Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
2010 07 01 - We're not in Kansas anymore...
Dear Family and Friends:
I am writing you as a civilian: without a name tag, or cellphone full of missionary, doctor, pizza, and service numbers. I'm not driving the Westville Boys High School "bus", or buying bedding, or paper plates or cups. I'm not giving talks, training or shopping hints, or searching out interesting places for couples seminars. Instead, I'm catching up with all the kids (except Torry's family, who will be here July 24th); shopping for cars (got a sterling gray Ford Fusion Hybrid), cellphones (IPhones), computers (Mac) and groceries (Campbell's soup, Cook'n'Serve chocolate pudding, saltines, graham crackers, grape jelly...); driving a Gator out to see Morgan's wood duck nesting boxes (Eagle Scout project); starting out at a new ward (Vienna Woods) and renewing friendships. And in the midst of all the excitement - thinking about everyone back in the mission. I'm exhausted - and so is my bank account.
It was wonderful meeting the Von Stettens at last; they are as enthusiastic, likeable, and eager as we were told by those who already knew them. The transition for the missionaries will be very easy - and the missionaries will be ready to move forward with all the new things the Von Stettens brought from the MTC. I can't wait to hear about all the huge growth that is about to take place!
I thought I'd give you a few of the Mission Mom stats I've accumulated over the last three years. (They surprised even me!)
Transfer dinners: 48
Pizzas ordered: Over 2000
Miles driven: 100,000(ish)
Chickens hit: 1 (he flopped off - alive)
Nights when a boy stayed overnight and was fed (constantly): At least 700 - probably over 1000
Talks/training at stake and district conferences: Over 60
Zone conferences/Sunbeam Message of the Day: Over 70
Trips to the airport: At least 50
Trips to the hospital: Enough that nurses call me by name...
Times lost (but found my way back): A lot!
Trips to the mall (most often with teenagers): 300 (That's probably a low estimate...)
Fast food meals: Not telling
New friends made: Hundreds
Testimony building experiences: Can't count that high
Grateful feelings for having been allowed to do this: Innumerable
And that's just the beginning. And guess what? Experiences even better than these are available to anyone who goes on a mission - or helps the fulltime missionaries grow the kingdom in their own area. I started my own efforts on Sunday, by meeting the elders in our ward (one of whom is Elder Magoffin's cousin, in the Durban Mission!) and saying Hi to new neighbors out walking their dog - and obviously not on their way to Church.
So there you go. We loved the mission - although Steve is still listening for calls from the elders, and going into withdrawal without a six-week cycle to give form to his life. We're looking forward to seeing our former missionaries (of all ages!) who are home now and will return over the next few years. Our first official missionary reunion will be Friday, October 1st at 6:30 - is someone on the Wasatch Front can help us find an as yet unscheduled cultural hall?
Then in 18 months or so we'll hold reunions in Kampala, Nairobi, Harare and Johannesburg. And then, of course, there will be the trip to Durban with any of the couples who can join us, for the Durban Temple dedication: whenever!
Steve is going to organize a website where every missionary has his/her own spot to post photos, and comments, and current contact info. We'll email the info to everyone, but I may also post the information here on the blog at the end of July in case our email list isn't quite right. Our current contact info is:
Steve stevemannsa@gmail.com Susan durbanmanns@gmail.com
208 891 4072 208 891 3082
Address: 2167 E Handel Street
Meridian, ID 83646
We're doing a report in our old ward, River Heights, on July 25th at 11am. Steve will be picking up Torry and the kids on Saturday the 24th, but he'll be home that night, and I'll be home that day, and it's open house 24-7 for all our missionary "companions" - and family and friends! (Couples: bring brownies!)
It's also open house anytime you're passing through and need a place to sleepover - I'm very good at that! But I still only do breakfasts...
Thankyouthankyouthankyou for all the support and love and help you've been. Let's be friends forever.
Love, Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/theformerSisterPresidentMann
ps People drive on the right here
pps And no one wears nametags
ppps But the Church is just as true
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
2010 06 27 - Zone Conferences and Hambani Kahle's
Dear Everyone:
We had a great set of zone conferences this week. (Do I say that every time? Must be true!) We focused first on technical review - reminding the elders of the things that help them in the work, from pass-along cards to weekly planning to Walkabout to the Preach My Gospel Member Program. All the elders came prepared with a talk on "As a missionary, what is the best gift I can give the Savior?" and 4 elders were called on to give their talks in each conference. Their answers included faith, love, diligence, obedience, hard work..." (By George, I think they've got it!)"
