Cape Town, South Africa Mission

Cape Town Mission Field    26 August 2019   Day 624 Monday We worked at the office this morning then had lunch with the Firth's at the River Club. We left from there and went to Stellenbosch to look at a potential new boarding for missionaries there. It looks like it will work out just fine. They are on the second floor and their flat is right next to a roof top BBQ area that looks out over the mountains. We spotted some Zebra in a field next to a vineyard on our way back to town. We decided to call it a day early and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chilling out watching reruns of the Gilmore Girls.

Cape Town Mission Field    25 August 2019   Day 623 Sunday We enjoyed Stake Conference that was broadcast from the Somerset West chapel to all the chapel's in the South and Flats Zone. We watched it in Langa. The conference was focused on missionary work. Del Mbaki from our ward spoke about his preparation and their families work in preparing missionaries. Del is expecting his call in about one or two weeks. His older brother will be returned from his mission in about 6 weeks. Several of the sisters dressed up nicely for the conference.

Cape Town Mission Field    24 August 2019   Day 622 Saturday We spent all day looking for furniture to replace the love seat and two armchairs in the Mission Office sitting room. We went to the V&A Waterfront then up to the warehouse near our Makro store then over to Tableview to Tafelburg Furniture then to the Tygervalley Mall and saw 4 stores there. We hiked along way at the V&A waterfront over to a shop near the main rain coming into the store front area. We passed by a dock area where they strip and repaint ships. We also found a competition in the canal of paddle boarders racing between buoys. It was a long day and we didn't find exactly what we had hoped for. But we did come away with several options for the President to review. We did find a nice leather love seat where the manager said he could have carved whatever we wanted on the arm fronts. We immediately thought about Angel Moroni or a carving of the temple. Not sure the president will approve t...

Cape Town Mission Field    23 August 2019   Day 621 Friday We picked up the two bikes that were repaired at Neil's bike shop and took them to the office. Elder Courtright hooked up the trailer and took the Meadowridge elders down to Fish Hoek where they loaded up the furniture there and he brought it back to the office after picking up some pizza for us. He then took the furniture to the shed at Nightingale where the Langa elders came by to help him unload it all. He took the two bikes that were at Fish Hoek and dropped them off at the bike shop for routine maintenance.

Cape Town Mission Field    22 August 2019   Day 620 Thursday Today we went to the Meadowridge chapel and set up for the South Zone Conference. We enjoyed sitting in on President Lebethoa's training which focused on Faith from Preach My Gospel manual.

Cape Town Mission Field    21 August 2019   Day 619 Wednesday We spent the day at the office catching up on mail, leases, etc. Elder Courtright ran up to Milnerton to pick up their bikes and drop them off at the bike repair shop. They both needed several repairs. The Meadowridge elders also stopped by to pick up a spare car while their car is being serviced. They had some weird problem after they left but opened up the vehicle's manual and found a "hold" button near the gear shift that was pressed which caused the car to not accelerate over a very slow speed. Elder Courtright was moving supplies back into the Ranger and found a jumping spider wrestling with a flying ant; the circle of life.

Cape Town Mission Field    20 August 2019   Day 618 Tuesday We stopped to pick up the post and ran into Fred. He said he attended church last Sunday in Meadowridge and really enjoyed it. We then went to the Makro store for supplies. Then it was off to the Brackenfell chapel for the North Zone conference. We set up for lunch and enjoyed a nice lamb dish with mint sauce. Elder Courtright passed out the new Fleet cards to those that are driving in this zone. It was back to the office to finish up some paperwork. Elder Courtright did a video call to the tech support person in Salt Lake to help determine the steps to install the application management software on all the new Smart phones we received. From the chapel parking lot with Table Mountain off in the distance

Cape Town Mission Field    19 August 2019   Day 617 Monday This morning we stopped at the open market to pick up fruit for the zone conferences this week. We ran into Richard from the Mowbray ward. He finished his PhD work and is now working for Elder Gay as part of his NGO helping people with self-reliance. His wife is finishing her doctoral work as an OB-GYN then they will move to Namibia to help people there by educating them about healthy lifestyles and other self-reliance programs. Including bringing along the fathers by educating them about their responsibilities and abilities to help the family. He owns a house in Saratoga Springs. He will never live there but it is for their children once they get old enough to go to school in Utah. He travels to Salt Lake twice a year to report out on their progress with the business.  We stopped at a nursery for Sister Courtright to pick up some pots to re-pot the plants in the sitting area at the office. She also ...

