October 31, 2008
HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!
We don't have halloween here so we won't have trick-or-treaters come to our door. But we are giving a small bag of sweets (candy) to the elders as a surprise today at Zone Conference Workshops. We have not seen pumpkins here either, so we can't carve jack-o-lanterns. What we have seen are Christmas decorations and trees and "holiday specials" for sale in the stores--since early October! Seems some things are the same in Namibia Africa as in the States. We have seen pictures of Scott and Angela's 2 little witches and would love a picture of the other g-kids in their costumes.
Here's another update from our diary of what's been happening mission-wise.
Lots of love from Africa,
MOM and DAD, Grandma and Grandpa, Karen and Stan, President and Sister Allen
Week 41—October 13-19, 2008
13th: While Karen went with Yolandie to the psychologist, Stan obtained quotations [bids] for all the tyres for the elders’ and our cars. We also got prices on various types of fans to be used in the Kat building. Elder Johnson called from the office asking Stan to “chase down” 3 kilometer reports for last month which have not been submitted by the elders. Last Sat we received an order from the Johannesburg Distribution Center for the Katutura Branch which we delivered to the church building. We also faxed to the office Elder Domingos’s doctor’s visit info and electricity reports [3 of the elders’ flats do not have electricity included in the rent, so we turn in the amount of el used on the report and then the office figures out how much that should cost and puts that much money into the senior comp’s account and the elders buy the electricity for the next transfer period based on the last transfer’s usage.] We also downloaded the transfer travel schedule.
14th: We started the morning with our 5th visit to the American Embassy to vote for the presidential election—John McCain/Sarah Palin for the Republicans or Barak Obama/Joe Biden for the Democrats . This will be an historic election for the Americans! If the Republicans win she will be the first woman Vice President [no woman has been elected President] and if the Democrats win he will be the first black President [no black person has been elected Vice President]. Pres Danny Heyman of the Kat branch pres applied for financial assistance through the Temple Patrons Assistance Fund so he and his fiance can travel to the Joburg temple. This is the first time we have been involved with this. We were somewhat surprised to find out that after a person is approved for the funding, the branch then contributes what they can, then the mission contributes, then finally if more is needed Joburg pays. So it is handled very similar to meeting needs through fast offering funds. We received permission to obtain quotations for ceiling fans and their installation for the Kat building from the FMG in Cape Town. Stan spent some time today writing a detailed description of the fans needed and installation specifications so the different contractors’ quotations would be comparable.
15th: We met with Bro Hutton this morning and gave him info from the Municipality, from about a year ago, regarding various sites for properties that are available for churches in Kat. In the afternoon we took Elders Carter, Thethe, Lovett, and Antoine to the airport for transfers to other areas in South Africa. This would normally have been done yesterday, but transfers were moved forward a day because Pres/Sis Probst were in Joburg for training along with other Mission Presidents in the Southeast Africa Area.
16th: We followed up on an order for the Windhoek Branch from the Joburg Dist Cntr. We picked up a prescription for Elder Domingos.. As we were leaving the downtown area, we received a telephone call from Claudio [Wind building supervisor] stating that a business, Creative Computer Connections, had just called him about an unpaid bill from June. They said that if it was not paid by noon today [it was 11:45am] it would be turned over to their lawyer to take the church to court. The bill was for N$345 (US$46)! So, to preserve the reputation of the church, we paid it. We hope to get reimbursed from the Cape Town FMG. We next went to Nictus Furniture, which put down the carpeting in the Kat building a few months ago, and asked for some additional glue to repair a few spots where the carpet is coming up. We then made a trip to a local company which distributes industrial cleaning supplies. Since the Branch Pres Charles, custodian Robert, physical facilities rep Bro Hutton, or the building supervisor Claudio, do not have their own transport, guess who got to pick up tp, paper towels, and urinal deodorizers! So one can say that this was our sued, glued, tp and deordorizer day—we never thought we would have one of these on our mission!! We were supposed to pick up 4 elders at the airport today for transfer, but their Namibia visas were not ready in time so they stayed in Cape Town. Their visas cleared the committee at Home Affairs about 2:30 in the afternoon but the Home Affairs cashiers closed at 1:00. Jackey told us she would be there first thing tomorrow morning to pay for the visas.
17th: At 9:15am we met Patrick, our neighbor, at Kat to have him look at the ceiling fan project and submit a quotation. District mtg. postponed until tomorrow, hoping that the new elders would arrive today. We delivered the supplies that we purchased yesterday to both branches. Stan worked on a project of identifying the number of members in each of the Wind suburbs. The purpose for this was to have some hard data as to where we should look for additional property if the deal on the Kat property falls through. We received word from Jackey that visas were paid for and certified, but it was too late in the day for the elders to fly up, so they spent another night in CT. We were delighted to receive an email from Merilee telling us that Alexander’s bilirubin count was down sufficiently that he no longer has to have phototherapy. The prayers in his behalf have been answered.
