Babies, Blankets, and Burps

     As I was visiting with one of our sisters in the Branch at church a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that her daughter had had a new baby.  Exciting!  Well sort of... Her daughter wasn't married.  It was a blow to her parents.  They have only been members for about a year.

     They have been having financial difficulties as her husband is trying to start his own business of a chicken and vegetable farm.  In the process of trying to get a government loan processed to get the business started, he hadn't been working at a regular job.  Needless to say, they didn't have an excess of funds.  In fact, none at all.

     They, as well as many other people here, don't have their own cars, and depend on transports to get them to where they need to go.  This is good, unless you don't have money for a transport.  Consequently, we have stopped on several occassions to give them a ride to church.  Our Branch boundries are very spread out and many have to travel up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours to go to church.  Even though they only live about 15 minutes from the church, it is too far to walk, so without transportation, they have to stay home.

     In thinking about this family, with the Mom trying to pack to move and the expenses involved in a move to a town about an hour away, I started to wonder what, if any things this young girl (19) had for her new baby.  I started thinking about all the pieces of flannel that I have in my cupboard at home, some of which were already hemstitched,  just waiting for crocheting around them, and none of which were here with me to make up.  I remembered that Sister Moss had a machine in her flat that the mission had bought for the Nelspruit and KaNyamazane Branches to use, and thought,  "I could make up a blanket set and just sew it--forget the crochet.  Besides, she needs that blanket now."

     So, the following Saturday, Sister Moss, Sister Omer, and I headed for a wonderful store that has all kinds of home items, fabric, sports, etc.  It is a kind of a  "something for everyone" kind of store.  I found a piece of flannel, (not a real big selection of flannel) that I thought might be cute.  It was the end of the roll and was marked down.  Even better!  Because they measure in metrics, I wasn't sure just how much I would need, so I took what was left on the roll.

     The day after delivering the  Halloween cookies, I got out the fabric and started measuring.  I cut a pattern for a burp cloth out of newspaper, and starting pinning and cutting.  I had borrowed the sewing machine from Sister Moss and started sewing.  As I was pressing the seams of the blanket and 2 burp cloths, I started thinking about the spare fabric left over.  Once again, I started measuring, pinning and cutting.  I decided another small blanket and burp, even though it was out of the same fabric, would be better put to use than storing it in the bag in the  cupboard.  So I went back to the machine once again.

     Once they were finished and ready to be delivered, I thought about the family needing some food while they were unpacking their boxes and trying to get settled in.  I threw some chicken in the pot for Chicken Salad, stirred up some cookies, and stopped at the store for croissants and chips to go with it.  One more stop at the baby store for a few more needed items, afterwhich we headed to Kamagugu to make our delivery.

     The family was extremely delighted for the meal, as they stood there amidst the array of boxes.  The young girl  was totally thrilled and amazed that I had made the gift.  (Most of these people don't  have or know how to use a sewing machine).  What a fun surprise for her, and an even more fun thing for me to be able to bring some happy moments to this family who has been struggling this past while.  And most importantly, for this family to realize what a blessing it is to be a member of a church that truly loves and cares about it's members.

The finished product.

Not bad for a morning's work,  even if it wasn't crocheted.                                                  

The happy new mom and her sweet daughter!

     Such are the blessings of being a missionary!

Yes, "Sweet is the work gospel brings"!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be serving in the South Africa Mission.  

Halloween Cookies and Surprises

       With only two days left before Halloween, I knew I had to get busy if I was going to get my  traditional Halloween cookies made.  I made a recipe and a half so I would have enough to take to some of the Branch members and neighbors.  After I got the dough made, I put it in the fridge because it rolls better if it is chilled.  The next day after our busies of visits and errands, I got started rolling and cutting my cookies.  Of course I didn't have my usual pumpkin cutter, but an empty tuna can worked fine for round circles.  And when some of the circles don't turn out very good, especially when you're picking them up to put on the pan, they kind of look like those misshapen pumpkins that you find in the garden.

