Friday, June 28th - Chatsworth YC, WC giveaway lotus

It's Friday and we found out when we woke up and got on the computer that one of our key speakers is not coming...has to go to a funeral in Johannesburg. We already had his gift with his name engraved on it and Anne Maree who is in charge of the whole thing, was pretty stressed. Just another day in Africa...ha. We put together a meeting with Lisa Chetty from Lotus FM at 2 pm and a meeting with the director of the youth centre after that. We picked up the group from the area office at 12:00 and got their luggage, packed up the car and squeezed five people in the car and headed for the mission office to pick up some items.

A lady that sells bags she makes was there and everyone was glad to visit with the Murdocks, so it was hard getting them all in the car again to head to Lotus FM and our meeting with Lisa. We actually got there on time and talked to her about our final wheelchair giveaway on August 10th, right before the David Glen Hatch Concert and expressed our thanks for how well the recent wheelchair giveaway event went. Lisa and Roberta are very nice people and we are lucky to have friends at Lotus FM. We spoke to them about advertising the concert on air and they promised to talk to the appropriate people at the station. We gave her some DGH Cds and flyers for the events.

We then headed for the Chatsworth Youth Center to meet with the director and show Sean Donnelly what we are dealing with. He thought the place was quite nice, but wanted to keep our costs down. The draping thing really had him worried, as the sound guy said to keep from having an echo in the cavernous hall, we would need something to absorb the sound, like draping and carpet runners.

Chatsworth Youth Centre – a centre built by the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The Centre was built for the youth, after the Throb Nightclub Tragedy claimed the lives of 13 teenagers – one as young as nine-years-old – on March 24th, 2000. The 13 youngsters were tragically killed in a stampede after a teargas canister was thrown on the dance-floor of the packed night-club by a rival club owner at an end-of-term matinee. Following this tragedy, it became apparent that there was a lack of a recreational venue for the youth to become gainfully involved, develop social skills and stay away from the social ills that plague that community. In 2003 the Chatsworth Youth Centre was opened by former President Nelson Mandela as a haven for the youth of Chatsworth who would otherwise have to resort to roaming the streets or going to nightclubs. We found a place just outside the hall where Manela's photo is painted and a mosaic honoring the 13 teens that were killed. It needs some work, but we are ready to do a helping hand project.

Entrance to Mandela's Youth Center

When we spoke to the director, he said that there was a business that was going to get the place professionally painted, but he would not say when. He hinted that because Mandela was at death's door, they want to clean it up and use it as a place to bring flowers, etc. when Mandela passes. We just hope he means it and that it will be done before our concert on August 10th. He seems to want us to hold off, so this other party can take care of it, but we are nervous that it will not get done in time. As you can see, it is in desperate need for paint and spray wash.


We got home and fixed some leftover Mexican food which was well received by all. Sipho was still scrambling to find a replacement speaker. Elder Kyle told him to relax...that all would work out. I collected cookies from the seniors and we had a nice visit with the gang.

Tuesday - Thursday, June 25-27- visit from Sean and Murdocks

Tuesday we went downtown again to pick up the books we had engraved.  Then we came back and began collecting bids on the Chatsworth Youth Centre to see if we could get the budget figures for the sound and lighting guy for the concert, as well as draping the place and carpet runners, chairs and chair covers. I sent out at least 15 emails to those type of places. I got a bid back from Storm productions that I thought was pretty reasonable. The others responded that they would get back to us. Our biggest expense is still the two pianos. Draping is also expensive, though we one place that was a lot cheaper than the first bid.

Wednesday was a continuation of Tuesday, but we also got a call from the area office that Murdocks and their boss, Sean Donnelly were coming to Durban for the Family History Fair and a meeting with us about David Glen Hatch, Helping Hands and Elder Bednar's visit.The plan was to pick them up from the airport on Friday. Murdocks wanted to stay with us in the spare room and Sean offered to sleep on the downstairs sofa. We have two large sofas, so it was okay, just unexpected.

That meant that we spent Thursday shopping for extra towels, pillows, blankets and groceries. Luckily we found an inexpensive store (like Walmart) to get the home goods. We brought everything home and then started cleaning, making beds and putting groceries away. It's nice having all this space, but having to clean three bathrooms and mop tile floors is a lot of work! Then when we finished cleaning, we were back at the computers gathering more bids and trying to put together a budget for the concert at the Youth Centre and set up a public affairs dinner after the family history fair, which means find a place, make a reservation and then contact all the people on the council and see if we can get them all to come. I also volunteered for us senior couples to bring cookies (They call them biscuits here) and had to coordinate gathering them all up to take to the history fair on Saturday. Lots to do and tomorrow will be even busier!

Monday, June 24th - fiesta at our flat for Von Stettens

We worked on the Family History Fair today, but taking some triple combinations in to a place downtown to get the names engraved of the non member speakers at the history fair on the 29th. We also went to the store and got some more stuff for the fiesta at our house. We also bought a scarf for Sister Von Stetten. Mission President Von Stetten and his wife Reenie are coming to our house for dinner, so the senior couples can say 'Goodbye' as they are going home next Sunday. We also had a tie for the President and as senior couples we signed the scarf and tie. The tie came out great...the scarf, not so much, as it was hard to write on. We then came home and I put all the food together for the senior couple family home evening at our house. I fried up some Indian Roti (like tortillas) for homemade chips and they were wonderful...a big hit. We had shredded beef, spiced ground beef,  flour tortillas, premade taco shells, I fried up some tostada shells and made homeade refried beans and hot sauce, so it was a big deal.

