National Public Affairs Directors Conference March 5-7

This final week before our national director's conference has been crazy. Our guy from Cameroon couldn't come because he couldn't get a visa; then he said perhaps could get a visa, if we would send something. We sent some more documents and he was hopeful he would get a visa, but at the last minute the South Africa immigration changed their minds and they would not let him get into South Africa. Both he and our director from Kinshasa in the Congo and Angola could not get visas in time. The gal in Lesotho was very pregnant, so she didn't come. But, we still had representatives from Lubumbashi in the Congo, Malawi, Reunion, Burundi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Swaziland and Botswana. If someone had told me two years ago that we would be gathering with people from all those countries, I would not have believed it!

There was some coordination required for a meeting with the Premiere in Durban. The National SA director was supposed to go.  He got released about two weeks before the meeting, so the new director planned to go as well. Sipho was coordinating things from Durban. Our humanitarian manager and his assistant were going to go and Clark Hirschi flew in Sunday so he could go to the meeting on Monday. He flew to Durban with Rob (our new SA director) on Monday morning. Dominic (previous SA Director) was going to drive down there with our two humanitarian guys. Several phone calls starting Sunday night to Elder Kyle let us know that Dominic was not driving, but flying in Monday. The two humanitarian guys were not going and the Premiere was not going to be there, but was sending his assistant. Stake President Wilford was there; the meeting was a success and it just showed us that once again everything works out...the Lord is in charge. In July, Ukhozi FM will be sending a team to Salt Lake to broadcast live from Salt Lake City. Representatives from Kwa Zulu Natal will also be going along with Humanitarian to learn about how to help their people grow their own food, become self-reliant and get a job. They will all be shown around Salt Lake and vicinity to see humanitarian sites.

The airfares and hotel reservations were changed often enough that we were not sure what would happen with our scheduled pickups at the airport. Some couples were coming in on Monday, some on Tuesday and most of the directors on Wednesday, though some came in early on Wednesday and some very late. Another arrived Thursday morning. Trying to coordinate all that was a big deal. Elder Kyle was pulling his hair out at times.

Training started on Tuesday with couples only. Clark Hirschi came back in time to help teach the couples on Tuesday. Clark is a long distance runner (I am talking 100 miles at a time!). Unfortunately he hurt his foot and had to have surgery. After the surgery he was to use crutches. A member in SLC heard about his problem and took him his new invention (to replace crutches). He showed up the day of the conference with this gizmo on his leg. It allowed him to walk around without crutches and he was doing pretty well, except one time when he slipped outside because it was raining.

Clark taught the couples about the new opinion leader database and how it would help public affairs keep track of the people they've met and allow new couples that come in to know what had been done with different individuals, so as not to duplicate the work. He also talked about Public Affairs and what Salt Lake is doing to help us be more effective.

Sean had set it up to where the couples taught as well. Each couple was given an assignment to talk about various public affairs topic. They all did a great job teaching the rest of us. I talked about finance and tried to once again get them to turn in their receipts in an orderly manner for credit card charges and reimbursements. I provided them with the forms to do this and an explanation, in case they forgot what I told them. It is tough to do it perfectly when you are traveling to any one of your four or five countries, but they are all conscientious and will try to do it perfectly. We eventually took them back to the hotel with instructions that they got a free day on Wednesday to do whatever they needed to do (get supplies, shop at Distribution Center, go to the temple, etc). Unfortunately three couples decided to come to the Area Office and get things from us. We didn't get much work done, but it was fun visiting with the other couples in person rather than on the phone.


Wednesday the national directors started coming in. Elder Kyle arranged for Abraham to pick them up and he had to get two vans, because of the many people coming throughout the day. Somehow he managed to get them all to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel that afternoon about 4:00 to set up for the welcome dinner. The hotel had it set up looking great, but we had place-cards and colored balloons for the center to show them designated color groups. Dinner was buffet style and set up at one end of the room.

Sean with Chantal from Mauritius

Sean had grouped them according to color and the color of the group was a way of dividing duties. For example, the red group of about eight people had to choose someone from their group to say the opening prayer, someone to give a spiritual thought and pick a song and lead us the next morning. The group at the end of the day had to sing a song to us and do the prayer. Another group had to say a prayer at lunch. The duties were rotated around the 2nd day of the training. In this photo, Sean is visiting with Chantal from Mauritius (In French of course, but she can speak English very well).


