We moved to a new boarding as our old one needed many repairs and the owner was not willing to make them. Harvey Transport was a great deal. See below. Harvey is a very nice man whose physical problems of needing serious dental work and deodorant we willingly overlooked because of his price. Fortunately, we were only moving a short distance as his “moving van” was very open air. Harvey and his crew did not break one item so if you ever need to move in Newcastle, South Africa, I can give you Harvey’s phone number.
We have been spending a lot of time with Pres. Mashego, who
is the district president. We are assisting him in instructing the branch
presidents and other branch leaders on Church operations and principles. Some
view the Church as a rich source of income. They have so little and don’t realize that
when they use tithing money improperly they are stealing from their fellow
church members, but stealing sacred funds. We are trying to help Pres. Mashego
untangle the various branches’ finances. We discovered recently that one church
leader, who is in the process of building his house, is using the baptismal
font as his bathtub, the office telephone for personal and long distance calls
and the kitchen as his own.
We hold Family Home Evening at our boarding each week for
the young adults in our area. We have from six to twenty each week. Different
ones teach a lesson and we cover if the teacher does not show up. I am sure
that the refreshments that we serve help to boost attendance.
For Thanksgiving we had ten elders for dinner. We tried to
make it as much like home as possible, although half were not from the US. We had turkey (2 skinny ones), mashed
potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, rolls, cranberries and apple pie (no pumpkins
were available).
One of the family problems here is “lobola”, which is the
same as bride price in Nigeria. Many couples are not getting married because
the man does not have the money to pay the bride’s family so they just live
together. When children arrive the family does not approve of them living with
the couple, since they are not married, so they are usually taken away and are
raised by the “gogo” (grandmother). This is very common. Whoever raises a child
in South Africa receives a subsidy from the government so that is another
incentive for the gogo, who then has a little extra money to
live on. See below
for one gogo we visited with a future missionary grandson that lived
with her for many years.
Getting called out of the congregation to give talks is
still a little unnerving for us. A week ago after the sacrament the branch
president announced that Sister Brown would be the first speaker. I know that I
must have had a panicked look on my face, but so did Elwood when he was named
as the concluding speaker with about two seconds notice. Being asked to teach
Sunday School lessons is not quite as unsettling. They seem to think that the
“white couples”, as we are called, are experts in speaking, teaching and
advising. (We certainly have them fooled…Wait until they get to know us
better!) Pres. Mashego says we are here to help perfect the saints. Now that
Elwood is in the mission presidency they even expect more from us.
Just a couple of days ago Elwood was asked to attend a
funeral. When he arrived he found that he was to preside as well as give the
gospel talk and dedicate the grave. The pictures below are of the cemetery and
the gravesite. It is Zulu tradition that after the casket is lowered, wood
poles are placed across the top of the casket so that the deceased will not
have his feelings hurt as the dirt is poured on top of the poles and not
directly onto the casket.
Townships generally do not have restaurants, but they have
tuck shops where people can buy food and other sundries. The name of the one
below we found especially interesting.
We are having a wonderful experience here and are learning
so much. We are able to give support, strengthen and teach people and learn so
much from them. Our testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ grows each day. We
love what we are doing.
We send our love to you and wish you a very Merry Christmas.
