Airport

Elder Cinquini loves to get his shoes shined at the airport. It only cost $2.00 

Bluff Ward

The mission president has asked us to attend the Bluff ward when we are in town.  Today was our first visit and we received a warm welcome.  At first glance is appears to be mostly blacks.  I saw four families that were white (mostly older people like us.). The Bishop looks young, he's been a member for seven years but looks very capable for the job. The church building is large but older.  We're excited to be able to set down some roots and call a ward our family. 

We just returned from our conference in Jo'burg and met some fantastic members from all over South East Africa.  Kenya, Swaziland, Congo, Zambia, Angola, Keya and Mozambique to mention a few.  At our work table alone there were five languages spoken.  Only one sister had an interpreter the rest spoke English. It is humbling to discover how much money the church pores into these countries to help  people better their lives no matter what their nationality or religion.  If you go to LDScharities.org you can see a few of the projects the church focuses on.  Several times we have partnered with Red Cross and Catholic Charities.  Humanitarian goes where ever there is a need and has many different projects throughout the world.  These projects are funded by the members of the church who donate to humanitarian aid. 

We love being here and we love the people.  I understand better why  young missionaries spirituality grows so much while they are on their missions. It's nice to be able to devote your whole day to doing good works and talking about the Savior Jesus Christ.  You wittness a lot of sadness, yet the people are so humble and happy .  They are excited to be in the church and learn about the restoration of the gospel. They talk of God so naturally and are not afraid to speak out about their beliefs to anyone.  What a blessing to be here!

Our next trip is to Swaziland at the end of the month to follow the Humanitarian couple around as they make contacts at a hospital for neo-natal training of nurses.  The Eggetts will be leaving soon and wanted us to put names and faces together for the next Humanitarian couple that will follow them.   I've also heard there is good shopping there.  Love you all.
 

Ukhozi FM

Monday was Sarah's last day, but she was kind to follow Ed and I as we attended a meeting at Ukhozi FM regarding a delegation that is planning to travel to Salt Lake, UT in July to broadcast the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and meet with BYU students.  There was good engery in the room and afterwards they asked if some of our leaders would like to go "On the Air" for a few minutes.  Most of it was in Zulu, but the Mission President spoke, National Director, and Bishop Sabela.  They asked us not to post pictures from inside the radio studio, so I'm going to honor that until they give the OK, but it was fun to be there.  Sarah ended up taking notes for most of the meeting and then coming home and typing them up for Sipho the Public Affairs Director.  I was glad she was there to help. 

Ezakheni Branch Visit

We drove to Ladybrand, picked up Nokuthula (her name means mother of peace), and stayed at an empty senior couples flat.  It was a pleasant three bedroom, nothing fancy. Nokuthula and Sarah are about the same age and both are interested in making a difference.  On Sunday we visited a small branch called Ezakheni where the members were very friendly.  Sarah was invited to a Sunday school class which she thought was the Youth group, but turned out to be the Young Single Adults.  They meet in a rented building, but in a couple of months they will have their own building. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the hose running through the chapel (never saw that before)  to the back of the room so they could fill the font for three baptism after church.

The third hour Sarah went to Primary to be with the children.  It was very croweded and very hot with no air conditioning.  

Primary children in Ezakheni Branch

The children love to have their picture taken.

Howick Falls

After we left the Market we traveled up North to Howick Falls for more shopping and sightseeing.

 Anyone for a Warthog chop?

Elder Cinquini is negotiating a price for his African mask.



Howick Falls



If you look closely you can see people washing their clothes at the top of the falls

 

Sarah's Visit

I was so happy to see Sarah! We had a really good time meeting people, shopping and exploring Durban.  Becauce we only had five days, it wasn't enough time to show her all the beautiful countryside however we did make it down to the beach twice.  I'm so proud of the work she is doing in Kenya, she truely loves the people and I know she will do a lot of good in that country. 

 We visited a great African market where we engaged in a lot of shopping. This sister has a shop there and directed us a fabric store and  a very tasty Indian restaurant for lunch.  The area isnt the safest, and every time we walked back onto the street she would check us to make sure we had our cell phones tucked away.  While shopping in one store we heard a rugus outside and saw someone being pulled down the street, but we didnt go investigate.

One evening we walked along the boardwalk at the beach.  Sarah and I stuck our toes in the water, but we noticed that no one was on the beach after dark so we didnt stay long.

  We got up early Saturday morning to have breakfast at the Shlongwane Farmers Market.  The missionaries are there with a booth talking to people about a new pamphlet "The Family" which encourages people to record their family history.  We told them we'd help them dress up the booth a bit, so we are working on getting them some new posters.

Mandela Capture Site

 I had to add these pictures because it was so amazing.  This was the capture site of Nelson Mandela which they have turned into a tourist site with this amazing piece of art.  If you stand in the wrong spot you only see tall pieces of steel sticking up in the air, but if you stand on the correct viewing pad you can see Mandela 's face outlined.  I don't know how they did it but it was awesome to look at. 

On this particular Saturday we drove the midland meander North of Durban.  It was a beautiful pleasant day to visit shops and drive through the beautiful countryside.  We had lunch at a popular roadside craft and food shop.  Elder Cinquini and I shared this healthy lunch at an outdoor restaurant called Piggly Wiggly.