Good News! Week 63

We have lots of good news this week.  But not much activity.

First, Ken is feeling better after hurting his back climbing out of bed.  He went to the doctor on Monday afternoon, was given strong Tylenol and Celebrex for the pain and inflammation in his back, and told to lie down flat for 48 to 72 hours.  So he spent all day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in bed. Thank goodness for the phone and Internet to entertain him.  He listened to scriptures, watched BYU basketball, and in other ways entertained himself between naps.

Thursday Sue was at the office almost all day by herself.  She got so much done!  As much as she loves Ken and the young Elders, they are a distraction to computer work.

Second,  South Africa is starting to vaccinate everyone over age 60, regardless of nationality, starting 1 May.  

We are registered and should get our vaccines soon.  South Africa is handling this wisely -- as we think they have for the whole  pandemic.  The Astra-Zeneca vaccine requires deep freeze and two doses, so it will be used in the cities where those things can be better controlled.  The Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not require the deep freeze, and only one dose is needed, so it will be used in the more rural areas that do not have the freezer capacity, and where it is harder for people to travel to get to vaccination centers.  That means we are stuck, literally, getting two shots, but we will manage.

This week Ken finally received a replacement hearing aid from the US via FedEx.  It took several days to get it through Customs, but it was ultimately delivered.

Work continues on the roads between our apartment and the office.  Friday morning Sue drove to the office, when she went home at noon to mix bread, the whole configuration had changed again.  Ken says it looks like an autocross obstacle course.  It will eventually be a four-lane divided road.  But sometimes it's one lane each way on one side.  Then they change to one lane each way on the other side.  Now it's one lane each way, but on each side for about a block, then back to all on one side.  There are STOP signs in random places, but no one pays any attention to them anyway.  You can see they are set in barrels for easy movement around the area.  Sue took this photo when there wasn't much traffic.  Often there are pedestrians walking along the road, too. [Turn left at the third Stop sign to get to our apartment.]

We had hoped to go to a Molweni Branch party on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm.  But at noon it was pouring buckets.  We are not supposed to be indoors with groups of people, and it wasn't the weather to be outdoors, so we didn't go.  Ken was feeling very behind at the office.  On Friday and again on Saturday he went to work for several hours while Sue did shopping, ironing and other domestic chores.  

Sue decided to sort out the vacuum cleaners. We've been collecting broken ones -- and are up to five.  Some have motors that don't work.  Others are missing hoses or pipes or end brushes.  The parts are not interchangeable.  Sue took this photo to send to the Church physical facilities people to ask if they know where we can get vacuum parts.  We will probably have to toss them all. 

When Sue went back to pick up Ken at the office on Saturday afternoon the rain was light, and there was a wonderful rainbow over our apartment parking lot.   

Sunday we went to church in Berea near downtown Durban.  After Church we went downstairs to meet the family of  Elder & Sister Van Heerden.  They are the only other Senior Couple in the Mission right now, and they live west in Ladysmith -- about a three-hour highway drive.  (We have an empty apartment downstairs until our new Welfare Services couple come in June.)  They came to Durban this weekend for Elder Van Heerden to marry some friends in the Durban Temple.  Their two daughters with husbands and children came up from East London for the occasion. 

Till next week.

Zone Conference and Cars -- week 62

We enjoyed seeing so many of the young Elders at Zone Conferences this week.  These are remarkable young men who donate two years of their lives to serving Christ and spreading His Gospel.  Their spirits just make us glad.  We mostly do the paperwork for the mission, but we are supporting those who get to teach the Gospel to wonderful people in South Africa.

Other than that it was pretty quiet.  Ken pulled a muscle in his back, so our plan to rent bikes and ride along the promenade at the beach will have to wait for another time.

Monday Ken held down the fort at the office while Sue ran around and did a lot of shopping.  From our boarding checks the week before, and also from the ones that President & Sister Lines did, there is always a list of needs.  Sue bought an iron, a microwave, some pots and pans, etc.  She also bought morning snack for the two zones -- that's muffins, fruit, and box drinks for 45 people.

Tuesday we went for the beginning of Durban Zone Conference.  We needed to deliver the snacks and boarding stuff.  Ken also needed to finish checking a couple of the cars that he did not check the week before at the boardings.  We didn't stay long, and then came back to regular office work.

