Catch-up Blog

Due to the crazy week we had before we left for Swaziland, I did not get the Blog published, much to Wayne's disappointment.  We had all the flat checks to do for our district plus we taught the final lesson to Norma Qwezi, and we prepared to teach the final Temple Preparation class to the two families in Maseru on Sunday. 

Norma Qwezi Majozi and Elder Holt.  She will be baptized January 27th, 2013

Sunday morning Wayne spoke in Maseru branch representing the district council.  He did a great job.  Once our meetings were finished we taught the temple prep class to the Nachappy family only because the other family wanted us to come to their house later to teach them.  So, once we finished the first class, we drove the Phusamane children and their dad home so we could teach the husband and wife the last lesson.  The wife wasn't there and so he asked us to come back at about 5:00.  We went back to the church to wait for the branches tithing settlement report that we were supposed to get to the district President.  They told us it would be ready when we got there, but alas - about 4 hours later - it was finally ready.  Consequently it was a very long day with lots of good teaching moments, but lots of waiting patiently as well.  We are learning a lot about patience on our mission. 

Once we got home I had to get packed up and then I also had some baking to do for our trip the next morning.  The Wyatt's came and stayed in Ladybrand so we could get an early start for Swaziland.  Their car was filled with supplies for a Seminary and Institute teacher training seminar and Opening social for the Seminary and Institute kids that would be held on December 15th.  They unloaded all of the manuals, books, game supplies, refreshments etc. in our living room in preparation for the next weekend.

We were up and ready to go very early the next morning loaded with a map, google map instructions and two GPS's.  Even with all of that - we still ended up on dirt roads - very lost.

Sister Wyatt, Barb and Wayne on the way to Swaziland - just a little lost

We finally arrived at Summerfield Botanical Garden Resort

The Summerfield Botanical Garden Resort was so beautiful and it was nice to be pampered a little with beautiful surroundings, delicious food and good friends.  The grounds were well groomed and manicured.  Beautiful trees, plants, and as seen in the photo below lots of peacocks.  There were even Momma peacocks with little baby chicks.  We were awakened each morning to the cries of the peacocks calling to each other.

This proud male peacock entertained us each morning as we ate our breakfast.

Each morning we ate our breakfasts outside beside the swimming pool, enjoying the beautiful surroundings.  Elder and Sister Lombardy, the mission couple in Swaziland very kindly took time on Tuesday morning to show us around Manzini and Ezuini.  They took us to outdoor markets, the silver smiths, and many other fun shopping places.  That evening they fed us a lovely supper at their home.  We spent a lovely evening visiting, comparing notes about our challenges in the mission field.  I decided that perhaps our little group of elders was not too bad, and I would stick with the challenges we are facing and leave them to theirs.

We were up by 5 AM the next morning to get to Hlane Game Park in hopes to go on a game drive.  Unfortunately we missed the first one, but did get to go on one a little later.  We didn't get to see any lions (lots of tracks in the wet earth though), but we did see elephants, rhinos, giraffes (from a distance), wildebeasts, impalas, baboons.

The elephants were having a good time with each other

The white rhinos were quite bashful

It was a cool morning, after a rainy night, and the Wyatt's and us were the only people on the game drive which was quite nice.  The guide tried really hard to find the lions.  We followed tracks for a long time, they had been very active according to the tracks, but we were unable to spot them.








The white rhinos were quite magnificent to see.  We got up quite close and enjoyed watching them.  We saw some hippos from a distance in a pond, but they would not come up out of the water.  We had to be content to watch them bob up and down occasionally.







That afternoon we visited the Manzini market where we bartered for nativity sets and other trinkets.  Wayne hated it, as every booth wanted you to buy from them.  After you had seen one or two booths, it became apparent that they all carried almost the same kinds of things.  We got what we came for and then got out of there.  We visited a few other fun places in Manzini where we bought some woven baskets, rugs, etc.  It was a fun day. That evening we met up with the Lombardy's and had them come to supper at the Resort with us and we had a great time.  The Lombardy's have 8 children.  Elder Lombardy was a school teacher and he retired just before they came on their mission.  Their youngest daughter and husband was arriving for Christmas in just a few days. They were so excited to have family coming for the holiday.

