March 27-April 2, 2016

We went to Osizweni to celebrate Easter with them in their new chapel. Everything went well. There is more work to do out there. They don’t even have electricity yet. But things were bright and new and beautiful. President Zulu made a point of telling us that the water for the Sacrament came from a tap in the yard and not from the restrooms. That was just too disrespectful. Bless his heart. The attendance was really good. I guess some less actives came to check out the new digs.

After Sunday School I went with the Young Women. They have a nice big room with chalk boards and bulletin boards and a framed copy of the Young Women’s values. The Young Women had just gotten back from the For Strength of Youth Conference in Durban. They were all on a spiritual high. They had so much fun, and had learned so much and made so many friends they just couldn’t stop talking about it. It was wonderful!

Osizweni Branch exploring their new chapel on Easter Sunday

We then went to Madadeni 1 Branch for the last hour. The Madadeni Young Women were all excited about the youth conference too. They loved every minute of it. One young women told us that she misses the food.

We had our elders over for Easter dinner after they were finished in their areas. This meant that we ate dinner about eight oclock. We had pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls and corn. We also had a jello salad. I thought it would be fun and different. A couple of them wouldn’t eat the jello. But there were a couple Americans that really enjoyed it. We had lemon tart for dessert.

Easter Dinner

We went out to teach our newlyweds and they seemed to be doing fine.  We gave them our wedding gift which was some money and also a small photo album with the pictures we took at their wedding. They were so appreciative. We also taught them a lesson on making Jesus Christ part of their marriage.

One day we met the Madadeni 1 elders and had them follow us to Brother Mkubo’s house. We want them to meet him. He does not get out much and it would be nice if they could drop by and visit him once in a while. He is so lonely. After our visit Brother Mkubo asked us if we could take him to the store the next day. We couldn’t say no so we picked him up the next morning. When we got to the store there were long lines everywhere. We realized it was the first of the month. It is payday! Everyone goes to the ATMs to withdraw money and to shop. There is no way our frail elderly friend could stand in those lines. We decided it would probably take less time if we drove him to the shopping center in our neighborhood. We were right, the line was only about 4 deep. He got his money, did his shopping, drove back home and it all took less time than if we had stood in those long lines in Madadeni.

Elder Hind helping Brother Makubo with his groceries

We went out with the Madadeni 2 elders on Friday. It was not a productive afternoon. We got bunked a couple of times. We did find a member at home that we were able to teach.

We can always count on Elder Hind for a funny pose

This week we spent a lot of time in the office. There was so much to do. We did finally finish the Newcastle District History and sent it off. We were glad to get that off the list of things to do. But in addition to that we had phone calls to make, emails to write, papers to scan and send and problems to solve. I really hate paper work and phones calls. I didn’t like it at home and I don’t like it here. Doesn’t bother Elder Hind quite so much.

Glad someone is having fun!