18th: No post [mail] yet this week for the elders. We received notification that the 4 new elders will be arriving at 5:20pm from CT. We attended dist mtg. with the Kat elders. Stan talked to them about ways that they can help support the branch. At 2pm Emmanuel Tibinyane was baptized. He is a young man of 13 years of age whose mother was baptized about 3 weeks ago. We took Sis Tibinyane and her family home and then went to the airport. The 4 new elders arrived and on time—but 48 hours late! Elder Parsons from Arizona who has been serving as an AP for the last couple of months returned to spend his last transfer in Nam before going home. He served here prior to becoming an AP and really loved it. We also welcomed 3 greenie elders fresh from the Joburg MTC. They are all from the US—Elder Tanner from Lewiston, UT, Elder Jensen from Vernal, UT, and Elder Eason from California. We hope that we can obtain visa information earlier next time so Jackey will have enough time to get the visas. The highlight of the day was that we talked to David and Janet. Today is David’s birthday--#67.
19th: Stan left at 6:45am to attend the Kat Branch Presidency meeting. He came back home and picked up Karen and went back for church at Kat. In Sac Mtg. Emmanuel was confirmed and 3 of the young women gave talks, on faith, knowledge, and modesty. There were about 10 investigators in attendance. The elders were a bit disappointed because they were expecting more.. They said they had missed a lot of appointments because of the very disruptive transfer. It was the Primary President’s turn to do sharing time, but she didn’t prepare anything so Karen used the time to review and teach some of the songs that will be sung in the Sac Mtg. program. We wondered if we would have a dating class because when it was time to start there were only a couple of young adults there. Even the teacher was not there. She came sauntering in a half hour late, unconcerned that she had kept us waiting. By then a pretty good sized group had assembled. Such is “Africa time”! Some of the questions discussed included marrying someone with different beliefs, what happens if your companion dies early in your marriage, and can you be sealed to more than one spouse.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Week 42
Week 42—October 20-26, 2008
20th: Both Karen and Stan got hair cuts, we paid our Telecom bill, and picked up post. This is the first time that one of our cartons (boxes) has been misplaced. As it turned out, it was delivered to NamPost, the Namibia parcel post station and we didn’t get it until the 22nd—3 days later than usual. We really hated to see this happen because the elders live for their mail and we have 3 greenies who were especially disappointed. We went shopping and purchased a cell phone charger for one of the companionships, took Elder Farley’s passport to Jackey for visa renewal. We also sent an email to Sebastian pertaining to replacement locks for the Katutura building.
21st: Elder Judd is still not feeling well so he talked to Dr. Tembo who prescribed some additional medication, which we purchased and gave to him. Elder Walker has been asked by President Charles to play the piano for the Windhoek Branch so we got an AC/DC converter for a keyboard which was here at our flat and delivered it to Elder Walker. He can now practice the hymns at his flat instead of borrowing a key to get into the church to practice. We spent a couple of hours at the Kat building on various projects—took photos of all locks, installed 2 soap dispensers in the bathrooms, and moved the chapel clock closer to the front of the building. Stan spent some time working on the English as a second language project using the Book of Mormon, as the elders requested. Karen began working on her Sunday assignments to teach the Young Women about Personal Progress faith requirement, singing time practice for the Primary Sacrament Meeting presentation, and a “back-up” lesson for the elders to teach in Primary whenever needed.
22nd: The zone leaders reported to us this morning that last evening they had a minor fender bender. Met with Elder Magaia, Kat district leader, and talked about having all elders attend Sac Mtg., 4 elders, 1 from each companionship, attend gospel essentials class, 2 elders attend gospel doctrine class, and 2 elders attend Primary. During the last block, 4 attend elders quorum mtg., 2 attend aaronic pr mtg, and 2 in Primary. Elder Johnson called from the mission office for information on cell phone use by the elders in the zone; however, we have not received that info from the cell phone company. In the early evening we met with Sister Ruth, an investigator of Elders Steed/Curtis. She has attended church a couple of times and last Sunday when we introduced ourselves she asked us to come visit her. We talked to her about the church and how it operates and also assured her that we are a Christian church and believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. She was struggling with English during our visit. She has 1 child, a girl 7 years of age, and a live-in boyfriend.. In response to her question if it is wrong for a man and woman to live together under the same roof, we told her that before she can be baptized she and her boyfriend would need to get married or he would need to move out. She accepted this without question. We encouraged her to have him get involved in the missionary lessons and to attend church. Today we FINALLY received a shipment of garments and supplies for the Wind Branch. We delivered garments to Sister Arlete, which she very much appreciated. She lives here in Wind but is a native Angolan. Her husband continues to stay and work in Angola.
23rd: Sister Gladys picked up her garments from our flat this morning. We worked on our JP Morgan verification of expenses/assignment of account codes. We also met with an electrician in Kat who is preparing a quotation to purchase and install ceiling fans in the building. We also prepared a memo for Sebastian on the key/lock situation. LIGHT SHOWERS DURING EVENING HOURS—THIS IS THE FIRST DROPS OF RAIN SINCE WE HAVE BEEN IN NAMIBIA!!!
24th: District meeting. Gave electricity info to purchase electricity for their flats. Took photos of new companionships for this transfer to display in the buildings. Attended Wind Branch district mtg. Stan was asked to present a 2-minute discussion on diligence and Karen gave a somewhat longer discussion on the influence of scripture study. Got photos developed, updated photo boards, put them back up in the 2 buildings, picked up the post, (early this time) and delivered it to the elders. HAD A NICE EVENING THUNDER SHOWER—CAME QUICK!! WE PROBABLY GOT ABOUT ¼ INCH IN 30 MINUTES.
