Happenings of the week 15 -21 March

Monday morning was spent at the dentist office, getting Arlo prepped for his new front teeth. His two front teeth were damaged and repaired 52 years ago and thought we would get them redone here since dental work is much cheaper than in the States. Early in the afternoon, we visited with Patriarch Courtney to download eight blessings that he had given in the Ladysmith area over the past weekend. Afterwards, went over to Griesemers for FHE, but the audio wasn't working on KBYU, so we had an impromptu lesson, lots of conversation and a baked potato bar for dinner. Tuesday, was a meeting with a student from the Chatsworth Ward, about a school course he wants to pursue,. After talking with him, we didn't feel it to be of value to him at this point in his life, plus the costs are very high for a four-week course. We left with all of us having assignments to do further research. Wednesday was quite a day for us. The Allred's from Salt Lake City arrived late Tuesday evening from the MTC and needed to get themselves and a car up to Bloemfontein (a new section of the Durban Mission). President Mann felt like it would be too hard on the Allred's to make the journey alone, so the Johnson's were going to drive them up. Well, then a problem arose. Our mission cars are not large enough to accommodate two couples and all the pieces of very large luggage, so we volunteered to be the luggage carrier, plus it would give us a chance to see Bloem. After more talking between Elders Johnson and Mickelsen, we decided to take an extra day and return home through the country of Lesotho (also a new part of the mission). Leaving shortly after lunch, we were worried about arriving in the dark because it is a 7 hours trip, but felt like we needed to not wait for another day. All went well as we enjoyed the spectacular scenery, until about 8:30 pm when a huge semi-truck tire tread appeared on the very black road under a very black sky, and we hit it. All we need to say is that we were blessed with protection and safety, because Arlo was able to maintain control of the car. The car was drivable, so we limped back across the road onto the shoulder in order to assess the damage. We quickly called the Johnson's who were leading the way and they turned around quickly to help us. While trying to figure out what to do, out of the blackness came truck headlights from a side road and the driver came over to us. Looking back, it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, but we felt no apprehension and he was a tremendous help, going back to wherever he lived and quickly returning with some wire in order to tie up what remained of our front bumper. After trying to drive several feet there was noise, so stopped and checked things again. The lining in the wheel well was torn up and hitting against the tire, so Arlo along with Elders Johnson and Allred tried to remove it without much success - remember these are guys in white shirts, ties and dress slacks. Then again out of the darkness came the same headlights and our strong friend, who successfully pulled everything off so that we could drive on. A member family in Bloemfontein waited dinner for us, and then found places to bed us down for the night and we put the Allred's into their new home for the next 18 months. During a brief visit with the Allred's, we discovered that their son is married to the daughter of Kurt and Sherry Booth, who we knew in Ridgecrest.
Thursday morning, Louise, the wife of our host Wayne (who is the son of a bishop in the Durban Stake) offered to take us out to the Cheetah Experience, a small sanctuary for young animals. There we had a hands-on experience with leopards, cheetahs, caracals and lions. Before leaving Bloemfontein, we found the LDS chapel. The members in this country are so appreciative of having beautiful buildings to worship in and this one exceeded our expectations! Our next stop was the border crossing into the country of Lesotho (le-soo-too) and now we have a new stamp in our passports! Stayed the night at the Maseru Sun and had dinner with Elder and Sister Van Blankenstein at our hotel. They cover the entire country of Lesotho and do about everything and anything in their missionary service. Lesotho is called Southern Africa's 'kingdom in the sky' for good reason, This stunningly beautiful, mountainous country is nestled island-like in the middle of South Africa. In our travels on Friday, we came upon many people, all who seemed content and happy to continue living a very rural, traditional lifestyle. It was decided to return to Durban on Friday evening, instead of staying over another day, since the Johnson's are trying to finish making ready to return to America on Monday.
Saturday morning, we had been invited along with the Johnson's to have breakfast "on the beach" with the Durban Stake Presidency. This was a thank you for Elder Johnson's service on the high council, while also serving as a missionary and our PEF work. Funny what goes through your mind when the invitation to "eat on the beach," is issued and the two couples decided casual clothes were in order. As we met at the appointed place, we soon discovered that we were "eating on the beach," only it was at a restaurant on the beach! It worked out since the other couples had also come casual. The final destination was a favorite of ours, MOYO near uShaka Marine World. We enjoyed wonderful omelette's and oj under a canopy, just feet away from the beach, where many people were enjoying the sun and warm water. Later it dawned on the two of us what day it was - our 40th wedding anniversary and our son Andrew's birthday - we had lost track of where we were in the month of March. It was decided that our Lesotho trip would be enough celebrating for right now - maybe some other trip when we have finished our mission. The remainder of the day was spent catching up on PEF and transcribing some of the patriarchal blessings.
Our visits on Sunday were to the Pietermaritzburg Ward and Mpumalanga Branch giving PEF orientations. As we always find in making our visits, there is usually someone needing our help, whether with questions about the program or concerns about their existing loans. We enjoy hearing about what is happening with school and life from our students during our visits. It was no exception at Pietermaritzburg, where we discovered that Nobantu was married last month in the Johannesburg Temple and we were able to meet her husband. A warm, but breezy day and week - we hope that with the coming of autumn it will bring us some relief from the heat and humidity of the past several weeks!



This is the result of colliding with a truck tire tread at about 65 mph. We were stopped at a police road block in Lesotho. An officer came to the window and asked how come we let a dog bite our car, and then waved us on.

Our hosts in Bloemfontein live in a very nice gated community. Their house is on the far right.

One of our buildings in Bloemfontein - a very nice building designed as a stake center. The wing on the chapel and cultural hall side is two story with class rooms on the lower level. There are ten branches in the Bloemfontein District - we should see a stake here soon.

The following photos were taken at the Cheetah Experience sanctuary near Bloemfontein.

You won't find Sandy even touching a dog - but she loves those cheetahs. This is Bibi, a two year old. Note the missing tail. This cheetah was abandoned by its mother because of the deformity and the reason it was raised in this sanctuary. Cheetah's use their tail as a rudder to maneuver while running.

Arlo's turn.

They have three seven month old leopards on a short stay at the sanctuary. They are not tame enough to let the public interface with them.

This is Morema, a three month old lion cub. You could pick him up and give him a hug, if you were so inclined.

These are two older cubs who have had ear infections that has affected their balance. We were told to only pet them if they rubbed up against you, otherwise your touch might startle them. Note the size of those paws. We think they were about seven months old.

They were very playful.

He wanted to remind us he is a lion.

This is Chili the caracal. We have pictures petting this guy, but this photo was a better illustration of the unusual ears.