As missionary couples, we are encouraged to take time to "get the dust of Africa on our shoes.  We spent the day today at Pilanesberg, an incredible nature and game reserve about a two hour drive northwest of Johannesberg.  Its residents include over 50 species of large mammals as well as numerous species of birds, reptiles, amphibians and other small animals.  We left home about 3:00 AM and entered the park at 5:30, a time when the animals tend to be very active.  The day was spent driving over about 40 to 50 miles on mostly narrow dirt roads.  With camera ready, we were fortunate to encounter, wildebeest, zebra, warthog, black rhino, elephant, giraffe, baboon, eland, sable antelope, springbok, and hippoptamus.  The opportunity to see these in their natural surroundings was truly a memorable experience.  Above are a few pictures I took during the day.

Our Dukes Court Apartment

Here's a few pics of our very comfortable apartment here in the Dukes Court Complex

We have had wondered Christmas here in South Africa, although, I must admit that it's been a little different from Christmas' at home. To begin with, 85 degree temperatures just don't bring out the Christmas spirit like a good frosty morning. As I may have mentioned in an earlier blog, Christmas here centers more on family gatherings and festive celebrations rather than on lavish gift giving. Kind of refreshing! For us, we rounded up several other missionary couples Christmas eve and went caroling throughout our apartment complex. We have an interesting mix of residents here including Muslims, Jews, Hindus and a variety of Christian sects. We were careful to avoid carols that might be offensive to some, and for the most part, people enjoyed the music. We even sang to the guards who keep us safe, and took them cookies. The brightest smiles came from a Hindu family who asked us to sing Silent Night. What an interesting world we live in!

Christmas morning we joined most of the other missionary couples for a very tasty "pot luck" breakfast, and then spent the rest of the day doing a little reading, watching a video we rented, and the best part of the day was from about 5pm on talking with all our children and grandchildren. That was the best Christmas present we could have asked for. We are forever grateful for our Vonage phone !!!!!

Even though gift giving is not a big part of Christmas here, Dian and I did some special things for each other. For the past several weeks we have been out shopping for some small items that have helped to make our apartment more comfortable and home like, and on Friday we found a very nice mall where we bought some very attractive summer outfits for Dian. Earlier in the week, Dian took me to a popular sporting goods store where she bought me a set of inexpensive golf clubs. We have a beautiful golf course just a few blocks from where we live, and there are several golfers in our missionary group. I've already been our once for a 9 hole round. I was a bit rusty, but it was great just to get out with some good company on a beautiful day.

Today we went to church in Soweto.  Soweto is the township where the real revolt against aparthide took place.  Its an area of great poverty with about two million population.  The chrch members there are some of the most spititual people I've met.  They immerse themselves in the gospel.  Their faith is pure and strong.  I had one gentleman come up to me to tell me how happy he was that we are here as missionaries saying that by the time we leave, it is likely that one family will be saved.  His comment touched me deeply.

This past Thursday, December 16th, was a national holiday here in South Africa.... The Day of Reconciliation.  To give a little overview, here's a quote from Wikipedia: 

The Day of Reconciliation is a public holiday in South Africa held annually on 16 December. The holiday came into effect in 1994 after the end of apartheid, with the intention of fostering reconciliation and national unity.  Apartheid  was a system of legal racial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and minority rule by white people was maintained.   Before 1994, 16 December was commemorated as the Day of the Vow[1], also known as Day of the Covenant or Dingaan Day. The Day of the Vow was a religious holiday commemorating the Boer victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838.  The Battle of Blood River, so called due to the color of water in the Ncome River turning red from blood,  was fought  between 470 Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000–15,000 Zulu attackers on the bank of the Ncome River, led by Zulu chief Dingane ka Senzangakhona on 16 December 1838, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

To celebrate the day, we went to the Apartide Museum with the Neilsons, another missionary couple from California.  We spent over four hours with a wonderful personal guide who gave us a detailed history of South Africa, with an emphasis on the racial conflicts that were a part of the country from the very beginning.  See the two pictures in a post I did earlier today. The one picture below was taken outside the museum showing a walkway with a series of mirrors with images of both black and white South Africa citizens superimposed showing them walking them together.  The rock wall along the one side of the walk is made up of small rocks representing all those (almost all black) who died working in the gold mines.  Johannesburg began as a gold mining camp, and the mining continued right up to recent years.  You can see the mine tailings everywhere you drive.  The city is located in the Province on Guateng (pronounced "How'- teng").  Gauteng means "Place of Gold".

