Electricity out!!!!!!!!

21 Oct 2011
Our electricity went out 2 days ago just as we were posting our blog, so we finished that posting today.  We had a terrible wind storm, no rain.  Electric lights along the roads actuall bent to the ground, KFC severly damaged and many signs down.  These cement block houses survive very well, the roofs even stayed on.  We felt very fortunate to have found a propane (handigas) stove top.

Elder Blackburn has had a lot of running around to try to get the police report on the accident Elder Katiza had, an attorney has been hired to represent him in court.  It is a serious offense to try to use a cell phone while driving, which he did.  When we go to Johannesburg we always come back with the truck full of Humanitarian supplies, this time we brought Hygiene Kits and New Born Kits.

This baptismal font is very old, was first used in Manzini before that chapel was built, we found it behind the building and brought it to Ezulwini.  Now that Ezulwini has a permanent baptismal font and room it goes to GeGe, duct tape and all.

Elder Blackburn finally got a sign made and put up on the fence of the Ezulwini Chapel.   Tomorrow we go to Pietermaritzburg, we hope the sewing machines are ready for delivery when we come back next Thursday.  Next week is the Mission Presidency Meeting, so we get 2 days in Durban.

19 Oct 2011

19 Oct 2011
Well it is October 19 and we still do not have the sewing machines released by Customs; it will probably take another week for delivery since we are leaving for Durban on Saturday via Pietermaritzburg.  A sister Cain lives there and Elder Blackburn baptized her 50 years ago.  The family has been extremely active in the Church - the Caines serve in the Johannesburg Temple every other week.  The Elders in the Ezulwini area came by after District Development Meeting and we gave them left over spaghetti.  They must have been really hungry, they ate every bite that was left.

18 Oct 2011
Elders called early and they did not have water in their flats in Manzini, so they came here to shower and get ready for their day; Sister Blackburn fed them biscuits, gravy and scrambled eggs.  Two American Elders and the rest from Australia and African Countries.  They loved it.

17 Oct 2011
Still can't seem to get the sewing machines out of customs.  Elder and Sister Webb came by to tell us goodby, they went back to Johannesburg after a couple of days in Swaziland.  Elders had activity at the Cultural Center and seemed to enjoy it.  We did not accompany them.  They always try to come by on their pday.

16 Oct 2011
Conference shown in all the Branches, we attended in Ezulwini, the Temple missionaries were there too.  Elder and Sister Webb went to GeGe and had a wonderful experience.  Then they went to Nhlangano.  They were meeting with all the Branch Presidents to explain the Perpetual Education Fund so the Presidents could encourage their young people to get training for work.

15 Oct 2011
We met the Temple Missionaries at the border post.  With the Temple closed they came to Swaziland for R&R.  So we spent the day with them showing them the sights of Swaziland.  Johannesburg is in the plains area of South Africa and Swaziland is a mountainous area of the Continent.  We went to dinner with them at the Chinese Restaurant.  Elder and Sister Webb and Elder and Sister Zawacky decided to be on their own for dinner.  Good day all around.

14 Oct 2011
Elder Blackburn had a quick trip to Nhlangano to get their projector working so they could view General Conference the amplifier kept breaking, he finally bought a better one and it worked.  Elder and Sister Webb came to Swaziland today and invited us to have dinner with them at Summerfield.  Elder and Sister Zawacky were at Nhlangano when Elder Blackburn got there so he invited them to dinner also. 

13 Oct 2011
Elder Blackburn delivered a wheel chair to Stanley Dlamini to take to someone he knows and the report was, "the man was so happy, when he would need to go to the doctor the family would take him in a wheelbarrow.  His wife really started to cry when Stanley delivered the chair.  Delivering a couple of wheelchairs has motivated Stanley to ask for his mission papers, this helped him make his final decision.

12 Oct 2011
Had the Zone Leaders take the portable baptismal font to GeGe.  Now they can have their baptismal services there instead of trying to come up with the transport money to go to Nhlangano.

11 Oct 2011
We spent the morning trying to contact the delivery truck driver, never did make contact.  The truck was enroute to the border for customs inspection, when it got there the people did not understand the way the exemption was written, so we called Stella and got a copy of the request for exemption faxed to the trucking company and they felt that they could work out the problems, there were 75 machines sent instead of 70 and the material, scissors, needles, etc were not itemized.  As of tonight no calls with more problems so we are hoping the shipment will be delivered to us tomorrow.  This afternoon we went with the Ezulwini Elders, Brown and Musau to teach a woman and her adult daughter.  We gave her a copy of the forgiveness quote someone posted on Face Book and it seemed to help her resolve some issues she has with other people.  We felt the meeting went well and may go back with the Elders next week.

