Pay Back

As you will recall, a few weeks ago, the Assistants to the President's played a little trick on Elder Holt and put this rhino horn on the front of his car.  They really hoped that he would not notice and that he would drive around with it on, that the President would see and wouldn't care, and then they could put one on their van.  However, they did not realize that not much gets past Elder Holt..... he of course noticed right away.  Party pooper that he is - he removed it right away.  But we had to find a way to get back at the AP's.  Soooo..... this is what we did.

When they came out Friday night, this is how their van looked.  Just a slight misplacement of rhino horns.  We do what we can to cheer up the Assistant's day.  They are extremely busy this weekend getting ready for the transfer this coming week.  Having a brand new mission President means that they have to do the transfer pretty much on their own.  That is a lot of pressure and responsibility.  They will do a great job I am sure.

On Saturday, July 13th, Teddy and Kathy asked us if we wanted to drive to Margate with them to spend the day.  Margate is about two hours South of Durban right on the coast.  Of course we said yes and they picked us up at 8AM ready for a fun day.  We had breakfast on the Durban beach, enjoying the sun and ocean breeze.  Before we left Durban we walked along the beach a little and walked out on the peer to watch the fishermen fish from the pier.  That is quite a sight.

The pier was so crowded with men with their poles, bait, and fish.  Teddy was almost giddy with excitement just being down there amongst them.  He is an avid fisherman and loves to fish.  As a matter of fact, that was one of the reasons that he wanted to go to Margate - to check his boat.  He has his boat stored down at Margate.  It was a perfect day for fishing and there were many on the pier trying to get their share of the catch.

This small shark and this basket of fish were some fishermans catch so far that morning.  What we saw being caught wasn't large, but it was quite plentiful.  As you can see, they use huge fishing poles which seems a little inconsistent with the size of the fish being caught.  However, I am very ignorant in the sport of fishing in the ocean, so ..........  They were all having a great time however.

I included this picture from that day to remind my children of their walk on this beach during their visit to the beautiful city of Durban in February.  This is how it looks in the winter early on a Saturday morning. 

Just before we got to the town of Margate we stopped at the place where Teddy stores his boat.  He calls his boat "God's Ocean"  He is very proud of his boat.  However, his wife informed us that he hasn't had it on the ocean in a couple of years and she thinks he ought to sell it.  Teddy however is not ready to part with his "toy".  The town of Margate is very much a tourist town.  It stays alive only by the visitors that come to stay.  There are all kinds of hotels and condo's all along the beaches that are rented out to tourists.  We have two Elder's in Margate and a nice little branch.

This is the Margate pier.  It was also loaded with fisherman that day.  All of them out hoping to get a great catch.  We wandered on the pier and then along the beach and supported the vendors by buying some beautiful big avacados, and oranges that were grown locally.  They were also selling sugar cane, bananas, lemons and of course the usual trinkets.  Oh yes, many of the women's had bags of nuts (macadamias) that they were cracking open and then putting in bags and selling.  They were delicious and very cheap considering what we have to pay for them at home.

We had a great day with Teddy and Kathy on the South Coast in the town of Margate.  They are great friends and we enjoyed getting to know them better. 
Sunday morning we were up and going early as we had to get to Stanger for church.  Stanger is about an hour north of Durban.  Wayne was doing his High Council talk there.  This "little" branch has a very lovely chapel and was one of the warmest and most friendly branches we have had the opportunity to visit in South Africa.  We were absolutely "embraced" from the moment we got there.  This branch consists of a couple of white families (older) and some Indian families and some Zulu families.  Wayne did a great job of his talk of course and everyone expressed their thanks for his message.  The classes were well taught with lots of participation by everyone there.  When there are only a few there - everyone has to participate.  I was very impressed with the feeling of love that was in that branch.  After the block we went over to the Elder's flat to do a flat check.  They had it cleaned up very well.  Elder Smith and Elder Daniel are doing a great job in Stanger and are helping to strengthen the branch and make it grow.