The other picture below is of Leonard Tehbe and his family.  We met with Leonard last weekend while we were in Botswana.  He is the Church's Director of Public Affairs for Botswana, and he workes at the US Embassy in the country's capitol, Gabarone.  He is working with us a several projects in Botswana.  In the picture, note the chart behind him.  It shows his Ward's effort to help establish a separate Stake in Botswana.  Right now, they are part of a South Africa Stake. For my friends who are not members of the LDS faith, a Stake is a unit in our Church that is over several congrations, perhaps like a Diocises in the Catholic Church.  Wards and Branches are single congrations falling under a Stake.  One interesting note on Leonard....... he says he has had several opportunities to travel on Air Force One.

A little trivia .......  here they refer to a traffic light as a "Robot".

Top: Leonard Thebe and Family. Bottom: Apartheid Museum

Tonight was the annual Christmas dinner that the Area Prendency held for the 15 or so missionary couples that work out of the Area Office here in Joburg.  It was a delightful evening with good food, song, and some wonderful readings that got us all in the spirit of Christmas.  Dian sang two duets with Elder Mark Ethington that were absolutely beautiful.   We are very fortunate to be here with some very talented and wonderful people.  Sharing this evening with them was very special, and gave us a feeling that we truly have a purpose here.  

Back from Botswans late this afternoon....... We're exhausted, but our time there was very special working with some of the most spiritual people I have ever met. We went there to meet with the Church's Public Affairs director for Botswana, Leonard Thebe, as well as several other Church leaders there to discuss some of their needs and issues, including the need to develop better relations with government and community leaders, and some possible ideas on how to accomplish that. Botswana is small in population..... About one million. The country has perhaps the most stable democracy in Africa, and their Capitol, Gabarone, is very progressive. In many parts of the city, you'd think you were in a very nice mid-size city in the USA. One little side note of interest...... A large group of monkeys ran out in front of us while driving, and later when we met at the chapel, they had just chased a pack of about 25 monkeys out of the building. Just another day in Africa!!!

Today we truly felt like we are truly in Africa. We were invited as special guests to sit in on the taping of the annual concert of the SABC choir. SABC is the South Africa Broadcasting Company. Their choir has performed all over the world including Carnegi Hall, the World Cup, Pres Obama's inauguration and a command performance for Nelson Mandela. The music was incredible...... Some of the strongest vocal performances I've ever heard. Immagine Handle's Massia followed by a Zulu war song. Every now and then the ensamble would include some very creative in-place dancing, and the audience would go wild. I hope I can get some copies of the video when it's released, and be able to share it.

Tomorrow we are off to Botswana to meet with the Botswana Director of Public Affairs. We will diving past some of the more famous game reserves on the way. Hopefully I will have some good photos to sahare in my next blog when ww return Sunday.

By the way, Johannesburg thunderstorms ar unlike any I've ever seen before. We are having one right now. Sqpectacular !!!!!

December 5, 2010

Well, we’re two weeks into our mission here in Johannesburg (the locals say “Joburg”) and already we’re on a dead run between the work we we’re doing and all that we have to do getting settled in.  Our greatest frustration has been the fact that we have little or no access to the internet for emails and Vonage phone calls.  The phone in our flat (apartment) was supposed to be hooked up when we arrived, but there was some issue with it and we’re still waiting.  In the mean time, we have had a few chances to connect to the system at our office to do some limited emails.  Hopefully we will have our internet up and running this coming week.  Say a little prayer for us!

We landed in Joburg on November 23^rd and were immediately welcomed by several of the other missionary couples as well as office staff here at the Church’s area office.  We have been genuinely touched by everyone’s effort to make us feel welcome and “at home”.    The flight from Atlanta was not too bad.  Service was much better that what you might get on a domestic flight in the US, and it was smooth all the way.  16 hours seemed to go by fairly quickly.  Dian adjusted to the time change right off the bat, but it has taken me a few days to get sleep patterns back to normal.