We welcomed and introduced everyone, explained the color groups and then had the buffet dinner with lots of good food. It was enjoyable visiting with everyone and meeting each country director. Even the ones who were not used to speaking English could say a few sentences in greeting. How fun to meet all these wonderful people from countries we've mostly never visited.

Robert O'Friel, is the one without a jacket

Our new South Africa National Director is Robert O'Friel, who was recently released from many years as Bedford Stake President in Johannesburg. We hated to see Dominic be released, but he got a new job and didn't think he could have the time to do this calling, so Robert (who designs golf courses) was a great choice. He seems very organized and ready to do public affairs. We were very lucky to have him. He is the guy at the left, part of my group at the conference.

Daniel from Ethiopia

Daniel from Ethiopia has a last name that no one can pronounce. He has been recently called as this country's national director. He is very concerned with learning all he can and doing everything correctly.  There are 90 official languages spoken in Ethiopia, but the official language of the country is Amharic. Daniel said one of the prayers at our conference in Amharic. We took a group photo, but Daniel was behind someone, so you couldn't tell who he was. His wife didn't think he was at the conference, because she couldn't see him in the photo. He didn't know what to say, so he said, "I was taking the picture!" Ha! I photo shopped him in so all are happy now. He can also speak English.

Womba from Namibia

Womba from Namibia, sitting between me and Suzan from Uganda. Womba was probably the youngest of all the directors. Her country has two districts only, but she is a real dynamo and very smart. She is doing a great job and we enjoyed getting to know her. We have a trip planned to go see her in Namibia next month.

Ken Sharp from Zimbabwe

Ken Sharp from Zimbabwe...The only thing we heard about Ken before we met him was that he was very rich and powerful in Zimbabwe. We mostly heard this from the Murdocks and didn't know what to think, but when we met him, he seemed very interested in doing a good job. He was very nice and considerate to all those there and participated in all the crazy activities. His wife, Joann, from Russia was also very nice and we will be visiting them next month as well.

Leonard from Botswana

Leonard from Botswana. I love Leonard. He is always smiling and continuously happy. We definitely consider him a friend after all the trips to Botswana. He works for the U.S. Embassy in Botswana and is one of our best public affairs directors. He is also very humble and we love his sweet wife as well. I knew we were 'buds' when he started showing me photos of his children.

Ilunga from Kumbumbashi, DR Congo

Ilunga from Kubumbashi DRC - Ilunga had a hard time getting his visa and we have had some communication issues regarding financial issues, but he is a VERY SMART man and a great public affairs director for a very difficult country. He only speaks French and oftentimes sends me emails in French. It's quite a challenge. The Bybees love him and enjoy working with him in that area.

Dr. Roger from Madagascar

Dr. Roger (a scientist) is from Madagascar. He and his wife came to Joburg to get sealed in the temple while on this trip. She did some sealings to her mom and dad while we were in the temple doing sealings. Both of them are very petite people, very shy and very sweet. Total French speakers.

Joshua from Kenya

Joshua from Kenya. Joshua is a very smart man. He works in the Service Center and I deal with him regarding reimbursements to our couples. Luckily he puts up with my lack of experience and when I say, "Did I do that right?" He says, "It was okay." Very tactful!

Chris from Zambia

Chris from Zambia...a great guy with a sweet testimony that he shared with us. He also does a lot of smiling and is very valued by the Humpherys who live in the same city. According to them, Chris know everyone who is anyone in that country.

Susan from Uganda

Suzan from Uganda recently got married in the Johannesburg temple. We found out they were here and took them to lunch. She appears to be very serious, but we got some laughs out of her. She played the Premiere in our skit and was spot on!

Jackson from Tanzania

Jackson from Tanzania . Speaking of laughs, this guy is quite a character. He was always asking funny questions and not afraid to voice his opinion. He is new to Public Affairs and will no doubt be dynamic.

Very tall Aloys from Burundi

Aloys from Burundi. Aloys is the tallest man in the world...not really, but seems like it. He is very nice and spoke some English, but French is his native tongue. His shy smile was very endearing.

Edward from Malawi

Edward from Malawi. The story we've heard about Edward is that when on his mission he was known as the best missionary companion ever. The mission president would use him as an example of a good companion.  He polished his companion's shoes at night while his companion was sleeping. He made breakfast for his companion. He made his companion's bed and the list goes on. He said a happy companion is a good companion and that he knows the only way to love your companion is to do service for them. He is awesome.

Jerome from Swaziland and Elder Cinquini

Jerome from Swaziland talking to Elder Cinquini. We have a special fondness for Jerome. He gave me my Swazi name of 'Nomvula' meaning 'rain' and we had some fun times when Swaziland was our responsibility for the Durban assignment. The Cinquinis now have the pleasure.

