Happy Birthday Lynn

One week after we arrived in country, it was Lynn's birthday.  I wanted to shop for something special for him to bring with us, but with all the busies before we left, shopping for the upcoming birthdays, Baptisms, etc., I ran out of time to shop for Lynn.  I felt badly, but even if I would have had time to shop for him, I wouldn't have had poundage to pack it, as we were just to our limit with 5 bags and two carry ons. As though that wasn't bad enough, we were still staying with  Elder and Sister  Moss, so at times, we were planning our schedules around theirs.  They had been so good to take us to places that we needed to go and show us our way around this new strange town, and familiarize us with missionary life.  We really appreciate all their time and effort in our behalf. 

But the worst part was, that the day of his birthday, I was still thinking that I it was only the 17th and that tomorrow was his birthday.  Somehow, part way through the morning, something was said about the days, and I said, "Lynn's birthday is tomorrow."  Sister Moss said, "Oh, his birthday is the 19th?"  I said, "No it's the 18th".  Just then I got  a funny feeling and walked over to look at their calendar, and low and behold, it WAS the 18th!!  I felt like a real ditz!!!!  O k, so now we would have a change of plans for the day.  I had wanted to make his favorite, lemon meringue pie, but I was unable to find cooked lemon pudding and I didn't have a generic recipe for lemon pie filling.  So I had to go to plan B.  His next favorite is German chocolate cake.  The only coconut they had was very fine shredded cocoanut.  Ok, well, I'll just have to improvise!  The cake didn't turn out like I would have hoped, but it was a cake none the less!

Despite it not looking the best, or being his first favorite, he was still pleased.

Others who shared it with us thought it was wonderful, even if I didn't!

Sister Moss had some placemats that made the dinner seem a little more special.

Without having my regular freezer full of meat and my storage room full of everything I need, I had to plan a menu around the few things I bought from the store to fix meals with while we were waiting to get  into our own flat.  After checking my supplies, it looked like porqupine meatballs would be the main course, with baked potatoes, green beans, and tossed salad.  The Mosses had to go up to visit with some of their Branch members so that left me alone to the kitchen for my preparations.  I was able to get everything fixed and ready for dinner.  We actually had one dinner guest--the Branch President of the KaNyamazane Branch was coming for a planning meeting with Elder Moss, so we invited him to stay for dinner.  That actually was kind of nice, because though it wasn't family like we usually have, it was an extra dinner guest to help celebrate.

While we were still in Johannesburg at the Mission Home, Sister Omer told us about a fellow she knew who goes all over Africa to buy things and bring back to his warehouse.  He happened to be at his warehouse the day before we left to come to Nelspruit, so all the ladies in the office made a shopping trip to the warehouse.  It gave me a chance to purchase something for Lynn's birthday.  It's not everyday that you get a handcarved crocodile with the top part that comes off with little compartments underneath.   They told me the little compartments were for a game  you play with items in the compartments.  They said I could go on line for the instructions.  I think we'll just use it for a decoration.  

By the way, it was quite a fete to camoflage this croc to save it for a surprise.  I had Sister Omer get a large black garbage bag to put it in and then I sneaked it in the car.  We could hardly get the luggage in the car, let alone a black bag with a hidden croc, but I succeeded!  He actually was surprised when he opened it.  I know his first thought was "What am I supposed to do with this, and how are we getting it back to the states?"  I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  :)

Lynn named him "George" after his friend and neighbor back home.  He now sits just off the front entry to scare away any unwanted intruders!

The day before his birthday when we were in the mall seeing about our internet, I found a little gift shop where I purchased this hand carved giraffe.  

This wasn't the typical birthday, but it was birthday, African style. Since we had only been in country one week,  it ended up being one of those, "birthdays to remember".

Current Happenings - February 2013

Current Happenings - February 2013

Wow, the time is passing quickly. It seems like we just barely turned over the calendar, and we're already on the downhill side of February. We continue to be busy. It seems we never get caught up. Just when we feel like we can breath, we are bombarded again.

