Part 7

Part 7...sorry some of the pix didn't post.... donno why

Apparently, I need to proof read a little better… but in case I don’t, just do an auto-correct with your brain and put in or take out the missing letters…deal?

This week has been pretty amazing. We did get to the Temple in Johannesburg which was a marvelous experience. The temple is older than I thought. It was dedicated in 1985. It’s a very small temple and yet very nicely appointed. The grounds are lush and fitted with gardens full of small bridges, pathways and water features. I really wish my back yard could look like the grounds but then I’d have to move here permanently.

Elder Scott is finally starting to feel a little better. He’s down to a horrible cough and occasional moments of dragging. I expect a full recovery by tomorrow…really, he wants to start back to the gym so he’s anxious to get back to normal.

The drive to Johannesburg is quite long…4 & ½ hours, then add another 45 minutes to the mission office. About an hour into the drive, I was stopped by the police for crossing over a double solid line…who knew? It’s so interesting as the police drive small cars marked with green and yellow. They do not pull you over with lights and sirens—they park on the side of the road and flag you down by waving a clipboard at you. The officer was very nice and after we talked and told him about the church and where we were from and where we were going—to the temple—he let us go with a warning. That’s twice now…once on the way to Zone Conference and now on the way to the temple.

Church was wonderful today. If you’ve never had the opportunity to live in a small branch you should at least find one and attend once or twice. The Primary program was scheduled for today. Wow! Did they do a great job! Lots of little smiling faces who sang their hearts out. We only have about 14 children so they had to sing with gusto and they came through. It made me cry it was so sweet.

I taught Gospel Doctrine, Elder Scott taught the youth class and the missionaries taught Gospel Essentials class which is usually what ES teaches.

I think my class went well and I know ES’s did. We had two investigators: Combi and Violet.

Combi (I promised I would let you know regarding her progress) is enjoying attending and was really welcomed today by everyone. She’s going to Swaziland on Tuesday so the Elders are going to sacrifice a bit of their P-day to teach her a lesson before she leaves. She told us today that she wants to return before Sunday so she can attend church again.

Violet is the daughter or another investigator, Ezra, who started bringing his granddaughter to Primary when he started to attend a few months ago. The granddaughter loves Primary and was in the program today. Violet wanted to see the Primary program and to attend church. She told the missionaries that she knows the Book of Mormon is true and at last week’s lesson, she bore her testimony to her father about prayer and the Book of Mormon. During Relief Society, I shared an experience I had in the temple when Christy and Will (my kids) were sealed. The RS President had asked me to share some experiences about the temple and it just came into my mind. It’s one thing to share with endowed members…or just members who know about Priesthood blessings and etc…but it’s a totally different thing to have to explain those things to investigators. I chose my words very carefully. After RS, Sister Violet told Elder Scott that what I had shared really moved her. She felt very different as I was relating what happened to me. Then she asked him, “What must I do to go to the temple?” Is this person golden, or what?

Earlier in the week we went to the pharmacy (our favorite Mopani) and while there asking a pharmacy tech a question about medicines, she asked us if we were “the Hunts replacements?” We told her we were. She then told us how wonderful they were and how happy she was to see us that day. She then explained to us that she was having a problem with trying to decide whether she should stay the course on her new decision or not. She said she’d changed her employment recently and given up a high paying job due to having to work on Sundays and be away from her husband so much. She’d decided that she needed to pay more attention to “God and doing what he wants me to do instead of pursuing wealth and fame.”

Well, we were in complete agreement but didn’t have any Pass-along cards with us…oddly as we always have stacks of them so we told her we’d be back with something just for her.

We spoke for about five minutes and then she said, “I am so glad you came in today and spoke to me. I am committed to do what I’ve resolved. I know God sent you to me to help me with this decision.”

So, this week we are going back to drop-off home baked cookies and a Pass-along card about the family.

When you wear name badges missionary work is easy.

While in Joburg, we picked up a new car…not a New car…just a new to us car. It’s really nice and I can almost guarantee that no Jr. Missionary ever drove that car. It’s a 2004 Nissan something or other. Happy campers here.