25th: During the morning Stan organized the Mormon HHP folder and we prepared a summary email as requested by Pres Probst [will this project ever be “put to bed” for good?!] Karen prepared apple crisp for the Wind Relief Society culture sharing activity. Stan made a quick run to Kat to deliver keys to the elders who were cleaning the church there. In the afternoon we purchased 2 fans for use in the Kat building or elders’ flats and then went to the Wind chapel for the cultural activity which was to start at 3:00. We arrived at 3 minutes to 3 and no cars were sight! A few people came, then more, and it finally started at 3:45. Even then, more people came late. Tables were set up around the cultural hall with nice lace tablecloths, a little centerpiece, and labels for the different cultural groups represented in the Branch—Zimbabweans (Sis Tembo), Phillipino (Gladys, Chinley), Oshiwambo (Sis Dr. Ruth, Womba, Sis Ina, Theopolina [Pres Charles’s wife]), Herero (Diana, Sis Abigail),Germans (Sis Anderson), Damara/Nama (Sis Theresia, Desdamona), Caprivivians (Sis Samahiya), Basters (Sis Angela), Americans (Sis Allen), and Angolans (Arlete). Everyone wore their traditional dress and brought a traditional dish to share. (Most everyone brought MANY dishes!) Everyone took turns telling about their clothing and food. Karen explained that the only thing she and Pres Allen brought from America was each other (everyone laughed). She did wear her red, white, and blue striped top and denim skirt explaining that our country’s colors which are on our flag are red for courage, white for purity, blue for truth, and the denim was originally developed for the rough and tough life of a cowboy or rancher which was the ancestry of the west where we come from. Some of the sisters demonstrated a native dance. Stan joined us after his meeting with Presidents Charles and Samahiya in which they planned the Wind Branch Conference. Stan even ATE WORMS, considered a delicacy by the Oshiwambos and Caprivivians! DURING THE PROGRAM THERE WAS A NICE THUNDERSHOWER AND THEN LATE IN THE EVENING THERE WAS ANOTHER CLOUDBURST.
26th: Stan attended the Kat Branch Pres Mtg. Planned Branch Conference for next week. Testimony meeting was exceptional with many participating and sincere testimonies expressed. The elders attended the various mtgs. as assigned by Elder Magaia. Karen attended Primary and led the song practice for the Primary Program, then went to YW and presented a discussion on the YW value of faith. Elders Lyman and Curtis came to Primary and the kids loved it! They participated in the singing and helped maintain order. One of the frustrations of Pres Swartbooi is that members accept callings and then don’t show up. By now the elders have figured out for themselves that they need to prepare to be “back up” teachers in case they need to fill in for AP, Elders Q, or Sunday School. We decided that the elders who come into Primary could also have a “lesson in their pocket” to use whenever needed. Karen prepared such a lesson complete with lesson plan, visual aids, project, and suggestions for teaching young children. When that lesson is used, she will develop another one. So after the block and missionary coordination for the elders, Karen introduced the stand-by lesson idea and gave a short tutorial on working with children. It was very enthusiastically received. Late afternoon came and it was time to go to the dating class. Enthusiasm is waning—only 4 came. The questions discussed were the harmful effects of pornography on relationships, disregarding counsel regarding marriage given in patriarchal blessings, and propriety in showing affection in church. All in all, a very busy Sabbath but a very rewarding day.
20th: Both Karen and Stan got hair cuts, we paid our Telecom bill, and picked up post. This is the first time that one of our cartons (boxes) has been misplaced. As it turned out, it was delivered to NamPost, the Namibia parcel post station and we didn’t get it until the 22nd—3 days later than usual. We really hated to see this happen because the elders live for their mail and we have 3 greenies who were especially disappointed. We went shopping and purchased a cell phone charger for one of the companionships, took Elder Farley’s passport to Jackey for visa renewal. We also sent an email to Sebastian pertaining to replacement locks for the Katutura building.
21st: Elder Judd is still not feeling well so he talked to Dr. Tembo who prescribed some additional medication, which we purchased and gave to him. Elder Walker has been asked by President Charles to play the piano for the Windhoek Branch so we got an AC/DC converter for a keyboard which was here at our flat and delivered it to Elder Walker. He can now practice the hymns at his flat instead of borrowing a key to get into the church to practice. We spent a couple of hours at the Kat building on various projects—took photos of all locks, installed 2 soap dispensers in the bathrooms, and moved the chapel clock closer to the front of the building. Stan spent some time working on the English as a second language project using the Book of Mormon, as the elders requested. Karen began working on her Sunday assignments to teach the Young Women about Personal Progress faith requirement, singing time practice for the Primary Sacrament Meeting presentation, and a “back-up” lesson for the elders to teach in Primary whenever needed.
22nd: The zone leaders reported to us this morning that last evening they had a minor fender bender. Met with Elder Magaia, Kat district leader, and talked about having all elders attend Sac Mtg., 4 elders, 1 from each companionship, attend gospel essentials class, 2 elders attend gospel doctrine class, and 2 elders attend Primary. During the last block, 4 attend elders quorum mtg., 2 attend aaronic pr mtg, and 2 in Primary. Elder Johnson called from the mission office for information on cell phone use by the elders in the zone; however, we have not received that info from the cell phone company. In the early evening we met with Sister Ruth, an investigator of Elders Steed/Curtis. She has attended church a couple of times and last Sunday when we introduced ourselves she asked us to come visit her. We talked to her about the church and how it operates and also assured her that we are a Christian church and believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. She was struggling with English during our visit. She has 1 child, a girl 7 years of age, and a live-in boyfriend.. In response to her question if it is wrong for a man and woman to live together under the same roof, we told her that before she can be baptized she and her boyfriend would need to get married or he would need to move out. She accepted this without question. We encouraged her to have him get involved in the missionary lessons and to attend church. Today we FINALLY received a shipment of garments and supplies for the Wind Branch. We delivered garments to Sister Arlete, which she very much appreciated. She lives here in Wind but is a native Angolan. Her husband continues to stay and work in Angola.
