Repeat?? -- Weeks 3 and 56?

We have been serving this mission -- here and in California -- for over a year, and we are starting to repeat ourselves.

Our blog post from 1 March 2020 is titled Zone Conferences and Marine World.  Guess what we did this week?  But the most amazing repeat is that we picked up Elder Alviana from the airport that week a year ago as he began his mission here in Durban.  He went home to Brazil last year on a COVID evacuation flight with so many others.  But this coming Friday we will pick him up at the airport again! He is coming back, and we are thrilled.  But more about all that next week.  

We love the opportunity to get together with our young Elders at Zone Conferences every six weeks.  We learn from them as they learn from President & Sister Lines and each other.  So many of these conferences over the last year have been over Zoom, but now that we can get together, it is a blessing.

One of the hard things at Zone Conference is when those who will be going home soon speak to the group about their experiences.  This week we heard from Elder Netshiheni.  He is a wonderful missionary and we will be sorry to lose him back to his home near Johannesburg on 2 April.  He talked about how much he has learned by teaching.  We are all that way -- we all learn and remember better when we have the opportunity to share with other people.  Especially when we can share things of the Spirit.  

One other comment we liked from Zone Conference -- "We don't have to be perfect, but we should be deliberate."  It reminds us to think about the choices we make.

We had Durban Zone Conference on Wednesday at the Berea Chapel and Hillcrest Zone Conference on Friday at Hillcrest Chapel.  We are in Hillcrest Zone, but we went for the beginning at Durban.  

One of Ken's responsibilities is vehicle inspections.  He stayed outside (in the heat) and checked vehicles for cleanliness and proper paperwork while Sue set up pre-conference snacks.  She was done sooner and was sitting with Sister Lines in the chapel waiting for the meeting to start.  We both felt so warm, but could hear the A/C blowing.  Sister Lines went looking for the control box, and found the temperature set to 82F!  No wonder we were so warm.  She turned it back down to 74F and all was well.

Most of the conference is discussions and PowerPoint slides, but we had one fun activity in Hillcrest.  Two Elders set up an obstacle course with tables and chairs.  Then they ran a string through it.  They blind-folded the Zone Leaders.

Some of the other Elders were told to give proper instructions on how to follow the string.  Other Elders were told to give bogus instructions.  Lesson:  It's hard to hear the True Voice when there are lots of other competing voices around you.  But you can always count on "the iron rod" (or string).  

(See Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 8 and 1 Nephi 11.)

Elder and Sister Van Heerden came from Ladysmith for the Hillcrest Zone Conference.  They decided to come in Thursday evening, rather than drive so early on Friday the three hours from Ladysmith.  We invited them for dinner on Thursday and to stay a bit and help with the jigsaw puzzle we started at Christmas.  Sue is really stuck on that elephant.  We all three worked for about 90 minutes and got a few more square inches, while Ken (who has a sore back) did the dishes.

Thursday night things broke.  Ken was in bed.  Sue tried to turn on the bathroom light and the switch just pushed back into the wall!  Something inside the switch had snapped.  Then in the middle of the night Ken had a nightmare and flailed out his arm and set his cell phone flying off the nightstand, resulting in a broken screen.  But now all is well.  After Zone Conference on Friday we stopped by a huge hardware store and bought a new switch.  Then we dropped off Ken's phone at a repair shop in the mall near our apartment.  We found we didn't even need the new switch.  We just needed to clip the old one back together again.  And Saturday after the aquarium Ken picked up his better-than-new phone.  It now has a double screen.

We had all decided that the Van Heerdens may as well stay over on Friday night, too, and we could do something fun for Saturday outing.  President and Sister Lines had never been to uShaka Aquarium, and Van Heerden's hadn't been there in years, so it was a good day to go.  We went early and were there shortly after opening at 9 a.m.  

