GREETINGS FAMILY AND FRIENDS:
Yes it really has been 8 months! Doesn't seem possible for us either. What an exciting time to be here. A few weeks ago our ward, Kagiso Ward, was divided! The members were so thrilled. Now there is room for their less active and investigators to attend but guess what happened? The first week after the division and the chapel was full to capacity again! We now meet at 9:00 (Kagiso First Ward) and the Kagiso Second Ward meets at 11:00. It is so thrilling to see how the church continues to grow in Africa but it's not surprise. These people love the Gospel and they set such an incredible example for all. This is hard to explain unless you have been here but they are so good and so faithful. Even though there is great poverty the church does continue to prosper and the people truly have a desire to be self sufficient. We have noticed a great spirituality among the people....especially those who come to the temple. They are so in tune and consider the temple the most important blessing in their lives. Elder Holland recently said that even though life hasn't given them much in the way of material goods heaven has blessed them with remarkable spiritual gifts! And the children...they are some of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. I love the smiles of the people. Often I feel like I have met them before!
We now have 5 US senior couple missionaries and 1 South African couple working full time. We do have a few South African workers who come one shift a week or so but they are not very dependable because of schedules and so we know that it definitely is a miracle that we manage each day! Last week we had several days with sessions that had to be split and so many coming to the temple for the first time. One day we had 16 sisters there for their own endowments and there were only a handful of workers to help...but it worked and I still don't know how!
I have a big problem now with piano lessons after church. Before I could teach everyone after the block but the Second ward doesn't end until after 2:00 and we have no place to meet for lessons before that....I'm sure it will work out but we are still "sorting it out" as they say here. I have one student, Nora, who has played prelude for Sacrament Meeting and she did so well. My goal is to have her playing for the congregational singing by the time we leave....9 months to make it happen!
Our weather now is gorgeous. Everyday in the mid 70's and nights and early mornings in the low 60's so it is perfect for me! It is called "Fall" but I don't know if there truly is a winter here. On our Pday we have had some interesting day trips. We all went to the Mosque here in Joburg and had a tour by such a refined pleasant man. It was a beautiful building and the people love it so. We also went to a fun nature reserve and saw many zebras, ostriches, and elephants...yes and one even charged our van! Very exciting day. Elder Jarvis and I continue to run away whenever we can to the birding areas where they have hides set up for viewing. We have seen flamingos, marsh owls, goliath herons which are enormous....about 5 feet tall and beautiful, colorful kingfishers...,gorgeous! and so much more. We are becoming avid bird watchers!
We are well and enjoying every facet of our work here...(even the mornings we have to report at 4:30 a.m.)
We send our love to each of you and thank you for your emails, cards and prayers. Thanks to the Mink Creek Ward Teacher's quorum for the thoughtful Christmas package....yes it finally got here. Such a sweet surprise! You guys are great!
We love the people so much. They have certainly changed our lives forever and we will never be the same!
Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Jarvis
Kathy
Mom
Grandmother
Elder and Sister Jarvis
Johannesburg South Africa Temple Missionaries
Monday, May 18, 2015
Thursday, April 16, 2015
April in South Africa
Hello Dear Family and Friends:
Hope you are all well and enjoying the Spring. It is Spring there isn't it. With these backwards seasons I can't imagine you with your tulips and daffodils and us just going into Fall/Winter. It has been another amazing month here in South Africa. We reached our 7 month anniversary on the 15th and hard to believe we have less than a year left!. We have been working hard at the temple this week with patrons from Zambia and Zimbabwe. What an exciting time it has been to meet these "fellow saints" from this amazing continent. I did tell you that we have 32 countries in our temple district. The temple is equipped to conduct the sessions in 12 languages including 7 tribal languages but yesterday we had a sister from Zambia who spoke a dialect that no one knew. But it was quite amazing. She seemed to understand all that she needed to and was so happy after the session.