23rd: Sister Gladys picked up her garments from our flat this morning. We worked on our JP Morgan verification of expenses/assignment of account codes. We also met with an electrician in Kat who is preparing a quotation to purchase and install ceiling fans in the building. We also prepared a memo for Sebastian on the key/lock situation. LIGHT SHOWERS DURING EVENING HOURS—THIS IS THE FIRST DROPS OF RAIN SINCE WE HAVE BEEN IN NAMIBIA!!!
24th: District meeting. Gave electricity info to purchase electricity for their flats. Took photos of new companionships for this transfer to display in the buildings. Attended Wind Branch district mtg. Stan was asked to present a 2-minute discussion on diligence and Karen gave a somewhat longer discussion on the influence of scripture study. Got photos developed, updated photo boards, put them back up in the 2 buildings, picked up the post, (early this time) and delivered it to the elders. HAD A NICE EVENING THUNDER SHOWER—CAME QUICK!! WE PROBABLY GOT ABOUT ¼ INCH IN 30 MINUTES.
25th: During the morning Stan organized the Mormon HHP folder and we prepared a summary email as requested by Pres Probst [will this project ever be “put to bed” for good?!] Karen prepared apple crisp for the Wind Relief Society culture sharing activity. Stan made a quick run to Kat to deliver keys to the elders who were cleaning the church there. In the afternoon we purchased 2 fans for use in the Kat building or elders’ flats and then went to the Wind chapel for the cultural activity which was to start at 3:00. We arrived at 3 minutes to 3 and no cars were sight! A few people came, then more, and it finally started at 3:45. Even then, more people came late. Tables were set up around the cultural hall with nice lace tablecloths, a little centerpiece, and labels for the different cultural groups represented in the Branch—Zimbabweans (Sis Tembo), Phillipino (Gladys, Chinley), Oshiwambo (Sis Dr. Ruth, Womba, Sis Ina, Theopolina [Pres Charles’s wife]), Herero (Diana, Sis Abigail),Germans (Sis Anderson), Damara/Nama (Sis Theresia, Desdamona), Caprivivians (Sis Samahiya), Basters (Sis Angela), Americans (Sis Allen), and Angolans (Arlete). Everyone wore their traditional dress and brought a traditional dish to share. (Most everyone brought MANY dishes!) Everyone took turns telling about their clothing and food. Karen explained that the only thing she and Pres Allen brought from America was each other (everyone laughed). She did wear her red, white, and blue striped top and denim skirt explaining that our country’s colors which are on our flag are red for courage, white for purity, blue for truth, and the denim was originally developed for the rough and tough life of a cowboy or rancher which was the ancestry of the west where we come from. Some of the sisters demonstrated a native dance. Stan joined us after his meeting with Presidents Charles and Samahiya in which they planned the Wind Branch Conference. Stan even ATE WORMS, considered a delicacy by the Oshiwambos and Caprivivians! DURING THE PROGRAM THERE WAS A NICE THUNDERSHOWER AND THEN LATE IN THE EVENING THERE WAS ANOTHER CLOUDBURST.
26th: Stan attended the Kat Branch Pres Mtg. Planned Branch Conference for next week. Testimony meeting was exceptional with many participating and sincere testimonies expressed. The elders attended the various mtgs. as assigned by Elder Magaia. Karen attended Primary and led the song practice for the Primary Program, then went to YW and presented a discussion on the YW value of faith. Elders Lyman and Curtis came to Primary and the kids loved it! They participated in the singing and helped maintain order. One of the frustrations of Pres Swartbooi is that members accept callings and then don’t show up. By now the elders have figured out for themselves that they need to prepare to be “back up” teachers in case they need to fill in for AP, Elders Q, or Sunday School. We decided that the elders who come into Primary could also have a “lesson in their pocket” to use whenever needed. Karen prepared such a lesson complete with lesson plan, visual aids, project, and suggestions for teaching young children. When that lesson is used, she will develop another one. So after the block and missionary coordination for the elders, Karen introduced the stand-by lesson idea and gave a short tutorial on working with children. It was very enthusiastically received. Late afternoon came and it was time to go to the dating class. Enthusiasm is waning—only 4 came. The questions discussed were the harmful effects of pornography on relationships, disregarding counsel regarding marriage given in patriarchal blessings, and propriety in showing affection in church. All in all, a very busy Sabbath but a very rewarding day.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Week 40
29 October 2008
Dear Family:
Here is a diary entry to let you know what's been happening in our part of the world. You are in our thoughts and prayers even though we are not keeping up with our emails.
