Merry Christmas!

Well, here we are.....a week before Christmas!  This has been a wonderful holiday to this point.  Decorations have been up since December 1st, cookies have been made and delivered and most all of the gifts have been purchased, wrapped and delivered.  One of the best gifts we gave ourselves was deciding to participate in the "Light the World" campaign.  Each day we think of the things that Jesus did while He was here on earth - like showing compassion, being humble, visiting the sick, reading scriptures, serving others and keeping the Sabbath day holy.  Then we try to do the same type of thing during each of the 25 days of Christmas. It has been a great way to keep the Savior in the forefront of our minds during this Christmas season when we celebrate His birth, His life and His mission.

We want to wish everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous, safe and healthy New Year!

Love,

Allan and Cindy

Mom and Dad

Grandma and Grandpa

( pick one 😊 )

The pictures start with our November dinner group - it was all about "couples" and we were to come dressed alike!

We do look alike, don't we?!?!

These four pictures are of a Weaver bird that builds nests just outside our window at work.  We have been fascinated watching them weave their nests.  The nests are intricate tear-drop shaped and the male puts them together.  If the female doesn't approve of it - the male tears it apart and starts again.  

A hike through the Klip River Nature Reserve - we spotted a gazillion of these cute little critters.  They are called Hyrax and remind us of rock chucks.

The above three pictures are of Brent and I hiking through the Klip River Nature Reserve.  

Another Weaver bird in the nature reserve.

Thanksgiving dinner at the Area office - my veggie train!  You can't see it but there is a cute little turkey driving the train.

This was a farewell for the sister standing next to me in African dress and her husband - we sang "Lord, I Would Follow Thee".  Santa Clara friends, please take note.....our "music stand" is Paul Graf and our director is Ginny Graf.  

Gingerbread temple!  Made by Sister Coleman.

Our Christmas tree and Gingerbread temple!  The gingerbread smells sooooo good!

Our December Family Home Evening.  Charlene was back in the states - so Brent is by himself in the blue crown.  The Coleman's (Russ & Linda) are in the purple and yellow crown.  Marsha and Jeff French are in the green and orange crowns.  Allan, of course, in the red crown.  The Colemans, and the Lee's (both sets) work in the Family History Centre.  Marsha French is the Area Mental Health Advisor and her husband Jeff is in charge of all of the flats plus supports Marsha in her assignment.
We talked about our Christmas traditions and I read the story "The Tale of the Three Trees".  We had Christmas "poppers" or "crackers" - hence the paper crowns.  We had roast beef wraps, brownies, sugar cookies, apples with a carmel & cream cheese dip and we tried to figure out the names of Christmas carols that had been changed to something else.  We all had a great time and it was on the 4th of the month so it kicked off our Christmas season of social events.  We attended a wonderful family Christmas concert that was totally interactive.  Another very enjoyable evening.  We have had two Area Christmas devotionals and an Area Christmas family home evening.  That is all until Christmas Eve and we will be having a Christmas Eve dinner with a White Elephant exchange.  Then on Christmas Day - the Lees are getting together for a turkey feast.

 

You would never guess what this is all about!  We are buying aspirin!!!!  They lock the aspirin (and I'm sure other dangerous drugs) in these cages that you carry up to the check out counter.  When you pay, they unlock the cages and you can then leave the building!!!!!!

After work on a recent Saturday - lunch out and some beautiful gladiolas that were very inexpensive.

Stay tuned - more to come!

On the Street Where We live - We're seeing PURPLE!

November brings many beautiful flowers and flowering trees and bushes.  The most anticipated is the flowering of the Jacaranda trees.  Beautiful purple blossoms lining the streets and hillsides of Johannesburg and surrounding area.  The recent thunderstorms with heavy rain, wind and hail have taken their toll.  We were glad to have taken these pictures while the trees were still in full color.

Last week on Monday (P Day) found us traveling with the temple missionaries to a cultural village for a tour and lunch.  We learned about five different tribes and their cultures.  This was followed by traditional dancing and drums and then we had a fantastic buffet lunch with traditional foods.  We had the opportunity to try crocodile, ostrich, pap (pronounced pop) and squashes.  It was all very tasty!  I especially liked the crocodile.  Could have had something to do with the sauce it was cooked in.  It was very tender!  Pap is made from maize and looks like mashed potatoes but is thicker and traditionally eaten with fingers along with greens.  They served it with a tomato and onion sauce. 

This was our welcoming committee.  They greeted us with song, smiles and handshakes.

Guard at the Zulu village.  We had to ask permission to enter.

This young lady was weaving a mat like they sit on and sleep on.

The woman on the left is wearing traditional clothing (especially the head gear) for a married woman.  She wears the hat ALL THE TIME.  To wash her hair she must have female relatives come and help her.  The young lady in the middle is wearing traditional clothing of an unmarried girl.  The man was our guide and is wearing the traditional blanket and hat of the Lesotho people.  They live at a higher elevation - hence, the blanket.

 

Our guide and one of the entertainers at lunch.

Back in August we went to Swaziland and went to another cultural village.

Our guide through the traditional Swazi village.

Cooking area.

Area where young men from age 8 and up live.

One of the dwellings - called rondels.  The thatch is replaced about every five years.

 

Another cooking area.

This was the grandmother's hut.  The Swazi's are a people ruled by men.....until you become a grandmother.  Your status is dramatically changed at that point and when a warrior is going off to battle he will spend the night in the grandmothers dwelling and seek her advice.

The dwellings are quite remarkable.  This is the beginning of one.

Another view of a new construction.

The Swazi singers and dancers.