There is so much to tell about this remarkable country and I wanted to share a few observations with you this time. First of all let me tell you about the Recyclers. These are very poor men and women who are trying to make a little money and this is the way they do it. The arise early in the morning before the garbage trucks come and they pull a little flat bed cart on 4 wheels with an enormous canvas bag on the top. They pull it all over town up and down the streets going through the garbage for glass, plastic, paper and anything else that the Recycle center might buy. Some of them are good about putting the discarded garbage back in the cans but others just leave all of it on the sidewalks or in the streets. It can get pretty dirty and smelly. Another sight are the street vendors who walk between the cars on the busy streets trying to sell newspapers, magazines, fruit, pop, popcicles, brooms and anything else you can imagine. It scares me to death to see how close they come to being hit by a car but they are always there as we drive to and from the temple. Have I told you about the Kombi's? These are toyota and VW vans/busses that are South Africa's answer to a New York taxi. Honestly they are crazy. They are meant to hold about 12 to 14 passengers but they are usually sitting 5 to 6 across in the seats and they don't pay any attention to traffic laws or lights! They cut you off, drive through red lights (called robots) and pretty much rule the roads! They are totally unorganized but are actually the bus system in Joburg. There are new large buses in this country but the Kombi's are cheap and fast and serve the black people in the townships quite well. Elder Jarvis says it's sort of like playing "chicken" every time one comes near!
We have been quite adventurous this month trying "ostrich steaks" and Kudu. I tried the ostrich and it was pretty good. Sort of like beef. Joe loved the Kudu but it's such a beautiful animal and we have seen several in the reserves so I couldn't quite handle that. Anyway before I close I wanted to tell you about power shedding. Because Johannesburg's power system is not big enough for the demand they have to rotate outages through the neighborhoods two times each week. Yes we usually know when they are scheduled for 4 to 6 hours but other times there is an emergency and out it goes. Today it has been out for 6 hours but huray it was back on when we got home from the temple so I could fix dinner!
Well I hope you enjoyed learning a little about this enormous city. It truly is an exciting, busy, colorful amazing place to be and I will try sharing a little more next month.
We love the people here and never cease to be amazed at their love for the Gospel. They sacrifice so much to come to the temple. Yesterday some of the patrons had been on a 36 hour bus trip to come from Zambia to Johannesburg to the temple. They are so grateful and so very happy. They have the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they are of all people most joyful. I am so grateful to have become acquainted with them
Well, we love you all very much. You are in our prayers and always in our hearts.
Mom
Grandmother
Sister Jarvis
Hope you are all well and enjoying the Spring. It is Spring there isn't it. With these backwards seasons I can't imagine you with your tulips and daffodils and us just going into Fall/Winter. It has been another amazing month here in South Africa. We reached our 7 month anniversary on the 15th and hard to believe we have less than a year left!. We have been working hard at the temple this week with patrons from Zambia and Zimbabwe. What an exciting time it has been to meet these "fellow saints" from this amazing continent. I did tell you that we have 32 countries in our temple district. The temple is equipped to conduct the sessions in 12 languages including 7 tribal languages but yesterday we had a sister from Zambia who spoke a dialect that no one knew. But it was quite amazing. She seemed to understand all that she needed to and was so happy after the session.
There is so much to tell about this remarkable country and I wanted to share a few observations with you this time. First of all let me tell you about the Recyclers. These are very poor men and women who are trying to make a little money and this is the way they do it. The arise early in the morning before the garbage trucks come and they pull a little flat bed cart on 4 wheels with an enormous canvas bag on the top. They pull it all over town up and down the streets going through the garbage for glass, plastic, paper and anything else that the Recycle center might buy. Some of them are good about putting the discarded garbage back in the cans but others just leave all of it on the sidewalks or in the streets. It can get pretty dirty and smelly. Another sight are the street vendors who walk between the cars on the busy streets trying to sell newspapers, magazines, fruit, pop, popcicles, brooms and anything else you can imagine. It scares me to death to see how close they come to being hit by a car but they are always there as we drive to and from the temple. Have I told you about the Kombi's? These are toyota and VW vans/busses that are South Africa's answer to a New York taxi. Honestly they are crazy. They are meant to hold about 12 to 14 passengers but they are usually sitting 5 to 6 across in the seats and they don't pay any attention to traffic laws or lights! They cut you off, drive through red lights (called robots) and pretty much rule the roads! They are totally unorganized but are actually the bus system in Joburg. There are new large buses in this country but the Kombi's are cheap and fast and serve the black people in the townships quite well. Elder Jarvis says it's sort of like playing "chicken" every time one comes near!
We have been quite adventurous this month trying "ostrich steaks" and Kudu. I tried the ostrich and it was pretty good. Sort of like beef. Joe loved the Kudu but it's such a beautiful animal and we have seen several in the reserves so I couldn't quite handle that. Anyway before I close I wanted to tell you about power shedding. Because Johannesburg's power system is not big enough for the demand they have to rotate outages through the neighborhoods two times each week. Yes we usually know when they are scheduled for 4 to 6 hours but other times there is an emergency and out it goes. Today it has been out for 6 hours but huray it was back on when we got home from the temple so I could fix dinner!
