April 29 - May 4th

Monday evening we visited Phillip & Maria Clark, who we helped Elders Pack and Acton reactivate last year.  Tom ran into them at Walmer Mall and scheduled a visit.   He had not talked to them since he called to invite them to the general conference broadcasts which they did not attend.  They appear to have fallen back into inactivity.  Tom asked me to prepare a lesson.  So I read part of "Mormonizing America."  Brother Clark broke down.  He said he knows the church is true but has not been a good member.  He whats to do better.  So I told them Neil's story.  Neil is in medical sales and wanted to become an outstanding salesmen.  So he took a man he admired from another company to dinner and asked him to share the secret of his phenomenal success.  

"Just show up!" the man answered.  "Show up!  That's it?" Neil replied.  "Yes!  Show up for all your meetings.  Show up for every appointment.  Show up for your patients and doctors.  Always show up! You will be successful!"  I told the Clarks they needed to "show up" at church.   It's just that easy.  
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Tuesday Today we are getting ready from a program at the Lorraine Frail Care Center.   All eight of the young elders will be there. Then we are taking them to lunch at "Fish Tails" in Sunridge Park.   We have invited them to dinner on Saturday, May 11th, for a Mother's Day activity so they can call home on our Vonage line or Skype their mothers.

We supplemented our show with 3 more religious numbers and 2 more missionaries for a total of 10 performers.  Our Numbers:   "S.A. Mission song" & “ Abide With me”, sung by all 10 of us,  a religious duet by Hixon and Mangare,  and a religious solo by Elder Mangare.  The show ran 30 minutes and was well received.  Sister S. counted 70 in the audience.  This may have been the first time they heard any Polynesian songs from Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, and Tahiti.  Two of our elders go home in 2 weeks.  Their 2 years are up, and possibly 3 will be transferred, so our cast will be wiped out.  If we do a show again we would need new talent and cater the show accordingly.  We all wore suits and Sister S. was in her Sunday best.  We felt good about our performance and enjoyed our fish and chips luncheon. 

Elder S

(1)  We were assigned on Saturday,  20 April 2013, by President Wood, and PE Stake President Neko, to assist with the Motherwell township LDS Group. It consists of some 40 people, members and non members.

(2)  We accompany the young elders visiting the inactive, sit in on investigator lessons when they need us due to their teaching female investigators, prepare and cook meals for missionaries at Zone Conferences, pick up mail from Air Transit, sort it and deliver to the East Cape Zone leaders for disbursement. We feed our missionaries from time to time in our home.     

(3) We are preparing a program to take to an Elderly Frail Care Center. We have vocal numbers, piano solos, and guitar playing with Hawaiian music. Our missionaries are the performers. We have just finished with our elders a summer garden project at the Elderly Frail Center.

(4) Sister Stokoe is teaching an Institute class at Walmer Stake Center weekly on Wednesday nights.

(5) We inspect missionary flats and help the missionaries as needed.  i.e. The Zone leaders car was broken into and some items left on the back seat were taken.  I just arranged to have the window replaced.

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Thursday we attended Correlation Meeting at Motherwell with the group leader and missionaries.  I was asked to give a talk on Mother's Day.  Brother Stokoe, Brother Zitsu and the missionaries will provide a special musical number for the mothers.  There will be five baptisms at noon this Saturday and six more baptisms on May 11th.  Elder Stokoe and I were asked to give all follow-up lessons for the newly baptised as the missionaries are busy teaching other investigators.

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Friday we attended our District Meeting.  We picked up some costumes and attended the Royal Banquet that evening and the Fayre in Victoria Park at 10:00 Saturday. Tom read poetry while the harpist played background music.  We left at 11:30 to attend the baptisms at Kwamagxaki Ward.
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Saturday we visited the Van Sickles who were in morning for the clerk in one of the Mdsante Wards in East London who they helped to find a job.  A strong member of the church he was in the process of negotiating for a wife.   But was stabbed and killed on the way home from church one evening.  Saturday evening Elders Strauss and Slabbert came to make Mother's Day favors for Motherwell and Lorraine Wards.  Tom returned from a stake leadership meeting in time to join us for dinner.  Sunday evening we fed Elder's Moangare and Cossey while they were here using our Internet.