Women and Education

Shelly, the first of our children to receive her degree

When I was a little girl, I decided I wanted to be a vet. I wanted to heal. But then I realised by the great age of 11, that what I actually wanted, and indeed felt a strong need to be was a doctor. So I worked really hard at school. I did all my assignments, my class work, and I studied really hard. So by the time I finished school, I was able to apply to university to study medicine.

Now, don’t for a moment think that all of this was dead easy. It would have been so much easier to take an easy ride to get through school and perhaps, have chosen not to even finish school.

The Lord has in fact commanded us to study, to gain knowledge, which we will take with us into the next life.

It’s all too easy to believe that the responsibility to study and to be able to provide for one’s family is the responsibility of men. But we’ve moved into a different era. Most of the sisters here are working women. The thing is, are we all that we can be? Are we gaining wisdom with our knowledge, and more importantly, as we gain wisdom and knowledge, are we growing spiritually? There is no commandment given to us by the Lord that is not spiritual. Our spiritual gifts have been foretold, but we need to choose to seek for them.

 Mother Eve had a very difficult decision to make in the Garden of Eden. If she didn’t partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the human race would not have been able to go forward. She needed the gift of discernment to realise that that difficult choice was necessary.

The Lord has commanded us to get all the education that we can. The prophets and apostles have emphasised the importance of this and specifically directed to the women of the Church “that we make no distinction between young men and young women in our conviction about the importance of an education.”

Prophetic counsel to women has repeated the benefits of education in case of being called upon to become the sole bread winners in the home. Indeed, even if both husband and wife are employed, there may be times when the wife is in a situation to earn better that the husband. That is no bad indication that the husband is doing his part, but her qualifications may allow it to be so. Or there may be illness or injury that prevent the husband from earning. In a situation like that, if the wife is not well educated the family will suffer.

President Russell M. Nelson has said “Your mind is precious. It is sacred. Therefore the education of one’s mind is also sacred. Indeed, education is a religious responsibility. In light of this celestial perspective, if you cut short your education; you would not only disregard a divine decree, but also abbreviate your eternal potential” close quote

Our learning is of value not only if we become mothers, church leaders or community activists. We are of value because of our divine heritage and because that will one day be our divine inheritance. Our value is intrinsic, it is essential

President Henry B Eyring has said that “part of the tragedy that you must avoid is to discover too late that you missed an opportunity to prepare for a future only God could see for you.” Close quote

That could have happened to me. When I had Shelly I was still studying, and I was tormented by the feeling that I should stop my studies to be a full time stay-at-home mom. That that would be the best thing for my children. That.was a righteous desire, but at that time our stake was being formed and Elder L. Tom Perry was the apostle who came out to do this. He interviewed the priesthood holders in the stake to see who the Lord inspired him to call to the positions of leadership in the new stake. Les was one of those interviewed, and he took the opportunity to ask Elder Perry about our situation, asking for guidance regarding whether I should leave university to devote all my time to my children or not. Elder Perry directed him that I should definitely continue and complete my degree. I agonised over this long and hard, wanting to be the best mother I could be. Hopefully, however, I was able to make a difference in the lives of the patients who I was given the opportunity of serving and who came to mean so much to me. And doing my best with the help of the Spirit’s guidance in bringing up our children in the best way I felt able to do. Without my employment, I wouldn’t have been able to earn well enough for us to be in a position to make investments, so that when my health deteriorated some 10 years ago, it meant that we had been able to invest sufficiently to survive and retire with what we needed.

Not every woman needs to get a university education to make that difference to society or her family or, even to herself. But there are ways to get an education, such as Pathway, provided by the church through which you can get an education which will make you more employable and increase your skills in your work place, as well as increasing your spiritual growth. You may also find out from your employers what learning opportunities they may provide. All of these different opportunities will enable you to have satisfying and productive employment. You can live your dreams.

President Nelson has said that “the church needs your strength, your, conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom and your voices. The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who can speak with the power and authority of God. He continues: I plead with my sisters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints to step forward! To take your rightful place in your home, in your community, and in the Kingdom of God –more than you ever had before. As you do so, the Holy Ghost will magnify your influence in an unprecedented way” end quote.

A Pakistani education advocate (whose name I cannot pronounce), whose daughter, Malala joined his fight for the education of women in the face of Taliban rule – a difficult societal norm. Said that for a woman to enrol in school means recognition of her identity and her name. Admission in a school means that she has entered in the world of dreams and aspirations where she can explore her potentials for her future life. He said that people ask him what is special about his mentorship which has made Malala so bold and so courageous and so vocal and so poised. He tells them, ‘Don’t ask me what I did. Ask what I did not do. I did not clip her wings, and that’s all’.

There are some thoughts in my talk which have been inspired by a talk given by Eva Witesman, associate professor, BYU Marriott School of Business.

May we all realise the value of our women and our education and never get in our way. Sisters, never give up and never settle for less than you can be.

In the name of Jesus Christ.

Unity in discipleship, embracing diversity, building Zion

This is a talk given at Milnerton Ward of the Bellville South Africa Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 16 July 2023

Good morning, brothers and sisters. I speak to you as part of the diverse Church that we are and the great blessings that this brings to us.

The aim of the Lord’s Church is to build Zion – the pure in heart[1], all being of one heart and one mind.

In the context of the Saviour and His disciples living under tyrannical Roman rule, the Saviour specifically taught His disciples to be peacemakers. He said to love our enemies; to love one another as He loved God and His disciples – including us; to be one; to ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, might mind and strength, and to love thy neighbour as thyself’. Although He was limiting His ministry to the house of Israel at that time, He made it clear that it would in due course go to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, in their own languages.

