KANYAMAZNE

We arrived to our area on Friday and on Saturday the Baxters (another senior couple assigned to the Nelspruit branch) took us out to see KaNyamaze, the township to which we are assigned.

KaNymazane is a township of an estimated 500,000 people (Bob thinks fewer, but it is large).  After 4 weeks I have come to the conclusion Marian and Bob are the people of color!  My nail lady, an Afrikan (white), told me she would never go there.  When I asked why she said, "they would kill me."  I don't think so!  We have never felt threatened or uneasy.  Most people are nice and helpful. There is only one problem there are no street addresses. There are two main roads into the township that make a Y then one road through the middle the rest of the way.  All the other roads are dirt, rutted and big rocks.  We drive a Chevy sonic, I told the office person in charge of cars that this was a bad place for cars, his response was yeah the Mission President went there and he said we have to figure out some type of all terrain vehicle for that area.  But, they haven't figured that out yet.
Below are some general pictures of KaNyamazne




Local Hotel To The
Right

 

Local Fishing Hole

Example of a shop, they are scattered all over, often in the person' front yard. These could be little refreshment places, little places to buy food or treats, trinkets, barber shops  etc

There is a Funeral Shop every half mile...Not sure what they do there, they are small, (maybe 10X10)

Typical Fast Food, There is a KFC that we and the Elders go to once a week, Other wise it is these little home shops.
Below is a Typical Bar

A view from the top of a hill, the township goes over that hill and keeps on going

 

These tents are typical churches.  They are all over the town.  There are a few large brick churches, the Assembly of God and some others,  It is interesting many churches have a costume or uniform. They are an event.  I have been afraid to ask for a picture...but, I will.  
On Sundays the streets are full of people walking to church. Some people (mostly the young) have cars. But, mostly they walk and take taxis (a 15 to 20 passenger van).

 

 

 

My favorite place is the market at the center of town.  There is a row of little ladies selling their goods, vegetables.  They grow them in their yards and then take them here to sell.  There is also a little shopping center with a large grocery store, KFC ( a weekly for taking the missionaries out--it is nice, but they put a sign out saying restroom closed no water?), some dress shops, a gas station.   But, these ladies are out on the side walk doing their thing.  I asked if I could take their picture.  They were all excited.  Some said no but only one or two.  I told them I would bring a copy of the picture back to them.  When I took the picture back, the minute they saw me they started yapping (not in English.  When I gave them the pictures they were running around looking at each others pictures and really talking it up.  It was hysterical. 

 

 

 

 

 



Some sell in little groups like the ladies, but others just put a little stand at the side of the road and sell from that.

HELLO SOUTH AFRICA

 

 

The plane ride was interesting.  Salt Lake, Chicago, six hours at Heathrow in London, (missionaries all over the place) then on to Johannesburg. it was 22 hours in the air---that was an event!  We arrived at 7:00 am---smelly, stinky, and 36 + hours of no sleep.

President And Sister Omer picked us up.  The morning traffic was crazy!  We went to their house to clean up, breakfast, then off to the mission office for the day to take care of details. They then took us to a very nice and cute bed and breakfast and we slept from 5:00 pm until 7:00 am --- wicked jet lag!  The next day we went to the mission office, Bob took the drive on the left,  pass on the right driving test (I should have taken it).

Then off to find McDonalds --- not one every corner here--- what the heck?  Then to a bank to exchange our currency (waited in a 2 hour cue! Everything here has a cue!)

That night we went to a cultural program (I will send pictures later of that ) with some senior missionaries from Namibia. They were going home to Draper.

The next morning we got up and headed on a 5 hour drive to our assignment in Nelspruit.

Johannesburg was pretty. It is has grassy plains to the east, dry rocky bush to the north west, and beautiful trees in the city.  The city is considered to be the largest man made forest in the world. 

 

 

 

 

The terrain in the Johannesburg mission varies.  Green grassy lands, the bush, and sub tropical and topical.

