President and Sister Von Stetten visit Swaziland

5 July 2010
Met the District Relief Society Presidency in Manzini Chapel; we baked cupcakes for the reception on Tuesday night; the sisters were not familiar with an oven and tried to take the cakes out of the oven with their bare hands.  They had never baked cakes, much less cupcakes with frosting and sugar sprinkles.  They truly enjoyed the experience and so did I.

6 July 2010
President Von Stetten and his wife arrived about 1 hour late; they had difficulty getting through the border into Swaziland and then were stopped and fined for going 2 miles over the speed limit.  We are usually stopped at least once per day for something.  They only fine we have had to pay was when Elder Blackburn was not wearing his seat belt, cost us $60 Emlangeni.  Which is about $10.00 American.  You pay right then, no ticket to go to court with.
We had a good turn out for the reception. About 30 district leaders and wives came; we served BBQ beef sandwiches, chips, cupcakes and juice,  which was really enjoyed by all.  A new American dish for the Africans.  The District RS did cleanup and we led the President and his wife to their Bed and Breakfast for the night,
7 July 2010
We went to the B&B and led the President and his wife to Mbabane Chapel for Skills and Interviews with the Mbabane District Elders;  They were cold, they did not have heat in their room at all.  So we turned on the heat full blast to warm them up.  We served leftovers to the Elders and President, then after the interviews Elder Ellis told the African Elders "come taste something from the land of Milk and Honey".  He was so happy to get the sandwiches and cupcakes.  He had not had anything like it since coming to Africa.
Sister Von Stetten was concerned about how Sister Blackburn was adjusting and related this story;  She and her husband just finished a mission to South Eastern Africa in charge of the Perpetual Education Fund, and she was not used to being with him 24/7 and would get so frustrated; one day she just took a large potted plant and set it on the desk in front of him so that she could not see him.  She said that prayer was the only way she could come to terms  in not being able to go when she wanted and do what she wanted.  Anyway she said that by the end of the day she had forgiven and moved the plant away.  This is the toughest part of the mission, being with someone 24/7 when they control the telephone, car and money.
President Von Stetten set apart a missionary who had been called to the Johannesburg mission and took him with him to Durban where he will put him on an Airplane to Johannesburg Missionary Training Center.

8 July 2010
It rained most of the day today and was kind of cold; Elder Blackburn made a deal with Sister Blackburn that if it rained they would stay home all day. Elder Blackburn worked on a calendar design that President Von Stetten had asked him to do;  Sister Blakburn worked on the lesson for the Marrieds class to be held on Tuesday of next week.

9 July 2010
Woke up to sunshine, got up and went for long walk; it was great being outside;  Went to the border to pay road tax so Swazi government can't confiscate our vehicle.  Then paid telephone bill, tried to find the Ministry of Home Affairs; it took about 1 hour driving around; everyone we asked gave us a different direction; they did not know either.  We finally found it and there were so many people out and around we decided to go have lunch and come back another day;  then we went to the electric company to try to strighten out our electric bill.  Our bill is 19,000.00 Emlangeni which is about $2,000.00 dollars.  We paid $600.00E and they were happy and said not to worry.  So we won't worry.  Just offer so much and let it go at that.
It was about 3:00pm when we finished so we went home and watched 2 Doris Day movies.