 

Seniors at uShaka Aquarium 6 March 2021 - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

We saw the dolphin show and the seal show and wandered all through the aquarium.  It has very well-done exhibits.  We noticed a few COVID-related changes since our visit last year.  There are no more park maps with show times.  Now when you arrive, they assign you to a specific show time, as the audience is limited.  Last year they had audience-participation activities, and Sue got to go down and get kissed by a seal.  Not this year.  That part of the show is skipped.  Too bad.

They did have the seals kiss each other, however.

The dolphins are amazing -- so graceful.  

And we loved all the aquarium fish.  The tanks are huge and you can walk right up to them.  You can even go down in the shark tank in a cage, if you want.  We skipped that part.

After the Aquarium, we found ourselves in the neighborhood of our favorite Mexican restaurant.  We all went to La Rosa for lunch and introduced the Van Heerdens to Mexican food.  We explained all about the differences between burritos and tacos and enchiladas.  They liked it!

To get to the aquarium entrance you walk through a long mall full of restaurants and touristy shops.  One was advertising short batik caftans for R19.  That's $1.25!  Sue can never resist a bargain -- especially if it is her favorite color, orange.  But by the time we got home, she was falling asleep while trying to do the Saturday NYTimes crossword.  That's the hardest puzzle for the week always.  So she gave in and had a nap.

This Sunday morning we went back to Berea Chapel for Church.  It is the Durban Stake Center, not too far from downtown.  A good group there, and lots of good testimonies.  We got to meet Brad Bricknell.  He is the Physical Facilities Manager for the Church here in this area.  We've done lots of emailing back and forth, so it was nice to put the face to the name -- or rather half a face to the name.  We all wore our masks, of course.  And Berea chapel physically moved all the pews so they are farther apart instead of marking every-other one unused.  That's a lot of work!

Our other treat this week was watching our grandson, Lucas Allen, play in a basketball tournament in Arizona.  It was fun to get to participate a little -- even on a small screen.  He does a good job and plays hard.  We have such wonderful grandchildren!!

Safari! -- week 55

The beginning of the week in the office was pretty normal -- paying bills, working on Elders coming and going, organizing updated 72-hour emergency kits before Zone Conferences next week.

One of our responsibilities is to help take care of all the apartments.  We had some Elders in Hillcrest -- about 30 minutes west of us -- who needed a new stove delivered.  It was just a table-top model with two burners and a small oven.  We drove up there Monday evening.  One of their neighbors had this great gadget.  It is a portable solar electric car charger.  What a good idea!

On Thursday morning we met President and Sister Lines at their home about 9:30 AM and started our trip out to Nambiti Game Reserve.  We were originally supposed to take this trip in April 2020.  But like so many things in 2020 this trip got postponed.  First until September, then until January, then until early February, and finally we made it this weekend!

Nambiti Game Reserve is about a three-hour drive northeast of Durban, not too far from Ladysmith (the region of the Boer Wars 120 years ago between the Afrikaaner farmers, the British army and the Zulus).  Elder and Sister Van Heerden joined us, and we had a fabulous three days there.  There are way too many fabulous photos to post, but we'll put a sample here.

We did Glamping at Springbok Lodge.  [That's glamorous camping -- a tent like we've never stayed in before.]   Ken is going to make a video of our adventure, but no time to do it today.  We'll post it next week.  In the meantime Springbok Lodge has a wonderful video on their webpage of the animals.  

Sue took this photo in the round of the lodge and pool area.  

Springbok Lodge, Nambiti Game Reserve - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

We brought our swimsuits, but it was too cold to do much swimming.  The original weather forecast for the weekend was lots of rain, but we only had one little drizzle!

Nambiti Game Reserve is about 11 km long and 3-4 km wide.  

It consists of several different privately-owned parcels, and there are ten different lodges where you can stay.  But you can't even drive through in a private car.  We arrived at the main gate (in the southeast corner of the map) and went to the parking lot where we left our car and were ferried to the Lodge in the Toyota Land Rover that was our vehicle during our stay.  

