More Missionary Work In July

The missionary work continues.  Along with missionary work, comes transfers.  Saturday night, Elders Parrish and Medebe received calls that they were being transferred.  We were sad to see them leave, but we know they are ready to move on to "greener pastures".  Since they had to be in Joburg for Training on Monday, we decided to have their farewell dinner Sunday night.  We always have a great time reminiscing and writing in each other's journals and being sure to leave our contact information so we can stay in touch after our missions are over.

Taco soup, green salad, and brownies & ice cream, was what was on the menu. 

Elders Martin, Parish, Moyo, & Medebe.  Elders Parrish & Medebe were the ones being transferred.

We will miss them, but we know they will do great in their new areas.

We finished in time to still make phone calls to wish Jason & Jack a "Happy Birthday".  Thank goodness for different time zones.  It might be past bed time for us, but it is still early for family at home.

Tuesday when we were out looking for members who have since decided they don't need the Church in their lives, we found a house that matched the address on the membership list.  We did discover, from a brother living at the house, that she had accepted a job offer from a company when Nelspruit was hosting the World Cup.  Afterward, they sent her to Paris, France, and now she is living and working in Hong Kong.  Quite a big jump for a young girl who was raised in KaNyamazane!  That just shows what a a good education will do for you!  Later that night, Elder Martin stopped by to introduce his new companion, Elder Compton from Cove, up near Smithfield, Utah.  He has just graduated, but is a very impressive young man!

The next day, we went with the Elders to visit Larraine, a recent convert.  They are giving her the 'New Member Lessons".   She lives about 45 minutes away.  When we returned, we made a trip to Barberton to do a food order for one of our families.  They are doing better, but his work is not complete to the point they can survive on it.  They were grateful for the food, and we were glad to be able to help them out.

The Young Men President had planned an activity to hike up to some waterfalls, and had invited the Elders to go with them as well.  He had asked me if I could help with some salads.  It turned out that I was the only one making some salads.  I made a potato salad and baked beans, and brownies.  They were to Bar B Q, or Braii after they finished the hike. They had a great time.  Some of the young men even got brave enough to jump into the cold river!

Hiking up to the falls.

The falls looks like it was worth the hike up there.

After the hike, everyone's appetites were ready for some lunch.  They fired up the grills, or Braiis as they call them, and before long, they were ready to cook the wors or sausages.

As soon as the meat had finished cooking, everyone began filling their plates.

The following Monday, we went with the Elders to Barberton to do a Family Home Evening with a young man that they found when they were knocking on some of the doors of our inactive members.   He is actually an Elder.  When he came to Barberton 5 years ago for his work as a film producer, he thought he was only going to be here for 3 months, so he didn't bother to find out where the church was.  Five years later, he is still here, is inactive and has picked up some bad habits, but says he has thought about becoming active again.  He enjoyed our visit and Home Evening, and the treats that we brought.

Another day when we were in the Kamagugu area searching for some of our lost members, we came across a lady by the name of Tenkie Manda, who had been a member for several years.  She teaches High School in KaNyamazane. Her husband died a few years ago, and  her  daughter was never baptized.  Her daughter goes to the  University and has a 2 year old daughter.  She will be leaving for Joburg for this next semester, and her mother will take care of the little girl.  That is a common practice in this country.  There are probably more children living with a grandparent than with their parents.  This is very common not only with the Blacks, but with the White South Africans as well.  She was very personable and invited us in, even though she had just gotten home and we didn't have an appointment.  We left a spiritual message with her and a prayer on her home and family.

The next day I made a birthday cake for one of our semi active young women.  She and her Mom had been members for a little less than a year.  Although she wasn't home when we delivered the cake, she later called and thanked us for the cake.  We sang to her over the phone.

We left her house and went to a member who had been canceling appointments or ignoring us for the past 10 months.  She will never answer my calls or return a message.  One of the counselors in the Relief Society happened to catch her home and she invited her in. She found out that this girl's children's father (?) husband (?) or whatever had accidentally shot himself.  She was feeling angry about going to church because "the Lord had taken her children's father."  I didn't want to call, because she never picks up, so I made some bread and took her a loaf along with a note about my regrets about the challenges that she had been having lately.  I told her I would like to help in any way I could, just to let me know.  There didn't appear to be any lights on in the house, so Lynn just took the bread and note to leave on the doorstep.  Her sister was there with the two children, while Sister Khoza was a work.  The next day I received a message thanking me for the "delicious" bread and that we could come see her on Saturday at 4:00.  I was totally shocked, but thanked her and told her we'd see her then.

