Fun times with the Couples

We had a surprise party for Elder Lee
This is him walking in the door!

It was really fun
 we squeezed about 27 people into our little living room

Sister Lee had us play some games to get to know each other better!

We found out some interesting things about each other.
This little group of "Seniors" has done some interesting things,
We have a flaming baton twirler, a model and actor, a majorette,
a daredevil female who liked to jump off bridges as a young girl,
a man who delivered newspapers on a horse,
a woman who got a full set of power tools for Xmas,
a woman who cleaned the toilets for Lady Bird Johnson,
a man that made his own hunting gun as a young man,
and a man who was a gymnast,
 in our group of Senior Missionaries. 

Our home for the next 18 months

This is what our apartment looks like today. Tomorrow night we will be having a birthday party for one of the other Senior Missionaries at our place so I imagine it will look a little different with 10 plus couples here.

First week in Africa

It's hard to believe it has only been a week since we arrived in South Africa. It seems like we have crammed a lot in the first week here.

The first few days we spent in the office with the Kirschbaums, who came into the country with us while they met with the couple they are replacing.  The Kirschbaums are going to be the Humanitarian Couple for South Africa, which includes, South Africa, Soweto, and Swaziland. They will be working in the same office we work. The couple they are replacing were going back to the States the end of the week so they wanted to have a few days to talk about some of the projects that need to be completed. So we spent Monday-Wednesday training with them. Each day we were taken out to lunch which was very nice.

In between training those first 3 days we:

• Attended a morning devotional on Monday morning at the Africa Southeast Area Office
• Had a tour of the Area Office, where our office is, which included getting ID badges that would get us in and out of the office building, filling out applications for our Bank Cards, meeting with the fleet department who would be getting our car for us, meeting with the IT people who would be setting up our office computers.
• We each had the wonderful experience of learning to drive on the left side of the road, while sitting in the left side of the car
• Attended our first Family Home Evening with the couples, after the meeting some of the couples mentioned they had some things I needed for my apartment so I took a shopping cart that was parked outside one of the couples apartments and collected, a garbage pail, crock pot, hair dryer, clothes hangers, and outlet adapters from 3 different couples, I even came home with some chicken one couple had just taken out of the oven.
• Got our internet, and Vonage hooked up in our apartmentArranged to have someone come hook up our new oven and stove top that had been installed before we arrived.
• Made our first withdrawal form the ATM.
• Visited the mall across the street to buy groceries ( purchased our groceries with rand instead of dollars)
• I started walking with a group of women for an hour every morning from 6:30-7:30

On Wednesday the Vanwagoners arrived for 3 days of training before they headed to Burundi where they will be the Humanitarian couple.

•  The Lee's took us all out to a very nice  dinner at the Hotel where the Vanwagoners were staying.
• We were in training for about 8 hours a day but it felt more like 12 since all of us were still jet lagged and exhausted from our 2 weeks of training at the MTC and the long plane ride.
• The Lee's took us out to a nice lunch and then it was back to training at the Area office again
• On Saturday after training we made a quick trip to the mall again for some electrical adapters, a converter and a Garmin
• Saturday night couples potluck and game night
• Sunday we attended Church at our branch in Orange Farm and Bruce and I were both asked to speak.

I am exhausted just typing this post

Here is a picture we took at church on Sunday with the Young Single Adults. The church is held at a school and this class meets on the lawn outside. It was so awesome when we entered the area where the school was we saw several people dressed up waiting for the services to start. It turns out they weren't all going to our church service there are two other churches that meet in the area. While we were singing Sacrament Hymns we could hear the tribal drums beating in the background then a beautiful chorus of voices singing outside joined in outside somewhere. The women in our congregation sang out the songs with so much joy in their hearts it was really beautiful. The little classroom we were in was filled to overflowing with people standing in the hallways peering through the window to hear the Sacrament talks. It was a beautiful day.

