Vivian & David

Our first week of September was donated to planning and preparing for our first Mission District YSA Conference -- in-between having missionary meetings with the Zone, and with Pres. Mann. Also we had an older endowed sister, in the branch, who lived about 1 1/2 hours away, pass away. They needed an endowed sister to help the daughter-in-law dress her; which I did the day before the conference. Thanks to an answer to a lot of prayers, it was a sweet experience.

That night we had two other couple missionaries arrive to stay overnight with us and have dinner. They were here as a class discussion leaders for some of our conference classes.

Our big day was here -- Sat. the 6th of September. We had about 80 YSA's come from our five branches and it was so wonderful -- it was nearly perfect. The YSA's absolutely loved it and were so happy. Our agenda went something like this:

7 am breakfast, team building & leadership games, speed dating, dating panel. Lunch and choosing 4 of seven classes with titles of: Live like you believe, Excel in Excellence, Remember the Promise, Joy in the Journey, Did you hear about...or Satan's slippery slide, Service with a Smile, and No Bones About It. The final class was a group class given by our District Pres. on the Law of Chastity called "I Challenge You.... I Promise You". Followed by testimonies --this is where the real pay-off came!

During the day they earned "Madadeni Mad Money" as I saw acts of service performed or good works. So those with the most money got to choose gifts from the tables first. Everyone got a CD of selected songs and a CTR wristband. Plus we had taken everyone's colored photo and put it in a District YSA directory with their name, branch, and cell # to take home with them.

Planning and preparing for the conference was a lot of work, but the rewards were greater.

Elder Dibb & I had the next day to rest, and then we drove to Margate {South of Durban} for our Couples 3-day Conference. It was held at the Pumula Beach Resort and it was so pretty next to the ocean. -- let me clarify, our conferences are working conferences, but I love them. We did get to see the beach and walk on it for our group picture to be taken.

After the conference ended on Wednesday afternoon, with the Baum's, we did take off and go further down the ocean coast to see the center of Margate and take some time to be together. We stayed overnight in a B&B on the ocean and it was beautiful and relaxing. {To be honest with you though, I sort of felt like I was being a tourist and missing my usual day}.

However, the Lord is mindful of all things. Before we left to come home, we stopped at the doctor's office on Thursday morning for a final ENT doctor's appointment. The car guard wanted to ask us about the church and we got a referral. When we returned to our car after the appt., another car guard asked us about the church and we got two more additional referrals; one of which will go to the Congo. This experience helped me feel so much better.

We got home and needed to jump right back into things such as follow through from the YSA Conference, teaching Seminary, and Elder Dibb preparing for the finish line of needs for our District Conference that weekend.

The next day Elder and Sister Koelliker drove to Newcastle from Johannesburg and came to our home for lunch before we drove to Madadeni for our Women's Auxiliary Training meetings {where she had asked me to share about Personal Progress}. After this meeting we had what you would call a Saturday Stake Conference meeting.

We had made private dinner arrangements for the District Presidency, Pres. and Sister Mann, and Elder and Sister Koelliker, and us to eat together. It was very nice, warm, and friendly atmosphere. It was a privilege to hear some stories about President Hinckley while Elder Koelliker has been serving with him for eleven years as the temple committee chairman.

Our District Conference was wonderful. Afterwards Elder Dibb set apart four of the five new Elders to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then again it was a pleasant experience to have the Koelliker's and Mann's here for a Sunday Dinner here in our home.

Well the second half of the month was easier going--like taking Sister Miller, in our branch, to dinner for her 74th birthday; compiling and emailing my YSA Committee members notes to Elder Koelliker, as per his request. We went to Swaziland for three days and two nights for the mission presidency meeting. We participated in the Helping Hands Project along with all of the other saints in Africa on our specified day.

Another day we joined the zone for a zone activity at a game park that we learned was just over an hour away from our home. It has the Big 5 in the park, we saw 3 of them; a rhino, 3 or more giraffes, and a family of hippos, a papa, a mama, and a baby that were out of the water. Plus we saw other animals such as an ostrich, jackal, wildebeest, impala, warthog, and zebras.

The missionary Elders were here for dinner and FHE when they got the transfer call. Three of them got transferred, including Elder Marano. We want to know where they were being assigned, so they all came back the next night for S'mores to receive the news.

One day, two sisters of the Newcastle Branch came over and I taught them how to make their own scripture bags from upholstery scrap fabric. They were so pleased and excited. Now their assignment is to teach the others in the Newcastle Branch for an Enrichment Activity.

This month for Enrichment, I was asked to do a Visiting Teaching workshop. They loved the pamphlets that I had made for them with some of their photos or photos of sisters of the Madadeni Branches on different pages of VTing guidelines.

This may not seem like much, but it was to me--I finally got to have a good one-on-one talk with Phindlie. It was about getting over being offended and to come back to church, and also for her son, Sicelo, to come back to Seminary {he was a new convert in March}. I am thankful for the Holy Ghost who taught the principles during our meeting in the car. Even though promises were given and broken again. I can say I did all I could do.

On Sunday, I got to teach and help the Ezaheni Branch YW to do their very first Personal Progress beginnings. They all got one Faith value completed!

My September new's theme seems to be a fruits-of-your-labor type month.

I have been saving the best news to the last. I am sure sometime in the past year, you have heard me talk about "my Buyi". She is my spirit sister here in South Africa living in Madadeni. She is married to an inactive returned missionary. She and I have visited a lot and I have tried to be there for her during some events that she has needed me. She has been taking the missionary discussions for the past few months. I think it was in January that I gave her a Book of Mormon.

She committed to baptism and Elder Dibb had the honored privilege of baptizing her on the 21st of September. Yes! It took some doing, but at the last minute, Dumasani, her husband cid come for her baptism. Also the long-over-due scheduled event [of about nine months] of us getting together for ice cream finally happened! We even worked it out to take them out for dinner first. He accepted the invitation to do it to "Celebrate".

Another close call, but it happened, and this was in the same week. He came and brought Buyi to the Branch Bldg. for a Missionary Reunion for all of our returned missionaries with Pres. Mann.

We were sitting next to him, when it was time for him to share one of his spiritual missionary experiences, after sharing a funny experience. We got to hear him say (under his breath) "Oh, I had so many spiritual experiences". It was worth everything to me!