     With much rolling, cutting and baking, I scraped the last of the dough from the bowl.  As I removed the last of the cookies from the pan, I counted my neat stacks of six each.  The total was eight dozen and eight cookies.  I placed them neatly in the plastic containers to await the frosting and decorating the next day.

     Making the frosting was easy--cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and flavoring--but trying to get the color orange was another chore.  I couldn't find plain orange, so I bought red and yellow.  I thought that would be easy enough, but not so.  A litle red, a little yellow, a little red, a little yellow, mix, mix.  Yuck!! what a sick looking orange, not the vibrant orange that I was hoping for.  :(  Oh, well when they get decorated, maybe they won't look too bad.  Wrong, they still looked sick.  So back to the droppers of color.  It still wasn't what I wanted, but I decided it would have to do.  Time was running out.

     I was feeling sad that I didn't have any corn candies to put on them for the lit up eyes, but, oh well, they were happy faces none the less.  Then SURPRISE!  Lynn came in the door with a package.  WOW! Jeanette had sent a package of Halloween surprises and it had arrived on Halloween!  I opened the package and what do you know?  CORN CANDIES!  What a difference they made on my drab, orange cookies.  It really perked the cookies up and made them happy that it was Halloween.  Thanks Jeanette for thinking of us!  And thanks for the card, (which made me get all teary) and for the fun Halloween decorations and other candies!!  It just made my day!!  I was feeling a little lonely anyway, thinking that the kids would be in their cute costumes, and coming to Grammy' and Grandpa's house and we weren't there.

     Though we weren't there for the traditional Halloween, we still had a fun evening as we tooks plates of jack-o-lantern cookies to neighbors and branch members who didn't know about Halloween.  The kids faces lit up when they saw the cookies and really smiled when we told them our kids dress up in costumes and go to houses and say trick-or-treat and people actually give them treats!   We finished off the evening with the Elders coming over for plates of cookies of their very own.  It may be South Africa, but we still had Halloween!!

Thanks Jeanette for all these fun Halloween surprises.  It really made our day!! 

 We felt as happy as that smiling jack-o-lantern!

Plates of cookies just waiting to be delivered.

The only thing I had for my Halloween costume was my gummy Frankenstein teeth!

Mr Jack-o-lantern helped me say, "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Thanks Jeanette, for the corn candies. 

 It made these happpy little fellows come alive!

     I was also feeling sad that they wouldn't have the traditional Halloween Sloppy Joes after Trick or Treat.  Then I found out that Cristee and Crystal arranged for that so that it would still feel like Grammy's house.  Suz's family and friends came down as usual, WE  just were't there.

Thanks kids for still keeping with tradition so all the little goblins could feel like Grammy and Grandpa weren't so far away!

A Week of Endless Busies

Thanks for the little posts of the things that the kids are doing.  It makes me be homesick for everyone.  We get busy and involved in the work and this feels like home,  but then we see pics of the kids, and the snow, and we know we're not there.  We're not missing the snow, however.  It was 71 today, but that is chilly for here.  We've had quite a bit of rain the past week, but then it's spring here and the rainy season, so that's to be expected.  When it rains, the temps drop considerably!  The other day it was sweltering, then we had terrific thunder and lightening storms that night, and the next day I was wearing a sweater and knee highs!   But we're definitely not missing the snow!  We did miss the beautiful fall.  The pictures that we saw were spectacular this year!  I'm missing all my Halloween decorations as well.  The only thing Halloween I have is some gummy red and white Frankenstein teeth, and I've eaten most of them.   I haven't had time to make my Jack o lantern cookies.  That's on my schedule for the first part of the week.  I'm running out of time!  Please post pics of the kids in their Halloween costumes.  They don't celebrate Halloween here, however I did see some costumes in a store the other day.  Nor do they celebrate Thanksgiving.  Well, of course, that's an American holiday, but I've already been planning our dinner.  There will be the other Sr. couple, their 3 family members who are coming for a visit in a few weeks, the two sets of Elders, and probably a prospective missionary member from our Branch.  They are starting to get Christmas trees and decorations up in several of the stores.  We may break down and buy a tree since we will be here for two Christmas's.  I hate to think of that, because that sounds like forever, but the time is really going quickly.  We have been out almost 2 months already!