Sister 'C' from Mozambique

Sister C. from Mozambique (Her name is so hard to pronounce that she asked us to call her Sister C). She did not want to sleep in a room by herself, so Chantal from Mauritius (below) said she could share her room. Very sweet ladies, both of them.

Chantal from Mauritius

Sister Chantal from Mauritius was a very snappy dresser. She spoke perfect English even though Mauritius is a French speaking country. She complimented me on my wardrobe...very gracious and capable.

Anderson from Reunion Island

Anderson is from Reunion, a very small Island on the other side of Madagascar. Anderson spoke perfect English. When I complimented him on his English (since his country speaks French), he acted quite proud...said that he taught himself by watching American movies on television and listening. He made quite an effort to learn and it paid off. I sat next to him at our Friday dinner and he was a very good conversationalist and very partial to his island of Reunion. He said they have no poverty and no homeless people. Quite different from the rest of Africa.

Felly translating French for Conference

Felly was our French translator and a great friend to public affairs for this entire conference. He helped us translate schedules and training materials into French and helped us communicate with our French-speaking Directors. We don't know what we would have done without him. He has accepted a job for the church in his hometown in the Congo and will be taking his beautiful wife and two little children back to where their families live in April. We'll miss him, but they are happy to be going 'home.'

Sonia helping translate Portuguese

Sonia helped with our Portuguese translations. Her husband used to work with Sean and he was thrilled to be able to use his very bright and capable wife to help us out with Portuguese translation. Both translators were invaluable to making this a great experience for everyone.

That's a pretty good recap of who's who in Public Affairs Southeast Africa. The ones who could not attend were: Sister Moorosi from Lesotho who is ready to have a baby. Celestin from DRC Kinshasha who could not get a visa in time and Edward from Cameroon who also could not get a visa. Sister C is the assistant to the director in Mozambique, Samo, who could not come because he had a special meeting with the government minister who is his employer. All of those people will receive a special training session through the public affairs couples in their areas.

Elder Hamilton was the keynote speaker on Wednesday night and gave them a talk regarding the spiritual elements of their callings as public affairs national directors.

Thursday was spent in our groups. First we had the subject,  ASEA Vision and Role of Public Affairs taught by Elder Hamilton.



Then we had a presentation by Sean Donnelly on PAD Strategy and Model for 2014.    



We had a break and then worked in our groups to learn and study our topic, so we could later present the topic to the rest of the group. The facilitator was to briefly explain and direct the group, but is was supposed to be their learning experience and their presentation to the group. The topic and facilitators were:

Sister Shupe's group

Group One - Enabling Power of Christ led by Sister Shupe.

Elder Kyle's Group

Group Two - Country Plans - Why and how each country should have a Government Relations Plan. This was a French group led by Elder Kyle and a translator.

Robin Padoa's Group

Group Three - Helping Hands - Importance and planning of helping hands in your area, led by our Helping Hands SE Area newly called director, Robin Padoa.

Clark Hirschi's Group

Group Four - Messaging - Pitching and Writing Articles taught by Clark Hirschi, Area PA director from SLC.

Sister Kyle's Group

Group Five - Managing Strategic Events led by Sister Kyle. They were supposed to investigate the proper way to put on a 'Dinner for Ten', Open House, or Family Value Award in their area as a tool to affect opinion leaders in their communities.
  
Our groups worked on this for 45 minutes and then we chose a member of the group to teach the topic to the other groups. Some groups did better than others, but most went over the time limit and some did not stick to the topic...a learning experience to be improved upon for next year.





One of our groups had to sing a hymn to close out this day and they chose, "I am a Child of God and decided to sing it in all the different languages of the people in the group at the same time...English, French, Portuguese, Russian...very fun.

When we were done, we had vans ready to take groups to the mall, distribution center or temple. That evening was a free evening for the couples to meet with their PA directors over dinner at the hotel. Elder Kyle had the privilege of driving one of the vans. He did a great job!

On Friday, Sean picked everyone up at the hotel that wanted to go to the temple 6 AM session. Several of them went on this trip and they got back late for our 8:30 start time, but it was well worth it, they said. Many of these directors go for months or years before they can ever get to the temple.

This day we were out of our groups and our tables were arranged in a u-shape facing the front. WE had 40 people. They could sit where they wanted, but groups were still used for the opening and closing exercises and blessings on the food.