We had been trying to make connections with a lady who we were told was a member, was new in town, and was a nurse at the Mediclinic. We finally did reach her, but she was so sick she could hardly talk. We told her we would get a hold of her later and for her to get better, and that if she needed anything, to please call. About an hour later she called and said "Can you come tomorrow morning at 10:00? We told her we could. I was a little nervous to visit because she had sounded so sick an hour earlier and I didn't want to catch anything. When we went to visit, we discovered that in fact, she wasn't a member and she has lived in Nelspruit for 21 years. Her brother is a member and is a Branch President in another country, Zambia. She was married to a black African who made her move out of the house that she built and then he sold it. She has a 17 year old son. They live in a house that has a community kitchen and they each have their own room. Kind of a strange set up, but I guess it is all she can afford. I left a message on "Prayer" with her and Lynn administered to her. She made an appointment with us for the next week in the afternoon so her son would be home from school. We went to her at the appointed time. Her son seemed like a fine young man, and listened intently as Lynn gave some basics about the plan of salvation, and the importance of making good choices to help us be truly happy in life. We left some pamphlets with them, invited them out to church, but she didn't want to make another appointment just yet, because she wasn't sure of her work schedule and the time her son would be home from school because he has an hour walk each way. We don't know if she will call us back or not.

The next night, we made a trip to Koomatipoort to take the sacrament to the family who has been waiting for their car to be fixed and haven't been to church for over two months. They live nearly a two hour drive away. We left a little early so we could stop along the way in case we saw anything interesting, since they live near Kruger Park. We took the Elders with us so they could help prepare the sacrament and also be a role model for their two sons ages 16 & 18. Just outside one of the gates to the park, we decided to drive up to, but not go into the park. As we were driving along the bridge, we saw some very large hippos grazing near the river bank. We watched them for a few minutes, and later saw them in the water. I was surprised how long they could stay under water without coming up for air. I didn't realize how huge they actually were!

We were amazed at how huge these hippos really were!

The continued to graze along the river bank.

We watched them swim around.  They would go under for a long period of time.  

I was amazed that they could stay under water for so long.   When they surfaced, you could see their faces and nostrils.  They were huge!

This elephant started down to the river for a cool drink.  I was amazed to see brown elephants.  

The other ones we saw in the Park were dark gray. 

As we looked across to the other side of the bridge hoping to see some crocs, we didn't see any crocs, but we did see two brown elephants nibbling the trees and bushes.

Elder Center and Elder Medebe.  It must have been blue tie day.  :)

Enjoying the view from the bridge.

We arrived a little early, and since they were just getting off work and still needed to finish preparations for dinner, we went to the Golf Course and enjoyed a cold drink on the patio while we watched some more hippos in the river. The family was ready for us when we returned. We had a very nice devotional with a lesson by Lynn on the blessing of making good choices, and the heartache that comes with poor choices.

The Kruger family enjoyed being able to take the sacrament. She had a very nice dinner of beef and vegetable pie, green salad, and potato salad. I had brought brownies for dessert, which were a big hit. Everyone had seconds! They enjoyed our visit and the effort we made to take time to drive so far in their behalf.

We were just finishing dessert when I remembered that I hadn't taken a picture of everyone.  It was a great evening and well worth the time it took to drive out there.

 We drove home in light showers and lightening. When we arrived home, we discovered that the storm had been much worse in our area. There were piles of leaves and greenery everywhere near our porch. It had tripped our breaker and we had to fumble around in the dark to find the right switch to flip in order to have lights. The next morning, we discovered that the tall cement / cinderblock fence that surrounds the complex in front had been taken out by the massive running water from the rain. There was bricks and dirt runoff everywhere. Fortunately we are at the top of the complex, so the rain just runs downhill and I guess the force was too much for the fence. It still hasn't been fixed yet, but there is a guard that watches that area for the people who live on that first row.

This was the part of the fence that was taken out.  

There must have been a heavy force of water to move all those cinderblocks!

This was part of the clean-up crew that was surveying the mess.

We had three birthdays this week. Ashlin turned 12 on Friday the 8th, and Blake and Austin turned 15 on Sunday the 10th. Wow, where has the time gone? These kids are just growing up too fast! Suzette celebrated her birthday on Friday the 15th. We're sorry we couldn't be a part of the celebrations, but we hope you all had a special day anyway!

With this being the Valentine week, I have been doing cookies to drop off to many of the families in our branch. I made the dough earlier and put it in the fridge and then later rolled out the cookies and put them in containers to frost as time permitted and as we had time to take around our deliveries. Thanks to Jeanette's Valentine package that arrived on Valentine's day, I had sprinkles, conversation hearts and red hots to decorate the cookies with. They looked cute and were eagerly accepted by the recipients.

All kind of Valentine treats and Primary materials arrived in the package!

Yummy cookies waiting to be delivered!

  

Beautiful Valentine garland to decorate our flat!!   

