Young-Married Game Night

Some of our former young single adults who are now married said that they missed our game nights and that there were not many activities for young, married couples. We did not want the lack of activities for couples to be an excuse for not getting married so we have had a couple of game nights for the young, married couples on a Friday night when we were not having a game night for young single adults.

The first time we had a game night for the young-married couples we had four couples attend. We were able to get a list of young married couples in the stake so this time we had a much bigger crowd with fourteen couples and six children ages eighteen months to nine years.

We started with some group games and then let them choose the games they wanted to play. They had a fun, noisy time. For refreshments we served cookies for the children and apple dumplings for the adults.

Senior Couples Retreat at Lesedi

The three senior couples serving in Gaborone (Taylors, Gublers, Rands) were asked to arrange a couples' retreat for the South Africa Johannesburg Mission for 21-23 March. We were hoping to go to Kasane and visit Chobe National Park but the cost of transportation was too expensive for a couples retreat. Instead, we arranged for a retreat at Lesedi Cultural Village near Hartbeespoort in South Africa. We and the Taylors visited the Lesedi Village in December to see if this would be an appropriate venue for the retreat.

All couples were supposed to arrive at the village around two o'clock and get settled into their rooms which are representative of different African tribes. At three o'clock we met in a conference room. President Omer gave us a brief message; and a half dozen couples introduced themselves, explained their assignments, and shared successful things they had done in their areas so we could benefit from their experiences.

At four o'clock we watched a video of the history of South Africa, followed by a tour of the villages representing four tribes with presentations on aspects of village life for each tribe. The tribes are Sotho, Peri, Zulu, and Xhosa.

After the visit to the villages we watched a dance demonstration. The couples then had a lesson on how to play African drums which we all thoroughly enjoyed. They asked us to sing them a song at the end and we sang "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" with drum accompaniment. We then had an African buffet dinner. There were many African dishes and game meats to choose from such as crocodile and ostrich.

After dinner we returned to the conference center where we had a few more couples introduce themselves. It was our assignment to teach them games they could play with members back in their areas and then we played some of the games.

The second day started with a buffet breakfast and then all the couples were on their own to do activities they wanted in the area. There were many things to choose from such as a cable way ride up a mountain, shopping at Chameleon Village (an African craft market), elephant experience, monkey sanctuary, zip line, and lion rhino park, etc. We chose to ride the cable way and go shopping at Chameleon Village where we also ate lunch. We also tried to ride the zip line but a conference group had booked it.

In the evening we all met at a Swiss-African restaurant for dinner. We ate outdoors and the weather was perfect. We went back to Lesedi Village and met in the conference room for more introductions, game instruction, and games. We were having so much fun playing games we got to bed late.

After breakfast on the final day, the last of the couples introduced themselves and President Omer spoke again. The drumming teachers could tell that we had so much fun with the drumming lesson that they organized an extra session of drumming for us.We sang "Book of Mormon Stories" accompanied by drums this time. With the upcoming organization of the Botswana Mission in July, this will likely be the last time the couples serving in Botswana will see the Johannesburg Mission couples so everyone said their goodbyes.

Around Gaborone with Lisa and Heather

While Lisa and Heather were visiting us we tried to show them some of the sights around the Gaborone area and also a little of what life is like for us.

We started Monday morning, 5 March, by taking them to the Gaborone Game Reserve. It does not have the largest animals but it has a wide variety of animals that we often don't see other places, such as ostrich, rock dassie, warthog, monkey, red hartebeest, steenbok, zebra, impala, and kudu. We all enjoyed watching the warthogs run with their tails straight up.

We took them to the main mall so that they could experience the outdoor vendors and see some of the African crafts, foods, and goods they sell.

Next was the bus rank with all the buses, kombis, taxis, tuck shops with their eclectic mix of goods and services for sale, and the hustle and bustle of people.

We went shopping at a grocery store so they could see how that differed from shopping in the United States.

Tuesday morning we hiked Kgale Hill, a two-hour round trip, before the heat of the day. (Note the tree growing around the rock.) After the hike we went to Mosetlha Bush Camp at Madikwe for a safari experience.

Thursday when we came home from the bush camp, Lisa and Heather went with us while we taught our institute class so they got to meet some of the Young Single Adults. When we came home from institute the power and water were off at our house. Having the power or water off used to happen only occasionally but has become quite frequent the last few months due to power shortages which also affect the water availability.

 

Friday, we went to Kanye so they could experience a little of village life. Kanye is about an hour and a half outside of Gaborone. They got to wander through the shopping district seeing the shops selling goods and services. We ate lunch outdoors under the shade of trees at Sanitas once we were back in Gaborone. That night we had a Friday Night at the Rands activity in the yard at our house.

 

 

Saturday 9 March, we showed them the Broadhurst chapel and took them to the SOS Children's Village where they gave the orphanage dolls and toys they had brought from the United States for the children. They brought mostly black dolls because we cannot find those in Botswana. We next toured the National Museum. The water was off again for about three hours.

Sunday they went with us to church at the Young Single Adult Ward. We went to Mochudi and showed them the school where the branch used to meet and the house and tent where the Mochudi Ward now meets. They are growing so fast that they already cannot all meet in the tent for sacrament meeting.