This has been a very interesting week.  For some reason, some of our Elder's who do not have a drivers license have decided that they should be able to drive anyway.  Two non-driving African Elder's (one in Dundee and one in Kwamashu) took the car and went driving. Both of them had unhappy endings and crashed the cars.  Disobedience never was happiness!  Because these elders do not have drivers licenses, insurance will not cover the cost of repairing these vehicles.  Unfortunately these Elder's cannot just write home and get the money from their families to pay for the repairs.  So, I suppose that sacred tithing money will have to cover the repairs for these foolish elders choices.  We have also had side-swiped cars and mirrors broken off cars, cars that would not start, cars that tried to go through a cement culvert, and the list goes on and on.  Wayne's job is never ending.  We keep Teddy rich with all the work we give him to get the cars repaired.  Poor President Zackrison has had his eyes opened this week to the challenges of being a mission President.  It will be interesting to see how he deals with the consequences of some of these Elder's choices.

 At 4:00 AM on Thursday morning we were awakened by a terrible noise outside our window.  It was the mongoose.  They were upset by something and were squawking terribly. The noise they make sounds like Donald Duck trying to talk.  We couldn't see them because it was too dark but they were so noisy no one could sleep.  However once the sun came up there they were.  Also, the monkeys were out in abundance.  We got out some bananas and threw them from our windows to the monkeys.  They could catch them in the air and pretty soon we had a mess of monkeys and mongoose all wanting to be fed.  One cheeky monkey climbed right up onto the roof beside our window to get closer to getting the good bananas and oranges that we were tossing them.  Sister Stark who lives just above us, was also throwing out pieces of apple to the gathered animals outside. 

Yesterday was the "Meet and Greet" Openhouse for President & Sister Zackrison.  President Von Stetten asked me to organize and facilitate this event.  I sent out invitations to both Durban Stake Presidencies and their wives and also both Stake patriarchs and their wives.  I ordered all of the food and then got it all set up ready to go.  Also yesterday we had a new senior missionary couple arrive.  We met them at the office to orient them and then take them to their new flat.  Wayne and I picked them up and took them to the Openhouse so they could meet the Stake Presidencies and patriarchs as they are the CES missionaries and will be working very closely with these people getting Seminary and Institute functioning fully in the these two stakes as well as in Swaziland and also the Newcastle and Ladysmith areas.  The Sutherlands seem like a great couple and I am sure will do a great job.  We also picked them up this morning to take them to church with us.  Since it was Ward conference in the Bluff ward we went out there to attend their meetings.  It was a great Ward conference and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the youth and their leaders in that Ward.  The Sutherlands also went with us to the Young Men's, Young Women's meetings as they will be working closely with them in Seminary and Institute.  After the block they served a dinner to the whole Ward and visiting Stake Presidency and Stake auxilaries.  We also enjoyed our time in the Bluff ward - they were very warm and welcoming.  Their meetings and classes are more like what we are used to back home - quite a good functioning ward.  It has been a full day!

This is just outside the mission office with the Murdock's.  Sister Murdock had her appendix rupture a few days after this picture was taken.  She was filled with infection and is slowly recovering.  She came very close to not making it.  We are grateful the Lord is blessing her recovery.

Now it is time to bring you up to date on what has been happening with our family.

 Inge has been on vacation and has stopped in to visit Spencer's family.  It is Sunday morning and they are ready to go to church. 

 Sunday dinner at the Holt's.  I gotta admit this one made me a little homesick.

 Michelle and Mealii have been in Richmond Virginia where Mealii participated in the National Finals.  They lost in the final game which was very disappointing for them.  But we are very proud of them for making it all the way to the finals!  Good job Mealii.  You will be glad to hear that she laid out a few players with her great skills.  She will never back off from a ball and is a ferocious competitor.  We are proud of you Mealii!  She heads this week to a BYU soccer camp in Provo.  Inge is picking up Keola and Le'olani in Vegas and bringing them to Jody's house where they will meet up with Michelle and Mealii.  It is always fun to go to Aunt Jody's house.  We will be with you all next year.

