When we arrived in South Africa we were assigned to attend the Orange Farm Branch. We were asked to take another senior couple to church with us whose assignment was to work in the Temple. The Temple Missionaries do not have cars so they ride to church with the couple missionaries who are assigned to the Area Office. The first couple who rode to church with us was the Ekland's from Canada.
Everybody loved the Eklunds
 |
| Elder Eklund with the Branch President, and Sinethema (who is now on a mission) |
Then we were assigned to bring the Moyers, from Utah, to church with us.
We loved getting to know the Moyers. The 45 minute drive to Orange Farm gave us time to hear about their experiences serving in the Temple and share our experiences with the Humanitarian Program.
Sister Moyer loved to take pictures on the way to Orange Farm. Every week she looked for the man with the mule pulling the cart. It seemed like every time we saw him, the Moyer's weren't with us.
The end of April the Moyer's returned to Utah and we were assigned to bring the Taylor's to church with us. The Taylor's are an amazing couple. They have served 5 or 6 missions.
They love missionary work.
Last week as we left church, Sister Taylor and I decided that we would bring sandwiches and cookies for Conference Sunday. I checked with President Nyama and he said, that would be nice.
For those of you who are not Latter-day Saints, Conference is held on Saturday and Sunday. Two, two hour sessions each day. We thought since the members would be at church nearly 5 hours, it would be nice to have a snack.
The Branch President, President Nyama, told everyone to be at the church Sunday morning at 8am.
We left our flat at 7:10.
I was quite surprised when we met the Tayolor's at the car and they showed up with these beautiful trays filled with 350 home-made cookies.
We filled the trunk with sandwiches and cookies
and headed for Orange Farm.
When we arrived at the branch at 7:55 there was one Sister, Sister Viola, sitting in her seat near the front, President Nyama, his son, Pardon and another young man.
The best part of the day was watching the members as they slowly began to appear on the dirt path that leads to Orange Farm Primary School where we meet.
(there are only a few members who have cars)
I was so touched by this father with his four little children. They were one of the first to arrive followed by his wife and son
.
At 8:30 several more members had arrived and we decided it was time to find our seats.
I had brought a few sheets to place on the carpeted floor in the front of the room because I thought we would all have to gather around a small TV to watch the pre-recorded broadcast of conference.
However, President Nyama had a projector and large screen set up which made it so much easier for everyone to see. Some of the children preferred to sit in the front of the room so I joined them on the floor to be sure they were reverent and didn't distract one another.
They were so good.
They didn't have toys, drawing paper, conference bingo card, or coloring pages and they sat for two hours to listen to the conference talks.
In between the talks the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang. There were a few occasions when the congregation was asked to join in. President Nyama had told us before he began the broadcast that we should stand and join in when the congregation was asked to sing. Every time we stood to sing the children would make sure they were standing where they could see the words to the songs. I was so touched by the sound of their sweet voices as they reverently sang along.
Another thing that touched me was when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir began to sing a song that our children recognized from primary, their little eyes lit up and they began to softly sing along.
It was such a tender moment. They knew it wasn't a congregational song in which we were supposed to join in, but they love to sing and just couldn't help themselves.
As I sat on the floor, surrounded by 13 children ages 3-13, I experienced conference through their eyes. I watched as they studied the face of our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson. Every now and then one of them would lean over and ask me a question, "Is that President Monson?, "How old is President Monson", "Have you ever met President Monson?"
When the first two hour session was over,
we blessed the refreshments and had a quick half hour break.
I think the cookies were a big success
When it was time to return to watch the next two hours of conference, those same 13 children joined me in the front of the room to sit for 2 more hours of talks and music. I was so impressed by the dedication of the members of the Orange Farm Branch.
Every week I go to church my testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ is strengthened by the example of faith and obedience of the Orange Farm Branch members. I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to be with these amazing children. I know that they were chosen to come to the earth at this time to help the church grow in Africa. I know they are truly choice sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and I am so grateful to feel of their love each week.
I am grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary in Africa and to be assigned to the best branch in all of Africa. I love Orange Farm. A piece of my heart will always be in Orange Farm.
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