Sunday, May 30, 2021

Terrible Horrible No-good Very Bad Week! - Week 68

Lots went wrong.  But it wasn't all bad.  And it ended very well today.

It was a week of Mission Zone Conferences and vehicle inspections and a Multi-Stake Conference.  At Zone Conferences, Ken worked on inspections while the young Elders were in meetings.  He even inspected President Lines' car and found nothing wrong.  (But see below.)


We do love getting together with all the young Elders for lessons, learning, discussions and just visiting.  The mission current has three Zones.  Durban Zone runs north/south along the coast.  Hillcrest Zone runs east/west along the N3 -- main highway to the interior.  Newcastle Zone is for the inland areas of Newcastle, Ladysmith and Bethlehem.

President Lines was speaking on Tuesday morning in Durban Zone when a message flashed across his computer screen: "Urgent! Missionary arrested! Call immediately!"  An Elder had just been arrested and thrown in jail in a remote part of the Mission.


The notice came to him from the Church Area Office in Johannesburg, but we had prompted it.  We had gone to the beginning of Durban Zone Conference so Ken could do the car inspections and Sue could bring the morning snacks, but we left about 10am.  (We are in Hillcrest Zone.)  Just as we were almost back to the office, just a ten-minute drive, Sue's phone rang.  It was in the back seat, but she was driving, so she ignored it.  Then Ken's phone rang.  It was an Elder out west reporting that his companion had just been arrested because he was not carrying his passport!  The police would not accept the certified copy he had in his wallet!!  Oh dear!

We dashed into the office and called the Area Legal Department.  We have faithfully created certified copies of passports and keep the originals in a safe in Durban.  The woman asked if his certified copy was older than three months?  What??  We had never heard about that.  This Elder came originally in February 2020, went back to his home country for eight months and came back in December 2020, but we never gave him a newer copy.  No one ever told us we needed to update them.  But at this point that was the least of our worries.  The police told him he had to personally produce the original passport by 2pm or he would have to spend the night in jail!  Since we had his passport in the office, and it was a four-hour drive west, and it was after 11am, it would be so impossible to get there by 2pm.  

For the next hours there were many, many phone calls between the companion Elder, President Lines, Church legal people, the Van Heerdens (who live only an hour away from the jail), the local Church Branch President (who had connections in the local police department), President Mkhize the counselor in the Mission Presidency who happens to be an attorney, and a local attorney who knew all the local officials.  There was even a call to the local authorities from the Church's contact at the South African Department of Home Affairs.  We trust that caught the local authorities by surprise and got their attention.  

It turns out our Elder had been caught up in a highway checkpoint by an overzealous officer with South African Immigration.  Our Elder is from South America.  His companion is South African and so had his regular South African ID with him.  So our poor Elder was hauled off to the local jail, and his companion followed.  While his companion sat in the waiting room of the police station for several hours, various local officers came and said to him that they were praying for his companion to be safe and released soon.  Evidently there was a conflict between the local police and the immigration officer about all of this.  About twelve(!) people had been arrested.  Our Elder was in a cell with all of them.  The jailers took away his belt, his wallet, and his missionary nametag, so there was nothing to identify him as a missionary.  But when he told the other prisoners who he was, they got curious.  So while they all waited to learn their fate, as a good missionary he taught them.  He told them all about the restoration of the fullness of Christ's Gospel in the latter-days, the whole reason he had come to Africa.  Maybe someone there needed to hear this message.


While this was going on, we grabbed his passport and headed off toward the west.  We ended up not having to drive all four hours to deliver the passport.  We drove to Pietermaritzburg just one hour west, where (as you can see) we handed off the passport to President Mkhize, and he, as the attorney, could take it the rest of the way.  We had met at a gas-station parking lot at an off-ramp near his home, and from there he continued west.  




At that parking lot, as in many places, there were street vendors around.  One man was selling the biggest avocados we have ever seen.  The are called South Coast avocados.  We bought a bag of four at about one US dollar each.  (The one in the back of this photo next to a one-cup measuring cup is a normal one-dollar avocado like those in any store at home.)  These should last us a while.



When we turned around and headed back to Durban, we found ourselves in a long traffic jam caused by construction.  It took a while to get home, but this time we were in no hurry.  Things turned out well in the end for our Elder.  He was out of jail by about 2:30pm, and the arresting officer was nowhere to be found.











