Sunday, February 23, 2014 Secunda Ward & following week

On February 23rd, Sunday, we were back in Secunda Ward and the Branch President was so happy to see us. I don't think he is sure that we are part of the ward yet, even though we have only missed one Sunday. It's nice that he likes us to be there. This particular Sunday Elder Kyle and I spoke in Sacrament meeting. My talk was about Heavenly Father's divine plan for us and how part of that plan is us reaching our divine potential, to keep moving forward  and steadily improving by pushing ourselves beyond what is comfortable. I gave the example I heard in our devotional and expanded upon it.

A fable is told about an eagle who thought he was a chicken. When the eagle was very small, he fell from the safety of his nest. A chicken farmer found the eagle, brought him to the farm, and raised him in a chicken coop among his many chickens. The eagle grew up doing what chickens do, living like a chicken, clucking, pecking and scratching the ground and believing he was a chicken.



A naturalist came to the chicken farm to see if what he had heard about an eagle acting like a chicken was really true. He knew that an eagle is king of the sky. He was surprised to see the eagle strutting around the chicken coop, pecking at the ground, and acting very much like a chicken. The farmer explained to the naturalist that this bird was no longer an eagle. He was now a chicken because he had been trained to be a chicken, he believed that he was a chicken and he was comfortable being a chicken.

The naturalist knew there was more to this great bird than his actions showed as he “pretended” to be a chicken. He was born an eagle and had the heart of an eagle, and nothing could change that. The man lifted the eagle onto the fence surrounding the chicken coop and said, “Thou art an eagle. Stretch forth thy wings and fly.” The eagle moved slightly, only to look at the man; then he glanced down at his home among the chickens in the chicken coop where he was comfortable. He jumped off the fence and continued doing what chickens do. The farmer was satisfied. “I told you it was a chicken,” he said.

The naturalist returned the next day and tried again to convince the farmer and the eagle that the eagle was born for something greater. He took the eagle to the top of the farmhouse and spoke to him: “Eagle, thou art an eagle. You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” The large bird looked at the man, then again down into the chicken coop. He jumped from the man’s arm onto the roof of the farmhouse.

Knowing what eagles are really about, the naturalist asked the farmer to let him try one more time. He would return the next day and prove that this bird was an eagle. The farmer, convinced otherwise, said, “It is a chicken.”

Are there any ways that you see yourself as a barnyard chicken and are not aware of your potential grandeur? You could soar like an eagle. What would that look like for you? Like the eagle, we are afraid to be different and step away from what is comfortable. We are worried about what others think of us or worried that we might fail…that we are not good enough and so we do not reach our full potential.

The naturalist returned the next morning to the chicken farm and took the eagle and the farmer some distance away to the foot of a high mountain. They could not see the farm nor the chicken coop from this new setting. The man held the eagle on his arm and pointed high into the sky where the bright sun was beckoning above. He spoke: “Thou art an eagle! Thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth thy wings and fly.” This time the eagle stared skyward into the bright sun, straightened his large body, and stretched his massive wings. His wings moved, slowly at first, then surely and powerfully. With the mighty screech of an eagle, he flew.

When we came to this earth from our comfortable home in Heaven, we had high hopes. I can imagine us telling our Heavenly Father that we would make him proud of us, that we would be faithful and would never forget him. When we were in his presence we could not even imagine that we would do otherwise, but then a veil was put over our eyes, so that we could not remember our home in Heaven or the promises we made. We had to start over and search for the truth.

Our Father in Heaven knows each of us and our potential. He wants us to fly, but often we are more comfortable with the chickens and afraid to let go of the life of a chicken by opening our wings to fly. If we cannot stretch our wings, we will remain with the chickens and miss out on the wonders that are ours above.

President Uchtdorf said, "Either you are committed or you are not. Either you are moving forward or you are standing still. There is no half way. We all face moments that will change our lives. As members of the Church, we must ask ourselves, will I dive in or just stand at the edge? Will I step forward or merely test the temperature of the water with my toes." 

(Will I fly with the eagles or peck with the chickens?)

In some way each of us stands at a decision point overlooking the water or looking up to the sky, It is my prayer that we will have faith, move forward, face our fears and doubts with courage to stand up for what we believe, to live up to our potential, to stay true to the faith so that we will end up at our celestial destination, enveloped in our Heavenly Father's arms.

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Elder Kyle's talk was on Revelation and he referred a lot to the book by Gerald Lund, "Hearing the Voice of the Lord (Principles and Patterns of Personal Revelation". He said typically personal revelation comes as warnings and cited as examples Joseph in a dream was warned that Herod would seek to kill the baby Jesus and was told that he needed to take his family to Egypt. Lehi was also warned in a dream that the people of Jerusalem were going to kill him and that he needed to flee into the wilderness. He told a story about Elder Milton R. Hunter, a member of the First Quorum of Seventy. He was on assignment in Southern Mexico. Finished with their business in one location they boarded a small single engine plane to fly several hundred miles to Tuxta in Chiapas Mexico. They would travel over rugged mountains and dense jungle. Elder Hunter recorded this: "We had traveled a few hours when darkness came on suddenly, as it does in the tropics. Just as suddenly, the Holy Spirit told me that if we did not change course quickly, we would all get killed. I immediately told the pilot that we were going in the wrong direction. A very depressing, dark feeling came over me - gloom and despair. The pilot asked, 'President Hunter, which direction should we go?' I replied, 'Turn immediately to the right and go north.' The pilot turned and a sweet, peaceful feeling came into my heart. The Holy Spirit let me know that all would be well. We landed safely a short time later. We then learned that another plane on the same route had crashed into a mountain killing all aboard."

Another type of spiritual revelation (hearing the Lord's voice) is spiritual self-reliance. Dallin H. Oaks said, "Revelation from God - the teachings and directions of the spirit - are not constant. We believe in continuing revelation, not continuous revelation. We were often left to work out the dictation of specific direction of the Spirit. This is the part of the experience we must have in mortality. We do not rely on revelation to know what type of toothpaste to buy. Revelation is plentiful for you. The Lord answers your prayers. How are you doing accepting the answers? This is important, because it ultimately determines if revelation continues, if prayers continue to be answered. We don't persist in prayer to change God's mind. We persist in prayer to change our hearts.

D&C76:5-7, 10

For thus saith the Lord - I, the Lord am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth to the end. Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory. And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom. For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will - yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.

It was a really good talk.

The next week, Elder Kyle dealt with the trip to Salt Lake City for Ukhozi FM (based in Durban). There are some government people from Durban who would like to go to learn about things the church does to grow food and distribute, plus other humanitarian services, so Elder Kyle is coordinating that effort with the help of our dear friend Sipho, Hillcrest Stake PA Director in Durban. This is something Elder Bednar discussed with a government official when he was in Durban.

One of the heads of Public Affairs in Salt Lake is coming for the National Director's conference and he and our new South Africa Public Affairs Director, plus four people from Humanitarian will be making a trip to Durban to finalize plan for the SLC trip.

Elder Kyle is also flying to Botswana this weekend with Sean to go speak to the Mission President down there. We are still working on the country plan for Botswana and they think the Mission President can help them finalize the document, by making sure they are covering the things he thinks are important.

This gives you an idea of how busy we are, since I probably only listed half of what we are doing, but there is a feeling of satisfaction that we are accomplishing great things. We got a good report back from the Congo visitors and Family History department feels the Congo visit is already opening doors to other countries who now want their records digitized. The work rolls forward! We're just trying to keep up!

