Happenings of the week 22 - 28 December

A belated Merry Christmas to you all and here is the run-down of our week:
(22 December 08) The morning was spent doing laundry and working in the office. Arlo made up some forms for us to use in tracking the students, and so we will feel organized. We are sort of pioneers here in Durban with the PEF program and are feeling our way around. The major issue of the day is the heat, which is horrendous in the house-95 degrees today and at 9 pm the house is still 85 degrees down from 90 degrees at dinner time. Drove out to Durban International Airport to return our rental car and pick up the car from Elder and Sister Barnes. Their replacement couple won't be here for at least a month, so we figured to save some money on the rental and just use their car. The airport was jammed with tourists coming to enjoy the beautiful beaches and sites of Durban. Returning home, we stopped at a new mall and joined what seemed like millions of people shopping inside, to buy an oscillating fan. Pulling into the driveway, I jumped out of the car to open the boot (trunk) and reach my purse to get the remote and disarm our security system, only to realize it wasn't there. We had left it in the rental car back at the airport!! We can open the front door and have 30 seconds to disarm the security system manually, which we did. While Arlo was building the fan with our very fancy set of tools-a potato peeler and butter knife, Sandy was trying to get Avis on the phone about the remote. Finally, a connection was made and they had found the remote and are holding it for us until tomorrow. Lots of lightning tonight and we are hoping for not just a light show, but some rain that might cool things down.

(23 December 08) Made another trip back to the airport to retrieve our security remote and stopped again at the mall looking for a tin of Danish biscuits (cookies) to take with us to President Natasan's home on Christmas Day. As we began our day, the sky was overcast and the temperatures 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, and it has stayed this way the entire day. Amazing how much better life looks when you're not so hot and humid. Sandy entered all the data we collected on Sunday from the students into the computer, using the forms that Arlo put together yesterday.

(24 December 08) The skies are gray, but the temperatures are wonderfully cool. The workmen came and installed our air conditioner in the bedroom. Couldn't test it out because of the coolness, but we aren't complaining. Christmas Eve dinner consisted of homemade chicken noodle soup, afterwards we read from the scriptures and watched the church Christmas videos, some twice!

(25 December 08) The day dawned beautiful bright blue skies with white fluffy clouds-wonderful way to begin a Christmas morning. Andrew and Nathan called (8am) to ask a question about baking times for the traditional Christmas roll they had put together. As we finished, they indicated that they would talk to us tomorrow (Christmas Day). Sandy replied that it was already tomorrow here in South Africa! Interesting that we would be able to talk to them on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the same day for us. Christmas lunch was with Natasan family (President of the Phoenix Branch which we attend when we don't have a commitment in another ward or branch) and the Session's. We were overwhelmed with the food served to us- roasted lamb and turkey, 4 different vegetables, dressing, gravy, two types of potatoes, and delicious crusty bread. President Natasan popped the cork on some sparkling grape juice, just like a champange bottle, but he was quick to point out the words non-alcoholic on the bottle in case we were concerned. Our gifts today were cool temperatures, an air conditioner for our bedroom, talking with all of our children, grandchildren and Sandy's mother, even though the connections weren't always the best, and a brand new car. Never in our lives and never again will we receive a new car for Christmas! Our Nissan Tiida (fairly comparable to the Altima) was delivered late last night to the mission home-only three weeks late, but who is counting! The South African's don't pronounce Nissan the same way as American's do, they say Niss un.

(26 December 08) Another overcast day, which means cool temperatures! Trying to get a working system for all of these PEF participants, so we can see quickly view whatever part of the process they are on, is being a challenge. Being anxious to see the new car, in the afternoon we drove into the mission office. There was a silver Tiida sitting in the driveway, minus the big red bow like we see in the Lexus commercials. We knew it had to be ours since so many cars in our family, including the Highlander sittiing in the garage in St. George are silver! Arlo is becoming more comfortable each day with the driving process here in close proximity to our house, but soon we will be having to branch out into other areas to meet with more prospective PEF students. Our GPS has become a very close friend, one on which we rely quite heavily in addition to our prayers!

(27 December 08) A beautiful day in the neighborhood, sun is shining, the palm trees and clothes on the clothesline are swaying in the breeze. From our home office window, we see many different trees, some with fruit and others with gorgeous colored blossoms, lots of flowering plants and we hear the songs and sounds of several kinds of birds. One might think they were in Hawaii! Today was spent in the office, preparing ourselves for meetings tomorrow. The homes surrounding us on our side of the street are a little more upscale than many we see in our travels. While on the freeway, we can pass shanty towns (where the homes are constructed of cardboard, metal or just about anything), townships (a few steps up from the shanty towns-might have electricity to a few houses, probably a public water spigot), to some small homes looking a bit rundown, to some middle-class homes, then on to the wealthy areas-all this in a short span of time. We are indeed grateful for a secure and comfortable boarding, especially tonight as the skies opened up and dumped rain, accompanied by an incredible display of lightning and thunder.

(28 December 08) Sunday was spent with two different congregations-Pinetown and KwaMashu. At Pinetown, we were helping two young women move forward with their PEF loan applications. School will be starting the middle of January and many are anxious to apply for loans, not realizing what a laborious/time consuming process is involved in securing a loan Going over to KwaMashu for the Priesthood/Relief Society section of the meeting block, afterwards we met with six students interested in the PEF loans. We promised we would return next Sunday and give an orientation about the ins and outs of the Perpetual Education Fund. These particular young people each symbolize different reasons this inspired program was given to President Hinckley. After having our lunch/dinner, the phone rang and it was Dorcas telling us that she and Kerri-lynn had the necessary Priesthood signatures on their forms and then they would be ready to transmit to Johannesburg. So back into our car and out to Pinetown to pick them up and we were so happy to do so,bringing the day to a close.

A special Christmas week comes to a close and we prepare to begin a new year. Our love to all----

Elder (Dad, Papa, Arlo) and Sister (Mom, Grandma, Sandy) Mickelsen