Thanks for the love notes!   :)

On Monday, one of the Young Women's Counselors called me to see if her girls could come to our flat for a baking experience where they could make something to take to their Branch on Sunday. As we met and talked, she thought making heart cookies would be fun. So on Saturday, 7 girls and Sara, their leader, came to our flat. They had a great time making, rolling, frosting and decorating 9 dozen cookies to take to their Branch. They put each one in a baggie with a pink or majenta bow tied around the bag. They had a ball with this experience. They have never done anything of this nature, and they were like small children as they decorated the cookies. Each cookie was filled with several candies, each decorated in their own creative way. Thanks Jeanette for these fun Valentine candies. They were a big hit! I had some of the pink and red M & M's in a candy dish. They asked, "What are these?" I told them and told them they were welcome to some. Needless to say, the dish was empty when they left. While we were waiting for the dough to chill before rolling it out, I had made some brownies and juice for a snack. I had some Doritos and Pringles for a salty snack. They were devoured instantly. These kids don't have these kinds of things in their homes. Their food items are just the necessities. They were here about 5 hours and were very good to help clean up their things as they finished. As Lynn drove them down town to catch the transport back to KaNyamazane, they were all smiles as they carried the huge box, covered with a black garbage bag to protect the cookies. They were grateful for the opportunity to come here for their activity. Without a senior couple for their branch, they look to us for help in different things. We are glad to be of service to them as well.

Rolling out the dough.  They each took a turn to roll and cut.

Getting each cookie cut just so!

Getting the knack of frosting cookies.

The girls had a fun time with their creations.  

Their leader, Sara, is the tall one standing in the middle with the white shirt.

A box ful of tasty pretties ready to share with the branch tomorrow at church.

The new "Cookie Queens" and their finished products!

Last Sunday, we had two baptisms after church. One was Robbie, a white Afrikaans that the Elders found out tracting, and the other was a black African girl, Larraine, who The Blakes, one of our senior couples who handles the Perpetual Education Fund, met at a restaurant when they were in town. They gave her a Book of Mormon. When we have been at the restaurant, Lynn has followed up with her giving her pamphlets etc. Finally she was ready for the missionaries to come and teach her. It was a very special day. They are both great converts. It made for a very busy weekend as I finished with cleaning and washing, and preparations for Primary. Later in the afternoon, the Elders asked if I would speak on Baptism since the original speaker had backed out. So I added one more thing to my list. I had the converts and the missionaries over for a roast beef dinner afterward to make the day feel more special for them. We also invited the KaNyamazane Elders over to join us. They had a baptism after ours. They used our building since their branch meets in a rented school room and the school Principal has been giving them static about using their water. (The Church installed a Jojo to use for their baptisms, but the school thinks it's theirs.) Despite being a very busy day, it was a very enjoyable and memorable day!

Elder Center, Larraine, Robbie, Elder Medebe, and the Baxters.

 

The Elders and their new converts.

Enjoying dinner.

All ready for the baptism.  

Brother James-Branch clerk, Larraine, Robbie, & Barney-2nd Counselor in Branch Presidency

One of the challenges of missionary work is missing out on special things happening at home. We really appreciate all the time, effort and expense that went into throwing a farewell / shower for Broc and Crystal. Thank you to those of you who wrote filling us in on the details and for posting pictures so we could share in the happy times, though we were not there. We really do appreciate that.

We are also grateful for your faith and prayers as we fasted for Crystal and Broc and their unborn baby who appeared to be having some difficulties according to the ultrasound. We felt a miracle in their behalf as word of a new ultrasound indicated that everything looked normal. We continue to pray that all goes well in the weeks ahead.

Congratulations to Crystal and Broc for successfully making the long drive to Michigan to begin his Rotations. Thanks to Ernie, Broc's dad, for going along to drive the truck and help with the unloading. We consider all of you "angels" that the Lord is sending to take care of the work at home that we are unable to do as we help in another area of His vineyard.

One more bit of news was the Valentine that Shantel and Dallin sent announcing that they are expecting a baby in August. We are excited for them and for our 5th great grandchild.

We are being bombarded with finalizing all the preparations for the Youth Camp / Conference, coming up on April 4,5, & 6. Trying to coordinate the leaders from the two branches to plan and coordinate all the preparations is becoming quite a chore, but it is at the top of our list right now. Also, the Branch President called us in today to ask if we would teach a Temple Preparation Class to four people who are wanting to go to the temple. We are happy and excited to do that. I'm not sure how excited the Primary President will be when I tell her that some of my Primary time will be taken away for a while.