Well I hope you enjoyed learning a little about this enormous city. It truly is an exciting, busy, colorful amazing place to be and I will try sharing a little more next month.
We love the people here and never cease to be amazed at their love for the Gospel. They sacrifice so much to come to the temple. Yesterday some of the patrons had been on a 36 hour bus trip to come from Zambia to Johannesburg to the temple. They are so grateful and so very happy. They have the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they are of all people most joyful. I am so grateful to have become acquainted with them
Well, we love you all very much. You are in our prayers and always in our hearts.
Mom
Grandmother
Sister Jarvis
Sunday, March 15, 2015
SPRING FOR YOU, FALL FOR US
Greetings Everyone:
Well here we are again. This time you are heading into Spring and we are headed for Fall and Winter! Hope you are all well and enjoying life . We are coming up on our 6 month's anniversary in South Africa and I can tell you that it is flying by. There were a few days in the past weeks that it seemed to be at a standstill but as I reflect now, it's all kind of a blur. Elder Jarvis and I did not escape the "African Flu" that arrived with a vengeance here but I'm very happy to report we are on the mend. Yea! I missed 5 days at the temple and Elder Jarvis has missed two.....so far. But not to worry we are both feeling much better today. Several of the missionaries have been ill but those who stayed well have taken very good care of the rest of us. They have brought in meals, delivered flowers, phoned us and kept the temple going with a very "skinny crew". We are so grateful for all the temple missionaries. They are the best!
We continue to be very busy at the temple,.. This week the temple housing is full of patrons from the D.C. Congo.They are so anxious to complete work for their ancestors and arrive early each day to do baptisms and be ready for the other ordinances by the time we arrive. It has been an amazing week! There is a little chill in the early morning air so I do believe it is beginning to be Fall in South Africa. This week we are getting another temple missionary couple, the Johnsons, from Texas. That brings our total to 5 couples but we are losing another couple in April. The Johnsons will be moving into the flat next door to ours so we are anxious to meet them. We understand that Elder Johnson is a retired medical doctor......so won't that be convenient! Friday was quite the day. There were only 3 couples to run the whole temple....but guess what we made it. Yes, it worked. We were really hustling around but we were able to do it. We had 4 sessions and that meant that most of the time one of the 3 couples was running a session and the rest had to do all the other things that go with the running of the temple. We were so blessed and when it was over we couldn't believe what had been accomplished.
My group of piano students continue to grow but we are not very consistent. Hopefully we can find a way to purchase a few more keyboards since that seems to be our biggest problem. Our ward is getting ready for Ward Conference next month and I have been asked to help the choir again. I love doing it, it's just the time factor,. Since we are in the temple everyday, the only time I can help them is on Sunday and that's when we try to do the piano lessons too. Just need an extra week here and there I guess. We are blessed to have a Pday each week and that has been a wonderful time to experience the beautiful birds, scenery and animals of South Africa. Tomorrow the temple couples are going to Pilatesburg. It's not too far and many of the amazing animals of this country are in that area. Kudu, giraffe, zebra, elephants, hippos, rhinos, baboons,and the birds! I am really looking forward to it. Joe continues to be very busy with the management of the flats People always seem to be coming or going but he enjoys being of service and as you know he is not afraid of hard work!
I
I thought you might be interested in a typical week for temple missionaries. We work at the temple Tuesday through Saturday and are assigned to a ward that we attend each Sunday. We are unable to participate in many of the ward's activities because we are in the temple but we enjoy participating in the Sunday meetings and getting to know our African brothers and sisters a little better. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we work from 12:30 until about 8:30 or 9:00. On Friday we go in at either 4:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. and on Saturday we report at either 5:45 a.m. or 8:00 a.m.. When we report at 4:30 a,m. we work until 12:00 and when we report at 12:30 we work until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. We rotate going in early every other week. The weeks truly do fly by and the work is always so exciting that no two days are the same. It truly is a miracle to see how just a handful of workers can keep the temple operating. Truly a testimony to see how it works!
There are 7 tribal languages in South Africa plus Africaans, French, Portugese, and of course English. But we have patrons from Madagascar who only speak Malagasy. Patrons from Mozambique who only speak
Portugese and also patrons from Botswana, Uganda, Congo, Swaziland, Namibia, and Zimbabwe and several other countries. It really is an amazing experience to be here. I love seeing the sisters come in in their native dress. They are so beautiful and have prepared themselves both physically and spiritually for this very special day. Wish you could all see it!
