History Made in Pretoria on Bob's Birthday

 

Pretoria South Africa Stake Center, site of the historic Stake Conference on 28 June 2015

Some of the 1,500+ members that attended the special stake conference in Pretoria where the stake was split,
three new wards were formed, 5 new bishops sustained, and mission boundaries were realigned

 

Sunday, 28 June 2015

 

Today is Bob's fifth birthday in South Africa! He landed in Cape Town on this day ten years ago, and his fourth birthday in South Africa was the day he and Kathy packed up to leave Cape Town to return home from their 3-year stint as mission president and wife.

Our Area President, Elder Carl B. Cook of the Seventy, invited us to attend an historic stake conference today in Pretoria, about 30 minutes north of Johannesburg. He said he felt we needed to be there. We arrived more than 20 minutes early and found the parking lot completely full and cars parked all up and down the adjacent streets on both sides. And when we walked into the chapel, we found it completely full to overflowing. People were being seated in overflow rooms elsewhere in the building. We were greeted by Wade Baldwin, one of our SACTM RM's who resides in Pretoria, and he couldn't help us find a seat in the chapel or cultural hall. Everything was taken.

Elder Cook noticed we were looking for a seat in the chapel and came down and escorted us to sit on the stand, next to an Area Seventy, Jaques Van Reenen, and his wife, on the front row of the stand, along with Elder & Sister Cook, Elder Chatora of the Seventy and his wife, and two mission presidents, President Dunn of the Johannesburg Mission and President Merrill of the Botswana/Namibia Mission and their wives.

There was a wonderful spirit there, a standing room only crowd of over 1,500 saints throughout the building, closed circuit TV being broadcast everywhere and an outstanding stake choir providing beautiful prelude music. President Shawn Boshoff of the Pretoria Stake, a local attorney who handles most of the Church's issues with missionaries, conducted the conference. The congregation appeared to be very close to 50% black and 50% white, in a stake that had historically always had white leadership.

Elder Chatora, who is also the temple recorder, conducted the stake business, which consisted of announcing that two branches have become wards and sustaining the two new bishops, then splitting off parts of the Pretoria 1st and 2nd Wards into a new Montana Ward and sustaining new bishops in all three of those wards, and finally splitting the Pretoria South Africa Stake into two stakes, forming the new Mabopane (mah-bo-PAH-nay)  Stake with a totally new all-black stake presidency. President Boshoff was retained as president of the Pretoria Stake, but two new counselors were called, both black. Elder Chatora handled the business very appropriately, and the new ward and stake boundaries were projected, as all the speakers had been, on a giant screen in the front of the chapel and two large flat screen TV's in the cultural hall, as well as other rooms in the building, and, for all we know, maybe in other buildings as well. Members of the branches and wards, and finally the two stakes, were asked to stand up unit by unit to do the sustainings of officers in each.

It was a great birthday present to Bob to see Wade Baldwin, one of our returned Cape Town missionaries stand and be sustained as the new bishop of the Pretoria 2nd Ward. We visited with him and his wife and their young son and baby daughter afterward and had our photo taken.



Wade Baldwin, new bishop of the Pretoria 2nd Ward, and his wife, one of Bob's Cape Town missionaries 7-8 years ago 

 The stake business took over a half-hour, and it was followed by Elder Cook announcing the mission business, a surprise to everyone present including the full-time missionaries who were there. He announced that all the missionaries who were present, serving in the Pretoria Stake plus the new Mabopane Stake, as well as the missionaries who were invited to attend from the Tzaneen Distrcit, were now all transferred from the South Africa Johannesburg Mission to the Botswana/Namibia Mission, effective Wednesday, 1 July! He said that the Johannesburg Mission has about 160 elders and the Botswana/Namibia Mission is down to just 13! This transfer of 45 missionaries changes those complements to 115 in the Johannesburg Mission and 58 in Botswana/Namibia. This change has been in the works for a few months, but had been kept very much under wraps until this morning. There were a lot of startled missionaries in the congregation. President and Sister Dunn wept openly throughout the rest hymn.

