Cape Town, South Africa Mission

   Cape Town Mission Field       29 October 2018     Day 324 Monday This mornings run/walk at 6:30 was nice because there were some clouds that came in and it was nice and cool. We noticed a rather large cockroach near the bathrooms in the office. We assumed it was affected by the Flea Fogger we set off Saturday night. We took a drive to the old Strandfontein boarding to pick up a desk and a refrigerator and run it out to the Somerset Links elders. They have another pair of elders with them and needed another desk and a separate refrigerator (that helps keep the peace). We had the Meadowridge elders come to the office to help us out since Elder Barbre has to stay off his bad foot. We picked up chicken burgers at the River Club for us and the elders helping us and also the assistants who showed up. Sister Courtright has them hoping around the office catching up on many tasks that we haven't been able to get to.

Cape Town Mission Field       28 October 2018     Day 323 Sunday Today we woke up pretty tired but forced ourselves through church, which was a blessing to hear some wonderful talks including a great Sunday School lesson on the atonement. We talked about the writings of Isaiah including the messengers (prophets, apostles, missionaries, and members) publishing great news of the Savior's coming, chapter 52. 7  ¶  How  beautiful  upon the mountains are the feet of him that  bringeth   good   tidings , that  publisheth   peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto  Zion , Thy God reigneth!

Cape Town Mission Field       27 October 2018     Day 322 Saturday We spent most of the day at the Canal Walk mall looking for curtains and a few other boarding items. We ate lunch there and watched a dance off competition in the center of the mall where they were having a computer game fair. We arrived home and crashed for a bit but then ended up at the office again finishing up paper work that has been neglected for the past two days. Just before leaving we set off a Flea Fogger to see if we could kill any of the fleas that have been plaguing us, not sure where they are coming from. There was also a nice sunset this evening.

Cape Town Mission Field       26 October 2018     Day 321 Friday Today was a rather lengthy day without accomplishing much, at least for Elder Courtright. He went down to Meadowridge to help with a stopped drain. The elders then followed him back to the hospital where Elder Barbre checked into the emergency room again because he had slipped and re-injured his ankle. There were a lot of people in the waiting room, some with serious looking (bloody wounds), and a lot coming into the ambulance entrance due to a severe car accident. Anyway, the zone leaders came around 4:30 to take Elder Lawer to a baptismal interview. Elder Latagan stayed with Elder Barbre. Turns out there was nothing too serious. Some torn ligaments that required a soft boot and some pain patches. We took them to our boarding around 6:00 and fixed them dinner. The sloppy joe's on scones were awesome. We took them back to the hospital around 9:00 to pick up their car with the other elders....

Cape Town Mission Field       25 October 2018     Day 320 Thursday Today is our Cape Flat and Cape South Zones conferences at the Meadowridge Chapel. We loaded up some supplies for the luncheon that Sister Courtright organized with Bruce's Catering. We arrived to find some workers painting the roof with a sealer and repairing some tiles (these are asphalt type). This is in preparation for the Stake Conference on the 11th of November with Elder Neil Anderson from Salt Lake. Sister Courtright took some extra fruit and tossed it up on the roof to the workers. We had a great conference and the President took some time discussing budgeting for the elders.

Cape Town Mission Field       24 October 2018     Day 319 Wednesday This morning we stopped at the Cape Town market to pick up fruit for this weeks and next weeks zone conferences. We had Elder Khoza (driver) and Elder Lategan (new elder) stop by to pick up their weekly supplies. Elder Lategan took us outside to see where he fit into the bumper of the car that backed into him. The elders are surely watched over and blessed. Nothing but a couple of small bruises on his leg. Wow! The elders are trained to use their companion as a backup guide to prevent them from hitting anything or anyone. But Elder Lategan went beyond the call of duty here. We need to do some more training.

Cape Town Mission Field       23 October 2018     Day 318 Tuesday We made our usual stops at the Post Office then the Makro store for our weekly supply run. We had a few elders stop by the office. Elder Opolot brought in a breakfast burrito-like dish from his native country of Uganda. We are sure blessed by these wonderful elders. We also had some elders show us their car that backed into another car at the Mowbray chapel. We asked where was the lookout elder that was supposed to help them back up. They indicated that he was right there. In fact, he was pinned between their car and the car they bumped into.

