Friday, April 20, 2018

Mission Leadership Council

Traditionally, MLC was held the last day of transfer week.

However, we changed it to be the first Tuesday after transfer week because it allowed more time to plan for MLC. Transfer week ends up being our busiest of the six weeks!

 Breakfast!

 Zone Leaders enjoying breakfast!




 We learned a lot at MLC! We counseled and were inspired!

 Elder Lahue, Sala, Simayile (AP), Fullmer (AP)

 Elders Nielsen, Atkinson, Nuusa

 Elders Nuusa, Isooba, Merritt

 Our Zone Leaders planning!




Zone Leaders came away with topics to discuss in the next round of Zone Conferences!

Thursday, April 5, 2018

Departure Time


Three of our Elders go home!


 Elders Jonga, Adlard, and Knutsen
A quick stop at the temple site before going to the airport!

 Elder Jonga

 Elder Knutsen

 Elders Jonga, Adlard, and Knutsen

 The temple is coming along!

 Arriving at the airport!

 Elder Homer (AP) assists our departing Elders

 Elders Knutsen, Adalard, Jonga

 Elder Adlard has a short flight! He is going home to Johannesburg

 Elder Jonga, we are going to miss you!

 Elder Knutsen has a long flight today! He's going back to Seattle!

 Saying goodbye

 Elder Jonga

 Elder Knutsen and President Thompson

Elders Homer (AP), Knutsen, Jantjies (AP)

Best wishes to our departing Elders! We are sad to see you go, grateful for your faithful service, and happy for your new adventures!

May God be with you and bless you!

Departing Elders Dinner and Testimony Meeting


It's that time again!
Three of our Elders return home this transfer!

We are going to miss them immensely!



 Elder Adlard, Knutsen, and Jonga (AKA Peter, James, and Jonga!)
After dinner we gather to share testimonies!

 Elder Knutsen is first!

 Elder Adlard

 Elder Homer (AP)

 Elder Jonga

Elder Jantjies (AP)

After testimonies, the missionaries going home receive a packet that includes important papers and documents.

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Elder Da Silva


Welcome to Elder Da Silva!


He arrived about three weeks ago!

We are so happy to have you!



 Elder Da Silva at the temple site

 Elders Walker and Da Silva

Elder Da Silva

Monday, April 2, 2018

A Most Unusual Transfer

It is transfer week!


Why is this week so unusual?  Because we have no new missionaries coming!  It is the first time since we've served in Durban that this has happened! We are still losing six missionaries this month, however. Four will go home on Thursday, and two more toward the end of the month! We are always sad to see our missionaries depart - yet at the same time, happy for them to be reunited with their families, seek education, and seek employment opportunities.



Friday, March 23, 2018

A Visit to a Lesotho School and Weavers


My daughter and I brought suckers to hand out to the kids at this school. We made the mistake of not having them line up first. We were both mobbed, and nearly trampled, as we tried to hand them out! Luckily, no one was hurt!

Despite our mistake, we loved visiting the school just as it was getting ready to dismiss for the day!



 My grandchildren were swarmed by kids wanting to touch their hair and ask them questions!

 The people of Lesotho, whether young or old, are very loving!

 President teaches the children the song "I Am a Child of God" and "Popcorn Popping"

 The children wanted to ask my grandson a lot of questions!

 Teaching the kids songs with President, my grandsons, and daughter.


 My son-in-law taking pictures of the children singing!



 The school children were intrigued by my grandson's hair!


 Fist bumps!


 We went inside a classroom!

 The teacher of one of the classes teaching my grandson's words in Sesotho!

 I am especially surprised that the children and the teachers did not know of the United States, or any of the states like California or New York!


The weavers

These women spin yarn, dye the yarn, and make beautiful tapestries with it!

 We stopped by the weavers - their building is literally made out of soda pop cans! (see a previous blog from last year)
These women sing for us, and then the boys shared a couple of songs for them!

Singing "I Am a Child of God"

We felt blessed to have my daughter and her family here to visit!
They got to teach with the missionaries and had amazing experiences, as well as attend a Zone Conference, a baptism, and attend church at Umbhadula Branch and Ilovo Branch!

Their visit went by too fast - but we will treasure the time we spent together in South Africa and a day in Lesotho!