When we arrived on Saturday, she welcomed our visit.  We chatted for a few minutes.  She told us she was expecting a baby and had a C section scheduled for August 2.  I told her to let me know when she was coming home so I could bring dinner to her.  She was pleased with the offer.  She also said she would like Elder Baxter to give her a blessing before she goes to have the baby.  Needless to say, we were thrilled with the visit and her accepting attitude of our help.  I guess that just goes to show that we should never underestimate the power of a loaf of bread!  :)

This Saturday was also the day we had scheduled to take Senethemba to do her "Marketing" day.  She had come to my house a couple of months ago for me to help her make brownies and cinnamon rolls. Because their Market day wasn't going to be for a couple of weeks, I put them in the freezer until them.  One of her school classes had planned a "Market Day" at school to sell the things they had made.  The Teacher kept postponing it.  Finally Senethemba said, "I don't think she's really serious about it.  Maybe I should just do it on my own."  We told her we would come get her and set up a place where she could sell them.  I took the rolls out of the freezer and put them on pans to unthaw and raise and I would put them in the oven the next morning.  The next morning, they still looked the same.  I tried quick raising them  and then baking them.  They still didn't raise, so I hurried to stir up another half batch of rolls.  Because there wouldn't be as many to sell, I also made another batch of brownies.  Each was individually wrapped in a sandwich bag.  After getting the table set up and things ready to go in a park area outside the mall, we were informed we had to have a permit to sell, but we couldn't get a permit until Monday because the offices were closed on Saturday.  So we loaded things up and went across the street where there were a few other businesses  and several little street markets.  The brownies were definitely the biggest hit.  We even cut some of each for samples.  She ended up making 350 rand or about $40.  She was thrilled!  This is the little girl whose house is on stilts with no running water, or electricity.  She is a very ambitious girl and was grateful for the opportunity to market her wares.

Many of the people weren't interested, but when we cut some samples for them to taste, they were smitten.  They liked them, but several said they had no money to buy one.  One lady gave her two rand- 25 cents - just for letting her taste.

Sunday, one of our investigators had called to see if we could pick her up for church.  She had made arrangements with a taxi, but the driver called and said he was out of town and wouldn't be there in the time she needed.  Lynn had been at the Church waiting for her  so he could open the door to the upper level so she wouldn't have to go up the two flights of stairs.  She is a large lady with several health problems, and we knew she would have a difficult time getting up the stairs.  We received the call just as we were leaving.  We knew we would be late, and that made us nervous because I was one of the speakers, but we told her we would be there.  She was very grateful that we could come get her.  This was her first time coming to Church.  Usually she has to work on Sundays.  She is a nurse in the NICU at one of the private hospitals, working the graveyard shift.

She enjoyed church and said she would arrange her schedule so she could be there every Sunday.  Just as Relief Society was starting, she asked me where the bathrooms were.  I told her they were downstairs, but I would help her there.  She thought she could wait, but a few minutes later, she said she did need to go now.  I helped her down the two flights of stairs, and waited for her.  When she came out, she told me she thought she had better go home, because some of the meds that she takes had given her diahrea.  I got the keys from Lynn and drove her home.  She promised me she would be there next week also.

My talk went well.  Usually, we fret when we are given the famous sheet of paper from our Branch Clerk with the topic and date that we are supposed to speak.  This past week as I had been reading some articles on Pioneers from the Ensign, I felt very strongly that I should speak next Sunday about Pioneers, and how each of them who are first generation Latter Day Saints are Pioneers to their own families and are to strengthen those who are to follow and how important it is to be strong and diligent members of the Church and be examples for them.  So the following Sunday, I went to the Branch Clerk who assigns the talks and topics and volunteered to speak on "Pioneers" since we would be celebrating Pioneer Days this coming week.  He gladly told me I could speak next Sunday.  It went well, and I was glad to have the opportunity to talk about  some of our ancestors who made sacrifices to be able to have the Gospel in their life, and what a difference it had made to me and my life.  That's probably the first time I have ever "asked" if I could speak in Church.  :)

Later that day we did a birthday dinner for Ephriam.  He has been a member for about a year and a half.  He has gone out on splits with the Elders many times, and is thinking about serving a mission.  He stays with his sister, but his family lives in another  town a ways away.   I thought it would help encourage him to be around our "Missionary Family" to rekindle his desire to serve.    He enjoyed the meal and the birthday cake and candles.  We also gave him a "Preach My Gospel" manual so he could start reading and learning what he will be teaching.  We drove Ephriam back to White River afterward.

Ham, garlic cheese mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, squash, fruit salad and rolls.

Elders Compton & Wheatley are first in line.  I guess they forgot the rule about the Birthday person goes first.  Oh well, they're greenies, so that's to be expected.  

