Branch Social at :Port Durnford

It would not be a social with out a braai – Siya, Quinton, elder Maremela, and president Machaka did the cooking – mainly the president. Chicken and worst – standard fare.

After the movie I went into the chapel and found these two young men singing into the fan. The blast of air made their voices sound strange. I have a video that captures the sound and the smiles on their faces. Two man – young men – basket ball without goals and a very small court. Elder Wengert, Ayando Madondo, and Zehile’s little sister.

Mary sat in a chair in the shade and gathered up children, talked to Bungumusa and elder Wengert – among others – and had her hair styled by Ayanda and Zinhle.

Fufu picked up a couple of guys – that girl is a guy magnet and lots of fun. I could not pass up a picture of this young man and his yellow hat. Every time he sees me he says the only thing that I think he knows in English ‘How are you?’ It is now a standing joke between me and the children.

07 November 2009 – Saturday

We received an e-mail from Bob and Denise Cox saying that they were coming to our mission as CES missionaries. I called President Mann to tell him we had friends coming and he said he had just got their paperwork. He was glad to have a couple coming but wished they were coming as an office couple. A hour or so later the President called to say that he just got an e-mail saying that an office couple was called and will be here in January – about the same time that the Coxes will be here. So part of the pressure is off but it would certainly be great if he now heard that a couple was coming to replace the Bartholomews.

Since we are having dinner for the missionaries tomorrow, we did a ton of shopping this morning. We always cook what we think is too much food so they do not go away hungry. We know we were successful when there are any left-overs of any kind. Of course they are always more than happy to take any food home with them – meat is especially welcomed.

We went to Eskhiwini so Mary could give piano lessons and I could help sister Khumalo with her computer skills. It is interesting to work with someone who has little if any experience with computers get started. I have to think about what I do without out thinking and then explain it to her so she can understand it. This time she took notes so that she would be able to get into programs without any problems. While I was doing this Mary gave two piano lessons – both of the students seem to be practicing and progressing.

After the lessons we went to Port Durnford for a branch party. I must say that President Machaka and the elders did all the work. We just provided some advance cash for the food and then showed up to enjoy the company and the food.

While we were there a couple of the young sisters had fun working on Mary’s hair. They tried a small corn row but decided it was not for her. There were a number of non-LDS there and Bungumuse – our young artist friend – asked if we would pick him up tomorrow for church. As mentioned Thursday, Zenhile and her sister was allowed to come to the activity and seemed to have a good time. For once I remembered to take pictures.

By the time we got home the sun was setting. I spent much of the night editing pictures and ended up posting them on the blog. I still need to go back and add text but at least they are there for people to see. Hopefully Cindy will get to see them.

06 October 2009 – Friday

Read on Facebook this morning that Mike and Cindy’s house was burglarized and among other things both of their computers were stolen. Also the burglars trashed the house. We are hoping that there was some back up for all the pictures that Cindy took so much time scanning in this summer. We read this too late to call this morning but will tonight and learn more.  As this is the second burglary in the last couple of months of people we know, I am thinking that we may need to put an alarm system in our house when we get home.

It was a morning of paperwork. Mary made the baptismal program for Engwalezane and a recommend for the Youth Convention. I typed up a letter to the branch presidents explaining all the things I am giving them, telling them who will speak in their branches this Sunday, and announcements for Sunday. It is a good thing we are living in the middle of huge pulp tree farms, because a number of trees are going to be used up this morning.

Our first stop for the day was the Richards Bay Chapel where we made lots of copies of the different things that we needed to give to the branch presidents. We then went home to use our paper cutter and to assemble packages for each branch.

For the next few hours we visited presidents Malinga, Machaka, and Mngadi and went through all the forms, lists, letters, etc. Then after a break for a late lunch we headed to Enselini where I did the same with his package of goodies. Mary then gave him his English lesson.