Everyone loved the food and they all said they missed Mexican food and I told them where to get the Roti to fry up chips for themselves. We let everyone make their own tostados, tacos or burritos. It was interesting to see what they all made. The chips were the biggest hit and they were eating those pretty fast.

We then sat around and sang hymns chose by Sister Holt and she said something before each hymn that associated president Von Stetten with the hymn (She and Sister Stark work with their husbands in the mission office, so they see him daily). She did a great job and we sang those songs pretty well.

We then gave them their gifts and talked about what their favorite memories of the mission were. The president talked about seeing the progress of the Elders and how they turned from boys to men...how some of them didn't think they could make it and yet turned out to be some of the best missionaries in the mission. Sister Von Stetten talked about miracles that happened all the time while on their mission. they both seemed sad to be going home. The President is going back to his previous employer (In charge of sales for Steinway piano in Pennsylvania). We'll miss them.

Sunday, June 23rd-Berea Ward

We went to Berea Ward today for all three hours. I love when we do that, as it hasn't happened all that much since we've been here. This ward seemed to be about 50% black and 50% white...everyone very friendly and fun to talk to. Sacrament was really good. They had four young single adults speak about Christ. The first one was the institute teacher and she spoke of the miracle of Christ's birth. The second two talked about Christ's life and the fourth about the resurrection. Their sweet testimonies and special spirit made the talks very enjoyable. A group of them also sang a song of Christ. It was a very sweet program. I never get bored in sacrament meeting. They always seem so short, which means they are always really good. Also the prayers given by the African people are so different than ours. They seem more personal, more spiritual, more pure.

In Sunday School, we had a great teacher as well. His lesson was well planned, with people assigned ahead of time to read scriptures. He was not an accomplished teacher, but I thoroughly enjoyed his lesson. It is proof that it is the spirit that helps students learn, not the teacher. If they plan the lesson and pray for the Spirit, it is felt and an amazing experience replaces the lesson and you learn the  celestial way, rather than the academic way. They have had a hard time in African getting people to teach, because they feel inadequate; and yet, when they do teach they have the best lessons I have ever heard.

Relief Society was also good. I never had to leave the chapel! All three of my classes were there.
They made me feel very welcome and one young single woman invited me to come to their events and cook a brie (bbq), because I am from Texas! Ha. I had to resist the urge to say, 'Y'all'. ///////////////////////The lesson was on tithing, which I had heard the week before in Chatsworth Ward, so someone is off...Ha. They have so many young single adult women that they went to their own class after opening exercises. I've never seen that done before.

We came home and relaxed, listened to church music and caught up on our reading.  Another beautiful day in paradise!

Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22-WC giveaway emails

Friday, some emails started coming in regarding the wheelchair giveaway. This one is from Sipho Duma, our Durban PA Person who couldn't be there (He is a policeman and was on special assignment):

"I am humbled and speechless!!!!! . . .

Brothers and Sisters I followed the give-away ceremony on Lotus FM and I was very impressed on how the radio station covered it live, and I was also impressed by the interview with President Wilford, wow! it was indeed wonderful to hear my Leader. Thank you for being there and I hope we are preparing for the next phase because August 10 is close by and we need to be on our game for the show case? ..."
Regards,
Sipho

This email is from our interfaith PA person Clive, who attended the wheelchair giveaway:

"Thank you for the compliments Elder & Sister Kyle, I recorded the feelings of memories of this great event last night in my Journal. Thank you for the Photo’s too, I can now add these to wonderful and cherished memories in my journal. It was my first wheelchair handover and we really need to compliment Lotus FM especially Lisa and Roberta, who did so much behind the scenes effort to make their radio station look good. I could see lots of strain on Lisa’s face.

We need to get both Lisa and Roberta some type of commemoration, perhaps Mormon Tabernacle Choir DVD who something else special to them after the whole project. Also CE Mobility has played a crucial role yesterday, that gentleman, I did not get his name or number did very well.

Of course Elder & Sis Kyle, being thrown in the deep end and serving and Bro Sipho for his Leadership of PA in the Stake, our wonderful Hillcrest PA Committee, I am a resource to you guys and will always do my best to make any event professional and to maintain the image of The Church and our Leaders.

I was impressed with the Eggetts talks and President Mkakga did very well, I enjoyed his talk very much, he was very interactive with the people and finally our Stake President Wilford, showed us the way with his leadership and live interviews on AIR. Let us not forget the Station Manager Alvin Pillay (speech about our great church), DJ Neville Pillay (applauding the missionaries on Live Air and The Church and our Leaders too), Producer Avashnee Vandiar live interviewing of the people on Air. It will always be best to host these things at their SABC premises for maximum exposure.

Afterwards as I dropped off one of the gentleman who came to fetch a wheelchair on behalf of his bed-ridden sisters and as I looked at their home and listened to his comments about what this would mean to him and his family, I was really touched and humbled to have been a part of it and feel in a small measure the joy that’s comes from service to mankind. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this event as well. I now will continue to email The Invitation to my key contacts, friends and others for the Family History Fair next week. 

Kind regards,

Bro Clive

Lisa Chetty from Lotus FM, sent us this email as a copy that was sent to all the Lotus news programs at the radio station:
_______________________________________________________________________________

Lotus fm provides the gift of Mobility

Today, 20^th June 2013 marks a milestone for Lotus fm as the station distributed 30 wheelchairs to 30 loyal listeners.

Education around disability is long overdue in South Africa. It is with this in mind that Lotus fm teamed up with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to improve mobility of those physically challenged. “We wanted to restore their human dignity, give these wonderful individuals a better opportunity in life”, comments Lotus fm Marketing Manager Donne Henry.

