Recycling, Animal Viewing, and Gardening in S.A.

One interesting, but sad, item about the way things are around here is the "recycling program."  What happens is the day the garbage is placed out on the curb, men come and go through the garbage cans looking for plastic, cardboard, etc. that can be recycled. This can be very gross going (through the garbage.) They put the recycling items in a bag on a cart they pull around. We had to replace our toaster (it was working but ever so feebly) so we just took the old one out to a guy that was going through the garbage. He was so thankful and very nice.  It was in the original box, and he asked, incredibly, "Does it really work ?" The next week we happened to be out on garbage day and he brought us some keys he found in the garbage.  Evidently our landlords had put them in the garbage and he wanted to make sure they should be there.  So you can guess this is not the best job to have and it is quite sad that people need to do things like this in order to make some money.

On a lighter note, we did make it to the Lion Park.  This is where you can drive through the Lions' area. On a darker note, this is where the lady rolled down her car window  and was killed by a white lion.  They have always given warnings and told you to keep your windows up, but now, in fact,  they put a sticker tape on your windows so you won't roll them down.  We had a great time and as you can see in the picture, the Lions were fed so they didn't want to eat us that day. (Well, we kept our windows up, just in case).

One thing that I never expected us to do here, was to set up a little garden. There was a container on our patio area and we thought it looked pretty sad without any plantings. We discovered a beautiful garden shop last week, and purchased flowers, herbs, tomatoes and peppers to plant. In the end it all worked out pretty well (as you will see in the pictures), but it was quite an adventure to do the planting.  We set the plants out in a flower bed by our cottage with the intention of planting them in the next few days. We went inside, and when we walked out to go to our car, we noticed that the plants were missing.

We did a bit more exploring and saw little piles of dark rich potting soil around the corner, and then some of the plastic containers we had bought the plants in. Just a bit more looking and we found plants strewn throughout the yard. Well, you probably guessed it by now...the dogs that live at our landlords' place had discovered a new game. We think they liked the crinkle of the plastic, but whatever, we thought they had really ruined our new plants. I am always reluctant to shake young plants before planting, but these dogs did it with sheer abandon and joy, and the result was some pretty nice starts once they were planted. After planting them, we put Irish Spring soap shavings around on the patio, and the dogs have watched the planter a lot (see picture),but haven't gotten near it.

It's a good thing! We really did like those dogs, but got pretty angry at them for awhile. They've been forgiven by now, as long as they maintain good behavior. There must be a parable somewhere in there, but for now, we are just happy to think of the fruit of our labors in a couple months.

What good little innocent guard dogs!

We're loving the work and the life here! The only place we might rather be is home...but that will come quickly, the way time is flying now. We know we're here for a purpose and that we and those at home will receive unmeasured blessings through our service.

The Joys of Visiting Seminaries and Institutes in South Africa

We've been thinking a lot about the many blessings that have come into our lives in the past month + 1 week. Certainly one of the many would be the joy we receive from visiting the classes. We have now visited 28 units, some near, some as far away as 1 hour;15 minutes from our "cottage".  Some are in homes, some are in school buildings, some are in churches, a couple have been in rooms of an apartment address, which are shared by a number of families, and so very poor.  Each teacher has a little different approach to teaching, but they all are focused on sharing the spirit and love with their students.

The students vary as well, of course. We've met Seminary students from 13 to 18, the normal entry age being 14. In the Institutes young people who are 18 or older;  some returned missionaries, many preparing missionaries, some college students, some young married couples, and even a few elderly sisters who want to learn more. Most of the students seem very engaged in the learning, and ready to share experiences related to the topic of the lesson. All seem to bring well-worn scriptures that have been treasured and well-marked. Many times we get an opportunity to bear testimony to the teacher and the class, and we are so blessed to feel the warm and peaceful spirit of our Heavenly Father with us at those times.

Sometimes I (Debi) am a bit reluctant to visit a class in a less-safe area, or one which will take so much of our time to get to, but always, we are rewarded with new insights and understandings of these wonderful people. Lynn keeps us going and has done an amazing job of getting us to where we need to be, and I am so grateful for his enduring faith throughout things that seem hard.

We've chosen a couple of classes to tell about in this entry: one in a township in Germiston, and another in a tenement-type building in Johannesburg. Keep in mind that these are both on the very poor as to the things of this world end of the spectrum. We could, and probably may talk about some on the other end of the spectrum as time goes on.

When we contacted Brother Kenneth Dladla to see if we could visit his class, he was happy for us to come, but said that we would need to meet him at the local "shopping center". As we pulled up to where he said he would meet us, we were amazed at all of the people doing business on that late Friday afternoon. We had arranged to phone Bro. Kenneth as we arrived, and as we did, he said he was just getting there. He had walked about three miles (in his Sunday suit) to meet us.