That’s about it from South Africa. It has been a great week…rather a short one and rather a quick one.

However, while at the temple yesterday and watching the Primary children sing today I found another reason to rejoice over the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Speaking for myself—one who has never been out the States before coming here—I forget sometimes how diverse the world is and how select we think we are. Truly, white people are the minority in South Africa…it’s not that there are not any because actually, there are quite a few—but in the temple yesterday when there were only four pale faced people among an entire session of chocolate colored people it puts it into proper prospective. The Gospel of Jesus Christ levels all fields. With everyone wearing white clothing and participating individually in their own salvation it is evident that no one is superior and no one is inferior. Sadly, there are still a lot of whites here who treat the blacks as their servants. But in the temple and in that wonderful Primary Presentation there is no difference in Heavenly Fathers children. It makes me weep tears of joy for the truth of the Plan of Salvation and how it can work in each and every one of us. I know that we are all from the same Eternal Father and I could not love these brothers and sisters here more than if they were my own by mortal blood. I hope you will one day get the chance to love the people of South Africa as they are very special children of Heavenly Father.

And there are still no monkey's in my kitchen.

This is Elder Swan fixing Alfredo's roof in KaNyamazone

This is a view from Alfredo's home

Another view

This is another view of their house. Alfredo and his wife built this by hand with items they found around the Township. However the roof leaked quite badly so Elder Scott, Elder Swan and President Banta went to help Alfredo fix his roof.

Part 5

The start of another week and I have a new stove! Since we have been in our flat I have not had an oven. It’s really been too hot to cook but I would have made an exception as I’m dying for some really good cookies. Walking through the store on the first week here, I spied and bought Oreos (my favorite) only to discover that they just didn’t look right or taste exactly the same. After reading the package I discovered they’d been manufactured in Saudi Arabia! The cocoa is just not the same as the real Oreos at home. To confirm that suspicion, one of our Elders received a box of Oreos from the states. Totally different color. Ours are darker and richer looking as opposed to the grayish color of the ones here.

Next I tried buying cookies from the bakery at Super Spar, a grocery store that is quite impressive. They have four tables of nothing but help-yourself cookies. I bought one of each. Sadly, all but two of the cookies, including the chocolate chip cookie, had peanuts in them. Now, I like peanut butter as well as the next person but when you bite into a meringue cookie you do not expect to find peanuts and I particularly do not want peanuts in my chocolate chip cookies. I can see why one of our Branch members asked me to make Snickerdoodles for her. I’ll be making them for me as well.

We went to a store called Macro (the one like Sam’s Club—not as big as Costco but bigger than a Wal-Mart) and bought a new stove. My old one worked it just didn’t have a bottom heating element so all I could do was broil… quite unusual or so I thought… They actually had brand new ovens with only the top broiling element. I guess very few people bake. Kinda like New York.

As I’m writing this, Elder Swan and Elder Scott are installing the oven and the top burners called a “hob.” We took the Elders to lunch at a shopping center called “Crossings” and I had chicken wings with BBQ sauce on them while some had hamburgers or pizza. It was just okay food—in fact if I didn’t know better I’d have sworn the chicken wings were really squab wings based on the size.

But while I was there I went to the bank to get 2rand coins for tipping purposes. Outside near the ATM a security guard in full military uniform complete with flack-vest and automatic rifle stood guard. He looked quite intimidating. This is not an unusual occurrence here but still unlike the States.

 

This is one of our car parkers. A great feature that I’d like to have at home. This is group we tip when they help us load our car and back us out of our spaces in the parking lots.

Last night was an incredible landmark night! Lance, Jennefer, Sophie, Avery and Riley actually Facetimed us using our iPads. Wow! ! was it ever good to see those smiling faces. We had a nice visit and Lance said he wanted to go on record as being the first to communicate with us in that manner. I’m just saying!

Today, Tuesday, we did not have our usual meeting with the Branch President so we drove to Sabie to meet the Bethals who are an older couple that live there. Of course we visited with the Weitz who also live there. Then we ate a delicious lunch at Petras Pancakes. It was more like a crepe as it was filled with ice cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup and sprinkled with nuts. We had lunch and dessert all at the same time.  (I’ll tell you about the Bethals later)

I have an amazing story to tell you.