The new stake presidency and the new stake president's wife spoke before the break (standing rest hymn), and the new counselors to President Boshoff spoke after the break, followed by the two mission presidents and their wives, who were very effective, then Sister and Elder Chatora and Sister and Elder Cook took the remaining time.

Elder Cook's closing remarks about adapting to change were powerful and effective. He used as his text the books of Exodus, Deuteronomy and Joshua, using the example of the Israelites transitioning to a new prophet, Joshua, after being led 40 years by Moses. It was especially effective because the new stake president of the Mabopane Stake's first name is Joshua.

The scriptures he focused on were Joshua 1:2,5-7: "Arise and go...As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee," etc.He said Joshua probably wondered if the people would follow him, and v. 16 says, "And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do." President Cook's message was: Whether you have a new bishop, a new stake president or a new mission president, and many of you have all three, know that each of these leaders is called of God, and you follow them as you did their predecessors. He also said t6hat, according to the handbook, there would need to be 56 new callings made in the new stake (high council, executive secretary and clerks, stake auxiliary presidencies, etc.) and all the new wards would need to be fully staffed, so he asked everyone to be prepared to receive callings that may be beyond their comfort zones and experience levels, and he assured them the Lord would qualify them if they accepted new callings with faith. He was especially sensitive to the young missionaries who are suddenly in another mission and told them there would be a separate meeting for them 15 minutes after the conference.

In the missionary meeting, Elder Cook announced the opening hymn as "Improve the Shining Moments," but the organist played the introduction to, "If You Could Hie to Kolob." The director and organist were in on the scheme, and we all followed the director singing the words to "Improve the Shining Moments" to the tune of "If You Could Hie to Kolob." Although the hymn got off to a shaky start, by the second verse everyone was together, and the final three verses were powerful.

Elder Cook called on me to offer the invocation, then he asked the missionaries what they thought of the opening hymn. Responses ranged from, "The organist played the wrong hymn," to "We didn't really know what was happening at first, but we ultimately all got together and it all worked out in the end." Elder Cook then used this as an object lesson to demonstrate how change affects us. It can be confusing and uncomfortable at first, but if we go forward with the plan and follow our leaders, it will all work out beautifully.

The Dunns tearfully addressed us, comparing their weeping as when they send their sons off on missions, not of sadness but of joy for the great blessings ahead, but also for the void they feel because they love them so, and they shared that their sons both had mission changes partway through their missions that were a great blessing. President Dunn's message was, "You've been upgraded!" And the Wilsons graciously, joyfully, and tearfully, accepted the missionaries into their mission, saying they hadn't seen this many missionaries together in their two years of service. President Cook skillfully answered several very tough questions from the elders and had me chime in with my remarks, based on my experience, before we closed and took a group photo of all the affected missionaries, 37 young elders and four senior couples.

The Wilsons, Cooks, Chatoras and Dunns (center front) with the 37 elders and 4 senior couples who transfer
from the South Africa Johannesburg Mission to the Botswana/Namibia Mission, effective 1 July 2015

All in all, it was a wonderful spiritual experience for us to see Church history and growth firsthand as it happens and for Martha to experience the results of all the hours she has put in on approvals for all the boundary changes, new bishops, etc.

We came home and enjoyed telephone and FaceTime calls with family and a delicious kingklip birthday meal with roasted potatoes and broccoli by candlelight and the traditional Egan chocolate pudding cake for dessert. And Martha presented Bob with a couple of new dressy sweaters for his birthday. Bob received birthday greetings on Facebook and email from over 50 family members, missionaries and friends around the world, and we thank everyone who expressed birthday greetings.




 

Kingklip birthday dinner



Chocolate birthday cake

 

With Sbongile Zanele Grootboom (Sister Nophali)

  

It was a hard week for Martha, as she came down with some nasty African bug on Monday that lasted until Friday. She hadn't been able to keep a meal down until our best-steak-ever Chateaubriand dinner at the Cattle Baron Steak Ranch in Centurion last night, and she's been fine all day today. She missed meeting another of Bob's RM's from Cape Town, Sister Nophali Grootboom who was here visiting the temple with her husband and two kids (ages 5 and 2) and missed her temple shift Friday. Bob was able to perform another live sealing Friday for a beautiful couple from Swaziland.

