Feeling like a minnow

Our office manager, Thierry, is rare and wonderful man and a true ray of sunshine. He lightens up every room into which he enters.  Whenever you ask him how he is, he says, "Like a fish in water- a shark!"  He's never down and has a smile for everybody. Because of this wonderful cheerful personality he's a friend to people everywhere and people love to help him, which in turn helps us.  We could NOT continue without Thierry!
I got sick on Christmas day and have had a bit of a battle for the whole month since.  So, when Thierry asked me daily how I was doing, I started saying, "Like a shrimp in water." Then I improved to be "like a cat fish  in water."  Then I was "like a tuna in water."  I'm making progress, but still not a shark!  After an attack by malaria, then an intestinal parasite, then high blood pressure and finally a cold, it's been a rough month.  Everybody else has picked up and slack and I've been the "slacker."  But hopefully I'm on the mend and back to trying to be of some use. With only 5 months to go, we have too much to do to be less than 100%!!

Church in Malueka

 

When we're in Kinshasa we try to go to different wards each Sunday to see our missionaries, visit the investigator classes and meet the ward leaders. Since there are seven stakes with about 8-10 wards per stake, that doesn't mean that we're frequent visitors. It would take us a year to go to each ward, if we didn't travel outside of Kinshasa..  But it's still a good idea to visit when we can.

This week we were invited to go to church with the Billings. They go occasionally to a ward where one of their construction program students lives. This week they were going to go to Jacob's ward. Jacob would be meeting us on a main road since finding this building is a challenge and the Billings had only been there a time or two.

The Malueka Ward is one that is far out in the city and meets in a very isolated, rented building. The building was clean and well cared for, although not too well quipped.  

The chapel isn't big enough for all the members so they've put an awning outside and about 25 people sat there. Because there was no microphone, I doubt that they heard much of the meeting. It's always amazing to me that they are so patient and willing to deal with inconveniences. They sat reverently and faithfully through the whole meeting.

We were please to find that two of our returned missionaries were there, as well as two of our current missionaries. There was also a missionary who had just returned four days before from the Lubumbashi mission, who had served in Burundi. We had a great little visit with all of them. 

One of the returned missionaries was one whom we dearly love. He began his mission the same day we went on our first mission. We served together in Lubumbashi and Burundi.  He's just a wonderful young man. After going home, and because he had no family to help him get re-established he ended up in a very bad position.  He was homeless, jobless and pretty desperate.  With a little gift from an anonymous donor that would allow him to have transportation and a little encouragement, he got into the program for construction. Today he has a full-time job as a mason and a tiny home of his own and is just full of hope and joy.  It was so wonderful to see the turn around in his life. he just needed an opportunity and he worked hard and made a good life for himself. We're so proud of and happy for him.  In Sunday School class he leaned over and handed me a little piece of card stock. It was a letter from us that we gave him and the other Elders when we left Burundi, along with a nice triple combination. He gave me one of his big grins and we both know of the special moment we'd spent together as missionaries. What a great joy it is to see him doing so well.

The people in this ward have rarely had visitors.  The Bishop and his counselor were very pleased to have the two couples come to their ward and wanted to have their picture taken with us.

They told us that a mission president had not been there before because of the bad road. They were right about the bad road. We've been on a lot of pretty bad roads in Africa  but this one is prize winning and Elder Billings gets the new "mission dare-devil driving award" for having driven it. Sister Billings tried to video it, but it was impossible. All she got was a camera waving around as we were being thrown around in the truck.  The few pictures I got don't do it justice, but most of the time I was hanging on too tightly to stop from being tossed around to worry about pictures. It was the most unlevel, deeply-grooved road that we've ever seen. It was just wide enough for one car, but we had to pass several huge trucks hauling things to the end of the road.  It was about 30 minutes of  four-wheeling that I won't ever forget. Sometimes we were up on the edge of a gully and then sometimes we had to drive down threw the gullies to even move forward. We drove up hills that lead out of the gullies at about a 60% angle.  It had rained the night before so there was a lot of mud. In one place Elder Billings got through a space between a wall and a truck and having pulled in the rear view mirrors we had about 1/2 inch clearance on either side. We were on a muddy slopping road and we couldn't believe that we didn't slide into the truck or scrape any vehicle. Masterful driving. There just is no accurate way to paint a picture of this 30 minutes of driving each way.  These pictures seem to be all at good places in the road. I think that on the bad parts I had my eyes closed and didn't worry about pictures. 

