Branch President Shongwe's Wedding

20 August 2011
The Wedding of Branch President Thoko Shongwe

Today we went to a Swazi White Wedding!  The groom was Branch President Thokozane Shongwe and his bride was Sebenzile Khumalo.  The wedding started with the Wedding Parade, the children came in first and they had baskets of candy they threw at all the tables and the guests were supposed to catch the candies, then the bridesmaids and groomsmen came down the aisle between the tables and they were dancing.  That was so fun, the dance was a real dance and they were all in step.  There was a lot of clapping and noise.  Then the Groom came in and waited for the Bride to enter at the opposite end of the room, she was escorted by her uncle.  A white runner was rolled out for them to walk on.  The Groom came half way up the aisle and waited for his Bride, when she got just in front of him, the Uncle asked a question of the Groom, the Groom replied in the affirmative, there was much clapping and laughter.  Then the Groom took his Bride by the hand and they walked up the aisle together to the place where the Marriage Officer would officiate.  After all the ceremony, everyone was invited to come to a table and give money to the Bride and Groom and there the guests went and dropped what they could into the dishes placed for that purpose.  Then the guests who did not bring money or a wrapped gift were given the microphone (one at a time) where they spoke and committed a certain gift to the Bride and Groom.  One lady gave 2 chickens and 3 goats - that is the only one we understood since the whole thing was in SiSwati.  After all the gift giving and funny comments from whomever wanted the microphone it was the Bride and Groom's turn to thank everyone.  President Shongwe was the one who spoke and he teared up at his good fortune to have such a lovely person as Sebendzile to be his wife.  This was a very tender moment.  The whole program was set up like a Sacrament Meeting would be arranged, opening hymn, opening prayer, songs, closing hymn and a closing prayer with Elder Blackburn being recognized as the Presiding Authority.  President Maseko had called us last night very concerned about doing everything in accordance with the Culture of the Church.  There was an all Africa Conference in February where the African Saints were asked to set aside their culture and accept the Culture of Jesus Christ and his Church, so he met with Elder Blackburn before the Marriage Service and they went over the program and determined that they had done a good job to stay within the Church Culture.  All in all, it was a sweet, fun marriage; one of the best civil ceremonies we have ever attended.

19 August 2011

We got up early and left Richards Bay, we had to go to GeGe to pay the rent on the School, where the Saints meet and then to Nhlangano to deliver the Elder's mail, it was a very long day in the car.  The Elders were very happy with their letters from home. 

18 August 2011

Today we travel to Richards Bay, before leaving Durban we had to go to the book binders to pick up Sister Blackburn's hymn book (it turned out beautiful) and the Mission Office to get a telephone to take to the Elders in Richards Bay and then to the Mission Home to pick up hygiene kits and Celestial Marriage lesson books.  We got past Ballito when Brother Ray Holder telephoned us and needed to give us the cash to pay the rent on the GeGe School where the Saints meet on Sundays so we turned around and went back to Ballito to meet him, then we drove on the Richards Bay to Elder and Sister Nuzman's house,  we had bought berries at the Super Spar market in Ballito and Puff Pastry to make a very belated birthday berry pie for Sister Nuzman.  We all went to a Thai restaurant for dinner then back to the house for berry pie and ice cream.  We had a good visit with them and look forward to the next time.

17 August 2011

Mission Presidentcy Meeting today, but first we went with Elder and Sister Ward to the book binders. The Wards gave Sister Blackburn some Ostrich leather and she left her hymn book to be rebound, it was tearing in the spine.  Elder Blackburn went to the Orthopedic Surgeon to check his knee and the doctor told him he is "just wearing away" wait until you cannot walk anymore to have the joint replaced.  Gave him some antiinflammatory tablets and sent us on our way.  Then we went to the mall for lunch at Mugg and Bean and ran into Elder and Sister Davis and the new office couple, Elder and Sister Delamere.  We got to know each other a little.  We all then went to the Misison Office where Sister Ward and I left our husbands and we went to the Mission Home to have a nice chat with Sister Von Stetten.  At 6:00pm we took Sister von Stetten with us and met all the Durban couples for dinner at a restaurant called Zanzibar, the food was not very good but the company was wonderful.  We then went back to the B&B and our beds.