Station Manager Alvin Pillay, in his welcome stated, “The response from the community to which we broadcast was overwhelming from the start of this campaign. The distribution was heart wrenching as many of the recipients managed to live without a wheel chair despite their dire circumstances. Many had not even been out of their homes since their disability.”
The event ended on a profound note, as President Magaga reminded everyone that we were placed on earth to do good and not evil. He said that it’s this mandate that drives them to do humanitarian work throughout Africa. Lotus fm mandate is to create social cohesion and will continue seeking opportunities to do so."   By: Donne Henry – Marketing Manager Lotus fm.
_____________________________________________________________________________
As you can see, everyone was inspired by this event. It was a wonderful!
 
Now we need to concentrate on the Family History Fair next Saturday, the 29th. We ordered some triple combinations from the area office, so we can give them as gifts to the speakers and I wrote a press release:
________________________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE                                                   2013-06-18

TITLE:                    COMMUNITY INVITED TO LEARN ABOUT ANCESTORS

DATE:                    2013-06-29, Saturday 1:00 pm to 4:00 PM

LOCATION:         The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
                                Hillcrest Chapel – 18 Old Main Road, Hillcrest
                                (Corner of Old Main Rd and Builder’s Way)

CONTACTS:         Dominic Tshabalala: 083-523-8839
                                Basil Smith: 082-494-9339

Community members interested in learning to trace their ‘roots’ are invited to a Family History Fair to be held Saturday, June 29^th, from 1:00pm to 4:00 pm at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at their Hillcrest Chapel – 18 Old Main Road in Hillcrest (at the corner of Old Main Road and Builder’s Way).

Speakers will include:  Professor Mathole Serofo Motshekga (African History), Mr. Ravi Govender (Indian Indentured Laborers in KZN) and Dominic Vusumuzi Tshabalala (Tshabalala Family History)

Following the speakers, there will be workshops that show attendees how to go about finding their ancestors. “Many people are interested in discovering who their ancestors are,” said Anne-Maree Smith, the Hillcrest Stake Family History Specialist. “Genealogy research is one of the most popular pastimes in the world. Nearly everyone has something unusual in his or her past just waiting to be discovered. Perhaps royalty might be hiding in your family tree.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the largest genealogical library in the world. Millions of people use Family Search records, resources, and services each year to learn more about their family history. Family Search is a non-profit family history organization dedicated to connecting families across generations. Family Search believes that families bring joy and meaning to life. Their vision is that learning about our ancestors helps us better understand who we are—creating a family bond, linking the present to the past, and building a bridge to the future.

 “We strive to create and link the best and most valuable research resources to help people discover who they are by exploring where they come from. For over 100 years, Family Search and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide.”

The local branch genealogical library services are open to all, regardless of whether they are members of the church or not.

By: Public Affairs Department LDS Church
___________________________________________________________________

Saturday, we spent the day cleaning the flat and buying groceries, plus I cooked up some food for our upcoming family home evening. I started a pot of beans for our upcoming Mexican Fiesta for the groups of senior missionaries and we invited the mission president and his wife, as they are going home in a week and we wanted to honor them and say 'good bye'. Elder Kyle had the idea of us all signing a tie for him and it turned out pretty good, so we shopped for a scarf for his wife and each signed that as well.

Since we were shopping, Elder Kyle bought a book at the bookstore. Books are very expensive here, so he can't do that very often. We got a roast to make shredded beef tacos and some 'mince' to make a ground beef option, plus stuff to make salsa. We haven't cooked Mexican food since we've been here so we are going all out for our Monday night dinner. It was a good day - the flat is clean, the food is mostly cooked and we are tired for a day well spent.  

Thursday, June 20th-day of WC giveaway Lotus

Today is the wheelchair giveaway at Lotus FM. We have been working on this for so long that we are glad it is finally here. We spoke to the Eggetts to let them know how to get there. They are the humanitarian couple from Johannesburg who authorized the wheelchairs. I am excited to get these needy people their chairs finally and put faces to all the stories I've read. We got a couple of calls from the missionaries that we invited to the event (Elder Kyle invited 8 of the Elders to come and help). They wanted directions to get there as well. It's hard to believe that only after a couple of months in Durban, we are the ones giving directions...ha. I don't know how the Elders get around without a GPS or mapquest. They just spread the maps on the floor and try to find things. In South Africa, that is next to impossible, but somehow they do it. I think some help from above may be the only reason they can do it.

When we got there, Lisa was running around very stressed, but was excited to show us how they had decorated the room at the studio for the event. She told us that they would be doing live interviews during the ceremony and be taking our church leaders inside the studio for interviews after the event. We had Hillcrest Stake President Wilford, Durban Stake 1st Counselor, Magaqa and Elder and Sister Eggett who were all supposed to speak at the event. We didn't know about Eggetts wanting to speak until we had already asked the other speakers, so it seemed a bit much, but we had told everyone to keep it short, so we had high hopes they would do that. I took some photos and then passed out programs to people as they arrived, while Elder Kyle tried to instruct the missionaries. The missionaries were supposed to help the recipients from the parking lot into the room where the event was being held. A woman from the Rising Sun Newspaper was there (An Indian community publication) and the radio station was broadcasting the event live. They picked one of the DJs to be the emcee and he was perfect...humorous and caring...great combination.

Then, the recipients started to arrive. It was satisfying and heartbreaking at the same time. One young man had to be carried in and placed in a chair by two missionaries. Another lady took 20 minutes to walk across the room with her walker. Several of them had a leg or two missing. Some were in borrowed wheelchairs or chairs that were falling apart that they had for many years. The important thing was that it was very obvious that these people needed chairs. We knew that a few could not come, because they were in the hospital. Some sent relatives to pick up their chairs, but there were quite a few who came, even thought it was very difficult to do so.

