This was an interesting week. As I noted last week we lost the country directors for South Africa. We are now trying to do some of their work until a new couple arrives. In some ways we are looking forward to the additional work. As a result of the change we have been pretty busy this week. It makes the time go much faster. We will probably attend the “hand over” ceremony in Botswana on the 28th---we will officially “hand over” 500 wheelchairs to the Ministry of Health for distribution to those who need one. We hope to get some good pictures. There are also some measles campaigns later in the year in Namibia and Swaziland as well as NRT in other countries. We hope that will get us “out of Dodge” and let us see some of this country. It also looks like we will go to Zimbabwe early in May to train the new couple. We have looked forward to a trip to Kenya but, the “war stories” we hear about traffic in Nairobi make us less anxious to go there. Maybe we get out of the city shortly after we get there. We also may be involved in getting help to the people in northern Namibia (one of the countries served by the country directors for South Africa---here are some major floods in some parts of Africa.
We had our first Branch Presidency meeting in Soshenguve this morning. I have a much better feel for the branch and the problems but, there is still a LOT to learn. I helped do the finances after church. That was an “eye opener”. Greg probably earns more in one or two hours than some of the brethren in the branch make in a week. I have never done finances in the way it is done in the branch---everything is written out by hand. The record is then faxed to the area office where someone here enters the information (names, amounts for each category, etc) in the computer.
One night Judy, Sister Wells and Sister Davis went to dinner at one of the restaurant’s in the mall. When they went to leave the machine was down so they could not pay with their credit cards. They did not have enough rand (cash) to pay the bill. That would normally mean trouble. But, the waitress went back to the manager. He indicated that they could leave anyway. He said. “Those people come in here all of the time. They can be trusted. Besides that if they do not come back and pay, I will not call the police or anything. God will take care of them. He will send them to hell.” So to say the least Elder Wells and I were in the place early the next morning paying the bill.
We have been trying to get to the temple on Tuesday afternoon. That is when the missionaries from the MTC go to the temple. It is so neat to be with them. The 6 black elders this week were going through for the first time. It provides us (men) a good chance to help them. A large portion of these brethren have lost their parents. President Cannon (MTC mission president) has them go through the temple one week. They are then to prepare the genealogy work for their parents during the week and do the temple work for their Father the next week. President Cannon and his wife then stand in as proxies for the elder’s parents while they are sealed to their parents. I guess they have had some pretty special times when this work was being done.
We really shocked an elder this week. We went into the distribution center for a moment. There were two elders standing there. I looked at the name tag and said “You are Elder Younker from North Logan.” (Gordon Younker’s son). The look on his face was something to behold---like who are you and how do you know me/my family. We then told him that we had dinner with his Dad the less than 10 days before we went to the MTC and about 2 days after he got on the plane for South Africa. It was fun to visit with him.
I also have to tell you about the one Brother Elks got off on us on Thursday. Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays in South Africa. We were kidding him about all the days off. His response is that at least South Africans celebrate the important Christian days while Americans celebrate pagan holidays like Halloween and Valentine’s day. We did not have much of a response. If my memory is correct there are about 6 national holidays during April in South Africa. The others include election day (a holiday so everyone can vote), and several others. The South Africans take holidays seriously because the town nearly “dies” on holidays.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Update from email dated 3/31/09
My letter is later than usual. I did not have time to do it on Sunday for several reasons that are noted below. To say that we had an interesting week with continuation into this week is an understatement.
The last time Brother Elks left town we had some problems so when he left on Friday I reminded him that the last time he left we had some problems. He just turned to me and said (D&C 122: 7---last two lines). He then walked down the hall but came back and reminded me that “when a ship is sinking, it is women and children out first”. We have laughed several times since then because some of it is true. For example, the country directors for South Africa (we share office space with them) were sent to SA from the Congo because he had some health problems. As a result, they now have to leave. So we are scrambling to pick up the pieces. We have 500 wheelchairs in a warehouse in Botswana waiting for customs clearance (we think the local guy is holding things up for a payment to him). SLC has indicated that if we cannot get clearance soon we will ship them to some other place. We have discovered that working with some units of African government is a “real experience”.
Having a “real experience” reminds me of Saturday evening. Elder and Sister Cox who are country directors in Mozambique were returning from a NRT project in Angola and were stopping in Joberg to get some medical help (minor issue) and to take a couple through the temple today. We picked them up from the airport. This was our second time there—the first time is when we came to SA. We missed a road going out but, our GPS helped us get back to the airport in plenty of time. However, the way back to the flat was different. There are a few places in Joberg where “whites” should never venture especially at night. On the way back, we missed another turn and went right through one of the bad places at about 9:00pm. Let’s just say that my blood pressure was probably elevated and that I had an “adrenaline rush” when we entered the area. But, I do have to admit that we had some additional help because the lights were such that we did not have to stop. Your and our prayers that we can travel in safety were answered that night!
