December 2 we had an activity to usher in the Christmas Season here at the Area Office.

We did our usual morning work schedule and then at 11 am we were divided into groups and given some instructions which began our South African travelramma.

Earlier last month, when we first received notice of our Christmas devotional, we were asked to bring a meter of fabric which was to be used in making a quilt. Little did we know that before it went into a quilt is would be used to create instant characters in the drama of Christ's birth.

Some of our office mates were asked to play characters in this drama, the rest of us received instructions to use our fabric as head covers of wraps of any kind. So, those of us who actually followed the directions and brought fabric with us dressed and became part of the crowd.

In this picture you see Tirhani, one of the women in our PEF office dressed as one of the women in our play. She is with some of the woman from the cleaning staff, Maria and Ruth.

Before we entered the devotional room we were given a piece of paper which instructed us which group we were to stay with as we traveled back in time to Jerusalem to witness the Christ child for ourselves. There were 4 different groups. It was a nice way to present the some of the scenes from history leading up to Christ's birth. It also served as crowd control.

Here are Elder and Sister Callahan and Joseph and Mary.

The manger scene with a visitor paying tribute to the new child.

Brother Pule singing a lullaby to the Infant King.

The wise men visit with gifts

Community members gather to see their long awaited King.

Songs and music reminded us of the special night and the reason lowly shepards and kings as well watched and waited for the prophecy of Christ birth to be fulfilled.

It was quite amazing to see 150 people shuffling from site to site in quiet reverence as we heard the voices of (interpretations of course) Joseph and Mary, Elizabeth and Zackarious, one of the Wisemen and a few of the Shepard's tell of of their thoughts and feeling as they experienced the voices of angels introducing the advent of Christ's birth.

It was a wonderful production and a lot of work went into it.

After the play we were treated to a Middle Eastern meal to celebrate the birthday. The meal was served in a tent to make things feel authentic.

Here in South Africa most of the month of December is considered holiday time. Many people work until the 15th and then they take their vacations returning the middle of January. It is Summer and we are finding the town of Johannesburg empties out. Even the beggars go on holiday. The gentleman that sells us the homeless newspaper wanted us to know he could be leaving to return to his ancestral home for the holiday. We needed to support him by buying our paper early.

The month came and went and we actually found it very pleasant. Way fewer people, no traffic jams and the parks were not crowded on the weekends.

Thunder storms rolled across the sky and we had several days of rain. This made us feel right at home....except the temperature never got below 60 in the day.

We are delighted one more month of African adventure has left us with grateful hearts. It was a hard month to be away from family. It did not really feel like Christmas so it was not all that hard. Only once did I get teary eyed and that was when I went to dinner at Elder and Sister Soares' home.

Elder Soares is a councilor in the Area Presidency. They hail from Brazil. Sister Soares had her home decorated in a more traditional Christmas fair than we see hear in South Africa. Complete with stockings on the hearth. I felt a lump in my throat and fought back tears as I looked at pictures of her family. The sensation lasted but a little while and I was back in the swing of things. That is until Christmas Day.

I think all the missionaries had a bit of melancholy as we visited with family so far away. Having said that, we are all very grateful too, to that great King who was born of Mary so many years ago. Whose life, death and resurrection give us all the Peace and Promise of Life Eternal. He is the Way the Truth and the Light. How grateful we are to know of His Love for each of us.

Spring in Johannesburg

The Master has been busy painting the hillside here in Joburg. I simply had to include some pictures of Johannesburg in the Spring. The countryside is filled with colors. Trees of every size and color spread a blank across the city. It is breath taking.

You really should plan a trip to come and see this for yourself. Again the pictures just to not do it justice, but it will tempt you a bit.

Enjoy.

This it the view from a hotel restaurant. This is where Elder Nelson of the 12 stayed when his was in town last week. We had lunch here earlier in the week, just to take in the view.
Elder Webb and Elder Lewis. Elder Lewis is the Area Secretary. He is also a good friend of my sister and her husband Diane and Reynold Brown. Their children grew up together. Sister Lewis has the best laugh. She also thinks her husband is the most clever man in the world and she easily laughs, which causes everyone around to enjoy themselves more. She is a treasure.

There is nothing more to say about Spring in Johannesburg. One really must experience it, because there are no words to do it justice.

Every street is tree lined and it seems every tree is in bloom. I know there are some that are not, but they pale in comparison. The textures are also abundant.
Plan a visit. We would love to show you around.

GeGe, Swaziland

One last page of the book, one last look at the view, one last sip of soda and we are off again.

We headed for the small community of GeGe where we were to meet with a Group from the church. They are remote enough that they do not get General Conference when everyone else does. We were fortunate to have a supply of the Conference DVD's at the area office, so we pack one up special for GeGe.

