Sunday, August 11th - Berea Ward, picnic and fireside that night

Today we were supposed to attend church with the DGH group in Berea Ward and bring Prudence and her husband who stayed with us; however, we got a call from Murdocks asking us to go to Chatsworth and get a case that contained important stuff and a bag of vitamins, etc. that DGH left in the dressing area. After calling the youth centre director and asking him to meet us there to unlock the door, all four of us headed out to Chatsworth again.  We had to wait for 15 minutes to get in the building, but when we did, all of his stuff was there. We headed  to the Berea chapel, but when we got there sacrament was about over. We sat in the cultural hall and listened to the last ten minutes of the speaker's talk. We couldn't see him, because they did not open the doors to the cultural hall, but there were chairs set up and we could hear him. I could tell right away from his voice that it was the German guy (I always call him that, but have no idea if he is German or not - He just looks like the German officers I've seen in the old movies).

He was saying that we should live a consecrated life. If we want prosperous lives, we do as Christ has asked us to do and we will be blessed. He said he used to be in the Bishopric and worried about those who were struggling financially. He wanted them to prosper. He realized that he didn't have much to give them except his faith. He then said that most all the pictures we see of Jesus, he is not smiling. He wanted us to know that the Savior is smiling and reminded us of the song "When Jesus shows his smiling face there is sunshine in the soul." When we consecrate our lives to the Lord we are aligned with him. Hugh B. Brown said that he often talked to inanimate objects and recited a story about inheriting a farm and on this farm was a currant bush. He chopped down the currant bush and then he sees sap dripping down trunk of the bush. He imagined the bush saying, "How could you cut me down?" Then he answered, "I'm the currant bush gardner and I cut you down so you will grow back and produce sweeter fruit." God knows what's best for us. He can see what we cannot see. Our trials and faith in him will help us produce sweeter fruit, even though it may take longer to grow and produce.

Never think "What's in it for me?" The Gospel is for everyone. We understand that the Gospel was restored in America because they had the freedom and means to send missionaries all over the world. South Africans should never be jealous because they were not the ones chosen by God to restore the Gospel. Everything members do is important; it all matters, no matter how insignificant the calling may seem. Do not hide talents, but add upon them. Everyone has buckets of energy. It's just that some have one bucket, some have two buckets and some three, etc. The Lord knows what we are capable of doing. The weak can become strong with God's help. Magnifying callings means you will be become stronger in the calling. Remember to always be cheerful in your callings and associations with others. Have the faith that the early missionaries had and the Lord will fill another bucket for you. In D&C 76:5-6, it says that "If they serve me, great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory."

In Sunday School, the teacher asked, "What do we have to do to build the Kingdom of God?" She then asked the class to give answers. We must see all people as children of God in how we treat them and by setting a good example. Be friends...teach children the Gospel...Send sons on missions...Sustain local church leaders and fulfill our duties to them...Be award of other's problems...Have compassion...Do your visiting teaching and home teaching...Do temple work. She then related the story about Brigham Young and Heber C Kimball and how they were called on missions to England, but were so sick they couldn't stand up and had to ride in the back of the wagon lying down. This did not stop them from going and they ended up baptizing thousands of British people. They were valiant and the Lord blessed them. Wouldn't the Lord expect the same from us?

I thought about this in regards to our mission. We heard at the MTC that 30 percent of senior missionaries turn down the call to go to Africa. We were a little shocked to be called to go there and could have said, "I know we said that we would go where ever you need us, but we didn't mean Africa!" I shudder when I think of the experiences we would have missed and the people we would not have met.

In Relief Society, we talked about what being a member means to us. Turning  "down a mission that the Lord calls us to is the wrong approach. The positive approach is to think that all things are possible and the Lord will help us achieve our goals. What attributes did Christ have and how can we work on developing these attributes? We need to be ambassadors of the church, in our wards, in our communities, in our homes, in our lives and...yes on our missions.

After church, we loaded up the DGH gang and headed for a park close by the church and the ocean to have a brie (bbq) cooked for us by Teddy and his family - a non member who takes care of the church cars in our mission. He is always offering to do stuff for us and although he is not a member, he loves the people in our church. He served up a sumptuous repast and his family treated us like royalty. One of the little boys there saw my badge and his face lit up, "Kyle" he said. "That's my name too." I told him that if he was my little boy, his name would be Kyle Kyle. He thought that was hilarious. They were all so nice and polite. The DGH group really had a good time, even though the wind was crazy.





We had lamb chops, hot sausages, regular hot dogs and sausages and chicken, plus a variety of salads including a really good potato salad.













When we told Teddy we were finished, he said, "A custom of my people is to eat continually until you leave." He continued to cook large amounts of meat, even though we were finished. He is very funny and very nice. I guess that several people are working on getting them to take missionary lessons, but they continue to resist.












