Sunday, October 12, 2008
2008 10 12 - Heading off to Jo'burg
Hello, Everyone!
The heat has hit! We had several days of blinding sunshine in the morning, and thunder/lightning/rain at night, but the last few days it has been warm, warm, warm! And it's only the beginning! Thank goodness summer is the rainy season - at least it cools down a little when it rains!
Yesterday Morgan played on the Durban District Rugby Team (Under 15A) and they beat the Johannesburg Blue Bulls. This is very, very good. Club rugby is now over (I think) so he'll be doing his rugby skills training two days a week, and gymming (do we sat that in the States?) two days a week.
Hunter, meanwhile, is doing physical therapy four times a week. He keeps trying to sneak back into basketball, but the therapist is very firm on that point: no competitive sports until nine months have passed. Of course, Hunger figures he's so good, there IS no competition...
Interesting story on our Umlazi W district (remember the group mugging?) The district now consists of Elders Gifford, England, Babeeyo, Reese, Torgersen & Goldsmith. They went to KFC for dinner after watching the Saturday morning session of conference at the stake center (it was, after all, 8 pm) and the place was robbed while they were there. The interesting (and nice) part, is that one of the employees pointed out the missionaries to robbers, saying something unknown in Zulu, and a robber came over and said "Don't worry - we won't bother you" and proceeded to rob everyone else, and the cash register, and leave. Maybe in Umlazi you are only allowed to be mugged once a quarter? Anyway, we were very happy with the respect the elders were shown. I hope it's because they have earned the community's trust.
In an hour or so Steve and I will be flying off to Johannesburg for a Mission Presidents Seminar. We have them twice a year, and this is the really "serious training" one. Elder Holland and Elder Snow will be the trainers, and there will be one separate afternoon where Sister Holland and Sister Snow will do...whatever with the wives. We all stay at a hotel together for the training and meals, and do a temple session. The Hollands, Snows, and Area Presidency must be pretty worn out. They were all conference, and then flew back in time for meetings with the 3rd Quorum of Seventy (our Area Seventies) yesterday and today. Tonight Elder Holland is doing a fireside, and we start our seminar at 8 tomorrow morning. When do they sleep???
My biggest concern, of course, is leaving the mission home to the mercy of Morgan and Hunter. The assistants and the office elders will help with transportation, but my real comfort is Elder and Sister Sessions. They'll keep a closer eye on them than I probably do!
Parker has sent us the rough draft of the member missionary training dvd that he filmed while he was here. It looks really good. The members who are in it will love seeing themselves - and it will be a great tool for the missionaries to use. We are very into modelling and role-playing (sorry, we don't role-play, we practice). Once the members have been through the Sunday lessons on sharing the gospel, and the Preach My Gospel Member program, and gone on the Neighborhood Walkabout, and worked with the training video, no one will need the MTC anymore! (Just kidding...)
The stake roadshows were Friday night - they were very different from what you might visualize. The idea was to base it on a musical. Our ward did a very quick version of Grease (and we won, by the way!) Jubz was the angel who sang Beauty School Dropout (he wore Elder Schlenker's white baptismal clothes) and they all sang along to the cd. They were loud enough that you could hear them, though.
The Kwadebeka Ward did an African musical with traditional dancing. Very neat! I'm working on instructions for the roadshows in the districts for February - I think it would be nice to do a mix of traditional and modern, or African and Western, or something. We may need to be very specific the first time around, and provide a very basic roadshow that they can tweak however much they'd like. It's very fun and challenging in the pioneer Church!
Everyone have a really good day on the 13th - It's Torry's birthday.
We appreciate all your support and help! Our latest need is for families to "adopt" an African elder, to email him every week and send goodies at Christmas and on his birthday. We have several who never get anything, and here are their companions raking in the mail and packages. If you're interested, let me know: durbanmanns@gmail.com
Love you all!
Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/Sister President Mann
ps I've decided my name is boring, as I get acquainted with Nonhlanhla, and Sebile, and and Phumzile and Smangele!
pps One of our African elders just came down with chicken pox - haven't seen that for awhile!
The heat has hit! We had several days of blinding sunshine in the morning, and thunder/lightning/rain at night, but the last few days it has been warm, warm, warm! And it's only the beginning! Thank goodness summer is the rainy season - at least it cools down a little when it rains!
Yesterday Morgan played on the Durban District Rugby Team (Under 15A) and they beat the Johannesburg Blue Bulls. This is very, very good. Club rugby is now over (I think) so he'll be doing his rugby skills training two days a week, and gymming (do we sat that in the States?) two days a week.
Hunter, meanwhile, is doing physical therapy four times a week. He keeps trying to sneak back into basketball, but the therapist is very firm on that point: no competitive sports until nine months have passed. Of course, Hunger figures he's so good, there IS no competition...