These pictures were taken on the drive over. The Vistas are breath taking. It is not easy to capture the true drama of the landscape but I had to give you a little taste of this incredible majesty of this part of God's creations.
This is the road we traveled to get to GeGe. It was 4o Kilometers of bumpy wash board roads each way. It took us an hour and a half to get there.

We were later than we had expected to be. When we finally pulled up to the GeGe high school sigh (our only sign post along the way) we were an half hour late. We got out of our car and walked towards the school rooms. It was hard to tell where the church service was being held because all the doors were closed. We noticed a couple of young people approaching the building and we asked them if they knew where the meeting was

being held? They indicated a room but cautioned us that Sacrament was being passed. So we waited until the door opened which is the sign the Sacrament had concluded.

The Group leader came out into the yard to give us a proper greeting and then ushered us into the school room. I made a quick survey of the room and determined there were no seats left. Then the Group leader indicated we should sit in the seats at the front of the room.

These sweet people had waited to begin their meeting hoping we would arrive in time to join them for the service. We realized this when we were introduced as the speakers along with the group leaders wife and the young man who blessed the Sacrament.

They had choir which performed a special number. They were great. Half the congregation stood to sing when the group leader announced the special music number. They of course have no piano, but their voices were so wonderful no accompaniment was needed. There was a child of about 5 singing in the choir who knew every word of the song; singing with a love that shone in his face. I loved watching him.

We are learning to be prepared to share our Testimonies where ever we go. It is still a bit of a shock however when we hear our names announced as the featured speakers. We are humbled by the love and acceptance we feel from these beautiful people. They are so grateful to have someone visit them who has any connection to the Church that they treat visitors as spiritual leaders.

These are the sights we saw when we arrived at the school. There is no electricity in these building nor is there running water on the school property. There are out houses for personal relief.

Church was held in the building to the left. The two people in the picture were the youth who helped us know which building to go to.

English is not the first language spoken here. Our Testimonies were translated into Zulu and most of the service was given in that language. The group leader was kind enough to speak English when he introduced us so we knew what to expect.

These are the two young missionary wanna be's waiting to be ordained. They are so far away it is hard to get anyone to come to ordain men to their Priesthood advancements. These people have few cars amoung them to make the trip to the city.

After Sacrament Meeting was over, the group leader announced everyone was to go to his home to listen to the General Conference DVD's that Elder and Sister Webb had brought. So much of the congregation climbed into the back of Brother Malenge's truck, two sisters came with us and the rest of the congregation walked the the Malenge home.

Brother Malenge stands at the door of his truck. He is the father of this community. He is the literal heir (chief) of the valley. Most of the people that live in this valley are older women who are raising their grandchildren.

Brother Malenge has retired from his job as Police Chief in Manzini. He and his wife have moved back to their family homestead. This whole valley is filled with family homesteads. There is no industry, there are no stores, there are no gas stations. Finding work is impossible., yet they feel this is the best place to raise the children. It is safe.

The grandmothers and their grandchildren filled the truck and the over flow walked to the Malenge's home.
Look at the wonderful grandmothers with their beautiful grandchildren. They have lost their husbands, but caring for the grandchildren and raising them in the safety of the country is their purpose in life.

I was visiting with one of the sisters who pointed out her home across the valley on an adjacent hill side. I asked her how she got to church. She said she walked and that in only takes her an hour and a half each way. It is much easier to go to church than it is to fetch water. For that she must walk hours to the river where she fills the large container which she carries on her head.

This is the Malenge home. It has electricity which makes it possible for all to watch conference.The Malenge's also dug a well recently. They took one of their round house and made it into an apartment complete with toilet, shower, and a mini washing machine. They did this so they could get missionaries in the valley. The missionaries are the ones who have the toilet. No one else in the valley has an in house privy with running water. The main house at the Malenge's does not have these luxuries.

There are many buildings on the homesteads, and one can see how nicely kept the properties are.

Some of the children waiting for conference to start. Even though many of these people cannot understand English, they feel the Prophets voice is so special they will sit for hours just listening.

We hope to return to this little haven someday. The people are full of faith and they work so hard for what they have. Families are everything to them. The generations coming up is their hope.

Back to Swaziland - Part 2

This picture is taken at the restaurant in the resort where we stayed. We are with the Blackburns and the Zuwackys. The Blackburns are missionaries serving in Swaziland.

They do everything and anything that is need to support the members of the church and the young Missionaries in this area. The Zuwackys are visiting from Durban where they serve as Seminary and Institute missionaries.

We would go to dinner about dusk, watch the sun set and as soon as the light was gone the night sounds began. The music from the 3 different kinds of fogs, and the nocturnal birds became so loud it was no longer back ground music, it was life around us. It reminded me of Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean ride that always sounds a bit phony. Well, those sounds are real, the difference is that the real things sounds more phony than the ride! It was truly an amazing experience.

