I cannot believe that another week has come and gone and I am back at the computer doing yet another blog. Each week goes faster than the one before. It came time this week to request our travel plans for going home. So..... I submitted our request and two days later our flight itinerary arrived. We will arrive in Calgary on December 1st at 5:30 PM. We look forward to meeting Rod and whoever else wants to come at the airport. Rod says that he will meet us and drive us home that night. We are very excited and looking forward to that day. However, we will be leaving a part of our heart here in this very beautiful country with these wonderful people. We feel so blessed to have the Lord trust us with this work here and will remember with great love and affection our time here. The first half of our mission taught us so much as we served with the wonderful saints in Lesotho and the free state. We learned to step outside our comfort zone, to do things we didn't think we could do, to give of ourselves as we never had before. Then we had the opportunity to move to Durban and had a chance to grow even more as we learned to work in new capacities with new people. However, each step we took and each place we went the Lord was watching over us, directing us and helping us as we helped his children. A mission teaches us so much!
This has been a hallmark week - no accidents! Now I know I am tempting the fates when I state that, but it has not been without incidents. We had two elders held at knife point and they were told to hand over their cell phones. Normally a set of elders only has one phone, but for some reason this set of elders had the other set of elders cell phone too. (they live in the same flat) So, the thieves got two cell phones, and when they were running away with the cell phones they turned around and yelled "these are junk phones". However, they took them anyway and so Wayne had to arrange to get two new cell phones and then get their cell phone numbers swapped to two new sim cards. That was a very frustrating few days for him as he fought with Vodacom and the area office. Wayne will not miss this headache when he goes home - for sure.
We have spent a busy week preparing for the arrival of Elder Bednar next month. The mission president wants to bring all of our missionaries in (140) to Durban for this meeting. The logistics of this are huge and so we have been busy pricing out charter busses, etc., how to feed 140 elders and 30 mission couples, etc. etc. We are still trying to get permission from the church to even do it as we were given the directive that only the Elders on the coast could come, but......
We have also learned that we are going to receive 6 new missionaries this Wednesday that were supposed to go to Kenya, but now they are coming to Durban. We have to find 6 new trainers, three new flats, three new phones, 3 cars or 6 bikes, and on and on. Next month, two weeks after our regular transfer, we will be receiving 4 more new elders that were supposed to go to Zimbabwe that do not have VISAs. Life in the mission field is never boring.
Summer has arrived in Durban and we see new flowers and trees in bloom everyday. This little bush in our front yard has white and purple flowers on it. It is starting to get quite warm and we are soon going to have to work harder and harder to keep our apartment cool. Gratefully this flat has an air conditioner in the bedroom, so at least at night we can be cool enough to get a good nights sleep. It is getting light earlier and earlier in the morning and stays light a little longer into the evening.
We were invited yesterday to Jordan's 20th birthday party. He still lives at home with his Mom and Dad and they were having a braii for his birthday party. We arrived at about 1:30 in the afternoon. There was such a flurry of activity going on - there were painters painting the outside of this house, the cleaning lady was cleaning the inside, they have been redoing the kitchen in this house and painting the whole inside as well. Everything was turned upside down and yet they were still having a party for a large group of people. Poor Kathy (the mom) was almost beside herself, trying to host this party and deal with the mess.
This is a group of Jordan's friends and cousins. They were all there having a great time together and enjoying some good food and fun. Jordan had his girlfriend Davina there as well.
This is Teddy, the braii master. He cooked up a storm yesterday with mutton chops, steak and of course sausage. Kathy had made potato salad (more like mashed potatoes) and then a carrot and onion salad as well. Then they had spicy beans to go with it. All of this was eaten with your hands. They asked me if I wanted utensils and I asked them if they were going to use them and they said "no" - so I said "no" too. You would have been so proud of me - eating everything that was offered - and with my fingers!
This is Kathy and her sister Rhumba. Rhumba lives right next door to Kathy and Teddy. How lucky is that - to live next door to your sister! Rhumba has their Mom living with her - as well as Rhumba's son, wife and their son. They are lovely people and we have so enjoyed getting to know them and spend time with them.
Here is all the young people enjoying the good food and fun. Jordan is standing behind his girlfriend on the right.
As we were driving home we passed the local muffler shop. These are all your choices of mufflers available that day at this shop. You pull in and they go to work replacing your muffler.
Only if Africa!
Today at church we had to say goodbye to one of the sisters in the KwaMashu branch - Sister Kamayou - she leaves this week to go into the mission field. I didn't get a picture of her, but she is one very sharp young lady and will be such an asset in the mission field. Sister Kamayou is so talented, she sings and conducts the music in the Ward very well and she teaches Institue class and a class in Relief Society. Very capable! This young lady on the right is our Sunday School teacher in our branch. Her name is Sister Chloe Msali. She is the mother of a 16 year old son, but is not married. I think she is an amazing woman. She teaches a great Sunday school lesson and is so strong in her testimony and her commitment to the gospel. I just wish I could find some work for her. She is a beautiful woman inside and out!
Today as we arrived at church I was so pleased to see the six elders that meet at our chapel out waiting for their investigators to arrive. Since we have had a new district leader in this area (Elder Stephenson), things have improved greatly. The companionships are more unified, the Elder's are much more obedient and I can see the members are working harder to support them - they trust the Elders more. We had such disobedient elders in these two branches for a while, but I am glad to say that things are changing. Hopefully these two struggling branches will start to grow and strengthen.
Now for a little family news....
Over the labor day weekend, Spencer and his family went to the Oakland temple. Spencer and Ike did baptisms for the dead and the others waited outside the temple for them.
Later this month the kids are going to participate in mini-triathalons. Spencer and Ike are going to do one together, and then Ty and Anne are going to do one as well. I think Britt runs in a race this coming Saturday.
Never a dull moment!
They are making good use of the pool in their backyard and enjoy family time and fun out there on a regular basis.
Mealii is working hard, practicing her driving skills so that next month when she is 16 she can take her drivers test and be a legal driver. Good luck girl! I know you can do it.
Kalani has been doing a "mini mission" this weekend. For 24 hours they live the life of a missionary in their stake. They live with an assigned "companion" at a members home, do service projects and then go teaching to members homes, giving the discussions. This will be great preparation for the young men of this stake when they have the opportunity to enter the mission field.
Mealii and her Mom head to St. Louis Missouri this coming weekend for a big soccer tournament - good luck Mealii
Keola and Le'olani are busy with basketball and soccer as well. The Enos household is hopping with activity!
Even though I didn't get any pictures from Rod and his family, I know that life is busy for them as well. Rod's church assignments are keeping his busy to say nothing of his work schedule. Even with all of that he still finds time to make fresh peach pie and yesterday when we talked he showed us his Bumbleberry pie baking in the oven. I could practically smell it it looked so good! The kids are all enjoying school. Gracey is now in middle school (with a locker and everything). Her school is just across from where Rod works and so she can have lunch with him on occasion. Sid and the twins are still in the same school and are loving school. Jenn has been taking more classes to learn new techniques to teach her clients. She is still working out with Rod and trying to keep everyone fit.
Well, we have come to the end - yet once again. We are gearing up for another busy adventure filled week. We love serving the Elders, the President and the Couples, as well as our assigned Stake responsibilities. Life is good. I have finished baking the treats for the Elder's that come into the office on Monday to pick up supplies and whatever else they come for. I wish I had kept track of the number of bags of flour, pounds of butter, packages of chocolate chips, pounds of sugar etc. that I have gone through on this mission. Perhaps its better that I didn't. So, until next week.....
Love the Holt's
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