The Church in New Testament times started off with the House of Israel and it spread from Jerusalem and Israel to the gentiles. Jesus Himself did extend His reach to the woman in Samaria, and the woman who begged for help for her daughter, but in general He limited His ministry to the House of Israel. The time was right after Jesus had been resurrected and He sent His apostles to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.

Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul, had been a fierce Jewish persecutor of the Christians, and he was called by the risen Jesus Christ specifically to be a missionary to the gentiles. Now, indeed, every nation, kindred, tongue and people were being invited to the Kingdom.

In the latter days, the fullness of the Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ were restored in Harmony, Pennsylvania through the prophet Joseph Smith. The apostle Dallin H Oaks spoke of Unity in Diversity in discipleship, and Elder D Todd Christofferson said ‘Unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony’. The Church is created by gathering and uniting individuals from many different cultures.

Wheels in a clock all work together to make the clock work, and so we also need all kinds and cultures to make Zion work.

Looking at Gospel Topics, we found some examples of diversity and people becoming Zion. Originally people migrated to Zion, but at this point Zion is being built everywhere so that the seed of Abraham, the House of Israel, can be leaven in every part of the loaf and lift the world everywhere, blessing the nations, and Temples dotting the Earth enable us to receive all of the covenants and promises in our own nations[2]. We can publish peace wherever we are, yea, tidings of great joy, and we and those around us can rejoice in how beautiful upon the mountains the Saints will be wherever they are, in the Temples wherever they are[3]. The righteous shall be gathered out from among all nations and shall come to Zion in our temples, chapels and homes, singing songs of everlasting joy.[4] Zion shall flourish, and the glory of the Lord shall be upon her; and she shall be an ensign unto the people.[5] Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—the pure in heart; therefore, let Zion rejoice.[6] And I will bless her with blessings, and multiply a multiplicity of blessings upon her, and upon her generations forever and ever, saith the Lord your God.[7] Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God. Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered. They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their inheritances, they and their children, with songs of everlasting joy, to build up the waste places of Zion.[8]

Examples from the scriptures include 4 Nephi that describes successful and then unsuccessful examples of trying to live as one, with no poor among them, and no manner of –ites. Love in their hearts. Following the blessing of the Saviour’s visit to America they were left with complete peace for 200 years, so that was a state of Zion.

The early Christians are described in the book of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 6 – 9), uniting of diverse people and having to accommodate customs, consecrating things to build Zion, and now it is expanding to include the gentiles in all of the known world.

Other successful examples were the City of Enoch, and the attempt to establish Zion as described in Doctrine & Covenants.

Joseph Smith sought an answer that was triggered by the lack of unity in the Christian groups of his day. He describes how ‘A scene of great confusion and bad feeling ensued—priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that all their good feelings one for another, if they ever had any, were entirely lost in a strife of words and a contest about opinions.’[9]

In conclusion, no blessings will be denied to the faithful of whatever nation, kindred, tongue or people, black or white, bond or free, male or female. We are diverse wherever we are and by embracing this unity where we are, we will build Zion. Lifting others – we need to make sure that each person is included.

We now have this very diverse church which has gone around the world to all countries and continents, people of all languages, nations, races, cultures. It is this diversity – if we embrace it – that will lead to the Church growing. Each person in the world – each child of God – has the opportunity to become part of Zion, being of one heart and one mind, the pure in heart.

If we are disciples of Christ we will be able to bless the lives of all around us despite the differences. This is how the Church will grow and how it will bless the lives of all around the world.

There is a constant emphasis in old and New Testament, and latter-day scriptures, to focus on the Temple where our worship and covenants will unite us as individuals, families, and as Saints to each other and to God for time and for all eternity.

Compared to what the Church was in the early days, it has now become very diverse and the Lord has made it clear that He wants us to be of one heart and one mind in Zion. If we truly seek this, we will overcome the negative aspects of diversity while focusing on the positive aspects of diversity around the world which will become a strength. The Church has become so diverse that the only way that we can truly become Zion, become one, is by embracing our diversity.

President Howard W. Hunter taught: “The world in which we live would benefit greatly if men and women everywhere would exercise the pure love of Christ, which is kind, meek, and lowly. It is without envy or pride. … It seeks nothing in return. … It has no place for bigotry, hatred, or violence. … It encourages diverse people to live together in Christian love regardless of religious belief, race, nationality, financial standing, education, or culture.”

Let us work together to build this perfect state of Zion that the Lord wants us to establish, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

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[1] Doctrine and Covenants 97:21

[2] Isaiah 2:2-3

[3] 1 Nephi 13:37

[4] D&C 45:71

[5] D&C 64:41-42

[6] D&C 97:21

[7] D&C 97:28

[8] D&C 101:16-18

[9] JSH 1:6

Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa – Overcoming, Teaching and Loving

As a little girl growing up in Mitchell’s Plain on the Cape Flats, Kaylianne Aploon-Zokufa may have wished to have a loving family of her own one day. But it’s doubtful that she would have imagined herself with the family she has now.

A Difficult Childhood

Life was not easy for young Kaylianne. Her father was an alcoholic and drug addict, and he beat her mother and her, and, in time, her little sister who is 11 years younger than she is. She has great admiration for her mother, a nurse, who was extremely strong despite the difficult circumstances. Often her mother would take the beatings meant for the children, to protect them. Her mother joined the Church when Kaylianne was five, and then she was also baptized when she turned eight. Her mother used to ensure that she and her children had family home evening and family prayers.

