CHRISTMAS IN JOHANNESBURG

HAPPY CHRISTMAS as they say here.  Hope it's a wonderful one for all of you.  We will certainly miss our kids and grandchildren this year and all the traditional things we love about this time of year.  We are so busy at the temple with excursions from Botswana, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mozambique and Congo.  We are down to only 5 couples and 1 single sister.  We have lost 4 couples and 2 single sisters since we arrived in Sept.  We had been told that December was such a slow time but not so this year...which is a wonderful thing.  Just wish we had more help.   Sure missing the snow!  Yes we really are.  The weather is gorgeous but it's just not Christmas with 85 degree weather and all the flowers and trees in bloom! Last Sunday our Ward had their Christmas Devotional.  They don't have a party.  The Devotional was at 4:00 in the afternoon and even though the members live quite a distance they were all back for the program.  They had put together a beautiful video of the Savior's life with words by President Monson.  Then they had the RS choir sing (several men also joined us), The Elder's quorum sang, the YW sang, the YM sang and the young single adults sang.  The speaker was the area seventy, Elder M....well I forgot his name but it was an incredible talk and the capacity crowd sang "Oh Come all ye Faithful" with such enthusiasm I'm certain the neighbors all heard it too. He shared such a beautiful and thought provoking story called "Mary's Dream".  You can google it. I found it very easily. I played the piano for them and they were so grateful.After the meeting two little boys came up and sat on the piano bench with me while I was playing the postlude. I asked them if Santa was coming this year and they just looked at me with their big black eyes and shook their heads no.  Then I asked if they were getting presents from Mom and Dad and they shook their heads no,.  But when I asked them if their Grandparents and cousins would all be coming to eat dinner together for Christmas they smiled as big as they could and said "oh yes, all of them". Such a sweet moment!  We will be working in the temple through Tuesday and then the temple is closed on the 24th, 25th and 26th.  We are open again on Sat. the 27th.  The other senior couples are going on a trip for the 3 days but we will be here.....well sort of. The Temple Presidency counselor has invited us to go bird watching with them on the 26 so that will be fun....I know what you are thinking but honestly the birds around here are just unbelievable and I know how much Dad will enjoy it.  We have been invited to a Christmas Eve dinner with some couples who work in the Area Office and also a Christmas morning Brunch with missionaries from the Family History Library. Actually I was hoping to sleep and talk to my kids on Christmas Day so hope that is still on the agenda!  I have actually done a little Christmas baking.  Cherry Winks, Russian tea cakes and lemon bars to deliver to the other missionaries and the presidency.  So that helped to remind me that it is Christmas.  On P day this week we went to Pilantsburg.  It's about 2 hours or so away and we saw baby giraffes, baby rhinos, baby wart hogs, baby spring boks and even two enormous bull elephants with huge ivory tusks!  Of course we saw all the mother animals too and it was an amazing experience. This definitely wasn't a zoo.  We couldn't even open the door of the van to get better pictures....that's how close we came to them.  Fabulous
day.  I loved it.  We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your family and loved ones close by.  That is what is getting me through this time of year.  It's the beautiful memories of Christmases past with my wonderful family, children, grandchildren, parents and brother together!  How I love you all and miss you like crazy but like I said, the memories are such a great gift to be able to reflect on our wonderful times together. I am thinking of our nativity on Christmas Eve, after we had bored all the neighbors with our caroling, Mary would be our Christmas Angel perched high on the ladder, Jen would sing Silent Night, Jamon and Beau were usually shepherds and Great Grandfather would read the story of the Birth of Christ from the Bible. We would con poor Dad into being a wise man with Uncle Greg and Great Grandmother insisted on being a sheep.  Later we would add Leon as our best dressed wise man, Jeff as the king of the shepherds and of course Jamon and Beau graduated to being wise men too.  In the early years each of our adorable grandchildren would be the "Baby Jesus" and later  the newlywed couples would assume the roll of Mary and Joseph. I know some of those Christmases were pretty chaotic with all the little ones but they were wonderful to Dad and me. Now we are scattered all over the world, Austria, Canada, Jamaica and South Africa but the memories will get us all through.   So as the song says "I'll be Home for Christmas, if Only in my Dreams".

We love you all so much.  Thanks for the memories and for being the good people that you are.  We hope to talk to each of you on Christmas Day so email us and tell us what will be a good time for you.

