President Probst has had 2 warnings from the Area Office about road safety issues on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Alcohol consumption is a problem most of time, but the holidays are a time of even more drunkedness. The elders were told to come in early from their areas on Christmas Eve, so we all met at the Windhoek chapel for a Christmas activity which lasted from 6:30 to 9:45. By then, the roads were clear of traffic. The Namibia Zone presented "The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever" with the Windhoek elders acting out Samuel the Lamanite's prophecies of Christ's birth and the accompanying signs. "Samuel" was very enthusiastic as he raced back and forth on the "wall" (make-shift stage made of risers) delivering his message. The other 7 elders were equally enthusiastic "Nephites", determined to silence "Samuel" with play bows and arrows, darts, and a club! The Katutura elders portrayed The Nativity from the New Testament. "Mary" (where did Elder Judd get that wig!) was watched over by a caring "Joseph", a very obedient "black sheep" (an African elder) heeded the nudging of his "shepherd", and the 3 "wise men" said their line (Oh, look, a star!) perfectly from the back of the room before coming onstage, and the narrator read from the scriptures. It was fun to see their creativity in making costumes and props from the few materials they had access to. For example they used ties for headbands, Baby Jesus was a rolled up towel (elders do not play with dolls!), and the manger was a large plastic wash tub. After they all took their bows and posed for pictures we sang hymns and gave the elders our gifts--a printed copy of Elder Russell M. Nelson's dedicatory prayer opening the country of Namibia for the preaching of the gospel (which we also read and discussed), a Nam bumper sticker, and a can of bathroom air freshener which has been a very popular supply item but is no longer on the approved list. The evening ended with snacks while watching a DVD of "Mr. Kruger's Christmas" and a short re-telling of The Nativity using real people and scenes of The Holy Land.
Since the missionaries were expected to be in their areas on Christmas Day, we thought we should be involved in our work also, so we went to the Katutura building and worked on the wall project. In case we haven't mentioned it, the wall is to divide the existing room in two--the front part for the clerk's office where the computer and fax machines are and where the cleaning supplies and curriculum materials are stored, and the back part for the Branch President's office. Late afternoon, the elders came in from their areas for their Christmas calls from home.
The elders have been counseled to come in early on New Year's Eve so we will have another activity at the chapel--a DVD about Emma Smith, snacks, and board games. President Probst said not to go out at all on New Year's Day except to the church for an activity. The zone leaders have planned some physical activities--chair soccer, basketball, etc--a brai (bar-b-q), board games and/or "The Other Side of Heaven" DVD.
Serving our Lord Jesus Christ as missionaries at the time we celebrate His birth was special, but without family or snow and with the intense heat, it was rather a strange Christmas indeed!
We bear witness that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. This is His true church and the means by which we learn those commandments we need to know and have those ordinances we need to perform to return to His presence. We are happy, healthy, and doing what we can to move the word forward in our little part of the world.
Showing posts with label Namibia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Namibia. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Humanitarian Service Activities
So many times in the past 11+ months we have said to each other, “Who would have thought that we would be doing . . .” We have experienced so many “firsts” on our mission. Often circumstances rather than assignments from the Mission President have dictated what we do. The most compelling circumstances are that we are the only senior couple within the borders of Namibia[Nam] and Stan is a counselor in the Mission Presidency.
This past month we have been focusing our efforts on Humanitarian Services[HS] activities.The project that has taken most of our time is one which actually began a year ago when a HUGE container of goods from the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City was shipped to Windhoek for distribution to orphanages throughout Nam. Inside the container were 50 bales (HUGE bags) of bedding, 40 bales of youth clothing, 1 pallet of mixed-sized shoes (in VERY LARGE bags), 672 hygiene kits, 420 school kits, 2100 blankets—total value, US$51,863.60 or ½ million Nam dollars. The container was still en route this summer when the Southeast Africa Directors of Humanitarian Services, located in Johannesburg, were due to go home but their replacements would not be arriving until a couple of months later.
Thinking that the container might come before their replacements would arrive, they visited with us about it and a couple of other HS projects here. This was the first contact we had with HS of any kind. As it happened, the new HS Directors and the container arrived about the same time! Elder and Sister Davis were looking to us to orient them on existing and potential projects here in Nam. We have spent a LOT of time researching what has been done in the past, the status of present projects, and making inquiries and appointments with people for possible future projects.
Whenever a shipment of goods like this is given, there is an official “hand-over” ceremony involving the Church HS representatives, the sponsoring agency (in this case, The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare), and the local distributing agency (CAFO—Church Alliance for Orphans). Because we had been involved in some of the details, meetings, etc. we were invited to the hand-over ceremony as well as Elder and Sister Davis from Joburg. He gave a short speech explaining our belief in following Jesus Christ by helping our fellowmen, and thanks was given and gratitude was expressed by a rep from the Ministry and CAFO. Some of the children who will be recipients of some of the goods gave a dance performance accompanied by pre-recorded music. It was a very nice event and we felt a sense of joy that we could be part of something that would bring so much help where it was so needed.
There was excellent media coverage from local newspapers, radio, and TV.In addition to the hand-over ceremony, our schedule for the container went like this:
Wed, 1 Dec—packed our car with goods from the container and accompanied a CAFO rep to deliver them an hour away at Ileni Tulikwafeni[Let’s help each other] Centre for Hope and Trust which provides preschool and meals for poor children from the township on the other side of the fence. The “soup kitchen” feeds from 500-700 children each day. The center also sews school uniforms and maintains a large garden to generate income. When we saw the number of children there, our delivery seemed woefully inadequate.
Thurs, 2 Dec—went with Elder and Sister Davis to (1) see the Mount Sinai Center garden for which HS has committed to provide netting material for a sunshade canopy and fencing around the perimeter to prevent the produce from being stolen; (2)talk with CAFO director about the container, the garden, and bore holes[wells for clean water] up north which are not quite finished, as well as possible future projects; (3)BEN—Namibia[Bicycle Empowerment Network of Namibia] to talk about manufacturing wheelchairs from bicycle parts to be used in the African bush; (4)talk with a Church member, Dr. Ruth, about the possibility of vaccination programs for vulnerable[at-risk] children.