We finished with that just in time to start welcoming the Youth for their activity. I remembered to bring hymn books so everyone got to sing. After a short lesson we played games. Since we did not come prepared with games we had to make them up as we went along. First we played Musical Chairs, then hot and cold, and finally ‘Fruit Salad.’ Everyone seemed to have fun – actually the youth were continually going in and out during the games which made Musical Chairs difficult.

When Youth was over a group of them, President Vilane, the missionaries and ourselves went over to the home of a woman who was investigating the church when she died. It seems she had set a number of baptismal dates but was never baptized. At the home we sang some songs, I gave an opening prayer, and there was a brief talk by elder Tsegula in English that was translated into Zulu. I was very pleased that so many of the young people – about 30% of those who came to Youth – gave of their time to show their respect for the dead non-member sister.

Elder Tsegula talked to me a little about funeral customs in his country and it seems that the men spend the night before the funeral at the family’s home singing until dawn when the women come and sing until the burial. It would be interesting to write a book about the funeral customs in the different areas of the world.

We spent a quiet night at home. We called Cindy about the break-in and was sad to hear that she had lost most of her jewelry including her wedding ring. But they did not lose any pictures because the thieves did not steal the Mac hard-drives. That was a tender mercy among all the chaos. We later chatted with Fae Dahl who is serving in the Dominican Republic and found out that one of our friends – Ron Haller – was dying of cancer. That is sad news and I just realized that his mother died of the same disease some 40 plus years ago. We also got the news that another couple we have known for many years have received their mission call to South Africa. Fae thought they were coming to Durban but was not sure. She sent us their e-mail address and I wrote to find out if they were coming here and if so when.

Close to a 2 mite day.

05 November 2009 – Thursday

I like to take part of the morning to read articles from the Church News site. Today there was an excellent article on the reaction of the members in Japan to the announcement of a new temple for Sapporo. It was touching to read the stories of these faithful Saints who have been praying for a temple on their island. A number of them said that they prayed for a temple while trying to attend the temple in Tokyo more often.

Another article from the archives had the “directions for singing” were included in the preface to John Wesley’s 1761 hymnal. I loved 3 and 4.

III. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find a blessing.

IV. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. . . .

I like the part about singing as a cross to bear and the promise of a blessing.

In the morning we went to a good DDM at Richards Bay – the elders focused on how to set baptismal dates. When we were done there it was time for lunch and then we had to hurry to Port Durnford for English class and then Youth. We have a new member of our English class – Sister Mlondo. Unfortunately Tembe did not show up as he said he would – I am not sure he will ever be baptized.

Youth was short but good. Almost all the youth came to the meeting. It was so hot in the building that I suggested we hold it outside. I do not think that is a good idea so in the future I think we will come early and open up the building before English so it might cool down by the time for Youth.

We shared Bishop Burton’s comments on learning the 13^th Article of Faith and then worked a little on their talks. Next week we will break it into smaller groups so we can work on individual talks. I also promised them lots of time for games. I gave them a short talk about some of the concerns we had for them and all the youth in the district as they are faced with so many worldly things each day. We left them talking to Thandi Nzama about Seminary – she wants to teach it but no one wants to stay after Church.

We had a quick trip back to our boarding so there was time to heat up some of the left-overs before I went to District Meeting. President Baldwin runs a good meeting and we got a lot done. After our meeting the District YM and YW met with most of the council to discuss the YM and YW convention on the 28^th. While that was going on I went with Calwyn and got the tithing sheets for all the branches, corrected some records and got new branch lists for the presidents. I also got the interview list for the branch presidents so the can know who they should be interviewing each month. Hopefully this will help them get closer to their members.

After the meeting I drove Sne Mthalane to the bus stop so he could get a ride home. I would have driven him all the way to his house but he did not want me to go to the trouble. Because of his job at the mall, he is use to using the bus to get home at night.