Love,
Mom and Dad
Grandmother and PaPa Joe
Elder and Sister Jarvis
Joe and Kathy

CHRISTMASTIME IN SOUTH AFRICA

Christmas Greetings to all of you!  So hard to believe it's really December 9th today.  The days keep getting warmer and warmer.  86 degrees on Saturday. The mall across the street does have a few decorations up but it sure it nothing like home.  (which may not be a bad thing) The children are all on holiday (as they call summer vacation) and most families travel to the beach or other resorts for Christmas.  Braai (bar-b-que) is very popular and all the displays in the store are for Christmas cook outs.  Many families also go to the bush camps for their holiday.  One of the Senior Couples who is leaving shortly has 5 of their children here and they have all gone to a bush camp for 4 days.  It all sounds very exciting.  They expect to see rhinos, lions, elephants, cape buffalo, giraffes and just about all the magnificent 7 as they call them here.  Last night we had our Christmas Party with the Area Presidency.  It was so nice and we sang carols and really got into the mood.  We have been so terribly worried about how we are going to manage the temple after two of our couples go home and two of our single sister missionaries leave in December.  That only leaves us 5 couples and one of those has had some serious health problems so we found out from Elder Cook, the area president, that we are receiving several South African couples who will also live here in Duke's Court.  Also the Area Presidency's wives are going to help us out in the Gate House (the youth Center where we tend the children while their parents are being sealed.  That will be an incredible help to us.  They even talked about diverting some of our patrons to the Ghana temple because we are so busy here.  Anyway they are determined to help us and we feel a huge relief today. IElder Jarvis has been asked to take over the management of all the missionary and area people's flats here at Duke Court.  Huge job for him but I know he will do great. Its just the time thing.  When you are in the temple every day it's hard to figure out how to get everything done. We had an incredible Saturday this past week.  Everyone of our sessions beginning at 6:00 a,.m, had to be split.  We had people in line to do other ordinances and it was all in all a great day.  Sunday was our fast and testimony meeting at the ward we are assigned to.  Quite a day.  We left before 8:00 so I could get there in time to do the music for them.  However, someone decided to close two of the major highways that we take to get to Soweto.  We think they were filming a movie or an advertisement...anyway we were diverted to downtown Joburg!  Oh my was that scary!  We were taking one of the African missionaries with us to church and she had us stop and talk to the police and they helped us find our way out of the metropolis!  I think Joe could probably drive in Hong Kong or New York City after that experience! Anyway we were a little late for our first meeting but the testimonies were just incredible and the people were lining up to be able to share their feelings.  As I have mentioned before these people really understand what a testimony is.  Even the little children...they are just amazing.

Yesterday was Pday and we went with the Senior Couples to an area with gorgeous waterfalls and rivers about 1 1/2 hours from the city.  There was also a Snake and Animal Park to visit there and of course as always that made my day.  Love these African Animals....well not so much the snakes but the lions, and the meercats just steal your heart1

We have been invited to dinner on Christmas Eve at one of the Family History missionary's flat.  Their name is Elder and Sister Hale.  His Mom is the famous  Ruth Hale from the Hale Theatre.  Anyway they heard we were not going to the resort with the other missionaries and invited us to spend it with them so that was very nice.  We have a week of MTC missionaries, excursions from Congo and Botswana and several wards right here in South Africa so this will be a good, busy week.

Hopefully we can get a Christmas Letter written in the next few days but please know of our love for each of you and we send our best wishes to all for a very special Day as we celebrate the birth of Our Savior Jesus Christ. We love the Lord, we love and adore our precious family and we love the amazing people of Africa.
May the Lord Bless and Keep you always!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hi Everyone:
It's so hard to believe it's Thanksgiving this week.  Still in the low and mid 70 s.  I am going around singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" and I'm afraid it will definitely be a dream this year.  The flowers are unreal beautiful right now and the jacaranda are still blooming their heads off! Today was our Stake Conference in the Soweto Stake,  Our Temple President is the former Stake President of this Stake so he and his wife asked if they could go with us.  They also invited the 1st counselor and his wife,  Poor Dad had to drive the van with both of then in it, in tons of traffic and pouring rain!  But he did great and we arrived without incident one hour early!  It was a great conference.  It was broadcast from Salt Lake and we had Elder Bednar, President Uchdorf, and Elder Gay of the Seventy.  The talks were amazing.  It was just to the saints in Africa,. The stake house was full a good half hour before it began and many people stood thru the whole thing,.  When I heard those hundreds of African Saints sing "Redeemer of Israel" it brought tears to my eyes...in fact I've about given up mascara...I seem to always cry when they sing....it's so beautiful.  We have had a whole week of rain!  Yes it is the rainy season but I had no idea it would rain every day.  But the flowers and trees and grass are so gorgeous right now...it's definitely needed.

