September 28, 2012

 Today we met with the Grahamstown elders for district meeting.  

 It was great to see Elder Moangare again and since he is the district leader in Grahamstown, he gave the lesson.  He did a great job even though he said he was very nervous.  Elder Scicluna would be very proud of him.  Elder Moangare said he learned a lot from Elder Scicluna and respects him a great deal.  They were a great companionship.  The next time the two districts meet together, it will be here in Port Alfred and our Elder Alexander , who is our district leader, will be giving the lesson.  We had a great lunch together and it was nice to spend some time with Elder and Sister Nye who serve there.  They will be going home in December as their mission is almost over.   

When we were finished there, we headed home, but not before we stopped at a spring just outside Grahamstown to get water.  It is really good and free water.  Wish we had one of those here in Port Alfred. 

We have seen a number of these donkey pulled cart in our travels but have never taken a picture of them. They are used for everything from a taxi to transporting supplies to gathering wood. They use these sticks to build their shacks. They kind of weave them together like rebar in concrete and then pack mud over them.

September 23, 2012

 Seeing the date lets me know it is another “click” for us.  The missionaries call the day of the month they started their mission a “click” day when it comes around.  That is how they measure their mission time.  We have been out now for 5 months.  It really seems to have gone fast in some ways and slow in others.  Each week is always filled with things to do and there is usually never a dull moment, especially for President Stumm.

Today President Stumm spoke on adversity.  I had adversity this week when Rick cleared the camera of pictures not knowing they hadn’t been downloaded onto the computer.  At the last zone conference where Elder Carl B. Cook was in attendance we had our picture taken with him and his wife.  Elder Cook had also specifically asked Rick to sit next to him at lunch and of course I took a picture of it.  Those pictures were some of those that were cleared.  Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.  I mean, how many times do you get to have you picture taken with a General Authority…it was quite meaningful. I do have the memory and the entry in this journal but it still was a trial. I do have one last hope and that is that Elder Scicluna copied the photos off of our camera onto his hard drive.  However, my thought on adversity is that in the eternal perspective of things it just isn’t that big of a deal.  My eternal companions’ feelings are more important than a picture.  With that all in mind, if we don’t get the picture life will go on and be just fine.

A couple of days ago, Kara (Dixon) Houser emailed us wanting to use our mission story on the website  latterdaysentinel.com  in the September 20, 2012 issue.  We agreed and it was posted.  She did a really nice job .

September 17, 2012

 We spent the night at the Fowers and had a nice breakfast before we were off to visit Silverdale Elementary outside of East London. 

 Elder Mc Donald who was a former AP in the mission was headed home with his parents.  They brought several suitcases of school supplies for the children in this farm elementary school.  His parents ward put together the supplies for the children as a service project.

 The children absolutely loved everything.  The school has mostly nothing and they were so excited.  They also brought a suitcase full of deflated soccer balls with a couple of air pumps.  It was fun to watch the excitement and they sang songs and danced for us.  It was so neat!!  One girl kept looking at me and we smiled at each other.  When I got a chance after they went to their classrooms, I found her and had my picture taken with her.

  She told me her name, of course I can’t even say it let alone remember it.  She was very sweet!  We got lots of pictures…it was a great experience.
 


 They serve one meal at the school which is Mielie-meal, one of the African staple foods, predominantly cooked into pap, (maize meal very similar to American grits)or phutu, a traditional Bantu porridge and they then pour Amasi or sour milk over it. This is what they feed the children every day and they seem to like it.

Here is their kitchen, man was it ever hot in there.

We then went with the Fowers and Stokoes to the East London Museum and spent around 2 hours.  The museum was good learned more about the Xhosa people and their customs, learned about the early settlers and history of the area, and the may ship wrecks that are around this area of Africa. 

 After that we headed back to Port Alfred. 

We also met our new elder, Elder Alexander from Pretoria. 

 He is from Pretoria in South African.  He can play the piano well which will be a great blessing for the branch.  I don’t mind getting  new elders, just don’t like letting the old ones leave!!

September 16, 2012

 After church President Stumm had a line of children and young women wanting to sign off on more Articles of Faith.  The deal that was made with them was they would be rewarded with a small candy bar for each one memorized, or if they can give the first 5 straight through without a mistake then it is a large chocolate bar.  Two girls did it, the youngest being 9 years old.

We took lunch to Sister VanRensburgs and ate with them.  We just planned taking a meal to her and some of her family, but she understood and thought we were coming also, so we had a nice lunch with them.  After that we took cupcakes to Alfante Tunye since we thought it was his birthday. Turns out it is not until the 23^rd.  It’s wrong on the branch roster.   We’ll get that fixed!!  Then off to East London to stay with the Fowers  and go to a rural school tomorrow where school supplies from a ward in Utah will be given out and then on to the East London Museum.