Final Post !

After some careful thought, I have decided to discontinue this blog, and instead send out a weekly newsletter to our immediate family members, as well as several close friends who have been regular followers of our blog. For anyone else who would like to receive our weekly letter, please send me your email address to bunk@infowest.com.

A big thanks to all our faithful followers.

Bunk & Dian

Whales !!!

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting out on our deck looking out over the ocean. It's a beautiful bright sunny day, not too much wind, and we are being treated to a circus performance of whales. There must be several dozen, maybe even more, breaching, jumping, rolling, flipping, and just having fun. People have been telling us ever since we arrived in Port Alfred to watch for the whales in October. Up till now, we've had our doubts, but today, they're here. There are humpback, sperm, southern wright, and even bottle nose dolphins. I'm not expert enough to tell the difference, but that's what we're told. What a treat! We hope they stick around for a while.

Water, Water everywhere and not a drop to drink !

As I've mentioned before, South Africa is a first-world country with third-world problems. Maintaining the infrastructure here has become a major challenge for both the National government, as well as municipalities throughout the country.

Water is an ongoing challenge here in Port Alfred. Most cities here I South Africa actually have very good water systems that provide excellent tap water....... certainly better than St George water. It's a bit of a different matter here however. The water here is full of a variety of noxious minerals which makes it very bitter. On roof that, the system of pipes is very old resulting in numerous "water outages".

Its the only water available in the township here, but most of the Port Alfred resident have large, 1,000 gallon "rain barrels" that they use for culinary water. Many homes have two or three rain barrels. It does rain here enough to keep the barrels full nearly all the time.

Unfortunately the water here in the complex where we live has only the municipal tap water, so it's off to the water store each week. Yes, that right....... the water store. That's all they sell. We go through about 20 gallons of filtered water each week for cooking and drinking. At first it was a bit of a drag, but I quickly realized that this was giving me for great exercise. You see....... everything has it's plus side.
Below is a picture of a typical rain barrel that you would see adjacent to most houses here.

Wednesday Walkabout

Our dear friends, Ruth and Tim Cockbain have a regular weekly practice of going on a "walkaout" every Wednesday. That could be a hike into any one of th many beautiful back-country spots here in the Port Alfred area, or along many of the pristine beaches, or maybe a visit to a museum, game reserve, etc. Last week, they invited us to spend the morning hiking the vast beaches south of the Riet River mouth. The beach is quite flat and several hundred yards wide, bordered by immense sand dunes, and punctuated by three huge rock outcroppings that jut out into the ocean called the Three Sisters. Tim and I climed to th top of one of the "Sisters" for a specutacular view of this magnificent shoreline . As we all climd around the front side of one of the Sisters at low tide, at a time when we tought we'd be safe, a couple of waves caught us by surprise and absolutely drenched us. Later we found a warm spot out of the wind to dry off and have a light lunch. We then made the long hike back befor the entire beach was reclaimed by the rising tide. What a day!

Pictures below: Dian through the hole in the rock drying off; Just befor we were all drenched by an unexpected wave; Dian with our good friend, Ruth Cockbain (our Relief Society President), and those majestic sand dunes.

Western Night

One of the first things we did when we arrived in Port Alfred was to attend the local Rotary Club. Having been Rotary members at home, the Port Alfred Club decided to make us honorary members during our stay here. We have enjoyed the friendships we have developed through our association with the club, and we feel we have helped to develop a more positive image of the Church within the Port Alfred community.

In addition to working with some the the club's community service projects, we have also enjoyed some fun times with them. The attached picture shows Dian singing "Those Boots Were Made For Walking" at their annual Western Night party. Needless to say, she was a big hit.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Big weekend in Port Alfred........... its the Inter Collegiate Rowing Championships this past weekend on the Kowie River here in Port Alfred. And of course, college kids from all over South Africa were here in mass to cheer on their favorite teams.

African Winter

The one thing we will miss the most when we return home next spring will be the wonderful friends we have made throughout South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. One couple that we have enjoyed emensely is Pat and Albert Whitfield. We became acquainted with them through our association in the Port Alfred Rotary Club. I mentioned Pat in an earlier post regarding her efforts to develop stronger literary skills here in the Port Alfred schools. Pat and her husband, Albert retired here in Port Alfred two years ago after fourty years of ranching and farming in the Free State Province in the central high plateau of South Africa. They gained a reputation and great respect for being outstanding stewards of the land. Pat is a beautiful watercolor artist, but also writes very touching poetry. We are just now coming out of winter here, and although we here in Port Alfred do not have the bitter cold of the central highlands where the Whitfield's farm was, I was still very touched by her poem, African Winter, which she has given me permission to share with you.