Monday, February 17, 2014 - Planning National Public Affairs Conference & Misc tasks

Monday, February 17 was the beginning of a busy week. Planning of the National Public Affairs Conference is now in full swing. We have a director from each of the following countries coming to our conference the first week of March: Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, Mauritius, Cameroon, DRCongo (Kinshasha), DR Congo (Lumbumbashi),  Zimbabwe, Botswana, Madagascar, Reunion, Angola, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burundi, Namibia, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Rwanda, Malawi and South Africa. That pretty much covers Southeast Africa (which is the narrow part from the center of Africa downward). Elder Kyle has spent a lot of time with the Church travel person and between the two of them they have dealt with visa problems, requests for stamped and signed letters from the leader of our Church, Formal invitations to the conference and proof of our hosting them while they are here. Each country seems to have to produce something different. Plus, we've had one director have to cancel because of work and he suggested his assistant come in his place. Another is having a baby and one has been released and a new public affairs director called, so tickets have had to be changed or cancelled, new ones issued, etc.

Elder Kyle has also booked all the rooms at the hotel and reserved our training rooms there, plus all meals. It's a big job with new problems cropping up each day. The public affairs couples from DR Congo, Zambia, Uganda, Durban and Kenya are also coming a couple of days early. They each have different requests for days they want to arrive and leave, so they are basically keeping Elder Kyle hopping!

We finally got all the Helping Hands materials translated in French and Portuguese and to the printer and hope to get that mailed out next week to all the units in Africa (about 1100 units...another big job), but the Church Warehouse has experience sending lesson manuals etc., so they will be mailing them out for us. I am working on  getting a CD created with all printed materials on them, in case they need more they can print them.

I was sick for a couple of days, but Elder Kyle and Sister Shupe kept the office running like a well-oiled machine. The Area Office wanted us to update some country sheets and Elder Kyle told them his graphic arts person was sick at home, but between him and Sister Shupe, they took care of it. I feel like a proud mom. Ha.

We've had lots of meetings with the Area Presidency, Visa Committee, Humanitarian, Public Affairs in office and others. Sometimes it seems that's all we do, but most of it is necessary. They decided to replace the windows in our building, so the past two days have been noisy and dusty. One day we had to leave our office entirely, but today we were back, listening to pounding going on outside the window, but we're just glad to be back at our desks.

I've posted a couple of articles to Newsroom and Facebook this week and approved a few other for the other country newsroom websites. I've been checking out flowers and cakes for Ryan's upcoming wedding. Of course reimbursements, etc. for all the countries is a regular occurrence and I've done several of them, plus reconciled Bank of America charges for all the couples. It was a busy, but good week!

Sunday, February 16th, 2014 Stake Conference

Sunday, February 16 we attended stake conference. The building was nice and like last week packed! The first speaker was a young woman who spoke about the author Jones who wrote about young adults seeing marriage as a cottage with a perpetually young and beautiful wife and handsome, strong, adoring husband. After they get married, they each think they have been robbed...this person isn't so perfect.

Marriage is essential to Heavenly Father's plan, but young people should neither want or expect the perfect partner. That is an invitation to disappointment. Only when you are perfect can you be perfect. In today's world, it is easier to get married than to get a license to drive a car. Marriage is  a risky business. It requires careful planning, praying and forgiveness. Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other. Love is not merely a feeling, but a deep unity. Don't just pray to find the one you love; pray to love the one you marry. Value and help each other an equal partnership. Don't expect marriage to be 'Eden-like'. There will always be differences. How you handle the differences will determine the success of your marriage.

I should like to urge continued courtship throughout your marriage. Polish your marriage until it becomes new again.

The next speaker was the Temple President's wife and Temple Matron, Sister Eppel. She spoke about the temple being a place of prayer, meditation and worship, a place where we go to experience joy and gratitude, especially when we have trials.

Temple President Eppel said, "I want to invite you on a journey to take sweet counsel for every individual today. On the temple is written, 'Holiness to the Lord - Holiness to God'. When you enter you feel a sense of peace, kindness, love and patience...a refuge from problems, a way to set aside the temporal world. Inside the temple, everyone is equal.

On Saturday morning, many youth come to the temple to perform baptisms. They have a look in their eyes of love and humility. As I speak to them, scriptures come into my mind about turning the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of their fathers to the children."

I summarized the talks, but they were really good.

February 14 Senior Couples Valentine dance

Feb 14th: Valentines Day today. We are still preparing for the National Director conference on May 6th and working on helping hands materials and getting bid from printer. I posted an article about our new Mormon  Helping Hands SE Area Director on Facebook after receiving the bio I requested.  I also posted updated the information about Sister Mkhabela and Sister Marriott interview. It will be hard to top our original story where we received over 7000 viewers.

Friday night a dance was set up for the senior couples in the back lobby of our apartment building. No one uses this entrance/exit, so we have a lot of our large gatherings there. Some of the couples decorated the area with hearts, etc. and it looked very festive. They got white plastic chairs from somewhere and a few tables for the goodies.



The following invitation was sent to all of us senior couples from the area office and Temple workers: "Come and enjoy socializing, music, table games and even a dance! Do you have a song that is special to you or that brings back wonderful memories? Before we play your song, we'll ask you to tell us why it is special to you. Requirements: Please choose a song that is danceable (One song per couple). Please give us the name of the song, the artist who performed it and the approximate decade it was popular. We'll try and find the song on either Amazon or Itunes." 


They found all the songs and there were some good ones and some stinkers! ha. Picture this, About 40 old people sitting in plastic chairs around a tile dance floor playing old tunes many people have never heard of and dancing, regardless of bad knees, backs etc. We actually had a great time, with Elder Kyle really tearing it up on the dance floor.Some of these songs may surprise you:

I Honestly Love you-Olivia Newton John/ Your Song-Elton John/Whatever Will Be Will Be-Doris Day/Save the Last Dance For Me-Drifters/Lady in Red-Chris DeBurg/Love At Last You Found Me-Anita Kerr/I Cross My Heart-George Strait/Dream Lovers-Bobby Darin/Could I Have This Dance-Anne Murray/Unchained Melody-Righteous Brothers/Weekend In New England-Barry Manilow/Hawaiian Wedding Song-Elvis Presley/Lara's Theme-John Henry Borland/You're the Inspiration-Chicago/I Believe in You-Don Williams/Down by the Old Mill Stream-Mills Brothers/Faithfully-Journey/All Shook Up-Elvis Presley/Dream-Everly Brothers/Blueberry Hill-Fats Domino/Time in a Bottle-Jim Croce/Can't Help Falling in Love-Elvis Presley/You're the One That I Want-John Travolta/Surfer Girl-Beach Boys/Johnny B Goode-Chuck Berry/Annie's Song-John Denver

One of the funny things that happened was that the couple who chose 'Down By the Old Mill Stream' (Actually he chose it) the wife was a bit embarrassed and said she didn't know why he chose that song. He is the area office doctor and she used to be a nurse. She is very petite and pretty and very sweet. He explained that he chose that song because one of his children was created down by the old mill stream. She turned red and protested that was not true. When they played the song, she told them they could stop; it is a terrible song. They kept it playing and about that time, a younger couple came out of the elevators to go to the parking garage. They heard this horrible song playing and a bunch of old people sitting in plastic chairs in a circle facing each other (No one could dance to that song). I would have love to be in the car with them and see what they had to say about that. Ha. Us seniors really know how to have fun!



Sister Eppel, the temple President's wife and Temple Matron then spoke about the temple being a place of prayer, meditation and worship where we go when we have trials to experience joy and gratitude.

The Temple President said: "I want to invite you on a journey to take sweet counsel for every individual today. On the temple is written, "Holiness to the Lord - Holiness to God." When you enter you feel a sense of peace, kindness, love, patience - a refuge from problems. Set aside the temporal world. Inside the temple, everyone is equal. On Saturday morning many youth come to the temple to do baptisms. They have a look in their eyes of love and humility. As I speak to them, scriptures come into my mind about turning the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to the children.

February 1-13, 2014 fast and testimony mtg in Secunda and more

Wow, I am on February! Maybe there is hope that I will get caught up!

The first day of February was Sunday in Secunda Ward and it was Fast and Testimony meeting. The first one was the Branch President, who said, "A couple of years ago I sat here alone because I did not have any counselors. Now I have two very good men as my counselors. There will be wonderful miracles if we are patient and faithful. Heavenly Father hears our prayers. I love my counselors so much and I know that Heavenly Father loves us. The Savior started this work and restablished it through Joseph Smith, who saw Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father."