10 Octo 2011
Today, Elder Blackburn mailed a box home.  We had some communication with Elder Heninger about shipping the sewing machines to Swaziland, we have the original customs exemption.  Anyway, payment was verified, truck loaded and left Durban.  Other than that a very quiet day.  Elder Blackburn is trying to get the electronics working in the Ezulwini chapel so we can play the Conference DVDs.

09 Oct 2011
President Von Stetten spoke in Sacrament on Sunday, he gave such a good talk on preparing for Conference, the Saints really enjoyed his remarks.  He called a few days before he came to Swaziland and asked if he was scheduled to speak and Elder Blackburn asked if he wanted to and of course he said yes, so President Shongwe was called and informed that the Mission President would be speaking, which is what usually happens, no one thought to ask him.  After his interviews with the Elders he came to our house for dinner, the Smiths had been given approval to come and interview him for their documentary.  A pleasant evening enjoyed by all of us.

Springtime and 5K walk

This is the area around our house.  Springtime is really here right now, 80 degrees today.  Love this weather.  The purple trees are called jacaranda and the blossoms last about a month.

This morning Sister Blackburn got up for a 5K walk to support Breast Cancer Awareness, very rewarding knowing this is world wide and even in a very small country like Swaziland, 900 people came for the walk, paid their $10.00 and had an enjoyable morning.  900 people is 1% of the population of this Kingdom.  We walked along one of the rivers, it was wonderful being outside and just walking.  I even crossed the finish line and was not the last one.  Ann Smith, her friend Nelly, Zack Smith and Sister Blackburn.

Elder Blackburn had bicycles to tend to, got to keep those Elders rolling.  They really do work very hard.  I was thinking last week after the Zone Leaders had finished their meeting and presentations, that no one, not even the Prophet could have done a better job and when they go home they will be just youth again, until they get married.  All that talent put on hold!!  President Von Stetten comes to Swaziland tonight, he is doing interviews with all the Elders and he will come to dinner with us tomorrow.

Boy with broken arm

Elder Blackburn went to Manzini today to give Elder Maring a driving test (to make sure he really can drive safely) and he really can.  All new Elders have to wait one month and then pass a driving experience with Elder Blackburn before they are allowed to be behind the wheel.  These young Elders are given a full size 4 wheel drive truck and told, "there it is don't damage it."  The African Elders have barely gotten a license or have paid for one without driving school.  The American Elders do really well, but a big truck with lots of power in the hands of a 19 to 20 year old.  Accidents will happen.  The American Elders accept their accidents and move on, the African Elders agonize over breaking the Lord's vehicle and it takes a long time for them to forgive themselves.  They really know the value of having your own transportation.  We were fixing dinner and the telephone rang, Elder Musau was on the phone and related that someone had fallen out of a tree and was not moving, we thought it was his companion, Elder Brown and our hearts just stopped until Elder Musau could explain, so we could understand, that a young boy had fallen and needed attention, so we told him we would come meet them.  They were up a dirt road several miles, they needed permission to put the boy and his mother in the truck and take them to the hospital in Mbabane so we told them it would be alright and we led them to the hospital in Mbabane, about 30 minutes away.  When we got there and were going to leave the boy's mother was going to leave him and have us take her back home so she could have a free ride.  Elder Blackburn gave her enough money for transportation (about 4.00 dollars).  Then the Doctor wanted a slip of paper from somewhere else in the hospital before he would look at the boy so Elder Blackburn and the Elders went to another room and the attendant wanted 50 rand for the paper and Elder Blackburn told him no and when he was insisting Elder Blackburn told him, "do you want me to just take him back and put him in the field where we found him?"  So the attendant wrote "owes 20 rand on the top of the paper.  Anyway, we left the paper with the mother, left her at the hospital with a way to get home for her and her son and we came home, the Elders went back to their teaching appointments.  All is well!!

Today we were able to get the visas for the last two missionaries in this cycle, for once there were not many people at Home Affairs and no lines to stand in.  We went through the Border Post to get a stamp in our passport so we can still qualify as a visitor until we get our background search from the FBI at home.  Barbara is checking on that for us.  We spend so much time on the telephone this afternoon trying to get a prospective missionary and his papers ready for an interview with President Von Stetten on Saturday afternoon.  Elder Heninger is working really diligently to get the sewing machines and fabric shipped by the first of next week.  Sister Renlund was so right when she told us, "the Church moves very slow"!  All is well!!!!

