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!!