This is not the real TIME MACHINE……….
This is…..
While I was watching a special Thanksgiving video, the gentleman that was doing the commentary made a statement that pierced me………”my daddy bought me this camera and told me it was a Time Machine.” A TIME MACHINE! Yes, a perfect description for what the camera has become to me…..an instrument that takes a particular moment that I am living, preserves it for the future so that I can rediscover the past. My camera on mission has become a visual historian, expressing my ‘mission story’ of the present so in the future I can go “back in time” and relive these special times. I don’t need a time machine……I have my camera!
Monday, November 18, was a wonderful day spent with the elders in Swaziland – zone activity. I woke early to prepare the sides and dessert for our braai at the Mantenga Falls. The elders starting arriving at 10:00 and we were on our way by 10:30 to experience the Swaziland cultural village – educational and entertaining. Angel greeted us and gave us a tour of the village and then we were entertained with a totally different performance than we have seen. It was great – done with such percise moves and lines, etc. After all these times attending, it was enjoyable to see a different show. Then off to the falls for the braai and just a fun time with each other. After, back to the kitchen for preparations for PMG/FHE. A lot of the original Lobamba crew are not coming due to jobs, missions, excuses…..that worries me. But we have a lot of new ones coming..Lungile, Zama – being baptized on Sunday; a great young man, Linhle. We celebrated Senzo 1’s birthday and Sibusiso told me that his gogo family came over today and told him that he had to prepare to leave the homestead. We have been working with the branch president to find him a place to go.
Our cultural village experience – love these boys
Angel our guide
We found this monkey on the way to the falls – look at that newborn
Helping us gather the food
Our chef
Elder Kakaire feeding the monkeys
Senzo’s birthday
Tuesday, November 19, we drove to Nhlangano for their DDM, get a signature from Pres. Bulunga and Dennis had to interview a girl for baptism. Then on our way home we tried to find Bishop Mamba’s home again but failed terribly…got totally lost and it was too late to try again. We visited Sister Mangerino and her daughter at the hospital – will still be there another week. When we arrived home we started packing some of our souvenirs – I need to accept that we have to start emptying our home and send them home. Shame…
A great Nhlangano District – all now are gone except Elder Mkude (second to the left). President closed Nhlangano 2. It made all of us really sad and disappointed.
For the next three days we are on an adventure. My sweet husband sensed that I needed a little R & R so reserved a room for a few days in Graskop, South Africa. It was breath-taking. We went through Bulembu, Swaziland - a former asbestos mining town that has been developed into an orphange - and then went over the border into South Africa – the entire drive was a WOW moment. This world that our Heavenly Father created is spectacular. We enjoyed this very small portion of it. I would like to share the next three days with you through what I captured with my camera.
The homes in Bulembu where the orphans live
Crossing border into South Africa
Can’t remember the name – but the mountain was full of this beautiful white and black stone
Looked like a green Zion National Park
Mogodi Falls- the houses above the falls is where we stayed
BLYDE RIVER CANYON
Pinnacle
Rainy and hazy most of the days – but last day was perfect
Bourke’s Luck Potholes
Sorry the videos are shaky, but it was taking forever for You Tube to process and it is late, so I just uploaded them.
Lowveld Viewsite
Saw this baboon on our walk
Three Rondavels – which is what they call a Zulu house
A quaint village along the way
Lisbon Falls – pretty spectacular
God’s Window
We drove to Hazyview to experience an elephant ride! It was great fun.
Anatomy of an elephant
This is Casper – a 24-year-old elephant that weighs 6 tons
Touching his tongue
Giving Dennis a kiss
Strolling with Casper holding his “nostrils”
A ride with Casper
After arriving home late Friday night, we were awaken by a phone call at 1:30 a.m. from Elder Donison telling us that Elder Rowley was having severe eye pain so they met Dennis at the hospital. After examination and prescribing some medicine for Elder Rowley’s eye, Dennis got back home at 4:00, but was up at 5:45 a.m. because we took Elder Hansen and Manhanha to Hlane game park because they had not seen any animals and I had promised Elder Hansen that before he left Swaziland he would see some African animals – and he is leaving on Tuesday. And boy did we see animals. It was a good day even after a bad start. When we got there they told us that only one road was open because of the amount of rainfall the last few days and we might get stuck. We asked for our money back, but they refused. So they opened a few more roads and off we went. We got lost a few times but pretty much stayed on the roads designated. But we saw all sorts of animals. Elder Hansen was satisfied. We got home around noon and Dennis left to set apart a clerk from the Ezulwini branch. We ran errands, made Primary Presentation handouts for the children in the branches.
Warning us of the adventures ahead
Hippos enjoying the cool water
Crocodile
We have never seen so many of these – there were hundreds
Perfect timing for this shot
Sunday, November 24, Dennis and I split up for sacrament meetings. I attended Mbabane and Dennis Ezulwini for their Primary Sacrament Presentations. They do such a good job. All parts were memorized and singing done without piano – but so harmonious and with such enthusiasm. After I drove back to Ezulwini to talk to the children and to witness the 4 baptisms scheduled……Ruth, Zama Dlamini, Nholbisile Dlamini and Nomfundo – Maxwell’s sister. It was such a spiritual baptism. Their testimonies after were powerful. Ruth couldn’t stop smiling and expressing how happy she was and how she had new friends now. So sweet. Her husband came to support her. Now we need to get him to join her. Zama’s mother also came and during his testimony he introduced her as his “First Lady” and had her stand. Touched my heart. I love mission – and this is one reason why. We came home and I downloaded all our pictures, wrote missionaries and then the elders came over for transfer news. The closing of Nhlangano 2 surprised us all. The elders down there were so sad and disappointed. Elder Kakaire really wanted to stay here for Christmas and we wanted him to be with us. We lost Hansen, Otigo, Kakaire, Lowry, Daniel and Komakech.
Mbabane Primary – after their presentation…most of the children had escaped before I got the picture
Ezulwini Primary after theirs – I made bookmarks and brownies for all of them
Zama, Ruth, Nhlobisile, Nomfundo
Good friends
Zama and Elder Manhanha
Zweli, Ruth and her husband
Sister and Brother
Zama and his “First Lady”
Nhlobisile and Manqoba
They had prom on Friday night and they were showing me pictures from their phone
Waiting for transfer news
In a few years I will go ‘back in time’ and reread this edition of my blog and smile as I relive this amazing week in pictures.
