Great Day at Kimbenseke!

We have made the decision to go on Saturdays to be with our missionaries at their baptismal services. We believe that they need us to spend more time with them and share their good days as well as be problem solvers for them. So, this Saturday we went to the Kimbanseke Stake Center to attend the baptismal service. Brent had done a special case interview with one of the sisters which was very meaningful to him, so we chose to go to the building where her baptism was held. She, along with eight others, were baptized by one of the most wonderful missionaries we've known, Elder Laguerre. He's the first missionary to ever serve from Central African Republic. He's a giant of a young man, but so tender, caring and humble. You could just tell of his love for his "friends of the church," which is what they call investigators here in French-speaking Africa. It was a great experience to share this day with these good people.

All together there were 16 baptisms. What a great day to share with our missionaries and these new members of the church.

The baptismal candidates were well supported by ward members and some members of their families were also in attendance. Several men who were baptized had their wives with them. We're always happy to see that, since having families united in the church is our major goal.

It was good to see the missionaries doing their work and doing it well.

We left the church happy to have spent the afternoon with our elders and the new members. We took Elders Laguerre and Kayembe part of the way back to town and dropped them in their area. This is a poorer part of town and they told us that they'd had no power for almost 6 months.But this is an area where the church is growing by leaps and bounds and wards are thriving. It's heartening to see these elders accomplishing the Lord's work with smiles on their faces, despite the difficulties they live with daily. We sure do love them!

Sunday we attended the ward to see these new members confirmed. We saw three of our Lubumbashi missionaries there. All of them seemed to be trying to do something with their lives.

Longonja, Mesenge and Elenge

The two Elders were in school using PEF. Sister Mesenge told me that she was engaged and was just visiting that ward because her fiancee lived there. I hope to meet him, but they never sit together or show any sign that they're a couple. So, when she left early I thought that I wouldn't get to meet him. After the meeting, I talked to our two returned elders. Both are engaged too and Elder Longonja told me that I would know his fiancee. It was Sister Mesenge. What happy news that two of our good returned missionaries are going to marry. I just love seeing them and meeting their "special friend." This will be a good, strong family and a blessing to Kinshasa. We hope that all of returned missionaries do this well when they get home.

Bishop Edgley's Visit

This week we had visitors from Salt Lake and South Africa. We were very happy to have Bishop Edgley, a counselor in the presiding Bishopric of the Church, and Elder Soares of the 70 visiting Kinshasa.

Elder Soares, Jamesons and Bishop Edgley

They were accompanied by Leon Holmes, the director of Temporal Affairs for the SE Africa, and Robert Milne, security officer, who both come from JoBurg. They worked here with Daniel DeAlmada and others from our Regional Temporal Affairs office. They toured buildings and church-owned property,visited the mission office and even went to Brazzaville. Bishop Edgley was amazed, just like the rest of us are, by the crossing of the Congo River. They evaluated the needs and plans for buildings in our part of the area, met with the stake presidents and Brent and looked at temple sites. They spent three days here and we had a chance to see them and discuss things that were on our mind on three different occasions. We're grateful when anybody from church headquarters comes here because, without doing it, you could never understand what it's like to be here and what the needs of the people are in our part of Africa.

We thought that the wives of Bishop Edgley and Elder Soares were coming, but when they got here we found that they had left their wives in JoBurg. We had dinner on Tuesday night. We didn't know until they actually arrived how many or what time they'd be here. That's a bit of a challenge that seems to occur often for us. At the dinner it was just the men folk and me. It was an excellent opportunity to visit in a comfortable,casual environment and we were able to address some of the pressing needs that relate to the mission. We felt, after our evening together, that Bishop Edgley would carry some important messages back to the Brethren and it turned out to be a very pleasant way to spend an evening.

Left to right-Robert Milne (security),Leon Holmes (Area TA director), Elder Soares (first quorum of the 70), us, Bishop Edgley, Vincent (regional travel), Daniel DeAlmada (regional TA director), and Da Tarr ( real estate)

De Tarr is mentioned in the book, Safe Journey, written by Elder Glenn Pace about the church's arrival in Africa. He has an amazing story as one of the first members of the church in the Congo.

Just before leaving for the airport on Wednesday they held a meeting for all the church employees and full-time senior missionary couples.

It was a helpful and interesting visit and we're grateful that they made the effort to come, to see the Congo, to understand more about this land and it's unique needs and to show their love and support for the people here.

All the Way Home

Getting home from Yaoundé has been a multi-sectioned trip. You fly from Yaoundé to Douala. Then you fly from Douala to Brazzaville, with a stop in Pointe Noire. After that you take a boat across the Congo River to Kinshasa, but we found a way to get home easier.

You can take the flight from Yaoundé to Douala and then fly Brussels Air straight to Kinshasa. We'd planned on a quick and easy trip home. Does Rule #1 always have to apply?

We left from the Thompson's home AT 8:30 am, stopped to see the Elders and then headed to the airport. Flight #1 went just as planned and we were in the Douala airport by noon.

