Attending the Temple with the Members of the Sada Ward

We attended a special trip to the Temple with the members of the Sada Ward.  In the upper left picture are  Elder and Sister Thomas, Sister Wendy Miselo, Sister Noxolo Menze, Thembakazi Skepe and Sister and Bishop Xalabile.  Sister Wendy chooses to pose by the flowers which reminds me of my daughters. In fact, we just might have pictures of my daughters in this exact spot.

I cannot tell you how much joy I felt in my heart as these three sisters completed the session in the temple.  The smile on their faces and the joy in their eyes was a very special thing to be a part of. Perhaps it is more meaningful because I better understand the sacrifice they needed to make to get to the temple.  We are thankful that we were able to share this with them.

We also went to a session on Friday.  This was special because the officiator on that session, Brother Gae Isaiah Jokozela, was the first black missionary that I was able to help get ready to enter the mission field from the Sandton Ward.  He has returned form his mission and has then serve as a Bishop in the Church.  We had lost contact with him over the years.  This was a special experience for both Sister Thomas and I to be able to reconnect with him.

In the lower pictures Sister Thomas speaks to a couple of Elders serving in the Johannesburg Mission.  The stone brick is an actual piece of the Nauvoo Temple that was dug up when a University in the eastern US was investigating the foundation of the Nauvoo Temple site.  It was brought back to South Africa by a member and was then given to the Church’s building representative, Brother Smith, who was assigned the task of overseeing the building the temple.  Brother Smith was asked to find a place to use the stone on the temple grounds.  He chose to  place it in the brick wall on the temple grounds.  You can see the small stone in the wall between the legs of the two elders Sister Thomas was speaking with.