AFRICAN WINTER


Find a road that runs up to the sky

Find a randjie where wild winds blow

Find a landscape wiped of colour

Where the grey sun tips the fading hills,

And the rolbossies and the mealie leaves

Blow in the empty lands

See the sheep dust lift in clouds along the road

See the cattle hunched against the fence

Pause where the wind can catch your hair

Hitch your shoulder against the cold

Then open your palms and feel God’s peace

In the aching beauty of this high land.

Cats

Seeing a lion or a leopard when visiting one of our game reserves here is a rare treat. Here's a few pictures we were fortunate to take over the last few months. I got these shots of the male lion and the mother lion with her cubs during a night drive in the Scocia Game Reserve, and Dian got this great picture of a lounging leopard on a recent visit to Suboya.

Port Alfred Literacy Project

The lack of good reading skills is a major problem in Africa. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that Dian is preparing to teach a Literacy class for our Branch members. One of our good friends here, Pat Whitfield, has also organized a group of women from the local Rotary Club to teach Literacy at the local grade schools here. They asked me to take a series of photographs of their efforts which they would like to be part of a presentation they are preparing. Below are a few of those pictures. I do have to say that some of the most special experiences I have had here in South Africa have been during visits to schools throughout the country. The children have simply stolen my heart. Below are a couple of pictures Pat as she conducts her class, and some of those cute, cute children.

Rugby Madness

Almost every television set in South Africa is tuned tonight to SABC 2 to watch the South African Springboks rugby team play their arch rival, the New Zealand All-Blacks. This is considered one of the world's great rivalries. This is a warm up for the upcoming World Cup tournament that begins next month in New Zealand, and where these two teams are expected to play for the championship. These are the two teams that played for the world Cup championship in 1994 which was depicted in the movie, Invictus. Tonights game is being played in Port Elizabeth just south of us here in Port Alfred. We were in Port Elizabeth Friday, and it was absolutely crazy there. We at home get excited over Utah/BYU, Oregon/Oregon State, or Alabama/Auburn, but here, the whole Country comes to a complete standstill...... and the only conversation for the next three or four days will be about the game. By the way, the final score was the Springboks 18, the All Blacks 5. GO BOKS !!!

All Africa Helping Hands

Across the entire African Continent today, members from every Ward and Branch from our Church have dedicated much of the day today to participating in some form of community service. Last year, over 100,000 Church members in African countries participated. Today, members of our Port Alfred Branch spent the morning painting the exterior walls of the new Child Welfare home here. In doing so, they have helped to create a very warm and inviting environment for the children that will be living there. The facility is designed to house 12 children on a permanent basis, with 2 house mothers to care for them. It will be the children's home until they turn 18 years of age. They prefer not to refer to it as an orphanage, but the children who will be residing there have no other family that can care for them. We are so pleased to have the opportunity to help make this a special place for these special children. I've included a few pictures below.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

.......... taken recently at the Mansfield Game Reserve.

As part of our ongoing effort to help our Branch members build and understand their knowledge of the Gospel, as well as to help them develop skills that will enhance their ability to gain employment, we have developed several courses that hopefully will make a difference. Dian has been teaching an LDS Institute class each week to a group young adults from our Branch.

Unemployment here is very high, but if you have a drivers license, you are almost guaranteed a job. But getting a license is not easy............ and it quite expensive. With that in mind, I have been teaching a drivers education course. It won't help with the cost, but will give them a better chance of passing the rather difficult drivers test.

Dian is also developing a class on public speaking, patterned after Toastmasters which she has belonged to for the past 15 years. In addition, she is also putting together a literacy class for those members who are having difficulty reading or speaking English.

Below is a picture of Dian 's Institute class which is held every Saturday morning at Ntombiyakhe Dayile's house in the Namato township.

