Delightful Weather,,,rh

The weather here has been delightful. This boy is used to hot, sometimes humid summers in Arizona. The summers in Washington, DC were not as hot, but much more humid. Of course, in Oregon, they were neither hot, nor humid. I had been expecting more warm, muggy days here in Johannesburg, but such has not been the case. We have had warm days and cool nights for the most part. On only two nights when the weather dried out was it uncomfortable for sleeping. This past week, even though the rains were generally gone, the nights have been quite cool.

All in all, it has been great summer weather. If it were like this every summer, it would be a great place for snowbirds. We’ll see what lies ahead, weather-wise.

On Our Own -gfh

The office couple we are replacing, Elder and Sister Gunther, went home on Wednesday. We are on our own. I was scared to death, certain that I would forget to do some vital item like getting a visa renewed and the missionary would be hauled off to jail or deported. I was very nervous about Thursday morning.
Surprisingly Thursday morning came and the day went smoothly. In fact, it seems to be easier without my “trainer” nearby to notice what I do wrong or forget to do. Sister Gunther has been a very sweet and patient woman. She is a computer whiz and a fantastic organizer. I know I have caused the work to slow down while she has been training me and I know I have added stress to her life. I’m thinking she was more than ready to go home. She probably needs to go on a cruise to de-stress from the last three weeks. She certainly deserves it.
So now we are trying to remember all we have learned and sort through the things we need to do that we’ve forgotten how to. We’ve made it through the week with no major goof ups, at least that we know about so far. I remind myself that there are office couples out there serving who have had no training and the work goes forth. Thank goodness. I also remind myself that we are not alone. This is the Lord’s work. He is mindful of our desire to serve and of our inadequacies. He will magnify us. “No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing."

Transfer Day....rh

Last week, we experienced our first transfer. We were at the office early for the new missionaries coming from MTC, which adjoins the mission office. There were ten new missionaries, nine from various parts of Africa and one from the USA. After greeting them, we went to the adjoining stake center for the first of many meetings of the day. It was a quick orientation to the mission – each of the senior missionaries took a little time to acquaint them with various aspects of the mission and President and Sister Poulsen gave them a spiritual pep-talk. The Spirit was strong and I was touched by the eagerness of these young men to begin working.

We call them young elders but even so some of these elders are not so young. It seems that many of the missionaries coming from Africa are already in their mid twenties. One Elder when introducing himself at transfer meeting told that he had been teaching physics four years in his country before deciding to serve a mission. One elder from Cape Town is a chartered accountant, equivalent to a CPA in the United States. I’m sure they all have similar stories. I’m finding as I am writing letters to parents/contact persons that many of their parents are both deceased or many parents are not members of the church. It is not uncommon for the contact person to be the Branch President or Bishop or a grandmother. (gfh)

As the day progressed, we had lunch with the new missionaries and their trainers and then on to the transfer meeting. This meeting is quite large, all who are affected by transfers as well as the new missionaries and departing missionaries were there, probably about 120 in all. Each of the new missionaries (including the Henrichsens) were able to give a short intro of themselves and a testimony. President Poulsen then assigned each of them to their trainer and companion. Then the departing missionaries were given a chance to speak .

The departing missionaries included some who were not going home, but were being transferred to the Durban Mission. It seems that our mission had grown to the point that we had twice the number of missionaries as did Durban. The decision was made to take two of our zones and make them part of the other mission. So now we only operate in two countries instead of three. It was a bittersweet experience for all – realizing that we have been succeeding in our work but saying goodbye to 26 elders and 2 missionary couples.

I was impressed throughout the day with the power of the Spirit as we met with the missionaries. The Lord is indeed in charge of the work here. He has chosen a great man, President Poulsen, to be his leader here in this part of South Africa and Botswana. I am continually amazed at his ability to listen to those around him, make decisions, and go forward in a quiet confident way to do the Lord’s work. I am also amazed at his stamina. His schedule is amazingly full and I doubt that he ever gets a full night’s sleep, yet he goes on not showing the least sign of strain or fatigue.

The capper of the day was when the missionaries stood and sang the mission song. The power of scores of young men was evident as they raised their voices in joy and humility. My body is no longer young, but my spirit soared with youthful fervor as we listened to them.

It is good for us to be here!!!

Our Branch....rh

The Ennerdale branch meets in a group of modular buildings in one of the many townships surrounding Johannesburg. These townships are not the prosperous suburbs we think of in the USA, they are more like the inner city neighborhoods at home. Here things are just reversed, the cities are where the more wealthy folks live and the suburbs (townships) are where the poor and really poor people stay. Ennerdale itself is a fairly nice township, but the branch spreads out several kilometers in all directions. It includes lots of the countryside - rolling hills with occasional groups of trees but mainly grassland. We are told that during apartheid days, this area was mainly full of farms of Afrikaners. The farms have been mostly abandoned. Even though the majority now rules the nation, most do not have the resources available to pick up where the Afrikaners left off, so the farmland sits idle.

