March 9th - It's Sunday at Secunda Branch...raining again. I think it has rained every Sunday since we've started going to this branch, except for once. It's okay, because Elder Kyle has lots of experience driving in the rain. Ha.
Elder Cummings (from England) talked about baptism. He said when he thinks of baptism it makes him very happy. He remembers the Lord saying, "Follow thou me and keep my commandments" and he points out that being baptized is one of those commandments. He said he felt bad that he didn't remember the name of the person that baptized him. He said when he gets back, he will look it up and always remember that person's name. "For those of you getting baptized today, don't forget our names - otherwise we will be really hard to find when you want to reach us to say, "Thank you for changing my life for the better." How wonderful to know that with baptism, we are forgiven and can renew our covenants each week by taking the sacrament.
Counselor in Branch Presidency: He spoke of his testimony of missionary work. In the teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith, as a father he sent a letter to his sons, Douglas and Milton. It said, "I sit and reflect at times and I think of the Lord and what He did for me. I shall love Him all that I can. I have not beheld the Savior, but it is not necessary. I have felt the spirit and it enlighten me and I know Him. How wonderful is this love. How can I knowing what He did for me...How could I not love Him?" I wrote this to my sons in the mission field.
When serving his mission in England, he had a hard time bearing his testimony, but the more he did it the easier it became. When Alma said, "Oh that I were an angel..." I feel the same about missionary work. This is a calling for each one of us. When the missionaries knocked on our door we answered their call. They asked us to pray and we found the truth. It was then we realized that this is an everlasting calling, to do missionary work. In verse 9, "I do not glory of myself...this is my joy."
It's not by our intelligence or being a good speaker, but by the spirit, "Behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ...and through Him I will gain everlasting life." Do not just invite people to church, but invite them to have everlasting joy. Col 3:23 tells us how. "And whatsoever ye do..." Heavenly Father does not forget anything. He wants us to know that when we do missionary work it is for the Lord.
We have friends, people that we know. Imagine after this life that your friends come up to you and ask why you didn't tell them about the Gospel. When the young missionary talks about Gospel topics, he has tears in his eyes and I think, "What a testimony this guy has. I wish I could tap into his spirit and have what he has. when my lamp is running low or my oil is low. I know this Church is true and that someone is out there looking for the truth just as I was. I pray that we may have the courage to follow the spirit and find those souls who are waiting for the truth.
Branch President: President Hinkley said we can hear the same music over and over again and enjoy it, but when we speak to congregations, they expect us to tell them something they don't know or haven't heard before. I remember the Elder that baptized me. We do receive joy when we are baptized, not just for the living, but the Lord is mindful of those that are to come and those who have gone before.
My wife's mother used to keep records of finances. She would look at the ledger and realize her expenses were lower than expected. As we live the law of tithing, it blesses us with many things - protection for us and others. I would like to testify about my love of tithing. We can obtain many diverse blessings if we are faithful and observant. 1 Cor 2:14, But the Nature of man...." We receive a spiritual gift of gratitude. A grateful person is rich in contentment. An ungrateful person continually seeks contentment, but cannot find it. We might want and expect a job offer, but Heaven may teach us to seek to better ourselves by changing our own circumstances rather than expecting this from someone else.
"Three years ago when I joined the Church, my wife was expecting and we had many financial demands upon us; however, we never stopped paying our tithing. Whenever we got really stretched, miracles would happen and we got through it. I know now it was because we paid tithing.Isaiah 55: 8-10 "My thoughts are not your thoughts..." Sitting in this nice beautiful building, I know that the quorum of the twelve apostles disposes of the funds of the church to construct chapels, temples, do missionary work humanitarian work and much more. I've learned and observed two fixed principles: The Church always lives within its means. A portion is set aside for contingencies. Your budget should involve setting aside money for emergencies. The honest payer of tithe is more than a duty. By obedience of his law, the wonders of heaven will be opened. With the Lord, all things are possible."
This young man is a great example to us, as he serves in the bishopric and expresses his sweet testimony. The Africans are so humble and spiritual. It's no wonder that Heavenly Father is so focused on Africa right now.
After Church we had a baptism of three members of a family. The non-member parents came and were very nice to support their children in their decision. The whole ward (almost) stayed to watch the baptism. I had promised to bring cupcakes because it was the birthday of a little girl being baptized. They were a big hit with all the members and the missionaries too.
This branch is having lots of baptisms now, so it is growing and will soon not resemble the small branch that we started attending during Christmas Season last year.Elder Cazier on the right sang a duet with Brother Harrison to honor the newly baptized members. What sweet spirits these guys have. They bore their testimony and it was so sweet.
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| The Harrisons, longtime members of the branch |
This is Brother Harrison and his wife. He is a great singer and quite a character. He calls Elder Kyle the second oldest member in the ward and explains that he is the oldest. He has polio that came back from having it as a child, so he has difficulty getting around. Elder Kyle helps him to the car when he is ready to leave. I think we've made a new friend. Cupcakes were enjoyed by all, especially by those getting baptized.