 

Now we're beginning another week and our 6th month of our mission in Johannesburg.

 

Happy Father's Day!

With Josemar and Cecilia Domingos, their daughter Amanda, and Josemar's younger sister, from Luanda, Angola

Happy Father's Day! Today is the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere (sunset tonight here is right now, 5:24 pm) and the longest day of the year for you in the Northern Hemisphere.

We had another eventful week in our missionary callings this past week, and we are pretty well back in our routine. Martha had a very busy week, working both for Elder Jones, who returns home from his mission tomorrow, and his replacement as Area Executive Secretary Elder Walton, who arrived the week before. And Bob was kept very busy all week with all kinds of missionary issues  in both African areas, working late into the evenings and even past midnight one night. 

Fortunately, a lot of what Bob spent his time on this week were reinstatements of missionaries, who had been released early and are ready to return, and mission reassignments, rather than all problems. Although there are always problems to be addressed - illnesses, injuries, belated confessions, infield transgressions and emotional/ psychological issues. And of course, visa issues. 

Tuesday was a national holiday in South Africa, Youth Day, and our offices were closed. Martha went on a Ladies' Day Out with Sister Linda Dunn (Johannesburg Mission President's wife), Sister Barton (Area Medical Advisor's wife) and the Joburg mission's two office sisters, Sister Thompson and Sister Allred. Martha loved spending the day with these sister missionaries, talking much-needed girl talk and shopping. 

They went to the Bryanton Organic Market and Cinda Hunter's shop that carries unique jewelry, fabric, art objects and antiques from Africa, India and Thailand. 

 

Cinda Hunter in her shop with Sister Linda Dunn, wife of Michael Dunn, the Johannesburg Mission President

That evening we had a delightful holiday braai (barbecue) with one of Bob's returned Cape Town missionaries, Robert Nel and his wife Andrea, at their flat in Alberton, south of Joburg. They are such a cute and committed couple. Andrea's parents, the Atkins, are in the temple presidency, and Andrea is a physiotherapist (physical therapist). Rob is finishing his studies in Finance and Statistics. It was a very fun and enlightening evening and we got to know them well and talked about their plans and goals. 

On Wednesday, another one of Bob's Cape Town missionaries,  and the only Angolan elder, Josemar Domingos, showed up with his wife Cecilia, their baby daughter Amanda and his sister. They are here from Angola to do temple work. It was fun meeting with them and with Elder & Sister Walton, who knew them in Angola. Cecilia is beautiful and is seven months pregnant, expecting their first son. 

Elder Walton was mission president in Portugal from 2009 to 2011, then finished his 3rd year as the first mission president in Angola in 2011-12. The Domingos' were the first two returned missionaries from Angola to marry and Elder Walton interviewed them for their temple sealing in 2011. Cecilia served her mission in Portugal. 

Josemar taught and baptized Cecilia before his mission, and she was in the MTC when he arrived home, so they didn't see each other for 3 1/2 years, and they are now a pillar of strength in the budding church of Angola. When Josemar left on his mission there was one branch in the country. There are now eight branches, and they hope to soon be wards in the first Angolan stake! 

On Friday, Bob officiated at the 3:00 endowment session in the Johannesburg Temple where the Domingos' were the witness couple, after which they joined Bob to perform proxy sealings, and the Nels were also in the temple, in an endowment  session where Martha was the follower. 

Last night, Elder and Sister Lombardi invited us and the Bartons for dinner and games at their flat at 6:30. Luckily, Sister Lombardi had finished cooking the meal before the power went off at 6:00 for load-shedding. We were just sitting down for a candlelight dinner when the power surprisingly came back on at 6:45. We expected it to be off at least four hours. We turned the lights off and ate by candlelight anyway, then enjoyed some fun games in the light. 

Today, the Waltons asked to join us for church and rode with us to Soweto, where we had another great, spiritual day of meetings in our Protea Glen Branch. Elder Johnson, a senior temple missionary, was sitting outside the chapel doors in jeans and a sweatshirt (over his white shirt and tie) shining the shoes of all the fathers from both wards. He did that for at least four hours, and the fathers really appreciated it. What a great example of showing love by serving others, exactly what our Sunday School lesson was about today (Christ washing the apostles' feet at the Last Supper).

