At the top

Ah. . . . Table Mountain!

Here is our starting point for this blog. This is a great view of the "Mountain" at dusk. This looks like it was taken on an island looking back at land, but actually this is the other side of the bay. Table Mountain faces west almost directly, but there is this little neck of land that juts out opposite it that makes it possible to take this picture.

I can't really explain the fascination that people who live here have with this mountain, but it does kind of impose itself into your life. It is that constant landmark that you look to in order to know where you are. You check the weather by it because it is just so awesome to see what it will look like each day. I don't think I know a person who hasn't basically fallen in love with the mountain if they have stayed here very long. All visitors are captivated. Even Elder Herbert (who has not shared my love of mountains throughout our lives together) is constantly taking pictures of the mountain and commenting about how it looks.

Well, today is the day that we get to go to the top of Table Mountain. I feel like Moses going up to get the stone tablets. I am so excited about what I will see there. Tonight there is a "Sunset Special" which takes place the last two weeks of February - kind of in the middle of the summer. (I know---it has taken forever to find the time to get this on my blog-sorry! But I'm writing it just like I felt that day because it will be more fun that way. For me anyway---and hopefully for you! ) The tickets are half price today - a steal and Grampa isn't about to miss this great deal. The tickets are usually 150 rand (a little more than $20) per person, but tonight they are 79 rand---whoo hoo ten bucks to see a very thrilling sight. Our dear friends, the Harms, wanted to go see the sunset on Table Mountain, so they invited us to go along. We packed a little dinner, so we could eat and watch the sunset. We're having cheese sandwiches (courtesy of Sister Harms - grated cheese, green chilies, mayo, etc--they were very yummy) and grapes and chips and carrot sticks and homemade cookies. I brought the cookies, because I had a Relief Society meeting that day and we did scrapbooking.

This picture was taken as we were waiting in line to get on the tram that carries you to the top. You can see downtown Cape Town and the wharf and, of course, the bay with the white boats which look very tiny, but are really very large. This is only a very small part of Cape Town. It is about 6 pm. on the last Saturday in February, 2010.

Here we are while we are waiting in line - very anxious to get going. We have only walked up a few stairs from the parking area. So we are just getting started. There are homes and buildings like this all the way around the mountain except to the south. Doesn't it look like a beautiful warm day to go to the top of a mountain?

Here is the gondola we will ride on - looks kinda small, huh. There are probably about 30 people in there. The neat thing is that it turns continuously while you are ascending, so you get to see all the different views around. We were lucky enough to be right on the outside so we had a great view.

No! Amazingly we did not take any pictures on the way up. I think we were too excited or worried that we would drop the camera. The trip up the mountain was awesome and we finally made it to the top. There were no close calls or anything, just a nice, safe, quick ride to the top.
Of course there is lots of room to wander around up there and we couldn't move fast enough because we knew the sun would set soon! So we walked around for a while. We saw this cute little museum house that is built on the top of the mountain. The little "steeple" on the end is the chimney and they usually have one on each end of the house. There are lots of little houses with this achitechural design all around Cape Town, but they are usually whitewashed stucco. People tell us it is Dutch influence from the late 1600s.

This picture below shows Sister Harms waving us over because she has found a great place to eat our dinner. It has a little bench and everything. My shadow waving back looks like Indian paintings on the rocks.
The sun is still a little while from setting, so we are looking around but we have walked up to the place where Sister Harms is. We have to check to see how long we have until the sun will set. Ah, it looks like we still have a few minutes, but people are starting to gather to enjoy it.

If we look to our left, we can see the mountain range behind Table Mountain expanding to the south. Looks a little like the Grand Canyon, but really reminds me of the sunset over the Rocky Mountains we saw on the west side of Denver - actually at Boulder. And, yes, that is the ocean you see way back there but with a cloud bank extending all around it. Somewhere around the bend on those mountains is a place where there are 12 special shapes all in a row kind of like you see these three formations right here. They are named the 12 Apostles of course, because this is a very Christian nation. Or at least it was until lots of Muslims, Indians, Thai, Chinese, etc. came here.

Here we are eating our dinner---I am busy scarfing down grapes and Sister Harms is putting some tomatoes or oranges or something on her plate. Elder Herbert took the pictures at this point so you don't get to see him with his mouth full.


