Saturday - May 4th, Stake Conference Saturday Session

Well, it's Saturday evening and we are getting ready for bed. We've had a good day. It is stake conference weekend here, so Elder Kyle went to a priesthood meeting at 3 pm and I joined him at 5 pm for the adult session. One of the speakers was a no show, so they asked two men to bear their testimonies. We rode with the Starks, another senior couple. We keep bribing people to drive us...ha.

Elder Kyle enjoyed the priesthood session. He learned about improving the quality of teaching in the units and who holds the keys of each of the priesthoods. He said he learned something he never knew. The mission president spoke about their special rescue effort with the elders visiting all the in-actives they could find and the results were a 25-40 percent return to church rate. The Elders loved doing it and turned it over to the members for fellowship. The stake center chapel was full.

The adult session was different from what we are used to, but still very nice. The first speaker was a young man that had served a mission in Johannesburg. He seemed to be having trouble with his English, so perhaps his first language is Zulu, a prominent language in this area. He gave a sweet, humble testimony.  The second young man, who also served in Johannesburg (and also spoke Zulu), was very tall and quoted a scripture from Nephi that he said he related to, 1 Nephi 16 "I Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God..." Everyone laughed. He was a better speaker and read from his mission journal about his experiences and how he gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Jesus Christ. It's still amazing to me that these men who are relatively new in the Gospel are going on missions and speaking in Stake Conference. They are definitely on an accelerated plan here. The Stake President spoke about forgiveness and told the story about the Catholic Bishop in Les Miserables that  forgave Jean for stealing his silver and even offered him more). The Counselor spoke about being sincere in all you do and dedicated in your callings. The mission president's wife spoke (Their mission ends this month, so it was kind of farewell talk). She pretty much laid aside her talk and spoke from her heart about how much she has grown to love all the missionaries and the stake presidencies and senior couples and how much she will miss everyone. She told some funny stories too. The mission president talked about being happy with what you have. He compared it to Fiddler on the Roof and sang a line of the song, "If I were a Rich Man"...Ha.  He told the story of the Jewish man who only wanted riches and was never satisfied with what he had. It was good. The choir was from the Umlazi BB ward and there was one woman that sang louder than the rest and not on key. It was cute.

During the meeting, there was a couple sitting in front of us with a little girl and a baby boy. They were both so cute. Afterwards, as we were getting ready to leave the mother walked up to me and said she saw my missionary badge and when she realized it said "Kyle", she wanted to let me know that her son's name is "Kyle." That is not a normal first name for Africans, but I told her that was a good choice and if she would let me adopt him, his name could be 'Kyle Kyle'. She laughed. I found out she is the primary president and she speaks English really well with not much of an accent. Some accents are so pronounced that we cannot understand what they are saying. That baby boy with his fluffy bright blue jumper and his black skin was just the cutest baby ever. I really would have taken him home...well...maybe. Ha.

It was cooler here today...58 degrees when we went to church and raining, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and it will be 79 by Thursday. The wind and rain made it seem cooler than it really was, and Elder Kyle laughed at me for being such a sissy. Ha. It was a good day, even without the sun.