Interesting story on our Umlazi W district (remember the group mugging?) The district now consists of Elders Gifford, England, Babeeyo, Reese, Torgersen & Goldsmith. They went to KFC for dinner after watching the Saturday morning session of conference at the stake center (it was, after all, 8 pm) and the place was robbed while they were there. The interesting (and nice) part, is that one of the employees pointed out the missionaries to robbers, saying something unknown in Zulu, and a robber came over and said "Don't worry - we won't bother you" and proceeded to rob everyone else, and the cash register, and leave. Maybe in Umlazi you are only allowed to be mugged once a quarter? Anyway, we were very happy with the respect the elders were shown. I hope it's because they have earned the community's trust.
In an hour or so Steve and I will be flying off to Johannesburg for a Mission Presidents Seminar. We have them twice a year, and this is the really "serious training" one. Elder Holland and Elder Snow will be the trainers, and there will be one separate afternoon where Sister Holland and Sister Snow will do...whatever with the wives. We all stay at a hotel together for the training and meals, and do a temple session. The Hollands, Snows, and Area Presidency must be pretty worn out. They were all conference, and then flew back in time for meetings with the 3rd Quorum of Seventy (our Area Seventies) yesterday and today. Tonight Elder Holland is doing a fireside, and we start our seminar at 8 tomorrow morning. When do they sleep???
My biggest concern, of course, is leaving the mission home to the mercy of Morgan and Hunter. The assistants and the office elders will help with transportation, but my real comfort is Elder and Sister Sessions. They'll keep a closer eye on them than I probably do!
Parker has sent us the rough draft of the member missionary training dvd that he filmed while he was here. It looks really good. The members who are in it will love seeing themselves - and it will be a great tool for the missionaries to use. We are very into modelling and role-playing (sorry, we don't role-play, we practice). Once the members have been through the Sunday lessons on sharing the gospel, and the Preach My Gospel Member program, and gone on the Neighborhood Walkabout, and worked with the training video, no one will need the MTC anymore! (Just kidding...)
The stake roadshows were Friday night - they were very different from what you might visualize. The idea was to base it on a musical. Our ward did a very quick version of Grease (and we won, by the way!) Jubz was the angel who sang Beauty School Dropout (he wore Elder Schlenker's white baptismal clothes) and they all sang along to the cd. They were loud enough that you could hear them, though.
The Kwadebeka Ward did an African musical with traditional dancing. Very neat! I'm working on instructions for the roadshows in the districts for February - I think it would be nice to do a mix of traditional and modern, or African and Western, or something. We may need to be very specific the first time around, and provide a very basic roadshow that they can tweak however much they'd like. It's very fun and challenging in the pioneer Church!
Everyone have a really good day on the 13th - It's Torry's birthday.
We appreciate all your support and help! Our latest need is for families to "adopt" an African elder, to email him every week and send goodies at Christmas and on his birthday. We have several who never get anything, and here are their companions raking in the mail and packages. If you're interested, let me know: durbanmanns@gmail.com
Love you all!
Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/Sister President Mann
ps I've decided my name is boring, as I get acquainted with Nonhlanhla, and Sebile, and and Phumzile and Smangele!
pps One of our African elders just came down with chicken pox - haven't seen that for awhile!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
2009 10 03 - Zone Conferences & School Holidays
Dear Family & Friends:
I’m sitting in the office listening to Elders Parry, John, Nkele and Terry plan a “Blitz” for the Hillcrest Zone. There will be 22 missionaries, and as many members as they can commit to come. The missionaries will have a fast, and go out with the members to go looking for all the less-actives throughout the area. They will also be meeting other people in the process, such as the members’ friends, and the people they ask for help in finding the “lost”. Last time Elder Waterbohr and his companion taught 7 lessons that day. It’s been a very successful activity in other areas, and often the elders find members that no one knew were there.
In the meantime, Steve is in Swaziland with the assistants. This is the boys’ week off between terms, but I had everything handled to be gone overnight to a joint Newcastle/Swaziland zone conference in Newcastle (3-1/2 hours away). We had the Richards Bay/Umlazi/Durban North zone conference here in Durban on Wednesday, came home to regroup, then headed out of Newcastle. I will outline the rest of the afternoon, to save space:
1. 3:30 (1 hour out) met a detour off the N3. We couldn’t see a reason, and there weren’t backed up cars, but the lanes were all blocked by bumper to bumper trucks for quite a distance. A demonstration? A lunch break? A trucker’s convention? We will never know.
2. Headed off left on R103, but after a bit it seemed to head south (we needed to go northwest) so Steve had us turn around and go the other way, which turned into a dirt road for quite a while. We eventually got to Curry’s Post (NOT on the way) and turned back around.