I am thrilled about the fact that the District YM and YW leadership is doing all the planning and assignments for the Convention without any help from us. We continue to remind them that we will be happy to help in any way we can, but they – along with Brother Mark Deploy of the District Council – want to do it themselves. It is a big step for them and hopefully it will be a great event so the next time they can have it over two days instead of one. The Hafens and Bartholomews should be proud of how well they trained the youth leaders to a point where they are capable of planning and carrying out a major event on their own.

While we were at the Nzamas for English Zinhle Khanyile came to pick up her sister and surprised us by saying she will be at church on Sunday. She is the young lady whose family stopped her from coming to Youth and Church just after the Roadshows. They felt she was drawing away from the family church. Hopefully this means they have softened their views and perhaps we can even get her back to coming to Youth.

As I was writing about Zinhle I remembered at DDM yesterday when Elder Kekana was using the section on Christ Like Attributes as part of his talk, I re-read about patience and how the lack of this attribute show a lack of faith that the Lord really is in control of His plan. At the time I was reminded about how upset I got when none of the branch Presidents showed up for the training meeting. But as I think about the same attribute this morning (Friday) I relate it to how sad and upset I felt when Zinhle had to stop coming to our meetings. But the Lord knew her and worked on the hearts of her parents.

It was close to being another 2 mite day.

Our major gift purchases from our trip to St. Lucia. I continue to buy guinea fowls – they seem to have replaced the raccoon as my favorite animal. I do not think they have raccoons here. We finished another 1500 piece puzzle of the big five – this one we may break down and bring home.

04 November 2009 – Wednesday

Beautiful day with enough cloud cover to keep the temperature moderate but enough clear blue sky to frame the wonderful landscapes of the area.

After a productive morning of scripture reading and pondering we headed off to DDM at Empangeni. It was an excellent meeting with lots of sharing of ideas and experiences. Before the 4 Esikhawini elders came, Elder Babeeyo talked about how he was mugged just two weeks after getting to Durban. He lost just about everything including his brand new Quad and his shoes. But it did not slow him down and now he can talk about it and smile. Later Elder Wengert complained that he has never been mugged or even threatened so he will not have a good story to tell his children and grandchildren.

I brought up my concern about there being a number of young men who will soon be missionary age but are not inclined to go on a mission. I suggested that the missionaries might take them with them as they teach good investigators and also spend some time telling them about how going on a mission has changed their lives. I am going to try to figure out other ways to raise the desire to serve in more of the young men.

After the meeting we went to Esikhawini and had lunch at KFC. There is one young lady there who knows us well and always smiles when she sees us walk in and waves as we leave. Maybe some day she will ask us about the church.

We spent the better part of an hour with President Malinga talking about lots of different things. As we were leaving I got a commitment from him that he would go home teaching before Thursday’s Presidency meeting. I really hope he does it so he can urge the other members of the Presidency to do theirs.

After this meeting we had time to go and visit a couple of sisters. Mary talked to Sister Joyce about Primary and then we talked to sister Ndlovu about painting her living room and arranging for English lessons. She told us that she had a part time house cleaning job for 3 days a week. This was great news as she really needs the income.

Our next meeting was with President Machaka for a PEC. The elders called and said they would not be coming. I was pleased that he had ordered sacrament cups – a small thing but he now knows how to order supplies for his branch via the internet. We covered many subjects in a very short time including the branch social they are going to have on Saturday afternoon. We also talked about new callings and other small things that need to be done in the branch. It was the most productive meeting we have had with him.

We left him and drove to Enselini so we could drop off a birthday present for President Vilane’s youngest son’s birthday. We were excited because today is our granddaughter Olivia’s birthday. However when we got there the Vilanes told us that there was a mistake in the records and his birthday was really the 14^th. We gave him the card and candy bar anyway.