Fri, 5 Dec—went with Elder and Sister Davis to (1)visit a physician about his sponsorship of a NRT[neonatal resuscitation training] program; (2)attend the container hand-over ceremony; (3)visit the Onyose Trust, a center that helps people with disabilities, about the possibility of renovating their cafeteria and an office space; (4)sit down together and review and summarize all we had seen and heard in the past couple of days. Then we said farewell till their next visit.We made one more HS visit after the Davis’s left. We went back to the Mount Sinai Center, on the day items from the container were actually distributed. Each of the 60-70 mothers in attendance received articles of baby clothes and shoes, a blanket, and a hygiene kit. The Center provides formula to HIV-positive mothers so they do not need to breast-feed their babies, thus passing the virus to them through mother’s milk. It was sobering to realize that within 5 years, the majority of the mothers we were visiting with, will have died of AIDS and these sweet babies will be orphans.
The Church is doing many wonderful humanitarian projects in this country—something that we as members should feel very good about.We appreciate your support and prayers in behalf of all missionaries throughout the world.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and your Christmas season will be filled with the Savior’s Spirit and memorable family activities.
This past month we have been focusing our efforts on Humanitarian Services[HS] activities.The project that has taken most of our time is one which actually began a year ago when a HUGE container of goods from the Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City was shipped to Windhoek for distribution to orphanages throughout Nam. Inside the container were 50 bales (HUGE bags) of bedding, 40 bales of youth clothing, 1 pallet of mixed-sized shoes (in VERY LARGE bags), 672 hygiene kits, 420 school kits, 2100 blankets—total value, US$51,863.60 or ½ million Nam dollars. The container was still en route this summer when the Southeast Africa Directors of Humanitarian Services, located in Johannesburg, were due to go home but their replacements would not be arriving until a couple of months later.
Thinking that the container might come before their replacements would arrive, they visited with us about it and a couple of other HS projects here. This was the first contact we had with HS of any kind. As it happened, the new HS Directors and the container arrived about the same time! Elder and Sister Davis were looking to us to orient them on existing and potential projects here in Nam. We have spent a LOT of time researching what has been done in the past, the status of present projects, and making inquiries and appointments with people for possible future projects.
Whenever a shipment of goods like this is given, there is an official “hand-over” ceremony involving the Church HS representatives, the sponsoring agency (in this case, The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare), and the local distributing agency (CAFO—Church Alliance for Orphans). Because we had been involved in some of the details, meetings, etc. we were invited to the hand-over ceremony as well as Elder and Sister Davis from Joburg. He gave a short speech explaining our belief in following Jesus Christ by helping our fellowmen, and thanks was given and gratitude was expressed by a rep from the Ministry and CAFO. Some of the children who will be recipients of some of the goods gave a dance performance accompanied by pre-recorded music. It was a very nice event and we felt a sense of joy that we could be part of something that would bring so much help where it was so needed.
There was excellent media coverage from local newspapers, radio, and TV.In addition to the hand-over ceremony, our schedule for the container went like this:
Wed, 1 Dec—packed our car with goods from the container and accompanied a CAFO rep to deliver them an hour away at Ileni Tulikwafeni[Let’s help each other] Centre for Hope and Trust which provides preschool and meals for poor children from the township on the other side of the fence. The “soup kitchen” feeds from 500-700 children each day. The center also sews school uniforms and maintains a large garden to generate income. When we saw the number of children there, our delivery seemed woefully inadequate.
Thurs, 2 Dec—went with Elder and Sister Davis to (1) see the Mount Sinai Center garden for which HS has committed to provide netting material for a sunshade canopy and fencing around the perimeter to prevent the produce from being stolen; (2)talk with CAFO director about the container, the garden, and bore holes[wells for clean water] up north which are not quite finished, as well as possible future projects; (3)BEN—Namibia[Bicycle Empowerment Network of Namibia] to talk about manufacturing wheelchairs from bicycle parts to be used in the African bush; (4)talk with a Church member, Dr. Ruth, about the possibility of vaccination programs for vulnerable[at-risk] children.
Fri, 5 Dec—went with Elder and Sister Davis to (1)visit a physician about his sponsorship of a NRT[neonatal resuscitation training] program; (2)attend the container hand-over ceremony; (3)visit the Onyose Trust, a center that helps people with disabilities, about the possibility of renovating their cafeteria and an office space; (4)sit down together and review and summarize all we had seen and heard in the past couple of days. Then we said farewell till their next visit.We made one more HS visit after the Davis’s left. We went back to the Mount Sinai Center, on the day items from the container were actually distributed. Each of the 60-70 mothers in attendance received articles of baby clothes and shoes, a blanket, and a hygiene kit. The Center provides formula to HIV-positive mothers so they do not need to breast-feed their babies, thus passing the virus to them through mother’s milk. It was sobering to realize that within 5 years, the majority of the mothers we were visiting with, will have died of AIDS and these sweet babies will be orphans.
The Church is doing many wonderful humanitarian projects in this country—something that we as members should feel very good about.We appreciate your support and prayers in behalf of all missionaries throughout the world.
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and your Christmas season will be filled with the Savior’s Spirit and memorable family activities.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Greetings
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you are gathered with those who mean a lot to you and your turkey dinner is delicious! Our day is ending--it's 10:45pm--and it was certainly not how we usually celebrate the day! We are leaving early tomorrow for Couples Conference in Cape Town so we spent the day getting ready to go and covering our bases so that, hopefully, things will continue on OK without us til late Monday night when we return. We will have a day of sight-seeing, a day of workshops, attend Church, and, for Dad, a Mission Presidency Meeting. The mission is paying for our flight down and a bed-and-breakfast for 3 nights--nice!
Having a brai[bar-b-que] is the big-time way to celebrate here, so the elders gathered on Monday for p-day and we had a Thanksgiving brai with each companionship contributing some food and we provided chicken. Turkeys seem to be non-existent here, but chickens are plentiful, whether you prefer to buy a live one and slaughter it yourself or buy one from the grocery store. It's a sure guess which way we went!
