Sunday, September 14, 2014

Week 15 - Sep 7th - 13th, 2014


Sunday, September 7th to Saturday, September 13th

We started the week off with two special birthdays, our son-in-law Jake and brother LaMont both celebrated on the 7th.  We wished them both a happy birthday wish from halfway around the world.

After our Fast Sunday we returned later in the afternoon for a baptism, a mother and her two teenagers, son and daughter.  It was great and very well attended and supported by the Ward.

Video calls home are something we enjoy so much and look forward to every Sunday afternoon, our time.  Great to see those we can and speak with them while the connection stays good.  We are so thankful for the technology that allows us such a blessing.

This turned out to be a very, very busy, 60 + hours week for many of us.  We had three Zone Conferences to assist with during the week, which included for Melanie getting food there and serving about 200 over the three days at different locations around Joburg.
This was our first experience with Zone Conferences along with most of these Senior couples pictured below as well as Pres. and Sister Dunn.

The Spirit was strong, the sessions were great teaching and training for the Elders, but at meal time it goes from something like this:



To something like this (just slightly less frenzied than a school of hungry piranhas, but Sister Dunn does well teaching manners and etiquette):



With a lot of this to calm them down:








Very hungry and yes grateful Elders who say thank you, some because Sister Dunn told them to tell Sister Hansen thank you, some because they learned manners at home.

We are so grateful to have a new additional senior couple here to provide some relief and assistance to the other couple and ourselves, the Allred's from Lindon, UT.  They are great people and a very big help and lift to our spirits and performance.


The Allred's from Lindon, Ut; the Thompson's from Brigham City, UT; the Swan's from BC, Canada; the Scott's from L.A.; and front right, the Hansen's from Riverdale, UT.  And, yes after three Zone Conferences this week most of us can still conjure up a smile.  It is true that many hands do make for light work, a burden shared is a burden lightened.

Melanie and I still had regular duties to attend to on top of the travel to and from Zone Conferences and serving there.   Sort of loaded things up a bit this week, but that's why we're here.

We had a couple of 'young Elder's' issues come up this week.  The first was an inspection of the fire and smoke damage to their flat which was probably caused by an iron left on the ironing board.  This will require a 'disaster clean-up' service to be hired.  Smoke and residue was all over the flat walls, ceiling, cupboards, etc. 




The second was an assessment of relocation for a pair of Elders whose flat was robbed for the second time which they attributed to an in-side job involving the guards.  We'll have to make certain that they are safe and secure, that's the top priority.  We've got them covered with another flat close by with another pair of Elders until we get a permanent solution worked out.

The third was a call on a Saturday morning that a set of Elder's flat had the electricity shut-off when they came home Friday night after a long day.  Their food was spoiled but we did manage to get their power back on before the day was over which was certainly devine intervention to bless them since nothing much can happen on the weekend on something like that.

Saturday afternoon Melanie and I did some shopping for some clothing for one of our Elders that got transferred here from Sierra Leone because of the Ebola problem.  In the course of his travel he lost baggage which created a need for some replacements.  The sad part was he lost a years' worth of his mission journal which can't be replaced.  After we got him some shirts, ties, and shoes we stopped at an Italian place in the large mall close by and had a very nice meal for the day, Ciao Baby, it is called.


Her breaded veal was about a 6 or 7, my minestrone and spagetti was about the same, pretty good!

I love my companion with all my heart and wouldn't want to be anywhere else nor doing anything else at this time in our lives together.




The Hansen's







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