The schedule was changed a bit due to the late start, so we started with Elder Bybee teaching the group about public affairs councils and how to effectively use their council members.

Sister Hansen

Elder Hansen

Then Elder and Sister Hansen talked about accountability and reporting back to the area office.

Clark Hirschi teaching about new Church website

Clark Hirschi talked about the new website, opinion leader database and Gospel Library. He showed them where to find the various things they need on the website and explained the database the church has created for keeping track of key opinion leaders all over the world. We will be able to record a lot of information that will help in cases where the pubic affairs people change and another person takes over.

We nixed my presentation about Facebook and Newsroom due to time, and Clark covered some of it. but I still had to report on finances later in the afternoon. This is always a hot topic with lots of questions. At each training I hope it will sink in and all the couples will miraculously start recording it perfectly, but the reality is that these people are so busy that it will not normally be the way I want it. I need to get over it and be ready to spend extra time on it, so they don't have to spend their precious time.

Sean instituted a penalty for the last one coming back from the mid morning and mid afternoon break. This person would have to do something of Sean's choosing in front of the group. Today, Elder Humpherys and Womba both came back late, so Sean told them to come up front. He put a blonde wig on Womba and a pink boa on Elder Humpherys. Womba is a pretty sophisticated lady and Elder Humpherys is a retired rocket scientist for NASA which made this all the funnier. They were told to Sing, "Old McDonald Had a Farm" in operatic voices. They surprised us all by really trying to do this. Elder Humpherys was hilarious singing in his 'opera' voice ('and a quack quack here...')

Thomas Dube, head of African Publishing for the Church

Thomas Dube, the head of African publishing, spoke about his job of making sure that we publish in Africa more videos and printed materials that pertain more to Africa, like more Africans in photos and videos instead of people from SLC. He asked for public affairs to help identify needs and let him know about people to hire in the different areas and individual stories to be told.

Phillip, head of SE area Humanitarian Dept

Phillip the head of SE Area Humanitarian Department and his assistant Ken talked about humanitarian services that are happening all over the Southeast area and how his office is doing a better job of getting the information to Public Affairs. This helps us put to use this information for countries who do not know who we are or what we do and in many cases are saying untruths about us.




Sean then talked to the directors about building trust with different types of people and this was pretty much the most entertaining part of the day. He showed them the different personality types:
C = Cautious             D=Dominent           S=Steady             I=Influence

Cautious people have a fear of failure. They are careful, quiet, good at strategy and detail oriented. They are afraid of being seen making a mistake.

Dominent people are the street fighter types. They are curt and come across as rude. They love challenges - are doers - do it now - controlling - competitive.

Steady People are steady, listeners, reliable, organized, intuitive, agenda structured, stability, finishers, doers, like routine, integrity, faithful, loyal, afraid of lack of stability, need reassurance, over possessive.

Influence People are those who want to be liked, they want to impress, are socialites, cool, smooth, popular at parties. They like fun, variety and they change sides frequently in an argument. They are creative and adapt easily. They need social acceptance and will commit to everything. They fear social rejection. They are over trusting of people. 

Sean acted out each one of these types and was absolutely hilarious. It was a no-brainer...I am the Steady one with all of the others mixed in. Elder Kyle is such a mixture of all of them that I could not choose the dominant one of the four
.

All of the directors really liked this. It was the first time they had heard anything like this (unlike the rest of us) and I think they totally got something out of it that they can use it when meeting with opinion leaders.

Finally, we were all told about the skits we had to put on at dinner that night. Each group (different groups than day one) were given a topic that was meant to be funny. Sean had a bag of stuff we could use, such as wigs, clothing, hats, etc. and he said we could each come and grab a few things. We could also look around the room and use things to create props.  Then we got together and basically wrote a short skit on the topic we were given.

 
After practicing the skit in our groups, we ate our buffet dinner and then Sean got up with a bow tie on acting as the Oscar show host. He had two huge Oscar statues by the corner of the front of the stage.






The skits were as follows: 

Dinner of Ten Disaster skit

Dinner for Ten Disaster: That was my group and we played out a scenario where the premiere had been invited, but no one had met 'him' and others had been invited by the national director and the premiere. The PA director and his wife showed up late arguing. A woman and man were already there. They assumed the premiere was the man who actually turned out to be a pastor come to preach to us. We had a flamboyant photographer and I was the waitress for the dinner - first day on the job and very inefficient, not to mention inebriated. I loved the role...Ha.

