First African Adventure (March 23rd)

Monday, March 23, 2015
Today was our first Monday and that is our "day off" or P-day.  We were still trying to deal with jet lag and flying to South Africa.  Gerald and Donita Christensen were to take us shopping and help us "get set up" today but suggested we go to the Lion and Rhino Reserve as our first African experience.  We agreed and were glad we did.  It is just over an hour outside of Joburg and they have been there 6-7 times and love going there with family or whoever comes to visit.  We got there and the first thing we did was feed and pet a giraffe!!!  Lis (I mean Sister Johnson) even did it!

Of course it was pellets from a bucket but she fed it out of her hand as well.  

We then went into the reserve and drove around on dirt roads in our minivan trying to find animals.  It is a large area so the animals roam free except for the "predators" which are in large, separated fenced off areas.  We saw  Springbuck, 

Waterbuck,

 Blesbuck,

Sable Antelope,

 and other "fleet" animals.  We also we saw several of what they call the "Big 5" which are Cape Buffalo, Lion, Leopard, Rhinoceros, and Elephant (they don't have any elephants at this reserve).  We saw Cape Buffalo

Lions

Leopard (it was in an area we couldn't get into)

and my favorite, the Rhino's.

W were about 15 yards from them in our minivan and realized that if they got mad and charged us, we were totally at their mercy.  They are a mammal tank with a horn....and not the kind that beeps.  Amazing! 

Fortunately the Warthogs came to protect us.......

(Warthogs remind me of goats when they get on their front knees to eat).

It was a fantastic day and some how we stayed awake while we were there.  The Christensen's said they have never seen the Rhino's this close and it was the best of all the times they have been there.  Glad they brought us. We were exhausted when we got home and participated in a much appreciated nap.  Hard to believe we are in Africa, but we are glad to be here and look forward to more exciting adventures with all Africa has to share.  

First week in Johannesburg, South Africa

Wow, what a wild adventure so far.  The last time I blogged we had been set apart as missionaries (28 Feb) and had started our mission adventure.  We went to Utah March 1st to spend a week with Lisa's family in Saint George, Utah.  We stayed at a beautiful home that dear friends, Bart and Liz Warner (Nick's mission president when he did a service mission in the Dallas Texas Mission) let us use.  We then spent a few days seeing my family, going to various temples in Utah (Manti, Logan, and Ogden in addition to St. George when we were there).  Each temple is unique and yet special.  My favorite was Manti.

We went to the Little America Hotel on Saturday, March 14th to get ready for our temple training.  We went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Sunday morning performance in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.  It is officially called "Music and the Spoken Word".

After that we spent some time on temple square and then I went exploring other places (to include the conference center and Beehive House where Brigham Young lived) while Lis rested at the hotel.
   Monday, March 16th we "officially" started our mission.  We went to the Salt Lake Temple where we received training over the next 3 days by President M. Richard and Sister Kathleen Hinkley Walker.  They had been the temple president and matron for the Salt Lake Temple in 2005-08.  It was wonderful and even though we didn't really learn anything new, it was a spiritual feast that got us ready to go on a mission.  We learned a lot about the Salt Lake temple as well plus some neat stories the Walkers shared.  Sister Walker is President Gordon B. Hinkley's oldest daughter so they shared some fun things about President Hinkley.  One thing she shared that I found interesting was she said growing up, she and her siblings just knew there dad was gone a lot and spent a lot of time in the temple and doing church work.  It wasn't until they read a biography on his life that they appreciated some of the things he had done.  She told President Hinkley that if she had know that was what he was doing she would have given him more respect.  She said to her he was just dad.

We left Salt Lake Thursday, 19 March at about 11:00 and after changing planes in Atlanta got to Johannesburg, South Africa Friday, 20 March at about 1730 hrs.  Yes, we were tired and had major jet lag.  It was good being here but it took us over a week to get over the jet lag.  It is a 9 hour difference from Salt Lake.  Our first Sunday was at the Kagiso (Ka-He-So) Ward in Soweto Township.  Here we are in front of the church and we are even awake....I think.  

We are working with some wonderful temple missionaries who we are growing to love.  We were picked up at the airport by Elder and Sister Firmage (David and Zan, short for Alexzander) and when we got to our apartment Elder and Sister Jarvis (Joe and Kathy) had dinner waiting for us.  We have also made good friends with Gerald and Donita Christensen, Larry and Marylynn Morris.  We also have Mark and Shirley Taylor, Richard and Ansie Dalldorf (local missionaries), and Sis. Kato who is also local.  I will update more later but enough for today.  It is wonderful to be here and we are excited to serve.   I am going to start doing this on a more regular basis.  We did not have internet access for the first 10 days we were here in Joburg so I am just trying to get this going........