared to be Jesus’ unique or special people and that the Word of Wisdom was part of that preparation. I also spoke about how in the Word of Wisdom the Lord pointed out that there were men who wanted to addict people to tobacco, alcohol, and drugs to make money. I mentioned that the first thing the Dutch did when they landed on the cape was to give tobacco and whisky to the native chiefs so they could make them addicted.

I think the talks went well – I felt especially good about the one in PD and OK about the one in Enseleni. Elders Nare and Tseguna said that they thought the talk in Enseleni was good and direct. I hope they helped someone to keep the Word of Wisdom.

In the evening the elders came over for dinner. They staggered in over almost an hour’s time and it was hard to keep things warm for the late comers. Actually it was hard to keep food at all for the late comers. I should not be surprised but they went through 11 pounds of beef, 6 pounds of mashed potatoes, 4 ½ pounds of corn, lots of toasted rolls, salad, drinks and topped off with a liter of ice cream.

I took pictures of the new elders and had them fill out information sheets about themselves. We are keeping a journal of the elders who served with us in Richards Bay – I wish we had started it when we were in Swaziland.

After seeing the elders off bearing all the left-overs – Elder Wengert put roast beef, gravy, corn and rolls all in the same plastic bag. I guess he decided that they would all get mixed up in his stomach so why not let them start out that way – we cleaned up. Mary puts things away and I wash the piles of pots, pans, bowls, etc.

09 January 2010 – Saturday

Drove to Enseleni and picked up President Vilane and Nonhlahla for a seminary meeting at Richards Bay. Luckily we went early because they changed the time without tell us. We arrived just as they were handing out the supplies and all we had to do was load them up and say goodbye.

We then all went to Engwelezane and President Moloi’s son’s funeral. It was an interesting mix of Zulu and LDS –including a talk in Zulu about the plan of salvation. I knew it was the plan of salvation because the speaker quoted from Moses in English. After the funeral I spoke to President Moloi and he said that when another son died in early 2007, Elder Bartholomew took care of everything including conducting the funeral. Since we did not hear about the death until Friday there was little we could do to help. But President Mngadi did a good job of conducting the services.

After the funeral we took President Vilane home and then took Nonhlahla to the mall. We grabbed a quick lunch at McDonalds and then went to Esikhawini for piano practice. Only two of her students showed up – I do not think she has had all four show up on the same day.

After piano lessons we started home. Along the way we were stuck in traffic for quite a while. There had been a head-on accident. When we went pass they were just starting to tow away the car and truck that had hit. The truck was badly damaged but it was the car that really was crunched and we wondered if the driver had been killed.

***Note – On Sunday morning President Nyawo told us that his counselor, Wenzile Thusi, had been in a serious accident the day before. We then realized that was the accident they had been cleaning up when we were going home. Mary said she had thought the car looked like his but since we see many like it, she did not say anything at the time.

We found out that he had some head and neck injuries and was in ICU at the Richards Bay hospital. The RB elders had gone and given him a blessing. On Monday he was moved to a regular room and when I called today – Tuesday morning – to see if he could have visitors I found that he was already home. I talked to him for a minute and he sounded fine. He hurts a little but there seems to be no major or permanent damage. He is truly blessed to have survived that terrible accident with so few injuries.

07 January 2010 – Thursday

Mary was in 7^th Heaven this morning. She got to take her first long soaking bath since we left Durban for Swaziland. I finally had to mention that if she did not get out I could not take my bath and we would be late for Zone Conference.

At the Zone Conference President Mann spend most of the time just going over all the tools that the missionaries have to work with and then has a couple of exercises that concentrate on certain areas. The graphics that show the growth of the missionary work over the last 2 ½ years are quite impressive. The one that I think is the most important is the one that shows that in July 2007 there were 9 missionaries out from the Stakes and now there are 44. It is projected that there will 60 out in 2010. What a power these missionaries be when they return. In two or three years there will be a pool of Priesthood talent that will make each stake and district hum. We are lucky to be a part of the vibrant feeling of the mission at this time.

The conference started with a video about an actual traffic accident that resulted in the death of a missionary. It was told by 3 people who were there soon after the accident occurred. There was no room for laughter in this video – we all sat quietly and reflected  on what was being described.

We helped Sister Mann with the servicing of the pizza. She has it down to such a system that I think she could do it in her sleep. 48 elders were served and finished eating in less than 25 minutes.

We said goodbye to the Manns and headed off to the Mickelsens. Other than getting a little lost – I missed another turn – we had no problem finding their boarding. I still am amazed at how narrow and the steepness of their driveway. It will make a great sledding hill if it ever snows.

We spent the time talking about when we could take a couple of days off to go on a trip through the midlands together. With the Markums and Johnsons leaving in February, it will probably be just us and the Mickelsens that will be going. We set the dates and we will each look over what is available and make suggestions about what we would like to see and do.

The drive back to Richards Bay was interesting because Mary wanted to do some sightseeing. But we ran into two problems. First we could not find any roads that said they went where we wanted to go. We finally just started going down a very bumpy but pretty well maintained road that seemed to be going the right direction. We had gone a few Ks when I looked at the gas gage and realized we had not filled up since leaving RB on Wednesday and the tank was quite low. Since we had no idea how far it was to the beach I decide we had to turn around and find a station.

When we got back to the R102 the GPS said we had 16K to go to the nearest station. So headed that way and hoped that it did not send us to some strange little pump in the middle of nowhere like it did once before. We never found that one but luckily made it to another one without running out of gas. This time we found a really nice station right on a road that took us back to the N2 and home. I count it as a tender mercy from the Lord that I happened to look at the fuel gage before we were too far from a station.