The birthday boy, Ephriam is the one in the sweater. 

Ephriam's cake was chocolate, black forest cake with cream cheese topping and the black forest topping on top of that.  He blew all 20 candles with one blow!

Our Branch Party which was scheduled for Saturday was postponed until September.  The venue," The Botanical Gardens" where we had wanted to have it decided that we needed to pay R1500, or $150  to have a "group" gathering there.  Plus, everyone had to pay for their entrance as well which would be R22 for adults and R10 for children.  That was more than the Branch could afford, so we are checking on another venue.

Mission life in Nelspruit continues to be good.  We love being busy.  We're grateful for the opportunity to serve.  We hope things are well with each of you.  You are all in our prayers each day!  We love you and miss you, and hope your lives are filled with the joy of the Gospel as well!            

The Missionary Work Continues in July

We finished off the month of June with many last minute visits which we hadn't been able to get to because of the time spent with President  & Sister Omer for Interviews and Training.  It was definitely time well spent.  Our members were also happy for their visit because they could get their temple recommends renewed and also get their recommends for their Patriarchal Blessings.

The last Sunday of the month, we had another baptism.  This was the 14 year old daughter of one of our members.  She had been living somewhere else and recently came to live with them.  The missionaries were teaching her.  She was accepting, but still a little hesitant because she said she liked her old church better.  I'm not sure what church it was.  In April when she attended our Youth Camp and Conference, her attitude seemed to change.  The Spirit that she felt there and the classes which were held, along with additional teaching of the Missionaries clinched it.  We were happy for her.  We invited her family to dinner so it would make the day special for her.  They were happy to come and appreciated our invitation.

It's hard to believe that we keep turning over our calendar so often! With the July 4th holiday coming up, we wanted to do something for our American Elder.  Two others were from Zimbabwe and another was from Switzerland.  I wanted to decorate a little so the house would look festive.  At a little party shop, I was able to find some red, white and blue sparkly pipe cleaners, which I thought I would put in a vase.  They also had some red, white and blue angel hair streamers that I thought would look cute down the center of my red Christmas table runner.  When I went to check out, I noticed some a small American flag suctioned to the window!  I told him I needed that!  The little Oriental owner asked me how many.  I told him two.  One for each bud vase, which in fact were just  tall thin glasses.

Elder and Sister Hunt had some friends here who had just finished doing some volunteer work with "Mothers Without Borders".  Since they had already planned to be in Kruger Park over the Fourth and wouldn't be able to be there for our holiday celebration, we went out to dinner with them the night before.  Elder Hunt had converted this fellow and baptized him several years ago. He is now  serving as the High Priest Group Leader in their ward.  They have become like family to each other.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Cicada Restaurant while visiting and getting to know these great people.





I had planned to do a picnic dinner out on our small patio.  However, this particular day, it turned out very cold.  Remember it's winter here.  :)  So we opted to eat inside instead.  Some of the Elders enjoyed a game of "Scrabble" while I finished setting the dinner on.  When I went to cut up the strawberries, I discovered they were still in the trunk of the car, and Lynn had the car.  :(  I had to send the Elders to the store for some more.

I thought my cheesy little decorations turned out quite festive for the holiday!

My menu consisted of Bar B Q chicken, (cooked in the oven because I didn't dare attempt to use our grill on the patio, potato salad, cole slaw, 7 layer dip and chips, drinks, and strawberry cream cake for dessert.

                     The Missionaries were ready to eat -- Actually, they're always ready to eat!

The Elders enjoyed the dinner.  We had a chance to talk about America's Independence and acquaint the others with our holiday celebration. There was only one problem.  Elder Baxter had to leave around 7:00 that morning  for Barberton, about 45 minutes away, to take one of our members to the doctor to see about his eyesight.  He is nearly blind, and he was able to get an appointment with a doctor at the Government hospital.   When they got to examining him, he told them he had been diagnosed with sugar diabetes a few years ago.  Because he has not had a job for over a year, he hasn't had testing supplies, and the diabetes was the reason for his loss of sight.  When they checked his sugar, they discovered that is was very high and immediately started an I V on him.  They checked the sugars levels again.  It was still high so they did another I V.  The bottom line was, he was at the hospital most of the day and didn't arrive home until after 4:00.  We were supposed to eat at 1:00 so we could be finished in time for them to go for their late afternoon appointments.  After the phone call from Lynn, we ate without him.  :(

After dinner and dessert, while we were still waiting for Lynn to arrive, we got out the games and played "Timberrrr"  It's kind of like "Jengo" that we have in the states.  We all had a good time with that as we used all our strategies to try not to pull out the block that would cause the rest of them to fall!