Another young man Kazo, got up next and talked about how he is from Umlazi W ward in Durban. His job transferred him to Secunda. He wanted to go to Church, but the GPS said the closest Church was 80Km away. That seemed so far, that he decided to just drive around and see if he could find a closer one. He didn't even dress for church because he didn't think he would be able to find one, but he found it and decided to come in. He then bore his testimony of how the Lord helped him find the Church and his testimony that God loves each of us and helps us whenever we need it and go to him. He loved us so much that he died for our sins.

Brother Fourie then talked about how he also moved there in 1992 and was looking for a church. He then bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the church.

The next one to come up was a person nick-named Ace. He was baptized last week. We stayed after for the baptism. He was so happy to be baptized that it was contagious. You could not help but be happy for him. Some of his friends (or family) came to watch him be baptized, even though they were not members. But, today he is a member and stood up to say this: "I want to say 'Thank you' to everyone who has been so nice to me and welcomed me into the church. This is the only church I will ever belong to in my life. It is a blessing in my life. Those young men that found me are still in front of me blessing my life. I love them. I love the Book of Mormon and know that it is true."

The person called to be the new 1st counselor in the Branch Presidency then stood up and said, "I am happy to have this calling. I know that the prophet Joseph Smith gave up his life for the book of Mormon and no other man could give up his life unless it was true. I know that we must continue to strive to do the things that he gave up his life trying to teach us."

Then one of the missionaries, Elder Saunders said, "I am sorry, but I found out I will be leaving you. I am being transferred and this will be my last Sunday here. I thought I would be happy, because this is a tough area, but I feel sad because I have grown to love you so much. I love this Church. It has brought so much joy to my life and the life of those close to me. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I will miss you. I am not close to being perfect, but I know that one day I can be and you can be too."



Then Brother Harrison, the oldest member of the branch said, "I joined the Church in 1971. I'm here because wonderful young men had the courage to knock on my door. They came back four times. I went through all kinds of trials and tribulations. I never thought I would become a bishop, but I did. I've served under several Branch Presidents. There are things I've become concerned about, but we have no reason to be concerned, because the Church is true. This young man called to be counselor is wonderful and we need him to help us grow. If you want joy and happiness, then you need to go to church. I know in my heart that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are leading this Church. I believe in Joseph Smith and President Monson our prophet today. I love this Church. Even though this weather is hard on my legs...I have polio you know...I am here and I have people I can lean on. Elder Kyle and the missionaries help me to my car. They are my legs. When I read the Book of Mormon, I know that I haven't gone through half of their trials. Christ was such a good example; while on the cross he forgave those people that persecuted him. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. The Priesthood, which I bear, is sacred and powerful. I love all those who serve us in the Church. I love my wife that I've been married to almost 50 years."

Sister Fourie bore her testimony: "I met a woman in my complex that needed help to move. I told her that I knew two young men in the complex that would help her move. She asked me if they could be there in 20 minutes. I called the missionaries and they came immediately and helped her move. Later I heard the woman tell someone how wonderful the missionaries are and how well behaved. I know that their good example helped this woman have a good impression of the church. How lucky we are to have such wonderful young men serving here in Africa."

I then bore my testimony...can't remember at all what I said...Ha.

The District President then said, "I saw the young man in front of the church who asked me if Church started at 9AM. I didn't know if he was a member, but I could tell that he really wanted to be at Church. When I first joined the Church we met as a group in someone's home. We had sacrament and all other meetings, but did not have to worry about transportation to Church. Unfortunately, many members are inactive because they have such difficulty getting here. We will open up groups in their area, so they can enjoy Church, even if there are only five people, it doesn't matter as long as the programs are running. Ten to twenty members can form a group until one day it becomes a branch. Those things will happen. It's not impossible as long as we have faith and do our part. A good young man was called today to be a counselor to the Branch President. We need good leaders to help us grow our Branch. There is an upcoming Stake Conference in Benoni on the 15 and 16 of February. This time there will be no broadcast in this building. You have to go to the Stake Building. I'm looking forward to seeing you all in numbers. You will meet others who are coming from different areas. The atonement is to bring us back to Heavenly Father to repent and be forgiven. There will be blessings in your life if you do this. The missionaries have been called forth to teach the Gospel. I'm grateful for the leaders of the Church that guide and direct us. Through Jesus Christ, we can receive the peace that we need."

Monday, February 2nd
Monday in our devotional, the people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo were supposed to be here and we were having George Benet (Head of SE Area Office Facilities and Operations) introduce them and speak to them in their native language (French). But, since we found out as the last minute that they were not coming, plans had to be revised. George still spoke and he is good at telling personal stories.

Tuesday, February 3rd
We had our regular public affairs group meeting in Sean's office. We talked about the DRC visit and why the Visa's did not come through again in time for them to come. We spoke of Sean leaving for Rwanda and Burundi on February 6th. We spoke of the Law and Religion Symposium coming up in Cape Town and how we need to get the word out to our National Public Affairs Directors and couples in the various countries that we need nominations of judges or lawyers that should be at the symposium. We talked about Helping Hands and set up a meeting Wednesday to go out close to where Robin Padoa (newly called to be Area Director of Helping Hands) and discuss what the next steps should be to starting the ball rolling on Helping Hands in Southeast Africa. We discussed our trip to Botswana and our progress on the Country plan for the future. We discussed the National Director training coming up on March 6-7th and the transportation and hotels that need to be booked. Elder Kyle agreed to do this and reserve rooms for the conference training at the hotel.

Tuesday afternoon we drove to the house that Ryan is thinking about renting for himself, Liz and her family. He found it online for a great price and wanted us to go take a look, so we called and set up a meeting with the housekeeper and drove over there. It was a surprise that it was less than ten minutes from our flat. It's a nice older area with more expensive homes and lots of trees. We couldn't see much from the front because it is surrounded by a block fence, but when we were let in and got to see the inside of the home, we found it to be quite nice with a swimming pool in the nice, private back yard, a large patio with sofas and a professional size pool table, a room off the patio with a built in bar and seating areas, an outdoor cooking area...actually a great place to stay

There is also full access to a beautiful kitchen and free breakfast daily that the housekeeper cooks for you. There wasn't anything not to like. Upstairs are three bedrooms with their own large modern bathrooms, all with large soaker tubs and separate, nice-sized showers, nice, modern fixtures and king-sized beds in two of the bedrooms-twin beds in the other. On the second floor is also a small common area with chairs and full-sized refrigerator. It is very reasonable and the price is so cheap...amazing. Great find from someone living over 9000 miles away.

Wednesday, February 4th
We drove out to meet Robin Padoa and had a good Helping Hands Meeting. I agreed to make some changes to the poster, create a timeline similar to one he got from PA Helping Hands in California. It will actually be harder for us in the beginning to have him in the mix, but once he gets one helping hands year under his belt, he will be a great asset to the success of the program.



Thursday, February 5th
Thursday evening, Sean requested that I go and take photos of Sister Marriott and Sister Mkhabela for the article he is writing on Sister Mkhabela being called to the Young Woman's General Board. Sister Marriott is 2nd Counselor in the Young Women's General Presidency. Sister Mkhabela was very nervous about her new calling. I tried to assure her that everyone is nervous when they first get a calling they know little about, but she will be perfect for the job. She is well respected by everyone in Africa.


Her husband is an Area Seventy, she gets to go to Salt Lake at least once a year and be with some pretty amazing people, but most of all she will make a tremendous difference by letting SLC know what the Young Women's program is like in Africa and how they need to adapt to fit their needs. By now, I am sure she is settling in and will soon be a great contributor to the YW program. By the way, when I posted this on our South Africa Mormon Newsroom Facebook Page, we got over 7,000 people who read the article...a record! Everyone said what a wonderful woman she is and commented on how much we needed something like this to happen in Africa....so true!

