Fare Thee Well to the Cooks

This Mission Presidents Seminar was the last official duty of Elder Cook as the Area President.  Chatty Padoa,has been his support and go-to secretary for so long.  Along with Sister Cook, they made a good team!

Farewell to these true servants of our Savior.  We will miss you so much but are so glad that we've had this close association over the past year.

A Cable Car Ride Up Table Mountain - We Finally Made It!

 When Table Mountain has clouds on top, the locals say it is wearing a tablecloth.

We were here sixteen years ago and couldn't go up to the top because of wind.  We were thrilled to be able to go up this time.  The cable car floor revolves so you can stand in one place and get a 360 degree view.  It's a good way for everyone to get a good view.

Chuck was happy to check out the cables to make sure they looked solid and secure.

We didn't expect there to be rocks and hills and so much greenery on top.  I guess we had imagined it as flat and deserted.  But it was very wet on top and it rained for a while.

Even with the misty clouds, the view was spectacular.

Down in Cape Town it was relatively warm, but up on top of Table Mountain it was downright cold.  We were glad to find a warm fireplace to thaw out for a few minutes.

The waterfront where we stayed was to the left in the photo.  What a view!

The weather could change rapidly.  The rain cleared and the sun came out for minutes at a time.  That also made the view that much more clear for us.

Going back down the cable car, we were trying to decide if we should do the hike to the top of Lions Head.  We only had to walk over to it on the roads and then climb to the top - all in about 3 hours. We decided against it and got back on the Red Bus for the ride back to the water front.

After going past Lions Head, the bus drove us down into the beautiful resort town of Camps Bay. The mountains in the back are called the Twelve Apostles, although there are supposedly about 17 of the peaks.  What a place!

A Trip to Robben Island

The boat ride out to Robben Island was very relaxing and only took about twenty minutes.

Robben Island has had many uses over the years.  It has been a fort, a home to lepers and other terminally ill people, and a prison.  It was here that Nelson Mandela made his home for his actions during the apartheid era.

 Unlike Alcatraz in the San Francisco Bay, Robben Island is large and relatively flat.

 When Mandela returned to the island while serving as president of South Africa, he visited the lime quarry where he spent most of his days working when he was a prisoner. He silently picked up a rock and placed it on this spot.  Others that were with him followed his lead, 

and the pile has remained to this day.

We wondered if we would see any of the penguins that we had heard about.  There they were on a secluded beach far from view.  Thank goodness for a telephoto lense.

Evidence that Robben Island is also used as a strategic defense location.

All missionaries will relate to this photo.  It is so common to notice that people are looking at your name tag and it is a great way to start up a conversation.

Our guide was a political prisoner on Robben Island.

This is the actual cell that Nelson Mandela called home for 18 years.

Outside the prison.

Our ride back to Cape Town.

Sunset Cruise on a Catamaran

The first evening of the seminar we were able to take a sunset cruise in the bay off of the beautiful city of Cape Town.  It was relatively warm for a winter evening and the views looking back at the city and Table Mountain were spectacular.

Elder and Sister Cook and Elder and Sister Ellis came out for a front row windy seat to the amazing views as the sun set over the horizon.

We were all very comfortable to watch the beautiful sunset.

The MTC President, Elder Ashton, took over the wheel but was soon relieved of his duties as we actually set sail out onto the open water.

It was kind of funny to be going on a cruise in missionary attire, but we made the most of the wonderful evening.

Looking back at Cape Town, there's Devils Peak on the left, Table Mountain in the middle, and Signal Hill on the right with Lions Head behind it.

Sister Dunn from the Johannesburg SA Mission, Sister Koch from the Mozambique 

Maputo Mission, Sister Soares, whose husband serves in the Presidency of the Seventy, and Sister Walton from the Africa Southeast Area Office.

Chuck really enjoyed the ride and the sunset.  It was all very memorable.

The Victoria and Alfred Hotel on the waterfront

For the Mission Presidents Seminar we stayed in the Waterfront Victoria and Alfred Hotel.  It was the perfect location for viewing the scenery, waterside romantic dinners, fun 

shopping, and sightseeing.

Mission Presidents Seminar in Cape Town

This year the Mission Presidents Seminar was held in Cape Town.  We stayed right on the water front with incredible views.  The 2-day seminar was uplifting and very spiritual.  This was also the last seminar for 7 of our presidents who are almost done serving and will leave around the first of July.  It was a blessing for us to be involved and help in anyway we could and for these wonderful couples to be together learning and teaching each other.

Time with Elder and Sister Soares

Whenever Elder Soares comes into town, we love to be with him and his sweet wife and talk a little Portuguese.  Artur Miranda was also at the office for a meeting so we had plenty to talk about.

Daveyton 3rd Branch

Elder and Sister French, our Area Mental Health Adviser,s arrived and needed a placed to attend church each Sunday.  Since this is one of Chuck's assignments, he asked them to attend the Daveyton 3rd Branch.  So we drove them out to meet their new branch members.  It was a cold and wet Sunday,which is a huge deterrent to members who usually have to walk to church.  The attendance was small, but the spirit was strong.  We helped them clear the desks in the large cold classroom to get it ready for Sacrament Meeting.  One of the classrooms was left as is for 

Priesthood meeting while the men sat at the students desks.  In Relief Society one sister had made a hot soup to share with everyone to fend off the cool in the building.  The members are happy and this tiny unit that started as a cluster, has become a branch and is looking forward to becoming a ward with their own church building some day.

Office Happenings

We are doing something new at the Area Office.  Any senior couple missionaries that are coming from the Provo MTC now stop on their way to their mission to get training to become really great mission office missionaries.  Elder and Sister Wood were headed to the Durban South Africa mission office.  You can imagine our surprise when we started checking our ancestry and found out the Elder Wood and Liz are 3rd cousins.  We both have a common great grandfather, William Wood.  Elder Wood's family is the side that went to Cardston, Canada.  It was fun to have them staying in our flat for the 3-day training.

Elder Cook has been serving in the Africa Southeast Area for 5 years and we all knew he would be up for a new assignment.  One of his catch phrases is "Keep it simple, keep it pure" in reference to the kind of work we want to be involved in here in Africa.  So the fun IT department came up with a way to show how much they loved him and were going to miss him.  They replaced his computer and phone with these archaic devices.  It was funny but it was a bit emotional as well.  We will miss the sweet, humble, loving leadership of our dear Elder Cook!

The Twins are Born!

When Laurie and Jon's twins were born unexpectedly on May 12, we had to let our friends in the Africa South East Area Office know of our joy.  So we bought 2 dozen doughnuts from the recently opened Krispi Kreme and shared them throughout the office.  Elder Cook, who is really very health conscious, even took one.  Thinking everyone would cut them in half and just take the half, we were surprised when the doughnuts were gone in record time.  Welcome to our little ones, Benjamin and Nathaniel.  You might be early and little, but you are healthy and here!

Our Trip to Mbuji-Mayi - Leaving Kinshasa for Home in Johannesburg

We made it safe and sound back to Kinshasa.  

The hotel we stayed in had a beautiful view of the Congo River.  The other side, with the palm trees, is in the Republic of Congo, and the city of Brazzaville.  It is very beautiful.

We decided we had enough food left over to make it our breakfast - a little unconventional but it filled us up until we were on the plane.

At the airport, Papama shared some of his work with Chuck.

Papama also shared with us the video he made of his first date with his wife.  It was beautifully done and so romantic.  His wife said she couldn't say no when he proposed because of this video.

Farewell to Kinshasa.  It was been a very pleasant trip.