The people of the branch are enthusiastic and grounded in the gospel. Of course there are the newer members and investigators in the group. I saw the quarterly report of the branch this week and they obviously have a large group of less active folks, just like our branch in Waldport. The chapel will hold about 80 and most of the seats were filled last Sunday. I could see that they were mostly filled since Georgia and I were asked to speak on our first time in the branch. By the time the first two speakers were finished, there was about 35 minutes left before the scheduled end of the meeting time. Georgia took about 15 minutes to touch on the power of God’s love in our lives. I was able to speak for about 15 minutes by tying the love theme of the first three speakers into how the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, show God’s love by giving us guidance. I challenged everyone to read from the Book of Mormon each day, even if it is only for a minute or two. Since it was a fifth Sunday, the branch president taught the combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting. His topic was a challenge from the stake to read the Book of Mormon this year. How about that?

There are few with musical ability in the branch, but the congregation sings with gusto. It was good to hear them sing out songs that are familiar to all Latter-day Saints. The speakers and teachers were very good and class participation was excellent as well. We had a good experience throughout the meetings. Afterward we went with the Gunthers (our trainers) to visit the families they home teach. It is assumed that we will be teaching these same families, so it was a good introduction for them and us. Some of them live in nicer places, but one of them lives in a tiny little house surrounded by other tiny houses in a situation that can only be described as squalor. The contrast in living conditions was quite evident in our visits to these families.

On Fast Sunday, I was greatly impressed by the testimonies offered to the congregation. As I said above, they seem to be generally well grounded in the gospel. The Spirit was strong. The testimonies were direct and appropriate – no long stories or travelogues. Georgia said that she hopes the missionaries do not mess up the doctrinal purity that we find here.

It is good to be here. We are having a good time in South Africa. We are working hard and long at the office each day. We are thankful to be serving God and our brothers and sisters in this capacity.

HILLS ARE MY FRIENDS ....gfh

Well, I'm making new friends as I'm climbing these hills learning the office. This is one of the hardest things I think I have ever done. Rusty and I were talking tonight on the way home after having spent 11 hours in the office that I'm going to be a computer whiz by the time this calling is complete! I know my kids would be amazed at me even now with all the new things I've learned. It is wonderful working so closely with the President and getting to know the missionaries as they call in or wander in to the office. We're still spending most of our time either in the office or going to and from. No adventures, except we did buy a wardrobe mirror, you know the kind that you put up so you can see if your shoes match your outfit :-). We bought it from a man selling mirrors at the intersection. There seems to be some enterprising merchant at almost every intersection. The mirror was marked R60 but Rusty could just quickly pull out of his pocket a R50 and the man took it. Translated that means that this really tinny cheapo mirror cost about $7 US. Amazing how some things are really expensive here. The same mirror would have cost two bucks in the states. We've noticed and have been told that plastics and glass are expensive here. Things like baggies or garbage bags, plastic wrap etc. ouch! Also cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
So I know this isn't the type of thing you want to read about South Africa. Where are the Lions and tigers and crocodile stories. They're down the road aways in our journey but it seems like we're having a different kind of adventure right now. Adding a few pictures of our flat..that's what appartments are called here. Four elders used to live here. There are two bedrooms, two bathrooms, lots of windows and very high ceilings. Sounds fancy, but maybe a look at the pictures will give you a better idea. We are very comfortable but we adjust easily.

HOW DO YOU LIKE SOUTH AFRICA? --gfh

Well, my answer to that is “as much as we’ve seen so far we like it”. However, we haven’t been “out” much to get a good look at some of the other parts of So. Africa other than Jo'burg. We are absolutely locked in to the office where we spend a good ten hours a day and that is with about a 15 min lunch to gobble down a PB&J. There is so much to learn.
We were told we wouldn’t have to speak a foreign language but something should have been said about “Listening in a foreign language” Yes, when people speak to us they speak English even at that there are many, many different languages spoken among the people and the accents are beautiful and difficult to filter out the English. One of my responsibilities is to take the referral phone calls that originate from “pass along cards” that someone, usually a missionary, has given out. I know I’m in trouble as soon as I hear the person on the other end of the line say “Allo”. I’ve heard of missionaries saying that the language they hear is not the language they were taught in the MTC. That is exactly how I feel. This is truly a matter of prayer for me. I figure if the missionaries who have to learn to speak a foreign language pray for help, I certainly fall into that category. For now I have Sister Gunther whom I am replacing. I struggle along for a while with the caller and then quite often I hand it over to her. She is going home in a week and has mastered the art of listening but once she’s gone I’ll be on my own except for divine intervention which I will sorely need.
Another one of my responsibilities is making sure the missionary’s visa is good for the duration of his mission. This is a real problem with almost all of our missionaries from countries other than the USA and South Africa. And about 80% of our missionaries fall in to the category. We have missionaries from the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar,Congo,Germany, Australia, England,…well, anyway, you get the idea. Some missionaries even come into the mission with only a one month visa and have to have several extensions. This involves many steps: papers, appointments,fingerprints,signatures, etc for every time. So, that is my job. It’s a big responsibility because you know what will happen if one of our missionaries is in the country illegally. Yup.
Let’s see, what else do I do? I make all the travel arrangements for departing missionaries, send letters out to parents, stake presidents, bishops for things like new leadership positions for missionaries, departing, welcoming, etc. I’m pretty much in charge of all of the Presidents travel arrangements and communications, plus keeping all the records for the missionaries up todate . There ten, maybe more, districts/branches directly under the President and I see that all the info is current and communications go pretty much through me. Today I got a phone call from one of the District Presidents to whom I had sent information about the CES broadcast coming on Mar 7 being rebroadcast Mar14. The time was given MDTime and he wanted to know what time it would be here in South Africa. He didn’t want to calculate it and didn’t want his people to have to calculate it and asked me to do it and get it back to him and to be sure it was correct. AND in the future please be sure that that is already taken care of. I told him I’d be glad to. (I guess that's part of my job, too).
There seem to be a bazillion other things in my job description. It will be fun to read this in nine months and see how easy it seems from that perspective. Right now I’m praying for help and doing my best. When DiDi heard I was called to be the Mission President's Secretary, she said "WHO YOU, MOM?!! Yup, that's me.

