Christmas Holiday Trip Album #2 - East London

On our way to East London we stopped at a monkey park. They take care of monkeys, lemurs, and other such animals who are no longer wanted by their owners. They were cute and loved the feeding platform with their fruit lunch.

Next boat ride we took was on a catamaran out on the Indian Ocean.  It was very windy that day, but we enjoyed the big waves and the views.  We were very excited when a group of about 200 dolphins joined us and swam all around our boat.  The captain lowered a microphone into the water and we were able to hear them talking to each other.  What a memory! 

We stayed at a B&B right on the 14th green of a golf course.  Elder Jubber's cousin owned the place and had closed down so all the employees could enjoy their summer holiday.  We were able to take over the place and rest, relax and play.  We spent time at Morgan's Bay where Chuck was able to swim in the warm Indian Ocean and we searched for shells.

Our fun traveling group consisted of Elder and Sister Graf (he with the Office of General Council and she with the local Liahona insert), us, Elder and Sister Lombardi (in the Church History department at the Area office), and Elder and Sister Jubber (he is the Area Medical Adviser and she helps me with the missionary applications).  This was a great traveling group.  We had a great time!

Christmas Holiday Trip Album #1 - George

Because we work in the Area Office with Church employees, the holidays basically shut the place down.  It is summer and the school break, so everyone takes a holiday.  We took the time to do a little sight seeing ourselves. Elder Jubber has relaties in the south east of South Africa, so we went with 3 other couples for a holiday.  First stop was George on the coast.  It was beautiful and very Dutch.  We traveled to a bay in Knysna for a cruise of the area.  Then we drove to an ostrich farm.  Liz actually got to ride an ostrich.  The next day we drove to the Cango Caves.  One room was so big that they used to hold concerts in it with 1000 attendees. 

The Knudsen's Come to Town!

We were so happy when our Stake President and his wife came to down and spent a day with us.  Thanks Brent and Kathryn Knudsen for making us feel special and making the holidays extra bright! We took them on the Red Bus Tour around the city.  If only we'd checked the times, we would have been able to see more.  As it was we got a nice ride around the downtown, had a delicious lunch and then were able to have dinner with President and Sister Dunn at the South Africa Johannesburg Mission Home.  It was a delight!

December in South Africa

We find the South African viewpoint very refreshing.  They have a great sense of self and not many inhibitions, as you can tell by this jacket worn to church.

The children are so cute and friendly. 

The Area Presidency and their wives provided us with a pre-Christmas FHE.  It was wonderful and spiritual and came with an agenda! 

After the program, we danced the night away out under the stars on a warm summer evening - our FHE activity. 

After dancing we were treated to strawberry shortcake in the foyer of the White House where the Area Presidency lives.

Belated Merry Christmas from Johannesburg, South Africa!

On our way out of town, we stopped for gas.  You just never know what you'll find at a gas station.

Thanksgiving and Other Things

Every year the senior missionary couples plan and cook a Thanksgiving dinner for all the couples, Area Presidency and wives, and some invited guests.  This year we cooked for 72 people.  The only place large enough to accommodate this size crowd is the 3 car garage of the White House, where the Area Presidency lives.  We lovingly call it the basement.  We had so much good, traditional Thanksgiving food that we invited some of the workers to come and fill a plate for themselves.  We had beautiful decorations made from twig trees, rolls of toilet paper decorated up like pumpkins.  Elder Egan said it best when he described our lowly mission Thanksgiving in a garage with twigs and toilet paper rolls as decorations.  It sounds a lot worse than it was.  In fact it was perfect!  It was also time for the Primary Program in all the units.  Since it was a warm spring day, the Primary Presidency in Cosmo City provided watermelon in gratitude of a job well done.  With the heat of the days and the use of high volumes of electricity, load shedding is a constant.  One beauty salon at the mall got creative and came out of their store to use the plugs that were on the generator to finish the hair of their clients.  It is so fun to serve here!

The Joy of Mission President's Seminars

Mid-November all the mission presidents and wives in the Africa Southeast Area converged on Johannesburg for their semi-annual Mission President's Seminar.  We had three days of wonderful, enlightening, spiritual instruction and sharing.  The last day we visited Croc City and the Lion Park.  Both are within half an hour of downtown Jo'burg.  It was fun to get out of the city and enjoy the wonders of this beautiful country.  We saw baby crocodiles, an albino boa constrictor, and big old crocodiles. Chuck was brave enough to hold the boa as well as President and Sister Dunn who are friends of President and Sister Knudsen and serving as Mission President in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission.  We also got to pet the baby lion cubs.  Word of advice, they are still wild animals and they are babies, so they do bite!  Sister Merrill, from Angola, and Liz found that out the hard way!

Our First Visitors - Dennis and Cindy Lange

Combining business with pleasure was a perfect way for us to visit with Dennis and Cindy Lange who came into town. We didn't get much time with them, but it was a joy to take them to Soweto for church on Sunday and to stop by the Soweto home of Nelson Mandela and family.  Thanks for taking the time to visit with us Dennis and Cindy!