Wednesday we went to Zone Conference again, this time at the Pinetown chapel.  Ken inspected cars.  Sue brought the morning snack (apples, oranges, box drinks.)  Usually she buys muffins, but one Elder had requested Sister Lines' home-made cinnamon rolls, and she obliged.  Yum!!  The meeting was great.


But then we all got "jabbed."  Not for COVID, but just flu.  For everyone who wanted it, which was most of us.  






The best part was the information from the doctor.  He said that we can now just show up at the immunization clinic and get our COVID jabs!  They are not bothering with the appointment system that we had signed up for.  Now the only hitch is that we have to wait for 7-10 days after flu shot.  So we are going with the Lines next Friday to get the first COVID jab.  Hurray!







While waiting for their jabs, some of the Elders were playing with a soccer ball in the gym.  We have several who are very, very good soccer players.  


And others outside doing similar activities with a hacky-sack (upper left, hard to see.)



We always get everyone together for a group photo at Zone Conference.  We usually post a formal one, but this time here is the funny one.  Sue is catching up on much-needed sleep... .



Thursday was another bad day.  Sue went out errand-running.  First, a quick drop-off at the dry-cleaners, then walk down the mall to the Post Office.  We had decided to get newer certified copies of passport/visas, just in case, and that is done at the post office.  President Lines was going up to Newcastle for Zone Conference the next day so could take the new copies to those Elders who are not South African.  Easy to do?  Not quite.  The Post Office was closed.  Permanently!!  The sign in the window said "Closing permanently as of 27 May."  But that's where we have our Post Office Box!  There was nothing to do but drive up to the main Westville Post Office.  It's just 2km further, but not in a mall where we can also shop and handle dry cleaning.  Nuisance.  Sue asked about the P.O. Box.  They said come back next week.  We think they are just moving the whole bank of boxes to the Westville P.O., so nothing will change there.  We'll see... .  Then Sue drove to the grocery store for some basics -- bananas, milk, oranges, spinach, etc.  She dropped the groceries off at home, mixed a batch of sourdough English muffins (they need to rise for eight hours) and went back to work.



President and Sister Lines had left in the early afternoon to drive to Newcastle for Zone Conference the next day.  They have a house-keeper who does not have a key, so when she was done we went over to lock the house.  As we were leaving, Sue pushed the button to open the automatic gate on the driveway and then backed out, but not fast enough.  The gate started to shut just as the rear bumper got there, but we were not quite far enough out for the "eye" to stop the gate from shutting.  It mostly left green gate-paint on the car.  Ken managed to clean it off, leaving a small black spot of chipped paint.  Sister Lines said exactly the same thing had happened to her one day, and she has some fingernail polish exactly the right color... . 

After that minor accident we went home, ready for dinner.  Hah!

As Sue pushed the door open it made a funny tinkly sound.  We realized we had left the bedroom window open!  We are on the third floor, but that didn't stop the vervet monkeys.  The noise was the glass sliding across the tile floor from the two glasses that broke when they knocked over the dish-draining tray.

They cleaned us out of fruit -- 12 bananas and 14 cutie oranges.  And they ate the raw muffin dough!  However, they do not like black licorice.  They opened one pack, but didn't eat it.  The man who lives below us on the ground floor came up to talk to us.  He had watched the monkeys climbing up the conduit for the A/C but had no way to stop them.  He felt badly but said they've gotten into his flat, too.  He's at ground level, so he also gets mongoose invasions as well.  We spent an hour cleaning and sanitizing most of the flat before we thought about dinner.












Friday we mostly worked in the office all day.  Sue also went out shopping to replace the bananas and oranges.  That afternoon we started getting calls from the Elders saying they were having trouble with their smartphones.  Earlier in the month, all the Elders had done steps necessary to install the updated Church Security software that is put on all missionary phones worldwide.  The deadline for this exercise was 28 May.  But our Mission was reported to be all done by the 15th.  On the 28th very weird things started to happen with the phones.  On many phones all apps and contacts disappeared due to a remote factory reset.  All we could do was give the Elders the Tech Support contact number.  As of Sunday night, this evidently global problem had not been resolved.





We drove up to Pavilion Mall in Westville and had dinner at John Dorys -- a great seafood restaurant. 










Pavilion Mall is HUGE!  Three floors of stores, and maybe 20 restaurants, banks, and a nine-theater movie complex.  (But no movies we wanted to see.) 