(I’m paraphrasing some of this as the teller of this story is a native African who repeats herself many times over and where English is absolutely her second language.)

Martha joined the church in 1991. Shortly afterwards her husband left her. Apparently in Africa a couple can divorce without cause and without paperwork. Martha went to live with her sister in KaNeymazane who took care of her because all Martha wanted to do was cry. Suddenly, Martha’s sister decides to move to Johannesburg and as Martha doesn’t have the money to move she is left behind. She has nowhere to live or sleep. She has no job, no money and, now, no family. She wanders around sleeping wherever she can and begging for food. After many months, she finds an empty plot of land and a large black plastic bag. She decides to squat on this piece of land. Cutting the bag in half, she uses one piece as a bed and one piece as a covering. It is now raining all the time but she covers herself up at night on this piece of land. It is called a “stand.” She lives like this for quite a long time.

Martha begins to have dreams where she sees people who come to her and tell her to “Pray to Jesus.” At first she says “No!” She is crying all the time and feeling very sorry for herself for her loneliness and her poverty. But the dreams persist. Somehow, she said, she knew they were her grandparents who had died many years ago. Finally, in extreme desperation she does what they advise her and call out to Jesus. The next night she dreams of a white man who told her he was her Great-Grandfather and that she must stay in the stand and not leave. She is very afraid and tells the white man that he is lying. She decides to leave the stand and search for someplace else to live but that same night when she is sleeping, she dreams of this man again who tells her to “stay in the stand.” She returns to her stand and “cries and cries” some more due to fear, hunger and loneliness.

The next day Martha rents a cell phone (that’s another story altogether) and calls her aunt to ask if they have a white grandfather? Her aunt tells her that this is her grandfather’s father –a white German man.

The next time when she dreams of him again she asks him if he really is her grandfather. He tells her that he is and that he loves her very much but that she is not to leave the stand. In the dream he takes Martha by the hand and tells her things will be “okay.”

Three days past and she has had nothing to eat. All she has for warmth and shelter is that same plastic bag which is now very old and full of holes. She is so hungry that she goes to her closest neighbor and begs for a piece of bread. The neighbor gives her some bread but tells her that she cannot give her more because she is saving the rest for the “Elders” who are coming to dinner at her house.

Martha says, “Elders? What church do you go to that you have Elders?”

The neighbor says, “I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Martha shrieks and cries, “So am I! Is there a church where I can go?”

On Sunday, Martha walks barefoot several miles so she can attend church with her neighbor. She is instantly welcomed, fed and clothed and given blankets so she can stay warm. She lived like this for a few years until a senior missionary couple arrived in KaNeymazane by the name of Hunt.

Martha continued to have dreams of her family and of this German grandfather who continued to reassure her that everything would be “OK.”

During one dream she asked her grandfather, “Why must I stay in this stand? I have nothing here.”

 Her grandfather explains that this stand is the place where he died. He told her that he fought in the war (I think she meant the Boer War although she used an African name.) Evidently, he was fighting along with eight Native warriors who were all killed at this site. Four were buried on one side and the other four on the other side. He told her that as long as she would live on her stand that these warriors would protect her but when she died their job would be over.

Sister Hunt, the senior missionary sister, went to visit Martha one day and discovered the appalling condition in which she lived. She decided to do something about it. The first thing Sister Hunt did was to give Martha a job cleaning her flat. Then she got her husband, Elder Hunt, to put in a pipe with water. From that pipe grew a concrete block, concrete floored, two-room home complete with simple furnishings. There is no indoor plumbing, no electricity, or washing machine or clothes dryer.

Martha will probably never have much more than she does now but she is a very happy woman who loves to serve the Lord. She has been endowed in the Temple of the Lord. She loves to go to the temple and is saving money to go back again as she can’t wait until the Branch goes this next January. She knows the gospel and more importantly, she knows Heavenly Father loves her.

I am very honored to know Martha. She is our housekeeper and every week I slip her a little extra for her temple savings account. This woman is a very special daughter of God who is grateful for dreams and visions and family history and a Heavenly Father who loves her and who sent angels to watch over her…both angels from the other side and angels from here.