We drove all over everywhere in the four different game drives we did.  We went Thursday afternoon 4 PM to 7 PM and Friday morning 5:30 AM to 8:30 AM.  Then again the same schedule on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.  We saw so many amazing animals, birds, insects, flowers and general scenery.  It's a trip we will always remember!

We arrived in time for lunch on Thursday, had a little time to wander around and get unpacked, and then left at 4 PM for a three-hour game drive on jeep trails. 

Waiting to start game drive - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Impala -- we saw lots and lots of these.

Baby giraffe by the side of the road.   

And several full-sized giraffes, too.

With lots and lots of gorgeous views across the plains and valleys.  This is high plateau area -- about 3600 feet above sea level with this valley in the middle.

 

We also saw lots of kudu -- another kind of African antelope.  

This is a Cape Buffalo.  The kind with the amazing horns like in our jigsaw puzzle.

 

In the middle of each game drive there would be a break to stretch our legs and have a snack.

Afternoon drinks and snacks. - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

We learned a new collective noun -- a confusion of guinea fowl.  And isn't that the truth.  These crazy birds would see us coming and run down the road right in front of us -- not fly away or veer off to one side.  And the tiny chicks would keep up with the adults.  None of them run very fast.  

We got to see beautiful zebras up close and personal.  The are zebras [rhymes with Debra], not zeebras as we say in American.  

After the morning game drive we had a wonderful breakfast.  The food at Springbok is amazing!  We all ate too much.  Here is Friday lunch:

Fish and chips or vegetable quiche. - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

To wear off some of that food we walked on a nature trail around the fenced compound that is Springbok Lodge.  There is a 2 m (6 ft) tall electric fence, but while walking we saw two kudu inside the fence!  They can jump it easily.

Walking around Springbok Lodge compound. - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Both white rhinos (in this photo) and black rhinos are in Nambiti.  We saw both kinds, but not very close.  They are all endangered because poachers kill them for their horns, which are valued for various rituals in Asia.  To help solve the problem, the Nambiti Reserve catches the rhinos every 3 to 4 years and cuts down the horns to very short so the poachers are not interested.  They grow about three inches a year.  We loved this view of the huge rhino against the horizon.  

We sort-of saw hippos.  They are nocturnal, so spend all day in the water, just coming up to breathe.  Can you spot the eyes?

We really wanted to see cheetahs, but the whole park only has five and they are fairly reclusive.  Then our guide Nadine got a call on her radio that there were some not too far from where we were.  And here they are just lying in the middle of the road!  They do have tracking collars on, but the safari guides do not have access to the location information.  The Reserve doesn't want all the trucks just following the animals around.

We also managed to get really, really close to this big bull elephant feeding.  He was amazing -- pulling whole branches off the tree and stuffing into his mouth.  

Trivia we learned for our son Tim and other like-minded teen-age boys.  Elephants poop every 30 minutes and Zebras fart every 7-10 seconds!!

On Friday afternoon and Saturday morning we were joined by Mohammad and Aadila -- a brother and sister from Johannesburg.  They had two long-lens cameras and took some amazing photos that they shared with us.

I think this is a favorite -- the herd of wildebeests on the grass airstrip in the Reserve.  Good way to keep the grass short?

Our guide Nadine took this photo of the same animals, but with these amazing sunbeams in the background.  We loved all the clouds because it can get really hot at Nambiti in the African summer.  (Think late August in the USA.)

Morning break was hot chocolate and muffins.

Hot chocolate stop on Saturday morning - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

Aadila also took this picture of one of the cheetahs when it wandered off the road and sat in the grass.  If you didn't know it was there it would be very hard to spot!

We left, sadly, after brunch on Saturday morning.  We hope to come back again before we leave South Africa.

