July 26, 2013

"First" Homemaking meeting

Everyone KNITTING, the red scarf WAS mine

Picking flowers on our morning walk - Still winter

WHO NEEDS TOYS!

Ed, Matome (the Motupa group leader) and Bongani

NATURAL ROAD BLOCK ON THE WAY TO HENDRICK'S HOME

 Dearest Family and Friends,

It appears that we are not as good about updating our blog as we planned to be.  As we told our children, we sent our love everyday with smoke signals.  Hopefully you got it.  Our internet was down for 10 days when we learned that it would be another week or so before it would be fixed.  Come to find out the wiring had been stolen, so we went out and bought a wireless plan.

A few night's ago Ed and I visited the Ndlovu family.  Brother Ndlovu is our Elder's Quorum President and Sister Ndlovu is the Relief Society President.  Last Sunday they were both scheduled to teach and they did not show up.  We visited with plans to help them understand the importance of being dependable and calling in an emergency.  (This is a very common problem here.)  However, after hearing a touching story about their last minute rush on Sunday to gather all their food and deliver it to a contact who was traveling to Zimbabwe and was willing to take it to Brother Ndlovu's elderly parents who were in desperate need, we decided to save the "teaching" for another time.

Highlights of this month are that we had a First Ever Homemaking meeting for the sisters. ( At least they say it was the first.) Pauline and I taught them how to knit scarves.  When two sisters showed up Sunday with proudly completed scarves I couldn't help but feel pleased.  The night before Adelaide and Judith from Motupa stayed at our flat.  They helped us make chicken pot pies for the meeting, but I think the highlight of their stay was the warm running water in the bathroom and our morning walk around town.  Their giggles were priceless.  We had another meeting this week with the principal of the elementary school where Motupa meets on Sundays.  It's clear that we have to find another place.  The local church in Motupa is aggressively preaching false doctrine about our church and the effects are far reaching.  Bongani, one of my seminary students, told me that his school teacher called him a Satan worshipper in front of the whole class.  He's 16, well liked, and the president of his little school.  I think he handled the false accusation with respect, but it pains my "teacher heart".  On the very bright side, we have 5 baptisms this Sunday.  Three of them from Motupa.  Getting them into Tzaneen for the baptism is of course a challenge because of transportation.  No cars!  No money!  That means that only a few people will be able to come.  We dream of having the whole "ward" there like we do at home.  We actually met this week to see about locating a baptismal font in Motupa.  It was suggested that there might be a "make shift" font, but then we were reminded that water is only delivered every 7 to 10 days and we might not be able to fill it.  Such are the challenges, but we find joy in helping with solutions.  For you senior couples thinking of serving missions, we would just like to tell you that the elders here say that they can hardly wait to get married and grow OLD so they can come back with their wives.  They think we have all the fun.  We do have more privileges, more freedoms, and maybe a little more fun.  All BECAUSE THE gospel is true and we love being able to serve the Lord.   

Take care.  We truly do send out love.

Ed and Jolene, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa and happily Elder and Sister Smith

June 25, 2013

We walk in the mornings with all the maids going to work



Promise and her children



"Our Hawaii" and it's winter time here



A special baptism - Of course they all are!



Cooking dinner.



I love my English class!!

Dearest Family and Friends,

Recently we received an email from a long-time friend who said that life is full of "little bits of amazing in the middle of a lot of exhausting/challenging/discouraging moments."  So true.  How did she know what we are experiencing?  Just yesterday for example we woke up hoping to go on our normal walk, but my plugged up ear had become painful in the night time.  It's been going on for a while so we decided it was time to brave the local health clinic.  The doctor was pleasant and professional and diagnosed me with an inner-ear infection.  No problem, we decided to just keep our existing appointments so that I could rest otherwise.  We then hurried out to Motupa to pick up Sister Tiny who has recently separated from her husband and is living with her children and elderly mom.  They have no food, so we brought Sister Tiny into town to go shopping.  We purchased the normal staples which includes a huge bag of Mille-maize (for pap).  When we told her that she could buy a few cans of beans to go with it she was so thrilled that you would have thought we provided Christmas for her whole family.  Next we picked up Kuda so that he didn't have to pay for the taxi (not the kind your thinking of) going home since he lives close to Tiny.  We visited with Tiny's mom and she too was very thankful for the food.  After a quick stop back home for a bit of lunch, we hurried out to Nkowankowa to visit Promise and her family.  They appeared to be doing fine.  While we were giving the message from President Uchtdorf about having "spiritual landmarks" in our lives, I noticed that Mighty (8 months old) was chewing on her arm.  I asked if he was teething and Promise said, "No, he's hungry.  I ran out of formula and I don't have any money."  We had picked up a few bananas just outside the village at a little tuck shop.  I went out to the car and brought in some.  Mighty loved his first banana.  We left with the name of his formula and a promise to bring some back.  We then hurried over to the hospital to visit Sister Mama and her new baby.  The baby's dad, Max, was there.  We had a wonderful visit.  We invited Max out to church and he accepted.  I held baby Lulamile the whole time we visited.  When we left Max asked Ed to say a pray for them.  He offered a beautiful blessing on the "soon to be family", we hope.  We arrived home from our shortened day a little after 6:00 pm.  We fixed a little dinner and my ear said that I was DONE, and so we were.  Our days are filled with those normal/exhausting moments, but with hopes of miracles, and a prayer that we might touch lives along the way. 

