New friends and umbrella wars

Friday. What a day! Woke up to cloudy skies, which has pretty much been the norm here in Durban. Cloudy is OK, as long as it doesn’t rain. Had another successful loading/unloading of our bus. Yay! Can you tell that this has been a high priority concern here? Can’t help but mention it.
Since they try to segregate us as International Delegates, we have to make an effort to mingle with the local brothers and sisters – no staying in our seats! It is such a foreign experience to me, that people are so genuinely happy to meet us and to talk to us. I feel like I must dissappoint them cuz I have nothing special or exciting to offer them. But I have come to learn that our brothers and sisters here are just like us at home – working hard in their own personal territories, hearing about a world-wide brotherhood. And suddenly for a short time – the brotherhood has come to them. Its not about any of us individually. And the interchange of encouragement goes both ways. I have been genuinely happy to meet and talk to every single person that I have had the opportunity to, and am so glad to have been able to be a part of this.
We’ve met some interesting people. Met four young siblings from t he Durban area. They were very friendly and polite and so so sweet. We talked to them for a little while and took a picture with them. They said that they wished they could have a copy of the picture – so we got the oldest one’s email address so I can send it to her. They were so excited!

Had a very handsome brother approach me from afar with a homemade flower. He was super cute. His name is Sebastian.

Then we were walking along and two sisters approached us and took our picture with their cell phones. We talked with them for a bit and found out that they were from the local area – one of them is in an english cong and the other is in Zulu. We are happy to meet everyone – but the Zulu convention is actually next week. They were invited to attend this convention – so the ones that are there had to make a special effort to attend this weekend, and again next. Seems extra special. Only after we were talking to them for a while we found out that one of them is a Circuit Overseer’s Wife in the Zulu circuit. She was so young! Maybe in her 30’s. They are sisters-in-law and the other sister’s brother is her husband, the circuit overseer. That was pretty neat. They were super sweet as well.

And stumbled upon a group of our deaf friends as well. In talking with a brother in our hotel who knows sign, they communicate with SASL (South African Sign Language) which I guess is mostly similar – but with some minor, confusing differences. For example, what means ‘name’ in ASL means ‘toilet’ in SASL. I’m sure they have been having fun with that. It’s nice to have found out that there is a considerable group of deaf ones from the local area at our convention, and they have their very own private room with TVs and air conditioning.
As some of you have mentioned in the comments – the songs are absolutely beautiful! They always are at assemblies and conventions – but with the added flavor of the different languages and accents, the number of people, and the naturally talented voices that speak those languages – it is awesome. I did record one of the songs on Friday but am still unable to post videos. If I figure it out I will add it so you can see what I mean. We haven’t sang a song yet that I didn’t get choked up during.
In the morning, we had the symposium and guess who has a part? Sister Sharples is being interviewed! We felt like we knew someone on the program, even though we had yet to meet her in person.
Attendance on Friday morning in Durban was 9,774. They have been reporting the attendance for the other two conventions for us and totalling them. Cape Town had 7,077, and Pretoria is the big one with 16, 295. Total is 33,146.
Sometime during the lunch break, the rain began. Just spitting at first really. Pretty tolerable. The session got underway, and the rain did as well. The umbrellas went up. The ponchos came out. The rain continued. Many people started seeking cover. We were determined to stick it out in our seats. The rain was steady. And cold. And the breeze blew. It was a long afternoon.
Highlight from the reports from other lands – probably Milawee (sp?). Unfortunately I missed the exact publisher count (probably couldn’t hear over the rain), but learned that they spent 26 years under ban. Since the ban was lifted in 1993 – 542 congregations have been added. There are currently 1,200 congregations there. Delegates from Milawee were attending Pretoria – and we linked in to their convention for the report. Pretty interesting stuff.
As the afternoon progressed, our section cleared out quite a bit, as brothers and sisters sought shelter in the limited covered areas. Along comes a pair of sisters, who sauntered on down the aisle – choose the row in front of us and walk along toward the middle of the row. They planted themselves directly in front of Steve and Nellie, who were huddled under an umbrella in their matching ponchos. Not sure why they chose that spot, considering all the empty seats around. As they settled, the one sister proceeds to open what is decidedly the largest umbrella one could possibly carry, and holds it high above her head so as not to block her own view of the stage. Directly in front of Steve and Nellie. Corrine and I got quite the kick out of that. As time went on and rain continued to fall, the rain would flow off her portable shelter in a steady stream – directly onto the legs of Steve and Nellie. I imagine this umbrella was rather heavy and cumbersome – as she had to keep adjusting the position in which she was holding it. While doing so, it would repeatedly stab Steve and Nellie, or even simply rest on their laps. The sister was oblivious. At one point I watched as she played with her bracelet – which created a kind of spinning motion with the umbrella and caused the rain to kind of spray all over them. Of course they kind of tried to politely move the umbrella off of them – but she never noticed. She was too busy removing the gallon of water from her bag to pour some into her cup. Having only one available hand, she placed the bottle of water between her legs and squeezed it tight as she unscrewed the cap. SWOOSH! Water gushed all over her lap and shirt. Hysterical. I found this highly ironic, and therefore amusing. Good thing she had that umbrella to keep her dry. Eventually, in a spirit of mildness and brotherly love, Steve and Nellie moved over about four seats to put an end to the situation. About 5 minutes later, umbrella lady’s friend also moved over. About 3 seats. Directly in front of Steve and Nellie. (The plaid umbrella in the top pic above is the culprit).
Once again, Brother Morris gave the final talk of the day, and announced the release of the new song book! How exciting! They don’t get to receive their books yet though. English congs will be able to order at their very next meeting, but Zulu and most other languages will not be available until May 2010. I feel sad for them – but they did not seem to mind! They just clapped and clapped! And so did we =)