We are planning to go to Joburg this week for three days. We will meet the Blakes, for a day of shoppping around Joburg at some of the African Markets as well as a trip to the Temple on Friday. This will also give us an opportunity to pick up some of the things we need from the Distribution Center. It is only about a tenth as large as the ones in the states, but hopefully they will have a few the things we need. We are excited for the little break.

We continue to pray for you and your families and the challenges that come with raising children. We are excited and proud of the job that you are all doing as parents in bringing up your children in the Gospel. That is one of the greatest tools you have as parents in helping protect our precious children from the evils of the world. Thanks for all you do! We know it isn't an easy task trying to juggle jobs, home, church, finances, health issues, and the many other things that come with parenthood. We are proud of the way you are acccomplishing these tasks. Please know that you are all in our prayers daily. We are aware of your challenges that life gives to each of us, but just remember that the Lord doesn't give us anything that He thinks we can't handle. Isn't it nice to know He has so much faith in us? We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to serve Him in South Africa. Though we miss all of you and the things that your children are doing, we know this is where we are supposed to be at this time. The gospel is true! We are so grateful for our Savior's help in the things we do each day. Continue to include Him in your daily lives as well.

We love you!!!!

Love,

Elder and Sister Baxter

Last Week Of January 2013

We hope you have had a good week, have survived the cold, been satisified with the Groundhog's predictitons of how much winter we will still be having and that your favorite Super Bowl Team won!

We have had an interesting week, trying to catch up on all the appointments that canceled last week and trying to get all the January work fitted into the last four days before February appeared on the calendar.

Monday I thought I would get caught up on my ironing before I had to start dinner. We were having one of the family's we visit over for dinner and FHE. Before I could get to my ironing, the Elders called and asked if they could come over so I could show to them how to make bread. It actually reminds me of the story, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie", except my version is, "If You Give An Elder Some Bread". After I had given the Elders some home made bread the other day, Elder Handerade asked me if he could get the recipe for the bread. I made copies and brought to District Meeting the following Friday. He read through it, asked me some questions to be sure he understood all the directions since he's used to seeing measurements in "Milliliiters" instead of "cups". ( He's from Zimbabwe) I told him if he wanted to come over and watch me make it once so he understood the instructions better, he could. He said, "O K, we'll make a plan!" So Monday, which was their P day was the day for the plan.

Just when I was wondering how I was going to work everything out for dinner and FHE, we received a text from Purine saying they wouldn't be able to make it for dinner because her husband couldn't make it, and they couldn't come without him. He isn't a member and has never shown any interest in the Church, but she didn't want to leave him out. We were disappointed, but time wise it probably worked out for the better. The bread turned out fine and the Elders were excited to get to take home a loaf of hot bread.

On Tuesday, I did get my ironing done. With it being the end of the month, and knowing how slim the Elders wallets are by then we decided to have the Elders over for dinner. I made tacos and brownies. Just as I was finishing cutting up the veggies, our Wednesday appointment showed up. One of us had written down the wrong day and we had made arrangements for her to come over to our flat. That's o k, we just invited her to stay for dinner as well. In visiting with her, we discovered that she had been dating a young man for the past 5 years and he had asked her to marry him. They were beginning to make plans. Lynn asked her if her family was making him pay the "lobola". In this culture, it is customary for the groom to pay the bride's family an agreed upon amount of money to marry their daughter. ( Kind of like the "Johnny Lingo" movie from several years back.) However, today it has evolved from 2 cows to thousands of dollars and instead of getting married, many people just live together because the boy can't raise the "lobola" or can't agree on a fair amount. The Church has come out against it. They call it "bride price". They are trying to encourage the families to do away with traditions that go against Church Doctrine, and encourage the young people to prepare to go to the temple and do away with the "lobola". Lynn worried later if he had offended her with some of the things that he had said. He sent her a text apologizing if he had said anything negative against her cultural traditions, but she said everything was fine. Hopefully it is!

Thursday, we sent a message to the Diale family that we were supposed to meet with, saying that we were still planning to see them at 6:30. She texted back that they were expecting us to come on Tuesday. We were starting to feel like we were losing it! Two mix ups in two days?!!! I went right to my planner at church and wrote down Thursday when she changed the appointment. Oh well, better luck next time, right?