16 Aug 2011

We got up and had breakfast, our host is so accomodating and trys so hard to please us.  After breakfast we went to the Durban Aquarium.  It is inside the hull of a large ship and very scenic.  Elder Blackburn was able to see a rikshaw again.

This skeleton has to be a whale.  After the aquarium we went food shopping at Makro, and Bake A Ton - the only place to buy sugar similar to home.  We bought for the Nuzmans and Brother and Sister Smith back in Swaziland.  Then we went back to the Bed and Breakfast to wait for Elder and Sister Ward to arrive.  We went to dinner at the restaurant on the beach and they loved the setting.  Not crazy about the B&B, but loved the setting.

14 Aug 2011

Got up early and drove to Durban - 7.5 hour drive.  Our Bed and Breakfast had a beautiful setting, but the accommodations were not the greatest.  It WAS very clean though, our room was spacious, but in the loft and we had to climb steep stairs.  The Wards will be given a smaller room and smaller bed but a large bathroom.

This is Dolphin's Rest Guest House.  Very clean, old furniture, old beds.  Needs refurbishing.  We loved the setting though and the price was good.

14 Aug 2011
We went to Nhlangano for church today, Elder Blackburn had some interviews to do.  While there we were asked to teach the Temple Preparation class and it was a very successful class.  Everyone was so interested and just hung on to every word we said.  We stopped in Manzini, on the way home, and Elder Blackburn attended his District Presidency Meeting, the President had read a little out of the Celestial Marriage lesson book and was so excited about arranging classes for the adults and young adults in the District.  So, that will probably be our next big project - to teach a different marriage culture.  We were fixing dinner and there was a knock on the door and a former missionary and his mom were visiting Swaziland, he had served here 3 years ago, Elder Crane.  They were having a great vacation visiting the people he had baptized and those members he had known.  Every Missionary's dream, this mom had saved for 3 years to make their vacation possible.  We received a very nice email from Barbara, she seemed to be reflective.  Her first child to get married!!

13 Aug 2011
We stayed home all day, Rachel called us on her way to the Temple in Las Vegas, we had been waiting for some kind of call since it was her wedding day.  It was such a pleasure to share a few moments with her on her special day.  We are looking forward to the pictures.  It was a good pday.

12 Aug 2011
Brother and Sister Smith came by and we took them to Mbabane to do some immigration duties.  Went to DHL to mail missionary info to the Area Office for Muzi Mabuza.  Took the Smiths to the Silversmith, they wanted to get rings to wear.  They loved the silver and giraffe hair jewelry.  At 3:00p.m. Elder Blackburn had an interview, then we met the Smiths at the Manzini Chapel and all missionaries went to an orphanage the missionaries had selected to teach personal hygiene and give out soap, towels, combs, toothbrushes, toothpaste.  Brother Smithe filmed all of it for a potential documentary to be shown at General Conference.  The children got into line to receive their dinner after getting their bag of goodies.