I guess our Thanksgiving will be rather short.  The temple is open that day so we will have a Thanksgiving lunch and get back to work!  But I will be thinking of all of you and the pumpkin pie and turkey and especially the sweet potatoes!  We are so short handed at the temple right now and we are losing 4 workers in December.  We are praying that we will have some more couples by the first of the year!  Tell everyone they are needed more than anyone knows!

We have had a great week.  Saints from Congo, Madagascar, Cape Town, and Durbin have all been here and it has been glorious.  We love the work but miss you all like crazy...especially right now.

Take care and write when you can.

Love,
Mom
Grandmother and PaPaJoe
Kathy and Joe

JOBURG IN NOVEMBER!

Dear Friends and Family:
Well, here we are in week 8 of our temple mission! Wow if the whole thing goes by this fast, we will be home before you know it. We have been so very busy at the temple.  Which is good but I am definitely feeling my age.  Joe on the other hand never seems to get tired.  He is like the Energizer bunny....just keeps going! We have seen quite a bit of this enormous city lately.  I had no idea it was so enormous and so crowded.  Well for anyone from Mink Creek a city of 12 million + is overwhelming.  We have so enjoyed the gorgeous Jacaranda trees and now the carpets they are making of purple blossoms....beautiful! The gardens around the temple are unreal beautiful.  Roses, hydrangeas, vinca, geraniums, palms, birds of paradise and so many others! We have had two excursions from the MTC this week. 17 elders in one group and 30+ in another. They are so young and so ready to work.  We also had a bus of people from the Congo this week.  They stayed all week in patron housing.  I really enjoy these people.  Most of them speak French but several speak English and I really enjoy visiting them. Besides that I am beginning to pick up a few French phrases. . .well a very few! We live in a large apartment building called Dukes Court.  We are on the 3rd floor.  There are 5 floors but also elevators, or lifts as they are referred to here.  Also stairs, which Elder Jarvis insists on using every day.  There are floor to ceiling windows in the living room and sun room (office) which face another apartment complex but there are many palm trees, banana trees and other fruit bearing plants which wonderful birds visit regularly.   We have even seen flamingos fly over on occasion. Monday we are going bird watching again with President and Sister Atkins.  As I have mentioned before they are avid bird watchers and it is so fun to go with them and be taught about all the different species!


It will be Thanksgiving soon and I get sad just thinking of my wonderful family all together...especially the annual football game! How we will miss all our darling grandchildren. Hopefully you will all be together and take tons of pictures to post for us.  We, well all of the Senior Couples, have been invited to a Thanksgiving feast hosted by the Area Office.  It will be sort of a pot luck but it's on a day that we serve in the temple so there won't be too much time for feasting I'm afraid! We are not sure what we will do for Christmas!  Some of the couples are going on a trip to a resort...in the rain forest country but we only have three days so not sure what we will end up doing.  I want to be close to talk to my kids though!

Last Sunday I started helping the ward choir.  They are working on their Christmas Music! Seems impossible that it's that time.  They really sing quite well without me helping but I am excited to be involved.  There was a young man playing the piano after church last week and I sat down by him and he played beautifully.  It was all his own music he had composed.  He plays by ear and pleaded for me to teach him to read music...so how can you turn that down.
I think I mentioned that our computer crashed!  Well we finally got a new hard drive BUT the worst part is we lost everything.  Pictures, addresses, phone numbers, well you get the idea.  Please send pictures.  We would love to see the family.  We were so foolish not to bring many with us and we are surely missing them.  One sad note:  we just got word that Doyl Ipson passed away on Sunday.  We have been emailing back and forth because Doyl and Kathryn served here in the 90's and they have been so kind to share some of their experiences with us. Just when we became reacquainted he is now gone.  Our prayers go out to Kathryn and their family.



Some interesting observations here are:  driving along the major highways you see women walking along side carrying enormous bundles on their heads, families walking to church each Sunday on the dusty roads and looking spotless and perfectly groomed when they arrive, groups of "Zionists church members" all dressed in white robes and veils meeting out in the open for their" religious services", the poor and indigent walking between cars begging for money or food, others walking in unreal traffic trying to sell things like soda pop, candy, children's toys, magazines, etc.  They walk right between cars and you never know when someone will appear right at your car window!