Moving Out

Kaylianne didn’t want anyone at school to know what was happening at home. But during her matric year, she reached a point where she couldn’t carry on with things the way they were. She was 18, and very bright. She was determined to go to Stellenbosch University the next year. But her father was determined to prevent her from going. He wanted her to stay at home and get a job – even if it meant her failing matric. She felt support from her Young Women President that she lacked at home. In the September, just before her final matric exams, she had a very difficult Sunday. Her father prevented her from going to Church, and she prayed that if was the right thing to do, that Heavenly Father would provide a way for her to move out, and be able to attend Church. That same day, her aunt came to visit – and Kaylianne went home with her, and there she stayed.

And so she finished her matric year, traveling far to get to her school from her aunt’s house in Montana. She had to walk and take trains to get there and back. Her father was extremely angry with her, and said that she may not come home to visit her mother or sister, to both of whom she is very close. So after school she would walk down the street their house was on, in the hopes of seeing her sister. When it came to her matric dance, she made a point of going home to let her father see her, and have a picture taken of the two of them. Little did she realise then that her father was incubating TB at the time, and she put herself in contact by doing this. Her mother and sister also moved out shortly after this.

University Freedom and Illness

She passed matric – as the school’s valedictorian, and was accepted to Stellenbosch University with a bursary. She loved this new life she was leading – freedom from all the problems at home. In fact, she loved it so much that she wouldn’t tell anyone that she was getting sick, until she was so ill that she had to leave university. She was diagnosed with TB in March 2004, and she had to go home to be nursed by her mother. She was so ill that she was unable to walk again before September of that year. Her weight dropped from 60kg down to 43kg. One of her distresses was that she couldn’t even read her scriptures. She had to deal with a lot of difficult emotions that year – mainly anger. She was angry about the fact that she felt that she had lost everything she valued – her health, schooling, friends, family, home and now it was even too difficult to read the scriptures. By the end of the year her father was sick with the TB, and he started to change. She says that he is a very different man now, and now she is glad that her mother didn’t divorce him.

Determination to Get Her Education

The following year, although not 100% well yet, Kaylianne was determined to again try to make a go of studying. This time she applied to the University of Cape Town, and began working on her Bachelor of Social Science degree, majoring in Social Anthropology. Unfortunately, her chest was not doing well following her TB, and she started attending Grootte Schuur Hospital, where it was established that her one lung was totally damaged and she has been left with 2/3 function in the remaining lung. Surgery was recommended, but with the combination of medication to reduce the amount of phlegm, and faith, she has been able to come through without requiring the surgery, and is now off all medication. She still has to be careful about her chest, and easily starts a chesty cough. All this notwithstanding, at the end of 2007 she graduated with her BSocSci (Social Anthropology).

During her student years at UCT, Kaylianne did a lot of teaching in underprivileged areas through the students’ volunteer programme, SHAWCO. So when she qualified and couldn’t get a job in her anthropological field, she happily accepted a post at a private school in Cape Town. 

Prince Charming

Two and a half years ago, she met her husband, Vincent. He is a returned missionary, and when he saw her picture, he wanted to know why she was a friend of his friends, but not with him. This was quickly remedied – they met in March 2008, got engaged in June and were married and sealed in the Johannesburg Temple in October. They were both quite certain at their first meeting that they had met their eternal companion.

Marriage and …Work

Vincent, LJ and Kaylianne

But of course, happily ever after is actually quite hard work. To start with, Vincent and Kaylianne come from different cultural backgrounds – Vincent is Xhosa and Kaylianne is Coloured. Add to that the fact that in June 2008, Kaylianne started her Honours degree. She had a thesis to complete by December 2009, and in the meantime, one of the results of marriage came along  - little Lungisa Joshua (LJ) was born on 30 August 2009. So Kaylianne had to complete her thesis (“Students’ Perception of the Value of School”) with little LJ nestling at his mommy’s side. But this is one young lady who doesn’t give up when a challenge arises, even an adorable, gurgling, crying, feeding, sleeping, nappy-filling, chuckling little boy. She got her Honours degree, and guess what – in 2010 she started her Masters degree – this time in Education. She is due to complete her thesis for this in November 2011. And she sees the distinct possibility in the future that she might do her PhD.

While she enjoys teaching, and loves being with teenagers, she feels that she might perhaps be able to do more good in research. Her concern isn’t so much with what happens in the classroom, but with what happens outside the classroom. She feels that there is much to be done to help individual children if those circumstances outside the classroom are looked at.

An Unexpected Family Development

Now, back to the type of family Kaylianne might have envisaged when she was a child. It is highly unlikely that she would have imagined herself married to a handsome young man, with a delightful toddler – and FOUR Korean teenagers. A family had come out to South Africa from South Korea, to get an education here for their children, but the father was not able to leave their home country as he could not sell their property, and the mother ended up having to go home because of ill health. They were determined that their children (3 boys and 1 girl) should be able to stay. Having got to know Kaylianne and Vincent at Church, they approached them initially to help tutoring them in English. And then when the mother had to return home, they asked if the Zokufas would be willing to act as their guardians while the children stay to finish their studies. After talking and praying about the matter, it was agreed, and so last year, the family increased from one toddler, to one toddler plus four teenagers. These youngsters are Hosung (18), Hojin (16), Eun-jeong (16) and Dongjin (16). Hosung and Hojin are brothers. The other two are cousins to each other and to the two brothers.