This is the beginning of the sunset. Not exactly impressive after the stunning shots we had at Chapman's peak. One thing is very interesting though and I hope you can see it. There are clouds out there on the ocean. As far as you can see there are clouds out there about half as high as the mountain. I don't know how high they were above the water, but it looks like it is raining out there under them or at least there is a very thick mist! There is a wall out there where they begin (or would you say end?), and then you can see the ocean where it comes in to the land. We thought the storm would slowly move in on us, but it never did. So again the sun is going down behind a bank of clouds and not really into the ocean!!

And shoosh! it is gone! (It wasn't really that fast - we gazed at it for quite a while.) But it isn't really dark yet! This is that beautiful time we call dusk that we seldom appreciate at home, because we are rushing to get somewhere by 6 or 7.

If we turn a little to our right, we can see some more of Cape Town as the lights start to come on. Now you can see the other side of the bay where we took that beautiful picture of Table Mountain at dusk on another outing - we did not take that first picture today. You can't see it very well, but the clouds on this side are floating high above the buildings. It shows a little better in one of the next pictures.

And now you can see the sleeping lion - you could just see his rump in the last picture. The pointy part is the lion's head. The part that sticks up is his mane or his ears and you can make out his sillouette---it is amazing, in this light I can see it - I have never really seen the correct angle before I guess. He is resting there in front of Table Mountain. With a tiny sailboat right by his mane.

We could see the clouds beginning to sneak through that little crevice in the mountain and it reminded us all of the Ten Commandments when the mist went through Egypt! It was very enjoyable to watch it move. You can also see the bank of clouds behind the mountain and the lights of the city under it. That little point of mountain out there is the back of the mountain we take pictures of all the time at the office.

This picture gives a little better view of the clouds and the city. Our Mission Office where we work every day is over by where the clouds start and our home is back under the clouds about 3 or 4 miles.(But five or six kilometers!) It feels almost like you are in an airplane looking down at everything.

Now it is getting just a little too dark and the warning bell starts to ring that the last trips down the mountain in the gondola are starting. So unless we want to spend the night out here on the mountain, we have to go get in line. It looks pretty peaceful, as you can only see the outlines of people scrambling off the rocks, but I can still see that bank of clouds out there---it is just amazing.

Another day - another adventure for the lucky Herbert missionaries who are trying their best to do some good in Cape Town! Hope you are trying your best too! We love you all! Bye!

Chapman's Peak

One Saturday afternoon we decided it was time for another little scenic drive. The Harms had already done the Chapman Peak drive, but they said it was so beautiful that they would like to go again. It is only about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from our flat and is a different way to get to Cape Point---where the Cape of Good Hope is. We first drove through a forest--it was much denser than this and looked like Yellowstone Park as you drove - trees on both sides. At one point the trees thinned out and we saw these grape vineyards in the distance. This shows a little of the country-side so you can see how they farm.

After we got past the forest, we came to a little bay called Hout Bay. It was very picturesque and we especially loved the whale clooud that formed on the mountain as we stood there! Can you see it?

Here's a better picture where he even has an eye and it looks like he is about to eat a little fish. Funny how there are clouds on top of all three peaks. We only stayed here a few minutes.

We were hoping to see the sun go down into the ocean, but of course it was cloudy again. We thought this sunset was very striking and really loved the clouds here. There is a huge cliff at this spot and they have put up a mirror to help you see around the bend in the road. We were going the wrong direction to use it. Seemed strange.

Below is a tunnel-like retaining wall that was created to protect the roadway from falling rocks. This road has been closed for a long time while they built or repaired the wall. You drive through the covered part so quickly that we didn't have time to snap a picture. Then you drive a little further under a rock ceiling kind of thing---I guess you can see it in the picture! We think we will get a better picture next time! The road has a toll booth that charges you coming and going in order to pay for all the work! It was about $8 American each way, but it was so worth it for the beautiful landscapes and sunset we saw. As we drove around a bend in the road, we saw this beautiful white sandy beach without a soul on it. It was a lovely, warm evening and it was a surprise not to see a few beachcombers out searching for shells. I was dying to run down there!

We were watching the sunset which was fiery orange and it was so beautiful it was hard to tear ourselves away, but then we noticed this pink ribbon of clouds that went clear across the sky. It looked like a lost piece of wrapping ribbon! We were so interested in it, that we didn't turn around for a while and then we turned 180 degrees and saw the beautiful sunset on the picture after this one.

The sunset was becoming more beautiful by the moment and every few seconds was a different exciting view.

The ribbon got pinker and pinker and lingered over the mountains for quite a while. We lingered there in the same spot and turned one way and then the other snapping photos all the time. It was so hard to pick the ones to put on the blog.

