A Most unusual Christmas

It has been a few weeks since I have had an opportunity to sit down and update our blog.  First of all, thank you Annie Holt for noticing that I have not done it.  Sometimes I think that I am doing this blog just for our mission diary, that no one even reads it.  However, she sent me an e-mail and asked if I would be sure to send another blog entry.  So, just for you Annie - here you go.  My last entry was Dec. 16th, the day before my birthday.  On my birthday we spend the day running around like crazy trying to round up 400 more blankets and the supplies for 200 hygiene kits.  There had been another disaster in Lesotho that the Humanitarian department was providing these supplies for.  Elder Eggett and a Elder and Sister Da Bell (I think it is your Dad's cousin Brittany) were arriving on the 18th to do all the purchasing.  We then spent all day Tuesday meeting with the Red Cross people and then purchasing all the supplies.  I had put a roast beef dinner in the oven before leaving so that I could feed all these people at the end of the day. This was the day before mission transfers and late in the afternoon Wayne had to leave unexpectedly to drive up to Leribe with the passport for one of the Elders being transferred that got left in the Bakkie that was crashed and parked in Maseru.  So, I then had to drive the wrecked bakkie from Maseru to our flat while Wayne headed up to Leribe.  While Elder Egget and the Da Bell's finished purchasing the hygiene kit supplies I ran home to get the dinner on the table.  It was a crazy day.  The next morning we headed to Bloemfontein to pick up Lida and Inge who were arriving from Stirling and Holland.

The weary travelers. 

We then spent the next two days getting ready for the Elders Christmas party here at our flat.  I was cooking turkeys, baking rolls, etc. .  We did take a little time to get the kinks out of Lida and Inge's legs and took a hike up to little rock.  Wayne had to take the Bakkie to Bethlehem, so we went without him.

Inge and Lida couldn't get over how warm and sunny it was. 

After we got cleaned up we went to "Living Life" for lunch.  It was delicious.    The next day we cooked another turkey, Inge made her almond cakes for the Elders desert and I made the icing for the Elders to ice the 10 dozen sugar cookies I made on the Monday.  We filled the 16 stockings I had previously sewed for the Elders.  We stuffed them with candy bars, tooth brushes, new socks, cookies, candy etc.  I had previously wrapped a remote control car for each elder so they would have a toy to play with. That night we relaxed and played games in preparation for the big day on Saturday.

Inge and I filling the Elders Christmas stockings.

The Elders arrived bright and early Saturday morning and enjoyed hanging out here, icing the cookies to deliver in their areas.  Each bag of iced cookies had a pass along card taped on the back so they could contact the elders if they were interested in learning more.

The Elders icing the sugar cookies.  Thanks Britt for the recipe.  They were delicious!

They played donkey, wacky six, phase 10.  Lida even joined in.  The Elders showed her no mercy however!

We sang Christmas Carols with Elder Daines accompanying us.

We had Living Life serve a delicious Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings.  My flat would just not hold 20 of us and all the turkeys to feed this many hungry elders.

 Little boys do love their toys.  These Elders loved their remote control cars.  They took them to the basketball court and had races, obstacle courses etc.  There were prizes for the winners and losers. 

 Here they are, all lined up for the final derby.  Some were very proficient at racing and some who have never even driven a car before struggled a little.  However, everybody had a great time. 

They then came back to the flat and watched the mission video produced by the AP's.  They laughed and laughed at themselves.

Then, as men will, they had to show who was the strongest, toughest & most manly!

 Then the elders all went over to the soccer field for a little soccer game.  While they were there it started to pour (rain) and they came home sopping wet.  I had all the fixings set out for turkey bunwiches and lunch fixings for their ride back home.  They put together their own lunches, loaded up in their bakkies and headed back to their areas.  They had a great day and we were happy to have provided a fun Christmas experience for them. 





Gratefully the next day was Sunday.  We took Lida and Inge into Maseru to church.  They had a nice service.  Inge met Motopela Nthabiseng, a young girl who is trying to get through high school but has no money for tuition.  Inge's sister Angelique and neices have sponsored her tuition for this next year so she can go to school.