Well I have rambled on long enough...We send our love and prayers to all of you dear friends and family. Thanks for your emails, cards and calls. We love hearing from you. Happy Easter to all!
Till next month
Love,
Elder and Sister Jarvis
Grandmother and PaPa Joe
Joe and Kathy
Mom and Dad
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
FIVE MONTHS IN SOUTH AFRICA!
GREETINGS!
Yes, so hard to believe we have been here 5 months. If the rest of this mission goes this fast we are almost on our way home! Although I am missing my family more than words can say I have a feeling there is much left to be done. The temple just reopened yesterday after a two week closing for cleaning and repair. We were able to take a road trip with some other missionary couples to Cape Town. Wow what an amazing trip that was. We saw some of the most beautiful scenery ever and experienced magnificent birds, monkeys, zebras, cape buffalo, kudu, and even a lion in the desert. It was a lot of days in a car but it was certainly worth it. We marveled at Heavenly Father's creations,. How he must love his children to create such a magnificent place for us all to come. The Cape of Good Hope and Table Mountain were amazing and I had to pinch myself often to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Anyway we returned to the temple yesterday and had a large group of saints from the Congo to assist. The temple president told us that they had had such a difficult time to get there, They had first driven from their village on a very poor dirt road for over 7 hours, then crossed a river by ferry and driven another 3 hours to an airport and then flew to Johannesburg on a 3 1/2 hour flight. They were so thrilled to be there with their families to receive their endowments and be sealed to one another! We had 21 children in the youth center! What a thrilling day for us as workers to feel of their spirits and share in their joy and excitement. They mostly spoke French but there were also several Swahili speaking families. No matter we don't know their language ...the language of the spirit is the same for all! Great Day!
We had missed two Sundays in our ward here and when we returned last Sunday I had 3 more piano students who were waiting to begin lessons. So now our Sundays begin at 7:45 when we drive to our ward and don't get home until 3:00 or so but I love working with these people. They are so anxious to learn and they love music, especially the hymns. Elder Jarvis is the manager for all the Temple Missionary flats. It's quite a big job as he has to answer to everyone's problems with plumbing, electrical and anything else that goes wrong. He is also in charge of preparing new flats for the incoming missionaries. Oh, it's not a job, it's a calling! The weather continues very warm. actually it's their August now so high 80's are the norm but on our trip to Cape Town it was gorgeous at only mid 70's....perfect!We just lost another Senior Couple. They were released on Monday and we are down to 4 full time couples and two South African part time couples. We are starting to get a few South Africans helping us several shifts a week but for the most part it's just the missionary couples. One of the counselors to the Temple President went home to Madagascar for the two week break and became very ill.We really miss him and his wife as they speak both French and Malagasy. We are praying that he recovers soon and returns to the temple. On our road trip we attended the Somerset West Ward near the Cape. We met so many wonderful people and a new missionary couple from Utah who had just arrived there. They were very happy to see someone from "home" and it was great to see their excitement and enthusiasm for the work. In our ward on Sunday the bishop announced that the ward could be divided not only into two wards but three and then he said if we would each do our part at fellowshipping Kajiso Ward could even become a stake! I'm certain this is true. The building is filled to capacity for every meeting we have and sometimes not everyone even gets a seat! The Area President has told us that we could easily have 19 new stakes and 93 new wards in the Africa South East Area in the very new future....exciting stuff.
Well it's almost time to leave for the temple again so I had better close. We send our love to each of you. We are excited to hear about all the activities and accomplishments of the family and our friends. Thank you for your love and prayers in our behalf. We feel so blessed to be able to serve these wonderful, humble people. They are so appreciative of everything. We have learned much from them. The gospel is everything to them it is their life and as they say each day "I am so much grateful for my many blessings". Me too!