Our last two weeks have really been busy lately with visits, and seeing about the Church and all the things that have had to be done since the break-in, plus getting ready for Mission Conference with Elder Holland.

 We made another visit to the McCarthy's.  Her husband is 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency, but hasn't been to church since we've been here.  His wife is the 2nd counselor in the Primary.  She's the one who had the Agina attack.  The Branch Presidency decided to hold their meeting at his house, because his excuse for not being there was that he needed to stay with his wife. I had called to check on her, but no one had been there to bring in a meal or anything.  I made cinnamon rolls for the meeting, and for their family.  She was grateful, but felt quilty that she didn't know  we were  coming.  She said when I hugged her frail body, "I may have to take you up on your offer to help with the ironing.  I just can't keep up with everything."  We visited in the kitchen while the men were holding their meeting.  Her ironing board was set up, so I ironed while we visited.  She actually needs a heart valve replacement, but they won't discuss it with her because they don't have insurance.  With the faulty valve, she does a little and gets very tired and has trouble breathing.  Her visiting teacher lives up the road, but rides her bike to and from work and it is dark when she gets home, so has just called her, but hasn't been over to see her.  They live off the beaten path, up a dirt road filled with gullies, then thru a locked gate, and winds in and around an avacado orchard and thru another gate with 3 big dogs waiting for you as you enter.   I definitely wouldn't come after dark either.  I get nervous with Lynn driving when we go to see them and it's day light.  She was embarrassed for me to do her ironing, but I was grateful for something to do rather than just sit!  I was able to get most of it done with the exception of a few shirts and a pair of pants.

Since the break-in we have been after the owners to fulfill the agreement made 5 months ago about putting in a security system as agreed to when they raised the rent.   They finally came and put the burglar bars on all the windows and painted the bars white to match the curtains on the windows.  We took the curtains down and took them home to wash them.  (They were horrid!)  You could just feel the grime on them when you held them.  We brought  them back and got them rehung.  Before we did, we had to scrape off the paint drippings under the bars and wash the windows.  They did look nice after we got them done.

Because we had trouble with the video/audio problems on Sunday, Lynn did another practice test with the Area Technical person.  We were at the Church nearly all day Monday - 5 hours.  I don't know when I've seen Lynn so frustrated.  No matter what he did, it still kept coming up "no signal" on the screen.  The picture would come up on the computer, but would not project it onto the screen.  He went to get 2 different cords, neither of which did any good.  He was very frustrated by this time, because it was time to start the practice run with the Area Office, and it still wasn't working.  Elder Howes called and together, they were able to finally get a picture projected onto the screen.  Hooray!!  Just keeping our fingers crossed that it will work on Thursday for the webcast of the Missionary Conference.

We felt badly that we weren't able to be in Johannesburg for the conference, but very grateful that we were able to have things working so we would see and hear the proceedings.  I knew that when it was over at 5:30 pm,  the Elders would be be hungry and still had appointments to go to. So in order to make it feel like the special meeting that it was, I decided to have a light dinner afterward.  I made chicken noodle soup, and made two pans of cinnamon rolls to bake the next day.  Sister Moss bought hard rolls to go with it.  We had the soup in the crock pot and everything set up to eat after  it was over.

