The road to Tzaneen!

We had a fun opportunity to travel to the northeast region of our mission this weekend and see what the town of Tzaneen had in store for us.  The missionaries there were excited to gather and we had our last zone "meet and greet."

On the way to Tzaneen we had a chance to stop by the capital of South Africa, Pretoria,  to see the famous Union Buildings and statue of Nelson Mandela.

On Saturday morning we met with all the missionaries for the last session to meet every missionary in our mission. We then had a "Meet and Greet" with the 6 wonderful couples serving in the area. (Butlers, Meldrums, Brammer, Winwards, Harwoods, Heyens.) They planned a most delicious lunch for all of us. It was comfort food that I recognized from home, sloppy joes, chocolate caramel cake, fresh salads, etc.

After our meetings on Saturday, we had a few hours to enjoy the scenery in the area. We traveled up the mountain and saw baboons, monkeys and the Druckenburg Range.

Sunday was so special, as we visited the Lenyenye Branch. The saints are so welcoming and it was a wonderful place to hear testimonies shared.  There was no electricity that day in the building, but plenty of electricity in the air. We loved being there for our second Sunday in South Africa.  On the way back to Johannesburg, we stopped and saw the world's largest Boabab tree. It is 1100 years old and we also saw the Debengeni Waterfall.

We hope to be back in this area often.

Yes...here is the blogger hard at work! I have much to learn about the mission records and how to blog. I am learning so much each and every day. Part of my assignment is to keep a mission history, so I hope this blog will help in that arena.

This street is a block from the mission office. It makes us feel right at home in South Africa!

In the famous township of Soweto-notice the sign for the church.

This is a common sight! Full taxi's taking local folks all over.  See how every seat (and more) are filled! They actually remove the seats and put benches inside to accommodate more people.

Pretoria is the capital and there is a great statue of Nelson Mandela below. This is a great place to visit to get a sense of the history of South Africa and the nations love for Nelson Mandela.

The amazing Elders serving in the NorthEast Zone that are from the African Continent.

All the North American and Polynesian Elders Serving in this area.

Great couples serving here.  Some are missing from this group shot, but all showed up for the "Meet and Greet" and helped to make the lunch for all of us to share.
Pictured: Harwards, Brammers, Dunns, Butlers, Winwards

The view outside our window in Tzaneen.
This morning sky was preceded by a most beautiful night sky filled with stars from the Southern hemisphere

You don't often see signs like this in the States! We actually saw a group of over 20 baboons and also  dozens of lemur monkeys. Watched them for over 20 minutes and they were studying us like people would from 10 feet away!

Lemon trees and fresh fruit are one of the most amazing parts of South Africa! It is spoiling  us in the first week.  Fresh squeezed juice is unbelievable.

Beautiful few of the Drackenburg Mountain Range


The Coach House- a lovely place we enjoyed dinner and plan to return for an evening again soon

Largest Boabab Tree in the world-
Remember it is winter here, so this tree has full growth in the spring. The inside is hollow and has a bar inside that fits a dozen people.

Beautiful Debengeni Waterfall

Fun to make a stop with the AP's and enjoy the view.

We even made a contact and shared information about the branch and common friends in Polokane.

Last day of Missionary "Meet and Greet" at Mission Home

This is the third day of an effort to meet all of our missionaries in three back-to-back days. We have had 9 zones come to the mission home, with a total of 170+ Elders and senior couples showing up.  It has been a fun-filled, spiritual experience to meet all of the Elders in a short period of time.  We only have one more zone to visit with and we will travel to them on Friday July 4th!!! This zone is 5 hours away from Johannesburg, so we are traveling with our AP's to them, instead of asking them to come to us!!

These "Meet and Greet" sessions have been the best way we could ever acclimate quickly to what is going on in this amazing mission. We continue to be so impressed with the quality of missionaries that are serving here.  You will see below my efforts to put them in smaller groups. I wish I could identify everyone by name in these pictures, but only having 3 days under my belt makes that a task that takes more time than I have right now. I am learning names however and finding each missionary to be so unique and special to us.

This is the first group of the day-the Northwest Zone! A  most outstanding group of motivated Elders.

A little ping pong is always fun while we are waiting to gather everyone

President Dunn greeting some of our great African missionaries!

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How heavenly father is viewing our missionaries!