Love to all,
MOM and DAD, Grandma and Grandpa, Stan and Karen, President and Sister Allen
Week 40—October 6-12, 2008
6th: We got up early this morning and drove out to the Daan Viljoen Animal Park. We stayed there about 3 hours and saw zebra (too flighty for pictures), giraffes (too far away for good pictures), warthogs (too fast for pictures), and wildebeasts, impala, gemsbok , kudo foraging at a river bottom. In the afternoon Stan washed the car, we collected posted for the elders, and the missionaries came to our house to play board games. But the most exciting thing of the day was that we received an email from Scott telling us that Merilee had her baby. He DID NOT, however, give us any details other than Mom and Baby were doing fine. We emailed him back asking him for details, especially BOY??? GIRL???. He responded back, “Ask Merilee!”
7th: Today we received the details on our new grandchild from Julie and Scott. Alexander Douglas Swain was born + - 9pm Sunday evening, October 5. He weighed 8lbs 2 oz and is 21” long. Scott sent photos and a video of Christie and Jordan talking about their little brother, and Merilee telling us a little about the birth. On the mission front, we picked up Brother Hutton and went to the Municipality and found that not much progress has been made on the purchase of the Katutura property. We then went over to Maureen Henckert’s (Windhoek Branch) with Bro Hutton to get info on missions served by Namibian branch members. She ended up giving us 4 loose leafs of info on the history of the Wind Branch. She told us that the mission couples have had these books and were responsible to keep them up to date. (How or why she had them, we do not know.) In the afternoon we went with Bro Hutton to see the Elmarie Visser, the church’s attorney here in Wind regarding the Kat property purchase.
8th: Today was the first day of our mission that we spent the entire day here at the house! Stan worked in the yard pulling weeds and raking rocks while Karen did the laundry and ironed white shirts. We sent emails to Logan Hugo, church real estate agent in Johannesburg, updating him on the happenings of the last month regarding the Kat property sale. We also emailed Sebastian Thomas in Cape Town inquiring as to the availability of funds to install fans in the Kat building. Stan worked on organizing the history books given to us by Maureen. We got things together for the elders’ car/flat inspections tomorrow.
9th: Between 8am and 12:30pm we inspected the 8 elders’ flats and their 4 cars. We are reasonably satisfied with the care the elders are giving to their flats and cars. In the afternoon Karen worked on her Primary sharing time lesson/project and Stan continued to work on the Wind Branch history books. We found some very interesting documents including when Elder Russell M. Nelsen of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated the land of Namibia for the preaching of the gospel. We also found that there was very little info for the last few years. As we were doing inspections this morning, we obtained from each of the elders the title of the General Conference talk they enjoyed most which we will download from the internet and give to them tomorrow at district mtg. so they use the talks for personal study. We checked the church’s website several times during the day, but it was not until about 10pm that the talks were posted on the internet.
10th: No post today for dist mtg—the elders are sad! Elders Thethe/Judd’s car went in for repairs today. Dist mtg. with the Wind dist was very enjoyable. Elder Antoine is a very spiritual leader. We received a response from Logan Hugo and delivered it to Bro Hutton. We picked up a prescription for Elder Domingos.. We went to Kat at 5:15pm for Karen to have a mtg. with the RS presidency, but no one showed up. We later learned that there was a miscommunication and the mtg. was actually held yesterday. After waiting for about 45 minutes we left and decided to “scout out” some potential chapel sites in Otjomuise which Stan found record of in the files. There are actually a couple of pretty good sites, but few members live there and distance and the accompanying transport is a problem.
11th: We picked up the elders’ post and delivered it to the zone leaders who told us transfer news. We will be losing 4 elders—1 zone leader (Elder Lovett), both district leaders (Elders Antoine, Carter) as well as Elder Thethe. We will be receiving Elder Parsons, one of the APs as a zone leader, and 3 greenies directly from the MTC. At 11am Stan met with pres Swartbooi relative to the fans for the Kat building as well as other projects. At 2pm we attended the baptism in which 4 new members were added to the Wind branch. It was a wonderful baptism and they are very wonderful people—an attorney (cousin to Bro Samaheya of the Wind Branch Pres)and his wife (Bro/Sis Matota), a college graduate daughter of a member (Wilma Viviers), and the daughter of a high-ranking Namibian legislator (Welwitcha Baptista). In the late afternoon we went to Kat and opened the building for the seminary and institute students.
12th: Fast Sunday was today because of Gen Conf last week. We attended the Kat Branch. Karen assisted with sharing time in primary and then taught the RS lesson (she was asked to do so as she went from Sacrament Mtg. to primary!) There was only time to peruse the lesson during the opening song and announcements before giving the lesson. It was about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his teachings on the Lord “proving” us to see if we will be faithful, and his blessings if we are. The spirit helped her give the lesson! After meetings Karen helped a sister fill out an order to purchase garments and Stan gave a young sister a blessing. In the evening Stan taught the dating fireside. The questions which we addressed in the fireside included cultural practices which are in conflict with church standards, marrying cousins, matchmaking, postponing marriage because of education, and poverty/unemployment. Resources used included Elder Oaks’s talk “Repentance and Change” Ensign, Nov 2003 and Elder Scott’s talk in Gen Conf April 1999.
Dear Family:
Here is a diary entry to let you know what's been happening in our part of the world. You are in our thoughts and prayers even though we are not keeping up with our emails.