(Finally continuing 5 days later.  I started falling asleep)  (Now Sunday night)

Wednesday, we felt like we needed to "take 5" after the turmoil of yesterday and trying to get web cast set up.  We didn't have any visits scheduled  because of all the busies of the upcoming conference, so we decided to take the Moss's and go to the Penryn College Christmas Market just to see whet they had, and to scope it out to see if it might be some place we could take President Omer's wife while he was doing training and interviews.  It was very interesting.  It is an annual fundraising that the school does every year.  It isn't really a collge by our terms.  It's a private school for preschool to 12th grade.  They had many home made items from crafts, clothes, jewelry, food, etc.    We decided it would be somewhere that Sister Omer would like to go.  It was another drizzly, COOL, day, and since it was in a large barn-like structure, we were ready to go somewhere warm after a bit.  Besides I needed to get home to work on the cinnamon rolls.

Thursday, I made the chicken noodle soup and baked the 2 pans of cinnamon rolls that I had put in the fridge the night before.  We loaded up the car and headed for the church to get things set up for the webcast.  By the time Sister Moss and I had the crock pot plugged in and the food set up, Elder Baxter had the equipment set up and going.  Hooray!!  Prayers answered again.  It was a wonderful broadcast!!  We were just sorry we weren't there in person to shake Elder Holland's hand, but very grateful that the equipment worked so that we could see and hear it.

The soup and rolls were a hit.  We had also invited prospective missionaries from the KaNyamazane Branch as well as ours.  Because the paper or plastic bowels here are so small -- only large enough to hold 2 scoops of ice cream, Lynn bought small containers with lids with the plan to use the lid as a saucer and the bowl for the soup.  It worked great!  When everyone got through and the Elders needed to leave for appointments, they filled their bowls again, put the lids on and had their own take away container.  There was not a sniff of soup left in the extra large crock pot which was filled to the brim.  Not a bad idea.  I may have to incorporate that idea in the next family dinner we have, then I wouldn't have to lose all my plastic containers for take homes.  haha

Friday morning we had district meeting which was very good.  The district leader always does such a great job of teaching! I'm always so amazed at how proficient they are with their knowledge of the gospel and their ability to conduct classes and discussions that are uplifting to everyone.

When we finished with the meeting, Lynn and I vacuumed and dusted the church so it would be ready for the President to do his training and interviews the next morning.  We finished and stopped to buy more electricity so we wouldn't run out for the weekend, then home for some quick lunce before a fast run to get groceries.  ( I hadn't had time to do it earlier this week.)  There were some things I needed for the chicken spread for the next day.

South Africa is interesting--They have tons of everything except the things that you need that you're used to using when you make things in the States.  Celery--how strange is celery?  We had to go to 2 different stores for that.  Miracle Whip and Mayo--No such thing over here, at least not what we're used to using.  We went to three stores and finallyl ended up with something that I hoped would work.  Croissants - one package of  8 was all we could find, so to another store.  None there, but they would special order and have them ready by 8:00 the next morning.  Wonderful!!  Now home to get the chicken spread made before it was time to go to dinner with the President and Sister Omer.  They were to arrive around 6:00 and wanted to go over what appointments were lined up for the next day.

I had cooked the chicken before we left for District meeting, so I just started cutting up everything to go in it.  When I opened the jar of Salad Dressing and tasted it before I ploped a large scoop into the chicken, frustration started in again!  It tasted almost rancid or like something that had been sitting out in the sun all afternoon.  Now what should I do?  Lynn offered to go see what he could find.  It was 5:00, we had already been to about 3 other stores, we had a dinner date in about an hour, but if he was willing to go, I told him to have at it.  I continued to cut up the grapes and stir things together.  The President called said they were checked in at the hotel and wondered if we had decided where we wanted to go eat.  I told him I'd check with the Moss's and get back with him.  After a phone call to them, I hurridly changed clothes and prayed that Lynn would be here soon, as we were to meet the President at 6:30 at the restaurant.  At 6:15, Lynn walked in the door with 4 jars of " Whip - Sandwich Spread" with hopes that one of them would work.  At least they were more white looking than yellow, like the one that we bought earlier.  We walked to the Moss's and got on our way.

