Cape Town, South Africa Mission

Cape Town Mission Field   30 January 2018 Day 52 Tuesday Today was a rather hectic day going shopping in preparation for transfer. Elder Courtright had go give his first incoming presentation to the new elders. Which consisted of educating them on safe driving practices and the process to become certified as a driver in South Africa. How to fill out an accident report. Safety in general, on the streets. Car maintenance and the responsibilities associated with that. And housing maintenance and cleanliness. Sister Courtright continues to work on baptism submissions, filling orders for the elders (supplies for their flats and missionary supplies like pamphlets, Book of Mormons, etc.), and preparing for the transfers tomorrow, which consists of creating a lunch box for each elder traveling to or from the airport tomorrow. When we arrived at the Makro strore right at 9:00 AM when they opened and there were huge lines of people entering the store. Once inside I saw that they all...

Cape Town Mission Field   29 January 2018 Day 51 Monday It seemed like a rather normal day today. Mostly just catching up on items around the office. We are getting prepared for transfers this week. We are gaining two new missionaries but losing three. One vehicle in the East Cape had the wind blow the door out of the elders hand while opening it up and it damaged a car parked next to him. Ah, the joys of being the vehicle coordinator. We did open up our ldschurch.org email accounts (which we normally don't use) and found a couple of real nice emails from Brad Burgess and Michael Wright from our home ward in West Jordan (Welby 1st Ward). Their messages were really touching and timely. We loved hearing from them and appreciate their thoughtfulness. It was a very difficult day for Elder Keetch though. He is one of the Mission AP's (Assistants to the President) working in the Mission Office with us. His father (Elder Von G. Keetch) passed away last Saturday very sud...

Cape Town Mission Field   28 January 2018 Day 50 Sunday This morning we attended church at the Hermanus Branch which is located behind the new Mall off the main road. We heard some wonderful sacrament talks and we met Oen Smuts (Jan Smuts is a road around the Pinelands perimeter which is named after the onetime serving President of South Africa, I'm sure their related somehow), the Spires, and Brother Winston who does signs for a living; including all the signs for the church and he is the Patriarch too. He was baptized at 19 (in 1960) and attended the Mowbray Branch. The Mission office at that time was a nice home next to the Mowbray church house on Main Road in Mowbray which also housed several missionaries. We stopped at Betty's Bay on the way back to see the penguins at Stony Point. This was an old whaling station where they brought in the "Right Whales" for processing all the whale blubber. These "jack ass" penguins, so named for their brayin...

Cape Town Mission Field   27 January 2018 Day 49 Saturday We had a lovely breakfast overlooking the bay then went to the Hermanus Elders flat for an inspection. We were very surprised to see how well kept the flat has been taken care of. Elder Gibbons even took it upon himself to caulk around the kitchen sink. The long shelf like milk cartons were spaced evenly above the cupboard. Elder Shai will be transferred this week back to Madagascar since that area has been re-opened following an outbreak of bubonic plague that has cleared. We then headed for Cape Agulhas, the southermost point in Africa, located along the 20 degree longitude line separating the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way we saw Baboons and Ostrich's. There were large expanses of rolling hills that had been farmed and harvested and now were barren. We crossed one sign directing towards some place that was very familiar to us. So we stopped and took a picture. We stopped for lunch at ...

Cape Town Mission Field   26 January 2018 Day 48 Friday Elder Courtright made a run to the post office today and Sister Courtright organized all the packages to be sent to their correct zones. We are still getting a lot of Christmas cards. The post is very slow here. We headed out to Hermanus in the afternoon and stopped at Somerset West to deliver a weekly supply order to the Elders there. The guarded gate entrance has a sign "No Hooting" = "No Honking". Elder Msali received a rather large package from home (Durbin, South Africa) and he explained it was a goody package. When he opened it up for us to see we were surprised to see if full of healthy snack food items and Herbalife mixes. He explained that his mother is a distributor and that he's working on loosing some weight before he goes home in 10 months. Once we crossed the mountain pass it was cloudy all the way to Hermanus and lightly raining. Not sure if this makes its way to Cape Town, but ...

Cape Town Mission Field   25 January 2018 Day 47 Thursday Today we ran some more supplies out to the Standfontein Elders who moved into the upstairs flat that has been vacant for some time. This is a property owned by the church and at one time was used as a church to hold meetings upstairs. We used some potent drain cleaner to assist with a clog in the shower. It's label says that it contains a "dark force" that wipes out all organic matter. It did start to fume right away after I poured it down the drain. After 15 minutes all seemed well. After supplying them with several items and a new (old) microwave for the downstairs elders whose microwave died last week we headed for Fish Hoek to inspect the flat their. The Fish Hoek elders have made some improvements in their cleaning approach which Sister Courtright was complimentary of. We left several bags of donated clothing that the Relief Society President in Fish Hoek is going to pick up to assist those in need ...

