Feb 27 - Trip to Pretoria

At 9:00 AM two van loads of Temple Missionaries set out for Pretoria about 50 miles north east of Johannesburg.  Pretoria is one of two providential capitals the other in Cape Town.  I served my last few month in Pretoria back in 1967.

Our first stop was at the Jan Smuts home and museum. Jan Smuts was a true Afrikaaner Statesman back in the late 1800's and  early to mid 1900's.  He died in 1950.  He received his double law degree from Cambridge College (the first and only student to do such) in London before returning to South Africa to become a most prominant political and militrary influence. Between South Africa and England he played vital governmental and political roles . While in England he developed and established the Royal Air force. He also lad the South African troops against Germany in North Africa.  His final triumph was to represent South Africa in the creation of the League of Nations.

After visiting the museum we headed out for the own of Pretoria to have lunch and to visit the Union Buildings.  We drove around trying to find this local place where several eateries were located such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds and a great Fish & Chip place. The majority of us decided to have Fish & Chips - something  your Gail has been waiting for - for a long long time. It was great and they gave you enough chips (fries) to feed three people..

After lunch we drove to the Union Buildings, home to one of the Capitals of South Africa.  The government spends the six months in summer in Pretoria and then 6  months of winter in Cape Town.  This was done as part of the settlement between the two governing parties and is why they call it the "UNION" Building.

While traveling to and from Pretoria we saw two Spring Buck, two Wildebeasts and one Ostrich.  Home for a brief rest, and then to finish our day with FHE: an African movie & refreshments in the Evans' flat.  
It really was tough to have to spend our 1st Monday touring with 7 other couples and a set of 2 sisters. We keep pinching ourselves that  a mission can be so fun and wonderful!

Dukes Court - our Flat!

After two days of traveling we finally arrived in Johannesburg (Joberg).  We were met at the airport by Elder and Sister Giles from Taylorsville and taken to our flat known as Dukes Court.

As we headed out from the airport the first thing I noticed were the large freeways which did not exist back in '64-'67. They are as modern as any city with beautiful greenery all about. I also noticed the electric fencing(for security) on top of all the walls around the homes.  The homes buildings, and road side landscape brought back memories. Can't wait to do more exploring. Love the palm trees.

 We arrived at our flat and went to the second floor where #214 awaited us. There are two doors to each flat, one a wrought iron security gate and2 steps away is the actual door to the flat. It is suggested to keep at least the gate locked, so we do and we like to keep the front door open. We also keep all the windows open and as there are no screens, we have to hustle when a storm hits, which it did last night.  It as sooo awesome, just like our hyper storms in  Missouri!! We loved it!

We walked into the flat and here is what we discovered.  BEAUTIFUL, ISN'T IT?
                             
                                                              LIVING ROOM

OFFICE AREA

                                         
                                       
                                                           KITCHEN

 
                                               BEDROOM

I didn't include the bathroom but it was just remodeled with a separate tub and shower - NICE.

We spent the next little while putting away our clothes and other items trying to get ready to do a little shopping across the street at the mall. The mall is quite nice and has a lot of different kinds of shops and restaurants.  We first went to the bank to exchange our dollars only to find out that the currency exchange closed at 3PM so we had to go back to the Western Union to exchange our dollars into South African Rand. The current rate is $7.55US to 10 rand.

Pretty tired so we got some dinner at the food court: nice little place Mugs and Beans and came home to just relax and get some sleep. Not real easy with that wonderful storm, tho!

The next morning I woke up at 11:30 AM and couldn't believe that we slept in so late. We planned to go shopping at the Pick/Pay today to stock up on a few items.  The store was very nice having about anything we wanted or needed, just haven't found the Hostess goods!  Figuring out the currency has been fun - we spent about 700 rand which came out to be just over $100.  As you can see we did pretty good for ourselves. AND, we get to wheel the shopping cart right into the flat. Pretty fun!

Feb 21st - London England

We arrived in London at about 10:15.  We took the Express train from Heathrow to Paddington Station where we met up with neice Charasse, how great to see her again! (We have a 10 hour layover here before we set out for Johannesburg).  We had arranged for this visit with Charasse so she could show us London.  We got a little lunch at a local eatery (fish & chip) and then took the Big Bus Tour of London, which took the remainder of the day. The weather was a little chilly so we tried as much as possible to sit under the overhead on the top level of the bus where we were protected from the cold wind while giving us the best view of the city. Next time we'll have to get off and actually tour the sites, but it was still a great way to see the major points of interest. We had a fun time, as only Charisse can provide!

Back to Paddington Station, to Heathrow, and then enjoy (?) a 2 hour mechanical before the flight could leave. Jolly Goodf, off to J'burg!!

Feb 20th - On our Way

After months of preparing, waiting, attending the MTC and packing we are on our way to South Africa. We will fly from Salt Lake, on American Airlines to Chicago where we will have a 5 hour layover. At 8:50 PM we will leave for London England.

Feb 16th we completed our MTC experience.  We spent the week in the Provo Temple experiencing all the ordinances and was trained by Elder and Sister Hammond an Emeritus GA and past Temple President.  They were the sweetest people I have ever met and enhanced the spirit while at the temple.  We were honored to have Elder Walker the Executive Director of the Temple Department speak to us at the conclusion of our training and afterwards we had lunch with him in the Temple Presidents Dining Room and heard of his stories being with Presidents Hinckley and Monson. WOW!

All in all this past two weeks have been a life time experience.  I wish every senior couple could have the opportunity to experience the GREAT spirit that exist at the MTC.  The Preach My Gosple program is wonderful - I wish it had been available during my first mission experience.

Monday the 20th we head out for South Africa arriving there on Wednesday the 22nd.  Until then, God Speed!

First Week in MTC

We arrived Monday Feb 6th.  We were the second couple to check in, at 10:01 am.  We were directed to a loading dock where lots of "Junior Elders" were waiting to help us with our luggage and escort upstairs to our rooms.  We stayed in the MTC (the building with the bookstore and mail room) which was very nice.

The first day we met as the new Senior Missionaries group (31 couples) and were introduced to the MTC Presidency, and Elder & Sister Stock, the MTC Directors.  We all got to tell where we are from, what our mission/assignment are & any previous missions served. This was followed up by being divided into districts; Gail was called to be a District Leader and we had three other couples in our District: the Fellows, (member support St. Petersburg, Russia), the Grosses (member support Denver South), and the Leckingtons (family history & extraction Boise).

  How fun to hear such great destinations and experiences of everyone. We were excited to get to know as many as we could.

We even ran into a couple from our Sandy ward of 35 years ago- Don and Leslie Peterson, also going to South Africa on welfare assignment! It is such a small world.  In our large group we also met the Dunfords, public relations Carribean, who we met last Sunday at our church because they are staying with Bishop Wonnacott until the MTC, as Sister Dunford is the Bishop's sister. They were delightful. AND, we further traced the connection: Their son John (wife Pam) were friends of ours in our St. Charles Ward, St. Louis, circa 1990s.

Everyday we spent in training/teaching opportunities from the inspired Preach My Gospel with awesome returned missionaries:Bro. Chinn, Sisters Hale and Thomas. The cafeteria was run like a tight ship and the food was very plentiful and good! Just like a cruise, we gained 5 pounds this week! We were told there were close to 2800 missionaries there with us and it was soooo great to see and feel of their spirit!
Many of us commented throughout this wonderful week, that if only senior couples could visit here for just one day, the MTC would have to turn them away to prevent overcrowding!  It is such a great experience!