Learning to "Fish"

One of the greatest challenges and frustrations we experience here in Port Alfred is the frequent request for help that we receive, mostly financial help, although sometimes for food or medical care. The needs here are great, and we quickly realized that it's not possible to help everyone. If we do help one, we then have an obligation to help anyone that comes to us with similar needs. So we have had to make the very difficult decision that we cannot make loans or contributions to anyone. We've let it be known that we will do everything we can to "help them learn how to fish, but not give them a fish". That has certainly come with it's frustrations as some feel we are "rich Americans", and as Church leaders, we should be helping everyone. So we continue to receive requests.

This past week we received a call from one of our Branch members asking if they could meet with us. We agreed on a time and place, but were certain it would be another request for financial help. As we sat down together, our member explained that she was considering starting her own business, and knowing that both Dian and I had extensive business experience, asked for our advise. Wow! That was the last thing we expected, but we were so pleasantly surprised. It gave us hope that change is possible. It was another good day !!!

In the Township

Notes from earlier this week........

We're up in the township today. Dian is teaching an institute class at one of our member's home, while I sit in the car nursing a bad cold and not wanting to expose others. The township is somewhat like our Indian Reservations back home in the USA. They were set up by the South African government to house the black populations during the apartide years. Today the township is made up of a variety of very basic one-room block structures and corrugated metal shacks with no plumbing or sanitary facilities. Outhouses of various shapes and structure are scattered about. They estimate the population here in the Port Alfred township is about 50,000. By contrast, the population of the Soweto township in Johannesburg is about 5 million.

It's sunny and warm today, a welcome relief from the cold and rainy weather we've had over the past couple of weeks. As I sit here in the car with the windows down enjoying a nice warm breeze, the air is filled with a cacophony of sounds. Off in the distance, a large group are singing traditional African chants or songs, probably at a wedding or funeral. Somewhere closer by, someone is actually playing a little Kenny G. The sound of children playing is everywhere.
It's a good day!

Our 20th Anniversary

Today, Dian and I celebrate our 20th anniversary. 20 years ............ Wow! How did they go by so fast? But when we took a minute to do a little reflecting, we were amazed at all that has happened in what seemed to be such a short span of time.

During the past 20 years:

We either rented or owned 8 homes (including 2vacation homes), and built 5 of them.

Welcomed 3 daughters-in-law and 2 sons-in-law into the family

Celebrated the birth of 13 grandchildren

Had 2 dogs, Buster and Libby

Owned 7 automobiles (loved driving the Mercedes, loved owning the Hondas)

Went bionic with knee replacements (Bunk) and hip replacement ( Dian)

Worked for 8 companies between the two of us without changing offices

Lost our Mom

Traveled extensively throughout the 13 western states including Alaska and Hawaii

Other favorite travels include New England, Nauvoo Il, NYC, Williamsburg VA, Branson MO, Orlando FL, Dallas/Ft Worth TX, Israel

And finally capped it off serving our Church and the wonderful people of South Africa.

Check back in 2021 for our next 20-year update.

A Walk on The Beach

One of the things we try to do each day is get out on the beach for a good walk. Its amazing how the ocean can clear the mind. There is something truly healing about the ocean. We were out for a beach walk last Saturday during an unusually high tide. We had had a good storm the day before and the ocean was still very rough, or as I put it sometimes, "very angry". I had my camera with me and caught a couple of pictures of incoming waves. The last picture was a huge wave that crested right in front of me. The good news is, "I didn't even get wet.

Winter in Port Alfred

While most of you in the north are enjoying 90 or 100 degree temperatures, we are in the middle of winter here on the southern tip of Africa. Actually though, winter here is really fairly mild.......... probably much like summer on the Oregon Coast....... Highs in the mid 60's and lows in the mid 50's. Being right on the ocean, however with the high humidity, we do get chilled easily. No one here has central heat, so everyone has small electric flood heaters, or portable propane gas heaters. A friend recently made each of us a neck wrap that you heat in the microwave. They go well first thing in the morning, but we especially love to put them in our bed a few minutes before bedtime.

We usually get a good rain storm each week. In fact, we had a record rain (6 inches in 24 hours) here two weeks ago that resulted in extensive flooding in the Port Alfred area. One side effect of the heavier rains is the development of pot holes in the roads around town. The paved roads here are in fairly poor shape. The rains tend to loosen the asphalt and pot holes develop quickly. It's been like driving through mine fields this past week. There have been many reports of flat tires and bent tire rims. The rains, however, do bless this part of the country with great beauty. Everything is so lush and green, and it seems that every day for the past couple of weeks we have seen a rainbow. Rainbows over the ocean are especially beautiful. We tell ourselves every day just how blessed we are to be here in this beautiful part of Africa.

