“…the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them. And there were a great number, even so many that they did not number them;…..And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another. And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them; For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected, that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them…..And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.”
We are rereading the Book of Mormon and I am amazed how much new wisdom I get from it with each reading. It really does make a difference of what is going on in your life as you read and what messages our Father in Heaven wants us to receive. How many times have I read these verses, discussed them but this particular time I received a testimony of General Conference and the importance of attending or watching each session as “we gather to hear his words.”
The Nephites came from all over the land bringing their wives, sons, daughters, their sons and daughters, from the eldest to the youngest. Do we gather ALL our family at the Conference Center or in front of the television on both Saturday and Sunday to listen to the words of our prophet and apostles? After traveling I am sure a long distance and pitching their tents which means they stayed many days, they had to wait even longer because they discovered that they could not hear king Benjamin from the temple so he built a tower. Seriously, how long would that have taken in those days to build a tower with no cranes, bricks already made or wood already cut and measured…but the people lingered because they had such a desire to hear his words. My thoughts turned to Pres. Hinckley and his desire for the members to be able to gather to hear the words of the apostles, that he had the magnificent Conference Center built where 22,000 people can assemble twice a year to hearken to our prophets voice, and open our ears that we may hear, and our hearts that we may understand and our minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to our view. Do we take advantage of that privilege?
Conference time is approaching in just a few weeks when our prophet, apostles and general authorities will gather to share their testimonies and speak the words that they have “pulled down from heaven” to share with us. Will we be like the Nephites and gather our families and linger for a mere two days so we can “hear his words”? I hope so.
Monday, September 9th – it is Elder Ogutu’s birthday so we took over chocolate muffins and smoothies to him and sang. Then off to visit two Care Points to find out their needs so we can assist them. Nonitu’s daughter was there with her mother and it was her birthday. We ran back home and brought her some of the chocolate muffins that I had made earlier. She was delighted. Of course, she asked for the pictures…..they love to have a visual remembrance of these special times. Elder Simkins, who is going home, and his parents and sister were here and we met them at Spur along with the Mbabane elders for lunch. They are a delightful family and we enjoyed our visit. His South Africa Visa was expiring a day before their plans to leave, so Sister Holt had to arrange to get him out a day earlier. The family was disappointed but they had a great attitude about it. As they left, Elder Condie and his parents and sister came to stay for a few days. We love seeing these elders with their families…what a great combination. Elder Condie has the same visa problem, so they worked all night trying to get their tickets changed because they had planned to travel home together. It was a stressful night for the family. We felt bad for them.
Elder Ogutu’s birthday
Lobamba Care Point
Ekuzukekeni Care Point – where the Ezulwini Branch did Helping Hands in August 2012
The lady that we worked with last year passed away – she was known as the lady that taught under a tree for 25 years. This is her husband and daughter, who have now taken over the responsibility of caring for and teaching 50 orphans from the ages of 2 – 6.
All-Out-Africa built this room for them so they could have a place to teach
Elder Simkins pants didn’t quite make it home!
Lunch at Spur
Dennis never goes anywhere that he doesn’t spread the gospel. I finally got it captured. This was at the Lobamba Police Station where he was getting work permits certified and this man was a pastor. A pass-a-long card was given out and his name and phone number recorded, the elders visited and Book of Mormon presented.
Elder Condie and his family
Pineapple fields with execution rock in the background – I love this country
The day started early with breakfast casserole and then off to the Lobamba Care Point to visit the children with oranges and suckers from America. Then we attended the Ezulwini/Mbabane’s DDM with Elder Adale conducting for the his first time. He is such a humble young man as he bore testimony that he felt he was the weakest elder of them all. But then proceeded to give a magnificent lesson. The Lord can take weak things and make them strong. The rest of the day was spent taking South Africa work permit papers to Zweli, then taking his medical papers to Dr. Frew to have him sign them (Dr. Frew has been a tender mercy for us in getting so much of the medical work done for the elders and upcoming elders), Visiting Thandeka Mayala at Ezulwini Market, took a frig to Simon and Siboniso for their new place at the Agricultural university and then ended the day at the Mahalela’s delivering a computer table. What a delightful way to end our busy day – love, love this couple. The Condie’s laid their weary bodies down at our home at the end of their busy day.
Lobamba Care Point
Isn’t she beautiful….
Playing a game
Our cooks
Elder Condie being greeted by the kids
How they love their teacher – Nonitu
I love you, too
The young boy in the middle had fallen on a rock in the river, the day before – he needs medical care but there is no one to take him.
Zweli coming to meet us
Simon and Siboniso’s new housing at the Agricultural University
Their room
The kitchen that they share with others
Waving HI to everyone
A picture of the Mahlalela’s wedding day…..the two of them haven’t changed a bit
Wednesday was a day at home for me. It began with sausage gravy and homemade biscuits for breakfast for the Condie’s and Zone Leaders. The Condie’ s left and the Zone Leaders at ZLT on our computer until 1:00. While they were being trained I laundered, mopped floors by hand, cleaned fans, baked, made smoothies, sandwiches, and bacon chicken. While I was busy doing chores at home, Dennis took Bro.Msibi and Mac to the TB hospital for his medicines – he was gone all morning. After the Zone Leaders left I emailed, made a collage of Relief Society camp, created handouts for our fireside and then visited Dr. Frew with some brownies to thank him for all that he does for us. Dennis went to presidency meeting and I blogged and emailed. I must be getting old because I enjoy being at home accomplishing things here. These days are also good.