VIncent, LJ, Kaylianne and Hosung



Now, just in case she thought of slacking off, Kaylianne is also teaching weekly seminary to her four teenagers, her younger sister and two other youth in the area.

A Woman of Faith

How and why is Kaylianne doing all this? Because they are Heavenly Father’s children. She can see the positive benefit of the Gospel in their lives, and feels the blessings. No matter what she does, Kaylianne is determined that she will only ever do what she loves. She must be passionate about it. And one thing that is very evident is how much she loves her family. She made the decision some time ago that work must stay at the work place. Her time at home is time to spend with her family. She has overcome a lot, and she is not going to sacrifice her most treasured possession – her family.

The first time I ever saw Kaylianne was at a Young Women in Excellence evening. For one of her 10-hour projects she had chosen to learn “The Living Christ – The Testimony of the Apostles” by heart. And that night she recited it. Not only was the reciting of that long document amazing, but there was a wonderful spirit present as she did it. She was very obviously expressing her love and reverence for the Saviour through this difficult project. This was at the time in her life when she was battling through her challenging youth, but her faith was a glowing, living thing. And that has remained the central feature of her life.





Elaine Ruck – A Deeply Spiritual, Slightly Crazy Entrepreneur

Elaine Ruck

Meeting this extremely responsible, “go-the-extra-mile” person that Elaine Ruck is now, you would be unlikely to imagine the child that she was.

A Childhood of Adventure

As a complete tomboy, Elaine’s childhood was “high adventure”. She was one of four children, growing up without television, but with the advantages of a close family. There was always someone to play with, and someone to fight with. The children in the family regularly had feuds amongst themselves, but under no circumstances would they allow anyone else to attack one of their siblings. Their regular activities included building forts in the back yard, performing “circus acts” on their bicycles, digging holes all over the back garden (deep enough to stand in and be hidden), having mud fights, and playing cricket, tennis and “stingers” in the road outside their home. They swam in the summer and winter. They led active, outdoor healthy lives.

When it came to school, Elaine admits to not being an A-student, but she was extremely sporty and fit. She made the Western Province team in softball in Std. 9 (grade11). In hockey, she regularly played 3 matches for school and club teams each Saturday.

The Gospel in Her Young Life

With this busy life, it seems difficult to imagine how Elaine managed to find time for, or interest in spiritual matters. And yet, when her father joined the Church when she was seven, she quickly gained her own testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. She loved the Church, and as she grew up, despite loving partying, living the principles of the Gospel was something that came naturally. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could sacrifice what they had in terms of the Gospel, by going off the tracks. Early-morning seminary was a joy.

Discovering Her People Skills

When she left school at 18, she began working as a clerk for an insurance company – work that she found “mind-destroying”. But, by the time she was 20, despite having no knowledge or prior skills in the area of human relations or negotiations, she was running the union for the white-collar workers in the organization – representing 1000 people. Already her natural skills in dealing with people were coming to the fore. She may not have had any training, but she had enough savvy to put someone in place who knew how to deal with the administrative work, and then she got on dealing with the negotiating side. In her first negotiation, she was able to get a 17% pay increase for the members of the union – the highest the company had given in 40 years. One of her particular strengths in the position was in taking note of, and showing a personal interest in everyone – from the lowest ranking workers up.

Serving a Mission

At the age of 21, Elaine left the insurance company to go on a full-time mission. It was an especially good time for sister missionaries from Cape Town – there were 13 sisters on mission from the stake at the time. She served in the Johannesburg mission, which resulted in her serving in Bloemfontein (her favourite area on mission), Witbank, Pretoria, Edenvale, and Roodepoort (in the mission office). She arrived on her mission on Valentine’s Day, and considered that this was just typical of Heavenly Father’s sense of humour – finally putting her in a situation where the guys outnumbered the girls – and they had to keep them at arm’s length.

Her mission was a wonderful experience – if you don’t count the tracting. She loved teaching and serving, but this was the time in her life when she realized that “cold calling” was not her thing (as would be confirmed later in her life). Her experience with the gifts of the Spirit, and the constant inspiration in doing the Lord’s work, were a great source of strength to her, and helped to solidify her already strong testimony.

Back to Work in the World

After her mission, she returned to Johannesburg to work for five years. An indication of her interpersonal skills is that she got a job as a secretary despite being able to type only 19 words per minute, and failing the spelling test she was given.

After returning to Cape Town, she worked for a year as a project administrator, and then decided to leave there to set up a crafting business of her own. This was when it was confirmed to her that “cold calling” was not her strength. That was how she had to get business, and that was not where her strength lay. Needless to say, she realized that she needed to find herself another job, which she did. And there she stayed until she was retrenched five years later. But in those five years she had helped to grow the business from three employees to eleven.

After being retrenched, she set up business for herself again – but this time, in an area which has proved successful. No “cold calling” required. She isn’t selling anything but her knowledge, expertise and savvy, and there lies her strength. Elaine is a lateral thinker, and she can see a big picture when others are still trying to take a peek. This business, which is a consulting business and builds on all that she has learnt in her life and work experiences, spreads by word-of-mouth. What she does involves helping other people to use their own and their company’s resources and strengths most advantageously. She will look at a particular company and their functioning, and assess their strengths and weaknesses, and help them to be more productive. She looks at every aspect, including the kinds of things that she began noticing at the age of 20, when she was running the union. In other words, she notices not only the physical working conditions, but aspects of the workers themselves and their behaviour. She helps employers to be more aware of their employees, which makes for better efficiency and productivity in the company, and happier employees.