The next morning we visited a Swazi cultural centre.  We learned about their culture, how they built their homes, raised their families, bartered for their wives, etc.  When the children are six years old they leave their mothers hut and go to live in the children's hut.  The girls sleep in one hut and the boys sleep in another hut.  Because they do not keep track of how old they are in their culture, when a child can take their left arm and raise it over their head to touch their ear on the right side - that determines when they must leave their mothers hut.  Their culture believes that the man can have more than one wife, and a girlfriend too if he wants.  The men buy their wives with cows, generally 17 cows for one wife.  Once we went through the village tour, we were entertained by a group of singers and dancers.  They did a great job and it was so entertaining.

These are the singers and dancers.  They sang so beautifully.

They performed different dances and songs.  Some were about hunting, courting, etc. 

Dad and Elder Lombardy were picked to come up and dance with the men.

 Here are a few of the performers with us once it was all over. 
Sister Wyatt on the far right, Sister Lombardy and myself.

Elder Wyatt on the left, Dad and Elder Lombardy with some of the men performers.

 Not too far from the cultural centre was a beautiful water fall and a place for a barbeque and picnic spot.  This is a very lush tropical country.  Everything was so green and beautiful.

The trees had long vines hanging down from it.  We decided to play Tarzan and Jane. 








We then headed back to Lombardy's to get some materials that Dad needed to train an Elder to be a trainer to a new Elder.  Transfers happen this week and one of our Elders is going to get a brand new missionary.  We said goodby to the Lombardy's as they needed to get ready for their daughter to arrive the next day.

We spent the evening with the Wyatt's playing rook and visiting.  It has been a nice little break from our usual hectic time.  The next morning as we left our lovely accommodations and headed back to South Africa, back to our cell phones - and as soon as we crossed the border, the phones started ringing and life started to come crashing back upon us.  While we had been away, there had been a hail storm go through Lesotho killing many and destroying homes.  We will be working with the Church Humanitarian people again distributing blankets, meals and hygiene kits in the coming week.  We learned that one of our Elders was in an accident and wrecked the Bakkie (not his fault) and gratefully no one was hurt, but we need to get the bakkie in for repairs.  Also, same elder lost the cell phone and we would have to take a new cell phone into them. 

It was a 12 hour trip home, with road construction delays, rain storms etc.  We were very grateful to get home and ready for the next days activities.  We had agreed to help the Wyatt's with their Seminary and Institute opening social in Maseru.  We had prepared a game and they had some games planned.  We had about 26 kids there and they had a great time being together.

 In this game they had to place an oreo cookie on their forehead.  They then had to work the cookie down and into their mouths without using their hands.  Some of those kids got that cookie in so quickly and easily.  Others dropped it about 8 or 10 times before they finally got it in their mouths.

In this game, they used skewers and a plastic ball with holes in it.  They had to pass the ball from skewer to skewer without using their hands.  They had a great time playing these silly games, laughing and interacting with each other.  They also had a little devotional and then refreshments (juice and cookies).  Wyatts work so hard to get the teachers trained and the kids excited to come and participate in Seminary and Institute. 



It was great to be gone, but even better to get back.  This little retreat to this lovely resort was my birthday gift and our Christmas gift to each other.  We feel refreshed and ready to get back into the thick of the work that needs to be done.  We love our service here in South Africa.  It is not always easy and sometimes it can become very frustrating, but in the end we know it is where we are to be, and we are doing what we are to be doing.  We are looking forward to going to Bloemfontein on Wednesday to pick up Inge and Lida.  I am afraid we will be putting them to work as we prepare for the Elder's Christmas party on Saturday and also the blanket and hygiene kit delivery into Lesotho.  We also look forward to going to the Johannesburg Temple in January with the two families we have prepared to take out their endowments. 

We love you all and appreciate your thoughts and prayers in our behalf.  Thanks again for the pictures, phone calls and face-time visits. 

Love Mom and Dad

"CES Continues"

A view on the road to Fouriesburg in South Africa.  The rain has made things very green.

This is our picture of the week.  All the rain we had last week has greened things up very beautifully.  We are in for more rain this coming weekend.  You can see part of that land is almost ready to harvest.

I ended last weeks blog on Monday - telling about the breakfast "big feed" for 8 elders from Maseru.  A high suctioned vacuum couldn't have cleaned things up any better.  As soon as they left, I started  cooking again.  I had to make cookies for Elder Dickerson (he wanted to deliver them to a family who had been very kind to he and his companion) and a big pan of brownies for ZTM the next morning.

Tuesday morning we headed into Maseru loaded with barbequed beef on a bun, chips, fresh fruit salad and the brownies for desert.  We attended the ZTM meeting with the elders and then fed them lunch.  We again brought nothing home.  Kalani and Isaac, I am just banking mission blessings for you - in hopes that when you get in the mission field some loving mission couple will feed you well on our behalf.

