The WILD! and The WONDERFUL!

One thing that is wonderful about Africa is all of the wild animals!  There are lots of game parks, but so far we have only gone to one -- the closest one to Harare, Mukuvisi Game Park.  (Since then we have not had a free Saturday to go anywhere).   This was a walking game park, so no lions.

Before we even got into the park, we were stopped by a loud "parade".  This was how they started a wedding that was being held in the game park.  Quite festive!

This group was waiting for the bride.  She will walk through and be greeted by this whole group.  The wedding party is near the rear of the lines.  They were very friendly to us as we had to walk through to start our adventure in the park.

Meet our guide LoveNest.
Yes, that is her real name. 😊

We began with the Crocodiles -- (which were not roaming freely

as the other animals were.)

Love the sign!

And how amazing is it to walk up next to a herd of zebra!



This is a feeder for zebra and similar animals.  The fabric on the sides is treated so that when the animals rub against it, they get some protection from ticks, mites, etc.


We walked a little farther and caught the attention of several grazing giraffes:

Can you see how effective their camouflage can be when they're in among the branches?





These are Eland, more rare than the other animals.

We're standing near what looks like a beautiful, clear stream for the animals, but Lovenest told us that it is highly polluted from toxic waste that a factory upstream dumps in it.  And this is where the animals drink?!!! 

 On that note, we will move from the "Wild" to the WONDERFUL!  Our work with the Seminary and Institute program.

Our work with the youth and young single adults here is both wonderful and rewarding!  We work primarily with two of the five stakes in Harare, although we get to interact and help with the other three stakes as well.  We help teach Inservice classes to all five stakes; we visit seminary and institute classes; and we work on administrative things like attendance reporting, and budgets.  We also get the privilege of speaking at some of the youth activities.

We have previously discussed the incredible response from the youth, parents, and teachers when they were asked to switch from afternoon or evening seminary several days a week to early morning seminary, five days a week.  They were willing to do whatever their leaders asked them to do.  And now, as we're rolling out the early classes, and visiting them, we are overwhelmed by these amazing youth!

Here are just a few pictures of our seminary classes:

This was the very first class we visited, an evening seminary class before we switched to early morning.  It's hard to describe how tiny and humble this house was. The sweet teacher, Sister Mkandla (seated on the far left) had to teach standing in her kitchen, behind the red couch.  Every possible space was taken up by the 15 students that came to her class.  She had a wonderful object lesson with two pieces of paper:  one that she put on a small refrigerator behind her that said, "Adversity", written with crayon, and the other sign was put up on the inside of the front door, also written in crayon saying, "No Adversity". She asked some of the students to stand by whichever one of the signs most described the lives of various prophets.  She had no tape to put up a sign but was able to find a sharp point of a nail just barely sticking out of the door.  Sister Mkandla has very little in the way of worldly goods, but her spirit is HUGE. She taught from the New Testament about Paul and how he dealt with and was strengthened by adversity.  Her students were reading from the scriptures and contributing to the lesson, teaching each other.

The next week, Sister Mkandla's class met at 7:30 a.m., and walked for over an hour, to join with a branch in their stake for a scripture mastery activity (now called doctrinal mastery).

This is a picture of the two classes that got together that day, with a very impressive showing of mostly-committed-to-memory scriptures.  They competed against each other.  In October, we will have a competition for all the stake.  Note: You can see in the background, to the left of Elder Theurer, and about even with his ear, a barely visible gray hill.  Sister Mkandla's class walked from the other side of that hill.  But everyone from both classes had to walk for quite a distance.  And they don't complain!!!! They are happy and respectful and cooperative!

The Teachers

 A student conducting, beginning the activity.

This was our winner.  She couldn't have any 
more than 4 errors in reciting the scripture.  

We struggled to find this class.  It was in an unnamed school, behind large walls, in a very poor neighborhood.  The class meets in what is the chapel for this ward.  We went to help them get a start at their doctrinal mastery.  The teacher's handicapped son (also a seminary student) and daughter are sitting with her on the front row. 




There was no electricity in the room so Brother Banda had to use his I-pad.  They didn't seem to mind.  It was fun to see them having fun and learning the scriptures.



