New Senior Couple to Potch

On Tuesday November 24, 2015, Elder and Sister Charchenko, from Arizona arrived in Johannesburg South Africa to begin their 18-month mission. 

We picked them up at the airport and brought them to the mission home for an orientation and dinner with our office senior couples.

As the day dawned on the 25^th, we took them to the mission office for more orientation and to get their police reports completed so they are legal in the country to drive, etc.

We enjoyed dinner together and then encouraged them to get a good nights rest, because we had a full day scheduled on Wednesday November 25^th.

Elder Allred shared information about the phones and flats.

Elder Larsen gave them a run down on their financial questions and Sister Allred prepared a green binder for them with all the maps, contacts and information included about our mission. 

Sister Larsen got their passport information and is making arrangements to keep their valuables protected and make sure they have the proper visa documents.

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We then loaded in the mission van and headed 2 hours to the area where they will be serving their entire 18 moths, Ikageng. They re specifically situated in Potchefstroom. They will work specifically with the 2 Elder’s in that area, currently Elder Asay and Elder Benson.

We showed them their new flat and dropped off their luggage. We then took them with Elder Asay and Elder Benson to a teaching appointment. 

The Charchenko's are fortunate to have these two great missionaries waiting to greet them and now serve together. Elder Asay is training Elder Benson and they are a powerful companionship.

A pool??? what is that for?

A new convert, Carlissa, was ready for us to come to her dorm where she is studying engineering. We all enjoyed time together talking about the Plan of Salvation.

Clarissa is such an inspiring young woman. She was recently baptized and has now become a powerful missionary herself. She plans to take a gap year with her education and serve a mission herself.

She was a good sport to entertain so many of us on this day, but it was so powerful to participate in a teaching lesson.

It was also fun for us to have our daughter Emi visiting and able to participate in the day. It gives you a good feel for the day to day activities of a missionary.

Emi Dunn Rigby and Carlissa. It was to great for them to meet.

Great to be together with these great Elders.

Next stop was a quick lunch at Nando’s where we met Lydia and shared the gospel with her and put her in touch with the missionaries. We also love that her name is the same as our newest granddaughter! 

We were then off to Klerksdorp where we met Elder Bergman and Elder Adamson. 

They had a teaching appointment set up with Olivia, who is also a recent convert. Olivia takes children into her home and rescues them. She has over 20 children living in the home and it is absolutely amazing to see all the good she does for others. 

She is so generous and loving and has recently been baptized. 

Many of the children she takes in have also been baptized. We really enjoyed our lesson there and a discussion on the importance of families.

Next we headed to Jouberton and met our two Elders there, Elder Khwela and Elder Chirwa. They were waiting for a second interview for their great investigator, David. 

President Dunn conducted the interview and we visited and become even better acquainted with these great Elders.

It is always nice to have interaction in the field with our wonderful Elders. They are doing such a great job in this area and that is so important because they are a long way away from the mission office. They are trusted!

The Charchenko's were not showing any signs of fatigue. Pretty impressive to land 24 hours earlier and to be going all over their new area, meeting everyone possible.

Last but not least, we headed back to Klerkspdorp for a training meeting with all the branch presidencies from these 3 branches, Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom and Jouberton. The Charchenkos got to meet President Kwa Kwa first, who wil be in the branch they are assigned to-Potchefstroom.

These areas make up the Ikageng District . While President Dunn conducted a 2-hour meeting, I took the Charchenko’s to a dinner and for a little grocery shopping. 

All in all it was a great day. We met all the missionaries, saw all the branches, met the leadership and saw their new flat.

We are excited to be together with all these missionaries for the mission tour on December 2^nd.

(Coming: names of all those pictured above)

House Guests November 2015

During the month of November 2015 the mission home had the pleasure of welcoming a number of house guests. It makes it a better place for having so much activity within the walls of the mission home. Our missionaries also benefit from the interaction of our dear friends.

Paul, Irene, James and Lizzie Rytting came to visit form Salt Lake City. Paul works for the LDS Church as an attorney, handling risk and liability issues all over the  world in relation to missionaries. We were so delighted he had a business trip here and Irene and James and Lizzie were able to join with him. We go way back with this delightful family and irene and I went to school together. WE love the Ryttings and enjoyed our week together so much.

Elder Masoka and Elder Olson also loved the time together.

On Sunday November 1st, we invited the Shabalala family to come together for lunch. Here is Mpumi with the AP's.

During this time we also loved having Dave and Laura Smith stay overnight a few nights. It was a bonus to get them as house guests for a few nights before they headed back to Utah to be with Elder Spencer Smith.

On Dave's birthday we took time to go the the Botannical Garden.

We also spent time on the "Neck Deck" with a new found friend.

Next Chelsea and Rob Wood came to town and boy did they make 10 days in Africa count. From Cape Town to Kruger, they did it all and saw it all. Between shark diving, bungee jumping and game sightings we got to enjoy dinner at Wombles and some time at the Lino Park. We loved being with them so much.

Petting the lion cubs is always a hit.

We loved our guide Christopher at the Lion Park.

We even made time for an early morning mountain bike ride at Emmerentia Park in Joburg.

A highlight was serving at the Diepsloot Elementary School for an hour. These two know how to make kids smile. They wanted them to come back next week..and so do I!!

