Dummer's Departure

 Elder and Sister Dummer head for home after serving in the SAJM

Elder and Sister Dummer departed for home on Tuesday March 24, 2015. They have served for 18 months and have been tireless in their effort to make an impact.

On Monday March 23^rd, we gathered as a group of friends to honor them. The Dummer’s helped us with the guest list, as they have had a chance to work with so many great senior couples.

We welcomed the Collins, the Pier's, the Taylor's, the Adam's, the Jones, the Davies, as well as the Allred's and the Thompson's. Fun group of people. We always enjoy having the Assistants join with us.

Dummer's sharing some final reflections with everyone after dinner.

The Dummer's had a new bag to ad to their luggage, their SAJM messenger bag It is fun to have them take 2 of these home.'

We had a new dinner this night, by assigning out different ingredients for a Café Rio salad. It was a big hit.

We were delighted to have our friend Micah Day be part of our gathering. Micah flew in from NY on business for just 48 hours. This was out only night to see him on this trip. Micah will be back in August to help run an NBA Charity All-Star event for the first time in Africa.  We wanted him to see the mission home in action. He got that.. as well as getting caught up.  This is a great guy and we were glad to have Elder Menendez get to meet him. 

We love the Dummer’s and appreciate the time they spent in the mission office getting things streamlined, as well as serving out in the field. They have been so instrumental in Ikakeng, working with 2 branches, members, and missionaries. 

We will miss you and will remember all you did to leave a lasting legacy. You also empowered local members to lead out and be stronger due to training and the tireless efforts you made.

Bears and Prayers

Bears and Prayers

 

President Dunn has been asked to give a fireside for members and investigators the past two Sundays. Of course his topic has been “Bears and Prayers.” After 20 years of sharing his experience about his survival of a bear attack on August 14, 1994, it is a great opportunity to share the story in South Africa.

Tonight he gave the fireside in the Mamelodi ward. Elders Matos and Kusi-Poku set it all up with their bishop and advertised for the past month.

We loved having our Mamelodi 2 Elders join with us, Elder Pius and Elder Going. These are all great missionaries, doing a great job in the area.

A great crowd of members and investigators showed up and everyone seemed to love the story. They were a great audience and President Dunn did a great job telling about “Giraffes and Laughs”, I mean “Bears and Prayers.” Haha-inside joke!!:)

President Dunn was popular after the fireside. He had young girls wanting to take “Selfies” with him.  The bear man is back on the circuit.

Sunday in Seshgo!

Branch Conference in the North!

The Polokwane Branch Conference was held on Sunday March 22, 2015. The conference was unique because it was held in Sheshgo, 30k outside of Polokwane. Sheshgo is a "group," not yet a branch. There are about 60-70 members each week on Sunday, and they meet in a primary school building.  It meant a lot to the Sheshgo group to host the conference. Usually conferences are held in the branch, which has its own building in Polokwane. The Mokopane members also came.

We are grateful to President Winward of the Polokwane Branch. He and his sweet wife have helped so much in this area. President Winward conducted the conference.

Many members arrived on Saturday to clean up the school and rooms, so that it would be ready and nice for the conference.

The District Presidency were part of this special conference and we were able to travel up from Johannesburg to participate. We are so happy to participate. There was a great spirit here and it meant a lot to these members to have focus on their group and branch.  It also means a lot to them to have district and mission guests. They are delighted when visitors come and it makes the conference more special for them, so they tell us!

Above there are pictures of the members being greeted and gathering at the Sheshgo building, which is hosted in a school.
Below is President Dunn with Warrick DuPlessey, a newly called missionary heading to England in a month. Elder Dela Cruz also pictured with wonderful members of the branch.

President Dunn with President Mathipa, the new branch president in Mokopane. Elder Dye was the Sunday School teacher for the Investigator's Class and did such a tremendous job. He is a great teacher.

Elder and Sister Hansen are serving exclusively in Sheshgo and love the people. They have set up a weekly basketball program for the locals. Every where they go, they make such an impact.

 Below is a picture of Elder Olson and Henderson with their new convert, Brother Itumeleng. He seems so happy to be on this new personal journey.

After the meeting we gathered for a few pictures of our missionaries. I am pictured below with Elder Dye, Henderson and Olson.  President Dunn and Elder Dela Cruz are pictured with two wonderful members.

 Visiting the primary was one of my favorite parts. These young people are reverent, interested and delightful. You can see it in their faces.

We always love being with our missionaries and they liked the mail and packages we brought with us.
This was a beautiful and memorable day in the NorthEast. We were honored to be part of this special conference.

Little Lydia welcomed home

I can’t get enough of Little Lydia……

  As our new granddaughter, Lydia, arrived one week ago, she has had many visitors. My mom, G.G. (for Grammy Ginny) came to pay her visit before she headed home and I felt like she brought part of us with her. Don’t they look cute together? 

Look how darling all three of these ladies are! I'd say this new mom looks 100% for just having that little baby girl.

Here is the front door of the house where Lydia lives!

On this picture, Brady commented:  
“We brought our little hamster home!:)”

Too precious for words from this proud yaya

Packages already arriving from Auntie Em in San Francisco

Proud parents

Little Lydia meets her big bro! She is trying to take it all in.

Our oldest grand-daughter Madison gets to meet her new little cousin, Lydia.
I love these little grandchildren so much and it is consoling to see them in pictures and on Face Time as we often as possible.