Tuesday April 30 - Wednesday, May 1st - Turn in car and monkey party and mongoose

Tuesday, we got our car ready to turn in. Elder Kyle cleaned it out and took out the GPS and other materials in the car, so we could trade it in for our new car, which was due Tuesday. Our car got clean, but the new one never showed up...that's Africa for you. We went to the grocery store and the bank and we had lunch again at the Italian restaurant. Elder Kyle gave the man the Bible and Book of Mormon and he was so pleased. He said, "You kept your promise," and his smile was wide with gratitude. One of the waitresses that we've seen a lot also seemed impressed. We've definitely made some friends there. Through our associations here, we've learned that there are things that seem okay in our country, but are very offensive here...for instance, you do not point your finger at anyone. That is considered demeaning (Like chastising your child). You also do not cup your hand and motion for someone to come over, as that is like calling your cattle. Elder Murdock did that once when he went to a remote area with some other couples to see a waterfall. They almost ran out of gas, so he pointed to one of the guys and then cupped his hand and motioned for him to come over. An older man on the sidelines came over and started yelling at Elder Murdock and was very angry. He didn't find out until we had the luncheon with our three PA guys that it was very offensive and he was lucky they did not hurt him...yikes. It is also rude to look someone in the eyes when you meet. You are supposed to look down. If you look them in the eyes it is saying that you are better than them. Also, you are supposed to use to hands if you give someone something or take it from them. It is considered very rude to take something with one hand. Sister Murdock gave candy to a little girl and she took it with one hand. Her mother made her give it back. When you shake hands you want to use two hands in the process to prove that you really care about the person. If a man puts his hand on the shoulder of another man, it means he thinks that man is beneath him, instead of a loving gesture in the US. We're learning.

Wednesday, we were working in our upstairs office here at the house and the trees were making lots of noise...sounded like someone was trimming branches off the trees, so we looked outside and there were dozens of monkeys jumping from branch to branch and tree to tree. We looked out of another window and there were dozens of mongoose on the ground digging for insects we think. Then we went downstairs and out the front door and a monkey jumped out of the tree on the ground right in front of me. I don't know who was startled more, me or the monkey, but I let out a little yelp and he took off. I took some pictures though of a brave one that came close to the window where I was taking photos. He was a little leery of the camera, but stayed there for awhile. They are making lots of noise today. It's a national holiday in Africa, so everyone is home from school and work. The apartment building next to us is having a party. The monkeys seem ready to party too and I saw them jump on the balcony where the music was playing loudly, but the patio door wasn't open, so he jumped back to the tree. I attached a couple of photos of the monkey party. Several monkeys were partying in the parking lot.

We've went to another couple's flat tonight for dinner. They came on their mission six months ago, but have to leave soon due to health issues. They are both close to 80 years old and this is their second mission to Africa! We had a lovely dinner, even though they said they were trying to get rid of food, because they are leaving in a few days. We then watched the movie again of the Black Pioneers in Africa. It was just as good the second time. This couple live on the 13th floor of a high-rise apartment building...quite a bit different from where we live. They have been working with the church education system to help blacks get an education...very interesting. Luckily we went with the Holts so we didn't have to drive. Ha.

Sunday, April 28 through Monday, April 29

Sunday we listened to some more of General Conference (Remember, we don't get it live here and the wards show it for several Sundays after they get the DVDs). At 1:00 we had to go to the Mission office to deliver a summary of our Public Affairs training on Saturday the 20th of April to the Coordinating Counsel meeting for Stake Presidents, being conducted by the Area 70 who taught us at the PA meeting. Both Elder Kyle and I spoke about the role of Public Affairs in the Stake and the need for it. I think it went very well. The mission president wanted to know why Swaziland and Richard's Bay were not invited to the PA meeting and we told him that we were going there to train them next week. We came home and watched some of the Priesthood session of conference and then did some reading and later watched some amazing church videos about the blacks in Africa, their heritage and church history. They were so good, that Elder Kyle ordered them on Amazon and had them sent to our home in Texas.

Monday, another preparation day, so I washed clothes. Elder Kyle vacuumed the entire place up and down, which was a great help. We then sat outside for awhile as it was a beautiful day. It's hard to explain the beauty of this country. We've seen some really poor areas and really affluent areas, but regardless of where we go, the beauty of the land shines through. This really is God's country in more ways than one.