Welcome to South Africa

We are loving our mission in South Africa. So far we haven't made it outside of Joburg (the short name everyone here uses for Johannesburg). All of the mission couples have really helped us to transition into our new environment. We have had a slight problem with getting internet hooked up in our flat  (apartment). We have a very nice sunroom that will be our office but the phone outlet was not working and we couldn't get the internet or phone to work. So after a few days of waiting for the engineer to come look at it I began to wonder if there was another outlet in the flat. I found another outlet and quickly hooked up the internet, home phone, and vonage phone. I was feeling quite proud of myself and when Bruce discovered we had internet he sat down and began checking his emails and paying the bills. I made a quick phone call to my mother and then our children and then decided to do some ironing. Well, that wasn't such a good idea because I guess I blew a fuse. Bruce tried to flip the circuit breakers but had no luck. So we went to bed at 9:30 pm and decided to deal with it in the morning. I went for a walk for about 45 minutes at 6:30 this morning with 3 other female missionaries and one of them said she would send her husband over. So before we left for the office today we got the circuit breaker working and a lesson on how to flip the breaker if that happens again. It is so nice to have so many nice people living close by to help us out. When we got to the office we got good news that  the Engineer  is heading over to our flat today to see what he can do about getting the phone and internet working in our home office. I took myself on another tour of the Area Office Building where our permanent office is this morning and one of the Sister Missionaries invited me to a women's lunch/discussion group today. Later today we get our brand new car and will have a driving lesson. (Bruce would prefer a used car). Which sounds good to me. The couple that traveled from Utah with us to do Humanitarian Work here had their driving lesson yesterday and the Elder must have been driving too close to the left hand side of the road and had a little mishap with a tire hitting an embankment. YIKES!! Praying for safety on the road today.

I noticed I needed to translate a few things from my last post.

FHE is short for Family Home Evening
The morning devotional is only on Mondays not everyday

We are now in South Africa

THAT WAS THE LONGEST PLANE RIDE OF MY LIFE!
WE LEFT SALT LAKE ON FRIDAY AT 11:OO AM
AND FLEW TO CHICAGO AND ARRIVED AT 3PM
DEPARTED CHICAGO AT 9:20 PM
ARRIVED IN LONDON AT 9:00 AM LONDON TIME (flight time was 8 hrs)
WE TOOK A SHORT NAP AT A HOTEL
DEPARTED AT 9:20 PM FOR SOUTH AFRICA (flight time was 10 hrs and 45 min)
IT TOOK ABOUT 90 MINUTES TO CLEAR CUSTOMS
THE LEE'S MET US AT THE AIRPORT AND TOOK US TO OUR NEW FLAT

WE WERE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED TO FIND A VERY NICE 1 BEDROOM FLAT THAT HAS A NEWLY REMODELED KITCHEN AND BATHROOM AND TODAY THEY ARE INSTALLING NEW WINDOWS
THE LEE'S HAVE SAID "YOU HAVE THE NICEST SENIOR COUPLES APARTMENT IN THE BUILDING"
WE LIVE IN A NICE COMPLEX WITH 30 COUPLES
TONIGHT IS FHE WITH THE COUPLES
WE EVEN HAVE A HOST COUPLE WHO SUPPLIED OUR FLAT WITH SOME BASIC GROCERIES TO GET US THROUGH THE FIRST DAY AND BROUGHT US TO THE OFFICE TODAY. THEY TOOK US ON A TOUR OF THE AREA OFFICE BUILDING AND WE MET SEVERAL SENIOR COUPLES WHO WORK HERE IN THE OFFICE. LATER TODAY THEY WILL TAKE US SHOPPING AND SHOW US AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD WE LIVE IN.
IN A FEW DAYS THEY WILL TEACH US HOW TO DRIVE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD AND HOW TO DRIVE TO THE OFFICE BUILDING.

WE START EACH DAY WITH A MORNING DEVOTIONAL WITH ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SERVE IN THE AREA OFFICE BUILDING.

WE ARE FEELING VERY COMFORTABLE AND HAPPY TO BE SERVING HERE!

Humanitarian Aide in South Africa

We just completed the last two days of training. We have had a wonderful time here at the MTC. We have met so many amazing couples who are headed to places all over the world. Today we had dinner with one couple who returned in July from a 3 year mission where he served as a Mission President. Tomorrow night this couple will attend a mission reunion with the missionaries they served with while he was the President and the next day they will catch a flight to Burma where they will do Humanitarian work for 18 months. Of the eight humanitarian couples who were in our group 5 of them had served at least one other mission.

One of our instructors asked us "Why are you willing to go out again?"  As I have sat in classes all week I have pondered that question a lot. What I have come to know is, that I was anxious to serve another mission because I know God lives. I know he is aware of even the small details of our lives. My life has been filled with blessings. I am willing to go out again because that is what the Savior would do.  I am truly trying to live by his example. I am nothing without him. I love being a missionary. I love being on the lords errand. I love waking up each day knowing that he will guide me to where he needs me to be.