Her ability to notice things has resulted in her being able to go into newly completed buildings, and looking for all the “snags” – things which need to be fixed before the building gets handed over to the new owners.

Studies

At present, she is extending her ability to understand and help people, by studying psychology part time through the South African College of Applied Psychology. This is a very practical course, and can be very draining, as it demands a lot of time and effort, and also a considerable amount of introspection, and self-awareness.

Sarcoidosis

A very particular personal battle that Elaine has dealt with for the last seven years is sarcoidosis. This is an immune-mediated condition, and is very much affected by things like stress. It initially manifested in a chronic severe “bronchitis” and skin lesions for the first few years, and now is coming out with lumps under the skin. This has been an incredibly draining condition to battle, and treatment has not been simple or definite – she has tried both medical and holistic approaches.

Stake Employment Specialist

All of these challenges that Elaine has faced have fitted her up especially well for her current calling – Stake Employment Specialist. This is a calling about which she is passionate. In fact, if there is one thing that can get her emotional, it’s talking about this calling. The reason is that she really cares about the members, and what she can do to help them. But one of her frustrations is when other people don’t see the vision that she sees. She sees so much more than helping people get through an interview and land a job. She sees the individual and the challenges that are present in that person’s life, and in their family – sometimes because of a lack of work, and sometimes, preventing them from going out and getting work. She wants to find the obstacles that are in people’s paths, preventing them from getting employment and supporting themselves and their families. She sees it in this light: “This is the year of healing the broken hearted.” She wants to sit with people, one-on-one, and help to “take them to Christ”. It all works together. If someone can’t feed and clothe their family, it’s difficult for them to be committed to spiritual matters. But if they are committed to living the Gospel, they are more willing to apply faith and try the things that she suggests.

She has seen miracles happen in this calling. She felt that she needed to tell one man that although he couldn’t get a proper job, he should take an opportunity to work for nothing. It would keep his skill up and he would feel better about himself. He did this, and within a week, the employer started to pay him, and he now has a permanent job. A woman who had been receiving welfare from the Church, and was very negative about her possibilities of getting a job to support her children, finally took the leap of faith that Elaine suggested, and now is gainfully employed. And there have been many others that she has helped – helped to help themselves. That is important. The fact that each person is responsible for helping themselves, and taking what steps they can improve their circumstances.

A delightful, outgoing, decidedly crazy person to be with, Elaine has great depth that she would laugh at anyone suggesting she might have. Her family of nieces and nephews are very special to her, and thoroughly spoilt by her, given half a chance. What a privilege to know her.

Elaine and the one man who gives her no headaches

Jennifer Morris – An Organized and Creative Young Mother

Grant and Jenny Morris

Attractive young wife and mother, Jenny (Powrie) Morris, grew up in Cape Town, although she now lives in England and is soon going on to New Zealand. This is a very busy young woman, whose life is lived with passion. Some of that passion is in an area that perhaps many people would not identify with, and yet might wish we all shared. The good news is that Jenny is a giver – she loves to share her passion and talents with others.

Depression Overcome

Jenny and her husband, Grant, moved to the UK 15 years ago. Moving countries is never an easy thing, and Jenny already suffered from depression. This illness was still to dog her for some time, most especially after each of her two sons, Daniel (9) and Noah (6), were born. Anyone who has suffered from depression will know that this is a debilitating illness – so much more than just “the blues”. Antidepressants helped, but with unacceptable side-effects. Five years ago, Jenny decided to try the Omega oils and Vitamin D (the Vitamin D being in an attempt to counter the effect of lack of sunshine in England) – and for Jenny this combination has worked. (I must just add a rider here that this alone is not necessarily the case for everyone. But for Jenny, these over-the-counter supplements have worked wonders.) The result has been a newfound happiness and purpose in living. Frequently she finds herself delighting in the simple joy of living her life. 

Jenny, Grant, Noah and Daniel

Photography

When her older son, Daniel was a toddler, she decided to set about the process of learning something she had always wanted to do – photography. She taught herself with a film camera (as opposed to digital) and a book. And her creativity shone through. Before long she was able to set up a business at home as a portrait photographer. She continued this with creativity and flair for some time, but then one of her other passions surfaced – Food. And she began photographing food. One of the pleasures she found in photographing food, is that it is so cooperative – It doesn’t move or argue, and it can be put where and how she, the photographer, chooses. One of the problems with photography in a country with a lot of grey skies is the lack of natural light. So, Jenny finds it a pleasure that the food that she is photographing is something that is easy to move to get the best natural light.  Here is a great link to her blog about the art of photographing food - http://jengrantmorris.blogspot.com/2011/01/food-photography.html  There is so much more to it than simply "point and snap".

Food

This next passion in her life was able to occupy her more than just from the point of using her skills as a photographer. It could satisfy her in terms of bringing pleasure and delight to others. She loves to bake and send her goodies to work with her husband, Grant, who is a policeman. When he gets home, she wants a blow-by-blow, bite-by-bite account of his colleagues’ responses to the munchies. In fact, he has a camera at work, and she has him take pictures of his friends as they bite into her delectable morsels. She enjoys knowing that they enjoy what she has made. No need to wonder whether or not she must be one of the most popular police wives around. One would expect that she must be the most popular mom in town too. She says her younger son, Noah, is the “cake monster” and that he loves to eat what she bakes. But Daniel would rather eat a stick of celery. Children are the most interesting puzzle. Perhaps we aren’t really meant to understand them.