25-09- to 05-10-2011

05 Oct 2011
This morning Sister Blackburn removed 6 sutures from Elder Jenks head.  The wound was from the truck wreck in GeGe.  Then everyone met at Zone Meeting which the Zone Leaders had done a wonderful job with the training and spiritual development of the Elders.  They are building a good brotherhood now.   Sister Blackburn had baked birthday cakes for the Elders who were to have birthdays this transfer cycle.  Elder Blackburn went to Mbabane for a Temple Recommend interview and the sister had not been to the temple since about the 1990s and was still wearing the same one pair of garments that she had purchased at that time.  He instructed her to purchase new ones and she said she did not have the money so he gave her $15.00 which will purchase 4 pair and she was so grateful.  Elder Blackburn also worked this evening with 2 prospective missionaries to make sure their papers were complete so they could have their interview with President Von Stetten, their names are Junior Verde and Thulani Mabuza.  They both seem really anxious and happy to serve a mission.

04 Oct 2011
Elder Blackburn spent the day doing errands, picked up bicycles from repair shop and returned them to Elders, big shipment of teaching materials that had to be distributed to the Elders - Book of Mormon and phamplets, got the car washed today.  Sibusiso Mbuli walks 1.5 hours to our house to wash our truck, it takes him 2 hours and we pay him $15.00.  He never misses a week.   Then it rained on the truck all evening, at least the inside will stay decently clean for a week.

03 Oct 2011
Rained all day, this storm is out of the Antartic and is really cold, supposed to rain for 3 days.  We even had to turn our heaters on to get rid of the humidity and warm the house.

02 Oct 2011
Went to Manzini to Church, Testimony meeting went so fast, people would come up one after another without a break, what Testimony Meeting should be.  Sister Blackburn gave Sister Ntshalintshali, the District Relief Society the packets she needs for the Branches to teach the sisters how to dry vegetables and fruits, she also gave her a string of green beans that she had dried so the sisters could see how they were done and how they would look.  There are so many things we know how to do because of our technology that the people of Africa could use to improve their lives, but do not have any way to get the knowledge.  Elder Blackburn encouraged the District to plan a Temple trip for the youth so they can go do baptisms before the end of the year, we really hope they follow through with this activity.

01 Oct 2011
This morning we went to the Temple with the Nhlangano Branch, Sister Mabuza was able to obtain her Endowment, she was so attentive during the session, after the session, Sister Blackburn gave her a gift of a temple veil and she was so touched.  Sister Blackburn was her Escort.  There will always be such a sisterhood between us after going to the Temple together.  Sister and Brother Smith was also there and went through the session with us.  They spent the night in Patron housing.  We spent the night with Elder and Sister Callahan and had such a good visit with them, it just was not long enough.  Then we drove 4.5 hours back to Swaziland.
Sister Mabuza after the Temple Session.

30 Sept 2011

Got up early and drove to Johannesburg, we are to meet the Nhlangano Branch at 3:30 to do an own endowment session at 6:00pm.  Brother and Sister Smith followed us over there, they were told there would probably be an extra room at the patron housing for them.  We waited and waited for the Branch to get there, Elder Blackburn went to the 6:00pm session while Sister Blackburn waited for the Nhlangano members, two sisters are supposed to do their Endowments this trip.  The Branch finally got there at 7:00 pm.  There was a lot of road construction on the way they drove over to Joburg.  Sister Blackburn had purchased 2 pair of garments and 2 veils for the 2 sisters.  One sister had changed her mind and did not come,which was a great disappointment to us all.  We hope she will be able to make it before the end of the year.

29 Sept 2011

Elder Blackburn had a Mission Presidency Meeting on Skype today.  Elder Blackburn ran errands all morning.  He had a meeting in the morning with Presidnet Simelane to see how he feels about his job and how the District is performing, so he could report to President Von Stetten.  We have felt some concern lately, the President has not been holding his District Meetings and seems distracted.  After the meeting, Elder Blackburn felt that President Simelane would try to get more done.