For an example of obedience with exactness, an elder talked about going to KFC(which is on every other corner) and ordering a meal. If the price is R100, and you only have R50, or R75, or even R90 - you're not going to get it. Exact results (and rewards) require exact obedience.
I was thinking as the elders sat in the chapels, worrying whether they would be asked to speak, how it would be if everyone throughout the Church always had a talk prepared, in case they were called on. That happens to the elders, the senior couples, and to us all the time here, especially in the small branches. I would suggest some aspect of the atonement. My zone conference talk was on helping investigators understand the atonement, and the Lord's love for them, through our examples. If you have a Preach My Gospel (and doesn't every home, by now?) I went through Faith and Charity under Christlike Attributes and shared my favorite scripture story for each one. Steve then gave his "Last Lecture", which was the scriptures he has most learned from/relied on during the mission, and then there was a brief testimony meeting, started off by the elders who will return home at the end of this cycle. And then, of course, pizza!
After the Hillcrest zone conference on Wednesday Steve and I drove to Newcastle for the Thursday zone conference with Swaziland and Newcastle zones. It was fun to see how the towns have dressed up for FIFA even out there (see photos above). Then we drove back to Durban, so we could fly to Blomfontein at 6:50am on Friday. Bloem is also highly decorated - some of the games are played there - and it was cold - by Durban standards: 0.03 C (34 F?). After the zone conference we had a farewell meal with the Knudsens and Allreds at Coco C's - right near the top of our list of favorite restaurants in the mission, along with Butcher Boys in Hillcrest, Summerfields and in Swaziland, and Mugg & Bean, RJs and Stega d'Oro in Durban.
I think that in spite of the last photos and goodbyes, the zone conferences were pretty cheerful and normal and the elders will just move on into the next ones without skipping a beat. Steve encouraged them all to write a letter this week to President Von Stetton... "and he'll think you write a letter to the President EVERY week!" They loved that - and as you may have guessed from the story, yes, the elders are supposed to write a letter to the President every week; and no, they don't always do it. I hope they're more faithful about writing their families every week.
The mission home remodeling continues - but not as "apace" as Ray Holder would wish. Ray is in charge of all the Church-owned buildings in the Durban and Mozambique missions: KZN, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, & Angola. He really wants the mission home finished for the Von Stettons - it's nice to have lofty goals... However, the painters are done, the tiling is done, the bathroom is maybe a third done, the kitchen only lacks cupboard door handles, sinks and applicances; then we need the new carpet laid, followed by putting all the food and kitchenware away, and straightening the furniture. I'll have to look at the pictures Sister Brock sent me three years ago, to know where the bedroom furniture went: we've moved things around a lot. The good news is, Sister Von Stetton will probably like organizing it the way she wants it, anyway, so "What, me worry?" (Well, yeah, but I'll get over it. I hope Ray does!)
When we breakfast at Little Haven, I always get good stories from Vic and Grace. Today we were talking about the difficulties African return missionaries face in finding work. they told me about a young man who emigrated to the States, jobless and poor. He saw a construction site, bought a broom, and went there and started sweeping up. The foreman asked him what he was doing there, and he answered "Cleaning up." "We didn't hire you!" "That's alright - you don't have to pay me, I'm just going to clean things up." He went to the jobsite every day with his broom, and by the end of the week they hired him and taught him the construction business. As you can imagine, he became very successful.
We met a young man named Surprise, not a member, who is staying with them during some training. His parents are divorced, and when he was 13 or 14 his father took him out of school and away from his mother. Surprise was very good at maths and science, and started tutoring children at a church. More and more students came, and the pastor asked him to encourage them to continue with their education. He was then asked to give his motivational talk other places, and was paid a little - enough to get back in school for another semester. He also started helping at a school for illiterate adults.
He never did his matric exams, but a friend encouraged him to apply at Nestle's. They required their own exam (which he failed) and an interview - which he passed brilliantly as he explained his own efforts for an education. They hired him and are now training him in various areas of the company.
We have elders who were not able to finish school - some because they were supporting their families or helping a younger brother afford school. There isn't a GED type degree anywhere here, that I've heard of, so if they wanted to take the matric exams they would have to go back to school, with the youngsters, and complete all the years they missed. Brother Vic tells me that the answer is to start their own business. There is a niche for everything, and if they can find their's, they can rise to anything. I guess it's like thinking up the Post-it, or rubber bracelets, or vuvuzelas! Completing a mission gives the elders lots of training in goal-setting, strategy planning, endurance and tailoring performance to the needs of the situation. I'm sure they'll find their "niches" if they'll just keep on as they are going now.