Kalani had a big day on Friday.  He, his sister and about 8 of his friends managed to complete his Eagle Scout project.  It was the culmination of a lot of work, raising the funds to purchase the chips for this school playground, then they had the work of getting all the chips spread. 

Here is the complete work crew.  However, it does not show the "Mom".  Michelle provided the crew with pizza, blond brownies and cowboy cookies to keep them all fed and motivated to get the job completed.  

Good work Kalani!  You have completed your Eagle Scout!!!! We are so proud of your accomplishment. 

We know that Rod and Jenn are up to their eyeballs in preparations for their big Stake event.  They are re-enacting the life of Joseph Smith and Rod is playing the part of Joseph and Jenn is Emma.  We are looking forward to getting pictures of this event as it transpires. 


It is getting time once again to say goodbye to some of our favorite missionaries and hello to some brand new ones.  Transfers will happen this week.  We will fill you all in on this event on our next edition of our blog.  We love you all and are so thankful for your e-mails and pictures.  Your e-mails keep us informed of things that are going on in the Ward back home and we so appreciate it.  We are growing with the challenges that we are facing and are learning that the only thing constant in a mission is change. 

We love you all

Wayne and Barb

President's first week!

Welcome back to the next episode of the Holt's adventure in South Africa!


Even though it is winter - there is always beauty abounding.

 President and Sister Zackrison are complete opposites to our past President.  Time does not mean too much to them and they do not arrive in the office till about 10 AM and so far they do not stay very late.  I am sure they are still trying to adjust to the jet lag etc. so the jury is still out on this one.  Punctuality is not nearly as important either.  Tuesday was the Zackrison's anniversary and so they went for a late lunch and spent some time together Tuesday afternoon.  Sister Zackrison comes into the office everyday with the President and she has a desk set up in his office for her to work at.

 Thursday and Friday President and Sister Zackrison interviewed all the Elder's on the coast.  This turned out to be very long days for them.  They did not finish until about 7 PM both days.  Then, Saturday morning they were to leave to tour the mission and interview the rest of the elders throughout the mission.  They did not get away as soon as they were supposed to, so I am sure they were quite late getting to Richard's Bay and then Swazi land.  I feel a little bit sorry for Sister Lombardi as she had an open house planned for President & Sister Zackrison in Swazi to meet with the district Presidencies there and I am sure that they did not get there in time to meet or greet them.  Then, I found out this morning that the hotel that I had reserved for the President and his wife to stay in said that someone called and cancelled their reservations and so they did not have a place to stay and ended up staying with the Lombardi's.  I will get to the bottom of that one tomorrow as I had reserved it with a credit card so, even if they got there late it still should have been available for them. 

Monday at noon I took Sister Zackrison to Victoria Market with Sister Murdock (she was visiting from Johannesburg).  She had been very ill all weekend and they weren't sure what was wrong - they did not discover until Thursday evening that her appendix had ruptured and they had to do emergency surgery to remove it and clean up the mess inside.  She will be in the hospital for a few days.  Sister Zackrison enjoyed the market and found a lovely ostrich egg for the President for their anniversary. 

As Wayne goes for his walk in the morning this is a sight that he sees.  In the background you can see a beautiful home, just below it on the hillside was some empty land.  People have come in and put up temporary housing out of left over scraps and garbage and because the land owner was not making good use of the land, the people who have squatted there have a legal right to come in and use the land to live on. Doesn't do much for property values.   

On Thursday morning, Wayne left work to run an errand, outside on his car he found this lovely rhino horn.  The AP's had bought this (a fund raiser to help save the Rhinos) and wanted to put it on their van, but didn't think the President would approve, so they put it on Wayne's car hoping he wouldn't notice.  Of course he saw it right away.  They were so disappointed that he removed it.  Needless to say we have a plan to get them back.  We will execute it when they get back from their mission tour with the President!!

