Drakensburg

 

 On Monday, January 30th, all of our elders, the Browns, the Dransfields, and ourselves took off for the Drakensberg Mountains which are only 45 minutes away from our boarding but none of us knew what to expect.  The adults drove because of the Elder's km situation--(they never have any)

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We got to the foot of these beautiful mountains and stopped at a visitors center and it was the head of about 4 or 5 trails.

  Of course the Elders were off  like a flash and literally ran up the mountain (their bodies made them pay the next few days).  There was a waterfall at the top and streams,(I guess)

See the waterfalls in the distance

 It was so steep that I just felt that I did not need that rescue helicopter to come for me, so we chose the trail more traveled called the Gorge trail.  We were just as long and it was plenty steep.  We got some pretty pics along the way.  We all had fun had sun and most importantly no one lost their life.
   We lasted till about 3:30 after starting about 10:30 on the trip and got to the Waffle Hut about 4.  All were happy to relax and have a little some  food.  Our Zimbobwe Elder ran all the way in flip-flops so he wouldn't embarrass the others by being barefooted.  He was the most humble and best in shape of us all.

 

Tues we also had all 3 of our going to-be

missionaries for class and Slungile had a sweet testimony and words of wisdom for the other 2.

We exchanged recipes and made recipe books and tried to guess where Nqobile was going on her mission, because we got the phone call while we were in class that her call was arriving at our boarding on Friday.  We piled them in the car to take them home so we would know where to pick up Slungile the next Tues. We would put her on the bus for Durban to be set apart and sent to Ghana to the MTC. For 1 month our little Ezakheni would have 4 full-time missionaries in Uganda all at once!  Then they start to come home.
   ON Thursday we had boarding checks and baking of bribary cookies.  We then went to Ezakheni to do what we thought was going to be dramatic.  We had told the 5 people in the Self-reliance class that we would come and try to get them on the computer and registered for the class and I had downloaded their videos for their class.  We had asked the Branch President to come also to help us get their member ID #'s , but really we needed to get his check book from him.  Several Branch Presidents had been running in the red again after we had just gone through the forgiveness program .  The District President and Mission Pres. wanted to retrieve it for a while.  Nothing corrupt was going on but we didn't know how he would take it.  He took it in stride and acted like he was expecting it to happen.  We were worried because we must work with him so closely and we needed this good relationship.
    The first week of Dundee's Seminary went well.  Only six came but that was good considering the circumstances. If they can keep it up it will be great.
   Friday we went to Ladysmith Seminary and thought we were teaching but we only said a few words.  It was good to get in there and see it happening even if we only have 3 kids.  We gave the teacher her flash drive for all the NT videos she can show.
   Saturday had us taking Sister Adams and Nqobile and Stabiso to  2 separate meetings in Newcastle.  We were asked to go to the first ever YSA  District planning meeting for the year.  It was very productive because we had all the youth reps present and we hashed out money and transport and activities and calendered for the year. Sister Adams was a hoot in the back seat.  I took a few snacks and crackers and peanut-butter in the car because we went to Dundee first and would be there around lunch before we went to Newcastle.  She coined the phrase "Sis Rhode's brought her kitchen with her".  My bag of tricks is now called  my kitchen! I love it!
   When we got back to Ezakheni we had the treat of opening Nqobile's Mission call at her house.

 We had brought it when we went to pick her up earlier that morning.  We got ready to open it and found that her cousin and Mom had opened it first. Nqobile wasn't mad she acted like nothing had happened because she was so excited to find out where she would be going.  Madagascar!  She will br learning Madagassy!  Wow !  There might be some French thrown in but she will have language training to go through.  It happened to such a good  English speaker and so good with people that I even thought that she would be a good candidate for SL Visitor's Center.  No matter where she goes she will be great!  We just love her.  It was a great moment for all!
   I had more kids in the nursury in Ezakheni again.

Remember these babies don't know a lick of English!!!!!

 Why are there always more little boys?  4 seminary age people were baptized after church.  It is quite amazing at how large this age group of seminary students is.

Slungile saying goodby to parents and Where's Waldo!

   On Monday I made more cookies for my travelling African new missionaries and really cleaned house for the coming company.  There comes a point that even I...!  Tuesday we met with our Stabiso and Nqobile for really looking at her call.  We really looked at it and found out she could wear sandals and wouldn't need quite as many clothes as her counterpart that was leaving for Uganda.  Way more tropical and such an interesting place.  We brought her the computer printout(29 pages) from wikipedia with some pics and interesting reading about Madagascar.  (It's the 4th largest island in the world and was liberated from the French in the '60s).  We met late so we could pick up Slungile, after class, and luggage and take her to lunch and the bus to Durbin.  She would take off the next day to Ghana MTC.
   All went well with our connections,but when we got to the bus it was early and Thembalani was not on the bus from Dundee.  Pres. DeKlerk was to meet at the church and then drop off at the bus station in Glenco and that bus was to proceed to Ladysmith.  Both missionaries were going to the same place--Uganda and both the same travel plans.  The President maintains he was not late but that the bus left early.  Whatever, he could not catch it and came to Ladysmith to our house because the bus left there with our girl on it.  The Dransfields, (still waiting to go to Lesotho) were passing through and were going to stay the night with us but the office asked them to make another trip to Durban with our Thembalani.

