That's using your head!

I'm sure that the blogs will slow down as we get more accustomed to the differences between Lubumbashi and Tempe, but today I want to show you something that is totally normal here, but never seen there. We call it "using your head."

In Africa people carry things on their heads. It actually makes total sense and is quite smart. Almost nobody has means of transportation, so they walk everywhere and take things with them on their heads. Sometimes they have a little bean-bag-like thing that they use to help balance and sometimes they just throw things up there and go for it. Many venders walk around with things to sell in pans or baskets on their heads. So, here are some examples.

Church & Clothes Market

Just behind the beautiful church building in Lubumbashi is a market. We look at it every time we go to the church. It's the clothing market and today we decided to venture there while waiting for our pictures of the missionaries to be made at the photo/shoe store in town.

We parked in the church parking lot. It's such a beautiful building and really stands out in the surrounding area.

We walked just a minute's walk to the market. This is the street just outside the church. You will see the bars that surround the church and the busy market street just outside.

The market is made up of about five very long rows just like the one below.

Now we know why they told us that we ought to take all the clothing we needed for the 18 mo.

There was not much to choose from that caught Brent's eye. There were not many ladies clothes either, just a few shoes and purses. The African women buy yards of fabric and have dressmakers custom make their dresses for them. Can't wait to have my own African dress.

Here is the market from the street side. It stretches for about a block.

The market is just as you go under the arch that welcomes you to Lubumbashi, the city of peace. The people of Lubumbashi are very proud of the fact that they are far from any war that exists in the Congo. It is a wonderful, peaceful city. We are lucky to be here.

After the market trip we went back to pick up our pictures. Here is Brent coming out of the photo/shoe store.

Every day is an adventure in the Congo. Every day is really a gift.

Compensating Blessing

We went to see the missionaries' homes and make sure they have what they need and take them their support money. None of these missionaries has enough money to be self supporting like most missionaries are.

Our goal is to have each group of elders live in a place that has electricity and running water (either inside or outside, but accessible) most of the time. You would not believe the places they live. This picture is the only way you can get to one of the apartments.

The elders had a good laugh at me as I crossed the bridge. Then two little boys scamped across (just to show me up).Every day is something new here in the Congo. There I am in all my embarrassment. Honesty I was only concerned about not falling into the river of raw sewage below me. These young missionaries are such a joy. We are so lucky to get to know and work with them. They certainly do make me think that the future will be brighter than today.

Last Sun-Mon we were without power for 24 hours. That means that we have no way to cook, no water (water is on an electric pump), no lights, etc. They put in a new transformer next to our house. Then again today it was out for 10 hours. We've eaten a lot of B and J sandwiches this week. They had just set the new transformer next to the old one and it didn't work well. So, they did it all over again. It takes about three to five tries to get anything working right here. The first time it was pretty scary, but this time we were prepared. Here we are in our cool "headlamps".

Instead of scrubbing the floors for preparation day today, I got to read a good book with my headlamp. No water! No scrubbing! Pretty good excuse for not working, if somebody would just come now that the lights and water are on and clean my floors for me. You can hardly see the patterns in the floor for the dust. We have discovered that for every adversity there is a compensating blessing. Reading a fun book by Alexander Smith was my compensating blessing today for a day without power and water.

Trying to Explain the Unexplainable

Another two amazing days have passed in the Congo. Each day I think that it will be an ordinary day and it never is. The last two days are no exception. I wish that I could share every experience with family and friends and have you see it all and really take it in like we can,although sometimes it's overwhelming and hard, it also makes us feel a tremendous sense of purpose and we know we are needed most desperately.

First we took a trip 75 miles North to Likasi for a zone conference. There are six incredible missionaries and an African couple there. There are four branches and a beautiful building almost exactly like the one in Lubumbashi. They stand out so much in the surrounding ville. We spent time with our missionaries and loved it and then we went to see the couple Motshikana home, which is very, very nice by African standards. They are a great couple who work with the missionaries and the branches in Likasi. They are the first Congolese couple to ever serve. Their way is paid for by the church and it's worth every penny. Here in the kitchen you can see the water pump and the filters that create safe water. They are pumping water from the red bucket through the filter and into the tap. Ours goes directly to our tap.

Likasi is in a hilly area and the air is clearer and the contour of the land is interesting. It seems to be a little nicer to me, but is smaller and quite isolated. As with all the places we've been there is one main street in the town that is paved and the others are just dirt. This area is very, very dusty.

This big statue in the center of town was built to honor women.