Anyway, the elders always enjoy getting together and Monday worked better than today because we are in the middle of transfers which is always a busy time. It involves taking those who are "going down"[to South Africa] to the airport which is 45 minutes out of town, and picking up those who are "coming up"[from SA]. It would be so simple if we could leave off the going elders and then pick up the coming elders. But this is Africa, so of course, it has to be a time-comsuming process. The elders go in the morning and the elders come in the evening which means 2 trips to the airport and 2 trips back to Windhoek for a total time of 3 hours just for transport. For those elders who stay, there are some changes of companionships so they have to be taken to their new apartments. The Mission President's wife likes to have clean bedding for the elders who are transferring in, which means picking up the bedding from the elders who leave, laundering it, and taking it to the apartments of the new elders. Then there are the visas--but we won't even go there! But we count as one of our blessings the tremendous young men who we have the opportunity to work with.
We didn't have turkey and stuffing. We didn't have mashed potatoes and gravy. We didn't have pumpkin pie. But we do have so many blessings--faithful, supportive and loving family, the Lord's Plan of Happiness, the Savior's Atonement in our behalf, being His servants in a most unique part of the world among His chidren of such a different cultures, any many, many more. Take time today to "count your many blessings" as the hymn goes.
Having a brai[bar-b-que] is the big-time way to celebrate here, so the elders gathered on Monday for p-day and we had a Thanksgiving brai with each companionship contributing some food and we provided chicken. Turkeys seem to be non-existent here, but chickens are plentiful, whether you prefer to buy a live one and slaughter it yourself or buy one from the grocery store. It's a sure guess which way we went!
Anyway, the elders always enjoy getting together and Monday worked better than today because we are in the middle of transfers which is always a busy time. It involves taking those who are "going down"[to South Africa] to the airport which is 45 minutes out of town, and picking up those who are "coming up"[from SA]. It would be so simple if we could leave off the going elders and then pick up the coming elders. But this is Africa, so of course, it has to be a time-comsuming process. The elders go in the morning and the elders come in the evening which means 2 trips to the airport and 2 trips back to Windhoek for a total time of 3 hours just for transport. For those elders who stay, there are some changes of companionships so they have to be taken to their new apartments. The Mission President's wife likes to have clean bedding for the elders who are transferring in, which means picking up the bedding from the elders who leave, laundering it, and taking it to the apartments of the new elders. Then there are the visas--but we won't even go there! But we count as one of our blessings the tremendous young men who we have the opportunity to work with.
We didn't have turkey and stuffing. We didn't have mashed potatoes and gravy. We didn't have pumpkin pie. But we do have so many blessings--faithful, supportive and loving family, the Lord's Plan of Happiness, the Savior's Atonement in our behalf, being His servants in a most unique part of the world among His chidren of such a different cultures, any many, many more. Take time today to "count your many blessings" as the hymn goes.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Summer in November
Warm greetings from Namibia, as we do mean WARM—daily temperatures of 97-100 and it isn’t even the hottest part of the summer yet! Somehow, it just doesn’t seem right to be so hot and yet see Christmas trees and decorations and hear Christmas music playing in the stores.
This week was highlighted by two very significant experiences. We sent a sister from the Katutura Branch on her way to the MTC in Johannesburg before departing to the Uganda Kampala Mission. It was somewhat like saying good-bye to one of our own children, except that we will never again see Sister Sarti Amunyela. Her mission call was mailed to us so we were able to be with her when she opened it and we helped her a little bit getting ready to go. She is the first missionary to be sent from the Katutura Branch since it was split off from the Windhoek Branch. She actually received a mission call to Nigeria a couple of years ago, but her father was very much against her going. He told her that he would go and find her and bring her back home. There was even a threat of violence. So Sarti didn’t go, but she never lost the desire to serve a mission. Now she feels independent enough of her father that she went through the application process again. He is still very opposed to her going but hasn’t threatened her. Some time ago her father “gave” Sarti a younger sister and brother to raise and take care of and they have looked to her as a mother ever since. She is around 26 or 27 years of age, her sister is 22 and her brother 20. Neither has a job, nor seems inclined to get one. Sarti has been working, although not recently, and going to the University of Namibia. She decided to buy an “old clunker” that her brother can drive as a taxi to bring in some income while she is gone. Needless to say, she is concerned about her siblings/children while she is gone, but has faith in the Lord and trusts in His constant care. They live in a one-room corrugated tin shack; we’re not even sure if they have inside bathroom facilities—very humble circumstances, not unlike what many of our African missionaries and members come from. But she has an excellent knowledge of the gospel, quite a bit of teaching experience in the branch, and a sincere and devout testimony. She will be a great sister missionary.
Yesterday, Sunday, we were part of an historic event—the All-Africa Stake Conference originating from the Conference Center in SLC. It is the first time that a meeting such as this has been geared toward just the continent of Africa. The speakers were Brother Roger Merrill General Sunday School President, Elder Glen L. Pace of the Seventy, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency. Each one of these brethren are well acquainted with Africa through considerable experiences and interactions, and it showed as they shared personal experiences and talked about specifics for the African saints. Of course, the doctrinal teachings are the same, but it was definitely not a “one sermon fits all congregations” kind of meeting! They talked about (1)how the answer to Africa’s as well as the world’s challenges and problems is the gospel of Jesus Christ; (2)the importance of being temple worthy and having a current temple recommend even if the opportunity never presents itself to go the temple [President Uchtdorf said that “CTR” can remind us of “Current Temple Recommend”]; (3)young men cleaning up their lives and serving missions; (4)Preach My Gospel as a tool for those preparing for missions as well as a help for members so they can share the gospel; (5)the importance of living the standards in For the Strength of Youth; (6)the importance of paying tithing; (7)the importance of homes, chapels, and temples as sanctuaries in our lives; (8)many, many more wonderful things! The broadcast went by satellite or pre-recorded DVDs to the 48 stakes and 42 districts in Africa.. Since our 2 independent branches are not part of a stake or a district, we were not “officially” included in the broadcast, but our Mission President talked with the Area Presidency about how much we needed it and they sent a DVD for each branch. Dad suggested, and President Probst agreed, that it would be good for both branches to meet together in the Windhoek chapel to view the conference. Turns out, that was a great—inspired, maybe?—decision because there was a wonderful spirit and a HUGE attendance. The chapel was filled to capacity and the cultural hall was filled almost to the stage in the back. More people came to this meeting than we saw at the General Conference broadcasts! One sister from the Katutura Branch, who has only been a member for about a month, told us that even though she didn’t have taxi money (US$10), she was not going to miss coming to the conference. She got a “lift” with someone part way to the chapel and then she and her 3 boys (ages 2, 4, 13) walked the rest of the way, not knowing how she would get back home. We took her home, but it just shows the faith and commitment of the truly converted saints here.
