We had a bit of a unique experience last week. We were supposed to be Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, for the Africa Central Area Mission Leader Seminar. The Area Presidency in the Central Area had invited us to come, but because of the last minute invitation there was concern there may not be enough time to get our visa’s to travel. We were scheduled to leave on Monday the 19th and return early Sunday morning (the 25th).

We thought we were going to make it at one point because on Friday we received word from the Republic of Congo embassy that our visa’s had been approved. The problem was that the embassy ran out of visa “stickers”. And while a new batch of stickers were supposed to come on Monday, it ended up being Thursday before they had them in. We told the travel group just to cancel the visa, but they had already paid for it. So we now have a worthless 90 day visa to Republic of Congo in our passports. We will look forward to the next opportunity to be with the Africa Central Area leaders face to face. One of the disappointments in not being able to go was knowing that Elder Soares would be in attendance for one of the days. He was the one with whom we did our exploratory interview over Zoom to be called as mission leaders, so we were looking forward to meeting him in person. Next time perhaps…

As it turned out, Elder Soares did a devotional for all of the missionaries in both Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo. Apparently his flight was either cancelled or delayed, so he did the devotional from Kinshasa. We were able to listen in. It was wonderful! Here were the messages to these missionaries (and to all of us):

1. Joy is principle of power. Elder Soares shared a story about missionaries teaching a family who shared that they felt the joy of the missionaries in their countenances. They smiled and their countenances alone helped them feel the Holy Ghost. We should never forget that showing and feeling joy will help us more powerfully represent the Savior.
2. Joy is a choice. We choose to have joy despite our circumstances. With this joy we can influence others. He said “I have learned that joy is a choice. Obedience brings joy. When the focus of our lives is on The Son Jesus Christ then we feel joy no matter what the circumstance. When we choose to radiate joy we will truly influence as the Savior.” Elder Soares shared a story from when he served as a Mission Leader in Portugal. He said “In my 1^st interview with a new missionary I noticed he was happy. He radiated joy. I later learned that he felt this joy because he had been prepared fully before his mission having dealt with a number of challenges.” Over time, many missionaries enjoyed being with this missionary. One of his companions wrote and said, “You took my joy when you transferred my companion!”. Elder Soares then quoted President Benson who said “Only the gospel will bring joy.” He also quoted Ammon in the Book of Mormon, “I do not boast in my strength. I rejoice in my God. My heart is full of joy” (vs. 16). 
3. We feel joy when we forget ourselves. Mark 8:35 “Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.” He shared a story about when he was called as a General Authority, he was counseled to “look to the Lord and lift the sons and daughters of God. Hold up the arms of those that hang down. Focus on your work. Forget yourself.” We can grow in happiness if we follow the counsel in D&C 88: 67 “And if your eye be single to my glory⁠, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things.” How can this light fill our lives? He testified that when we serve with an eye single to the glory of God, we are filled with light. He also spoke about how nothing brings more joy than seeing the change the gospel brings to people’s lives. Elder Soares shared the story about how his family was changed when they were taught by the missionaries. He said, “There was something so special about their countenance. I didn’t want them to leave. Mum was so moved by the joy the missionaries shared that she gave the missionaries lunch every day for 2 years. Every Monday night my parents invited many neighbors to FHE. When I recently met the missionaries that taught my parents, I wanted to kiss them because of the joy that passed to my generation and then to my children. My perspective is so different than my friends outside the church because of the joy those missionaries bought into our family.”
4. We can feel true joy when we focus our joy on Jesus Christ. Joy comes from and because of Him. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy. Elder Soares said “I love to share the thought that when we learn to focus our daily message on the joy of Jesus Christ, our lives change.” He continued, “You will receive rejection. Not all will choose to accept and listen to your invitations. This makes you sad and may even make you less effective. When you lose joy you weaken your power.” Elder Soares then explained that “Challenges are part of life. As we go through them the Lord shapes us to what he wants us become“. President Nelson said,“The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” 

He concluded by sharing his testimony and noting the joy of bringing the gospel and serving here in Africa. “Despite having very little, many of the people smile and have joy. We can learn a lot from their humble example and joy.”

