Dawn's Visit

Pilanesburg National Park
We were delighted to have Sherry's sister Dawn from Richmond come for a visit in September. She began her trip in Cape Town with a mix of sightseeing and working on her photography skills.  Then she took the Premier Train up here to Johannesburg.  Despite about a 5 hour delay in her arrival, she enjoyed the adventure.  During her stay, we were able to take a day off from work and coupled it with a holiday and took her to Pilanesberg for two days where we got to see lots of magnificent animals up close and in their natural habitat.  Five minutes after we entered the park we saw two elephants tussling in the water on the far side of a small reservoir.  During our drives we saw hippos, giraffes, zebras, springboks, water bucks, impalas, and some rhinos across the water.  In addition, we also saw lots of wildebeests, warthogs, and hartebeests.  It was such fun being together again, exploring the many roads and sharing all the sightings.  Because Dawn gets car sick in the back seat, we put her up front to be the chief navigator!

Two young bull elephants tussling in the water.

One of the many beautiful Burchell's Zebras that we saw.  Many of them were only a few feet away from our car at the side of the road.

Two giraffes lovingly rubbing their necks against each other.  It is a strange fact that the giraffe has the same number of bones in its long neck that we have - seven.  They will usually run when chased by a lion but they can also kill lions with their powerful feet.

Here is a blue wildebeest who was checking us out.  They look kind of fierce, but they are very skittish and are often easily spooked.  But they are not very bright as we have seen them run right back to where the lion is standing and waiting for them.

Sometimes it is harder to see hippos because they spend most of their time in the water.  They really are large incredible creatures and they have very few predators that bother them.

Dawn got to see a lot of Waterbucks.  You can recognize them from the big white circle on their rear end.

Here is a warthog giving one of his friends a ride.  The birds are really fascinating.

One of the many beautifully colorful birds in South Africa.  This is a Glossy Starling.

This is a small Kingfisher who caught his fish and then banged it on the branch till it stopped flopping around so he could swallow it.

This male Southern Masked Weaver will weave an upside down nest with a hole in the bottom to try to attract a female.

Sometimes you see whole groups of animals together like these two rhinos, one warthog, and 30 impalas.

Two weary "spotters" ready for a spot of lunch.

Ukutula Lion Sanctuary
After we left Pilanesberg, we went to Ukutula Lodge (Garmin unfortunately sent us many miles down the wrong dirt road so we got there late and when it was very dark).  Aside from having a Game Lodge they host a conservation center which houses a special research facility and biobank for trying to preserve endangered species such as lions. We learned how most of the lions in the wild now have bovine TB and never live a full life.  Along with their reproductive research programs they have multiple educational programs and internships available.  We spent the night there in one of their  chalets. In the middle of the night when the lions decide to roar, you sit straight up in bed because it sounds like they are right out your window! Another part of the experience that we enjoyed was "walking with the lions" which was incredible. We walked with five lions who were each about 2 years old.  In addition, we also got to interact with cheetahs and lion cubs. Overall it was such a special experience to share with Dawn.  I am sure it is one she will never forget.

Walking with the lions is an amazing experience.

The group of lions we walked with.

Dawn petting Fast and Furious the two full grown Cheetahs.

Dawn petting one of the 6 month old lion cubs.

Dawn walking with the lions.

Monte Casino Bird Sanctuary
We also took Dawn to the Bird Sanctuary where we watched the bird show and then walked the grounds, talking lots of pictures of the birds and other animals there.

One of the larger birds in the show is the Crested Crane.

This is the national bird of South Africa called the Blue Crane.  His nickname is Frazer Crane.

This is the Crested Guinea fowl and you see them throughout South Africa.

This is the slenderer Helmeted Guinea fowl.

This is the Scarlet Ibis.

The Lilac Breasted Roller.  This is the most photographed bird in South Africa.

Two of the dozens of different kinds of ducks.

This Large Hornbill is one of the most unusual looking birds with what looks like a large banana on the top of his beak.

