Monday and Tuesday August 26th & 27th. inspecting missionary flats, Pinetown WChairs

Monday was the day to inspect the missionaries' flats. That is always a fun time, as they try so hard (most of them) to make sure it is clean. We were able to make appointments with three of the four we are assigned to inspect. The 4th one we will inspect on Tuesday. The first Elders we met with are both different from the ones that were there the last time we inspected and the flat not quite as clean, but not bad either. I checked out the inside while Elder Kyle checked out the car. We have checklists that we use for both. One of the things I look for in the flats is what needs to be fixed. In this flat the door to the bedroom looks like someone tried to use it as a dart board. There are actual holes in the door. The missionary says it was that way when he got there, so the landlord probably won't replace, but I wrote it down. The bathroom ceiling looks like half of it was replaced, but not finished. It's just drywall and tape, no plaster.  They were very nice missionaries and other than crumbs all over the counter, it looked fairly clean.

The second flat houses four missionaries, but we evaluated them separately, even though they share a common area kitchen and lounge. This place was in pretty bad shape...very clean compared to the last time, but falling apart. The curtains were hanging in tatters in one of the bedrooms. The curtains in the living area were sheer, so no privacy (big thing in Africa) and if you touched them, your finger would poke a hole. In the bedroom where the drapes were in tatters, the window had big holes in the plaster around the window where someone broke in some time ago and it was never fixed. They said the microwave sparks when you try to use it (like if you put metal inside, but you are not putting metal, just cooking as normal). The stove only had one of four burners working and all burners were crusted with years of burnt food not cleaned off. The geyser (hot water) had a short. When it was on, all the other electrical was off. One bathroom had a faulty light in the ceiling...would not work, so the missionaries were taking a shower in the dark with cold water. Yikes! I wrote it all down and promised to report back to the mission office. Only one elder was really upset about it. The others were like, "Oh well, I just wait until it's light outside to shower" or "I'm getting used to the cold water...really wakes you up."

These young men are amazing. They move so often, that I don't know how they keep it all straight. They are from different backgrounds and cultures, but are expected to understand each other and get along and most of them do just that. They must miss home and family and get frustrated with their companions and yet, they all seem so happy doing the Lord's work. It was hard to tell them their apartments weren't all that clean, but that is by my standards, so I told them it was just fine and gave some suggestions for cleaning. One of the Elders who was there the last time we did a check took me in to show me the bathroom right away. The last time I was there mold was all over the ceiling and around the doors, so I told him to put some Clorox and water in a bottle and spray it often to get rid of the mold. He was showing me that  he had gotten most of the mold off, but he was frustrated that it kept coming back. I chuckled and told him what a great job he was doing, but he would have to keep spraying a couple times a week to keep it off. That didn't phase him a bit. He just said, "Oh, Okay." They are all so sweet...I just want to mother them all.

Monday afternoon we stopped at the store to get a couple of items for cookies. I made some cookies to take to the missionaries the following day. I told the missionaries that we visited today that I owed them some cookies. I just didn't have the ingredients to make them before we came...lame, but true.

Monday night we had family home evening at the Stark's again. They talked about how they get calls at the mission office because of the pass-along cards that the missionaries hand out offering a free CD to those who call the office number. There are different cards with different videos on them. Elder Stark said he realized that he hadn't seen any of these videos that they were calling in about and thought maybe we hadn't either, so he showed a couple of them to us. The first one was "Together Forever." It showed families benefiting from joining the church and living the commandments. Several members talked about how their lives had changed and how closer they were to their families. It was nice because many of the couples were actual couples from Africa that had joined the church and bore their testimonies. The second one was "Finding Faith in Christ" and showed many scenes of Christ's life while on this earth, his ministry and his miracles. You were able to experience the power, majesty and love of Jesus Christ through the eyes of one who once doubted and feel the truth as Thomas shared his firm conviction that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and Savior of the world.

We then got caught up with what the other couples are doing...had dessert and laughed at our similar experiences in Africa. It is always great getting together with the other couples.

Tuesday we went to visit the last set of missionaries. One, Elder Berry has been here five months, so we've seen him before and the other one was a missionary from Arizona that we had met previously in another area. They were both very nice and their apartment was clean and neat. Their stove also had burners that didn't totally work, but they said they were so well fed by the members (Phoenix Ward) that they didn't fix much food...lucky them. Here the members sign up to fix the Elders lunch, because the Elders are supposed to be back at their flats by 6:30 pm.  Most bad things happen after dark, so it is a good rule. Elder Kyle talked to the missionary from Arizona about the Arizona sports teams. I knew transfers were coming up the next week, so Elder Berry and I discussed that he would likely get transferred and I asked him how he felt about that. He said that he has been in Africa for five months and still hasn't taught a black African. He said he would like to do that (His area is almost all Indian). I was able to give them cookies instead of promises. We like visiting the Elders and checking their flats and cars, but mostly talking to them and learning more about them. I have many favorites already.

Tuesday evening, we went back to Pinetop Chapel to check out the wheelchairs. We met Bishop Sabela, but he was running late, so we saw a lot of people coming to the building Tuesday night. There was this cute class of Young Women meeting and they came past us in the hallway acting a bit shy. Their leader was the Bishop's wife. Later on, I found them in their classroom and asked if I could take a photo. They were all smiles.




Then we saw the Relief Society President. She was embarrassed to get her picture taken so she couldn't help but do a silly pose for us. We saw her husband a little bit later and showed him the photo...hmmm. As you can see, we were a little bored with waiting and these people are so wonderful and so willing to let us take their photos, that it was fun and they felt like celebrities.





We went into the cultural hall and there were men playing pool. I had never seen a pool table in a church building before, so I went to investigate. Sure enough these men, when interviewed, thought it was perfectly natural to have a pool table in the church building. As a matter of fact, they were having a hard time believing that churches in the US don't have one in every building...hmmm... perhaps we can check into that when we return. They seemed to be having fun.



Another thing this building has that those in the States don't have is a pioneer handcart in the entry. That's a novelty isn't it? I've never seen one before and I've seen them in two buildings in Africa already. Only in Africa? Let me know if you've seen one elsewhere.











A few other people entered the building and then disappeared into rooms down the hallway. I snapped photos until the Bishop showed up...
like this handsome young man, coming for a bishopric meeting.







And this beautiful young lady coming for a Relief Society Presidency Meeting.

It seemed that we had a photo of everyone and still no Bishop. We saw his wife, his son, his bishopric and his friends, but he was not there yet.







Finally, he came in a little dazed and confused (He's a busy guy who used to be our Public Affairs guy in this area). He saw his son and asked if his wife was there...no time to keep in touch with them either. I felt bad for him, but he doesn't complain. Like any Bishop, he had the Lord with him and somehow gets through it. He would jump at the chance to do public affairs again...He really liked doing that and because he developed such a good relationship with Ukhozi FM Radio, Salt Lake City Public Affairs has invited he and three people from the station to come to Salt Lake in July of 2014 where they will be able to do a broadcast for their radio station from Temple Square. It is mostly a Zulu radio station. That will be a very amazing thing. They love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Well, we found the wheelchairs and wrote down names and serial numbers. Tomorrow we will check with TJ from CE Mobility to see if we can use these chairs for others who need them.










We couldn't leave without taking a photo of the Bishops little boy and then we were off for home. Don't you wish you could have this much fun?