Wheelchair handover skit

Wheelchair Handover, but the chairs show up without any wheels. This was hilarious. All they had to work with was dining chairs and a round piece of wood to pretend as the wheels. They did a great job.

Over enthusiastic Public Affairs Director Skit

Over enthusiastic public affairs director. This was played by our own Sister Shupe and she definitely deserved the award of the most overacted part. But who cares...it was funny and she told us the rest of the group directed her and told her to overact. Sister C in the green hair won best supporting actress as the assistant to the over-enthusiastic PA Director.

Inter-faith Meeting Gone Wrong Skit

Interfaith meeting gone wrong. This was my favorite. Elder Hansen played a Greek Orthodox Priest, Sister Cinquini played a nun, Pa Director from DRC played an African religion of some sort and they were funny and realistic. Their creativity with costumes was amazing.

Party Animal Department mistaken identity skit

PAD (Public Affairs Department) mistaken for PAD (Party Animal Department). No offense to Elder Kyle's group, but this was the dumbest subject, but they made the most out of it. Elder Kyle played a woman. The crowd laughed pretty hard.

And the winner is: Best Actress: Sister Kyle, Funniest Actor: Elder Kyle...The Kyle's sweep the awards and don't stick around for photographs at the end.

Sister Cinquini was great portaying a Nun

Sister Cinquini won best portrayal as a character (the nun...Sister Mary). She was raised in a catholic school. She made her 'habit' out of a chair cover and a napkin. The cross was in the bag of props, but she attached it to someone's African necklace to make a rosary. She even crossed herself when the crowd got a bit rowdy....Ha...so fun.

Roger got best Actor and didn't have to say a word.

Roger from Madagascar got best actor. (He never said a word, just carried a vacuum cleaner hose attachment around as a gun and dressed in a costume guarding the premiere. So funny!

Best Costume - Greek Orthodox Priest

Elder Hansen got best costume for his Greek Orthodox Priest outfit. They used a black feather boa for his hair and beard....too funny. 

It was great fun and I gave a great acceptance speech, laughing so hard, I had to pretend to be crying...then on the way back to my seat I tripped over the tripod lighting base and fell on my face in front of all the people there...embarrassing to the max, but by then I was hysterically laughing. I will never live this one down! Ha.

Sister Shupe with 'tallest man in the world' Aloys

It turned out very well...a lot of work, but the gratefulness of the attendees made it worth it. Sister C came up to me with tears running down her face. She had left three little ones home with her husband and tearfully told me how grateful she was for this conference and gave me a hug. Others were all excited about getting back and putting their training to use. We took lots of photos and talked and laughed a lot. Can you believe how tall Aloys is? He towered over everyone there.

Southeast Africa's National Public Affairs Directors with Elder Hamilton and wife, plus the trainers

This entire conference reminded me of a ward primary program...At the practices you think it will be the worst ever and it is so much work, you ask yourself if is is worth it, but the day of the program comes and everyone does so miraculously well that you know without a shadow of a doubt once we did all that we could do the Lord stepped in and made it right.

As a side note, the photo above originally had tables and chairs covering the legs and feet of the first two rows. I took them out and had to recreate some of the feet by copying them from one person to another...pretty funny but it looks a lot better, I think.

February 27th to March 2nd National conference plans-Elder Kyle in Botswana and more

We are getting the windows replaced in the area office and that couldn't have happened at a worse time...right in the middle of preparing for the National Public Affairs Directors Conference starting next week.  Tuesday we met with the contractors who are replacing the windows. They told us that they would have to move our desks away from the windows. We work in a corner office and have large windows on both walls of where Elder Kyle and I sit to do our work. We keep the windows open and look at the tops of trees. It is a very nice office, but not today. They were supposed to come in this morning at 7 am, so we moved all our stuff off the desks yesterday and put them in orderly piles in another place. But, when we came in this morning they had done nothing, so we got all our stuff and placed it back on our desks and got to work. Then about 11:00, they came in and said they needed to move my desk so they could replace the windows on that wall only. I again moved my stuff off the desk and they proceeded to take out the old windows and make a complete dusty mess of the office.

Elder Kyle continued to work at his desk and I had to go into the training room and work on another computer, but it had to be set up so I would have access to the network drive and my emails. That took awhile and I kept needing stuff that is normally in my desk (like paperclips, staplers, etc). I don't know how many times I had to get up to look for something. I had to access the printer down the hall, so I kept getting up to go get my documents that I printed. It was a bit crazy. Finally, we went down to the Cantina (lunchroom) for lunch. When we returned Elder Kyle's desk was moved and all his papers stacked here and there and not in his organized files. His windows had also been removed and he was not a happy camper, but came in and tried to work where I was. I helped him get his laptop working with the network, etc., but he couldn't find important documents and it was crazy for the rest of the day.

