Elder and Sister Zweifel, Elder and Sister Blackburn

Elder and Sister Zweifel accompanied us to Nhlangano for church today, we had Branch Conference.  It was a really good Conference, District President Simelane spoke about self reliance and showed  great concern for the future of the Saints in Swaziland, he is deeply troubled about the future of the economy when the Emalengeni is devalued, a complete collapse of the economy is expected, he told the Saints to consult Elder and Sister Blackburn on food storage, how to do it and how to manage it.  He also expressed a conviction that the Lord has sent us here at this time to help them with this problem.

28 May 2011
Got up early and took the Zweifels to Hlane Big Game Park to look at the animals, they got some great pictures and so did we.  The hippos are the weirdest looking of the animals, they hardly ever come out of the water because the sun will burn their skin.  We were fortunate to get these pictures.  We went to Summerfield Restaurant for dinner, they wanted to treat us to a nice dinner before going back to Durban.  We both couples, had a really good time.

27 May 2011
Today is shopping day for the Zweifels, we will take them to all the tourist shops so they can purchase souvenirs for their family and friends. Sister Blackburn had an appointment with Stella Lukhele at the NGO to discuss their responsibility on the Sewing project for the women of Swaziland, She made a commitment to go over everything and send an email to Elder and Sister Nielsen confirming their commitment.   It was a long day shopping, when we got back we made muffins and hot cocoa for dinner, watched the movie Passage to Zarahemla then collapsed into bed.

26 May 2011
Waiting today for Elder and Sister Zweifel to arrive from Durban - a get a way from the office for them.  Went to the market, had District Meeting with Elders at our house.  All in all a very good day.

25 May 2011
Made an appointment with Stella Lukhele at an NGO to finalize terms to bring Sewing Machines project to Swaziland; then went to Mbabane to check on customs exemption for the Wheel Chair project - still not finished.  Should be finished this week.

                                                                                                   Patriarch Courtney with us

                                                                                             Elder and Sister Cox - CES Missionaries

24 May 2011
Received a telephone call from Ezulwini Elders they have been detained at the Ngwyene Border Post because their visas are expired.  We took some money and went to bail them out of their predicament.  The Customs Officials just wanted a bribe, which we paid to keep  them from being arrested.  This problem was caused by our Mission making the decision not to pay the money to get visas for the Missionaries without any of us knowing they had to leave the country every 30 days to stay legal.  So now we pay the price of time and money for this oversight.  We got back just in time to pick up the Mbabane Missionaries and go to the meeting at the US Embassy.  We met Ambassador Irving, a very gracious host, and he insisted that we meet his Security Chief and asked that we form a personal relationship with US Security so that they can watch over us and our missionaries.  We were very impressed with Ambassador Irving.  The meeting was very candid about the financial situation in Swaziland and the fact the country is close to an economic collapse.  It is a wait and see situation.  What will the King do?  Will he take the advice of the International Monetary Fund?  Elder Diseko was warmly welcomed, even though he is from South Africa,  one of the guards was one of their investigators, Elder Cooley, Elder Shelton and Elder Munger accompanied us.  The Ambassador and his staff were great with the missionaries.

23 May 2011
A few days alone again before company comes.  Time to do laundry, etc.  Elder Blackburn took money to Elder Ssesanga to pay for his dentist bill.  Elder and Sister Howell called and took us to dinner at the Chinese restaurant.  Mostly a day of rest.

22 May 2011
Picked up Elder and Sister Howell at Timbali Lodge and drove to Nhlangano for Church and Area Audit of the NHL records.  Elder Howell felt the Branch President is a good ecclesiastical leader but a poor bookkeeper.  The Branch has no computer, therefore all reports have to be done by hand.  We got home at about 6:00pm.  Too tired to feed anyone so we had a light supper and off to bed.  While in Nhl we helped Brother Motsa and Sister Hlope with their PEF paperwork, they want to enter school in Big Bend at the ITT College in July.  Called Elder Allen and explained some of the circumstances and he will take care of it.