It is perhaps only natural that Jenny would want to take her enjoyment in sharing what she bakes with others to the next level. She has just had a recipe book published as an e-book – a compilation of delicious recipes that she enjoys baking. Naturally, each recipe is accompanied by an artistic photograph of the baked delectable. Turn to this link: a thousand words: Sweet Things recipe e-book and you will get a little taste of what this clever lady has put together.

The Organizer

Now we come to the particular talent and passion which Jenny has, which I think is rather unique. Take Jenny into a room which is filled with nothing but chaos, a room that you can barely walk into, and her eyes light up as though she has just been given the greatest of all gifts. Most people groan when they see this kind of mess. Not Jenny. This is like Christmas to her. Since they got married 15 years ago, Grant and Jenny have moved house 13 times. And the reason is largely because Jenny loves to organize. In fact as she put it – she gets to a point where she has “organized her home to death”. And then she gets restless – and starts to look around for something else to organize. And so this has frequently meant moving home, finding somewhere else to fix up and organize.

But a couple of years ago, she decided to try employing this passion to help other people. This was at the stage that she came to the realisation that not everyone sees organizing in the same light that she does. She realised that most people actually have some feelings of guilt over the clutter and untidiness in their homes, and really can’t face the idea of getting stuck in and sorting it all out – no matter how often they say : “I really need to sort some things out.” And so, just as a voluntary “gift” to some friends, she helped them get started. And now she has a number of glowing testimonials about the blessing that she has been in their lives. Have a look at these blog posts of hers showing some of this work: http://jengrantmorris.blogspot.com/2009/06/lauras-study.html  http://jengrantmorris.blogspot.com/2009/06/lauras-shed.html

Plans for Future Opportunities

Now, with the prospect of moving to New Zealand, Jenny has determined on plans for starting three different businesses. The first will be her “organizing” as a business. In New Zealand, there is a body called the Professional Organizers’ Association, which she plans on joining. Evidently this is an association who do just the kind of thing that Jenny does. She plans on calling her business “Neat Ideas”, and hopes to be able to, apart from anything else, run workshops on topics like De-cluttering, and Finding Space. Listening to Jenny on this topic, one cannot believe that anyone can get so excited about helping people to organize their homes, but she really is excited about it – passionate about it.

The next business that she wants to run, takes her back to her photography – she wants to do infant photography. And then, finally, she wants to continue with her baking – supplying a shop that will sell for her.

This is definitely not an idle young lady, and she loves to give. She has great drive, and things that have become important to her include the fact of always finding a way to do what she wants to do – “Never say never.” To her it’s essential to get on and Do things, and not to drift. She asks herself questions like: “Is this where I want to be? Where do I want to go?” This positive attitude is typical of Jenny. She fought off her depression, and she is making something great with her life. Her talents are passions, great loves, in her life – and she makes them work for her.

Jenny, Daniel and Noah

Her family is central to her life – her husband and her two sons. They were sealed in the Temple, and have the promise of Eternal Life together.

Grant, Daniel and Noah

Christine du Plessis – A Life Lived in Service and Song

Meeting Christine du Plessis is like coming into contact with an energetic, lively whirlwind. This is a lady who, despite her share of difficulties in life, has accomplished great things, and at 83, continues to be active and to serve.

Her Road to Becoming an Opera Singer

As a young girl of 12, she began singing. Simply listening to the birds was her initial source of inspiration. This little girl had a long journey of music ahead of her. Talented at school, both in visual art as well as in music, Christine was encouraged to set her sights on Vienna. She was told she had it in her to become an opera singer. All the way through school in Bloemfontein, she studied and progressed, and achieved. She took part in Eisteddfods, receiving many honours.

When she finished school, she went off to Rhodes University in Grahamstown, to study a BA in fine art, and then started her career as a high school art teacher. The dream of studying singing in Vienna was by no means lost, but she needed money to get there. And so she taught in the high school in the mornings, and got an extra job – teaching at the Technicon in the afternoons and evenings. She did everything she could to earn the extra money she needed, including being involved in building ten floats for the Sand River Convention celebration in Bloemfontein in 1952. Her creativity was especially tested when a huge bronze coloured statue of a Free State farmer that she had made, fell and broke on the morning of the parade. Quick thinking, she went round to the local gym, and called upon a well-muscled, good-looking young man to be the bronze-painted substitute on her float.

Sister du Plessis considers the age of 23 to have been the peak of her achievements. She worked hard at her jobs, as well as preparing seven paintings for her first exhibition (all of which achieved A’s) and seven pieces to sing in the eisteddfod (all of which achieved A’s). She succeeded in selling her paintings, and this added sufficiently to her income, to enable her to finally realise her dream – she sailed over to Europe, to Vienna. And there she was to remain for two years, while she studied opera singing.

A Young Opera Singer in Vienna Meets the Missionaries

 

In Vienna, life was not easy just 10 years after the end of World War Two. And neither were her studies. She discovered that she had to “unlearn” everything that she had been taught as a singer, and “relearn” a whole new way of singing. At the same time, she was far from home and her home language of Afrikaans. While there she met up with a group of other young students from South Africa, amongst them – Mimi Coertse.

After being there for some time, the young Christine met with two young missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They had already tracted through her building, and didn’t usually go back to a place after finding no success. But on this occasion, they felt impressed to return to Christine’s apartment. Something that had always bothered Christine while growing up, was the idea that God was not fair, in that He gave prophets to the Old Testament people, but He didn’t care enough about us to do the same now. So when the missionaries told her about the Restoration of the fullness of the Gospel, together with a prophet to lead us, she knew she had finally found the truth.

She was baptized in the Danube River on 10 October 1955 at 6pm. It was icy cold and sleeting and they needed the headlights of the car to see. However, the Gospel was then already what it would be throughout her life ahead – “a live, burning thing in her system”.

Unfortunately, her life wasn’t to get any easier after this for her in Vienna. Her South African friends turned their backs on her after she joined the Church. And then finally, her father passed away before she was able to return and see him. In a state of despair, when she had heard the news about her father, she turned to Heavenly Father, and discovered for herself the comfort that comes from the Holy Ghost, and she received inspiration, which she felt was a blessing to her through the 30 years ahead.

Life as a Wife and a Mother

Finally, at the age of 27, Christine returned to South Africa, and to her old teaching job in Bloemfontein. But, after six months, she moved up to Pretoria. The Church was still quite small in the area, and she felt she had a better chance of meeting people her own age if she moved. In Pretoria, she found herself in much the same position, but she nonetheless met the man she was to marry. He was not a member of the Church at the time, but he investigated for himself and was baptized before they were married when Christine was 29.

Then came the real roller coaster ride of motherhood. She had her first son at 30, and her fourth son at 34. She spent nine years washing nappies by hand, while dealing with four lively, active and mischievous boys. Money was always a problem. Her husband had received some brain damage before they were married as a result of sporting accidents, and was epileptic. This resulted in him earning a lot less than they needed, despite him being an intelligent man.

When her youngest child started school, Christine went back to teaching. This time she taught at a special school for handicapped children where she stayed for five years. Then she was invited to teach singing at the Pretoria Technicon – and there she stayed until her retirement in 1988.

Re-Translating the Book of Mormon into Afrikaans

About eight years ago, she heard that a new Afrikaans translation of the Book of Mormon was to be done, and she decided that she wanted to be involved. So she put her name forward, and she was selected to work on the project with a few others. This was a long, but rewarding process, taking about five years.

A Missionary

With the Gospel being so central to her life, Christine found that she couldn’t keep her mouth closed about this precious gift, and this has resulted in numerous people joining the Church. All she has needed to do was live the Gospel, and do the most natural thing in the world – answer the questions people asked. At least 15 of her singing students joined the Church. When her family moved to Wolmaransstad, she was able to share this precious a part of her life with at least 20 people, to the extent that the mission started sending missionaries down monthly, and finally opened a branch in Klerksdorp, about an hour away.

A Sense of Humour

Humour has always been a big part of her and her sons’ lives. Those mischievous little boys, became mischievous big boys, and Christine needed a good sense of humour dealing with them when they did things like switching the organ on and off during sacrament meeting.

She feels that “the Lord has a sense of humour. He put us behind our faces, not in front of them – so we can’t see them.” Whether it’s her sense of humour, or just the goodness of the Lord in her obedient, service-filled life, the face that Sister Christine du Plessis has been blessed with is a wonderful one, which nobody would believe is 83. She still exercises regularly, runs her large house, which she has turned into a boarding house, cares for her own cats and all the local strays.

Over the years, she has been able to keep up her singing, in giving concerts, as well as singing at Church, and the talents with which the lord has blessed her have been well-used to bring joy to others. Her greatest joy now is seeing her fine sons, with their wives and children – all active in the Church. Her sacrifices over the years have been richly rewarded.

              

Audrey Brummer - Safe House Mother

                         Audrey Brummer - Safe House Mother


Most women are nurturers by nature, but not every woman feels able to give quite as completely of herself as does Audrey Brummer. Audrey runs a safe house for children who have been removed from their natural families for reasons of abuse or neglect.

A Heritage of Service

Growing up in Zimbabwe with her mother, Lorna Casson, Audrey was exposed to an example of service – true charity – continually. Lorna was truly a ‘woman of God’ in her dealings with people. She took in children, just as Audrey is doing now, and just as Audrey’s sister does in Australia. The sisters learnt at their mother’s knee that it is not enough to give empty promises and beautiful words alone. They learnt to give of themselves.

When Audrey moved to South Africa as a young woman, and got married to Ruan Brummer, Lorna lived with the young family. Audrey and Ruan were blessed with three children of their own – Dominic, Ashleigh and Ethan. They live in Cape Town and for many years, Lorna worked at a pharmacy in the area. This was the perfect setting for her to continue her life of service. She was at the hub of people’s needs, and was always giving of herself, and arranging service for others. Before she passed away three years ago, she was involved in helping with the abused and neglected babies who were starting to make their way into the Brummer home. Despite being in a wheelchair after the amputation of a leg due to her diabetes, Lorna helped with looking after these little ones.

A Safe House for One Abused and Neglected Baby

Ruan is a police detective, working in what was the Child Protection Unit, and which is now called the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit. He has been with this unit for many years and has seen many unhappy situations and distressed children. On occasions he has to speak publicly at meetings at which social workers are present. Six years ago, he took Audrey with him to such a meeting, and this was where the work of what was eventually to become ‘Malachi Place of Safety’, was begun. A social worker spoke to Audrey and told her of a baby boy for whom she was desperately looking for a safe house. The baby was very sick because of the abuse and neglect, and the removal was essential and urgent. Softhearted Audrey immediately offered to take him. He was supposed to stay just for a couple of weeks, and ended up staying a year. This little boy changed everyone’s lives in the family. He was theirs, as far as they were all concerned.