They had other animals like this Veiled Chameleon.

This is a Fire-bellied Toad.

They also have mammals like this mother Ring Tailed Lemur and her babies.

This is the Blue Duiker which is the smallest of the antelope family being about the size of a large cat.at about 8-10 lbs.

We also got to take Dawn to Olives and Plates which is a lovely restaurant on Witswaterand University.  It is a favorite of all missionary couples. They have beautiful presentations of all their dishes and delicious food.  We also took her to one of our favorite shops called Art Africa where she was able to pick up a couple small momentos of her trip to South Africa.  She also got to briefly see the Area Offices where we work each day.  On Sunday, she went to Church with us to the Etwatwa 2nd Branch and got to see Sherry working with all of the little Zulu children.  Even though Dawn was a bit under the weather (our altitude of over 6,000 feet did not agree with her) she was a good trooper.

The presentation of a modest chicken breast meal at Olives and Plates. And this picture does not do it justice.

Dawn and Lynn enjoying the meal at Olives and Plates.


Thanks Dawn for coming over to Africa and letting us share a bit of our life here!

Experiences with the Spirit

Experiences with the Spirit

A mission is a lot of hard work.  We are usually at the office by 7:15 to 7:30 and leave sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 PM each evening.  Sherry spends her time working on missionary applications from all over Africa.  They processed over 490 in the first 7 months.  Not only are there all of the normal forms to be completed, but obtaining passports, police clearances and medical approval can be quite complex in countries where there is political unrest etc.  But the end result of their receiving a mission assignment makes all the effort worthwhile. They are all so anxious to go and serve. Sherry often wishes she could be present when they open their mission calls .

It is hard to explain, but it is an incredible feeling when the Spirit guides you in finding a problem and in solving that problem.  Recently, Sherry had one where they sent a mission call for an individual, but they could not find the file for him. There was no record of a perspective missionary by that name. Somehow the Spirit prompted her and she figured out that when someone had inputted this young man's name, part of his first name had been cut off and then added onto his last name with a few additional letters and that was why they could not locate him in their files.  Even under normal circumstances, names can be a challenge here as individuals often go by other names rather than their last names.

Most of these young men and young women come from very humble circumstances.  Many have lost one or both of their parents.  And despite that, they are willing to sacrifice so much to be able to go and serve the Lord. Their desire is to give to others what they have been given.  The Gospel is truly a cherished gift in their lives. They work doing all sorts of jobs and save all that they can to put toward serving a full-time mission. Most are first generation members, and often they are the only members of the Church in their families. They are courageous, determined, and faithful.  Because of civil unrest and government challenges, many wait for months just to get a police clearance (one of the many requirements).  Indeed, their membership in the Church has given them a strong foundation to build their life upon, it has given them peace, charity and eternal purpose.

We have had many people read our black missionary name tags and ask us about the Church, which is always a wonderful experience as you get to tell them about the Savior, about the Restoration, about families being eternal, about Temples, about Apostles and Prophets.  An African worker in the Woolworth's grocery store came up to us and asked us if we had "a book for her?"  It took us a few minutes to realize she was asking us for a copy of the Book of Mormon.  We did not have one with us but promised to bring her one the next week, which we did and she gave us a big hug.  What a great feeling!  We could share many other stories of special interactions we have had.

We wear these everywhere we go.  There is "Power" in the tag.

It is so amazing at Church to see these people listening, giving talks, and saying prayers in English when you know it is not their native language. Most young children know only their tribal language until they begin attending school.  Then gradually they are introduced to more English as they progress in school.  Zulu, Xhosa and Tswana are very common in our area and occasionally some members will still choose to speak in their native language.  Many of the people here actually speak multiple tribal languages.  There are eleven official languages in South Africa!  They do not have much when it comes to material possessions.  Often they live in very humble homes, but they come to Church clean, dressed in their best and FILLED with love for the Lord.  I think many of them are going to have bigger mansions than many of us when we all get to the other side.