21 May 2011
Elder and Sister Howell arrived today to spend time in Nhlangano to train the leaders in keeping the books.  Elder Blackburn left Patriarch Courtney in Mbabane and Elder and Sister Cox will take care of him and deliver him back to our house after he finishes tonight.  We met Howells at Timbali Lodge and took them to Manzini to do some shopping, they had some stuff to pick up for people in Johannesburg.  Brought them back about 5:00pm so they could rest for an hour, then all of us went to Calabash to have dinner together, Cox, Courtney, Howells and Blackburns.  We had a great dinner then came back to our house for Coconut cream pie for desert.  Busy, Busy day.

20 May 2011
Elder and Sister Cox made their monthy trip to Swaziland and brought Patriarch Courtney with them so he could give 11 blessings.  He went to Ezulwini on Friday afternoon as soon as he arrived.  Elder Blackburn does interviews and signs the blessings so the brother or sister can get their blessing.  He did not finish until about 8:30pm.

Today, Portia Khoza and her friend Maguga came to our house to learn how to bake brownies, Sister Blackburn explained that this would be a "girls day" and movies would be watched.  The girls picked The Lake House and The King and I.  They took their brownies home and want to set another "girls day".  Elder Blackburn had a lot of errands, he met with Joseph Moekuena from the Area Office to get visas set for all the missionaries in Swaziland and the Area Office will pay for them instead of the Durban Mission, that will make life much simpler for all Missionaries in Swaziland when he got back the movies were almost over and we took the girs with Sister Maguga's children to their home, they were happy to not have to find a Kombi.  A fun  productive day for all.

Memories of the last few days.

Gosh, so much has happened, today was Zone Meeting with all the Elders meeting at our house; we could not stay for it since Sister Blackburn had a meeting scheduled with Sister Ntshalintshali, the District Relief Society President.  Sister Blackburn gave her 5 sewing machines purchased with the money donated by special women at home.  The sisters have already started borrowing them for special projects.  The Humanitarian project was discussed and Sister Ntshalintshali accepted the challenge to find 10 women to train as teachers in sewing Maturation pads, incontinence pads and personal hygiene.  We are working with a non-government organization to teach these things in the Rural Areas although some of the women and girls who live in the urban areas will also benefit.  When we finally got to Zone Meeting we were able to instruct the Elders that they must go to South Africa every 30 days to get their passports stamped and stay legal with immigration laws and customs.  Cold rain this afternoon, we are certainly going into winter.  Sister Nuzman sent a special combination of vitamins to ward off the flue for Sister Blackburn and it was timely since Elder Sapaku was coming down with a cold.  What a blessing for him to understand that Heavenly Father knows our needs and will meet them when we are not expecting it and in unexpected ways.  He was very happy to get the vitamins etc.

18 May 2011
Today is transfer day, the Mbabane Elders will take our Bakki and deliver Elder Moeta to Piet Retief to Elder and Sister Ward.  At 11:30 am the Bakki came back to Elder and Sister Blackburn to deliver Elder Mashilele and Elder Mokouena to the Petro Port in South Africa.  The other Bakkis registeration has expired and they cannot be taken into South Africa or they will be impounded in Customs.  When we got to the Lavumisa Border Post the Customs Officer looked at the date stamps on the passports and the Elders were 4 days past their expiration date and we did not know this.  He then insisted on arresting them and went so far as to go get the police and bring him to take them to jail for the night and then go to court the next day (today).  The situation was getting very heated, and after a quick prayer Sister Blackburn stepped in front of Elder Blackburn, placed her hands on the Customs Officer's hands and quietly said, "is there some way we can get these young men to Durban tonight", I could feel the spirit move through e to him and calm his soul, he then took Sister Blackburn and the Police Officer to his office where Sister Blackburn explained that she would take full responsibility, but that 150 missionaries were moving through South Africa to assignments and these two young men needed to be in Durban tonight!!.  This Customs Officer saw only a mother pleading for two young men and he then took the passports to the counter, stamped them and told Elder Blackburn, if this happens again, "I will arrest them".  So grateful for young men who respected their mothers so much that he listened to Sister Blackburn.  So the two Elders were delivered to the Petro Port to Elder Zweifel and Elder and Sister Blackburn picked up 3 new Elders and we came through the Lavumisa Border Post without any hitches at all.  Everyone "in and safe" by 9"00p.m.

