The branch we have been assigned to is Soshanguve. It is a combination of four tribes of people that were moved to the area during apartheid. They moved essentially all of the blacks out of town. Many of the areas were settled by one tribe (e.g., Zulu) but Soshanguve was four tribes. This branch is a lot different than the Etwatwa branch. It is smaller but has a larger number of people that have been members of the church for several years (maybe 5-10). We continue to be amazed at the African people. They have faith that is hard to believe. They read and study their scriptures. The talks in church are scripture based. I guess it comes from their strong Christian background.
We had a baptism after church (an older lady and her teenage niece). One of the things they did as part of the general service was to give each of them a "Legacy of Love" handout. It had a picture of the Johannesburg temple on the front and a pedigree chart in the middle. The concept was now that they are baptized they have the opportunity to do that for their ancestors. The missionaries were going to teach them the material associated with work for the dead. Anyway it was "pretty cool".
One other thing that really caught me this morning is I helped a young RM prepare the Sacrament. He did something that was so good. We cleaned up the Sacrament from the ward that preceded us. But, before we started to do the trays for the branch, the young man briefly washed every tray and then dried them with a cloth. Every tray was clean and dry for our meeting. I was impressed!
I did get a real shock however after Sacrament meeting. The branch president caught me right after the closing payer asked me if he could "throw me into the deep" ----would I teach Priesthood meeting. All the brethren that are not youth meet together so you have recent converts to brethren that have been through the temple. The lesson was on Elder Bednar's talk in October Conference (Prayer). I skipped Sunday School and read the talk during SS. I didn't have much time to get my thoughts together. But, I had more time than the 1st C in the Stake Presidency that was visiting. The final speaker stood up with about 20+ minutes to go and spoke for about 5 minutes. The other ward was still in meeting so we could not dismiss at that time so the Branch President asked the Counselor (Stake) to speak. He gave a fine talk. I think I better get some "spur of the moment" thoughts/talks together because that will likely happen again.
Judy went to Primary and she came out with a bunch of new friends. Yes, she truly is a GRAND mother and is a "kid magnet". It is fun to watch!
Driving to church is a "real experience". It takes us about an hour one way. I pushed the mileage button last night after I filled the car with petrol. When we got back this afternoon we had gone 173 kilometers (about 107+ miles). It takes us about an hour to drive to meeting. I could feel sorry for myself but, it pales in comparison to the sacrifices some of the members of the branch make to get to meeting. The lady that sat next to Judy this morning had paid for two taxi rides to get to meeting. I am sure that was a good portion of her weekly funds but, that was not going to "keep her from attending her meetings".
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