Can this be real?

Today I was sitting in church when I had a sudden realization of how unique my life is here in Bujumbura and what amazing people surround me. Sometimes things occur so frequently that almost don't notice their significance. In church today I looked around and this is what I saw.

Sitting next to me on the right was Alain, who was baptized and confirmed this week. He was taking the sacrament for the first time and I could feel his joy as he did so.

In front of me was Annie. She could join the church, after having prayed for guidance as to which church to join, and being told in a rather miraculous way that she should should join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a church which she had never heard of before. She moved from Baraka, many miles away, when she found out that she could only be baptized right now if she lived in Bujumbura.

Behind me were several beautiful children. One little girl's father was baptized a few weeks ago. He left his job as a minister to join the church when he read the Book of Mormon and believed it's truthfulness. Now six of his children and his wife are taking the missionary lessons and preparing for baptism.

To my left was Methode. He saw the name of the church on a wheelchair in a refuge camp in the Congo, searched on line for that church and eventually connected with a sister who works in the family history center in Utah. He knows the gospel well, has read the scriptures and has come to Bujumbura from the Congo to study more and has requested baptism.

As always. seated near the back of the room in his same blue collared shirt that he wears every Sunday, I saw little Irakozi. He's a 12 year old boy who has come every week by himself. He speaks almost no French, so only the things that are translated into Kirundi are understandable to him, but he is attentive and reverent during each meeting. He's usually one of the first people there although he lives a 45 minute walk from the chapel. Last week I asked him to help pass out hymn books. He seemed so happy to be involved. He is taking the lessons and is a strong little boy.

Across the isle was Vincent. He comes from Uvira, Congo for church often. He is determined to be taught and baptized. He has studied the Book of Mormon for 15 years and is just waiting for the chance to take the lessons and finally join the church. This week just before the meeting he quietly handed Brent an envelope containing his tithing. He is not a member yet. Both Brent and I were almost overcome with emotion as Brent accepted his contributions from this obedient, humble man.

As I looked around today, I realized that there were as many inspiring stories as there were people in the room. Sometimes I think "Can this amazing experience that we're having be real? Or is this just a remarkable dream? Will I remember the tender stories of these great, simple, faithful people when I am no longer among them?" I wish I could introduce each of them to the people I love at home. I want this to be real to my loved ones so that they can be strengthened as we are as we associate with these great pioneers of the church in Burundi.

Not every day is this profound. Some days are just full of mundane living, problem solving, dealing with government red tape, washing 10 sets of baptismal clothing, etc. but when moments like today come, it's worth whatever it takes to be here.

Old Friends Come to Town

The weekend before Thanksgiving we had a great time! First, we hosted our good friend, Desire Ilunga, from Lubumbashi. He's a church employee in Temporal Affairs and a Bishop in Lubumbashi. He came in on the usual 1 am flight and spent a few days helping us get vendors arranged and discussing physical facilities arrangements. We really didn't know if we would ever see any of our old friends from Lubumbashi again, so this was a real treat. We loved having him come.

We found a very nice hotel near our house for him. That was a great help since we spent most of the week taking him around to see different stores and work on securing vendors. Having him stay close was a real help to all of us. We think this will be our choice of hotels for all visitors.

...............

On Sunday morning we took Desire to the airport for his 1 am flight. Coming in on the same

plane that he was planning to take out was the area medical advisor and his wife, Keith and Diane Merrill. We dropped off Desire and picked up the Merrills on the same trip. So, we only had to be up until two one night instead of two. Our great taxi driver, Jean, did the driving as we had been advised that going to the airport in the middle of the night, alone, is not wise. Jean has all kinds of connections with the military who police the roads. He calls them and checks the safety of the road and alerts them that he's on his way, so he's a good person to keep us safe.

We had spent time with the Merrills when we were in South Africa so we were looking forward to seeing them again. They were so good to us when Brent had his medical problems and we just love them. It was so fun to see these dear friends again.

These two are amazing and wonderful people. They are serving their 5th mission, all of which have been as medical advisors in third world countries. They have divested themselves of all their material possessions and now just go on missions. They have raised eight children (some natural and some adopted) and been foster parents to 9 other children. They are delightful people. Between having a lot of fun, laughing and enjoying their company and wisdom the men visited and evaluated hospitals and clinics and found places to take our elders when they need medical care.

The New Hospital is the only place in town with a scanner and is the clinic of choice.

Rwagasore is just plain scarey and we won't go there.

University Hospital is not a good choice either, although it has one of the only labs in town.

Poly Clinic is a definite NO.

The road to the best hospital is a little difficult, but it's right by our house, which is good.

Bomerik is brand new and is the hospital we will use for most things, both in and out patient.

It was a big relief for us to have Dr. Merrill's expert evaluation and teachings to help us with the Burundi missionary health issues. Dr. Merrill also spent an evening with our missionaries talking about sanitation and hygiene.

The Merrills stayed with us so we had lots of time to enjoy their company and visit.

Dr. Merrill set up the run-and-shoot picture of the six of us.

We also tried a local Indian Restaurant, Kazana Kahana. We had a wonderful lunch together in a very interesting place, but the rich, spicy food wasn't our favorite, except for the Frogleys, who really enjoy spicy foods.

We love the wonderful Merrills and felt like they were family by the time their trip ended.

Spending time with our old friends from L'ishi and South Africa this week was a real treat!

Six New Young Members

Every other week we have baptisms in the group. The numbers are rising each week.

The First week we had the 3 baptisms.

The Second week we had 4 baptisms.

The Third week we had 6 baptisms.

The story of each person is unique and special. The group baptized this week is no exception.

Some months before we came to Bujumbura a referral from a young women, named Appolonie, who attends BYU Hawaii was passed on to us. She had been baptized and wanted very much to have the gospel taken to her family in Burundi. For a long time she had cared for her nieces and nephews , who were orphaned. In the end, she was unable to continue and had to put them in orphanages in Burundi so that she could pursue her education. She loves them dearly and supports them, spiritually, emotionally and temporally. Her great desire was to have family in the church with her.

The nieces and nephews. The girls with Mamma Veronique Malabi.

We wrote to her and told her that the church was not yet in Burundi, but it wouldn't be long before it would be taken there. She was thrilled to know that the time was coming when her family could have the blessings of the gospel. We corresponded a few times and encouraged her to be patient. She wrote and talked to her family preparing them to hear the gospel. She also made a separate connection with the Frogleys.

When we arrived in Burundi Appolonie encouraged her family to come to our meetings and they did. Among this week's new members were the three nieces and a nephew of Appolonie. There was great rejoicing on both sides of the world last Sunday as they were baptized. They are beautiful, sweet young men and women and we're so thrilled to have them in our midst.

Two other young men were baptized as well. These youth and young adults will form a great base for the growth of the church here and will be strong leaders in the future.

New members with the Elders who taught them.

We see the young adults as the great strength and hope of the chruch and the continent of Africa. These new young converts and the wonderful returned missionaries have the shoulders on which the church will rest.

It's T-H-A-N-K-S--G-I-V-I-N-G!! Year two in Africa

Thanksgiving is Brent's favorite holiday. I'm not quite sure why, maybe it's -family, favorite foods, football, fun, feasting, fatique, frustration, fat, FOREVER in the kitchen. Oops! Now that's just how I feel. Strike the last four items. I believe that whoever invented the Thanksgiving menu and activities also invented humans carrying large loads, charcoal haulers, chariot transports and indentured servitude.

But, it always turns out to be a great day. These years in Africa will always be remembered.

First, we got our turkey from the landlady. To our great joy, it was not sporting feathers and gobbling. It looked just like it came from Bashas. Well, not exactly, but it was ONLY "in the flesh" and not in the feathers, etc. Turkeys in Africa look the same in the feathers, but are very different "in the flesh."

We have no temperature control on our oven. We just have on and off, (go figure!) so cooking a turkey in our oven didn't seem like a wise choice. So the Frogleys cooked the turkey.

Elder Frogley had to use all his surgical skills to cut it. He looked like the mad Doctor in his lab working on the turkey. It looked and tasted quite different than an American turkey. It was so kind of our landlord to give us the Thanksgiving turkey. She is a wonderful lady.

I was thrilled to find "vegetable cooking fat" which I had heard was like shortening. The "fat" comes in plastic tubs about the size of a large jar of peanut butter ($5). It's CLOSE to the real thing. I was excited to make pies with it. I was a little nervous about doing it too with only the "on/off stove" to use for my pies and dressing, but it worked well enough. We were happy to have them. What's Thanksgiving without pies?

We decided that it would be fun to show the workers at our apartment that we had a holiday to show gratitude. We got them together and told them that today was Thanksgiving in the US. It is a holiday where we give thanks to God for our blessings. We told them that we wanted to give our thanks to them as well with a little gift and gave them each a little money. It was fun to give them something and we felt like it was well received.

The first person on the left in the picture is Jean. He and the girls, Anita and Elena clean. The there are the gardeners (Sylvestre and Kevin) and the manager (Fulgence), and Jackson. The second picture is Jackson (again) and the gate keepers (Isaac and the another Sylvestre.) We're not quite sure what Jackson does, but he's here all the time and must have some job.

We had invited a member from the US Embassy to dinner. He couldn't come until 7 pm, so that was the dinner hour. Brother Willes ended up bringing an African friend, Caleb. He was a very interesting man and added a lot to our party. He'd never been to a Thanksgiving feast before, but he seemed to enjoyed feasting. Brother Willes brought his flute and played some songs for us. He even had some nice jazz music. It was so wonderful to have music.

We had a meal with almost all the traditional Thanksgiving food, except for yams. We even found a can of cranberry sauce and hauled it from Lubumbashi when we moved. We found olives for $5 a can and we bought them. We made dressing and potatoes and veggies and pies. With a lot of improvising, it was pretty close to a Thanksgiving meal.

Neither candy corns nor chocolate were on the menu, but the debate raged on this year in the Jameson family whether to have candy corns or chocolate to celebrate our gratitude. No " I'm thankful fors" before you get your food at this Thanksgiving dinner. Some things are very different in Africa and some things are the same no matter where you go when ...

"IT'S T-H-A-N-K-S--G-I-V-I-N-G! "