Chapter 30? Maybe 31?
I was curious about Christine’s claim about being from a tribe professing
direct descendantcy from Abraham so I looked the up the Lemba tribe on good old
Google. Sure enough! She is correct. She is one of 800,000 Lemba people from
Zimbabwe who not only can trace their oral history back to Moses and beyond but
they have DNA evidence to prove it.
It’s certainly worth a check yourself. Pretty amazing that
once again, the scriptures are proven to be more than a myth. They even have a
replica of the Ark of the Covenant. Try it on for size. Pretty interesting
stuff. And I know one! And she’s learning about the church! Yeah. Father
Abraham is probably encouraging her to do so. Another of President Butler’s
blessings coming to past. He told ES that he would teach people from the lost
tribes of Israel. Talk about prophetic. Cool. Very cool indeed.
The week is over and it’s now Monday. Sunday was a hallmark
day as we not only witnessed Calisto being confirmed a member of the church,
and another of Nbvuela’s children being baptized but we had a record attendance
at our Sacrament meeting. 76 people which included 8 investigators. Most of
them were from Lydenburg. We so want a group/cluster out there. But really, we’ll
settle for a Branch. That would be major cool.
On the Friday before we took an excursion along with the
Swans to Tzaneen. The “T” is silent so it is pronounced Za Neen. It is very far
north of us by about 3 ½ hours in a provenance called Limpopo. The drive was
nice and scenic and afforded us a stop at a place called Potholes. Super amazing.
I have snaps! But, I know it is kinda like seeing pictures of the Grand Canyon.
The purpose of our visit to Tzaneen was to attend the North
East Zone Conference. We were just looking for a change of pace. We stayed in a
delightful Guest House. They have very few hotels and instead have B&B’s or
as they call them Guest Houses. We met some of the other Sr. Couples for dinner
and honestly, I can say without exception, we had the worst dinner in the
history of the world. They actually forgot my dinner order and one other in our
table of 10. When it did come it was not what I had ordered! The other one didn’t
ever get his food and the funny thing is they put it on his bill! By the time I
was eating my really unacceptable meal, the others were eating their desserts.
We decided not to make a big deal out of anything and we were glad we did as
one of our waiters was a less-active member of the church. Had we complained
too much he would have lost his job. We just smiled and said all was well.
Then at night, I had forgotten my sleeping meds so I didn’t
sleep until nearly 5 am and then had to get up at 7. Such a treat to have 2
hours sleep and sit through 6 hours of meetings.
The meetings were very good and really it was enjoyable.
Then, lucky me, I got to drive the 3 + hours home. Yay! We made it in one
piece. I was starving when I got home so I unpacked, ate some food and took my
sleeping meds. Even then, I didn’t get to sleep until nearly 11 pm. Long two
days. Enjoyable but LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG.
Well, another week has past. It is Saturday and I haven’t
written in this since last week. We’ve had some down time as I got sick on Monday
all the way to Wed. I’m much better now—in fact, back to normal but it really
cuts into the work. I did teach institute and then on Friday taught 2 lessons
out in Lydenburg—one to Christine and the other to Margaret. Both are extremely
committed and will soon be asked if they will commit to being baptized. I’m
sure they will both be as they read and keep the commitments they are
challenged to do. Christine is Calisto’s wife and of the Lembo tribe. She asks
great, intelligent questions and seems to understand the answers and accept
them. She told us yesterday that she had prayed about the Prophet Joseph Smith
and knew he was a prophet. She also said that she knew the Book of Mormon was
the word of God. Margaret, who is a referral from the Sigauke’s as she is their
nanny so to speak, bore a similar testimony. She has been to church for over a
month now and has a strong understanding of the gospel. In fact, I thought she
was a member the way she was expressing her feelings during one lesson about
the Holy Ghost.
Today is Saturday. I taught Seminary this morning and even
had the Ncosi sisters in my class which makes 6 now. I hope they continue to
attend. Laherie and Catsewei are really ready to be baptized but Charity is a
bit flighty and focused on things 15 year olds are generally focused on.
Catsewei was looking at the baptismal font and said, “How will I do this,
Sister Scott. I am terrified of water?” I told her that her faith would
overcome her fear. She agreed that she would be able to do it.
The girls must still talk to their father and explain to him
what they would like to do. He is the one who is the polygamist. He used to
have 9 wives but now he only has 3. I don’t know what happened to the other
wives. But he has 40 children, 5 of them have passed away. We know 4 and are
teaching 3.
It is very warm today and is supposed to be 90 tomorrow. Our
A/C has died in the church building so I can hardly wait until church tomorrow.
It is supposed to be cooling down but we have only had a smattering of cool
days. We are so looking forward to winter when the temperatures drop into the
70s. Yay!
I have just finished baking 35 cupcakes for Sunday School
tomorrow. Some chocolate and some red velvet. They are for those who read their
assigned Gospel Doctrine reading. I will also grab some for my class. It is too
hot to bake so this is really a labor of love as the sweat was pouring down my
face. Yuk!
I’m hoping to get back on schedule with this blog but you
know what they say about best intentions. I can try anyway.
Still no monkeys. I didn’t even see any on the road to
Lydenburg. Maybe next time.
 |
| the entrance to the Potholes |
 |
| more entrance |
 |
| the Swans |
 |
| a couple of views of Potholes |
 |
| my favorite views |
 |
| Us... |
 |
| This view is as we were leaving. But the amazing thing is we live about an hours drive away from this beautiful unspoiled land |
 |
| baboon |
 |
| more of them |
 |
| so common in the townships you have to be careful driving |
 |
| terrible photo but beautiful garden. This is where we ate dinner. Lovely place. Too bad the food didn't equal the surroundings |
 |
| a chapel on the hotel grounds |
 |
| from ES's dinner plate |
 |
| Brother James. He is our Branch Exec Sec |
 |
| Branch kids! |
 |
| Institute in our flat |