They did get all the windows up and we were hoping we could come in there an work the next day, but things were such a mess that I chose to stay in the training room until a training class came in and kicked me out...Ha. I went back to my dirty desk and tried to clean it off as best I could. They left all the windows open on my side and the traffic was pretty loud, but we could not get them to close. It was kind of nerve wracking. Patricia, our cleaning lady came in and took pity on us. She promised to come and clean early the next day so we could work, but when we came in it was a mess and she hadn't had time to come and clean yet. I started finding my stuff and trying to dust it off, but she came in and did a thorough cleaning job and vacuumed. I thanked her loads and we got things moved, so I could get to my desk and start working. About two hours later, a worker came in and moved the table by the window and tried to close the windows, but they would not close...another new window was broken. There was a guy outside the window that was breaking away some of the plaster with a wedge and hammer (bang...bang...bang...) and the guys inside were trying to screw something through the metal frame (tat,tat,tat,tat,tat...). Plus, they were making dust inside again, getting the carpet dirty and our desks dusty again.

In the midst of all this confusion, we were working hard on getting everything together for the conference, answering emails, dealing with payment requests, getting together the helping hands printed materials and dealing with the Warehouse to get the stuff mailed out to the units. Elder Kyle found out he would be going to Botswana on Saturday and the hotel got our reservations mixed up regarding our upcoming conference.

On Monday, Elder Kyle and I went to the hotel (that the church uses often, because it is close to the office and very nice). We wanted to make sure that everything was set for the conference. We met with a different lady (Lorraine) who said she was now handling our conference. She took us to the banquet room where we will be doing our training and having our meals and it was perfect for what we are doing. She seemed to be a bit confused that we were having 40 people, because she thought we were having 28. We didn't know where she got that number, but we assured her it was 40. Then she seemed to be confused about the dates, but we gave her a schedule so she would know exactly which dates and times we needed the rooms and meals and breaks. She recovered and seemed okay with everything.

The next day someone called and asked us questions that we had just discussed with the other gal the day before. We finally found out that the hotel had mixed up the conference public affairs is having with the conference family history is having at the same time. It was a big mess. On Friday, because Elder Kyle and Sean went to Botswana, they called and talked to me about how we were shown the wrong room and were supposed to be in a different part of the building. She asked if we could change rooms on Friday and I told her that Friday was the day we needed the room she showed us, because of the location and set up of the room. I told her to try and get family history to go to the other room which is actually nicer. They just got confused because all of us are from the church and they thought it was all one big conference. Ha.

Dominic Tshabalala, our South Africa National Director who works in Church employment said he talked to them and found out what was going on. When the lady told him about their confusion, he said, "Do I look like Elder Kyle? I am black and he is white...how could you have gotten us confused?" He laughed, but acted incredulous that they got so confused. He said they had a conference the year before and during the conference four members of the church from another country booked the hotel at the same time. Because they were from the church all their charges got billed to the conference, even though they were not a part of the conference. I just said TIA (This is Africa) Ha.

I hope we have rooms next week for the conference. Elder Kyle has tried so hard to keep it all straight, with the hotel reservations, plane reservations, visas, etc. Just when he thinks everything is okay, someone calls with another problem. Our director in Malawi sent a message that he didn't have his visa and what could we do. This is days after an email was sent asking everyone if they had their visas...no response until the last minute. Whew. We will both be glad when it is over and I am sure things will work out - They always do, but even when we try we cannot seem to avoid the last minute confusion.

Friday's trip with Elder Kyle and Sean to Botswana...quick trip on plane there and back in same day... to meet with the Mission President there went very well. A plan of action is being developed for that country and both of them were hopeful eventually we can be better known as a church there and the misunderstandings be addressed and solved and missionaries will be able to get their visas for longer periods of time. It is a work in progress.

Sister Shupe & Belliston providing office support

Sister Shupe returned form her 10-day trip and had a lot of work to do to get the notebooks ready for the conference. Because of jet-lag, she was just planning on working in the morning and then going back to the flat, but it turned out to be a marathon -inserting everything into the binders. She worked all day and still did not finish, even with Felly helping her, so it will wait until next week. That is Sister Shupe in the background. Sister Belliston in front has returned home to the US.

Elder Hamilton naming Robin Padoa as Helping Hands Dir.

