We never know what each day will bring. Usually the phone starts ringing - this morning Elder Jenks had cut his finger last night preparing dinner, the gardner at the Manzini chapel called and a young man showed up very sick and could not stand, "he might die on me". He had called the Branch President and the BP was at work and could not help. Sister Blackburn called the gardner back and advised him to call the Relief Society President as we could not get there right away, we had to check on our Elder Jenks. We also needed to get to Manzini by 12:00 noon for a dental appointment for Sister Blackburn, she had a filling fall out while in New Castle. We checked on Elder Jenks and sent him to the Clinic for sutures; went to Manzini to check on the young man there, he appeared very sick; no one had money for the hospital and cash was required, the BP and District President had to sign a request to cash a check and neither one was available, Sister Matsebula arrived (Relief Society President). Sister Blackburn asked her if she still had the money the sisters had been donating to Relief Society, she said yes and went and got it, the amount was R170. less than 30 dollars. Meanwhile Elder Blackburn spoke with President Mahalele and the hospital would be asking for R200 which amounts to $30 american. We were expecting at least R1000. So we put Sister Matsebula, with her money and brother Msibi in the truck and drove them to the Catholic hospital and gave them enough money for a taxi home after he was seen by the doctor; we then had to drive back to Ezulwini and find Elder Jenks, we had forgotten to give him money for his doctor appointment, he only had to have 2 sutures for R700. Depends on which clinic you go to get the best price, the quality of care is different too. The government hospital would have been an all day affair and not one was willing to give that much time. Now it is time for Sister Blackburn to get to her dental appointment, the dentist could not find the area where the filling came out, so Sister Blackburn asked for an explorer so she could show him. Then he said not to refill, and Sister Blackburn explained that the tooth would break and that it is sharp. So he looked at it for a while and got a magnifying mirror and looked at it and finally decided he could place a filling, which he did and it feels great, just hope it lasts until we get home. When we got back to our house, Elder Brown and Elder Tameilau were here with a letter to send to President Von Stetten explaining that the switchblade knife he had bought was lost and he could not give it to Elder Blackburn, however he did give Elder Blackburn the pellet gun he had bought. We just found out about these items on Monday. (No remorse, just sorry he lost the knife). We don't know how we are going to get the pellet gun across the border to place in the vault at the Mission Office. Some of these Missionaries can sure make a mess without trying very hard. President Von Stetten will be here the first part of January, we will probably give the gun to him and let him deal with Swazi and South African customs. We put our Christmas tree up today and that ended the day on a fun, happy note. Still don't know what was wrong with Brother Msibi, the doctor gave him a shot and pain pills and sent him home. Branch President is going to his home this evening to check on him and get the info.
We bought the tree and ornaments last year and will leave them for the next missionary couple in Swaziland. We always want to honor the season and keep some of our traditions, it is who we are, that we believe in Jesus Christ and the Virgin Birth and the Atonement.
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