Every six weeks we get all-consumed by Transfers, and this week was no exception. Except this time we are also opening four more apartments across the mission. And sending out all the cars except the one big van. We've had extra cars stacked at the Mission Office and Mission Home since we returned back a year ago. When the evacuation started the mission was at 106 young missionaries. When we came back in December 2020 there were 24, but 11 more came back the week after we did. As of today we are at 104, with also 10 of us senior missionaries. But two young Elders are leaving this week. One is from Durban and was here waiting for his visa to permanent mission in Nairobi, Kenya, so it is a good thing that he is leaving us. The other has some medical issues that need him to go home temporarily. We hope to have him back in a couple of months.
The Mission grew very slowly from January to September 2021. We crept up to 62. Then we got 23 more on Sept 15, 17 more on October 30 and 12 more this week, with very few going home. We feel badly for the mission president in two years who will have almost half his mission leave within three months.
Ken did a video of the arrivals again to share with their families. You can watch it here
Did we mention that the temperature on Friday and Saturday was in the 90's? With 85%+ humidity? The Elders coming off the plane felt like they were walking into a sauna. Most of the suit coats came off right after the photos!
After the airport it was back to the Pinetown Chapel for the usual orientation. This was rushed, as they came on a flight that arrived in Durban at 1:30 p.m., instead of the usual 7:30 a.m. But we got through it all, picked up a new vehicle from the dealer and then sent them to the Mission Home for dinner and overnight in the Bunk House. With only 12 of them, and good weather, it worked to have the dinner there. If it is more than 12 we do dinner at Pinetown Chapel, too.
With all the Elders off to dinner, we went out for date night to dinner with the Hubrichs at the Cape House Cafe. It's just down the street from the Mission Home, in a residential neighborhood, and it has lovely outdoor seating, perfect for a hot night.
Saturday morning we are back at Pinetown by 6:45am to pack the cars and head west. It was too early in the morning. We'd had a later dinner and didn't sleep so well.
People grabbed fruit and muffins and a bag of snacks for the trip.
They also found their packages. These are the ones for those staying around near Durban. The ones for the Elders going west were already packed in a bakkie to be distributed at Ladysmith or Bloemfontein.
We drove the van with four Elders to Ladysmith. That is theoretically 2.5 hours, but it took almost three hours. The Hubrichs each drove a bakkie, with three Elders in with Elder Hubrich, and all the packages and some furniture for a new boarding in the one driven by Sister Hubrich. Young Elder Black with his new companion, Elder Lawlor, drove a brand-new Nissan Magnite--a small hatchback. They are moving all the way to Kimberly--home of the largest diamond mine in the world. It's the farthest part of the mission, about a nine-hour drive. They spent the night in Bloemfontein with other Elders so they didn't have to find their new place in the dark.
The first stop was about 20 minutes down the road. Elder Black called to tell us that his fuel light was on. This was a brand-new car, and no one had ever filled it up! Too many other things to worry about. It was the one that had been to the dealer on Thursday and Friday because it wouldn't start. We had the local equivalent of AAA come and jumper it. Ken drove it 5km up the freeway to the dry cleaners, and when he came out it wouldn't start again. Had to call AAA to come again--but they came to the office where they'd been before. Then they drrove all the way to Pinetown, being totally lost to where Ken was. Oops. Two hours later when it got started Ken took it straight to the dealer. They declared it had faulty battery. Duh! Since Ken and the Assistants had to go pick it up Friday afternoon, it made the orientation time even more crunched.
Our second stop was in Pietermaritzburg. After the Elders arrive Sue makes a photocopy of their passport and visa for them to carry. Originals go in the office safe. We get our Mission President Counselor President Mkhize to stamp them as official certified copies. He's an attorney and has the Notary stamp to do that. But because this was all so late on Friday he wasn't around to do the stamps. But we were leaving so early on Saturday morning! The Elders going west needed their certified copies. He had a brilliant idea.
We arrived in Ladysmith only 45 minutes late, and were met by quite a crowd. Ken commented that this group was more than we used to have in the whole mission!
We climbed back in our van with four different Elders who were moving east--but we had a luggage problem. There is not room in the back of the van for two big bags and one carry-on times four. One of the bakkies that had come with us was going on further to Welkom. The Hubrichs were coming back to Durban, but not until later that night who were involved in a "Light The World" service project. We had the two Elders who were moving closest to the Mission Office put their bags into Hubrichs bakkie--along with parcels that had accidentally been loaded to come west when they didn't need to. Considering that we have seven zones and 10 to 24 Elders in each Zone, we were lucky to get most of the packages to the right areas!
We arrived back at Pinetown about 2pm, just an hour late. We sent all the Elders we had in our van to go off with their new companions. It was a long but productive day. We came home, had a dish of ice cream and a quiet, lazy afternoon. Hubrichs arrived home about 6pm, so we were able to get the luggage to the Elders in Berea and Pinetown. Then Elder Hubrich came to our flat about 8pm to tell us that the BYU v. Creighton basketball game was on TV! We went down to watch the second half. Ken stayed until the bitter end, but Sue only watched a little. Then the TV internet connection failed, so they just listened on KSL radio. But it was a bitter end. BYU lost by 16 points. Ouch!
This afternoon, Sunday, we began teaching a Temple Preparation class for two wonderful young people in Molweni Branch, where we attend church. They are both preparing to serve missions in early 2022, and they will make terrific missionaries! We'll post a photo of them another week.
This coming week should be less stressful--don't we always think that? It's Mission Tour Week--done via Zoom--with the Area President Elder Golden. Oh how we love what we are doing!
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