Our group consisted of Sean Donnelly, our boss and the full-time Director of Public Affairs of South Africa and his wife, Elder and Sister Murdock who are his assistants, Elizabeth Burger and her  husband. She works in the area office as the person who acquires visas for all the missionaries. She was especially recruited for the David Glen Hatch tour when Sean realized that they just couldn't devote that much time to it and things were falling through the cracks. She did a great job and missed her calling as an events coordinator. Prudence works in the area office handling the articles for the Liahona and other office duties. She is an intern and working towards a degree. Elder and Sister Holt from the mission office were invited because Elder Holt and Teddy work closely together regarding the fleet of cars for the church and they love the Holts. The DGH group consisted of Dr. Hatch and seven piano players. The blonde, Marianne (wearing my shawl because she was cold and I wasn't), was not mentioned before, but she asked him if she could go on the tour, knowing she wouldn't be able to play much as the slots were already filled, but she was a big help to DGH and she did play at some firesides. She teaches music herself and is a very talented pianist as well (just perhaps not in the category of the other students who are amazing). As our thanks for the picnic, when we were leaving we sang  to Teddy's family the song, "Families Can Be Together Forever." It was sweet and I felt the spirit so strong that I couldn't see how they could not feel it.

We then went back to the chapel for the fireside. I didn't know what to expect, but I had heard that David Glen Hatch gave some great firesides in Joburg. This one ranked right up there with those, I'm sure. He told stories about the prophets and their wives, about the apostles and about his experiences with people all over the world. One story was about Sister Hinkley at a dinner where they sat down and the salads were already in front of them and there was a cheesecake with cherries on top above the plate. Sister Monson was sitting next to her. They noticed that Sister Hinkley started eating the cheesecake instead of the salad. He said, "Sister Hinkley, I noticed that you are eating your dessert instead of your salad. Is something wrong with your salad?" In a very polite tone, she said, "Actually, I think at my age that I should be able to eat whatever I like and I've never really liked vegetables." He said that Sister Monson then picked up her fork and started eating her dessert too.

He talked about how he was asked by one of the apostles to play at a special church event and was asked to create a medley of hymns - one for the non members that would be there, one for the members and one for the primary children and of course the apostle's favourite, "Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief".  So he created a medley arrangement with "Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" for the apostle and members, "The Lord's Prayer" for the non members and 'Teach me to Walk' for the primary children. He then began to play this arrangement that was spectacular.

He had others play songs that went with his stories and they played fabulously as well. He spoke of a another medley that he created where he had three songs and at the last minute was inspired to change the last song to "I am a Child of God." He said that it didn't really go all that well with what he was doing, but he really felt he needed to play that song at the fireside. While he was playing he noticed an older man on the first row with tears streaming down his face. He came up to him after the meeting and told him that the song, "I am a Child of God" was his grandson's favorite song. When he was seven he would always smile when he heard it and say, "That is my favorite song."  He talked about how his grandson was in their care last year and drowned in their swimming pool. He explained that he was the one that found him. With tears streaming down his face, he told of how he tried to resuscitate him, but he was already gone. He had carried this guilt around all this time and couldn't let it go, but when he heard that song being played,  he noticed that his grandson was sitting beside him and he felt the guilt go away finally. He thanked DGH for playing that song that allowed him to spend that time with his grandson and to feel the guilt being taken from him. After this story, he played this sweet medley. His message was about the power of music to inspire and invoke the spirit and he told many other stories about his experiences with music.

Another cute story that DGH told about his granddaughter when she was only four years old. She loved to listen to her grandfather play the piano. One time after a visit to her grandparents home, her mother came downstairs to find her daughter sobbing. When she asked what was wrong, her daughter said that no matter how hard she tried he couldn't move her hand on the piano like Grandpa can. She said that when she did it she could only play one key at a time and grandpa could play all of his fingers at once.  They called grandpa and he assured his granddaughter that when he was that little he could only play one finger at a time too. He promised her that if she practiced every day that one day she would play just like grandpa.

At the end of the fireside, he played "How Great Thou Art." It was unlike any other rendition I had ever heard...very powerful, and it caused a great stir among the members who have sung that song since they were children in other faiths. Afterwards, many members approached Dr. Hatch and asked for his autograph and to tell him how wonderful the fireside was. It really was the best one I have ever attended. I wish I could remember all the great things he said, but I was filming and taking photos the whole time I wanted to post one of the videos of DGH playing and speaking, but it is too big to post.


After the fireside, the young people were wanting to go and put their feet in the Indian Ocean, so we all headed for the beach. Unfortunately it was getting dark and very windy, so not a pleasant time to go to the beach, but they all had fun anyway and didn't seem to mind the wind. I knew that my hair would be completely tied in knots after all that wind, but duty called and I took photos of them, even though the light was terrible and the flash doesn't work so well when you are trying to get a beach shot at night, but I got some shots without the flash.


 Then we started walking forever upon the walkway along the beach and ended up at a pizza restaurant where we ate dinner. It was another late night and we had to get up the next day and go to the airport to fly with them to Cape Town. When we got home, we still had to pack all our clothes for a ten-day trip and we still had Prudence and her husband staying with us. It was a wild time. Prudence from the area office and her husband that stayed with us are on the right front of this photo. They had never been to Durban before and she is pregnant with their 2nd child. She said they had to get married three times. The first one was a traditional African wedding which is not recognized by the church, so they had to get married again when they joined the church. Then they went to the temple and got sealed, so she said they celebrated three marriages on their anniversary, because they got married on the same date all three times. She is pretty funny and they are both very nice. She said staying in our flat in the guest room was like staying in a nice hotel in California...Ha...Of course she has never been in California and our guest room isn't all that nice, but it was a cute thing to say. Tomorrow will be another busy day!