And here is one more example of why all the senior couples (including us) wish we could put a few of the elders in our bags and take them home. When I cam out of church at Pinetown Sunday it was raining. Elder Cuguara saw me standing on the porch looking at the rain, came out, and offered me his suitcoat to keep dry on the walk to the car - which would have meant his walking through the rain in his shirtsleeves to bring the coat back.
How can you not love them?
Love,
Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/SisterPresidentMann(until Tuesday at 1:30pm Mountain Standard Time, when the Von Stettons get off the plane at King Shaka International Airport)
ps There'll be a last mission blog next week
pps We're going to set up a mission website where the elders/sisters/couples can post pictures and comments on their own pages
We had a great set of zone conferences this week. (Do I say that every time? Must be true!) We focused first on technical review - reminding the elders of the things that help them in the work, from pass-along cards to weekly planning to Walkabout to the Preach My Gospel Member Program. All the elders came prepared with a talk on "As a missionary, what is the best gift I can give the Savior?" and 4 elders were called on to give their talks in each conference. Their answers included faith, love, diligence, obedience, hard work..." (By George, I think they've got it!)"
For an example of obedience with exactness, an elder talked about going to KFC(which is on every other corner) and ordering a meal. If the price is R100, and you only have R50, or R75, or even R90 - you're not going to get it. Exact results (and rewards) require exact obedience.
I was thinking as the elders sat in the chapels, worrying whether they would be asked to speak, how it would be if everyone throughout the Church always had a talk prepared, in case they were called on. That happens to the elders, the senior couples, and to us all the time here, especially in the small branches. I would suggest some aspect of the atonement. My zone conference talk was on helping investigators understand the atonement, and the Lord's love for them, through our examples. If you have a Preach My Gospel (and doesn't every home, by now?) I went through Faith and Charity under Christlike Attributes and shared my favorite scripture story for each one. Steve then gave his "Last Lecture", which was the scriptures he has most learned from/relied on during the mission, and then there was a brief testimony meeting, started off by the elders who will return home at the end of this cycle. And then, of course, pizza!
After the Hillcrest zone conference on Wednesday Steve and I drove to Newcastle for the Thursday zone conference with Swaziland and Newcastle zones. It was fun to see how the towns have dressed up for FIFA even out there (see photos above). Then we drove back to Durban, so we could fly to Blomfontein at 6:50am on Friday. Bloem is also highly decorated - some of the games are played there - and it was cold - by Durban standards: 0.03 C (34 F?). After the zone conference we had a farewell meal with the Knudsens and Allreds at Coco C's - right near the top of our list of favorite restaurants in the mission, along with Butcher Boys in Hillcrest, Summerfields and in Swaziland, and Mugg & Bean, RJs and Stega d'Oro in Durban.
I think that in spite of the last photos and goodbyes, the zone conferences were pretty cheerful and normal and the elders will just move on into the next ones without skipping a beat. Steve encouraged them all to write a letter this week to President Von Stetton... "and he'll think you write a letter to the President EVERY week!" They loved that - and as you may have guessed from the story, yes, the elders are supposed to write a letter to the President every week; and no, they don't always do it. I hope they're more faithful about writing their families every week.
The mission home remodeling continues - but not as "apace" as Ray Holder would wish. Ray is in charge of all the Church-owned buildings in the Durban and Mozambique missions: KZN, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique, & Angola. He really wants the mission home finished for the Von Stettons - it's nice to have lofty goals... However, the painters are done, the tiling is done, the bathroom is maybe a third done, the kitchen only lacks cupboard door handles, sinks and applicances; then we need the new carpet laid, followed by putting all the food and kitchenware away, and straightening the furniture. I'll have to look at the pictures Sister Brock sent me three years ago, to know where the bedroom furniture went: we've moved things around a lot. The good news is, Sister Von Stetton will probably like organizing it the way she wants it, anyway, so "What, me worry?" (Well, yeah, but I'll get over it. I hope Ray does!)