I have come to understand that humanitarian work is not really about "giving away" things. It is about that moment when you look into another persons eyes and your souls touch.  It really is that simple. When we served in Ukraine I experienced this special moment many times. I was not able to learn the Russian language but it didn't prevent me from communicating with the people of Ukraine. Often words were never spoken. I left my  mission in Ukraine a different person then the one who arrived there 18 months earlier. My life will be forever changed from a short encounter I had with a  beggar on the street that we passed nearly every day. My husband and I would approach this same old woman each day and  he would put a small amount of money in her hand. One day a still small voice whispered to me, "she doesn't need your money as much as she needs you to really SEE her." From that day on  I would approach her and give her a kiss on the cheek and a hug. It was in that moment that our souls touched. Then there were the sweet children I encountered one day in an orphanage who would live out the rest of their lives confined to a bed. As I walked from bed to bed and knelt down and peered into their eyes and they grasped my hand and gently rubbed it on their cheek. It was in that moment our souls touched.  I felt the Saviors love for them. As I laid in bed that night and saw each one of their faces over and over again, that still small voice whispered, "I have not forgotten them". I know the Savior knows his sheep. I know he has not forgotten them. I am going on another mission because I want to be an instrument in Heavenly Fathers hands. I want to have that wonderful experience of feeling God's love for his children again.

As I depart tomorrow I will leave happy to be on the Lords errand. I will board the plane bound for South Africa knowing that once again my heart will be filled with love for the people that I serve and once again, I will have to leave people that I have come to love behind. Tomorrow my heart will weep for my family here in America that I am leaving behind and 18 months from now I will weep for the people I have come to love in South Africa.

South Africa Area Map

We have been in training all week learning about the Humanitarian Program. We have been told that our mission assignment covers all of these countries in South Africa. We will have 12-15 couples who will be living in some of the countries who will be submitting request for Humanitarian Aide to the office we will be assigned to. Some of the Major Initiative Projects in South Africa for this year will be Water Projects, Neonatal Resuscitation Trainings, Wheelchair Projects, Food Projects, (teaching food production and supplying materials for gardens), Vision Projects, and Immunizations. Short Term Specialist from the USA volunteer to come to countries all over the world, including Africa to assist with these projects. The Humanitarian couples will also do smaller local projects as well.  I will write more about these projects in future post. Tomorrow concludes our last day of training here at the Missionary Training Center.

 Friday the Humanitarian Missionaries who have been in our group will depart for Thailand-Bangkok, Thailand-Leo, Macedonia-Kosovo, Gabon- South Africa, Ghana-South Africa, Democratic Republic of the Congo-West Africa, and two couples will be headed to Johannesburg- South Africa.

 

It's Snowing

We woke up to snow today. So pretty.

HUMANITARIAN TRAINING

Today we began our HUMANITARIAN TRAINING. We took a bus to Welfare Square in Salt Lake City. We toured the Bishop's Storehouse, the Cannery, and Deseret Industries. We learned that the objective of the Humanitarian program is:

1. To relieve suffering

 2. Promote self reliance

3. Provide opportunities for service.

 

I love doing Humanitarian work for the church because of these important principles. Someone said today, "we are simply doing what the Savior would do".

I love this quote from Joseph Smith,

"We are to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all."

 We heard the story of a young man in Africa who sells bananas to earn enough money to go on a mission. You can watch a short 2 minute video about Sedrick click here.

The Missionary Training Center

Elder Kinghorn

Sister Kinghorn

One of my favorite things about the Missionary Training Center is that very special moment when they hand you your little black name tag and you get to pin it on your lapel. It is such an honor to be a representative of Jesus Christ.

 

 The first week here was awesome.  We have met wonderful couples who will be serving all over the world. This is just half of the group that we were with the first week. We spent Monday thru Friday in classes that were taught by returned missionaries who were A LOT younger than the rest of us, but they were excellent teachers.  

 

 

Two nights a week we went to a devotional where we joined the younger missionaries for a very inspirational talk and beautiful spiritual music. We were in a huge auditorium that was filled with missionaries young and old and when we sang the hymns the spirit in the room was so strong. One of my favorite hymns that we sang during the opening exercises was "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing "

During our first Sunday Sacrament Meeting I learned three important things.

1. Two people can do anything as long as one of them is THE LORD
2. You and THE LORD make a majority
3. Whom THE LORD calls, THE LORD QUALIFIES


This Sunday when we went to the Devotional we were told that our speakers would be Brother Richard Elliott who is the principle organist with the MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR AND DAVID ARCHULETA. For those of you who have never heard of David Archuleta, he is a young man who was on American Idol. He is also LDS and recently returned from a mission in Chili. He has only been home for one week but was honored to be given the opportunity to address missionaries at the missionary training center. He spoke about his mission and his mothers conversion to the church. One thing he told us that was very interesting was that his mother and grandmother were both converts to the church and on the first day his grandmother was preparing to attend church she said that she heard a choir of angels singing. She didn't recognize the song but when she got to the church she heard it again. That song was "Come Come ye Saints".
 I am so grateful to be here and to have had such wonderful spiritual experiences this week. I know with all my heart that we are truly called to this mission to do the Lord's work and I can hardly wait to meet the people of South Africa.

