Happy Independence Day in the USA -- Week 73

We wish all our friends in the USA a glorious 4th of July.  We are thinking about you and your celebrations.  We are glad to be citizens of a country that appreciates freedom and independence.  We pray for all to celebrate together and share the values that unite us during difficult times.

We had planned to have our own little celebration with the Hubrichs yesterday, 3 July.  A trip to the beach and a BBQ and maybe a firework or two.  They are legal anytime and in many places in South Africa.  However, the new lockdown quashed those plans.

Monday was Transfer Day.  This used to be at the Mission Home where the Elders would all meet to connect with new companions.  Some are just changing the pair, and some are getting a new companion fresh from the MTC to train.  Some of the neighbors in the past have not appreciated large groups of noisy young men very early in the morning.  With the COVID restrictions, the gathering was even more of a concern.  

Transfers is a work meeting, not a social gathering, so allowed under restrictions.  But President Lines decided to move Transfers to the Pinetown Chapel parking lot.  That way it could all be done outside in a large area away from others.  We did not even open the church building.  Beginning at 8:00am, Ken stood by the front gate to let vehicles in and out, handing out the new certified copies of passports, so no one risks getting thrown in jail anymore.  The whole process worked so well that we will probably always do Transfers there going forward.  

We love seeing all the young Elders, as they are excited to go off to new areas with new companions.

This week was mostly office work.  Nothing exciting.  Ken is paying bills and dealing with cars.  Sue is answering emails and trying to finish the 2020 Durban Mission Annual History (due 30 June...). 

The Hubrichs are getting oriented to their Humanitarian work over Zoom, but they have some extra time, too.  They came to help us with a couple of office projects on Wednesday.  Thursday they volunteered to help President and Sister Lines clean and organize their garage.  This has been on our To-Do list since we arrived the first time in February 2020.  The Mission Home garage is the storage unit for extra furniture and apartment supplies.  But stuff just gets dumped in there--to be organized "later."

Here is the "before" photo.

the "during" photo,

and the "after" photo.

But the biggest accomplishment of all was that when they were finished, they put a bakkie (pick-up truck) in the garage!  That has never happened since the Lines started as Mission Leaders over two years ago.

So, what to do with all the junk pulled out of the garage that we no longer want?  Easy, just leave it on the curb.  Within about 15 minutes, some men showed up with a small bakkie and started taking things.  No idea how they found out about this!  They took what they wanted.  Others dribbled in during the day.  By the next morning it was almost all gone. 

 

Sister Lines has this wonderful print on her wall of African women.  Ken wanted a photo of us other African women, too.

As a reward for the Hubrichs' hard labors all morning, the Lines decided to take the Hubrichs out to the Natal Lion Park for the afternoon.  We played hooky from the office and went along for the ride.  This park is only about 45 minutes west of the Mission Home near Pietermaritzburg, and a great place to go during lock down, because you never get out of your own car.

In the fields along the road to the park there are lots of wild zebras just standing around among the cattle.

  

We are really that close.  They walk right around the car, just ignoring us.

After seeing all the lions, we drove in the 4WD Ford on a nearly impassable dirt road to another part of the park to visit the elephants.  When we were there before, we saw just one elephant, Emma, an Indian elephant.  

This time there were four more, all African elephants!  They posed for us!

Friday we spent back in the office--more bills to pay, more history to write.  Sue could not do the 2020 history without the Lines' blog posts.  She did an oral interview with them on the drive to Drakensburg a month ago, then used that information and their photos to write about all the crazy things that happened due to COVID in 2020, and also the miracles that kept the mission going.

Saturday morning we were leaving for our walk, but saw the Hubrichs downstairs having breakfast on their "patio."  It was a gorgeous day.  We love winter here.  Warm temperature, but low humidity.

We have another new car.  This is a Toyota Urban Cruiser parked in front of the door to the office.  We thought it was going out at Transfers with one of the new companionships.  But it wasn't needed for this Transfer, so we are driving it for six weeks until it is needed.  We have to keep the battery charged, right?  And it is so much better to drive than the putt-putt Renault Triber.  

Speaking of charged batteries--Ken's phone rang this morning at 4:01AM.  What??  It was Bid-Track reporting a battery disconnect on one of the mission cars.  We said, "Thanks but no thanks," and went back to sleep.  At a reasonable hour Ken called the Elders.  They just have not driven anywhere for a week and their battery went dead.  The car is still in their parking lot, and they have booster cables.  They will get a neighbor to help them start the truck today.

Later we went for a walk in the neighborhood.  There are always lots of birds chirping, and hadeedas screeching.  Today we saw this lovely stork sitting on a fence on our street. 

Sue is showing Sister Hubrich how to make sourdough English Muffins today.  It is a 14-hour process in elapsed time, but only a few minutes at the beginning, middle and end.  Thanks to Becca Shumway for the start.  She gave it to Sue in May 2020, and we have not bought bread since.  We brought the start with us to South Africa, and it still works great.  Sue really likes cooking with a scale instead of measuring cups!

We've had a good Sunday, in spite of having no church meetings.  We had Sacrament with the Hubrichs in our flat.  Then we went down and had dinner with them.  

At 6pm there was an all-Mission devotional over Zoom.  The Hubrichs were the featured speakers, and they did a wonderful lesson about the atonement of Jesus Christ, with good comments from many of the Elders.  We do have the best missionaries!

We watched the end of Palo Alto Foothills Sacrament meeting and most of Sunday School on Zoom.  It's so good to see friends from home!  

Hubrichs came back to us at 8pm because it was time to roll, cut, let rise, and cook the muffins begun in the morning.  While they were rising and cooking we watched Jim Welch's patriotic music concert he did in Provo on Friday night.  It was at 3:30am our time, so we did not watch it live.  The concert was great.  If you are interested, it is online for streaming.  tinyurl.com/jameswelchorganist  

Sister Hubrich is also a knitter.  Sue's latest hat in process was on the couch, so Sister Hubrich wanted to see what else Sue has knit.  Here is the collection since we came back in December.  The latest hat is the end of the yarn, so we will go together to the yarn store next week.  It's called "A Stitch in Time."  The woman there has a connection to the local cancer hospital where Sue can donate the caps and also knitted knockers.  And then buy more yarn.

Life is good!