When we breakfast at Little Haven, I always get good stories from Vic and Grace. Today we were talking about the difficulties African return missionaries face in finding work. they told me about a young man who emigrated to the States, jobless and poor. He saw a construction site, bought a broom, and went there and started sweeping up. The foreman asked him what he was doing there, and he answered "Cleaning up." "We didn't hire you!" "That's alright - you don't have to pay me, I'm just going to clean things up." He went to the jobsite every day with his broom, and by the end of the week they hired him and taught him the construction business. As you can imagine, he became very successful.
We met a young man named Surprise, not a member, who is staying with them during some training. His parents are divorced, and when he was 13 or 14 his father took him out of school and away from his mother. Surprise was very good at maths and science, and started tutoring children at a church. More and more students came, and the pastor asked him to encourage them to continue with their education. He was then asked to give his motivational talk other places, and was paid a little - enough to get back in school for another semester. He also started helping at a school for illiterate adults.
He never did his matric exams, but a friend encouraged him to apply at Nestle's. They required their own exam (which he failed) and an interview - which he passed brilliantly as he explained his own efforts for an education. They hired him and are now training him in various areas of the company.
We have elders who were not able to finish school - some because they were supporting their families or helping a younger brother afford school. There isn't a GED type degree anywhere here, that I've heard of, so if they wanted to take the matric exams they would have to go back to school, with the youngsters, and complete all the years they missed. Brother Vic tells me that the answer is to start their own business. There is a niche for everything, and if they can find their's, they can rise to anything. I guess it's like thinking up the Post-it, or rubber bracelets, or vuvuzelas! Completing a mission gives the elders lots of training in goal-setting, strategy planning, endurance and tailoring performance to the needs of the situation. I'm sure they'll find their "niches" if they'll just keep on as they are going now.
And here is one more example of why all the senior couples (including us) wish we could put a few of the elders in our bags and take them home. When I cam out of church at Pinetown Sunday it was raining. Elder Cuguara saw me standing on the porch looking at the rain, came out, and offered me his suitcoat to keep dry on the walk to the car - which would have meant his walking through the rain in his shirtsleeves to bring the coat back.
How can you not love them?
Love,
Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/SisterPresidentMann(until Tuesday at 1:30pm Mountain Standard Time, when the Von Stettons get off the plane at King Shaka International Airport)
ps There'll be a last mission blog next week
pps We're going to set up a mission website where the elders/sisters/couples can post pictures and comments on their own pages
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
2010 06 20 - Transfer Week: Crazy as Ever!
Dear Family & Friends:
In spite of construction, cars in the shop (including mine), chilly weather and a whole set of issues we haven't ever had to deal with before, we managed to welcome two new elders and send four seasoned elders home to bigger and better things. Elders Khubeka and Hall arrived with a planeload of Spain supporters, and two 12-year-0ld boys blowing vuvuzelas. If two are that loud up close, thousands at the soccer game must be deafening!
The Davises were kind enough to have the dinner and testimony meeting at their boarding, as the mission home was unavailable; it was very nice - and cosy!
The mission home is currently like Grand Central Station. One day we had 6 or 7 tilers, 3 or 4 painters, Nthombenhle trying to iron shirts and clean whatever she could get at, and the yard crew all working away. As you slide along the wall on a path one tile wide to avoid the new tiles being worked on, you have to avoid touching fresh paint. Furniture gets moved from room to room and occasionally I come home to find the closet where I cleverly put things so I could get at them, blocked by 6 lamps and a bookcase. This happened to the overnight bag I packed the day they painted our bedroom. Regroup and move one!
Hunter went to two FIFA games this week at Moses Mabhida Stadium. We dropped him off at the Pavilion Mall, and they took one of the many shuttle buses (full-size buses) to the Workshop mall downtown, and then smaller shuttles to the stadium. It was a madhouse at the Pavilion, but nothing compared to downtown. The stadium holds 88,000 (I think) and was totally full, and very loud, and the fans were all in team shirts and scarves and hats and face paint, blowing vuvuzelas or yelling. Apparently it was way fun. I liked it on TV.
The roadside vendor trade in national flags to hang on your car window is dropping off - most people have them; if South Africa had won, business would have been booming, I'm sure. The vendors have now added back in their plastic hangers and trash bags - it's an interesting combination!
