Leopard Rock Golf Course, Mutare (Bvumba) 2023.04.14-16
Pres. Judd teaches sister missionaries leadership skills at missionary conference, 2023.04.13
Wednesday, 12 April, we presented a Temple Fireside to the Missionary Leadership Training at Pres. and Sister Judd's. I prepared a PowerPoint with a few videos about the temple. Bruce had photos of the laser/compass instrument and square they use at the temple to ensure everything lines up exactly square and centered. The temple supervisor, Basil, runs a laser from the site's center point through the temple; this is where the entrance of the temple will have a large painting of the resurrected Christ. As we center our lives on the Savior, we can become perfected through Him. The workers are trying to perfect their skills on the other 4 buildings before they move on to the temple. We are truly building the House of the Lord and want it to be as perfect as possible. We enjoyed being around the elders and sisters of the mission, who are in leadership positions. We spoke for about 1 hour and had a question-and-answer period. The night ended with cake and gelato for the missionaries. .jpg)
Basil, Temple Site Supervisor with laser Edward and Shadrach, temple masons
We are so excited that Agnes and David have set a baptismal date in May! I love answering Agnes's questions about the church on the site. Today I showed her several videos on the churchofjesuschrist.org website about temples. These informative videos are available to all; it's nice to get accurate information directly from the source. She already wants to ensure she is living all of God's commandments. She asked about the Word of Wisdom and the law of Moses on eating "pork". I was grateful I had just read and marked my scriptures in the morning 3 Nephi 15:3-5 when Christ visited and stated he "had fulfilled that law given unto Moses...I have come to fulfill the law; therefore it hath an end." I talked about the higher law Christ gave to the people in the beatitudes and sermon on the mount. I'm amazed at Agnes's faith and dedication on searching the truths and the desire to already want to ensure she's living a righteous life before she's baptized. She asked about tithing and she said, "Can I pay more than 10%?" She also had questions about paying for clergy to pray for her. I had to inform her that no one in our church gets paid; we are all volunteers. We also don't charge for prayers.
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Joseph, our security entrance guard, greets us at Leopard Rock gate. He cracked me up with his salute!
We arrived at Leopard Rock after driving 4 hours to Mutare, looking for a gas station for another 45 minutes, then driving up the winding Mountains of the Mist for another 45 minutes or so. Mutare is near the border of Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The drive was beautiful and there are always some interesting little roadside vendors along the streets. Leopard Rock is a beautiful golf course resort we stayed in for the 2 day Mutare District conference. We were asked to come with Pres. and Sister Judd and talk about the temple. Although most of our time was in the town of Mutare, we enjoyed a run along the golf course and saw Samango monkeys all over in the trees and on a sketching-looking bridge. A mother monkey with her baby came within 2 feet of me. We also later found out there is a crocodile in the lake!
Leopard Rock was named for the large granite rock it was built around and because the owners frequently saw leopards resting on the rock. Besides the hotel, there is a castle built in the 1940's around the rock on the property. We were able to have a free tour Saturday morning. Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana had also stayed there; Queen Elizabeth exclaimed when she saw the rock bathroom and toilet, "Why, you have a throne too!" I had to get a photo of "Elizabeth's throne!" We were able to discuss the gospel and give our guide and porter, Delroy, a Book of Mormon. We also gave books to the receptionist and waiters. Always being missionaries!
On the road back to Mutare we stopped and met Mary and bought hats and aprons for $5.00 each. She also accepted a Book of Mormon. I loved the colorful tied-dyed prints!
At the conference, we set up our PowerPoint and laptop. Everything seemed to be working, but this is Africa! I was the third speaker and my slides would not advance. Nothing would play so I had to proceed a bit flustered. Bruce gave an excellent talk. I pray my weakness in speaking can become strong as we continue to be asked to present to different groups about the temple. We did bring a large framed picture of the temple rendering, which the saints really enjoyed and wanted their photo taken with it. Pres. and Sister Judd are excellent speakers and gave the most inspiring talks on both days. They had everyone listening intensively to each word they spoke. They encouraged the members to work on becoming a stake by December and prepare to go to the temple.
Saturday night we ate dinner with Elder Guy and Sister Rozilyn Peterson, humanitarian senior missionaries. We asked around for a good restaurant in Mutare. We were told to eat at the "Golden Peacock". When we arrived there were no menus, and also no Chinese food! The waitress told us they had pork or beef plates. It was mediocre but we were hungry. We left in the dark and there was added fog the whole way up the mountain back to our hotel. Luckily Bruce is used to our Cache Valley inversions. We crept along barely seeing 2 feet in front of us. We were grateful we had made the first trip up in the light or we would have been nervous we'd drive off a cliff. We were very grateful to finally make it back and our many prayers of safety were answered.
Sunday we had another district conference meeting in Mutare at 1000 a.m. It was at a different ward building than the Saturday meeting, so we were grateful google maps was working. We also drove 4 sisters back to their apartment for some visa papers we needed to take back with us to Harare. We loved the sisters and their wonderful spirits! I loved seeing the barbed wire enclosure around their apartment entrance. It reminded me how we protect our missionaries, but they have added and even better protection by keeping their temple covenants. As Pres. Nelson stated, "With the dedication of each new temple, additional godly power comes into the world to strengthen and counteract the intensifying efforts of the adversary." Pres.
Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 2022
We were so excited to see Thomas and his daughter come both days to the district conference. Thomas is the Nield's gardener in Harare but lives in Mutare and used to be the gardener at Leopard Rock. Reeve challenged him to come to learn about God this weekend. We were so happy he decided to join us. Lots of members want our pictures taken with them. We are the only "white" marungas in the congregation besides the other missionaries. However, I don't think the Zimbabweans see our lack of color because we are all children of God.
We had a safe ride home Sunday afternoon to Harare. You keep awake watching all the things on the road and passing all the slow trucks on the hills.
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