Picnic with the Pearls at the National Zoo and a Visit from an Apostle

We joined Bob's former AP Mark Pearl, his wife Genevere, son Daniel and daughter Juliette for a picnic in the
park Saturday at the South Africa National Zoo in Pretoria. Note Bob's "game day" Springbok rugby jersey. The
Boks lost "the rugby" to New Zealand 20-18 later that day in the Rugby World Cup semifinals from England.

Martha with Daniel as we wait for our rental golf cart. He told us he will be a lumber-
jack for Halloween and is so excited to "collect sweeties in a bahsket" (Trick or Treat),
which is something very new in South Africa and just starting to catch on here. We love
how he clearly enunciates every word in his cute South African accent. He loved us and
insisted on sitting with us on the back of the golf cart and holding onto our hands & arms

On Saturday morning early, we drove an hour's drive to Pretoria and met Bob's former Assistant mark Pearl and his family at the National Zoo, which was a wonderful break on a beautiful, sunny and summery day in a gorgeous setting. We got there early so we could rent a golf cart and finish seeing everything by lunch-time, before the sun was too hot and the kids too tired. Then we had a lovely picnic.

Mark grilled chicken and made fruit-ke-babs for the picnic without any assistance from Genevere

It was a beautiful morning in a beautiful setting at the National Zoo

Juliette was so comfortable on Martha's lap
that she fell sound asleep for about an hour

Sunday was the annual Primary program in the Protea Glen Branch, and it was also our day to host the two service missionaries who are working here at the Area Office doing Family History consulting and serving as ordinance workers in the temple. They live in temple patron housing and spend Sundays with a different senior couple each week. Elder Molema from Randberg, South Africa (just minutes away) has Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD and Elder Nyandoro from Zimbabwe has gone almost totally blind from an overuse of eye drops while a teenager. They are in their last week of their 3-month mini-mission.

The senior missionary couples hosted them for a "Farewell" Saturday afternoon braai (barbecue) in the Dukes Court courtyard, and we had the blessing of taking them to church with us Sunday morning and having them in our flat for dinner their last Sunday.

Elder Molema and Elder Nyandoro saying goodbye
to the senior couples in the Dukes Court courtyard

We have been to a lot of Primary programs over the years, with our children and grandchildren participating, but none were more memorable than this one was. All the children's voices seemed right on pitch on every song, and they all knew every word. Only one or two needed any assistance with their speaking parts, and every child closed their short part with "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen," or even "In the name of our loving Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, Amen," etc.

36 children participated on the program and several of them had more than one speaking part, all memorized, and the boys all had on white shirts and black ties. 11-year old Thato Mnguni, one of Martha's piano students, announced all the speakers by name and each musical number, in groups of 4 or 5, after each song, and he was impressive. All the children were very much into the program and all the songs, and the chorister, a young single adult, didn't need any aids to help her.


Martha helps the primary prepare for the Sunday program

Our favorite numbers were the final song, "A Child's Prayer" with the boys singing the counter-melody to the girls' melody, in perfect harmony, and "Follow the Prophet," where each verse was sung as a duet by two children and they all joined in for the chorus, and they sang several verses we had never heard before. And they performed the songs beautifully without a piano, as there is no pianist in the ward.

36 Primary children participated in the program,
and all the boys had on white shirts and ties

Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife are on a 10-day visit in Africa, along with Elder Hallstrom of the Presidency of Seventy and his wife, holding Area Reviews in both the Africa Southeast Area and the Africa West Area. They just got back from four days on the islands of Madagascar, La Reunion and Mauritius for a day and a half Area Review and a Devotional before leaving for West Africa for a Mission Presidents Seminar and Area Review in Ghana and a visit to Liberia.  It is their 5th visit to Africa in 10 years, and they purposely chose to visit places where they haven't been before and where the members haven't had an apostle visit for a long time.

On the stand at the devotional were the Bednars, David Frischknecht (Director of Temporal Affairs, who conducted). Elder and Sister Ellis  and Elder & Sister Hamilton of the Africa SE Area Presidency.

The devotional was held in a gigantic tent on the "White House" lawn for all Area missionary couples, all Area employees and spouses, while simultaneously Elder Hallstrom and his wife joined Elder and Sister Cook with all the temple missionaries and ordinance workers at the  "Gate House" for a devotional. The Devotional was an amazing spiritual experience for us. 

Elder Bednar's message was centered on being an agent who acts rather than an object to be acted upon and how moral agency is a great gift of God that distinguishes us from all God's other creations. Inspiration comes when we are acting, not waiting. We took lots of notes. He also opened it up for questions, and ended by talking about Africa and the beautiful simplicity of the gospel in the early pioneering (Nauvoo-like) days, and closed with an apostolic blessing.

We got there early and had front row seats, and Martha got to hold Malvern Chitiyo's baby girl again as we waited for the devotional to begin.

After the devotional, everyone got a chance to meet the Bednars and shake their hands.