Just as I finished dishing up some take home containers for the Elders, Lynn came.  He was sad to have the party breaking up just as he arrived.  He had them wait long enough for him to play the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's rendition of "God Bless America",  just so he could have it really feel July 4th!

After he had something to eat, we made a trip to the Kazadi family who said they didn't want our visits any more.  They are members, but have become inactive for some reason or another.  It was Guy's birthday, and I had made him a blueberry cheesecake.  We were praying that they would be home and that their gate would be unlocked.  Our prayers were answered.  The gate was not only unlocked, it was open.  We parked, took our birthday dessert  and walked to their door.  Guy was sweeping the porch.  We sang "Happy Birthday" to him and handed him the cheesecake.  His wife and little girl came out to the porch to see what was going on.  Naome hugged me for the longest time with the biggest smile on her face.  It just made my day!  Phumeza said, "I was just thinking about you and wondering if you had gone back home to the States."  We told her we still had eight more months.  She was making dinner so excused herself to check the things on the stove.  I stepped in to visit with her for a minute.  She said, "I've missed our visits."  I almost jumped up and down!  YES!  I told her that I had missed visiting with her as well.  We visited for a few minutes.  She thanked us for thinking about Guy.  We thanked them for allowing us to visit them for a few minutes and went on our way.  I was grinning all the way home.  I had been praying so hard that their hearts would be
touched to allow us to come visit again.  (What do they say about, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"?  Well anyway, we did feel success for a few minutes.  It was progress, and we're not giving up!  It was  truly the highlight of our day! Today we were very happy to see Guy at church and he agreed to contact him again to arrange to visit their family.

We have been busy teaching a Temple Preparation Class to two of our sisters.  Purine has been a member for about two years.  Her husband is a nonmember, and she has a 22 year old son and a 10 year old daughter.  Thundiwe is a single mom with a 16 year old girl and a 6 year old boy.  We had finished the last lesson, and they were anxious to go to the temple for the first time.  They also received their recommends for their Patriarchal Blessing.   After we had finished our last Temple Prep class, we looked at the calendar to see what day they could make a trip to Johannesburg to go to the Temple.  With the Temple scheduled to close July 15 through September 10 for extensive updates, they decided that Saturday, July 6th would be the best day to go.  They didn't want to wait until our Branch Temple day on November 2nd.  As long as we were going to be down there, we thought it would be good if they could get their Patriarchal Blessings at that  time, as  well.  Since we are not in a Stake, we don't have a Stake Patriarch, so we have to go to Johannesburg to meet with a Patriarch there.

Plans were made.  Lynn called and got appointments for their Blessings on Friday at 2:00 and their Endowments on Saturday at 11:00.  We would leave Friday morning about 8:45, stay over night and return Saturday afternoon.  Sister Jennifer, one our members was going along to be Purine's escort and I was to be Thandiwe's escort.  They had originally planned to stay with family and friends in Pretoria.  Everything came off as planned except for a few minor delays, but by 9:15, we were finally on the road.  A couple of hours into our drive, Lynn called the Temple Patron Housing office,  to see if, by chance, they had any cancellations.  We had been put on a waiting list for our sisters to stay there.  They did have an opening, so all three sisters were going to be able to stay at the temple patron housing near the Temple instead of driving to Pretoria to drop them off and get them again the next morning!  That would save us an hour each way.  Hooray!  What a blessing!

The other exciting thing was, that one of our former members, Maggie, was traveling from Polokwane to Johannesburg to receive her blessing as well.  We haven't seen her since last December when she left her boyfriend, who decided he "wasn't ready to get married and didn't know if he ever would be" and took her 14 month old daughter to go back with her parents so she could live the Gospel.  We have stayed in contact with her.  She calls us her "Mom & Dad" and says what a blessing we have been in her life to help her find the Gospel again.  As I was in the Distribution Center helping our sisters make some purchases, Elder Baxter came walking in with a young woman.  Low and behold. it was Maggie!  She had just finished with her blessing when Lynn went in to check on our appointments.  They walked over to find me.  She hugged me and hugged me and cried because she was so happy to see us.  She had prayed that we would be the first ones that she could share the joy of her blessing with, and it actually happened!  She looked radiant!  I could actually see a difference in her countenance since we last said "good-bye" to her last December.