Some humble homes in the village.

Some EXTREMELY humble homes.

I have had some special experiences with spiritual promptings while working on even simple things like Meetinghouse Leases.  Normally, I only review the English version since that is all I speak and read.  Every once in awhile, I have had the Spirit tell me to go check the corresponding clause in the French or Portuguese versions and each time there has been an error that I was able to figure out and get them back into harmony with the English parts of the Lease.  Each time it happens, I sit there with a small tear in my eye, and I just say "thank you" because I know it had nothing to do with my abilities.

We have seen other amazing miracles like the Lord softening the heart of Governments, solving issues that none of us had been able to solve for years, or missionary couples who have had miracles occur in their families while they have been here serving.  We have even had our own little miracle. When we came over,  I had to sleep on a "zero gravity" blow-up mattress due to my back injuries before coming out into the field.  I could usually only sleep for an hour or a little longer before I woke up and had to get up and walk around.  I also had significant pain in the front right thigh area that made it hard for me to sleep.  The Lord has blessed us with one of His little miracles so that I can now sleep in a normal bed for the whole night without any significant pain.  I will never take something as simple as sleeping in a bed for granted again.

It has also been interesting to see the Lord's hand in who is assigned to which areas.  One of my predecessors was a prosecutor and he uncovered some serious problems committed by someone who claimed to be a licensed professional but who was not.  Our ALC just marvels that one of us has lots of experience in property matters, one of us with leases and contracts and one with personnel and Human Resource issues.  He says the Lord knew what skills were needed and sent the three of us here with just the skills that were needed at this time.  It was interesting because one of the attorneys went to meet with Elder Wickman, the Church General Counsel, and they were discussing where they would be having openings available.   One was here in Johannesburg and the attorney said they were not interested in going there.  Elder Wickman said okay we will take it off the table.  The attorney had served a mission in Germany and still spoke fluent German so the opening in Frankfurt seemed like a natural fit.  After the interview with Elder Wickman was concluded he said to Elder Wickman, "We are ready to go.  Where do you really want us to go? " Elder Wickman said, " Johannesburg" and at that point, they knew that was where they really needed to go and all would be fine.  It has been such a blessing to the office because of all the special real estate problems and his expertise and experience in that area.

We were first assigned to attend the Kagiso (pronounced Ka Hee So) 2nd Branch in the Soweto Stake.  It was about a 45 minute drive west of where we live.  The people were wonderful and always very kind and gracious to us.  They had us working with the young single adults ages 18-30.  We were just getting everything organized when they transferred us to attend the Etwatwa 2nd Branch in the Benoni Stake about 50 minutes east of where we live.  ( In Zulu they put an E in front of words that the Zulus did not have in their normal vocabulary.  For example, e-cellphone, or e-computer.  They explained to us that Etwatwa was where gangs used to hang out and there was often gunfire ("twa-twa") so it got the name Etwatwa. )  I don't know if that is true, but it is what the local ladies in our office told us.  We have not seen nor heard any gunfire since we have been going there!  Sherry works with the children in Primary (ages 18 months until they turn 12) and I just attend the classes with the adults and help out as needed answering questions, teaching here and there etc.  Our Branch meets in some pretty humble circumstances in a local elementary school made up of old modular units.  There is a lot of unemployment and poverty, but they are rich in those things which really count in life. They try to use their resources as best as they can.  It helps us realize just how much we take for granted in the States and how blessed we truly are.

The little rented modular school building on the left is where we all meet for Sacrament Meeting. 

There is no electricity, the doors do not fit too well, and sometimes we have a church mouse. 

Here is the classroom where the Primary children meet.

Notice the desks stacked up in the back, and the well worn floor.

But particularly notice the bright smile! Very few of the children had arrived when this picture was taken.  There are usually a minimum of 15 children and often 20+.

Some of the sisters from the Etwatwa Branch.

THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES ARE THE LORD'S PAY WE RECEIVE FOR SERVING !!