The Missionary Training Center and the Senior Missionaries

We arrived in Provo on Saturday morning but our classes at the Missionary Training Center did not begin until Monday morning. We decided to check in on Saturday so that we could have a day or two to relax before our training began. We checked into our room and were fast asleep by 8:30 pm. I think the last few months of preparation finally caught up with us. We had a wonderful farewell party that our daughter Karrissa and her husband Brad hosted for us the week before we left Sacramento. That is when the good-bye's began. We realized that we wouldn't be seeing my mother again because she was headed to Southern California with my niece the following Monday and would be gone by the time we departed. When my sister and her family left I knew I would probably not be seeing them again either before I left. Bruce said good-bye to his brother David and his son Dave, and then there were friends from church who we wouldn't be seeing the following Sunday who we said our goodbyes to. A few of my very close friends stopped in to say good-bye as well. With each hug good-bye I felt a little tug at my heart! I KNEW THE NEXT WEEK WAS NOT GOING TO BE EASY!



Me with my nieces, Brooke and Brittany, and Brooke's son, Mason

When we got home from the party we both felt emotionally drained.

The following day more goodbyes to our dear friends at church. We concluded the day by joining our children and grandchildren in the Bishops office so that Bruce and I could be set apart as missionaries. This is a very special ordinance performed by our Stake Presidency (leaders of our church).

A very emotional Sunday concluded with saying goodbye at the airport to our son, Nathan and his sweet girlfriend Daysha. They did the best they could to put on a happy face but I know that it was just as hard for them to say good-bye to us as it was for us to say good-bye to them. 18 months is a long time to go without seeing your children.

The next few days were filled with trying to get last minute things done and preparing the house for our renters. We managed to squeeze in as much time with the grandchildren as we could. I picked up my granddaughter Monroe after school and we went shopping for new school shoes while Bruce and Cash hung out at home. We had dinner with Brad, Karrissa and the kids two or three times in an attempt to squeeze in as much time together as we could that final week. Each time we left their house or said good-bye Cash would run and hug us and say, "good-luck on your mission" to both of us. It makes me cry just thinking about it. I heard another Senior Missionary grandmother saying today that "it was hardest to leave the younger ones because their the ones that still want to be with you and are just so happy when they see you". Cash is the youngest in Karrissa's family and we're not sure how much longer he will be so eager to hang out with Nana and Papa. That was a hard week and by the time we got our bags packed and ready to go we had decided that we would say our good-bye's to Karrissa and her family after dinner Friday night. We had a rental car we needed to return to the airport and felt it wasn't necessary for them to drive to the airport just to see us off. That last embrace with each of the children is when the tears started to flow.

I love my family with all my heart. I know that I have been blessed with a wonderful husband and great children and grandchildren. The gospel of Jesus Christ changed my life. I know that I am a child of God. I know that he hears and answers my prayers. I know that one day my family will be together again for all eternity. This time that we have on earth is but a small moment. I want to serve my Heavenly Father. I know he has called me to this mission. The day we left I received a message from my brother it said, "Somewhere in South Africa someone is praying to God for help and he is telling them to be patient......help is on the way. You are the help they are waiting for and you will bless them with help from our Father in Heaven." I am humbled that my Heavenly Father would allow me to be his servant. I know without a doubt that I am on the Lord's errand and I am excited to see what adventures await me and my dear husband. I love you all and thank you for your prayers and support.

The Missionary Training Center

WE'RE HERE!

AT THE

MISSIONARY

TRAINING

CENTER

 OR THE MTC

 

I thought you might like to know a little about the MTC. The below information was taken from the Missionary Training Center website.

"Missionaries dedicate 18 months to two years to missionary service. More than 80,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are currently serving as full-time missionaries. They are called to serve in one of 334 missions in approximately 120 different countries around the world. Missionaries begin their service at a Missionary Training Center, where they prepare to become messengers of the Lord, bringing glad tidings to families around the world. As representatives of the Church, missionaries believe that people throughout the world can obtain life's greatest happiness from following the teachings of Jesus Christ.
  
Each Wednesday several hundred missionaries enter the Provo MTC. The eager missionaries enter an exciting world of learning. The MTC curriculum consists of up to 12 weeks of studying doctrine, learning to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively, and developing excellent communication skills. When missionaries are called to serve in foreign lands, their training also includes learning a new language. The Provo MTC is well known for its language teaching program. Approximately 50 languages are taught at the Provo MTC. The teaching staff is composed largely of former missionaries, who are well acquainted with missionary life. Using state-of-the-art language training technology, the Provo MTC fulfills the prophecy that "every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue . . . through those who are ordained unto this power" (D&C 90:11).