Thursday evening about 6:30 we get a call from some Elder's who had been sitting in their car listening to music and as a result had run their battery down so their car would not start.  So Wayne had to go over to the mission home garage where he keeps a spare battery, and he also got some jumper cables and some tools and then headed out to Kwamashu to rescue the knuckle headed disobedient missionaries.  He was prompted to bring all the above mentioned tools and so he was able to get them fixed up and on their way again.  Disobedient elders not only hurt themselves, but they cause all kinds of grief to others as well.

Friday night we had been invited over to Teddy and Kathy Pallay's home for supper.  They are the Indian family that have been so kind to us.  Teddy repairs all of the mission vehicles.  They had invited the Mission President and the Stark's as well, but it was Stark's 50th wedding anniversary that night so they declined the invitation, and then about 3 PM that afternoon the President called and asked Sister Stark to call Kathy and tell her that they couldn't make it.  As a result it was only the Holt's that went.  We had a great time.  Kathy had been cooking for two days preparing this traditional Indian feast.  She was very kind though and tempered the temperature of the food so that we could enjoy it.  It was delicious.  Then we sat around and visited with their family till about 9:30.  Their grandson just snuggled up to Wayne and talked his ear off.  Teddy and Kathy could not believe it because he is usually very shy and not very friendly to strangers.  They sent us home with lots of left overs which we have been enjoying.

 Saturday afternoon the monkeys came once again to visit.  I am much smarter these days though and so far they have not been back in our flat.  It is fun to watch them in the yard though and enjoy their very human like actions. 

 You can hear them scampering across the roof of the building.  They are always looking for something to eat.

 They will sit on the fence or on our brick wall and watch us.  They won't let us get close though - if you try they scamper away.  They do like it if you set out food though, and once you back off they will come in and get it.

Most night these two little gecko's visit our living room and bedroom windows.  We leave the curtains open and the lights on.  The bugs are attracted to the lights and then these cute little critters come and make the bugs their lunch.  They provide us with lots of entertainment in the evenings.

 Monday was the first of July - this is the 2nd "First of July" parade we have missed on mission.  Rod sent these fun pictures to update us.  Jenn was on a float as it was her High School reunion this year.  The kids collected plenty of candy as usual.  Once the parade was over the Rod Holt family loaded up their van and headed to Denver to spend the week with Michelle and Kaleo and family.  I have to admit we were feeling a little sorry for ourselves, knowing we were missing out on the good time.  Oh well, next year!

 Pretty cute cousins.  They had a great time watching the parade together, and then had a very long all night drive to Denver.  I am sure they were glad to finally get there.

 Once they arrived in Denver, they were good to keep us posted with pictures of their fun activities.  They went to "Pirates Cove" the water park and had a great day on the water slides etc.  Jackson and Lincoln and Jenn, gearing up for a fun day in the sun.

 A bevy of beauties.  Gracey, Leo'lani and Sidney.  Great memories!

 Then it was July 4th.  Michelle provided great back yard water games at her house for their friends and then they went over to the Tenny's for a great July 4th picnic.  They played "corn hole" all afternoon and I understand that Kaleo and Rod pretty much ruled the day.  Keola is getting so grown up and beautiful.

 Mealii looks like she was judging the shot here.  All in all the Holt's and Enos families had a great time on July 4th in Denver.  Rod made an apple and a strawberry pie and also oreo cookie cheese cake to take to the party.  They were a hit!

Leo'lani looks like she is enjoying the water fun at Pirates cove.  We miss you all and wish we could have joined you.

Spencer's family were in Idaho with the DaBell family enjoying a fun time there.

This morning everyone was heading back home once again - so they can begin work again on Monday morning.

We want to say thanks to you all for including us by sending us pictures and sharing your fun time together.  Next July we will be altogether at Aspen Grove enjoying some family time together!!  Can't wait!

We love you all and are so thankful for your prayers on our behalf.  We feel grateful for the many blessings the Lord continues to pour out on us and on each of our children and their families.   Our new mission President will lead this mission with a new fervor and will direct the work with the Lord's direction and we are looking forward to being a part of this work, helping it move forward.

The Holt's