The DJ started the program by welcoming the recipients and thanking the church for the wheelchairs and then he turned it over to the Eggetts who did a good job of explaining what the church humanitarian services is all about, what type of services they are providing in Africa and how they get the funds to do it. They talked about not only providing hundreds of wheelchairs, but providing clean water to communities who have to walk for an hour to get dirty water from a the closest water source, providing training to midwives about dealing with difficult deliveries, providing neo natal machines and training to hospitals to help save newborns, providing vision care to poor areas, and providing cataract surgery for free and providing many other programs and services to areas in need.

Then President Magaqa spoke to the recipients and thanked Jesus Christ for providing a way for us to help these people. I don't know how the Hindus felt about that, but he did a nice job talking about how the church is all about love and service. The talks were short. Then their station manager talked. He thanked the church as well by saying the full name, but then shortened it to The church of Latter Day Saints when he mentioned it several times after that. I heard the Eggetts commenting on it and wondering why he kept doing that, until someone leaned over and said, because the other name is too long. Stake president Wilford was then supposed to speak, but Lisa came over and said they bumped him from the program. My first thought was, "You bumped the Stake President from the program, when he got off work to come here!" She then said, we are going to use him for a live interview.

So then they proceeded to go right into the wheelchair distribution. I had to give the camera over to Elder Kyle to take the photos, because someone needed to write down the name of the recipient and serial number of the chair on a receipt for them to sign that they received the chair. It wasn't a bad job, as I got to visit with each participant, or their relatives or caregivers. I recognized names and remembered some of the stories I read, so it was fun to be able to do that.




The missionaries were AWESOME. They brought out the wheelchairs, helped the person into the chair and then wheeled them up front. They helped the guy for CE Mobility adjust the chairs and talked to the people in a loving, gently way. We couldn't help but be proud to associate with such wonderful young men.







President Wilford was also hands-on. He helped the missionaries and even lifted one man into his chair. I don't know him very well, but I was very impressed with his actions. Clive, our PA guy, was also in there helping. After they all got their chairs, photos were taken and some interviews by the radio station. Then all were invited to lunch, which was at the back of the room. It was funny to see a little box of Kentucky fried chicken for each person. When I told the missionaries they could have some, they smiled and practically ran to the back to get some. I heard that there were also other Indian finger foods, but I was too busy to get back there and get some before it was all gone. The event went so well that it reminded me of the primary programs at church. They always seem to have problems in rehearsals and you think it is going to be terrible and then the day of the program comes and everything falls into place and is wonderful. That's what happened here. It was a great event.

We went from there with the Eggetts and Clusters to Victorias Market, because Elder Eggett wanted to get the ties with the big5 game on them. He turned out to be quite the shopper. His wife could have cared less and we practically had to drag him out of each store...Ha. We (the ladies) took Sister Eggett into our favorite shop upstairs owned by Lalita, an Indian lady who we all know. The first thing she said when we walked in was, "I just heard you on the radio at the wheelchair giveaway and now here you are."  Sister Eggett ended up buying a skirt and blouse. The guys were in the shop next door, which is an upscale African shop. Elder Eggett bought ten ties, but was disappointed because they were out of red.

Umlazi sisters learning to sew.

We finally left there and then we took the Eggetts out to Umlazi to meet with Zanele who has requested some sewing machines for her group of ladies that meet three times a week to learn how to sew. There were about twenty ladies there and Zanele did a good job explaining her non profit and how desperately she wants to help the community.

The Eggetts with Zanele of Umlazi

The Eggetts were impressed with her and though they told her that they do not have the final say on the sewing machines, they were impressed enough to give a good report to humanitarian services. An interesting point they made to her was that they do not want it to be church-based. They want non members from the community to participate and no proselyting. In other words, they don't want anyone to think there are strings attached to the humanitarian aid they are given.

By now, it is 4:00 and I have not eaten all day. I am feeling a little weak.


We headed back to the Clusters place to meet back up with them and go to dinner. Luckily, Sister Cluster offered a glass on Mango juice and it helped perk me back up again. We killed about an hour talking and then headed to the restaurant. After a few wrong turns, we finally found the restaurant downtown overlooking the harbor. Elder Kyle and I had been there before with the Murdocks. It is one of 31 restaurants in the world that revolves 360 degrees. We had a great time and then the waiter took us up to the roof to look at the city...It was dark, but still beautiful. Elder Kyle was feeling a little afraid of the height...I never realized he was afraid of heights, but he said it made him very nervous.

It was a long day, but a really good one. TIA.

Monday - Wednesday, June 17 - 19 looking for venue DGH concert

Monday we went out to look at another venue for the concert. We saw it online and it looked really nice and it was located in Phoenix (South Africa), which is an Indian community that seems to be a bit poorer than Chatsworth. We still hadn't heard back from the the director of the youth centre and so we were getting worried that it was not going to happen and we would be stuck without a venue again, so we made an appointment to look at the place, which is owned by a Bible Church of some sort. The man that met us there was very nice and the hall itself was clean, freshly painted with a stage and plenty of places for electrical hookup. The bathrooms were clean, the grounds were clean and it seats 500 people. The building itself was perfect; however, it was a bit hard to find, because it was tucked into a narrow street at the end next to an Indian temple, with a daycare center across the street. When you drive up, all you see is the temple, but when you drive through the gate, there is parking down below and it would work. It only cost R2,000 to rent it all day, which is about $200. We were excited to have another option, in case the Youth Centre did not work. The building is a lot better than the youth center as far as the shape it is in, but the Youth Centre is definitely in a better location.