Cape Town Mission Field   24 January 2018 Day 46 Wednesday Today was an attempt back at the office. My internals were struggling but I took it easy. Surprising enough we both were able to get quite a bit accomplished and caught back up on our work. We received an update on the water crisis stating that "day zero", the day the water gets shut off is now estimated to be sometime in March based upon recent water use rates and what's left in the reservoirs. They indicated that schools without back up water will need to close and businesses that don't have other sanitation back up plans for their workforce will also be shut down. Kind of unnerving. We continue to pray for rain and yesterday morning we woke to a little rain. It was a welcome surprise. They estimate that this could continue on into August based upon prior years rain and reservoir fill rates.

Cape Town Mission Field   23 January 2018 Day 45 Tuesday Today was a down day, a day of recovery. My entire body was aching and most of my internals were still not functioning. It takes awhile to get all those narcotics out of your system. So I rested, and laid around and did nothing. Drawing from an old Courtright saying, "I looked and felt like I had just chased a fart through a keg of nails!"

Cape Town Mission Field   22 January 2018 Day 44 Monday Well the stone never passed on its own and the pain started back up Sunday afternoon. This morning the doctor said if it didn't pass sometime today that he'd take me to the "theatre" this afternoon. You guessed right, the theatre isn't what it means in the western world...it's the surgical suite. So around 7:00 PM Doctor Jee went in and removed the beast. I can't believe such a tiny little thing can bring grown men to tears. Seen here is all the Rand coin used in South Africa next to the tiny little kidney stone that brought me to my knees.

Cape Town Mission Field   21 January 2018 Day 43 Sunday Today we skipped church and went to the Vincent Pallotti Hospital Emergency room near Pinelands for a special service there. As Elder Courtright was preparing for bed last night (potty stop before laying down for the night) he experienced and unusual lower back pain towards the right side. He couldn't get comfortable in bed so spent the next hour or so in the bathroom with intense inner gut pain. This caused him to eventually vomit everything up, but afterwards did not feel any better after a typical flu would provide. So he went to the emergency room in extreme pain where they took some x-ray's and ultra-sounds, but were having difficulty getting good pictures because he couldn't hold still. So they gave him some morphine for the pain which settled him right down then they took a CT scan and found a 5mm kidney stone that had passed down the tube between the kidney and bladder and is in a good spot to push out...

Cape Town Mission Field   20 January 2018 Day 42 Saturday This morning we drove to Table Mountain to take the tram to the top but it was closed due to high winds. I wonder if it is ever opened because ever since we arrived it seems like every day is a "high wind" day. Cape Town could really be called the "windy city". So we decided to drive around the point to Hout Bay and go to the Bird Refuge. As you can see from the seas on the western side of Table Mountain (along where the 12 Apostles are seen - name of the rock cliffs along that side) the winds were really whipping. Note all the white caps! Prehistoric White Peacock The sanctuary was really unique in that the trail wound in and out of double-door cages that you walk in and thru so you are right with all the birds and along the fronts of cages for smaller birds like parakeets. They also had a spot for penguins. You got to get face to face with a lot of interesting birds. ...

Cape Town Mission Field   19 January 2018 Day 41 Friday This morning we went to Somerset West to pick up the extra refrigerator that the Elders will be using in Strandfontein and delivered to that boarding. We also dropped off all the supplies they need for the boarding. We spent a little time loading up branches from bushes that Elder Fullmer and Elder Milne have trimmed in the back. We took them back to the office and Elder Courtright trimmed them down to fit into our garbage barrels. Sister Courtright got the computer set-up for a language test for a non-English speaking Elder on Monday. The program provides training manuals for non-English speaking Elders to become more fluent in English during their mission and then take an online test that will provide them with a certificate that would be helpful for them to get into college or get a job in the business world when they go back home. We ordered a pizza from the River Club up the road for lunch, our usual Ham an...

Cape Town Mission Field   18 January 2018 Day 40 Thursday This morning Elder Courtright picked up the Plumstead Elders and took them to Mullany's to pick up their car that was fixed (front fender boo boo from a car backing into them). They were really happy to have a car again. We also went through "the shed" to pull together the items for the Elders that are moving into the upstairs flat at 3 Gate Green in Strandfontein. We took some pictures of the office area the we work in, including the mail room that Sister Courtright manages.