As far as the work is concerned, the application for acquisition of land for a new chapel in Katutura is now in the hands of the Municipality committee to decide if they will allow us to buy the land. They have been deciding for a week now, and the Area Presidency would really like to have it settled by the end of the year. But we are on Africa time so. . . With the increase in temperature, the need for fans in the Katutura church building has also increased. We have been checking out the best deals and then purchasing 3 fans for the chapel, 1 each in the Primary room, YW room, and RS room. The other facilities management projects are on hold for the time being. President Probst has given us permission to spend 3 out of the 4 weeks each month in the Katutura Branch and 1 week a month in the Windhoek Branch, which is the strongest and does not need as much help. Training leaders and teachers seems to be what is needed over and over again. An interesting thing has happened as a result of the last 2 missionary transfers—we have the youngest zone in the whole South Africa Cape Town Mission! Of our 16 elders, 3 are brand new greenies from the MTC, 3 were brand new greenies 9 weeks ago, 5 are relative “young” on their missions, and the remaining 5 are “old” with 1 going home later on this month. But they are very obedient, willing young men of testimony and faith. We just need a bit more experience here J
We feel so blessed to be in this unique part of the world among such humble, truth-seeking people. The Lord’s work is progressing in Namibia, and we are grateful to be a part of it. We are healthy, happy, and very thankful .
This week was highlighted by two very significant experiences. We sent a sister from the Katutura Branch on her way to the MTC in Johannesburg before departing to the Uganda Kampala Mission. It was somewhat like saying good-bye to one of our own children, except that we will never again see Sister Sarti Amunyela. Her mission call was mailed to us so we were able to be with her when she opened it and we helped her a little bit getting ready to go. She is the first missionary to be sent from the Katutura Branch since it was split off from the Windhoek Branch. She actually received a mission call to Nigeria a couple of years ago, but her father was very much against her going. He told her that he would go and find her and bring her back home. There was even a threat of violence. So Sarti didn’t go, but she never lost the desire to serve a mission. Now she feels independent enough of her father that she went through the application process again. He is still very opposed to her going but hasn’t threatened her. Some time ago her father “gave” Sarti a younger sister and brother to raise and take care of and they have looked to her as a mother ever since. She is around 26 or 27 years of age, her sister is 22 and her brother 20. Neither has a job, nor seems inclined to get one. Sarti has been working, although not recently, and going to the University of Namibia. She decided to buy an “old clunker” that her brother can drive as a taxi to bring in some income while she is gone. Needless to say, she is concerned about her siblings/children while she is gone, but has faith in the Lord and trusts in His constant care. They live in a one-room corrugated tin shack; we’re not even sure if they have inside bathroom facilities—very humble circumstances, not unlike what many of our African missionaries and members come from. But she has an excellent knowledge of the gospel, quite a bit of teaching experience in the branch, and a sincere and devout testimony. She will be a great sister missionary.
Yesterday, Sunday, we were part of an historic event—the All-Africa Stake Conference originating from the Conference Center in SLC. It is the first time that a meeting such as this has been geared toward just the continent of Africa. The speakers were Brother Roger Merrill General Sunday School President, Elder Glen L. Pace of the Seventy, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency. Each one of these brethren are well acquainted with Africa through considerable experiences and interactions, and it showed as they shared personal experiences and talked about specifics for the African saints. Of course, the doctrinal teachings are the same, but it was definitely not a “one sermon fits all congregations” kind of meeting! They talked about (1)how the answer to Africa’s as well as the world’s challenges and problems is the gospel of Jesus Christ; (2)the importance of being temple worthy and having a current temple recommend even if the opportunity never presents itself to go the temple [President Uchtdorf said that “CTR” can remind us of “Current Temple Recommend”]; (3)young men cleaning up their lives and serving missions; (4)Preach My Gospel as a tool for those preparing for missions as well as a help for members so they can share the gospel; (5)the importance of living the standards in For the Strength of Youth; (6)the importance of paying tithing; (7)the importance of homes, chapels, and temples as sanctuaries in our lives; (8)many, many more wonderful things! The broadcast went by satellite or pre-recorded DVDs to the 48 stakes and 42 districts in Africa.. Since our 2 independent branches are not part of a stake or a district, we were not “officially” included in the broadcast, but our Mission President talked with the Area Presidency about how much we needed it and they sent a DVD for each branch. Dad suggested, and President Probst agreed, that it would be good for both branches to meet together in the Windhoek chapel to view the conference. Turns out, that was a great—inspired, maybe?—decision because there was a wonderful spirit and a HUGE attendance. The chapel was filled to capacity and the cultural hall was filled almost to the stage in the back. More people came to this meeting than we saw at the General Conference broadcasts! One sister from the Katutura Branch, who has only been a member for about a month, told us that even though she didn’t have taxi money (US$10), she was not going to miss coming to the conference. She got a “lift” with someone part way to the chapel and then she and her 3 boys (ages 2, 4, 13) walked the rest of the way, not knowing how she would get back home. We took her home, but it just shows the faith and commitment of the truly converted saints here.