I would love to decorate the place we are in, but keep trying to hold myself back. It is made totally out of concrete...no drywall, so they run the wires along the edge of the ceilings. You can't hand pictures very easily because of the concrete. The kitchen is painted a horrible yellow color, and the curtains on the dining area windows are circa 1970, but I am trying to not pay attention to those things. It is the decorator in me saying, "Make it Pretty, you are going to live here almost a year." But I shall resist, for now.

We have made plans for our trip to Swaziland. We'll be gone from May 10th to May 14th with a stop on the way back in Richard's Bay. We set up meetings with our public affairs directors and the Stake Presidents to do the training that the Mission President wanted us to do. It's a 6-7 hour drive to Swaziland and I'm told we will probably see some big game on the way. Giraffes are supposed to be plentiful. We are looking forward to that and we could go into a game reserve as there are a couple along the way, but I don't know if we will have time...We'll have to see how it goes.

Monday - Friday, April 22-26 anniversary-office catchup-DGH-Ladysmith

Well, we had a couple of quiet days. Monday was Preparation day, so I washed clothes, ironed shirts and we went to the grocery store and ate lunch at the mall close to our house. We ate at an Italian restaurant in the food court of the mall with a beautiful view. Elder Kyle has been communicating with a young black man that works there. The previous week, he waited on us and saw our tags. He asked about our church, so we gave him a card that gave a list of locations of the churches in town and also told him to call the number on the back for a free DVD of Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He said he called, but hadn't hear anything yet, so we asked him if he would like us to bring a Book of Mormon to him. He said he would, but also wanted us to bring a Bible to him.

Tuesday we worked most of the day in our office upstairs and coordinating a venue for a concert by a church member, Emmy Award Winning pianist. We are booking him in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. It's our job to find venues in Durban and Cape Town. We've been coordinating our Public Affairs people here and in Cape Town trying to find a place that is not already booked. He is coming at his own expense and bringing some of his students and giving free concerts and a fireside to the stakes in these areas of South Africa.

We will also be involved in a major Public Affairs project in the New Castle District, in the town and area known as Ladysmith. Ladysmith is the very heart and center of some of the major conflicts and wars between the Afrikaans, the Vortrekkers, and the Zulu. The history of this area effecting all of the races is phenomenal.  This escaping of the Afrikaans and Vortrekker people from religious and physical persecution, and their oxcart and wagon migrations, was in full swing here in South Africa at the same time of the persecution of the English, Dutch, Welch, etc.  early American saints as they were being driven and persecuted in the western hemisphere. The two situations and histories are nearly identical with the white skinned people, for religious purposes, displacing the native peoples that had lived there for generations, and the conflicts that proceeded from each.

The plan is to hold a parade and historical/cultural event in Ladysmith, working with the Dept of History, the city and community leaders, the Historical Societies from New Castle to Petermaritzburg to Durban, and the Zulu, Sotho, and xhosa groups, The event would include an all cultural parade with 6 Co-Grand Marshalls , with people pulling handcarts and ox carts, people parading in their culture clothing, gathering at the Oval, (center of town) a parade down main street, and then turn and end at “The Bend in the River”  where the original Toll House was, which still stands today,  where people had to “pay” to enter town. This Bend in the River is a very historical location including a major part of the resistance forces during the siege of Ladysmith. There is a large park area along the river, directly across from and in front of, the Ladysmith Chapel. The parade would end there, at the park and chapel area and include on Open house on church grounds that day after the parade.

Elder Kyle in Pavilions Mall

Wednesday was our anniversary, so we took the day off (after checking our emails and making some phone calls). We decided to do something American, so we went to a four-story mall, called the Pavilions and saw a movie in their 16 screen theater. We then went to dinner at a place in the mall. I had nachos (I think). They were quite a bit different than I was used to. They were made from Seasoned Doritos with cheese and cottage cheese on top with smashed avocado (known as AVO in Africa) and tomatoes. I also had a salad and Everett had 'spicy' chicken that was not spicy and fries. They serve fries with everything here and they call the 'chips'. It wasn't anything special, but nice to get out of the house/office for awhile. Elder Kyle didn't even complain about driving. ha.

The biggest mall we have ever seen! Sky painted ceiling!

