Recently Mom gave a lesson to all the Sisters who work in the Area Office. Her topic was "Happy Or Not, It's Your Choice Everyday." In attendance were both senior missionary sisters and local sisters who work for the Church full-time.  I opened the door of the conference room and got this picture.

A few weeks ago on a Saturday, we went for a drive into Soweto.  This was a township of nearly 4 million people. Under Apartheid, townships were created to house all the Blacks. Soweto ("South West Township") was a place of great violence as apartheid ended. Today the LDS Church has a Stake there. This is a picture in side the Soweto Chapel.

The Soweto Stake Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Curbs and sidewalks in Soweto are places of commerce. In other places a curb might be a useless place; but in a crowded township, they are the seat of business empires and unbounded potential. Here they are selling onions and, my least favorite, tomatoes.

This is the Vilakazi Restaurant where we had lunch. It is named after the street it sits on.

Not far from the restaurant is the Hector Pieterson Memorial. It is dedicated to the first victim in the student riots of 1977.  The African students refused to attend school and learn Afrikaans. Hector was a 15 year old student who was shot and killed by the police. This photograph shows part of the Memorial, which has a newspaper photograph taken just after he was shot. 

In the distance you can see the Johannesburg Electric Power Plant. It was built in Soweto, but the electricity generated there was sent to the White suburbs around Johannesburg. None of the electricity made it to Soweto, which had neither electricity or sewers.  The smoke stacks are a Soweto icon. 

This is Vilakazi Street in Soweto. It has the distinction of being the only street in the world where 2 Noble Peace Prize winners lived. Can you guess them?  Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu.

A picture of some "Gogos" (grandmas) coming for church. Surrounding Soweto are the slag dumps of the Johannesburg gold mines seen in the background.

Yes, this is a picture of 2 Gogos.

Inside the Catholic Church of Soweto is this picture of The Black Madonna.

The church contains some wonderful stain glass. Notice Hector Pieterson on the left and Nelson Mandela on the right.

On the church registrar pages is the signature of Nelson Mandela.

Some Soweto curbside business empires in the making.