16 May 2011
Sister Blackburn tried to put pictures and write on them but it did not work too well.  The pictures were of the Cottage Meeting on Sunday, the new Bakki we have to drive now, just hoping the gas mileage will be almost as good as the little car.  We fed Elders all day, rained all day and they had not gotten their alotment yet so they watched movies all day.  They were really glad to have free food since they had no money.  Sister Blackburn called and told the other Elders to contact their Branch Presidents and get money from the Fast Offerings if they had no food, just enough to tide them over until their alotment was deposited.

15 May 2011
The Couples from Johannesburg went to Ezulwini for Sacrament Meeting; they then went back to Johannesburg and we went to Manzini to see how much damage was done to the bakki that went through the cement block wall.  Then we went to Mbabane in time to speak at a Cottage Meeting on the Second Coming of Christ; Everyone had good questions and were very pleased with their understanding when it was over.  We felt what a great tool for the Missionaries to use.  We had not heard of Cottage Meetings in 30 years.  We were happy to come home and relax by ourselves.

14 May 2011
We took the sewing machines to the Ezulwini Chapel and set them up for Sister Jill, she is teaching a sewing class, then we went to meet the Couples from Johannesburg, they were, Elder and Sister Scott, Callahan, Savage and Webb.  We took them to the Swazi Candle for lunch and shopping while we picked up Sister Jill and took her back to the Ezulwini Chapel; when we got back to Swazi Candle they were ready to go to Manzini Market to shop so we went there.  Got back to Ezulwini about 5:30 and left the couples and made arrangements to meet for dinner at the Chinese Restaurant.  We then went back to the Chapel, picked up the sewing machines and locked up.  Sister Jill had gotten a ride home with someone else.

13 May 2011
Friday the 13th - the Manzini Elders crashed their Bakki through a cement block wall; no one was hurt which was very much a blessing.  When we talked with Elder Sapaku he was so distraught he wrote on his report, "I am so sorry for the inconvenience and the use of Church funds to correct my fault."  We are always so amazed at the remorse these young men feel when they have accidents in the vehicles or cause the use of Church funds for their behalf.  They even hesitate to go to the Doctor until it is absolutely necessary.

8 May 2011
We spoke in Sacrament meeting today or should I say Sister Blackburn spoke in Sacrament, she used all the time, however no one cared because the information was so interesting.  The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  Elder Blackburn will speak on something else at a later day.  He was going to speak on Mother's Day.  The elders gave Sister Blackburn a nice plant and messages on a drawn hand; those are the pictures posted before this.
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Mother's Day; bathing in river; cottage meeting

05May 2011
We ran errands ALL day, went to Mbabane this morning to get picture frames, get a picture printed.  Met with FODSWA the handicapped charity for Swaziland; the Director met with us and he is deaf and mute, no wonder we could not connect with him by telephone, he promised to get the paper work done today and to let us know when it is finished, as of 7:00 pm no word from him, we will have to follow up tomorrow.  We have almost 200 wheelchairs donated by Humanitarian for people of Swaziland and need the customs excise tax expemption and FODSWA is in charge of getting that.  Gave the Manzini Elders their new duvet covers with instructions on transfer and what bedding to take when they are transferred.  Met with our Family Home Evening family and gave them a Family Home Evening Manual, Sister Blackburn explained the purpose of the CTR rings as she gave them to the children, there were 4 children there, 2 Book of Mormon and some brownies.  We had a good visit with expectations to visit again during the daylight hours.  They did not have electricity, only candles.  The Make's brother was there, he had surgery today in the gov't hospital and he was not in good shape.  Took our printer and fax machine to Matsapha to get it serviced and fixed so it will, hopefully, be able to scan.

4 May 2011
Home all day, it was a hard trip going to Johannesburg and back in  one day.  We had a Family Home Evening scheduled for this evening and it fell through... she will reschedule though.