Preparing to leave the USA and arrive in South Africa

Time has gone by so fast since we received our mission call on February 6th. There is so much to do to prepare for a mission. The church does a really good job of giving you a check list of things to do before you leave for the Missionary Training Center. They have a wonderful website that you can use to keep track of all the things you have accomplished on your check list. I was checking the website for some information and this little note was blaring at me.

Sister Kinghorn

Johannesburg South Africa Welfare Country Office

You report in 21 days

 

It's not that I didn't know we were down to 3 weeks but 21 days sure did get here fast! The wonderful thing about preparing to do the Lord's work is he ALWAYS provides a way. We have seen the Lord's hand work many tender mercies on our behalf to make this transition to the mission field a smooth one.

My To Do list has looked something like this

• Find my mother a new home close to my sister and my niece who will be my mother's primary caregivers while we are away. The day my niece took my mom to see the apartments that were a mile or so away from my nieces apartment my mother was told that an apartment would be available that was located on the ground floor within the next month, AND that the monthly rent was $200.00 less than anything else they had previously looked at.(Tender Mercy)
• Get the house ready to rent: The first step was to hire a painter. A young man we had hired in the past to paint for us had just been laid off from his painting job and was available to work for us right away and gave us a really good price. (Tender Mercy) 
• Find a renter  We were approached by another couple who is selling their house so that they can go on a mission in 8 or 9 months and they mentioned that they needed a place to rent. They would LOVE to move into our home completely furnished. Which meant that we wouldn't need to put ALL OF OUR FURNITURE IN STORAGE! (Tender Mercy)
• Sell the Hyundai Elantra and get out of the lease early. When Bruce sold the car to CAR MAX he was told that he payoff was much less than we had previously been told. (Tender Mercy)
•  Sell Bruce's scooter  A family member offered to buy it before we even had a chance to list it. (Tender Mercy)
• Get Immunizations  Bruce required 5 shots and I needed 7, one of which was a shingles shot and that was not covered by my insurance and would normally cost $200-$300. We felt prompted to check with Travis AFB medical clinic and we were told we could get them there for FREE. (Tender Mercy)
• We needed to sell our second car and  just when we were about to take it to CAR MAX our son offered to buy it for his girlfriend. Then our niece who was driving to Southern California offered to drive it to him. (Tender Mercy)

We have truly felt the Lord's hand in our lives each and every day as we have prepared for this mission. We know that the Lord truly does provide a way when he calls us to do his work.
  "I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" 1 Nephi 3:7

The date we are scheduled to arrive at the MTC was moved to March 22th. We will be in Provo Utah for two weeks of training and then off to Johannesburg. This is a picture of the Temple in Johannesburg and the area offices where we will be working, which is very close to where we will be living.

The Rest of the Story

We had a little help from our friends, Brent and Charlene Lee in determining it was time to serve another mission. We met the Lee's in Ukraine where they served in Kieve as the Country Directors over Humanitarian work. We were fortunate enough to spend quite a bit of time with them while we were serving in Donetsk Ukraine as a Humanitarian Couple. 

We have stayed in touch with the Lee's and knew they had just begun their second mission since returning from Ukraine. A year or so after serving in Ukraine the Lee's went to Jordan for 18 months and were now serving another 18 month mission in South Africa. 

So we had been anxious to hear how they were doing when we received the first letter from Charlene on September 8th, 2013. There was one little sentence in Charlene's letter that changed the course of our lives.

"Are you ready to serve another mission? We need you!"

Bruce laughed it off and didn't say another word about it. I on the other hand, knew if Charlene had said, "we need you" that she meant it. We always knew that we would serve a second mission but had anticipated waiting another year or two before submitting our papers.The next month of so we kept getting little signs that it might be time for us to prepare for another mission. 

 On October 25, 2013 we received a letter from Charlene that said,

 "We need to have a serious talk about your coming to Africa to serve."

The rest, as they say, is history.

Bruce and our granddaughter Monroe waiting to open our mission call to see if we are going to South Africa

On February 6, 2014 we received a mission call to Johannesburg South Africa where we will serve as Welfare Services Specialist for 18 months. Our mission call says that we should report to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on May 26, 2014, however, the needs in South Africa are great and The Lee's have asked if we would be willing to come sooner if it can be arranged so our departure date may change.  We are already seeing the Lord's hand in our lives as we prepare once again, to serve our Heavenly Father.