Month of Miracles

 February has been titled, 'Month of Miracles' in the SAJM, and it is really turning into just that. The promise is that if you are striving to be obedient, Heavenly Father will work miracles. Through hard work, prayer, and obedience, miracles are truly happening in the mission. 

• One area has 21 investigators that come to church each week and are on date for baptism! 21!!!
• Two missionaries went to a Sunday dinner appointment with a less active sister. When they got there she was preparing dinner and they sat down and conversed with her for a while, finally asking when she was baptized. She looked at them funny and said "I'm not baptized" They said, "aren't you Sister ________________?" "No, she moved a while ago. But I do have this book I want to show you." She brought out a copy of the Book of Mormon and wanted to talk about it.
• Miracles are not being seen in some areas, but when we were talking with elders there, they said they were making their own kind of joy, and decided to be happy and positive each day. They had this glow about them and we could really see joy in their faces. They will be blessed with miracles...maybe the miracles they are seeing are directed at them personally, because of their positive attitude. What a great example they are.

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Other Mission News

Elder Matos and his family gave President Dunn an awesome professional jersey from his home town. President Dunn loves sports and plays some kind of ball with the missionaries on P-day. This was the perfect gift!

I took photos of one of the amazing rainstorms we get. This was taken looking out of the mission office door. The building is the Roodepoort ward building.

After the storm the birds came out to play

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Our courtyard reminds us of something you would see in Europe. We love it!

The view from our front door

I just love the doors, windows, and fixtures in our little courtyard. 

This is a photo of the water drain. All gray water pours out into this system, It doesn't go down the sewer like back home. Washing the dishes...pours from a pipe directly outside. Doing the laundry...pours outside. You get the idea.

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This is creepy! We had a flat we are permanently closing professionally cleaned, and the next day we met with the agent to turn over the keys. Something (we don't know what), came in during the night and made a nest, (about 8 inches long) on a bedroom wall! The agent was so impressed with the clean flat and said it (the nest) was not our problem, and would tell the owner to have the place fumigated.

Look at this awesome cloud we saw on the way home from the closing

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We went to dinner at The Porterhouse, and sat out on the deck. This was the entertainment!

And it came with a rainbow

My dinner was a tramezzini, stuffed with spinach and feta. So good!

Kent had grilled fish that he said was pretty good. 

As we left the parking lot, we saw this little family all dressed up for a night out.

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We had a sister in the mission for three days, and it was a blast! (There are no sister missionaries in the South Africa Johannesburg mission) Her flight was delayed because of incorrect paperwork, so she got to hangout with us. President Dunn assigned her to be my companion for Wednesday. We went shopping for flats supplies, ran some errands, put together 100 transfer packets for Transfer day on Tuesday, walked to the flat for lunch, and accomplished a few other things, She was so excited to help and we think she really enjoyed the day. She was staying at the mission home and she and Sister Dunn worked on many projects together until her flight on Friday evening. She flew to Paris, then on to the Dominican Republic MTC. After her two week stay there, she will finish her journey to Jamaica for an 18 month mission. She wanted to stay with us because she was having so much fun, but we told her she just got a taste of what a mission is like, and will love her mission in Jamaica a whole lot better!  

Here is a photo of the 'girls' in the mission office. (don't laugh at my dorky smile) I wanted to show you the great transfer board behind us. Really sharp looking with the green background that was inspired by President Dunn.

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As we walked to our flat on Friday, there was a young Hadeda just hanging out on the lawn by the mission office. They are such a funny looking bird. They remind us of something prehistoric.

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 On our five hour drive to deliver sofas, easy chair, desks, vacuum, and microwave to elders, we saw this truck. Love the outline of Africa. It reminded me of our great friends, the Williams, who are trucking around the USA right now.

This is a Google Maps vehicles!! The only one I have every seen. Looks like they are updating South Africa. The large camera is sitting on top.

Elder Beers and Elder Thompson get a new sofa.

Empty trailer and bakkie. Guess we'll head home.

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We went out with Elder and Sister Thompson for a Valentines Day dinner. I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of our dinner and of us! We ate at Titolino's in the Clearwater mall. We all loved the food. The Italian and Mediterranean cuisine was fresh, flavorful, and well prepared. Portions were large and very filling. Our meals cost R80 and R90, Around $7 and $8 each. We love the food in South Africa. EVERYTHING we have had is delicious and reasonable priced. We will go back to this restaurant!
I did take a photo of this cute Valentines Day cow.