28 Sept 2011

Elder Blackburn had to go to GeGe Police Station and take pictures of the wrecked Bakkie, then he took Elder Jenks to the Doctor to get his head sutured, there was a gash that he was hesitant to take care of.  Elder Blackburn said, "In my mind I could hear Sister Blackburn telling me that he needed to be sewn up and to take him to the doctor."  He was glad he listened to that prompting, Elder Jenks needed 6 sutures to close the gash.  Elder Katize needed to see the doctor because his back was bothering him.  He was told to come back for xrays in  3 days if he was still hurting.  Needless to say, these errands took all day and Elder Blackburn was happy to get home.

27 Sept 2011

Today the Zone Leaders and District Leaders drove to New Castle for training, they will be gone until tomorrow evening.  At 8:30pm we received a telephone call from Elder Katize telling Elder Blackburn that he has a problem, when asked what the problem is he replied that he had wrecked the Bakkie and it was turned over.  Elder Blackburn ascertained that no one was seriously injured and then called Brother Malinga in GeGe to go check on the truck and the Elders which he readily agreed to do.  Elder Katiza and Elder Jenks were on their way to GeGe to have dinner with the GeGe Elders and Elder Katiza was driving too fast and lost control of the vehicle.  Brother Malinga got the GeGe Police and they towed the bakkie to the police station, then brother Malinga had the Elders come to his place and they spent the night with the GeGe Elders.  Tomorrow we will sort everything out.

26 Sept 2011

Today Sister Blackburn baked cupcakes to take to the Maseko family in Mbabane, he is the 2nd Counselor in the District Presidency and they have 2 little girls.  When we got there, he was still at work and would not be home for quite a while, we had to wait for Sister Maseko to get home.  We did spend about 1 hour with them and left the cupcakes for the family to enjoy.  The Swazis enjoy american deserts.

Dinner with Elder and Sister Ward

25 Sept 2011
Last night we fixed dinner for Elder and Sister Ward, we had bought a large container of tomatoes and they were very good, Elder Ward was wondering where he could get such good tomatoes and Sister Blackburn told him, "you will have to go to the black market".  That will now and forever be a joke between us all.  We did have a great good time with them.  They did not go to Nhlangano with us today, they decided to go to the Ezulwini Branch instead.  We went to Nhlangano and the Temple Recommend interviews did not show up.  We also delivered 3 wheelchairs for the Branch President to give to people in his branch who really need them.  We also went to GeGe to see the Elders and take a DVD to Sister Malinga of the Lobola proceedings for her son's wedding. While there, she told us that they had slaughtered her cow yesterday and were having their celebration and would we like some of the meat.  Of course, we said yes and she sent a bag of beef home with us.  We love these times of interacting with the Saints here.  They are so humble and give their love so freely, we feel so blessed to know them.  Below is a picture of how we brought the meat home, black bag and all.  It was really some good home cutting. Even a couple of steaks, a roast and stew meat.

We received such a sweet note from Mary about what happened with her son Christopher.  We feel so blessed to have her as part of our family relationships.  Elder Blackburn has been a little frustrated with the District President, he won't hold his meetings and is hesitant to meet with Elder Blackburn.  We really hope there will be a breakthrough with him this week.  We met with Sister Ntshalintshali and Sister Mabusa in GeGe today.  Sister Mabusa will be attending the Temple on Saturday the 1st and is apprehensive and is looking forward to Sister Blackburn being there. (If President Von Stetten approves).  All in all a very satisfying Sunday.

End of September

For anyone interested in how Couples live while serving, we have posted these pictures.  The Church has a perpetual fund to furnish and supply the apartments and houses we live in.  We pay a rental fee for the furniture and when something wears out or breaks we get to go replace it.  This year Elder Blackburn and I replaced all the furniture in our home here.   We have a two bedroom, two bathroom (ensuite). Office and another room, plus a laundry room attached to the garage with a bathroom and a storage room.  Lots of closet space and cupboards.

24 Sept 2011

Today is Saturday and Elder and Sister Ward are visiting.  Their son and his wife are visiting them and they brought them to Swaziland for the Malalotja Zip Line Canopy Tour.  Swaziland is a camper and hiker paradise.  Many wate falls, trails and scenic spots.  They will spend the night and go to Church with us in Nhlangano tomorrow.  Elder Blackburn has a couple of Temple Recommend interviews to conduct.  That Branch is going to the Temple on Friday the 30th and we hope to be able to attend with them.

23 Sept 2011

Elder and Sister Ward with their son and wife arrrived today; we went to dinner with them at the Calabash Restaurant.  The food was really good and good visiting.  We considered this our "Pday".  We did laundry and cleaned house.