Love to all,
MOM and DAD, Grandma and Grandpa, Stan and Karen, President and Sister Allen
Week 40—October 6-12, 2008
6th: We got up early this morning and drove out to the Daan Viljoen Animal Park. We stayed there about 3 hours and saw zebra (too flighty for pictures), giraffes (too far away for good pictures), warthogs (too fast for pictures), and wildebeasts, impala, gemsbok , kudo foraging at a river bottom. In the afternoon Stan washed the car, we collected posted for the elders, and the missionaries came to our house to play board games. But the most exciting thing of the day was that we received an email from Scott telling us that Merilee had her baby. He DID NOT, however, give us any details other than Mom and Baby were doing fine. We emailed him back asking him for details, especially BOY??? GIRL???. He responded back, “Ask Merilee!”
7th: Today we received the details on our new grandchild from Julie and Scott. Alexander Douglas Swain was born + - 9pm Sunday evening, October 5. He weighed 8lbs 2 oz and is 21” long. Scott sent photos and a video of Christie and Jordan talking about their little brother, and Merilee telling us a little about the birth. On the mission front, we picked up Brother Hutton and went to the Municipality and found that not much progress has been made on the purchase of the Katutura property. We then went over to Maureen Henckert’s (Windhoek Branch) with Bro Hutton to get info on missions served by Namibian branch members. She ended up giving us 4 loose leafs of info on the history of the Wind Branch. She told us that the mission couples have had these books and were responsible to keep them up to date. (How or why she had them, we do not know.) In the afternoon we went with Bro Hutton to see the Elmarie Visser, the church’s attorney here in Wind regarding the Kat property purchase.
8th: Today was the first day of our mission that we spent the entire day here at the house! Stan worked in the yard pulling weeds and raking rocks while Karen did the laundry and ironed white shirts. We sent emails to Logan Hugo, church real estate agent in Johannesburg, updating him on the happenings of the last month regarding the Kat property sale. We also emailed Sebastian Thomas in Cape Town inquiring as to the availability of funds to install fans in the Kat building. Stan worked on organizing the history books given to us by Maureen. We got things together for the elders’ car/flat inspections tomorrow.
9th: Between 8am and 12:30pm we inspected the 8 elders’ flats and their 4 cars. We are reasonably satisfied with the care the elders are giving to their flats and cars. In the afternoon Karen worked on her Primary sharing time lesson/project and Stan continued to work on the Wind Branch history books. We found some very interesting documents including when Elder Russell M. Nelsen of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated the land of Namibia for the preaching of the gospel. We also found that there was very little info for the last few years. As we were doing inspections this morning, we obtained from each of the elders the title of the General Conference talk they enjoyed most which we will download from the internet and give to them tomorrow at district mtg. so they use the talks for personal study. We checked the church’s website several times during the day, but it was not until about 10pm that the talks were posted on the internet.
10th: No post today for dist mtg—the elders are sad! Elders Thethe/Judd’s car went in for repairs today. Dist mtg. with the Wind dist was very enjoyable. Elder Antoine is a very spiritual leader. We received a response from Logan Hugo and delivered it to Bro Hutton. We picked up a prescription for Elder Domingos.. We went to Kat at 5:15pm for Karen to have a mtg. with the RS presidency, but no one showed up. We later learned that there was a miscommunication and the mtg. was actually held yesterday. After waiting for about 45 minutes we left and decided to “scout out” some potential chapel sites in Otjomuise which Stan found record of in the files. There are actually a couple of pretty good sites, but few members live there and distance and the accompanying transport is a problem.
11th: We picked up the elders’ post and delivered it to the zone leaders who told us transfer news. We will be losing 4 elders—1 zone leader (Elder Lovett), both district leaders (Elders Antoine, Carter) as well as Elder Thethe. We will be receiving Elder Parsons, one of the APs as a zone leader, and 3 greenies directly from the MTC. At 11am Stan met with pres Swartbooi relative to the fans for the Kat building as well as other projects. At 2pm we attended the baptism in which 4 new members were added to the Wind branch. It was a wonderful baptism and they are very wonderful people—an attorney (cousin to Bro Samaheya of the Wind Branch Pres)and his wife (Bro/Sis Matota), a college graduate daughter of a member (Wilma Viviers), and the daughter of a high-ranking Namibian legislator (Welwitcha Baptista). In the late afternoon we went to Kat and opened the building for the seminary and institute students.
12th: Fast Sunday was today because of Gen Conf last week. We attended the Kat Branch. Karen assisted with sharing time in primary and then taught the RS lesson (she was asked to do so as she went from Sacrament Mtg. to primary!) There was only time to peruse the lesson during the opening song and announcements before giving the lesson. It was about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his teachings on the Lord “proving” us to see if we will be faithful, and his blessings if we are. The spirit helped her give the lesson! After meetings Karen helped a sister fill out an order to purchase garments and Stan gave a young sister a blessing. In the evening Stan taught the dating fireside. The questions which we addressed in the fireside included cultural practices which are in conflict with church standards, marrying cousins, matchmaking, postponing marriage because of education, and poverty/unemployment. Resources used included Elder Oaks’s talk “Repentance and Change” Ensign, Nov 2003 and Elder Scott’s talk in Gen Conf April 1999.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
General Conference from Abroad
29 October 2008
Dear Family:
Here is a diary entry to let you know what's been happening in our part of the world. You are in our thoughts and prayers even though we are not keeping up with our emails.