Many of our boardings have pre-paid electricity.  That is, there is a box on the wall that has a meter number, takes a 20-digit PIN input.  Sue can go to the grocery store, give the cashier the meter number and buy electricity.  The receipt has the PIN.  She usually buys R1,000 ($70) and it lasts five to six weeks.  She keeps one ahead for each boarding in a spreadsheet so they can call at 9:00 pm and be all out, and she has a PIN to give them.  Then next time she goes shopping she buys more and stores it in the spreadsheet on her smartphone.  The system works well.

Except -- we've had trouble with one landlord.  He didn't pay his monthly property taxes or HOA fees for three months, so the city blocked his electricity purchases.  We've been working on this for a month.  We finally paid the fees ourselves and will deduct them from next month's rent.  But those Elders were down to about two days electricity when Sue was finally able to buy more.  She bought two sets -- one for immediately, and one stored in the spreadsheet.  Whew!

Here are the photos from Durban and Hillcrest Zone Conferences.  We have such wonderful Elders here!

Durban Zone, 13 April 2021

Hillcrest Zone had an activity where part of the Zone had to find references on a scripture topic while the other part of the Zone tried to see how many "baskets" they could make with a soccer ball into a plastic bin.  

Hillcrest Zone, 14 April 2021

Elder Banda is taking the photo.  But he sets the timer and then runs over to join the group.

The Mission has grown so much that there are now three Zones.  President and Sister Lines traveled out to Newcastle -- about four hours west by highway -- for another Zone Conference on Friday.  The Van Heerdens helped them with the food and logistics for that Zone.  Before the evacuation in March 2020, the Misson had 110 young missionaries, six senior couples and seven Zones.  We are now up to 50 young missionaries, two senior couples (with two more coming soon) and three Zones.  Progress!

As mentioned above, our Saturday plans changed.  We drove down to KwaMashu in the morning to deliver some books and papers they needed and to look at their garages.  They didn't think they had a garage with the two boardings there.  One set of Elders has bicycles and has had trouble with kids vandalizing them.  Sue asked the landlord what it would cost to get a garage in the complex and found out each boarding already has a garage assigned!  But we have no keys.  It's a strange-looking keyhole -- the key must be Phillips-head-screwdriver shaped.  We'll probably have to call in a locksmith.

We came home and had a lazy afternoon.  Ken rested his back.  Sue knitted and listened to an audio book.  It was such a beautiful day!  Sunny, 75degF, humidity down to 55%!   Sue finished this hat.  It was about the end of the gray yarn.  

The photo below shows a huge ball of pink yarn.  Sue had a gray one the same size.  It knit almost nine hats!  She is going to donate them to a cancer hospital for people who have lost their hair.

Sue had the door open while she sat on the couch -- too nice to run A/C.  But, then there was movement by the doorway.  A little monkey started to come in!  Sue had cleared off all the food from the counters, but this little one still wanted to come in.  She chased him out.  But he sat on the windowsill.

This looks like Mama was giving the little one tips.

Others gathered.  There are three on the railing, one on the railing at the top of the stairs, and there was one more to the right out of the photo.

For a few months there has been construction at the top of our street.  A couple of weeks ago Sue asked one of the workmen what they were building -- a McDonalds!  This week the sign went up, so it is official.  Hard to see behind the building, but this is our view as we go to the office.

Saturday afternoon Sue also went back to the office for a few minutes to receive two new cars for the mission.  The one on the left is a Renault Triber.  Very pretty color -- but a gutless wonder.  It seats seven, theoretically.  It has a three-cylinder, one-liter, 53 hp engine.  We'll see how often it gets stuck going up some Durban hill.  The other is a standard Toyota Corolla.  The Mission has a few of those.  On Sunday after Church, we drove north to the Temple and picked up a new Ford Ranger bakkie (pick-up truck.)  It had only 750 km on it, and it was nearly out of fuel.  It had been driven down from Johannesburg on Friday!  That's about 600 km, so this is a very new bakkie.

Sunday we went to church in Bluff.  It is a beautiful chapel with a strong ward up on the peninsula between harbor and sea.  

It was the homecoming talk for Sister Sithole.  She served in Durban while we were in California, and we worked together over Zoom to start the first social media pages for our Mission in Sept., Oct. and Nov. 2020.  She had interesting mission service for 18 months.  She started her Missionary Training Center in Accra, Ghana.  Then she was assigned to the Uganda, Kampala Mission.  They were splitting that Mission and told her she would be moving to Ethiopia.  Then COVID hit, so she was brought back to the South Africa Johannesburg Mission and served part of the time there in Eswatini (Swaziland.)  Then four Sisters from Joburg, including her, were sent down to Durban.  They lived in the Temple housing and worked on Social Media.  When things opened up again in November, Sister Sithole went back to Ethiopia to finish her mission and learn the language.  That's missions in five countries in 18 months!