I created the Helping Hands CD Cover and got Debbie to put them on the CDs that she copied for us after I put an envelope for French, Portuguese and English with all the Helping Hands info and posters onto the CD. I checked with the Warehouse about the mailing and ordered the envelopes to put each unit's Helping Hands Stuff in. We will get the Cds to the Warehouse on Monday and hopefully all materials will go out on Tuesday, a bit ahead of our schedule which will be nice, but we shall see. Robin Padoa and Elder Hamilton (photo on left) will be pleased when these go out to the units...big job! We have 389 English speaking units, 224 French speaking and 50 Portuguese speaking (meaning stakes, districts or missions will all get these packets to give to their units in Southeast Africa).


A funny thing that happened was that Sean sent me some photos about our wonderful Mormon professional golf ladies that keep Eyes4Zimabwe charity going. They had sent a lot of photos of them at a cargo ship docking in Port Elizabeth, but didn't say much about it. I read their website and it talked about how they get containers filled in Salt Lake through donations by members of various items the people in Zimbabwe need and how primary children make kits for the children there and write the Zimbabwe children notes and put into each kit.



I just assumed that was why they were at the cargo ship, so I wrote a generic story about what they do for Zimbabwe and put it on newsroom with the photos. Later we got this sweet note from one of these ladies telling us that they appreciate us and all we do and then very sweetly mentioned that we might want to use the attached story. The story was about the real reason they were in Port Elizabeth on that boat. It was not their containers arriving, but the company that owned the cargo ship sponsors them in their golf and their Eyes4Zimbabwe charity. They were at a golf tournament in Port Elizabeth and heard that their sponsor's ship was coming in while they were there, so they went down to see the ship. I quickly changed the story on newsroom and Facebook to their story and apologized, but their gentle hint was so priceless. These are not just first class golfers, but first class ladies as well. Cecilie on the left (in the photo above) is from Norway. Reeve on the right lives in Zimbabwe where her entire family does humanitarian work for the people of Zimbabwe. I found out after watching a video they made on utube where they played golf for 101 straight holes for charity, that Laurette in the middle has had 11 hole-in-ones and Cecilie has had five. Reeve is their coach. Amazing!

Sunday, we went to church at Secunda again. It was Fast and Testimony meeting. The people there always act so glad to see us. It is worth the 90 minute drive to get there. First up was the branch president who said: "I am glad I got to go to the temple and have a time of reflection and peace.  I enjoyed it very much. There is no other way to go back to Heavenly Father, except through Jesus Christ. All prophets testify of him. We don't know when He is coming again, but we know he will come when we least expect it. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. I love the Savior, love the Gospel and pray that we will stay on the straight and narrow."

Elder Kyle bore his testimony: "I am grateful to be here and bear testimony. I see the young men and women and I am so grateful for them. Know that you are the future of the Church. I see the Lord's hand in the work Sister Kyle and I do everyday. If we show willingness, He will provide us what we need to do His work. We don't have to be the best or the most knowledgeable.  I am grateful for the Branch President and his counselors and all they sacrifice in our behalf. I am grateful for my eternal companion and that I get to be with her forever. Not only that but my children and grandchildren. I am grateful for the temple that provides this gift."

Brother Harrison: "I was going to be the first to get up, because I am the oldest in this ward, but Elder Kyle beat me to it. Time is not standing still. Read the Ensign which had an article about a temple being built in Russia. I never thought I would see the day. I want you missionaries to look at me, the oldest person in this branch and know that if you just bring one individual into the gospel, hundreds will become members because of this. They knocked on my door four different times and finally I let them in and what a blessing that was. If you want to have peace of mind, happiness and tranquility, the gospel will bring that to you. It is the purpose and reason for everything in this life. I've been a member for 43 years. I love the Church and strive to be obedient. Jesus Christ was born in a lowly manger. He was innocent and yet they arrested him. Even Pontius Pilot could not find him guilty and yet they persecuted him and thrust a sword in his side and hung him on a cross. Even then he asked that they be forgiven. I have been to New York, Chicago and Salt Lake City to be sealed to my wife for all time and eternity. I've known her since she was 13. I sustain and acknowledge that Joseph Smith was a prophet and Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today. Coming to Church inspires me. I love Branch President Soko. The Gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is true. Many are battling outside and I pray with them and see tears in their eyes. Let us love one another and sustain our Branch President."

