I would like to share part of a letter that I received today and I had no words of wisdom or solutions……”..I trust you Sister Lombardi that you are the only person who can help me out of the miserable life I’m living. I live alone in my one room, I used to stay with my grandmother so she left me she went to stay at another region at village, then she left me behind because I’m in school. Some of my brothers they doesn’t care for me because even them they are not working. So a person hustle for himself, but me I always pray and ask in faith to our heavenly Father…..I lost my father and mother when I was young. I cannot remember my mom’s face but I always tell myself that God is my everything..he knew me before I was born. I have faith in him, I trust in him all of my hope is in him. We are on earth to endure to the end. I know that is true and I am his desire, my heart truly connect with heavenly Father….Please help me, I beg you in the name of God. The holy spirit has shown me to come to you because you are kind shaking hands with you and great each other is like the best conversation I’ve ever had in my life. I realized that if anything bother you, ask for help before getting tempted by evil to break commandment but I promise I’ll never break any of the commandments. Amen.” This young man is 16 years old and joined the church on February 17, 2013.
Wow…..what do I say or how do I respond? I didn’t know what to say to him tonight. I hated seeing him leave our home knowing that he was going home to no one, no food, no one to love him and take care of him and reassure him…and he is so young. I have an extra bedroom and I so wanted to offer it to him but I know that is against the rules. I also know that there are many cases like this throughout Swaziland and I can’t solve a nation’s problems. I don’t know them. But I know him. I know his heart. I know the good young man he is trying to be. He comes to our home and gives us powerful lessons. He has a smile that lights up the room and a laugh that warms your heart. I can’t help a nation, but I would sure like to help one young man. It is late here and I think of him laying in that small room by himself and my heart breaks.
The Lord tells us in D & C 84:85 that He will tell us the words to say at the time we need them but tonight he failed me. I didn’t know what to say. All I could do is give him a hug. So I am putting it out there to all of you. What words of wisdom can I give him?
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday was filled with “everyday mission life of a senior couple” responsibilities. I will just mention some: fixing bikes, getting electricity, discussions with the mission home about boardings, bakkis, etc.,taking elders to get shots, going to the government offices to obtain work permits for elders which means standing in line after line for hours, trying to find a sponsor to pay for paint for a zone activity, doing laundry, clean house, bake, make dinner for elders and members, answer emails, writing emails, shopping, attending the district’s DTMs, visiting members and investigators, helping a young man get an internship at a car dealership, attending district and branch presidency meetings, elders dropping by for food – they are constantly hungry…..just to mention a few. Now for a few details. On Wednesday we went to a private school and approached them about doing a Strength for Youth presentation for their high school students. The principal said she would get back to us. School closes for three weeks this week so we may not hear for awhile. Also, that night Xolani, Futhi, Mpilo and his friend, came over for dinner and movie. They are always fun to have over. Sbu is going to auto mechanics school and is given a year to do an internship. He has been searching since January for a place to offer his skills and for free. But he has come out empty handed until his “knight in shining armor”, Dennis, comes to the rescue and finds him a place at Mbabne Motors which he started immediately. Sbu was overjoyed and said that Mbabane Motors is the known to be the best place in all Swaziland. To see this young man go from being totally discouraged to extreme gladness was warming to the heart and soul. Thanks Dennis for being so amazing! I was one happy mama when we finally received a package that was sent by Cassie on September 24, 2012…..6 1/2 months later. It was a treasure of drawings and letters from grandchildren and children, gifts, all kinds of chips, books….priceless treasures. Thanks to you all!
A little randomness
Our little Shelby that was born December 5, 2012 – we miss watching her grow. Isn’t she beautiful
Easter 2013 with some of the Lombardi clan – our traditional Easter bunny cake – made every year now for 40 years
The picture does not reveal how amazingly huge these grapefruits are……HUGE and wonderfully delicious
Friday, April 12, 2013 we went to a small village about 2 hours away, Hlohlo, to show our respects to Sylvia Dlamini who lost her mother. The week previous her sister died and apparently, her mother had a hard time dealing with it and passed away a week later. We met Sister Dlamini at the mortuary in Mbabane where they had a short service. The mother belonged to a branch of the Methodist church – not sure what it was called but the women wear a red jacket with a white belt and hat. A lot of the religions identify themselves by what they wear. It was interesting to listen to the preacher – of course, in siSwati. There were only six of us there for Sister Dlamini. We then followed the procession to this little village. But on the way, we were pulled over by the police for what they say was speeding. But we were not. After a little discussion, they said we could go. But the procession had continued on and we had no idea where to go. But, again, Heavenly Father was there to answer the call. A car driven by Sister Dlamini’s daughter was pulled over also for speeding and we were able to follow them to the family homestead. We stayed for only a few hours and met and visited with Sister Dlamini’s family – a few members came up later for the night vigil.