Branch Leadership

As I think I've mentioned before, the community of Port Alfred has been so gacious in welcoming us. Our local newspaper here in Port Alfred, The Talk of The Town, ran a very nice article recently about our Church and it's new leadership(see below). I should mention that Elder Aaron Austin (far right in the bicture below) has now returned home after completing a two-year mission here in South Africa. I would have been lost without his help during my first month here. I'm confident that he will continue to give great leadership in the Church in the years to come.

Career Workshop

One of the biggest Problems here in Africa is unemployment. In the township here adjacent
to Port Alfred, the unemployment rate is somewhere around 50%........ maybe more. That same figure is representative of the unemployment rate in our branch. It's a huge issue. To address the problem, we held a career workshop recently for our Branch members. The workshop was designed by the Church to help members and non-members alike to develop and enhance their skills to choose and prepare for a job or career, and the application process including writing resumes and effectively participating in the interview process. Our workshop, which ran over a two day period, was conducted by another "Robinson" missionary couple from Port Elizabeth which is about a two hour drive from here. Glenn Robinson was one of the top executives with Mountain Fuel Supply, now known as Questar, the large natural gas utility. Their presentation was exceptional, and I'm confident that it will have some very positive results.

In addition to the career workshop, I have also been teaching a "drivers training" class for our Branch members. Very few of the black community have drivers licenses, and for those who do have one, the promise of a good job is almost guaranteed. Navigating through the process of getting a license is not easy, and the associated fees are fairly stiff. But hopefully we can at least stimulate some motivation.

Giraffic Park

We had a fun day this past week at a local Game Reserve where we came across several giraffe, one of which was almost a little too friendly. For a minute, I thought he was going to give me a kiss. He did let me rub his nose for a few minutes.

We're Back !!!

We're alive and well, and settling into our new assignment in Port Alfred. But it's been a frustrating couple of months having only very limited access to the Internet, and hence, not being able to write in our blog. One thing we are learning here in Africa is patience.

Back in March, we were asked by the Area Presidency if we would be willing to serve in the Church's Cape Town Mission. The Mission had lost several Senior Couple Missionaries, and they desperately needed help in several areas. We first though we would help out in the Mission Office, but it turned out that the greatest need was here in Port Alfred, where they asked if I would serve as the President of the small Branch here. For my non-LDS friends, a Branch is a very small congragation, and a Branch President is is in a sense, the Branch Pastor. Where the members of a Branch are relatively new in the Church, and have had little experience in the workings and procedures of the Church, Missionaries are often asked to serve temporarily in leadership positions. Our little Branch has about 60 members, mostly recent converts from the black township adjacent to Port Alfred. Our chapel is a rented store-front, but has been nicely converted to to serve our nee

Port Alfred is a coastal community of about 25,000 residents, and is located about 500 miles
east of Cape Town on the Indian Ocean. It is mainly a retirement and resort destination for
the European whites here in South Africa. The Royal Alfred Golf Club is one of the reasons many like to retire here. It is a magnificent "links" type golf course overlooking the ocean, and is famous for the large herd of wild game that graze on the course.

We are particularly blessed to have a beautiful apartment right on the beach. On warm nights, we can open our bedroom door to the deck and hear the waves all night. And in
the mooring, we can head for the beck for a good walk.

We feel very blesses to be here.

Hey, what a group !!!   We are so grateful for our family and the wonderful love and support they each give us.  We just wanted to take this brief opportunity to send our love to them.      

A Bad Day at The Game Reserve

The following pictures were taken at the same game reserve we went to last month.  I'm glad we didn't run into this guy!

Growing Up Under Apartheid

Dominic Tshabalala is the Church's Public Affairs Director for South Africa.  We work together at the Area Office here in Johannesburg.  The following article appeared last week in the Church News.  He is an incredible individual, and someone I have come to consider as a dear and close friend. 

Dominic Tshabalala’s daily existence was one of walking in fear. Constant violence and hostility surrounded him as a small boy. “It did not engender love or trust or stability or faith in humankind,” recalls Dominic.