 

During the past three weeks we have learned that we are truly blessed to live where we do.  It is beautiful. It is sub-tropical.  It can be hot in the summer and the first few days we wondered if we would survive drooping hair, sweat, two or three showers a day, but since then it has been very pleasant.  The fall is just starting here and the weather has been great.  We are told the winter can become cold.  There is no central air or heat.  Nelspruit is surrounded by beautiful citrus groves, macadamia and other nuts, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Everything can be purchased from little stands all over the place.



 

It is a city of the haves and have nots. People seem to do well and others are poor. Things we have had to adjust to:

 

1)Parking Boys:  every parking lot has lots of these guys who help you park.  And it is expected that you tip.  So if you go to 10 different places you pay 10 tips.  It is not a lot, but it adds up.  Bob really loves it!

 

 

 

This explains the car crash on my fourth day here, I was watching the parking guy, It is his fault. For my family it is like the antenna falling off the car!

 

2) Cars:  You either have a car or you do not,  If you have a car it is nice.  Per capita there is a very high % of luxury cars; BMW, Audi, Jaguar, Porsche, Lexus, and the other cars are newer models.  Lots of nice SUVs.  There are very few junker type cars.

The people that do not drive ride taxis to and from the townships.  In the mornings and around 3:30 or 4:00 there are hundreds of people that lined up on the streets waiting for the taxi or trying to hitch a ride.  I need to get a picture of that.

 

 

                                         And the list goes on...car dealers of most kinds

 



 

3)Technology is an Interesting adventure:  trying to get the internet and my cell phone working was an event.  They all have cell phones and love them.  Everyone here SMS's (texts) because it is cheaper.  You buy airtime (=s $2.40 a minute) unless you want to call and text from 3 to 4 am then they give you a break.  International is pricy.  They say it is because of AT&T.

 

4) They do not like Ice.  You have to beg for Ice for drinks.  The McDonald's people laugh at us because we ask for lots of ice (that is 3 or 4 cubes to them)  Then we buy another cup of ice.  They know us now and they laugh when they hear our voice over the speaker.  Our black friends, if we serve them ice they want to pour it out and get just water.  Got me?  Sweat can be pouring down their head and they do not want ice.  Bob has got us a system and we keep the ice coming at home. (as a note the McDonalds here are very nice!)

 

5) Lebola (not sure the spelling) It is the Johnny Lingo story, to get a wife you pay cows to her family.  Now it is money equaling the value of a cow.   The problem is that no one has any money, so people live in sin. They will have three or four kids, but can't marry because of the Lebola.  We have a number in the branch, they want to get baptized, but the wife will not give up the Lebola, "it is tradition, and I am worth it.")  They have a whole system to determine how much someone is worth.  I have a lot to say about this...but it will wait for another day.

 

 



 

 







OFF TO THE MTC

"Each of our sons had their picture taken here so this was fun!"

 

I had some hesitations about the MTC, Bob was more than ready to go!  But, despite my concerns, it was awesome.  There definitely is a specific spirit there.  It was peaceful, despite the fact they were 2000 over capacity.  They were adding beds to the already crowed little missionary rooms.  We drove daily so we avoided a lot of that, but it was fun talking to the young elders and sisters (they looked like babies).  They moved the senior missionaries to a nearby chapel that was within in walking distance (I walked at least3 miles to prove my statement on the application). Our little district had some very nice people.  One couple was going to Hawaii, one to Germany, one to Poland, and we were going to South Africa.   We enjoyed the group a lot.  One couple was African American.  They had an amazing story of their journey in the Gospel.  She shared a story that has haunted me about how sometimes we members are indifferent to others.  She and her husband joined in college in 1979 right after the priesthood was restored to all worthy males.   She remembers that after they were baptized, the missionaries explained that there were some people in the church that did not accept that revelation and that they would need to remember the spirit of their conversion to help then when they met those members.  She said she made a commitment to herself and Heavenly Father that she would be forgiving and not let those situations change her testimony.   At the time she had one or two children.  She related that it was not until after her 5^th  child (she had 8 children) that anyone from the church ever helped her or even brought over a meal.  The hurtful part is she knew others were being assisted when they had babies.  But, she was determined to stay committed to her promise to herself and Heavenly Father.   She had other interesting stories.