A young woman (Beehive-MiaMaid age) got up and said, "I know the Church is true. I know that Jesus Christ died on the cross so I can be forgive of my sins. I know this is true, because when I repent, I can feel his forgiveness. I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of this church and if we just obey him our lives will be blessed."

Brother Fourie: I am so grateful today. I know that a loving Heavenly Father looks upon us with love. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I am grateful for the gospel in my life, for my loving family. I am grateful that I can be here with you brothers and sisters. Who the Lord calls he qualifies. I am grateful for the qualified Branch President and his counselors. I know the Gospel and the Book of Mormon are true."

First Counselor: "Each person has to find their own light that will guide them back to Heavenly Father. No greater love that this to die for your friends. I know that he died for us. I am so grateful that I traveled to the temple and received the blessings that flow from there. I feel joy that we can be together as families. I testify that what we are taught there is true. All Church leaders are chosen to help you and me find out way back to His presence. It doesn't matter which language people speak...the Gospel is always true. Joseph Smith was called to restore Jesus Christ's gospel in these latter days and because of that we are able to partake of blessings that we would otherwise not see. The temple is a blessing. We are lucky that it is less than two hours away. I hope we can all be obedient and press on."

Investigator who has committed to baptism next week: "I am very grateful to join this church. The missionaries came to our home and it felt so good to hear the new word of the Gospel. I want to know more after my baptism. I will learn from you and I pray that you will teach me."

Elder from England: "One thing I have learned from my mission is there is nothing better on a mission than feeling your testimony growing stronger. We pray to find people to teach the Gospel. I am so grateful for the family that his here today. Last week we prayed that we would have someone to teach and we found a man that day that let us in his home. I know we were guided to him. He couldn't come today, but said he will come next week. I know the Savior died for us. I know that we have a prophet at this time, Thomas S. Monson and that Joseph Smith was asked to restore this Church by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I also know that if we follow the prophets we will achieve what we need in this life."

Elder Buchanan: "The last time I bore my testimony was about ten years ago. I bore it when teaching a lesson or other situations, but not in sacrament meeting. But then Brother Harrison got up and bore his testimony and the young woman got up and bore hers and I thought, 'I have no excuse not to do this.' I appreciated all the testimonies about the temple. When I was home our temple was just minutes away. I served in Zimbabwe before coming here and they don't have a temple. They wanted to plan a trip to go to the temple, but they never seemed to get one going. They didn't have the money or the time. It was a struggle to go a long distance to the temple. I love the peaceful feeling I get when I go there. Just seeing the temple makes me feel good. When I first came to the temple in Johannesburg, we had a hard time finding it. We drove around a bit and then we went around a curve and we caught sight of the temple spires and the Angel Moroni and I said, 'Ah, we've found it.' I know there is no other way this Gospel, with all the info we have, is not true. I love this church."

Non Member - First time coming to our church: "This is my first time I am here. What I know is that Jesus died for us and because of him we are all saved. I love Jesus very much, amen."

I bore my testimony and told them about Sisters Marriott and Stevens and how much they loved the people of Africa. I told them what I have learned since being here and how much we've enjoyed it and the people, that I know that our church not only believes in Jesus Christ but we follow him and do as he would do. I told them about the humanitarian work we have going on all across Africa and how we are being guided by Jesus Christ to do these things because he cares about the Africa people.

After this meeting it was announced that they have three baptisms next week and hope that we will all be there to support them. After church we shook their hands and learned that one young man had a birthday last week and his sister's birthday is the day of the baptism. I told them I would bring them cupcakes next Sunday and asked what kind. She said it didn't matter and then very softly said, "Chocolate would be nice." So, I guess I am making chocolate cupcakes next week. Maybe I will put some cream cheese frosting on top.

We pass through three toll booths to get to church each Sunday and three coming back from church. These people have the most boring job and you can tell by the way they take your money, but in December, we started giving them suckers with our money and the change was positively amazing. They started smiling and saying nice things to us...calling Elder Kyle Papa and me Mama and today one gal called him baba, which is a term of endearment. We make sure we have six suckers each Sunday and it is so much fun to lighten their lives a bit with this small gesture...plus it makes us happy too to see them smile and show gratitude for our gesture.

There is a another man that we see everyday coming home from the office. We give him money and chat to him. He is always so happy to see us and he and Elder Kyle bump knuckles and elbows for a greeting. He calls us mom and dad and tells us what is going on with him that day. He is begging for money to support his family, but is so happy all the time. I am disappointed when we miss him because the light is green or he is not there, but about every day we get an opportunity to chat.

We have special opportunities here for which we are so grateful! They just keep coming.