That dismal view of life was the result of Apartheid, said Dominic, an official policy of racial segregation involving political, legal and economic discrimination against nonwhites that took place in South Africa from 1948 to 1994.

Police attack dogs were trained to single out his race, said Dominic, and often young boys and men in his neighborhood were rounded up into police vans never to be seen again. The “armed struggle” against Apartheid was talked about on street corners, in homes and in open fields in the segregated black township where he lived. “We were expecting the day would come when someone would give you an AK-47 [automatic assault rifle] and all you would do is shoot. . . . It was assumed that everybody would participate.” Dominic says he is grateful that day never came and that he never has held a gun.

Dominic never knew his father and was allowed to visit his mother only three times a year because she worked as a servant for a family in Johannesburg, about two and a half hours away from his home. Black Africans were not permitted to venture inside the city without a traveling pass, just as whites were not permitted to go to black townships. He said it was only through the good graces of his mother’s employer that he was granted visits with her at all.

Dominic’s bleak world began to change for the better at the age of 12 after witnessing something astonishing during one of the visits with his mom. White female or “sister” missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were given the permission by his mother’s employer to teach her about their faith. Upon conclusion of the lesson, Dominic says, they lovingly embraced her. Dominic had never seen that type of affection generated from a white person toward someone of darker skin. “You don’t understand how big that was, how amazing it was to see that — how shocking. It went against everything society had taught me.”

Dominic says each time the missionaries visited that week with his mother he felt something that he didn’t understand. “It was very foreign but felt good. It felt safe; I felt wanted.” He says he later understood that feeling to be the Holy Ghost  or Holy Spirit.

He was baptized and started attending church and was again amazed by the acceptance he felt. “They taught the same thing to me as the white boy sitting next to me at church. That broke a lot of boundaries for me. That said to me in my heart and mind that we are equal.”

More opportunities opened up to Dominic through the help of Church members. He was able to attend high school, a privilege not often given to children of his race, served a two-year mission for the Church, attended college, married in the Church’s Johannesburg South Africa Temple and has four children. He has served in many callings in the Church, including as the lay leader of his congregation, and continues to serve. He currently works as an employment manager helping others find jobs.

Dominic looks with humility and gratitude at all that he has achieved. They are achievements that in his early life of strife and despair were not possible to comprehend. “The Church rescued me, truly, truly rescued me,” he said, “just like many other boys.”

Yes, This is English

I love the way South Africans speak. Both the blacks and whites are very articulate and colorful in the way they express themselves. Much of it probably comes from both the British and Dutch influence. There are a number of expressions or vocabulary that are a little different than the words we use in the US. I think I mentioned before that a traffic light is called a "robot". If someone invited you to a "Braai", they would be asking you come to a barbecue. If you were asked to look in your car's "cubby hole", you would look in the glove box. If they wanted to look in the "boot", that would be the trunk. Gas stations are called petrol ports. And when I first asked for a Diet Coke, I got a very strange look. They actually have it here but they call it Coke Light. You can't ask for just water at a restaurant, you have the choice of tap water (which is very good), still water (bottled water), or club soda. Where I really get in trouble is when I ask for a napkin. That really brings on the strange looks. A napkin here is a diaper. What we know as a napkin is called a serviette. So the next time you come to South Africa, be prepared to learn how to say a few things a little differently.

Busy, Busy Busy

It's been a hectic and busy time the past couple of weeks.  Much of our time has been taken up by three different projects...... first is a major effort planning a dinner and reception for high level government officials in Botswana in April; second to work on finalizing the tour schedule for the BYU Young Ambassadors next year; and third, to plan and attend the presentation of "Newborn Kits" to new mothers at the large regional hospital near Tzaneen scheduled for this past weekend.  The kit contains a blanket, a small supply of diapers, a pair of booties, and several other items which will help the mother during her baby's first week  (Picture).   Burt and Charla Neilson came along with us.  They are Humanitarian Missionaries from California, and have become great friends.

While in Tzaneen, Dian showed her great organizational skills by planning and carrying out a last minute reception for the newly called District President for the Church in the Tzaneen area.  It was huge success and included both friends, civic leaders, and even pastors from other churches.  The next day we traveled to the small school where we presented school kits a couple of weeks ago, and our film production crew joined us there to film them.