We were sad that we weren't able to help Crew celebrate his 6th birthday, but we were able to make connections with him by phone to sing to him. As we were finishing getting ready for District meeting, we got a call from Sister Sigauke saying she had to bring her car down to be serviced and it was going to take longer than she thought and was wondering if she could come over to our flat and hang out for the day. We told her she could and we would be down to get her in a few minutes. We left with uncurled hair and ran to the mall to pick her up. We still had to make a fast breakfast when we returned. We were only 10 minutes late for meeting, but she enjoyed being able to hang out and get caught up on the rest that she didn't get last week with driving back and forth while her husband was in the hospital and her baby was crying during the night because she was sick again.

That night we met our Branch Clerk, James, and his wife, Debra, for dinner. They have been having some problems with their daughter who just graduatd from High School and has become a little rebellious. We found a good article in the Ensign about making choices that we wanted to share with them that might help her. After dinner, we came back to our flat for dessert. While visiting, they started to open up about many things. As we visited, Debra started talking about how corrupt the government was and how she used to work for the government. Her husband,was murdered, (James is the husband's brother and he married her after his brother died - another custom) She was in political exile for 10 years because of her speaking out against the government during the time of the Apartied. Wow! We were totally dumbfounded by all this!! We don't know what there is about our flat that makes people open up to us about things that they never even let on about when we're at their flat, but it seems to happen often. We were glad to be a sounding board for them.

Saturday afternoon after we had finished our cleaning and preparing lessons for Sunday, we went to make a few visits. We stopped at the Elder's Quorem President to check on their little boy who had broken his arm and discuss a few ideas about the Branch. We then went to see Purine since she had to cancel our visit last week. She was very stressed about a new job that she was starting this week. After we had visited with her for a bit, Lynn asked her if she would like a blessing. She said she would. She had been offered a new job making more money and needed to start on Friday. Because they had just called her, she hadn't had a chance to tell her principal that she would be leaving. Lynn asked her if she would like a blessing, and naturally she agreed and was very grateful for it.

After the last two weeks of cancellations and mixed up appointments, we were beginning to feel like were starting in with alzheimers and needed to be shipped home. Sunday in Fast and Testimony meeting we were surprised and delighted that as several people bore their testimony, they expressed thanks for our visits and blessings and said what an uplift it had given them. We were grateful to know that our last two weeks hadn't been a complete failure. One of our members invited us over for dinner after church. He is the Sunday School President but has only been to church once in the last two months and his family hasn't been at all since the primary Program the last part of November. It is Brother and Sisiter McCarthy's son and family. We had a nice dinner as we visited on the patio, Their 3 boys played ball in the yard and discovered a new litter of 7 puppies. The 5 year old was excited to take my hand to bring me over to see them. After the men had secluded themselves to discuss some branch matters, we left a spiritual message and had prayer before we left.

Despite the craziness of the past couple of weeks, we are happy about the outcome of things and pray that they will continue to improve. We think about all of you and wonder how you are doing and what kind of activities the kids are participating in. We hope the major snow storms are about gone and the spring thaw is on its way. I remember one February when our road was almost washed away from rain and thawing of snow coming down the side of the mountain. I had to taxi kids up the hill to Suzette's birthday party. Our weather continue's to be hot with intermittant rain storms. We had thunder and lightning today that sounded like a huge gunshot going off inside the house. The lightning strike tripped the breakers and blacked out things momentarily. It doesn't rain, it POURS! Crystal and Jeanette have experienced how it rains like that in Dominica and Thailand. We were just thankful that we weren't out walking somewhere.

We know several of you have been experiencing sickness. We hope you are feeling better. Please know that you and your families are in our prayers daily. We miss all of you and hope things are going well for you. Write and let us know all the happenings in your life. That's what cures our homesickness!

Love you much!!

Current  Busies - January 2013

Sorry we have gotten behind in our weekly letters. Things have been extremely busy lately. With seven families to visit and several others that would like us to come by, plus lost souls that we have been trying to locate, we haven't had many spare minutes.

We thought we had been doing well to get our apppointments set up in order to get everyone seen before the end of the month. One by one, we had several appointments cancel for one reason or another so we've had to reschedule them, and that isn't easy since most of them have to be done at night because of work schedules. We should be o k in seeing seeing everyone if no one else cancels this week, because we are running out of days.

Last weekend, Elder and Sister Alder came down from Tzaneen to do a training for all those teaching Seminary or Institute. Some of the people hadn't gotten their materials yet, so they had brought the materials for them. It had rained for the past three days, so some of the people who live far away couldn't make it. I made carmelitas for a treat afterward. It was a nice afternoon despite the rain. We went to dinner that evening with the Alders. It was nice too relax and laugh a little with another Senior Couple as we share our stories of woe working with first time members and trying to teach them how to do their jobs in a helpful way without making them feeling like we're trying to take over. We're not trying to take over, it's just that some people perceive that we are and get a ittle huffy. We just smile, side step a little, and reword our suggestions in hope that they will see the light. Such is the life of a missionary!

