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From Returned Missionaries

Dwayne N. Andersen-Excerpts from Autobiography

JOHANNESBURG TEMPLE MISSION

Part 34

Shortly thereafter we received an official call to serve in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple. This was an 18-month call. Imagine spending 18 month in exotic South Africa! It is both a first world country with the white people’s area, and a third world country among the blacks. Johannesburg is about as far away from the church headquarters as one could be sent. Peggy and I were to be together at all times, so in most cases I will use the pronoun “we.” We started preparations immediately to answer that call. A member of our ward agreed to rent the top part of our home; and Doug and Karen were already living in the lower level. Our daughter, Valerie, was to act as the landlord for the home. We were glad to get arrangements made for our home, as that was our main concern. We left Salt Lake airport to begin this mission on July 28, 1988. Our first stop was at New York City, where we changed planes for a flight to London. The plane for London was over-booked, so Peggy and I were “forced” to sit in first class. We had to sit in the airport for a number of hours before boarding the plane (heavy rainstorms). In the process of boarding the plane from London to Johannesburg, I lost my overcoat. We had to stop at Namibia for refueling. This certainly looked like a desolate desert place.

As we circled the airport at Johannesburg, we felt some trepidations, but mostly joy, knowing that we were there to serve the Lord. Our faith was strong and our desires were great. Upon our arrival, Lionel Bibb, the temple president and others, graciously welcomed us. We were escorted to our living quarters in a 13-story building called PLUMTREE. Our apartment was adequate on the 9th floor. The window facing the street below was very large, looking down at the very busy street. There were large apartment buildings on each side of our street. Our first few nights were sleepless because of the noise of the streets. The noise seemed to be amplified as it ascended up to the ninth floor. A motorcycle would roar down the street and set off the alarms of the cars lining both sides of the street. We had to get used to the screeching sounds of car alarms, which were constantly set off day and night.

Some of the temple missionaries were on a tour when we arrived at the temple, so we arranged to take a smaller tour ourselves, with Sr. Mower and Bro and Sr. Fisher, who all arrived about our same time. Durban was a beautiful seacoast town and quite humid. The businessmen seemed to be mostly the Indians from India. We enjoyed a bus tour and some walking for sightseeing, good meals in our hotel, and the wonderful flowers on every corner almost! On our bus ride back to Johannesburg, we enjoyed seeing some of the smaller towns between Durban and Johannesburg. It was an enlightening trip, but we were anxious to get back to our apartment and start preparing for our service in the temple.

The first few weeks working in the temple were very hard. Since I had been the temple president in Tokyo, which we were told was the quietest temple in the church, I was appalled at the irreverence among the temple workers. There was too much sarcasm and negative communication. There was no procedural manual. The new workers were given very little instruction. They mostly had to learn by trial and error; and if they made an error, they received a negative scolding. I could see many needed changes; but I was told by the temple department not to criticize how the Johannesburg president was operating the temple. The first temple president was from the United States, but after a year or so, he passed away in a sealing ordinance room. Lionel Bib had been his first counselor. He was put in as the acting president and later as the president. He and I became very close friends and had a number of visits. He had set us apart earlier and made me the new trainer. I was able to win his confidence, so one day I asked him about the procedures for the ordinances and told him that I had written up all the procedures for the Tokyo Temple. He was pleased and gave me permission to do the same for Johannesburg. Sister Andersen was called at a later time to be trainer for the sisters.

The temple did not open until late afternoon, so Peggy and I walked to the temple two or three hours earlier so that I could work on the writing of the ordinance procedures. Peggy typed it and arranged it into a booklet. Things ran much better after that. We really enjoyed attending the Gold Reef Ward in Johannesburg. The accent of the South African was most intriguing. The testimonies and talks given by the youth were as outstanding as any we have ever heard. Many of the families invited us to meals, so we were able to understand the culture quite well. In one of our Sunday School classes, the teacher invited me to share my Book of Mormon personal applications study program that I used at Brigham Young University. After the class, a tall, good-looking man said he would like to talk with me. So I invited him to our apartment for a later time.

When he arrived, he began telling me about his life. At the time he was married to his first wife, he was not a member of the church. After he joined the church, his wife left him. Later he married a widow with children. He helped her raise the children, treating them as if they were his own. He and his 2nd wife were both active in the church. When the children were raised, his 2nd wife told him she no longer wanted to be married. She was quite a dominating woman. He was very hurt and became inactive in the church; and just happened to come that day I gave my lesson. After listening to him, I could see he was spiritually drained and reaching out for help. I shared with him my positive- negative chart and challenged him to change his negative thoughts to positive ones. In that way I felt he would regain his spirit in the ward. He came to visit us a number of times. He made changes and became a new man. He often said that I had saved his life. He regularly invited Peggy and me to dinner. He attended church and became an avid genealogist. I tried to get him to return to the temple, but for some reason, he would not go. When we returned to South Africa on our second mission there, we continued a close relationship. But he still did not go to the temple. However, after we finished our 2nd mission to South Africa, he would phone us often. On one occasion, he told us he was now attending the temple regularly. We recently heard that he was in charge of the genealogical program in South Africa. He certainly is a devoted and beloved friend.