Cape Town Mission Field    18 August 2019   Day 616 Sunday We had a great service today. We also got to teach the Sunday School class for the teenagers. We discussed Paul's epistle to the Roman's and how to be led by the spirit. They had some great comments. We really felt the spirit guiding our thoughts and words to the youth. Our Sunday School class we taught today Sister Mbaki's hair style, note the star on her forehead Working on setting up the first batch of new Smart phones for the elders Our elderly father of the Branch with Elder Bramdeo

Cape Town Mission Field    17 August 2019   Day 615 Saturday We went into the office to work on some baptisms and other items we needed to catch up on. Elder Lateghan who just completed his mission is now touring the mission with his mother and father. They stopped by to clear out a storage bin that we were holding for him. Some of the other elders were stopping by the office and were able to meet his parents too. Brother Lateghan invited us to stop by their place when we are in Johannesburg to have a braai (BBQ) with their family on our farewell tour of the mission in November. The elders saw the new Smart phones and are really anxious to get their hands on them. The Lateghan family New Smart phones The Lateghan family wagon, a Mercedes, nice!

Cape Town Mission Field    16 August 2019   Day 614 Friday We spent the day at the office doing catch up of paperwork. We also received the new Smart phones for the mission, 70 Samsung Galaxy A10's. Elder Courtright needs to get them loaded up with the security and application manager software before we can distribute them out to the missionaries. We left early to meet the brother of the owner of our flat who was asked to come by and look at the damage caused by the roof repairs and geyser leak. He thought they did a nice enough job patching everything up. Elder Courtright then walked up the street to the car repair station to pick up the assistants car that was being serviced. We will then take it in to the office with us tomorrow.

Cape Town Mission Field    15 August 2019   Day 613 Thursday Today we went down to inspect the boarding's in Meadowridge, Masiphumelele, and Fish Hoek. We were not happy with the cleanliness of the Meadowridge boarding so they failed our inspection. The Masiphumelele elders got a 50%. They still need to step up their game. We then went to the Fish Hoek Boarding and had David meet us their to give us an estimate on the cost to repair the items that need to be taken care of due to the elders wear and tear on the boarding for the past 5 years we've been there. He also helped us pack up a load of furniture to take back with us. We grabbed the couch so we could drop it off at the Langa 2 elders, who don't have a couch in their boarding. We were very worn out so we ended up calling it a day and went home around 3:00 pm and crashed for the rest of the evening. Interesting blooming Aloe in Hillary's yard Hilary's cat enjoying a back scratch from the gutter th...

Cape Town Mission Field    14 August 2019   Day 612 Wednesday Today the Firth's took Elder Lare in to have his foot attended to. It was looking very bad and the doctor cut away a lot of dead skin from his heel and told him that if he didn't stay off of it that it might never heal properly and would end up with a gaping hole that would require plastic surgery to fill in. The Firth's then went to Paarl and Wellington for boarding inspections. They took a smoke detector that just arrived this morning to install in Wellington. That leaves only one boarding left in the mission that doesn't have a smoke detector and Elder Courtright will be installing that one tomorrow in Meadowridge. They also took a coffee table for them to eat on around their couch. They had really scrubbed the place clean. It looked really nice according to Sister Firth. We finished up a lot of odds and ends at the office. We also made a pot of Chili and invited a few missionaries to have lunch...

Cape Town Mission Field    13 August 2019   Day 611 Tuesday We dropped off the items we collected last night at the office. We then went to the Post Office to pick up the mail. We stopped at the Elsie's River elders to drop off a sweater to Elder Milanzi who has been quite cold recently. We then picked up the weekly supplies and went back to the office. Elder Courtright found a water filtration system at the store to replace the reverse osmosis system that was pulled out because it was leaking. He installed it in the afternoon. On our way back to the office we found a flock of Flamingo's that have taken up residence along the Black River surrounded by the Freeway interchange. We pulled off and took some pictures. This evening we went to the Langa 1 and Langa 2 elders to do boarding inspections. The elders are very happy with their boarding now that they've both been freshly painted. We helped them put up their paintings, their smoke alarm, and curtains in the bat...

Cape Town Mission Field    12 August 2019   Day 610 Monday Today was a typical office day. We had the zone leaders stop in and put in their orders. We also swapped out a car for the Assistants with the van to allow Elder Lare easier access into and out of the car with his injured foot. We received a call from Elder Hodges who had discovered that both cars that are waiting to be picked up and removed from our fleet were vandalized over the weekend at the Walmer Chapel. Someone had gotten over the fence and took four tires off one car and two tires off the other car and its battery. We also got a call that the King Williams Town elders had locked themselves out and instead of calling for a backup key they grew impatient and broke through the side door by the garage. This is not something we expect from our elders. It was very disappointing and they will be responsible for paying for it to be replaced. We got quite a lot done at the office and decided at the end of...

Cape Town Mission Field    11 August 2019   Day 609 Sunday Sister Courtright had a rough night and had to stay home and get some sleep. Elder Courtright spoke in church then went over to Ron and Esther's for lunch. They talked with the french speaking student that has been reading some pamphlets from the church in French. We had a great discussion and meal. We relaxed at home for the evening after calling all the kids and catching up with them. We only got hold of Jackie and Kerry. Elder Bramdeo gave a wonderful story to coincide with our discussion at church regarding how to be receptive to the spirit. It goes as follows: A young Indian boy was climbing up over a mountain and came across a cobra that was stuck on a ledge. The snake pleaded for the young boy to take him down the mountain so he could get something to eat. The young boy said "No, you are a snake and will bite me!". The snake replied "No I won't. I promise I will not bite you if you jus...