ZLT breakfast
Alpha and Omega – Elder Condie finishing mission and Elder Hansen just beginning his mission
Condie Family
We were informed a few days ago that the electricity would be out all day on Thursday so we filled it with all sorts of things that needed to be done away from home. Brownies were baked early and then we were out by 9:00 a.m. Here is our list: pay bills, shopped, the bike shop in Mbabane, get radio fixed in our bakki, CNA for packet, pick up papers for Lobamba book, visited Gopholo Care Point in Mbabane area – they have nothing; they meet under a tin roof, no toilet facilities, no cooking utilities – used to have 150 children coming but has gone down considerably since the facilities are so bad – this is the care point that we did Christmas for – we went to All-Out-Africa to see if they can help build a place for them to meet – they said they would look into it; went to Motjane Orphanage to set a date for our soccer game with the elders and young men of the orphanage. They said that they were going to crush our elders – the challenge is on Saturday, September 21st. Our day ended visiting Angel and her new baby boy – 4 days old.
Our friends at the bike shop
On our way to Gopholo – homes built between these huge boulders
Found these munchkins on the side of the road
Gopholo Care Point – where they meet; we are going to see if the Church humanitarian can help with supplies. They don’t build but maybe could supply toilet facilities if we dig or something.
To get to this area you have to drive between these two boulders
Look at this ingenious way to transport wood
Chomba, director of Motjane, and one of the boys
Angel, 16 years old, and her 4-day-old baby boy – his name means surprise
Three sisters and their babies – Zama and her 6 month old boy, Angel – 4 days old, and Zethu – 4 month old girl. They all live together in this one room, one bed, 3 babies! What is wrong with this picture?
The first door is theirs
This man wanted his picture taken – kind of drunk
Friday, September 13, 2013 – We have 4 “green” elders which means that they have trainers which means they have an extra hour each morning that they study together with a study guide. Three of these companionships live near us and one is in Nhlangano. So the ones close to us came over for breakfast and a mini-training on “how to train”. Confusing? I agree but I just follow my husband. Shame. I forgot to take a picture of this morning’s event. Dennis then took Elder Manhanha to get some new shoes. His has totally fallen apart. Then an appointment with Zweli for lunch to go over what he still needs to prepare for his mission. After, we took him to the hospital to have his x-ray read for his papers but they told us they couldn’t do it…..so guess who we went to for help? Dr. Frew and he directed us to a radiologist who was so kind to read the chest x-ray and write up a certified note saying that Zweli did not have TB for no cost! We came home, got some brownies and returned to the clinic to deliver them as a thank you. That night we went to a movie, Felix, with the Mahlalelas. It was so fun….an actual Friday night date. Felix was great. It was a South Africa made movie about a young boy that played the penny whistle and saxophone which caused problems with his mother….and the plot thickens. It was just so good. But, the previews for the movies coming were difficult on my “virgin” eyes. We have not seen television for 18 months. Thought I would miss it but have not. It really has been nice not being glued to certain shows, having to arrange my life around it and being exposed to the junk on it. So consequently, those filthy previews caused me a lot of uncomfortableness.
Zweli having Chinese for the first time – he loved it
Felix trailer
Saturday, September 14th started with Dennis taking 4 Lobamba boys to Mbabane to continue a district service project of putting in a septic tank for Sister Dlamini. It was our Lobamba boys that showed up. How I love these young men. Sister Thoko Shongwe is running for a seat on the parliament. They had campaign speeches today in Lobamba that was suppose to start at 9:00 but we had to leave after 10:00 to go to Nhlangano and it still had not started. Shame, we had to miss her speech. I like how they campaign here. They had primaries a month ago and no campaigning can be done before. Then for just a month until final elections they work hard getting their views out. I am writing this on 9/19 and tomorrow are the elections – we are praying that she wins. A Mormon as a Member of Parliament would be a start! Dennis did his final training with Elder Otigo and Kakaire, who is the new elder, in Nhlangano. Then we all went to Chinese where they make their noodles from scratch. We then visited with Ma Zungu and Tem and then went on to see Pres. Bulunga to see how is his brick making and kitchen is progressing and boy were we surprised – it looks great. But, he did hire one of the members, Derek, to continue what Dennis, I and Pres. Bulunga started. I came home and organized some white shirts and ties that the Condies brought with them. It is so nice to have a supply again.
Sister Shongwe the newest member of parliament – hopefully
Elders Kakaire and Otigo – both from Uganda being trained
Look at that chow mein – all for E28.00 which is $2.80 – best deal in Swaziland
Ma Zungu’s homestead
Coming from Pres. Bulunga’s homestead, we saw this lady carrying all these barrels. Eish, I have no idea how they do it. But as she was crossing the street, a large wind blew her hat away. I got out and chased it down the road and returned it to her. Such small things makes them jabula!
Sunset coming home from Nhlangano
Another perfect Sabbath day with the Ezulwini members. Wenile Dlamini was confirmed – she was baptized last week but we were unable to attend – and Patricia taught Relief Society. She is getting better and better each time to teaches and is making an incredible Relief Society counselor. I was thrilled when I saw Wendy, Simphiwe and Venus Msibi come into church. They have not been coming and it warmed my heart to see them. We took them home after. I love this family. Dennis went to meetings and when he returned we went to the Shongwes to surprise Sister Shongwe with a birthday cake. It is her birthday on Monday but she is so busy with the campaign, we thought we would surprise her today. There were tons of people visiting so it was a big party. Fun!
Sister Shongwe’s birthday cake
I think my boots look like Elder Simkins pants. But I am not going home so they will still be used!
“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true for the Lord God hath spoken it.” King Benjamin
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