It feels and looks like fall is just around the corner. The air is crisp and many leaves are changing colors or just falling off the trees, and we even have added a blanket to our bed.
Monday, the plan had been to be gone by 3:30 am in order to be at Nambiti Game Reserve for a 6 am game drive. Well, we were up and gone by 3;30 but only back to Durban because Arlo had not been feeling well and became worse in the night. Not a fun trip, but with much prayer and perseverance we made it and spent the rest of the day sleeping and trying to "get better." Tuesday was used as another day of recoup, but the process moved fast and we felt nearly 100% by the end of the day.
Wednesday, Arlo and Elder Griesemer presented a Career Workshop at Pinetown for two current Durban Mission elders and four other young people, three of whom are interested in PEF loans. President Mann wants all of his African elders to have the Workshop before they leave, so that they would be ready to apply for PEF when they get home. It was such a rewarding day to see the light in their eyes as they worked on interviewing, learned how to "walk" through the yellow pages, something they had never seen before and came to some decisions on career choices. This is such a great program that the Church has put forward to help in the employment field. Patriarch Courtney came to the building so that a blessing could be downloaded. He is always so kind and usually brings a story, a thought or some kind of food gift. He had shared some pickled pepperdews with us (something new to us) several weeks ago and we have really enjoyed them and told him as much. So on this day, he comes with a quart bottle full-we think he forgot that we are short-timers!
Thursday was office work and preparations for Elders Basooma and Reeder to come for lunch. Elder Basooma has become a special elder to us and we have kept track of him throughout his transfers during his mission, and will leave just before we do, so we knew we needed to have him come for lunch. The last time he was here for a meal, which was at least nine months ago, Sandy served sloppy joes. In making plans for lunch, Sandy asked Elder Basooma if there was something he would really like to have, he smiled and said "sloppy joes!" Elder Reeder, from Johannesburg, had never had sloppy joes before and ate heartily, we guess indicating that he liked them. Both these guys seemed to enjoy lunch and even asked for "take away" after dessert. During the late afternoon, Sandy transcribed a blessing for a young man from Mauritius, an island country in the southwest Indian Ocean, where there is no patriarch, so he needed to come to Durban.
Friday marked 50 days on the countdown for 2010 FIFA World Cup and the excitement is everywhere, with people dancing and celebrating. It is hard to imagine how there could be much more celebrating than we see right now. We know that in Durban and Cape Town all of the tickets have been sold out, but other venues still have some available. Durban is really the place to be because of the climate. Advertisements are shouting that Durban is the warmest place to be -"where can you wear shorts and watch a winter World Cup?" There is a special plastic horn that is blown at football (soccer) games which make almost a deafening sound from just one horn. The noise levels will be horrendous when nearly every spectator has one. A study was made recently to see if the hearing was adversely affected when around the horns. It was confirmed that there is significant loss, although some did return in time,. Our day was spent at the computer, phoning, going through files and laundry, but late in the afternoon, Sister Pier called asking if we would like to join with them, Coxes and Davis' for dinner at Waxy O'Connor's in Westville. Pier's had come down from Richard's Bay to do some shopping and take care of some business. Our dinner was great, the company was great, but due to the restaurant being wall-to-wall people, it was a little hard to have a great conversation. Still we all enjoyed just being together.
Saturday afternoon, we had appointments in Mpumalanga to help John and West with their worksheets and putting the information into the computer. Afterwards, we hurried into Berea to meet with Xolisa, our deaf friend. He is ready to re-take exams for two classes that he did not pass at the end of May, but is still very concerned about the direction his schooling is taking him. Hopefully we were able to buoy him up some, because he has dreams and aspirations that we want for him to be fulfilled. This is General Conference weekend in the Durban Stake and we we able to watch the Saturday afternoon session, then had dinner with the Coxes who had come also to view the session. Just as we were walking in the door, our cell phone rang and it was Andrew telling us that most of our grandchildren were at his house right now, so turn on SKYPE! Stephanie's family had come to Southern California to go to Disneyland and Jonathan's family came up from San Marcos for a family get-together, which gave us a chance to visit with three of our children.
Sunday morning we drove up to Richard's Bay in order to sign loan documents at the Nseleni Branch, with two young ladies who have so much potential to make something of themselves. Both of us were asked to speak and bear testimony-this is a small little group of members and so they take advantage of visitors to add to their speaking pool! The Church is growing in the Richard's Bay District because today there were 11 baptisms in Nseleni and Ngwelezana Branches. A great opportunity for us to witness the baptisms of three and see the joy in their faces as they came up out of the water and later bore testimony of the happiness they feel with their decision to be baptized. Later in the afternoon, we went to the Pier's for dinner and then learned how to play Mexican Train. We are spending the night with them so that we will be ready bright and early Monday to make our final game drive!
Elder Reeder from Johannesburg and Elder Basooma from Uganda - 
Career Workshop for some of our PEF students we organized with the help of Elder and Sister Griesemer who are Employment Resource Service missionaries
'Ayoba' is a catch phrase born in South Africa's townships that is used to express excitement. Right now South Africa is excited and there are shouts of 'Ayoba' everywhere!
These yellow signs are appearing all over town giving directions to the new soccer stadium, parking and the new airport which opens May 1
This soccer ball is made from glass beads
Signage in the Durban Airport
Sign on the wall of an apartment building in downtown Durban
Coca Cola is the major advertiser for the FIFA World Cup 
1 comment:
Seeing the soccer hoopla reminds me of when we hosted the Winter Olympics and how excited we were for that spotlight on our little corner of the world. Probably similar experiences.
It will probably feel strange to return home and find we're going into summer, not winter. A member of our ward returns from South Africa on May 6th. He's in a different mission than you, but probably similar experiences there as well.
We're looking forward to seeing you again. But I can see the work will continue right up to the day you board the plane. You set a wonderful example for us, for your children and your grandchildren!
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