                          Audrey and Ruan - Safe House Parents

The sad part of caring for these little ones is that at some stage they will be taken – either back to their natural parents or to a permanent alternative. When the time came for this first baby to be returned to his parents, Audrey thought that her heart would break. Her greatest distress was worrying that she could no longer protect him. But the law has the final say, and there was nothing that Audrey could do about it.

A Safe House for Many Abused and Neglected Babies

Fortunately for another 60 children, the social workers came back to Audrey and asked her to take in a pair of twins. These babies’ mother was supposed to be just getting onto her feet, by finding a job. Well, Audrey and Ruan subsequently permanently fostered those twins, and they are now 5 years old. Their mother never did get her act together – and her visits to the children became less and less frequent, and finally stopped.

Audrey gets called on to care for little ones in many situations, and in varying states of health. The youngest baby she has been given was one day old. This little one was found discarded in a rubbish bin at a taxi rank. She has had a number of babies who are older in terms of time since birth, but were born at as young as 27 weeks – gestational age. Audrey then might be given the baby straight from the hospital, as soon as it can leave the incubator.

With these babies coming from such diverse circumstances, Audrey never knows what she might be called on to deal with. One of the most frightening for her has been two babies with apnoea – they would stop breathing intermittently because of immature brainstems. After the first one gave them a severe scare, they realized that they needed to have apnoea monitors, and so the sound of a ticking monitor is quite standard in the house. The first baby, who they were convinced had died when they found her blue the first time, is now a year old and looks like any healthy happy baby girl. No one would look at her and imagine that she had nearly died – repeatedly.

With that little one, as with many others, Audrey has spent many long hours sitting in hospitals – Karl Bremmer and Tygerberg. Both are provincial hospitals, because, obviously medical aid doesn’t pay for these little ones. So the only alternative is the government system, which means long hours of sitting and waiting.  But that isn’t the only place that she has done a lot of sitting and waiting. When the babies’ cases go to court, she has to take the baby and sit, again for hours, in the courthouse, waiting for the case to be heard. When the judge has assessed the fitness (or lack thereof) of the parents to care for the child, she might just be given another date to come back, when the judge will again consider the fitness of the parents.

The judge needs to assess the fitness of the parents regarding various potential problems, including drug addiction, violence in the home, sexual abusiveness, alcoholism, mental state, etc. One of the greatest fears that Audrey still has, as with her first little one, is that they will be sent back to parents who are not actually fit to care for them, but who manage to convince the judge that they are.

The Exhausted Caregiver

Over the last 6 years, the Brummers have taken in about 60 babies. Some have been for no more than a day or two. But others, as with the twins have become a permanent part of the family, being fostered by Audrey and Ruan.

All this takes a lot of work. One never sees Audrey but that she is tired – and yet with a ready smile and a laugh, except when she is worried about one of her babies. Her day starts at 05h30, when she gets up to start with bottles and breakfast for the children. The older ones go to a nursery school in the mornings, so Audrey runs them off there, and then she has to get the oldest one to preschool a bit later. During the morning, with her helpers, she cares for the babies still at home, cleans up, does mountains of washing, washes mountains of dishes and bottles, and then it’s time to fetch the older ones home for lunch. And so the day continues – one continuous round of nappy-changing, feeding, washing, bathing, more nappy-changing, more feeding, and on and on.

By the time most of the children are in bed, most of us would be in a state of collapse, but Audrey just keeps going. There is always at least one child who needs ongoing care – possibly all through the night, and Audrey might not get more than a couple of hours of sleep – and then it’s time to get up and start all over again.

                  Audrey - Multi-tasking With Her Continuous Responsibilities

The children tend to go through three phases when they arrive at a safe house. Initially they will be perfect – perhaps they are too scared to behave differently, as they are accustomed to bad consequences, even for normal crying. Then they might enter a stage of being extremely difficult – fighting and screaming a lot. And then finally, they will enter the stage of accepting the safety and love and security that “Mommy Audrey” provides. Of course, there are other problems which don’t go away as readily. For example, if a baby’s mother is a drug addict and used the drugs through the pregnancy, then the baby goes through withdrawal, which makes it thoroughly miserable. 

At the present time, she has 11 little ones, as well as her two older sons, 23 and 18. Her married daughter has a baby who comes to Audrey during the day while his mommy is at work.

Financial Help for the Safe House

Obviously running a safe house takes a lot of money, and with a policeman’s salary to survive on, it doesn’t matter how good your intentions may be, you will not cope. For this reason, a Non Profit Organization was established, which they called Malachi Place of Safety. Malachi was the Old Testament Prophet who said that the hearts of the fathers would turn to the children and the hearts of the children would turn to their fathers. A most appropriate name for a home, in which the heart – the mother – is completely turned to the children.

The wonderful things that companies have done for this safe house since they have known of its existence, have helped not only the safe house. Audrey has also been able to set up a feeding scheme at a local school, as well as providing 10 food parcels for the Department of Social Development to give to needy families each month.

The Heritage of Service Continues

Just as Audrey and her sister learned service from their mother, Audrey’s children, and her sister’s children, are learning the same thing. It is a wonderful thing to see young men and women so willing to help with little ones and to sacrifice their own comforts in doing so. They have learned to sacrifice from their parents. Audrey could never do what she does if she didn’t have the sustaining she has, firstly from her extremely supportive husband, and secondly, from her children.

Her faith in Jesus Christ and her testimony of His restored Gospel help Audrey to serve with the great love that she does. There is a special place in heaven for people who make sacrifices to serve, especially when the service they give is helping any who cannot help themselves.