We didn't even try the local restaurants because as soon as you leave the lagoon the music stops. These are water loving creatures.

This picture and the one above are our cabana again. We would have been content to spend the whole time reading right in this very spot, but that was not the real purpose of our visit. So off we went again.

We met these two fellows just outside the driveway of the retreat. It is hard to imagine such beauty can be surrounded by such poverty. The two young men were just laying beside the road. We stop the car to visit. They spoke little english and they do not go to school. What I did find out is the smaller of the two is 10 years of age and the older one is 14. They are both small for their ages. We gave them a few coins for a picture and left them smiling with fruit in hand. Later in the day we happened upon the younger of the two. He was herding cows across the road. He waved and enthusiastic wave when he saw us drive by.

Oneof the congregations we met with was a group in GeGe. It is a retirement valley filled with family homesteads. Most people leave the valley for the city so they can earn a living. The inhabitant that stay are the old and they very young. Grandparents are raising their grandchildren because the parents of the children must work else where. There is no industry in the valley except for family farming. The problem is most farms do not have access to water except that which the women carry to and from the river each day. It can be a difficult life.
The Malenge family is the strength of this community. They have a large property and took one of the buildings on their property and installed a toilet, small sink, shower, and a washing machine. This after they dug a well. They did this so they could get missionaries in the valley.
Brother Malenge is a retired police chief for one of the larger cities in Swazi. He and his wife joined the church in 1998. When he retired they moved back to his family homestead, which is where we find them here. They are doing wonderful missionary work but the Mission President is concerned because there are no adult men being baptized; there are few men in the valley. The young men are well mannered and hard working. They serious about the gospel of Jesus Christ and had a desire to go on missions. But, they will soon leave the valley for school, missions, and work. When they leave they take with them any prospect for future growth.
We were able to take a DVD of General Conference and after our Sacrament Meeting everyone made their way to the Malenge's home to watch the Video.

One of the pictures is of the Malenge home. Many church activities are held at this homestead which is about a mile and a half from the school building where church services are held. What was surprising to me is that many of these people did not speak English, yet they all wanted to watch the prophet speak. They were very attentive. Adults and children alike. These children are very well mannered and very polite.

We met for Sacrament Meeting in a school house that has no electricity. And So when the meeting was over many people as could climbed into the back of Brother Malenge's truck (as seen above). The rest walked to his home. We had two rather large women ride with us. One pointed off into the distance and told us that is where she lives. I asked her how long it took her to walk to church and was told it is and hour and a half each way. She the pointed to a home on the distant hill side and told us that belong to the other lady in the car. Brother Malenge is one of a very few men who live in the valley. Most of the women are widows raising their grandchildren.

Back to Swaziland Part 1

I've posted a number of pictures from our trip to Swaziland. They are a bit out of order - but hopefully you will get the idea! Sorry for the spacing issues.....blogspot is not the easiest to navigate!

We had an assignment to visit all the Branches in Swaziland and train the Presidents in Perpetual Education matters. So off we went. The drive was 5 hours long but really beautiful and for the most part uneventful.

This is George. We met him in the parking lot of shopping center when we stopped for water. He is from Zimbabwe and was here selling some of his wears. I bought one of his jars and asked if I could have a picture of him so I could show my grandchildren who made the jar when I got home. As Norriss stood to focus the camera this young lad came and stood by me so he could be in the picture and then the woman with the dusters came running across the parking lot to get in the picture. We gave them each a few coins which made them happy and then started on our way again.

Our second trip to Swaziland was taken partly for pleasure and partly for work. We decided to stay in a nicer place than usual and treat ourselves to a little R&R. We were very fortunate to see some beautiful scenes along the way.

This is the view from the First Branch meeting house overlooking the city of Manzeni. Aren't the Jacaranda trees beautiful?

This picture is of the valley just opposite the driveway we turned down to find our accomodations.
We stayed at a lovely resort in Swaziland called Feildcrest Botanical Garden Resort. It was peaceful, beautiful, and the most luxurious place we have been in since arriving in South Africa. We returned to Johannesburg refreshed and filled with energy after a few days stay here. This is the view from our cabana where Norriss is relaxing after a long drive.
The gardens were extraordinary filled with sights sounds and fragrances that were enchanting.
The next several pictures of the gardens and some of the peacocks that were strutting their stuff. It is Spring here and they were showing off for the ladies.

We enjoyed the magnificant color of all the trees, flowers and birds that share the space in this Botanical setting.

The next several pictures are of the peacocks. It is spring and they are showing off their colors for the ladies.

The next several pictures are of our room, the gardens, and different sights we encounter.