Matriarch of the pride

[Stan] This last week we were assigned 3 projects to followup on in Swaziland.  So we drove there from Maputo; about a 4 hour drive not including stops.  The border experience made me nervous, but all went fine.  Our first stop was at the Hlane Royal National Park.  We took a game drive for about 2 1/2 hours.  Seeing wildlife in its natural habitat is so different than observing them in a zoo.  Here is lioness in the shade of a small tree.  There were 2 other adult females and 2 cubs about 8 months old.  There were several impalas and a few waterbucks as well.  Later in the drive we saw zebras and wildabeests, but the giraffes were elusive and we missed them. We also saw 3-4 elephants; spent about 15 minutes very close to a bull elephant in a sloppy watering hole.  He moved about quite a bit and gave us a good show.  He has only one tusk; the other being lost in a fight.  After returning to the camp we saw several rhinos at a watering hole near the restaurant where we ate our steak dinner.  A swarm of bees decided our soft drinks were their next meal and we almost could not finish eating for the number in the swarm.

Bull Elephant

Then we drove to our hotel at the Summerfield Resort.  Pretty nice place; they give the church a great rate.  Otherwise, we would not have stayed there.  We met up with Elder and Sister Martins, a new senior couple from Brazil.  They have been assigned Swaziland.  We had a great visit and they joined us in a trip to the Cultural Village where we were given a tour of a traditional local village and demonstration of several dances.  Very fascinating!! 
We had 2 appointments on Friday.  One was with the Ministry of Health working toward a Helping Babies Breath program.  Lots of work needs to be done there to get things worked out so they feel comfortable with us and what the church is offering to do.  Then we went to our second visit with GoneRural.  They are an NGO that we have found to be very good at getting the people to commit to doing their part.  We have supplied them 3 wells with them doing much of the manual labor.  This was not offered, however, until 95% of the homes in the area had built VIPs; ventilated, improved, pit latrines.  The church did provide some materials for the community to use.  Now we are in the final phase which is 3 more wells.  Part of the project was to provide "hippo rollers".  A family can now reduce 5 trips to the well into one.  This rollable tank is 90 Ls and to carry that much in the standard bucket would take 5 trips. 

Hippo Roller

This all was happening conference weekend.  We hoped to view it, but the schedule and internet access were limiting to us.  We spent more time with the Martins and had fun getting to know them.  Sunday we attended church at the Ezwelwini branch and found the members to be strong.  There should be a stake soon in Swaziland. 
We were anxiously waiting to hear if Jarom and Randi were having their baby; but because of limited access to internet as I already mentioned we were not able to connect with them until Tuesday.  We are so excited about another granddaughter!!  Adeline Rose!!  (Had to throw that in!)
Sunday afternoon the Blakes (our supervisors from Johannesburg) and the Mellors (water specialist from Lehi, Utah) arrived at the hotel and we visited that evening.  Great people!!  What a priviledge to know them!  Monday we had a seconde meeting with the Ministry of Health.  Then we ate lunch and went to our next visit with the Ministry of Water and Natural Resources.  She happens to be the sister of the district president and a member of the church.  I won't bore you with the discussion of the meeting, but things are progressing for us to start another project.  (Maybe we should move to Swaziland!).  It is a beautiful country.  There is a range of mountains we like to call the little Wasatch.  The climate is cooler and they receive more rain. 
Tuesday morning we checked out and visited the Cultural Village again with the Blakes and Mellors this time.  We enjoyed it as much as the first time.  Then we drove back to Maputo after getting turned around and lost.  It put us behind about an hour.  Finally we made it to the border and had the unpleasant experience of the Mozambican border entrance.  We escorted the Blakes and Mellors to their hotel just in time for us to make our next meeting with the mission president, Pres. Koch and Pres. Castinheira, stake president.  We discussed what we will do to help support the effort to grow the present 2 stakes into 5.  We arrived home and crashed.  Today was catch up going thru emails and trying to organize our notes.  We are managing 6 projects and it is getting a bit challenging to say the least.  We know the Lord is in our work.  We do not often have opportunity to discuss the gospel with others, but once in a while we do and it always feels good.  Teaching and working with welfare principles has taught us so much and I am grateful the the experience.  This church is led by inspiration from the Lord Himself through chosen apostles and prophets.  And we can and do received that same inspiration in our callings and assignments.  Love to all of you.  Stan, DAD, Grandpa

Summerfield Botanical Gardens Hotel

(Teril) Here is something Stan forgot to tell you. When we arrived at this beautiful hotel where our supervisor had booked us a room (really a bungalo) Stan realized his passport was missing.  In the pouch was the church credit card, his temple recommend, 100 dollars Rand and several other odds and ends that were important.  We looked everywhere for it.  We searched the car, our luggage, our pockets, everywhere.  We knelt down and prayed and looked again everywhere.  We finally gave up and called our supervisors.  We also went to the concierge at the office of Summerfield.  We were franitic thinking we would have to stay in Swaziland until we could replace it.  Oh!  What a mess!!  After we had resigned to our fate, Stan went and looked in the car once again.  There it was!!  I know The Lord is with us!!!  That was a true miracle!  We are still missing the Church debit card but that can't be used unless someone has the pin number so we canceled it and are waiting for it to be replaced.
With this miracle on the front of our visits, we were able to approach this new area of mystery, Water Wells, with confidence that the Lord knows what needs to be done.  We are much more confident on how we can help move His work along now.

Summerfield restaurant

I was so taken by the beauty of this amazing Hotel.  I got up each morning and investigated every nook and cranny of this amazing Botanical Gardens.  I never tired of the creativity.  We will stay here each time we come.  The restaurant served amazing food too.

Playing the murimba at the cultural village

I enjoyed the music and dance at the cultural village.  This would be a great place to take you all when you come see us here!!!