Finally it really started to get dark and we had to leave this wonderful spot and count on the camera to hold the memories for us. Goodnight all - we love you and pray that all will be well with you in every way.

The Valentines Dance

In mid-January Elder Herbert and I heard the news that there was going to be a dance put on by the Young Men and Young Women of the Langa Branch for Valentine's Day. I have to admit we were a little skeptical that it would even happen. But some of the Young Women leaders really got excited about this activity and started having dance practices. We thought they were just practicing so they would know how to dance and then when we happened on a practice one afternoon at the church, we realized they were going to have a floor show and all of them were going to do ballroom dancing. This is what dancing with the stars has done! I like it!

They worked so hard ----gathering dishes from their homes and buying decorations. They spent all day that day preparing food and decorating the room. I was shocked when I saw the lovely table settings with a menu on each plate and organza table cloths. I have to admit that Valentine's Day is lots more fun when the weather is warm. No one had to wear an ugly coat over their party dress. They actually had a talk on proper dress and morals before the dance started. Some of the girls went out afterwards and pinned their necklines up so they wouldn't have such a low neckline---so here is the beautiful dress (that they probably borrowed from a friend and it doesn't fit them just right) and there are safety pins at the nekline. I love that!

Below is a picture of me and my two of my best friends in Africa---Sister Mazwi who is my visiting teaching companion and Sister Matshaya who is Relief Society President. They both got so dressed up for the evening and I wore my dorkiest clothes!! I had lots of red clothes I could have worn---all the teenagers were in red or pink---even most of the boys. Next is Brother Sekori---he is the man that holds the Branch together right now. He is a counselor in the Branch Presidency and he is at every meeting and tries to have activities. He is a returned missionary that still struggles with the cultural issues that keep his people from living the gospel. We really love him.The picture above is is a better picture of the tables where you can see the plates are all different because lots of people brought them from home. The flowers were plastic ones that are at the church every Sunday. They put them in little vases. They served three courses - first starters - vegetable salsa, and rolls---then they gathered the plates and silverware and washed them all and served the main course - grilled fish (really good) potatoe mash and stir fried vegetables. They served the dessert in mugs from the kitchen - I made it---carrot cake of course!
The girl in the flowered skirt is Nongamso---she is one of the girls I am teaching piano. She is the one that is just beginning. She is the cutest thing and tries so hard to go ahead in the book.
She is younger, so she had to dance with her friend instead of a boy. The picture below shows some of them dancing----this was not their exhibition dance because each couple danced alone. We didn't take pictures during the dancing because we were afraid it would throw them off. They were concentrating so hard!

Even Grampa and Gramma Herbert had to "cut a rug" a little bit. They thought it was pretty neat that we knew how to dance. I heard some of them saying, "Wow, Elder Herbert can really dance!" All the couples wanted pictures and we had to print them some copies. So Elder Herbert was taking pictures in the corner most of the night! I don't think they have many pictures of themselves. You can sort of see the decorations in the background. This is Brother and Sister Sekori - He is a returned missionary, but they haven't been able to get to the temple yet. They are in our temple prep class and hope to be able to afford to go to the temple in November. It costs between 2500 and 3000 rand just to make the trip, which is about $400 American. They travel a little over a thousand miles on the BUS! to get there.

This is Tshwane and her friend. She just graduated from high school and is going to start college next semester. She is the one who speaks six languages. She wants to be an economist and is trying to get one of the PEF loans to go to school. She comes and plays the piano with me and plans all the music for sacrament meeting. I've only met him a couple of times - he doesn't come to church and isn't a member. They were the stars of the dancing!

This is Brother and Sister Mogkosi. He is in the Elder Quorum presidency. He went on a mission too and now works at Budget Car Rentals, so he has access to a car pretty often. She is the Primary President and they have a cute little boy. They are going to the temple in March or April and they are coming to our class too.

This is Simpiwe who has all the women after him. He forgot to get his clothes washed and they weren't dry for the party. The girls were upset, but they got over it. Here he is with Zintle (Zint Lay)

This just shows the decorations a little bit more - I couldn't believe all the trouble they went to and where did they get all this stuff? A young Women leader who works for a caterer brought a lot of it and taught them all to dance and made the most fantastic meal.

Here is a shot of the whole group as the evening was ending. Everyone was pretty happy and having a great time. Now you've been to a Valentine's Party Langa style! We had a great time--hope you did too!

