When I was a missionary in South Africa (1966-1969) this was the mission home in Houghton, Johannesburg.  A few years later there was a fire which burned a good portion of the home down.

This is the home today. It's located about 1/2 mile from our flat. I ate some pretty nice meals (Christmas and Thanksgiving 1966) in that place.

Lots of street vendors on most corners in Johannesburg. Some are just looking for a hand-out, but others are selling sunglasses, electrical charge cords, or in this case an oil painting.

Big turn out at Church today. It was Branch Conference. The Parking lot was over flowing.

Every other week some of the senior brethren in the Area Office play a round a golf. We usually start around 6:00 a.m. so we can be in the office by 10:30 a.m.  Friday took a little longer because this swan would not allow Elder Bob Rose to play through. I think she thought that "his" ball was "her" egg. There was a momentary stand-off before Elder Rose's 9-iron became a sword.

Nearly every week I'm reviewing LDS humanitarian contracts. It's beyond impressive what the Church is doing in the African Southeast Area. This week across my desk came two different contracts for the drilling of 19 boreholes (water holes) in a small country in central Africa.  Water is a very precious commodity in Africa but getting it into the rural villages has proven difficult for African governments.

The Church will start drilling these 19 boreholes in the next couple of months. What I get to see is only a small portion of the many humanitarian projects started by the Church in Africa.

Also this past week, the Area Public Affairs group hosted the Minister of Interior from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sister Naylor on left, Mom shaking hands with the Minister and Sean Donelly the Area Public Affairs Director on the right.

Mom was involved setting up meetings, tours, luncheons and dinners. The Church has proposed to the DRC that it be allowed to micro-film the DRC archives. The Church will get a copy of the birth, marriage and death records and the DRC will likewise get a digitized copy. The Minister of Interior, in gray suit, promised to recommend that the Church be allowed into the archives. Hopefully, the digitization of the records will be completed before the DRC LDS temple is built.

Our friends, Lolly Maritz, CC Lundgren and Reeve Niel were playing a golf tournament within walking distance of our flat this past Thursday and Friday. The Houghton Country Club was the site of the tournament and this photo is looking down the fairway of the 18th hole. On the left is Lolly Mariz. She would hit her next shot just 4 feet past the hole. It was very impressive. 

Mom and Lolly with their zebra shirts and a matching friend.

Lolly, Reeve and CC.

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch after the round of golf. Elder Bob Rose and his wife Connie joined us. Elder Rose is a former attorney who, along with his wife, is serving their 3rd senior mission for the Church. They previously served in China and the Marshall Islands.

Mom with some of her Primary children this past Sunday. 

This is a shot of one of our favorite restaurants in Johannesburg. Tortellini del Oro, is a slice of heaven, or at least make that a slice of Italy. The pasta, ravioli and tortellini are all homemade. We may be in Johannesburg,South Africa, but once a week we take a trip to Italy.

Monday, December 16, 2013 was a national holiday here in South Africa.

There are still many Mandela pictures and signs around Johannesburg. I've mentioned before how enterprising Africans are. Last week I came across a young man who was painting tennis shoes.

He had set up his table right in front of a shoe store. 

If any of you want some Minions on some tennis shoes, let me know.

Saturday, I went exploring. I've read a couple of books about the Anglo-Boer War (there were actually two wars). Each time the British won, but in the end the Boers (Afrikaners) got self-rule.  One of the battles in the 2nd Boer War was fought in a valley of the Magliesberg Mountains on December 13, 1900.  Those are the mountains you see in the distance and that is the valley to the right.  It is called the Battle of Nooigedacht ( which, I think, means "New Day").

Getting up to the valley was a little difficult in our compact Nissan.  One local farmer told us, "You can't take that car up there;"but I wanted to get close. The valley where the battle took place is just in front.  The British had become complacent in fighting the Boers, but the Boers had started fighting a guerrilla war. So when the British camped in the bottom of this valley, the Boers took the high ground and just pummeled them.  Jan Smuts, who would later become a South African Prime Minister, stated,
"I do not think it was possible to have selected a more fatal spot for a camp."

This was the end of the road for our little Nissan and as close as I could get to the battle site. The Boers killed 64 British, captured 54 soldiers and confiscated 118 wagons. A Boer guerilla fighter, after going through all the confiscated wagons looking for loot stated, "We were refitted from head to heel."