It was shortly after the conclusion of the devotional that we received a call from Elder Kerry Johnson (Area Medical Advisor). Elder Rasband had been in Johannesburg since the prior Thursday. He held leadership meetings and devotionals and dedicated the recently completely BYU Pathway General Education Center. He hadn’t been feeling well during most of his visit, and while they had planned a day away outside of the city in one of the wild animal parks, Elder Rasband decided it would be better if he stayed back and rested a bit. However, later that afternoon he really wanted to get out and get some exerice. He likes to play pickleball, so Elder Johnson arranged it and we were invited. So at 2:30 pm we showed up at the Pickleball courts and enjoyed about an hour of playing against him. He is quite good. Very strategic in his ball placement. We were grateful for the opportunity to rub shoulders with an Apostle of Jesus Christ – even if on a pickleball court!

Here is a map to give you an idea of where we are in Johannesburg relative to the temple and the place we play golf. The blue dot in the middle is where we live. The red circle at the bottom is where the temple and Area Offices are located. It takes us 5 minutes to get there. At the top of the map, is the Killarney Golf Club where we play golf. It takes about 7 minutes to get there. Looking at the map I am amazed at how many golf and sports clubs there are in Johannesburg. Just more ways to get some exercise and fresh air!

While it is difficult to see in this map, the area where the temple and area office is quite wooded. It is a beautiful oasis in the middle of a lot of hustle and bustle. There are a few very old tree stumps that line the walkway between patron housing and the area offices. LaDawn pointed them out and I tried to get a creative picture of them. Not sure they turned out as good as I had hoped, but they are unique as black and white photos.

In the last post, I mentioned the 43 senior missionaries that we have serving in the Area Office. With 21 couples and one sister, there is a constant turnover. This past week, Elder and Sister Sherwood, who served as FamlySearch specialists, went home and within days, the Lewis’s arrived (Family History Specialists). The tradition is for the couples to gather as others come and go for a sendoff or a welcome. Here is the picture from the Lewis’s arrival. We did not attend the departure for the Sherwood’s as we never really knew them. It makes light work when there are a bunch of people to carry luggage up the stairs to the apartment! And yes, it was chilly!

With as many senior couples as we have, there is always something going on. Devotionals, Come Follow Me, Dinners, arrivals and departures, trips out of town, etc. Last Saturday night (May 25th) we gathered together in the “Ruth” room (all the meeting rooms have women’s names for some reason) for a dinner that the Shiffler’s hosted. They brought the chips and meat for nachos and everyone else brought condiments, sides, and desserts. It was a nice evening together.

On Sunday we had branch conference in the Forest Hill Branch. The Branch President and Stake President both spoke. President Sithole (BP) spoke about the theme of the conference which was Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-9. “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment. And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes⁠.Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.” He did an amazing job. His message was, “yes, many of us are having hard times right now, but we have each other and we have the Lord.” This is a close knit branch and the hugs are on display each week. The stake president is President Nkosi and the stake is the Centurian Stake. Both of his counselors are Afrikaners (white). President Nkosi spoke about Doctrine & Covenants 122:8, I think most people know it, “Know thou my son that all these things all give thee experience and be fore they good.” He then made an important connection, that I had not previously considered. He referred to Alma 31:5 (“…the preaching of the word of God … had a more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else.”). He then invited all of us to put this principle to work in our own lives. If we are facing adversity, then we should “try the word of God“. In other words, the scriptures will be a source of strength during our trials. While I know the principle is true, it was the connecting of these scriptures that I thought was so powerful. He summarized his talk into three points. 1) Try the virtue of the word of God. 2) Ponder the words of God in our hearts. 3) Have Fatih that He can heal us (3 Nephi 12:7). He then connected his last point to ministering –> “Bring those who are struggling and I will heal them.” He finished by reminding all of us that “He knows us by name”.