I love seeing the young missionaries coming in and out of the office and trying to be of help to them. I love watching them group around the mail closet, sort through the mail and come out with mail in hand and big smiles on their faces. Others gather round and share in the news or the goodies! It makes me want to send each one letters and care packages. Many of our African missionaries are so poor they might never even have had shoes before. Now they are outfitted and looking very handsome in their suits, white shirts and ties. They actually have money in their missionary fund, more than they have ever had to spend before. They are being blessed while they are blessing the lives of others. If an American missionary has an African companion,he is cautioned to hold down his style of living. Most of the American missionaries, if not all, have a person account with extra money coming from home, other than their missionary funds. They are to use only that money for extra things not pertaining to the work of a missionary. Of course the African missionary has no such fund.
The driving is coming great! Fun to get adjusted so it isn’t so stressful. We can actually chat now while we drive whereas when we first started out it was all serious and focused. We don’t even need to use our GPS, which we have renamed “GoGO” (which means Grandma in Zulu) all the time…well, we just mostly don’t use it around the mission home and office and close by areas. But still very grateful to have it!! One thing I’ve noticed is that not only does one stay to the left when driving but also when walking down hallways, etc. Well, I guess that makes sense.
We went to the SO Africa MTC today for a security meeting for all the new missionaries. There was talk about “smash & Grab” crimes showing videos of actual incidents. Seeing the thieves working in teams scoping out the cars and then smashing the window with a spark plug in their hand, grabbing the purse, camera or other item almost instantly and being gone. There’s no way to catch them. They hit at stop lights, which are called robots, and during busy traffic. There was talk of being careful about possible kidnapping, theft at ATMs, etc. One of our missionaries said that if he lived in South Africa he would live far away from Johannesburg because of the crime. Now, after having said all that I must tell you that we were told not to write home to our families about the crime or any dangerous incidents that we might find ourselves in. Our families are already praying for us and we mustn’t give them extra things to worry about. So don’t worry!
We are still in the mission home and have five star accommodations! We think we’ll be moving into a flat this weekend but that will only be for about a month until the one the president wants for us is available.
.

Early observations of South Africa....rh

It has been very rainy this summer (I know, it’s winter where you are) and so things are verrrry green.

Taxi drivers run lights and especially anticipate when a red light will turn green – many times well into the intersection before the light changes.

Street vendors and/or beggars on almost every busy street corner.

Amazing rainstorms.

Many species of birds that I have never seen.

Beautiful flowers everywhere. Great diversity in living conditions – of course the mission home is in one of the nicest areas. But in the townships, living conditions range from decent to deplorable. If anyone has ever been to Guadalupe, Arizona – that is about mid-range in the townships. The worst are tin shacks about 10’ x 10’. Many have no power or water to the “houses”.

Fences around most of the businesses and residences with very sharp things on the top. Everyone in the nicer areas have alarm company signs on their fences and most of those signs say “ARMED RESPONSE”. These alarm companies are a private police force in South Africa.

Very friendly and knowledgeable people in the branch where we are assigned.

Driving on the left is not too bad, but shifting with my left hand is crazy. And, I feel like I’m driving without a rear-view mirror, it’s just in the wrong place. Every once in a while, I look up and to the left and I’m amazed every time that there is a mirror there.

Traffic lights are called robots.

Hard working, dedicated missionaries in the mission.

Lots of things to learn in the mission office.

Groceries seem to be just a bit more expensive than at home, but most things we have at home are also available here – even peanut butter. Good thing that we sent that three pound jar home before we left.

Gorgeous red stone steps leading into the temple from the underground garage.