The Mountain Kingdom

This is the Maputsoe border crossing where we entered the country of Lesotho. It is a small country surrounded on all sides by So. Africa, like Kansas would be if it was an independent country.

The main export product of this nation is hydro-electricity, generated at several large dams. This is Katse Dam Reservoir, one of the larger reservoirs where the electricity is produced.

This is at the top of Mafika Lisiu Pass at about 10,000 feet altitude. We are looking back on the long, steep, narrow and winding road up to the pass.

Along the road, we see many of the small round huts of the Basotho country people. These homes are called Rondavels. Life seems simple and easy here. No one seems to be in a hurry.

Lesotho is called the mountain kingdom and you can see why. That looks like the Matterhorn in the background. The mountains are spectacular here.

This is typical of the scenery in the mountain country. In the foreground is a corn field. In the center is a hill-side village with the Rondavel homes. In the background, the light colored patches at the foothills of the large mountains are corn fields. As you can see, corn is one of the basic staples of these people.

This is a common sight as we travel in the country. Many sheep, cattle and goats are raised by these mountain dwelling people.

Oh, how this reminds us of Madagascar. Life is good. These two lads are probably heading into town for a Saturday night double-date.

This happens to be laundry day and this is how it is done here in the country. It looks like back-breaking work, but these women seem to be enjoying the social environment at the laundromat. Note the little guy up on the bank, just happy to be there.

Friends From Madagascar

Susan and Sister Velosoa at our apartment. One of the great blessings we have received while serving here in the Joburg Temple is being able to see, once again, some of the great people we knew while we were in Madagascar. We never dreamed when we left Madagascar that we would one day meet some of these special people again. This young lady was a sister missionary while we were there. She came to our office almost every Monday morning for cookies. We loved her. She is presently here with a friend of hers that is receiving medical treatments which are not available in Madagascar.

The couple on the right is Emanuel and Alice Rakotovao, who served here as temple missionaries until December. What wonderful people they are. They were very valuable in the temple because of their ability to speak French, Malagasy and English very well. They also had a very special spirit about them. We first met them while we were in Madagascar just prior to their coming here and our returning to our home in Utah.

Sister Bird with Sitrika's family. He was a mini missionary while we were there.

Fred and Helisoa. She was also a sister missionary while we were there and a regular visitor on Mondays for cookies and candy.

This is Brother Ndrasanirina and his new bride Felina. She was also sister missionary and frequent visitor for cookies.

Below is Solofo, our old guardian at our flat until he went on his mission to Africa. His new bride, who's name we are trying to remember, was also a sister missionary who frequently visited us.

Primary at Cosmo City Unit

This is Sister Bird's rambunctious and roudy primary class. They are sweet and wonderful kids, but are full of energy. We think they save it all for classtime. Elder Bird is used for crowd control.

Banana Flower

April fool!! This beautiful large maroon flower looking thing in the banana tree is about two feet across. It is not really a flower, but is called the inflorescence or the heart. As the heart opens up, the hanging banana cluster or stem begins to form with each individual banana having it's own small flower. From this heart will come a cluster of up to 400 bananas weighting up to 110 lbs. Did you know that bananas are slightly radioactive. If you eat too many, you may start to glow.