Thursday was catch up day for the things we didn't do yesterday and Friday I had to see the doctor again about the rash on my face. He declared me healed and said I could stop using the cream and antihistamines. Yipee! All in all, a pretty good week.

Sunday, April 21st - In Phoenix

Garbage Dump Neighborhood

The Murdocks wanted to go to Phoenix to attend church today and we said, Great, we love Phoenix. Then they told Elder Kyle that he had to drive...whoops! He knows where Phoenix is but was not quite sure how to get there by car...hmmm. Believe it or not, there is a town called Phoenix in South Africa...amazing. It is actually a mostly Indian city (whoa...another similarity)...East Indian. We started off for Phoenix and right off the bat, the GPS took us to the wrong place. Apparently, there used to be a road going through to the freeway right by the garbage dump, but it's under construction, so we got a tour of the dump and the people who live there...They really do live there, in homes they have built out of various pieces of garbage. If you could see this photo up close, you would see cardboard homes with metal or cardboard roofs, each one very imaginative. They've built a whole town and nobody seems to mind that their town is around the dump. Apparently garbage day is an exciting time for them, as they dig through to see what treasures may be in the new load of garbage that can improve their home or situation. There are hundreds of homemade structures on the hill surrounding the dump!

We got to Phoenix and realized that they hold church in rooms on the second floor of a reform school. We got there a few minutes late, due to our tour of the dump. When we arrived we drove through a path towards a run-down school building. We drove right up on the grass/mud area. There was a member of the ward in a lawn chair guarding the cars that were parked there. We squeezed through the fence and climbed up to the second floor. The door to the room where they hold their sacrament service was closed and we discovered when we opened it that they were showing General Conference with a laptop computer, small projection machine and white sheet over the blackboard. The members were packed into plastic lawn chairs in rows close together watching the conference. We found a place to sit and realized it was the one session that we had already seen. We've now watched that one session three times. It's what happens when you go from ward to ward and aren't able to see Conference until two-three weeks after it happens. The amazing thing...though the room was hot, the chairs uncomfortable and the picture hard to see, there was not a sound in the room. The children sat there without making a sound and the adults were very attentive. I couldn't help but compare that with our beautiful buildings and noisy members and children. No children were being fed
Cheerios or given books to color. They were all sitting there looking perfect in their Sunday best quietly watching conference. Wow. This group of members whose ancestors are from India have been trying to get a new chapel for some time, but cannot find the land that will work for the members and the church. We met with the Branch President between sessions and he said a counselor in the area presidency had taken over trying to negotiate for land. He has lived in South Africa for a long time and is a realtor. They seemed encouraged that he was taking it on.  We offered our support if they needed us. A member came around with a Tupperware dish with cornbread in it and asked us if we wanted some cake. The people in that ward are so optimistic and when you consider they live in a city of Indians that are Hindu, you realize that it is not easy for them to be Mormon in that community. Academicians have often joked of Durban being the largest Indian city outside India. Once home to the young Mahatma Gandhi, Durban has more overseas Indians than any other city outside India. This photo was taken in the Indian spice market.

We left for the airport to take the Murdocks to catch their flight back to Johannesburg. Then we went home to rest up from our whirlwind experience with the Murdocks...fun though.

Saturday, April 20th - Meetings

We got up and I fixed french toast for breakfast, then we went with the Murdocks to Victoria's market again, so they could get something they saw the last time they were in Durban. Elder Kyle said we could take them there if Elder Murdock would agree to drive. Downtown Durban is very busy on Saturdays and there are hundreds of pedestrians (all with dark skin). There is also the taxi district where dozen of white vans that they call Taxis pick up these pedestrians and take them home. If you get caught in the middle of that, you may never get out, so we let the experienced driver take the wheel. He did admit that the only driving he has done in Johannesburg is driving to and from the area office which is ten minutes away from their flat. He is as afraid of driving in Johannesburg as we are in Durban. After a few purchases...I bought a tablecloth and a necklace...we took Elder Murdock around the corner to a tailor to get fitted for his new suit. A custom suit $250-300 with a silk lining that contains the big five game on it...very cool, but beyond our budget.