In the midst of all of these visitors I had the delight and complete surprise to have our daughter, Emi Dunn Rigby show up unannounced and be in the kitchen one afternoon. She was planning to arrive on Thursday November 26th (Thanksgiving Day) with her husband Chase. Instead, she and her dad strategized and Emi flew in 3 weeks early. She has been with us for all of these fun house guests and made it even more fun for all of us. More pictures coming about Emi's time here. Luckily, she is staying on for more of December. It is really like having a sister missionary here to help us move the work forward.

SAJM SUMMIT

On Wednesday November 11th, 2015, we gathered all the missionaries of the SAJM together for a first ever "Summit"- held in the Walter Sisulu Botannical Garden.  The purpose of the Summit: to move our mission to unimagined heights, while inspiring and uplifting our Elders to push their limits and aspire higher!

We want to thank all of the senior couples, mission presidency and missionaries for making this day possible. Also, a big thanks to the garden staff for making Strelitzia Hall venue available to us for a nominal charge. In addition, our dear friends, Lynne and Theo van der Hover made the day possible by arranging for our very special lunch time speaker, Lee den Hond! 

Walter Sisulu Botannical Garden

This special place was made possible for public use by the Krugersdorp and Roodepoort City Councils in 1992. It is part of 9 Botannical Gardens across South Africa.

It was named after  the late Walter Sisulu, who along with OR Tambo and Nelson Mandela  are known as the stalwarts who led the struggle for a democratic South Africa. We celebrate being here today and we hope all the missionaries enjoyed the time spent in this beautiful space, getting filled with inspiration and motivation.

Elder Olson conducted the day and announced the Agenda. We had a great line-up!

Wednesday November 11, 2015

SAJM Summit

8:30 -8:45      Arrive/Welcome Game 

9:00                Welcome

                    

9:10                Theme and purpose of the day

                        President Dunn

9:20                President Klintworth-

                        Workshop:

10:00              Musical Number

Thanks to Elder Quigley, McCartney and Carter for organizing this amazing musical number called "Rise Up" It is an original song that Elder Quigley wrote and composed. We wanted to take a moment right here to make an announcement of another upcoming event.

Remember last year at Christmas time there was a postal strike and thanks to members and senior couples all the missionaries received a special wrapped gift. It was a special circumstance and we  told that this next year would be different.

Now, we have a chance instead to give something back. After polling many missionaries and discussing with our mission leadership council, we are announcing a talent show to be held on Christmas morning, December 25^th. SAJM’s got Talent!

We invite everyone to participate through their zone in one way or another. We will have categories for music, poetry, dance, art, photography and what ever else Elders can imagine.

To add to the intrigue, we will have 4 special guest judges for the first ever "SAJM’s Got Talent." More to be announced at a later date.

Again, thanks to Elder Quigley, McCartney and Carter for giving us a fun sample of what is to come.

10:10              President Msane

                        Workshop:

Pictures below are of all the missionaries throughout the day.  Sorry I can not begin to caption all the pictures because there are just too many candids taken today!

10:55              Zone Meeting- snacks

                        Team Building         

Zone Meetings: 

Before lunch, all the zones leaders took their zones to a separate place on the grounds and conducted their individual zone meetings. They each got to decide what would work best for their zones. Some did activities, while others had meetings and discussions.

President Msane was the first person to arrive and one of the last to leave. He was out watching the zone activities in this picture. We love having such great men and their wives serving in the mission presidency. 

11:50              Box Lunches Distributed

Lunch Preparations: 

We had a great group of Senior Couples and Mission Presidency helping us to pull off all of the details. The Lombardys, the Larsen's and the Allred's were there to get lunch organized, as well as the Klintworths and the Msane's and Lynne Dallender.

Liz Vizzini with her catering business helped us plan and prepare 150 lunches for our Elders with homemade sandwiches, cookies, apples, chips, pasta salad and even popcorn!

Klintworth's in the garden!

2:15              Special Lunch Guest- Lee den Hond                   

Our lunch time speaker was Lee den Hond, the 3rd South African woman to successfully summit Mount Everest. She is one of 4000 people to ever summit and 1 of only 500 women. Her speech was so motivational. We were so honored to get her with us. 
She shared that all challenges are possible if you have a higher purpose.


She provided the speech pro bono and thanks to our friends and members of the Centurion Stake, Lynne and Theo Van der Hover for making all the arrangements. Lee is also the owner and founder of her own company, Platinum Blue, an event management company that puts on large scale events. She also did her climb in honor of a non profit children's center near Harbeesport Dam, raising funds for this project when she returns back home.  As a way to thank her we gave her a crate full of new toys for her December drive for the kids and the center. 


1:30                Change clothes for hike/Hike in 2 groups

Hike for all!

After the speakers and lunch, we had everyone change into hiking clothes. We split into 2 groups and met in the middle of the loop hike. We really had a fun bonding adventure, where everyone participated. Below are lots of candids we took along the trail.  Enjoy!

Hiking shoes? Really??

The Roodepoort Zone under the direction of Elder Adjei and Elder Hentunen had these great T-shirts made just in time to wear to the Summit. So impressive!

It is so fun to have one sister missionary with us today:)
Our daughter Emi Dunn Rigby adds so much to any occasion.

3:30

Wrap up remarks: President Dunn

4:00 Depart

This was a phenomenal day to have all our missionaries together and getting motivated and inspired. We will have articles in our next Cumorah Crest sharing some highlights from the day. Every single session and activity had substance and application to the mission. What a memorable opportunity for all of us.