As far as the work is concerned, the application for acquisition of land for a new chapel in Katutura is now in the hands of the Municipality committee to decide if they will allow us to buy the land. They have been deciding for a week now, and the Area Presidency would really like to have it settled by the end of the year. But we are on Africa time so. . . With the increase in temperature, the need for fans in the Katutura church building has also increased. We have been checking out the best deals and then purchasing 3 fans for the chapel, 1 each in the Primary room, YW room, and RS room. The other facilities management projects are on hold for the time being. President Probst has given us permission to spend 3 out of the 4 weeks each month in the Katutura Branch and 1 week a month in the Windhoek Branch, which is the strongest and does not need as much help. Training leaders and teachers seems to be what is needed over and over again. An interesting thing has happened as a result of the last 2 missionary transfers—we have the youngest zone in the whole South Africa Cape Town Mission! Of our 16 elders, 3 are brand new greenies from the MTC, 3 were brand new greenies 9 weeks ago, 5 are relative “young” on their missions, and the remaining 5 are “old” with 1 going home later on this month. But they are very obedient, willing young men of testimony and faith. We just need a bit more experience here J
We feel so blessed to be in this unique part of the world among such humble, truth-seeking people. The Lord’s work is progressing in Namibia, and we are grateful to be a part of it. We are healthy, happy, and very thankful .
Friday, October 31, 2008
Week 41-Happy Halloween!
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Zone Conference with Elder Young
It has been way too long since we last emailed, but we did enjoy the birthday calls to Carol (and Al), Janet (and David), and Angela (and Scott). We watch your blogs constantly and love reading about what’s happening in your families.
The work here continues to be busy. We just get one matter taken care of and another comes along, but that’s what keeps the work going forward, it seems. Last week we had a member of the Third Quorum of Seventy, Elder Allen P. Young, attend our Zone Conference. He has been released as a counselor in the Area Presidency so he and his wife are touring the mission prior to returning home. They are white Africans who live in Johannesburg. Their messages were especially inspiring and provided an extra portion of the spirit to the meetings. Sister Young taught the elders how they could become more than just good or even great or successful missionaries, but powerful missionaries by using 3 tools: (1)the Atonement with the accompanying repentance and forgiveness of sins; (2)their covenants—baptism, being washed clean and the Holy Ghost to be with them , priesthood through which they have their power and authority, temple with its greater understanding, vision, and power; (3)increased knowledge through scripture study. Elder Young talked about the importance of having vision—seeing the big picture. He said that where there is no vision, people perish. LDS people are a people with a vision, and people with a vision have a mission. God’s vision is to “bring about the immortality and eternal life of man”. Joseph Smith’s vision was to spread the gospel throughout the world until the “work is accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done”.. Both of these visions are being fulfilled by missionary work. After the Zone Conference meetings, it is the responsibility of the senior couple to prepare a luncheon. This is always stressful for us, but even more so because of our special guests. Instead of styrofoam and plastic, we decided to use china plates, glass glasses, and silverware which had to be hauled to the church from our apartment along with table cloths and table decorations, thermos coolers for the punch, jello salad, rolls, donuts for the mid-morning snack, etc. We had arranged for the main course, green salad, and dessert to be catered by a branch member so we could stay in the meetings and not be in the kitchen. We have done the food ourselves but the worries were still there—will there be enough food, will it taste good, will it be ready and served in a timely manner. The lunch was a great hit and the Youngs as well as our Mission President/Sister Probst were very gracious in their compliments. So that matter is over until the next Zone Conference in 6 weeks.
A new project we have taken on is to help a sister in the Katutura Branch get ready for her mission. She has been called to the Uganda Kampala Mission and enters the Joburg MTC in November. She is the only member of the church in her family and has absolutely no support from them. She actually was called to serve in Nigeria about 3 years ago, but her father was furious and did not want her to go. He said that he would find her wherever she was, go get her and bring her home. Even though she could not go then, she never lost her desire to go on a mission. She applied again and has received another call. Her father now lives away from here and she feels she is independent of him and can go. We encourage her to get things done and not wait till the last minute, and have helped her with immunizations and passport pictures, and will do some shopping next week. She is a young woman of 28 years and has done a lot of teaching in the branch. She will make a good missionary.
As usual, we could go on and on, but that is enough for now. We are healthy and happy, as are our elders, for which we feel blessed. We think about you and miss you, and appreciate your love and support. Stay close to the Lord and to each other.
The work here continues to be busy. We just get one matter taken care of and another comes along, but that’s what keeps the work going forward, it seems. Last week we had a member of the Third Quorum of Seventy, Elder Allen P. Young, attend our Zone Conference. He has been released as a counselor in the Area Presidency so he and his wife are touring the mission prior to returning home. They are white Africans who live in Johannesburg. Their messages were especially inspiring and provided an extra portion of the spirit to the meetings. Sister Young taught the elders how they could become more than just good or even great or successful missionaries, but powerful missionaries by using 3 tools: (1)the Atonement with the accompanying repentance and forgiveness of sins; (2)their covenants—baptism, being washed clean and the Holy Ghost to be with them , priesthood through which they have their power and authority, temple with its greater understanding, vision, and power; (3)increased knowledge through scripture study. Elder Young talked about the importance of having vision—seeing the big picture. He said that where there is no vision, people perish. LDS people are a people with a vision, and people with a vision have a mission. God’s vision is to “bring about the immortality and eternal life of man”. Joseph Smith’s vision was to spread the gospel throughout the world until the “work is accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done”.. Both of these visions are being fulfilled by missionary work. After the Zone Conference meetings, it is the responsibility of the senior couple to prepare a luncheon. This is always stressful for us, but even more so because of our special guests. Instead of styrofoam and plastic, we decided to use china plates, glass glasses, and silverware which had to be hauled to the church from our apartment along with table cloths and table decorations, thermos coolers for the punch, jello salad, rolls, donuts for the mid-morning snack, etc. We had arranged for the main course, green salad, and dessert to be catered by a branch member so we could stay in the meetings and not be in the kitchen. We have done the food ourselves but the worries were still there—will there be enough food, will it taste good, will it be ready and served in a timely manner. The lunch was a great hit and the Youngs as well as our Mission President/Sister Probst were very gracious in their compliments. So that matter is over until the next Zone Conference in 6 weeks.
