Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19 Bloemfontein -New Stake formed

Today is Saturday. We got an early start on our drive to Bloemfontein. We are going there to do a story for Mormon Newsroom on the new stake being formed there. It's part of our territory for public affairs. I am always amazed when we start driving, because everything is so beautiful! I took some photos on the way from the car, but it was so much more beautiful than these photos show. We passed by verdant green jungle-like areas, desert areas with huge mesas and plain old flat areas with the flat trees that I like. As long as we keep going to different places, I don't mind the drive because everything is new.

We stopped at a gas station in Bethlehem...Who knew I could get there from here...ha. Elder Kyle talked to the gas attendant (they still pump the gas for you, but expect a small tip) and the attendant asked questions about the church and where it was. Unfortunately, we didn't know if there was a church in Bethlehem, because we didn't show it on our materials, but we told him that we would check for him and report on our way back through. We then went into BJs (all gas station stops have food places attached). The waitress in the restaurant also asked about the church. She was a big gal, very tall and filled out. She asked how my mother's day was (thick accent, kind of hard to understand). She then said she didn't have much of a mother's day, because her oldest child is six, so no presents. She also wanted to know where the church was...I guess we better find out!

The entire drive was about seven hours, but mostly good roads. We got to the chapel about 3:40 and the adult session of conference started at 4 pm. We could hardly find a place to park. The lot was full, because they were having priesthood session and some sort of women's auxiliary training. It was a large turnout for the adult session.

Elder and Sister Shumway picked up Elder Van Reenen at the airport.  (Third from left in group photo). In the April General Conference he was called to the Third Quorum of Seventy and works under the Area Presidency. Sister Shumway said, "Elder Van Reenen was so delightful.  We had some visiting time from the airport and on Sunday when we took him back to the airport. (He loved the roast beef sandwich we gave him to eat in the car.)  Also in attendance was Elder Cook  (third from right) who is first counselor in the Area Presidency.  When he was called, Pres. Eyring said to him and Sister Cook, "We are calling you to the First Quorum of Seventy (which is considered a full-time General Authority) from now until you are age 70.  You will serve in the Area Presidency in Johannesburg and live in South Africa until you are released." He oversees 35 African countries.  The Restored Gospel is in 20 of those countries. The woman on the left is Nontuli, our public affairs person for Bloemfontein. In the middle is the District President Grobler and his wife.

All talks were centered on the new stake being formed and the five new wards being formed. It was historic, because until this stake was formed, there was only districts in the area and no wards. It is the first time that they jumped from districts to wards and stakes all at once. When President Grobler gave his talk, he said that the reason they were able to become a stake was because of the wives. He said that they needed a certain amount of worthy tithe payers to qualify as a stake and it just wasn't happening, so he went to the Relief Society Women and told them of the problem. Soon thereafter, they had enough tithe payers to be a stake. He credits the women for that. They also formed five new wards and called five new Bishoprics. Eighteen brethren from the 13 branches and one group in the Bloemfontein District were presented to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Sunday, there were no places to park in the parking lot, which is a large one, and taxi vans and buses were lined up along the streets. We got there 30 minutes early thinking we would find a good seat, but we couldn't even find a good place to park. The church was packed, including the cultural hall and stage...totally full with people standing and two rooms with the service being aired in the rooms. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best and the women in Africa love to dress up. Most women wear dresses all the time. I rarely see a pair of jeans on a woman here, except sometimes on a waitress.

Elder Van Reenen went over the sustaining of current officers of the church. He announced the new wards and the new stake.

Gerrit Grobler is the new stake president. As an engineer, he has built cell phone towers in Southern Africa.  God has been preparing him for a lifetime.  Pres. Ntsomotho is his first counselor. President Ntsmotho is a captain in the Bloemfontein police department over four divisions.  and President Newton Nyatshoba, former branch president in the Rocklands Branch, is the second counselor. President Nyatshaoba is an independent building contractor.  Five new Bishoprics were called for five of the Branches that are now Wards in the Bloemfontein  Stake. The five new wards are Thaba Nchu, Rocklands, Blomanda, Bloemfontein, and Kimberley. The business will be taken care of this coming Sunday. 

President Grobler thanked the missionaries that helped with the growth of the church in the area.

He thanked President Von Stetten for his great leadership in helping them become strong enough to become a stake.

He spoke of Missionary work and the need to have as many missionaries serving from the stake as they have coming into the stake. They currently have 13 serving in other countries, but over 20 serving in their stake. He said they should be the same and that the members need to work on getting more young people ready to serve.

He talked about the talk at General Conference and mentioned “Catching the Wave of missionary work in the stake, catching the wave of temple work in the stake and creating strong families. He said that strong families make strong wards and branches and strong wards and branches make a strong stake.

Elder/President Cook from the first quorum of the 70s talked about the forming of this stake having a lot in common with the account of the formation of the church on April 6th, 1830. He talked about how the Stake President receives all the keys necessary for the Stake and the Lord speaks His word through him to the members of the stake. He agreed that all members need to catch the wave of missionary work and temple work and they need to rise up and serve others. He talked about Elder Van Gaas (in attendance) who is a senior missionary now at the area office and how he served his mission in Bloemfontein 40 years ago. He talked how the church needs the strong stalwart stake to send the message abroad. He urged the young single adults to get temple recommends and do baptisms for the dead. He closed by saying that he has been in an area presidency for 12 years and has felt wonderful things, but this stake made him feel something even more special than he has ever felt before. He says he cannot wait to go back to the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve and give his report.

This area also had some very interesting history, as told me by Nontuli, our public affairs rep for this area. It has to do with her family:

Brother  Elias Vis Sr - African Pioneer   
Elias Vis and his wife Alice Vis and their children are the first Africans to join the church in Bloemfontein.  Brother Vis first knowledge about the church was in 1968 when the church was introduced to him by Sister Drieskel, but due to the apartheid he could not attend. In 1980, he was again invited and taught by the missionaries and he, his wife and all their children joined the church. They have been blessed with three children who all served missions. Nontuli (the first black woman to ever serve a mission in the church) served in Bristol Mission 1990 – 1992, Elias Jr served in Manchester  1988 - 1990 and Fezi served in Ireland 2005 -2007. Brother and Sister Vis also served a mission in 2007 – 2009 at the Johannesburg Temple. Brother and Sister Vis shared the gospel with many people and have seen the growth in the church and how the gospel has changed people’s lives. He remembers being asked by the Branch President, Enerst Osman, to start the branch in Maseru Lesotho and every Sunday he would drive 145 km with his family to Maseru and have a church service. Today that branch has grown to three branches and soon it will be a ward. Brother Vis has a strong testimony of the gospel and he was very happy to see Bloemfontein become a stake.

Great stuff is happening in Africa. How blessed we are to see it. I just had to show this picture of the choir. They wanted me to take their picture and they were so awesome. Amazing!

There were so many people that when the time came for the conference to be over, it was difficult getting out of the chapel. There were people everywhere. They all wanted their photo taken, so we had quite a time getting everyone to stand still for the photos.


Before I took the photos of the choir, Nontuli wanted me to take a photo of everyone. I just looked at her incredulously, as there were so many people that I knew there was no way to take all of them in one photo. Some were in the church, some going to the parking lot and some standing on the stairs, but Elder Kyle and Nontuli started rounding them up for photos and this is what we got! You'll notice that Nontuli is right in the middle. She is amazing.

Amazing Choir!