Last Monday we had the two sets of missionaries over for dinner since one from each set was being transferred, and we wanted to have one last get together. I made a roast beef dinner with rolls and cheese cake for dessert. They enjoyed the food and sharing laughs one last time before they departed to different areas the next day. With the two new elders coming in, we now have 4 different missionaries than were were here when we first arrived. It seems a little strange. One of the new ones is from Zimbabwe, and the other is from Nampa, Idaho. So now we have two from Zimbabwe, one from Idaho and one from Nevada.

Because of several of the members that weren't able to make it to the Seminary Training, we had to deliver the materials to them. Consequently this week we have been on the road a lot because they all live at least an hour away. Tuesday, with the two elders going to Joburg for transfers, the other two didn't have appointments for the day, so we invited them to come along with us to see where these far-out members live. And because of the area that we were going to be in, we decided to drive thru Kruger Park. It is the largest National Wildlife Park in the world, right at our doorstep and we haven't had the time to go there yet. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. I packed a lunch because you oftentimes are in remote areas with not much to choose from by way of eating establishments. We went to Jennifer's - our visit to her is on the blog - so I won't elaborate. We stopped in town for a bathroom break and a cold drink and we were on our way.

Several of the entrances to the Park were closed because the heavy rains had washed out roads and bridges at some of the gates. Coupled with the fact that we missed the turnoff to where we wanted to go, we wasted an hour of driving time. But we did make it there, and it was well worth it!!!! Immediately upon entering, we began seeing animals. You can't get out of your cars because of the danger involved, so you just stay in your cars and enjoy the amazing beauty and snap pictures as fast as you can go. There will be a blog post and pictures of this event, so be sure to check it out. Needless to say, it was totally amazing!! I was wishing we had the whole family there to enjoy the fantastic sights of animals that you only see in the zoo, and there they were, right outside our car!! AMAZING!!!!

By the time we got home to meet the new Elders and get them off to their apartment, I was about beat, as I had a touch of the flu this past weekend and just felt like I was ready for bed. Just after I finished taking off my shoes and badge, we received a text that our Branch President had been admitted to the hospital with meningitis - a complication from the mumps that he has been down with the past 2 weeks. I got redressed and we went over to the hospital to give him a blessing. They had been down since 11:00 that morning from Lidenburg - 1 1/2 hour away, and at 9:30 that night they finally diagnosed the problem and admitted him. This is their family's fourth trip to the hospital in 3 months and she still has an eye surgery to have done. I feel so bad for them. We invited her to come and stay over at our house, but she had not brought her eye perscriptions, so she needed to drive back home.

Wednesday, I made clam chowder and bread to take to a family who we were visiting with. She has been inactive for the past 5-6 years, yet was a R. S. President when they lived in Joburg. We're not sure what caused the problem. Because we feel like we're imposing on them when we come because she has just reeturned from work, I wanted to make dinner so she wouldn't feel like our visit was infringing on her evening. A couple of hours before the appointment, she sent a text that her husband had an unscheduled meeting and they wouldn't be able to meet with us and she would be out of town the next couple of weeks for her work. I told Lynn I was taking the dinner anyway and just saying "Hi" and leaving. We let them know that we were coming. She met us by her gate and stood by the car and visited for about 30 minutes and seemed happy for the visit. She was very grateful for the dinner as well. I got a text later saying that they were enjoyoing the dinner and could she get the recipe for the clam chowder. We felt like our efforts had paid off. With her, that is HUGE progress!!

Thursday, we had scheduled to go to Barberton to take their Seminary supplies as well as assess their food needs and take them grocery shopping. They are the ones who moved up there to start a poultry farm, but they're still waiting for the government funding for the project. When I talked to her the other day and asked about their needs, she said they were struggling. We had talked to the Branch President and asked about the possibility of doing a food order for her and he gave us the go ahead. After visiting with their family and leaving a message and stressing the importance of staying in school and doing well, we made a list and went shopping. She was very careful to buy only staples and the inexpensive brands at that. She wouldn't buy any cereal because it required fresh milk and she only used powdered milk since she has no transportation to go to the store. Driving back to her house, Sister Machile said, "The other day I starting singing the words to 'Count Your Blessings,' and it is really true! And to think, a year ago I hadn't even heard about the Church." She said how much she appreciated what we had done. After we finished hauling the bags on food in, her son thanked Lynn and said this will really help.