I have to share a neat little saying. Last Tuesday at devotional (we have one almost every Tuesday morning), Sister Noll spoke. She has a neat little saying “Whoop ti do, the gospel is true”. She epitomizes the saying. She is happy, fun to be around and shines like the primary song “I have a little gospel light”.
Elder and Sister Esplin (he’s originally from Cedar City) have been serving a proseliting (spelling?) mission but were recently transferred to humanitarian/welfare. They brought 17 people from Kenya to the temple last week. There were three families plus one single sister. The single sister had served a mission in Zimbabwe and Zambia but, had not been through the temple. We visited with her for a few minutes and discovered that her younger sister was in the MTC. They were able to go to the temple together. But, the neatest part of the story was that the older sister had taught the gospel to a fellow that was baptized and had served a mission. He was now teaching the younger sister at the MTC before she left for her mission. Pretty neat, huh!
Sunday resulted in another change in my life. I was sustained as the 2nd Counselor in the Soshenguve branch presidency. My primary assignment is to train the branch presidency. That doesn’t sound too bad but, conducting meetings (pronouncing names) and getting to know the names of the members of the branch will be a real challenge. I looked at a branch roster and there were no names that I could pronounce and most were not readable. One of the young men in the office is teaching us some Zulu (most people understand that or something like it). We now know how to greet people (like hello and how are you?) but, not much more. I can’t figure out how Ron learned Chinese. We will just have to see how this goes. I hope the branch has lots of patience with me as I “stumble along”. The people in the branch have surely “taken us in” and made us feel welcome. The Cullum’s who go with us each week have also noted that they have never been welcomed in a ward/branch like this one. I did discover that they seek priesthood blessings so I will get to exercise some faith with them.
The last time Brother Elks left town we had some problems so when he left on Friday I reminded him that the last time he left we had some problems. He just turned to me and said (D&C 122: 7---last two lines). He then walked down the hall but came back and reminded me that “when a ship is sinking, it is women and children out first”. We have laughed several times since then because some of it is true. For example, the country directors for South Africa (we share office space with them) were sent to SA from the Congo because he had some health problems. As a result, they now have to leave. So we are scrambling to pick up the pieces. We have 500 wheelchairs in a warehouse in Botswana waiting for customs clearance (we think the local guy is holding things up for a payment to him). SLC has indicated that if we cannot get clearance soon we will ship them to some other place. We have discovered that working with some units of African government is a “real experience”.
Having a “real experience” reminds me of Saturday evening. Elder and Sister Cox who are country directors in Mozambique were returning from a NRT project in Angola and were stopping in Joberg to get some medical help (minor issue) and to take a couple through the temple today. We picked them up from the airport. This was our second time there—the first time is when we came to SA. We missed a road going out but, our GPS helped us get back to the airport in plenty of time. However, the way back to the flat was different. There are a few places in Joberg where “whites” should never venture especially at night. On the way back, we missed another turn and went right through one of the bad places at about 9:00pm. Let’s just say that my blood pressure was probably elevated and that I had an “adrenaline rush” when we entered the area. But, I do have to admit that we had some additional help because the lights were such that we did not have to stop. Your and our prayers that we can travel in safety were answered that night!
I have to share a neat little saying. Last Tuesday at devotional (we have one almost every Tuesday morning), Sister Noll spoke. She has a neat little saying “Whoop ti do, the gospel is true”. She epitomizes the saying. She is happy, fun to be around and shines like the primary song “I have a little gospel light”.
Elder and Sister Esplin (he’s originally from Cedar City) have been serving a proseliting (spelling?) mission but were recently transferred to humanitarian/welfare. They brought 17 people from Kenya to the temple last week. There were three families plus one single sister. The single sister had served a mission in Zimbabwe and Zambia but, had not been through the temple. We visited with her for a few minutes and discovered that her younger sister was in the MTC. They were able to go to the temple together. But, the neatest part of the story was that the older sister had taught the gospel to a fellow that was baptized and had served a mission. He was now teaching the younger sister at the MTC before she left for her mission. Pretty neat, huh!
Sunday resulted in another change in my life. I was sustained as the 2nd Counselor in the Soshenguve branch presidency. My primary assignment is to train the branch presidency. That doesn’t sound too bad but, conducting meetings (pronouncing names) and getting to know the names of the members of the branch will be a real challenge. I looked at a branch roster and there were no names that I could pronounce and most were not readable. One of the young men in the office is teaching us some Zulu (most people understand that or something like it). We now know how to greet people (like hello and how are you?) but, not much more. I can’t figure out how Ron learned Chinese. We will just have to see how this goes. I hope the branch has lots of patience with me as I “stumble along”. The people in the branch have surely “taken us in” and made us feel welcome. The Cullum’s who go with us each week have also noted that they have never been welcomed in a ward/branch like this one. I did discover that they seek priesthood blessings so I will get to exercise some faith with them.