Thembalani's Mom rode in the truck to Ladysmith to make sure he left for Durbin!  Originally sent papers in July!

 Sent cookies and goods with everyone  and off they went.  We had the Browns there too because they were passing through from a meeting in Durban.  What a circus!  Our boarding is kind of in the middle of all roads.  At 5 the circus subsided and the Browns and us went to our new and only Chinese place for dinner. We all loved it after the day we just had!
   The next day was Wed. and transfer day with 3 new missionaries and hellos and goodbys. We've got a good group.  Already we are seeing some action in Ladysmith.  Kent had Bishopbric meeting and the Elders were there to get direction from the Branch Pres.  when the first counselor arrived and announced that he quit because his wife was driving him crazy.  This is our Africaans couple and the wife is certifiable crazy.  We put it on hold because we don't know if this info will stick or not.  We'll wait a week!  The truth is she is so erradic that he probably should step down,but...  There is no one to take his place.
   Thursday the Dransfields stayed the night and they are nice people learning the roads of Durbin Mission well.  We tell them once they are in Lesotho they will hardly leave -so enjoy their travels now.  Mission Pres. has them going around teaching ward clerks about on-line stuff to help with future boundary lines and home teaching routes.  We don't have ward clerks in our 3 branches so Kent and missionaries have been learning his program.  They went to visit our Ezakheni seminary with us and we gave our self reliance class the videos to watch while we were with seminary.              Friday,  we did our usual walk and I was walking by our next door neighbor and she nabbed me.  She was visibly shaken and needed to talk.  The up-shot was she is a frequent visitor at our home because she's in a very bad relationship with her boyfriend who has used and physically abused her for 3 years.  She had left him at least 2 other times but she insists that this is it.    She was ready to leave but how? He was threatening here with locking her in the boarding again. We decided to get her out now and we took her to the only safe place-- our church building, until we could find out the bus schedule.  It was impossible on-line and there are no safe houses in SA.  The Dransfields were in the middle of this but we picked  her up and took a tour of the countryside till lunch.  We all went to lunch and then bought her ticket and left her at the bus stop for Durbin just like she was one of our missionaries.  But what a different reason!  No matter what her situation now-- it will be better than what she had next door to  us.  We pray for you Yuthika!  The Dransfields left the next morning with stories to remember but maybe not tell.
   Saturday was collapse day and fill the cupboards day and prepare to go to church in Ladysmith day!
   Kind of  a typical week but not really!      

Constant Food

 

First antique store in SA ever! 

We started the 16th of January off (which was "P Day") with a fun short trip to the Waffle Hut.  It's on the way to the Drakensburg Mountains which we will climb soon.  Our aim on this short (30 minutes from home) ride was to go to the Spioenkop reservoir and see more animals at the reserve they have there.

 We never made it to the reservoir because it poured but we did explore a former large Africaans town called Winterton and go to our first ever South African Antique store.

 We had to be back fairly soon because Elder DePriest's B-Day Braai was taking place at our place that night.  We had the Elders bring their own meat and we supplied everything else.  Educational--their steaks were as big as the whole grill and it did fill them up.
   We had our last Institute missionary prep class on Tues. with a few make-up classes for Sabe and Sthabiso to follow later.   Nqobile came faithfully and was an utter delight in the class.

 This was a very intensive Preach My Gospel course to rival our MTC experience.
   Sibonelo Zulu came for dinner on Thursday and we had a fun visit.  He is a 30 year old returned missionary looking to get reinstated and we are helping him with that.  He's never been married and goes back home to Newcastle as often as he can to visit the girlfriend.  He has the distinction of being the first person we met in Ladysmith at the Pick & Pay grocery, where he works as the bakery manager.  We had only been in Ladysmith one night when he came up to us and introduced himself (dead give away with those nametags and that white person thing).  This was before we even went to church.