Friday, after District meeting, we left for Komatipoort to visit the the Kruger family. They hadn't been to church because their car had been in the repairs and they had no transportation for the 1 hour 45 minute drive, and we still had their Seminary materials to get to them so she could start her lessons. They are struggling right now. They lost their motel busines when the economy slowed down and have now started a wholesale potato business. We met them at their business and visited inbetween customers. They were very grateful for our visit. I think she just needed someone to talk to becaue she went on about each of her kids, the choices some of them were making, the problems she has with blacks, (they are white South Africans) and on and on. They even followed us out to the car while still bending our ear. After almost 2 hours, we finally got on our way. They thanked us for our visit. I was convinced even more of the importance of home and visiting teachers. Because of where they live, she is her daugher's V. T. and her daughter is hers. So how many times is the daughter going to call the R S Pres and let her know about a problem that her mom is having and vise versa? Duh!! We decided that somehow or another, we need to find the time to visit these families who aren't able to make it to church on a regular basis in order to keep their testimonies strong and to let them know that they aren't forgotten.

Saturday, was basically a P day of laundry and cleaning and making cinnamon rolls for President Sigauke. When we stopped in to see him Friday night, he seemed to be getting a little discouraged. Who wouldn't after being in bed sick for three weeks. We asked if we could bring him anything. He said, "No". We said isn't there something that you would like that you haven't had for a while? He thought for a minute and said, "Well, I would like some of those cinnamon rolls that you sent to Presidency meeting that time." I told him he would get rolls. So while Lynn prepared his talk for Sacrament meeting today, I worked on those other things.

Lynn gave a very good talk on "We Are Our Brother's Keeper". It was geared to many of our members who don't worry about anyone else during the week. We had invited one of our investigators, Lorraine, to come for dinner. While we were getting in the car, we noticed one of our Young Women and her little brother walking outside the gate. Lynn called to them and asked them if they were going to ride the bus. (Their mother wasn't there and they live about 45 minutes away) When she said they were, he called the mom and asked her if they could come home and have dinner and then we would bring them home when we brought Lorraine because she lives on the way to their house. She agreed. The teen is 15 and her brother is 5. Everyone enjoyed the dinner of chicken stir fry and watermelon and cinnamon rolls. Lynn showed them a video on the Savior while I cleared up the dishes. We dropped Lorraine off first and then took the kids. The mom, Thundiwe, insisted that we come in for a minute. She was saying she had been hoping that we would come by some time and read scriptures and have a prayer and was very glad they we had stopped by. We have made a couple of appointments with her the last couple of weeks, but her work schedule required her to cancel them. We were glad we were able to meet with her finally. She is also a single Mom. You can't believe the road that we had to drive on to get to her house! But that is the norm in most of the areas that are off the main road. I think our car is going to need new shocks after our week of travels.

I'll close. You're all probably needing a snack and potty break. I know my back says I can't sit any longer. So just in case you wonder why we don't write any more often than we do, now you know. Life is good here. We're loving the work and it is verified to us every day that this is where we're supposed to be. We hope life good for you too. We know that we are missing out on many things, but hope you are taking good videos so we can enjoy them when we get back. We also hope you have given our love and hugs to the families who have lost loved ones recently. Our prayers and thoughts have been with all of them, as they are with each of you. We love you and pray that your testimonies and love for our Savior are growing each day, as ours are.



Adventures in Kruger Park

Last week we had to deliver Seminary materials to some of our members who were unable to attend the Seminary Training Meeting because they live too far away to come on Saturday and then come again on Sunday  for church.  One of the families lived next to Kruger Park,  the largest wild animal preserve in the world.  We decided that as long as we were that close to the park, we would stop and drive through part of it after we got our materials delivered.  We called the two Elders who didn't have to go to Joburg for transfers to see if they wanted to ride with us to know where these members lived.  They agreed to go.  We packed a lunch and snacks and headed out.

As long as we were at the member's house, we left a message and had prayer with them before we left.  They were very grateful for our visit.  After stopping in town for a bathroom break and a cold drink, we checked the map and got on our way.  Somehow, we missed the road to the gate we were planning to go through.   Although there are several entrances to the park, many of the gates were closed because the rains had washed out bridges and roads.  We ended up having to back track to get to the one we wanted.  We wasted an hour, but were still game for a short ride through the park.  Soon after entering, we saw some wart hogs run across the road.  I think these were the first wart hogs I had ever seen.  We weren't expecting to see animals so soon, and consequently didn't have the camera ready.  By the time we rolled the windows down and turned the camera on, we saw  a very huge elephant munching near a tree.

