Did you know that according to the World Heath Organization that 25% of the world’s population “…is estimated to have been infected with TB bacteria. About 5–10% of people infected with TB will eventually get symptoms and develop TB disease.” [reference]. The world population is estimated at 8.24 billion. Twenty-five percent of that represents just over 2 billion people who are infected. And 5-10% of those is somewhere between 100 and 200 million people. In 2023, 1.5 million people died of TB. 13% of those had HIV. About 425,000 of those deaths were in Africa. The good news, is that both cases and deaths are declining significantly. You might wonder why I would start a post about our adventures in South Africa with the topic of Tuberculosis. Let me explain that this is a disease that we deal with in both the Central and South Africa Areas with missionaries. According to the same WHO website, there are certain conditions that can increase the risk of TB.

• diabetes (high blood sugar)
• weakened immune system (for example, from HIV or AIDS)
• being malnourished
• tobacco use
• harmful use of alcohol.

Tobacco and alcohol use is not our issue, but HIV and malnourishment are both at play in Africa. We do have missionaries serving who are HIV positive. In every case I am aware of, they were born with the virus. As long as they take their medication regularly and are tested every 6 months, they can serve without a problem (they are not contagious). But it does make them more likely to develop TB. It is interesting that we never dealt with this dreaded disease in either Sierra Leone or Ghana, but here in the South and Central Areas it can be a significant problem. When a missionary is diagnosed with TB, they have to be quarantined for a minimum of two weeks. Thereafter they take a sputum test (a medical test that examines mucus (phlegm) that you cough up from the lungs, not saliva from the mouth) every day for three consecutive days. If they are all negative, then they are able to go back to work as a missionary, assuming they have regained their strength and their cough is under control. We recently had a case in Cameroon where the doctors insisted on 4-6 weeks of quarantine. This can be a huge problem since the missionary cannot go home to recover because travel on public transport with an active TB case is not allowed. There is also the problem of needing to find a companion who is willing to stay with an infected missionary. Since we have been here in South Africa, we have averaged about 1 case per month. The last one, which I mentioned previously in a post, turned to Potts disease. I am happy to say we were able to get that missionary home where he is now recovering.

I will give you two examples of what we consider as miracles. In my last post I mentioned the missionary that we flew from one mission to a city with a larger hospital because he was not getting better. Turns out he was diagnosed with TB. He was in the hospital for a week and then they released him and put him on medication. That meant finding a place for him to stay. I checked with the three missions in that city, but none of them had an empty apartment and none of them had a threesome where they might have someone that could stay with him (nor did they want to). Through a series of miracles, we found a hotel that would take him and provide food for him each day and keep him quarantined. Fortunately we have a Latter-day Saint doctor in that city that helped arrange transport to the hotel with a member. That same member agreed to take him to the TB clinic as needed and make sure that he was cared for through visits every few days. Our hope is that in another week he will be able to go back to his mission, and to that end, he has not been released as a missionary. We also worked with the Area to provide the funding for the hotel and the transportation. Everyone really pitched in to make this possible.

In the case of the missionary with Potts disease (TB abscess on the spine) we needed to get him home from the South African MTC. We were concerned about the layovers on the flights other missionaries would be taking to that country. Quite by accident we discovered there was a direct flight from Johannesburg to his home city (because it is a significant mining city), but we knew he would need help to get home. Because of a wonderful mission president, district president, and especially branch president, we were able to fly the branch president to Johannesburg to accompany the recovering elder back home. To have a branch president with a valid passport was in and of itself a miracle. Needless to say, we definitely see the hand of the Lord in helping these young missionaries be healed from this dreaded disease.

And if TB is not enough to deal with, there was a recent announcement involving a new ebola outbreak in the DR Congo. Fortunately, we do not have any missionaries close to the villages where the outbreak occurred, but we know all too well from our experiences in Sierra Leone that the disease can travel very quickly if it is not controlled. For perspective, the land mass of Sierra Leone (73,252 square km) could fit inside the DR Congo (2,345,000 square km) just over 32 times. It is a huge country. For now, the Area Presidency are taking every precaution to make sure we keep missionaries far away from the outbreak. Here is a map showing where the outbreak is located.

And if TB and ebola were not enough, malaria continues to be a significant problem as does typhoid. Missionaries who follow the protocols established by the Church and the mission are rarely infected, but then there are some who believe they are invincible. There are also active cases of yellow fever in the Africa Central Area (none in the South), but they are relatively few. Between Oct 2023 and Feb 2024, there were only 18 cases in countries where we have missionaries – and zero deaths. By far and away, the biggest problem with disease in Africa is associated with poor sanitation. Progress is being made, but it is slow.

Since our last post on August 27th, I have worked 44 new cases. Just over 1/3 of these involve medical issues. The rest involved reinstatements or reassignments, visa issues, own insistence to go back home, and disobedience or a belated confession. Perhaps one of the more interesting cases was a missionary leaving from a branch of the Church in Eastern DR Congo that is controlled by “rebels”. There are two branches of the Church in this area, and both continue to produce good missionaries. The branch’s ecclesiastical reporting line is to the Rwanda Mission President as the congregations are right on the border of DRC and Rwanda. In this recent case, the missionary was called to Tanzania and was to go to the Kinshasa MTC for training. However, the airlines will not accept identification that has been issued by the rebel government controlling the area. And to be honest, it is not safe to travel by car or bus out of that area back into the DR Congo. Historically we have been able to move missionaries into Rwanda and down to the DRC embassy in Kigali where they could get a DRC government issued ID to travel. But that embassy has been closed. There is another embassy in Bujumbura, Burundi, but it is difficult to get to. This whole situation has been complicated by an overzealous branch leader putting the missionary on a bus to Kigali (despite counsel to be patient while we figured this out), thinking she could fly from Kigali to Bujumbura for travel documents. But we have since learned, that the document with which she left the DRC will not allow her to board a plane in Rwanda to go to Burundi. Even though she can use a pass from her town to go into Rwanda for 30 days, it will not allow her to travel out of Rwanda except back to the DRC, nor will it allow her to serve in Rwanda as a missionary on a temporary assignment. So for now, the Central Area Travel team is looking for a way to get her legally to Burundi to the DRC embassy. Meantime, she is sitting in Kigali with no way to get to her mission. Fortunately, she has not yet been set apart as a full time missionary. More to come on this one…