We knew that flight #2 to Kinshasa didn't leave until 5:00 so we had five long hours to wait in the airport. Since we had no transportation, addresses don't exist, and we didn't know our way there to tell a taxi driver, we couldn't spend the time with the missioanries. We just had to look for a comfortable place to settle in for the day, but couldn't even find a chair to sit in. Finally, we asked a man who works for the airlines where we might go until check-in time. He took us to a small snack bar in the airport that we'd never even noticed.

After about four hours the check-in finally opened and we checked our bags, got our tickets and went to the boarding area, which wasn't any too comfortable either.

The plane, which was coming from Brussels, was about two hours late. Now we'd been in the airport for over seven hours. We anticipated another hour's wait to clean and refuel the plane, but when we saw people examining the plane with flashlights and marking x's on the outside of it, we knew that we were in trouble.

After two hours of this examination, they came in and announced that the plane wouldn't be able to continue on to Kinshasa. A part needed to be replaced because the plane had been struck by lightening and they'd have to fly that part in from Belgium. In the end, they didn't fix the plane, but flew another plane in. It also turned out those of us who were sitting in the airport were the lucky ones . There were over 100 people who had been on the plane for those two hours. About 9:30pm they took us all to hotels throughout the city to spend the night. We ended up in the Bano Palace Hotel. It was a pretty unsettling thought that we would be put in a hotel that wasn't of our choosing, but when we got to the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised. It was very nice. We were still in the same clothes and without even a tooth brush since our luggage was checked, but we were much relieved not to be sleeping in the airport. We hadn't eaten all day and were very pleased to have a meal in the hotel restaurant and a good night's sleep.

The next day we had nothing to do until the plane was ready. Our computer didn't even work. So we had a forced p-day and tried to just enjoy a little down time. We had nice meals, sat by the pool, bought ice cream at a little snack bar, and looked out over the city of Douala. We could see nice new high rises and also the more common sites of the city. We could see the tin roofs on buildings held on by old tires and people working in their tiny shops and yards. The number of large modern buildings is small in comparison to the many one-room homes and businesses in the cities we visit.

They told us to be ready at the Bano Palace Hotel at 2:00pm and they shuttled us all back to the airport for six more hours of waiting. This time there were about 200 of us in the small waiting area .

To make a long story short, our plane finally took off at 8:00pm that night. Upon arrival at the Kinshasa airport we were delayed 2 hours waiting for our luggage. Finally, after 38 hours in the same clothes and having spent much of our time in airports, we arrived home about midnight happy that we had finally finished the "easy trip home."

Visiting Yaoundé- Working with Members

The other part of our time when we go to outlying cities is spent with members. We have 11 mission branches. They're the direct responsibility of the mission president who acts as a stake president for those branches. So, there are interviews for young members turning in mission papers. There are temple recommend and priesthood advancement interviews. There's training of auxiliary and priesthood leaders and changes in organizations that must be done by the mission president. It's a real blessing that Brent's had so much experience in a stake presidency.

This trip was made because of a need for change in the branch presidency. That meant hours of training and interviewing for Brent. Sister Thompson is planning a Relief Society training meeting so she and I talked about her plans and, of course, cooked. It's such a blessing to have these good couples in our outlying cities. They give the real aid to developing branches by being there to give constant support, direction and leadership. I don't know how things could progress without them. They have solitary and challenging lives but play a most important, life-changing role as they go about doing good. We're so thankful for them. These are among the people of whom I'll always think when I sing "I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord."

Gates Nuttalls Thompsons

The Ekounou 2 branch meets in a nice, rented African-style facility. It was clean, neat, mostly well maintained and large enough for the needs of the small branches that meet there.

This is the neighborhood across from the church entrance.

The church is a nice addition to this neighborhood.

The road to the church is really something to see. It's the area where four of our elders work and it's unimaginable to think of these young, white, American men walking these streets daily. But they do it and with a smile on their faces!

This is a typical lumber store. The wood's left out in the weather and as you can imagine what that does to the wood. I'd hate to be looking for a nice, straight 2x4.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this adorable and spunky little girl who followed me around.

After church, as the members were visiting in the courtyard, one of the children stood on the water supply line and it broke. Precious water was spraying clear across the courtyard. Elder Schmid and a young man in the branch, who served as a full-time branch missionary here on our last transfer, tried to hold back the dike until the water could be shut off. There were two turn-off valves in the system. Neither one worked, so the water had to be shut off at some main source to stop the geyser. These two got soaked trying to reinsert the broken piece of pipe in the flowing water. They finally wrapped the pipe with a plastic bag and some wire. It might stay that way for a long time. Fixing things has a whole different meaning in Africa.

We're beginning to find returned missionaries we know and love from Lubumbashi and Kinshasa missions in every city. Elder Olinga, who was with us in Lubumbashi, is now married, has a little girl and is the first counselor in the new branch presidency. This shows how new the leadership is in these branches of the church. Elder Olinga is in his twenties, home from his mission less than 2 years and is serving in the branch presidency. We feel a great responsibly to teach our missionaries how to be strong, faithful, honest leaders. They are the future of Africa. Elder Olinga has a job and is planning a trip to the temple to be sealed sometime this year. He's doing what we hope all of our returned missionaries can do. It's great to see our missionary sons and daughters and their families taking their place in church communities at home. That's what you call a payday!