Merry Christmas! Week 97

 

Here is the Christmas Story, as done by the Port Durnford Branch.

This is the last letter before Christmas, so we'll wish you all a wonderful Christmas.  It is good to have this time of year to especially remember the amazing gift from a loving Heavenly Father of His Son.  Jesus was born a mortal man and lived among normal people.  But he was also the son of deity, and so could live and do miracles and then suffer and die for our sins.  But he was resurrected to live eternally, as we will also all be.  It is an amazing story, whose beginning we commemorate at Christmas time.

And we finally decorated our apartment today.  Life has been busy. Which is why this blog is a day late.

The week after Transfers is usually pretty calm and quiet.  Not this week!  

Sue likes to keep her desk neat and organized and pretty empty at the end of each day.  This is what it looked like when we came in on Monday morning.  It was full of stuff just dumped there after Transfers.  She had to start organizing.....

...while Ken went outside in the rain to fix a piece of trim on the mission van.  He ended up just removing it.  The  gray trim piece just in front of the wheel on the right (driver's!) side was popped off just a little bit, but it kept the big sliding door from opening.  One of these days when there is time he will take the van to the dealer and have them put on a new piece.

Tuesday we started off very early to take Elder Kortjas to the airport.  He came to us in August to do his Missionary Training Center (MTC) time because the formal MTC in Johannesburg was still closed due to COVID.  Then he stayed with us for two Transfers (12 weeks) waiting for his visa to serve in Nairobi, Kenya.  It finally came through and he is now there.  He is from Durban, so he served his time with us way out west.  We had to stop at the Ampath Lab on our way to the airport to get a print-out of Elder Kortjas COVID test so he could fly internationally.  Usually we get that on line, but whoever put the phone number into the system left out one digit, and so I couldn't get the PIN for registering.  He had an 8:30 flight, so we were at the Lab closest to the airport at 7am when they opened.  

The airport was very crowded.  It is summer tourist season in Durban, for sure.  Santa is there and ready to welcome the visitors to the beautiful beaches.  Check out his flip-flops, shorts and sunglasses.

We took Elder Kortjas to the airport instead of President because Tuesday and Wednesday was the Mission Tour with Elder Cristofell Golden.  He is the Area President for southern Africa.  We met him four years ago when he was serving in Moscow and did a Mission Tour to St. Petersburg!  He is South African, so is he glad to be back closer to home now.  The Tour would normally really be a tour -- travelling around to each Zone.  But COVID has changed that.  It was all done via Zoom, sadly.  

We had three hours on Zoom each day.  The Mission Leadership Council had an extra hour each day, also.  Sue's job was just to take lunch each day to the Lines and Goldens at the Berea Chapel from where the Zoom was originating.  

Wednesday evening we went to a session in the Durban Temple with the Lines, the Goldens, President Siya Mkhize, and the Hubrichs.  It was a blessing and privilege to be there with these wonderful people who serve well. 

We wanted to get a photo together after the session, but it was pouring absolute buckets outside.  We stood around inside the temple for about 30 minutes waiting for it to let up.  (No photos allowed in Temples.)  It stopped pouring, but was still very, very windy.  We ran across the grounds about 50 meters to the entrance to the Patron Housing and stood under the portico to get a photo. 

Thursday was the Molweni Branch Christmas Braai (BBQ).  We went for a bit.  Ken played some ping-pong.  Sue watched the girls playing basketball.  

Sue loves the flowers in the garden around the Hillcrest chapel.  Gorgeous, huge hydrangeas.

The braai was very slow getting going, and we needed to get back to the office, so we left after about two hours and didn't get any food, sadly.

We did make a short stop at the hardware store around the corner from the church to buy some plants.  It is Sue's favorite plant nursery.  We bought some for the pots outside our front door, and some for the pots in the stairwell at the office.

We also bought our "white elephant" gifts for the upcoming Zone Christmas fests -- a 16-way utility knife, and an electric mosquito zapper that looks like a small badminton racquet.

Friday we had tickets with the Lines and Hubrichs on the Umgeni Steam Train.  This is an historic train that runs from Kloof, about 15 minutes west of us, up to Inchanga, half-way to Pietermaritzburg.  The trip is about an hour each way, with a stop at the end for food and craft market and group Christmas Carol singing.  The train usually only runs on Saturday and Sunday mornings of the last weekend of the month.  But they put on extra runs for Christmas vacation.  There were lots of families with little kids. Santa was there with his elf, handing out candy.  It was cold and rainy!  It's the middle of summer!!  But so much fun.  

The Hubrichs brought us a yummy pineapple they bought from a roadside stand.  We cut off part and ate it for breakfast on Saturday.  The remainder was sitting on the kitchen counter.  Our neighborhood monkeys have an amazing sense of smell.  We are so glad for the screening on our door that keeps them out!  This one did a stare-down with Sue, until she shut the solid door and then he went away.

Saturday we drove to Mtunzini and Port Durnford with the Hubrichs.  That is the Branch that they attend.  Saturday afternoon was "Spring Cleaning" at that tiny humble chapel.  

We had some great help from even the little kids as we washed all the plastic chairs.  

There was also time for the children to practice their songs for the nativity program on Sunday.

Port Durnford is an rural area south of Richards Bay.  The chapel is down a dirt road off the main highway. 

The baptismal font is outside.

And the neighbor's chickens run around the Church property, too.

We stayed at a B and B on SeaView Drive.  That's the Indian Ocean on the horizon.  No time to go swimming.

Saturday night we went out to dinner at De Hof Cellar -- a German restaurant!  But the food was more African than German.