But the great weekend was not over.  We were invited home with the Van Heerden's for a braii -- that's South African for barbeque.  President and Sister DeKlerk also joined us.  He is the President of the Ladysmith District of our Church.  They have a farm that is three-hour drive from Ladysmith in the middle of nowhere, where they raise about 100 ceremonial Brahmin cattle for the Zulus.  His wife also runs a small general store in their farm.

There was lots and lots of good food!  South Africans like to braii meat.  We had steak, pork chops, lamb chops and chicken on skewers and sausage.  Also cheese, tomato & onion sandwiches warmed on the braii.  Then there was scalloped potatoes and coleslaw, with yummy cheesecake for dessert.  Quite a meal!

Sunday morning we went to church at the Ladysmith Chapel.  It is near downtown and has a great congregation.  They are limited to 50 people at once for church meetings, and there were about 35 there today.  We were each invited, from the pulpit on no notice, to give a short talk.  It was wonderful to have the opportunity to tell these good people of our love for our Savior Jesus Christ, and our joy to be in South Africa to share this with them and others.  

The two Elders who are currently serving in Ladysmith are Elder Matlepang and Elder Netshiheni.  Elder Netshiheni had served before the lockdown in Ladysmith, and then there were no missionaries here until about a month ago.  He is glad to be back.

Sue liked these flowers in the churchyard, because they remind her of home.  We have this same daisy plant next to the same canna lilies in our yard at home in Palo Alto.  We saw so many of God's beautiful creations this weekend.  We are blessed to see and appreciate the world around us.

Transfers and Temple -- week 54

It's been another wonderful week in Durban.  We had Transfer week, and we were able to attend the Durban Temple--twice!

The Durban Temple was dedicated as a House of the Lord on 16 February 2020.  We first arrived in Durban on 12 February, just in time to attend that wonderful dedication.

It closed in mid-March 2020, reopened for a bit in Sept, Oct, Nov 2020 and then was closed again.  It opened again after COVID-19 restrictions on 16 February 2021. 

In honor of the anniversary, our Social Media team, Elder Russell and Elder Pettijohn, made this fun video for the Durban Stake Facebook page.  They did the design and recording.  Ken did the editing.  

Temple attendance is still highly restricted to one or two people in a session who are going for the first time, and up to 16 people total.  Normally missionaries attend the temple for the first time with their families before they start their missions.  But with all the temples closed almost everywhere, we had six new missionaries here who needed to go for the first time.  For three of them who are from South Africa their parents were able to come and join them.  We were able to attend on Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon with two Elders who did not have family come with them.  It was so good to be there and feel the special Spirit in this sacred place.  

On Monday we had another Senior Couple arrive in the mission to help.  Hooray!  It is Elder and Sister Van Heerden from East London -- about 700 km (400 mi.) south of Durban.  They served a mission here earlier and had been home about 18 months.  They are going to live out in Ladysmith to support the missionaries as we spread back out to western parts of the mission.  

Tuesday was the last day of Missionary Training Center in the Mission Office.  We are sorry to see these wonderful Elders leave us.  It gets boring in the office with no one there but us two.

However, they were most excited to get out of that stuffy room where they stared at screens all day.  They are now out with their new companions doing real missionary work, and that's great!  They are Elder Slater, Elder Lusuko, Elder Bibb, Elder Mere and Elder Davies-Ogunshakin.  Elder Slater is from Cape Town.  Elder Lusuko is from Zambia.  The other three are from Johannesburg area.

They were sent out to their areas, but this was a very small Transfer Week, as we had no one going home at all.  We wrote last week about Elder Raralevu going home, and now we have no one else leaving until 2 April!

We went to the Temple on Tuesday with Elder Thwala.  He is from Ladysmith and was leaving the next day for his missionary service in Cape Town.  He was actually supposed to fly there on Tuesday morning, but he delayed his mission start by one day so that he could attend the Temple first.  Otherwise he would have gone to Cape Town for his first three weeks of training, and then flown back to Durban for a day to attend the Temple.  This worked out better.