Elder Kyle's February Report:
To give you an idea of the things Elder Kyle is doing, he got this email from our couple in DRC, "Can we get at least two more folders for 'Music and the Spoken Word' to use in Bujumbura, Lubumbashi and Brazzaville? If so, can someone bring them to Bujumbura next week? Also, if possible 10 or 15 copies of the Temple edition of the Liahona?" One of our jobs is to support our couples and national directors in other countries. We then scramble around looking for materials and asking if anyone is going there that can take them.

This one was from our National Director in Namibia, "Dear Elder Kyle! Can you give more information on the purpose of the symposium and if we had to invite individuals from our countries what would we tell them/convince them why they should attend? How many nominations per country? will PA cover travel and accommodation for the nominees? When is the deadline to submit the names? Should we ask the individuals if they would like to attend the symposium before we  submit the names? or we give the names first and then ask them if they are interested."

This one was for me from Sean: "Could you please put an item on newsroom Facebook about the visit of Sister Marriot and Stevens to Zimbabwe? I have their profiles. we can also link the item to a topic on newsroom."

I don't know what this email says. Hopefully Elder Kyle did: Jambo sana, Nash. Best Regards
Célestin, National Director of Public Affairs

In the midst of all this are project request forms from National Directors or Couples that need to be reviewed and approved, money to be reimbursed or advanced, credit card receipts from each couple and Sean to reconcile, and other financial stuff. That would be me doing that. Luckily I also get to design posters, take photos and write articles...enough creativity to keep me sane...almost.

Sister Stevens & Sister Marriott

Me in my interview mode

Also on Thursday, February 5th, Sean asked me to interview Sister Marriott, counselor in the General Board YW Presidency and Sister Stevens in the General Board Primary Presidency. They were going to be at the Home of the Area Presidency. They were late getting back from their busy day, but we finally connected and I asked them about their trip. They both loved their trip to Zimbabwe, where they felt the spirit of the people and enjoyed their humble testimonies. Sister Stevens told me that she had always wanted to come to South Africa, because her father was a missionary here in 1936...WOW. They were both very nice ladies and although our interview time was only 16 minutes, I learned a lot about them and about their choice of Sister Mkhabela to be on their General Board. I think we got along pretty well. It was nerve-wracking beforehand, but pretty easy once we got started. I think Sister Marriott was more nervous than me. Sister Stevens is the one with the dark hair.

Friday, February 7th 
We got news that the visas came in for DR Congo and they were coming Monday, Februrary 10th! We began scrambling to put back in place the plans that had been cancelled twice before. We had to reorder food to be brought to the Area Office, baskets of goodies to be taken to their hotel rooms, re-alert those people in the area office to be included in the tour with our visitors, so they would be prepared to tell them about their particular department. We had to alert the hotel, reschedule dinner for one of the nights and figure out what we were going to do with them on Tuesday, since we only had two days planned for them and they were taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. One of the ladies in the Family History department decided we couldn't just leave them in their hotels, because they only speak French and don't know Johannesburg very well. She decided she would take them to the Lion Park herself with the aid of Felly, a wonderful young man who could translate for us, because he speaks French and is originally from the Congo. I put him to work on Monday translating documents of the Congo visit and Helping Hands into French and also our upcoming National PA Director's conference materials. We had hired him for the entire week, and I must say that was a great idea!

February 9th
We attended Stake Conference in Bedford Stake. We were asked to attend, because they were supposed to call the new South Africa National Director of Public Affairs. We were unprepared to see one of the most beautiful buildings we've ever attended and the largest. It is in a very nice area with a huge bricked parking lot. I guess the only way to explain it is through photos which I have included, but it was much grander than the photos show.

The Stake Presidency was complete changed, so much of the conference was about that. All the ones being released and the ones being called were asked to bear their testimonies. The new stake president works at one of our area offices and one of his counselors is in the office next to ours. The Stake President being released was asked to say a few words. This is a summary of what he said: "I recall a story by President Eyring. He was talking about Dalin H Oats in a weekly meeting with Elder Maxwell. He was asked, "What do you want to be remembered by when you are released. What do you think about your special gifts? What can you do? When he didn't immediately come up with something, Elder Maxwell said to pray about it. In D&C 78:17-18, it says 'Ye are little children and you have not yet understood. The kingdom is yours and the blessings are yours.'





"I learned so much as Stake President compared to what I was then to what I am now. I am better. One of the things I will miss is just listening to all of you. As Stake President, I sat apart new missionaries...what an amazing experience! From my counselors, I learned so much. It has been amazing working with these two brethren. I pray that I will be able to remember all that I learned from them and be able to use it as I go forward. I am grateful to have served and to all of you who have served so well.



I normally would be the last speaker at stake conference. Marked by my calling revelation has come and flows freely. Hearts have been penetrated by the Lord's servants that are here with us. No member can escape the challenge to serve with the spirit. We need to be more fully engaged. There was a small Dutch boy who saw a leak in the dam. He went over and put his finger in the hole to stop the leak. If we act quickly, we can do the same. By small and simple things, great things can come to pass. In Moses 1:39, the Lord tells Moses, 'This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.' As I look out among you, I see the purity of your hearts. Thank you for your example.

When I worked at a hardware shop, I met many people. One day I asked one of the employees (who was inactive in the church) about his family. I commended him for his diligence and then I said, 'Kenneth, I suspect that you know the Lord and love him, but do you know what he expects of you? Do you know as a husband and father what you need to do?' He is now active again. Look for those opportunities to care and serve others. You've received the gift of the Holy Ghost, many of you have received callings and have gone to the temple. Thank you for the privilege of witnessing the mighty change that has taken place in your heart. My life has been altered for ever from your love and devotion to the Savior. I want you to know that these things are noticed by the Lord.

I had a son that I was worried about. Another member stepped in and made a difference in my son's life. He went on to serve a mission. There was a break-in at our house, but the Lord protected us and we escaped. As Nephi in 2 Nephi 25-26 said, "We talk of Christ...We rejoice of Christ...We preach of Christ..." I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I have perfect faith in Him and trust him with my life. I am dedicated to serve Him. The new presidency will make great leaders...sustain them. As you listen carefully, act and support them the Lord will bring peace to your hearts. You will always be in my prayers. Use the talents you have and the Lord will bless you. Great are the tender mercies of the Lord. Great is the hand of the Lord in your life. The greatest gift I have is to know that Heavenly Father knows me and knows who I am. He knows us by name and answers our prayers."

The new Stake President said: "Thanks for your sustaining vote. I am humble to be called your new Stake President. I haven't done anything...I didn't apply for this position. It would be appropriate for you to sustain me, not to congratulate me, but congratulate those who have already served you. Our Father in Heaven loves us so much and wants us to return and live with him again. It is through our service and making those sacred covenants in the temple. He loves us so much that he took upon Himself our sins. I love Him for what he has done for me. The Gospel has been restored. The Priesthood has been restored. How much I love and cherish the Priesthood. I sustain Thomas S Monson as a prophet, seer and revelator. If we listen to him and follow what he says, we will accomplish great things together.

February 10th,
We got together for a FHE with the couples at the Shupes flat where Sister Naylor talked about Family History and ways we could be better at doing our own personal family histories. She showed interesting videos and was pretty humorous, but I think she inspired us all to work harder to get our family names turned in. She made it seem real that when we leave this life our ancestors will either be smiling at us because we found them and got their work done or unhappy that we let them down. She asked us not to let them down. Since our office is in charge of Hosting other countries, Sister Naylor was an answer to prayers!

