February 9, 2010
We’re doing fine. Both still healthy and glad to be here doing the work. It seems that each day we become a bit more oriented to the specific purposes we are here for. We are picking up the knowledge we need to support the IT work, and Lynn is studying to be able to work on the main project Elder Koelliker has him here for. He can tell you more about it as it progresses, but basically it involves working with technology to broadcast conferences and leadership meetings, etc., to outlying church buildings. This is a quite different project from what it would be in the U.S.! We could really witness the need this week as it was our Stake Conference, and many of the members could not attend because of lack of transportation. Few of them own cars, I think we’ve told you, and public transportation is a luxury some are unable to budget for.
It has been a pretty big shopping week for us. I’ve had a lot of fun and Elder Warr has been a good sport. We were told that the place to buy curtains for our kitchen and bathroom was “Oriental Plaza”. It was an adventure to travel to, as are most places at this point, but once there we realized that all of the glossy advertisements were somewhat misleading. We knew that it was a “mecca” of sales for the Indian segment of SA society, but we had no idea what that meant. It is divided into “bazaar” areas, selling everything under the sun (and much of it is outside, under the sun)! Hunting for curtains, we probably found 30-40 curtain shops, some of which hosted on-the-spot drapery seamstresses. We did find approximately what I had wanted for curtains at a very cheap price. We had no opportunity to compare prices, however, as the Indian lady at “Lucky Nook” where we found them explained that she was closing shop in a ½ hour to attend church, as were the rest of the merchants (it was Friday at 12:00 noon), so we’d best believe her that they were a good deal. Anyway, now we have lovely sunflower curtains in the kitchen and will hang the others when we find rods. The only downside was that I had nightmares of being kidnapped by mid Easterners that night.
On Saturday morning a “seasoned” couple took us to breakfast and shopping at a little village where there is a nut and flower shop, a meat market, a fruit and vegetable shop, a wonderful bakery, to name a few. It really felt like Disneyland for gourmets, and we came home with lots of treasures for very few Rands. There are so many things that are hard to find here for cooking, and I was looking for specific salad ingredients for a new salad I wanted to make, and I found everything I needed…it was like a minor miracle, and really cheered me up. It’s funny how my perspective and appreciation of small things is changing!
Stake Conference Saturday afternoon and Sunday was amazing. Many travelled there at a good deal of sacrifice. The congregation at both meetings was probably at least 75% black. The people who saw us from our ward in Tembisa were so excited to greet us. They had to travel about 10 miles, most of them in “combes”, the public taxis that are more like vans. There was a meeting before the general Sunday morning meeting for investigators and new members. In it the Stake President gave those attending a white rose from his garden, and talked about tending their testimonies like roses. In the general meeting he asked the new members (less than a year) and investigators to stand and wave their roses….there were 20-30 who proudly stood. It was really a sweet feeling to see their happiness.
Stake Conference was also a good opportunity for us to spend time talking with the young missionaries. There are currently no young sister missionaries in the Johannesburg mission, but the elders are great and love to compare notes with us “seniors”.
We’ve had quite a bit of rain in this warm, wet time of year. They say there’s been more rain than in many years past. It does seem to be moving to a drier, sunnier pattern, and the countryside is green and beautiful. We plan to do some sort of adventure on Saturday…there is so much to explore! (dmw)
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