January 15, 2013

Noriah - Her tiny home  in back



Velaphi the day of his mission call



Raining as usual



He was the happier of hundreds



Watching us inside the restaurant



The children posed while I took a picture of laundry day



They offered us a ride, one foot in and you're good



All but the kitchen sink



The view from the school (church) in Matupa

One of the many people that we visited this past week was Noriah and her daughter.  Noriah has Chicken Pox, but is doing better and welcomed us into her tiny home.  Her bed covered the entire living area and so we visited as we sat on the bed and became painfully aware of every  spring underneath us.  My Carpinteria air mattress would be a luxury item for her.  Anyway, Noriah told us that she sells cosmetics.  I told her that I needed some blush and would love to order it from her.  She pulled out a worn out catalog from under the bed.  As I browsed through it, there were several pages missing.  The blush page was one of them, so I ordered blush sight unseen from her very outdated catalog.  Who knows if it will ever come, but we are happy to donate a little for whatever reason. 

Friday we had the privilege of delivering two mission calls.  One to a young man in Modjadji and the other to a young man in our branch whose name is Velaphi.  The first day that we met Velaphi he asked Ed if he had an envelope for him.  We didn't know at the time that the mission calls come to the branch president.  Since that time we've been waiting along with him.  Both missionaries are staying in Africa as this is where they are needed. 

   

I've been asked to teach seminary in Mokgolobotho Village and both Ed and I will be teaching an English class out there.  We have 5 students already, but they say more neighborhood children will come as word gets out.  We are finding that most people in the villages speak very little English.  So for now, our challenge is to find teaching and reading materials for children.  We welcome any suggestions from you. 

Just so you will know, we haven't seen any wild animals to speak of.  They are mostly in the animal reserves.  However, we are 1 1/2 hours away from the largest animal reserve in the world, Kruger National Park.  If we can entice any of you to visit Africa, we would love to show you around and of course visit the park with you.  Attached we have a picture of a monkey that watched us enjoy our dinner last night and some crocodiles that we visited at the local crocodile ranch.  Although the ranch is within walking distance, I was grateful to see that the crocs are fenced in and well fed and so most likely willing to stay where they are.  Works for me!

We miss you and love you,

Ed and Jolene