The other speakers for the meeting were several of the teen-agers. They talked about their experience on Saturday of going to the Temple to act as proxies in baptisms for the dead. (See I Corinthians 15:29.)  We know that baptism is an earthly ordinance, and it is important because even Christ went and was baptized by John.  We can do baptisms for those who have passed on in Holy Temples.  These youth spoke of the Holy Spirit they felt in the Temple and how it affects their lives.

One of Sister Sithole's friends in Bluff Ward is getting ready to go on a mission soon.  Sister Auth is scheduled to go to Leeds, England, on 2 June, if she can get a visa.  

We also had to take a photo with the Elders serving in Bluff -- Elder Lowder and Elder Naisbitt.

After Church, the members all stand around outside to visit -- just like home.  It's good to be together.

After Church, we drove around a little to see the views in Bluff.  Here is the ocean side.

And Sue took a 360-photo from the top of one of the hills.  If you zoom in on the side with the car, you can see the harbor, and to the right the high-rises of downtown Durban and the entrance to the harbor.  

Durban Harbor from Bluff, and spin around to see the Indian Ocean on the other side. - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Durban has a geography that gives it a protected natural harbor.  We live at the top of the map in Westville.  The church we attended was out on the Bluff.

While Sue wrote the blog on Sunday afternoon, Ken was working his magic on a training video for the Social Media Elders to share with Church members on using Facebook to share the Gospel.  He has been glad to be able use his video-editing talents to help in the Mission.  It's something he can do with a bad back, and it got him out of doing dishes for once.

Boarding Checks and new Elders -- week 61

We got out of the office this week and visited all around Durban doing Boarding Checks.  

Tuesday we visited Boardings (Apartments) in Amanzimtoti and Queensburgh (pronounced Queensborough.)  But we forgot to take photos in Amanzimtoti.  (It was pouring buckets.) 

Queensburgh is actually in Hillcrest Zone, but we had to stop by there anyway to deliver new Elder Birkeland's luggage!  It had gotten lost somewhere between Atlanta and Johannesburg.  The airline delivered it to the office on Tuesday morning.  We were just getting ready to leave to inspect Amanzimtoti when the delivery man called and said he'd be there in about 30 minutes.  

Queensburgh was not on our inspection list, but we practically drive through there on the way to Amanzimtoti.  So we volunteered to check on Elders Birkeland and Thwani while we were there. We waited for the luggage to show up, then did both inspections.  All is well down south.

Tuesday night Sue finished the puzzle!!  The last bit went fast, because she could try every piece in every possible slot.

Our daughter Rachel had sent this for Christmas.  The goal was to finish it in 100 days.  It was finished with four days to spare!  When we told Rachel it was done she said, "Time for me to send a new one."  Oh, dear!

Wednesday was the monthly Mission Leadership Council meeting.  We don't attend that, but the Zone Leaders do, and their boarding was next on the list for inspection.  We scheduled the other Boarding Inspections for Thursday.

Wednesday night Ken got to do a fun project.  President and Sister Lines have a friend near their home in Gilbert, Arizona, who is from Durban.  She was contacted by an old friend here, Lorraine Willer, and had her connect with the Lines in late 2019.  Long story short--Lorraine decided in May 2020 that she wanted to be baptized, but all churches were all on total lockdown.  So President Lines got permission and baptized her in the Mission Home swimming pool!  We learned that the Church is looking for interesting conversion stories to share with new Mission Leadership couples at their training in June.  They asked for an "audition" video to tell this story.  Four people here got together with Sister Lorraine and told the story.  Ken recorded a 25 minute video with two cameras, edited it overnight, and then we sent it off to Salt Lake City for judging.  We'll see what happens.

Photo from video of President & Sister Lines, Lorraine, her good friend Tina Carvalho, and Elder Mbaki, who taught Lorraine the Gospel almost a year ago.