We did take a short side trip to see the world's largest Boabob Tree. (Picture)  It is a tree that is only found here in Africa and is sometimes called the upsidedown tree because it's top foliage looks much like a root system.  Radio carbon dating shows the tree to be over 6,000 years old.  Its hard to comprehend a living organism that old......... that was 4,000 years old when Jesus was born.

We arrived back home Friday evening,  and were up at 5 AM the next morning to drive up to Pretoria where the Pretoria Stake was conduction it's annual Helping Hands project.  This is a nationwide project that all the Wards and Branches participate in each year to spend one day helping some segment of the community in some way........ cleaning, painting, fixing, etc.  It is normally held in August, but there was a public employees strike in August last year, so the project was postponed.  The Pretoria Stake project involved cleaning and painting two local grade schools (Picture).  The local Police Commandant attended and was emotionally moved to see the work that was done.

We did manage to get out for a little fun.  We saw Riverdance at the Montecasino Theater with the Stonehawkers who are missionaries here from Calgary, and we have tickets to see Dream Girls next month. On Valentines Day, all the couple missionaries got together for a Bar-b-que (here they call it a "brai") and some fun games.  Dian and I won one of the games and were crowned with blue baloons (Picture).   I also managed 9 holes of golf at the Killarney Country Club last week.  My game's not great but as always, the company was great.  We are off to Botswana on Thursday for meetings to plan the reception I mentioned earlier.  It seems at time that life here is a bit of a blur.  Hopefully that means we're accomplishing something.

Thunder and Lightning

The thunder storms here are incredible. At times, the thunder is so loud and intense that it feels like it's going to knock the fillings out of your teeth.  We actually had a window pane in our flat broken by a clap of thunder.  They say that the reason lightening is so intense here is because of all the metal in the ground.  South Africa, especially around Johannesburg, is rich in precious metals.  Mine tailings can be found all over the greater Johannesburg area.  One of the local game reserves had to relocate all their giraffes to another resere in the northern part of the country because they were so likely to be struck by lightening here.  But I have to admit that the storm are spectacular to watch.

Tzaneen

Tzaneen is a spectacularly beautiful and prosperous community located in the northern Province of Limpopo.  It is nestled in a valley in the Drakensburg Mountain range, and is surrounded by lush fruit and vegetable plantations of every sort…….. bananas, mangos, avocados, macadamia nuts, etc.  The Church has been having problems for some time with many of the outlying villagers believing that we are “devil worshipers” and that we “drink baby’s blood”. 

We decided to drive up there to learn more about the problem and to see what we could do to help.  Elder Taylor Mortensen and his wife have been missionaries in Tzaneen for the past two years and have been working hard to show the villagers that we just want to be friends and to help in any way we can.  Recently he distributed over 800 school kits supplied by the Church to children at a school in Motupo.  These contained a notebook, pencils, scissors,  and a ruler in a small canvas carrying bag.  Without a doubt, this has helped to change the Church’s reputation in that particular community.

One our first day there, Elder Mortensen wanted to take us up to a small school located high on a mountain between Mutopo and Majajie to help him hand out more school kits to the 25 or so children there.  But before our trip up the mountain, he first took us to the school in Mutopo to introduce us to the Principal, and to meet the children that had already received school kits.  It was an amazing experience.  We were greeted with great enthusiasm.  The children just wanted to get close to us and even touch us if possible.  I think I must have given out two or three hundred “high fives”.  I was indeed humbled.  It was a moment that I don’t think I will ever forget.

It was then time to head up the mountain to hand out kits at the other smaller school.  In an effort to hopefully get a little recognition, Elder Mortensen asked a reporter from the local newspaper to come along with us to cover the hand.  Our trip wound up a narrow and rutted dirt road.  The school itself was nothing more than a 15 by 15 hut with boards tacked up on the sides, a thatched roof, and a dirt floor.  The children came from the small homes on the surrounding hillsides.  The teacher, Teacher Jane as we called her, walked 4 miles up the mountain every day to teach the children.  The word “dedication” took on a whole new meaning when I learned of her amazing effort every day.  Once again, another very special experience.

As we traveled home, we learned that the reporter that had accompanied us, was actually a member of our Church, but has been inactive for the past several years.  The experience of that day has prompted him to become active again.  The following Monday, there was wonderful front page article telling how the Church is helping the community, and was accompanied by a color picture.  Its amazing how things come together sometimes.

