A Face from the Past

Oh, the world is a small place, especially in the church. One of the senior couples who serve as auditors in JoBurg went, at Brent's request, to visit one of our mission branches. There was some financial question there. Friday they were in Kinshasa for auditing, and went to see Brent in his office. As missionaries always do, they started talking about where home was and each other's histories. When Brent said my name, that I lived in SLC as a child and gave the crossroads to this missionary he said, "NO she didn't live there. She lived on Blaine Avenue. She's "Rainy" (my nickname only used by my brother.)

It turned out that Elder Howell was, Jimmy, who was my brother's age and grew up in my ward in SLC. Jimmy was also in the Stanford Ward in California the summer that Brent and I met. He met his wife there too. He went home for visit just a few weeks after Brent and I met and told my parents that I 'd met a California Beach Bum and would probably end up staying in California. Brent had bought a new car in California that still had California plates on it. Surprisingly, my parents ended up with "a few days off" and came to visit me the very next week. They spent the weekend with me, met Brent and went home happy. So, it ended up being a good thing that Jimmy "ratted" on Brent.

We went out to dinner on Friday to a Greek Restaurant in a little Greek compound (complete with a Greek Orthodox Church.) We spent a fun evening with the Howells and our great office couple, the Hatches, who had been in the MTC with the Howells. Isn't it a small, small world?

August Transfers

We got home from the New Mission Presidents' seminar in Joburg just in time for transfers. Letters were out and people knew where they'd be heading by the time we got home. This time there were no complaints about their assignments, which was progress. Some of the elders had already started shifting by the time we got here. Pascal, our office worker, had headed off to Matadi to take the transfered elder there and pick up a departing elder, and the shift in Brazzaville was beginning. By Thursday it was total craziness around here.

We had the departing elders in our apartment all morning while Brent interviewed each of them and then we had a testimony meeting and farewell dinner with the departing missionaries, AP's and us. These 9 elders came to Kinshasa on their missions the same day that we arrived here on our first mission. It's very strange that we came, went home, and came back just as they finished their missions. Elders Yongoie, Mukenge and Kapele (on the back left in this picture were with us in Lubumbashi, came here just as the mission split and all now head home to Lubumbashi and Likasi.) It's the end of an era and kind of sad to see them go. They were part of our special Lubumbashi Camelot moment and we love them.

On Friday the 14 new missionaries arrived, wide-eyed and happy and eager to go to work.

There were missionaries coming and going everywhere and half of them were coming from remote cities and were pretty clueless about what was going on. Even running water, flush toilets, elevators, cars, and eating utensils were all new to them. The office was a madhouse with piles of belongings left behind by the departing elders who had packed too much weight to be allowed on planes and arriving missionaries laden down with every personal belonging they owned.

We had the new missionaries up to our apartment for a breakfast. Then we held orientation meetings done with Brent and the AP's. It was a little stressful since both the AP's had only been called two days before because of unusual circumstances. But it all went wonderfully. They did a great job, assisted by Elder Yongoie, our AP who was heading home this transfer. We then served lunch and had a testimony meeting. After that we sent them on their way. As they headed for the vehicles, one tiny, little sister from Mbuji-Mayi swung her gigantic suitcase up onto her head and marched to the truck. Only in the Congo!

Mission Presidents' Seminar

The month of August has flown by. It's amazing that we've been here for two months already. It seems like a day, but yet, some days seem like a month.

August started with a trip to South Africa to attend the New Mission President's Seminar. The seminar was two days long, but it took us a full day of travel each direction, although it's only about a four-hour flight. There are just a lot of "formalities" getting in and out of Kinshasa. We stayed an extra day because flights only go from Kinshasa to JoBurg on Monday-Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. It was like walking into another world and time when we walked off the plane and into the JoBurg Airport.

It was a great trip. We stayed in the beautiful Sunnyside Hotel near the Area Office. It was a lovely Victorian-looking hotel. I enjoyed every minute of our stay there and just drank in all the beauty and style of the place. In front of the hotel there was a beautiful walkway with trees and grassy areas, fountains, ponds and sculpture lining the walks. I can't say enough about how wonderful it was to see beauty all around us. It's so enjoyable and was a great lift to our spirits.