One of the highlights of the week was a dinner after mission presidency meeting, with all the senior couples. It's the first (and last) time we'll have this whole group together. Not everyone knew each other, so it was nice to get everyone acquainted. We ate at Durban's revolving restaurant, and since it had rained earlier, the air was clear and the views were great. We saw one the lights of one ship leaving the harbor, and several more in line along the coast waiting to get in. We now have a Yearbook (Yearsbook?) with messages from all the current couples, compliments of the Knudsens. I'm planning to carry it around with me so I can have all our couples sign it. What a good way to remember everyone (as if I could forget them!!!). The book is full of pictures and information about South Africa, which I will also enjoy, but not as much as the notes from the couples.
I am furnishing our house-bought-over-the-internet with appliances-bought-over-the-internet. I look them up, then I email Parker and Morgan, and they go buy them with my credit card, and install them. Groceries are next. We'll be able to move right in and start living there...as long as we sleep on the floor; we get in on the 2nd our boxes and furniture won't be delivered until the 6th. Won't be much different than now, except the paint will be dry...
Love, Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/SisterPresidentMann
ps In their struggling young married years, Vic & Grace Rawlings drove a VW that required two drivers: one to hold the stick and keep it in gear, and one to steer.
pps More new terms (from Brother Vic):
Active Citizen Forces (ACF) = Army Reserves
Built-in cupboard = a closet
Lad = a male any younger than he is!
ppps They have pulled the R200 note out of circulation because there are too many good counterfeit bills out there.
In spite of construction, cars in the shop (including mine), chilly weather and a whole set of issues we haven't ever had to deal with before, we managed to welcome two new elders and send four seasoned elders home to bigger and better things. Elders Khubeka and Hall arrived with a planeload of Spain supporters, and two 12-year-0ld boys blowing vuvuzelas. If two are that loud up close, thousands at the soccer game must be deafening!
The Davises were kind enough to have the dinner and testimony meeting at their boarding, as the mission home was unavailable; it was very nice - and cosy!
The mission home is currently like Grand Central Station. One day we had 6 or 7 tilers, 3 or 4 painters, Nthombenhle trying to iron shirts and clean whatever she could get at, and the yard crew all working away. As you slide along the wall on a path one tile wide to avoid the new tiles being worked on, you have to avoid touching fresh paint. Furniture gets moved from room to room and occasionally I come home to find the closet where I cleverly put things so I could get at them, blocked by 6 lamps and a bookcase. This happened to the overnight bag I packed the day they painted our bedroom. Regroup and move one!
Hunter went to two FIFA games this week at Moses Mabhida Stadium. We dropped him off at the Pavilion Mall, and they took one of the many shuttle buses (full-size buses) to the Workshop mall downtown, and then smaller shuttles to the stadium. It was a madhouse at the Pavilion, but nothing compared to downtown. The stadium holds 88,000 (I think) and was totally full, and very loud, and the fans were all in team shirts and scarves and hats and face paint, blowing vuvuzelas or yelling. Apparently it was way fun. I liked it on TV.
The roadside vendor trade in national flags to hang on your car window is dropping off - most people have them; if South Africa had won, business would have been booming, I'm sure. The vendors have now added back in their plastic hangers and trash bags - it's an interesting combination!
One of the highlights of the week was a dinner after mission presidency meeting, with all the senior couples. It's the first (and last) time we'll have this whole group together. Not everyone knew each other, so it was nice to get everyone acquainted. We ate at Durban's revolving restaurant, and since it had rained earlier, the air was clear and the views were great. We saw one the lights of one ship leaving the harbor, and several more in line along the coast waiting to get in. We now have a Yearbook (Yearsbook?) with messages from all the current couples, compliments of the Knudsens. I'm planning to carry it around with me so I can have all our couples sign it. What a good way to remember everyone (as if I could forget them!!!). The book is full of pictures and information about South Africa, which I will also enjoy, but not as much as the notes from the couples.
I am furnishing our house-bought-over-the-internet with appliances-bought-over-the-internet. I look them up, then I email Parker and Morgan, and they go buy them with my credit card, and install them. Groceries are next. We'll be able to move right in and start living there...as long as we sleep on the floor; we get in on the 2nd our boxes and furniture won't be delivered until the 6th. Won't be much different than now, except the paint will be dry...
Love, Mom/Grandma/Sue/Susan/SisterPresidentMann
ps In their struggling young married years, Vic & Grace Rawlings drove a VW that required two drivers: one to hold the stick and keep it in gear, and one to steer.
pps More new terms (from Brother Vic):
Active Citizen Forces (ACF) = Army Reserves
Built-in cupboard = a closet
Lad = a male any younger than he is!
ppps They have pulled the R200 note out of circulation because there are too many good counterfeit bills out there.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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