February 11th - Area office hosting DR Congo for Family History Department
When Sister Naylor showed up (This woman is my hero...she is everywhere) to take our guests from DR Congo to the Lion Park Tuesday morning, she was met with a group of people speaking French that wanted to change the whole schedule, so they would have free time on Thursday. Not knowing how much work went into planning this event, they just assumed we could tour the office on Tuesday and have Thursday free. They didn't know that we had to reserve rooms, order food, coordinate schedules of the Area Presidency and others, print up a schedule that went into their goodies baskets, make sure Sean could be there, etc. Luckily, after some negotiation the Family History Department Head agreed that they could stay one more day and have their free day on Friday. They were happy with this and then went to the Lion's Park and had a GREAT time. Sister Naylor was wonderful. She is on a single sister mission in Family History, is about 6' tall, thin and very outgoing. It didn't bother her a bit that she only had a translator and herself not speaking French with two men and a women from the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a matter of fact, she and the lady became really good friends without being able to speak each other's languages.

February 12th
On Wednesday, they were taken to South Africa Archives to lean how the Church had helped them digitize their records. The Church received a glowing report, the group learned a lot about what they could do to preserve their country's records and we were a step closer to getting them to accept our proposal to come in their country and digitize their records. When their ride from the office came to pick them up at the Government Archives at 3:30, the group told them they had a great time, but did not have lunch. We were told the Archives was going to arrange for lunch, but they forgot apparently. Felly said he overheard them say that the Church treated them much better than the Archives.

February 13th
Thursday was our big day. We arranged with Elder Hamilton to meet and greet them at 9:30 and when they got there all three members of the Area Presidency were there to greet them. This is very unusual to have them all there, because they are normally traveling separately to different areas of Africa. Everyone was introduced and then Elder Renlund took a moment to explain a few things about our Church. Both he and Elder Hamilton speak French, so it was pretty impressive.




After we were done there, we took them into our facility manager's office. He also speaks French, so they were able to converse and tell a little about themselves. I have no idea what they were saying but they spoke for quite a while. Felly translated, but I couldn't hear him. I was just there to take photographs and Sean was taking a video of the entire tour.

The next stop in the tour was at humanitarian services. Phillip (the head of the department) explained all the humanitarian work we have done, are currently doing and will be doing in the future for the DR Congo. They had no idea and were taking notes the whole time. I even learned some things that I didn't realize they were doing. We are making progress getting the word out there, but there is still a tendency to think if you tell someone you are tooting your own horn. I've finally learned that where the reputation of the Church is at stake, they need to know that 'We follow Jesus Christ' and do as he would do for those in need. They can go back to their country and tell their superiors that this Church cares about all of Africa and is spending a lot of money to help their people have better lives. They are creating fresh water sources for many communities that currently drink from infected streams and rivers. They teach neo-natal training to doctors and nurses and provide the equipment to avoid high death rates of newborn babies at birth. They have given away 3000 wheelchairs in their country, provided vision surgeries, glasses, vaccinations and more. The lady on the right also explained the Church's programs on drug, alcohol and other addictions.

We left there and headed for the PEF department (Perpetual Education Fund). They learned about how we loan money to those who would like to get schooling in a trade to help them find employment. They met a young woman working there (on right) who told them about how she took advantage of the program to get her degree. She now is working for the church and they were impressed by her...very sharp. Everyone on the tour was very sharp and nice. I was impressed.





Sean decided to take them to the distribution center, which was on our way to the Church History Department. He showed them all the things the church sells (not at a profit) so that its members can have what they need to study the Gospel. There is not a big French selection, but there are some. They were very impressed with photo books of the New Testament. Everything they liked, Sean got three of them and put them in the basket. They wanted Bibles to make sure we actually believe in the Bible, I think. They seemed impressed that we believe in the King James version of the Bible. They also got music CDs and a few other small items. I think Sean really enjoys that part of the tour (taking them shopping).

We then went to the Church History department where the missionary couple told them how as a Church we collect as many records as possible of Church members in leadership positions that helped establish the Church in Africa. They showed them an entire bookcase full of volumes kept by a member's family for 100 years. They explained how important it is to preserve their heritage by writing down what older people say and finding written information that people have kept or photographs.





Then off to the employment center where they explained how members and non members can come in and use the computers, faxes, copiers, etc to produce their resumes...they also are trained on how to create these things and how to interview well.

They spend a lot of time practicing with them in an interview, to make sure they know how to present themselves the best way they can. Most of them get hired from this training. The woman who talked to us first told them about her story and got teary as she told us where she started and where she is now. The lady with the red hair is the manager of the department.





This sister missionary explained how they get training on starting their own business and help finding the right business and getting funding. They seem to have thought of everything. They are teaching everyone to become self-reliant. Those who want to have their own business have all the tools they need through this department.









After this we went up to the Family History area so they could see all the different equipment we use to access records and also see how people who are not members can come into the library and look up their ancestors or put their known ancestors into a family tree that they create for themselves. Sister Naylor knows all the other connecting websites to make fun things with the information you put in there about your family.






For a break, we went to our 'cantina's' outside patio where Sister Shupe had set up snacks for everyone. I made poppyseed bread which went over very well with the Congo people and others. It was pretty good. We wanted to make sure they all felt well-taken care of and it seemed they did. We just spent about 15 minutes snacking and relaxing. We felt pretty good about having such glorious weather the whole time they have been here. No rain in sight the whole week! Blessings just keep pouring in.


We then went inside the cantina and the temple president and his wife explained why we have temples and told them how we were going there now to visit the outside of the temple. He very sweetly explained the work we do there for ourselves and those who have passed on to the spirit world. He spoke of Heavenly Father's plan and how important we all are to that plan. He read a scripture in the bible that said we could not achieve exaltation without baptism and then read the scripture about being baptized for the dead also in the Bible. All three of them are Christian, so reading scriptures from the Bible helped them to understand. He then talked about how Heavenly Father wants all his children to be baptized and return to him. Because of that there had to be a way that he would provide to make sure all his children had a chance to be baptized. It was hard to tell how they felt, because in their culture they often look very solemn, but it was well explained.

We then headed for the temple. It is all uphill, so they drove them up in the van, even though it is literally on the same property (but behind a fence and you have to walk to the street and around to get into the entrance). We gathered in the front of the temple and the temple president talked a bit more about the temple and I took this photo. It's kind of cool how the trees and clouds reflected in the glass.


Then we took a walk around the grounds guided by the temple president and his wife. We walked up lots of stairs to get to a kind of patio that overlooks Johannesburg. Everyone enjoyed the view, but quite a trek to get up there (for those of us with bad knees...Sister Naylor and I walked up the hill to the temple, while everyone else rode). This photo is of Elder Mabaya, an Area 70 that lives in the Congo and came with the delegation, and Madam Lanza an Archivist in the Congo, and a photo of the view from there.

We walked around the grounds while I was scoping out the best place to take a group photo and get the temple in the photo. Because the grounds are not that large and there are so many plants and trees and not a good view of the whole temple at once it was kind of hard. I wanted to take the photo here with them on the rock and the temple in the background, but I scratched that idea, because it would be dangerous for them to walk out there on all that uneven rock.




So we continued on until I found a side shot of the temple that I thought might work. As it turned out, with all the photos I took that one really was the best shot.




We then went back to the Area Offices to have some lunch in the Executive Boardroom. We had ordered platters from Olive and Plates, a culinary school with amazing food. It was quite an array of yummy treats and Sister Shupe had it set up and looking beautiful.

When done with lunch they went back the Family History Center Library to do their own family tree. They were so excited. Sister Naylor showed them how to input their info and make a fan of their ancestors. She printed them a color copy. They wanted to know if they could go back to their countries and do it there. She explained that it was saved online and they could do it from anywhere if they had a computer or phone. She said it made their day. They were so excited about doing family history.

While all this was going on, Elder Kyle and I were going to the mall to get the picture on the right that I took at the temple printed into a large photo and put into a frame that I had previously purchased. I made a backing to put into the frame that said some nice thing in French, plus had the Family History Logo and a picture of Christ with a little African boy. It had the name of the Church and the date and the temple name and location, plus we all signed it. We had to wait an hour or more, but finally got the photos printed. We hustled back to the flat and I put the photos in the frames, cleaned the glass and put on the backing we created. They looked very nice. Here is the photo.