We then had a long meeting with President Vilane as he had a lot of questions that came up during the Branch Correlation meeting on Sunday. Most of it had to do with Budgets – President Malinga brought up the same subject – so we gave him some council and told him to ponder and pray about how much should go to each auxiliary. We also talked about some problems with the Young Women – he feels that he needs to hold a special fireside for them about Chastity. Finally there was a discussion about the branch Christmas Party – everyone on the council thought it was a great idea and they are going to schedule it for the 13^th of December. Before we left we arranged to hold Family Home Evening at their house next Monday – Sister Vilane has been trying to get her husband to hold it so hopefully this will get it kick started.

So it was a tired but happy missionary couple who finally drove back to their boarding as the sun was setting.

Today was Olivia’s 5^th birthday so we called and wished her a happy one. Mary actually did all the talking and near the end she mentioned that we were sorry that we could not be at her party. Olivia asked why not and when she was told we were half a world away she realized which Grandma she was speaking to. She thought she was talking to Kristy’s mom in Michigan!

The rest of the evening was quiet and relaxing – we needed it.

I would rate this as a full 2 mite day.

03 November 2009 – Tuesday

Over the last few days Kristy and Cindy have posted pictures of their families getting ready for Halloween. We got to see pumpkins being carved in Salt Lake and Chicago as well as the fun costumes that Krista, Tyler, Olivia and Charlotte wore. It is great to be able to see these just hours or days after they were taken 10,000 miles away. It is interesting that while I wish we could be a part of these experiences, the Lord’s tender mercy tells me that we are where we should be and that our family will be blessed as we serve more than if we were with them. I am reminded that in the Eternal Plan of Happiness 18 months is less than a blink of the eye.

I slept in this morning so I had to get up and hurriedly get dressed so I could take the car in to get cleaned. Yesterday’s traveling over many kilometers of dirt roads laid a new coat of grime over much of the car. So even though the sky looked like rain I took it to Engen – the local gas station/car wash/fast food/bakery/grocery store that we visit almost every day – and got it washed and cleaned. There were a number of cars getting cleaned – I guess like me they could not stand to drive their dirty cars any longer. The rain held off until I started home in my clean car. When I got home I carefully dried it off with the hope that the rain will stop before we go out.

Our neighbor, Justice, came over and asked if they could finish our yard today. I guess the fact that it was sprinkling was no deterrent to his work. The crew of 3 takes about 90 minutes to do the yard at a cost of about $20. As they were finishing up I talked to Justice about his business – he has had it for 6 years – and found out he retired from the police in 2003 after 18 years of service. He and his wife would be a great addition to the Richards Bay branch but he does not seem really interested in continuing the missionary lessons.

Mary woke with a headache and a very sore shoulder. We decided it would be best for her to rest until noon and then we would go out and do what we had planned for day.

We bought and delivered a food order out to Port Durnford. As we were leaving the area we saw a non-member who we have been helping and gave her a lift to Richards Bay so she could apply for a job. Since they have very little money this tender mercy from the Lord will allow her family a little more electricity or perhaps a little more food. It also allowed us to let her know we care for her. We often see people who need rides and I am tempted to give them one, but the mission rules say we should not do this and I try not to be disobedient too often. Besides the back seat is usually covered with things we need for the day and so there is no where for them to sit.

After a quick lunch at McDonalds we went to the Meerensee boarding to get some games for our Youth activities and then to Richards Bay chapel so Mary could make lots of copies for the English and piano classes. While she was doing that I made a number of phone calls to try and solve some of the problems that seem to keep popping up.

One of the things that is bothering me is the fact that most of the young men who are either missionary age or approaching missionary age are not really interested in going on a mission. One of them is very talented and a good teacher but he has told his father that he is not interested. I think part of the problem – maybe the biggest part – is that the families are not holding FHE, Family Prayer, and teaching the gospel in the home.  Add to that the fact that most homes are not headed by strong Priesthood holders – or weak ones for that matter- and it is easy to understand why it will take a while for the tradition of missionary service will take some time to develop.

When Mary finished making copies she said that she had to go home and rest. It turned out that she really was not well. She spent much of the rest of the day sleeping and resting on the couch and bed. Hopefully she will be OK for tomorrow because it is a busy day.

