* C'est la Vie: Changing of the Senior Guard

For nearly the first year of our first mission we were in the unique situation of being the only senior couple within 1,000 miles of our assignment in Lubumbashi, DR Congo. It was good that we like each other because we only had each other. Then with the division of the mission we had the Frogleys and the Packers with us. It was wonderful to share those 7 months with others. We were grateful for their company and love them.

Now, one of the most different and wonderful things that we have on this mission is our work and friendship with other couples. What great people we've been able to know because of our missionary service. We can't imagine not having known them for a season and hope to see them again.

In the month of August the last of the couples, who were in our mission when we arrived, packed their very full bags and fly off to the US and Canada. They've all gone home to lives full of children, grandchildren and life in the "real world," but they have left an imprint on our lives and we love them all. We appreciate their devoted service and miss them greatly. We will be bonded forever with these great friends and consider knowing them to be one of the greatest joys of this mission.

The Gates, in Pointe Noire, were the first to leave us. They worked there without any other couples around, just as we had done in Lubumbashi. Because of their love for the missionaries and their hard work with the branches, the Pointe Noire area began to really grow and move forward with a joyful and loving spirit. Even without French the people there were sheparded by the Gates, as they spoke the language of love, through their bright and happy manner of leadership. They were just plain fun to be with and made serving a great adventure.

The Thompsons lived and worked in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Their steady, loving leadership helped contribute to many great changes in Youndé. They worked on and accomplished two successful temple trips for the members there. They helped to prepare for the organization of the first District in Cameroon. Their leadership was recognized and they now serve in the Presidency of the Mozambique mission with responsibility to preside in Angola. Visits to these outlying cities is a joy to us and makes the travel worthwhile. We love our time with the couples and the elders there. It's always something that we look forward to doing.

The Hatches were our wonderful office couple, who loved and served with two of the biggest hearts in the world. Not knowing French made no difference as they just loved the people and gave of themselves to the mission and the wards. They organized basketball practices, YA dance lesson, and the first Youth Conference ever held in Kinshasa where over 1,000 youth from the 5 stakes mingled and enjoyed a Youth Conference experience. And these things were done outside of the 40+ hours a week they spent keeping the mission office running. What a blessing the Hatches were to us.

Below is the office staff. Pascal, housing manager, Hatches, Jamesons, and Thierry, our senior office assistant. These titles in no way explain the work that Pascal and Thierry do for the mission and keep us all safe and sane.
Our weekly meetings and daily encounters are a highlight of our work here. Without these guys, I would be on the first plane heading back to the USA. They're our heroes!

The Binghams were our Humanitarian couple when we arrived in Kinshasa. They were fearless and undaunted as they traveled around Kinshasa working with site monitors and NGO's to accomplish humanitarian projects that brought clean water, latrines, neo-natal care and medical aid to the people of the Congo. We loved nothing more than to be able to head out to a project or project closing with them. It made us proud to be members of a church that reaches out to change lives through great humanitarian missionaries and the faithful Saints of the church who contribute money to bring aid to people in such great need. Besides their hard work, they were a delight with their kindly natures and fun sense of humor. Nobody was more fun that the Binghams. They also loved their work. Sister Bingham used to say "Who wouldn't want to be Santa every day!"

Mr. and Mrs. Santa worked long, hard hours administrating humanitarian services, showing love and encouragement to all of us and to the Congolese people, as they served in the humanitarian "trenches."

Next, the Staggs went home. As PEF couple, they made church history by opening the Perpetual Education Fund program in Kinshasa. They started from scratch to find banks, schools and training facilties for the young adults of Kinshasa, who so badly need opportunities to learn and qualify for much needed employment. Their success was not just measured by the number and success of their students. It was also shown in the eyes of young adults who now had hope for a better future and who adored the Staggs. They worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for their students, teaching them life skills, and plowed through enormous piles of paperwork that are required to administrate PEF. With their help the PEF students were "livin' large!" Sister Stagg also taught piano and made a great contribution. To top things off, they were terrific cooks and always had something special to contribute to couples' dinners.

The Evansons served only a short time in our mission,but their service was quite remarkable and a huge blessing. Having served as a mission president in Ivory Coast, then in a temple presidency and, later, as temple president, the Evansons decided that they had been called to serve the Lord, but had never volunteered. So they put in mission papers and went to Burundi, where they lived in the apartment that we had vacated at the end of our first mission, and served as Public Affairs missionaries Then they were transferred to Lubumbashi. About that time, the Thompsons in Yaoundé went home and no couple was available to serve there. This caused our Douala couple to also work with Yaoundé, a four hours drive away. Huge challenge! Elder Evanson had the impression that they were needed to fill the gap in Cameroon and with the approval of the Area Presidency and the Lubumbashi mission, they moved again toYaoundé. They were an answer to our prayers as they filled in until we could get another couple for that part of the mission. They're a prefect example of the spirit of senior missionaries who "go and do" whatever the Lord wants them to do.

The last of our couples to leave were the Nuttalls. They served in Douala, Cameroon, supporting 8 missionaries and two branches.

The Nuttalls have lived all over the world and didn't skip a beat as they adapted to Cameroon and began their service. Sister Nuttall even drove, something that none of the rest of us sisters have been brave enough to do. Elder Nuttall was tireless in resolving problems with branch facilities and moving the work forward. Sister Nuttall never met a person that she didn't take under her wing and love and nurture. What a great combination. What a blessing they were to the developing church in Douala.

We have come to love each of these missionary couples and it's been hard to imagine how life in our mission could go on without them. But they have all served with commitment and love and deserve to go home to loved ones and new adventures. They are wonderful friends and fellow servants in the Lord's work. We miss their gifts and talents and we miss them personally. The work will roll forward as Joseph Smith promised and nothing will stop it until it fills the whole earth. We will move forward in the Kinshasa mission. But a part of our hearts has returned to North America with these wonderful friends and we won't ever forget them. We've shared something that only those who have been in missions like ours will ever understand. We will miss sharing our mission days with them. They have occupied such a great place in our lives and will be a part of us forever.

Now we know what other missionary couples meant when they said that knowing and mingling with other couples is one of the great blessing of serving a mission. We love them too. These friends put a smile on our faces, even on the hardest of days.We worked hard together and we had lots of fun times too. Every time we were with them was a happy, special occasion. Other great missionaries have come to serve with us and we're grateful that they have. All of them will "outlive" us in the mission. I'm sure when it's our turn to leave it will be just as hard to say good-bye. We will always remember and express thanks to all these missionaries as we served the Lord together in the DRC Kinshasa Mission.