Mission Tour with Renlunds June 2012- Part 1

After our big weekend with the Masina Stake Conference we started right into Zone Conferences. We began in Kinshasa with two combined conferences. One consisted of two Zone and the other of three zones.

The program for Constuction

After the zone conference on Tuesday we went to see the program for construction. It's a pilot program of the church in Kinshasa to help young members prepare for jobs in construction. It's very promising.  Elder Renlund wanted to see how it was going. So, we went over to the place on the church grounds where they're practicing their newly acquired skills. They have classroom teaching in the morning and then application in the  afternoons five days a week for 12 weeks. We saw Elder B. at work teaching masonry to these 10 young men . 

  

   

 It was interesting to see the project in action and the young men were thrilled to have pictures taken at their school site with a general authority.

 

 

Four of the ten are RM's who were on missions with us in Lubumbashi.  It's a joy to see them finding success and looking optimistic about their futures.  We think that this program is going to be a real blessing.

Only three of the four were there that day. Elder Konde (Frere Joseph) was attending a family funeral. Elders Kabengele, Mambuku and Tshituna, who are now called Freres President, Cedrick, and Joseph learned to mix and pour cement in the masonry class.They each got to pour a square and put their name on it. They were showing us their squares and signature most proudly.  

    

 We also saw the bunk beds that the couples are making to give to an orphanage that they have been helping. The beds are being financed by the couples and made by Elder B and one of the masonry students, Crispin. It will make a big difference for these children to have a bed to sleep in.

On Wednesady we headed across the Congo River to Brazzaville for the next zone conference. In total we did five five-hour zone conferences in four cities,which were located in three countries in five days. We saw all 162 missionaries, including our couples. When Brent sent the agenda to Elder Renlund he suggested that this would probably be the most concentrated mission tour in the history of the church.  It might not really have been, but it was pretty crazy.  Such is life in the Kinshasa mission.  And we had a wonderful, exhilarating, time with the Renlunds. They are not only inspiring leaders, but just a lot of fun!  

We took the Assistants, Elders Mulambo and Twite, with us as far as Brazzaville. They stayed on to work with the missionaries there. This trip we rented a boat. It's much easier, but still an adventure. 

 

    

 

Quite honestly, crossing the Congo is always an adventure.  The 10-minute boat trip takes about 2-3 hours to accomplish. Oh, the sites you can see!

 

 

Brazzaville Zone

After a very busy day crossing the river and holding a five hour zone conference, we ended our day with a calm, quiet evening in the Hotel Adonis, one of our favorite places.  It was a nice little reprieve as we relaxed and prepared for the next days 7:00 AM departure for Pointe Noire.