Happy Birthday to all our October and November family members! Mary Kathryn, Kirsi, Nick, David, Joseph, Great Grandmother and Elder Zach Jarvis..We love you all so much and hope to hear from you soon!

Have a great week!
Love,
Elder and Sister Jarvis
Grandmother and PaPa Joe
Mom and Dad

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

Well here we are the end of October and I imagine you are all getting ready for Halloween! Actually they don't  celebrate at least I havent heard much about it.  There are some things here that are quite different though. Outside of our flat there is a sign that says "NO HOOTING". GUESS what that means? No its not about owls. . Its talking about car horns.  They hoot not honk!  The trunk of the car is the boot and the front is the bonnet. When they have a garage sale its called " a boot and bonnet sale".  The grocery cart is a trolley and you have to pay for the plastic bags for your groceries.  You have to ask for ice. They dont automatically provide it in the glasses. The beatiful jacaranda trees are all in bloom and it's a purple  world on our street! We traveled to Sabie this weekend since the temple was closed on Saturday. The scenery was spectacular . Canyons, rivers, mountains, rock firmations not to mention beatiful  birds, animals and flowers. There were 6 missionary couples that went and it was really enjoyable. This week we have had about 60 patrons from Reunion Island here at the temple.  They ALL SPEAK FRENCH. They flew in on Sunday since that is the only flight into Joburg each week and they are staying at temple housinguntil the plane returns them on Sunday. Reunion island is off the coast of Madagascar.  Anyway sure wish we  knew a little French. Such beautiful people. So kind and humble. By the way if anyone wants to call us we are 8 hours ahead and we have our same phone number that we had in Mink Creek. We had an amazing devotional with Elder Quentin Cook and his wife. Also the Area President spoke to us. It was so uplifting and inspiring.  Dad and I have been trying to walk every morning and I love seeing all the different nationalities that live around us; Indian, Asian, African,  American and many many different languages all talking at once!  Well I hope this finds you all well and happy. We are blessed in so many ways and are having an amazing experience. May the Lord  bless you all.
Love,
Kathy
Sister Jarvis

One month in Africa

Well its  hard to believe but yes  we have been out one month already.  We have already had some incredible experiences and every day is a new adventure.  We continue to havemembers from Botswana, Congo, Zimbabwe, Cape Town,  Durbin and Madagascar and Mozambique visiting the temple. Its such a privilege  to help these sweet, humble people eavh day.  We  have to be in the temple every day except Sunday and Monday. On Friday we go at 4:30 a.m. and on Saturday we go at 5:30 a.m. The temple opens about noon on Tues and Wed. And Thurs. Sundays we drive to Soweto to the ward that we are assigned
to. How incredible that has been. Today was the Primary program and it was amaxing. There were probably close  to 80 children crowded onto the stand. Each one had a speaking part and the music was beautiful. Every  child had memorized their part and it was beautiful.  We always are so grateful that we have found the chapel withouy a map or G.P.S. we definitely have been blessed.  This past week we went to the Zoo in Pretoria.  It was huge and so beautiful. The jacaranda trees are all in bloom there and they are magnificent. Of course all the animals were amazing but so were all the gardens and trees. Tomorrow on Pday we have been invited to go bird watching with President. Atkins of the Temple Presidency. I guess he and Elder Jarvis have been talking a lot about the different in the area. So this will be a great opportunity as the Atkins have travelled around the world to view birds.  I wanted to post some amazing pics from our Rhino/Lion adventure but our computer broke this week and we need to find someone to fix it for us. WE have been blessed so much and appreciate your love and prayers in our behalf.  We love serving with other temple missionaries. We have Family Home Evening each Monday with all the other temple workers and the temple presidency. It has been great.  The treats are pretty amazing too!  Well enough for today. We send our love to all of you.

MY 73RD BIRTHDAY IN AFRICA!

October 8, 2014

Well this definitely was a birthday I will never forget!  My birthday fell on Pday and we were able to go with several other senior couples on the Rhino/lion preserve.  It was just incredible.  We saw so many animals in a day.  Lions...actually white lions with blue eyes...really they are incredible.  The white rhinos...we saw them making their way into the watering hole.  Beautiful, impalas, springbok and wildebeest.  We even saw a new baby zebra...amazing!  Even a mongoose or two.  The ostriches all stampeded in front of the van!  What a day.  We also went into the Kromdraai Wondercave.  The second largest cave in South Africa.  Beautiful formations and colorations.  Did I tell you we saw many giraffes and sable antelope.  also the waterbuck and eland.  Wow...I could not believe all we saw in one day!  Anyway we were able to have lunch at the entrance to the cave and it was delicious.  /They served dagwood sandwiches which were enormous!  They had a burger patty, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avacado and two over easy eggs on top!  Joe and I split one and it was still huge!  Did I tell you we saw white rhinos?  Well the whole thing was the Best ever!  How magnificent is the creation!  How much Heavenly Father must love us to form all these incredible creatures!  What a day!