Leaving the mortuary in Mbabane
They first took the casket to where the church meets and sang and then back to the car.
Then arrived at the homestead where they took the casket to different places, sang and then moved to the next. This tent was put up for the night vigil where they will sing and preach all night while the body and family stays in the building on the left of the picture.
The beautiful view from the homestead. They said she loved to garden and she would be out plowing her fields daily.
Sylvia is the one standing, her daughter sitting in front of her, her sister the one on the right, another sister with the turquoise scarf on head, etc. The family was not allowed with the casket right now. The priests were with the body.
Sylvia and Thoko (Sister Shongwe)
The children are everywhere and this was no exception. They followed me to the bakki because I told them I had sweets. Do you call this bribery?
Saturday, April 13 was a glorious day. We started it with visiting with the Mthethwe family who just had their first child on Tuesday – a little girl named Venile which means arrived. She was beautiful. Oh, how my arms ached to hold my little ones at home. Talking to these cute first time parents was delightful. They said they did not know that babies cried so much. They had gone to the doctor’s office twice the day before which they said the doctor laughed at them and told them that their baby is a good one and not to worry. Do you all remember your first time? The anxiety and helplessness we feel. She had all the concerns with feeding, sleeping, crying, umbilical cord, jaundice……..memories flooded through me. I just held her and loved every minute. We hurried to the Mbabane to get paint for our elders service project on Monday – painting the Lobamba Care Point Center. Dennis and Jerome Shongwe searched for a company to sponsor the activity by paying for the paint. A Care Point is totally on volunteer basis without any support from government. This particular one that we are working with takes care of 72 orphans from the age of 1 to 6 (until they can enter school) from 8:00 – 1:30. Their teacher is a volunteer; the sweet ladies that prepare the food are volunteers; they have to find sponsors to donate food for them; and taking care of their building is up to them. Dennis offered to get the elders involved to paint their building. The organization that runs one of our malls in Ezulwini agreed to help us with the project. We gratefully accepted their donation. We received the check on Friday and on Saturday we went and bought paint, rollers, brushes, etc. We stopped by the Msibi family to give them some guacamole dip that I had made from their avocadoes that they had given us. Bro. Appolo and Simphiwe were there but the others were off doing their chores. We had to be at the Mbabane chapel for a YSA dance that we organized. We had a marvelous time with around 50 YSA’s. How I love these youth. We danced, ate and had a great activity…speed dating that we called “Getting to Know you in 2 minutes.” They absolutely loved doing that. Of course, at first they were hesitant but in just minutes they were really into it. We had a lot more boys than girls. So a lot of the boys had to stay out. At first, we could not get the boys to join and by the end they had made their own substituting flow into the activity. It was quite an experience to see their smiles and hear their laughter. They didn’t want it to end.
Venile Mthethwe – born Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Venile and mom – Laretto
YSA Dance
Sipho and Maqoba from Gege showing us some of their moves before everyone arrives
Pres. Mahlalela gets into the action
What joyous fun
Our speed/dating activity – a great success
This was our boy rotation line
The young man in the green shirt in the video is Sipho. He is the one baptized from Gege that I mentioned in a previous blog – My Feet Wouldn’t Move. We waited 2 hours for him to come to his baptism. He bore his testimony later that he tried to go but his feet wouldn’t move. Now look at his feet move. The gospel has brought such joy into his life. Who knows where he would have been this day if he had not gotten his feet to move towards the direction of the baptismal font.
