There are herds of free-ranging cattle everywhere – including on the highways where cars can be going 80 – 100 mph. You have to always be on the watch for them because they tend to wander on to the road whenever they feel like it.
Since I am never sure that they are going to post, I decided to break the week up into a number of segments.
These are rather self evident – they are pictures of our boarding. Kitchen, living room, dining area and rest of the living room. It is very comfortable and we found out on Saturday that it has under floor heating if it gets really cold in the winter. I can not imagine the need for it but it is nice to know it is there.
These are from the Johannesburg temple. The left one is of a ha-di-da – a noisy, but beautiful bird found thoughout South Africa. Here it is perched on a bench in the courtyard of the temple. Next is a picture of the Moroni Spire taken from the back wall of the temple grounds. There is no way to take a good picture of the front of the temple because of trees and a very busy roadway. But I think this picture gives a good idea of the beauty of this all brick temple. The last picture is Mary in the courtyard with the front door in the background.
I forgot to mention that on Sunday March 1, we had a general authority at the Mbabane chapel for sacrament meeting. Elder Watson of the First Quorum of the 70 was here with his wife and Elder and Sister Headlee. As far as anyone could remember it was the first visit by a general authority to Swaziland. The visitors shared their testimony in sacrament meeting.
Also on Sunday the 1st we held our first Literacy class with one student. We are hoping to teach teachers so when we leave or if we leave they can teach the class. The sister we had is quite fluent in reading and writing English so it will take us a couple of weeks before we might get into any material that will help her.
On Monday Elder Eddy came over and asked if we knew a Steve Ashton. We said they used to be our neighbors. It turns out they are now neighbors of Elder Eddy’s family and somehow they found out that we were in the same area and said to say hi. It has stopped being surprising to us to find people we know or who know people we know wherever we are in the world.
Tuesday we had an adventure. We were going out with the elders and on the way to the first appointment their bakkie broke down. It just stopped and then a cloud of white smoke came from under the hood. Where we broke down was right under a bridge and in Swaziland that is not good thing. It seems that they station soldiers at most major bridges to guard them from terrorists blowing them up. If you stop under a bridge the soldiers are likely to come over and question you at the end of an automatic rifle. So we pushed the truck down the hill to get it out from under the bridge and out of the traffic lanes.
Elder Wilson came and rescued me and Mary while the elders waited for the tow truck to come. It turned out to be a burned out starter. The good news was that the dealer was able to fix it in just one day. Since the elders needed a vehicle to do their missionary work, we loaned them ours so at least they could drive near to their appointments and then walk where the car should not go.
In the evening we went with the Wilsons up to Mbabane for their Couples Night class. Where there were 5 couples last week there were 9 this week so the word must have gotten out that it is a good class to attend. I was impressed by all the comments and participation. The couples who were there last week came prepared to share their thoughts about the reading they had been given as homework. The Wilsons hope that this class will lead into a temple preparation class so more couples will get ready to go to the temple to be sealed.
Wednesday is District Development Meeting so we took the Ezulwini elders up to Mbabane to the meeting. The most amazing thing happened – the Mbabane elders were only 5 minutes late. I am afraid the elders have learned to run on local time which is Mormon time plus 15 mintues – or more. But the meetings are always spiritual and it is good to sit and hear how the district is doing.
We later in the day took the elders down to Manzini to pick up there car. In the evening Mary made macaroni and cheese from scratch and we ended up sharing it with the Wilsons – who had been so busy that they did not have a chance to eat – and Elder’s Eddy and Makono dropped by at just the right time to clean up any left overs and have some ice cream. I think the elders could live on ice cream.
Thursday was a very exciting day. We drove with the Wilsons to Johannesburg to go to the temple with a group from the Manzini branch. The GPS took us on some strange route that was about an hour longer than we expected but we did get to see some amazing landscape. I will show some of the pictures we took along the way and outside the temple.
Since the area offices are in the same compound, we were invited by Elder Watson to come in and visit with him and sister Watson. We got to spend 20 minutes with them in their home and to meet the Area President Elder Parmley. The amount of paper work these brothers must deal with was evident from the amount that covered their desks. Between traveling over most of Africa and dealing with all the decisions that they must make it is gracious of them to take the time to see us.
The branch was supposed to get there by 2:00 pm but by 3:00 they were still not there so Mary and I went to the 3:30 session so we could meet with Howard and Janet Barnes who are serving as PEF missionaries in Johannesburg. The session was very small by Provo standards but the feeling was the same. How wonderful it is to be able to go to any temple and feel so much at home. The kindness of the staff who are serving there was as always full of charity. There is a spirit in the temple that is just not available anywhere else.