The very first early morning seminary class to start was also probably the most humble .

President Gonzo (white shirt in the middle) made the bricks for this little room from a kiln that he built himself.  And then he built the room onto his parent's home.  His father is the other man in white.  The father is not a member of the church but he LOVES the Book of Mormon and he enjoys attending seminary.  The room has no door, and only a dirt floor. With our truck we were able to help him bring chairs from his branch.  He found an old chalkboard that is propped against the wall.  The seminary teacher is the one in the Nike sweatshirt, Tapiwa Gonzo. The five students (4 boys and 1 girl) have previously only attended seminary on rare occasions because it was too far for them to walk to the Branch. Now, they can come because this class is held near to them and their school.  They look so serious, but they were delightful!  And each was participating and involved in the lesson.

President Gonzo, Tapiwa, and their parents.

(President) Ephraim Gonzo is amazing!  Not only did he build the classroom, he is also building a school for his community of White Cliffs.  He also built a little "store" (as small as the classroom)  by his home so the people can come to buy things without having to walk so far.  This is a very poor community -- 6000 people share 2 boreholes for water, and one is often not functionning.  There is no electricity anywhere here, so it isn't that hard to get up for a 5:30 or 6 AM seminary class, because they go to bed when it gets dark (for some around 7PM).

This is the homemade kiln.

This is the school he is building!

These are the cute girls in front of the school, 2 of 180 of his students.

President Gonzo (Branch President of the Kuwadzana Branch) actually had the first TWO early morning seminary classes.  He was the first in his stake to get the program going.

This was the other class.  We went to the first one at 6:00 and the second at 7:00.  This was also a very fun class, even though they look so sober.  The wonderful teacher, Gwande Gwande, is sitting in the very back for the picture.  He is such a happy man!

This is just a sampling.  We have said this before, but the Church is alive and well in Africa!  And the rising generation is particularly amazing.

Some of the GEMS that we have enjoyed recently:

"Every soul confined to a concentration camp of sin and guilt of sin and guilt has a key to the gate.  The adversary cannot hold them if they know how to use it.  The key is labeled repentance. The twin principles of repentance and forgiveness exceed in strength the awesome power of the adversary."                     -- Elder Boyd K. Packer

"Don't take for granted the divinity of the Spirit."        -- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"We could not eat only once a week.  Neither can we only feast upon the Spirit only once a week."      (-- Sister Bonnie Oscarson speaking to combined auxilliaries in Zimbabwe)

 President Lorenzo Snow once said to the Twelve of his day, “Every one of us who has not already had the experience must yet meet it of being tested in every place where we are weak."             (-- Quoted by Elder Neal A. Maxwell)

Two thoughts from President Spencer W. Kimball in our last week's Institute class:

"If we live in such a way that the considerations of eternity press upon us, we will make better decisions." 

   

"Nothing will prepare mankind for glory in the Kingdom of God as readily as faithfulness to the marriage covenant." 

   

African Proverb:  "If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together."

             (From Elder Koch at Zimbabwe Auxilliary Training, referring to Councils)

"There’s one thing that I’ve learned from scripture study that I wish I’d been taught when I was of an age to be attending seminary or Institute, and that is:  that it is a great mistake to read the scripture like you would read a magazine or a newspaper. . . . I’m picking up the word of God, written by prophets, under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord.  That should never be read without praying over it first. . . . We would pray that the Lord would bless us that we would be able to understand what we’re reading.  And that the act of reading the scriptures would summon the Spirit of the Lord to guide us on things other than simply the meaning of what we’re reading.  In this way the scripture can be a urim and thummim to help us receive revelation."                -- Elder Dallin H. Oaks (in S&I teacher training video)

We are grateful to be serving here in Zimbabwe.  We have a wide variety of experiences every day.  We are now carrying Book of Mormons to give out to the police who stop us, trying to find a reason to extort money.  Last Sunday an officer asked us to bring him one. We promised we would and gave him a lollipop (a very popular treat!!!)  Either we will be able to share the gospel with them or they will quit pulling us over.

We love you and miss seeing you!

Elder and Sister Theurer