Inside the hotel was also lovely and the restaurant had good food, good service and great company as we shared meals with the Mission Presidents and wives, with whom we'd been in the MTC and totally enjoy.

The seminar held in the area offices and lunches were in the home of the Area Presidency, a lovely old mansion that has been transformed into living quarters for them.

The area offices where meetings were held and the "White House'" home of the area presidency.

The seminar was very informative and we all learned so many things about how to better run a mission. Questions were answered and we came home better informed and able to get things right in the mission and coordinate with the Area. We enjoyed meals and mingling with the other presidents and wives, with the area presidency and with senior couples serving in the area office.We also got to see some old friends from our first trip to JoBurg and from home. In every way it was just a breath of fresh air for us to be there.

After the seminar was over we had a day to spend in Johannesburg since no flights from JoBurg go to the Congo on Saturday. We were able to attend the temple, which is an unusual blessing for Congo missionaries. We thought of our people in the Congo and their longing to go to the temple. It was a special time for us as the Lord blessed us with feelings and insights that will help us to better serve.

Then the Area Executive Secretary and his wife, the Lewises, were kind enough to drop us off at one of the MALLS in JoBurg. Rosebank Mall is just like any mall in the US and a great place to have lunch and "poke around" a bit. We got a couple of souvenirs, a nice black soapstone family figurine and a batik wall hanging for our bedroom. I had a fun time bargaining with the vendor of the statue. He even had a Book of Mormon to entice me to "help a brother." In the end we both got a good price and it was actually pretty fun.

We found post cards and since they have mail in South Africa, we bought them and sent them to our grand-kids. We went to the grocery store (which is in the mall??) and also got CRACKERS. It's strange what you can't get in the Congo. It seems that they haven't discovered crackers. So we came home with a suitcase full of figures, crackers, marshmallows for RK treats, and pencil holders. What a successful outing at the mall. I dislike the mall at home and avoid it at all cost, but it was a delight to see all the things that felt so much like home.

On our way out the door the "hominess" disappeared as we found ourselves back in Africa as a group of young African drummers gave a street performance right outside the mall. But they were sure fun to watch. Brent especially loved them. It was a great ending to our fun p-day in Johannesburg.

The Great Computer Crisis

Today is a very sad day! My laptop DIED! It just stopped working. I shut it down to try and hard boot it, and nothing! Although we thought things were backed up well, our technological lameness seemed to have given us only a false sense of security. It appears that our blog is all we have left from our thousands of mission pictures. We're sure grateful that we've blogged. I'm not giving up yet on the old computer. I'll fight the battle a little longer. But I'm not sure we've got many true techies here to help me in my quest.

Fortunately, we brought two computers and the church had one here for Brent to use, so I'll not be cut off entirely from the world. Just a lot of rearranging, setting up and then lots of picture taking to try and at least try to recapture the Kinshasa mission.

Today is a very SAD day in the Congo!!

UPDATE- I was just able to recover things from before we left for the Congo in July.Our hard drive was backed up just before we left. So, we have all our old mission pictures and quite a few things are back. We just lost the last 7 weeks. It could be worse.

UPDATE #2-I took my laptop to JoBurg and our great IT friend, Graham Walker, had his guys work on it for two day. NO LUCK! But I'm quite satisfied that I have all the things that were in it in July. The rest of the places we've been, we'll be again and I did just catch up on my blog just before losing all the pictures. The documents for the mission can mostly be recreated. Now I just need to really learn the whole backup thing!!

LAST UPDATE-So, we thought that we'd bring the computer home and just hang onto it to see if our sons at home could recover anything when we got home from our mission. We put it in a checked suitcase and when we got to Kinshasa the suitcase felt light, so Brent opened it. YES, the laptop was STOLEN someplace between JoBurg and Kinshasa by some airport employee! The thieves got a big surprise we they tried to use their stolen laptop and we got very annoyed, but except of a new battery, no great loss. The final chapter of the laptop is written. There is no recovery of lost or stolen items on African airlines. The rule is thumb is "too bad!"

New Friends are Silver

We had the chance last week to make some new friends, the Evansons. They're public affairs missionaries who came to teach workshops in Kinshasa and Brazzaville.