That evening was our last evening together. Elder Kyle arranged with the hotel where they were staying to have a separate banquet room set up and dinner prepared. We invited the area Presidency (Elder Hamilton and Elder Cook and their wives both attended). We had the three people from the Congo, Sean, Elder Kyle and I, Wayne and Sister Naylor from Family History, Man and his wife from Madagascar that are in the Temple Presidency that speak French, Elder and Sister Shupe and Felly as a translator. Including the Congo delegation, we had eight people who spoke French. Through translation we were all able to converse. Sean had made a video of their trip which we played while waiting for dinner to be served. After dinner, Elder Hamilton presented them with the photos I put together. I watched one of them and he was thrilled to get the photo of them in front of the temple and I knew by the look in his eye that he would cherish this gift.

All in all it was a great trip and we made some wonderful friends from the Congo. They were excited to go back and report to their leaders about letting us digitize their records for them. Thousands of people in the Congo will finally be able to find their ancestors. The work will continue in the Congo, the temple will be built, and through that temple thousand of people from the Congo who have been waiting for someone to do something to help find their ancestor's names will jump for joy at the opportunity through baptism to progress.

It was a great week, but our work is not finished. Next helping hands and National Director's Conference. Whew! But as for this week, it was a good one!

January 2014 - A New Year Botswana PA, phutajitjhaba building and Sunday Church

January, a time for new beginnings and commitments to be better. When January arrived a funny thing happened; the Monday after New Years everyone came back to work, traffic got crazy and fun and games were over...well almost. The temple became busy again with people out of the country coming to visit in large groups. We would see them in the parking lot and in the lunch room.

This is a group from Malawi by the Distribution Center that we pass every day to go to the lunchroom that they call 'the cantina.'

Sean got back from his vacation and was so busy getting caught up that we hardly saw him the entire week, but we did have a meeting with the head of the Family History Department, Wayne Van As, to talk about our government visitors coming from the Congo. We discussed some visa problems and hopes that all would be solved in time for them to come in January. Duties were assigned to everyone...hotels had to be booked, food purchased for meals, materials ready, goodies to put in their rooms, a tour set up with South Africa Archives and meetings with the Area Presidency. In the Congo, they speak French, so we also had to try and find some French speaking people to be with them while they are here. Sean can speak French, but he was not going to be there one of the days. The Area Presidency wanted him to go with them to Uganda to record their trip with Elder Bednar. They also went to Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo.

A few days later we found out that the trip had to be cancelled, because of one person who could not get her visa in time. We rescheduled for the first week in February. Sean will be there, so it will work out better for us. Elder Kyle has been working hard to reserve everything and keep track of the hosting event.

The twins had a birthday on January 5th and I had one on January 6th. It seemed weird not being with our family for the special days, but we got to talk to them and hear all about their celebrations. The twins got to celebrate at their other grandparents home on their actual birthday. The following Saturday they got to go to a trampoline place and party with their friends. My birthday somehow appeared on the Area Office Calendar, so everyone knew it was my birthday.

Sister Shupe got me a plant and card. I receive a card from my friend Jackie in Arizona and a candy bar and balloon from another sister. It was way more attention than I wanted, but nice. The Shupes had us over for dinner, my best present, as I didn't have to cook dinner. They have been very nice to us since we have been here. Sister Shupe gets assigned to do a bunch of things on the computer for Sean. It has been fun helping her learn Excel and other programs that she has never or has rarely used before. She frequently admits that office work is not one of her talents and she is way more comfortable teaching seminary or working with the youth, but she is a bright spot in the office, always smiling and outgoing. Her husband is a lawyer and working with the head lawyer to keep us out of trouble and keep everything legal. It is a little harder to do in Africa, whose rules are so different.

Elder Kyle attends the visa meetings on Wednesdays and gets to hear about all the countries where our missionaries are having visa problems and some of the reasons why this is so. Each country on the list of problems has a different reason for not letting the missionaries in or not letting them stay, but much of it is that they don't know that much about our Church and hear many untrue rumors. Another meeting that Elder Kyle attends is the Government Relations Meeting. That meeting also talked about the visa problems and other issues that are keeping us worrying about visas.

One of those countries is Botswana, so Sean suggested we go there and set up a meeting with our PA councils, priesthood leaders and our lawyer there and get them to create a government plan. We began to plan our trip to Botswana. We decided to drive there the next week and just stay for the weekend.

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We also worked on Helping Hands 2014 and learned that an Area Director of Helping Hands would be called soon. We were in a meeting with Elder Hamilton for our Quarterly Report and he told us the man would be called soon and we should be ready to GO once he was called. With Sister Shupe's help, we began to go through 2013 materials and change dates on those things we could keep. Sean and I worked on a single sheet describing 2014 Helping Hands and with Elder Hamilton's help we came up with a focus for this year, "Hand in Hand with Local Government." We are hoping this theme will create larger and longer Helping Hands projects in Africa, involving other faiths and members of the community. I created materials with the new information and new photos. Elder Hamilton sent us a letter he wanted to send out to the Priesthood Leaders and asked for our input. We made suggestions and sent it back to him. He sent it out to all Stake and District Presidencies. Our office will be pretty busy with Helping Hands stuff, creating packets to send to the units will be huge, but we've already started on it and have it well in hand.



I am still trying to find stories for Mormon Newsroom and Facebook. The Cinquinis (now in Durban) sent me this article from a young man in the Pinetown Ward that we attended while in Durban. I posted it on Facebook. His name is Lwazi Mchunu. "Finding a book without a cover drew the curiosity of a young sixteen year old boy. As he read the introduction he knew the book would change his life. Since then a lot has happened to Lwazi Mchunu, now twenty-four years old, who will be leaving on his mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa...ints (Mormons), January 9th, to serve in the country of Kenya. When asked how he was feeling about serving a mission he said, "I have two feelings, first I am very excited because I always wanted to go on a mission and I believe this will be the foundation for the rest of my life; and second, I am emotional that I'm able and worthy to pay my Heavenly Father for his kindness to me."  To read more go to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SouthAfricaMormonNewsroom and scroll down to the story.

Also in January, I got the answers to some questions I wrote and sent to our PA person in East London. A member of the church had just been put in as Executive Mayor of a Municipality and I asked him to ask her these questions. He sent back the answers and I put it into article format. Her name is Nozibele Makanda and I posted this story on Facebook and Mormon Newsroom South Africa on January 7th:

Mother of Six Appointed Executive Mayor of Lukhanji Municipality. Recently Nozibele Makanda, a mother of six and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was appointed Executive Mayor of Lukhanji Municipality located in the centre of the Eastern Cape Province, Queenstown, South Africa —

Lukhanji is composed of Queenstown, the townships of Mlungisi, Ezibeleni and Ilinge, plus surrounding rural areas of Whitlesea, Sada, Dongwe and Hewu and contains over 200,000 people. When asked if being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints affects her position as Mayor, she readily explains, “The teachings of the Church, in particular the gospel principles, have helped prepare me to first, understand the position is that of a servant and must be discharged with humility, honesty and integrity; secondly, the principle of loving those you serve has taught me to accept people and be patient with them. Everyday teachings from the church manuals and conference addresses help sustain me and provide answers to some of the challenges I face. Prayer and scripture study make it possible to have courage to face daily challenges.” To read more of this story, it is also on the Facebook page above.

On January 10th the couple from Swaziland, the Lombardi's, asked if when they picked up their daughter and her family at 10:00 at night if they could come to our flat and sleep on the floor. We have a one bedroom flat with a very small room that we use as an office, so we couldn't imagine where four grownups and four children would sleep, but we said, "Sure."  

Elder Lombardi with granddaughter

This poor family had such a struggle getting here, cancelled connecting flight, lost luggage and being stuck in Chicago two days with snow and no coats. They had no change of clothing and had to wear the same thing for days. Two of the children had to wear pajamas. We were thrilled to have them, but because of their long flight, we asked another couple across the hall from us if they could sleep some people over there, as they have a three bedroom. So the daughter and her husband and two youngest slept there. Elder and Sister Lombardi slept on our living room floor and the two oldest children 'slept' on two of our couches. 