Wednesday, March 19th - Elder Kyle makes trip alone to Botswana to meet with National PA Director and Stake President to further completion of Botswana Country Plan. That left me alone that night which was very strange considering we've been together continually for over a year on this mission. He came home the next day after a successful trip.
Saturday, March 22nd - We joined with two other missionary couples, the Shupes and Barnes to go on a tour of Soweto township. This historical community has been written about and visited by many.
Here is a brief history: Soweto, which stands for South Western Townships, is an urban area within the South AFrican city of Johannesburg. It was largely formed during the implementation of apartheid in the mid-20th century when white South African leadership forcibly displaced blacks from the central part of the city. 
Across the street from Mandela's Soweto house was this restaurant. The guide told us that there wasn't much to see in Mandela's house, so we did not get out of the car.Nelson Mandela lived in a typically compact house there from 1946 until he was sentenced to prison in 1963 (and then for a bit when he got out), but Soweto wasn't internationally known until 1976, when student protests sparked by the planned implementation of the ruling calss's Afrikaans as the language of high school instruction resulted in a police crackdown, including the death of 12-year-old Hector Pieterson just blocks from Mandela's house where his wife Winnie still lived.
We had a great tour guide (member of the Church), who lived there during this crisis. We met him at the Missionary Training Center and went inside the adjacent offices to the insitute room and he started off by giving us some history of those times and the emotions of those who lived in that area. The Soweto Neighborhoods , along with their different ethnic groups, social classes and personalities all speak their own native languages at home, even though everyone studies English in school. Sometimes they communicate with each other in a mixture of languages called Sowetan. Our guide was emotional as he explained how they were treated and how blacks from that area had to show a pass to go anywhere outside the area. If you did not have a pass, you were taken to a jail cell. 
He took us to one of the Church buildings that was the first Church building in that area. It was a very nice building in a decent area. How nice to see our building there. We got out and stretched our legs and took some photos.We felt good to know that the Gospel was in Soweto and going strong even though most residents are members of other religions.
We then went to the Hector Pieterson Museum which uses video footage, photographs and newspaper clips to recount the 1976 protests, the ensuing crackdown and issues behind them. We saw the video clips and photos on the wall that showed the hoards of school children as they started their peaceful march through town. Though they were school children there were thousands of them, so they made the police nervous. A shot was fired and a child killed, which caused the crowd to run out of control to get away from whoever was shooting. Hector Pieterson picked up the child who was shot and bleeding and carried him from the area. A reporter took a photo and made Hector a hero and now a museum is named after him with his photo displayed out front.
It was hard to watch the newsreels depicting the conflict, hearing interviews with white people who openly said that blacks were were lower than them, to see photos of white men in a car with rifles shooting out the windows at blacks in a neighborhood. Seeing black children angry and scared starting cars on fire and going after the whites. Most of the children just wanted a peaceful demonstration to show how wrong it was for them to be taught in the Afrikaans language. 
They knew their learning would take longer, because that language was a difficult one to learn and their learning would be inferior to those of the white races who already knew it. Many died in the conflict, but also the world heard about it and finally were outraged at the way the blacks were being treated. This helped bring things along and eventually brought the whites together with Mandela where apartheid was ended.
We went to a restaurant close by to order our lunch and then while we were waiting for it to be prepared, our guide took us to a church that was also affected by the conflict between blacks and whites. Many of the blacks would hide in the church and the police would fire shots inside the church. The guide at the Church showed us the bullet holes in the ceiling and the windows that had been replaced.
Mandela was depicted in the stain glass windows and also Hector Pieterson was shown as the window told a story of the conflict.
The guide told Elder Kyle to stand in a certain spot and then explained that Mandela had stood in the very same spot. He also explained that Michele Obama visited them and filled the place. There were other celebrities too. It is a famous Catholic Church. While we were there, the choir was practicing and singing their native chants. It was very nice.
There was a also a piece of art depicting a black Madonna, one of the few in the world. The painting had other meanings too which the guide explained to us.
The tour was very informational and the guide was pretty entertaining. We really got a feel for what it must have been like to be hiding in the Church during this conflict. It was a hard time in Soweto.
We then traveled back to the restaurant where our food was ready for us. Our guide got Tripe (yuk). He let Elder Kyle taste it and he thought it was good too. No one else thought so.
While we were eating, a group of five young men danced for us to music from a boom box and then they came in and collected donations. They were really good and we appreciated being entertained. Our guide did not charge for our tour, so we bought him lunch which he ate and also a take out meal for later. It was well worth it.
We left the restaurant and met some ladies in their church wear (Zionist) walking down the sidewalk who wanted their pictures taken with all of us so some of us obliged. They were pretty funny. Our car was parked across the street in a fenced area with artwork graffiti on the fence and walls.
We learned something and had a great time - a nice outing for our P-day!
