SmithsAfricanAdventures

Here are the 15 sunbonnets I sewed for Sister Siims - she was in charge of the July 23rd senior dinner.  She made the cakes last month for the dinner I was in charge of - I loved sewing them - she combined the 4th of July with the 24th for the party!  The sisters liked them!  Everyone wore red, white and blue also!  Sister Sims had someone coming from the US bring the flags - and we all took one or two home with us.  There were only 6 bandanas for the men - so they held flags and Elder Sims wore a bonnet around his neck all evening! Creative Sister Forsyth made this fruit platter - I should have taken the picture earlier!!  delicious.  I made Cowboy baked beans, we had shredded beef and chicken hamburgers, potato salad and lots of fixings!   Elder Sims had complained to Sister Sims that the plates are always too small - so she got these platter ones!  Trouble was you filled it too full!!  The couple that are in charge for Thanksgivi...

Our office space is near the kitchen and temple patron housing.  We get to see the groups who come from out of country to the temple.  This young man in the blue suit was hanging around the lunchroom for about 40 minutes - then I noticed him with the shorter missionary from Madagascar.  I asked him if he had been waiting for the van from the airport - he said yes.  Then he introduced me to this missionary - and said: "I was a missionary in Madagascar - I taught and baptized this elder and now he is on a mission!"  How great is that?   Cute Elder Smith vacuuming the chapel in Kwa-thema.  July is our month to clean - I think we have all the 5 Saturdays months!!  We enjoy driving out there on Saturday morning when we don't have senior mission activities.   This young couple came to the office and asked if we could print his completion Certificate for finishing Pathway.  Of course - we love doing that!  We can print on card st...

  This is darling Lilly eating her First Birthday Cake - thanks so much Sam and Allie for sharing! It is hard to be long distance Grandparents - we are so happy Lilly celebrated in Minnesota with her other Grandparents!  We also are delighted to learn that she will have a little sister in October! 

  This is one of two emergency lanterns we have in the flat.  This one is plugged in and when the power goes out - it turns on!  Both are led lights and very bright!  We can read and function with them in our dark flat!   Just about a month ago I noticed the 'service' doors in the hallway of our apartment house.  This is the front door of Elder and Sister Walston - 206. You can see to the left of their front door - the service door. This is our front door - the service door has been remodeled and we have a cupboard in the kitchen on the other side of it.  Another flat like ours with the service door next to the front door - behind the gate. One day as we walked passed the door was open and it was directly into the kitchen ...and it occurred to me that it was the door that the black maids had to use to work for the family!!   Down the hallway on the other side there are larger apartments - they have a service door opening out into the hal...

  Anna bought this beautiful handkerchief in Florence, Italy for me! It arrived the week of our anniversary so I'm going to include it in our gifts!  She also sent a magnet from Paris - pretty! Pretty roses that Elder Smith bought me for our 56th Wedding Anniversary!  The waiter took this picture - Elder Smith didn't want to stand up!  Not too bad for really old people! Our dinner at Olives and Plates -  part of the Culinary Arts program at Wits Univesity. Polly and Chris sent us an amazing snack box - arrived on our anniversary and we're still snacking! And we aren't very good at taking 'selfies'!

  After the tour many of the senior couples came to a Greek restaurant near the parking lot and enjoyed lunch together.  At this mall there was this train giving rides to children -fun! Train behind Elder Swift and Elder Watson - we always have a good time together.  Elder and Sister Smith by the Red Tour Bus!  We see them on the roads and now we know what they are experiencing!   This is the main train station - many of these trains bring people in from Soweto to work in the city. In the downtown area, people had their wares laid out on the sidewalk - new kind of Sidewalk Sale! Hillbrough was the home of artists and hippies in the 70's - low rents and segregation laws not enforced! One of the big mining trucks - some abandoned gold mines are now being reworked to get the gold from the tailings!  Typically middle class neighborhood - everyone has fences to try and keep their property safe.  One of our branch presidents was robbed in his home - too...

On Saturday, July 9th, the senor missionaries had our monthly activity - A Red Bus Tour of Johannesburg.  It was fun - Elder and Sister Forsyth brought Krispy Kreme donuts for everybody!  Elder and Sister Smith - we sat on the top of the bus - but under the partial roof - it wasn't too cold. View of the City from a hill - there was so much information about the history and  settling of 'Gold City' - Jo-burg.   This is an old private school - very well known, situated in the area of some of the oldest mansions, built by the gold mine owners - the city built a freeway in front of them after 1994 and apartheid was out. Elder and Sister Swift sitting in front of the bus - we all learned a good deal about the almost 6 million people in the Jo-burg metropolitan area. Diverse and growing every year.  More jobs are here than in any other city in the Part of the down town streets - Johannesburg has the best economy of any city on the continent of Africa...early tied...