Love to all,
MOM and DAD, Grandma and Grandpa, Stan and Karen, President and Sister Allen
Week 40—October 6-12, 2008
6th: We got up early this morning and drove out to the Daan Viljoen Animal Park. We stayed there about 3 hours and saw zebra (too flighty for pictures), giraffes (too far away for good pictures), warthogs (too fast for pictures), and wildebeasts, impala, gemsbok , kudo foraging at a river bottom. In the afternoon Stan washed the car, we collected posted for the elders, and the missionaries came to our house to play board games. But the most exciting thing of the day was that we received an email from Scott telling us that Merilee had her baby. He DID NOT, however, give us any details other than Mom and Baby were doing fine. We emailed him back asking him for details, especially BOY??? GIRL???. He responded back, “Ask Merilee!”
7th: Today we received the details on our new grandchild from Julie and Scott. Alexander Douglas Swain was born + - 9pm Sunday evening, October 5. He weighed 8lbs 2 oz and is 21” long. Scott sent photos and a video of Christie and Jordan talking about their little brother, and Merilee telling us a little about the birth. On the mission front, we picked up Brother Hutton and went to the Municipality and found that not much progress has been made on the purchase of the Katutura property. We then went over to Maureen Henckert’s (Windhoek Branch) with Bro Hutton to get info on missions served by Namibian branch members. She ended up giving us 4 loose leafs of info on the history of the Wind Branch. She told us that the mission couples have had these books and were responsible to keep them up to date. (How or why she had them, we do not know.) In the afternoon we went with Bro Hutton to see the Elmarie Visser, the church’s attorney here in Wind regarding the Kat property purchase.
8th: Today was the first day of our mission that we spent the entire day here at the house! Stan worked in the yard pulling weeds and raking rocks while Karen did the laundry and ironed white shirts. We sent emails to Logan Hugo, church real estate agent in Johannesburg, updating him on the happenings of the last month regarding the Kat property sale. We also emailed Sebastian Thomas in Cape Town inquiring as to the availability of funds to install fans in the Kat building. Stan worked on organizing the history books given to us by Maureen. We got things together for the elders’ car/flat inspections tomorrow.
9th: Between 8am and 12:30pm we inspected the 8 elders’ flats and their 4 cars. We are reasonably satisfied with the care the elders are giving to their flats and cars. In the afternoon Karen worked on her Primary sharing time lesson/project and Stan continued to work on the Wind Branch history books. We found some very interesting documents including when Elder Russell M. Nelsen of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated the land of Namibia for the preaching of the gospel. We also found that there was very little info for the last few years. As we were doing inspections this morning, we obtained from each of the elders the title of the General Conference talk they enjoyed most which we will download from the internet and give to them tomorrow at district mtg. so they use the talks for personal study. We checked the church’s website several times during the day, but it was not until about 10pm that the talks were posted on the internet.
10th: No post today for dist mtg—the elders are sad! Elders Thethe/Judd’s car went in for repairs today. Dist mtg. with the Wind dist was very enjoyable. Elder Antoine is a very spiritual leader. We received a response from Logan Hugo and delivered it to Bro Hutton. We picked up a prescription for Elder Domingos.. We went to Kat at 5:15pm for Karen to have a mtg. with the RS presidency, but no one showed up. We later learned that there was a miscommunication and the mtg. was actually held yesterday. After waiting for about 45 minutes we left and decided to “scout out” some potential chapel sites in Otjomuise which Stan found record of in the files. There are actually a couple of pretty good sites, but few members live there and distance and the accompanying transport is a problem.
11th: We picked up the elders’ post and delivered it to the zone leaders who told us transfer news. We will be losing 4 elders—1 zone leader (Elder Lovett), both district leaders (Elders Antoine, Carter) as well as Elder Thethe. We will be receiving Elder Parsons, one of the APs as a zone leader, and 3 greenies directly from the MTC. At 11am Stan met with pres Swartbooi relative to the fans for the Kat building as well as other projects. At 2pm we attended the baptism in which 4 new members were added to the Wind branch. It was a wonderful baptism and they are very wonderful people—an attorney (cousin to Bro Samaheya of the Wind Branch Pres)and his wife (Bro/Sis Matota), a college graduate daughter of a member (Wilma Viviers), and the daughter of a high-ranking Namibian legislator (Welwitcha Baptista). In the late afternoon we went to Kat and opened the building for the seminary and institute students.
12th: Fast Sunday was today because of Gen Conf last week. We attended the Kat Branch. Karen assisted with sharing time in primary and then taught the RS lesson (she was asked to do so as she went from Sacrament Mtg. to primary!) There was only time to peruse the lesson during the opening song and announcements before giving the lesson. It was about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his teachings on the Lord “proving” us to see if we will be faithful, and his blessings if we are. The spirit helped her give the lesson! After meetings Karen helped a sister fill out an order to purchase garments and Stan gave a young sister a blessing. In the evening Stan taught the dating fireside. The questions which we addressed in the fireside included cultural practices which are in conflict with church standards, marrying cousins, matchmaking, postponing marriage because of education, and poverty/unemployment. Resources used included Elder Oaks’s talk “Repentance and Change” Ensign, Nov 2003 and Elder Scott’s talk in Gen Conf April 1999.
Dear Family:
Here is a diary entry to let you know what's been happening in our part of the world. You are in our thoughts and prayers even though we are not keeping up with our emails.