This is Martha... at the Swans (cool mirror, huh?)

Thank you Elder and Sister Hunt wherever you are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do a cat, a bird, a frog and a gecko all have in common?

Give up?

They have all been in our flat!

The very first day we opened the door to our first Nelspruit flat a cat was inside enjoying the solitude of being in an empty apartment. While we were moving in a bird flew in through our security door and panicked. The cat was more savvy then the bird…it found its way out as quickly as it had come in. I had to open the back slider to let the bird fly out. Just the other night, a frog was in our utility room and man could it jump. Elder Scott got it outside in one jump and it was down the stairs in another. Then today, (Thursday) we found a gecko lurking on our ceiling in that same utility room where we found the frog last night.

I’m not crazy about finding critters lurking about my flat… but at least it isn’t monkeys.

I had a fun time this morning trying to convert measurements from US to metric. Most all of my measuring cups and spoons have dual marks but not butter. It is sold in large blocks-500 grams. With the help of the internet site called conversion.com I nailed it and made super good Snicker Doodles and chocolate chip cookies. The only chocolate chips I could find are small—about ½ the size of our own so 2 cups of chips really fill the cookies with chocolate. The brown sugar is not what we are used to so I was worried but the cookies turned out mucho delishy moso… That’s great tasting for all you exacting readers.

Last night the Jr. Elders and Elder Scott and I went to teach a 9 year old named Thambiso. He is the son of a member and the brother of Nelly who was baptized last month. I ended up giving a great part of the lesson cause the Elders were having problems “dumm’n it down” to fit the understanding of a 9 year old. Luckily, I felt impressed to bring two Liahona magazines which had great stories for children in them. I referenced those stories and had Thambiso relate what the Elders were teaching him to the stories. His 7 year old brother was also there and they both asked good questions and wanted to keep the magazines.

Right afterwards, Elder Scott and the two Jr. missionaries went to teach a follow up lesson to a Father and daughter. I went home to cook dinner for us all. The Jrs. had been going over their Area Book when they found a man listed in there that had been to church a few times but then stopped showing any interest. They called him and he said he’d like them to come by. While they were visiting him his daughter came in and began listening. They have both been going to church on Sundays for some time. Well, Elder Scott went to visit Ezra and Violet. Almost immediately upon walking in the door, Violet told them that she had prayed about the Book of Mormon and knew it was true. She had read it before but not been too impressed but this time she decided to pray, asking if Heavenly Father would tell her if it was true or not. She knew it was. Ezra was asked to pray about it as well but he admitted that he didn’t know how. Elder Scott taught him how to pray and ask if the things he was learning about were true. He committed to do so and his daughter assured him she would help him.

Elder Scott said it was one of the best missionary lessons he’d ever been in. All the Elder’s came back beaming with joy.

On Thursday night we went to dinner at a member’s home who had 5 dogs hanging around. Well behaved dogs…3 of them were hers and 2 were being tended. Made me miss Jed.

On the way home—this was way in the country—we saw a Zebra hanging out in someone’s yard. So absolutely cool. It was one super beautiful animal and quite large for a Zebra. The ones I’ve seen have been the size of a pony… this was horse size and a large horse at that

Today, (Friday) after our District Meeting (our Zone Leaders visited and conducted) Elder Scott was invited to help the KaNemazane Senior Elder Swan and the Branch President go to repair the roof of a family in that Branch. They live on a hill that an ordinary car cannot navigate. The father built the house with things he found along the road and in ditches but the tin roof had many, many holes in it. With rain forecast for tomorrow, Elder Swan didn’t think they could wait until their scheduled repair date of Monday. So off the two of them went to fix the roof and buy some food. I spent a half-a-day by myself reading, napping and baking a cake from scratch. Found a good recipe on the internet… Did I mention I left my cook book at home? So if anyone wants to send me some of my recipes I’d greatly appreciate it…especially my banana cake and German chocolate frosting. Sounds really good about now.