Yes, so hard to believe we have been here 5 months. If the rest of this mission goes this fast we are almost on our way home! Although I am missing my family more than words can say I have a feeling there is much left to be done. The temple just reopened yesterday after a two week closing for cleaning and repair. We were able to take a road trip with some other missionary couples to Cape Town. Wow what an amazing trip that was. We saw some of the most beautiful scenery ever and experienced magnificent birds, monkeys, zebras, cape buffalo, kudu, and even a lion in the desert. It was a lot of days in a car but it was certainly worth it. We marveled at Heavenly Father's creations,. How he must love his children to create such a magnificent place for us all to come. The Cape of Good Hope and Table Mountain were amazing and I had to pinch myself often to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Anyway we returned to the temple yesterday and had a large group of saints from the Congo to assist. The temple president told us that they had had such a difficult time to get there, They had first driven from their village on a very poor dirt road for over 7 hours, then crossed a river by ferry and driven another 3 hours to an airport and then flew to Johannesburg on a 3 1/2 hour flight. They were so thrilled to be there with their families to receive their endowments and be sealed to one another! We had 21 children in the youth center! What a thrilling day for us as workers to feel of their spirits and share in their joy and excitement. They mostly spoke French but there were also several Swahili speaking families. No matter we don't know their language ...the language of the spirit is the same for all! Great Day!
We had missed two Sundays in our ward here and when we returned last Sunday I had 3 more piano students who were waiting to begin lessons. So now our Sundays begin at 7:45 when we drive to our ward and don't get home until 3:00 or so but I love working with these people. They are so anxious to learn and they love music, especially the hymns. Elder Jarvis is the manager for all the Temple Missionary flats. It's quite a big job as he has to answer to everyone's problems with plumbing, electrical and anything else that goes wrong. He is also in charge of preparing new flats for the incoming missionaries. Oh, it's not a job, it's a calling! The weather continues very warm. actually it's their August now so high 80's are the norm but on our trip to Cape Town it was gorgeous at only mid 70's....perfect!We just lost another Senior Couple. They were released on Monday and we are down to 4 full time couples and two South African part time couples. We are starting to get a few South Africans helping us several shifts a week but for the most part it's just the missionary couples. One of the counselors to the Temple President went home to Madagascar for the two week break and became very ill.We really miss him and his wife as they speak both French and Malagasy. We are praying that he recovers soon and returns to the temple. On our road trip we attended the Somerset West Ward near the Cape. We met so many wonderful people and a new missionary couple from Utah who had just arrived there. They were very happy to see someone from "home" and it was great to see their excitement and enthusiasm for the work. In our ward on Sunday the bishop announced that the ward could be divided not only into two wards but three and then he said if we would each do our part at fellowshipping Kajiso Ward could even become a stake! I'm certain this is true. The building is filled to capacity for every meeting we have and sometimes not everyone even gets a seat! The Area President has told us that we could easily have 19 new stakes and 93 new wards in the Africa South East Area in the very new future....exciting stuff.
Well it's almost time to leave for the temple again so I had better close. We send our love to each of you. We are excited to hear about all the activities and accomplishments of the family and our friends. Thank you for your love and prayers in our behalf. We feel so blessed to be able to serve these wonderful, humble people. They are so appreciative of everything. We have learned much from them. The gospel is everything to them it is their life and as they say each day "I am so much grateful for my many blessings". Me too!
Saturday, January 10, 2015
2015 A NEW YEAR IN SOUTH AFRICA!
Happy New Year to all our Friends and Family:
Christmas and New Year's was a fairly quiet affair here as most of the locals head for the beaches and cool mountains. We actually decided to go to the famous botanical gardens on Christmas Day but much to our surprise that is where many residents of this city of 13+million spent their Christmas too! We had been to the gardens before and it was so quiet and peaceful with beautiful birds everywhere. This day however there were hundreds of families with their blankets and picnic baskets in tow taking up every inch of green lawn and rolling hills. Actually it was kind of fun to see how these people celebrate the holidays. The groups were made up of extended families including the very young and the elderly grandparents. The children were carrying a favorite toy, probably received that morning. Also it was extremely hot...about 90 and the humidity must have been 90% or more. Definitely different than our Christmases in Utah and Idaho! On New Year's Eve we had a pot luck with the other temple missionaries and then watched "INVICTUS" a great movie about the South African Rugby Team and how Pres. Mandela used it to help unite his country following aparteid. We all were to bed by 10:30 so not too much celebrating. Joe and I
went to a beautiful , preserve located about 40 minutes from Joburg. We saw many, many beautiful and unusual birds. The widowbird, the hoopoe, the boubul, the go-away, the weaver bird including watching them weave their incredible nests and many exquisite warblers which we haven't identified We also had a whole troup of baboons cross just a few yards in front of us and saw a group of Kudu and a herd of zebras. It trully was magical and we are anxious to go there again.
