THE SAVIOR'S EMBRACE 29 May 2016

From The Book of Malchus by Neil K.Newell, pgs 324 - 326...Malchus speaking to people in Zarahemla., 

"....I know now.  I know with a surety that sight cannot amplify.  He lives! He lives! I sorrow with you that we have not seen with our eyes, but I tell you the words that the Son of God spoke to me: 'Blessed is he that believes, though he has not seen'.. ...

Can you not feel it?  This is the witness, borne of God himself   And I know more surely than if he were standing beside me--this man, this Jesus, lives! He is the Son of the Father, our Savior, our God.

As I spoke these words, I heard the rustling of clothing from behind me, and I knew again without seeing, for my heart swelled with such force that I felt it might burst.  My emotions rose to the point where I could scarcely speak.

An then I felt a hand upon my shoulder.

I turned.

And saw.

It was he.

The man who had purged the temple of moneychangers.

The man who had spoken to me of belief.

The man who had been lifted up on the cross.

I looked briefly into his eyes, wondering if he would remember.  I wanted to fall to my knees before him but he acted too soon.  He took me in his arms, and I embraced him and felt his arms encircle me.

And my heart and mind were filled with such overwhelming love that it enfolded and burned within me, bringing me such light and joy as I never thought possible to experience.

I stood before the Son of God.  And though I was a wicked man, I felt pure and holy and clean.

In that moment, I knew with a surety that can never be shaken that this Jesus was my Savior, Redeemer, and King.

Before, I had wondered if my life would change once I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears.

Yes.  Everything changed.

I became a different man.  Forever different.

And the things I thought were important before, now seemed like a child's diversion.

From that moment on, I became a new man.  A different man.  A better, kinder and happier man.

The entire world changed on the day that I felt the embrace of the man the world knew as Jesus the Christ, the only Begotten of the Father."

"A NEW CREATURE" IN CHRIST 22 May 2016

BAPTISM OF JOHN NDABA

I never tire of being part of a baptism.  In Swaziland we saw them almost weekly and were able to see the "new creature" in Christ that they became.  We were privileged to witness the "mighty change of heart" that happened when they decided to enter the "gateway into His Kingdom".  As I ponder on the baptisms we were part of, I think of the people they were before and the people they have become. They have a renewed countenance: our Savior's countenance. "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?  Have ye received his image in your countenances?  Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" (Alma 5:14) Life forever changed on the day they were baptized.  "A new creature" was created.  A creature that had "no more disposition to do evil but to do good continually." (Mosiah 5:5) A creature whose minds and hearts were centered on the Savior's atoning sacrifice.  A creature that because of the mighty change of heart where able to turn from the temptations that surrounded them and from that time forward were able to put their "heart, might, mind and strength" into this new kingdom of God that they joined.  They were truly inspirational to me.

Baptism "granted me a new heart.  In an instant, I became a better man.  And every impulse of unkindness, every temptation to do wrong, evaporated like morning mist.  From that day on I could not bear the thought of doing or thinking anything that would disappoint my Savior.  This was not a gift that lasted an hour or a day, but one that has stayed with me all my life.  I have tasted the sweetness that comes from faith, hope and charity.  And, knowing the truth, knowing the difference between the fruit of good and evil, I turned my heart, might and mind towards Him who had saved me from my sins.  I became...holy."  (The Book of Malchus) 

Sunday, 22 May 2016 we witnessed the baptism of John Ndaba. We first met him on the day that we interviewed Mary Letsebe Ndaba in her home and became instant friends.  They had been married in January 2016 and Mary was sharing her testimony with him.  The day of our meeting, the missionaries came to see him after our visit.  We discussed his baptism and we were invited.  They called us to remind us.  What a joy it was to be part of this amazing man's baptism.  After, he bore a strong testimony.  As Mary says, one day he will be a bishop and I agree with her. John has become a "new creature" in Christ.

After they invited us over for the celebration at their home.  Her daughter, Desire, and her husband, Wonderboy Phakathi, and two children, Manqoba and Njabulo, and Mary's son, Thabang, and a couple of friends, gathered for a wonderful afternoon and evening of eating, telling of stories and pure enjoyment. Eish, I had such a great time.  Didn't want the evening to end.

Our first meeting of John

Sunday, 22 May 2016 - the day John entered the Kingdom of God

Family and missionaries

Elder West, Desire, John, Mary, Elder Todd, Manqoba, Njabulo, Wonderboy, Thabang

Celebration at the home

Desire, friend, Mary

We gave John a tie with CTR embroidered on it.  Mary told us later that John wore his tie when he was confirmed the following week.