These are wonderful people and such a good example to us. They served as mission president and wife in the Ivory Coast more than 10 years ago. While here they also held reunions with their returned missionaries from their Ivory Coast mission. Some of their missionaries are now leaders in the church and some work for the church here in Kinshasa. What a great payday it was for them to see these young men and women being happy and successful. Sadly, some were still struggling to find a way to make a living. Life is not easy in the Congo.

Elder Evanson next served in the temple presidency and as a temple president in Canada, where they live. Then they decided that all of their service had come through a "call" and they wanted to show the Lord that they were willing to voluntarily serve him. So, they put in papers to serve as a missionary couple. What an example of devotion and good attitude they are. We enjoyed visiting with them about their mission president experience and got a lot of good tutoring.

I remember a little poem from my childhood. It said:

Make new friends, but keep the old

New friends are SILVER but the others are GOLD

I'm not sure that I'd consider our new friends, the Evansons just "silver friends," but talking about old and new friends is why I thought of this poem last week. The Evansons now live in OUR apartment on Mutaho Road in Bujumbura and have been working with the Frogleys and the wonderful "golden friends" that we know and love in Burundi.

It was fun to talk to them about all the crazy, funny and difficult things about our apartment and about Bujumbura. The wild traffic, the mattress carriers, the ice cream vendors, the "cruise" to see the hippos in Lake Tanganyika. It was a real stroll down memory lane to visit with the Evansons about Burundi.

We were able to hear updates on things that are happening there to our "golden" pioneers of Burundi. What a joy it was to hear about our branch members. Like the sons of Mosiah, we rejoiced in hearing that they were still faithful and we are still one in the Lord.

Just as Elder Holland promised, the progress has been steady and just less than one short year after the orignal exploratory visit to Burundi, there are now two branches there. One still meets in our little chapel above DHL in downtown Burundi.

The other branch has a big new building out farther from the city center in an area where many members lived. It's a great blessing to have their branch closer to them and to eliminate the 45 minute walks that they willingly made to get to church.

The Frogleys and Malabis are still there giving great support and leadership.

Most the people who are serving in leadership positions in these two branches are people who we knew and saw come into the church. We know, personally, every member of the leadership in the two branches and almost all the priesthood and auxiliary leadership. One notable person is Brother Minos, whom Brent baptized two days before we came home from our first mission. His family is a great strength to the church there now and he's serving as a counselor in the branch presidency. What a joy it was to talk with the Evansons and hear all about Bujumbura.

With this transfer, as Elders Mpoyi and Diazola finish their missions, our original "Burundi Bunch" of eight elders will be gone. But other good elders have taken their places and all's well.

Annie, who moved to join the church, is still bringing people to the church and Method's whole family has been baptized. These people who we saw enter the waters of baptism are strong. They have remained in Burundi so that they can have the gospel until it's in Uvira. In Uvira, DRC the day is getting closer when the church will exist.

Some people have been baptized and there are now priesthood holders there. Those who were baptized travel as often as possible to Bujumbura to attend church and are members of the Bujumbura branches.

The number of people in the church has more than doubled since the creation of that first little branch in Jan. of this year.

We love the people of Burundi.

Bujumbura was a great chapter of our lives and a truly "golden" time.

At the end of this month the Evansons will move to Lubumbashi and live in the Luano apartment, which is located above a store called Enos. When we were there, we arranged to rent the apartment for another couple who was coming. That couple now lives in Mbuji Mayi.

(Now that's what you call pioneering!! ) The apartment belongs to our dear friends, Sister Kieu and her husband, Michel. They own Enos too. It's probably one of the nicest stores in Lubumbashi. It's a computer store, copy store and cyber cafe. Our only dinner invitation in Lubumbashi was to their home. A great young RM friend, Lily, also works at Enos.

Our time spent with the Evansons was just wonderful. It seems like we have so much in common that we were instantly bonded and we must consider them among our

"golden mission friends."

Matadi

One of our recent adventures was to visit a town near Kinshasa called MATADI. We have a branch and four missionaries there, so it was time to go see the elders and visit the branch. Since this is a mission branch, it's under the direction of the mission president. It's important to visit these isolated branches and missionaries and give them direction and support. Without this direction it's possible for them to get off track and the integrity of the church can be compromised.