On Thanksgiving day, our 2^nd day here,  the entire staff here at the area office got together to put on a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner out on the back lawn of the area office.  I should mention, the grounds of the Area Office and Temple are absolutely magnificent with beautiful gardens and covered with trees and lush foliage, and quiet pathways, little streams and waterfalls.  The following day the Area Presidency hosted the annual Christmas devotional and luncheon.  Yes…. that did seem a bit early, but  the staff all leave the first of December to spend the holidays with family at their home villages and townships.  Well at that point, we began to think they had a party every day.  Actually, I couldn’t think of a nicer way to begin our stay in a place that is about as far away from our home as we could get.

Johannesburg is an interesting city.   About 4 million population, it’s a city of contrasts……… incredible wealth and terrible poverty.  The best description I’ve heard is that it’s a first world city with third world problems.  Yes, the crime rate is high, and there are neighborhoods you would not want to get out of the car…..  or even drive through,  but there are parts of the city where you would think you were in Beverly Hills.  The Santon Mall is said to be one of the most sophisticated shopping centers in the southern hemisphere.  We spent the afternoon there last Saturday and even went to a movie……… the new Harry Potter movie (I thought it was very confusing).

Our flat is located in what is known as Dukes Court, a 5 story complex of about 100 condo apartments about 5 minutes from our office.  Its old, but liveable.  Most of the missionary couples live here.  Its very secure.  There are guards at the front entrance and at the gated entrance to the complex garage.   The kitchen and bathroom  are basic, but probably much better than what most would have here.   One nice benefit is the fact  that we have a very nice mall across the street.  It includes a large department store, a grocery store, dry cleaners beauty salon, good restaurants, and next month a new movie complex.  The down side is that all the stores close between 5 and 6 PM.  I’m still trying to understand that one.

We have a little Chevrolet to use while we’re here.  Probably my biggest adjustment has been learning to drive on the left side of the road.  I’m  actually pretty good, but it does require constant concentration.  If you let your mind wander for an instant, you could easily find yourself going down the wrong (right) side of the road.  We drove to Pretoria this morning to go to church at one of the local wards there.  Its about 40 miles of freeway all the way, but I was a nervous wreck by the time we arrived.  It definitely takes two of us to drive under these conditions.  I couldn’t have made it without my wonderful co-pilot, Dian.  She manned the Garmin and kept me headed in the right direction at all times.  The freeways are excellent, but the speed limits change constantly and they have automated cameras that are triggered by radar if you go over the speed limit, so you have to be very aware of what the limit is where you are driving. 

Weather here is about as nice as you could have.  Joburg is 6,000 feet on a high plateau.  We are just coming into summer here.  December is similar to our June.  The temperatures have been getting up into the mid-80s the past couple of days, but after sunset, they drop right down into the low 60s.  Since we arrived, we have had days that only got into the high 60s, and with summer being the rainy season, we have had several days of rain……… some very heavy with dramatic thunder storms.

To keep active, we are getting a membership to Planet Fitness, a very well equipped gym located about 5 minutes from here.  We try to put in about an hour each morning.  Also, there is a group here in our complex that play golf early every Friday morning and have invited me to tag along……….   Not now, but maybe later when we are better established.

As I think I mentioned earlier, we did land on the run as far as our work here.  For now, we will be responsible for conducting Public Affairs training for all the Stakes in Johannesburg and Botswana.  We sat in on a training session last week at the Johannesburg Stake, and this coming Friday we will travel to Botswana to do some training there.  The principle objectives of Public Affairs is to establish and maintain positive relationships with core opinion leaders in the community.  The Church is very misunderstood throughout the world, and its no different here in Africa…….. in fact maybe more so.  In the northern part of South Africa, there is widespread belief that those in the LDS Church are “devil worshipers”.  By building positive relationships with community leaders, the hope is to build a better understanding  of who we are and what we believe.    There are a number of tools and activities that have proven to help, and these will be part of our training.  In addition to the training, we will also be working with a video production team here in Joburg to re-do many of the Chuch’s “Homefront” videos in a way that better reflect the people of Africa and their way of life.