We then went to lunch at Roma's restaurant downtown. It is on the 32nd floor and revolves, so the views are amazing and prices are really good for Delicious food. We had a mini meeting before our meeting at lunch with Dominic Tshabalala (National Director of Public Affairs for South Africa), Sipho Duma (Hillcrest Stake Director of Public Affairs ),  Sibusiso Mathe (Durban Stake Director of Public Affairs), the Murdocks and us. These are some amazing black men and very funny too. Plus, they can really eat! We had a great time and the view from up there was just fantastic. The place kept turning, so every time I looked out the window the view was different.


We then hurried home to get ready for our meeting. We picked up tablecloths and paper goods, then went to the store to get snack food and water. We then hurried off to the Chapel for our meeting. We got everything set up and ready to go.

Subject: Bi-Stake PA Meeting 4/20/13 -Conducting: Elder Murdock, Opening Prayer: Elder Kyle
Introductions:  Elder Murdock - Area Public Affairs...Sister Murdock - Area Public Affairs... Elder Kyle - Durban Public Affairs...Sister Kyle - Durban Public Affairs...Clive Reddy - Hillcrest (PA Interfaith)...Mpume Shangase - Hillcrest (PA Government)...Sipho Duma - Hillcrest Stake PA Director...President Patrick Thwala - Hillcrest Stake Presidency...Graham Sabela - Hillcrest, Bishop of Pinetown Ward...Meridan Creak - Hillcrest (PA Media)... Siphosiso Mathe - Durban Stake PA Director...Shareen McDonald - Durban (PA Media)...President Ray Holder - Durban Stake Presidency...President Charles Magaqa - Durban Stake Presidency...Dominic Tshabalala - National PA Director... Nokuthula Zikalala - PA Director Newcastle District - Spiritual Thought: Dominic Tshabalala - Elder Mkhabela:  Taught us about our  PA responsibilities to aid the stake President and he spoke about General Conference and how he got to shake all the apostle's hands. It was a moving story. Elder Murdock talked about:  Everything we do in Public Affairs comes down to Relationships.  What another person thinks of you and the Church will govern what you are able to accomplish. Call on Public Affairs for help!  Public Affairs councils are  here to help the inspired work of the Stake Presidency.

Then Elder Mkhabela turned towards me after the meeting was over and said, "Sister Kyle, you and Elder Kyle will be expected to summarize what just happened in this meeting to our Coordinating Council of Stake Presidencies and Area Presidency on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. So, we'll be reporting a week from tomorrow on this meeting. Of course, I said we would.

Friday, April 19th - Murdocks again?

Today, we are picking up the Murdocks from the airport. They are flying in for the Area Public Affairs meeting on Saturday. This means another adventure in driving for Elder Kyle. We woke up and it is raining...looks like it will be that way all day. Then we figure out that their flight comes in about 5:15 pm (RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC)...so two strikes against driving. We wrap up our emails and phone calls for the day and make sure everyone knows about the meeting tomorrow. We head off for the airport at 5 pm giving ourselves 45 minutes, which should be plenty. Of course we have to use the GPS, because we have no idea where the airport is. I look on the airport settings and see Durban International Airport...yeah...that must be it, so I program it to follow those directions. We drive for about 30 minutes in the rain and traffic and the GPS points us to turn left and says we are at destination. We drive in and OOPS...doesn't look like an operating airport...fences everywhere and no sign of planes. Now we are nervous, so we see a taxi with two women in it coming out of one of the gates and we tell her we are supposed to be at the airport. She says, "Oh no, you are no where near the airport and she tells us to go back out on the freeway, going the other way and keep going until we arrive at King Shaka International Airport. The one the GPS took us to was closed down about ten years ago! By now the traffic is even worse, we are on the left side of the road and it is pouring down rain. I say, "What else could happen?" AND, we hit construction! After we pass that, we continue down the freeway and the cell phone rings. Elder Murdock is telling us they have just landed...I say, "Sorry, but we're not there and have 45 more kilometers before we get there. I agree to call when we are about there. The miracle is that we arrived about 15 minutes late...not so bad considering we went 30 minutes in the wrong direction. GPS's are so much fun.

The Murdocks took us to dinner at a seafood restaurant called Ocean Basket. This platter is only $11.00! We talked about their experiences in Johannesburg and how they have to go to Zimbabwe on Monday and then off to Kenya, Ghana and Congo all to help set those countries up with their own Mormon Newsroom. All Sister Murdock wanted to do to live in Durban again. They are overloaded with office work. We just smiled and said, sorry guys, but inwardly thinking, "Glad it's you and not us." Ha. We then went back to our flat and they slept in our spare room. Wow, what a day!

