August and September 2015 in South Africa

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!

Busy August Days in South Africa

This is a first.  We have 2 young men who are serving as service missionaries in the Africa Southeast Area office.  Elder Molema is from Johannesburg and has Asperbergers.  He received a regular call to serve in the SLC family history center but was never able to get a visa.  So he is serving here, living in Temple Patron housing, and working in the temple and managing the ASEA website.  His companion, Elder Nyandoro, is from Zimbabwe and has been legally blind since the age of 17.  He is so normal that he could probably serve a regular mission, but they have him working in the temple.  Elder Chatora, the Temple recorder, is managing their schedule so that we can keep them as busy as possible.  They work in the temple, family history center, temple patron housing, the laundry, and wherever else they are needed.  They eat in the cafeteria, but once a week we take them to the store for other things that they need.  We have also arranged for a different senior couple to take them to church each week and then serve them lunch and dinner in their flats.  

Elders Chatora, Nyandoro, Molema and us.

Whenever we arrive at the Cosmo City Branch, there is a group of kids that come running out to greet us and give us hugs.  We always feel so welcome!

This week we had an orientation in our Area for 4 new Mission President's and their wives who started on July 1.  They all face a lot of work and issues within their assigned countries.  There was a wonderful lunch in the foyer of what is affectionately called the White House.  The seminar included President and Sister Baehrel serving in DR Congo Kinshasa, President Mkhabela serving in Zimbabwe, President and Sister Koch serving in Mozambique, and President and Sister Foote serving in Madagascar.  We had quite the Portuguese contingent with the Koch's, Elder Ellis and us all speaking in our favorite language.  The whole seminar was such a spiritual feast.

This is the view from the front lobby of the Area offices.  That is the temple spire in the background with Moroni keeping watch on top.  The whole temple and area office hillside grounds are lush and green and tropical.  We can enjoy a nice walk on the trails alongside a flowing stream with beautiful trees and flowers as the hadeda birds sing to us in their distinctive call.  It makes our missionary life so much nicer.

Men In White

For two weeks the Johannesburg Temple has been closed so that these men could work their magic inside and upgrade the interior.  We watched them start early in the morning and work until late at night.  They always have to wear white in the temple even though they are working.  They stayed in patron housing and ate with us in the cafeteria.  We loved talking to them about what they were doing and where they had been.  Then they returned to their jobs and lives in Utah.

Johannesburg Gold

Johannesburg is not a very old city.  It was born when gold was discovered and many came seeking their fortune mid-nineteenth century.  Even in the middle of the city there were gold mines.  One place we visited is called Gold Reef City.  There was a gold mine there and they creatively built an amusement park around the mine.  The whole park has a gold mining theme and is very cleverly done.  We visited a few weekends ago for the mine tour and went down into the actual mine.  They also demonstrated how they refined the gold and made gold bars for transport in the thick vaults on the railroad cars.

Our Place in Johannesburg

We live in a beautiful, older section of Johannesburg on a tree lined street full of other apartment complexes.  Our flat is situated perfectly for us.  We are right across the street from Killarney Mall with 2 grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants and anything else we could possibly need.  The streets clear when it becomes dark because of safety reasons, but it is safe to walk right across the street for some groceries or a bite to eat.

A normal week in the Africa Southeast Area office

This is a great mission, however, it isn't the most exciting for blog posts.  The one thing I absolutely love about serving in the area office is the people we get to meet.  Francisco and Jamba Camufingo came from Viana, Angola, to be sealed in the temple as a family.  We were able to talk to them in Portuguese and Liz helped in the temple nursery with their sweet little daughter, Dulce.

We also had this young man stop by with his sister.  Phawulile Dlamini is from Mozambique, and he will be serving in the Angola Luanda Mission.  We couldn't say enough nice things about Angola.  Hopefully he is excited to serve there.

Another really nice perk of serving her in the Johannesburg area, are all the good restaurants.  We literally can eat out cheaper that we can at home.  So we are more than willing to check out the local culinary establishments.  In the past 2 weeks we have been out with the Elder and Sister Egan.  He is the Infield Representative for all the mission presidents in all of Africa.  Sister Egan pretty much helps Chuck with all the organization of new stakes, wards, branches and leaders for those units.  She also watches over all the senior couple apartments.  Then we took out Elder and Sister Wilson to celebrate his birthday.  We've known them since Portugal and they have a special place in our hearts.  

And last but not least, we went out to dinner with the head of the legal department and his wife, Bryan and Tina Jackson.  The group also included the area office Controller and his wife, David and Leigh Anne Bowman.  Funny thing is, it took the group quite a while to figure out how to divide the bill.  Good thing it was pouring outside with a lot of thunder and lightning, so we were happy to stay dry and warm inside the restaurant and have some dessert.  We are surrounded by good people!  For those of you who are worried about our weight gain, we are taking drastic measures between dinners out so that we won't come home looking like blimps!

Alice, the rhino, is done

All the things we did for the rhino were done in about 15 minutes.  We quickly took pictures with her before the vet gave her a shot to help the effects of the tranquilizer wear off.  We had a group of 7 youth with us who were working or volunteering in Botswana.  They drove 12 hours to take part in this rhino rescue.  They named our rhino Alice.  What an experience of a lifetime.