“Ye are the light of the world….Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 5: 14 – 16
The members here are a light unto Swaziland and unto me. They are constantly teaching me and helping light my path. I want to share some experiences that happened this week that shows how bright their light shines.
1) Last week I told you about Sister Dlamini in the Mbabane branch who fainted during Sunday School. On Monday we went to see how she was feeling and find out if there was anything we could do. It was such a lovely visit. What a stalwart of a lady. She said that she was feeling better. Then our conversation turned to her husband’s new calling as counselor in the branch presidency. Just as a reminder, they have no car, you saw the small place were they live, they are taking care of a nephew (but to these people they are all their children) and she is not feeling well. We asked how she felt about it and she replied, “This is a church of learning and serving. So we always have challenges to help us grow.” Wow, what a lesson on callings. So many of us murmur and complain about our callings. Here is a lady who sees a calling as a opportunity to grow. Her light is glorifying her Heavenly Father.
2) Patriarch Courtney from Durban came back with us to Swaziland to give blessings to some of the members. He stayed with us in our home and we so enjoyed his visit and stories. He was telling us of a time when he was in a strange country and felt very lonely. He was in a building and saw a picture of Christ and said “I KNOW YOU”. Everything was alright after that. He found peace in his situation. How simple but what an impact it made on me. Yes, we know Him, he is always with us, we are never alone. Just knowing that gives me courage and the strength to do hard things and to never feel lonely. That simple declaration lit my path.
3) Friday night four of our Lobamba boys showed up to have their patriarchal blessings by Bro. Courtney. Now mind you, each blessing takes an hour – so 4 young men = 4 hours of waiting time. But what an enlightening four hours for me. They “giveth light unto all that are in the house”. We ate, played games and enjoyed sharing gospel principles. So the following day was our big CES Spiritual Carnival that I have been working on for months for the youth and YSA’s of Swaziland. I asked them if they were all coming. Two of them said that they would not be able to. Of course, the question that followed was “Why not?” Maxwell and Musa are home teaching companions and they had appointments on Saturday for two families. One family’s mother works as a teacher in another city so she just comes home on Saturdays and their appointment with them was at 11:00 (the time the party was to start) when she gets home. Me of little support said, “Can’t you change it?” Their reply, “Sister Lombardi, I have to do the Lord’s work.” These young men have only been members for maybe 7 months and here they are teaching me about the importance of doing the Lord’s work. “..give light to them (me) that sit in darkness”. Luke 1:79
4)Another Lobamba boy story. Muzi has not been coming to church or to our home on Mondays. We have been trying to visit for some weeks but he is never there. I think I told you before that we finally found him at home and he said that he was afraid to come because he has a problem. For some unknown reason, this young man has stolen a piece of my heart and it is breaking that he is wandering from the fold. We tried to see him again and he was not home. Then Saturday night we ran into him at Gables with some of his friends. He was dressed in the traditional attire and just hangin’. We talked to him and again told him how much we miss him. We again invited him to church the next day. He promised he would come and bring his friend. The next morning we were late getting out of our home and was rushing up our dirt road, when we saw him dressed in a white shirt and tie with scriptures in hand walking with his friend and Maxwell and Bongiswe. My heart skipped a beat. I told Dennis to stop the car and I jumped out to talk to him. He told me , “I kept my promise”. Yes, he kept the promise he had made to me. Not only did he give me light, I pray that he has again found his light and will follow it. (Please pray for him. He goes to Ezulwini Branch and we had to attend Manzini Branch so we were unable to talk to him. He did not come Monday night to FHE. We went to where he stays Sunday night with goodies, but he was not there. We drove around trying to find him, but was unsuccessful. I worry about him.)
5) A mother was expressing her sorrows in the problems she is having with her son. She told me, “I finally just prayed to Heavenly Father and asked him when I look at him that I will just see the son that I love not the problem.” How many of us could use that advice? Profound!
May we all be a “light” to the world in our actions, our words and in all things.
Monday, February 18 was filled with errands, projects and people to visit. We started the day with a walk. Swaziland has come alive with pink and purple flowering trees. It is gorgeous. Dennis had to get the final papers done on registering our bakki with Swaziland while I worked on our CES activity. Then we went to see Bhekiwe, Sister Dlamini, Constance Dlamini, delivered a formal paper to the TV station inviting them to broadcast Music and the Spoken Word, visited with Pumi to see how her first day of school was, and then went all over Ezulwini trying to solve the not-fit-to drink water problems at our chapel. We concluded the night with the Lobamba boys who were taught by Manqoba Shongwe with Sbu. We had 14 of them with us.
I hope they are still flowering when our kids come to visit
Pumi in her new school uniform
Family Home Evening
We had an early visitor on Tuesday, February 19th. It was Nathi and he needed a place to destress. His fiance is teaching school by us but lives in Mbabane so he has to pick her up every morning, drive her to school in Ezulwini and then go back to Mbabane to do his work and then be back by 2:00 to pick her up. He said he can’t do it. He is thinking of finding a place here where he can stay during the day or something. Glad we could provide a place to relax and talk. He joined the Zone Leaders for breakfast who were here for their Zone Leader Meeting on WebEx. While they were having their meeting we went to the silver shop, store, Manzini market to order skirts for Sister Holt, bought a battery for the Nhlangano’s bakki, home to provide lunch for the Zone Leaders, tried to assist Sister Msibi in getting her children registered at their school, Ezulwini market, took tables to Manzini chapel for the CES party. Not much missionary work done but it is always good to check off items on your list-of-things-to-do!
Tip Top and his homestead
The children at Elangeni Primary School completely swarmed Dennis
The reward for all the running around today – being out to witness this amazing sunset!