Cape Town Mission Field    10 August 2019   Day 608 Saturday Today we went shopping at the Canal Walk mall for dishes for the office. Sister Courtright has been looking for a long time and she finally found some she liked that were on sale. We also stopped for haircuts then dropped these items off at the office. We went home and had the Firth's pick us up and we went to Camps Bay for dinner at the Codfather. You select the fish you want from their display case then they prepare it for you. We had Crawfish from Mozambique and Queen Prawns from Brazil. Afterwards we walked down to the beach then over to the Theater on the Bay and enjoyed a show with performers that paid tribute to Simon and Garfunkel. It was a great evening. We can't believe how amazing these two were as songwriters. There music is very moving. Elder Courtright recall's listening to them as a kid and young people today are still amazed by their music. One time Elder Courtright was babysitting when he...

Cape Town Mission Field    9 August 2019   Day 607 Friday Today was a normal day at the office except it is Women's Day across South Africa and there was no traffic this morning. We did do a boarding inspection at the Gugulethu Elders and they report some fleas have returned. So they stopped by the office to pick up a can of Doom Fogger to manage the fleas. Sister Firth brought in the sewing machine the mission had and it was a 40 year old Elna. Elder Courtright tore into to it and found why the bobbin wasn't winding. The plastic gear on the main shaft that turns the bobbin shaft had disintegrated. Looks like we'll be buying a new sewing machine.

Cape Town Mission Field    8 August 2019   Day 606 Thursday Today we had our senior couples Microsoft Online Meeting with all the couples across the mission. We shared some great experiences and testimonies with each other.

Cape Town Mission Field    7 August 2019   Day 605 Wednesday Today was our MLC day where we set up the lunch and right after lunch Elder Courtright spoke to the missionaries about incident reporting and what all that entails and what constitutes an incident. It was lightly raining again today, seems it is always raining on MLC days. Sister Courtright had dinner brought in for those zone leaders that stayed over and will fly out tomorrow.

Cape Town Mission Field    6 August 2019   Day 604 Tuesday It's our Anniversary today! 43 years! Today was another crazy busy day. We stopped at the Post Office then the hardware store for some boarding supplies then to the Makro store for the rest of our weekly supplies. More heaters and clothes drying racks. Seems these are always on someone's order. We unloaded at the office and got the items prepared for this afternoon's MLC meeting and dinner. The elders were very helpful and Elder Lare helped shred old documents for us since he's on crutches and can't get out to do too much. The Assistants also surprised us with a piece of cake they had in the refrigerator in honor of our anniversary. We had a discussion with the President zipped over to the Mowbray Chapel to set up for the dinner. We enjoyed a nice chicken and mushroom meal and the Firth's joined us.

Cape Town Mission Field    5 August 2019   Day 603 Monday Happy 39th Birthday to our son Kerry!!! Woo Hoo!!! It's crazy to think we have another child whose on the verge of 40. Seems like it was only yesterday when we were 40. Elder Courtright recalls being walked around the Carousel Mall in Syracuse, New York with black balloons attached to his belt with the number 40 on them. Now we have two more grand-kids who are seniors in High School this year. Crazy how time flies. Elder Firth introduced Elder Courtright to Dave Stamey on a YouTube video where he was singing Tonopah. What a great western ballad singer. He had never heard of him before today. And Elder Courtright loves old country western songs.

Cape Town Mission Field    4 August 2019   Day 602 Sunday Today we went to church but ended up talking about some personal planning and decided it best to head to the office to finish the discussion. We made some great plans and changes we intend to implement to help our personal relationship and growth. We are excited about the changes. We spent the rest of the day working on the CREST Newsletter then left around 6:00 pm. We called all our children and finally got a hold of Kirk later that night and said goodnight at midnight so we could get to bed. Our grand-daughter Sage got accepted to York religious school in England for the fall semester. She leaves at the end of this month and returns at the beginning of December. We're really excited for her. Our daughter Jackie also put an offer on their "first" home buy. We are praying for her family and hope all goes well. We are super excited for her also. Kerry had a Single's Conference this weekend and is headed t...

Cape Town Mission Field    3 August 2019   Day 601 Saturday Today is our personal day, which we spent at the office working on the Crest Newsletter and the travel arrangements for our return trip at the end of our mission with our son Kerry. The assistants joined us for awhile and the Firth's stopped in for a bit too. Elder Lare, who is tagging along with the assistants while his foot recovers, was able to help Elder Courtright put together Sister Courtright's umbrella that blew apart in a high wind this past Tuesday. It took four hands to reload the spring mechanism and insert the retention pin. And it only took 4 times to put it together and take it apart again until we got it right. We had a great discussion about "change", especially quoting President Benson's famous quote about how the world would change an individual from the outside but Christ changes a person from the inside. Sister Courtright was grateful because the umbrella was bought for her whi...