After we finished cleaning up that little mess, we headed over to the old Maseru flat to finally hand over the keys to the property managers.  They tried to make us think that the keys were missing for two of the doors - keys that had been there the day before.  Then they were trying to say that we had damaged the walls in the living room and they would need to be painted.  They are very tricky and very dishonest unfortunately.  I know that they were trying to get more money from our damage deposit.  I am very glad to be done with that flat.

Tuesday evening I got a call from an Elder in Qwa Qwa who was suffering miserably from a terrible rash.  So, Wednesday morning I was up by 5 AM to make muffins to take to the Elders DDM.  We headed for Bethlehem by 7:00 AM to meet the Elders at the medi-clinic for him to be looked at.  After a shot, a pill for de-worming, and a prescription cream for a fungal rash we headed back to Ficksburg to teach our dear friend Norma Qwezi.  We have set a baptismal date for January 27th, 2013.  She will head home this weekend to her home in the Durban area and won't be back until January 13th.  We are hoping by then she will have her passport so she can get to church in Leribe with Sister Cadribo.  She is such a sweet, good person.  We love the time that we spend with her teaching her the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She is like a sponge, soaking up the truths.

On the way home we turned off the highway at a place called Cloclan and headed across country looking for the feed lot that our butcher buys his beef from.  It is a huge operation and Wayne wanted to see it.  Here are a few pictures that we took.  You could smell it long before you could see it.  Trust me.

Just one of many feed lot pens

This ladies job all day is to sweep up around the pens.

These are grain fed cows and make for nice prime rib roast beef!

 This last month has been a very expensive month as we moved four elders into two new flats and received two new elders into the Masianokeng boarding.  We had to purchase new fridges, microves, beds, couches, bedding, drapes, kitchen tools etc.  Consequently, it took me the next two days to get all the financials ready to submit for month end.  This is one part of the mission that is definitely not my favorite, however, it gets easier each month.

On Thursday evening, as we were saying out night prayers, we heard a car outside our flat.  It turned out that it was President Monesa, the branch president for Maseru.  This branch President has been very resistant to our help, and very distrusting of us.  He came in, sat down and visited for two hours.  He had asked us a few months ago to teach a marriage class at a couples retreat between Christmas and New Years, which we said we would do of course.  He was also asking a pastor from another church to come and do a seminar.  Wayne and I were both very uneasy about this.  We asked him where he was getting the money to do this little retreat and he said that the District was paying for it.  We spoke with the District Presidency about it and shared our concerns and gratefully the district no longer had the funds to pay for this retreat.  When President Monesa came to talk to us Thursday night he asked us if we would teach a marriage class to the members of his branch on a weekly basis.  We feel this is a much better solution to his problem and of course agreed.  So, in the new year we will be busy preparing for this new responsibility.  We were also encouraged by President Monesa's desire to come and visit with us.  We have been praying and fasting for help to gain his trust and friendship.  It seems like the Lord is answering our prayers.

Saturday I was able to spend some time getting all the Elder's Christmas gifts put together and wrapped up.  I also got one more baby quilt all ready to tie - just in case.  I borrowed Sister Wyatt's sewing machine and I am going to have to return it this week, so I wanted to make good use of it before it had to go back home.

Just want to let those of you who donated to the missionaries Christmas presents know how much they will appreciate your generosity.  As I have been doing mending for these Elders, and as I see the condition of some of the clothes that they come out with - the new shirts, socks and ties that you have made possible for them, will be greatly appreciated.

Sunday morning we went to Masianokeng to church.  It had been raining for two days and Sunday was a downpour.  It greatly affected the number of saints at church that morning as they have no way to get there unless they walk.  It was cold, windy and wet.  Because it had rained for two days, everything was very muddy.  However, fast and testimony meeting was still great and the testimonies born were sweet and powerful.  Right after the block they had a baptism.  Liako Elizabeth Matala and Nkhati Mohau Grace Kele were baptized.  Wayne had interviewed with these two sisters the week before and I had been asked to speak on Baptism at this event.  Liako Matala has been quite ill for sometime and is still not very good.  She will see a doctor and get a chest x-ray in about 10 days and then perhaps she will know what is wrong.  She is in a lot of pain and is unable to eat very well.  We hope she will get some relief.  Her son was able to baptize her and Elder Kiyimba baptized Grace.  It is so funny to watch these Lesotho people be baptized, because none of them have ever been in that much water before, and certainly never immersed themselves in water.  As they come up out of the water after being baptized they are spitting and sputtering.  It takes a great deal of faith for them to submit to being immersed in water.  After the baptism we hurried back to the Maseru chapel as Wayne had the opportunity to confer the Melchazediek Priesthood on an Elder in that branch.