Sister Lombardi entering the gate to our flat

The children were adorable and not upset by the travel problems at all. They even had a one-year-old. Mom didn't look too happy though...ha. Their last name is Bytheway. Sound familiar? We woke up to children's voices and Elder Kyle whispered to me, "Sounds like Mia and Trey."  It was a treat for us, even though they left first thing in the morning. I got to serve some cereal and cinnamon rolls. The 3-year-old girl asked for the granola and kept picking out the dried fruit and then didn't eat the cereal at all, but ate the dried fruit. The little boy picked the nuts out of the cinnamon rolls. It was funny. Very cute kids and so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa! We were sorry to see them go.

Elder Hamilton and Wayne Van As

January 14th I got a photo of Elder Hamilton and Wayne Van As (Department Head for Family History) introducing the new booklet for family history called, "My Family." It is a cute little booklet with places to fill in about your family and encouraging ways to involve the children in doing family history. They think this will increase the work in the temple and get families excited about doing their own work. It is a brilliant little book with cute illustrations.







On January 19th we attended Church in Segunda. More people attended today, which is a relief. We would hate to see them shut down. The people who do come are very faithful. The others live far away and it is hard to get transport to come. The first speaker was Branch President Soko's 13-year-old daughter. She spoke about baptism and quoted Matthew 3:14-17 ¶

Bishop Soko's daughter

14 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
"When we are baptized all our sins are washed away. Through baptism and confirmation, we also become members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We show our willingness to follow the Savior's example. He too was baptized. All who seek eternal life must follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. The gate by which we shall enter is by baptism. We then keep the covenants we made at baptism. When I was baptized I remember being nervous to step into the water, but after my baptism, I felt my heart, mind and soul were clean and that I made the right decision." {She then began to bear her testimony and was very emotional...cute girl}.

Secunda Missionary

The next speaker was a returned missionary from Secunda. He talked about how at work Friday they had safety training and learned the hazards that can cause problems at work. They discussed the values of the company: safety, people, integrity, excellence and continuous improvement. These values are important because they tell the world what the company believes in and what they strive to achieve. The also provide the guidance we need to become a global company. Because we are Latter Day Saints, we have been baptized so that we can strive to be like Jesus Christ. We are responsible for our own safety. When we were placed her on earth we were given counsel that would keep us safely on the right path. Just as an employer provides employees with safety equipment, we have been provided with the scriptures as our safety equipment. The Lord also provided us with other tools that enable us to be aware of the safety hazards and avoid them. Think before you act. Pray and ask "What would Jesus Christ do" - then do as he would do. If we do so, we shift to the safe side of the Lord. When we make choices based upon what we want rather than what Jesus would want us to do we drift away from that safety net. One of my favorite songs is 'Choose the Right'. "Choose the right, there is peace in righteous doing. Choose the right, there's safety for the soul. Choose the right in all labors you're pursuing - let God and Heaven be your guide."

The last speaker was the High Council Speaker. He said: "Keep the faith; you are the pilot of this ward. The young sister that spoke of baptism reminded me of my own baptism and the importance of that day and the importance of 'Safety' as we navigate this life is so true. He then spoke from a talk give by Elder Christofferson in the November Conference issue, Moral Force in My Life. He talked about the ten commandments and the importance of keeping them. He specifically mentioned 'Honor thy father and mother...' and 'train up a child in the way he should go...' He advised parents to notice how the child is doing by the way he or she behaves when they come home. Parents usually are doing the best they can to teach righteous principles. A woman's influence in the home is 'safety'. This safety is best taught by a father and a mother. The mother is the heartbeat of the home, but if either parent is gone, something is mission for that child.  If we look at our lives, we can see our mother's influence. As teenagers in my home, we did not want to go to church. It's boring we would often say. But in Joshua 24:15 "Choose ye this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Christ offers a warning to us of three things that can destroy our safety:
1. Disintegration of homemaking - raising children. We do not diminish these parts of motherhood. Children receive their moral influence from their mothers.
2. Attitude against sexual morality. Where once a woman set the standard of sexual responsibility, now women are being encouraged to be the ones to initiate immoral behavior.
3. Those who want to push women to be more manly and take the role of violence. This is evident in movies today. There are enough women who are tough. We need women who are tender, who forget vanity and are more virtuous. It is dangerous to lose the distinct qualities of a man and a woman that God gave us.

When I was growing up in a home of three boys and two girls we were taught to do chores. If we didn't do our chores, we were in trouble, so we did them. I am so grateful my mother taught me, because when I went on my mission I knew how to cook and how to look after my money properly. My companion spent all his money on food. When he ran out of money he would wake me up to tell me he was hungry. The moral force of women is essential to the future generations safety and well being."

Phutajitjhaba ward members

Also late in January, Phutajitjhaba, in the Free State, had an open house for it's new building. They bought an old supermarket on a well-known street in this large township. The store was remodeled and made into a church meetinghouse complete with all the various meeting rooms. The missionaries got a lot more investigators when the remodeling started and when the building was finished. 

Displays for Relief Society, Primary, Young Men/Women, etc. were used in the rooms for the open house and refreshments were served. It was a neighborhood celebration for members as well as nonmembers. It is amazing the type of excitement something like this can create. Curious people in the neighborhood now know more about the Church because of the open house. Hopefully they will get some nice photos for the walls. In the photos, the walls looks a bit stark. We started working to help the Andersons, senior couple in that area, when we were in Durban, but the Mission President, who is over this branch could not be there at that time and wanted to postpone it until he could. We turned it over to the Cinquinis, who took our place in Durban and they did a good job of helping with this open house activity and provided a story and photos to me after it was over. I put it on South Africa Newsroom and Facebook.

My son, Ryan at hospital
with Pete's granddaughter

This was also a sad month...we found out my brother, Pete was rushed to the hospital with a brain tumor that covered 1/3 of his brain. It was an aggressive tumor, but they got it all and he will start chemo and radiation as soon as he is strong enough. It has been a very difficult time, but the Lord has blessed all of us and we are grateful my brother made it through the surgery. He is so fortunate to have sweet daughters that can look after him. My son and daughter flew down to Phoenix and helped him celebrate his birthday in the hospital. They even Skyped us so we could sing happy birthday. It is hard to be so far away, but we are grateful for modern communications that allow us to keep in close touch with each other. This is Ryan in the hospital holding my brother's granddaughter. You can see the pizza boxes in the background...quite a birthday celebration.

Our hotel in Gabarone, Botswana

We took off for Botswana driving for 5-6 hours. Botswana borders South Africa to the north. We had a long wait at the border, but uneventful. We arrived at the Hotel and it was very nice. After some confusion about whether we had a room reserved or not, we went up to our room and got settled in with internet, etc. We then came down for dinner, checked to make sure that we had the room reserved for our meeting the next day and then checked out the reserved room off the main lobby. Everything was in order, so we ate dinner and then retired to our room where we did some last minute preparation for the next day's meeting, made some phone calls, checked emails and then went to bed. At 2:00 in the morning a speaker came on telling us that someone pushed the fire alert and they were checking it out. This voice was so loud and woke us from a deep sleep. The voice said to wait for further instructions, but that we might have to evacuate the hotel. This happened four times. By now I am wide awake and wondering if the place is on fire. I heard voices in the hallway, but no one came back on to tell us to evacuate. I laid there and worried for quite a while, but when nothing happened, we just went back to sleep and heard the next morning that some drunk guy on the eighth floor pulled the alarm.

Friday, we had a quick buffet breakfast and then went to get the room ready for our meeting. The hotel did a nice job of setting up the room with notepads and pens and bottles of water for everyone. Juice, fruit and croissants were on a table outside the door to the meeting. Soon the PA council started to arrive and we became acquainted with everyone. 