A new project we have taken on is to help a sister in the Katutura Branch get ready for her mission. She has been called to the Uganda Kampala Mission and enters the Joburg MTC in November. She is the only member of the church in her family and has absolutely no support from them. She actually was called to serve in Nigeria about 3 years ago, but her father was furious and did not want her to go. He said that he would find her wherever she was, go get her and bring her home. Even though she could not go then, she never lost her desire to go on a mission. She applied again and has received another call. Her father now lives away from here and she feels she is independent of him and can go. We encourage her to get things done and not wait till the last minute, and have helped her with immunizations and passport pictures, and will do some shopping next week. She is a young woman of 28 years and has done a lot of teaching in the branch. She will make a good missionary.
As usual, we could go on and on, but that is enough for now. We are healthy and happy, as are our elders, for which we feel blessed. We think about you and miss you, and appreciate your love and support. Stay close to the Lord and to each other.
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Knotheads in SLC
The work here is extremely busy. In addition to elder support--which is a piece of cake with only 16 elders instead of 34--we have several other things which we are working on almost every day. We are coordinating the upgrading of the Katutura Branch building. Many of the financial transactions here in Namibia are done with cash, others are done with checks or credit cards. The church physical facilities group, however, require that all payments be made by electronic transfer of funds. In order to do this, we have to get a vendor information form filled out which gives bank information. This then has to be approved by Cape Town and the area office in Johannesburg. We can see where this system works wonderfully in the US, but here it is very difficult and time consuming. Some knothead in Salt Lake City decided that this form had to include a postal zip code. Well, Namibia DOES NOT YET HAVE ZIP CODES! So someone made up the number 9000 just to fill in the blank so the computer program would accept the form. Now they want to know why all vendors have the same zip code!
Another project which is taking a considerable amount of time is working with the area legal counsel office in Joburg regarding a new building site for a chapel. This has been in progress for some time and they are about ready to move forward on it. It is a beautiful site, but we will not see the end result because the expected planning, approvals, and construction time will be at least 4 years.
The other thing we are working on with the legal office is getting our two branch presidents approved to perform marriages which are acceptable by the laws of Namibia. We have had marriages 3 of the last 5 Saturdays and there is not a latter-day saint in the whole country who is approved to perform marriages. In one case, a magistrate (judge) came into our chapel and performed the marriage. In another case the couple was married by a magistrate in his office several weeks prior to their church wedding, so Dad was able to perform the church ceremony. In the third case the groom's family, who are non members, insisted that a Lutheran minister perform the marriage and the bride's family insisted that it should be done in the LDS chapel. The minister performed the ceremony in Afrikaans and he put on quite a performance walking up and down the aisle and making comments which the congregation laughed at. We were most uncomfortable because we could not understand what he was saying. We know he speaks English because Dad had a conversation with him before the wedding began. Most of the people in Windhoek know English (the official language of the country), Afrikaans, as well as at least 1 native African language.
We are also helping with a humanitarian aid service project scheduled for Sept 20. This day is designated as "Hands Across Africa Day" in which organizations, churches, etc. are encouraged to perform community service projects. Last year over 100 members from both branches participated in painting projects at 2 hospitals. With the committee members, we have visited 6 or 7 facilities to identify possible projects that we can do. This year it looks like we are going to do a project at a facility for handicapped children and young adults painting the kitchen and putting down tiles on the floor of an office. We have also identified a children's home (orphanage) which needs an outside area cleaned up and their playground equipment painted. Tomorrow we will be visiting an old age home to see if there is something we can do there.
Mom is helping with Primary in both branches, and we have both been asked to assist in the teaching of a dating and marriage fireside series for the next few weeks.
We are healthy, happy, and enjoying missionary work. We pray for you each day. Love to all.
Another project which is taking a considerable amount of time is working with the area legal counsel office in Joburg regarding a new building site for a chapel. This has been in progress for some time and they are about ready to move forward on it. It is a beautiful site, but we will not see the end result because the expected planning, approvals, and construction time will be at least 4 years.
The other thing we are working on with the legal office is getting our two branch presidents approved to perform marriages which are acceptable by the laws of Namibia. We have had marriages 3 of the last 5 Saturdays and there is not a latter-day saint in the whole country who is approved to perform marriages. In one case, a magistrate (judge) came into our chapel and performed the marriage. In another case the couple was married by a magistrate in his office several weeks prior to their church wedding, so Dad was able to perform the church ceremony. In the third case the groom's family, who are non members, insisted that a Lutheran minister perform the marriage and the bride's family insisted that it should be done in the LDS chapel. The minister performed the ceremony in Afrikaans and he put on quite a performance walking up and down the aisle and making comments which the congregation laughed at. We were most uncomfortable because we could not understand what he was saying. We know he speaks English because Dad had a conversation with him before the wedding began. Most of the people in Windhoek know English (the official language of the country), Afrikaans, as well as at least 1 native African language.
We are also helping with a humanitarian aid service project scheduled for Sept 20. This day is designated as "Hands Across Africa Day" in which organizations, churches, etc. are encouraged to perform community service projects. Last year over 100 members from both branches participated in painting projects at 2 hospitals. With the committee members, we have visited 6 or 7 facilities to identify possible projects that we can do. This year it looks like we are going to do a project at a facility for handicapped children and young adults painting the kitchen and putting down tiles on the floor of an office. We have also identified a children's home (orphanage) which needs an outside area cleaned up and their playground equipment painted. Tomorrow we will be visiting an old age home to see if there is something we can do there.
Mom is helping with Primary in both branches, and we have both been asked to assist in the teaching of a dating and marriage fireside series for the next few weeks.
