Thanksgiving Celebration in South Africa and a Soccer tournament!

 Thanksgiving 2014 at the 

Africa Southeast Area (ASEA) Office

All of the missionaries that are assigned to the area office, the Johannesburg South Africa Temple , and others were invited to meet for a Thanksgiving get together.

Great food and wonderful friends made this years Thanksgiving a memorable one.

 

Sharon just had to get a picture with all of the sisters wearing the same color!

These missionaries are all assigned to the Johannesburg temple.

Tina Jackson and Sister Moyer
(Tina is the wife of Bryan Jackson, the area legal counsel).  Tina also works in the Family History Center.
Sister Moyer is a temple misionary.

Brother Jarvi (on right.  He is always tellings stories...lol)

David Frischknecht and wife.
David is the DTA (Director of Temporal Affairs for the area).

This is looking through the fountain at the 'White House' where the area presidency reside.

This is a view looking away from the 'white house' to the lawn, fountain and the amazing view of JoBurg from this hilltop location. 

Another view from the fountain toward the gazebo and the 'garage.' They had desserts set out under the gazebo.

Dinner was served in the 'garage', next to the White House. We had about 60 missionaries there!

Elder Jones from Hennefer, Utah.  He is the executive secretary to the area presidency (meaning he works a great deal!).  He & his wife are great friends of ours. 

Elder Adams.  He works in the employment center.  He is so full of energy and meets CEO's of large corporations and businesses to find jobs for those that have attended our employment workshops.

Elder Adams (L), Elder King (auditor), Bryan Jackson (area legal counsel), and his wife Tina.

Our ASEA Area President, Elder Carl B. Cook,
and his wife, Lynnette.

(From Sharon) I wanted to share something that Elder Cook said as he welcomed us to the Thanksgiving event ... He said that he was awoken during the night by pouring rain. He went to the window to see water rushing down the hill behind their home. As he watched, he said, "I was so thankful that I have a roof over my head." He went on to say, "Serving in Africa, I know that in the midst of this torrential rain there are many people who are living under tin roofs with cardboard walls...I am grateful I have a roof over my head." It was very humbling & a powerful reminder of all we have to be thankful for.

1st Counselor in the Area Presidency, Stanley G. Ellis, and his wife, K.K. (They served in San Paulo, Brazil with Sharon's brother, Randy & his family)

Elder Jarvi led us in a Thanksgiving Hymn.

Sister Lee (Humanitarian division) and Sister Frischknecht set up the food.

As you can see, there was LOTS of food for this hungry "senior" bunch! Everything was delicious!

This is what Sharon and I brought.  Sharon did a great job cooking with the ingredients that she had.

I don't know who brought this but it sure is a nice arrangement of veggies!

Sharon was anxious to buy and set up a Christmas tree in our flat. The statue next to it is of a Zulu Warrior & his family that we bought in Swaziland.

These are locally produced crafty items.  The trees on the left are twisted wire into the shape of thorn trees.  The tree on the right is a Baobab tree.  Sharon even bought small ornaments to put on these trees.

Another view of the trees and some small carved animals that we purchased.  The animals were hand carved of stone...don't ask me how they do it.

Sharon's latest purchase.  A hand-carved nativity. The man who sells these runs an orphanage in Kenya & uses the money to assist the needy children.

This past Saturday, the Church sponsored a soccer tournament to build bridges with the Katlehong Township and also to bring attention to the Katlehong School for the Deaf where the tournament was held. 

  We had 8 teams show up and the boys had a great time! 

Here are some of the teams:

The kids in blue in front of both these pictures are the hearing-impaired students. It was great to see them interact with all of the other players. 

This man in the middle is a professional player from a local club & was donating his time to referee the tournament.

Sharon (middle), Katlehon Branch President Nkoe (R) and his 2nd Counselor on the left.

This is 'Zero' (short for Zero-Two-Six), a local sports radio announcer from KASI FM 97.1, who grew up in the area and works with local youth.  You could tell all the young kids knew & idolized him. Many were asking for his autograph. We hosted him in the Area Office and he was really impressed with the various church departments (Humanitarian, Family History, Employment, and many more) 

Zero greeting Sister and Brother Gorman (the multi-stake public affairs director).  Check out Zero's LONG dreadlock ponytail!

Branch President Nkoe (L), Bedfordview Stake President Msiza (center) and 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency,
Brother Dlamini (R)

'Zero' introducing President Nkoe.

These young men attend the school for the deaf.
It was a hot day!

One of the players.

Sharon said taking these pictures reminded her of all the many, many hundreds of soccer teams she took pictures of while her kids were growing up - halfway around the world!

These were all the participants in the soccer tournament.

This young girl wanted to see what Sharon was doing... she kept pulling her hand down to see the pictures.

Sharon had to take a picture of this cute kid with a shirt on like her son, Shane's (haha!)

These kids loved to have their pictures taken!

The Principal for the School for the Deaf thanked us for coming and bringing attention to his school.

270 children attend the school on a daily basis. 

 Some of them live at the school while others are transported to the school each day.  Most of the children have  completed their exams for the year...  and since it is summer for them they have left on holidays and to visit parents, friends and relatives.  

Zero & the school principal.

The organizer had purchased small gifts for the students and asked Sharon to hand some of them out.  The lady on the left is signing to the children everything that is being said.  You would not believe the look in their eyes when Sharon handed them a gift....
They receive few gifts so they were very appreciative.

 

Here are some of the students and teachers.   Sharon and I were impressed with how very professional the principal and the educators were.  They all sign and the school teaches the children the same subjects that normal hearing students receive.

The school had prepared some of the best fried chicken that I have ever had as a thank you for us being there.

The principal took us on a tour of the campus.  He is showing us how they post the hand signing pictures on the wall of the school to remind the students.
He also showed us several classrooms, a wood shop, a kitchen to learn cooking, a hair dressing classroom, a small area for children under 6, the laundry and a living dormitory as well as a nice garden that uses rainwater runoff stored in huge storage containers.

The children are all taught self reliance.  How to cook, how to wash their own clothes, how to clean up their areas and all the many life skills that encompass a well rounded education.

Although the classrooms and the housing areas as well as the campus were very clean and neat it was evident that they could use funds to improve the infrastructure of their school.   
They do the best with what they have and are given. 
 
For example, one of their industrial type clothes driers is broken.  They approached a local business who is giving them a new replacement.  They are extremely grateful for any assistance that they can get.

At the end of the tour, the principal told us that if we are ever in the area to come and visit.  He said we don't have to do anything special but to just be there and visit with the children.  

(He had told me earlier that some children never received visits, that the children's own families don't participate in their kids lives and give no assistance to their own children). 

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are grateful for so many things: This year, we are especially thankful and mindful of our families and friends who we love and who have a special place in our hearts. We are also grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. We love Him and this gospel and pray that all of you will come to know Him personally as we approach the celebration of His birth this Christmas season.

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