3. Phone call from the Baums, 10K into South Africa from Swaziland so their cellphone will work. Elder Mbithi can’t get through the border with his visa (which Swaziland officials have been working on for 3 months!). Steve decided to send them back to Swazi, and have a separate zone conference for them on Friday, so no one would have to stay back and miss it.
4. Realized only Steve had his passport on him.
5. Three of us on simultaneously on cellphones, and Elder Schlenker driving and laughing: Steve with Swaziland; Elder Hiatt with the Sessions, trying to find the assistants’ passports in the office; and me with Hunter, to figure out if I could be gone another day. He was WAY too eager for me to go for it, and I couldn’t reach Morgan, who was at rugby practice, so we decided I’d better stay.
6. Turned around to meet the Sessions halfway to trade two visas for one mission mom.
7. Session hit a traffic jam as a truck had dropped it’s load on the N3.
8. Finally connect at 5:30, in Marianhill (not that far from home!)
9. Steve and the assistants head off to Newcastle, on very dark roads, arriving 9:30 pm.
10. I drop Sessions off at their boarding (we’re a car short again, thanks to a drunk driver: no injuries) and I head home to find Hunter, Morgan, and 5 friends.
It was a good thing I stayed home: there have been a few runs to the mall; an unexpected roadshow practice at the church, necessary food replacement as a constant tide of friends ebbs and flows. The highest # was 10, the lowest 4. They keep telling me they can all cram into the Peugeot to get to the mall, but I’ve drawn the line at 5 at a time.
Sizwe went to the roadshow practice with Hunter, Morgan & Jubz. Morgan is supposed to accompany one song, if we can work it out. Jubz is singing a solo! They’re doing the songs from Grease, and he is singing “Beauty School Dropout”. He will be so cute (don’t tell him I said that) all the girls will be wanting to meet him. Should provide some good fellowshipping while he has his missionary lessons!
The zone conferences are going well. I got to the first two, Pietermaritzburg/Hillcrest, and the one in Durban. We have 24 missionaries of 7 weeks or less, none of whom had been to a zone conference, plus about 60 more who came out after the “Meet the President & his family” zone conference, so the assistants put together a powerpoint on us. We rifled the family pictures on my computer, and came up with some pretty good ones, and then the assistants did a little magic, and voila! Show time! I don’t think the elders will ever look at their president quite the same!
The assistants reviewed some of the materials we are using for the member missionary work, just to be sure everyone is up to speed. It’s fun to watch these things evolve – we have had elders, such as Elders Nkele, Schwarting, Eddy & Schlenker, come up with great “from the trenches” suggestions that have led to new or adapted forms and programs that will be really helpful. Elder Hiatt gave some instruction on Zulu culture and language to the couples that has evolved into a booklet on “Getting to Know the People” and includes additional Zulu customs from Elder Maxongo, a section on working with Indians by Elder Schlenker, and one on working with other missionaries by…oh yeah, me. Information seems so much more important when it’s in booklet form!
Morgan did a braii today for all the (currently in residence) friends and the office elders. We bought a whole variety of Boerwors and seasoned kebabs and porklets, and it smelled delicious! I tried to add carrot sticks to the mix, but was turned down cold. Meat and rolls and an Energade, that’s all a real man needs!
Our weather continues to fluctuate wildly – hot and sunny, cold and rainy, hot and sunny, cold and rainy. It’s probably a good thing – day after day of HOT would not be so nice. Morgan is hoping it will be cool for the rugby game tomorrow – they get pretty hot, playing. Maybe cooler weather would give him an advantage: he’s used to it. He was at the beach this week, and some children asked if he was “Beast” from the national rugby team, the Springboks. They wanted his autograph. He told them he’d be around signing later… There is a “Beast” on the rugby team for every grade, it seems. And yes, Morgan is one of them.
Sala Kahle (stay well)!
Love,
Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/Sister President Mann/Beastmother
ps Elder Brusch has a new tracting technique. On Fridays in the townships a lot of the babas (dads) get drunk? So he finally asked some children if there were any babas in the neighborhood who didn’t drink. They identified four – and they’re teaching two of them. Way to be creative!
I’m sitting in the office listening to Elders Parry, John, Nkele and Terry plan a “Blitz” for the Hillcrest Zone. There will be 22 missionaries, and as many members as they can commit to come. The missionaries will have a fast, and go out with the members to go looking for all the less-actives throughout the area. They will also be meeting other people in the process, such as the members’ friends, and the people they ask for help in finding the “lost”. Last time Elder Waterbohr and his companion taught 7 lessons that day. It’s been a very successful activity in other areas, and often the elders find members that no one knew were there.