We had to take some pictures outside by the waterfalls and lilies.  I had made a fleece blanket with satin binding for her little girl.  She called us later that night, just overjoyed with the gift and said her little girl loved it and how special it was to have something from her "Grandma and Grandpa"!  We felt that it had been a blessing to be able to make connections with her.  The strange thing was, that she came with some of her Branch members the previous weekend to receive her blessing, only to find out that she couldn't receive it because her recommend hadn't been signed by the Mission President.  Her Branch President thought she could just have President Omer sign it when they came down.  He hadn't check the President's schedule however, and because President Omer was in Botswana that weekend for a Farewell Conference, since they have been made their own mission, she couldn't get it signed.  She had called me in tears because of the disappointment.  She had made the appointment three months ago.  I assured her that it still would happen, and not to be discouraged.  I'm sure this was the reason she was to wait until the next week, so we could be there to be a part of her special day!  The sadness of the last weekend had actually turned out to be a great blessing!

We  tearfully gave our good-byes and took our other sisters over to the Area Office for their Blessings.  Elder Hoffman, who is also our S/E Africa Area Medical Director, visited with us for a few minutes, to get acquainted with these two sisters, before giving them their blessings.  We were able to be in there while they received their blessings.  What a spiritual afternoon it had been!

After we left the Area Office, we went to the Patron Housing to get the sisters checked into their rooms.  It was a large family room so they were all able to stay together.  The cost was 50 rand, which is about $5.  A real blessing for them.  We had made reservations at a Bed & Breakfast nearby.  By now it was after 4:00 and we all agreed it was time for something to eat.  We went to a restaurant near the Temple called "Mike's Kitchen".  They have a large menu to choose from and the food is always good.  They placed their orders and Purine asked if she could get hers in a "take away" bag so she could eat it at 6:00 when she finished her fast.  We assured her that finishing her fast one and a half hours before the 24 hour fast would be permissible since the reason for her fast had been accomplished.  What  a faithful servant she is! So she agreed and ate with the rest of us.

Saturday morning, we drove to the Temple.  I went into the housing to get the sisters.  As we were walking up the walk to the Temple, Sister Thandiwe said, "Oh, Sister Baxter, I'm so happy!  I feel like being here with you and Elder Baxter, is like my Mother and Dad being here with me.  I feel like I could just pick you up and squeeze you!  I prayed that I would be able to stay at the Temple, and my prayers were answered!"

We had a beautiful day at the Temple!  A family from the Branch had come down to do some Family History work, Baptisms, and have their son receive his Patriarchal Blessing.  Our Branch President had made the long drive as well to be with us.  It was a sacrifice on his part, as his baby daughter is in the hospital for the third time with bronchial pneumonia.  The sisters were so grateful for their love and support.

The sisters are, Jennifer, in the middle is Purine, and Thandiwe is next to her.

Happy sisters and their escorts!

One happy group!

As we were getting ready to get in the car, Purine's sister, who lives in Pretoria pulled up to give her a hug and an endowment gift.  Purine was so excited to see her.

As we were pulling off, Lynn asked the girls if they wanted to stop to get something to eat now or get something along the way.  Thundiwe said, "Oh Elder Baxter, My stomach is so full of joy I'm not even hungry and couldn't eat a thing.  I just want to go home and share my joy with my children"! Needless to say, we just got on our way.  We were all overflowing with the joy of the beautiful past two days that we had spent together! We did go through the drive through of McDonalds about halfway home.  They had never eaten at McDonalds, even though we have one in Nelspruit. 

The next day at Sacrament meeting, of course these two sisters were the first to stand to bear their testimonies.  Our hearts were full with the beauty of the blessing that we had received to be able to be a part of this special blessing in the lives of these two sisters!

These are only a part of the blessings that we feel every day as we serve our Heavenly Father.  What a great opportunity to be a part of this wonderful work!  

We hope you are feeling the blessings  of our Heavenly Father each day in your lives.  We are thankful for each of you and for your prayers in our behalf.  We continue to pray for you and your families.  We love you all!  Have a good rest the month of July!

Jean Goodall Chimp Eden

Just a few K's up the road form where we stay, is a place called "Jean Goodall Chimp Eden".  We decided it would be fun to take the Elders there to check it out. She is a British Anthropologist  who  lived in Africa among the Chimps for several years to study chimps, their life, anatomy, and behaviors.  She has funded several sanctuaries for the rescue of mistreated  chimps and care
 for them before returning them back into the wild.

After you turn into the road there is a long drive to get to the actual area.  

We saw several Kudos grazing on this dry field.

These two looked at us like they wondered what we were doing!

As you go into the building, you see several large posters and a video telling a little about the work, 

and research she has done.

There was a guide who would explain what they did at the sanctuary.  She brought out a pan of cut up bananas and macadamia nuts that she would throw to the chimps to feed them.  Each chimp had a name and she told a little bit about each of them.

This one was the head female.  She was sitting up on a manmade rock which had a pump inside and little holes where water would come out periodically for them to drink when they turned it on.  She caught every piece of food that they threw to her.

