Johannesburg June 2012

There's very little medical care in the Congo, so if any of the non-African missionaries have a serious medical issue, they choose to go to South Africa for care. For the last month or so Brent's had a tooth ache in a tooth that had received a root canal and crown.  Something that complicated is just too much of a problem for us to feel comfortable with dental care in the Congo. Recently our friends' 16-year-old son had a tooth ache. The dentist pulled his tooth, the second that he's had pulled.  
So on June 25, 2012 we went to South Africa to have dental work done. There was an open apartment in Duke's Court for us to stay, and the Area office loaned us a car. So, it made things quite easy for us. They're so kind to us when we go to South Africa. Duke's Court is an interesting place. About 20 or more missionary couples live in this housing complex and it's a great experience to be there. They help each other, go on outings together, have parties, go out to dinner and generally socialize and enjoy each other's company when they're not working hard at their individual assignments.  Some of them refer to Duke's Court as "BYU senior dorms of Africa."  What a great place to be able to stay.

It's in a quiet, safe neighborhood, where people walk for exercise.

 It's right across from a nice little mall that even has grocery stores in it. 

This is the interior. All the apartments are around this central area.  

The Area Doctor and Marge found a very good dentist for Brent to see. She took x-rays and examined the tooth (actually teeth, because by then several were hurting.)  We were prepared for some pretty extensive dental work. After examining his teeth, the dentist said, "Are you experiencing any stress in your life?"  Faced with this question we wanted to say , "Are you kidding?  We live in the Congo. We travel two weeks out of the month.  He's  responsible for 150 "missionary boy scouts" who are on a "two year camp out." He's got eleven mission branches to train and support. He has 12 kids and in-law kids to worry about and their 22 and 8/9th grand kids who are thousands of miles away and he's had a tooth ache for a month.  Are you really asking if he has any stress in his life?"  But what we answered was, "Yes, he has a little." She said that she thought that the teeth were suffering for the grinding and pressure he was putting on them because of stress.  She sent him for a second opinion and they came back with the same conclusion. Stress, stress, and more stress is causing him to grind his teeth enough to do damage.  It showed in all his teeth, but seemed to be causing pain in three of them. So, they fitted him for a mouth guard which  prevents this grinding. It was an easy solution. We just hope that it really works because stress will be a part of his life for another year. (We passed our half-way mark while in Johannesburg.)

While we waited for the mouth piece to be made, we did a little shopping, which is always on the schedule when we go to Johannesburg. We shopped until Brent could shop no more and then  Marge and I went fabric and clothes shopping. We went to a crazy place called Oriental Plaza. It's what you would call an African Outlet Mall but we had great success. We did, however, during out trip there  make a few wrong turns and spent some time a little lost in Johannesburg.  At one point Marge looked over and saw a police car and said how glad she was there were police nearby. I was a bit shocked. It appears that I have adjusted to the role of the police and military in the Congo.  Most are not your friends.  But we got home safe and sound with our arms full of packages.

We were able to attend the temple a  couple of times and that's always a big plus for us. We certainly didn't appreciate the blessing of living close to a temple when we had one just a few minutes away. Now we're so grateful for the chance to make the more than  2000 mile  trip to be able to go.

Probably our best experience in Johannesburg and among the sweetest of our mission experiences happened this trip.

 As we boarded the airplane in Kinshasa we saw one of our returned sister missionaries, Giselle Tshibola,  sitting ahead of us on the plane. She finished her mission about three months ago, went home for a week and then came back to Kinshasa to marry a young man who had made the arrangements, paid the dowry and planned the wedding. They got married  two weeks after she was released.  They planned to go to the temple right after their marriage. but couldn't get their visas. But finally the visas came. 

So, she and her husband were on their way to the temple to be sealed. It's always sad to me that those going to the temple to be sealed will be without family.  There just isn't a chance that anybody could afford to go with them.  It's pretty unique to even be able to get to the temple yourselves. 

But with them on the plane were others who were also going to the temple. So it was a little like they had somebody to be with them, although they hadn't known each other before. There was a couple and their five children.  He's a bishop and they've never been to the temple. She told me that they just couldn't stand to go without their children, so they've been waiting until they could take whole family. 

There was another family of five and another young couple. 

There was also a cute, little older couple and a widow who was to be sealed to her deceased husband. 

They came from several Kinshasa stakes. It was so exciting to see members going to the temple. It's so rare.  Upon arrival they were greeted by a staff member from the area office who would take them and us to our respective destinations. All but one couple were going to the patron housing unit near the temple. This is a place that is available to those who come to the temple and haven't got their own funds for all their needs.  The only problem with this pick-up plan was that they spoke almost no English and the employee of the church, who was transporting them, spoke no French. So, we tagged along to translate for them as they got settled in their housing and got directions for the next day's activities. 

At the patron housing they provide a simple room and they have a dining room for two meals a day. The other meal is sandwiches which are left in the room in the late afternoon and can be eaten at any time in the evening. 

 It was so special to see these saints throughout the week. The temple housing is in the same compound as the area office, the temple and the distribution center. So we saw them a lot as they came and went from their housing to the temple.

 On the day of their endowment sessions and sealing, we were invited by Sister Tshibola to join them. Because of other commitments we could only go to the sealing.  But when we got there, all the Congolese were together in the sealing room and they sealed all of  the families at that time. It made it feel as if there was someone there to share this time with them. We were happy to see that they did it that way. The sealer invited Brent to be a witness since he knew of our connection with our sister missionary. They seemed very excited to have him as their witness.  He was the witness for all of the sealings. Afterwards, the bishop who was sealed said that he was very pleased to have " their mission president's signature" on his marriage certificate. I could see that having that personal connection was very meaningful to all of them. 

 It was a particularly precious time to be with our Congolese saints in the temple. When the little ones, all dressed in white, with their bright shining black faces, came in to be sealed to their parents, it was so touching.  Then our dear Sister Tshibola and her husband were sealed. Then the other couples were sealed.  The cute, little old couple were the next. They were so small that they looked like children there together. You could see the tenderness and joy they felt. It was really wonderful to see such warm, loving feelings demonstrated in couples.  This is new to  the Congolese.  Expression of feeling is not a part of their culture. These kind and tender expressions  toward each other were evidence that they had left behind their Congolese culture and embarrassed the culture of Christ.  The last one to be sealed was the widow. A young Congolese man stood in for her husband.  It was a moment in our mission that we will never forget.