Life in Johannesburg continues on. We continue to have rolling black outs or "load shedding" as they call it. When that happens you can be without power for 6+ hours. The internet is unavailable so it limits what you can do. By the light of the rechargeable lanterns that Chuck found, I turn to reading, Chuck hauls out the paper work and we enjoy the change of pace.
They are pioneering the art of recycling in the city of Johannesburg. There is no formal pickup. So it is common to see people searching through the garbage cans looking for plastic, cans, paper and bottles. To transport their finds they typically pull these big wheeled plastic and cardboard wagons. Whenever we see them they are usually pulling a fully loaded wagon uphill. One morning we looked out our bedroom window to see something new. This company called Geza Jozi has provided their scavenger employees with motorized bicycles pulling trailers where they can store their finds. Ingenious!
When families come to the Johannesburg Temple, the children have to wait in the "Gatehouse" while their parents do all the work that needs to be done for themselves before they can be sealed as a family. This young girl is from Zimbabwe but only speaks her tribal language even though they do speak English there in Church. I spent several hours with her trying to play and understand her before they were ready for her in the Temple. She was so excited to wear a white dress with lace on it. And even though she was bald, we put a shiny headband on her to make her even prettier. I saw her the next day in the patron housing cafeteria. She was all smiles. By the way, patrons are treated very well in patron housing with nice hotel style rooms and good food in the cafeteria.
Elder and Sister Kinghorn had been here for 18 months and were getting ready to go home. As assistant directors of Welfare in the area office, they did a lot of traveling to many countries to help with different humanitarian projects. They have some very interesting and inspiring stories to tell. So we took them out to dinner for Chateaubriand-for-two at our favorite fancy restaurant. Then for FHE we always have the couples going home, share with us their testimonies and their experiences. We were treated to a wonderful power point presentation with many of the projects that the Kinghorn's participated in. We were able to fit all 15 couples in our flat for the presentation.
Church on Sunday is always the highlight of the week. They have asked me to play the piano for Sacrament Meeting the last two weeks! That's me with one finger on the keyboard and mistakes galore. That shows how desperate they are. The children are always so sweet. We asked this young girl if we could take a picture of her and she immediately threw her arm around Chuck and smiled so sweetly. Today we brought cookies for our after-church meeting with the YSA's and the Primary children got wind of food somewhere on the church grounds. Immediately after church they lined up outside our classroom door waiting for the leftovers.
This week we will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Johannesburg Temple. They have invited many local religious and government officials to tour the grounds and hear about our church and the importance of temples. Then they will be hosting a dinner in this big tent on the lawn outside the office buildings. It should be quite the event!