When we returned from our journey to Phoenix, we had a little dinner and then went over to the Starks for our senior couple family home evening. The Starks decided that we would do a little game where she would read a well-known quote from General Conference and we would guess the person who said it...sticking strictly to the 12 apostles and first presidency, but it could be from any conference...so it was hard! She paired the women against the men, which was fun. What she didn't tell us was that Elder Stark could answer all the questions. He has an amazing memory, so a major disadvantage for the girls, but we did pretty well and ended up in a tie. These little get-togethers seem to be a time for talking about the things we have experienced on our missions. This time we got into a discussion with Elder Stark about Mandela and the Afrikaners. Elder Stark is of German ancestry and grew up in South Africa. At age 14, they moved to the US. He has been back to visit several times before during and after Apartheid. He can see the view of both sides, so we kind of got into a gentle argument. Ha. I had just finished reading Mandela's book and Mandela's story was a bit different than the one Elder Stark was telling. It was an interesting discussion.

Tuesday we found out that we got the Youth Centre location, although the director just wrote it in his diary. We haven't signed anything, nor have we met with him. Hopefully it will all work out. We spent the day looking for sound people and lighting people and people who rent chairs, etc. There is a lot of work to do to get that venue ready for the concert. I contacted Enrico from Storm promotions, as he has been trying to help us find a place and he does lighting and sound. We agreed to meet him next Monday to see what is required at the Youth Centre. We got in touch with the Director and he will meet us there as well. His main concern is us making this a religious event. He does not want that. We basically got the place because of our relationship with Lotus FM and the wheelchair giveaway and our PA person, who is Indian, and assured him that the concert is not religious. It has been a long ride, hopefully it will smooth out in the next couple of months.

Wednesday we went to the store to pick up paper plates and napkins for the wheelchair event on Thursday, plus did our weekly grocery shopping. When we got home, I looked up Chatsworth on the internet, so I could perhaps find some paint companies that would donate paint, so we could do a helping hand project and paint the youth centre. What I found was an article about Lotus FM and their statement that they were doing a cleanup at the Youth Centre on Mandela day, July 18. Of course, we had no idea that was going on. Lisa Chetty from LotusFM never said a word about it, even when we told her that we were considering the youth centre for our concert. She just said that it was in bad shape and we might want to try somewhere else. Maybe she is not a part of it, but it seemed odd to me. I shot off an email to the station manager, who we met and seems to love the church. I told him that if he could get the paint and brushes donated, we could find the manpower to paint it. I haven't heard back yet, but it seems that we will at least have it looking better by the concert, whether it's us or someone else who does it.

Wednesday evening, I still had not hear from Lisa Chetty about the order of speakers in the program, so I decided to just do a program anyway and spent the next two hours creating a program with nice quotes on it and a photo of the wheelchair, etc. I also sent reminders to the speakers and asked them to keep it short. Got to bed late, but satisfied with the results.

Sunday, June 16th-Indian party at our flat

Sunday is National Youth day in South Africa. They have so many holidays that it is hard to keep track. It's amazing that they get any work done...Ha. We went to Chatsworth today for church. It is located in a predominately Indian area of neighborhoods, so Hindu is widely practiced in the neighborhood and you can see the gold domes of their temples as you enter the area.


As I sat in sacrament meeting, it was amazing to me that these people whose ancestors grew up as Hindu, and passed on all customs to their children and grandchildren, these people - with some women still clad in their traditional Indian garments (like in the picture to the left),were with me partaking of the sacrament and participating in Relief Society and listening to a lesson on tithing and holding priesthood in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

It was amazing that the Indian man who spoke in sacrament talked about how good fathers are made from men of faith who hold the priesthood and revere their wives and love and teach their children about Jesus Christ, that being a good father meant raising righteous children and being concerned with their welfare. By being an example to them and a light to those their communities through love and service. He spoke of his son who is on a mission to Malawi and his other son who received his Mission call to Ghana. He related stories about how although he works at night and would need to sleep during the day, he would often time forego that to be with his children when they needed him. He talked about how his own father had left he and his four siblings when he was a boy and about how he had to work doing odd jobs to support his family. He spoke of doing the wrong things when he got older, but how meeting his wife had changed him and joining the church had changed him even more and turned him into a good father by the examples of the good fathers in his ward. Other than a young man who was the youth speaker, who also spoke about dads and did a good job, this man took the whole time and I was not bored for a minute.

And, just when I thought it was an all Indian ward, I went into Relief Society and sat in between two black ladies. One had an adorable two-month old and the other was closer to my age and her name was Patricia. Isn't that great?

They served a lunch afterwards to honor the fathers with all the traditional Indian dishes. Luckily we had utensils. The Indians use their fingers to eat and there was not a napkin in sight. They served a rice mixture with meat and vegetables and a gravy to pour over the top. It was a little spicy, but pretty good. They also brought in a birthday cake for the Elder from Utah. He is 21 today. The cake was decorated with his name and everything...very sweet. Then we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. These are very thoughtful people. It was great fun.

Men gathered for alcohol on our front patio

Then we got back to our flat and the neighbor, who invited at least 60 people had the driveway completely full of cars and people in the yard of his flat. Elder Kyle let me off while he went to park downhill and as I came up the stairs to our flat, I saw a very curious thing...They had set up a bar on our patio...hmmm. I had an initial reaction to laugh hysterically, but held it in. The guys were meeting on our side of the wall...the women were gathered at his flat and a few were eating inside their flat. The men were smoking and drinking and blocking my front door. I had to wait until my husband appeared with a key to our flat, so I figured I might as well mingle. Our neighbor was there with the men, so I went to see how he was doing. He told me they had already had the prayer to honor his wife and other dead and then he had a drink or two which was part of the ceremony. He had a red dot on his forehead and a long yellow shirt on. Elder Kyle appeared finally and went over to the table to fix a glass of soda, acting like it was an everyday occurrence having a bar on our patio and Indian men standing around drinking and smoking. He is amazing...fits in no matter where we go. He is so comfortable around strangers. I wish I was more like that, although I don't think any of these people noticed.