Love to all,
MOM and DAD, Grandma and Grandpa, Stan and Karen, President and Sister Allen
Week 40—October 6-12, 2008
6th: We got up early this morning and drove out to the Daan Viljoen Animal Park. We stayed there about 3 hours and saw zebra (too flighty for pictures), giraffes (too far away for good pictures), warthogs (too fast for pictures), and wildebeasts, impala, gemsbok , kudo foraging at a river bottom. In the afternoon Stan washed the car, we collected posted for the elders, and the missionaries came to our house to play board games. But the most exciting thing of the day was that we received an email from Scott telling us that Merilee had her baby. He DID NOT, however, give us any details other than Mom and Baby were doing fine. We emailed him back asking him for details, especially BOY??? GIRL???. He responded back, “Ask Merilee!”
7th: Today we received the details on our new grandchild from Julie and Scott. Alexander Douglas Swain was born + - 9pm Sunday evening, October 5. He weighed 8lbs 2 oz and is 21” long. Scott sent photos and a video of Christie and Jordan talking about their little brother, and Merilee telling us a little about the birth. On the mission front, we picked up Brother Hutton and went to the Municipality and found that not much progress has been made on the purchase of the Katutura property. We then went over to Maureen Henckert’s (Windhoek Branch) with Bro Hutton to get info on missions served by Namibian branch members. She ended up giving us 4 loose leafs of info on the history of the Wind Branch. She told us that the mission couples have had these books and were responsible to keep them up to date. (How or why she had them, we do not know.) In the afternoon we went with Bro Hutton to see the Elmarie Visser, the church’s attorney here in Wind regarding the Kat property purchase.
8th: Today was the first day of our mission that we spent the entire day here at the house! Stan worked in the yard pulling weeds and raking rocks while Karen did the laundry and ironed white shirts. We sent emails to Logan Hugo, church real estate agent in Johannesburg, updating him on the happenings of the last month regarding the Kat property sale. We also emailed Sebastian Thomas in Cape Town inquiring as to the availability of funds to install fans in the Kat building. Stan worked on organizing the history books given to us by Maureen. We got things together for the elders’ car/flat inspections tomorrow.
9th: Between 8am and 12:30pm we inspected the 8 elders’ flats and their 4 cars. We are reasonably satisfied with the care the elders are giving to their flats and cars. In the afternoon Karen worked on her Primary sharing time lesson/project and Stan continued to work on the Wind Branch history books. We found some very interesting documents including when Elder Russell M. Nelsen of the Quorum of the Twelve dedicated the land of Namibia for the preaching of the gospel. We also found that there was very little info for the last few years. As we were doing inspections this morning, we obtained from each of the elders the title of the General Conference talk they enjoyed most which we will download from the internet and give to them tomorrow at district mtg. so they use the talks for personal study. We checked the church’s website several times during the day, but it was not until about 10pm that the talks were posted on the internet.
10th: No post today for dist mtg—the elders are sad! Elders Thethe/Judd’s car went in for repairs today. Dist mtg. with the Wind dist was very enjoyable. Elder Antoine is a very spiritual leader. We received a response from Logan Hugo and delivered it to Bro Hutton. We picked up a prescription for Elder Domingos.. We went to Kat at 5:15pm for Karen to have a mtg. with the RS presidency, but no one showed up. We later learned that there was a miscommunication and the mtg. was actually held yesterday. After waiting for about 45 minutes we left and decided to “scout out” some potential chapel sites in Otjomuise which Stan found record of in the files. There are actually a couple of pretty good sites, but few members live there and distance and the accompanying transport is a problem.
11th: We picked up the elders’ post and delivered it to the zone leaders who told us transfer news. We will be losing 4 elders—1 zone leader (Elder Lovett), both district leaders (Elders Antoine, Carter) as well as Elder Thethe. We will be receiving Elder Parsons, one of the APs as a zone leader, and 3 greenies directly from the MTC. At 11am Stan met with pres Swartbooi relative to the fans for the Kat building as well as other projects. At 2pm we attended the baptism in which 4 new members were added to the Wind branch. It was a wonderful baptism and they are very wonderful people—an attorney (cousin to Bro Samaheya of the Wind Branch Pres)and his wife (Bro/Sis Matota), a college graduate daughter of a member (Wilma Viviers), and the daughter of a high-ranking Namibian legislator (Welwitcha Baptista). In the late afternoon we went to Kat and opened the building for the seminary and institute students.
12th: Fast Sunday was today because of Gen Conf last week. We attended the Kat Branch. Karen assisted with sharing time in primary and then taught the RS lesson (she was asked to do so as she went from Sacrament Mtg. to primary!) There was only time to peruse the lesson during the opening song and announcements before giving the lesson. It was about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his teachings on the Lord “proving” us to see if we will be faithful, and his blessings if we are. The spirit helped her give the lesson! After meetings Karen helped a sister fill out an order to purchase garments and Stan gave a young sister a blessing. In the evening Stan taught the dating fireside. The questions which we addressed in the fireside included cultural practices which are in conflict with church standards, marrying cousins, matchmaking, postponing marriage because of education, and poverty/unemployment. Resources used included Elder Oaks’s talk “Repentance and Change” Ensign, Nov 2003 and Elder Scott’s talk in Gen Conf April 1999.
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