The Nelspruit Branch Temple Trip

Our first Branch Temple day since we arrived 14 months ago was Nov. 2.  We left at 5:00 in the morning to drive to Johannesburg.  Because of the expense in renting a taxi for the five hour drive, and the shortness of Branch funds, each person was responsible for finding their own transportation.  That was quite a chore in and of itself, as many of our members don't have cars, and those that do are constantly trying to repair them and drive them on a wish and a prayer.  This day was no exception.  The McCarthy family borrowed a small bakki (truck) to make the trip, and their son, Karel and wife Elize and friend Louise, and Frick went in Karel's car.  They left about 10:00 Friday morning.  About an hour and a half into the drive, Barney's Bakki had stopped and they sent us a message to keep them in their prayers.  The alternator had gone out.  Somehow they were able to get it pushed to a shop and two hours later they were on their way again.

Thirty minutes later, Karel's car had become stalled because they had no gears.  After doing everything they could to get it repaired, Louise finally said, "Karel, you have the Priesthood, give this car a blessing so we can get on our way!"  They took time for a prayer, and within minutes, someone stopped to help them.  Soon, they were on their way again.  They arrived at their Backpackers Inn at 7:00 that evening. A five hour drive ended up being nine hours.  They were thrilled to get there as all but Louise were receiving their their Patriarchal Blessings the next morning.

Jennifer, her son Melusi and daughter Senethemba and Nolwazi who live in the Hazyview area, were riding a taxi to Lydenburg, about 1 1/2 hours away, to spend the night with the Branch President and

ride with him to Johannesburg the next morning.  On the way, the taxi broke down and they had to call another taxi to rescue them.  While they were waiting, a truck came along and ran over Nolwazi's bag, crushing most all of the contents, including her toiletries.  This is tragic for a young girl!  She put her clothes in Jennifer's bag and they finally got on their way and made it to the President's house about 10:00 that evening!  Satan was trying his hardest to keep our members from getting to the temple the next day.  After receiving word of McCarthy breakdowns, Lynn thought he should go get two new tires on the front of the car since they were starting to get a little too smooth.  We thought that the way the Branch's luck was going, we better not chance it!

The next morning, we picked up  Sister Purine at 4:45 to ride with us and Joyce and Nadine.  We had nine people scheduled for Patriarchal blessings Saturday morning.  To help out with some of them, we had asked the Stake Patriarch of the Binoni Stake if he could come and give some of the blessings.  Just before we arrived in Joburg, we received a call from the Binoni State Patriarch that he had had a family emergency, and was in no condition to be able to give any blessings.  He apologized, and asked us if we would see if Patriarch Hoffman could do them.  We expressed our condolences to him and continued our drive. We were grateful that we made it to the temple at the appointed time.  

Some of our members and young people were scheduled to do baptisms.  The heater in the font had gone out and the water was extremely cold.  Most of them still did the baptisms amid shaking bodies and chattering teeth.  While they were doing baptisms, Joyce, Nadine and Lynn and I did a session, doing some of the family names that Joyce and Nadine had brought with them.  In checking with Patriarch Hoffman, he said that he was too tired and too old to give more blessings than the five that he had done that morning.  Unfortunately Melusi and Nolwazi weren't able to get their Patriarchal Blessings.  I felt bad for Nolwazi, so I opted to spend the time with her on the Temple grounds.  I bought her a snack from the  machine near the Distribution Center.  We sat under a tree near a stream and visited and relaxed in the beauty of the grounds. 

Despite all the problems that several people had encountered in getting to the Temple, they were still very elated and grateful for the opportunity to spend the day at the Temple.  They truly felt blessed for this great blessing.

We did manage to take a few pics on the grounds before we started on our journey home.

Joyce and Nadine were grateful for the opportunity to attend the Johannesburg Temple.

Four happy travelers!

We had a quick sandwich after leaving the Temple before we headed home.  Just before we arrived back in Nelspruit, about 9:30 that night, Jennifer called and said there were no more taxis going to Hazyview that late at night, so President Sigauke was driving them home.  Knowing that it would be about midnight by the time he drove them home and drove back to Lydenburg, then having to leave at 6:00 the next morning to drive back to Nelspruit to church, I asked Jennifer if they just wanted to come and stay at our house and then go home after church the next day.  She said they would come to stay.  

They arrived about 10:30.  I made arrangements for Melusi to stay at the Hunt's flat so he wouldn't feel like he was in a harem with all the women.  He was fine with that.  He was so tired that it didn't really matter to him.  He had been up since 4:00 and just wanted to go to bed.  I made a bed for Jennifer on the couch, and made a double bed on the floor for Nolwazi and Senethemba.  Everyone was happy with that arrangement.  We were all  so tired, that we forgot to take some pictures of this unique slumber party!

Surprisingly enough, things worked out well for everyone to get ready for 9:00 church the next morning.   We did have to have the Elders come and drive some of our friends to church.  Despite all the challenges that the members had encountered the day before, they bore beautiful testimonies the next day at Fast and Testimony Meeting!  There wasn't a dry in the chapel.  Our testimonies were strengthened as well to see how people with so little, and who had encountered so many problems just in trying to get to the Temple, would feel so blessed by all those experiences.  They will bask in that beautiful experience for a long time, as it will probably be a year or longer before they have the opportunity to attend the Temple again!  After Church, we brought our guests home for some lunch before we took them to the bus and taxi area to return to their homes.

We take so much for granted!  How blessed we are to have several temples within a 30 minute drive!  It's time for us to count our blessings!