The Nuzmans in South Africa: August 2011

We passed our one year mark on August 2^nd. It really doesn’t seem possible. It has been a while since we have written so we will give a short synopsis of the past few weeks.
On June 26^th we had a transfer news dinner and found that four of our Elders would be leaving us. They have worked so hard; they will really be missed.

left to right: Elders Nkambule, Fokuo, Mashiloane, Ngwenya,
Armstrong, Shokane, Kamara, Keeble Martin and Mead

We went to the airport and picked up Elder Cunguara. He is our new zone leader with Elder Mashiloane. We also added Elder Karabonyana, who will be working with Elder Nkambule in Esikhawini on bikes. Elder Mbongwe will be working with Elder Mead in Ngwelezane and Elder Risley will be serving with Elder Martin in Nseleni on bikes.

Elders Ngwenya, Shokane, Armstrong and Kamara leave us.

Welcome to Elder Cunguara in the middle with
Elder Mashiloane and Elder Nuzman.

Welcome to Elder Karabonyana.

Here he is Elder Mbongwe! His smile is as big as he is!

Our brand new Elder Risley, from the state of
Virginia in the USA.

June 30^th to July 2^nd we attended a couples conference at
Nambiti Private Game Reserve which is located near Ladysmith. We had a wonderful time getting to know the other couples in our mission. This is really the only time we see them. Last December at our conference it was extremely hot. It was very cold at this conference. In fact a few days after we left, they had snow!

Entrance to Nambiti.

Enjoying some sun: left to right Elder and Sister Dahle,
Elder and Sister Allred, and Elder Nuzman

left to right: Sister and Elder Blackburn, Sister and Elder Ward
Sister and Elder Cox and Elder Nuzman

left to right: President Von Stetten, Sister Petersen, Elder Petersen
Sister Von Stetten and Sister Blackburn

Here we are at Nambiti Lodge.

Our luxury tents were just that, complete with heat and all the comforts you could ever want.

View from our deck.

Each couple had their own tent.

A view of the inside

We were so excited to see several lions on the game drives. We got lots of exercise climbing in and out of the Land Rover safari wagon.

This is the remains of an old Zulu village. The buildings can not
be removed as it would anger the ancestors. This is now on the
game reserve and no one lives in these dwellings.

There are many herds of wildebeests.

Here come the lions. We just stopped and watched as they
walked by us in the safari wagon.

The lionesses lead the pride.

And here we have the "king".

These are the cubs. They are all on a hunting expedition.
The cubs killed a warthog and they all had dinner.

This lioness wants to take a nap.

The lion rests tonight.

This was our guide, Nels who is from the Cape.

Beautiful sunset, wonderful holiday with awesome people!

We arrived back at our new place of residence refreshed and ready to get back to our duties. We had just moved in prior to our conference. It is a beautiful setting and we are really enjoying our surroundings.

The garage and front entry.

We haven't been in the splash pool but it will be inviting when it gets hot!

A view of the front.

Another view

The yard is lovely and we don't have to maintain it.

Our lounge area.

Our kitchen area.

As we are lacking kitchen cabinets, we moved some shelves into the dining room.

This patio is in the front entry area. We sometimes eat out here.

We had quite a storm in July. It rained and the wind blew very hard. There were five and six meter swells in the ocean along the coast. It lasted for several days without stopping. Many trees came down and a ship broke anchor and came aground close to Balito at Sheffield Beach.

Typical of the many trees that were taken down by the wind.
Many roofs lost tiles as well. In the townships many lost their entire roof.

KFC lost the bucket off their sign!

View of the ship from Tinley Manor Beach.

At Sheffield Beach. The streets were closed in the residential area where we took this
picture. We had to walk downhill for about a mile. When we were walking back up
to our car with the throngs of people who came to see the ship, a resident, driving up
the hill, stopped and gave us a ride. We guess we are really looking old these days!

We celebrated Sister Nuzman’s 70^th birthday a week early as our friends the DeKlerks were able to join us that weekend. We went on a harbor cruise here in Richards Bay. This is really the only way you can view the ports as they are all gated. We had such a good time.

Susan and Paul DeKlerk with us on the harbor cruise.

It was windy but so beautiful!

It takes 10 trainloads of coal to fill a ship. This is nearly full as it is low in the water.

A ship being loaded with aluminum ingots.

Woodchips are exported as there are many forests which are planted for this purpose.

Less than a half mile from our house, you can view large ships.

Sister DeKlerk and Sister Nuzman overlooking the sea from the sand dunes by our house.

On the 28^th we celebrated with our seminary students in Port Durnford. We played some scripture games and had cake and juice. They are such a special group of young people.

Celebrating with Singobile, Ayanda, Nozipho, Lungani and Thobani

We continue to visit and help the members when we can. Our English class in Port Durnford is bringing in investigators. Some of our members are taking the class again and are really getting very good in their writing and reading.

Mama Zulu in her garden.

Some of the members of our English class at Port Durnford.

And that brings us up to August 7^th when we had another transfer news dinner. We learned that Elders Mashiloane and Fokuo would leave us. It is always sad to say goodbye to them, but wonderful new elders join us.