Elder Chapman's Birthday

Elder Chapman spent much of Monday morning at the Dentist getting an abscess taken care of.  Later this afternoon as the Elders gathered to play some volley ball at the church we took a cake over to celebrate his birthday.  He is working in King Williams Town so is not always around in East London.  It was nice to have him here with his Zone so we could celebrate his birthday together.

Leaking Sink at Elders Carniletto and Faitau's flat

The Elder’s have had a leaking sink and we needed to get it fixed.  We did this repair this morning.  We did get the leak under control but we tracked water though the flat and needed to mop much the floor by the time we were finished.  Both Elder Carniletto and Faitau pitched in to help.

Stake Conference in the East London Stake

Today was Stake Conferece.  We also attended the Saturday afternoon and evening sessions where President Bell ask me to speak to 2 minutes.  I bore my testimony about the need for members to work with the missionaries in order to individually help with the goals of splitting the stake one year from today.

The Sunday session was actually a prerecorded video where Elder Robert C. Gay, Sister Jean A. Stevens, Elder David A. Bedbar and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke.  Each of them provided a wonderful message on living the whole gospel of Jesus Christ and when required, leaving prior traditions behind.  They specifically spoke of having large weddings and paying the traditional Labola, spending too much on funerals and delaying marriage.

Sister Thomas is shown with the members who are departing from Conference with a Pumpkin Pie spice mix and recipe that she was delivering to the KWT Elders.  I also managed to get a picture of the East London 3rd Ward Elders who had parked close to us.  Shown are: Elder Crowell, Ludvigson, Pitsoane and Monyo.

The Port Alfred Harbor from the End of Plymouth Hoe

Early this morning we went for a walk through the Royal Alfred Marina.  At the end of Plymouth Hoe, the road we were staying on, we took this Pano view of the harbor with Sister Thomas on both sides of the bay.  Take a look at that wonderful blue South Africa Sky! "The Sky is so blue it hurts your eyes just to look at it." (From the movie Field of Dreams)  Today we have to leave early so we can get back to East London for Stake Conference meetings.

Game Drive with Some Senior Couples at the Kwantu Game Reserve

Some of the Senior Couples had to drive home following breakfast at the Fish River Sun.  Others took the opportunity o go on a game drive at the Kwantu game reserve.  We joined the Chases, Stapleys and Kjars on the drive.  We saw Elephant, Rhino, Lion but missed Water Buffalo and Leopard (the big five).  The Water Buffalo were down in the valleys near the thick bush and the Leopard is nocturnal and hard to see in the day.  After the game drive we had dinner waiting for us.  It was a wonderful outing.

Elder Rasmussen & Branch Cash in on Thanksgiving Leftovers

Elders Rasmussen and Elder Branch cash in on the Thanksgiving left overs.  You could not believe just how excited they were to be able to come and load up their plates and take some food home to be warmed up and eaten later.   You can sense their excitement in this picture.

Early Thanksgiving with the Senior Couples in the Eastern Cape

The Senior Couples came to Port Alfred to enjoy Thanksgiving today.  It is a week early but Elder and Sister Wheeler have family coming next week so we are meeting a week early.  We had a wonderful dinner and then I presented a spiritual message on Faith.  The Senior Couples joined in and actually trained themselves.  I was able to just lead the discussion.  I spoke about the grandeur of the universe, the number PI, and developing more faith.  It was a good discussion.

After that we played some games.  Sister Wheeler had everyone say two truths and one lie about themselves.  It was a good way to get to know each other.   Then we had PIE for supper.  We had blueberry/blackberry pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin crumble, banana cream pie, german chocolate pie and sour cream lemon pie.  A sweet ending to a lovely day.