I guess I should have stopped when I saw the sign. I'm thinking about renting a 4x4 for the next exploring trip.

How cute is this little guy? You can see why Mom loves working in the Primary.

Future missionaries of the Church. Notice even the youngest boys wear their white shirts to Church.

Mom and Dorcus sometimes work together in the Primary.  They have more fun in the nursery than the kids--dancing, singing, playing with play doh, coloring and blowing bubbles.

Last week I flew up  to Nairobi, Kenya. There were a number of legal projects I needed to work on in that city for the Church. I took this picture because it reminded me of lots of cotton balls spread out over the African landscape.

For a good part of the flight we flew right up the middle of Lake Malawi (aka Lake Nyasa). The lake is around 360 miles long. It was the sight of England's first navel victory in World War I. A British gun boat disabled a German gunboat at the start of WWI and that was the beginning of the end of German East Africa. Dr. David Livingston, upon discovering the lake in 1859, asked the natives, who were not from the area, what was the name of the lake.  They misunderstood what he was asking and replied, "Nyasa," which means "lake".  So Livingston named it Lake Nyasa or "Lake Lake". The country of Malawi controls most of the lake and thus it's Lake Malawi now.

This is part of Tanzania and is the eastern flank of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Landing at Nairobi International Airport. The city can just barely be seen in the distance. This is the dry season and there was lots of dust in the air. Nairobi was established in 1899 as the head of the East African Railway which started in Mombasa. When the railroad was started it was called the Lunatic Line because the British had no idea where it would end. They just started building it into the interior of Africa. Nairobi was established because the ground here was flat before heading up into the mountains and the African Rift area. 

The Upper Hill Chapel in Nairobi. It also houses the Nairobi, Kenya Mission Office, a Distribution Center and a Service Center for the Church in Kenya.

This is the ward library. I don't think you'd be worried about losing library materials during the week. It's a real vault.

On the outskirts of Nairobi there are many produce stands.

This is the LDS Church at Athi River. A 40-minute drive south of Nairobi, Athi River was one of the poorest places I've ever seen.

Inside the courtyard of Athi River Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That's the baptismal font in blue and two young missionaries.

                                                Let's have a Tupperware party in Nairobi.

Hauling water in Kenya.  Clean water is a huge problem in Africa. This is the dry season in Kenya and the only good drinkable water comes from boreholes. Most people, even if they're connected to the Nairobi Water and Sewage Company, don't get drinkable water. In fact, they're lucky to get any water as most of the time the water does not work at all.

Unemployment is very high in Kenya. There are lots of little shops along every road.

These are some of the tenements outside of Nairobi, Kenya. Not too many paved streets here.

Another LDS Chapel. This one is in a warehouse. Finding property for the Church is difficult. You have to be very imaginative when thinking about establishing a chapel in Kenya.

Even though the outside of the building is a warehouse, inside the chapel is very nice.

What to my surprise, I found another Harry in Nairobi. Harry did you know there is a fast food restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya named after you?

This is another piece of Church property outside of Nairobi. The hope is to build a chapel here. A constant problem in Africa is squatters. The Church will buy a piece of property, build a wall around it and even post a 24/7 guard; but before you know it, someone will move onto the property. Here a lady has set up a bottle recycling plant. I told her nicely, she'll have to be moving on.  

Many women run little stands like this. Not much to sell, but they're trying to make a living.

This gives you an idea of how many shops you can find driving down the roads outside of Nairobi.

This is the Stake Center for the LDS Church at Buru Buru, Kenya. 

The building is pretty typical of chapels built overseas by the Church. The Chapel is on the right. On the left are classrooms.

For security reasons, many businesses have moved out of downtown Nairobi to an area called Upper Hill. This was once the old and very nice residential area of Nairobi.  I took this picture from an attorney's office in Upper Hill. The single-story homes that you see are pretty much vacant now and new high-rise office buildings are being built.  This construction activity has played havoc on the roads. The roads have basically been destroyed in this area and it will take years to get them fixed.

This is Jadmaire Ndivo. He is the Nairobi Stake President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I think he and I were separated at birth. He's one very wonderful man.

Typical street fixing in Upper Hill, Nairobi.

You can see why it will take a long time to get roads fixed in Kenya. Manual labor is cheap and equipment is expensive.