11 Aug 2011
Just ran errands all day, getting electricity, cell time, groceries, etc.

10 Aug 2011
We got up early and went to the Immigration department and got all the new Elders Passports stamped with their residence permit and right to work for six (6) months.  Took 3 hours standing in line and waiting.  The upside to this is that they are legal to come and go throughout the Kingdom.
The Smiths went with us to the Ngwenya Border Post to meet the truck delivering the wheelchairs.  He was on time, it took us 4 hours to get all the paperwork put into place.  When we got to the Swazi side, we were told, "you need a second stamp" so we had to go to the government office of Swaziland Revenue Service for paperwork, then to the Customs office for the stamp.  We went to 5 different offices in Customs until someone in the hallway took us to the right office where we were told, "you do not need a second stamp, we keep telling the border posts and they keep sending people back to us."  Anyway, when we got back to the Border Post everything went smooth.  Brother Smith was prevented from filming on government property so he filmed the truck coming through the Swazi side, then we drove to south of Manzini to St. Josephs School where the Wheelchairs are being stored until the official handover to FODSWA and delivery to the receipients.  All the Ezulwini Elders and Manzini Elders joined us after we called them to tell them that arrangements had not been made for unloading the truck - they were great to come right then.  143 wheelchairs, 4 hours at the border, 1 hour to warehouse, 1 hour to unload.  A very good project.

09 Aug 2011

Transfer day, Elder Smith met us out our house and we drove to Piet Retif and exchanged him for Elder Jenks and Elder Shannon.  When we got the new Elders in the car, we asked them if they had eaten, they had been traveling since 6:00p.m. the night before and traveled by bus to LadySmith so they were really hungry, they had only had what snacks they had brought with them.  We fed them at Nandos and they were soooooo grateful.  Elder Smith is going to be Zone Leader in New Castle.  Elder Jenks was so happy to have been transferred to Swaziland.  He will really work hard here.  This took all day.

08 Aug 2011

We had Mbabane District Development Meeting at our house today with a barbeque,  Elder Cooley will not be transferred this time and neither will Elder Diseko because of Elder Reeder's father being ill with terminal cancer.  So we had Barbara do a honary Swazi citizenship for Elder Cooley, we are always teasing them about becoming a citizen when they are not transferred.  Elder Cooley will have been here 10 1/2 by the time he is actually transferred.  He was so cute when he opened it.  All the Elders thought it was hilarious and wished it were them.  They really needed a barbeque and some laughter at this time.

07 Aug 2011

We went to church in Manzini so Brother and Sister Smith and their son Zack would have a familiar face at Church.  After Sacrament we went to Mbabane to say goodby to Elder Reeder, he had gotten a call from the Mission President that his father was close to death with terminal cancer.  They had thought Elder Reeder could finish his mission before he died, so President Von Stetten decided to release him 6 weeks early so he could go home and be a support to his mother.  He is the oldest child.  He has been Assistant to the President and has been Zone Leader here in Swaziland so he is really a good young man.

06 Aug 2011

We came back from Richards Bay today and met the Assistants at the Lavumisa Border and we had them follow us to Swaziland so they could pick up Elder Reeder on Sunday, he is going home to help his mother at this difficult time.  When we got to Ezulwini the Elders from Mbabane met them and took them to their house for the night.  They also brought bicycles for the Manzini Elders to ride instead of walking everywhere.

05 Aug 2011

Spend the day in Richards Bay waiting for test results for our missionary.  We had fish and chips on the beach,then came back to the house and had a very light supper.  Blueberry muffins and hot chocolate, boiled eggs.

04 Aug 2011

Got a call from Elder Reeder early this morning that one of his Elders was not feeling very well and we called Sister Von Stetten and we were told to go ahead and take him to Richards Bay since he has not been feeling good for some time.  So we went a picked him up and drove to Richards Bay, we all spend the night with Elder and Sister Nuzman, they are so good to help when anyone needs the help.

02 Aug 2011

We met Brother and Sister Jon and Anne Smith and their son Zack at the Matsapha airport.  Brother Smith is going to teach at the Swaziland University on a Fulbright Scholarship for the next 10 months they will do documentaries of the Big Game Parks and our Humanitarian projects and anything else we find for them to film.  They were very down to earth and we feel we will become great friends.

01 Aug 2011

President Dean and Elaine Christenson of the Johannesburg MTC came to Swaziland and we were fortunate enough to be able to spend the day showing them around and getting to know them.  We had fix sandwiches for lunch so we would not have to use our time eating.  In the evening, after all the sight seeing we went to dinner at Summerfield.  We all loved the day together.