3 May 2011
Got up early and drove to Johannesburg to get the new bakki, the Nielsens found us there and packed up the truck with Humanitarian hygiene kits and books to be used with the Sewing Machine project, we had lunch with them, bought new scripture bags at the book store - black ostrich skin and grey elephant skin.
Then we drove 5 hours back to Swaziland to fall into bed.

2 May 2011
Elder and Sister Nuzman left early to return to Richard's Bay she was not feeling very well.
Got the car washed preparatory to taking it to Johannesburg to trade for the new bakki;  Sibusiso Mbuli gave Sister Blackburn his resume to fix, she also gave him a Letter of Recommendation and a list of companies that may be looking for a driver.  Received a letter for him from the woman Sister Blackburn has been helping him put together a documentary for her on life in Swaziland, he will get paid about $150 dollars for this.  A lot of money for a young man who makes 7 dollars a week.

1 May 2011
Elders Blackburn and Nuzman left early for church in Nhlangano; Sisters Blackburn and Nuzman went to Church in Ezulwini; the young men wanted to know where Elder Blackburn is and who is driving the car.  They were surprised that Sister Blackburn could actually drive.  We had pork roast, potatoes and carrots with apple cake for dinner (very delicious).  We watched the DVD The Home Teachers and went to bed early.

30 April 2011
We left Komatipoort early to return to Swaziland;  We stopped at Piggs Peak tourist shops and they were so expensive that we did not buy anything.  When we got to Ezulwini and our house we just wanted to rest so we watched the DVD Passage to Zarahemla, the Nuzmans had never seen this movie and really enjoyed it.

29 April 2011
Got up at 5 to be at the Kruger main gate by 6 a.m.; we spent the whole day driving the park looking for animals, which we did see quite a few Buffalo, Elephants, Giraffs, we saw a lioness and a leopard, the leopard was very elusive, Sister Blackburn tried to get a picture and it just did not show the animal through the bush it blended very well.  We felt we had a successful day "hunting".  We had dinner at our B&B Trees Too they prepared a barbeque which was very good.  To bed early, we were tired.

28 April 2011
Elders from Manzini had their District Development Meeting at our house this morning, we were waiting for Elder and Sister Nuzman to arrive.  They got here at about 1:00p.m. and we immediately left for Komatipoort to go to Kruger National Park for 2 days.  We left the Nuzman's car in Swaziland.  We let the Mission Home know they had arrived and that we were going "exploring" and would be going to South Africa.

24 April 2011
Sister Blackburn did not get to go to Church today, Elder Blackburn had to take President Von Stetten to the Airport to fly back to Durban. The last couple of days have been really hectic.

23 April 2011
Sister Blackburn stayed home all day; Elder Blackburn picked up President Von Stetten at his B&B at 8:00a.m. to tour the mission in Swaziland; he had first time Temple Recommend Interviews to do and they did not finish until about 8:00 p.m.  Sister Blackburn had fixed a very light supper for them, then President went off to his B&B to bed.

22 April 2011
Left Durban early so we could get back to Swaziland and take care of any needs President Von Stetten may have; he took an airplane, the Zone Leaders will pick him up at the airport and he will then conduct missionary interviews the rest of the day.

21 April 2011
Mission Presidency Meeting today; went to Bake A Ton , met with Sister Von Stetten at 1:00 p.m. so she could show Sister Blackburn, Allred, Ward how to do beading, we all enjoyed that.  We met the Heningers at the mall for lunch before going to the mission home.  They had some papers for George Dlamini the District Public Affairs Chairman.  After the Mission Presidency Meeting all the Durban couples joined with us at Wilson's Warf for dinner and an evening of socializing.

20 April 2011
Drove to Durban from Richard's Bay and checked into our B&B. Picked up Elder and Sister Ward at the Mission Home, they brought one of the Mission Cars from New Castle that needed some repairs.  They will stay with us until Friday Morning when we will take them to the Mission Home to pick up the car.

19 April 2011
Drove to Richards Bay to spend the evening with Elder and Sister Nuzman, we went to dinner on the Wharf to celebrate Elder Blackburn's Birthday.  A nice end to a long day.

Banana Plantation

In Kruger

On the way home from Kruger