Brother Kenneth to the rescue!

We were so happy to see him!

I don't think there was any way we would have found the building his class meets in if he hadn't come and directed us there as he rode with us back the 3 miles he had just travelled!

There is actually another Seminary class that meets at the Germiston Chapel, but that is too far for the students in the township to walk, so Brother Dladla offered to teach this class in a community house which serves as a preschool in the first part of the day. The building interior is about the size of our living room, and is "decorated" with preschool posters. The only chairs are plastic child sized ones (note in the picture). He teaches the class Monday thru Friday, 1 hour each day, and he is really well prepared.

The students passed off scripture memorizations, and were well involved in the lesson.  Best of all, by the way he taught, they could have no question that this gentle man loved them and saw them so close to the way the Savior would. The little preschool room transformed into a safe and inspirational place for these students and their teacher, in an environment that struggles for safety and inspiration. We were so very touched.

Unfortunately, we don't have pictures of the second class I will describe, but hopefully you can picture it closely enough. Brother Obert Machele teaches Institute in his rented room in downtown Johannesburg and has done so for 4 years. He is here from Zimbabwe, and his wife and children are currently there. (Moving from country to country in Africa is very involved and sometimes impossible). His room is one in a tenement-type apartment, which he rents from the "original" renter who lives in another part of the apartment. There may be other families there as well, we couldn't tell that night.

Above Obert's neatly made bed was a make-do "closet" where he hung his suits and other clothes. He had a refrigerator in his "home" and some places to serve for drawers. A number of his "windows" were just open rectangles which he has found any kind of fabric to cover. 

The building is close to a fire station, and he had told us to phone him when we got there and he would help us park and get to his place. When he came out to meet us he was dressed in a clean suit, and so happy that we would come to his class.  We climbed 3 floors of stairs to his room, and were both shocked as we entered, both for the difficult living conditions and for his arrangements for his Institute class.  

In this small room he had set up 4 neat rows of chairs (probably 20 semi-matching chairs!), and his teaching podium was a table with a cloth over it and a number of books and notes which he used for teaching. Probably his pride and joy was a whiteboard he had somehow acquired behind his podium and convenient to write on. His entire room, besides the bed he sleeps on, was arranged and dedicated to his Institute students.

As those students came, it was amazing to see the variety of them. Some appeared to be quite poor while others were well dressed and had good employment or were students. There was such a feeling of respect for their teacher from each of them. Again, this wasn't your Utah Young Single Adult Institute...It included some younger married couples and some single older individuals. To the person, though, they were focused on the lesson and anxious to take part in class discussion. They talked of their challenges in life, with faith that they would get by. It was a wonderful evening!

We are learning and feeling many new things. This is the perfect assignment for us and we are loving it! It surely helps us to realize just what is important in life and what is just nice.

Day by day we will make this successful with an amazing contribution from the Lord!

We have been here a month now, and you may think all we are doing is playing and discovering fun things about South Africa.  Well, we do some of that and love it, but we spend a very good amount of time with our assignment (and love that, as well).

We are called "Coordinators for the Seminary and Institute Programs in the Johannesburg and Bedfordview Stakes of the Church in South Africa." That means we visit and coordinate with the 47 Seminary and Institute units in the two stakes.  We have now visited about 22 of the units, which is no small endeavor, when we have to figure out how to get to them all. (Thank goodness Lynn is terrific with a map). They are each a bit unique from each other, but there is an amazingly strong spirit in the homes, churches or schools or wherever they have identified to hold class. We also prepare attendance reports for the Church each month, and prepare monthly inservice meetings (the first to be 26 September)!  Each Sunday we choose a ward to attend, depending on where we can meet with and encourage a teacher, or talk with Priesthood leaders that are, of course, responsible for the programs when it comes down to it.
                                     

A Seminary teacher at the Cosmo City branch. She is standing next to their
"open air" baptismal font.

When we attended church at the Four Ways Branch,
we were surprised to notice out back a couple of "Go Carts" like I remember from my brothers'childhood. It brought back a lot of memories, but
we never did figure out if they were transportation to
 church or waiting for an activity in the future.

Lynn is such a "natural." He loves every minute of
being with the people here. It doesn't take long for them
to recognize it, and love him back!