I can’t believe it is Saturday already. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, divided them into dozens and put them on paper plates to deliver to members in the Branch. We found several home and popped in on them. Who can turn away old people with cookies? After we visited several around Nelspruit, we drove to Lydenburg to visit another family. Lydenburg is an hour plus drive through the mountains and it was raining. We drove right through a cloud and behind a logging truck which slowed us to about 18 ks an hour… super slow in any measurement. After about 40 minutes of driving this way, the clouds broke, we had a straight-away and I was able to pass the truck. Before we looked for the address of the people we came to visit we stopped at a Spur and had dinner. I have more photos of this Spur which is called the Laramie Spur after Laramie Wyoming, I imagine. We found the family, the Sibanyoni’s, dropped off the cookies and headed back making good time. It was a long day.

Sunday came and for possibly the first time in my life, I spent Sunday School and Relief Society time tending the kids in nursery. They were darlings but I must admit I’d rather train lions than do that again. Okay maybe not train lions but I’d really rather teach a class with older kids…like the teenagers at least.

I’ve just baked a cake and it came out beautiful. Strange instructions but I made it the way I normally do (packaged mix) and it looks, smells and feels great to touch. Hopefully it will taste great as well. I’m making my chocolate strawberry cake or as it has become to be known in Lone Peak Ward: the funeral cake.

Well, enjoy the photos.

this is the basket that I bought in order to get directions. I bought the rhino from the second hand store in Sabie

this is how drinks come. we have to ask for ice separately and there are no refills. 

this is the grocery store where we like to shop.

this is the drug store and another mall we like. Mopani is a chain and there is also one in the strip mall above. This is a very large mall with tons of stores.

Some more parker guys. They call me "momma" and asked me to buy them something to drink and eat. I did and now they are my friends for life! I try to always park in their area.

this is a cup I bought for Christy. It is Constantina fine china and I will try to get it home in one piece

this is our Branch President... Milton Manjate. He is from Mozambique originally.

This is a view from his family room window. He often has Kudu running in the back

This is Elder Scott's gym where he goes every morning

this is our Favorite Spur called Arkansas. The guy in the orange & black shirt is backing someone out

This is the entrance

see all the American Indian décor

Perusing the menu

more views
 

this is our favorite waiter name Ndombia. We talked to her the first time we went in and gave her a pass along card. She has had one lesson from the Elders in KaNemazone where she lives

this is a logging truck. see how straight the trees are planted. this is part of the largest man planted forest. These trees are smaller than some

these next pix are from another Spur called Laramie which is in Lydenburg

This is a township. Some of the pix are blurry  but it gives you the idea of what a township is

This is the view from the driver's window as we are leaving the township.

Fourth Sunday in South Africa and 30 days into our time!

Part 4

Hello again!

This is part 4 and I’m so excited I have learned to transfer photos from the iPad to the computer.

Now if I learn to take descent pictures you’ll see what I’m talking about!

One note of importance thanks to my friend Maegan Langer who spent some school time here in South Africa… the Africans who are called Afri -cons are spelled Afrikaans. Makes sense.  Thanks Maeg!

On the Saturday that we drove to see two families in the Branch (see the info above about Hazyview) who live a great distance from Nelspruit, we drove past the largest man-made forest in the world. Evidently they plant these pine-type of trees that grow 40 feet tall and harvest them for wood products. You can tell they have been planted by man as opposed to Heavenly Father because he doesn’t plant in exact rows. I tried taking photos of them but from a distance they just look like rows and rows of regular ole trees… also, Heavenly Father tries to add a bit of variety to the forests. These trees are all the same kind.

We returned again to Sabie and got to see a bit more of it. I have taken pix of the Weitze family and their place so you can see the beauty that surrounds them. We are going back often to breathe in the surroundings and also to see the falls (not to mention we are the Weitze home teachers) after it rains. It has not rained and it should have by now. It is getting hotter with today being in the upper 80s. One day last week it was 92… I’m not happy about that since we only have fans circulating the hot air.

Last Monday we were in the Mopani Pharmacy trying to get our prescriptions filled and a tall, Afrikaans man spoke to Elder Scott saying, “Elder Scott. How are you? I have just moved here from ???? and am looking for a church.”

