October 26, 2012 

 District meeting today, and I officially met Elder Clarke.  After the meeting, they came to our boarding for lunch and we were able to learn a little more about our new Elder.  Our appointments cancelled this evening so we when shopping for food. Sunday we will be showing Saturdays sessions of General Conference and we will be providing lunch for the branch. After that we just came home to a quiet evening.  It is again raining…hopefully not at all like last weekend!

October 25, 2012 

 Rick took 3 loads of laundry to the Elders flat to wash.  They don’t have water either, however, he can use the water from the big rain water tank that is there. 

 Their washer is just one step ahead of Sister Dells, as it will also spin in the same tub.  But it is small enough that you can actually fit it in the back seat of one of our cars.  While Rick was at the Elders flat, they returned from Port Elizabeth. 

 Elder Alexander is now a trainer and Elder Clarke, from Glendale, Arizona is his new companion and fresh out of the MTC in Johannesburg.  He is fairly quiet, but with time he will be just fine.

October 24, 2012 

 Today we went to Sister Dells to wash our garments in her washer, since we still have no water.  Her washer is very interesting.  There is a wash side then an extractor side.  We washed them then put water in the sink and rinsed them twice and then put them in the water extractor side then put them in our bag and brought them home and dried them in our drier. 

October 23, 2012 

 Today marks 6 months we have been out on mission.  It has been a humbling, trying, exciting, grateful for what we have six months.  We are glad we decided to serve a mission and know the Lord wants us here.  We just hope we are doing all He wants us to do. 

October 22, 2012 

 AHHH…today we get to shower.  We tried the missionaries flat, but they don’t have water either. Sister Dell had offered to let us shower at her place, so off we went to take her up on the offer.  It was wonderful to have a real shower and get cleaned up properly.  Burglary is a thriving trade here in South Africa, so whenever possible, burglar bars are put on all doors and windows. At the church there is an out building where we store “stuff” and the room where the church computer is located is not secured. Rick contracted to have burglar bars put on these two places. While he was meeting with the contractor at the church to go over what was needed, a beggar from out of town came by the church wanting help.  Rick is always getting hit up by the beggars in town for food or money, but this is the first time someone from out of town has found him. As usual we helped him out.   We don’t mind helping those who are truly hungry but there are a number of “professional” beggars in town who just want money to spend on alcohol.  You are learning who they are and we help those truly in need.

The flood damage was not contained to just the Port Alfred area but it has washed out roads and homes all over the area.   We heard the bridge at Kenton on Sea has a lot of damage and is now closed to traffic.  This will affect Elder Alexander and his new companions return from Port Elizabeth.  We also heard the road to East London was out, so it’s a good thing we are stocked up on food, since all of that road damage will affect truck traffic into Port Alfred.  The adventure gets bigger all of the time.  We have put out garbage cans to collect rain water from the roof drains so we will have water to flush the toilets, but will have to haul water for dishes and showers. Today we heard that Elder Scicluna is now an AP…assistant to the President.  We are so excited.  That means he will be visiting Port Alfred now and then…I think he is excited as well…Rick called him to congratulate him and we heard him tell his companion that meant they would get my cupcakes…they are great, you know.  They have been named “Elder Sciclunas favorite chocolate cupcakes”.

October 22, 2012 

 Here are some pictures of the water damage to the roads after the water subsided. When we were driving to the members homes the water was running so fast that a lot of these hole you couldn't tell were there or how deep they were.

October 21, 2012 

 It is Sunday and it seems so strange not to be going to the chapel to get everything ready for church services.  Since we are stuck at our boarding, or at least on the “can’t get out” side of the washout we feel a little bit like being incarcerated!!  This is what it looked like yesterday before and after the washout.

 We watched a couple of sessions of General Conference, which was nice, we took a couple of walks down to the washout site to see what was happening and returned a couple of times during the day to watch an amazing “coming together” of the community to fill the gaping gash and get the residents out and in. 

 It started early in the morning with a few people. First thing done was to pull two telephone poles across the hole and then nail plywood on them to give foot access across the washout. 

The area isolated is where some of the local contractors must live, because soon there were dump trucks dumping sand on the far side of the road and a pile of sand bags hauled in. After all of the loose debris was clean out of the washout

volunteers started filling the sand bags which were then loaded in a track hoe that arrived soon after the dump trucks, and the bags were lowered where other volunteers packed them in two rows spaced about 6 to 8 meters apart and then filled in the void with sand which was then wet down with water to help compact it.

 This process was repeated over and over until the gap was filled and traffic was allowed to cross.

The pictures show the progress and the amazing number of people pulling together to get the job done.  This was a community at its best. 

People would work for a while and then others would take their place. 

There seemed to be four main people directing the work. The sweaty looking one was there working when we first started watching and he was one of the last ones to leave. 

This was the final look before they put a top coat of gravel on it.

 

Later in the day, before they left for Port Elizabeth, our Elders were able to come over and we said our good-bye to Elder Dale and properly sent him off with a hug and a bag of his favorite “crack” corn (otherwise known as peanut butter popcorn). It is still hard to send a missionary off.   Rick had permission from President Wood to have his councilors and the Elders go to the members’ homes where they could administer the Sacrament to as many of them as could come. They spent all morning holding meeting after meeting in a number of homes where 41 of the branch members were able to meet together and partake of the Sacrament. While they were at one of the homes, a hail storm passed by and produced some rather large size pellets. 

It managed to put a few dents into the Elders car in the process!!  When they were actually able to get to our boarding, they administered the sacrament for us also.  There was a special feeling about it.  Good- byes said, Rick walked them out and they headed off to their new assignments. The road was finished late Sunday and now we have access to the rest of the world. It was another crazy African  week-end.