 

The dancing begins.  They were quite impressive.  Male and female do high kicks with their legs well over their heads.

Oops! Missed September!

I knew it would happen sooner or later! I missed a month posting :(  Well, I am going to make up for it by putting in two months worth of pictures.  After our month of training and travel in August, we are back to a "normal" schedule.  The month of September didn't have any unusual events.  We did host the monthly dinner group to celebrate National Heritage Day (a national holiday here).  I made centerpieces of "family trees" using pictures of the family with green hearts for leaves.  We asked everyone to bring a food dish that said "family" to them (I made fried chicken) and to tell a story about an ancestor.  We had a nice turnout and it was a successful and fun evening.

We started training in the Orange Grove Ward during September.  On our last day there, I had to have a picture of this young man who is a member of the bishopric.  He was recently made the "Head" of his tribe and the tribe's Praise Singer.  The Head of the tribe is the one who knows the tribe's genealogy.  His tribe is in several different countries so it isn't an easy task.  I asked him if he was getting the information written down or put on the computer and he said that he and another fellow were working on it.  The Head of a tribe sings the genealogy - it is all in his head.  Truly amazing!  Sad, though, when the tribe's Head dies and the genealogy dies with him.  Recording oral histories is one of the projects being worked on here. As I understand it, the tribe's "praise singer" goes before the bride and groom at a wedding and sweeps the path while he sings praises.  That darling little boy is his son!

Practicing to be a mama.

Speaking of "darling" children.....the children in this country and surrounding countries are so darn cute.  This little girl and her sister were playing with the toys.  Pretty soon they had their "babies" on their backs and were carrying buckets on their heads.  Just like their moms!  It was way too cute not to take a picture.

Yes, below are pictures of us actually working!!!!!  This is a typical Tuesday and Wednesday morning when we get the groups in that travel on temple funds to come to the temple for the first time.  This week we had families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo - all French speaking.  Also, had some from the island of Reunion - also French speaking.  I worked with one sister from Reunion and we had such fun. She could speak a wee bit of English and I put Google Translate on the computer and we did just fine.  We normally have two to three translators join us when our big groups come in. However, the translators leave after the first big rush - so, if anyone comes back later, we are on our own; however, it always seems to work out just fine.

Intimate child care.

We finally got this "mama" to smile later in the day.

The brothers hard at work!

In the afternoon, when their parents are in the temple, the children go to the "Gatehouse".  They get snacks and when the time comes they are dressed in white clothes.  This group was all French speaking except for two.

After they were dressed in their white clothes, we sang hymns until time for them to go into the temple.  I was so impressed that the children didn't need hymnbooks to sing with.  They knew all the words to all the songs we sang.  Not just the first verse either, ALL the verses.  It was a lovely mix of French and English singing.

Aren't they adorable?


While most of you are heading into Winter - we are enjoying Spring and heading into Summer!  The following pictures are just to show you some of the beautiful flowers and trees around us here in Johannesburg.

We think this beautiful red tree is called a "Flame Tree".  Native to Australia, we haven't seen any others except this one.  It is truly striking.  Of course, pictures don't do it justice.  If you look closely, you can see lavender through the red.

The lavender tree is called a Jacaranda.  They are all over and keep getting a deeper purple shade as the blossoms fully unfold.  They are really pretty and most blossom without the leaves being out to begin with.  Hope to get a better picture before they are all gone.

At General Conference time, we watched all of the sessions live which meant two very late nights.  But it was certainly worth it.  Great talks and counsel.  Here in Africa, the church presents conference a week later by DVD.  The temple was closed and so was the Family History Centre.  Since we had already seen conference, we took the three day weekend and traveled south to the Drackensburg Mountains and surrounding area.  We based out of a town called Ladysmith.  Ladysmith was occupied by the British during the Boer War and the Boers laid siege to the town for three months.  There are several battlefields and museums about the siege that we wanted to see.  If you want to know more about South Africa and the war and all that led up to it, read the James Mitchner book called "The Covenant".  Anyway, Ladysmith also lies near the Drackensburg Mountains and several national parks.  We went to the mountains one afternoon and the following pictures are of rural Africa.  These little villages were very picturesque - but, in reality, these homes have no water or electricity.  You see women and children hauling buckets of water from the source to their homes.  The round homes are called Rondels.

These are three children walking home from shopping.

We stumbled across a small game reserve in the area.  Can't decide which animal I enjoy the most. Elephants and giraffes are certainly at the top of my list. Hope you enjoy the following pictures.

This is a Bottlebrush Tree.  Just like at home except really big!!

We were struck by how beautiful this guy's mane was.  He was very accommodating with his poses.

Giraffe eating their main food - Acacia trees.

Close-up of the thorns of an Acacia Tree.  The giraffe must have a mouth made out of steel.  They wrap their mouth around the branch and pull off the leaves.  I'm sure they manage to pull thorns out too.  Wicked looking thorns and VERY sharp.

Loved seeing this little guy peek over the trees at us!

This mom and baby pose is another favorite.
The reason the zebras look redish is that they roll in the dirt here.  Reminds me of home - lots of red dirt.

They are truly an odd mix of parts.  However, they can kill predators with a blow from their necks or by kicking their feet. They aren't as defenseless as I thought they were.

These two were "sparring" with neck swings - we think it was practice but not sure.

Little ones look REALLY little next to an adult.

We are healthy, happy and enjoying our mission - work, country and people!  There are three training sessions scheduled for us to do in November and we hope to train in Lesotho soon!  In eleven days, we will pass the half-way point in our mission. Time is really flying by!!