The Vaal Zone met today at 1 pm and they have the distinction for the most musical group. I am trying to post their musical rendition of the Johannesburg Mission Song.
It is a rousing, inspiring song that I never tire of.

Here are our Vaal Zone Elders from Europe
England, England, Finland...then Elder Carpenter from Washington joining with them!!

Some brothers from the Island nations
New Zealand, Australia and Tahiti

Here are our wonderful North American Elders from the Northwest Zone
Idaho, Montana, Utah & Washington

Here are our European Elders in the NorthWest Zone
Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, United Kingdom

Missionaries enjoying a game of foosball before the meetings begin!

It is great to have missionaries in the mission home enjoying a little bit of food together!

Our darling AP's, Elder Davies from Brisbane Australia and Elder Bodily from Pleasant Grove. They are saving us as we get settled and they are great leaders of the Johannesburg mission.  They have strong testimonies of the gospel and are fun loving guys.

More Missionaries Today

We had many missionaries come again today.  We are so impressed with the caliber of young men there are serving here.  Our format for the Meet and Greet is to have them arrive and come to the lawn area and mingle. We then invite them to  play a little ping pong or foosball while everyone is gathering.  When it is time to begin, we go upstairs through the front door and grab a healthy snack of juice, fruit and muffins before we begin.

Zone leaders are introduced and them each companionship introduces each other. It has been a great way to have them identify strengths they admire and unique qualities they have seen form their companionship.
This is Elder Farnes and Elder George.  Great zone leaders in Johannesburg. Elder Farnes parents were with us in the Mission Presidents Seminar. Elder Farnes (Skylar) is their oldest son and they are heading to serve in Brazil. Great connection for us to have Elder Farnes in our mission.

This is the Johannesburg Zone. Great guys that showed up at 10 am to "Meet the Dunn's"

The Pretoria North Zone gathered later int he afternoon at 4 pm for the Meet and Greet. Senior Couples serving in the area came and joined with us. The Elders gave them a standing ovation for their selfless service!

Elder Lyon and Elder Watenga win the prize for  being the tallest and shortest Companionship

Elder Stapley from the Pretoria North Zone had a surprise wolf attack for President Dunn. These Elders have heard about the Bear Man and wanted to rival it with a new furry animal attack! 

Pretoria Zone: These Elders came at noon and we enjoyed the time together.

President Dunn sharing an acronym to remember: J.O.B.U.R.G.
Joyful Obedience Brings Unimagined Rewards and Blessing

Arriving at the Mission Home

Monday June 30

After 9 months since our call and 6 months since we have known we were gong to South Africa, we finally arrived at the mission home today. It feels like all the training prior to a endurance event and finally stepping across the start line. A little overwhelming, but an honor to be passed the torch from the Omer's and start off ourselves. We honor and respect the great job the Omer's have done and feel humbled to move this strong mission forward. Here we go!

Meeting our new Assistants, Elder Bodily from Pleasant Grove and Elder Davies from Australia

The passing of the torch from the Omer's to the Dunn's
at 15 Carnation Street in Roodeport South Africa at the Mission Home

"Last Lunch" with the Omer's and their daughter and son-in-law and the AP's

On the deck overlooking the front yard of mission home

In the mission office- nice touch by the senior couples!

Meet the Missionaries:

Tuesday July 1

Today we hosted 3 of the 10 zones of the South Africa Johannesburg Mission in our new home. They came at 10am, 1pm and 4 pm and stayed for a 2 hour "meet and greet" orientation.  We served muffins, fruit and juice and had a chance to have them introduce their companion and tell us about what they admire most and also what they find unique.  It was overwhelming to hear from such mature, sharp missionaries from all over the world. I wish I had time and space to highlight each missionary and what we learned about them today. Suffice it to say, they are an amazing group of missionaries, prepared to serve in this special mission....and we have only meet 1/4 of them today.

Mingling a little on the lawn in front of the mission home 

A little ping pong fun after orientation

Our Missionaries are from all over the globe....
1/4 from Africa, 1/4 from Europe, 1/2 from South and North America

This is the Bedfordview Zone.  Our first group of the day and so impressive and outstanding.

This was our last zone of the day-Centurion! WE had to take the picture inside and it is hard to see all the amazing Elders present.  Hopefully we will get anymore pictures of these great Elders.

This is the Benoni Zone-the biggest one. Another great group of Elders.