Monday, February 13, 2012

13 Feb 2012
The Couples from Johannesburg, Webb and Lewis came and picked us up at 10:30 so we could take them to some of the tourist shops, at about 1:00 they were finished and headed back to Johannesburg.  Sister Blackburn spent the rest of the day at home designing and sewing a scripture bag to show the District Relief Society President so the sisters can make one in homemaking meeting.  We were informed that the Branch President of Manzini would not allow the sisters to take their lesson books home, they had to leave them in a cabinet at Church so Sister Blackburn informed him that they were entitled to have the books at home.  Sister Ntshalintshali suggested that they sign for the books and if they lost them they must buy a replacement book.  They carry their scriptures in a plastic grocery bag in all the Branches.  Elder Blackburn went to Mbabane to find a reasonable priced internet cafe for the Elders to do their emailing.  When he got back he notified the Mission Office and informed the Elders that they were to stay in their District when going to the internet cafe so they would not be tempted to play soccer as a zone every Monday.  We notified President Von Stetten about where the Swazi missionaries were being sent.  They will be recognized at District Conference in two weeks.

12 Feb 2012
We delivered Mission Calls to Mbabane and then to Manzini, the young men receiving them were so happy to find out where they were going.  They are all staying on the African continent -Thulani Mabuza and Nkosi to -  Johannesburg, Sizwe Shongwe and Musi Dube to Zimbabwe, Thulani Simelane toKenya.  Sister Blackburn went to Relief Society and was just shocked when the Relief Society President modeled her new black skirt and one of the other sisters did too; it seems that they took some of the material designated for the Humanitarian project to make washable sanitary pads and made themselves "new skirts".  So Sister Blackburn just got up and told them the material was not for that use and told the Relief Society President she must use the material in the way it was designated to be used. Sister Lewis was trying so hard not to laugh out loud about the whole thing.  she was telling Elder Lewis about it after the meetings and he said it was too good to pass up and he must share this with Sister Nielsen the Humanitarian missionary who put the whole thing together for us.   A meeting will be set where Elder Blackburn will meet with Sister Matsebuela and Branch President Mahalele to discuss her actions and that she must administer Relief Society the way it is supposed to be administered. We got to meet with Elder and Sister Smith from the Temple, and their two sons who are here on a very short holiday and they took us to dinner.  We hope we can keep a good communication with this wonderful family.  They are from England and will go home sometime in the winter months.

11 Feb 2012
We went to the Ezulwini Branch to attend homemaking meeting and waited over one hour and no one ever showed up not even the Relief Society President, Sister Blackburn felt that she asked her to attend Relief Society so that she would be able to stay home and Sister Blackburn would have to do the sewing training. We met up with the Webbs and Lewis for dinner at Summerfield, they paid for our dinner which was very generous of them.  We were so happy to meet Elder and Sister Lewis and to reacquaint with the Webbs.

10 Feb 2012
Elder and Sister Zawacky left early this morning, we have had such a fun week with them, it is hard to see it end. Brother Smith came early to record an interview with us about what we have been doing in Swaziland and about our mission here.  He is doing a documentary which is scheduled to be shown between Conference sessions in April, it would be nice if our interview is included with everything.  He has a contract with KSL to show his documentary, however KSL will do the editing.   We did laundry all day, that is something we have neglected all week.  Elder and Sister Webb and the Lewis's got in late, they had traffic problems and bad weather all the way from Johannesburg , we were supposed to meet them for dinner at Summerfield and when we were ready to leave we received a telephone call from Nhlangano Elder Paulo, he was taking Elder Dutson to the hospital in Hlatikulu, he had taken him to the doctor in Nhlangano and he had been referred to the hospital for a scan of his stomach, so we told him absolutely not to go there to turn around and come to our house, Hlatikulu is a government hospital and from the outside looks very dirty and  the area doctor has not approved the government hospitals as being desirable for the Elders to use.  Fortunately, they had gone to a clinic where Doctors without Borders were the doctors on staff so Elder Dutson did get a good diagnosis and paid $1.00 american dollar for the visit, we jokingly told Sister Von Stetten that maybe we should use Doctors without Borders all the time, even though there was a big hole in the roof of their clinic.  We took him to Ezulwini Clinic for the scan and he was given 6 prescriptions so we looked at them and decided he only needed two.  He had severe acid indigestion and stomach pains.

09 Feb 2012 
What a day, we had scheduled to go to Hlatikulu and beyond to deliver a wheel chair and say good bye to Bishop and Sister Mamba, go to GeGe to deliver 2 sewing machines to the high school and go to Nhlangano to check on the Elders there.  We went to GeGe first and had a good visit with the school and delivered the sewing machines and supplies and toured the vocational classes, it is a large school.  Sister Malinga was not home so we could not bid them goodbye.  We started back to Nhlangano and got almost there and had a flat tire, Elder Zawacky and Elder Blackburn got it changed so we went to the Elders flat and did an inspection then went to the Church to take care of the internet.  Lugelo Motsa was there and said the telephone company was going to shut off the phone because it has not been paid since last July, so we went to the telephone company and got copies of the bills, Sister Zawacky and Sister Blackburn saw some beautiful umbrellas and decided to buy a couple and when we asked Lugelo if his daughter had one he said no so we gave him one for her.  She is 5 years old and walks to school.  We told him that he should let her dance with it too.  By the time we got all this done it was 3:00pm and we did not feel like the 2 hour drive to Bishop Mamba's home so we came home and collapsed.  It was after 5:00 when we got back.



Sister Ntshalintshali - a really special lady, she teaches at the High School
Home Economics Class

08 Feb 2012ope
The Zawackys and we got up early and headed to Hlane for a Safari drive, it is summer and we really hoped we would see some animals.  Our driver was really good and we saw a lion, giraffe, antelope, rhino, hippo and elephant.
07 Feb 2012
We and the Zawackys went to Zone Development meeting, we took brownies, their emergency kits, flashlights and instructions from President Von Stetten on flat inspections and instruction to be dressed in white shirt and tie when they are studying.  The Elders accepted all this very well.  It was a good meeting.  After we did our part, we left and went to Mlilwane Game Reserve to do an afternoon game drive.  We saw zebra, wildebeast and antelope it was a slow drive and we enjoyed.  On the way out we saw the Baobatik factory and stopped to see if they had a show room and they did, Sister Zawacky and Sister Blackburn ordered two blouses to be made.  We had a fun day.


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