They Made it To the Temple

Themba Chanda, Starphel Lunga, Mary Banda, Augustine ??, and Tarisai and Patricia Mhlanga. These are six of the Munali Ward members who finally got to go to the Johannesburg South Africa Temple. Hal and I were able to assist them in preparing for this special time in their lives. We helped teach the Temple Preparation class and assisted with getting FamilySearch accounts set up and entering family names.

Maa Starphel, as she is often called, had been trying to go to the temple for years. Covid and subsequent temple closures prevented her from going sooner. She was able to do the ordinance work for her mother and a sister and was also sealed to her deceased husband and parents while at the temple. 

Augustine had done a lot of family history work, but the Sunday just before the group left we realized that he had not actually entered anything into FamilySearch. So we spent quite awhile with him after church getting everything entered and reserved so he could do the work once he got to the temple.

Starphel Lunga, Augustine, Mary Banda, ???, Tarisai and Patricia Mhlanga (Patricia was baptized about three months ago and so she and her husband were able to be sealed), and Themba Chanda.

These three were so excited to go to the temple!! Mary Banda (center) was sealed to her deceased husband, to her parents, and had some of her children that had previously passed away sealed to them also. Of course she did the ordinance work for her mother and daughters.

As I was helping Mary enter information into the computer I recognized the hard lives these people have lived. She looks older than she actually is. She has had to endure much grief with so many of her family passing away.

 

The group was able to spend part of three days in the temple.            

 

 

How Themba Chanda ever got on the plane, going to and coming from South Africa, is beyond me. He forgot his passport!!! For whatever reason they let him on! Both directions!!! He's a little rough around the corners and a little irreverent, but he was glad he was able to go to the temple. Simply a miracle!

There were quite a few others that were part of the temple preparation class but one thing that kept more from going with this group was their passports!! What a long, drawn out process getting those things are sometimes!! One excuse was a "paper shortage." One young man is expecting his mission call any day now and he couldn't go because he didn't have his passport, even though it had been submitted many weeks ago! He will have to go to the temple while at the MTC.