These two were racing to get a drink of water first.

The chimps were acting like humans as they vied for attention and another piece of food.  Some would get very jealous and pound their chests and make squealing sounds.

These chimps were in another area.  They love to try to find cooties on each others skin.

Interesting little fellows!  They were fun to watch how they behaved and interacted with each other.

The chimp on the left had been in the circus.  When the chimps wouldn't perform like their handlers wanted, they would withhold food from them.  This one was very malnurished when they rescued it.  That's the reason for the lack of hair on the top of its head and upper back.

This chimp was taken away from its mom as a baby and used in a lab for drug testing.  You can see by the way it is sucking its thumb that it missed that early nurturing that is so important in infants and children.  I'm sure the drugs also hampered its learning ability as well.

It was interesting to watch how their behaviors imitated that of humans.  The people working there acted like they really enjoyed their work.  Jean Goodall did a wonderful job with all she did in her study of chimps and setting up sanctuaries for the rescue of mistreated chimps, and other types of monkeys .  They were fun to  watch, but I wouldn't be able to work there everyday!

 Good thing that all of us are not all alike!

Basil Cell Carcinoma

Just before leaving for the MTC, a visit to the Dermatologist revealed that I had a couple of small growths that sparked some concern.  A biopsy determined it was in fact a Basil Cell Carcinoma. An appointment was made to go in for the MOHS procedure to remove it.  This procedure consists of removing a portion, checking to see if all the cancer cells are removed.  If not, another portion is taken out, and this is continued until it shows no more signs of cancer cells.  The area is then stitched up in a way so as to leave little or no scar.  That was great in as much as it was on my face on the upper part of my nose near my eye.  Everything healed beautifully and we were on our way to the MTC and then on to Johannesburg.

About seven months into our mission, I started to notice s couple of small nodules on the side of my face.  They seemed to have grown quite rapidly since we had arrived in country.  Fearing that they were the same thing that was removed before we left, I made an appointment with a dermatologist in Johannesburg that was recommended by the Mission Doctor.

Surprisingly enough the spots in question were nothing, but she froze them and they were good. She was, however, concerned about a spot on my nose.  It was a spot that I had had some concern over, but having had three other dermatologists look at it over the past three years, each confirmed that it was nothing but a zit and would go away.  It would heal for a bit, but then fester up again and never quite heal, thus the reason for my previous concern.  A biopsy verified that it was a basil cell carcinoma, as well.

Dr. Goldberg was going to burn it off, but I had some concern about the burning would leave a white crater in the top middle of my nose.  To set my mind at ease, she called her husband in, who was a ENT specialist as well as a plastic surgeon, to look at it.  He said the MOHS procedure was the way to go.  Having had that done previously, I felt all right about that.  Over here they do that procedure in surgery at the hospital rather than in the office with a local anesthetic because they have the pathologist in the OR to check the samples as the surgery proceeds .  We made the appointment for the scheduled surgery.  Another trip back to Johannesburg!  I was a little nervous about having surgery in a strange country, but Dr. Goldberg assured me that South Africa had some of the most skilled doctors in the world and not to worry.

After a long checkin, we were finally brought up to my room where we proceeded to give the same information several times to each new person that came in.  They don't input the information on the computer so the next nurse or doctor can just pull it up and look at it.  We had to answer the same questions and fill out the same forms about five different times.  Finally, we were set to go.

All set, ready to go.  It was cold in the hospital and I had to wear my jacket 

until they took me into surgery.  

You can see the small spot on my nose which was going to be removed.

Surgery was a success.  Now I just needed to wake up.  

Lynn was worried about having to make a four and a half hour ride back home, so he reserved our room for another night.  I thought that was silly, but later, I was glad that we could just go back to our room and sleep and not make the long drive home.  The doctor was glad and wanted me to come in the next morning just to look to see that everything was fine.  

It was, so we headed for home.

My face and eyes were swollen for a few days.  I was surprised how zapped I was!  I thought I'd get home and be ready to go and do missionary work.  I discovered that not only did I not look good,

I didn't have the energy to do a full day of work either!

The surgery was on Monday, and by Saturday night, I was ready to take the bandage off.  The itching was driving me crazy, and besides, I didn't think it looked very good for church. 

By the time I got it off and took one look, I had to sit down.  It was more than I had expected!

I thought I was going to look like Frankenstein for life! 

There were several more stitches than I had expected.  In order to cover the removal part, they had to do two flaps.  They took some tissue from up above the removal area to cover it, and another piece from near  the side of my nose to cover the other part.

Lynn put a new bandage over it and I felt I wouldn't be too scary to go to church.

