Cape Town, South Africa Mission

Cape Town Mission Field   17 November 2019   Day 707 Sunday Count Up => +21 We arrived in Salt Lake around 10:00 am after a short layover in Atlanta after arriving there at 6:00 am. Jackie and Jake picked us up at the airport. We had a large load of luggage with us. We filled up most of their mini-van. We enjoyed getting back together with the grand kids. We couldn't believe how tall they are getting. We ran over to the Stake Center at 3:00 to meet with the Stake President where he formally released us from our calling as missionaries. We were finally done after two years minus 10 days. President Law asked us to report to the High Council next Sunday at 7:00 am. We then met with the Bishop at 5:30 where he finished asking us the final questions for him to be able to submit our new mission application to the Stake President. We also took the time to have our temple recommend interviews with him and our tithing settlement at the same time. We finished playing wi...

Cape Town Mission Field   16 November 2019   Day 706 Saturday Count Up => +20 This morning we got up and went to the temple. We were surprised to see Sister Brown from the Cape Town Stake sitting in one of the sessions. We also met the Peterson's who have been on their mission now for three months. They are from South Jordan, Utah. We then went back to the patron housing to pack for our trip home. We left a lot of items that we couldn't take, did not want to take, or did not need. We left all of these items with a family that was also staying at the patron housing. We stopped at a mall near the airport to pick up a small bag to remove some of the weight from two bags that were about 20 pounds overweight. We then dropped the luggage off with Sister Courtright and Kerry while Elder Courtright returned the car to the Avis rent a car place. We had our luggage wrapped for the trip home. We then settled in for a long 16 hour flight to Atlanta.

Cape Town Mission Field   15 November 2019   Day 705 Friday Count Up => +19 We got up this morning and walked over to the temple to attend a couple of sessions this morning. Sister Courtright and Kerry got to be the witness couple on the first session we attended. We met a wonderful Sister Clark on the second session who is trying to get to BYU to finish a psychology degree to serve here in the Johannesburg area. As we were leaving for lunch we also met the new temple president who was called 14 days ago. He is President Mkhebela who was the Stake President in Soweto that President Lebethoa replaced.  We ran out to lunch and found Krispy Kreme donuts at the quick mart gas station.  We came back to the patron housing to take a nap then drove to Elder Lateghan's home in Centurian. Hannes put on a wonderful Braai for us. We sat around the fire pit and chatted and enjoyed some great food. We also met their daughter, Cathy Harwood, who is a wonderful arti...

Cape Town Mission Field   14 November 2019   Day 704 Thursday Count Up => +18 We had a lovely breakfast then said goodbye to Fiona and Hans at the Turtle Bay BnB. They indicated that they had other senior couples from Johannesburg about a year and a half ago stay with them. We also met a lovely couple from Germany and they were interested in knowing more about our beliefs. Sister Courtright pointed them to the LDS.ORG and MORMOM. ORG website for more information and also gave them a Book of Mormon. We headed to Johannesburg on the N2. The storm that came through last night dumped a lot of rain north of us and the N2 was closed for a while as the flood waters came down a river bed and washed over the highway and tore out a long section of guard rail. We made it to Johannesburg by 5:30 pm and checked into the patron housing at the temple. We then went out to Mike's Kitchen, a favorite eating place nearby. Mfolozi River The heavy rain affected vehi...

Cape Town Mission Field   13 November 2019   Day 703 Wednesday Count Up => +17 Up at 4:30 and Fiona fixed us some nice muffin's, pancakes, and hot chocolate for our trip to Hluhluwe today. We left at 5:00 am and we were taken by Toco again today with one other couple from Italy. We spent most of the day on the northern side while stopping for breakfast and lunch. We saw Elephant, Rhino, Giraffe, Water Buffalo, Lion, Crocodile, Bushbuck, Kudu, Impala, Vultures, Monkeys, and a host of birds. Most notable was an elephant and 3 rhino's that we go very close to. The two male Lion's were sleeping the day away while to females with their grown cubs were on the march looking for something to help train the hunting skills of their young ones. The vultures were huge. We saw a mother bird that looked somewhat like a Quail walk here newborn chicks across the road. And judging by their size and difficulty walking we believe they were just hatched. We grabbed a quick bi...

Cape Town Mission Field   12 November 2019   Day 702 Tuesday Count Up => +16 We had a nice breakfast after fending off the monkeys that took our jam and butter packets off the table on the patio by the pool. We then were picked up by the Heritage Tour guides, Stephan and Togo. We headed into Cape Vidal, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site for Isimangaliso (meaning a magical place) so dedicated in 1999 and named by Nelson Mandela. It has 1 million hectares which is half the size of Kruger. We saw several great sites; Rhinos, Red Dika, Bushbuck, Kudu, Warthogs and the Sambanga Monkey (endangered). We also got hit by a couple of dung beetles that flew into the open air vehicle we were traveling in. They are big and just as we were getting dropped off at the end of our expedition one of them crawled up Elder Courtright's pant leg. It kind of freaked him out for a moment until he realized what it was. We stopped at the beach where Kerry went snorkeling with Rog...

Cape Town Mission Field   11 November 2019   Day 701 Monday Count Up => +15 It's Veteran's Day today. Thanking all the Vets for their service! We got up an had breakfast on the patio with the Black-Faced Monkeys that were coming around. Several had babies attached to their underside. It was raining again today. No complaints though because they really need the rain everywhere here. We then headed to the Durban Mission Office to drop off a package for Elder Mbaki who will be arriving this week. We met with the Howell's in the office and they showed us the area they cover. We also hear they are in desperate need of more senior couples. We left and headed for St. Lucia where we will be going into a couple of different game reserves here. One is the oldest reserve park in South Africa. We checked in then went back to main street and found a shopping center for some food, drinks, and snacks then stopped at a burger place for some lunch. Great tomato, basil,...