Pickles

We have had a very busy week. Brent interviewed all the elders and it took all morning for the full week. We also went to deliver their support money and their cleaning supplies. It can get discouraging because they generally have a long list of things that they want and are not shy about asking.

We have also had continuing problems with power and water. We have only had two days in November when they were working all day. We had 7 days when it has been off for more than 5 hours. Two days it was out for more than 10 hours. It is a challenge to have no power or water. We are convinced that we need to get a generator and need to put that on the top of the priority list,

Elder Mpoyi spent two days with us this week. He's going to the clinic twice a day for shots for his infection. We feel like he's finally improving. His companion needed to do some missionary work, so Elder Mpoyi stayed with us during the day. That meant that he had lunch with us. We introduced him to some new foods that we thought were pretty normal, but were firsts for him--tuna fish, pears, watermelon, potato chips, gouda cheese, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy treats and dill pickles. It was hilarious! He loved the cookies,RK treats, and chips. The cheese was OK. He didn’t like the watermelon and he only tasted the pear and then opted for an apple. Then he tried a dill pickle. We even warned him that it was strange and sour.

His expression was hilarious! He did NOT like it at all!! Isn't it amazing that he’d never tasted any of those things? He kept pointing to them and asking what they were. We tried to explain the American Hamburger to him, but weren't too successful! The elders mostly eat rice, beans, cassava, and bread. They eat apples, onions, potatoes and mangos too. I worry that they don't get a very balanced diet. Elder Mpoyi even talked to the Webbs on Skype this week. It wasn't much of a conversation since he speaks almost no English and Corinne got tongue tied when he started speaking French. I can relate! He's a great young man.

Today we went to visit a branch in Kipushi, 30 Km (18 miles) from our house. We took the executive secretary to the mission presidency and a high councilor from the Katuba Stake with us. Kipushi is not directly under our supervision since it’s a branch that is part of a stake, but we needed to go and see what we could do with missionaries in that area. They have none right now. The mission will be getting about 30 new elders in the next few months so we are looking at places they can be used. Last weekend we had been on a much longer trip on a dirt road in the rain. We thought this trip would be a nice, easy drive. It took us an hour to drive 18 miles. There is something harder to navigate than a dirt road in the rain. It’s a paved road that has seen no repairs for 30 years. It’s a good thing that we have four-wheel drive, even with it, we had a bumpy ride.

There are very deep gutters on the sides of the roads.

It makes it impossible to go off-road to avoid the pot holes.

This branch just rented a house to meet in and they were very happy to have it. It is in very bad shape. There is almost no paint on the walls and the floors are in poor condition. There are broken windows and I didn't dare go in the bathroom. Brent said the health inspectors shouldn't either. We hope that they can get some paint, and a lot of other things, so that it can look like a place of worship. It will have to go through the Stake and Temporal Affairs, but it sure needs to happen.

There were only a few men there when we started but by the end there were about 40 members and 5 investigators (in French investigators are called called ‘friends of the church.’ I love it!) When the meetings started the spirit was wonderful and strong. They taught the gospel with power and knowledge. Their one deacon passed the sacrament, dressed in slacks, and a white shirt and tie, fulfilled his assignment with dignity and reverence. They don’t have the idea yet about sitting as families. The children sat in front, the men next and the women in the back. In RS the Pres gave a wonderful lesson on honoring our baptismal covenants. She did it in French and then in Swahili. I think it was for my benefit and it was so kind of her. We spoke in Sacrament Meeting, as usual. We just can't seem to get the message across that we are just there to visit. But, they listened attentively and smiled and encouraged me in my poor French. They are always amazed that Brent speaks such wonderful French. They often comment that he speaks better French than they do. It pleases them to be able to communicate so well with him.

Some Relief Society Sisters

The Men of the Branch, with Brent and the other visiting leaders

The Primary and the Primary Preisdent on the bottom right

The young men of the branch

The Young Women and Lorraine

Once the camera comes out everybody wants to get in the pictures.

We really enjoy Sundays when we get to be with the people of the church. It's well worth the effort to get there! It’s a great joy to feel their spirits.