LaDawn continues to process Missionary applications. In the month of August, she and Sister Johnson processed 104 applications. Since August 27th, she has personally processed 79. The expectation is that this number will continue to grow significantly over the next year. She is so good at documenting and following up on details that this is a perfect fit for her.

Over the last three weeks we have continued to enjoy our time together and the time we have with the other senior missionaries. On September 4th, we celebrated LaDawn’s birthday with the Johnsons. We went to Fishmonger Restaurant where the food is always good. They even brought her a delicious piece of cake with a sparkler (of all things) on top. Afterwards we walked across the hall and enjoyed some delicious gelato.

We also had a “mini-quasi-chili-cookoff” evening with the Senior couples. Always a lot of fun to be together. I can assure you the chili that one “spiciest” was indeed qualified to win!

I also did something in the last three weeks that I have NEVER done before. Unless of course you count biscuit on a stick with the Boy Scouts. LaDawn found me a simple wheat bread recipe and I made my very first loaf of bread ever. I was searching the internet for a good dough enhancer, and was surprised to learn that 1/4 teaspoon of powdered ginger does wonders. So we bought the ginger and then I forgot to use it. Oh, woe is me! The bread turned out okay, perhaps a bit crumbly. I want to try it again with the ginger.

The first Monday of every month is the day that the senior missionaries get together and go out for lunch. For the men, it is always BGR, which is an excellent burger place. I have mentioned this before. The Sisters went to Olive and Plate. Here is evidence of the fellowship and fun.

On September 5th, quite a few senior couples gathered at the Area Office to assist the Nielsen’s (they work in Welfare and Self Reliance) who where packing supplies into trucks and trailers to take to a service project where Sister Porter (General Primary President) would be working with the primary the following Sunday to prepare humanitarian bags for families in need. We loaded up a LOT of diapers!

A week or so ago on our Friday golf outing, I couldn’t help but take a couple of pictures of unique events. The first happened on the 9th hole when I hit my ball just a few inches into the water. I knelt down and pulled it out of the water and as soon as I did this, this huge swan swam over to make sure I was clear that this was his/her territory and not mine. The second picture is of a group of men who were trying to dig out a stump in the parking lot at the Golf Club. I was thinking, “Man, they really could use my stump grinder about now.” I am sure they would have agreed!

This past weekend we had stake conference. We tried to go to the Saturday evening session, but when we got to the stake center, no one was there. Now, in fairness, LaDawn had warned me that she didn’t think the meeting was there, but she didn’t know where it was. Me? I am thinking it is stake conference, of course it is at the stake center. I sent a text, but by the time I received a reply we were almost home. Turns out it was at the “Hospital View” building. I hope we get credit for trying. 😊

The Sunday session WAS at the stake center and it was outstanding. The theme for the meeting was “The Beauty of Zion”. The First Counselor in the Stake Presidency spoke first about the attributes of Zion dwellers. Spiritual preparation, covenant keeping, looking on the heart of others and not their outward appearances, and being repentant. He told the stories of David, Esther, Sampson, and Mary Magdalene to reinforce his points. I loved his closing comment, “Being peculiar will always be attractive”. We then heard a testimony from a recently returned missionary about the blessings of serving a mission. A young man spoke about the principle of fasting. A man from our branch (Willem Heydenrych) spoke on Spiritual Self-Reliance. A young single adult sister spoke on the blessings of the temple and especially unity and love. She was followed by a bishop who spoke exclusively about repentance. President Holmes, the Mission President, followed him with a powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. President Nkosi, the Stake President concluded with a message about the need and urgency to establish Zion in the Centurian Stake. He emphasized the need to develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. He said if each of us will be pure in heart, we will have Zion in our homes. He reinforced that every person who makes and keeps covenants with God will have direct access to the Power of God. I loved what he said at the end, “The city of Enoch must awaken and make room for the Centurian Stake!” This was as good a stake conference as I have attended in many, many years. Well planned and well executed. The choir was excellent and the speakers were well prepared and delivered excellent messages. All I can say is “Hurrah for Israel”! And by the way, their building was beautiful!

Last night we had another senior couple join us from the States. Elder and Sister Thomas will be a welcomed addition to the already mighty royal army of senior missionaries. Elder Thomas will be working in the Office of General Counsel and Sister Thomas will be working with the Coopers in Communications.

And so we continue Serving in South Africa. Doing what we can to establish Zion in the Central and South Areas of Africa. We find joy in serving the Lord as full-time missionaries. Some days are harder than others, but we have been well prepared to serve in these roles at this time and we love doing so. We miss our families and especially our grandchildren, but we hope we are leaving them a legacy of faith and testimony. This is the Lord’s work and His kingdom. Nothing else would bring us here to serve.