Back row - Elder Kiyamba, Nkhati Grace Kele, Liako Matala, Solomon (her son) Elder Mukuusi, Elder Daines (front row)

Sister Holt (Left) Nkhati Grace Kele, Liako Matala, Solomon, Elder Holt and a sister who is preparing to serve a mission

 Monday morning started out beautifully, I was hoping for the morning to do some laundry, cleaning and to bake a batch of cookies for Elder Dube.  He had given me a recipe that he asked me to make for him.  I had also decided to make my first attempt at a pie here in South Africa.  I had been unable to find any lard, but after inquiring I found a product that they said they used.  While I was getting started on all these projects, I got a call from Elder Steed and he said they were coming into Ladybrand and did I need to have them stop by for anything?  So...... everything got put on hold while we made them lunch.  I did manage to get Elder Dube's biscuits made (biscuits are cookies here) and I put raspberry jam in the middle of some and I dipped some in some Calebaut chocolate.  Needless to say they loved the ones dipped in Calebaut chocolate.  The Elders came prepared to stay for a while cause they brought their Phase 10 cards and even got Elder Holt to join in a round or two.

Once they left, I got the apple pie finished and then hurried out to get the finishing touches on two Christmas missionary packages that had to go back with President and Sister Vonstetten to be shipped to these elders that serve in the far reaches of the mission.  Again, thanks to the families generosity in financial donations, we were able to make these elders a happy Christmas surprise.

We then headed into Maseru to pick up a final water bill to submit to the Durban Mission office and then hurried over to the church to open up the church for President Von Stetten to meet with two perspective missionaries.  One is a Senior Sister, my dear friend Ikaleng Kato, and the other is a young man.  President Von Stetten had been held up at the border (first of the month line-up) so he was about an hour behind schedule.  Then as he was driving from Leribe to Maseru he got run off the road by a car trying to pass when it was not safe to do so.  Fortunately, there was no damage to car and only minimal damage to the heart. 

After he finished with the interviews, President and Sister Von Stetten invited us to dinner.  We went to a lovely Pursian restaurant in Maseru and we had a lovely meal and a good visit.  He has given us a solution to our passport problem and so there will be some rather drastic changes to our assignment in March - more about that later.

Elder Daines in Qwa Qwa who is being released this month to go home, just before Christmas.  Unfortunately he is an Elder who has had his bags packed for a long time and so has not been very productive.  He will return home to Zimbabwe

Beautiful summer time photo in South Africa

By Canadian Standards it is very late in the season to be planting, but here in South Africa they seem to plant in a staggered system.  Some crops are almost ready to come off, but they are still planing others.  It gives me hope that summer will be around for a long time.

In conclusion, we are healthy, happy and hopeful.  Hopeful that we will be able to accomplish all that the Lord asks us to do.  Happy to serve and grateful for the health that the Lord continues to bless us with.  We go to bed so tired at night, thinking that there is no possible way we can do it again in the morning, but miraculously throughout the night our bodies and minds are rejuvenated and when the sun comes up in the morning we are ready to go again.  The power of prayer!

Know that you are in our prayers constantly.  We love you all and are so grateful for your calls, pictures and updates.  We miss you, especially at this special time of year, but are grateful that we are kept busy serving others, for it does not give us much opportunity to feel sorry for ourselves.  We can hardly wait for Dec. 19th when Inge and Lida will come to visit.  We are so excited to show them this beautiful country and introduce them to these wonderful people.  Stay faithful and close to your Heavenly Father.  Kalani and Isaac - do all you can now to prepare for your missionary service.  It is amazing to me to see how prepared some Elders are, and how unprepared others are.  Learn to cook, mend, and see the needs of others and be willing to meet those needs.  Of course, continue to study your scriptures, and attend seminary. You will be a powerful tool in the Lord's hands if you will but do that.  If you can just make a batch of cookies or brownies, have three or four dinner recipes in your bag of tricks, if you are called to serve in a country like Africa you will not starve.  There is no such thing as a DA (dinner appointment) here - trust me. 

Till next time
Mom and Dad