After a nice  dinner with President and Sister Omer, we returned home to finish the chicken spread and make the carmelitas.  And, yes, the white Sandwich Spread did taste more like Miracle Whip and worked fine.  The chicken spread tasted like it usually does.  We did up the dishes and went to bed so we could function the next morning.

I was up at 5:45, showered and got ready, made breakfast and Lynn was off to pick up the croissants at the bakery.  I cut the watermelon and finished just as he came in the door with the croissants. They were still warm, and twice the size of the ones that we had bought yesterday.  I don't know if I've ever seen 7 inch croissants!  Oh, well, that's only half as many to spread.  I had ordered two dozen and had just enough spread for that many rolls.   (Pretty good judging! haha)  Lynn left for his training with the President, and Sister Moss and I spread the croissants, cleaned up the dishes and loaded the car.

We got everything all set up buffet style, for lunch whenever anyone was finished and ready to to eat.  We refrigerated the rolls and fruit and Lynn set them out when they were ready for them --  Chicken salad croissants, chips, watermelon, canteloupe, honey dew melon, carmelitas and ice water.  At that point, Sister Moss, Sister Omer and I headed out for a few hours of ladies free time of random shopping - something we felt we had earned!  Sister Omer truly enjoyed the "time off".  She had had 18 missionaries at the Mission Home while they were there for the conference as well as 2 senior couples.  Just cooking for that crew would be enough to make you want to run away!  We had a truly enjoyable morning!

So, if you're feeling badly that I hadn't answered your emails this past week, now you know why.  This has been somewhat typical of the kind of weeks that we've had lately.  But we're enjoying it and glad that we have enough to keep us busy.  Though we haven't been able to spend as much time with the members as we would have liked, we have been definitely  been spiritiually fed and grateful to be able to be a part of this great work!

We love you all and miss you and love to hear about what's going on in your lives.  We love to see pictures of the kids, since we went off without ours.  So anything you can do about that would be great!  We would love to skype with you if you have skype set up. But it would have to be morning your time, since we are  9 hours ahead of you, otherwise, it is 11:00 p.m. or later our time.  Take care.  Thanks for all your prayers in our behalf.  Please know you are always in our prayers as well!  

Latest Happenings - October

This is the Baptismal font at our church.  It looks rather like a large bowl.  There is a large cover that stays on it when not in use.  When we have a baptism, they remove the cover, clean out the sediment, add some disinfectant to the water and turn on the heater, that you see sitting along the side.  There's barely room for two grown men to be in there.

This is Brother Elvis and his stwo children, Hope and Chase, prior to his baptism.  His wife didn't come.  She later told the missionaries, "He didn't invite me."  However, she didn't come the next week to his confirmation.  He is thrilled to be a member of the Church.

Elder Baker, from Idaho Falls, Elvis, and Elder Brinkerhoff, from Riverton, UT and England, prior to the baptism.  It was a very special day for each of them.  Elder Brinkerhoff came just a couple of weeks before we did.  He's been very quiet and shy, but is starting to talk a little.

"Oh what do you do in the summer time, when all the world is green?"  "Do you march in parades, and drink lemonades " ...and plant flowers of course!  When we were in the hardware store the other day, there, amid the poinsettias, were beautiful gerber daisies just crying for a good home.  I must admit, I've never selected daisies at the same time I could choose  Poinsettias, but I guess that's what happens when you live on the other side of the world!  Just couldn't resist bringing some home!

I've never had a begonnia before, but this one was exceptionally pretty and I thought the color would be a nice contrast to the pink shades of daisies that I chose.

This one is actually more of a deep maroon that a red that it shows in the picture, but beautiful, none the less.  There are also two buds on it as well.  They really brighten up my patio, and it is so fun just to open the sliding door from the living room to step out to water them.  I just wish I had more time to sit on the patio and enjoy their beauty.  Strange, I had the problem at home as well! 