Women gathered in our neighbor's front yard

I finally went to the kitchen to see what delicacies they were fixing and they were all pushing food on me. I told them I already ate, but they insisted on at least fixing me a wrap. The wrap consisted of their version of a tortilla with spicy potatoes inside and some spicy pineapples that were pretty hot. I took it back to the flat, placed it in a dish, washed their dish and returned it. I ate the wrap later and it was pretty good, plus I got some cooking hints from the ladies. They were all really nice.

Inside Neighbor's flat

The 'Priest' was surprisingly slovenly, had not shaved, looked like he had not bathed, was ridiculously overweight with a dirty white 'gown' on and..... They paid him for this ceremony and told me that he only does ceremonies for the dead. The ceremony consisted of a coconut being put into a fire and cooked down until ashes. I don't really understand the significance, except that A.J. (our neighbor) told me that the coconut they bought burst open last night all by itself, so his mother told him he must go get another for the ceremony today. He said that he got one and when they put it into the fire today it burst open in exactly the same spot. He asked the Priest what the significance of that was and the Priest said, "I'll have to check and get back with you."  I really wanted to tell him where his wife is and that he can be with her and his family after this life, but it was not the time for that. I hope we get a chance later.

Finally, I went back to the flat to get some rest and my shadow, Sonali appeared again. We made another card and she spent an hour at our flat, before I shooed her away. The monkeys also came to visit and the mongoose as well. It was party time at our duplex!

We skyped with Shannon and the twins and Ryan sent a beautiful fathers day email, so Elder Kyle was very happy. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful children and grandchildren. We feel very blessed to be so far away and be able to see and hear them on the computer. Isn't technology grand?

Friday, June 14 - Saturday, June 15-hospital dermatoligist-FH fair

Friday we went to St. Augustine hospital to see the dermatologist, so he could see how my skin cancer biopsies were doing. They are doing well, but he still thinks we need to treat them with interferon to make sure they are gone, but we are holding off for another month to see how things go. He did not charge me for the appointment and told me to come back in a month and he would not charge me to take a look. This would never happen in the US. One of my last doctor's appointments there was to get a physical. I was charged $97 for an office visit to check my blood pressure and $198 for an office visit to get a physical (Same appointment!). After I got the bill I objected to two different charges for an office visit and was told that they had to make their money somehow. $300 for basically an office visit????? The regular doctor here charges $38. So, it is much cheaper to visit the doctor here and he actually does something while you are in his office, because he has no nurses. They are making it work. It would be nice if the US could come over here and learn how it is done.

We came back and started working on the family history conference on June 29th. We agreed to get the posters and flyers printed, so we called the copy place and I emailed the files. They said they would be ready by the end of the day. Their prices for color copies are only about 15 cents each. That is less than half of what they charge in the US. The posters were only $15 each and they were awesome. There are some pretty influential speakers coming to the event...at least two of them were at the family history fair in Bloemfontein and both were very good. Plus they have the minister of health from the parliament speaking as well. They have several computers there for people to use after the talks from the invited speakers and many people that know a lot about hunting for family online. It should be very informative.




On Saturday, the little girl, Sonali, from next door came over to 'play'. We started making cards for fathers day, but had to quit, when her father called that they were going somewhere. We agreed to get together after they got back to finish the card. Then Elder Kyle and I left to pick up the posters. After we picked them up, we headed to the mall to get some cash and then had lunch at Spurs. There were at least six birthday parties going on there, so it was a bit noisy (We kept hearing the Birthday song and some cowboy shout), but it was fun seeing all the children, lots with their faces painted looking like they were having a great time.

After we got home, Sonali came over and resumed her Father's Day card creation. While we were working on it, her nine year old brother came over and decided he wanted to make a card too. So, I wrote poems (based upon what they like about their dad) for the inside and printed them out on a heavy card stock. They then proceeded to decorate the inside and outside of the card.


They turned out really cute. They were being so secretive about it, not wanting their dad to know what they were doing. It was really fun. The interesting part was that Sonali was making pictures and designs using as many colors as possible, while her brother asked for a ruler and a black marker. Everything he did was precise and in black and white. I told him he was going to be an engineer and he said that was what he wanted to do. Then he drew a water slide idea that he had. Very cute. Sonali is more of a designer, I told her. She said, "No, I am going to be a doctor...Or...a model." We agreed to come after church. I had big plans for ironing and cleaning...oh well.

Their dad finally came to pick them up and invited us to a prayer service at their flat on Sunday with lunch after. The children's mother died a year ago and it is the Indian custom to have a prayer for those who died on their one year anniversary. We agreed to come after church.

At 5:00, we hopped in the car and headed over to Sipho's home to give him some flyers to give out on Sunday. He asked us in, introduced us to his wife and children and showed us his home. It was a very nice home and neat as a pin. He said they would have to have a Brie and invite us over. I guess this makes us buddies...Sipho is a policeman and his wife manages an office for the government. I've forgotten exactly what she does. Sipho was asking me questions about what to do about his knee. He had been running about 16 K a day up and down hills and was loving doing it (even though his wife said he was getting too skinny), but all of a sudden his right knee was hurting and making a clicking sound. He knew about my knee problems, so was asking what he should do. When I told him to stop running until it healed, you should have seen his face. He loves running.  Then we had to drive home in the dark again through winding mountain roads in the dark...when will we learn?!