Back row:  Elder & Sister Allen, Sister & Elder Van Heerden, President & Sister Lines

Front row:  Elders Mbonyana, Thwala, Van Orden, Alotsa & Chola.

On Saturday afternoon we went to the Temple again, this time with Elder Banda. He received his mission call to South Africa Durban almost a year ago and was supposed to be here in June 2020 from his home in Zambia. Of course in June the borders were closed, so he finally arrived in Durban on 1 February 2021 after serving seven months in the Zambia Lusaka Mission.  Currently his companion is Elder Manamela from Johannesburg.

It was a beautiful day in Durban, as most are.  Those attending the temple with Elder Banda were (L-R) Back row:  Elder & Sister Allen, Sister and President Lines, Elder Banda.  Front row:  Elders Chifarimba, Mokhoanatsi & Manamela.

Saturday was also Elder Allen's birthday, so after the Temple session, we went out to dinner with President and Sister Holmes and Elder & Sister Futter.  The Holmes are the Temple President and Matron.  Futters are Counselor and Assistant Matron.  They all live in the Temple housing just across the driveway from the Temple and serve for three years.

President and Sister Lines were not able to come with us, but Sister Lines is an amazing cakemaker.  She made a beautiful cake for Elder Allen.  She left it in the fridge in the Temple housing and presented it to Ken after we finished in the Temple.  She does gorgeous delicious cakes for any little occasion.

This cake needs a little explaining.  Last November when we were getting ready to come back to Durban, President Lines called and asked us what kind of vehicle we would like.  With so many missionaries transferred away, the mission has lots of cars.  Our choices were between a Ford Ranger pick-up, a Renault Duster (small SUV), a Suzuki Ertiga (small SUV) or a Toyota Corolla.  Sue chose the Duster--a good medium-size diesel.  Ken said "No, what I really want is an electric self-driving Porsche."  President laughed.  We got the Duster.  However, the request has become a running joke with us, so the cake has a Porsche attached to a 9V battery on top.

The Temple is in an upscale neighborhood just north of Durban and near the beach called uMhlanga.  We drove down to the beach with the Holmes and Futters and went to dinner at the uMhlanga Arch, an area next to hotels and close by the beach with lots of restaurants.  

We ate in a food-court kind of place where we got a good salad from one stand and yummy burgers from another.  

After dinner we came back to the Temple housing and shared the beautiful cake. 

And the cake had another surprise!  Sister Lines cut some cake out and filled the middle with M&Ms! 

Sunday morning we went to Church in Pinetown again, hoping to meet our friend from the gondola ride, but he didn't come.  The Elders have connected with him, so maybe they will see him next week.  We will be gone--off on a great adventure.  Stay tuned!  [How's that for a cliff-hanger.]

Sue is not even going to post a photo of the puzzle.  Maybe five pieces got put in this week, and Sister Van Heerden did two of them!  

But Sue has been knitting.  She finished her slippers a couple of weeks ago.   

Sue also has been doing knitted knockers. This is all she has done since we arrived in early December.  What are these?  Explanation here.

The yarn store where Sue shops here has connections to the local cancer hospital and will help distribute.  They have done these before -- even though they were invented Washington state, USA!

It is summer and everything is in bloom. In this tropical humid climate the flowers are gorgeous.  This plant was growing next to the Church parking lot.  Flowers are about 6" across.

And this tree was across the street.  There are many of these trees around with lots of bright, bright orange blossoms.  The photo doesn't do it justice -- too much back light.

We can't forget a monkey picture for the grandkids.  This tree outside our living room window is home for a big troop of monkeys.  We see them running in and out of it a lot, but seldom does one sit still long enough for a photo.  This monkey is about 40 ft high sitting on a fairly thin branch.  There is a very steep hill going up behind the tree.