Thanks Karrisyn and Kaibrienne for making these beautiful pictures for us.  I packed them carefully, and as we got settled in our flat, I hung them on the side of the fridge so we can see them every time we walk into the kitchen.  You are such great artists!  I think of you each time I look at them!

Blessings of the Sabbath

     I always look forward to Sunday, but since we've been here, you never know quite what to expect.  Our Branch was  planning to watch the Saturday sessions of Conference today, since the power outage didn't allow us to do that last Sunday. So Lynn spent most of Saturday at the church trying to get the technical things set up to view Conference.   Late Saturday, we received word that we would be able to view Elder Holland's address to the people in Pretoria, prior to his coming to Johannesburg to conduct a Missionary Conference this coming Thursday.  We were excited about that, because we thought we wouldn't have the opportunity to hear his address.

      In my personal prayer and in our couple prayer, we prayed that the technical aspects would allow us to have the proceedings go as planned.  We arranged to be at the church at 8:00 to set up for the webcast instead of the Conference video.  On our drive to the Church, we encountered several intersections where the robots weren't working.  We were a little afraid that when we got to the Church we might find that, once again, we had no power.  (If there is a power problem somewhere, they work on the lines on Sunday)  As we entered the church, our worst fears were true--there was, in fact, no power!  We could hardly believe it!  This was a replay of last Sunday!  I started rehearsing in my mind how we would do what, without any power or anyone prepared to speak or teach since we were supposed to be watching conference.  I immediately said another prayer.  I must admit that a surge of disappointment went through me as I was so looking forward to hearing Elder Holland.

     About 30 minutes later, the power flickered on!  Hooray!  As I walked to the car to get some of the equipment out, my eyes swelled with tears to know that Heavenly Father had heard and answered our prayers.  After several minutes of several men working with cords, plugs, computers, projectors, etc., we began to see a bit of the prelude songs being sung at the conference.  That was only for a brief moment before everything stopped.  Try as they might, they could not get the sound to come up, it just kept buffering.  The internet was too slow to stream both the audio and the sound at the same time.  A message came up to the effect that the internet was too busy to pick it up.  Members were starting to saunter in.  ( Being on time isn't common in this area)  We waited a while longer, still nothing!  I said another silent prayer that we would at least be able to get conference, if not Elder Elder Holland's address, because we had some inactive members there, and I didn't want them to be discouraged and not come again.

     Once again, I realized my prayers had been heard as I heard the Tabernacle Choir sing and the organ begin to play.  I don't know how many dozen times throughout my life I have heard that same sound, but it never sounded as sweet as it did today.  As President Eyring got up to open the Conference, my eyes filled with tears once again just to be able to be a part of this Conference, and to know that our equipment was finally working so that we could be able to see the conference recordings.  We take so much for granted in the States each time we flip on a switch and we have power, or turn on the T V or radio and we're able to see and hear conference.  I felt guilty thinking of all the times I had turned on the radio or TV to listen to conference as I went about my household duties, with no regard as what others have to go through to make it possible for us.  I have just always taken for granted that conference would always be there at my command.

     Even though we only had time to listen to one session today because of a Baptism scheduled after our Church time, I was grateful to hear the talks that were given.  They seemed to be so fitting for some of our inactive members who decided to come today.  I hope they felt as inspired as I did, and will have the desire to "feast upon the word" again next Sunday.  We are so blessed to be members of this great Church and to be able to hear our General Authorities speak to us on the things that our Heavenly Father wants us to know.  I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of this great work in helping to strengthen the members in this part of our Savior's vineyard.

The Rescue

     For the past few weeks, we have noticed that one of our members family hadn't been to church.  We seemed surprised because he is the second counselor in the Branch Presidency, and she is the second counselor in the Primary Presidency.  The Primary President had asked me about 3 weeks ago if I could help out in the Primary because neither of her counselors were there and some of her teachers were gone.  I told her I would be glad to help out.  Being only the third week we had been to church, we still didn't know who was who and what positions they held.

