Greetings from Zululand,
This week has been filled with such amazing experiences. One experience wasn't amazing at all, but left us laughing out loud. We were driving 2 African missionaries home (they work in a township that it is a long ways from where they live and it was dark, so we gave them a ride.) One missionary from Uganda asked me how old I was. I replied that I was 68 years. He actually gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. Then he said very seriously, "You are soon for the grave!" I laughed, but he didn't even smile. Then he asked how old Elder Todd was, and I replied that he was 70. His face was so concerned and he said, "He goes very soon to the grave!" As we continued to talk, he said that if someone in his village lived to be 60 years old, that was considered a very long life. We have noticed the same trend in South Africa, among men especially.
SACRIFICES
Four of the five branches we work with have 100% black members. The fifth branch (Richards Bay), has 1 family from the USA who are here for 3 years, 2 Afrikaans (white South Africans) families, 2 Afrikaans empty nester couples, and 6 black families who are all fairly recent converts These families--especially the Afrikaans-- make HUGE sacrifices to keep the branch functioning. Even though it is a very small branch, it has a functioning Primary, Relief Society, and YM/YW. They are able to keep the church organizations going because each person has multiple, heavy duty callings and they make sacrifices. For example, when there are leadership meetings, Branch Councils, Branch Presidency or trainings of any kind, the entire family must come (no one will leave any children or teens home alone because of safety issues). Both parents have leadership callings. These meetings are held on Wednesday nights once or twice a month. The children sit in the foyer and entertain themselves or do homework. They are there until 8:00-9:00 PM. Ages range from 2-14 years. Most other meetings are held on Saturday. A typical Saturday for the entire family might be: Arrive at 8 AM to clean the church, Self Reliance class (teach or attend), Seminary and Institute training (teach or attend), convert baptism (talk, or just attend), and Enrichment Meeting (Relief Society). It is back to back meetings all day---everyone is there--the kids entertain themselves or help out if they are needed and able. They do not hold any activity after dark on Saturday, so it is all finished by 5 PM. For the youth involved in sports, one parent takes them to the game, and when they are finished they come back to the church. This might seem OK for 2-4 years or so, but the Afrikaans families have been doing it for decades! Two families have done the bulk of everything year in and year out. These 2 families, the Baldwins, (and their grandparents) have kept the church going in this area year in and year out. There is one 11 year old girl that sets up activities for young women--including putting out all the food-- events by herself. Her mother (Allison Colton)was the YW President and is now the Primary President (so her daughter now teaches the nursery class by herself.)
So church membership in this branch requires full commitment. I am so touched by their long suffering and dedication!
ELEPHANT WHISPERER
Last P-Day we drove to Thula Thula Nature Reserve. What an amazing experience we had. South African conservationist, Lawrence Anthony, was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his game reserve (Thula Thula in Zululand). Experts and friends alike, warned him to refuse the elephants. These animals were dangerous and unpredictable, but if Lawrence didn't take them, they would be killed. As you guessed, he took the 7 elephants and developed a bond with the elephants that sounds like fiction. He risked his life and his reserve several times to protect them. They in turn, protect him!
We were not familiar with this history of the elephants, when we went to the reserve. We were the only guests that day so we had 2 guides and an open air vehicle to ourselves for an entire afternoon. We watched the wildebeests and kept watching for the elusive elephants. Finally, at the end of the afternoon, the guides found the herd of elephants coming to the river (stream) to drink. They pulled our vehicle 15-20 feet from these humongous animals. We sat and watched them eat and drink and play. The guides know each elephant by name and their characteristics. The elephants are not tame at all...they only had a relationship with Lawrence, who recently died of a heart attack. We sat there for 25 minutes or longer and felt like we were in another world. We saw them strip the leaves from a tree, and saw the carnage of trees they pulled over, ripped up by the roots or knocked down on their way to drink. The guides kept their hands on the jeep keys ready to drive away if the elephants came closer. They never forget that humans are absolutely helpless if an elephant charges. (Two weeks ago in another reserve close by, an elephant picked up a car and rolled it. Luckily no one was seriously injured.)
Lawrence wrote a book called," The Elephant Whisperer--- learning about life, loyalty and freedom from a remarkable herd of elephants." We heard the story during our visit and I think you would enjoy the book if you like reading.
Lawrence wrote a book called," The Elephant Whisperer--- learning about life, loyalty and freedom from a remarkable herd of elephants." We heard the story during our visit and I think you would enjoy the book if you like reading.
The first picture is from Thula Thula...you can see how close we were by noticing the jeep seat at the bottom of the picture.
We also visited the home of a Zulu Diviner (spiritual leader and healer...not a medicine man). She chanted, sang, prayed and performed her duties in front of us. She prayed for us and told us "our ancestors are proud of us!" We felt that might be a standard remark to all visitors!!
One of our favorite parts was going through the village and passing out candy! The kids mobbed us! (They asked us to purchase candy and chips for the village and we were so glad we did.)
PRAYER
Recently we were in another town and stopped to eat. The lady who cooked and served us was a older black woman from Zimbabwe. We were heartbroken as she shared her story with us. In a nutshell, she was forced to leave her country (Zimbabwe) when chaos and terror erupted. The economy collapsed and it took a wheelbarrow of money to buy a loaf of bread. She has been here working as a cook/maid for 13 years and each month sends money to her family in Zimbabwe. She looked at our name tags and saw the words "Jesus Christ". She asked if we would pray for her. Of course, we said yes. She quickly took us into another room. We knelt down together and Elder Todd offered a prayer. We felt so humbled that she would ask us to pray for her. Her humility and reliance on Jesus Christ could be felt. Our name tags lead to so many precious experiences.
This experience was the highlight of our day.
#1 picture: elephants... #3 pic. passing out candy #2 pic. chicken coops (They roll a piece of old chipped plastic to make a "nest" for each chicken. They place the nests on those sticks/stilts so they are off the ground. The chickens run wild with no real "coop".
Love,
Elder and Sister Todd
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