I found a beautiful new friend..

Njabulo

THE PEOPLE THEY WERE AND THE PEOPLE THEY HAVE BECOME

Just a few of the people we knew from Swaziland that have had a "mighty change of heart"

New creatures that had "no more disposition to do evil but to do good continually." A creature whose minds and hearts were centered on the Savior's atoning sacrifice.  A creature that because of the mighty change of heart where able to turn from the temptations that surrounded them and from that time forward were able to put their "heart, might, mind and strength" into this new kingdom of God that they joined.

Bheki Hlope and Tem Zunga

 Simon Sebulia - plans on serving a mission when he finishes with his studies

 Patricia Mbsiya - later became Relief Society President

Sifiso, Nhlanhla, Marcose, Sipho

 Derrick Fakudze and his wife and child - He is now Branch President of the Nhlangano Branch

 Lungile, is power in her branch with the YSA, Elder Norbert, Mbongseni, Sifiso, Elder Kiwume

 Masisi and Nathi (her husband that baptized her)...she is power and is now in the district Primary presidency.

 Zama, Ruth, Hlopile, Simphiwe (Maxwell's Sister).  Ruth was Relief Society President when she was tragically killed in a kombi accident.

 The joy of these two.....

 Gcina Hlatswayo, ?, Xolile Hlatswayo and President Ntshalintshali - Gcina is now in the branch presidency and Xolile is Relief Society President in Mbabane

 Maxwell, Mbongiseni and Zweli - Mbongiseni and Zweli returned from their missions in November 2015.  Zweli is now a counselor in the branch presidency.

OUR BAPTISM IS SUCH A POWERFUL ORDINANCE THAT THE MEMORY AND FEELINGS OF THAT OCCASION SHOULD HAVE AN ENDURING INFLUENCE THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES. 

People waiting to be baptized in West Africa

"And now, behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing this song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" Alma 5:26

RETURN TO WHERE IT ALL BEGAN 14 - 21 May 2016

9 November 2011 was the beginning of a journey that would change my life.  That was the day we opened our first mission call - called to serve in the South Africa Durban Mission.  I seriously did not know that South Africa was a country...thought it was the south part of Africa.  Never heard of Durban - had to find a map to discover the location.  The first think I googled was to find out if they had hair salons in Durban.  Worried about how I was going to get my hair cut while we were gone!

Our call to the Durban mission that led us to Swaziland, began our life changing journey.  So for that, Durban will always hold a special place in my heart.  We spent our two years in Swaziland, but returned to Durban a few times for mission presidency meetings, senior couple retreats, and other emergency visits.  We thought for sure that within our service there, the Durban Temple, which was announced in October 2011, would have its ground-breaking.  But never happened.  Durban is a beautiful coastal city nestled on the Indian Ocean.  The Indian Ocean!!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever put my feet in the Indian Ocean.  The Durban mission is almost the furthest mission away from Salt Lake City.  For a person that had never been away from the Salt Lake Valley for more than two weeks, Durban seemed awfully far away from my family and everything I knew and loved. But I loved it the moment we arrived.  The beauty, the people, the greenery, the rolling hills...just a beautiful place.

So, I was anxious to get back to see it. There is a couple in Durban that serves as our church history advisers and they had invited us to stay with them and also, to help them with processing their histories. We jumped at the opportunity.  So, Saturday, 14 May we left early in the morning and headed to Durban, a 5 hour drive.  So many familiar sights were tucked away in my memory bank.  I was glad to be back.  We crammed a lot in just a few days...

The scenery from Johannesburg to Durban was quite diverse....

Allan and Maria Lofstrand - grand hosts

They have a guest house where we stayed

The courtyard

 Their living space - such a lovely, homey place

 Maria's sister, Julianna from Tasmania, was also there

First item on the agenda was to see the temple site!!!!!  On top of this hillside.

 View from the temple site....they say from the other side you can see the ocean on a clear day which this day definitely was not!

 I have to include the children...

 Segway experience along the Durban beach front.....so, so, so fun!

(Apparently we had something on our camera lens that distorted our pictures)

Denins practicing before we head off

 Our guide - 

 The Moses Mabhida Soccer Stadium, built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in the middle back, is where we started.

 A park on the beach front

 Crossing the street - Dennis almost got hit by a bus that did not stop for the red light! Sometimes my screams saves life!

 We met old friends and made new friends in the Highlands Ward on Sunday

Anthony Courtney - the patriarch that would stay with us in Swaziland when he came up to do patriarchal blessings.  Love this man.