Some of my little Primary friends were concerned about my "Owie" however!

Another trip to Johannesburg the following week verified that things were healing nicely and he was able to remove some of the stitches, but I needed to come back the next week 

to remove the rest of them.  Fortunately we had to be there for Zone Conference/Mission Tour, so we were able to kill two birds with one stone.

Things have continued to heal quite nicely.  Now if the "hole" on the end would grow some tissue to cover it up, that would be great.  I continue to put my antibiotic ointment on it as well as the vitamin A  & E oil on the scar area.  It looks much better than the first time I took off the bandage.

Dr Wolfowitz said in six or seven months, you won't even be able to notice it.

I hope so!  At any rate, it's better than the alternative!

It's almost like magic!  The "hole" and scars are actually starting to disappear, and it has only been just two  months!

Hooray!  They won't have to call me "Frank" for short!

I'm just grateful for skilled doctors in a foreign country!

This and That

As I was scanning through our pictures, I've noticed several pictures that haven't been put on the blog, so I've decided to just randomly add those to the blog so can see the bits and pieces of our life lately.

This is a bloom of my new hibiscus plant.  They are so big and beautiful, but they only stay that way for about three days and then they curl up and drop off.

I enjoy them anyway!

What a beautiful sight to see when I come out of my house to see these beautiful blooming flowers!

The Elders helped to deliver the new fridge and get it into our flat.
The KaNyamazane Elders used their Bakkie (truck) to move our fridge to our Elders flat.
They just live 2 rows below us in the same complex.
Elder Baxter and Elder Martin were in the back helping balancing the fridge.
  Getting out of the bakki, Elder Baxter went to step down.  Instead of the bumper being flat,
it was rounded and his foot slipped off of it and he fell onto the ground!
He had a large bruise all along the inside of his arm, and his tailbone has pained him for several weeks.  He's lucky he didn't break something!  I got there with the camera too late for the action!
Sorry, no pictures!  :(

They got it into place, and Elder Martin adjusted the legs on the bottom so it would sit level.

Voila, My new fridge!  It's way taller than I am!
If I stand on my tiptoes, I can each the top shelf!
However, I just can't see what it is I'm trying to reach!  :~  

Senethemba, Jennifer's daughter, asked me if I would show her how to make cinnamon rolls like the ones I brought for break snack when we were watching General Conference.  I told her I would.  Her Mom had been coming to our house to use the sewing machine to sew aprons that the Young Women were doing for the Mothers for Mother's Day.  It was a National Holiday and the kids were out of school, so she came with her Mom and we had a Baking day.  She was quite the little baker for 12 years old.  She's mixing the dough for the rolls.

She also wanted to make Brownies.  Her School was having a "Market Day" and she wanted to bring Brownies and Cinnamon Rolls to take to sell.  Since she wasn't sure when the "Market Day" was, the plan was to put them in baggies and put them in the freezer and then take them out the day of the sale and they would be all ready.  She lives about 1 1/2 hours away, so we had to do them early.

Here we are with the finished product--well the Brownies anyway.  The cinnamon rolls are on pans in the freezer.  When we know when the "Market Day" is, I will take them out of the freezer.  We will bake and frost them, and put them is bags ready to sell.

She picked up on this business thing and the last time we went to visit her Mom, we saw a sign on the gate that said something about "corn" and some other words in another language.  She was selling popcorn and the neighborhood kids were coming to buy the little bags of popcorn for 2 rand each.

She had quite a business going!

This is the Birthday Girl, Naomi.  We visit her family, well we did until about 6 weeks ago when they said they didn't want our visits anymore.  It was her birthday and we had brought a treat and a gift to her.  She had a friend there to play while  her parents were at work.  She is an only child and always lites up whenever we came to visit.  I feel sad that they don't want our visits anymore.  Her dad is a returned Missionary and her Mom was a Relief Society President when they lived in Joburg.  I still send Phumeza messages so she knows that I care about her, but she has only answered once.

Despite the gorgeously beautiful greenery that is all around where we live, we did see signs of fall as the winter season was approaching.  In the higher elevations, the temperatures drop in the evenings so they do get some "autumn leaves" like we have at home.  

It just seems strange to see these autumn colors in May!

Even though there are autumn leaves in the higher elevations, we still have beautiful flowering trees in town.  When one kind finishes blooming, another kind starts.  We have flowering trees all year round!

Just can't get enough of these beautiful flowering plants over here.

This plant gets a beautiful pineappley looking bloom in the CENTER of all the green foliage.

This larger plant has several blooms hidden underneath!

We have many of these spiney looking plants around our complex.