The temple seems a little slower this week.  Possibly because the kids are out of school on vacation this week.  But we have kept pretty steady at the temple and I love it.  I absolutely love getting to know these people!  /They are just amazing and I keep thinking that I know them and have always known them.  It's a great feelilng. Well it's time for the old missionary couple to get to bed but we send our love and prayers to all.

Love,
Mom
Grandmother
Kathy
Sister Jarvis

WEEK ONE IN AFRICA!

Here we are one week into our mission and I think I finally figured out how to post something.  Well maybe.  we shall see.  I already wrote a family letter but I think I will share again our first week in Africa for those of you who just joined us!.  We arrived on Friday, Sept 19 after a very long plane ride.  We were taken to Duke's Court which is a walled compound right in Johannesburg, a city of 12 million.  Our flat is really very nice.  Large living room and dining room and a remodeled kitchen and bathroom.  Large window in the office, yes we have that too, and living room so we can see the complex across the street.  There are palm trees and many other flowering trees too so it isn't a bad view.  We feel quite safe.  The door to our flat has a tall metal locked gate and then you have another locked steel door to get into the house.  There is security in the lobby and the parking is all underground which requires a code to get in. We have been on a walk or two but we have been cautioned not to go out after dark and since it's almost dark when we get home we haven't tried or rather I should say I haven't tried it.  Dad on the other hand goes most every morning except the days we have to leave by 3:45 a.m. and 4:45 a.m.  We have met so many wonderful people this week.  The couples hale from all over, Maine, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and others.  We have Family Home Evening with all the couples and the Temple Presidency on Monday nights.  Joe was pretty sick with a cold/flu last Sunday but they had a progressive dinner for all of us to get acquainted.  It was delicious and so fun.  Here's an idea of what they eat: fruit - berries of all kinds, mangoes, pineapple, papaya, bananas, oranges, apples, etc.  main course - stir fry with pork, beef, shrimp in a spicy sauce over rice and then dessert was some kind of pudding cake with custard on top...yum...The new couples got to go on a Safari but Joe was still down with the cold so we passed.  I guess it was wonderful but they told us not to feel too bad since we will all go another time.  Glad it isn't this week-end since Joe so kindly gave me his cold/flu!!

Working in the temple was just wonderful.  We had the MTC there on Tues. and Wednesday and 9 young elders and several sisters received their endowments.  It was such a spiritual experience for me.  They all were so very reverent and spoke so softly and were so grateful.  On Friday we had a wedding and the bride was so beautiful and when the couple came out of the temple all the family from Botswana were making this little chirping sound.  Truly it was amazing.  I worked in clothing, helped with the baptismal area, did sealings and worked in the name booth and initiatory as well as the sessions.  What a marvelous experience.

Yesterday we got another assignment from the Temple President.  We have been asked to attend the Soweto Ward and help out there.  Yes, the famous Soweto...Mandela's birth place.  They don't have anyone to play the piano so I will be teaching a few and playing most Sundays.Joe will have to get his driver's license because it's quite a drive there about 30 miles.  at least it's similar to England.  Everyone drives on the left!  /scarry times ahead! We have a meeting tonight with the Area Presidency and also those who have been called to serve in the area so that will be good.Monday all of the couples are going to a bird sanctuary and botanical garden so I am excited for that too. So after one week I can say I think this will be a truly wonderful adventure for us. Thank you for your letters, phone calls and prayers.  /We definitely can feel them in our life each day. We likewise pray for all of you our dear family and friends.

Love,
Elder and Sister Jarvis
Mom and Dad
Grandmother and PaPa Joe
Joe and Kathy

Our Farewell

Our Farewell was on August 31st. We had our family and dear friends, the Sawyer's come to visit. Here are some pics!

Grandmother and Papa Joe were set apart by Pres. Blayne Rounds on Saturday, Sept. 13. We got to listen to their wonderful blessings and say goodbye to them. They fly to Johannesburg on Sept. 19! We will miss you, but are so proud of you! Here are some pics: