Sunday Afternoon - A Week of Miracles

I sat down on the spare bed to write and lay down to sleep!  And I did – all afternoon!
This is so unusual for me...

I must have been tired!

So here it is, late afternoon.  It’s raining gently outside.  Warm rain.

We had a week of rain forecast this last week. Two miracle clear days…

Tuesday and Wednesday were sunny days – enabling us to prepare the site for

Presiding Bishop Caussé’s inspection visit on Thursday.

I had my bunch of car keys in my jeans pocket on Tuesday. 

I lost them – somewhere on the site…

My heart sunk.

A few weeks ago a rucksack was stolen out of a car boot on the site.

Passports and other valuables were stolen.

I had not much hope of finding my car keys.

Nevertheless, I told one of the foremen.

And prepared to find Glenn and come home to get my spare car keys and another key to the flat.

Glenn was away from the site, so I paused in alerting him.

A couple of hours later my car keys were safely returned to me.

One of the worker I know – Chicken is his name – had found them.

I was very grateful for another miracle.

I visited Gateway shopping mall for work on Wednesday –

Gateway is an enormous mall in Umhlanga.

I go there as seldom as possible…  It’s just too big, and noisy, for me.

When I got home I realized I had lost my memory stick containing back-ups 

of the site reports, somewhere.

I searched the car, the site office, home… and figured out I must have lost it somewhere

on my visit to Gateway.

Well – I had no hope of finding it again.

I was reconciled to getting another memory stick and redoing what I had done.

On Thursday 8:01am - from my niece-in-law Roxane Holmes –

She attached the conversation she had been part of late Wednesday evening:

Wednesday 22:54 – to Roxane

“Hi Roxane.  This is Nhla. Trynna get hold of Judy.  Can you help?”

“Hi.  Which Judy?”

“Judy Bray…”

(His/her name and phone number attached…)

Its regarding the usb that I found.  Thank you.”

“Send me yr details and I will ask her to contact you in the morning.”

Thursday 8:01am (read by me at about 9:45 am) - from Roxane

“Hi Judy… got a message from someone I don’t know looking to get hold of you…

Says u lost a memory stick?”

“Yes!  A red and black one with a meerkat decorative tag.

Oh, I so hope for it to come back to me…”

“The person’s number is on the message.  I hope you get it back.

Incredible that the person messaged me to find you.”

“Whew! yes! I will contact him/her.”

“Let me know how it goes.”

Thursday 10:07am - Me to Nhla - him/her –

“Good morning,

I’m very grateful you found my memory stick.

I was becoming reconciled to it not coming back.

I’m greatly relieved to know I might have it again.

I’m also glad that you found something that identified

someone I know and made the effort to make contact with me.

I’m very occupied for the next few hours with meetings I need to be at on the site.

Is it possible to meet you later this afternoon or tomorrow please to collect my USB?

Grateful regards,

Judy Bray

PS I will see your reply…I don’t know when today…”

Thursday 1:39pm – From Nhla

“I live at…

I work at… Monday to Friday …

I take a taxi…

Since you’re currently occupied, I’ll hear from you when you get to me.

Thank you.”

  

Thursday 6:53pm – from Roxane

“Hi, did you get your memory stick back?”

Thursday 7:00pm  - to Roxane

“Been busy with top management all day.

Sent a message.

Got a reply.

Will arrange to get tomorrow.”

“That’s awesome.  I was so worried it was a scam.”

“I will fetch today from where he/she works – hospital in …”

“Incredible.  I’m so happy it’s coming back to you.”

Thursday 7:10pm – to Nhla

“A moment to pause after a very busy day today!

Phew!

Can I come to your work and fetch it tomorrow please?

If so, where shall I find you?”

7:49pm – from Nhla

“Same here.  Time to chill indeed!

You’ll find me in the hospital pharmacy.

Just ask for Nhla.”

Friday 10:27am – to Nhla

“I will come to the pharmacy around midday, twelve?”

10:53 – from Nhla

“That’s fine.”

I got there at midday not knowing whether I was meeting a man or a woman.

I asked the young cashier for Nhla.
I thought "Maybe you are Nhla...?"

She looked at me blankly.

I showed my phone to her with the name and surname.
Her face cleared.

She pointed to a young man across the pharmacy serving someone.

I waited until the two seated people he was helping arose and left.

I introduced myself and we had a truly lovely conversation.

He had thought when he found the USB that this was a fortunate find!

A memory stick with lots of music and movies perhaps…

When he saw the content, he realized this must be very important to whoever lost it.

