Mossel Bay

Sunday we went to church in the George Branch. It was up 2 flights of stairs but many strong faithful people were there.

After church we drove south west to Mossel Bay to look around a bit and have a late lunch or early dinner. The best part was after dinner when we went to the tide pools and found some cute little shells. I've also included a photo of a lovely African lady who was watching children as they swam.

 

O, M & B part 2

After lunch we drove further east to Monkeyland where hundreds of monkeys live. There are many kinds of monkeys from all over the world which have been rescued from various situations.

 After visiting Monkeyland we went to Birds of Eden which is a huge aviary with rescued birds. Since I like birds better than monkeys I've put a few more photos.

 

 

 

Ocean, Monkeys & Birds! Part 1

On Saturday the 17th we went to Plettenberg Bay to go whale watching but no whales were observed. We did see some amazing common dolfins and South African fur seals. The boat was pushed out from the beach and on our return revved up its motors and slammed back into the sand!    

Lunch was fish & chips eaten overlooking the beach. Unfortunately, I got bombed by a bird .

George, South Africa

We stayed in George from December 16-23. It's on the Indian Ocean. Our hotel was the Protea King George Hotel which had lovely big rooms and air conditioning. Five of the couples stayed here and four stayed at a wonderful bed and breakfast near the middle of town. 

Where in the world are we?

We drove from Jo'burg to George in the south. But the country we drove through is not what we expecting. It could have been Wyoming except we saw Elands and Springboks instead of pronghorns! We also saw a monkey beside the road. Long 14 hour drive due to heavy traffic on the N 1 highway but it got better later. I hope to post more of our week with 8 other 

missionary couples.

 

Appliances

This may be a strange post, but I had to document the great innovations on a couple of our appliances. Maybe they aren't unusual but we've never seen them elsewhere!

The long blue box you see pulled out of our dryer is the condenser collector. It collects the water removed from clothes and has to be emptied after each drying cycle. When I dried towels it was nearly full. It is necessary since there isn't a dryer vent to outside.

The refrigerator has a reservoir under a shelf in the door that holds water. We have to fill it when it gets low but we can then get cold water from the door. Unlike my refrigerator at home it doesn't have to be attached to a water source. I think these are nifty ways of having modern appliances without a lot of work to an old building!

   

South African National Flower - Protea

We bought this bouquet of Protea at the Irene outdoor market Saturday. They are a pretty flower which are supposed to be long lasting. The market wasn't as interesting as we had thought it would be with mostly white sellers and buyers. 

Our First Interview in Africa

Today, Thanksgiving day, we are most thankful for a wonderful couple we met from the DRC(Democratic Republic of Congo) and interviewed this morning. They speak French and Luanda(the sister only spoke it), so one of their son's translated. They have deep testimonies of our Savior. They have 8 wonderful, children who are also strong in the faith. They had come to Johannesburg to be sealed (married for time and eternity) to each other and their children. We could feel the Spirit so strongly even when we couldn't understand all their words.

They are so beautiful!

 

Thanksgiving

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving at the area office with all the other missionaries. I took just a few photos so you can't see the yummy turkey, dressing, potatoes, green bean casserole, and desserts. Everyone helped. We ate at 11:30 so the temple missionaries could be there and the rest of us could work in the afternoon.

 

 

Arrival Johannesburg South Africa!

We arrived Wednesday evening after cancellation of our scheduled Monday November 14th flight. We spent the night or what was left of it in a hotel going to bed at 3:45 am. We were at back of the plane so we were also at the back of the line for re-scheduling our flight. We actually got an earlier flight by being first in line for standby seats. There is a photo of Jo'burg as we arrived. The other photos are of our flat in Dukes Court. It has recently been updated with new flooring and furniture. It's quite large with 1 bedroom, nice bath (but awkward with no electric sockets and the only mirror is placed high on the wall!), an office, big living and dining rooms and a nice kitchen. We also have both a washer & dryer but no dishwasher. The oven is big (or normal US size). We've been busy learning our responsibilities but I'll write more about that another time.     

Atlanta Airport

We finally got to bed at 3:45 am this morning. Lots of challenges starting with a 3 hour wait to get Re-booked and hotel. Since we were at the back of the plane we were among the last to be helped.  Since we still had to check out by 11am, we took a shuttle to the airport and arrived before noon. We had time to see some of the beautiful things at the airport. We also met some wonderful people while waiting both last night and today. It's amazing how our Heavenly Father helps you through others and often it is just they say a kindly word or talk with you.

We are at the gate hoping we will get on tonight's flight as standbys. I know people here and in South Africa are praying we make it tonight.

Even in challenging times I know my Savior loves me!

     

Flight Cancelled

We are standing in line for hotel and meal vouchers since our flight was cancelled. First plane some vehicle hit one of the engines so we de-planed. Then it took so long to refuel that the pilots were illegal so hopefully we'll get there a day late. At least we are safe and have met some wonderful fellow passengers! 

Photo of the 2nd boarding gate! It's nearly midnight in Atlanta.

Us with World Map

It's traditional to have your photo taken in front of the huge map so we had to include it. We are pointing at Johannesburg, South Africa. It is fun to walk by the map and see both senior missionaries and young elders and sisters getting their photos taken. 

More MTC

We completed our MTC on Friday and spent the weekend at Dave's sisters. I wanted to post photos of our wonderful MTC teachers. The photo with the group is with our district with our afternoon teacher, Sister Vance. Others in our district are Elder & Sister Douglas, Elder & Sister Howe and Elder & Sister Tolman, all dedicated missionaries who want to share their feelings about Jesus Christ. The photo with us and Sister Anderson, our morning teacher is also included. She was a missionary in South Africa so was able to tell us about it. We loved our teachers! 

 

Mission Training Center

We spent last weekend with our son's family (Sam& Melissa) in Provo, Utah before entering the MTC on Monday. It has been a busy week as we learn to teach about our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. All the lessons are Christ centered and make me love Him more. I am so grateful for his example and sacrifice for me.   Here are some photos of some of the inspiring painting of Jesus Christ here. It really helps us to "think of Christ, talk of Christ " while here.

Training in Salt Lake City

We spent the week of October 3 through 7th at the LDS Church History Library training for our positions as Assistant Area Church History Advisers along with 7 other couples. It was intense but enjoyable training as we learned and practiced various things we will be doing in South Africa. It included information on local annual church histories, oral history, receiving donations of various kinds and organizing a local Church History Center. It was interesting and we met some wonderful people including the staff and those other couples who will be going to various parts of the world including Moscow, Kyiv, New Zealand, Tokyo, and Germany. We can hardly wait until we get there and start working.

We enter the MTC on November 7, 2016. We are excited to be starting a new adventure in South Africa.