Off to Durban for a couple of days. Wednesday morning we stopped in at the Manzini Market before we headed down to Durban. Elder and Sister Holt, senior couple for Lesotho, had asked if I could get three skirts for her and her daughters. They will be in Durban the same time as us. Yesterday when I went to visit my girl that sews for me, she only had one skirt. I told her my dilemna and she said she would make one more that night and would have it ready by 7:00 a.m. for me. That worked because the daughters are flying out tomorrow and she could make Sister Holt’s skirt later. She had it packed and ready for us. I love the Swazi’s. They work so hard to please and they do it with a smile. We made a detour on our way. We went to see the new senior couple in Richards Bay, the Jaegers. A delightful addition to the South Africa Durban senior couples. We had lunch with them and then continued on to Durban. There we met up with the Millers, Holts and Shumways. It was like a family reunion. We only see the Shumways at Presidecny meeting – it was good to see them. The daughters just about attacked me when I arrived, they were so excited to see their skirts. They were adorable. We got settled into our B & B and then went to dinner with everybody.
The Swazi girls
The Jaegers from Orem in their new South African home
Dinner at an Italian Restaurant
Every time we go to Durban for Presidency meeting we spent a day going to all the shops to purchase items that we cannot get in Swaziland. Bake-A-Ton for my cocoa, castor sugar, oatmeal, yeast, nuts, craisins, etc. We added another item on our things we want in Durban list – A & W Root Beer. But we struck out. Couldn’t find it anywhere. We tried about 3 stores. We had lunch at the presidents home with Sister Von Stetten and then watched as she fed the monkeys that came to visit….she actually can tell them apart and has names for them. Dennis went to his meetings and then we met the men for dinner. Later that night Elder Miller helped me burn a DVD that I made for Dennis for our 42nd Anniversary.
Olsons, our wonderful office couple who is going to be trading places with the Holts in a few weeks
Look at this beautiful yard
Feeding the monkeys
Mama and baby
Drinking out of the rain gutter
Dinner with the presidency
On Friday, we said good-bye for another three months to our dear mission friends and then met the Zawakcy’s who are coming up to help with the CES carnival on Saturday and Patriarch Courtney for our drive home. Bro. Courtney made lunches for us that we enjoyed along the road. What a delightful man he is. We are being so blessed to meet such wonderful South African people. We arrived home around 4:00 and the Lobamba boys arrived at 4:45 to receive their blessings. Again, they were there on time and stayed for 4 hours waiting for their turn and then for the others. I hurried and fixed dinner for us all and we played UNO all night. They loved it and we did too. At the beginning I told of one of our conversations of the night. There were many. As Zweli came out of his blessing, he told Dennis that he heard exactly what he needed to hear and Musa said that he had never felt that way before. They know it, they live it and they love it.
Majaha, Musa, Zweli, Bro. Courtney, Maxwell
Playing UNO
He told us some amazing spiritual experiences he has had being a patriarch for 11 years. We are blessed to have him assigned to Swaziland, also.
Saturday, February 23rd was the day we have been planning for a long time – our CES Spiritual Carnival. We had a committee who had helped us plan and execute. The seminary and institute students in the district were invited. As the youth entered we gave them play money – 10 E10. After a opening session, we told them they had an hour to spend their money at different activities going on. We had spiritual and worldly things going on – donuts, frame of Christ, pedicure and manicure, movie, Mormon Messages, writing your testimony, music – singing and dancing, basketball and soccer, spiritual brain teasers, eating competition with hot dogs and marshmallows. At each station they received a red and blue card – red for spiritual and blue for worldly. After an hour we all met together again and I talked about choices that we make here on earth determine the kingdom you will receive in heaven. You should have heard the gasps when they realized what the activity was about. So if they had 7 or more red they went to the Celestial room; 5 or 6 red the Terrestial and less than 5 the Telestial. Well, nobody made it into the Celestial Kingdom, and very, very, very few to the Terrestial, so Xolani became their advocate begging me to lower the number so there would be some that made it to the Celestial and even Terrestial. This was not in the plan. I relented so Dennis, who is speaking in the Celestial kingdom, would have some participants. Then we met for lunch which the Zawacky’s fixed for us and had a final session where a youth spoke on the importance of Seminary, a video clip on Institute and Sister Zawacky talked on the importance of both Seminary and Institute. It was a fun day. We had over 80 youth that came. While this was going on Patriarch Courtney was giving 6 blessings. Wow – it was a full but delightful day.
Sunday, February 24th – our 42nd Anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSAY DENNIS
We attended the Manzini Branch because they sustained a new branch presidency – Pres. Mthethwa and 1st Counselor – Xolani Sithole. It was a great meeting. I held a baby the entire block time. He fell asleep and stayed in my arms the entire 3 hours. Dennis didn’t have meetings today so we were able to spend the afternoon together. I made him a DVD for our anniversary. Every picture had him in it. He was so surprised first that I made it and second, that there were so many pictures with him. It was fun to see all the things that we have done this past year on mission. We then went for a drive, tried to visit Muzi and Lalela and finally found Patricia at home. A great ending to a wonderful week.
Some cute missionaries and Vuzi Mamba
Manzini Young Women – we are doing an exchange with a YW in America
Dennis gave the Aaronic Priesthood to this new member – Spetfo Mamba
The Swazi members are a “light” in the darkness that surrounds them. They are a “light” to Dennis and I continually showing us how we can improve our spiritual beings. Thanks to all our Swazi friends for lighting our path that will lead us back to our Heavenly Father.
“For they were set to be a “light” unto the world, and to be the saviors of men;” D & C 103:9
