Each day, I think, we get a little more comfortable with the S. African scene! It’s been a hard week, but we’re fine and glad (still) we can be here and do the work. I’ve noticed a little more each day how I find myself thinking of family and friends and appreciating their contribution to my life. I’m glad you’re out there, and we love to hear from you when you can “check in” with us!
(Above to left is a picture of the New Member/Investigator Sunday School Class in Tembisa; To right, Elder Warr bringing home the bacon, ...we just bring the "trolley" up in the elevator to our flat, unload it, and put it back out front of the apartment complex for return to Killarney Mall across the street)
Perhaps the highlight of the week was a “mall hopping” trip. Those who know him well would have been surprised and amazed to see Lynn actually walking through three (count them 3) malls in one day! Part of the point, I guess, was learning to get around and feel comfortable in the commerce side of things here. We also keep coming up with new things we need for our flat, along with searching for some rugs, curtains, etc., etc. The fact that we don’t go far without the other is creating some new dimensions to our relationship. I think I almost pushed it too far, though, when I took him on a “tour” of the “African Craft Mall” which is a set of craft stalls reminiscent of Cancun, 100 salesmen over, adjacent to one of the malls. It was Saturday afternoon, and “salespeople” were far more aggressive than they’d been last Saturday right after opening time when I bought placemats there. Needless to say, despite many bargains “you can’t refuse” offered to Elder and Sister Warr (our name tags are much loved by these people!), we left empty handed. We will return, I think…I saw some wonderful carved giraffes, among other things!
Information technology has been an interesting frustration this week, both in the office and in our flat. Internet service is quite unpredictable, and we’re finding that applies to us, as well as the other missionary couples we are supposed to support for their technology needs. Skype and Vonage are sacred entities here, and when the Internet goes down…well, let’s just say, there is a community scream. We’re pretty spoiled to have these things in the first place, but since we do and since they’re our connection to grandchildren, what can I say? In the office, Elder Warr has a pretty inexperienced assistant, and is being very patient. We’re both learning, though, in that we do what he supervised for a lot of years, and we’re doing it in South Africa where the equipment is probably good when it hasn’t been compromised by culprits, but the operators are often not far from Third World mentality. The mix is interesting. Give us a few weeks, though, and we’ll be able to discuss SIM cards and modems with anyone interested to listen (that’s pretty safe, isn’t it)! A lot of our focus is completing work while we’re here which will not have to be done again (or started from scratch again) when we leave. This applies to all of our assignments, but in the IT end it means trying to extract from the brains of geeks a wealth of knowledge and procedures and writing them down in some form which might make sense for IT workers in the future. I think it’s the same challenge in most IT environments, but this particular mental storage system has been going on for some time, so it is a challenge!
We’ve been in touch with the stake president who is in charge of family welfare services for the 6 stakes in the Johannesburg area, and will meet with him Tuesday evening to discuss the needs he perceives for family emotional support programs. I’m not sure where we’ll go from there, but, again, the focus is on training others to do the work and figuring out programs that should run well after we’re gone. President Hall is pretty excited at the prospects, but we’ll see what we can do.
I am getting an introduction to beading, as it appears to be the S.African answer to American quilting, as far as hobbies go. There isn’t a formal Relief Society with the Sister missionaries here, but they are attempting to organize beading enrichments from time to time, and it seems to be a pretty good support activity. The other couples have been so friendly and helpful, and we’ve already had dinner with many of them.
One of the things we’ll be doing at our ward in Tembisa is working with the members to learn to play hymns on keyboards and conduct music. The couple we are attending the ward with now will be leaving shortly, and they have done a lot to get a music program going. Before them, in order to sing a hymn, a person would stand, sing the first line, give the page # and say “1,2…”, and all would join in. We kind of take music for granted, I think. The people love to be able to actually play and conduct the hymns, and there is a class during Sunday school on keyboard and conducting, which we will teach. My goal is for the congregation to be heard a year from now singing the hymns correctly by the people in the Baptist church next door…we can certainly hear them already! We obtained a keyboard this week and are preparing for this assignment.
Last week the Tembisa ward was told that they would be able to have a cultural hall built if they could average 150 at Sacrament meeting. There are actually around 500 members, but most have to walk some distance (there were only 7 cars in the parking lot this morning…one ours and one the young elders’), so 150 isn’t too bad. This morning, however, they pretty much filled the chapel…we figured around 200 people. They are such humble, kind people. We love them already.
It has seemed like a pretty challenging week, overall, but as I look back over it, I think that we’ve been blessed, and we are happy to be here. We’ve taken a few pictures and will take more this week and try to send some next Sunday. (dmw)
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