Fun in Langa

Here we are at the Langa Community Centre. They have this little mosaic and some of their artwork displayed here. I love this picture because it shows some of their talents. There is a lizard and a duck up on top of the wall that are carved I think. We got a map of Langa here and were very excited to have it. They have a walking tour you can take of the city, but we haven't had time to do it. It seems like it might be a little scary to be walking here ---there are some people here who really hate white people.

We saw these women walking along the road in Langa. There are always women carrying things on their heads. If you look closely you can see a baby on the back of the woman in front. They don't buy baby carriers, they just wrap a blanket around their middle with the baby on their bac

Here is a close-up of the baby-carrier. I thought I had already posted this, but I looked through my blog and didn't see it. They just lean forward and throw the baby and the blanket onto their back and tuck it in in front like you would a towel around you after your bath. I can't believe it stays on--and the babies seem to like it .

This man was driving his horse and wagon along the bridge over the freeway. It was quite a contrast. We see one like this about every day usually with a couple of kids in the back and some things they have collected to take home and work on. The poor horse is always seems to be running or trotting---we are thinking the horses probably don't live very long!

Here is a picture of two of our favorite people in the branch. This is Nozuko whose home I wrote about in one of my very first blogs. She is a single woman with no children who desperately wants to get married and have children. Things look promising in this picture with Simpiwe, her good friend---don't they make a cute couple? He is probably about five years younger than she is and not nearly so ready to settle down. He has several of the women in the branch after him and he is not ready to choose at this point. We are really rooting for Nozuko, but we like the others too! Simpiwe is a new member of less than a year. Nozuko is coming to our temple preparation class and hoping to go to the temple this year---married or not! She has been a member for about two years, has a great job, and seems to be very independent. She is the Young Women's President and comes to everything at the church - they both do. Simpiwe was just called to be the Branch Mission Leader and is doing a very good job. This was taken in our little chapel at the Langa Branch.

The picture below is our investigator, Samantha and her boyfriend whom she lives with and their new baby. Her boyfriend is Zamile who is a member of the church who has not been active for a while, but decided to clean up his life when he learned that Samantha was expecting. She came to live with him then because he wanted to care for her. The missionaries asked us to come and talk to them for a while about marriage and how to get along ---they tend to fight a lot. Some days they want to get married and some days they don't!! We now go every Wednesday and discuss the gospel with them. Zamile's mother also comes to church, but is not a member. She doesn't speak English well and it makes it hard to teach her, but she loves the scriptures. They all do - they read all the time and have lots of questions when we come. This was taken on one of the hottest days of the year - we were all just sweating in their little house with very little air moving.

These kids were outside Zamile's house after we came out. They wanted to wash our car for 200 rand! that's about $25! We take it the service station and get it washed and dried and vacuumed for 50 rand. They even paint the tires black with shoe polish and polish the dash inside. Zamile's mother is in the back with the white hat on - whe felt bad she missed the picture inside. We'll get some more pictures of her. This was the first day of school for these kids and some of them still had their new clothes on. They were just excited to have school started again. I think they get pretty bored during the breaks.

I haven't added the pictures of the cake baking to the blog because I put them on Facebook one day. I was there and I was anxious to add them. I decided to put them here for those of you who don't do Facebook. We met on Saturday afternoon at three---that is the time they love to have Enrichment meeting. We try to be done by five, but it has been six or later all three times I have been there. Funerals are always on Saturday, in the morning, so they often come straight from the funeral to Relief Society meeting. On this day Sister Matshaya gave a lesson on developing their talents that was very interesting to them.
We talked for quite a while about what their talents were and how they could develop them. Of course only these four ladies were there because everyone comes about an hour late. I know, I know lots of people come late in the US too, but usually not half the crowd and they don't expect you to wait until they get there to start! In the picture above we are grating the carrots for the carrot cake. I brought my little food processor to show them. I told them we didn't have to use it, but they insisted they wanted the latest technology. Some of the people whose families have been in the church for a long time are able to afford some of these things. I think it cost us about 220 rand which is about $30 American money. Sister Matshaya acted like she had one. They had a lot of fun playing with it. They all wanted to show in the picture how they were helping make the cake so they grabbed some of the ingredients for the picture! So cute! Sister Sekori who is holding the carrot and the baking soda is one of my favorite people. Her first name is Thandeka or Thandy for short- the th is just pronounced like a t so it sounds like Tandy. She is so loving and giving and tries so hard to please everyone. You'll see her in some more pictures as time goes on.