All four of the sacrament meeting talks were excellent, especially the high councilor, Mark Malinga, who leads a crew that does renovations and moves furniture for our senior missionary flats, Martha's tenants. 

The branch president phoned again last night at 10:00 and asked Bob to teach the gospel doctrine class in Sunday School today, which he did and enjoyed. The lesson was from Luke 22 and John 13-15 on "As I have loved you, love one another" about the Last Supper and institution of the Sacrament. The branch really seems to enjoy it whenever Bob teaches. We also enjoyed our Priesthood and Relief Society lessons. 

It was fun to get to know the Waltons, whom we will be working very closely with for the rest of our mission. 

The weather here has been spectacular, sunny and warmer, in the high 60's to 70. We've enjoyed a restful and relaxing Saturday and Sunday and are looking forward to another very busy week!

 

A poinsettia tree near our home - Poinsettias are a Christmas flower at home, but they bloom in June here, the equivalent
to December in the Southern Hemisphere. The Christmas flower here is the hydrangea, which blooms in Dec. (summer).

 

Winter Has Come to South Africa!

The change from fall to winter seemed to happen almost overnight a day after Ali left here to go home. No, winter is not as cold here as it is in Utah and much of the world, at least not outdoors. Temperatures this week have been in the fifties for highs, with lows in the low thirties, Fahrenheit. That’s outdoors. But, with no central heating and all cement and brick buildings, with many windows that won’t close tight, temperatures run pretty close to the same indoors, and 30 to 55 degrees inside is way colder than we are used to in Utah or anywhere else. We both feel like it’s colder indoors – in our flat or in the church buildings – than it is outdoors!

It’s so cold indoors that it’s like living in a refrigerator. Bob left a glass of ice water in the kitchen when we left for the office on Friday morning at about 8:00. We went straight to the temple after work at 1:45 and out to dinner after the temple. When we got home from dinner at about 10:00 pm, 14 hours later, the water in his glass was still ice cold, although the ice had melted.

We have a new, small electric heater on the wall in our flat that worked for 5 minutes when we first turned it on, then it died and hasn’t worked since. So we went out a bought a new space heater this week, a king-size faux fur blanket and warm velour robes for each of us, or we wouldn’t have made it through the week. We are hoping to have our wall heater repaired and a propane heater installed soon, for when the power goes out, as it often does.

Our lounge (living room) with wall heater,
behind floor lamp, which quit working



      Our new kitchen and oven, which didn't turn     
 on until we set the digital clock! Go figure!

One day this week the power was out at the office for 8 hours, and the heaters do not operate off the generator, so everyone was working in coats, knit caps, scarves and gloves, even though the lights were on and the computers were working. And another day the temple ran on the generator from 8 am to 8 pm, twelve hours (which is the maximum it can run). The “load shedding” rolling blackouts continue, for hours at a time. But we’re surviving! Today the high temperatures got back into the seventies, so we’re feeling warmer.

When we moved into our apartment, our brand new oven wouldn’t turn on. We tried again when we got back from our trip with Ali and still couldn’t get it to turn on. When we asked about it, we were asked if we had set the clock on the oven. It turns out that this African oven won’t turn on until the digital clock is set! Go figure! Martha loves being in the kitchen in the winter with the oven, stove, washer and dryer all going. It’s the warmest room in the house.

Today we drove the Lombardis to their assigned ward, the Kagiso 2^nd Ward in the Soweto Stake, which was a real treat! The Kagiso ward was just split about 6 weeks ago, so the bishop, Bishop Nkosi, and his counselors are very new and the ward is still being organized – lots of new sustainings today, and still no quorum leaders for the Melchizedek Priesthood. There were 64 in attendance, about half of what our branch had last week, but the members were very impressive. The bishopric was seated on the stand when we got there, 15 minutes before sacrament meeting.

Bob’s former AP in Cape Town, Xolani Lubisi was also on the stand and was the concluding speaker. The Lombardis were called upon to introduce themselves and bear testimony, two sisters gave great talks about attributes of the Savior, and Xolani gave a masterful address on self-reliance, sharing his and his wife’s personal success stories, and they are both very successful and very committed to the gospel.

