April 10, 2013



Getting ready to cook dinner.  Isn't she cute!



LOST but trying to trust the GPS.



We always give them the right-of-way



Working and having fun.



Four generations for the Ndlovu family. 

Dearest Family and Friends,

We love to hear the news from home.  Our latest from home is that Troy and Tiffany have a new baby girl, Carly Lynn Smith.  Also, we have two granddaughters, Alexis and Adalie,  preparing for baptism.  We are proud grandparents even if we are a million miles away. 

As for Africa, our journey continues.  We love to visit with the branch members.  Often that means going from village to village.  This past week we decided to trust our GPS and let it tell us the shortest route from Modjadji to Motupa.  Oops, after 20 km of dirt road we decided to not do that again.  However it was beautiful.  (picture above) 

The African people are very loving and almost childlike.  We try to take cookies when we go visit, therefore we do lots of baking.  We have a sister in the hospital, she told me yesterday that she is dreaming of a plate of cookies.  Then also yesterday we got two SMS (text messages) from two different people telling us it was their birthday.  In America we are too shy, or maybe too "sophisticated" to do that, but they are so loving and appreciative that if a plate of cookies is what they want for their birthday, then a plate of cookies will be delivered.  

We were invited to visit a new baby last Saturday morning.  The custom here is that no one sees the baby for the first week, so we were honored to be invited along with the grandma and great grandma who were also seeing him for the first time.  We took a gift of course.  After visiting and talking and me secretly wanting to hold my little Carly, the grandma said, "I'm so anxious for you to show us what you brought.  Please open your present."  I said, "Oh no, the mom needs to open it, it's for her and the baby."  So she did.  Afterwards I learned that here in Africa the person who brings the gift opens it and shows it off to everyone.  Another OOPS! It was a lovely morning anyway.  (The four generation picture above is from that morning).  They also asked Ed to give a blessing on their home and family before we left.  We felt humbled to be a part of that gathering.  In Matthew Chapter 5 the Savior teaches us to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven.  We are grateful for the good works we see here and from you at home.     

We miss and love you,

Ed and Jolene (Grandma and Grandpa too)         

March 26, 2 013



Some love to eat Mopani worms. Ed says they're nasty!



Lesedi village.  We learned to play the African drums.



Kruger National Park - What a Thrill!!!



I wanted to pet these guys.  They were so close and beautiful.



An abundance of Wildebeest



If there's a vehicle, they all climb in. Going home from church.

Dearest Family and Friends,

Sorry it has been so long since our last post.  We are healthy and doing well and want to wish each of you a Happy Easter.  Yesterday one of the sweet sisters brought candy Easter Eggs for the children in primary and wanted to have an Easter Egg hunt.  The children loved it.  My heart swelled as I know this sister's living situation at this time and any expense is a sacrifice. 

We have had some memorable experiences.  We took the missionaries and visited Kruger National Park.  The thrill of seeing the animals in the wild is more that I would have imagined.  Perhaps someday we will stay in the park and go on one of the safaris.  (pics above)

Last week we showed up to our little school in Motupa, (where we hold church), to help some of the older students with their math as they prepare for Matriculation (graduation).  We were early and so was Petunia.  She sat down and started to cry.  There in the little classroom she shared that she had just had a miscarriage.  It was not a shock.  She has a 5 year old son and single moms are very common here, but she opened her heart and we learned a little more of the challenges of an African custom where a groom must pay "lebola" to the family of his wife to be.  It is a common practice here, but the "lebola" is a huge amount of money in African terms and as Petunia and others have explained to us, even if the young people don't believe in the custom the parents and grandparents do.  They depend on it to help "their old age living expenses" and so she said we do it, "out of respect."  The problem is, that many men use that as their reason for not marrying and the women naively believe it.  Then unfortunately once they are pregnant the father is gone.  We don't know the answer to "Lebola," but we have had many opportunities to teach about God's plan for his children and the blessings of waiting until marriage.   The young people here need more opportunities to spend time with friends who have the same beliefs.  We are already planning activities to make that happen.  If only we could get a bus as there is only one family out in Motupa that has a car and as Ed says, it's held together with band aids.  Such is the challenge.  We love the people and are grateful to serve.

We Love and miss you all,

Ed and Jolene  (Grandma and Grandpa to our little ones.)

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

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  

January 4, 2013

What was left of "Promises" home after the storm and looters

Children watching us work

Where to begin

More children passing by with their daily water

Building with a smile.  You gotta love 'em!

Day 2 for the crew

A work of love built the African way

More neighbors passing by, they love umbrellas for heat and rain

"Promise" and her baby have a home.  She's truly thankful. 

Our Flat.  Yes we feel spoiled!

The home next to Promise and the school behind.  Always clean!

"Promise" is one happy sister as she stands in front of her new home.  The pictures show her little area where she lives, the neighbors playing and walking by during the construction, the remains of her first place,  the crew as they worked diligently in the extreme heat, and the almost finished home.  I say almost because Ed and I will be going out tomorrow to replace the broken glass in the windows and be sure that all is good.  We are amazed at the humble circumstances that most of the villagers live in.  There is no running water, they use the wheel barrows to fill their large containers.  The woman still carry a ton of things on their heads, but the latest and greatest advancement is the wheel barrow.  I'm amazed that none of the homes close by Promise have bathrooms and there are none in sight.  I don't know how that works.  Promise, along with most of the ward members, have a long walk to church and everywhere else.  We only have a few families that live in town and actually have a car.    

We are truly humbled to be able to serve here and have learned in a very short time to love the people. Ed says that one of the highlights of the building project for him was towards the end of the first day, everyone was exhausted, the temperature was over 90 degrees and very humid, sawing was strenuous (no electricity) and someone started to sing church songs.  Africans love to sing and it was beautiful.   One of my highlights this week was last Saturday during a "late" Christmas party out in the village of Matuba.  We were all gathered under a tree for shade by the school where they meet on Sunday for church.  I looked at the little children just sitting there watching their parents visit and decided to do something fun with them.  I taught them how to make paper airplanes (that alone delighted them) and then we stood at the side of the hill and had races.  They were thrilled and I was filled with joy.  

Some days we feel so far away, and it isn't as easy as I thought it would be, but we are truly grateful to be able to share the gospel and our lives with the people of Africa.  We miss you and love you.  Please take care and HAPPY NEW YEAR. 

Love,

Ed and Jolene