We just got home last night from Johannesburg, where we enjoyed getting together with all the other senior couples in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission.  Since we are four hours away we had not met two of the couples or spent much time with the others. We had a wonderful time! 

On our way there, we heard there was an S&I Conference going on in Boksburg, so we stopped at the Birchwood Hotel / OR Tambo Convention Center.  Bert Whimpey, who Bob taught with in CES (now S&I) in Mesa is now over S&I in Africa and he was attending the conference, so we wanted to surprise him and say "hi"!  We were pleasantly surprised to not only see Bro. Whimpey, but also Freddie Babeeyo from Uganda and Prince Omondi from Kenya who we became friends with when we served as CES missionaries in Ethiopia!! 
When we left our mission, we thought we would never see them again! We also got to visit 
with Jaime Massango, who was our S&I Coordinator until we were switched to the Johannesburg Area in January, and his cute wife, who are from Mozambique.  (We also saw our Area Director, Elder Tasara Makasi, who we have worked with in Ethiopia and also Swaziland, and Tirhani Ngomane who is now our Coordinator in Johannesburg. But those two had already gone to lunch when we took this picture... )

Left to right:  Freddie Babeeyo, Bert Whimpey, Bob, Prince Omondi,

Jaime Massango and his wife (who we learned is expecting in August)! 

We LOVE all of these WONDERFUL people!

The whole group of senior couples in the South Africa Johannesburg Mission

(Lto R:) Elder & Sister Boyer (Cedar City, UT), Elder & Sister Jensen (Provo, UT), Elder & Sister Duncan (Cameron, MO), Elder & Sister Fugal (Meridian, ID), Sister Willis & Sister Foxx (Grants Pass, OR), Elder & Sister Wagner (Washington), and President & Sister Leavitt (Cedar City, UT)

Sister Jensen surprised all the men with matching ties she 

made from African fabric and they all wore them all three days.  Ü 

On Wednesday, we started at 3:00 p.m. and had a meeting /discussion, then dinner at the mission home. Thursday morning, we went in two vans to Rosebank Mall to take the BIG RED BUS TOUR of the city of Johannesburg. It was very informative and fun to get to see all of Joburg.  We toured Constitution Hill and learned of the city's past and its transition to a democracy, then to the Apartheid Museum, which is across from the Gold Reef City Casino, Hotel and Amusement Park. 

Part of our group, just getting off the BIG RED BUS 

(We rode up on top in the front.)

The Boyers took this and sent it to us...

(I am still not used to my SHORT hair!! : /  )

It was a bit tricky to get good photos from the double decker 

bus....but here is a part of Johannesburg.

Traffic lights are called "robots", which is 

pronounced "row boats".

My favorite thing about Johannesburg is all 

of the tree-lined streets!  It is the "largest manmade

forest in the world" according to the tour guide.

There are SO many TREES!!!!

There are McDonald's and KFCs all over Johannesburg!

The Courthouse

There was a protest march going on the whole time we were there,

outside the old prison on Constitution Hill.

"A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest

citizens, but it's lowest ones..."

Inside a cell room....

(Very creative how they made inmates out of blankets!)

The outdoor restroom

What is left of the outdoor showers

The isolation area, also called the deep dark hole.

Their constitution and the eternal flame of democracy

(Apartheid lasted from 1948 to 1991.)

Outside what is like our Supreme Court in the United States

It was interesting to learn more about Nelson Mandela at the Apartheid Museum.

Ghandi Square and Ghandi Mall

Mahatma Ghandi spent time in Johannesburg and 

was imprisoned for a time in the old prison.

The tallest building in Johannesburg

The pretty Gold Reef Hotel, Casino and Amusement Park

(We didn't go in, but the BIG RED BUS had a stop there.)

More shots of Joburg....

Just before dinner at The Grillhouse, we went to the Arts and Crafts

Market near Rosebank Mall.  What a FUN place!  We could have 

spent another hour there easily!! 

I found these fun beaded African animals to go with my Zulu nativity! 

(I am still looking for an elephant and rhino and maybe a warthog too!)

Tonight, we were invited to dinner at Sister Ntshalintshali's home in Ncgewini ab out 30 min.

from Manzini.  They had a WONDERFUL dinner prepared for us.  Sister Ntshalintshali had three of her daughters there helping to prepare the meal.  It was SO nice.  We really enjoyed our visit and meeting and getting to know some of her family members better. Her daughter, Mabel was the FIRST baptized member in Swaziland in 1987.  She and her mother were interviewed in the video "Saints in Swaziland" in 2012.  We saw it at my brother, Bob's the night before we entered the MTC and my brother Rick has now put it on youtube! It's great! Her son, Siko Ntshalintshali is our district president in Swaziland!

They fixed chicken, squash, kale, potato salad, green salad,

beans and samp and beef and had cupcakes for dessert

along with the banana bread I took to them. Ü 

Sister Ntshalintshali with three of her daughters, Mabel,

Tilungile and a granddaughter, and great-grandchildren.