Elder Egan and Xolani Lubisi at Kagiso 2nd Ward, Soweto Stake

Xolani started with, “I am happy today! Happy because my mission parents are here today! I learned so much from them. I love my mission parents because they changed my life. Everything I am today I owe to my mission parents.” Then he shared his personal experience with understanding and developing faith and self-confidence while serving as Bob’s AP in Cape Town, a marvelous testimony of personal revelation that was life-changing. What a blessing to be able to be at his ward the Sunday that he spoke about his mission parents and experiences. Another testimony for us that there are no coincidences in the gospel, the Lord is in charge and blesses us with tender mercies. Just like when the Lubisis attended church in New York last month and just happened to select our son Robby’s ward and Robby and Xolani had a fun reunion there. We are loving it here!!

Robby with Xolani Lubisi in New York in May

Here are some photos of our new apartment, #410 Dukes Court, where we have now settled in:

Our lounge (living room)



Recliner chairs and dining room



Entertainment center



Dining room table and hutch



Dining room hutch with wooden African animals,
the Big 5 and a couple of giraffes



Entry table



Master bedroom from one direction



Master bedroom from other direction with
new king-size faux fur blanket



New bathroom sink and tub




New bathroom shower and toilet






                              

                                        Our his and hers desks in the sunroom office

Hosting a New Missionary Couple and Back to Our Assignments

Hosting our first dinner party on Sunday with, left to right, Sister Connie Barton, Sister Jill and Elder Ben Jones, Sister Egan, Elder and Sister Lombardi who just arrived yesterday, and Elder Cornelius who flies home to Idaho on Thursday.

As much as we loved our fantastic two weeks with Ali here, it has been great to have a full week back in Johannesburg to get back on the job and caught up and to really get settled in our new flat.

 

We are really enjoying our mission assignments and loving our new flat. It has been a very interesting week. It feels so good for both of us to really be busy in our work and to be back serving together in the Johannesburg Temple. 

 

Martha worked her first full shift as an ordinance worker and got a "baptism by fire" in every aspect of the assignment, including being follower in another endowment session Bob officiated. And Bob got to receive a new endowment couple at the veil and seal them afterward, his first live sealing in Africa, and Martha served as the sealing coordinator. They are a beautiful African couple, Emmanuel and Phumzile Mazibuko who have two small girls at home and spent most of their day in the temple. It was a very sacred experience.

 

One of Martha's many jobs is to provide host couples for new missionaries that arrive - picking them up at the airport, taking them to their new flat (after stocking it with necessary groceries) and introducing them around at the office, making sure they meet everyone and get the necessary orientations, keys and badges, getting them their car, taking them out to dinner, showing them their way around, etc. 

 

So we decided we should be the host couple for the next new couple to arrive so we will know what it's like. The Lombardis arrived yesterday from Sandy to work as church history missionaries in the area. It's their second African mission, as they had only been home about 18 months since their mission in Swaziland.

 

We went grocery shopping for them and arranged things to their apartment, then picked them up at the airport and drove them to their beautiful, newly renovated 2-bedroom flat in Seven Oaks, the first senior missionary flat not in Dukes Court. But it's only about a block and a half away. 

 

We had to borrow an area Kombi (minivan) to hold all their luggage, and we also used the van to take them to church with us today along with another couple. 

 

Today was the first meetings of the two units split off from the Protea Glen Ward. Bob got a call about 9:45 last night from the new branch president, asking if he would teach the gospel doctrine class in Sunday School today, as both the former ward's gospel doctrine teachers are in the new Glen Ridge Ward. 

 

Things went smoothly. The new branch president did well conducting the meetings, and President Mokoena of the stake presidency sustained a new second counselor in the branch, Thulani Buthelezi, Bob's former SACTM missionary, who bore a sweet testimony, as did his wife, and he taught a combined Priesthood lesson in the third hour. Bob is so proud of him. And one of the full-time missionaries assigned in Protea Glen is a young man the Lombardis knew and loved in Swaziland, so they had a great reunion.