In the meantime, Steve is in Swaziland with the assistants. This is the boys’ week off between terms, but I had everything handled to be gone overnight to a joint Newcastle/Swaziland zone conference in Newcastle (3-1/2 hours away). We had the Richards Bay/Umlazi/Durban North zone conference here in Durban on Wednesday, came home to regroup, then headed out of Newcastle. I will outline the rest of the afternoon, to save space:
1. 3:30 (1 hour out) met a detour off the N3. We couldn’t see a reason, and there weren’t backed up cars, but the lanes were all blocked by bumper to bumper trucks for quite a distance. A demonstration? A lunch break? A trucker’s convention? We will never know.
2. Headed off left on R103, but after a bit it seemed to head south (we needed to go northwest) so Steve had us turn around and go the other way, which turned into a dirt road for quite a while. We eventually got to Curry’s Post (NOT on the way) and turned back around.
3. Phone call from the Baums, 10K into South Africa from Swaziland so their cellphone will work. Elder Mbithi can’t get through the border with his visa (which Swaziland officials have been working on for 3 months!). Steve decided to send them back to Swazi, and have a separate zone conference for them on Friday, so no one would have to stay back and miss it.
4. Realized only Steve had his passport on him.
5. Three of us on simultaneously on cellphones, and Elder Schlenker driving and laughing: Steve with Swaziland; Elder Hiatt with the Sessions, trying to find the assistants’ passports in the office; and me with Hunter, to figure out if I could be gone another day. He was WAY too eager for me to go for it, and I couldn’t reach Morgan, who was at rugby practice, so we decided I’d better stay.
6. Turned around to meet the Sessions halfway to trade two visas for one mission mom.
7. Session hit a traffic jam as a truck had dropped it’s load on the N3.
8. Finally connect at 5:30, in Marianhill (not that far from home!)
9. Steve and the assistants head off to Newcastle, on very dark roads, arriving 9:30 pm.
10. I drop Sessions off at their boarding (we’re a car short again, thanks to a drunk driver: no injuries) and I head home to find Hunter, Morgan, and 5 friends.
It was a good thing I stayed home: there have been a few runs to the mall; an unexpected roadshow practice at the church, necessary food replacement as a constant tide of friends ebbs and flows. The highest # was 10, the lowest 4. They keep telling me they can all cram into the Peugeot to get to the mall, but I’ve drawn the line at 5 at a time.
Sizwe went to the roadshow practice with Hunter, Morgan & Jubz. Morgan is supposed to accompany one song, if we can work it out. Jubz is singing a solo! They’re doing the songs from Grease, and he is singing “Beauty School Dropout”. He will be so cute (don’t tell him I said that) all the girls will be wanting to meet him. Should provide some good fellowshipping while he has his missionary lessons!
The zone conferences are going well. I got to the first two, Pietermaritzburg/Hillcrest, and the one in Durban. We have 24 missionaries of 7 weeks or less, none of whom had been to a zone conference, plus about 60 more who came out after the “Meet the President & his family” zone conference, so the assistants put together a powerpoint on us. We rifled the family pictures on my computer, and came up with some pretty good ones, and then the assistants did a little magic, and voila! Show time! I don’t think the elders will ever look at their president quite the same!
The assistants reviewed some of the materials we are using for the member missionary work, just to be sure everyone is up to speed. It’s fun to watch these things evolve – we have had elders, such as Elders Nkele, Schwarting, Eddy & Schlenker, come up with great “from the trenches” suggestions that have led to new or adapted forms and programs that will be really helpful. Elder Hiatt gave some instruction on Zulu culture and language to the couples that has evolved into a booklet on “Getting to Know the People” and includes additional Zulu customs from Elder Maxongo, a section on working with Indians by Elder Schlenker, and one on working with other missionaries by…oh yeah, me. Information seems so much more important when it’s in booklet form!
Morgan did a braii today for all the (currently in residence) friends and the office elders. We bought a whole variety of Boerwors and seasoned kebabs and porklets, and it smelled delicious! I tried to add carrot sticks to the mix, but was turned down cold. Meat and rolls and an Energade, that’s all a real man needs!
Our weather continues to fluctuate wildly – hot and sunny, cold and rainy, hot and sunny, cold and rainy. It’s probably a good thing – day after day of HOT would not be so nice. Morgan is hoping it will be cool for the rugby game tomorrow – they get pretty hot, playing. Maybe cooler weather would give him an advantage: he’s used to it. He was at the beach this week, and some children asked if he was “Beast” from the national rugby team, the Springboks. They wanted his autograph. He told them he’d be around signing later… There is a “Beast” on the rugby team for every grade, it seems. And yes, Morgan is one of them.
Sala Kahle (stay well)!
Love,
Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/Sister President Mann/Beastmother
ps Elder Brusch has a new tracting technique. On Fridays in the townships a lot of the babas (dads) get drunk? So he finally asked some children if there were any babas in the neighborhood who didn’t drink. They identified four – and they’re teaching two of them. Way to be creative!
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