Sabbath Day – April 14, 2013 – Nhlangano was our destination for church today and some of my favorite people were there to greet us – Bro. Dludlu, Ma Zungu, Sister Shongwe and most importantly, Pres. Bulunga. We are so blessed to have met so many wonderful people in this area. They have truly enriched our lives. There were three amazing talks – well prepared, well presented and given with the spirit. Gospel Doctrine was taught by Derek Fakudze – a young husband and father of one that was baptized in November 2012 and gave an incredible lesson. He told us he could not wait to go to the temple and be sealed to his family. We will gladly accompany him to the Joburg temple in November. When we arrived home we talked to the Manzini elders to see how Lalela enjoyed church. To our surprise, she did not go. We had visited her on Tuesday and she said that she wanted to go to church but was afraid of the pathway to the chapel. So we talked to the elders and they agreed to meet her and walk with her. So that was the plan. Well, she called the night before and said that she could not make it. Her old church had called her and said that they missed her and wanted her back. So she is now attending her old church again. The roller coaster ride of a missionary. I have a lot more empathy for the elders now than I did before. Dennis and I were so discouraged. We had her on baptism date in May. I think things have changed. In our scripture reading, we read Alma 25: 30 which states: ‘And thus we can plainly discern, that after a people have been once enlightened by the Spirit of God, and have had great knowledge of things pertaining to righteousness, and then have fallen away into sin and transgression, they become more hardened, and thus their state becomes worse than though they had never known these things.” I am not saying that Lalela has fallen away into sin, but I realized that a person needs to be truly converted before they enter the waters of baptism so they stay strong because it can be worse for them than those who had never been baptized. We need to make sure that the converts are truly converted, believing that this is the true church, the one that will bring them joy and happiness. So, we can be patient and wait for Lalela to discover for herself the truthfulness of the gospel. And until then, she will continue to be our friend.
Derek Fakudze and his family – man that is truly converted
This was their favorite picture but I wanted you to see their faces.
Bro.Dludlu’s granddaughter and her three children
On the church property there is a guava tree which the members love to eat after church
Sisters Shongwe and Simelane
The day that Dennis has been planning for so long to make sure that it was a success finally arrived on Monday, April 15th. We painted the Lobamba Care Point Center. The elders gathered at our home and we headed off to greet the children and make their school a beautiful place of learning. The children were thrilled to see us – gathering around the elders as soon as they stepped out of their bakkis. Then, all of a sudden they put up their hands and started saying “I love you”. They had remembered when I taught them the sign language for I love you on a previous visit. That was months ago. I had to inform the elders what they were doing and they quickly responded. It was a touching moment. We took a picture with all the children and then to avoid disaster, the children went to the playground and stayed. So we got started. After washing some of the walls, we painted the window sills, the walls, around the boards of the roof and as close to the dirt floor that we could. In two fun hours the building was complete, the elders semi clean, the children fed and entertained and the teacher delighted in her new building. A success! The children gathered and performed for us. I believe it will be a day that the elders will not soon forget. We again gathered at our home for a braai with meat and lots of salads. It was a good day followed by a wonderful evening with the Lobamba boys and Sifiso’s birthday -which we were late celebrating (he is getting baptized on April 28th). And that brings us back to the beginning – the letter that I received that night. (I am finishing this blog two days after I started).
Delighted to see the elders
Elder Norbert from Madagascar
The entire group
How it looked then……..
The painting begins
There were a few “oops” but they were easily washed away
Dennis could not gather any ladders but the elders were ingenious and came up with a solution
Our teacher and the director that works tirelessly to gather volunteers and supplies to support the Care Point
The finished job
A “high five” for a job well done
Meet some of these precious orphans…
Lunch time – probably the only food they will get today. See the “I love you”
Coming to see their new building
Suckers for everyone
Gogos come to gather their grandchildren
This gogo asked if I could sponsor her granddaughter – which means pay for her school fees
Our Braai…….
Sifiso’s birthday cake…
Since I first started the blog, I have had many thoughts about the situation not only this young man is in but a lot of others that we know. How do we help so many? The Lord has blessed me with some ideas that I am going to see if we can apply. But I would love to hear from you and ideas that you may have. With many minds working together, miracles can occur. But in the meantime, we will meet and continue to love this young man and share with him one of my favorite scriptures: “And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.” D & C 84:88…..and make a plan.
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