We even had a small one on our patio when we came.  It didn't really look like anything other

than green prickly spines, so I gave it to one of the gardeners to plant in the ground

where it had more room to grow.  Little did I know that they got a beautiful tall orange bloom on them in the winter!  Just proves the "Ugly Duckling" theory is true in other things as well.  

Good lesson for all of us as we prejudge people.  We don't really know the beauty Heavenly Father has in store for them down the road.  We need to look for that inner beauty in everyone!

This beautiful plant looks like an orchid bloom.  I'm not sure what it is called.

Wherever we drive, we encounter beauty!  And it's the middle of the winter, mind you!

Game night with Elder and Sister Hunt.  They are diligently pondering what items they

need to buy in the game "Crossing the Prairie".  It's much like the game, "Oregon Trail." 

Trying to decide what we will take on our Pioneer journey

Happy Father's Day, Lynn!

In Roodeport, a suburb of Joburg, one of our Sr. Couple friends, told us to stay away from the area with the large red ball on top.  That is a very bad crime district.  One day after a doctor appointment, we were looking for a  post office, and accidentally got caught in the middle of these streets.  

We were glad to have found our way out of it. 

Interestingly enough, just a block below the red ball is the steeple of the 

Johannesburg Temple.  Just goes to show you how close Satan tries to get

to those things that are beautiful and of a Godly Nature.

Elder Hanarade's first-ever birthday cake in 22 years.

First time ever to blow out candles!  Aren't missions fun? !

Driving to Barberton one afternoon to visit the Mashiles, we saw this enormous rainbow!

We thought surely there must be a huge pot of gold at the end of it, but there were too many trees

in the area to find out!  :(

Birthday time for Larraine.  She is one our favorite waitresses at the Cicada restaurant.

One of the Senior Couples placed a Book of Mormon with her when they stopped to have dinner

  one evening.  She was baptized a few months later.

All of her family is in Zimbabwe, so we took a cake over to her so it felt like her birthday.

It was her first birthday cake as well.

I don't know who was more excited - she or her coworkers!

There's never a dull moment around here.  Oftentimes when you stop at the robot,

(stoplight) there will be young fellows with their faces painted white doing their "mime"

performance for you.  Of course they're hoping for a few coins for their performance.

When our car wheel dropped in a hole, our member's neighbors came to the rescue to

lift it out.  We were able to make it to Hunter's baptism.  We told them we would bring treats for a thank you for their help.  Here is one of the helpers.

Here is another lady whose boys also came to help.  We we knocked at her door and told her what
we wanted, she asked us to come in and leave a blessing on her home, which we did.
She was grateful for our visit.

This is Thandiwe and her two children whose house we went to visit initially.

A couple of weeks ago, President and Sister Omer came to our area to do interviews and sign
recommends for the temple and for Patriarchal Blessings.  He was here Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Friday after Zone Meeting, and before President started more interviews, Sister
Hunt and I prepared lunch for everyone.   President and Sister Omer are at the end of the table.
Coming up the right side are Elder Coon - Zone Leader, Elder Parrish,Elder Moyo, Elder Madebe, across the table going down is Elder Martin, Elder Litchford, Zone leader, Sister and Elder Hunt.

While President Omer was in interviews, I thought Sister Omer might want some help making her 

place mats with the fabric Sister Moss and I had bought on an earlier trip when he was here for interviews.  She has such a busy schedule, she hadn't had time to get hers done.

With Sister Hunt and I helping, we were able to get all nine of them done.

To  make the time go faster while waiting for their interviews, the Elders got creative
 and decided to play a dice game.

The Zone Leaders joined us for our District Meeting.  It was the last time Elder Holman, front row, left side, would be here with us, as his mission was finishing the next week, so we had to gather for a picture.

Every year in Nelspruit, they have a huge celebration called, "In the Bush".
It's kind of like an Art Festival.  A few weeks before the celebration, they put up flags along the streets, and run wire along the island to keep people from jay walking to get to the festival.
The fence looked like Candy Cane Lane.

Talk about Christmas in July!  This is my poinsettia from last Christmas.
By the end of January, it was looking rather straggly with only a couple petals of red, and very few green leaves.  At this point, I usually just toss the plant, but since I had a covered patio and it was summer here, I just set it out there and gave it water occasionally when I went out to water the other plants.  A few months ago, I started giving it some fertilizer when I did my other plants.  Suddenly, leaves started coming back and then bits of red, and now look at the beautiful blooms!  Not sure if it will survive until Christmas!  :)  We'll see.

One Sunday, one of our members showed up with some pretty fancy heels.
Elder Baxter thought they were worthy of photographing!

Pretty Fancy!

As you can see, life is definitely not boring around here!
But we wouldn't have it any other way!