The choice for a trip to Matadi is to make a five hour drive down a curvy, dangerous mountain road or to take a one-hour flight on a 15-seat Congolese prop plane. We decided on the plane trip. Again, like our trips to Kolwezi, the choice for me was 1 hour of terror or 5 hours of terror.

When we got to the airport it was just a little landing strip in the middle of the city from which a few small planes take off.

Whenever we travel it's always hard to go through security. We're always nervous. Sometimes they go through your luggage, take out every item, examine it thoroughly and it takes forever. When we got to the luggage check area a man looked at our tags and asked if we were the legal representatives of the church. Why not? So we answered boldly, "Yes we are!" With that they passed us right through security without even looking at our luggage and took us to the VIP lounge. Awesome! They offered us beverages and it was nice to sit in a quiet room away from the crowds of people. A couple came into the VIP room and we chatted a bit and found out that he was a senator from the province where we were heading, Bas Congo. The church rents one of our buildings from him. He gave us his card and phone number, although we weren't quite sure why. It's always good to make contacts with people who can become friends of the church.

The flight was short and reasonable until we were just about to land. They even gave us a bottle of Fanta mid-flight. About the time of landing, I looked out and saw a mountain right in front of us. I honestly wondered if we were going to crash right into the mountain. It turned out that we were landing ON TOP of the mountain. The runway was dirt and went right to the edge of the mountain. We landed in a cloud of dust and all was well.

There was a little cement building and a tower where the "air traffic controller" was visiting with a young lady.

They had a small baggage handler and a waiting place for passengers (a few plastic chairs in the shade of a big mango tree.)

We were met by the branch president who had hired a taxi to take us into town. It was quite a ride. It was about a 45 minute drive down from the top of the mountain on a windey dirt road.

And there, at the bottom of the mountain on the banks of the Congo river, was MATADI.

Matadi is much like any other African town but very hilly. The missionaries teased that you had to walk to and from church uphill both ways.

We visited the branch on Sunday and held meetings with the members.

The church and baptismal font in Matadi

We saw the Relief Society, Primary, YW, Priesthood, Sunday school and Sacrament meeting and many good members of the church in this little branch . There were 99 members there for Sacrament meeting. We have some concerns about things there. It's hard to keep the church on track when you're far from the direction and leadership of the church, but we also know that the hearts of the members are in the right place and we hope to give them support that will help the branch to grow and progress in the right direction.

The next day, before leaving tow, we'd made arrangements to see the missionaries. We called them to come and show us the way to their apartment and when we went out of the hotel all four of them were waiting for us, on p-day, dressed in their white shirts and ties.

Three of these elders come from different parts of the Congo, but Elder LaGuerre, the big guy next to me, comes from Central African Republic. He's a true pioneer and the first missionary to serve from that nation. He's a giant of a man in more than one way. When he returns home soon, he'll give great leadership to his country. In the next few months we'll have two more missionaries come from CAR. There is one branch in Bangui. We hope to get there someday soon.

As we headed out to see their apartment, the elders said it was just a short walk and it was, but it was down a hill that was at about a 60% grade. The walk down to the apartment was a bit of a challenge. I had to be careful not slip on the sand covered cement and slide down the hill on my face.

Coming back up the hill was even more challenging.

The elders we very patient, encouraging and cute with me and we all made it successfully back to our very nice hotel.

After a short meeting with the Branch President, we headed back up the mountain to the airport. We arrived there only to be told that since no passengers had come from Kinshasa to Matadi that day, the plane hadn't landed, but had gone on to other cities. We weren't sure that we were going to get home and it didn't seem for awhile that the workers could figure it out either. However, after making a few phone calls, they assured us that the plane would come back by for us. While we were waiting to see if we'd have a plane to go home in, we watched several goats and a few farmers wander across the dirt landing strip. It was all a little unnerving. About an hour later the plane arrived and we boarded. We headed off toward the end of the landing strip, which also was the edge of the mountain top. We lifted off just as the strip disappeared on the mountain's edge. What an adventure!

I'm pretty proud that I made this airplane trip and didn't have a nervous breakdown in the process. Being a nervous flyer and having a bit of claustrophobia, these trips are a significant challenge to me. But we made it and we were happy to see the landing strip in Kinshasa, imperfect as it may be.

Just another day and another adventure in the Congo!