The trip itself to Likasi was something I will never get over. This is the real story of Africa. It is devastatingly sad and overwhelming in its scope, when you realize that we only traveled 75 miles and there are millions living just like this all over the continent. There were probably 30 or more little villages along the way there. Most are without running water or power and they sometimes have to walk long distances to get to water and fuel. You saw them walking along the road all the way carrying water and cassava and every other thing they could have been carrying. These villages were filled with people who live in such poverty that we could not believe our eyes. It's rougher camping that we ever did in all our years of camping. If you have something to sell, you just sit by the side of the road and try to make a little money to keep your family going. If you don't you cook, clean or just sit or visit or whatever one can do with almost no personal belongings. We saw some children playing with a soccer ball made of strips of rags and some dancing. They cook outside on open fires made with charcoal. They eat mostly casava root which they mash by hand and make into a food like mashed potatoes, with a little stew of onions, and maybe peppers or tomatoes in it. There were a few chickens and a few goats. Some of the houses were open and you could see just dirt floors and no furniture inside. Most were less than 10x10 feet. Every two minutes I could have taken a picture like these. It was like that for 75 miles.

It's really quite an overwhelming site. We drove for two hours, on a pretty good two lane highway. When the pot holes get bad they just drive in the dirt on the side of the road.

Then we drove on about 6 miles of "teeth rattling dirt road". Just like four-wheeling! We totally got the giggles because we were bouncing around in the back of the truck. The picture below is the most interesting point in the road trip. This car full of stuff is a NOT very usual sight through the city and villages, but with cows and trucks added and driving off the road to avoid pot holes, it was a great mix of common sites in Africa.

Our friend, Desiree, who drove us this first time, wanted to stop and get some charcoal, which is how they cook. It's much less expensive out in the country then when the bicyclers bring it to town. So, we stopped for some charcoal.

After our long trip yesterday, we decided to find the the produce market in Lubumbashi today.
We got stopped twice by the police and each time they looked at Brent's badge and said "church" or "missionaries" and waved us on. One of them said "We are here to help you!" Africa is a place where spiritual things are important. It's a blessing to serve here. I want you to know that we are not afraid, except of the roads. They have pot holes that you could disappear into and never be found. But these people are warm and kind and very good to us. They are friendly and they appreciate every good thing they get.

These pictures tell the story of the African market. This market went for about a block down the street and a block back behind what you see here. We did find good produce and the people were so glad to have white Americans (muzungus) who will pay lots more than the African people. There were many tender moments-- the street kids who we gave $.60 for a bag for our food who went away smiling because of a big sale--the mother with her tiny baby selling peppers-- and especially the cute lady with pears who chased us down to give us one more pair for our money, which I'm sure was not a good deal, but was a sweet moment. Life is hard in Africa and we are people of great privilege. It makes me so sad and so grateful and so aware of all the work we need to do. We will go back to the market.

We were told that this mission would change us forever, but this trip did that. The light of the gospel needs to shine brightly here in Africa. It is the only hope for this land. I think it will take until the Savior's return to make this a place without terrible suffering. But if you see the light in eyes of the members you will see what real hope is. We are so lucky to share in helping them.

The good, The Bad and the Ugly

What a day it has been! Today is Brent’s birthday and it will not be one that we will ever forget! It was sad for me that I had not thought ahead to get Brent a gift and here it wasn’t possible. But he came out with a shirt, tie and pants that he had not worn today and called it his new Birthday clothes. What a sweet guy!

We started off the day with a wonderful experience. We had a zone conference with 16 fantastic missionaries. They are the light of our mission and we are so honored to be able to serve with them. They have amazing faith and testimony and they are working hard. They don’t have to work hard to find people to teach. They have to work hard to keep up with the people who want to be taught. One elder, who just went home when we got here, personally taught and baptized 300 people. I think that is the mission record, but I'm not sure. It’s staggering how many people are being taught. We went to the grocery store two days ago and a bagger saw our name tags and asked if we were Mormon missionaries. When we said yes, he said that he loves the Bible and reads it every day and he understood that we had another book about Jesus and how could he get one. We took his number (everybody has cell phones) and told him we’d see that he got one. Today we went to the store to get some things for the zone conference and he came racing through the store to catch us to see when he could get his book. Can hardly believe it. At the church during zone conference two young men came in to see if somebody would teach them about the church. It's just crazy! But our missionaries are as good as any missionaries in the world. Many have served as ward and branch missionaries before. They have gone to the temple and to the MTC. Here they are.

We just love them. During the conference they get to have KFC and they love it. However, it’s not the Colonels. It’s KATANGA FRIED CHICKEN.