Cape Town Mission Field   17 January 2018 Day 39 Wednesday Today seemed like another struggle with technology for both of us. But we're learning new things everyday. The FM folks (facilities maintenance) were here today to fix a leak in the water line that feeds our building. The line comes from the compound above us, which is to my understanding, a hospital or large care center for psychiatric patients. There are several large buildings on that site. I'm not sure who noticed the leak but it was in the far corner of our lot and at one point I saw a young worker climb out of a pit they had dug and he was soaking wet. At first they were just going to cap it shut thinking it went to the foundation of all that remains of a changing building for the swimming pool that used to be on this site many, many years ago. But when they realized it stopped the water from our building they decided they had to patch it and not just cap it. A real estate developer called and asked if th...

Cape Town Mission Field   16 January 2018 Day 38 Tuesday Today was our run to the Post Office then to the Macro store (local Costco) to replenish supplies for the Elders boarding's. This week we have some extra items to procure, either from the store or the shed, because we're moving 2 elders into the upstairs flat in Strandfontein. This is a church owned house with Elders now living in the upstairs. At one time this was a church house. The large upstairs area was a meeting house for the branch in that area. And there was a sign out front, which was taken down quite some time ago. Elder Courtright was able to enter all the prior repair history (December) for the fleet vehicles using the Fleet credit card report that comes out monthly showing what charges were made on each vehicle. In the evening at 6:00 PM we watched the live broadcast from Salt Lake City of the announcement of the new Presidency of the church. President Nelson (center) with 1st Councilor President...

Cape Town Mission Field   15 January 2018 Day 37 Monday It felt like a Monday and now that the Festive season is over we got a taste for real traffic. We made our Monday lunch run for 2 Chicken burgers (grilled chicken on a bun) with Chips (french fries) at the River Club just up the street. The Monday special is two for R79. That's about $6.50. Got one of those emergency calls from the BidTrack folks that monitor our fleet vehicles. This happens whenever the battery is disconnected, which could indicate a car is being stolen. But like most cases the Elders needed to replace a dead battery. My excitement for the day. Today we hired Sister Thirsley to clean our flat every two weeks. She cleans the Mission Home (and has been for the past 6 mission presidents!) and used to clean this flat for the Hansen's when they were here. So it sounded like a nice way to spoil ourselves. We've been so busy at the Mission Office it felt like a good way to deal with deep cleanin...

Cape Town Mission Field   14 January 2018 Day 36 Sunday Today we made our way to the Mandalay Ward because we invited Brother Bolanga from the Cape Town Fish Market. He lives in Philipi, which puts him in this wards boundaries. We met some amazing members and had an awesome Gospel Essentials class with several investigators including Brother Bolanga. We came home and made dinner for the first time from the groceries we picked up yesterday; you guessed it...Goulash!!! Brother Bolanga (didn't catch the name of the person that Sister Courtright brought to the picture) Sister Doreen (member of 1 year and can't wait to get to the temple) Sister Malaza with her baby sister (she is putting in her paperwork this week to go on a mission!!!) NOTE: Elder Milne's photo-bomb Elder Milne and Elder Fullmer

Cape Town Mission Field   13 January 2018 Day 35 Saturday We made our way back to Franschoek to visit the gentlemen in the open air African market. John was there with a new friend who yearned to hear the message Sister Courtright felt impressed to leave him knowing that God loved him and knew him personally.  We made our way to Stellenbosch and drove up a nearby canyon to Jonkershoek Nature reserve. We hiked about an hour to Eerste Waterval (First Waterfall). It was a gorgeous cove where the water came off the mountain and moisture was dripping along the overhanging soil and tree line. We didn't proceed up the canyon to Tweede Falls because that would've taken another hour and we started late in the day. So we stopped for groceries in Stellenbosch and headed back home to Pinelands. Panoramic View along the trail.

Cape Town Mission Field   12 January 2018 Day 34 Friday This morning we left for the Makro to pick up a fan for one of the pair of Elders that we would be meeting at the zone conference at the Bellville chapel. One interesting side note while shopping at Makro, I couldn't find dryer sheets anywhere. And when I asked for assistance I got "huh" looks from the store assistance. Either we are speaking a different terminology or they just don't use them here. One item for instance "bin liners" are "garbage bags". We had a great meeting in the chapel with 31 Elders from the Cape Town North, South and Flats Zones. We discussed detailed principles from "Preach My Gospel" section 8, setting goals, making plans, and taking action. We had a nice lunch then followed up with some more practical discussions. The Bellville chapel has been there a long time, you can tell by the architecture. But it is a large beautiful structure with a pro...