22 Sept 2011

Today we went to immigration to finish getting the Elders their visa.  We did not want to go to Manzini to get Elder Maring and Elder Van Scheltema was in training so we took Elder Shannon and Elder Thatcher and they pretended to be Maring and Van Scheltema to get the sign off on the document that states they are not,"an idiot, insane or mentally defective".  The Doctor as which one was Markus and we had assigned them the name they were before hand so Elder Shannon spoke up that he was Markus Maring, the doctor then signed both documents and sent them on their way.  This doctor is nice enough to do this at no charge to the Church.  Our Elders thought that was one of the best and funniest experiences of their Mission.  We were able to get 5 passports stamped with two to be done next week.  We feel that we are almost an expert at this job.

21 Sept 2011

We had to drive to Piet Retief to pick up Elder Muliaga who had forgotten his passport yesterday.  The Elders in Puntadajaba brought the passport to Harrismith, the Hudsons drove from Ladysmith to get it and then drove to New Castle to give it to Elder Ward.  What 2 days on the road we have had.  We got Elder Muliaga delivered to Manzini, all the training materials delivered to Mbabane and then thankfully home.  Elder Blackburn said, "when I get home I am going to destroy my drivers license and you can drive me around from now on".

20 Sept 2011

Transfer day!! We were assigned to deliver 6 Elders to the Petro Port in South Africa - 4.5 hours away.  Lots of luggage and young men.  It took 2 bakkies to get everyone delivered.  This time it felt like we were losing a part of our family they had been in Swaziland so long.  Elder Peirce, Elder Cooley, Elder Tklotsi, Elder Shelton and Elder Lyon, Elder Sakapaku

18 Sept 2011

Today we went to Church in the Ezulwini Branch, the Smiths attended there also and brough a friend from the University and Scholarship program.  Elder Blackburn then had meetings in Manzini with the District Presidency and these last the rest of the day.  He was really tired when he got home.

17 Sept 2011

Today we had a barbeque for the Swaziland District, all the Elders and the Smith Family came, Sister Smith brought a large bowl of potatoe salad. She was very surprised when everything, even all her potatoe salad was completely eaten.  Most of the Elders either ride bicycles or walk in their areas so they are always hungry.  The Manzini Elders informed Elder Blackburn that their 3 bicycles wer stolen, they were locked with cable locks and somehow they were all 3 taken.  The night watchman did not hear anything, he was probably asleep at his job or was in on the theft.

15 Sept 2011

We had breakfast with the Elders in Richards Bay who had served in Swaziland, Elder Martin, Elder Mead and Elder Mbongwe.  Elder Martin and Elder

Mbongwe are going home this transfer, we then headed home and stopped at St. Joseph's school and about 3/4 of the wheel chairs were delivered to the recipients yesterday and today.

15 Sept 2011

Drove to Richards Bay so Elder Blackburn could go to the dermatologist about a mole on his face.  It was a benign cyst and the doctor froze it and said it would fall off in about 10 days;  We met the Nuzmans for dinner and had a really nice visit with them, we were able to spend the night with them.  We are so grateful to have made such good friends with them and hope we can continue our friendship when we all get home.

Use of sewing machines

13 Sept 2011
This evening we took an Eternal Marriage lesson book to President Shongwe, a counselor in the District Presidency so he could use it for counseling sessions.  Sister Blackburn had loaned a sewing machine to Sister Shongwe and taught her how to make pillow cases and a differen apron pattern and she said she has been selling them in Mbabane and that is how they are feeding their family right now, if it were not for the sewing machine and the items she learned how to make they would not have food in their house.  Another Tender Mercy from our Heavenly Father to take care of his righteous children.  Explained to the family that they should never carry heavy burdens on their heads because of the wear on the discs of the spine.  They did not know this and were very impressed; Branch President Shongwe said he would not have his new wife carry such burdens.  This is such a righteous family and we truly love them.