Monday we drove the five hours to Johannesburg, South Africa, to take the girls to the airport for their flight home and so we could attend a CES couples conference. This let them see some of the differences between Botswana and South Africa. We stopped at Chameleon Village on the way so they could purchase African crafts to take home.

We really enjoyed their visit and were very happy that they would come and see us in Africa!

Mosetlha Bush Camp With Lisa and Heather

 

Our daughters, Lisa and Heather, visited us in Botswana 4 to 11 March. On the second day we took them to Mosetlha Bush Camp at Madikwe for a two-day African wildlife adventure. We had a wonderful time getting the "dust of Africa on our feet".

It was a much different experience than when we went with Richard and Brenda. It was much warmer but not hot. It was also much greener. The game drives were very different because you never know what you will see.

On the way to the camp we saw a giraffe. Lisa and Heather were excited to take a picture of it but we told them we would see many giraffes and that this one was in among trees. We did not see one giraffe on the first three game drives that we could photograph, and the girls were wondering if they were actually going to get a picture of a giraffe even though they had seen some.

  

 

When we arrived at camp, we were shown around the camp and had the shower and toilet usage explained to us. On our evening game drive we saw seventy to eighty elephants and a rhinoceros at a water hole. It was fun to see the elephants playing in the water, particularly the little ones. We also saw wildebeest, kudu, impala, zebra, and dwarf mongoose before dark. After dark we saw an owl, two rhinoceros, two giraffe, and a brown hyena. We had a nice dinner when we got back to camp. We were the only guests at the camp for the first day. The next day a family from France and a couple from the Netherlands came to the camp.

On our morning drive the second day, we watched nine lion cubs frolicking by a water hole. There were two lionesses with them. We went looking for cheetahs and with help from other guides found a group of four. Both the lions and cheetahs were active which made it even more exciting to see them and they were very close to the safari truck. We saw many other animals.

 

On the evening drive we also saw jackals, rhinos, and elephants. We were watching elephants when two rhinos came up behind the truck. We also saw the cheetahs again which were lying beside a paved road. After dark we went back to the water hole to watch the eleven lions again. We also saw kudu, warthogs, wildebeest, zebras, impala, etc. Back in camp we had a traditional African braai (barbecue) for dinner. We visited around the campfire until bedtime.

 

Each day we got up at 5:30 am to be on the game drive at six o'clock. On the last day, the girls were hopeful to finally get to photograph a giraffe. The first animals we saw were several giraffe up close and we saw many more on the drive. What they wanted to see next was a Cape Buffalo which are shy and that is exactly what we saw. They were really sniffing the air and checking us out before they returned to the brush. We had now seen all of the Big Five except for a leopard, Guess what! The next animal we saw was a leopard. It was a ways away but we could see it pretty well with binoculars and we got to watch it for quite awhile. Next we saw many elephants and other animals with young. We then packed up to leave.

On the way back to our car the field guide learned that there was a new lion kill so he took us there. We watched the lions feeding on a wildebeest from less than twenty feet away. The smallest cub had a belly so big it was hard to believe it could eat that much. What a way to end our stay at Madikwe!

Seminary and Institute Classes

Our "Gospel and the Productive Life" Institute Class

We are busy teaching one institute class in Gaborone and visiting the seminary and institute classes we supervise. We love it all. Seminary and Institute are such inspired programs. They are a real blessing to the youth and young adults.

Francistown Institute

Lobatse Institute

There are eight seminary classes and nine institute classes for us to visit. They range from one which is a five-hour drive north of Gaborone in Francistown to two others that are a two-hour drive south in Mafikeng, South Africa. Nine are in villages about an hour's drive from Gaborone (Lobatse, Kanye, Molepolole, and Mochudi). Five are taught in Gaborone. With so many classes it takes us a while to visit them all. Since the middle of January we have visited all but three of the classes at least once. We really enjoy visiting the classes and try always to bring cookies to share; they are always a hit.

Broadhurst "Gospel and the Productive Life" Institute

This year we have five seminary classes that are daily seminary classes rather than home study classes which meet once a week. It is exciting to see seminary have a greater impact on the youth of Africa. The students say it is wonderful when they get to come to seminary every day.

Molepolole Seminary

Molepolole Institute

At the Molepolole home-study seminary class that meets on Saturday, we asked the students how they got to seminary. One said she took a taxi because it was too hot to walk that day. Three spent one and a half hours walking one way. One spent an hour and fifteen minutes; one spent an hour; one spent forty-five minutes. One said he spent twenty minutes, and one spent fifteen minutes. The class said there was no way they could get there in fifteen and twenty minutes but they said they could if they ran all the way! No one complained about the time spent coming to seminary.

Kanye Seminary and Institute

In Kanye, the institute students meet at 2:00 pm for class on Saturday. After class they clean the building at 3:00 pm and then have choir practice at 4:00 pm. They then stay at the building so they can also attend the seminary home-study class at 5:00 pm. They wanted more institute so they also meet again on Wednesday afternoon for an extra class. They are very dedicated!

Gaborone West Seminary

We also give an inservice class for the seminary and institute teachers once a month. We have a wonderful group of teachers who are very dedicated and doing a great job teaching. It takes commitment for them to come to training on Saturday morning when many spend at least two hours traveling and then go home to teach a class in the afternoon.

Teachers