Monday April 15-Thursday, April 18th - writing stories for newsroom-misc

On Monday, we went through all our Durban public affairs emails and calendared various items. One of our priorities is to acquire a location for the David Glen Hatch concerts that will be performed here in August. He is an Emmy award winning pianist and his CDs are for sale in all the church bookstores. He is bringing some of his students, at his own expense, to do a concert tour starting in Johannesburg and then to Durban and Cape Town. He has offered to do these concerts for free and even pay for the venue, if needed. He is also offering to do a youth fireside while he is here in all the locations. We contacted our public affairs people here in Durban and got them going on looking for a location. We also contacted our Cape Town contacts and tried to find out what was happening with the University down there...where we hope to secure a location. It turned out to be a lot harder than we thought, even though the concert is free. We are thinking about turning it into a charity event, where entrance is a couple of cans of food,which we will donate to a local charity in each of the venues. We are in the planning stages but lots of work needs to be done. This will be a continuing process for the next few months.

New branch in Leribe, Lesotho celebrates with Von Stettens

The mission president called and asked me to stop by the mission office. He wanted me to write a story about the new Branch in Leribe, Lesotho for the Mormon Newsroom for South Africa. This was a surprise, but I figured the Mission President wants me to write a story, I'll write a story. We went to the office before lunch and Sister Holt (the mission secretary) gave me her account of the beautiful ceremony and how happy the people were for the new Branch. They have been meeting in a rented business office. You can see the story here: http://www.mormonnewsroom.co.za/article/leribe--lesotho--group-achieves-branch-status

We went to the mall afterwards to pick up some groceries (All grocery stores here are located in malls where you have to park, take a ticket and pay for the parking when you are done). Most parking anywhere is paid parking, but not all that expensive. I finished up the story and sent it to the newsroom where Sister Murdock edited and took out stuff that the News Media would not understand (church terms) or gave explanations for those items. The newsroom is basically a place for the media to find out what is going on with our church. The same article with lots of stuff added will go in the Liahona. I didn't get to go to the ceremony, but I had met most of the people, so it was fun to write about it.

Flyer I am working on for Lotus FM

Tuesday, I got busy creating a web page for Lotus FM radio station for our wheelchair give-a-way. I spent most of the day on that one trying to create it in a rather weak software that we have in the office. I really miss my graphic software at home, but it turned out okay. Everett is working on getting to know names and faces. It is so hard to pronounce names and accents are so thick that we cannot understand what they are saying when they call. It is rather embarrassing, but it gets easier every day. Hopefully they understand and will be patient with us.We get up each day, get dressed in our Sunday clothes, put on our missionary badges and go into our upstairs office. It is nice not to have to travel to an office. The Durban/Cape Town public affairs office is actually in our flat. We have a great office computer and printer. Loads of church supplies, maps on the walls, filing cabinets full of stuff and we work from 8-9 am until about 6 pm at night making phone calls, answering emails and going to meetings.

We occasionally take a break and go to lunch at the mall, or to the dry cleaners or drugstore, but this is a full time job! Wednesday at 2:30, we headed off to meet with the member from Umlazi that is putting on the Mother's Day Event. She told us to meet her at Mega City, so we found an Umlazi Mega City on the GPS and headed off for that location. It just happened to be raining and schools were getting out, so lots of car and foot traffic, but we got to our destination and it was a huge liquor store. That didn't seem right, so instead of getting out, we called Zanele and she said we were at the wrong place. We call our GPS Liah, after Liahona and she is very helpful, but sometimes, she is way off. After several phone calls and a few wrong turns we finally met up with Zanele at a fast food place, called Spur. Three other people showed up, including the manager of the restaurant. They all wanted to help her. We had a good meeting, but I left there wondering how in the world she will be able to pull this thing off. I had agreed to call the radio station to get their support, as we have a good relationship with them, so I got to work as soon as we got back to the office and immediately emailed everyone involved and Elder Kyle tried to check with the Bishop to make sure this project was OK'd by him and we put out feelers to the other Public Affairs people in that area.

Lotus FM wanted all kinds of disclaimer stuff on the web page, so I redid the web page to include that. Just another day in Africa!