Saturday is our P-day.  P stands for Preparation, not for Play, we always tell the Elders.  We often do play on Saturdays, but this week we Prepared!  We have five new Elders arriving on Tuesday.  Three are from Kenya and were serving there while waiting for their visas.  They will go straight out to work someplace in the mission.  The other two are from Johannesburg and are starting their Missionary Training Center on-line classes with us in the office.  



That means they will live down the hall from us.  No one has lived in that apartment since February.  We knew it would need some cleaning, and did it ever!  We spent SIX hours dusting, washing windows, mopping floors, cleaning the washing machine, cleaning out kitchen cupboards, cleaning the bathroom, etc.  It now looks really nice, but we are tired and sore.


One of the neighbors on that floor saw us working so hard and brought us a treat:  Homemade donuts!  She brought six, but we ate four right away for lunch. 

We are all praying they will not be our neighbors for long.  They are about our age and are from Hungary. They have lived most of their married lives in South Africa.  They have two sons who live in Hungary and Germany.  In March 2020 they sold their home and were getting ready to retire to Hungary.  Then COVID hit.  They could not get out of South  Africa!  They ended up renting a flat in our building "just for a little bit" until they could go.  Shortly after they moved in, they were in a car accident that totaled their car.  They didn't want to buy a new one because they were leaving "soon."  They thought.  It's now been over 15 months.  This week they were able to get their first COVID vaccination.  The second dose is scheduled for 9 July, then they have to wait two weeks before they can fly.  So, now their plan is to be home to Hungary by the end of July.  We all hope so!  They are very nice neighbors, but we understand here is not where they need to be.

Saturday night we were talking to Elder and Sister Young on the phone.  They are the lone missionaries out west in Bloemfontein, but the end of June we are getting more young Elders, and President is planning to send at least six out there.  Youngs are working on the empty apartments there like we did our downstairs one yesterday.  They were having a little trouble so we told them what to do.  Lots of hard work.

The Youngs came to Newcastle for Zone Conference on Friday.  (There will be a new Zone in Bloemfontein soon.)  Elder Van Heerden was teaching Elder Young how to do car inspections.  After the meetings they came to President Lines and told him they had one car with a particularly bad report.  Everything that could be wrong on the standard report sheet was marked wrong!  Dirty, bald tires, no oil change, dents and dings, etc., etc., etc.  They handed him the report.  President realized it was his car!  Elder Young was looking very serious, but Elder Van Heerden standing behind him was having a hard time suppressing a grin.  President knew that Ken had already inspected his car on Tuesday and knew that it was just fine.  So much for the training exercise.


Sunday afternoon, today, we attended a multi-stake Conference at the Berea chapel.  Everyone in the Provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Free State were invited.  That is our Mission area.  Speakers were Elder Andersen of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Kearon and Elder Palmer the Area President, as well as President Holmes of the Durban Temple.  It was held live and webcast, with Elder Kearon and Elder Anderson remote from Salt Lake City.  There were well over 215 connections from all over the Mission on Zoom.  Some of those were other chapels with lots of people watching.  Many more connected on Veedo from home.  Veedo is a South African Zoom-like program, except the event host pays for the cell-system data time for all participants.  That is important here where almost no one has unlimited data.  


Ken was fascinated by the multi-camera, multi-point video setup.  It all went very well.  And the Spirit was strong.





Nick who washes our cars, told us he is planning to be baptized!  We are so pleased for him.  



Sunday, May 23, 2021

INSPECTIONS! - Week 67

We have been spared from COVID.  The returning missionary who came to our office after he was exposed to COVID last week didn't contract it.  But his mates and his Mission President caught it. Fortunately their cases weren't serious and they are expected to fully recover.

Having spent five days at home in isolation due to the possible exposure and unable to work in the office, we were happy to return to the office to catch up on our duties.  The to-do list was long but by working long and hard, we are just about caught up.

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African children so enjoy life.  This young lady in Ghana volunteered to carry the scriptures of our fellow Senior Missionary Elder Archibald.  They learn the head-trick when very young. 


Each Transfer period, the apartments throughout the Mission are inspected.  This week we got to inspect the apartments along the coastal corridor from Richards Bay in the north to Amanzimtoti in the south.  We inspected the two furthest north apartments by video and then we spent two days traveling to visit the remaining seven apartments.  Here are photos of the Elders we visited.


Elders Hill, Bascom & Russell



Elders Naisbitt & Lowder



Elders Phipps, Kholobile, Barnes & Peterson


Elders Lusuko & Tiyiwe


Elders Pettijohn & Christensen


Elders Lutkin & Bibbs


Elders Pettijohn, Christensen, Tiyiwe & Lusuko live and serve here in the suburb of KwaMashu.


This week back in the USA, Ken's Uncle Ross Roundy Allen (age 93) passed away at home in Logan.  He was the youngest brother of Ken's father Reed and the last of his generation, survived by Maurine (91) and a large loving family. 

Maurine & Ross in Hawaii


He served in the US Military in Japan immediately after World War II, then completed a PhD and was a founding faculty member of BYU-Hawaii in 1956.  He was a professor of Mathematics Education at Utah State University when not living and teaching in the Pacific Islands, Laos, England, China and Japan.  We visited them whenever we could.  Ken even visited them in Kyushu, Japan, and we visited them at the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu when they were serving a Senior Mission there.  A remarkable man, he was an example of a Christ-like life.  

On Saturday, we were able to attend his Celebration of Life via Zoom.


Saturday was also a day to explore.  Near the Mission Home is the Bergtheil History Museum, housed in the residence of entrepreneur and German colonist Jonas Bergtheil.  

 

It was the first home in Westville, formerly called Wandsbeck.  In 1848, Bergtheil led a group of 188 Germans to colonize this area, founding New Germany.  They made an unsuccessful attempt to grow cotton commercially but were successful as farmers.

We toured this small but informative museum in the morning with President and Sister Lines.  Afterwards we went to lunch with the Lines in the outdoor garden of the very friendly Cape Cafe just down the road from the Mission Home.

The left side of the V past the stop sign is the off ramp from the expressway.  That part is one-way.  It always feels a little strange to come up that short ramp, and then to have to cross over in the intersection to the left side of the street.


On Sunday both of us spoke in Church in the Molweni Branch, which is meeting temporarily at the Hillcrest Stake Center, some 20 km distant from the homes of the members.  With proper social distancing and precautions, we are now allowed to meet in person, but attendance is light.  Where once 80 folks showed up on Sunday, only 20 people came today.  Our assigned topic: how to bring folks back to regular attendance.


The Gauntlet between the Mission Office and our apartment is coming along.  The barriers are changed at least twice a day.

Here is the latest video clip from the eastbound offramp of M13 to Derby Downs Office Park on University Road.

https://youtu.be/AGrsIF9mj18

This clip is the route from Derby Downs to our apartment at West Victoria.

https://youtu.be/AgrR_nlE54c

The barriers are coming down as the road is paved and painted.


Our near-daily walks around our neighborhood bring us close to nature.



Storm clouds in the evening


These noisy hadida ibis birds wake us every morning.





Garden spiders abound.



A monkey and mongooses play on our driveway.




A stork is perched on a nearby power pole.



The soil is full of seeds that leave flowers along the freeways to blossom.



And so is our local yard in bloom.



Next door there are plans to build an apartment like the towers beyond this landing cut in the hillside.  Four months ago this field was bare ground!




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Finally, this just in from our Palo Alto home.  Our wonderful tenant Angela Hansen prepared this bouquet for Church in Palo Alto today from Sue's rose garden.

Sunday, May 16, 2021

And Then There Were None... Week 66

One thing we are learning on this mission is flexibility.  Every six weeks there is a Transfer.  The arrivals used to be on Wednesday:  Pick up at Airport, orientation, dinner and sleep at the Mission Home bunkhouse.  Transfers were on Thursday when everyone who was moving did their move.  Thursday night those going home had dinner and were in the bunkhouse overnight at the Mission Home.  Then they would fly out on Friday.

No More!

Departures are still on Friday--usually.  "Left-over" companions move in with others for the weekend.  But now because of COVID-test flight rules and less-frequent good connections, arrivals are now on Saturday.  Orientation and dinner in the Mission Home are on Saturday night.  Elders hang around Durban with other Elders all day Sunday for Church so as not to have to travel on Sunday.  Monday is thus Transfer Day.  It stretches a two-day process out to four days and complicates a lot of things.

We have lists of who is coming and when, way ahead.  Elders generally get their Call Letter (telling them where and when they are going) four to six months ahead.  Lots of time for planning, right?  We wish!

Sue keeps a spreadsheet of all this.  She needs to know who has received their Welcome Letter, with information about what to bring.  She also needs to know who has sent back needed information about driving record, etc.

Just for fun, here is the spreadsheet for the last few months.  (Thanks to G-Sheets version history.)  We were originally supposed to have ten new Elders arrive on 15 May.  But no one actually came!  Hence the title to this week's blog.  (Sue is a big Agatha Christie fan, and that is also the title of one of her most famous books.)