We started Thursday morning with the Zone Leaders Boarding Inspection in KwaMashu.  These are Elders Effenaar, Christensen and Pettijohn.  They are a trio because Elder Effenaar is going home in three days to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, mid-transfer.  Elder Effenaar spent the first nine months of his mission in Kinshasa Mission, Democratic Republic of the Congo speaking French.  He was transferred to the Durban Mission in March 2020 as part of the "great evacuation."  It wasn't just USA missionaries that went to their home country.  Almost all missionaries everywhere went back to their home country.  By the time the Church started sending missionaries back to their original assignment last December, Elder Effenaar had less than six months left to serve, so he stayed with us.

Our second Boarding Check of the morning was easy to get to--sort of.  Down four flights of stairs, up a steep driveway and up another four flights of stairs.  The KwaMashu 2 Elders Tiyiwe and Lusuko live in the same apartment complex as Elders E, C & P, but in a different building.  Each is on the fourth story--but they call it the second floor.  First comes the garage level.  Then the ground floor, then first floor, last second floor.  But it is still four steep flights of stairs!  We carry extra cleaning supplies in our car, so they walked down with us to pick up what they needed.

Third, we were off to Berea.  We kind of know where that neighborhood is.  We have been to the chapel there several times, and Sue's favorite yarn store is there.  (One Stitch at a Time)  Our records said go to 10 Clayton.  We put that into the Google maps and set off.  We found Clayton street, but could not identify the building. We called Elders Russell and Bascom and learned that they do not live on Clayton Street.  They live on Lena Ahrens Road--about 1.5km away and across the freeway!  Elder Russell told Sue to go to the yarn store, and they are just around the corner!  Their building is named Clayton and they live in Unit 10.  

Last stop of the day was Bluff.  This is the mountainous peninsula that shelters the big harbor in Durban.  It's a beautiful area with views across the harbor and into the city on one side, and out east to the Indian Ocean on the other side.  Elders Lowder and Naisbitt were glad to welcome us. 

Saturday morning Sue did the last two boarding checks--but these were by video.  The Elders were up in Richards Bay and Ngwalezane.  Two hours each way is too long to drive just for a thirty-minute visit.  And these are boardings that the Elders just moved into last Transfer, so they can't be too dirty yet!  We did get a screen shot of Elder Viviers and Elder Slater.

For our activities on Saturday, just read last week's blog.  But this week we only had three new Elders instead of eight.  It was the three who did not make it last week.  They are glad to be here, after only two tries!

Sunday afternoon we did some driving around to deliver various Elders.  We were in a township west of Hillcrest.  It was such a beautiful day!  Sue had to take a round photo from the top of a hill.

Newly arrived Elders in township west of Hillcrest. 11 April 2021 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

And while we were waiting for the Elders, we saw some little boys, maybe ages 8-12, with a home-made go-kart.  They were coming down a steep hill, and we were worried about it getting away from them--until we saw it up close.  It had 2x4's for front and back axles with a wheel attached at each end by a single bolt.  There were two 2x4's on top of each other holding the front axle to the back axle and making the seat.  Two boys were riding and two were pushing.  It needed pushing to go down the hill!  Sue talked to one of them and told him he should be a mechanical engineer when he grows up.

We were able to do a little proselyting this week.  We presented a Book of Mormon in isiZulu to Nick, who washes cars at the Mission Office building complex, and we gave a Book of Mormon to someone we met on Sunday afternoon while waiting for the Elders.

More Missionaries and General Conference for Easter -- week 60

First of all, we want to wish all of you a blessed and happy Easter.  This is the day we celebrate why we are here and doing what we do.  It is the suffering, the Atonement, and the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that is the basis for what we are doing.  We want to share this message with the world.  He Lives!  And we will also live eternally with Him and God the Father because of what Jesus did.  

This weekend is also the annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is always the first weekend in April, so it sometimes falls on Easter, but usually not.  There are five two-hour general sessions, broadcast live on the Internet.  In normal years these are held in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, which holds 21,000+ people.  Now it is held in a small auditorium with fewer than 20 people -- all spread out around the room.  But the messages are just as wonderful, and still shared live around the world.  We watched Saturday morning session at 6 pm Saturday night.  We started to watch Saturday afternoon session at 10 pm, but when Sue closed her eyes for the opening prayer, she knew she wouldn't make it through until midnight.  Ken was watching on his phone in bed -- and snoring.  So we turned it off and watched the Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening Priesthood sessions on Sunday morning.