 Sister Dorothy Zackrison, mission president's wife, happened to attend this ward with her daughter and children that were visiting

 Highlands Chapel

 We met up with Dominic and some of his family at church

 Brother Courtney baptized these triplets....

 Dominic, Moipone Tshabalala, Me, Dennis and Anthony Courtney

 A squatters camp in the middle of Durban

 I got it too close - but these girls were washing clothes - such heavy responsibilities for those so young but this is their life.

 The Tshabalala's invited us over for dinner - miss this family kakhulu

We ate, talked, laughed and just enjoyed being with them.

 Watching Sara play the piano with her cousin, Nathan, on youtube.

 (Can you tell where we found the spot on our camera lens?)

Bokang, Khumo, Dominic, Moipone, Minenhle, Amahle, Awande, Me, Ntando

On the way home instead of going freeway all the way home, we took what they call the MIDLANDS MEANDER - it was spectacular with all the fall colors

 Look at the fall colors!

 We stopped at NATSHA'S FANTASTIC FUDGE which was not very fantastic.  We need to teach them how to make real fudge.  We bought a few pieces, tasted one or two and threw the rest away.  When I dropped them in the waste pin, you could hear a clinging sound - they were HARD!

 This was a fun honey making shop

 The spot where Nelson Mandela was captured and then sent to prison for 27 years

 His monumet

 This is what it looks like from the side.....how does one create such a masterpiece

More country...

Enjoy these series of pictures...

A lady and her children doing their wash....but look where she is doing it....

 On top of the Howick Falls...

 Then we see others come to join her...

 Imagine doing your wash here and with children....scary!

 Miranda Dam

Went inside the Piggly Wiggly center - many stores with antique items for sale

We saw this sign - Pottery - and made a detour...... 

 ....and found this!

This man makes all the pottery - there were hundreds, even thousands of pieces.  I can't believe that I didn't take more of the workshop.

 Can't remember his name - but he lives a hermit life.  Been doing this for 30 years.

 These are pizza ovens which is found all over the world.  Would love to have brought one home with us.

 Our search for the cheese store that we had found years ago on our first mission, was over (Marrakesh Cheese)! This man and his wife have been making their own cheese with unique flavors for 15 years and he let us sample all of them.  So good and fun.  Koy and Cassie, you would have loved this!

 Their store.  They do not advertise and send out to other vendors.  It is just who comes in and enjoys.

 Have no idea what this is...just thought it was interesting.

The week was spent doing oral and annual histories.  Our Uganda Church History Adviser is producing a lot of oral interviews.  Church History and Self-Reliance are combining on a project to interview successful participants of the new Pathway program of Self-Reliance (google to find out more).  Steven Ssenyonjo has caught the spirit and done 12 interviews.  So I spent most of my time processing them and sending them to Salt Lake.  Dennis had quite a few annual histories come in.  Also on the agenda was inspiring other church history advisers to get on the bandwagon with doing their self-reliance interviews and getting their units to submit their annual histories. 

Brother Stanley and Sister Motsa - we were able to attend their marriage and sealing when we were in Swaziland.  They came to say Hi

We went to visit Patricia in Soweto to give her a Mother's Day gift.  She was concerned about one of her pregnant ladies that she visit teaches because she had a sms that she was in the hospital bleeding.  We took her to the hospital but they wouldn't let us in because it was not visiting hours!  Shame..

Thursday, 19 May President and Sister Cook left the area office to head for home for a new assignment.  They went to every department and bid farewell.

We lined the driveway to let them know of our love for them.

 

I am sure he would not like this picture.....

Friday, 20 May the area office had a farewell luncheon for Graham Walker (ICS), David and LeighAnn Bowman (area controller) and Ted and Shauna Nielsen (not sure there assignment).  They are all leaving for new assignments.

 David Frieschnect - the DTA - conducting

 Saturday, 21 May we had an oral interview at 9:30 with Jonas and Patricia Tladi who were the second people baptized in the Alexandra township.  He later became the 1st Branch President of the Alexandra Branch, found them a school to attend church, and helped the branch grow.  He was released in January after 8 yeas of service and now serving in the Bedfordview Stake High Council. We ended the interview at 12:30 and then helped them prepare for a Primary activity that was scheduled to start at 1:00 but didn't until 3:00.

Jonas and Patricia Tladi

Saturday night, the Beckstrands had everyone over for a soup and salad dinner.  Great time with great people.

It has been a good week.  We were so thrilled to be able to return to Durban and enjoy that part of South Africa.  How blessed we are to be here and serving.  I love my Heavenly Father and Savior and so much grateful for his love, guidance and His plan to allow us to return to live with Him.  I pray that I will endure to the end and continue to enjoy the journey.