The teachers of the classes are identified through callings...no professional teachers here! They learn to teach with the influence of the spirit, and their own natural intellect. Each class is unique and strong in a different way.  One of our challenges is working with the CES program using the same materials used in Utah. That is what we are asked to do, but we often face some difficulties in making it all fit together as it does at home. For instance, yesterday we attended a class in a home in a township. There were 11 students who for the most part were very enthusiastic to learn, as was the teacher to teach. It was a struggle to teach the lesson for the day, "The Utah War and the Mountain Meadows Massacre." As you might expect, these were sharp kids, but they just didn't have the historical background or the Utah perspective to appreciate much of it. We talked about some principles it taught, such as following counsel and addressing difference with "adversaries" before the situation grew out of hand. Lynn and I tried to talk it back to applications they were familiar with, so I think it came out okay, but maybe some day we will have materials more understandable for the kids in Africa. I guess, at least if they are confronted with the story in their future, they will know to understand that yes, it happened, and we can learn some important principles from it.

Our bedroom in our cottage is set up with facing desks and most of the office supplies we need, so it is generally our office. We travel to the CES Office (about 20 minutes away) for the weekly devotional and as needed. The most of our travel is spent finding classes and visiting them.  Reports are due on the 10th, and it is no small job to get all of the teachers to carry through on attendance, reading and assignment reports, so the last two weeks have been pretty frantic as we sought reports, learned the program to put them together, and continued to visit more classes and teachers! Our work this week, I think, will be visiting more, and focusing on the September 26 inservice.

Our Bedroom Office

With the favorable exchange rate, about 13:1, we find ourselves eating out frequently, as we can hardly cook for the cost to us. Of course, Nando's is a common choice, but we've had some pretty fair Hake and chips (grilled for Lynn and deep fried for me). We have McDonalds all over, and that is an economical "fix" when I am homesick...I almost never eat Big Macs at home, but they taste the same here, and all of that fat really cheers me up.   We are now venturing out to some nicer places we liked when we were here before.

Our neighborhood bakery. We went to it from time to time
when we were here last, but now it is just so close to us...

Above, our neighborhood produce market;

Below a "nicer" Chinese restaurant in an upscale mall 

We're doing fine. We miss our family and friends and our home, but we are convinced that this is the place that we should be at this point in time. We do love this work, and see miracles and feel the spirit on an hourly basis.

More detail soon.

The Black Tag Connection

I know, I know: many at home keep asking what we do all day here. Suffice it to say that we keep very busy and still have to be selective in which work we attack first. I promise to devote the next post to a better description, but I am trying to keep things in chronological order and will tell you of an unexpected "tender mercy" we received from the Lord as we began our work here.

As happy as we are to be here, we do miss family and friends at home, and sometimes get a little teary (well, I, Debi, get a little teary) as we think of those we miss.  We really believe that the Lord's hand is in the details, and saw a great example of it during the first week we were here.

It started at the Atlanta airport as we had a 3 hour layover. A lovely young black sister came and introduced herself to us. She has the beautiful Christian name of "Blessing", and she was returning from her mission in Jamaica. We talked a bit, and then saw each other as we arrived in S.A. Her home is actually in one of the stakes we are responsible for in Seminaries and Institutes. We said we would somehow cross paths in the future, and said goodbye. Well, our second Sunday here, we looked at the wards we thought would be good for us to visit for our assignment. It turned out that as we entered the chapel of the ward we had chosen, there was Blessing sitting on the stand, prepared to give her mission report! We were able to connect with her in the meetings following sacrament meeting, as well. It was a welcome reunion for all three of us, and gave us the reminder that the Lord is in the details of our lives, as we were beginning to feel a bit lonely.

Also at that meeting on that Sunday, we met the Elders (young missionaries) serving in that ward. As we traded information we discovered that one of them is from Alpine, Utah, and the other from Highland! That left us with thankful hearts to meet people from home. We hope to be able to take them to lunch in the next week or two. Unfortunately I didn't think to get pictures of them or Blessing, but hope that will happen soon.

Perhaps the most surprising "tender mercy" is pictured above. Before we left home we had been teaching Temple Preparation to the youth in the Stake preparing to go to the temple. One of our "students" was Chris Morrell, who we discovered was going to serve his mission in Johannesburg, and would go to the MTC there before we left.  We agreed that somehow we would cross paths sometime during our stay here. We were "flabbergasted" when the very first Monday we were here (less than 4 days in S.A.) we arrived at our CES office and noticed two Elders who had come to the MTC (on the same campus) to do some athletics on their Preparation Day. As we walked up and shook hands we were so surprised to notice that one of them had a black tag with "Elder Morrell" written on it. I looked him in the eye, and sure enough, it was Chris. We've been fortunate to see this wonderful young man on some Mondays since.

There have been other things, as well, that we don't think are coincidences, which have made us feel comfortable, or safe, and helped us to know that the Lord knows us and watches over us as we do His work. I know that He has a great concern for this work, and Lynn and I are so happy to be able to be part of it for a short season!