February 24, 2013

We gave him the Right-Of-Way



No fences, just momma, baby and us!



Eye to Eye with a Nyala



Playful little critters . . No respect



Stunning Red Hartebeest



He's a little shy Wildebeest



Jomo and his cute home.  We baked him the cookies.



Mmakoma Shereen cooks all her meals this way 

Dear Family and Friends,

We are alive, healthy and doing well.  From time to time we look at each other and ask, "What are we doing here?"  Not that we are second guessing our decision to serve, but we feel so inadequate when the routine is no longer routine.  When I, Jolene, start teaching piano one must question what is going on.  My plan is to stay one week ahead of the students.  In addition to piano, we teach classes in Math, Life Science, English, and the New Testament.  Who would have guessed.  This past week during one of our English classes we experienced a micro-burst that covered us in red dirt and then a lightning and thunder shower that doused us with water before our little class could run for shelter.  All I wanted to do was go home and take a real shower.  I felt guilty knowing that my 11 little students would be lucky to have a pan of water for a sponge bath after walking about a mile to fill their water buckets later that evening. 

As you can see in the pictures above, we visited an animal reserve in Polokwane.  They claim to have no "man eating animals" and so one can walk or hike in the reserve along with the animals.  We no sooner turned into the park than were slowed down by a large Rhino in the road.  The whole day was a wonderful adventure.   

Elder Cook from the African Area Presidency visited our little valley last weekend.  He was here for District Conference and we had the privilege of joining he and his wife,  the mission president and his wife, and one other couple for dinner on Saturday night.  Elder Cook had heard about the home we helped build for Promise, and had visited Promise that day.  He wanted to know all about the experience as we sat together at dinner.  He then asked us to write it up for him, and  said that he would like to share it with the Twelve.  What a thrill.   The next day he spoke at conference.  Wonderful meeting.  We not only felt the spirit, but we experienced a bit of Africa as the seams in the ceiling were separating and during the meeting bits and pieces of debris fell to the floor.  About half way through the meeting bird feathers started floating down.  Ed and I caught the eyes of Elder and Sister Cook.  We shared a sweet smile.  The rest of the congregation did not seem distracted by what must be a normal occurrence.  We are learning to Love Africa. 

Miss you much though and love to hear from you,
 

Ed and Jolene     

February 5, 2013



PROUD STREET SWEEPER



ENGLISH CLASS WITH THEIR JOURNALS



Check out the road to English, it looks better in this pic



Mick, is this one of your satellite schools?



Typical transportation to church - who knows where



I can't keep up with him

This past week we made an error in judgment.  We chose to visit a family out in Motupa Thursday evening.  It was daylight as we traveled there and we are getting use to the roads, so when we turned off the "tar" road and started on the dirt road it was no problem.  However, the dirt road ended and we were left with an open field to navigate before finding their home.  We made it, had a wonderful visit and then said our good-byes.  As we walked out to the car a visitor in their home, who had joined us for the evening, pulled Ed aside and very quietly said, "I want to go to church, but I'm embarrassed because I have nothing to wear."  Ed listened, showed concern, made no promises, and then we started on our way home.  It was dark by now.   Dark is an understatement, it was pitch black.  I prayed all the way to the tar road and made up my mind that ALL visits from now on will be made in the light of day.  Such was our mistake; however, safely home the next morning we went to Woolworths and bought church clothes that looked like they would fit a 17 year old young man.  We delivered them.  I'm happy to say that when we arrived at church Sunday morning he met us at the gate in his new clothes.  He then greeted everyone else who came and personally opened and closed the gate with the largest smile you have ever seen.  

English class is going well.  Above is a picture of some of our students and a look at just one of the roads that we travel.  The rain has made huge ruts in most of the roads, making driving a bit of a challenge.  This particular day we were driving along slowly and a few children, who come to the class, saw our car and started running alongside us.  They were so close that we had to stop.  I rolled down my window to talk to them and they reached their arms inside and started hugging me, kissing me, and running their fingers through my hair as they said, "English teacher."  I couldn't help but get out and walk the rest of the way with them.  We feel so loved. 

We  visited with a few young Father's this week who are dealing with the pains of unemployment (85% in our area).  As we talked with Chiromo in his home the topic of blessings came up and he told us that he thinks the Lord has forgotten  him.  I was holding his adorable one year old son and hugged the baby as I told Chiromo that I was holding a very precious blessing.  He smiled and couldn't help but agree.  We had a good visit.  Ed has since arranged for him and a few others to attend a career workshop.  We keep our fingers crossed as we all look for employment opportunities and talk about possible education options.     

If we haven't had a chance to tell you, our church services are in English, but most of the members in Motupa speak Sotu or Zulu and have a very difficult time expressing even simple thoughts in English. (Another challenge) Last Sunday Samuel struggled to tell all of us that God loves us, not necessarily because we are so good, but because He is so good.  We appreciated his sweet message and would like to share it with you.  We love and miss you!!   

Ed and Jolene