South African Saints

We attend the Mowbray ward. The church is about 5 miles from our apartment. The first two Sundays we took an Uber, and this last Sunday we took the train to church. By train it only takes about 12 minute to get there. The only problem is, the train is not very reliable. We were just so grateful the train came on time this week!

A lot of people introduced themselves to us the first week, and more people come up and introduce themselves each week. Everyone is very friendly. I think the South African accent is beautiful, but sometimes it is difficult to understand what people are saying, because their accents are so thick. My involuntary puzzled face as I focus hard to understand is a dead give away that we are new to this part of the world. :}

Bishop David Craig is the Bishop of the ward. He just became Bishop about a month and a half ago. He is very kind and sincere. He introduced us to a couple in the ward who moved from Scotland to South Africa about a year ago. They are a super sweet young couple who we are looking forward to getting to know better. They have offered us a ride home from church every week.

We haven’t been to any ward activities yet, but this upcoming Saturday there is a dessert activity. We are really excited to try some traditional South African desserts! A few that we have been told of are: malva pudding (advised to eat with custard), melk tert (milk tart), koek susters (Cape Malay), and peppermint crisp tart.

Something very cool that we learned just last Sunday is that our ward building was the first LDS church building built on the African continent! That is incredible to me!There is a plaque in the building that reads:

“Cumorah”…on this site the first Church owned property in Africa was purchased in 1916 by Mission President Nicholas G. Smith using the tithing of £1800…Cumorah from 1916 to 1964 served as a Silent Missionary and Home to every Mission President to South Africa until demolished to make room for the present chapel.”

There are 2 stakes in this area. In Johannesburg, on the other side of the country, there are 5 stakes. The Church is certainly growing in Africa. It is awesome to see!