We are healthy, happy, and enjoying missionary work. We pray for you each day. Love to all.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Transition
We apologize that our emails have been short and rather irregular for the last little while, not so much because of lack of internet service but lack of time! Since we landed on Nambian soil on Monday, June 2, our days (and some nights) have been filled to capacity! The very night we arrived we stopped at the grocery store, came to our house, put down our suitcases, and helped President and Sister Bos with some last minute preparations for the Zone Conference luncheon the next day. A few nights later (actually 2am is more accurate) we were in the emergency room at the hospital with a sick elder. Seems he had a mild case of food poisoning, but after a few hours was released to go home, just in time for us to catch a few winks before starting another day. Then there was the wedding! A member of the Windhoek Branch was actually on her way to a family funeral when she saw Dad and asked him to take her place as speaker at the wedding of another branch member--only 2 hours' notice! He did a great job, by the way. After the Bos's left, there was quite a bit of follow-up things to do that they didn't have time to get done, mostly having to do with getting two additional flats ready for the new elders who were coming a week after we arrived. During all this time we were also dealing with visa issues which caused much stress. Namibia is a totally different country from South Africa and requires visas for entrance. The agent hired by the mission to take care of getting the visas said that passports were requried to obtain them (which we found out was not true) and was holding all the missionaries' passports and would not give them back. She had let several visas expire and had waited until the last minute before transfers to get them renewed. When transfer day arrived, 3 of the 5 outgoing elders boarded their plane off to South Africa, but the other 2 still did not have their passports, so missed their flight which was rescheduled for later in the day. After several promises of "very soon" and waiting around all day, the remaining 2 elders got their passports back and took off for Cape Town. It was confirmed to us once again that the Lord DOES hear and answer our prayers! (A couple of days later all the rest of the passports were retured and the services of this particular agent will NEVER be used again!) About an hour after the missionaries left, we welcomed 9 new elders to Namibia.
President and Sister Bos were our "trainers" for a week--orienting us to the city of Windhoek as to where the malls and grocery stores are, where the bank is and the process of transferring money from our account to the mission office's account in Cape Town to pay for our keep here, where we pick up the mail (not at the post office but a shipping company because the mail is driven by truck to here), where the medical facilities are, where the branches meet, and where the elders live. We still drive on the left side of the road; President Bos did all the driving while they were here. There has been much more to learn, but we are getting there.
The Bos's stayed in one of the new flats so we have our house to ourselves. It it smaller than our house in Gonubie East London, but is quite nice--a lounge (living room), kitchen with cupboards that are too high (Mom can only reach the bottom shelf), 3 bedrooms--1 of which is the office--and 2 bathrooms. The washer and dryer are in the garage which also houses 4 bikes, a supply of cleaning materials for the elders to use in their flats, cases of Books of Mormon in English, German, Afrikaans and Portugese, missionary pamphlets, and other miscellaneous items--but not the car. It is parked outside in the driveway. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac behind a gate and the yard is completely walled in. We did not realize how quiet our retirement community in EL was until we moved here. Dogs bark off and on day and night, and we sometimes hear the traffic on the much-used road that is not far from our back yard. The houses here are like those in South Africa--cement walls with no insulation, mostly tile floors with carptet in the bedrooms, and no central heat. It is winter here and the evenings, nights, and mornings are really cold. We rely on space heaters in the lounge, office, and master bathroom where we shower. But it is far from a hut, so we're not complaining!
Even though it is winter, East London was lush and green, though a bit muted with some yellow; Namibia is desert. There are lots of palm trees, some wild grasses and trees, but also lots of sandy-colored dirt. It will be interesting to see the vegetation "come to life" in the spring. In East London the battle was to cut back the vegetation and here the battle is to sweep back the dirt!
Windhoek is a modern city, though small for being the capital city. It is quite compact compared to East London. There is a branch of the church in Windhoek which seems to be doing quite well, and there is a branch in the township, Katutura, which seems to need a little more help. Since the nearest wards and stakes are a thousand miles away in Cape Town, the branches are under the leadership of the mission presidency. That is why the elder of the senior couple in Namibia is ordained as a counselor to the mission president. Much of our responsibilities will be leadership training because the church is so new here and there is so much inexperience, and any other help we can give the branches. It is the vision of President Egan that in a year's time both branches will be split. Right now, there is also a lot to do to finish the details that come with renovating a building for use as a chapel in Katutura.
There is so much to tell, but this is enough for now. We have had experiences regarding prayers, dreams, people being led to the missionaries, and missionaries being led to people--the kind of things you read about in the Ensign, but think would never happen to you. More on that later.
We love the Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We love the people here. We love being missionaries in His service.
We love you for your interest, caring, and support.
President and Sister Bos were our "trainers" for a week--orienting us to the city of Windhoek as to where the malls and grocery stores are, where the bank is and the process of transferring money from our account to the mission office's account in Cape Town to pay for our keep here, where we pick up the mail (not at the post office but a shipping company because the mail is driven by truck to here), where the medical facilities are, where the branches meet, and where the elders live. We still drive on the left side of the road; President Bos did all the driving while they were here. There has been much more to learn, but we are getting there.
The Bos's stayed in one of the new flats so we have our house to ourselves. It it smaller than our house in Gonubie East London, but is quite nice--a lounge (living room), kitchen with cupboards that are too high (Mom can only reach the bottom shelf), 3 bedrooms--1 of which is the office--and 2 bathrooms. The washer and dryer are in the garage which also houses 4 bikes, a supply of cleaning materials for the elders to use in their flats, cases of Books of Mormon in English, German, Afrikaans and Portugese, missionary pamphlets, and other miscellaneous items--but not the car. It is parked outside in the driveway. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac behind a gate and the yard is completely walled in. We did not realize how quiet our retirement community in EL was until we moved here. Dogs bark off and on day and night, and we sometimes hear the traffic on the much-used road that is not far from our back yard. The houses here are like those in South Africa--cement walls with no insulation, mostly tile floors with carptet in the bedrooms, and no central heat. It is winter here and the evenings, nights, and mornings are really cold. We rely on space heaters in the lounge, office, and master bathroom where we shower. But it is far from a hut, so we're not complaining!
Even though it is winter, East London was lush and green, though a bit muted with some yellow; Namibia is desert. There are lots of palm trees, some wild grasses and trees, but also lots of sandy-colored dirt. It will be interesting to see the vegetation "come to life" in the spring. In East London the battle was to cut back the vegetation and here the battle is to sweep back the dirt!