 Motopela just cried when she found out she was going to be able to go to school again in January.  She had just about given up hope.  She is a hard worker, a very sweet young lady, and so diligent about attending church and institute every week.  Thanks Angelique and girls for your generosity to this young Sister. 

After church we took Lida and Inge sight seeing around Maseru and showed them a little of the Lesotho life.  Some of it was a little disturbing to them as it is hard to see such poverty.

We came home and had our supper and then decided to open our Christmas presents as we were leaving early in the morning to go to Nambiti.  We read the story of the birth of the Savior in Luke.  Reminded ourselves of the great gift that was given to us all that special Christmas night. 

We drove to Bethlehem so that Lida and Inge could say that they went to Bethlehem on Christmas of 2012.  We then headed on to Ladysmith where we dropped off some presents for some elders there that had been sent to us by mistake.  Then headed on to Nambiti, a beautiful game reserve.  They greeted us there with wash clothes to wash the dust off our hands and faces from our journey.  We were then shown to our rooms.

This is what our room looked like from the outside.  You were off in the woods, you couldn't see anyone elses rooms from your windows.  It was like you were all by yourselves.

This is the bedroom part of the room.  When you come back from the game drive at night the nets are all down, the beds are turned down and there is a chocolate on each pillow. 

This is the bathroom.  The tub is on the other side of the room and the shower is on the left of this picture.  There is also an outside shower.  Everything was very lovely.  They do not even have keys to lock the door as they are so far away from everyone that there is not a problem with theft.  Very unusual in this country.





We were served a lovely lunch out on the patio.  Then at 4:30 we went for a game drive.  We were entertained with a lightning and thunder show that was unforgettable.  It was so beautiful.  There was not a lot of animal sightings as it was raining quite hard.  We however were snuggled under raincoats and blankets and were thoroughly enjoying the whole experience.  Once we got back to the lodge we were fed a lovely Christmas eve dinner.  We all went to bed early that night as we were to be wakened at 5:00 AM the next morning to be on the road by 5:30 to see the animals.

There is only room for a small number of guests at this lodge.  This was the group staying there over Christmas.  Inge, myself, Wayne, Lida, John and Nicola from Johannesburg, Lindsey, Philippa & Chatto from London.  We had a wonderful time getting to know these people and thoroughly enjoyed this very different way to spend Christmas.  It was very nice, as I hardly had a chance to feel sorry for myself being so far away from family.  I am sure that we will never again spend Christmas in this way.  What an adventure.

We were given a special gift that afternoon by the lodge to go to the Cheetah Breeding Project.  Cheetah's are on the endangered species list and so this group is breeding cheetahs, taking the babies away from their mothers at a few months old, then they teach them to hunt and when they are ready, then release them back into the wild.  They are very tame for a certain period of time, as you can see here.  But once they get older their natural tendencies come into the fore and you are no longer able to pet them like this.

During the game drives we were fortunate enough to see zebras, giraffes, elephants, hippo's, rhino's, wildabeasts, water bucks, impala, kudu, cheetah, leopard and buffalo.   Our game driver was Geoffrey and he was very knowledgeable and good to find the animals and get us up close and personal.  We had a great time.  Christmas eve we were served a most delicious dinner of kudu, goose and ham.  Truly we were spoiled royally.

We are looking forward to taking Spencer, Brittany, Rod and Michelle to this same reserve in a few weeks time when they come to visit us here in South Africa.  I hope we are as lucky to see all the "big five" when you come!

These are two male lions (brothers) and we also saw their sister at the same time.  They were trying to hunt down an impala, however the impala caught sight of them and got away.  They truly are the King of the beasts.  Quite magnificent to see.

This is our view of the week.  This was a sight on our way home from the game park.  We stayed that night in Fouriesburg, a little town just outside of Golden Gate Park.  As this blog is getting large and cumbersome, I am going to close it for tonight and pick it up again tomorrow night for the "rest of the story".  So stay tuned and I will finish our adventures tomorrow.  Love you all

Mom and Dad.