I took advantage of the time to spent over 2 hours on organizing, captioning, and posting pictures. 

I am afraid this was something like a 1 mite day for us.

We mainly went to St Lucia to see the hippos that the Bartholomews told us about. We got to see them in the water and resting on a sandbar but we missed them walking around and playing with each other. We will go earlier next time. Between the two shots we had a nice walk on a boardwalk that ran along the beach for a couple of kilometers or so.

Among the vast green jungle were small spots of color – I especially liked the rich golden orange colors of this leaf, the bright yellow of a flowering bush, and the bright blue of a small delicate flower that occasionally could be seen along the side of the boardwalk.

At the start of the boardwalk was a notice that tended to keep people from wandering off the walk and at the end was a broad white beach leading to the Indian Ocean. We did see some crocs near the sign but they were too far away to get a decent picture. However when we went on our game drive we found this little guy at a hippo pool.

Binoculars are a must when looking for animals and birds. The wind replaced the rain that was falling earlier in the trip. This picture can not really show the strength of the gusts that at times threatened to move us off another boardwalk. For some reason Mary insisted that I take a picture of this tree because it fascinated her. I am not sure why she did not take the picture with her camera but here is my shot.

Along the way we stopped at a view point on Catalina bay and I found this camping spot among the trees. I love the part of the sign that suggests campers do not walk outside the borders of the camp after dark. Since there is no fence or anyother barrier between the camp and the jungle, I am not sure why being inside the borders of the camp is that much safer. The last sign is a marker that must correspond to some map. Why I took the picture is this plane seems to have been ‘bombed’ by a number of birds and rather looks like it is going down in flames.

Here are some other pictures taken along the way. When we first saw the sign we thought they had put a speed bump sign upside down but then we saw the lower part explaining the top – and I must say the warning was timely. We discussed why they did not just fix the pots holes instead of putting up a sign and Mary suggested it was cheaper and easier to put up one sign than to continually fix the pot holes.

The road to St Lucia includes a number of artists who carve animals and other things and sell them along the road. This man specializes in digging up tree roots and polishing them. We bought a small one for R50 but would love to have one of the large ones that sell for R600 or about $70. It would be great to have in our yard in Utah…or perhaps as a base for an amazing dinning table. But the cost of getting it crated and shipped would probably be prohibitive – besides they might not let it into the states due to insects that might be included.

The last picture is just an unusal birds nest that I found in a bush along the sea shore.

02 November 2009 – Monday

I am once more repenting of not doing my journal daily and will try to keep it current by writing each day.

Today was P-day and we originally were going to get up and go to St Lucia by 6:00 a.m. regardless of the weather. Although it looked like rain – and it did later – we did go to St Lucia but we did not leave until 8:00 a.m. The drive there went quickly – it turns out to be about 85 K from our driveway to the entrance to the gates of the Estuary game park.

Before we went into the park we went to see the hippos that the Bs said were along the river outside the city. When we got there, a small herd was already in the water and as usual we could not get any really good shots. We did take a very nice board walk out to another beach. When we got there we decided it really was too far a walk in the sand to the ocean – especially since it had started to rain. On the way back I took some pictures of small flowers that grew along side the walk. We did get to see a number of crocodiles resting along the river bank. The signs that said beware of them really meant it.

We spent the next 3 hours inside the park looking for animals but also just enjoying the day out in the world. We saw a nice herd of nyala, impala, a single wildebeest, a nice group of three large rhinos, a small herd of zebras, one small crocodile at fairly close range and another group of hippos. We also saw a couple of species of antelope that we could not identify at the time.

After a pleasant time in the park we went back to see if the hippos had come out of the water and they had. Unfortunately the last one was just starting to lie down when we got there. So we only got pictures of 9 large hippos resting on the sandbar. The next time we go to St Lucia we will leave so we can be at the park at 6:00 and hopefully the hippos will be standing along the banks instead of being in the water or resting on the sandbar.

