Happy Heritage Day

This has been a really fun week in that it is Heritage Week.  During the week we have seem African women wearing their traditional dress.  They are really beautiful!  We have stopped and asked some for a picture.  They were all very kind and accommodating.

Here are some of them.  This is Florence.  She is a maid to one of the flats here.  She waits in front of our flat for the people to go to work and then she goes in to clean.

Each costume  represents a part of South Africa where they grew up.  They are really fun.  School is dismissed for the day and some of the businesses.  They spend the day with family and have Braiis, which means BBQ's.  Here are the Elders eating their pap and stew.

We have some wonderful Elders here,

This was the last part of our Heritage Day.  The first part was spent in Motupa with the Group there cleaning the yard of the church.  I will tell that story in the next blog.  It was a busy day and we were very tired when we arrived home but that is when a missionary feels successful.  

Love to all and hope you have peace in your hearts,

Hurrah for Israel,

Elder and Sister Campbell

A Day in the Life of Elder and Sister Campbell

Dear Friends and Family,
    We have had requests asking us what we do in a day.  We would like to tell you.  Sometimes we plan and plan but when the day arrives it takes a different turn.  We figure the Lord is in charge and we hope that we are following what He would want us to do.
     I have tried to take some pictures so we could give you a glimpse into our day.
We wake up between 5 and six.  We do some phone calling sometimes or preparing for lessons being taught that week.  At 7:15 we meet are neighbors across the hall for a walk.  Here we are with Elder and Sister Heyen.  They are going home in January.  We need someone to come and take their place.  They are from Portland, Oregon.

This is our flat.  We are on the bottom.  We have an electric gate with electric wire on the top.  We are very safe.

Here we are on the first of our walk with Elder and Sister Heyen.  We will cross a small bridge and meet up with the Meldrums.  They are from Canada.

These are some of the beautiful flowers we pass by.  We are in the dry season and they say it is so brown but we are doubtful it can get any greener.  I will put some pictures of our walk.  We go a different way each day but here are some sights you may recognize from America.

These are the only ones that seem familiar to us.  There are other fast food places in Joburg but the Colonel is the only one here in Tzaneen.  It is very popular.

I will now just show you sights along the walk.  Something I thought was interesting is the "Not for Sale Sign".  We guessed they were using reverse psychology. ha ha

You will also see some of the churches that have been here for a long time.

This a hamburger restaurant.  we haven't tried it yet.  I thought it was funny that it's name is Wimpy.

these are the cute street picker upers.  People just throw their garbage on the ground.  These people come and pick it up.  I guess it gives more people work.  They are really fun though.  We gave a group of them some pass-along cards (cards from the church with a number where you can call and have a DVD brought to you of the Savior).  They thank us everytime for the pictures of Jesus Christ.  They put them on their locker.

Here is the razor wire that is on the top or along the fence of most of the buildings.  There is elecetric wire or sharp pokey things.  You will then see some trees and flowers and then we arrive home.

We are home and i have run out of time to show you the rest of the day.  The next picture is us ready for the day.  We go in from our walk and take a shower and get dressed.  The we read our scriptures and go over the days plans, making any phone calls that we feel we should , pray and then we are off.  I will tell you more on another blog.  We love you all and hope you have joy in your life.  We do.

Hurrah for Israel!!!!!!!

A wonderful end to August

Dear Family and Friends,

It is hard to believe that August 2014 is all done and we are on our way to September.  It has been a wonderful month.  We are getting used to driving and arriving home, safe.  There are still some moments of    "Stay to the left, Elder Campbell", however.  He is doing very well.  We rarely use our GPS anymore.  We still use our tour guides, Elder and Sister Meldrum from Canada to help us in Motupa as there are no street signs or addresses.  We are starting to recognize a few things.  Here is something I  loved that was one the back of a truck in front of us one day.  I loved it.  The truck or bakki was full of men getting a ride home.  That is how they do it.

The men in the back were starting to all look at me so I hurried really fast.

Every Thursday night we feed 2 sets of young Elders.  They are really hungry when they arrive as it is usually around 8 o'clock.  They like to work until it is too late to.  Here is a giant loaf of bread we found.  They probably will eat all of this.  The bread here is delicious.  We have to be strong not to eat it.  It is quite inexpensive, also.  This loaf cost in US money around $1.40.

On our way to Motupa one day we followed this truck that was full of mattresses with small fridges in the base of the truck.  We sure hope they made their destination.  There are no flat roads in Motupa so I hope their destination was right of the road.

The highlight of the week was going to the Johannesburg Temple with Sister Judith.  She is going to the Atlanta Georgia Mission in November.  She is a wonderful person and will make a great missionary.  It was a wonderful experience.  She was then able to be baptized for her grandmother on Saturday morning.  This grandmother raised her and it was really special.  Sister Judith is from Motupa and had never eaten in a restaurant or even a fast food place.  She will have quite an adventure in Georgia.

While in Joburg, we stopped at a store to see it they had Elder Campbell's chocolate that he loves.  (We stop at every store and just look for chocolate!)  There was a bench that for the Elderly and Sick.  Elder Campbell put his thumb over the ly and figured it was for him.

The mission president and his wife invited us to dinner on Friday night.  It was so very nice of them as they are so busy.  It was a delicious meal of rolled pork, roasted potatoes, salad and rolls.  Dessert was ice cream with strawberries.  The young man in the picture next to Sister Judith is leaving this week for his mission.  He went through the temple on Friday, also.  The first senior couple are the Meldrums.  They are from Canada and work in Motupa.  They are wonderful.  He reminds us of grandpa Campbell.  He is always working.  She is always thinking and doing.  They are good examples of missionary life.  The couple on the right is from Oregon.  They will be in Mason, my nephew's mission when they go home.  The are CES missionaries.  The travel all around the northern part of our mission checking on seminary and institute teachers.  They also teach some classes.  They are our across the hall neighbors, literally 3 steps.  They have been a great help to us.  Elder and Sister Heyen are their names.

This is our wonderful President and Sister Dunn.  They are our mission president and wife.  They are from Salt Lake City, Utah.

We dropped Sister Judith off at the bottom of her hill as our car could not do more.  She carried her bag on her head.  She has such lovely posture.  She said that she would carry big containers of water on her head when she was 8 years old.  WOW!

Well, that is our week so far.  We will check on with you next week.  We hope everyone is well.  We love you and love being a missionary.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder and Sister Campbell

South Africa Johannesburg Mission