We loved Tzaneen and plan to return in a couple of weeks to help to hand out more school kits at another school.  Perhaps there will be another special story that will come from our ongoing adventure in that beautiful community.  Stay tuned! 

South Africa Flag

The South Africa flag is new since apartheid.  Looking at the colors, the blue is for water, the green is for all that grows from the ground, the red is for the blood that has been shed, the yellow is for the gold that has been mined (80% of the worlds gold came from South Africa), the white is for the white citizens, and the black is for the black citizens.   This is a country that is trying hard to heal.

Johanesburg Temple

We have had several wonderful experiances at the Johannesburg Temple over the past couple of weeks.  Last week we accompanied a large number of young Elder Missionaries from the Johannesburg Missionary Training Center for an Endowment session at the temple.  This was the first time attending the Temple for many of the missionaries.  And today, we spent the afternoon as ordinance workers at the Temple,  something we will doing every other week from now on.   For my non-Mormon friends, our Temple is a very sacred place.  We consider it to be the House of God.  Only those who are worthy may participate in the ordinances performed there, and to do so is one of the most special and sacred things that we as members can do.    Several weeks ago I ran into a family who had come all the way from Uganda to go to the Temple........  that would be about a five hour and very expensive plane trip from Uganda.  The father of the family told me that they had been saving money for several years to build a small house.  They had the foundations in, but then decided that it was more important that they spend their savings to come to Johanneburg to spend one day at the Temple.  I was so touched to hear him relate his story and to feel his amazing spirit.  It will now be another three or four years before he will have enough saved to complete his new house.    One cannot avoid being forever changed by these experiences.

I had not intended to let so much time go by between posts to my blog, but the missionary road here in Africa often has many bumps and potholes that can require maximum concentration to negotiate safely.  Two weeks ago we left for Swaziland to video several families as they participate in normal home activities, and then on to Botswana to do the same.  Botswana was definitely a wonderful experience, but Swaziland was the highlight.

Tom and Diana Blackburn, who are in our Ward in St George, are serving as missionaries in Swaziland.  In fact, they are the only LDS Missionaries in the whole country right now.   One of the more stressful things we go through in our travels is the process of border crossings.  There are many forms to fill out, questions to be answered and potential inspections of luggage and our car.  Tom had indicated that he would meet us at the border, but I didn’t anticipate what a welcome feeling we had when we arrived at the boarder gate and saw Tom waving and shouting greetings from the Swaziland side. 

While in Swaziland, we filmed three families in different settings.  We were especially touched by one of these families.  They were of very simple means living out in the country growing their own vegetables, fruit, and raising their own chickens and goats.  The access to their tiny dwelling was through a field and then over a deep ravine on a horizontal ladder that has replaced the simple bridge that had washed out recently.  They had not plumbing or electricity, and walked everywhere, but they were some of the happiest people I have ever met.  This and other similar experiences have truly changed my perspective of our short stay here on earth.  I’ve heard the saying many times that “happiness can only come from within”, but I’m only now beginning t understand what that really means.

Swaziland is a country of great contrasts.  You will not find a more beautiful place if Africa.  It reminds me very much of Oregon with magnificent green rolling hills shrouded in mist.  It is ruled by a king who has 17 wives (and selects a new wife each year).  But the majority of the population is very poor.  Women appear to be the main bread winners, while many of the men put on their "warrior" dress, including spear, and go to weed the King’s fields as volunteers.  Sadly, over 50% of the population is infected with HIV, the highest percentage in the world.  The average life span is 32 years.

At the same time, we had the privilege of joining Tom and Dianna to have dinner at one of the most beautiful restaurants  I have ever been to.  It is actually part of a resort and botanical garden called Summerfield.  I’ve wondered ever since how something so elegant can exist among such poverty.  But then I have to remind myself that this is Africa. 

The pictures below are of our dear friends and St George neighbors, Tom and Dianna Blakburn; Tom crossing the "ladder" bridge; Dian with that wonderful family we fell in love with; Our producer, Wynn Adlard playing with one of the children while he was trying to shoot video;  and this cute little fellow who came running through the field carrying his little brother to say hello.  Dian was carrying he camera and couldn' resist the shot.