Baptism and Monkey Business

On our walk the other morning we came to a park close to our flat.  There were about 5 monkeys playing with each other.  They would tease each other and climb in the trees and hide.  It was really fun watching them.

I, Loretta was able to teach my first English class on Saturday.  These are my children.  They sure sing "I AM A Child of God" beautiful.  They do not know what they are singing since they only speak Sepedi.  Our goal was to say "I Am a Child of God".  I gave them pictures of the Savior and they were so careful with them.  They kept dusting them off.  They are very thankful for everything they are given.

We enjoyed our first baptism in Motupa today, Sunday.  Here is a picture of the tank they use.  It is a lot of work to get it set up and them to clean it off.  It was a beautiful baptism.

It has been a wonderful Sunday.  We hope yours is wonderful , also.  Signing off from South Africa!

2 weeks in South Africa

Well, here we are in South Africa for 2 weeks.  We are loving the people even more.  They are so simple and sweet.  Steven is feeling a little more relaxed as we have been able to meet quite a few people.  It takes so long to get everywhere that somedays we only visit 2 or 3 families.  They are most thankful for everything.

These are two of the missionaries that have been serving in the Tzaneen Branch.  Elder Loveless and Elder Mosuka.  This was before transfers.  We now have Elder Loveless and Elder Garnica from Mexico City..

This is how the women carry things, on their heads.  It is amazing.

Below you will notice how convenient it is get your exercise.  You can stop for petro for your car and then workout in the exercise equipment.  How jolly!!!!  We will send another blog about the monkeys in the trees we saw on our morning walk.  We are having trouble getting this to work right.  See you later and "Hurrah for Israel!"

July 19, 2014-Motupa

When we received our mission call it said that this was a "English Speaking Mission".  It is not.  If they are speaking English we have to listen very carefully and then they may be speaking one of the 11 official languages of South Africa.  We seem to get along.  We are not sure what they are saying that we do not understand.
Friday we attended our first Bri )Barbeque) in Motupa.  This ia our dependant group of the Tzaneen Branch.  Steven will also be their Branch President.  This was Canadian Style for which I was thankful.  The Senior Couple that is serving in Motupa bought the food and put it on.  We had Hamburgers,Hot Dogs, and Russians, (it is a sausage not the country).

We had a great time and there was a great turnout.
Today, Saturday we traveled to Modjahe.  It is a branch about 30 minutes away.  There we had a District Relief Society Meeting.  It was well attended, about 100 sisters came in buses or walked.  The speakers were so wonderful and sweet.  The theme was the 13th Article of Faith.  A group of sisters sang, "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing.  It was beautiful!.  After we had a lunch made by the Senior Couple in Modjahe.  Here are some of the pictures of the time together.

 This sister in the blue is holding her mission call.  She had just received it from Sister Dunn, the mission president's wife.  She wants to open it tomorrow with all of the branch.

We love you all very much!  Hurrah for Israel!

7/17/14

Things have been very busy here in South africa.  We are getting ourselves settled into Tzaneen and trying to get adjusted to where things are and how to get around.  Finding places is somewhat difficult, especially in the villages because you really don't have addresses.  You just have to have someone with you or find someone that knows where people are and can point to the proper dirt road and tell you how many places to pass before you get to the one your looking for.  We have been spending considerable time visiting with members of the church both in Tzaneen and in Motupa which is the dependent branch for the Tzaneen Branch.  It didn't take long to realize that our point of reference and our cultural understanding can be very different from what we are seeing and experiencing.  We are trying very hard not to act shocked when we are told something about the culture that just sounds too far out and unbelievable to our ears.  It has been very nice to have the young Elders help us get around.  Loretta and I are getting somewhat bolder and actually made it to the grocery store yesterday on our own.  Previously another missionary couple who has been here awhile took Loretta for the first time to help her with the shopping she needed to do.  One can find many of the types of food you find at home but they are called different things and labeled differently and often times taste different from what you would expect for that particular product.

The people are wonderful and beautiful and Loretta and I are falling in love with them already.  Loretta has especially taken to the children.  They have such beautiful, cute faces and as you might expect they readily respond to Loretta's overtures.

Monday was P-day and we had the opportunity to visit Krueger national park, the largest game preserve in the world.  The young missionaries are not allowed to go to the park unless they are serving in the Tzaneen area (because of its proximity) and they go with a senior couple.  None of the missionaries in Tzaneen at this time had been to the park and since transfers are coming up on the 23rd they asked if the senior couples would take them to the park before transfers took place.  There were four senior couples that went and each couple had two Elders in their care with them.  It was a very long day.  We left Tzaneen at about 8 am and reached the park around 10 am.  Once you enter the park you are not allowed out of your car and your can't drive any faster than about 28 MPH.  Driving slow however, is important because you have to keep your eyes peeled for the animals you are hoping to see.  We saw all the animals we wanted to see except for the Lion and the Cheetah.  We got some wonderful pictures of the animals and it was wonderful to see them in their natural habitat.  We didn't leave the park until about 5:30 pm when the park gates were closing and didn't get back home until about 9 pm.  We stopped to eat at a place called Spurs, which is a favorite of the young missionaries and when you eat out in South Africa it is not a fast experience.  Eating out is a journey and not fast at all.  Shortly after you get your food you need to start asking for the bill because it may take quite awhile for it to come.

