It’s been a busy couple of weeks since our last post so we
will catch up on all the things that we have been doing since then. The lunch for the Zone Training went very
well. The main course was pizza from a
place called “Dagwoods.” They are the
closest thing to the type of pizza that we are used to eating back home. Their pizza is baked in brick ovens and their
sauce is more Italian than the other pizza places around here. We ended up getting 6 large pizzas to feed
everyone. Sister Farnsworth made “Homemade”
breadsticks; then we served a veggie tray, bottled water and Red Velvet Cake
for dessert. Everyone went away happy
and filled.
Lately we have been very busy, involved with the everyday
activities of our mission. Sister
Farnsworth, teaching keyboard and me teaching English, and the two of us
working with the missionaries when we are available. The keyboard students are progressing very
well, and we have had a few more start learning from us. The English class is a work in progress. Between some sickness and a lot of funerals, I
have ended up with only 1 student attending.
I do remember that the Lord has counseled us that with patience and long
suffering we will be blessed in the end.
I am hoping that that applies to me trying to teach this weekly class.
On July 2nd and 3rd, we drove down to Grahamstown
and Port Alfred for a “Senior Retreat.” On
Thursday, July 2nd, we attended an Arts Festival held annually in
Grahamstown. We walked around the
vendors booths and had lunch. I was able
to pick up a nice walking stick that I can use when we do our daily walks. Its basic use is to keep the stray dogs and
any other creatures away from us when we are walking. Some of the farmers around here use sticks
like this to herd their cows, goats and sheep.
Mine is only for our walks. We
also toured the “St Michael and St George Church” in Grahamstown. The construction of this church started in
1814, and picked up momentum in 1828, but because of money and other problems,
it wasn’t finished until 1954 (yes, in the 20th Century). The reason that they have two names attached to
the church is because they couldn’t agree on which name to call it so they
ended compromising and called it The St Michael and St George Church.
After the fair, we drove down to Port Alfred to the boarding
of the Wheelers to finish out the day.
We had dinner and then Joined with President Merrill, our Mission
President, for some discussion about the Mission. The next morning, we had a pot-luck
breakfast. After breakfast we got
together for pictures on the balcony of the Wheeler’s apartment and then had
more discussion about the Mission and what was coming up in the future. Afterwards we had a 3-hour drive back to
Queenstown and crashed for the night. A side
note to this trip: on the way home, we saw a family of baboons running across
the highway. We couldn’t stop to take
pictures but at least we got to see them.
One more item off of the bucket list.
On Father’s Day, I ended up having to give an impromptu talk
in the Sada Ward. The reason was because
the main speaker for that meeting didn’t come to church that day. I found out about my assignment just as the Sacrament
meeting was beginning. Talk about having
to rely on the Spirit. I survived, gave
a 20-minute talk, and received many positive comments after the meeting. This was a very humbling experience, but it helped
me to grow a couple of inches taller that day.
We are working with two Less-Active Members in the Illinge
Ward: Sister Ganelo and Brother Mase’.
We had a good initial visit with both of them at their homes and invited
them to come out to church the following Sunday. They both said that they would each attend
but Brother Mase’ had one stipulation.
He said he would only come if Sister Farnsworth and I would be there because
he wanted to attend church with the Prophet and his wife. Our fellowshipper/interpreter, a young man
named Junior, told us later that Brother Mase’ thought that I was the Prophet
and Sister Farnsworth was the wife of the Prophet. This was probably because the only
missionaries that he had associated with were the Elders of the mission and was
not aware that there were senior missionaries like us working alongside the
Elders. We rearranged our schedule to
attend the Illinge Ward that Sunday, but Brother Mase’ ended up not coming. On the other hand, Sister Ganelo did come to
church that Sunday and bore her testimony as it was Fast Sunday, so there was a
reward in our efforts after all. The Bishop
was very surprised to see her in attendance and asked us what we did to get her
to come out. We told him that we had
just invited her to attend and that she said she would be there. He thanked us and is happy that we are
working with his ward.
We had to take another trip to East London last Monday to
see the eye doctor for Sister Farnsworth.
Her right eye has been bothering her again and her vision in that eye
has started to distort. The doctor told
us that she has a “macular pucker” and the only way to correct it and save her
vision is to perform surgery. This
surgery will take place on Tuesday, July 28, in East London. This is done as “Same Day Surgery.” We will have a follow-up the next morning
with the doctor in his office. If all
goes well, we will be headed back to Queenstown on Wednesday afternoon.
This coming Wednesday, July 22, is transfer day here in our
mission. In our Zone, we will be losing 4
elders and receiving only 2 in return. One
of our Zone Leaders will be returning home from his mission after serving 2
great years serving the Lord. Another Elder,
Elder Kjeldsen, is being transferred.
The two Queenstown Elders, Elder Mohale and Elder Ntuli, are being
transferred and not being replaced. The
elders coming into the mission have slowed down right now, so President Merrill
has had to trim down on 3 of the Zones to fill in where it is needed. It is with sadness in our hearts that we say
goodbye to these Elders, and it is with joy in our hearts that we welcome the
two new Elders who are coming into our Zone.
This means that, in addition to our current responsibilities, we will
probably be helping assist with the elders as we may be needed for the time
being. Exciting times in the Mission.
In previous posts, we have stated how cold it is in the
Queenstown area right now, but to add a little more spice to the mixture, we
had a few days of nice balmy weather followed by a major cold front which is
over us right now. Two nights ago we had
a monsoon rain that lasted pretty much all night. Yesterday coming back from Illinge, we
noticed that in the top of the mountains surrounding outside of Queenstown,
they were capped with a blanket of snow.
That’s right, real white snow. I
guess that causes havoc for the baboons…lol.
Now we are faced with south winds coming out of those same mountains
which are very cold. Can’t wait for
October and December, let’s get our spring and summer coming. Also, because of the cold, we haven’t been
able to do our morning walks and our golf game is suffering as well. Oh well, we will have to find something else
to do for our “P-Days” until it gets warmer.
Until our next post, May the Lord Bless You and Keep you,
and May Your Path Be On The Straight and Narrow Way.
