Awesome African Adventure Day 4

 Our day started EARLY b/c Autumn woke up at 3:30 am and couldn't go back to sleep. So, I got up w/ her and we made 15 rainbow loom bracelets to give to the kids in Primary at church. We got showered and ready for the day and met at Mom & Dad's apartment at 8:00 so we could leave for church.

 

 The ward they have been assigned to attend is in Soweto, which is a suburb of Joburg. It stands for South West Townships. They have a very nice chapel there.

 

 We were there early, so Papa had us go help him pick up trash that we found on the church grounds. These incredible young girls helped us. They were there 30 minutes before church started, and neither of them had their parents there. They came to church all by themselves!!! We actually saw a lot of that ... where the kids or youth would come to church by themselves w/out their parents. That made me sad that the parents didn't care to come. But I was in awe that these young primary kids would make coming to church such a big priority! Plus, they all sat there completely reverently during the meeting!

 

The meeting was really really good. I think the church might be MORE true in South Africa just b/c they have such beautiful accents. LOL. One of the speakers didn't show up, and the youth speaker forgot he was speaking. So, the Bishop and 2nd counselor filled in and gave some very powerful and inspiring talks.

 

 After sacrament I went to Senior Primary w/ Dad. I know he's my Dad so I might be a little bit biased, but he is a PHENOMENAL teacher!!! He had name tags for every.single.one of the kids (even including Autumn & Andrew) and it said their name and then "future missionary" underneath. Most of their names are really hard to say (like Simlihdile, Kelebogile, and Ntokozo). But he does his best and makes sure to call them by name.

 

He has made sure that every single one of these primary kids has their own personal copy of the Book of Mormon. He writes their name on the inside cover along w/ his testimony. He has someone give a prayer, they sing a song together, he reviews the lesson from last week, and then they have this week's lesson. He has A LOT of class participation, and these kids are all so excited to raise their hands and be picked to help. Dad said there are usually about 6 or 7 kids in Primary but today there were FIFTEEN!!! The word is out that Elder Johnson is a great teacher and that he cares, so the kids are starting to actually come to church!

 

For the last 30 minutes of Primary they brought all the Junior Primary kids into the room for singing time. They sang the same song over and over and over. I finally asked if I could teach them a new fun song. I taught them "Once There Was A Snowman" and "Popcorn Popping." They loved it and learned those 2 songs so quickly. There is NO air conditioning, and it was so hot in that room w/ all those bodies.

 

 We went outside under the tree to cool off and to get some pictures of the adorable Primary kids and their leaders. Their bright smiles just light up the day.

 

 They wanted to do a silly one, so I told them if they did a few nice ones so I could get a good picture, then we'd do some silly ones. I LOVE this one of them jumping into the air. That is how I felt the whole time at church ... like jumping for joy. It was such a special experience to be at church with them today.

 

 All the kids lined up to get a "sweet" from Elder Johnson. Even though a lot of these Latter-Day Saints live in what we would consider deplorable conditions, they still come to church in their Sunday best looking so nice. A lot of them have to walk for miles and miles just to get to church b/c they can't afford to take a combie (kind of like a taxi bus, but they cram 20 people into a 9 passenger van).

 

 The Primary girls were absolutely enthralled w/ Autumn's hair b/c it's so long and straight and shiny. They kept touching it and she was surrounded. She finally went over and sat by Mimi b/c there were so many of them wanting to touch her hair. These girls are so stinkin' cute!

 

 I snuck into Young Women's at the very end of the lesson to get a picture of the girls to show to my Young Women back home. It was neat to see the same YW torch and YW values hanging up on the walls. The church is truly the same no matter where you go in the world!

 

 The kids just flocked to Mimi b/c they love her and she loves them. So cute!

 

 After church we drove up the road a few blocks to see the shanty towns where a lot of people live. It was heartbreaking to see the conditions they live in w/ no running water, no electricity, and just a shack that 10 - 15 people live in together. They pile their trash up along the side of the road and then burn it once or twice a week, b/c there is no garbage collecting service.

 

 On the drive back to Joburg we kept seeing groups of people meeting under trees and wearing all white. Mom & Dad said it's a religion called "Zionists."

 

 Here's a view of the Joburg skyline. All the missionaries are told they are NEVER to go to downtown Joburg b/c it isn't a safe place to be.

 

 We came home, changed clothes, and then Mom & I made ostrich meat tacos for lunch. Ostrich meat is actually really lean, inexpensive, and tastes like beef. Now we can say we've eaten ostrich!

 

 After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening coloring, doing puzzles, watching movies, and just enjoying being together. Lexie & I did this puzzle of Africa, which was good to learn where some of the countries are. As you can see, we're still LOVING the matching blue kaftans that Dad got for us. They're so comfortable.

 

There was an awesome rain/thunderstorm that came rolling in during the late afternoon. The lightning was so loud at times that we let out a scream. It was so close that we even made sure to not sit on the couch by the windows b/c we didn't want to get struck by lighting. It was like the good rain/thunderstorms that we get in Texas. One of the other senior couples dropped off these Valentine goodies for us! It didn't feel like Valentine's Day at all today, but this kind gesture made it sweet (literally).