Sister Matshaya (the Relief Society President) is the one with the scarf around her head. She is usually wearing a hat at Enrichment because she has just come from a funeral and they must cover their heads at funerals---men and women. It is a sign of respect - I think for God, but it might be for the family of the person who died. Her name is Ntombelanga Gertrude---yeah, that's why I just call her Sister Matshaya - everyone does---and sometimes they call her Mama Matshaya. She is also one of my favorite people - the sweetest woman and very devoted to the Church. I found out this week that she is a debt counselor for some company and she goes to people's homes and helps them set up schedules to overcome their debt. She is a very intelligent woman.

The two girls in the center and their Mom showed up at about four pm and were disappointed that we already had the carrot cupcakes in the oven. But they set right to work getting the chocolate cake made. They love to clown for the camera and Elder Herbert would peek in about every 15 minutes and they would strike a pose for him and joke around with him. The lady sitting in the front is a stalwart of the branch. Her name is Lawandlekazi Mavula---she teaches seminary to the youth---I'm not sure how often they have it. I think it is about once a week in the afternoon. Sister Xoliswa Mokgosi is in the gold shirt on the right - She is the primary president---and Sister Matshaya's daughter.
Here are the cakes as they are finished and cut for serving. They had to try the chocolate frosting on a couple of the carrot cupcakes, but they decided the white cream cheese frosting was better on them. By this time Samantha (with the orange scarf) and her baby had come. Samatha is the one who loves to bake, but has no oven. We found out this week that they actually have a stove and the burners work. It is just that the oven doesn't work. Elder Herbert is going to try to fix it, we just have to find a tester so he can tell if the wiring is bad or the switch. She is very excited to have it fixed.
This picture has another of my favorite people - Sister Signoria Mzaifani. She is the mother of the two cuties. She has a beautiful singing voice and is the music director for the Branch. Her husband is a counselor in the branch presidency. She has a little sandwich shop in her kitchen and you can stop at her house and order a hoagie type sandwich with the fries right inside the sandwich---I think it is her own idea and is very popular with the locals. Her house is kind of like the Ross Park Drive-in with people dropping by every few minutes ordering sandwiches and she just keeps talking to you and cooking and taking care of her grandkids all the while. She is very generous and always makes a fuss about my clothes and how I look. We trade compliments every Sunday - but she looks so fantastic and has the most amazing clothes that they tell me she makes herself. Sandwiches don't start until lunch time, so I guess she gets that done in the morning!

Sight-seeing in Cape Town

Here is my sunset for this week - they are so amazing - I can't resist! This was taken in Langa on one of the evenings as we were leaving. This is from just north of the church building. Also, I found the red tree, so I'll add it here before I start. The trees continue to dazzle and amaze us. I think I can do another whole blog of trees!









A couple of weeks ago, Elder and Sister Harms from Mesa Arizona invited us to go site seeing with them in Cape Town. They have been here about 3 months longer than we have and know the area a little better. They have also traveled the whole mission because of their job - Public Affairs - they are assigned all of South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, and who knows what else! They are so fun and we have enjoyed getting to know them so much. Here is a picture of them!




The first place they took us they had not intended to go to, but we saw the church as we were driving and asked about it, so we drove in to take some pictures. This is the St. Marks District Six Church. The pic below shows a plaque put on the church by the people who saved it. Sorry I don't have a great program for zooming in on pictures---but maybe you can zoom in and read it. It says, "To Those Who Pass - Remember the thousands of people who lived for generations in District 6 and were forced by law to leave their homes because of the colour of their skins. Remember the St. Marks District Six church and the community who resisted the destruction of District Six." It is a very sad chapter in the history of South Africa. The Church was built in the 1700s. I remembered reading about this in the book - The Covenant and it was very real to me.



Here we are outside the old church. It stands in the middle of many modern buildings - a testimony to those who saved it ---of the unfair things that happened back in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The white people who controlled the government moved all of the black people out of their lovely small homes they had here and put them outside the city - they gave them ground, but no help to rebuild. They destroyed everything in the area - just bulldozed the homes and the other churches and planned to build a beautiful white community here. The people who went to this church stood firm and insisted this was a historical place and set up such an outcry that this church alone was saved.