This definitely gave new meaning to the song "Jumbo The Elephant" that I would sing to the kids when they were little!

A little while later, we ran across another wart hog.  This time the camera was ready, but because of the swiftness of the animal, we were only able to catch the back end.  

We were fortunate to have two good camera men ready to capture the sights at hand.  Elder Center ran the video camera and Elder Handerade was snapping with the still camera.  They did an excellent job.  Elder Baxter drove and I kept a lookout for moving creatures.  We were a great team.  What someone missed, another one  saw and alerted the rest of us.

This elephant was definitely in need of an orthodotist!  

We named him "Snaggle Tooth!"

This one was pretending to be "The Leader of the Pack", until it got too close to the mama's baby, and she growled loudly at him, and he hurried on his way!

Nice shot of the rino's behind.

We waited for this small herd of zebra to cross the road.

This small one decided that the journey had made him hungry and he had to 

stop for a snack before he could continue.

This huge rino and her baby had started to cross the road and the mama wasn't letting anything or anybody go across while they were there.  There were several cars backed up waiting to move forward.

We waited 10 to 15 minutes for them to cross the road.

As the baby would move, the mom kept a sharp eye on anything that was threatening to take over the road.  The sound of the motor would cause the mother to tilt her horn and threaten to move the vehicle off the road.  Needless to say, we waited patiently.  When they were far enough to the other side with their rear ends facing the road, we slowly eased our way down past them.  She was not to be fooled and whirled around toward us.  Elder Baxter gunned the motor and we made a safe get away!!

A close up of a rino resting.  It's baby was playing near by, but she was determined to take five while she could.  This is a different one than the one monopolizing the road.

Cameras don't seem to interupt their nap time at all.

That's a honkin' big horn!  I'd hate to have him after me!!

This litle white bird was just going along for the ride.

A water buffalo grazing in knee deep grasses.

For those of you who like steer wrestling, this would be a bit of a challenge for you!!

Ya gotta love those horns!  And that wasn't any small creature!!

Good shot of a kudu.  Check out those horns.  Justin, I thought of you when I saw him!

You would have loved it!

Nibbling some of those yummy leaves.

Don't be so bashful!!  We just want to see your face!

Wild - a - Beasts have nice horns as well.

This little bird decided to hitch a rid on the back of this impaula!

The bird thought he had found an old friend.  Nothing like saving  wing flaps!!

Some nice impalas.

At one of the Park entrances, we saw several impalas and baboons enjoying each others' company.

Can't decide if he's giving her a love pat or picking a bug out of her fur.

So nice of him to share a bit of lunch with his friend.

Looks like a family reunion!

This is what I call "Getting a bird's eye view!"

Any guesses as to how long that rock will stay secured to the other without falling?

This is one of those hidden pictures.  See if you can find two hidden giraffes!

We had a really good camera man.  Not only could Elder Center spot moving animals, but he could spot a spider web with a spider in it.  The web was about 3 or more feet wide.  I had to look carefully, but I could see it when the sun shone on it just right.  It must have moved just a little to cause the blur in the middle. 

This is what you call a determined bug with a lot of faith.  Elder Handerade caught him as he crept across the road with no worries that a large rino would come squish him in an instant!

 Coming home, we passed acre after acre of banana fields.  They put a plastic bag around the bunch of bananas to keep them from ripening too fast, and to keep pests out.  There is only one bunch of bananas to a tree, and the bottoms of the bananas grow pointing up toward the sky.  A beautiful flower grows at the bottom of the bunch. After the bananas are harvested, the tree dies and another one grows in its place.  They cut the old one down to make room for the new one. They grow really fast.

Though our drive through Kruger Park was sort of a last minute thought, we felt it had been a very successful afternoon.  We have talked with several people who say they hardly saw any animals when they drove through.    The day was sunny and clear and a perfect day for enjoying some of Heavenly Father's creations after  delivering materials for the Seminary Program.

We never cease to be amazed at the beauty and wonders of not only South Africa, but also the rest of the world as well.   He has created this beautiful world for us to enjoy while we are  here, and all He asks is that we live worthy to live with him again some day!  How can we doubt His love for us?  We are grateful to be a  part of this wonderful work!