Thursday, June 13th - Youth Centre possibility

Today we went to Chatsworth, about a 30 minute drive from our flat, to meet with our public affairs person, Clive, in that area and to see about checking out the Mandela Youth Centre and the Arena Park Regional Hall. Clive told us they were both available on August 10th and they are across the street from each other, so we decided to go and take a look. We found it after a couple of wrong turns. It is very close to the Chatsworth chapel that we have attended before, but not on GPS. We've come to rely on GPS around here so much that going somewhere without it was a challenge. The internet here is different than the US. There is a real lack of addresses to put in map quest. We never did get an exact address for the youth centre, so our directions took us just so far and then we had to drive around and look for it. Clive did not show up at 10 am, as we had arranged, because he was busy at work, but we got a hold of him and he directed us the rest of the way.

The Youth Centre was built under Mandela's direction for the Chatsworth area youth. That is significant, because it is an Indian dominant neighborhood. The building was probably really nice when it was built, but it has not been kept up, so it is in desperate need of paint and TLC. It did not seem like it would work for our conference, so I was anxious to get over to Arena Park and check that out, but when we arrived it was locked up. The outside was in great shape; there was a big parking lot and it seemed more appropriate for the concert, so we called the number posted on the door to see about getting in. He told us that it was booked for August 10th and that Clive never called him...hmmm. So that building is out.

We went back to the Youth Centre and tried to call the director, but had to leave a message. While we waited in the car, my brain was forming ideas of how we could spruce the place up. I thought of helping hands projects and sponsors and actually making this a community effort to get this youth centre in good repair by the time of the concert. It is wheelchair friendly, so we could do the last LotusFM wheelchair giveaway there and then invite all recipients and their caretakers to the concert that follows the giveaway. Because we are combining the venue with the wheelchair giveaway we could probably get the building for free and perhaps some sponsors to help us spruce it up. We could involve the elders in the Durban Mission and maybe even the Senior Missionaries...

So, I got out and started taking photos of the place. The inside also needs painting, but may not be that obvious at night. Perhaps the stage could be draped in black curtains. There was a boxing ring at the back that did not look too easy to move, so I was trying to figure out how to mask that. There were concrete bleachers on the left and I was wondering if we should block that off or leave it for seating. The plastic chairs that were there for testing that day could work for seating, but there were not near enough of them. Desks would have to be moved outside, chairs brought in, junk removed. It is a huge project.

The upstairs balcony area could easily seat 50 more people, if we needed to use it and it would require minimal clean up. The women's bathrooms had four stalls and four place to wash hands. It actually was pretty nice, but one of the stalls said 'out of order' and you could hear the water continually running.







The entrance patio had a nice painting of Mandela on the wall and a mosaic mural, but the walls were suffering from years of moisture and mold and needed to be painted badly after a spray wash. Was this actually possible, I thought, to make it look decent before the concert. Was it even important that we do that? I guess I was more worried about David Glen Hatch and his students and what they would think of the place. It would be having a concert in a gymnasium, but it is so symbolic of the struggle of the African people. The Indian people have been in Africa a long time. By now, most of them were born in Africa. It is their country too. The wheelchairs we are giving away are to the Indian community, through an Indian radio station. They have the same issues and problems that the black people have. Since we cannot find a nice theatre that is available to do this concert, perhaps we change gears and have it more of a charity event.

I shared my enthusiasm with Elder Kyle and I could tell he was thinking, "Whoa, put the brakes on." He is thinking of going through the correct channels in the stake and wards and knowing how slow things go in Africa, I am thinking, 'No, let's just get it done.' Perhaps we will compromise and do a little of both. We finally got tired of trying to get someone to show up that we could talk to about the centre, so we went back to our flat. We called Clive and he agreed to get in touch with the Director, but so far no one has been able to . We cannot move forward until we have booked the place. Fun and games here. Interesting possibilities.

Wednesday, June 12 - Parliament

Today was quite a day. We contacted Clive Reddy to see if he would try and find out if the Youth Center or Arena Park in Chatsworth were available for our use on August 10th for the concert.

We then picked up Sipho (Durban PA Director) and headed to Peitermaritzburg (about 40 minute drive), for a meeting of the Parliament. We were official guests of Dr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo of the MEC for health for Kwa Zulu Natal province. He invited three members of the church to come and listen to his budget speach for the department of health. We had to go through security to get in and of course my knee caused the machine to beep. A large black security guard kept telling me to go back through the machine and didn't want to talk about it, so I went through again and again and it dinged each time. Finally, I told him about my knee and he seemed very confused. It was obvious that he had never had that happen before. Then he said okay and had us sign in. He asked me to put my ID number on there and I told him that I didn't have an ID number. He would not accept that, so I told him we were from the US and had visas. He said to put that number down. By now, quite a crowd had formed, so I just put our names and made up a passport number. Ha. I figured he isn't going to look it up anyway. This shows you how much I have changed since I first got here...never would have done that then.

The program started with an opening prayer in Zulu.

We were in the upper deck watching down below as the parliament members gave opposing views depending upon their party affiliation. The African National Congress was on one side of the room and all the other political parties were one the other side. Members of parliament were given a certain amount of time to voice their view on the problems of the country and what was or was not being done about them. It was very entertaining. Much of it was in Zulu, though even when in English it was hard to understand because of accents. The funny part was how they got after each other when their views opposed. There was shouting and laughing and a frustrated speaker of the house (who was mainly there to be the referee). One black woman was quite animated on the opposing side and the ANC people kept shooting her down. It got pretty heated a couple of times. It was for certain that they were not being respectful.