After the session we took some pictures and as we were walking back to our apartment to wait for the Barnes they drove up behind us. What a joy it was to see our friends and neighbors who we have not seen in over 2 years. They left on their mission about 10 months after we did and will be going home in April. We went to dinner with them and spent the time catching up with what was going in our lives, talking about our mission experiences, and what had happened in the ward since the Barnes had left. It was sad to have to say goodbye to them but we will see them in about 16 months.
We got back to the temple in time to go to the sealings of the Manzini couples. It turned out not only were they late, but they also had a major problem with recommends. But Elder Wilson, the temple staff, and a call to President Mann got most things straightened out so they all could go through for their endowments and then be sealed and have their children sealed to them.
What a special time it is to sit in a sealing room and look into the lovely faces of the brides and see their smiles as they are sealed to their husbands for time and all eternity and then to witness the sealing of the children – one couple had a boy and the other had 7 children. Once again the temple staff was so gracious in how they dealt with the children. The sisters who care for the children were able to witness the sealings and you could see how much they loved to see this by the glow on their faces. What a wonderful spirit there was in that room. This is what the gospel does and why we need to share it with everyone around us. We can not be selfish and keep the blessings of the gospel and the sealing ordinances of the temple to ourselves.
Friday morning we were up early and drove home to Swaziland. By the time we got home we were very tired and we were happy to have a rather quiet afternoon.
On Sunday I had an experience that reminded me that it is the Lord’s church. In the morning I was doing my scripture study when once again 1 Nephi 3:7 came to my mind. I have been thinking about Nephi’s choice of the word “prepare” in that scripture. I have been thinking about why he did not say that the Lord would ‘provide’ a way. It seems to me – and maybe it is just me – that by using prepare it leaves it to us to find the way the Lord has prepared and not wait around for the Lord to drop the answer or way into our laps. I think of Nehpi and his brothers’ struggle to get the plates, the way he had to figure out how to overcome the loss of their bows, and of course the building of the ship. In every case the Lord prepared a way but he did not provide the plates, the bow or the ship. Nephi had to do his part and in some cases struggle to do as the Lord commanded.
We have the assignment of clearing up some of the ordination records that have never been recorded in Johannesburg from the branches in Swaziland. I must say that I have been somewhat discouraged by our progress. We have mainly been working with the Mbabane branch but Sunday morning I felt that after the Mbabane branch that we shoud go down to Manzini. We knew that there would be a baptism so the branch president and clerk should be there.
However after the Mbabane meeting I seemed to be developing a slight headache and thought we might not go down. Instead we would go home so I could get something to eat and that would take care of my headache. We could go to Manzini next week. But when Mary came out of Relief Society she asked if we were going to Manzini and I said yes.
We got there in time to watch the baptism and after that we were able to meet with the branch president. I told him about what we were there to do and he called his clerk in and asked for the yellow copies of the Aaronic Priesthood ordinations. They had amost all that we need to clear up their records. The Lord had prepared a way and I almost did not do my part. I forgot to trust the Lord and work hard. I had forgotten the mission motto: Faith + Obedience with exactness + Hard Work = Miracles.
I forgot to mention that Mary taught our second literacy class and we got one new student. Hopefully next week we will get the other 2 who have been asked to take the class.
And that ended another wonderful week in Swaziland. What great blessing we are receiving as we serve. I know that the Lord is watching over our children and grandchildren while we are serving here. We cherish their letters – even the short ones – but we are where we should be and doing what we should be doing. The gospel is true!
The Mickelson’s our PEF couple were here on Friday and Saturday to meet with some local students. We spent most of Friday afternoon visiting with them and then went out to dinner with the Mickelsons and the Wilsons. The restaurant we went to Saturday night is on the grounds of a botanical garden. It is a beautiful place. We ate outside in a pavilion surrounded by a lagoon. That is where the picture of the hippos was taken.
There are children everywhere in Swaziland. They are like children through out the world and love to have their picture taken and then be shown the results. Mothers and Gogos take good care of them and you can tell they are well loved.  Walking is about the only way most people have of getting anywhere, so children are taught at a very young age to walk long distances by themselves. Therefore it is not unusal to see children that look very young walking along a dirt road by themselves or in small groups in what seems like the middle of nothing.
Just to keep things honest, these are pictures of the grounds of the restaurant we went to on Saturday night. It is in the middle of a botanical gardens and there is water everywhere. Also there are statues of animals around the water. Since we have had not yet had an opportunity to go through a nature preserve, this is about as close to African animals as we have gotten so far. We also had a very nice dinner.