 

All the sessions of General Conference are archived for streaming at www.churchofjesuschrist.org.  We really recommend watching.  Sue's favorite talks from Saturday:  Elder Dieter Uchtdorf about "God is Among Us," on Saturday morning and Elder Dale Renlund "Life is Not Fair" on Saturday afternoon. Ken's favorite was Elder Jeffery Holland, where he talked about being a stone catcher, not a stone thrower, among other things.

 

We also loved hearing Elder Gerrit W. Gong, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, talk about missing his father, Walter Gong.  Elder Gong grew up in Palo Alto, and we knew his father well for 25 years before his passing in 2000.  Ken was able to email Elder Gong today the link to the audio of Walter's funeral, and the video of the dedication of the grave.  This was one of the many videos that Ken was able to digitize last year while we were home, and he has shared many on his YouTube channel "Ken Allen of Palo Alto."

Most of the week was just office work and preparing for the eleven new missionaries arriving on Saturday.  

 

There were 29 coming to the three South African Missions -- all gathering in Atlanta on Thursday for a red-eye to Amsterdam, and then an all-day flight Friday to Johannesburg.  Our Elders have to overnight in Johannesburg, then fly Saturday morning to Durban.

Sue made a WhatsApp messaging group for our eleven, and it turned out to be a good thing.  In the USA missionaries provide their own smart phone.  When they move from one area of the mission to another (usually every six to nine months), they leave the SIM card in the area.  That way the Church members there always know the phone number of the local missionaries, whoever they are.  So, these missionaries coming had phones, but no SIM cards.  That's OK.  They could register the phone on WhatsApp before removing the SIM card in the USA, and WhatsApp still works on WiFi.  We were so glad to be able to communicate with all of them during the almost week-long travel process.

The COVID test requirement for KLM Airlines is that results must be negative less than 72 hours before arrival in Amsterdam!  That means the missionaries coming have to get their test on Tuesday morning, but they need the results back by Wednesday night to get on early-Thursday flights.  We are six to nine hours ahead of the USA, so Thursday morning we started to get some messages.  Three of our eleven did not get results back in time and would not be flying. Boo Hoo.  But Elder Naisbitt was not one of them.  Hooray!!  This was his third try to come--there were test result problems on the first two tries.  So, we are down to eight.  

Sue's phone is usually set on Do Not Disturb from 10pm to 6am, but she took it off that on Thursday night.  About 2am (8pm in Atlanta) she got a text from Elder Birkeland.  His plane to Atlanta was late, so he missed the flight to Amsterdam.  (Sue went back to sleep--deal with this at a reasonable hour.)  He was being re-routed through Paris!  He had 10+ hours in the Paris airport, then red-eye to Johannesburg.  But his ticket had him on the same flight from Johannesburg to Durban as everyone else.  The only problem was that he had 20 minutes in Johannesburg to get his baggage, go through Customs, recheck his bags and get on the flight.  That was not going to happen.  Easter is a big-deal four-day weekend in South Africa.  Sue sent an email to our usual travel person and got an auto response that she was gone until Tuesday and would not be checking email or phone calls!!  So President Lines called her boss.  He got her to call Sue , and we arranged for a new flight for Elder Birkeland -- arriving at 3 pm in Durban.  All is well.

Once every six weeks the Senior Missionaries do boarding inspections for the young Elders.  A "boarding" is South African for apartment.  We are doing our seven assigned boardings this upcoming week, but one of them is up north by the airport, so we decided to do it on Saturday morning before the airport pick up.  Elders Lutkin and Bibb had the car and apartment in good shape.  We were also able to give Elder Bibb the Easter package his grandmother had sent to him.  He's South African, so sending a package is pretty easy for his family.  

The best part of the visit was Elder Bibb's pet gecko!  It really is live, and just sits on his tie!!

Then we were off to the airport.  We don't usually go to the airport, but with eleven (or eight or seven) arriving all at once, we needed more vehicles.  Ken drove the bakkie (pick-up) to carry luggage.

Flight was due in at 11:35am.  As we were arriving at the airport we got a call from President Lines.  The flight was going to be about an hour late.  So we sat in the airport restaurant with the Lines and the two Assistants and drank mango lemonades.  Yummy.   

Seven came on the scheduled flights. These Elders were all originally assigned to South Africa Durban Mission, but have been serving temporarily in USA Missions because of COVID-19 restrictions.  One has been out almost a year.  Two just started six weeks ago.  The others are in between.  We are so glad to have them all!