Cape Town Mission Field   11 January 2018 Day 33 Thursday This morning we met the Plumstead Elders and they followed us to the panelbeaters (body shop) who are going to repair their car. We then brought them back to their flat and headed out to Fish Hoek to do a boarding inspection there. It seemed odd to have the Elders in a boarding so close to the beach. But once inside we realized that their boarding is actually separated from the beach by the commuter train tracks and another set of houses. So are concerns were unfounded. Elder Courtright loaded up the one bike the Elders had in order to either repair one of the two in the shed or buy a new one so at least one pair of Elders can get around on bikes while their car is being repaired. We stopped at a furniture shop on the way back to try and find a bookshelf for the new Elders in the Somerset area. We found this wonderfully trimmed palm tree in the shape of a pineapple. We made our way back to the office and ordered a...

Cape Town Mission Field   10 January 2018 Day 32 Wednesday Today was pretty much an all day exercise at the office with Sister Courtright getting out the supply orders to all the districts and Elder Courtright trying to get a handle on all the warranty service that is due on the fleet of cars we have (61). Most are due every 15K kilometers, but some are due every 10K kilometers. The warranty service is something we cover on all our vehicles to ensure they get serviced properly and stay in good shape for the missionaries. This month alone there are 25 due for service. We called it quits early and went to dinner at the Grand West casino again and asked for Bolanga to serve us (the chicken curry was awesome). He was excited to see us again and would like to go to church on Sunday. So we are making arrangements for the Elders to contact him along with the Mandalay Ward mission leader who can greet him and his family at the Merrydale center where the church is located in that a...

Cape Town Mission Field   9 January 2018 Day 31 Tuesday First thing this morning I had to take one of our cars into Cape Town for brake service. The Elders ran it too long while it was making a "funny grinding sound". Yup, the caliper was damaged which will take 3 to 4 weeks to ship in and replace. I left just before 7:00 AM and took Liesbeek Avenue into town because we could see the N2 was totally blocked (apparent accident near our area). Of course I missed the street (Christian Barnard, named after the worlds first heart transplant surgeon from Cape Town) and ended up touring downtown for awhile. This was on little brakes and I used the hand brake to assist. There are 3 more scheduled for repair and the only spare is with the Elders who took our car while their brakes are being fixed. So Sister Courtright and I are riding in the bakkie (truck) which is a Ford Ranger (4 door). Hmm, strange how that was the same type of truck we won in Idaho Falls at the eclipse last ...

Cape Town Mission Field   8 January 2018 Day 30 Monday Can you believe it...we've been in the mission field for 1 month already. Wow, the days sure go by quickly when you're busy as a bee helping with the missionary work. Today we be our first full week after the holidays (festive season) without the Hansen's to guide us. Traffic is slowly getting back to normal. Kids are still out of school (their summer down here) so traffic isn't too bad.  Today we had our inaugural Office Staff Meeting with President Lebethoa and Sister Lebethoa. He's been wanting to have one to help coordinate our schedules and planning but has waited until we arrived and got through the holidays. We're working on more accurate baptismal records from the missionaries, changes to the driving policy, and medical kits for the missionaries in their flats.

Cape Town Mission Field   7 January 2018 Day 29 Sunday Today we attended the Langa branch again and had a wonderful fast and testimony meeting. The testimonies are so strong and Sister Courtright attended the Primary and was amazed at how much the little children knew about the details of the restored gospel at such a young age. One brother bore a testimony of how God has opened everything up for us, through Christ, and that it is in our hands and up to us to achieve our salvation and that we are our own worst enemy via fear and other notions that prevent us from returning home to our Father in Heaven with glory. He told the story by using a metaphor of some workers who arrived at work to find a posting that said "your worst enemy died today and now you can achieve whatever you want, get that raise you desired, the promotion you've sought for, etc. and that there would be a service this afternoon". Some came dressed up and other came as they were but when they all ...

Cape Town Mission Field   6 January 2018 Day 28 Saturday This morning we returned to Franschhoek and presented six Book of Mormons to the artisans working in African open air market who had expressed an interest when we visited a few weeks prior. Sonnex asked when we would be coming back. Sister Courtright said we could return after we gave him some time to read and ponder the Book of Mormon. He said it would only take him 3 days to read the book, so when could we return. Wow. So we told him we could come back next weekend to answer any of his questions. We then went to Stellenbosch and visited the botanical garden. It was gorgeous. We had some lunch then walked through the gardens. We then went across the street to the Village Museum, which consists of 4 building restored to their period era with matrons telling the story of each house. We met Jeanetta who spoke about one of the houses. She was a real sweet lady. Water gardens were lovely, and the lily pads were...