Cape Town Mission Field       22 October 2018     Day 317 Monday Today was a rather calm day at the office. We did receive a few elders who were out on their Personal Day. Some climbed up the backside of Table Mountain but were really regretting it later because for some reason the temperature spiked today and hit 99 F. This is very unusual for this time of year, for anytime of year for that matter in Cape Town. Sister Courtright received two huge orders. One was for the pathways program that Brother Duncan picked up. The other was for this December's "Light the World" campaign. The president asked us to take Elder Rasband to the airport for his return home. So we took him to dinner at the Slug-n-Lettuce then headed for the airport and left him around 9 PM. We wish him all the best.

Cape Town Mission Field       21 October 2018     Day 316 Sunday We had a wonderful primary program in both branches today. The children were amazing in their singing and testimonies. We are going to miss the baptism today of a beautiful sister who recently has been taking the missionary lessons. We then headed for Milnerton and picked up Elder Le Brun where he said good-bye to his companions (they were working in a tripanionship). We took Elder Le Brun back to the office where the president gave him his exit interview. We then took him to the airport and had dinner with him before we sent him on his way to Tahiti. We would really like to visit him someday. We were able to speak to Jackie and Kirk this evening and we were able to wish our 10 year old grandson Happy Birthday Boston!

Cape Town Mission Field       20 October 2018     Day 315 Saturday We went into the office this morning to prepare a language test for Elder Le Brun who is leaving off his mission tomorrow due to medical issues. We then took him to his boarding and stopped at Maestro's on the beach for lunch. We had lasagna, of course. We headed back to the office to finish up some work. We then stopped at the store for some weekly shopping. Once home Elder Courtright prepared the Natal Plum fruit (num num) for jam. We bottled seven small jars from the batch we made. It had a great taste but an unusual aroma. We plan to give a jar to the senior couples. Sister Courtright and Elder Le Brun chatting after his language testing

Cape Town Mission Field       19 October 2018     Day 314 Friday Today was a rather calm day at the office. We caught up on a lot of paperwork. Had pizza for lunch and we were going to go to a run at the Pinehurst Primary School but it was so windy and we were a bit sore from running the last two nights that we ended up working a bit later then went home and crashed for the evening.

Cape Town Mission Field       18 October 2018     Day 313 Thursday Today we did some boarding inspections. We started with the Guguletu boarding (Elder Zander). They made some great changes since our last visit. The walls are clean and they reorganized the furniture. It looked great. We took away a wicker chair they weren't using and they never really sit at their counter to eat because they don't have chairs. Turns out we have two bar stools in the Ranger that we were taking to the garage. They worked out perfectly. Another one of those little miracles the Lord manages for us. We then went to the Mandalay Elders boarding and it looked so much better than the last time we were there (which was a few months back with other elders). Elder Opolot and his companion have reorganized the furniture and really made it look nice. There was a crew in front cutting down large limbs that were overhanging the parking area and coming close to the windows of their s...

Cape Town Mission Field       17 October 2018     Day 312 Wednesday Today is Sister Courtright's busy day what with the orders she fills and the zone leaders come in to pick them up then she has to prepare the out-going mail for pick-up in the afternoon. Elder Courtright worked on cleaning up the shed. Gerald Shaw from the facilities group showed up to look at the palm tree that is pulling on the wires coming into the building. He offered to take a futon like couch we had in the shed that doesn't have any legs. He is going to offer it to a member that has little possessions, except his food storage. Gerald borrowed the trailer to deliver it to him. This helped clean out the shed even more. We put several smaller items in the back of the Ranger to take to the garage. We left work around 4:30 in order to go home and put on some running clothes and head to the Pineland's Athletic club. We met Daniel there who introduced us to Marsha. She worked with abou...

Cape Town Mission Field       16 October 2018     Day 311 Tuesday We called our daughter Jackie last night and talked to her about the pictures we received from her that were taken on Sunday when our granddaughter Charlotte was blessed. The pictures were adorable. She was blessed in the same knitted dress that Jackie and Alena was blessed in as a baby. Here's a picture of Alena and Charlotte. Today we did our Makro run for supplies. We seemed a bit high this week, around R9000. Which is about $600. But we did stock up on several items that we were running low on.

Cape Town Mission Field       15 October 2018     Day 310 Monday This morning we drove the stolen vehicle down the Mullany's (the body shop) to have the damages repaired. While there we had them look at the Ford Ranger to get an estimate on repairing the scratches along the side where it scrapped the key box post coming into the office gate last week. Sister Courtright told the president what had happened on her way back from the Guguletu chapel during the transfers. She asked if he wanted to see the damage and he replied; no, that's not necessary because I can get a full report from the vehicle coordinator, Elder Courtright. When we returned we met the Mandalay elders who stopped by to pick up a couple of items and at the same time Elder Opolot volunteered last week to teach (show) Sister Courtright how to clean the bottom of a gummed up iron. We have several returned to us from elders who can't get them clean and it is leaving marks on their shirts....