Elder Scott thought he was a member who had just moved into our area and was looking for the Branch to attend… Well, as it turned out he was a man searching for a church to attend. Sadly, we didn’t know the address of the Branch and even sadder than that no one we contacted did either. We tried to explain how to get there but to no avail as he was new to the area. Content with giving us his phone number and email address we left him determined to find out the address of the church building.

We tried everything we could think of to find the Branch address… the church doesn’t even show a listing for the Branch and we must pay the rent on something but our Mission Office only had coordinates for the location. (Some people travel by coordinates) So, Elder Scott and the Jr. Missionaries drove to the church building, hit our GPS for the location and it told us the address of the downstairs office building which is the same as upstairs which is where we meet. No one has mail boxes so it really doesn’t matter that we are the same as the businesses downstairs.

So our address is #10 De Waal Street, Upstairs, Nelspruit, South Africa!

Yay!

The last week was highlighted by going to Zone Conference in Pretoria 3 ½ hours away from Nelspruit. We had to leave the day before and get a room in Pretoria so we didn’t have to leave at 1 a.m.

I have pictures of where we stayed. It is a guest house … a B&B as they have very few hotels and no motels. We had a King-sized bed and air conditioning! We were in heaven. We stopped at this amazingly good fish restaurant in a town without a name…at least to us and drove to our lovely get a way resort. Felt like a VIP staying in this place… about a $100.00 a night which included a full English breakfast.

We learned a few Afrikaan words. Here goes… Ja Neer = Yes, no… or whatever! It’s pronounced Ya Near…  To say thank you very much you say something that sounds like… “buy a donkey” Only its really “danke” almost like the German “danke “ for thanks… a bit softer sound.

I also gave away 3 Book of Mormons… Only in Swati, one in Zulu and one in English. The next day, the guy I gave the Swati book too asked for one in English but Elder Scott has notched his belt for that one. I was able to give the first discussion about who God is and who Jesus Christ is and about the restoration of the gospel. I think I have planted seeds only since these humble people live a long taxi ride away from the Ward building in Pretoria and mostly due to the hotel business will probably work on Sundays but seeds have been planted. Who knows… if they read the Books they may become converted and make the sacrifice to attend. We will definitely stay there again for our next Zone Conference.

Zone Conference was great and quite laid-back… Didn’t feel pressured. Our Mission President is such a great man who is filled with the Saviors love and it was evident at this Zone Conference.

Sunday was back to church again. Our 4^th Sunday here. It doesn’t really seem possible that time is passing so quickly. We have passed our 30 day mark. Before we know it we will be coming home. Wow!

I had a phone call last night from my team-teacher asking if I could teach the lesson to the youth. Of course, I said I would be delighted. She is a doctor and had to work last night. I only had 6 in class this week but what a fun, dedicated group this was. We are learning about commandments. I taught how the 10 Commandments could be grouped into the 2 great commandments… See it for yourselves. It’s really cool.

Then as I entered the Relief Society room, I was asked to teach the lesson today on the Sealing Power. Wow. I glanced at the book, said a prayer in my heart and the Holy Ghost took over. I told several stories and explained why we do family history and why we are sealed together. Not one person in the class had what we would call an “ideal family life” so I explained why we teach the “ideal” even though most people really live that way.

After we came home, I fixed a traditional Scott family (Elder Scott’s favorite meal) of hamburger steak, mashed potatoes (from real potatoes mind you) and gravy, canned corn and fresh carrots and rolls.

It was really great even if I did use all my pots and pans and half the dishes I own. It also took me 1 ½ hours to make that dinner. And the rolls were store bought- left over from Zone Conference.

Also… just by way of fun things. Last week when I went grocery shopping, I bought some already mixed and raised bread dough and made scones for the Elders who had never had them and for our housekeeper who had never even heard of them. They all want to learn how to do it.

