Happenings of the Week 9 - 15 November

It was our turn to bring dinner for Family Home Eening, so we made macaroni salad (minus the celery and black olives due to the lack of such things here) and bought a box (no buckets) of KFC chicken - it just sounded really good! Sandy found a package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix and made dip to go with the veggies - almost felt like we were getting ready for a picnic except it was pouring rain. The one and only day that the sun was shining, we washed sheets so that they could be hung on the clothesline to dry in the breeze, but we might have to stop doing this because we found little bug blops on our nice clean sheets as we took them off the line! Our only guess as to "how come" is maybe that with summer comes more bugs, never have had this problem before. Thursday brought good news for five of our PEF students, as their loans were approved in Salt Lake. Now the process of gathering all the supporting documents for each loan from the kids and signing the Promissory Notes and Participant Loan Agreements.
We hadn't planned to go back to Richard's Bay so soon, but just felt like we should and the two days were well spent and productive. Driving up Friday shortly after noon, we went immediately to the Nseleni Library for the Youth Meeting, where Elder Pier asked if we could help with games, after the short lesson. The youth leaders, who are only youth themselves, being 21 and 22, are working hard to follow the program guidelines. It was a great time for us to have fun with the group. Afterwards, we went over the loan applications with Tandi and Thembi and were impressed with all they had done since our last meeting, showing us that these two are really ambitious. A little later we met Elder and Sister Pier for dinner at Maritino's on the Tuzi Gazi Waterfront, which overlooks the boat harbor at Richard's Bay. Arlo had swordfish and Sandy had tuna, both grilled to perfection and very tasty!
Saturday morning we fetched the Ngwelezana elders from their boarding and they traveled around the area introducing us to several of the branch auxiliary leaders and just giving us a orientation of the layout of the town. Paperwork/officework tookup the remainder of the afternoon and then it was back to the waterfront to have dinner at the Sala Thai Foodhouse with the Piers. The wind was blowing and it was raining hard outside, but we had some wonderful Thai food which warmed us up. Sunday morning dawned cloudy and rainy, and when we arrived at the library for 8:30 am PEC meeting, the missionaries and branch president were standing outside under the roof overhang, waiting for a city employee to come and open the building, so we started 15 minutes late. President Mngadi was so apologetic to the congregation for the lateness as they are trying so hard to begin on time. Since the majority of the members walk, church attendance was affected somewhat, but was better than expected with the constant rain. Arlo spoke on the blessings of Sabbath Day obedience, which fit perfectly with the other two speakers remarks on obedience. Sandy helped with the little Primary (five children and one teacher), and was very impressed with all thePrimary songs they know and the enthusiasm with which they sing. After taking pictures, our camera is always clicking away, we made our way back to Durban. Even though it is technically summer, Sandy made chicken noodle soup, since it was cool outside and in the house, for our early dinner. Trever, the first of the current five new loans, met us at the Pinetown Chapel to sign his loan papers and was so happy. His will be a ten week course in air conditioning/refrigeration repairs and so we should see the end results of his study. Most of our students will not complete their studies while we are serving, but we feel that they will succeed!


Weekly youth activity at Nselini Branch. Elder & Sister Pier had volunteered to help with some games. Sandy was calling a raucous game of Book of Mormon Bingo, others were playing Ginga and Book of Mormon matching games. We were there to meet with two young adults after the activity, who were youth leaders, and help them with their PEF loan applications.


We were at the Ngwelezana Branch on Sunday when this police van pulled up and let several members out. Sandy thought they were using the police van as a taxi. Arlo thought incarcerated members had obtained a day pass to go to church. Turned out that one of the member's father was a police officer and was kind enough to transport several members to church.


The elders and four priesthood holders in the Ngwelezana Branch. From left to right - Brother Gwamanda (ward mission leader), Brother Egnazio (recent convert baptized in July), Brother Khathi (Elder's Quorum President and Counselor in Branch Presidency), Elder Kekana (from Limpopo South Africa), President Nmgadi (Branch President), Elder Babeeyo (from Ghana). Elder Babeeyo has served in the branch for six months and is fully expecting to be transferred next week. This photo and those that follow were taken to give to him as a memento of his service in the branch.


After the meeting we asked several members who were still there to pose for a picture with Elder Babeeyo (on far right).


Some of the youth and their leaders came in and also wanted their picture taken with the elders.


As we were getting ready to leave and make the two hour drive back to Durban, we heard singing in the back of the room. President Mngadi was leading a group in singing practice - we assume the branch choir. The branch meets in a local community library. Where we do not have buildings yet, it is common to rent meeting space from a library or school.