Sunday morning the Church had a regular Sacrament service, and then right after they enjoyed the Nativity Program (top of this page).  It was wonderful!!  

The Flamboyant Trees are in bloom, and they are so gorgeous!

Merry Christmas from Durban!

Transfer Week yet again -- week 96

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.

Friday morning we packed the van and a bakkie (pick-up) with all the packages and other items needed for orientation and set-up in the Pinetown Chapel.  Then it was time to go to the airport.

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.  

He lives in Pietermaritzburg, and we had to drive through there.  We met at the same place where we'd handed off the passport for our briefly-jailed Elder Alviana last May.  President Mkhize did all the stamps in just a few minutes while the Elders and Hubrichs all stretched their legs, and then we were on the road again.

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!

Water, Water Everywhere -- Week 95

We have now been back in South Africa for one year.  We left the USA on 4 December and arrived in South Africa on 5 December.  It's hard to believe.  This year has just raced by, and now we are getting ready to come home!  Just about two months left.  But we are making the most of this time.

First: COVID update.  The unnecessary hype goes on.  USA is at 36 cases/100,000.  South Africa is at 11 cases/100,000.  Enough said.

Sue had fun on Saturday morning.

Ken is too responsible.

More on all that later.

Sue loves to knit but doesn't want any more sweaters or slippers.  She got started with a group from Ken's office in Menlo Park several years ago knitting caps for hair-loss cancer patients and "knitted knockers" which are prosthetics for women who have had mastectomies.  She has carried on doing that here in South Africa, but they've been piling up in a cupboard.  She and Sister Hubrich finally went Tuesday and found an oncology clinic that was so glad to have them.  This is Alicia, and she knew all about the knockers and has given many pairs to women in the past.

Wednesday evening we went to the Durban Temple.  It is now open and we decided to take advantage of being so close and go regularly.  There is a session at 6pm on Wednesday nights, and the drive is only about 30 minutes, so we can go when the office closes.  There is such peace there.  It is good to renew the spirit.  Ken took this photo for Sue, because it reminded her of home.  The agapanthus and star jasmine and bird of paradise are all blooming, just like in our yard in Palo Alto.

Thursday was Sister Lines birthday, so we had to do a little celebration.  We went on a Durban harbor cruise when we first arrived in 2020, but Lines and Hubrichs had never done this, so it was time.

On the way to the harbor we drove through downtown Durban and along the Taxi Rank.  There are hundreds of Toyota 12-passenger vans coming and going and sitting.  Drivers must need to kill time while waiting their turn to go.  This was just along the sidewalk of a main street in Durban.

Durban is the busiest harbor in the southern hemisphere -- lots and lots and lots of big container ships.  And pre-COVID there were also lots of cruise ships, too.  We tried to count how many containers on a ship.  15 across, 11 high, 17 front-to-back.  That's about 2800!  It takes 2.5 days to unload and 4-5 days to load again.

And of course Ken took lots of photos.  

We had dinner at a Portuguese restaurant next to the harbor.  

They brought Sister Lines this special lemonade and we all sang to her.  

I've posted photos before of Sister Lines' incredible cakes.  We knew we couldn't compete, and she shouldn't have to make her own birthday cake, so the Hubrichs bought a small cheesecake with fresh strawberries, and we enjoyed that together back at the Mission  Home.  

Friday night we did not even go out to dinner -- too many nights out already this week.  

Now back to Saturday.  Sue was feeling caught-up, mostly thanks to Andre and Vanessa Slabbert.  They are our new Service Missionaries, part-time office couple helpers.  They have been doing all the shopping and gathering for the new apartment in Pietermaritzburg.  They drove up there on Thursday to deliver what they had bought here, and to purchase and take delivery on big items like stove and fridge and washing machine.  Opening a new boarding is not trivial!

Ken was not feeling caught-up.  He has to do a manual entry to match every credit-card charge or request for reimbursement to every printed receipt and report/repair fender benders and track vehicles and dole out cellphone time.  When the Mission had 40 missionaries he could keep up.  We are now over 90 missionaries.  So he decided to spend Saturday in the office processing receipts, etc., etc.

Sue took up the Hubrichs on their invitation to watch some surfers.  These are not just any surfers, but the monthly activity by "Made for More".  This charity does adaptive activities for people with various disabilities.

The day looked a little gray, but it was not cold, and not too windy.  It's summer in Durban -- 80F and 85pct. humidity.  Lots of rain.

 You may not be able to see in the photo, but the short man holding the surfboard in the front has no legs starting just below the knee.  He had been out surfing and walked up the beach carrying his board!

This is the best wheelchair ever.  It goes right out into the surf, with pontoons to keep it afloat.  Everyone was color-coded.  Pink t-shirts for surfing coaches.  Green t-shirts for helpers. Blue t-shirts for disabled participants.

The Church has a large world-wide program to distribute wheel-chairs.  The Hubrichs are quite involved with that and had been visiting people with Church-donated wheelchairs.  The people apply through hospitals and physical therapists and get their chair.  Later Church representatives visit many of them to make sure they have what they need.  

Last week Hubrichs visited this young lady at her home and told her about the surfing activity.  She came, but was timid about it all.  After watching for awhile she decided she will come back next month and surf for sure. 

Sunday was church as usual, but still in the Hillcrest Chapel.  We will be glad when Molweni Branch is able to go back to their rented school rooms closer to where everyone lives in the rural township.  But we do love the garden at Hillcrest.  There is a huge gardenia bush, and the blossoms all smell so wonderful.  Sue couldn't  resist picking one to bring home, and Ken caught her in the act.  Now our apartment smells just as good.