Sunday, July 21st- Berea Ward -Umlazi Ward-Chatsworth Ward to deliver flyers - lost

Today we went to church at Berea Ward. Our opinion is that Berea Ward is the most advanced of any of the wards we have attended since we came here (and there are many). We talked about it today and figured that the more equal combination of blacks and whites is what makes it work. It's almost like God planned for us to work together all along and is showing us how well it works when we do.

The first speaker was Elder Daines. He is on the left in the photo, next to Elder Kawanatsoka from Swaziland (the one that Gave Elder Kyle his Swazi name. He is also amazing). They asked Elder Daines to bear his testimony, because he was going home the following week. He is a very special Elder who affected many of the Senior Couples with his sense of humor and great wit. A little bit older than the other missionaries (26) with stubborn traits, he entertained us all. He is also a great cook and plays the piano at church, though he looks like a wrestler. There are those who say he makes the most yummy tortillas, but sadly, we were not able to partake. He lived in the same building as the Clusters, so they knew him best. They got permission to take him and his companion to a wild animal park before he left and they said he was so much fun, because he appreciated everything so much...excited just like a little boy. They said he took hundreds of photos of the animals, and on the way back talked about how he needed to get home and find a wife, because he wasn't getting any younger...Ha. Apparently, he was a bit of a hellion and his parents had a difficult time with him, but something happened to change him, which resulted in his mission. He agreed it was the best decision he has ever made. He spoke about remembering the last two years and the faces of people he taught (when they finally realized the Gospel is true)... how he saw that realization change their lives for the better. He said, "How could anyone who sees that happen doubt that the Gospel is true?"

The next speaker talked about how God has purpose and told us to love the Lord thy God so we can have the same purpose. He talked about Jesus walking by Galilee and watching the fishermen cast their nets when he said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." He then said that we are all called to be 'fishers of men' (and women), that we are called to forsake our sins and follow him. He also quoted Mark 8:34, "Whosoever will come after me, let him take upon himself his cross and follow me."

The next speaker asked, "When was the last time your family experienced a shortage of water? When was the last time you saw the prices of petrol go up, food prices going up and other things you need."
He spoke about natural disasters that have happened in the last few years all over the world. He said that in the United States there were 1200 natural disasters in the last ten years and how Asia had outbreaks in AIDs and Tuberculosis and how even though Africa has not had many natural disasters, it is the leader in cases of Aids. He asked if we were prepared for these disasters, for sickness, for shortages, for unemployment. He quoted 1 Nephi 2:2-4 about how we needed to be prepared and follow what the Lord asks us to do...like 72 hour emergency kits. He told us what we needed to have on hand and mentioned some things that we had never thought of.

He talked about serving in Ghana on his mission and they were told to keep R100 in case of emergency on hand at all times. Once in Nigeria the missionaries were evacuated suddenly and that R100 saved their lives. He said that Lehi in the wilderness was commanded to go back and get the records and reinforced how important it is that we keep records...documents and photos (plus emergency numbers) in a place where we can quickly take them with us if we are ever evacuated. He finished by talking about the tornado that hit 40 meters east of Joburg and how we need to listen to the voice of the prophet to prepare us for such disasters.

The choir then sang, "Fount of Every Blessing" and it was BEAUTIFUL!

Another black returned missionary said he heard that song on his mission and it formed the theme of his mission and helped him develop enthusiasm for his mission. He talked about how when we go back home to Heavenly Father, he is going to ask what happened to those people we were stewards over...where are all those people that we should have brought to heaven with us? He spoke of someone in history named Felix that was the first person to jump from an air balloon from 1,357 meters high. He had to overcome his claustrophobia to even be in that air balloon, but he had calculated and used all his scientists to gauge the wind, humidity and timing to make the jump. When everything was perfect for the jump they told him to go whenever he felt it was right. He then could trust the scientists or quit and go back to earth. He said that we live in a day and age where the Church has given us everything we need to survive and like the man who had to trust that he would not become unconscious and end up like a scrambled egg on the ground (some light laughter at this simile), Jesus Christ restored his church with modern day revelation to prepare us to jump as we make decisions to change our lives and follow him. He quoted Elder Oates, "The final judgement is not what you've done, but what you've become. When you are sitting among Gods, will you be comfortable with your knowledge?" Then he quoted Prov 23:7, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

