Zone Conferences

We just finished a round of zone conferences. It seems like six weeks really comes around quickly. It's always a big project. Lunch, talks, workshops and interviews with all the Elders.

But, what a great experience it is to be with these young elders and see their enthusiasm and dedication. They are so fabulous. You can just tell by looking at them that they carry an amazing spirit with them.

We do stand out in a crowd, don't we!

We held a conference in Lubumbashi and in Likasi. Here's our little army of Elders marching off to their areas after a great conference.

We took our Zone Leaders with us to Likasi. I would think that it's a little strange for Elder Kirongozi to go there because that's where he's from, but he seems to do fine with it. I can't imagine going to my hometown while on my mission. We traveled for 2 hours on that bad road to Likasi. It was raining and in one place the road in the village was totally flooded.

This time it almost seemed like there were less potholes and less dirt road. Brent says that he's starting to know where the major, gigantic pot holes are and he serpentines all over and off the road, just like the transport drivers. We got stopped by the police 7 times. It's our record high for one day! Some of them even have gotten to know us and are quite nice to us. One policeman by

the bridge stops us every time and always wants pamphlets. Brent asks him if he'll read them and he always says yes. I think that Brent's getting good at talking his way out of things with the police too. This time two police officers didn't really look all that intent on stopping us, so Brent just waved and moved on. The elders loved it. But then we got stopped down the street and the first officers drove up in a truck. We think that they just commandeered it from some passing person so they could chase us down. We were pretty nervous. But Brent just told them that he was new in town and thought that they were just giving him a friendly wave, and they let us go. We couldn't believe how blessed we were. Seven stops and not a penny poorer. We also gave out two church pamphlets.

I'm just sure the officer by the bridge is going to be a member of the church someday. He just has a good look in his eyes and is very nice to us when he stops us.

We had a good conference in Likasi and then we celebrated Christmas with our elders there since we won't see them again before Christmas. We asked what traditions they had for Christmas and acted like they didn't know what we were talking about. They all said that they stay home with their families, but have no traditions. Some said they have a Christmas tree, but they don't do much. We decided to play the "white elephant gift game" with them--only we put new ties all wrapped up under the tree and they got to choose a package or take a tie from another elder. We weren't sure how it would go over because these are very serious young men, but they seemed to have fun.

Then while Brent did interviews with each elder, I played the audio of the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional for them from my laptop. Scott had downloaded it in French and sent it to us. We don't do well with downloads, so he broke it into pieces. I think that some of the elders had never seen a laptop before. They stood by it and took pictures of themselves. I also think that some of them had never heard Pres. Monson, Ucthdorph or Eyring's voices before. You could have heard a pin drop through the whole program. They concluded every talk with a hearty Amen. It was easy to see that this was something meaningful to them.

As usual, when we go to Likasi, people had heard about our coming somehow and just showed up at the church to talk about things. So Brent had a very busy and stressful time after our conference. He had the District President, a Branch President, a prospective missionary and another brother who needed an interview all there vying for his attention and time. We also feel the pressure to get on the road so that we can get home before dark. So it made for a great deal of pressure on Brent. I just hung out with the Elders and have fun while he stresses. But it was a good day in Likasi.

We will do the same party on Christmas Eve day with our elders in Lubumbashi. We are excited to have a party for our elders. We're doing it in our home. We made invitations for them and gave them money to take a transport here. It amounts to less than a dollar per elder, but without the extra transport money it would be hard for them to come. They get their support from the church and we are all very careful with the 'Widow's mite.' They will work in their areas as usual on Christmas day because the Congolese people are not working and are at home with families. So they say it's a good day to find people to listen to their message. It will be a different Christmas, but we hope, a special time for us all.