The temple was very, very busy during December. We have been so short of workers I don't know how we managed but we did. We only had 5 senior temple couples and 3 or 4 South African helpers that showed up occasionaly to help us. We had groups from the Congo, Mozambique, Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Cape Town and Durbin during December. It was amazing. They all brought their own family names to do the baptisms, and other work. What amazing people they are. They give up everything for the Lord and the youth are particularly devoted. I love these people. Great spiritual experience to be priviledged to help them. We are considering driving to "Cape Town" with the two couples that we came here with in Sept. They really want us to go with them. It's a long way to drive but I guess the sights are amazing. There's the Boulders Beach where the penguins live...yes penguins remember we are not that far from the Antartic! Also some botanical gardens that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Full of sunbirds, and bee-eaters and surgarbirds, etc. Also the cape dwarf chameleon and the Cape of Good Hope. Be sure you look this all up on the internet....amazing stuff!Beaches, mountains and one of the most beautiful coasts in the world...."the Garden Coast". Hope we can swing it. The temple is close for cleaning for two weeks in February.
We hope you are all well and enjoying a beautiful winter....yes beautiful. We really have missed the snow and all that goes with winter in Utah/Idaho. We are healthy and blessed to be able to do our work which includes 8 hour+shifts 5 days a week and also serve in our Ward. We send our love and appreciation for your love and prayers. Remember you can write to us at: Elder and Sister Jarvis (Temple Missionaries)
South East Africa Area (Temple) 50 East North Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150.
Love to all,
Sister Jarvis
Kathy
Mom
Grandmother and PaPa Joe
Christmas and New Year's was a fairly quiet affair here as most of the locals head for the beaches and cool mountains. We actually decided to go to the famous botanical gardens on Christmas Day but much to our surprise that is where many residents of this city of 13+million spent their Christmas too! We had been to the gardens before and it was so quiet and peaceful with beautiful birds everywhere. This day however there were hundreds of families with their blankets and picnic baskets in tow taking up every inch of green lawn and rolling hills. Actually it was kind of fun to see how these people celebrate the holidays. The groups were made up of extended families including the very young and the elderly grandparents. The children were carrying a favorite toy, probably received that morning. Also it was extremely hot...about 90 and the humidity must have been 90% or more. Definitely different than our Christmases in Utah and Idaho! On New Year's Eve we had a pot luck with the other temple missionaries and then watched "INVICTUS" a great movie about the South African Rugby Team and how Pres. Mandela used it to help unite his country following aparteid. We all were to bed by 10:30 so not too much celebrating. Joe and I
went to a beautiful , preserve located about 40 minutes from Joburg. We saw many, many beautiful and unusual birds. The widowbird, the hoopoe, the boubul, the go-away, the weaver bird including watching them weave their incredible nests and many exquisite warblers which we haven't identified We also had a whole troup of baboons cross just a few yards in front of us and saw a group of Kudu and a herd of zebras. It trully was magical and we are anxious to go there again.
The temple was very, very busy during December. We have been so short of workers I don't know how we managed but we did. We only had 5 senior temple couples and 3 or 4 South African helpers that showed up occasionaly to help us. We had groups from the Congo, Mozambique, Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Cape Town and Durbin during December. It was amazing. They all brought their own family names to do the baptisms, and other work. What amazing people they are. They give up everything for the Lord and the youth are particularly devoted. I love these people. Great spiritual experience to be priviledged to help them. We are considering driving to "Cape Town" with the two couples that we came here with in Sept. They really want us to go with them. It's a long way to drive but I guess the sights are amazing. There's the Boulders Beach where the penguins live...yes penguins remember we are not that far from the Antartic! Also some botanical gardens that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Full of sunbirds, and bee-eaters and surgarbirds, etc. Also the cape dwarf chameleon and the Cape of Good Hope. Be sure you look this all up on the internet....amazing stuff!Beaches, mountains and one of the most beautiful coasts in the world...."the Garden Coast". Hope we can swing it. The temple is close for cleaning for two weeks in February.
We hope you are all well and enjoying a beautiful winter....yes beautiful. We really have missed the snow and all that goes with winter in Utah/Idaho. We are healthy and blessed to be able to do our work which includes 8 hour+shifts 5 days a week and also serve in our Ward. We send our love and appreciation for your love and prayers. Remember you can write to us at: Elder and Sister Jarvis (Temple Missionaries)
South East Africa Area (Temple) 50 East North Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150.
Love to all,
Sister Jarvis
Kathy
Mom
Grandmother and PaPa Joe
Sunday, December 21, 2014
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
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
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
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!
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!
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