March 1:  a good big group coming in May!  A few unknowns, and just one in June.

April 1:  We had lost those who are not from USA.  Visa issues...  But we picked up one more for a June Transfer.





May 1:  Oh dear!  Most of the May group did not have visas yet, so they got put into the unknown/postponed group.  But we are now up to five for the end of June.











May 7:  We are down to just one Elder coming on May 15.  But several of the others now have visas and will come on 26 June.  There is a three-week lead time between getting visa and being able to come.  And we have a whole new group coming on June 1.  Two are South African, so will come to our office to do their three-week Missionary Training on-line before really starting with the official group on 26 June.  Two others are from Kenya and Uganda, where they have been serving in their home country until their South African visas come through.  Most of those coming to us from the USA are also serving in other USA missions while waiting for visas.










May 11:   Our one last hope for an Elder arriving this Transfer did not happen.  He got his one-dose COVID vaccine on 10 May, but he is not allowed to travel for seven days after that.  He is now coming with the big group in June.  Since we had no one going home this Transfer Period, there was no Transfer at all.  Everyone is staying where they live now with their current companions.  


This all turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise.  One Elder from the Durban area came home from his mission on Wednesday morning.  His mother and sister picked him up from the Durban airport about 8 AM and brought him to the Mission Office about 9 AM for his exit interview and official release from President Lines.  The family was glad to be back together after two years.  The Elder spent about 30 minutes with President Lines while the mom and sister waited in the office.  She said the cousins were all excited and texting her about when he would be home.  It is so wonderful to see these young people when they come home from their missions.  They have grown in so many ways.  They have learned a pattern of Christ-like love and service that will serve them well  their whole lives.

Later that evening while we were home, President Lines called.  He told us to be sitting down.  It turns out that the returning Elder had spent the previous day, dinner, and overnight in Johannesburg with three other Elders also going home.  One of them was flying to another country on Wednesday, so he had to have a COVID test--which came back positive!  Another got home and had a COVID test, which was also positive!  We have been on lockdown at home since Wednesday night.  It is a really good thing that we did not need to pick up 10 new Elders at the airport on Saturday!


So here are our photos from this week:

We are perfectly healthy to this point but will stay home from the office one more day.  Sue can still work from home. We did it for eight months last year.








Ken has another problem.  The graphics card on his beloved tricked out Mac-Mini decided to go flakey on him.  He did sneak out of the house to deliver it to a repair shop just up the road.  So he is limited to what he can do on his phone.  Which is not much!  He is reading and listening to a lot of scriptures.







Sue didn't spend all her time working hard.  She finished another audio book and two knit caps.












The office was fumigated on Thursday, and after that we sent the Elders who live upstairs back to the office to bring us a few necessities we had left there.  Ken put his stash of licorice ropes 
on the list.









Like so many other stuck at home on COVID quarantine, Sue cooked.  That meant Ken had more dishes to do.  He's great at keeping the kitchen clean after Sue makes a mess.








Actually the beginning of the week was fairly productive.  Tuesday we drove up to Stanger to open a new boarding (apartment).  It is about one hour north of Durban.  The Van Heerdens pulled a trailer full of furniture the three-hour drive from Ladysmith.  They have two large one-car garages, so get to store furniture every time a boarding is closed.  


There we met them and the two Elders who live about 30 minutes from Stanger who came to do the heavy lifting.  Here's the apartment from the outside.







It's nothing fancy, without a stove or refrigerator or washer, but it's in a safe area just a few blocks from the Church building.  The Elders will probably not need a car, which is a good thing as we get more missionaries coming.  (If they ever really show up!)






Wednesday afternoon (after greeting the returning Elder, but before we knew about the COVID problem), Sister Lines and Sue spent a couple of hours at Makro.  That's the local equivalent of Costco.  We had to buy more items to finish furnishing the Stanger apartment.  Ken and Sue will drive back up to Stanger one day this coming week to finish all the set-up.  We thought we needed it by 15 May.  Now the Elders who live 30 minutes south may move in next week, and their current apartment will be empty until the end of June.  That's not bad.  We have a few empty apartments for which we have been paying rent ever since everyone left the end of March 2020.  We closed a lot, too.  But we keep thinking that "next month" we will need more!  We hope.

Two Golden Gates in One Week! Week 104

Hard to believe that was two years ago when we started this amazing adventure.  We arrived home in the afternoon, Saturday 5 February 2022. ...