     We had tried to call this family to see if we could come visit them, but hadn't been able to make connections with them.  As we visited with the Relief Society President on Tuesday, we mentioned that we were concerned about this family, and that we hadn't been able to make connections with them.  She told us she had her cell number and would I like it.  We were glad for that bit of information and took the number.

     Because it was late when we finished making our visits, we waited until the next morning to call her.  What a surprise I got when she told me that she had  had an angina attack three weeks ago, and had pretty much been down.  I apologized for not knowing anything about it.  I asked if I could come help her do some things.  She said her grandchildren had been there last weekend and had helped with some cleaning.  I asked about doing some laundry or ironing and she assured me that she had done a little at a time and was o k.

      Feeling very useless, I then asked if I could bring some dinner to them tonight.  She was elated.  "That would be wonderful!" she exclaimed.  I do a little and then rest for a bit and try to do some more, but by night I'm too tired to fix much for dinner, so my husband will try to fix a little something.

     She was thrilled to think that I would offer to bring her dinner.

     That evening as we visited for a minute, she was surprised that we hadn't known about her illness.  She had told the Primary President, and the first counselor, whose husband is the Branch President.  he had even given her a blessing.  But the Relief Society President had no idea until I contacted her today and alerted her of this sister's condition.  I was amazed that the Branch President hadn't said anything about it to her either.

     In our home ward, the whole neighborhood would have known within the hour and phone calls would have been made to bring in dinner for the next several nights, and additional visits made to check on her.  This branch struggles to be knitted together, and feel a sense of responsibility for one another.  We've been told that the Branch president hasn't held a Branch Council since May.  We're still trying to meet with him to see what he would like us to help do.  In the meantime, we have made our own plan of things we can be doing to build and strengthen this branch and help them become more unified in working toward the same goals in order to keep newly baptized members coming and active.

     We are thankful for the experiences we have had  on our home wards to help us know how to come to the rescue of others.   There is a lot of work to be done, not only here in Nelspruit, but in similar places throughout the world.  Those of  you who are retired and available might want to consider praying about the opportunity to help rescue others just like this dear sister, and these struggling branch members also.  We are grateful for this opportunity to serve.

A Week of Challenges

     We thought when we left Morgan, that would be the end of the Adversary's fiery darts, however, we are finding  that that is not necessarily so.  We seem to find challenges in everything we do.  We have made about seven trips to the Mall to deal with the challenges of trying to get our  internet in and set up.  Hopefully, it is up and will continue to work for a while.

     Last Sunday, we had a very inspirational fast and testimony meeting.  Even though I was sad that we weren't able to view conference, the testimonies were so outstanding that it made up for not being on my couch in front of the T V munching Conference rolls.  These members have such strong testimonies!  They are so grateful for what the church has added to their lives.  We did try to tune in to some of conference that evening.  8:00 and 10:00 p.m. were the times we could see it live via the internet.  The computer was too slow to watch the video, but we were able to get the audio.  We missed the last half of the afternoon's session because the Elders and one of the prospective missionaries of our Branch stopped in to visit and have dessert.  By the time they left, it was over.

     Monday morning as we were starting our day, we got a call from the Elders saying they had just received word that our Church had been broken into during the night.  They had removed three luvored window slats and climbed in through there.  They are high windows.  They took a computer, a DVD player, and a projector.  We found out later in the week that in fact, the projector was locked in a file cabinet and was safe.

     Though we had two different appointments cancel on us this week, we had two very nice visits with some other members.  One is an inactive returned missionary who is married with twin 4 year old daughters.  As we visited with them, I told them about the Primary Program coming up and the little girls might like to come to Primary to participate in it.  The Mom asked about getting a CD with the songs on so they could learn them.  I told her I would get one from the Presidency and we could get it burned for them.  They offered to do them for the other Primary families, so that actually proved to be helpful.  She ended up coming to Church today and brought the C D's and the twins.  Her husband didn't come, but it's a start.