Saturday morning Bill went out with the elders to a service project for a member. We cut back some of the jungle of grass that surrounded her homestead. The bush knife I am using is not the right instrument for this. Elder Eddy is using what is known here as a slasher. It is basically a thin strap of steel that is bent about 7 inches from the end. When sharp – and they hardly ever are and used properly – something I am still trying to learn – they cut the tough grasses fairly well. However a basic manual weedwhip with serrated edges would cut much faster. Of course the best thing is a powerful gas operated whip with metal cutters would be even better. Both are much too expensive for most people here so it is a slasher and a lot of muscles that gets grass cut.
At the same homestead we found a large metal grain grinder that has been in use since it was bolted to a metal post in they yard some 33 years ago. Elder Eddy volunteered to grind a hopper of sorghum for the sister. We all thought this would be an easy task for us three elders. How wrong we were about that. It took a good 15-20 minutes with us working in shifts to get it ground.
It was great to be able to serve in a different way. I am going to suggest they teach basic slashing techniques to all missionaries – including senior couples – who are going to South Africa.
Here are the first three of many pictures about our mission experience. The one on the left shows the kind of roads but also the beautiful views we have here in Ezulwini. The middle picture is Mary with one of the Young Single Adults from the Ezulwini branch who is all dressed up for a YSA Valentines dance. The last one shows Mary with a woman who teaches 1st grade students at a small school. She has almost nothing to teach with or from because it is not a state school but is for poor children.
These pictures are about the first baptism that we were able to be a small part of in Swaziland. The left hand picture shows Bill at the small stand that brother Nahti has along the road where he sells onions, squash, snacks and sometimes pineapples. Sister Wilson wanted to buy a pineapple so they happened to stop at Nahti’s stand. About the first thing Nahti said to them was he needed them to teach him about faith. So they and the missionaries – Elder Eddy and Makono – did just that. The middle picture shows how many lessons are taught at homesteads in Swaziland. Mary and I were there also but the story is really about the Wilsons, the missionaries and Nahti.
The last picture was taken just before Nahti’s baptism service started and shows the Wilsons, Nahti, elder Makono and elder Eddy.
The elders showed us a new internet cafe and we are trying it for the first time today. It seems to be quite fast – but that might change at any time – and so we might be able to actually post some pictures. It is our P-day so we can spend some time reading and answering e-mail as well as posting to this blog.
Yesterday was great. I attended PEC meeting for the first time and was impressed how they got things done without spending a lot of time on talking things to death. We then went to block meeting and I was asked to bear my testimony. It is nice to sit in a meeting 10,000 miles from home and understand most of what is going on. They do tend to pray very softly and in their native language. But that is OK because their spirits are so strong that I can feel what is being said.
The Priesthood lesson was one of the best I have ever been to. It was on missionary work and the teacher told the members that it was there duty to do missionary work because it was their branch and the missionaries were just visitors who would go home someday. So they needed to work harder at introducing their friends and neighbors to the gospel. He told how he was doing that and some others talked about their positive missionary experiences. All of us missionaries – there are 4 elders serving in the branch – were certainly happy to hear what he had to say.
In the afternoon we went out with a pair of elders – one is actually a priest who is serving with the zone leader elder Wright while his companion is recovering from a soccer injury – and taugh a young woman. I ended up telling her the Joseph Smith story and about my own conversion. I bore testimony that if she would ernestly prayed to find out if this was the only true and living church on the earth she would get an answer. I am not sure she will do that but as I looked her in the eyes and bore that testimony I knew that she knew I knew what I said was true.
The Young Single Adults in the different branches held Valentines dances. They were great success. One young lady who is investigating the church we met with on Saturday night said she had a wonderful time and made a lot of friends. They hold their dances in the afternoon or early evening so people can get back to their boardings before dark if possible. Transportation is a big problem here – as it was in Indonesia – and most people like to get home before the sunsets.
We are really enjoying our mission. It is much different from our experience in Indonesia. Just being able to drive ourselves around is a great change. We are still rather timid about going off the main roads with our car because we are not sure of the quality of the dirt roads. We have been on some roads with the elders in their trucks that look more like streambeds than roads. But even having a truck does not mean you will not get stuck. Just last week a pair of elders managed to get their bakkie – think pick-up truck – stuck so deep in the mud that they had to abandoned it until they could find a member with a tractor to come pull them out.
We know we are where we should be and doing the work we should be doing. It does not seem possible that we have only been on our mission less than a month.
I just noticed that a couple of you made comments stating that our mailbox was full. We knew that but until today we could not get AOL to load so we could delete a lot of old mail.
Thanks to those who tried to write and got it back. There is lots of room there now.