Cape Town Mission Field       14 October 2018     Day 309 Sunday This morning we drove to Hermanus to deliver the elders their pre-paid temporary phone until there old phone number gets reactivated. They had their phone and a few other items taken from them yesterday by two drunk men that stopped them on the street while they were proselyting. No harm done and not much lost. Just a lot of time wasted getting them back into their boarding since their security gate requires them to call a number to get in. The bishop gave them a phone yesterday evening until we could arrive and give them the prepaid phone that we picked up last night at Canal Walk Mall.  We then went down to the bay to get some lunch. We found a place called Coco's which had and upstairs seating area with open air windows. We saw a pair of whales swim by and later watched the younger one jump out of the water several times. We then drove back to Somerset West and gave the Khayeli...

Cape Town Mission Field       13 October 2018     Day 308 Saturday Today is our day off so we went to the office and met some elders there who needed some supplies. They helped Elder Courtright put the mattresses onto the Ford Ranger. We then went to the Meadowridge elders and delivery several items for them, including a table. And we collected several items from them that they don't need anymore. Elder Barbre has fixed up the kitchen nicely to help accommodate the four elders now staying there. He moved the washing machine with the refrigerator to make the layout easier. We then went to the Capri Elders boarding and picked them up walking up the hill to the Forsyth's home. We had them sit on the tail gate since the back seat was full of supplies. They swapped their thin mattresses for the full-size mattresses we brought them. We chatted with the Forsyth's for a while before heading back to the office. We finished up some paperwork then stopped at t...

Cape Town Mission Field       12 October 2018     Day 307 Friday Today we spent a lot of time at our computers catching up on reports and emails. Sister Courtright is busy working on baptisms, sending out safe arrival letters, birthday letters, and the CREST newsletter. It was another busy day at the office but we decided we were exhausted from the whole week and left around 3:00 pm and went to Stellenbosch to see a concert we heard about on FMR (Fine Music Radio) this morning when coming into work. It is the Reinland Pfalz State Youth Orchestra from Germany traveling to a few performances in South Africa and tonight is their final performance. We arrived early and walked through the gardens on campus then stopped for some dinner. The pin-cushion Protea's are in bloom right now and they looked amazing. We walked to the Endler Hall, which was a beautiful small hall on campus. The seats were great and the acoustics were amazing for this intimate venue. Wh...

Cape Town Mission Field       11 October 2018     Day 306 Thursday This morning Elder Courtright took the Ford Ranger to the shed and picked up a bed frame and took it to the Milnerton boarding. He took some curtains to try in their boarding. They didn't quite fit, but they will have to do for now until we can find some wider ones. He went back to the shed and picked up 2 mattresses that had been wrapped in plastic but were not completely sealed. And some rain water got into the shed and seeped into the mattresses causing some staining and some mold to appear. He then went to our boarding and waited for the repair man to show up and fix the washing machine. It was then back to the office where he placed them on the trailer rack and sprayed the ends down with some mild soap and water and scrubbed it out the best he could. He then took a 20% bleach solution and sprayed it all over the rest of the mattresses and let them sit out and dry for the next few days...

Cape Town Mission Field       10 October 2018     Day 305 Wednesday Today was transfer day, those staying in Cape Town get assigned to their new companions, and those traveling to the East Cape are sent via air to their new assignments. We started by getting to the office around 7:00 am for Sister Courtright to send out the "Safe New Arrival" letters to the parents letting them know that their son's arrived safely and are now in the hands of President Lebethoa. Sister Courtright includes a picture of their son with President and Sister Lebethoa taken during lunch yesterday on the front lawn of the Mission Home. We then had Daniel from El Greeyo drop off sandwiches at 8:00 am and then we headed to the Nightingale Close boarding to pick up the new elders and drive them to the Gugulethu Chapel for exchanges and transport to the airport since this chapel is only a mile or so away from Cape Town International Airport. We made two trips to the airport. Some l...