     We had a Helping Hands project scheduled for Saturday morning that was spearheaded by the young Elders.  We were to go in and clean the yard of a school for handicapped children and plant grass so they could have a green area to play on.  It has rained almost every day this week.  The past few days, we got some extremely heavy showers.  Because of the wetness, the principal decided to postpone the project for another day.  As it happened, it was the nicest day we've had this week.  Oh, well, we're looking to the first part of November to do the project.

     Saturday, the person over physical facilities out of the Area Offfice made a trip from Johannesburg to bring up a DVD player and a computer for our Branch since we had planned to see the Saturday sessions of Conference  on Sunday.  Elder Baxter was over at the Church the better part of the day receiving the supplies and getting things ready for the broadcast on Sunday.  Because the company still hasn't come to install the burglar bars, he had to bring the equipment home so it would be safe.  We were up early because we had to be at the Church by 8:00 to finish getting the equipment set up.  Wouldn't you know it!!  About 6:15, the power went off.  So much for my dinner preparations.  We had invited the Elders Quorem President and his family over for dinner after church, so everything just sat in the pans as is.  Also  no way to curl my hair (good thing I hadn't just washed it that morning.  It would have been rather scary)

     We got on our way, without stoplights, or robots as they call them.  We saw one light a few blocks from the church, so we thought all was well.  Except by the time we got to the next light, we discovered it was out too.  We got to the church and discovered that the power was out there too.  We said another prayer, for we knew that no one would be prepared for Church as usual. About 8:40, the Branch President and his son hurried to get the sacrament set up.  We had no choice other than to go ahead and have church.  He called on a few people to bear their testimonies, including Lynn.  Each sensed an urgency to share a lesson along with their testimonies.  The meeting was very inspirational.  Even with Sunday School, Relief Society and Priesthood, people stepped up and gave lessons which they hadn't really prepared.  They actually all did a wonderful job!  The lessons were all very well done.

     After the block of meetings was over, the branch gathered for a Linger Longer with trays of quarter sized sandwiches and juice that the Branch President had brought.  I think he was planning on this being the snack in between Conference sessions.  Even after we finished cleaning up, the power still wasn't on.  We told the Ngami family that we would call them when the power was on and hopefully still be able to have dinner. 

About 2:24 pm, the kitchen light flipped on.  I reset the stove dials to finish cooking the veggies, and gave a call to the family and told them we'd eat at 4:00.  Everything was ready, but they didn't arrive until 5:00.  No problem, we still were able to enjoy a typical American Sunday dinner of Roast beef, potatoes,  gravy, brown sugar and buttered carrots, biscuits, (sorry no Rhodes rolls here) apple slices, and banana oatmeal cake.  They said they enjoyed it, however, they didn't seem too big on the potatoes and gravy.  They are used to eating pap which is a ground white corn meal cooked in boiling water.  It looks like mashed potatoes, but is heavier and drier.  She had brought a "lemon condensed tart"  with caramel drizzled on top,which tasted a lot like the cheese cake that I make except the crust was thicker and harder.  She told me she didn't bake, she just bought something at the bakery for the weekend.  I put ice cream on the top.  Since we hadn't eaten the banana bars, I cut a plate of them and sent home with her.  I had also made rice krispie squares in case their kids were alergic to nuts.  I sent some home with her as well.  She asked what they were and how I made them.  When I told her how simple they were to make, she wanted the recipie and said she thought she could do that.  (Amazing what miracle recipies we have in the states!!! :)  

     Despite all the challenges of the day and week, there were still some very positive things that had happened along with it.  It was a great reminder that we always have to put our trust in the Savior and move forward with whatever obstacles come our way.  Satan will always try to thwart the work of the Lord.  It is up to us to not be discouraged by his fiery darts  but to move forward to Plan B and with  our faith and the Savior will take care of the rest.

     I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and that we are here in South Africa to help the work move forward in this area.  We are grateful for the opportunity to serve!