In these days of COVID-19, when taking photos the big question is always, "Masks on or masks off?"  Just to be safe, we do it both ways.

  

The Durban Temple is almost on the way from the airport to the Office, so they stop there to take photos.  There is a photo of each Elder with President and Sister Lines, and then group photos.  Sue sends the individual photos to each Elder's family.  Our daughter, Rachel, whose second missionary child is now serving, calls it the "Proof of Life" photo.  Yes--they really made it in one piece!

Next stop is the Mission Office.  Ken and Sue skipped the temple stop because our assignment was to pick up nine pizzas for lunch.  Sue also made a big green salad and a few dozen snickerdoodles (cinnamon cookies--or "biscuits" in South African.)

The Assistants ate quickly, and then took off back to the airport to get our one last Elder.  Luckily the airport is only about 30 minutes away.

Elder Birkeland and also three from Johannesburg and one from Cape Town did not make the Atlanta-Amsterdam flight.  At least Elder Birkeland had good company in Paris.  He arrived in Durban at 3pm, and the Assistants were there to pick him up.  They were able to pick him up, but not his luggage.  That did not make it from Paris to Johannesburg!  He had sent me WhatsApp from there to ask for address and phone number for Mission Office.  KLM is going to deliver it--when they find it.  This is why we tell the Elders to put three or four days worth of shirts, socks and underwear into their carry-on bags!

We were so glad the Elders had phones and could message us during all these changes!  It sure makes tracking long-distance travel easier.

 

After lunch we start orientation.  

Ken talks to them about mission finances and vehicle rules and regulations.  Ken talks to them about being frugal with their money: it's the Lord's funds they are spending.  The don't get enough to eat out every day!

Ken also takes those with driver's licenses for a test drive.  Our last big group were all South Africans, so that was easy.  This group are all from USA, so have to think about driving on the "wrong" side of the road.  One of the rules is "Signal with the blinkers, not with the windshield wipers."  Another rule: "Pray before you drive."  That's understandable in a country where traffic laws are a suggestion.  He takes them in a bakkie because it's big and cumbersome to drive.  If they can drive that, a Toyota Corolla will be a snap.

Sue gathers paperwork--passports, medical info, parent contact info, etc.  She talks to them about boarding inspections and gives the USA Elders a conversion chart to meters and centigrade and kilograms.  

The Assistants talk to them about their Missionary Purpose, Mission rules, daily schedule, etc.

The Social Media Elders show them our Mission Facebook pages and talk to them about following up with people who respond to the pages.  This has become our main means to find people interested in the Gospel.  Going door-to-door is no longer allowed, due to COVID restrictions.  

And through all this, President Lines is pulling them out one-at-a-time to do individual interviews of about 30 minutes each, as the others watch safety videos.  That is all the time he has to get to know them well enough to get the inspiration needed to decide in which area each will serve and who the companions will be. 

 

The new Elders will get their assignments tonight (Sunday) and then leave early Monday morning for the areas where they will serve.

Elder and Sister Van Heerden came from Ladysmith on Thursday to bring Elder Netshiheni, who went home on Friday.  They were going to stay over just one night, so we went out to dinner with them that night.  Friday morning they stopped in the office for a bit to see the plans for all these Elders arriving.  By that time, we knew that our planned-for eleven were down to eight.  President had decided to send only four Elders and one car out west, instead of six Elders and two cars.  The problem is you cannot cram four Elders and all their baggage into a Toyota Corolla.  President asked the Van Heerden's if they would stay over the weekend and drive a load of luggage in their bakkie on Monday morning.  They agreed.  They are such saints.  Elder Van Heerden said, "We are here to serve.  Just tell us what you need."  We gave them some laundry soap to help... .

Ken also had another project this week.  The Social Media Elders wanted a short video to remind everyone about contacting referrals that come in from General Conference.  Conference is playing at 6pm on South African Television, so we expected to get people reacting to that.  That will be the Sunday morning session and will be full of Easter messages, of course.

The Elders and President & Sister Lines made the video and then gave the source material to Ken for editing on really short notice.  Still, it came out really well!  Watch it here.

Sister Lines is a real basketball star!

The puzzle progresses!  Van Heerden's helped again some, too.  

Sue worked on it while we listened to General Conference this morning, too.  The original plan was to average 20 pieces per day and finish it in 100 days.  In the beginning it went much faster than that.  Then the elephant face bogged us down.  However, it just might get finished this week.  April 10th is 100 days!