The trip home from the station was a cinch – Mary would have enjoyed it more if her tooth did not hurt so much. We did stop at the pharmacy so she could get something for her tooth. It turned out that the pharmacy has an on-site clinic where a woman looked at her tooth and told her it was abscessed. She suggested some anti-biotics to help fight the infection. The consultation and two kinds of antibiotics cost a total of R51 – about $6. Mary’s doctor visit on Tuesday was less than about $30. Who says you can not have good heath care for a reasonable price.

When we got to our boarding we were both rather tired. I knew I was tired because I did not immediately unpack my suitcase as I usually do. All I did was get out my computer to make sure it made the trip without any problems.

Mary called Shauna and told her about her tooth and what the woman at the clinic said was wrong. Shauna suggested what the dentist should do to take care of the problem until Mary could get back home and up to Oregon to get it permanently fixed. It is nice to have the Vonage phone so we can call home at no extra cost.

06 January 2010 – Wednesday

We take our time driving down to Durban. We stop at Bolito to do some shopping and have lunch. Unfortunately the grocery store does not have any Dr.Pepper or Bugles. The computer store does not have any 8G memory sticks but they have 4G for 1/3 of what I bought 8G ones just 4 months ago. So I get two 4G sticks for the Elders Kekana and Ketili and save them for R100 less than they expected to pay.

When we call the Mickelsens we find that they are through with their Zone Conference but have PEF business they need to take care of. They suggest the couples get together for dinner instead. We are for that and arrange for them to call us to tell us where and when.

When we arrive at Little Haven the Rawlings are gone. It seems I did not communicate to Grace that we would call if we were not coming. But their helpers are there so they call and are told we can have any room as we are the only guests tonight.

We spend the afternoon relaxing. Sister Mickelsen calls with the information about dinner and luckily I know approximately where it is. I say luckily because the restaurant is not in the GPS. Even with knowing about where it is, I manage to drive pass the exit and must work our way back to the right place.

The Mickelsens, Johnsons, Markums and ourselves are joined by Sister Mann for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. The service is a little slow and the food was OK but none of this mattered because we all had a great time talking about the mission and what we were doing. The Johnsons and the Markums will be leaving in February as soon as they train their replacements. Sister Mann mentions that the boys will be going home a couple of weeks before them. This will make it possible for the mission home to have some re-modeling done before the new mission president arrives. It may seem that there is a lot of talk about leaving but none of us are trunky – it is just something to talk about.

We had our first Zone Development Meeting of the increased zone. It is always a treat to sit in on these meetings and hear the testimonies of the elders about their work. Mary got to give the spiritual thought and I got to be part of a role-playing section. It reminded me of our mission to the MTC many years ago.

One of the many joys of being missionaries is getting to know the members and learning more about them. Sister Queen Seoka is the RS president of Enselini branch and her cute grandson greeted us at the gate. Khulekani was famous for his dreadlocks but since he is about to put in his papers for a mission, he made the sacrifice and had the elders cut them off – all the way off! He is going to be a great missionary.

For future posting…too lazy to do it tonight.

31 December 2009 – Thursday

Both of us are sick and so we basically do nothing but exchange coughing spells all day. Not what I would call a good way to end 2009 or to start 2010. Happy New Year – Bah, Humbug!

30  December 2009 – Wednesday

I am afraid that I am coming down with Mary’s cold – not a good way to start a new year at all. Hopefully a continuing mega-dose of Vitamin C will at least blunt the effects so we can get on with the work.

Since Mary was still not over her hacking, I went out by myself to get some things done. First I got the latest two checks cashed. I was lucky enough to get the same lady who helped me yesterday and it took even less time today. Then I went to the Empangeni DDM. However do to some things that they needed to do, the Esikhawini elders were over 45 minutes late so after having a nice talk with Elders Kitili and Kekana I decided to get on with the other things I wanted to do.

As we were walking out the other four elders arrived and I spent a few minutes saying goodbye to Elder Maremela and talking about the Church in Kenya. Elder Kitili told us that there are 11 missionaries out from his branch alone. Imagine the priesthood power that will be in that branch when the all return and get married.

From the almost DDM I went to President Mngadi’s business but he was not there so I just dropped off the papers I had for him and bought three of the giant fried dough balls that Mary likes so much. She might as well have a nice surprise.

I then drove down to Esikhawini where I went to President Nyawo’s house to give him the quarterly report forms and to see how he was doing with a disciplinary council he needed to hold. I was greatly surprised that he had already taken care of the council. He said he read the section on councils it the handbook of instructions five times and just to make sure he did it right, he took the manual with him. Although he did make a couple of mistakes, he did what needed to be done. He also stressed to the member that the Church needed them and that the Lord still loved them. It is really a blessing to see a PH leader who is a self starter in action. He told me that he felt that the month off from work that the Lord gave him was so he could do the things the branch needed done right now.

As we were finishing up, President Machaka walked up. He had been to the bank and happened to see me drive by. I gave him a ride back to his tuck shop. We talked about his wedding – still no date set. I gave him the branch quarterly report form and picked up his completed tithing report. One down three to go. By the time I got home I was very tired and my throat was hurting more. For the rest of the day I stuffed myself with Vitamin C and tried to get some rest.

In the evening Elders Weaver and Reeder came over so we could say goodbye to elder Weaver and wish him luck in the new year. He goes home in July a couple of weeks after we do. Speaking of that I think we have nailed down our flights home. We will leave on the 8^th of July for London, then on to Chicago where we will hopefully spend the evening and morning with Jim and his family, and then on to SL on the 10^th – arriving about 4:00 p.m. Now we can forget about going home until a couple of weeks before we leave.