Windhoek is a modern city, though small for being the capital city. It is quite compact compared to East London. There is a branch of the church in Windhoek which seems to be doing quite well, and there is a branch in the township, Katutura, which seems to need a little more help. Since the nearest wards and stakes are a thousand miles away in Cape Town, the branches are under the leadership of the mission presidency. That is why the elder of the senior couple in Namibia is ordained as a counselor to the mission president. Much of our responsibilities will be leadership training because the church is so new here and there is so much inexperience, and any other help we can give the branches. It is the vision of President Egan that in a year's time both branches will be split. Right now, there is also a lot to do to finish the details that come with renovating a building for use as a chapel in Katutura.
There is so much to tell, but this is enough for now. We have had experiences regarding prayers, dreams, people being led to the missionaries, and missionaries being led to people--the kind of things you read about in the Ensign, but think would never happen to you. More on that later.
We love the Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We love the people here. We love being missionaries in His service.
We love you for your interest, caring, and support.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Update from Namibia
A Grandma Tanner"ism" is, "No rest for the wicked, and the righteous don't need any"! We have had little time to rest since arriving in Namibia on Monday June 2nd. Zone Conference was held just a couple of days after we got here and Dad was set apart by the Mission President as his 2nd Counselor, and this past Sunday Dad was sustained in each of the two branches which the mission presides over.
The senior couple we are replacing went home on Monday, so we are on our own after spending only 6 days with them getting oriented to people, places, and responsibilities of member work as well as missionary work and support. We have had 1 missionary briefly in the emergency room with food poisoning, Dad was asked to be a substitute speaker at a member's church wedding with only 2 hours notice (he did great!), we had to finish getting 2 new flats ready for the 2 additional sets of elders who are coming, work out some quirks with the visas/passports of the 5 missionaries who are being transferred back to South Africa and left yesterday morning, and go to the airport to welcome and help provide transport for the 9 missionaries who were transferred here, take a member to the doctor to provide emotional support, and go with and advise a member who is in charge of finding a suitable project for "Hands Across Africa" service day.
But we have a nice place to live, we are healthy and happy, and we know that the Lord had a reason to send us here. We just want to be of service and do His will.
Love,
Mom and Dad
The senior couple we are replacing went home on Monday, so we are on our own after spending only 6 days with them getting oriented to people, places, and responsibilities of member work as well as missionary work and support. We have had 1 missionary briefly in the emergency room with food poisoning, Dad was asked to be a substitute speaker at a member's church wedding with only 2 hours notice (he did great!), we had to finish getting 2 new flats ready for the 2 additional sets of elders who are coming, work out some quirks with the visas/passports of the 5 missionaries who are being transferred back to South Africa and left yesterday morning, and go to the airport to welcome and help provide transport for the 9 missionaries who were transferred here, take a member to the doctor to provide emotional support, and go with and advise a member who is in charge of finding a suitable project for "Hands Across Africa" service day.
But we have a nice place to live, we are healthy and happy, and we know that the Lord had a reason to send us here. We just want to be of service and do His will.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Monday, April 28, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Couples Conference and Namibia
Dear Family:
Sorry we did not write you a family letter last week, but we just ran out of time. The new boarding was just finished last Saturday, we did a little cleaning and moved furniture in on Monday, then had another missionary couple here on Tuesday, then left early Wednesday morning for Couples Conference which was held in Knysna, a resort town 6 1/2 hours' drive west toward Cape Town. It was a great conference. Tell you more--with pictures--next letter. We had to have the boarding somewhat ready because transfers are this Tuesday and Wednesday, and we still have to do inspections.
We just want you to know that we are alive and well!
Do you remember a few letters ago when we said our plans for the day depend on the first call we get in the morning? W-e-l-l-l-l, we received a call from our Mission President which will change the course of more than just a day--how about the course of our whole mission!!! President Egan has given us a new assignment which will begin in early June. We will be transferred to Windhoek (pronounced vindhook) Namibia, but we won't have to live in a hut! In fact, our apartment has air conditioning which we don't have here! Windhoek is the only area where there are missionaries in Namibia. There are 16 elders in 2 branches. Windhoek is about 1,000 miles north of Cape Town and in a completely different country. Because of this distance, Dad will be 2nd Counselor to the Mission President and oversee the missionary work and the 2 branches. As far as we know, Dad will be the only High Priest in the entire country. Mom will probably do a lot of leadership training with Primary, RS, and YW leaders. We will tell you more about it as we learn more.
We appreciate your emails and blogs. Keep them coming.
Love you all, MOM and DAD/Grandma and Grandpa/Stan and Karen
Sorry we did not write you a family letter last week, but we just ran out of time. The new boarding was just finished last Saturday, we did a little cleaning and moved furniture in on Monday, then had another missionary couple here on Tuesday, then left early Wednesday morning for Couples Conference which was held in Knysna, a resort town 6 1/2 hours' drive west toward Cape Town. It was a great conference. Tell you more--with pictures--next letter. We had to have the boarding somewhat ready because transfers are this Tuesday and Wednesday, and we still have to do inspections.
We just want you to know that we are alive and well!
Do you remember a few letters ago when we said our plans for the day depend on the first call we get in the morning? W-e-l-l-l-l, we received a call from our Mission President which will change the course of more than just a day--how about the course of our whole mission!!! President Egan has given us a new assignment which will begin in early June. We will be transferred to Windhoek (pronounced vindhook) Namibia, but we won't have to live in a hut! In fact, our apartment has air conditioning which we don't have here! Windhoek is the only area where there are missionaries in Namibia. There are 16 elders in 2 branches. Windhoek is about 1,000 miles north of Cape Town and in a completely different country. Because of this distance, Dad will be 2nd Counselor to the Mission President and oversee the missionary work and the 2 branches. As far as we know, Dad will be the only High Priest in the entire country. Mom will probably do a lot of leadership training with Primary, RS, and YW leaders. We will tell you more about it as we learn more.
We appreciate your emails and blogs. Keep them coming.
Love you all, MOM and DAD/Grandma and Grandpa/Stan and Karen
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