Update from email date 3/22/09
What a week of ups and downs. First, it was our Aggies. We went to dinner with the Wright’s Friday night so we missed the first half. We did watch the 2nd half (yes Wendy senior missionaries can watch NCAA tournament games). We thought the Aggies were going to pull off the win when they went up by 6 but… There were lots of “what if’s” in the game but, I guess a loss kept me from watching them on Sunday.
This has been an interesting week for your mother. She bent over on Tuesday (?) morning and hurt her back. She “listed” most of the week and took a smaller portion of my magic back potion (3-4 Ibuprofens and 2 Tylenol) a couple of times a day for most of the week. . She feels much better today but, I have to watch her and keep her from bending too much. Bad backs are not just a pain the back.
We spoke in Sacrament meeting this morning. The branch president asked us to speak on humility. Your mother did a great job except she should have taken more time. I did not speak directly on the topic but I guess it was ok. We are getting to know more of the people in the branch all of the time. I think they have finally accepted the fact that we will be with them and that we are here to serve and work with them. We have much to do but they are great people. It is easy to love them. The primary children (and younger) are so cute. There are a couple of boys in the nursery (Judy has done the nursery the last couple of weeks) are just plain cute (pictures to come in the future).
We had an adventure when we went to dinner with the Wrights on Friday night. We went to an area of town that I am not sure I would have stopped to visit. But, given that he is the “security” person we went with them. The restaurant was a bit of a “seedy” spot. I had barbecued pork ribs. They were good but VERY different. Your mother had a seafood basket. The shrimp still had the head on and I was not sure if your mother was going to eat it and I did not offer to eat it for her. With Sister Wrights help, they got it edible and Judy ate it. Both of our dinners were better than the “fish bait” (that is how it was noted on the menu) dinner that Sister Wright ordered. They were like deep fat fried little sardines—heads and all. I don’t think any of us would order that again. She ate some of the “fish bait” but she mostly shared Elder Wrights order of ribs. This dinner was what one would call a real adventure! Nothing in the states matches some of the items on the menus here. I tend to be a bit cautious even if the prices are inexpensive. But, we have found a place in the mall across the street that serves a great hamburger. We thought we probably ought to buy one and share it but, we normally order two. They are about the size of a big LeBeau’s hamburger. A bacon cheeseburger with chips (fries) for $3.80 is not a bad buy.
This has been an interesting week for your mother. She bent over on Tuesday (?) morning and hurt her back. She “listed” most of the week and took a smaller portion of my magic back potion (3-4 Ibuprofens and 2 Tylenol) a couple of times a day for most of the week. . She feels much better today but, I have to watch her and keep her from bending too much. Bad backs are not just a pain the back.
We spoke in Sacrament meeting this morning. The branch president asked us to speak on humility. Your mother did a great job except she should have taken more time. I did not speak directly on the topic but I guess it was ok. We are getting to know more of the people in the branch all of the time. I think they have finally accepted the fact that we will be with them and that we are here to serve and work with them. We have much to do but they are great people. It is easy to love them. The primary children (and younger) are so cute. There are a couple of boys in the nursery (Judy has done the nursery the last couple of weeks) are just plain cute (pictures to come in the future).
We had an adventure when we went to dinner with the Wrights on Friday night. We went to an area of town that I am not sure I would have stopped to visit. But, given that he is the “security” person we went with them. The restaurant was a bit of a “seedy” spot. I had barbecued pork ribs. They were good but VERY different. Your mother had a seafood basket. The shrimp still had the head on and I was not sure if your mother was going to eat it and I did not offer to eat it for her. With Sister Wrights help, they got it edible and Judy ate it. Both of our dinners were better than the “fish bait” (that is how it was noted on the menu) dinner that Sister Wright ordered. They were like deep fat fried little sardines—heads and all. I don’t think any of us would order that again. She ate some of the “fish bait” but she mostly shared Elder Wrights order of ribs. This dinner was what one would call a real adventure! Nothing in the states matches some of the items on the menus here. I tend to be a bit cautious even if the prices are inexpensive. But, we have found a place in the mall across the street that serves a great hamburger. We thought we probably ought to buy one and share it but, we normally order two. They are about the size of a big LeBeau’s hamburger. A bacon cheeseburger with chips (fries) for $3.80 is not a bad buy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)