12 Sept 2011

13 Sept 2011
Today Sister Smith wanted me to take her to some of the shops so she could get her Christmas presents bought and mailed home in time for Christmas.  We had a great girls day out!!! While in one of the shops for a carved nativity, one of the sales people asked me if we had ordered one figure for a nativitry we had sent to Lesotho to Elder and Sister Dahle I said yes and she took the figure out of another set and gave it to me to send to them.  Their set was missing the baby Jesus when they received it.  We continued with our day and had lunch and then time to come home.  I then called Sister Dahle to tell her we had gotten the figure with no additional charge to her, Elder Dahle answered the telephone and informed us that they were at the hospital, Sister Dahle was having some problems from riding in the truck too much and was in great pain and they did not know what the doctor was going to recommend. He sounded anxious and so alone.  I could not help but think of the small blessings we receive each day, one of our sisters describes it as Tender Mercies from the Lord.  The sales clerk was prompted to give me the figure even though she knew one was ordered.  Without it, we would not have called the Dahles, the telephone call gave him comfort just to have someone to talk with, he had not called President Von Stetten so he was virtually alone so we called Sister Von Stetten to let the Mission Home know they were dealing with some problems. Two times in two days we have been reminded that the Lord is with us even in small things.  It reminded us again of the wonderful people we serve with, we look after each other when needed,

12 Sept 2011
Today has been pday for us, slow and quiet.  We remembered that we did not have our Garmin for the Temple trip to Johannesburg and Sister Blackburn wailed about it on Face Book and then Elder and Sister Nuzman contacted us and told us they had just picked it up from the store, what a blessing (tender mercy from our Heavenly Father).  We made arrangements with the Nuzmans to come to Richards Bay on Wednesday, Elder Blackburn needs to see a dermatologist to have a mole taken off his face so we can get that done too.

The pictures of the flowers were taken today, it is a very warm springtime this year and the flowers are very beautiful.  These are 3 of the recipients of the wheel chairs and were so happy to get them, they could not stop smiling, the one on the left really was happy, she just did not want to smile for the camers.

12 Sept 2011
Today we met the Zawackys and Gundersons at Ezulwini Market they wanted to purchase some carved Noah;s Arks to send home and one for Sister Zwiefel.  Then Elder and Sister Blackburn picked up George Lukhele and went to St. Joseph to check on the wheel chairs that have not been delivered.  We were able to deliver 4 and select out the ones that go to the students at the school.  St. Joseph school is a school for the handicapped.  George was given the challenge to get all the chairs delivered on Thursday and Friday, we left him at home in Matsapha, Then we came home and rested.

11 Sept 2011
We went to Church in Nhlangano and took Elder and Sister Zawaky with us to meet the Branch President and their new Institute and Seminary teachers.  Sister Blackburn gave the Temple Preparation class since they are planning a trip to the Johannesburg Temple the 30th of September.  Several questions were answered and there was tremendous interest in the information offered.  Elder Blackburn released the 1st Counselor Bishop Mamba, since he is having great difficulty getting to Church, his age and the condition of his car is the problem.  Also released was the Elder's Quorum President, Eliott Shongwe.  This move was designed to give President Balunga more help in running the Branch.  After Relief Society and Priesthood we headed to GeGe to pick up a bicycle to get it repaired, The Zawacky's were able to meet Brother and Sister Malinga and get a list of the S&I students from Sister Malinga.  It was a long hard day and we were glad to get back to Ezulwini to dinner and a rest.

29 Aug 2011
Elder and Sister Ward and us went to the national Reed Dance that is put on each year in Swaziland by the Queen Mother.

The girl with the red feathers is a Swazi Princess, royalty wear the red feathers in their hair, both men and women and girls.  Sister Blackburn asked the girl with the brown feathers if they were symbolic or if they were for beauty, She replied, "they are for beauty".  Approximately 80,000 girls participated.

The youngest was about 6 months old.

And, of course, the King was there!!.

27 August 2011
Helping Hands day in Swaziland.  We visited Ezulwini and took pictures then went to GeGe to give them support and to visit the Malinga family, we were invited to see the practice dancing for their son's traditional Swazi wedding.  The day got so late, that we did not get to see the dancing, we had to get home before dark and we did not make it, however we were in and safe before 9:00pm.

These last two pictures are the finished project. A morning to put up a fence and pull weeds and till the ground and plant a garden.  A lot of work finished.  And, young people who feel very good about what they did and how they spent their day.  President Shongwe's new wife was working right along side everyone.
26 Aug 2011
Today is Sister Blackburn's birthday, Elder Blackburn bought her a new ring from Swaziland, silver with designs of giraffe hair and a lion on it.  The Manzini Elders, Elder Peirce, Jonga, Sakpaku, Signorelli brough her a special gift, a swazi drum carved with their names.  It was truly a special gift and touched our hearts.  We love these young men we serve with.