Road to Newcastle

Ron and I took our first road trip this week (25-26 March 2010), driving four hours southeast to Newcastle, South Africa. Our scenery changed from city to rolling countryside which reminded us of springtime landscapes around Dillon, Montana, when green grass and wildflowers flood the hillsides; in this case vast fields of six foot tall cosmos greeted us along the way.

The purpose of our journey was to meet with police officers in the neighboring African township of Madadeni with a population of over one million. It was here in January 2010 that a North American elder and his 17 year old teaching companion for the evening were kidnapped at gunpoint. They were instructed to call their mission president while being taken to a neighboring township where they were tied up in an unoccupied house and abandoned as their assailants drove away. After a couple of hours the missionaries were able to untie themselves, escape through a window and run to a lighted neighboring house where the authorities were contacted. The police set up a sting operation and captured the two kidnappers.

We traveled with our Security manager visiting from SLC and met with twelve police officers and their supervisors in a conference room at the police station. Appreciation was expressed in behalf of the Church for the timely and professional arrest of the kidnappers. Elder Erickson spoke with them as a fellow police officer, asking them questions and complimenting them on their actions. A good dialogue was held regarding our security function and how we interface with their operations. Business cards were exchanged and a group picture was taken by their department photographer.

From there were caravaned to the township to view the shack where the missionaries were abandoned. We met neighbors along the way as we walked down dusty lanes and observed their daily life. Men and women were observed with plastic buckets in wheelbarrows as they transported them filled from a community water spigot in a field. Two women graciously allowed us to photograph them with their children.

Laurene waved at this woman who was hoeing in her yard and was invited in through a gate to take her picture next to the garden enclosure which housed corn and cabbages. Notice how beautifully dressed the woman is to be out working in her yard at midmorning. Strings with a worn shoe attached were tied to chickens' feet to keep them close to home.

On our drive northward we stopped for lunch at a restaurant which included an enclosure of baby lions and Bengal tigers. For 20 Rand (US$3.00 each) we petted and gingerly played with the cubs. Although they are small, their claws and teeth are razor sharp. Notice their recent lunch menu!

Today at Sunday School Ron and I completed our first Family History class with three of our six students present. The young woman is a first year university medical student and is viewing online the recorded baptisms for the dead completed yesterday in the Johannesburg Temple for twelve of her direct maternal ancestors. She received this information about her family in January from an uncle . The older woman observing and man viewing his family on new.familysearch were both born in Zimbabwe. With very few written records available for African lines, the main emphasis is to obtain oral histories and pedigrees from living relatives. Many of the older people in families and villages are grateful to share their knowledge as they desire for this family information to be handed down to the next generations.