It was amazing how the spirit works through us when we are prayerful and focused.

 

Our MTC Group

 

 

 

We Are Going A Long Way Baby!



 

SETTING THE STAGE

SETTING THE STAGE

This is an adventure that has been in the making for more than 40 years.   In 1966 Bob made the decision to go into the Peace Corp.  This good man I married planted the seeds long ago.  As our relationship developed, he made it very clear that he intended to go back to Africa some day to live for a while.  He sought a commitment that I would be willing to do that.  Little did I understand that the adventurous spirit of a younger version of me would differ a bit from my age 60ish version of my spirit of adventure.

WHICH WOULD BE BOB?

In the early Sixties, I had an experience that clearly was a mark in my conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I had always gone to church (often not the church of my family heritage), I was not from a church attending family.  I had always been encouraged to attend church , but the true example of Christian life came from my mother.  She was the epitome of goodness to others.  She was often found attending to those who had terminal illnesses or who had any other need.  Others frequently sought her out when they were troubled or stressed.  She taught that humanity is an eternal family and we are all linked to one another.  When we were younger there were maybe 5 African American families in our town. They lived way up the top of our town at the mouth of the canyon.  One gentleman named Ben Fermin was out of work.  He had been tap dancer in earlier years.  My mom talked him into starting dancing classes. He finally did in an old school in upper Sunnyside.  She packed us all up every week in the big black Buick and drove us up to Ben Fermin's dancing class. It was a bit nerve wracking.  She even made my teen age brother go....at his protests.  But, we loved it!  Ben Fermin danced for us for an hour and a half every week.  We got tap shoes and tried some of it ourselves.  We didn't learn much about dancing, but learned a lot about diversity and we learned to really like Ben.  He finally went back to work and had to stop the dance class.  It was a sad day! I often wonder what both my parent would think of this journey.  I can kinda hear them express their concerns and support.

Just after high school graduation and in my early years in college I took religion seriously and started looking at various teachings.  I eventually, became totally converted to the religious teachings of my ancestors.  The plan of salvation it taught made the most sense to me and there was a conversion of the spirit.  I made a commitment to serve diligently all of my earthly brothers and sisters.  

Another   event that led to the fulfillment of this journey was sitting with two of my “besties”, crying uncontrollably in the movie, “Out of Africa”.  I am sure they were mourning the tragic loss of the romantic interest, Robert Redford-everyone’s heart throb at that time (now he is old and wrinkled like the rest of us) and the sad noteworthy heroine.  But, I was crying for another reason.  As a young mother with four young children and no life of my own, I was crying for the loss of the spirit of adventure.  Today I would not trade one aspect of my life, even some of the very sad times.  I have been blessed in life with a wonderful spouse that has treated me well, beautiful children, awesome children of my heart that our children have married,  they have enriched our family, and really wonderful grandchildren.  But, I do remember back then thinking one day we will do something adventurous when we go on a mission

I guess now is the time for that adventure (although, as the time came I did do some foot dragging). It was hard to reconcile leaving home and our beautiful fast, growing grandchildren.

As for Bob, he is always ready for an adventure and has always wanted to serve a mission in Africa.  He was not sure that would happen because of a few bumps along the way as we were getting making our plans.  But,  you have to trust that the Lord knows what is best.

It Happened

We made the decision, despite our concerns about Bob’s mom (now 103 years old) to start the process.  That was in February 2012.  In the physical there were some health discoveries that postponed it for a while. We got the call to Joberg, South Africa in September.  Friends and family joined us in opening it.  Everyone took a guess.  They had us going all over the place.

Now in February 2013 we are going to be leaving.  We had fun get together with family and friends before leaving.

 

I didn’t get the camera out soon enough. Missed in pictures was my friend Paula (from high school) Kim K, Kettle’s, Blodgett’s, and many of our ward friends and neighbors. It was fun for us. Many people we love came to church but were unable to stay.  Thanks for all the support.