Birds, Singers,and Mission Calls

 Sunday the 12 of March found us at Ladysmith with Kent talking about Fast offerings and Missonary fund.  The Branch President had a manditory area financial meeting and was a little freaked out about the state of the Branch finances so wanted to have Kent speak.  He didn't have an additional speaker for  sacrament meeting so the Pres. showed up when he was getting off work and gave the other talk and didn't give Kent much time to speak.  We stayed only for sacrament meeting and headed off for Ezakheni to give Branch Pres. Ngcobo his check-book back to write a fast-offering check for Nqobile's Yellow Fever shot.  (They are so in the hole!)  We took the check book back and  I got to attend my first Relief Society there. --Money Money!
  Met with 2 real estate ladies and found one of our places I think.  It was what we were looking for and so I will start the ball rolling for April 1st.

We supply our own window coverings!

Not glamourus from the front.

Had Ezakheni Elders over for dinner because transfers are happening and I know we will lose Elder Lowe who has been here for 6 months.  I get too attached.
   We had Tues Institute class a day early because we had a special Wed P day planned with the Browns.  The bad news was that only Nqobile and Stabiso showed up so we did not have class.  We did talk about the history of the church in Ezakheni and showed videos of the church in S.A.  Khumbulani is in both videos and he is an area Authority that we met when we first got here at the S and I meeting.  He was just a youth when the Blacks got the priesthood in the early 80's, when the white men went into the largest township in Joburg to take the church for the first time.  This was 14 or so years before apparthied was over.  Sooo interesting! Our soon to -be missionaries thought it was interesting too.

Such cute little boys had to get on the grown up toy

 

made out of tractor seats

Wednesday we met the Browns at about 10:30 and took and had lunch at the Pig and Plough and took off for the
Drakenburg Boys

Choir concert that happens every Wednesday at their boarding school at 3:30, next to where we took that big hike.  It was such a beautiful setting in the green mountains but it was hot and stuffy in their nice concert hall.  Lots of baboons were playing on the roofs when we got out. The boys give you scones and tea at intermission.      

B&B Lounge (this is a big house with 2 bedrooms on either end)

Sister Brown got us a B&B and we ate at a nice lodge that had a sit down dinner at 7--no earlier.  (We were blessed to find this place because there in nothing commercial in the area except outdoorsy stuff and lodges and B&Bs -no towns!)

We couldn't take pics inside.

 The menu was a limited 7 course meal with 2 or 3 things per course and you could choose to try a small portion of everything or just one main course item.  Of course we had to try everything.   There must have been a real chef there because it was unique food and very different.  Still -desserts are still not up to our type of desserts.  They do great with trifles and puddings but baked goods seem to be difficult to duplicate.(i'm stuffed just writing about this)
   Thursday was the Birds of Prey show that was close to the choir.  At 10 everyday they have the trainer of eagles,owls, hawks and vultures, give us a demonstration of how to train a great bird and how royalty of old used to go hunting with their birds and dogs.  Unfortunatly it was a pretty cloudy day although fairly warm.  These very large birds need therms to get in to the air.  They don't like to spend much energy if they don't have to.  We saw enough of the show that even though the big birds  would not go out too far the small ones put on quite a show and the fisher still did his tricks.  I want to go again!  We stopped and got a milkshake in Winterton because of our huge breakfast.  We got home at 4PM and sent the Browns off after this midweek fun.
   We had 10 AM boarding checks on Friday and sent Sister Wood all of the gathered info on the new boarding.  Later that evening we received Stabiso's mission call and it was a surprise.  We did not know that Sis Ludwig had sent the call to Salt Lake because his official police report hadn't arrived.  Saturday we hopped into the car to surprise him and family.

 The branch Pres gave heads up to Mom and friends and we just showed up.  He was so excited to go to Capetown.

Ezakheni Branch had a fire at a home of a less active member,so we all got into the car and traveled to see the damage and what help was needed.  A mosquito coil had caught the drapes of the kids(3) bedroom on fire.  No one was hurt but the entire room and house had smoke damage.  There  is no fire dept. in Ezakheni and it is amazing no one was hurt.  Grandma(GoGo) was worried about having money for children's uniforms so they could go to school.  This is a double wammy for poor families with no income.  Elders were doing service that day in Ladysmith and afterwards came to haul all of the burned stuff (to a local hill) and bring the family some used mattresses they had to get rid of anyway.

   Sunday was special in Ladysmith with the lay Pastor of another  church converting to the church with his wife and getting baptized.  His children live in Ezakheni with his first wife but he's quite solid I hope because he was teaching his congregation from the Book of Mormon before he decided he would just have to leave and be baptized.  He has a good job and well educated and articulate.
   The Browns and Pres Mashego came from Ezakheni and more meetings to be with us.  Kent and I sang In Sacred Grove with our guitar and I liked it a lot better than the canned accompaniment   with the violins.  It fit the occasion better.  The Browns and Mashegos and us had pasta salad and fruit after the event and each went on their way.  Pres Masheo and his wife live in Madadeni township and are a cute retired couple like us that are not very retired.  He's the District President and Institute teacher and she is the Seminary teacher.  Neat people and not so sure about pasta salad with gammon(ham Kent  had to fry first).  I got lots of  comments about that salad.

   This is transfer week and lots of movement that we don't have to do, but we will get 3 out of six new Elders. Monday is quiet and Tues is prep work for me and my class.  Big lunch and no dinner for  Wednesday.  It is our class plus both of us are going to Branch Pres  meeting.  The previous week I had a text from a sister in Ladysmith saying she needed help with English.  This is the Pres. wife!  It turns out that she has real problems with teaching her Primary class and we will be able to help her with that when she comes with her husband to Branch Presidency meeting.  It might be more discipline than language problems we'll find out.  On assessment her language is good but not great.  She has hard time with definition of  word  issues and is actually asking for help.  A lot of the Branch has issues with this I believe but won't ask for help.

   Thursday we saw another realtor and property because we are still looking for another property.  No banana!  Later that day we had a late lunch early Chinese dinner with the Browns and it tasted great.  They left and then we got ready to leave for an overnight stay at the Brown's in Newcastle the next day.  Some Zone leaders from Newcastle had an activity with Pres Thompson in the Drakensburgs and needed a ride home to Newcastle.  We were asked to help.  We also had our inservice training for teachers in Newcastle, Madadeni and Osizweni.  My 3 teachers are pretty strong and have hung in there pretty good.  Some feel they need more Branch President support, and one is having a hard time being at her class consistently, but all in all...Kent's seminaries have more problems but then he has more teachers.     It was a pretty good week end but must get home to our Ezakheni Branch and changing rooms for the Nursery. I got the feeling from one of the sisters in Ezakheni that when we go home they will just go back to the way things used to be.  If that is so, change has to be ingrained and longer than a month or 2 maybe longer than a few years.  We are all creatures of the comfort zone.  These people have stepped so far out of their comfort zone it will take generations for the church to be a way of life for them!