I would be remiss if I did not give a shoutout to our second oldest granddaughter, Hailey Anne Kunz who graduated from North Montgomery High School in Crawfordsville, Indiana on Saturday the 24th. We were able to watch her graduation on-line and snap a picture as she walked across the stage. Her two younger sisters, Brooke and Kaitlin played in the band and we caught a picture of them as well. Hailey will be attending BYU in Provo this fall. We are so proud of her!

As for our assignments here in South Africa, the pace has slowed for me and increased for LaDawn. This has created a better balance for both of us. She was finally able to get the right access for the SharePoint site and is now helping to process missionary applications that come into the Area before being sent on to Salt Lake for assignment. I am quickly gaining experience on handling each case that comes to me, which means less time spent on each one. Some have asked what a “normal” day looks like for me. First I would say there is not much in the way of “normal”. For example, I became involved in helping to facilitate moving 20 missionaries from one of our missions back to Brazil because they did not have the proper visas. Once they receive them, they will return. One of the 20, went to serve as a service missionary in her stake and will not return. For every missionary that is transferred to a service mission, there is a process of approvals and communication. That is one of my responsibilities.

A good news story is that of a young elder from a country in the Africa South Area. He was the top scholar in his country 3 years ago and to recognize that, the government offered to pay for a college education in the USA.  He chose BYU-I even though he was not a member.  After two years at BYU-I, he was baptized.  A year later he was called back to serve in one of the missions in the Area (not his home country) where he was an outstanding missionary.  He will now return from his mission in the next month or two.  He is requesting to go to his country on his way home and spend a month with his family.  Two of which have joined the Church.  Not only is the Area Presidency completely unified on this, but the missionary department is as well. So even though there will be an additional cost for the two stage return home (his stake president will release him before he leaves his mission), everyone associated with this young man sees the huge upside of his role as a future leader in his country. It is a miraculous story that is only now beginning. My involvement was to get the necessary approvals from the missionary department and then get the travel booked (that last part is still work in progress).

I have also been involved in changing a senior couple’s assignment from Office Staff to Member Leader Support so that when they go to the MTC they will receive the MLS training instead of Office Training. It is amazing to see the work and effort that goes on behind the scenes to keep 80,000 missionaries across the world healthy, happy, and productive.

One of the biggest issues I deal with is the number of temporary assignments in both the South and Central Area. Right now, there are a significant number of missionaries serving in temporary assignments as they await their visas to their permanent missions. This is the result of an increase in applications to serve missions as the Church is now helping them with the expense of passports, physicals, police reports, etc. Because the cost of these documents is no longer a deterrent to serving, more are applying. The standard requirements still remain: worthiness, age, health, desire, and they have to have a passport if they will attend an MTC outside of their country. While this has increased applications significantly, there are unintended consequences. The most significant being these temporary assignments. With every temporary assignment comes the need to get all the paperwork together to process the visas, making sure all the right notifications occur at the right time between the group in Salt Lake that handles these assignments (after they are made by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles) and the local Area Travel teams. There are complex processes in place that often fail….and that is where I get involved. In my meeting with Elder Silva (1st counselor in the South Area presidency) we discussed some of the things that we can do to improve this process. This will take some time, but we will figure it out. Interestingly, in my role, I am not a formal part of the process. But when there is a problem because a missionary is on the wrong mission leader’s roster, or flights are not booked timely, or the notice comes late, the call from the mission leader comes to me. And I might add, having been in that seat myself, I am more than happy to help solve the immediate problem and the long-term process issue. More on this in the future.

One thing is for sure, we love being full-time missionaries in this great work of gathering Israel and establishing Zion in Africa. What a privilege it is for us to Serve Together in South Africa during this season of our lives. Hurrah for Israel!