On the way home we stopped at a number of places and bought things. We now have two new carvings of guinea fowl and a polished tree root that Mary says is going to be our Christmas tree. It is about 2 feet tall and I am trying to figure out how to get it home. The one I really want to take home is about 6 feet tall and 4 feet in diameter. It only costs about $70 but I would guess it would cost $500 to have it packed and sent home on a slow boat.

On the way home we stopped at the mall to have a late lunch – early dinner at Mug and Bean. I had an excellent omelet and Mary tried their beef pot pie. I also had to get some money from the ATM because it has been an expensive 4 days since the last trip. At least the dollar is growing stronger against the rand so it is costing less to get the R3000 I take out each time.

For the last few days, I have been reading in the D&C. I have come to love D&C 1 which is so filled with great gospel lessons. The command in verse one for all to “listen together” is first given to ‘ye people of my church’ and then everyone else. He says ‘there are none to escape’ and then in verse 4, as Parley Pratt’s tract points out, it is ‘the voice of warning’ to all people.

I try to imagine what it was like to be in that small gathering of priesthood holders as they met just over 18 months after the founding of the church and were given such a wonderful revelation. Verse 23 tells of today as we the ‘weak and simple’ are out proclaiming the fulness of the gospel unto the ends of the world. I also was prompted to read the statements of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon. Of the 11 who signed those statements the great majority later left the church but never denied what they saw.

It was a good p-day!

01 November 2009 – Sunday

Because elders Wengert and Maremela were visiting Kosi Bay, we were up and out of the house by 6:30 so we had time to get to Empangeni and pick up elders Musemare and Dhijon. We dropped them at the chapel and picked up President Nyawo so we could hold PEC. After the PEC meeting we drove to Port Durnford for sacrament meeting.

It was a different from most Fast and Testimony meetings we have been to because after one of the brothers gave his testimony in Zulu a couple of other members did the same. When they share their testimony in English, they tend to keep them short. But in Zulu they speak for a long time. I asked one of the young men to translate some of what was being said and he did a good job – better than anyone we had in Indonesia. He gave the idea of what was said instead of a word for word translation.

After the meeting we hurried over to the Richards Bay chapel so that I could talk to Calwyn Baldwin but he was not there. However I was able to interview Steven Klicck as a counselor in the Elders Quorum and then sustain and set him apart. It was something that needed to be done but I did not expect to do it until next week.

From there we went to Enseleni and helped set up for their meeting. I was happy to find that President Vilane came prepared with the agenda and the meeting started just 5 minutes late instead of the usual 15 to 25 minutes. However since many of the members were use to it starting late, there were not a many there when the meeting started and they just kept coming until there was a fair number – 52 or so by the time the meeting was over.

I went attended the PH class and Mary visited the Primary and RS meetings. She felt that the Primary teachers needed some training and we are going to talk to sister de Klerk about perhaps spending some time with them.

I was happy to find out that on the first Sunday of each month they hold Branch Council meeting. I chose not to attend because I wanted President Vilane to do it without any outside help except from the Elders. I told him I would be happy to help him if he thought he needed help but that I was sure he was capable of doing it himself. I did suggest that he might want to plan a Christmas social for the branch and I think he will do that.

While they were holding that meeting I spent some time teaching a brother about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. He is working with President Vilane on clearing up something in his life so he can receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. We had a good discussion and I think he will make a good priesthood holder when he is ready.

We came home, ate a late lunch and took short naps. In the evening the Mickelsens came over and share dinner with us. Mary made chicken enchiladas using the green enchiladas sauce we bought on Wednesday. As usual we had a lovely time with our two friends. They filled us in on how things were going in Swaziland and we talked about some of the experiences we have had in our years in the church. I must confess that we were sorry to see them leave for Meernsee and then tomorrow for their home in Durban.

To be posted ….