When it Rains, it Pours - Week 69

There may be a drought elsewhere but we got "Drenched in Durban."  It rained hard for 36 hours straight.  And it was cold.

Let's begin the week on Monday with a surprise load shedding, a two-hour power outage, at dinnertime, in the dark.  President warned us at 5:40pm when we were picking up items from his garage (see below), so we rushed home, heated some leftovers just as the neighborhood went dark, and then sat for two hours knitting and reading scriptures by lamplight.

Tuesday we welcomed five new Elders to our Mission.

Early in the morning two Elders from Johannesburg came for remote Missionary Training, first stopping by the Temple site coming from the airport.

 

Then they moved just down the hallway of our apartment building into the flat we had cleaned up last weekend.  (Ken also fixed their broken chair.)

That afternoon three Elders from Kenya arrived, after the traditional visit to the Temple site.  They had finished their training in Kenya and were serving there while waiting for visas.  They had interviews with President Lines, orientation, and assignments to companions after dinner at the Mission Home.  They were out into the field by the next morning.

On Wednesday we took off north for two days to outfit a new apartment in Stanger.  We were there a few weeks ago to start the rental, but the Elders finally moved in this week.  We brought some supplies from the Mission Home garage (our storage unit).  It needed a stove and a microwave.  Here Sue is at the furniture store in downtown Stanger, choosing appliances and arranging for delivery. 

After the delivery finally arrived at the apartment--the driver got lost--we headed north for a couple of more hours to Richards Bay, where we had an afternoon appointment to see a new apartment.  Alas, the appointment fell through because the apartment was already taken, so we visited the Richards Bay Elders, took them out to their first Mexican restaurant ever, and then headed into the night to stay overnight at a nice bed and breakfast spot.

We woke up to rain. Lots of rain.  The garden was spectacular.  But we had places to be.  

We visited five apartments, looking for a flat suitable for the two Elders in Richards Bay.  And we got soaked.  The rain was coming down in sheets, not just drops.

We found servants quarters on the side of a suburban mansion, with a very friendly resident landlord.  We interviewed him and he interviewed us.  We hit it off and made this our selection.  The Elders enter at the door to the right of the garage.  It has a nice kitchen/livingroom and a bedroom and bath.  The neighborhood is so safe that the house doesn't even have a wall around it with an electric gate!

Back in Durban, on Friday we attended a temple session with some of the Durban Zone Elders.  Attendance is limited due to COVID restrictions.

It was sunny, after 15 inches of rain the day before.  But about three hours west of Durban on the plateau, it was an unusual day of snow--on the 3rd of June.  This is the beginning of winter here -- think 3rd of December in the USA.  But snow here is very unusual!

Lunch after the temple session was at a favorite missionary spot for those with hollow legs:  Roco Mamas hamburger joint in downtown Umhlanga near the Temple. 

Ken got a 1/2 order waffle for dessert --"cookies and scream."  Sue got one too -- very yummy!

It was Elder Bascom's 19th birthday.  So he celebrated with a candle and a giant waffle and ice cream dessert.  

Saturday, normally our day off, was spent working to catch up as we were falling behind.  Sue and the Elders were busy entering the month's new member records, a record 49 baptisms in a single month!  There is a silver lining in this pandemic.  And Sunday there were five more.

This is wintertime in South Africa.  Azaleas in the Church yard here in Hillcrest are in full bloom.

And so are the neighborhood poinsettias.

Our afternoon walk took us across the ravine to get this view of our building and backyard.

No week in Durban seems complete without a monkey tale.  Scores of vervet monkeys are running wild.  On our afternoon walk we saw a couple of little ones bouncing on a trampoline.

This fence sitter had been raiding a cage filled with garbage cans.

 And making a mess of the neighborhood.  

We remembered to close our windows... .