We have the opportunity to feed the young missionaries on a fairly regular basis and when they are finished eating they like to sing us the mission song.  It is fun to have them around and to help them out.

Finally one certainly begins to realize just how blessed we are in the U.S. with our church facilities and beautiful places to meet.  Here the folks are grateful for the bare minimum.  The little building in Motupa is an example of their humble meeting place.

The building is very simple and the round metal mesh you see is the supporting structure for the portable baptismal font.  This is taken outside and the liner is added in and then it is filled and a ladder is placed to get over the top and into the font for the baptism.

Welcome to South Africa!

We are here!  We left on Monday, flew in to JoBurg on Wednesday and arrived in Tzaneen today, Friday.  It seems like we have been in limbo for 5 days.  The flight to London did not seen too bad, 10 hours, but then the layover in London came (9 Hours).  We had fun watching the children and famlies.  We even had fish and chips for lunch.  We did not think it wise to leave for sightseeing as we had such a fun time going through security.  Both of our carry on luggage had to be opened and everything emptied out.  I had taken my essential oils and they were very curious.  I have never had anyy trouble before but they said that in America we are not as careful as they are in London.  We did not want to go through that again.

Our flight to Joburg seemed harder since the seats were so very close.  This was a 10.5 hour flight. We were so glad to arrive and see our Mission President and his wife waving at us.  They were so very kind.  They took us to the mission home and told us just to rest.  We hurried and took and shower and a short nap.  They had asked a couple serving in a town close to us to take us around and then home.  We had a wonderful dinnner with the Zone leaders and District leaders of our area and then went to bed.  The next day, we went to the mission office to get our phone and our car and all of the other things we need here.  Come to find out the man at the airport that stamped our Visa did not do it right.  We do not think he liked his job (no smiles).  He marked it that we could only stay 90 days.  So by the time we got everything settled for the day it was too late to come to Tzaneen, since it takes 5.5 hours.  It is on a windy road .  President Dunn, our Mission President thought it would be best to stay with them one more night.  A couple had gone to the airport to try to get the presdient's visa, anothers senior couple's, and our visas straightened out.  What a process, they were gone most of the day.

(This is a picture of our MTC District, wonderful people.)

We were able to help with the Zone Conference and meet them.  It was terrific.  What wonderful Elders we have serving.  We have been learning how we drive on the left side of the road, how we buy elecric minutes, how we use the outlets, (there are many).how to use our GPS, and about cities, townships and villages (there are not addresses in villages), security and how wonderful the people we are working with are.

(HERE WE COME, SOUTH AFRICA!!!)

We drove up today and went as far as Polokwany, where Elder and Sister Harward are serving.  We met the senior couple serving there and then sent to lunch and had a great time visiting.  We got into our own car and followed Elder and Sister Heyen home.  They are CES missionaries here.  As we arrived in Tzaneen we drove over a grate in the road  and it flattened the tire.  The good news is that it was right in front of the church.

We arrived home to our flat and it is really nice.  The senior couples here had planned a potluck to meet us and get to know us.  It was great.

                                          WITH SISTER DUNN, our Mission President's wife.

                                           WITH PRESIDENT DUNN as we arrived.

We love you all and are so happy to be serving the Lord in this capacity.  We are excited to meet the members on Sunday.

Hope all of you are doing well.  We are going to buy a phone tomorrow so we can call you. I  love you bunches.  Hurrah for Israel!!!  Mom

7/5/14


Our entire day at the MTC was a great one for the 4th of July.  We had classes in the morning and then in the evening we attended a special program for the 4th of July.  We enjoyed some amazing talent from the Elders and Sisters and then watched the movie "17 Miracles", a real tear jerker.  Then we watched the fireworks with 1200 stripling warriors.  It was a great way to spend Independence Day.  One couldn't help but think that our country would be much stronger if we had a country full of people of faith like these wonderful full time missionaries.  These three Elders had the spirit of the 4th of July at Breakfast with their three ties of red, white and blue and their glasses and flags.

Happy Independance Day!

What a terrific day this has been.  This morning we were at breakfast when all of a sudden we heard music.  We turned our heads and saw about 12 missionaries standing and singing the National Anthem.  Soon the whole cafeteria was standing and singing with their hands over their hearts.  It was a wonderful experience.  Elder Campbell and I tried to sing but were busy crying it was so beautiful.  I wish I would of thought to take a picture for you but I was just basking in the glory of it all.
 We said goodbye to some dear friends who we have shared many tender moments with.  Some are going to the Ukraine, some to Asian Islands and some to other islands far away.  Some of our friends are staying in Ogden and working at home in that mission.  They will be a great help to Heavenly Father's children.  This has helped us even more to be ready for the wonderful people of South Africa.
Elder Campbell is feeling better.  He can walk normal with no pain.
Have a wonderful day and be thankful for your blessings.
Hurrah for Israel!!!
Sister Campbell