Parliament Floor

Finally, the budget speech was given. It lasted at least 30 minutes, telling all the things that had been done for the province by the Department of Health. There were snickers and hand gestures during his speech with both sides participating. He did make mention of the church in his speech and how they have helped with their medical problems. He talked about aids and how the church is putting on the Strength of Youth programs in the schools, teaching abstinence and he mentioned the neonatal machines the church has been supplying in Africa that has saved many newborns.  After his speech, each side allowed so many speakers to speak for a certain amount of time. A digital timer was viewable up above the room and counted down while they were talking. When done it would ding and the person had to sit down.

Most of the time was spent bickering about whether the Health department was doing a good job or not. ANC (of which Dr. Dhlomo is a member) thought everything was improving from previous years and a lot of progress had been made on aids, life expectancy, less infant deaths and less pregnancies by teenagers. There was information given about hospital renovations and additions of personnel and x-ray machines. Then the other side talked about how awful it was at hospitals in their area and how many people are not being treated....etc. Then everyone argued about it. Sipho kept translating for us and laughing a lot at what was said. They really got the Zulu going when they were arguing. There were a few Afrikaners and Indians there, but they were definitely out-numbered. They mentioned Mandela in the talks given by the ANC and blessings and prayers for his health.

All guests in the balcony were invited by Dr. Dlomo for dinner at the building across the street from the Parliament house, so we all filed down the stairs and across the street. It was nicely done...a room with tall round tables with stemmed glassed on them for people to stand around and pour soft drinks into the glasses and get finger foods on a small plate in the buffet line. Then the doctor came around and shook hands with everyone. Sipho made sure we got over there to shake his hand and when he saw our name tags he got the biggest smile on his face and was very warm towards us. He said he would predict that our church and he would have a very long friendship. He is definitely a politician. We later found out from Sipho that he was one of the leaders with Mandela in prison on the island for many years. Since we have both read Mandela's book recently, that was very interesting to us.

I don't think we ever could have dreamed of a day like this in Africa. Ha.

We then took Sipho home and headed back to our flat. It was dark and windy roads, not our favorite way to travel. Elder Kyle and I were a little stressed, but we made it and had some hot chocolate and then got on the internet to see if Clive made any progress with the venues. He had talked to both possibilities and said they were available. We are meeting at 10 am tomorrow to see both places and possibly seal the deal. Wouldn't that be nice? No time for fooling around on this mission!

Monday - Tuesday, June 10-11 -meeting DGH fireside

Monday was a day of catch-up for the three days we were gone to Lady Smith.  We spoke with the stake presidents involved in our fireside in August and since they had not come up with a topic and we needed to let David Glen Hatch know the topic, so we came up with Discovering and Using your talents. They were okay with that, considering the self-esteem issues many have about teaching and having callings.


Then we got a call from the area office asking about the fireside. We told them we had it figured out and I passed on my idea about the title. They said that was great and they would go with that. Later on we got an email from the area office and this is what it said: "We have chosen a title for the firesides,

Peace, Power, Possibility – the Role Positive Music plays in our daily lives.”

I had already told the stake presidents that the title would be "Discovering and Using our Talents."  I suppose they might recognize this title if they try hard enough...Ha.

Tuesday we had a meeting with Lotus FM to discuss the wheelchair giveaway on the 20th. Lisa showed us the room where we are bringing the chairs and recipients and told us she had gotten donations from some Indian restaurants to bring in finger food. We offered to bring the paper plates, cups and napkins and we discussed the program and who was speaking. They wanted to have one of our speakers doing a live radio interview while the other one talked to the recipients. That way they get a clear sound. We told them that would be great. 

We called TJ from the wheelchair company to make sure that he would get all the chairs there the night before and the day of. He said there would be names on the wheelchairs and they would show the recipients how to use them. Lisa will call the recipients and tell them where to park. I read these applications and I'm pretty sure that most of them will have a difficult time even getting there, so it will be interesting to see who shows up to get the chair. Right now our two stake presidents have been asked to speak and a counselor in the stake presidency. Hopefully at least two of them will come. We are also expecting Clive Reddy and Sipho Duma, our two PA people and perhaps Bishop Sabela (who just wants to come). The humanitarian couple will also speak and of course Lisa from LotusFM. I'm looking forward to the whole experience.

The following are just a few of the recipient's stories:

"18 years old, Cerebalpalsy Quadraplegic also suffering from Scoliosis - Needs reinforced chair because of his weight. His mother says he is her ray of sunshine, that nothing gets him down. He touches everyone he meets with his bubbly personality."

"83 years old, had stroke and is unable to walk – Need chair for wife to get him up and around – otherwise he stays in bed all day and gets bed sores. He would like to be able to sit outside."

"Husband is a stroke patient caring for his wife who has to have dialysis three times a week and has to have help walking and getting in and out of car. Husband has to leave her in car when he goes somewhere, because she cannot walk far."

"Car accident in 2000 caused brain injury and left me paralyzed on left side. The portion of the brain that controls balance and mobility was damaged. Cannot walk – Regardless of my disabilities, I am still intelligent and can gain employment if I have a chair to get around. Seeing the same walls of my home and not being able to get out of the house is not good. Please help me!"

"Below knee amputation on left and above knee amputation on right. Colostomy done in 2003. He cannot afford a wheelchair and the government says he is too old (over 55) for prosthetic legs which were his dream, but a wheelchair would give him his independence to move around in and out of his house."

As you can see, it is really sad situations. We gave chairs to ALL who applied. How could we say 'No' to anyone?About 44 more chairs will be given out before August.