As we walked around outside, we noticed signs that there were not tours on Saturday, and were disappointed we wouldn't see the inside. I saw a large wooden door and for some reason I decided to try it to see if it was open and it was! We went in and called to see if someone was there and found a very old man - 82 who was creating floral arrangements for Sunday. He said he had been doing this since 1954! He wants to retire, but they won't let him. He allowed us to go into the chapel. This is a picure of one of the stained glass windows. You can see the pulpit where people speak here too.

In the picture below, I am up near the pulpit and the Harms are in the pews. Elder and Sister Harms came here to church when they first got here to get aquainted with the area. The people in charge noticed them right away because of their name-tags. During the meeting the man in charge suddenly invited Sister Harms to come up and say a few words! She went to the front so shocked and bore her testimony that Jesus lives and God is our Father. They loved it! This was a very special honor for them and totally unexpected. She spoke right there at the podium that showed in the last picture-- above her head---I wish we could have been there!

The picture below is looking back at the doorway to the chapel--there is a beautiful wooden carving above the entry-way. I loved all the archways. People still come in taxis on Sunday to worship here. It is a tradition for many families who now live 15 to 20 kilometers outside the city.

Now we move to the Castle of Good Hope - a beautiful old Fort built near the ocean to protect the city against invaders. This was our original destination when the trip began. Sorry we did not get a picture of the entrance. I left a spot for it here!

Here we are on top of the Castle. You can see Devil's Peak on the left and Table Mountain on the right behind us. This is really not very far from our Mission Office. This is right downtown. Those doorways and windows behind us were places where the military worked and stayed, but now they are rooms where artists have their studios. It was so fun to visit with them and look at their work. We look like we are staying pretty healthy, huh. Need to get some of the weight off again! Too much time at the desks!

The next three pictures were in the artist's studios---they were right there working. We were not very smart and did not take pictures of some of the best art - I guess we felt that would not be very nice---they wanted us to buy some. But why didn't we take pictures of the artists!! Couldn't tell you--maybe we'll go again and we'll be smarter! The highway designer I am married to loved the picture below, but it was too expensive for our budget and I was not prepared to have a freeway hanging on my wall. It was so realistic - you felt like you could walk into it. I am pointing to a speed limit sign - that says 80---that's all it is ---a circle with an 80 in it. They have them with 100s in them too - in fact I think they go up to 120. Of course it is kilometers per hour, not mph! Missionaries are not allowed to go over 100, but couples are free to follow the speed limit. Woo hoo!

I thought this was a great idea for a chair for the "naughty spot" - for those of you who haven't witnessed The Nanny Show - I can't remember the real name of it - the children have to go the naughty spot until they are ready to behave. If you can't read it, it says, "Sit down and Listen." Might be a good chair for husbands and wives to take turns sitting in---not very comfortable however. This was a wooden stool - with high legs. For children - maybe a bench!

The picture below shows a tile made by the artist that is a favorite saying this year in South Africa. We are seeing it and hearing it a lot. I would have liked to have had this, but Elder Herbert wasn't interested in the tiles. We'll probably end up with T-shirts!

We should have known that Elder Harms would get into the program later when he showed such an interest in the cannons at the Castle. This picture gives you an idea of how large it is. It is actually a pentagon in shape and was built to protect against invasion. This is only half of the pentagon. . . . there ia a center wall. It was built between 1666 and 1679 and is the oldest surviving building in South Africa. After 1678 it was the center of civilian, administrative, and military life at the Cape until the settlement grew and some functions were moved away from the castle.

Below, the cannon firer is explaining all about the cannon. A Levis artist who wants special damage done to levis put them there so the cannon can make them "one of a kind". They evidently get a good price if they have gunshot holes! They did not put a ball in the cannon, because the first time they did, they blew out several windows in the castle.

And so ends the adventure of the Herberts and Harms at the Castle of Good Hope. Elder Harms heard the man teaching us about the cannon make a disparaging remark about Americans and their holey levis or something, so when the man offered to let someone to pay 50 rand (donation to the Cannon Historical Firing Club) to fire the cannon, he pulled his money out quickly and said - if you will take back that comment about Americans. Everyone got a good laugh, but the man did not take it back. But Elder Harms paid anyway and was very gracious with the man. So the cannon was fired and blew the bottom out of the levis and we were all amazed at the power of that tiny cannon. By the way, Elder and Sister Harms are here on a Public Affairs Mission to increase positive awareness of the church, so he is much more aware of little remarks than we are---we did not even notice the remark! We love you all - stay strong and remember the Herberts who live in South Africa and their remarkable friends - the Harms!