So he set about trying to figure out who might have lost it.

He says it took him three hours to figure something out.

He found the reports and photos interesting.

He thought the building was unique.

He saw a few surnames recurring in the reports.

He looked them up on social media.

He came across my facebook profile.

He knew it was me because I registered as site missionary on the Durban Temple construction.

But no public information.

He looked at who might know me, have tagged me.

Roxane Holmes tagged me sometime in one of her posts.

He looked at her profile and whom she was connected with.

There he found I was familially connected with her.

So he contacted her…

I hugged him.

I asked him if I could take a photo of him.

He said yes.

I gave him the meerkat tag as a token of this special occasion.

He was thrilled.

I gave him some money “to do something special with.”

“You don’t need to…” he said.

“I know I don’t need to… I want to.” I said.

I was tearful as I walked to my car shaking my head.

I said a humble and grateful Thank You prayer.

"Signs follow them that believe..."  I believe...

Friday 12:53pm – to Roxane

“Hi Roxane, I just fetched my memory stick from Nhla, young, newly graduated pharmacist.

He found my memory stick outside Gateway where I dropped it when getting my car keys out.

He realized it was very important when he looked at the contents of the Temple construction on it.

He found nothing on social media about me, but you had tagged me in one of your posts.  Amazing!

I believed in miracles before… I’m reassured of miracles this week.

He didn’t want to alarm you so he gave lots of details about himself.

Really personable young man.

I’m really grateful to God and both of you!

I’m so happy to have it back!”

“Ah this is wonderful news.  I’m so happy for you.”

Monday morning – very early…  The saga continued.

The miracles didn’t end there…

I sent a message to my editor on Friday around midday

when I usually send my weekly report for editing –

“Hi Helen, I haven’t even started my report yet.

I don’t know when I will get to it to you.”

On quiet Friday evening after supper –

the only evening this week with no visitors for supper!

 It’s been a very busy week preparing for Thursday!

(I thought “The least I can do is feed one or two of those who are working late to prepare…”)

(We usually have visitors only one evening during the week…)

Glenn was busy with his half-monthly technical report.

I thought I might watch a movie (using earphones) as I sometimes do, when Glenn is working.

I found myself in Microsoft Word… and a few inspired hours later my report was largely complete.

After a good night’s sleep I was wide awake when it starts getting light at around four thirty am.

I quietly opened the lounge curtains and said my early morning prayer.

I came to the spare room, silently closed the door, put on the bedside light and

did my morning New Testament and Book of Mormon scripture study.

John, Brenda and Vi were due to come to us this weekend.

I had earlier-baked banana muffins in the fridge for tea.

I usually have a choice of two goodies to eat…

I decided to make brownies as well – that is easy and quick to make.

I thought “I can do that later…”

I opened my weekly report number 167 and critically read through it.

A few minor changes to make…

I thought “I’ve got time to start putting the collage together… maybe…”

I set to work.

I kid you not… I felt so thoroughly inspired as (was it I?) I edited the later batch of photos –

That usually takes much longer than creating the collage!

And then I pieced the collage together.  Was it really I?

I felt so completely, tinglingly, guided as chose photos and put it together.

I breathed more thank-you prayers during and afterwards.

I sent my report and collage off to Helen for editing…

(I read her reply on Sunday morning “Well done Judy - No changes to be made this week.”)

I made the brownies, we had John, Brenda and Vi here from 11am until nearly five pm…

Glenn and I enjoyed a quiet evening together.

Glenn slept in his recliner chair and I watched a hard-to-watch-in-one-part, made-for-TV movie.

(I’m glad for the ability to pulse through some parts - of some really worthwhile movies…)

 “Taking Back my Life – The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story” was the movie's name.

Sobering…   She was raped in 1990. 

(How much good progress we have made as a society…

As well as back-sliding in other aspects…)  

And now – It’s a new week.

I slept a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and was awake at 4:15 this morning.

I got up, quietly came to the spare room and finished this off.

I’m grateful to have recorded this fuller account of this last week of miracles…

I shake my head while marveling again.

And now 6:02am…

Time for my daily scripture study, to the sound of our two resident Mallard ducks honking down at the fountain in the background...

And then on – into my Marvellous Monday and this New Week.

This may be our last full week here...
Will probably be.

It's been SO GOOD to be here for the last three plus years!
Serving God and our fellow men... what a privilege, what an opportunity.
What a responsibility.

And we'll carry on... serving God and our fellow men, back home again.