We just love meeting with our PEF kids-they are so full of life and energy and so thankful for the ability to receive financial help. Lots of paperwork, phone calls and visits this past week in getting loans ready to be forwarded to Salt Lake.
On Wednesday morning, we met Elders Goldsmith and Holmes at the Berea Chapel so they could direct us to the library in downtown Durban where our presentation was going to take place. They had asked if we would give a talk on money management several weeks ago. It was a disappointing morning for our young elders in that only one person showed up and she was a member, one of our PEF students who already does a great job managing the family finances. All of the previous week's attempts at providing different self-help classes to the community had been thwarted, so the elders had been so excited to see a couple sign the guest book. They came in, sat down and wanted to know when the stop smoking program was going to start. The couple didn't want to stay for the “Get Out Of Debt” class telling us they were too old to change! We took the elders to lunch at The 1999 restaurant (a very trendy place) across the street from the Berea chapel. The waitress really drove home the point that we should indulge in one of the local appetizers, so we gave in. Didn't really know what any of the items were, so our best option was going to be the basil and cheese cigars. Sandy thought maybe they were breadsticks, but no, it was a small piece of stringcheese wrapped in a basil leaf and then wrapped in a wonton wrapper and deep fried. The four little cigars did come with our favorite sweet chili sauce, so that redeemed them because without the dip they were nothing special. One of the elders is from Johannesburg and he commented that this was the first really good food he had had in a very long time. Typical missionary-they say there is no time to cook, especially when they need to be out on the streets during the dinner hours. It appears to us that if you are a missionary living in South Africa, you have a 99% chance ofseving in one of the three missions in this country, but might be called to a neighboring country like Ghana or Nigeria. Have not heard of any missionaries leaving Africa for other parts of the world recently. As we talked with Elder Holmes, about the relatively short distance back to his home city, we mentioned that there were had been elders serving in Ridgecrest whose homes were only a half days journey from their missionfield.
Saturday afternoon, Sister Sessions called to see if all the couples could meet for dinner at Primi Platti in the Westwood Mall. The food was excellent and as the skies darkened it was fun to see the lights of the city for a long ways off. Always we have a great visit with each other, sharing what is going on with our various callings. There was great concern expressed again at dinner, about replacement missionaries. The office knows know who will be coming through July and there are no new couples coming and even no young elders from the United States. To end the evening, we splurged on a 25 cent “taste of happiness” as it says on the cardboard wrap piece on the cone – a KFC Soft Twirl (really wonderful soft ice cream). If you wanted to spend 50 cents, they would put sprinkles all over the ice cream. Kentucky Fried Chicken is so big here and the food, limited as it might be, that we have sampled is great, much better than the US.
Sunday, we attended the Phoenix Branch because of the need to talk with the Branch President about some possible PEF candidates who are over the age of 30. It is always special for us to be at a fast meeting and hear the words and feel the strength of their testimonies. The president and his family invited us to dinner sometime soon when our schedule would permit saying, they miss having the couple missionaries in their home. Couple missionaries saved us today in trying to get printed loan applications to kids in Swaziland and Ladysmith. The majority of our PEF candidates don't have computer access or printing capabilities and so we take care of printing and getting their loan applications to them, but if we can't get there the local couple become our printer and delivery service!
We didn't have any photos to share with you, so decided to share a little bit of everyday life in South Africa - from groceries to plugs to brooms!
Our weekly grocery run always includes the bag + two more just like it. If you don't bring something to transport your purchases, you are charged for each packet (plastic bag) used or you carry things in your arms. One item we forgot to include was a carton of eggs. You buy eggs in 6's, 18's or 24's but no 12's and all eggs are brown. The salt grinder was a necessity since salt in a shaker, due to the humidity becomes a lump. Butternut squash is a staple here and is sold in bags just like we would buy potatoes. We love having it like a baked potato. Our boxed milk is fantastic and we decided to switch to it after having our fresh milk go bad within a day or two. This has several months shelf life and the pourable custard (also a long shelf life) is to die for. The bottles are chutneys (tomato and mango) and sweet chili sauce-food items that we have become very partial to. Never really knew what chutney was, but wikipedia likens it to our salsas. The loaf of french bread was 3 feet in length when we bought it, but we ate some before taking the picture-cost was 39 cents! Keep your eyes open for some of these items in the US grocery stores, because if we can't find them, we might not come home!! The switch by the bag turns on the stove and oven.
South Africa has 220 volt, 50 hertz power. Note the difference in the size of the electrical plug. There is only one outlet as shown in each room with an off/on switch mounted with it. If you need an outlet on the other side of the room, you have to run an extension cord. You cannot have an outlet within three meters of a water source and therefore there are no outlets in the bathrooms and the light switch is outside in the hall.
Stay Well and look forward to General Conference coming up next week ---
Love,Elder (Dad, Papa, Arlo) and Sister (Mom, Grandma, Sandy) Mickelsen
2 comments:
Hi, Sandy. It is so fun to read about your experiences. When Heather came home from Ghana she really missed some of the foods she enjoyed over there. Must be some ethnic store that sells them, wouldn't you think? We think of you often and pray for your continued success. Julie
I love your updates! Keep 'em coming!
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