 

Both counselors in the new branch presidency have sick babies in the hospital. The Buthelezi's 2-year old daughter is improving from a respiratory illness, but the Mbobo's newborn son has an enlarged heart and had actually stopped breathing for a short while. He is in critical condition, and they asked for our prayers in his behalf. 

 

I counted 113 in attendance at sacrament meeting. It was a wonderful and spiritual fast and testimony meeting with strong, powerful testimonies, like Brother Moloi, a young returned missionary who spoke of his job interview where he was one of 5000 applicants and the only one without a college degree but got the job because of the spirit the interviewer felt from him. The interviewer said he liked my personality," he said, and he testified that if we are righteous and faithful, the Lord will provide, even against all odds. 

 

Bob's lesson on the signs of the second coming (Matthew 24) went very well, with good attendance and participation. We were happy to see how many wonderful people whom we have grown to love are in this branch.

 

We had our first dinner party this afternoon with the Lombardis, the Joneses (who leave for home in 2 weeks), Sister Connie Barton (whose husband Bruce is traveling in the Congo) and Elder Cornelius, on his way home from his mission in Zimbabwe. We enjoyed sharing a Sunday meal with these good friends. 

 

We're no longer the "newbies," as four new senior missionary couples have arrived since we got here in February and several couples we have grown to love have gone home or soon will be leaving. Martha will especially miss Elder and Sister Jones, who she works so closely with. But such is the nature of missionary service. 

 

It's amazing how quickly inexperience develops into experience and we're excited to be able to "pay forward" our service to new couples in exchange for all that other couples did for us when we got here four months ago. 

 

We are very happy here and loving our mission. It's gratifying to have been here long enough to have established meaningful personal relationships with other senior missionaries and our ward members in Soweto. 

Lions, Cheetahs and a Family of Giraffes

 

 Our last full day with Ali, on Friday the 29^th, was an incredible experience at the Johannesburg Lion Park, where we not only did a self-drive through five different lion enclosures and a cheetah enclosure, but we also had the opportunity to pet a cheetah cub, to pet two young white lion cubs, and to feed and interact with a mother and father giraffe and their baby, Elsa, just 2 months old. The photos pretty well speak for themselves.

Martha with Cindi, a cheetah cub




Ali getting a friendly kiss on the hand from the cheetah cub



Ali with lion cub Sam, about 3 months old

Martha with lion cub Nick, about 3 months old



Bob and Nick



Martha, Ali and Bob with Sam



Elsa, a 2-month old giraffe



Bob feeds the Daddy giraffe

Ali feeds Momma Giraffe, who shows off her long, black tongue

On the drive, we got very close to five prides of lions, each with a huge male lion, some white and some tawny in color, with multiple lionesses and as many as six small cubs in one pride, where the mother jealously protected the cubs while the other lionesses and the male slept soundly. Another lioness was awake nursing her two cubs. Since lions are nocturnal and sleep 18-21 hours a day on average, nearly all the lions we saw, with the exception of several of the younger cubs, two very protective mother lionesses and one white male in a separate pride, were asleep in the shade.




A white lioness protecting her six cute white lion cubs




Another mother lion nursing her twin cubs



The king of the jungle and patriarch of the pride, also was the star of the movie, "The White Lion"

 

Not only were we not allowed to get out of our vehicle, but there were several large warning signs in every enclosure reminding us to KEEP ALL WINDOWS CLOSED AT ALL TIMES. We were strongly warned not to roll down a window to take a photo. Three days after our visit, in the very same park, an American tourist rolled down her window to take a photo of a lioness and the lioness leaped through the window, pulled her completely out of the car and killed her! A reminder that these really are wild animals, and they are very big and very strong!

We took Ali to Mike’s Kitchen, one of our favorite restaurants for our “last supper” and decided to just stay home, pack, visit and enjoy each other’s company Saturday morning, make one last trip to Rosebank Mall for some last-minute shopping, and Bob gave Ali a father’s blessing. Then Ali was off to Paris, France for a day on her way home, and Bob and Martha were back to our normal routine, after being gone essentially the entire month of May.

Thanks Ali for joining us for the African adventure of a lifetime!