Elder Kyle with Brother Thebe

The Church lawyer is Botswana also came and one of our guys from the Area office who used to have a lot to do with Visas was there, so came to our meeting, so there were two PA council members, our National PA Director for Botswana, Tomas from the area office and the Lawyer, last name of Mpho. Our national director, Lenoard Thebe is a great guy and very helpful in Botswana.His job title is Contracts Specialist/Procurement and Quality Coordinator - CMI for the U.S. Embassy

Elder Kyle then took them through an exercise to try and find out what is working in Botswana and what isn't, with our goal to take these items and create a future government plan that has objectives and aspirations and a plan for the future of the Church in Botswana. We then had a healthy discussion on the Church's image in Botswana. The lawyer, Sister Mpho (pronounced Poe), talked about how Botswana is getting a lot of 'fire churches', that preach hell fire and damnation and try to collect as much money as possible from the people by promising them blessings. They have no qualifications to preach and many of them are rising up. The government sees them as taking advantage of the people in Botswana and not being legitimate churches that benefit the community; therefore, they are suspicious of all churches they are not familiar with. Everyone agreed that we need to better understand their culture and we discussed this at length. Education is very important to people in Botswana and to the government. Botswana has a good economy and they promote and pay for education for most of the people. Because the missionaries are so young and interrupted their education to go on a mission, they see it as the Church is not for education. The government sees the missionaries as children. In their country you are not perceived as an adult or a person that knows anything about preaching to someone else about religion at age 18. Language is also a big problem. Our missionaries are not being taught the predominant language in Botswana. There are many other cultural issues, but that is a major one. This is just one of the cultural differences and there are many more. There a many other issues and many positives too. We have completed many humanitarian projects in Botswana and the Minister of Health likes us. Our primary program is very much liked and some non-members let their children go to primary because they like what they learn there. Those who actually listen to the Gospel we preach love the concepts we believe in. We discussed everything and decided to take this discussion and think about what we could choose as objectives for the next year that will solve some of them. We wanted to get the plan further along, but everyone had to leave after lunch. 

Saturday night we met with the Stake President and his wife and Brother Thebe and his wife. We had a nice dinner and even nicer conversation. The wives were also involved. We just sat back and enjoyed the conversation they were having among themselves. The President talked about the point system on the Visas and how they have to score 60 to get a visa. He said 40 points were for religious training and our missionaries don't have anything to show that they received religious training (like a theology certificate). We talked about how the YSA are not marrying each other and each blames the other for the lack of relationships. One Sunday School class at the Young Single Adults Ward had 90 people in it! The girls say the guys don't ask them out and the guys say the girls refuse to go out with them. It was a very funny conversation. The Stake President is very amusing when he tells a story and their wives are pretty funny too. All of them are so bright and care so much about their country and their people. We made some good friends and would love to see them again.

Gabarone West Ward missionaries

Sunday, we went to church at the Gabarone West Ward. We walked in and saw something we haven't seen since being in Africa, SISTER MISSIONARIES! One seemed Hispanic and was from California. The other was from Hawaii. There were plenty of male missionaries too. It is always fun to see them and shake their hands. We feel like kindred spirits and they always seem so glad to see us.


We sat down and I took some photos. Most children like to have their photo taken and see it when I've taken it. Age doesn't factor in, all like to see their own picture. This little girl was full of smiles. Her brother however purposely did not look at the camera.





After sacrament, the first speaker was the lawyer from yesterday's meeting! She was a dynamic speaker.
She said she was just put into the Young Women's Presidency and she didn't know much about the program because she joined the church later and was not in the YW program. But, she said she still qualifies because she was a youth once and she is still a youth at heart. She said her talk was about choices based upon a talk by President Monson. "I've been thinking about choices - We all have the tools. Some choices will make all the difference in the eternities. I hope we don't find ourselves as indecisive as Alice in Wonderland who asked the Cheshire cat which path she should follow and the cat answered, "If you don't know where you are going, then it doesn't matter."  Unlike Alice, we do know where we are going and the choice does matter. In the pre-existance, all that Lucifer saw was a bunch of people who will fail on earth. He wanted to bid them into correctness, but we knew we would sin and stumble, so Jesus Christ offered a way for us to repent and be forgiven of our sins. Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we still have the right of choice. We must choose responsibility - no middle ground. Either we are of God or we are not. Lucifer knows this and he preys upon our right to choose. The Strength of Youth program is our Liahona and it applies to adults as well as the youth. It helps us with agency and accountability, with dating, dress and appearance. No matter the age, this education is relevant for all of us. It discusses entertainment and media. A man in his eighties was entertaining his teenage granddaughter who asked him why he didn't watch one of her favorite programs on television. He answered that he was not old enough to watch it. All ages have the opportunity to choose friends who will lift them up and not drag them down. We can be grateful, no matter the age. Honesty and Integrity is for all ages. Watching your language, being a good example, reading and listening to good books and good music are for all ages. Keeping the Sabbath day holy and paying a full tithe applies to us all. The main thing we learn in this life is that our choices have consequences and we cannot choose the consequence. Some consequences are temporal and some have eternal consequences, but there are always consequences for wrong choices. 

Youth often complain about their parents always trying to keep track of them and tell them what they can and can't do. You are in the driver's seat. Suppose one evening you are attending a church social. Friends want to take you in to a party. You ask your father if he can park your brand new car that you worked summers doing very difficult work to purchase. He agrees, but when you return and ask your father where he parked the car, he tells you that he loaned it to someone, that a boy came by and asked if he could borrow it. You don't really know the boy and it is obvious that your father doesn't know him well either. When you ask when he is bringing it back, your dad says he doesn't know. You cannot believe your dad did not take care of your most prized possession. To your parents, you are their most prized possession; therefore they will not want to loan you out to someone they don't know very well. They will want to know when your date is bringing you back and they especially want you to come back without damage. 

If we use the Strength of Youth booklet and follow what it says, we will make the right choices and be on our way to eternal life.
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We returned to Johannesburg on Sunday after church and prepared to have a busy week...upcoming Congo visit, Helping Hands preparation, The national public affairs directors conference, problems with Zimbabwe and Botswana as well as Namibia, Elder Bednar visiting Africa again with Elder Clayton, Sister Stevens and Sister Marriott from the General Primary and Young Women's boards, Law and Religion Symposium in Cape Town, hosting Ukhozi Radio and Durban Premiere to Salt Lake City, events in Rwanda and Burundi, DRC temple and Durban temple progress, finding airplane tickets and hotel accommodation for all national PA directors and couples for the conference in March, get helping hands materials updated and printed. Make sure all of them get out to the units. Work with new Southeast Area Helping Hands Director - Robin Padoa, support couples in other countries with reimbursements, credit cards and materials.

And in addition meetings on visas, humanitarian, Family History, PA council, PA quarterly  reports to area presidency, department reports to with Elder Hamilton, meetings with people from our apartment building, social events, Senior family home evenings, parties, etc.

In the Area Office every Monday at 9 am,  we have some good devotionals with a song, prayer and speaker. On the 27th, Gregory Kingsley talked about how in December 2000, a week before his nineteenth birthday, he sang with a group of youth in a Stake Christmastime Cantata. He had not yet made up his mind to serve a full-time mission for the Church. His “mighty change of heart” came when he sang the words to the song, ‘I Heard Him Come.’

He looked on me—He must have felt my gaze. He came t’ward me—through the crowded maze, and I a leper, in shame hid my head ‘til someone said, ‘Jesus is his name!’ He looked on me, as he had once before, saying, ‘Teach my word to all for evermore.’  Shortly thereafter, Brother Kingsley turned in his mission papers and was called to the England Leeds Mission.  It was a great story, so I put it on Facebook with Sister Shupe's help in getting some photos and urging him to give us a copy of his talk. We meet some great people here at the Area Office and love hearing their stories.


I do not claim that this is all...I am sure I am missing loads of stuff, but my hands are tired, my eyes are crossed and my brain is fried. I hope that means I can stop for now. Enjoy and let us hear from you.