   District Conference started on Sat. in Ezakheni  with leadership training and the adult meeting.  We were done at 12:30 so we could head off for Newcastle and do it all again there.  Our District  is too geographically large to do one meeting, so those of us that spoke, do the traveling.  I think that means that people with cars do most of the speaking. Kent and I mostly spoke about how Seminary and Institute were vehicles to teach and educate our youth and this in the "Savior's Way".  The thing I noticed was the push for visiting teaching and hometeaching.  It is not happening in S. Africa so it was good to mention.  We had fun trying to keep our talks down to 5 and 10 minutes together.  We had dinner in Newcastle with the Mission President and his old home teachers from Alpine, the Browns and the DeKlerks at a place called the "Pint and Pig Out".There are no bathrooms for about a 3 and 1/2 hour span -between towns! (We did take the time and stopped at a little store we knew about and were late for the next meeting...help!) 

The Browns hosted us for the night so we could do the same thing with different talks on Sunday in a Newcastle primary school and then off to Ezakheni where we did it all over again.  Cute Sis

ter Brown thought of bag lunches to eat in the cars.  It went great except that someone stole 2 lunches from the fridge in Ezakheni.  We were more careful on Sunday.
   Tuesday was the most fun we've had for a long time--We continued our class time with all three prospective missionaries and met in class and talked about our free agency and choice.  This was important because they would be making choices about things to take with them and what to buy for their missions.  I had Slungile bring her list from her calling (to Uganda on Feb 8) and we talked essentials and not so essential.  These kids have so little money that they need to make good choices with what they do have.  After 30 min we put them in the car and gave them their missionary planners for note taking and took them window shopping in Ladysmith.  (I told all of them that we would like to give them 1 gift like we give to our stateside missionary kids when they go on a mission--as a going away present.)  We gave money to Elder Xaba when he left, for shoes and we don't think he bought them. We now need to go with all our missionaries because some would just give the cash to their families.
 

 Slungile needed good walking shoes so we found some and it helped to have another girl there for support.  We looked at luggage prices and talked quality and Sthabiso checked his size for shirts (he gets some used Elder shirts from me but not enough).We looked at bags for the girls, how to carry scriptures and books  since Uganda is a walking mission, and all took notes.  We  thought it was a good outing and we topped off with lunch.  We took them to one of our favorite places for lunch--Penelopes.  They couldn't stop talking about it and were all eyes at the menu of choice. The cost was a super-size Wendy's but they hadn't been there before.
   On Wednesday we had a Web-ex meeting (online) for seminary and institute. We learned that our Web-ex  leader (he wrote us an e-mail) is preparing for his wife's eminent passing from a long bout with cancer.  Their attitude was amazing and so inspirational that we both wept after reading the letter.  We hadn't done our homework for the meeting but did so after the meeting.
 The next  day we had a Re-Max morning to see if we  can get our Elders out of  their icky boarding.  The Mission President would like only 2 Elders in a boarding so we will try to work it --but it is going to take time to look.  We live in a small town and good properties go fast.  Later that morning we met the Elders at the real Dr's office to discover that Elder Lowe did have a bad spider bite that needed anti-biotics and extra care.  It was affecting his whole leg and caused headaches.

Kent had his first Friday night Ladysmith Branch Presidency meeting that he suggested they have, since the Pres can never be there on Sunday.   They agreed and the Pres took charge and did discover there were no speakers for Sunday so they would at least not be blind-sided by that.  (They still asked the Elders if they would be the speakers on Sunday when they walked through the door at 10 to 10.) We are still working on things!
 

 Saturday was a big day for us.   We had our kickoff for Dundee Seminary with the 2 Doctrinal Mastery lessons.  10  kids are  matric-ing and 2 others came along with my former Institute student -now seminary teacher.  We fed 20 and next time we'll figure out something more simple.  We started at noon setting up for lunch but kids were not out of matric class on Sat till 12:30 .  These kids go to school 6 days a week when in their last year of secondary-school and some still do not pass and get the diploma.  It was a long day and we got home after 4:30, but who knows how it will go on their first 3 days at 6AM.  3 days of seminary is up from the 2 days of seminary last year.  One step at a time.  Transport is such an issue!

  Some cute Family History missionaries from Joburg, the Lees, stopped by at Church and spoke on how to get started on their family history work here in Ladysmith.  They gave us a packet and told people to get in touch with us if they need help.  We are not experts on everything but it is fun to try with the Lord's help and maybe we will be enough for now.

After living here for 6 months, we finally found our 1 and only Chinese food with Take-away.

   We met and hosted the Dranfields, the new couple going to Lesotho, Sunday night.   They were coming from PJ to show branch clerks a new computer program to help keep track of their people.  2 of our branches don't even have clerks, but they left Monday night to teach a District Clerk all about it-so hope that can help.  We all are pretty isolated from other couples, it is just fun to see and host and talk to others that are in the same boat as us.  Each couple has different duties, but 's those of us in the "bush" have lots of similarities.  This whole blog seems to about or around food!  Could it be that we are fighting our 10 pound spread after Christmas in the summer and we are now facing our winter with possible more poundage to come if we don't get this under control?