In the meantime we continue to love and think of you all the time,

Ed and Jolene, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, AKA Elder and Sister Smith   

  

May 20, 2013



Birthday crew at our flat



Making cabbage for the orphans for lunch.



Cooking Pap for our dinner.



Local waters not the best for swimming!



Making bricks, only need 3,000!



Just out playing

Dearest Family and Friends,

Last Friday night we had the 6 Elders from our district over for birthday dinners.  Three of them, including Ed, had birthdays this week.  The Elders love to help out in the kitchen, and I love to direct and enjoy.  It reminds me of home. We also recently got to visit with the Padovichs for an afternoon in Johannesburg.  It too was fond memories, mixed with the excitement of sharing our new experiences. This past Monday we journeyed to an Orphanage out in Lenyenye.  We are looking for projects for Mormon Helping Hands.  There are plenty to choose from.  This orphanage cares for 104 children and it was one of the saddest buildings I have seen.  They have tons of peeling paint, broken windows, and areas where the whole ceiling is missing.  We won't be able to choose them for our project because they are out of our area, but we are already making plans to help them anyway.  The Elders and other branch members want to be a part of the restoration.  I almost cried when we visited and I asked where the toys were.  There are none!  Such is life.  Above you will see a picture of the sweet cooks working on lunch for the children.  A pot of cabbage was the menu.  We have also been working hard to help some of our young people prepare for employment opportunities.  I'm getting better at CVs (resumes) and we helped sponsor an employment workshop last Saturday.  It was a thrill to learn on Sunday that 2 of the men had already started to build a chicken coup to raise chickens.  They tell us that there is a need in the villages as people cannot get to the markets in town and are grateful to buy a live chicken locally.  No need to refrigerate.  Just last night we met with 2 other young people and it looks like their jobs that we have been working on together are going to come through.  We could not be happier.  A quick update on Sister Esther.  We continue to study with her.  Two Sunday's ago we had a baptism after church.   It was a long day, but good meetings.  After the baptism I looked at my watch and whispered, "Sister Esther, we've been in church for 4 1/2 hours.  I think we deserve blessings."  She looked over at me with a huge smile and said, "We've already been blessed.  I felt it.   I want to be baptized."  And so she will be.  Next Sunday is the day and she wants an "older man" to do it, so she said, and then she asked Ed.  He is honored.  All is well.

We love and miss you all,

 Ed and Jolene, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, AKA Elder and Sister Smith   

  

April 30, 2013



Sister Esther and family



Everyone has a banana tree.  Good thing we love them!



She just stood there in all her majesty.



Going for a ride. 



We stopped the jeep so she could parade in front of us.



We were only 10 feet away and she was bored????

As many of you know, our internet service is not always reliable.  We were able to see half of Lexi's (our granddaughter's) baptism Saturday night.  The half we saw was beautiful and we felt very much a part of everything.  We also finally got to see conference this past weekend.  We had heard bits and pieces from talks, but it was good to hear them all.  Wow, it was wonderful.  Last Friday we visited with Sister Esther who is investigating the church.  Her son, who is 50, joined a few weeks ago.  Sister Esther said to us, "The reason I don't know yet is because I can't read the Book of Mormon.  I need help."  We sat down and read 1 Nephi Chapter 1 together and explained as we read.  She all but glowed with excitement and understanding.  We offered to go often, even though she is a good 40 minutes away in the village of Nkowankowa.  Meanwhile in the village of Mokgolobotho, English is going very well.  As I taught last week, Ed visited with two parents.  The class has grown to over 20 students, and the one parent said that their school has noticed an improvement in some of the children and asked about it.  They then wanted to know how much we charge.  (Blessings only.)  Our class also has pen pals in Heber City, Utah and we  returned our first set of letters this past week, complete with pictures on each letter. The kids love to have their picture taken. What a thrill.  By the way, only three of our students are members of the church, but they all offer to pray in English and sing the primary songs with such enthusiasm that I'm tempted to send you a video.

I can't believe I am doing this. . . . is a phrase that we have used many times.  Once again we have enjoyed another adventure.  We visited with a family on the outskirts of our branch  and they just happen to live at the mouth of a game reserve called "Africa on Foot."  We stayed at the reserve for a few nights with  Elder and Sister Alder who are going home today.  Luckily the church encourages senior couples to get to know the people, the culture and the area.  WE DID.  We walked and rode through the vast regions of the reserve with diligent guides and saw a ton of animals.  Just a few pictures above.

It is getting colder and mostly at nights we miss our heated home in California.  Other than that we are safe, happy and well.  I love the statement from Sister Dalton, "Our part matters, because we matter." WE DO MATTER!  ALL OF US! Thank you for the part that you play in our lives.  

We love you,

Ed and Jolene