Tender Mercies

Last evening we received a phone call from Lethbridge informing us that Wayne's mother, passed away peacefully in her sleep.  How grateful we are for this tender mercy.   She had been having some problems last week with fluid on her lungs and so on Saturday Marlene took her into the emergency room to have her checked.  Her breathing had been quite labored for a few days and they discovered that she had a bit of pneumonia.  They made her comfortable and Monday afternoon, September 3rd, at 1:30 PM she passed away very peacefully in her sleep.  She was told in her patriarchal blessing that that would be how she would leave this world. 

We felt very grateful to Rod as he took his cell phone to the hospital and we were able to face time with her on Sunday afternoon. We felt that we were saying our final goodbyes and as it turned out, we were.  Even in her weakend condition her bright sense of humor and her beautiful smile were still there.   Last week Inge had taken her computer into Lethbridge to Moms home so that we could face time with her then as well.  She was so excited to be able to see us and talk to us through Inge's "magic" box.  The wonders and blessings of technology!  She will be sadly missed by all who loved her; children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, friends and neighbors.  How we will miss her sweet spirit, her loving nature, her amazing sense of humor in any situation, her curiosity about life, and even her feisty temper, which, as she aged she was able to almost completely obliterate.  Edith enjoyed 95 years of life on this earth, which she packed full.  She developed so many of her talents, her music, art, story writing skills, homemaking skills, love of people, her ability to play a good joke, her love of nature.  How grateful we are for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that she was met on the other side by her loved ones, Ike, Brian, her parents, her sister Helen and I think even Shauna would have been there to welcome her. What a joyous reunion that must have been.  Her body was so frail and worn out and now she is rid of it until that time when we will all be resurrected.

We also experienced another sadness in our family this last week.  On Friday, August 31st, our daughter-in-law Jenn's father was out doing some work on his home in Raymond and fell from the roof line to the ground.  Mark Ellingson, sadly did not survive the fall and was killed instantly.  Our prayers have been for the Ellingson family and for our son Rod's wife, Jenn and their little family as they mourn the loss of their father and grandfather.  Mark and Marilyn just returned home from their mission to Cambodia in March and they have enjoyed a full summer with family and friends. 

We had the privilege of working with the Ellingson's in the Alberta temple on Saturday mornings and have been grateful to share such special grandchildren.  Mark came by our home before we left to come on our mission and shared some good advice about serving missions and some special experiences that he and Marilyn had on their mission together.  Our families also got together for a special family baptism on Sidney Jo's birthday.  We will always remember that day and the beautiful spirit that was there on her baptism day, especially when she stood and bore her strong testimony of the gospel.  We will miss Mark, but know that he, like Edith are in a very happy place, doing the work that our Heavenly Father has for them to do.  We are so grateful for the comforting spirit of the Holy Ghost.

 Last week was a busy week for us as we met the needs of the elders, branch members, and received new assignments.  We are happy being busy - especially Wayne - and are very grateful for the blessings of our Heavenly Father as he continues to bless us with health, protection and great family and friends.  Wayne was extremely amazed as he drove by this brick yard and saw the way they make bricks which are used in great abundance here for homes, roads, sidewalks, etc. 

a brick yard on the side of the road.  Those are wet bricks which will dry in the sun and then be stacked as shown below.

These bricks are now dry and will be stacked and then sold and hauled away.  This is all done by manual labor.

 Wednesday we headed to Bethlehem where we met and took an Elder to the dentist before their ZDM meeting.  Elder Holt attended the meeting with the elders and I just wandered the streets of Bethlehem looking in the shops and enjoyed myself.  At noon, I went back to the church and fed the elders the homemade rolls I had made the day before.  We had all kinds of sandwich fixings and they could make ham, chicken, egg salad or peanut butter and honey, whatever they liked.  For desert I had made butterhorns and the ever favorite ginger snaps.  Needless to say the Elders went away very happy and there were no left overs. 

On Thursday we taught a young women in Ficksburg a discussion.  She is a student and also tends her sisters little girl.  Her boyfriend is investigating the gospel in Durban and she has been so impressed with the changes in his life she wanted to know more about this church.  Dad and I really enjoyed this opportunity and we will be teaching her the next discussion on the following Wednesday.  One of the members in Ficksburg also attended the discussion and so there will be someone there to help friendship her if she happens to join the church. 

As we drove home from Ficksurg we pass a charming little set of buildings and we always say we should stop, but never do.  We decided to stop this time.  Here are a few pictures:

There is a place to eat and all kinds of little shops that sell crafts and things made by the South African people.  It provides a living for them and a sense of self-worth as they provide for themselves and their family.  We bought some homemade cherry jam and a few other goodies.

There are fun places to sit outside and have some lunch or herbal tea or just sit and enjoy the sunshine

This might bring a feeling of nostalgia to a few old farmers.  This sits out in front of this fun little stop.

On Friday morning Dad went into Masianokeng and got the returned missionary that came home a few weeks ago.  We were asked to take him in to get a tuberculosis test as he was serving in an area where he was in contact with active tuberculosis.  After he had been checked we took him back to Maseru.  Then, we had been invited to the Masianokeng Elders flat for a meeting and lunch.  That is a first, to have the elders feed us.  

Elder Paulo on left and Elder Daines on the right making dinner for us.

This is the dinner they served us.  Mashed potatoes, topped with gravy with "mince" and onions and a side of carrots.  For desert they served us jello.  I brought brownies to go with the jello. Very tasty

While we ate our dinner, they discussed some things they would like us to help them with.  One of which was to attend a discussion they were having the next evening with the family that Dad met a few weeks earlier and asked the father if he would like the missionaries to meet with him.  They are coming along in learning about the gospel.

Right after lunch we went over to the chief's home to deliver the letter he had requested from the mission President, letting him know that the church would be responsible for the members of the branch and that he as the chief would not be responsible.  It is very interesting to learn of the customs of a village and the heirarchy of authority etc. 

We then went to meet with the owner of a home in Maseru as a possible place for the Maseru Elders to live.  It looks promising.  And then we went to look at another possible rental a little further away.  We have been on our knees everyday for about two months asking the Lord for help to find them a safer place to live.  The mission president has been putting pressure on us to get this done and I think we finally have it solved - thanks to divine intervention.  The Lord does answer our prayers and His work will go forward - in His time!

Saturday we attended seminary and institute in Maseru and then out to Masianokeng and attended their institute there.  The missionaries teach institute there and it was Elder Daine's birthday so after it was over I had cupcakes for the students and elders with candles.  They loved singing happy birthday to Elder Daines.

That evening we went to Teboho's home and met his sweet family, where we joined the missionaries for their discussion on the Word of Wisdom.  They have to have a ward member there also as the wife speaks no English, only Sesuto.  When we go back there again I will get a picture of the family and their home and put it on another issue of our blog.  It was a sweet experience and they have committed to be baptized on September 23rd.

Sunday morning we went to Maseru where Wayne attended an Elders quorum meeting at 8:00 AM and then we headed out to Masianokeng to attend church there and then the baptism of two young men in the branch.  This branch is growing so rapidly.  When we first attended this branch almost three months ago there were very few there, the chapel is almost full now.  They will need to take the "speed up" away and construct a proper chapel before too long.

Elder Paulo (L) Elder Daines (r) Lefa Khotobane on back row (L) in white, Brother Solomon  and Bataung Mochaki on (r) the rest are branch members.