The Hand of the Lord

The Lesotho Zone, L-R, Shumways, President & Sis. Von Stetten, Holts and all 16 of our elders

Monday morning we were up and away by 6:00 AM to get to Bloemfontein for Zone Conference.  I had made muffins for each of the car loads of Elders to eat on the way and they followed us to the Stake Centre in Bloem.  It was a great day and we were spiritually fed as well as physically fed with pizza and then deserts supplied by the Shumways, Wyatts and us.  We didn't get home until late Monday evening but we were grateful to have been there.  That was my very first "Zone" conference.  Oh, by the way, I also drove in South Africa for the first time last week.  I didn't do half bad either.  Mind you, it was in the town of Ladybrand, not in the "dodge-em" city of Maseru.

Tuesday morning we were up bright and early again and off to Maseru to meet up with the Murdock's, (head of Public Affairs for the Durban Mission) and we delivered the Hygiene Kits that we assembled last week to the people of Berea.

Sister Holt, & Brother & Sister Murdock

Before they handed out the hygiene kits, the village gathered and then they said a prayer of thanksgiving for this blessing.

As we were there handing out the kits, there was a load of small trees being delivered (behind us) that would provide ground cover for this village. I do not know who provided this them.

Sister Murdock and myself with some of the village ladies.

This gentleman wanted to show me the potatoes he had grown in his garden.  He was so happy to have his picture taken.

I loved this gentleman's homemade pin to keep his blanket closed.  I think that would sell in New York for a pretty price.  What do you think?

This lady was so happy to receive her hygiene kit. 

On the way home we stopped at a non-school.  The Murdock's had been in contact with a man in Maseru who is in charge of these schools throughout Lesotho.  There are over 1,600 students who cannot afford to go to school and so there are volunteers who teach these kids at night in abandoned buildings.  He has approached the Murdock's for aid to provide lanterns for light and school supplies.  Murdock's thought it would make a great "Eagle Scout" project for scouts back in America.  Finding this non-school was an experience I will tell you about another day.  It was quite an adventure.  We asked the woman running this non-school how many children were there and she paused, and then said about 20.  So we stopped before we left Ty and bought oranges and some bagged treats for the kids.  When we finally got there, we saw that we were way off the mark and there was more like 50 or 60 children.  They explained that they come and spend the day there, and learn some English, some skills, etc.  They need help with soccer balls, volleyballs, English readers (grades 1-3) and about 30 - 35 meters of fabric to sew with.

The girl on my left is 18 years old.  She wants to be my daughter-in-law and marry my grandson, so she tells me.

They loved to have their pictures taken and loved the attention they got.

We had to cut all the oranges into wedges so there was enough for each child to get a taste. Aren't these the cutest little boys you ever saw?

Sister Murdock with some of the little children.

Wednesday we went to Masianokeng to meet the mother of a young missionary who will be coming home on August 16th.  His mother is not a member and he has a brother who is an inactive member.  The president wanted us to go and meet the Mother and to see what we could do to pave the way for her son to come home.  We will be picking him up from the airport that day and bringing him home.  We had had two other appointments fall through to meet this woman - Mme Moffamere.  She was not home when we first went, but then as we were heading back home, we got a call from Jeremy (the fellow who was setting up this appointment for us (he had served a mission here a few years ago and knew the family then.  He knew that the mother was quite cool towards the church and was helping us to get in to meet her) when he called and told us she was back home.  I had baked some cookies for her and so that helped to sweeten the visit.  Two hours later - we had a word of prayer in her home and then left.  Jeremy said that it went extremely well and he thought she liked us.  We invited her to the open house but she did not give us much hope that she would come.

Thursday was an office day.  We spent the day getting all our month end billings, paper work for the mission office prepared and faxed in.

Friday we spent the morning getting supper ready for that night (Shumways were coming), getting groceries etc.  Then off we headed to Masianokeng to get the grounds and church cleaned and spiffied up for the open house.

Branch members sweeping and mopping floors

Councilor in the Branch Presidency

President Moorosi - branch President

Branch member helping to set up for Open House

Relief Society President and her councilor - setting up the RS room

young members of the Branch helping to get the yard and rooms cleaned.

Saturday we were up bright and early and were on the run to pick up the lunches for the dignitaries, fresh flowers for the reception table and then off to Masianokeng for the open house.  Sister Moorosi, the branch President's wife was in charge of the whole event, and she had phoned me a few days earlier quite disappointed because one of the other Public Affairs people had not delivered the invitations she had committed to deliver, thus many of the dignitary's that were supposed to come of course were not coming.  We had worked hard and prayed hard for this to be a success and we felt that it was now in the Lord's hands.  The practice the week before had gone fairly well, and I felt like the branch members who were representing each of the organizations were quite prepared and ready to present their parts. (if they would just come, and come on time!)  The dignitary's were supposed to arrive at 11:30.  So we had the Branch President gather everyone for a word of prayer before they arrived so that we had the blessings of the Lord on our side.  Here are some of the pictures from the day:

Preparing the lunch in their tiny kitchen.

This is the beautiful end result.  They do an amazing job with their limited facilities.

This was where the guests signed in. Then they went into the tent on the left where there were beautiful displays set up.

This is Elder Signorelli explaining the employment program of the church

This is Sister Wyatt on the left.  She and her husband are responsible for Seminary and Institute in the mission and this was their display.  Sister Shumway is on the right.

This is the Maseru community choir. Sister Moorosi invited them to sing for the dignitary's.  They ended up staying and doing the tour.  Elder Holt handed out 15 Book of Mormons to members of this choir.

These are a couple of the government dignitary's that came.  Elder Shumway is  entertaining them.

Young single adults from the branch that acted as tour guides

This lady in the plaid coat is the mother of the missionary that is coming home this month.  She stayed right till the end and I know she felt the beautiful spirit that was there at the open house.  The branch members were warm and welcoming to her.

These are some of the choir members helping themselves to the lunch provided for the visitors.

The Masianokeng branch members and district leaders that helped put on this open house

The Lord truly did bless the efforts of this little branch.  The members of the community, the government leaders that attended, and other non-members learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ that day.  The members of this branch let their testimonies shine through and the visitors could not help but know how they feel about their church and their beliefs.

After the open house was over, the young men and young women of the branch wanted to wash all our cars so they could earn some money to go to Youth Conference in Bloemfontein this weekend.  So of course all the senior missionary couples forked over a large donation and the young people in their sunday clothes, took of their shoes and washed all our cars with a bucket, hose and rags - in the mud.

Our cars were almost as shiny as this young ladies smile when they were finished.

We went home very tired, but very grateful for the blessings granted to us by the Lord that day.

Sister Moorosi - the woman in charge of this Open House

Sister Moorosi is a woman with a strong testimony, who follows the spirit.  She has learned so much through this process and is becoming an amazing leader.  The next day at church there was 74 people attending, 11 of which were investigators.  As the branch President gathered everyone after the Open House in the chappel for a short meeting, the chappel was filled to capacity and I couldn't help but think that this will one day in the near future become a regular occurance and they will have to build them a regular chapel to handle this branch becoming a ward.

Well, it is time to end this epistle.  We are so grateful for your prayers and support.  We miss you all and are remembering you numerous times throughout the day in our prayers.  For those of you getting ready to start school this week and next - do well, remember who you are and what you stand for and work hard.  For the rest of you who still get to play for the rest of this month - enjoy.  We love you
Elder and Sister Holt