Another thing of note. We had to switch bedrooms. It has gotten warm and due to the Eastern Sun exposure of our bedroom that room was hot from morning until night with it being unbearable to sleep in. I noticed that our second bedroom with 2 twin beds and an ironing board in it was 10 degrees cooler. So being the creative people we are, we duck taped the beds together, turned our mattress topper sideways as well as our bedspread and we now have a summer bedroom which is quite cool…temperature wise. We’ll move back into our other bedroom in the winter when we desire a bit more warmth… but that extra-large bed is sure nice…  We moved our desk into our living room entry hall… and I’m sitting here in the cool breezes enjoying the Hawaii-type temperatures sans the humidity right now anyway.

And I am happy to report that I still do not have monkey’s in my kitchen.

The following are just pix. I'll learn how to put them where I need them next time. There were just too many to try to maneuver. I've captioned them.

the stairs to our flat in Nelspruit

they pick up garbage daily. Our door is the one on the right

Our car on the right

One of our security guards

a couple of tropical plants that grace our gardens

a few neighborhood children

I think Dr. Seuss designed this tree

Our front gates

the back of our upstairs flat

we have screen on the opening to stop the pest and the birds from flying in... yes they do. Already had one come in.

Our view and behind our flat

front door with the security door

front room

kitchen and door to broom closet

stove top

patio

screen on our terrace

Living room

Summer bedroom

bath

South Africa we are up in the right hand corner

Our first flat in Johannesburg...the bedroom and back door.

the other side

the wardrobe and desk

kitchen

living room

front door with security door

ready to leave

 bathroom

very strange shower

typical wall switch that operates the plugs

notice the three kinds of plugs... 3 different ones and you use all three for various products

another angle of the living room No its not a fireplace

outside the front door

Our handyman, Dennis, the housekeeper (not ours) and her grandson

the alley to get to our flat in the back

 the front of the house...not ours the owners

their swimming pool

Now we are in Nelspruit with Elder Ah Wong... How's this for unusual... He's from New Zealand. He is part Chinese and part Samoan. He said it is very common. Thus the Ah part is Samoan and the Wong is the Chinese part. Really.

Those two are our Elders and the blond is our mission Mom, Sister Dunn. This was taken our first Sunday in Nelspruit Branch.

This is the baptismal font a the end of our building. We also had a birthday party for the baptized boy. He is also our neighbor living behind our flat in the same complex.

This is Sean who turned 8 and was baptized

 Par tay time

 Another friend of Seans

 A member of our branch named Nelly

 Our Branch. I'm in there somewhere

 Another party to say Good-bye to our former Branch President

 Elder Ah Wong and Sister Jennifer, the RS President

 from the car window

 A view on the road

 the local 7-11 type of store

 a township house with a water Jo Jo (the green thing)

a few township houses under constuction

another car view or two or three

a school

 a view

towships

Sister Jennifer and her granddaughter. A grandmother is called a go-go... yep as in boots and dancers...

 She charges the local kids money to use the tramp...

her view of the fruit orchards and her neighborhood in Hazyview

the next door people are building a house

Cinni inside the only wooden house we have seen in SA

Banana trees

the blue bags hanging from them catch the ripe bananas and protect them from the birds and monkeys

the forest... with its man planted trees which cannot be seen but it stretches as far as the eye can see

car view

No idea what this is????

Where I bought the basket

views

Sister Weitze

Sarah Weitze

their house and view

the Swan's flat kitchen

Elder Swan (the ones from Canada)

Elder Scott lounging

Swan's corner of paradise...their patio with a built in Braai (BBQ) We also have one but probably will not use it...

the fish restaurant we stopped at. They ordered a bottle of water and it comes in a 1.5 ltr. fancy bottle. You have to order ice separately as they do not usually serve it with your drink 

Elder Scott being hungry

Our room in the Guest house in Pretoria

fancy huh?

Outside view of gardens and the like

our patio by our room

right outside our door

the lobby

dining room

the man, Elias, who I gave the first discussion and the relaxation room

Yay! Our building and our Elder McClellan who is from Washington State... Only member of his family. He joined 3 1/2 years ago and his grandmother kicked him out of her house... she was raising him as his parents abandoned him at 12 years old. Great guy! Strong testimony.

Here's Elder Ah Wong again

both of them and our sign

Our members

Primary room

the building from the top of the stairs. Yay! #10 De Waal, Upstairs, Nelspruit (pronounce the W as a V)

That's all folks!