Elder Mpoi, whose head is on the right and who has taught me three phrases in Swahili, thought I was funny to want a picture of chicken. It’s a little box with chicken , fries and a little coleslaw wrapped up in foil. We didn’t eat it, but it didn’t look all that bad. After they ate they found out that it was Brent’s birthday and so they sang to him, twice—once in French and then again in English. So cute! The second missionary on the right, Elder Yongoi, is the one who got seat for another elder on the plane. Next to him is Elder Kapele (with glasses), He carried my bags all the way from Kinshasa. Remember him for later.

After At the conference Elder Kapele came up and asked me if he could have a bottle of water. Not want wanting to set a precedence, I asked why. The answer was that they had not had water at their apartment for three days. We talked to the President and decided we should to see this place. So we went. I didn’t take the camera and was sorry, but now I’m glad. It would make you cry to see this place. It was horrible. It was far out on a dirt road with ditches of raw sewage in front of it. Inside it was a cement box with two rooms and no windows and no furniture, but a table and four chairs. Four elders live here. There was no water, no electricity and only a hole for a toilet. They cook on a charcoal fire on the floor of one of the rooms. Up the shaky metal stairs were two bedrooms with a small dresser in each and mattress on the floor. These sweet elders had not had power for three months and no running water and no water delivery for three days. It broke my heart. I tried to talk to them, but I could not talk and hold back the tears. So, Brent just told them how sad I was for them and we would change things as soon as we could. We gave them money to get three days worth of water. I hated to leave them there, but had no choice. Then we went to the zone leaders place to see it. It was much better, but still not a place we would want anybody we liked to live. They had room and electricity, no running water, but deliveries of water. had n , but no place to clean up except outside with a pan. The same dish pan is used for bathing, and washing clothes. We went home very sad and determined to change things. Pres. Headlee thought that we could move them to the old servants quarters on in our compound until we found a new place. These are pictures of it and it’s a giant step up. They are cement with no water, but they do have electricity. The two little outside rooms are a toilet and a shower. There is a tap with water outside. Most of the elders buy water by the barrel. They would cook outside on a brassier using charcoal. This would be a pretty good place to stay compared to what they have.

This is the "toilet". It's just a hole in the ground.

This is the "shower"

In the evening we went to one of the nicest restaurants in town with the Headlees, Bro. and Sister Monga, and Desiree and his wife. It was a wonderful evening. We talked and laughed and had a good time. There two men are the ones who have helped us to get settled and will be our main support. Monga was the first Congolese ever to go to the Temple. That was in 1993. Desiree and his wife were married in JoBurg Temple, but all alone. No money for family to go to be with them.These are devoted, wonderful members and we are so grateful to know and love them.

Brother and Sister Monga gave Dad a birthday present. It’s to make a Congolese shirt for Dad and a dress for me. It was so sweet of them. Can’t wait to find a dressmaker and get them done.This is how the Congo is. There are some things that are so good, Some that are pretty bad and then there are those things that are just darn ugly! We just look for and enjoy the good and try not to focus on the rest.

Our first solo venture out into the world - Sept. 16th, 2009

Today we had our driver's licenses so we ventured out to see the world. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words & every time I blinked I could have taken another picture. But here are some. You will see what a different place we're in when you see these pictures. We only got stopped by one policeman & he wanted sugar. We think that means cookies, since some of the missionaries in the past gave them cookies. Then the other police who were in the middle of a traffic jam got mad at him for stopping us & holding up traffic. So we just went on. My prayer was answered that we not have any traffic confrontations today on our first time out alone.

This is what the entire main downtown look like. People walking everywhere. The church in the background is the nicest building in town. (You may want to click on it to enlarge it & see the details of this crazy photo.)

The mounds are termite hills. They no longer have insects in them. Trees now grow on the top of them. Some of them are over 10 feet tall!

This is a taxi. There are zillions of them. They cram about 25 people in them.


This is how they move things. Not many trucks around. Kind of like handcarts.

Notice the load. It's the common way to carry things.

Africans carry everything on their heads.

People here cook with charcoal made from wood burned out. Just a typical city street with stores on the side of the road.

These men ride their bikes 60-80k to get to market.

Wish I could really share this place with you. It's amazing! We made it through another day & even drove.

Oh, Brent also had to go to the bank & get cash for all the expenses for the mission for the month. We went out of the bank with $13,000.00 in cash! I was a nervous wreck. We'll do that every month. Crazy!!!

Love, Mom & Dad/Brent & Lorraine