Thursday, June 30, 2011
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.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
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. 
Friday, June 3, 2011
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.
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.
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