Cape Town Mission Field       9 October 2018     Day 304 Tuesday It was a bit challenging today not having a phone for Sister Courtright. Elder Courtright did a SIM Swap on a spare phone he had in the office but it wasn't connecting to the network. Mid morning Elder Courtright went with the elders in the van to the airport to pick up the new arriving missionaries from the Johannesburg MTC, there's 15 of them. Counting the last transfer (6 weeks ago), this transfer, and next transfer (6 weeks from now) we will have 1/3 of our mission filled with new missionaries from the MTC (41 of them). It's a big wave to contend with. We picked up the missionaries and headed back to the office to drop off luggage then we took them to the Mission Home for lunch and greeting the Mission President and his family. We then took them Signal Hill to test the promise given by the first missionaries in 1850. From the first 3 newly baptized members the South African mission n...

Cape Town Mission Field       8 October 2018     Day 303 Monday Today was our shopping day to finish appliance purchases for the new boarding in Capri and fill in some items in Meadowridge for the new Grassy Park Elders that will be staying there. First we stopped at the Cape Town market at 7:00 AM to get fruit for this weeks transfers. We then headed to the "Game" store in the Kenilworth Mall, which is on the way to Meadowridge and Fish Hoek. We bought a refrigerator, microwave, and a lot of kitchenware. We went around in circles trying to figure out the loading dock and parking, but Elder Courtright came back with a smile despite being misdirected a few times. He now has a new outlook on life thanks to conference.  Woo Hoo! We went to the Meadowridge elders and dropped of several items and took some measurements for curtains and some wardrobe racks we saw at the Game store. We then went to the Capri boarding and dropped off a couple of it...

Cape Town Mission Field       7 October 2018     Day 302 Sunday We were a bit tired in church today because we stayed up until midnight to watch the Saturday afternoon session of conference. It was worth it though. We had a wonderful lesson from Isaiah and the many wonderful gifts from the Savior! Elder Courtright had a renewed outlook on all the frustrations of our daily life trying to keep up the vehicles, boarding's, caterer's, records, etc. etc. etc. It came from a talk from Joy Jones, Primary General President, who spoke in conference (she also spoke to us at the MTC in Provo, Utah almost a year ago). She reminded us that all we do is for Him, not for the elders, the mission president, or anyone else. That really hit home. Because if we realize we are doing all this for His glory all of the frustrations disappear.  We watched the women's conference then the other two sessions of conference and was able to call our daughter Jackie in between ...

Cape Town Mission Field       6 October 2018     Day 301 Saturday Today we had to run out to Somerset West and Hermanus to review boardings there and to pay for some bills in Hermanus. The Khayelitsha elders told of a nasty experience when an pidgeon entered an open bathroom window. It scarred Elder Smith from above the cupboard in the kitchen such that he ran into bedroom and shut the door behind him. Running as a "little girl" as he explained. Elder LeBrun caught and released it. They then noticed that it had pooped all over the their beds, counter-tops, and everywhere else. It wasn't pleasant. The Hermanus elders joined us for lunch by meeting at the KFC after Elder Courtright stopped by the garage that repaired their car and paid the bill. He was a wonderful man that had no problem helping the elders out whenever they needed it and willing to wait for me to come down and pay their bill. He was a bit frustrated by the burglars that came through the...

Cape Town Mission Field       5 October 2018     Day 300 Friday This morning we gave our car to the Mandalay elders whose car died yesterday and Elder Courtright had them tow it to the Chevrolet service center. Elder Courtright took the Ford Ranger to the storage garage at the Nightingale Close boardings. The assistants, Elder Reedy and Niutupuivaha helped him load up several furniture items for the new Capri boarding. They had to leave the tailgate down and it was going to hit the trailer lift stand. It was stuck so they beat on it for quite awhile until they were able to free it from the trailer tongue so it wouldn't get damaged during sharp turns. After picking up several more items from the office and Sister Courtright we made our way to the Meadowridge boarding, but first stopped at the River Club to pick up a pizza for lunch (which was not approaching 2 PM).  The Meadowridge elders helped us unload another bed frame and mattress, 4 chairs, ...

Cape Town Mission Field       4 October 2018     Day 299 Thursday This morning was a bit chaotic. Sister Courtright received some sandwiches from El Greeyo. Both Daniel and Kenya and Danielle stopped by the office with the sandwiches. Sister Courtright gave them a tour of the office. Sister Courtright loaded up the sandwiches in the Elders sack lunches that they would take with them to the airport. Elder Courtright took the elders to the airport and saw them off. But first dropped Sister Courtright off at their boarding to meet with the appliance repair man to take a look at our washing machine that quit working. Then we went back to the office to meet with the President and the Hamilton's to review next weeks transfers. Afterwards, Elder Courtright reserved a van for next week and Sister Courtright began pulling supplies from the shed for the new boarding in Capri.We filled up the Ranger pick-up truck with supplies and drove down to Capri and met Siste...