He talked about growing up on a farm and watching the cows eat all the time. They never stopped eating. When he asked his parents why this was, they told him they would regurgitate it later when they needed it. He said that is why we need to gain all the knowledge we can in this life, so later when we are in the company of Gods we can regurgitate that information and have discussions with them. He quoted D&C 89:18, "All saints who remember to do these things...that the destroying angel will pass by them..." He warned that we need to take care of mind and body and the church has provided us with all the tools to do this (D&C 121:45). He suggested we use those tools to not only learn ourselves but to help motivate others to learn...after all, we want them all to be with us when we return to our Heavenly Home or we may be asked, "Where are those you were stewards over?"

It is great taking notes at sacrament meeting...It's like hearing the talks all over again when I do the blog. I am going to try to do this from now on. Imagine the things I will be able to learn by putting them in my journal!

Umlasi BB Chapel

After sacrament meeting, we had to leave to get over to Umlazi and drop off some flyers and posters for the David Glen Hatch concert. Sundays seem to be the best time to do this, as the people have no transportation, but always find a way to church. This is such a beautiful chapel with an amazing view. Everyone was in Sunday School, so we left them on a table in the hallway with a note and headed over to Chatsworth Chapel.

View from Umlazi Chapel

This is where it all got interesting. In the Umlazi Chapel parking lot, I got out the GPS and selected Chatsworth Chapel. Since we knew they were not far from each other, we didn't want to backtrack the several miles to the freeway, so we assumed when the GPS told us to turn the opposite way, there would be a shortcut. Well, the shortcut turned out to be a long and winding trip from the top of the canyon to the bottom in low income black neighborhoods where people were wearing some very interesting outfits to church.

 Sunday, people by the side of the road going to Church

The guys wore light blue long jackets and hats, plus they had a white cross in the middle of the back. They wore white pants. The men were carrying some kind of stick that resembled a spear. Although most people were in blue, we did see some in all white as well. These pictures seem to show more the women than the men, but the man in the light blue jacket was typical for the men. Everyone walking to church had on some sort of outfit. We were in a totally Zulu township, so there were also some traditional Zulu outfits as well.

Zionist meeting 

We saw so many of these people walking to church that it was hard to maneuver the car around them. The roads were getting very narrow and we would have to stop at certain intervals. We both kept saying, "This doesn't seem right, as the GPS directed us further and further down into the canyon and into poorer and scarier neighborhoods. I saw a women with jeans and a white t-shirt on. When we passed her, on the back of her shirt was crudely printed by hand, "12 years in prison." We were finally at the bottom of the ravine surrounded by thousands of small homes as far as the eye could see, when we realized there was no way out. We could see a pedestrian bridge in the distance, but knew there was no way we could cross the river and get to the other side. Of course, the GPS was still saying, Turn left, turn right, etc. I punched in 'HOME' and said 'GPS...you got us into this, now get us out of here. It was a lot easier to get out than to get in, so in ten minutes we were back at the top and relieved to be headed to the freeway. When we got there it was only about a mile to the Chatsworth exit and we were there in about ten minutes.

We were wondering how we were going to get the flyers to the right person. It was about 10 minutes to the end of the bloc, but when we entered the building Bishop Chetty was standing there...almost like waiting for us. He was all by himself and everyone else was in class, so once again our silent prayers were answered. We had a great conversation with him about getting the flyers passed out. We asked him if there was someone in the ward that was in need of money that would be able to pass out the flyers in the neighborhood business center or mall and he had someone in mind. It seemed to please him that we were willing to pay someone to do it. Elder Kyle pulled out the money and left it in the Bishop's hands.

We had no sooner gotten home that we received a message from Sipho saying that one of the ladies on the PA team has a sister in Chatsworth ward who is having trouble since she lost her job and Bishop Chetty had asked her if she wanted to deliver some flyers and be paid for it. Sipho said she was so grateful and isn't Bishop Chetty a nice man. He thought we should know about it. Ha.
It made our hearts feel good.

This was a good day! Hope yours was too.