 

No taxis or buses come to this part of the city, so you have to walk or take a moto-taxi to this area.  People really stared to see four "mundellés" driving in their truck.

All along the road there were homes and businesses that came right up to the road. 

There was commerce and family life going on all along this long, crazy dirt road. I'm guessing that some of these people live their whole life and never get down the road far enough to get past this terrible street.  It would be a couple of hour walk to do it and they have most of their needs met right in their neighborhood.
There was even a Protestant Church on the road to Mulueka. It was a tin building with curtains instead of doors and blue plastic chair inside.  It made our chapel look pretty good.

There was a small bridge and down in the river we saw men in the river bed. They had diverted the river to expose the sand, which they collect and sell. When they've taken the sand they want from that area, they tear down the wall and move it, forcing the river to change and expose other areas of sand to gather. People are so inventive as they work to find ways to make a living.

After 30 minutes on this bad road, you travel about ten more minutes on a good dirt road and then you come to a crazy, packed intersection that puts you back on the main asphalted street. 

 There's another  20 minutes of travel on the main road along the Congo River and then into the Gombe quarter of the city, where one finds one of the few nice streets in Kinshasa and our apartment.

It was quite a trip, but well worth it, not only for the adventure, but to feel the sweet spirit in this little ward where they have so little, but where the lessons and the order of the church and the spirit are as strong as any place you'll ever be. It was a great place to worship with the Saints, see our elders, who were very happy to have us come, and be with the Billings. Thanks to their invitation we had a great Sabbath Day. 

Special Families

We've seen some wonderful families on our mission. There are wonderful families who have been the pioneers of the church here in Africa. There are new member families who are changing their lives and their world by their decision to join the church.  This week we had a privilege to be with  families who have made the choice to make a difference in their family and in the life of a child. They have gone through the process for more than a year in order to adopt a child from the Congo. They've taken a little one into their homes and hearts to be a member of their family.

One of the sisters who was here is the daughter of a missionary couple who served in our area, so it was especially fun to meet them.  This couple's young daughter wanted very much to come to pick up her new brother. She was told that she'd have to earn her own money. Sounded like a way to discourage her from making a trip that made some of her family members very nervous. But she earned enough money for her trip, souvenirs for friends and family and to donate some toys to the orphanage where her little brother had lived.  Quite an amazing accomplishment for a 13 year old. She was awesome!

These families spent this week in Kinshasa making the final arrangements for the adoptions and picking up their boys.  We were able to have them to dinner twice and take them shopping at the craft marché.  There sure are some great people in this world.  We meet many of them.

Transfer Time Again

It was transfers again this week. It's always a crazy time. The staff is picking up and transporting missionaries everywhere. They work so hard because the real burden falls on the local office staff, Thierry, Pascal, and Aimé, who shuttled them to the airport and to their new areas.  Thierry organizes the entire operation and we can’t imagine getting through transfers without him.  And he does it with a huge smile on his face at all times.

We're all busy preparing packets of things for the departing missionaries. This process is headed up by Sister Smith.  We also have a farewell dinner and testimony meeting for them in our home. We weigh their luggage, trying to get them under the weight limit and sending them on their way to the employment center for some training that we hope will help them to make plans when they get home. Then it's off to the airport.
We also make packets for the new missionaries, greet them as they arrive, take pictures and make pictures of the new elders for all three missionary boards, rearrange all three missionary boards to reflect the new transfers and make up new rosters. We take pictures of the new arrivals with us and send them and a letter home to their families so they'll know that their missionary arrived safely. We do a half-day orientation and lunch for new missionaries, meet with their trainers to help them prepare for their program with the new missionaries. This transfer we have eight new elders. Six are Congolese and two are from Ivory Coast.

Brent also does a personal interview with each arriving and departing missionary. It's a huge couple of days and a week in the planning.

And then preparing for a nervous breakdown, which we never have time to enjoy before we move on!  We do usually try to spend a quiet "movie night" at home on the Friday when all the dust clears. Then Brent starts looking at the board and planning for the next transfer.

This transfer we only had two missionaries who finished their missions.

One of them was Sister Banza. She is the first missionary who began and ended her mission with Pres. Jameson.  All the others so far have had two mission presidents. With only a two year assignment for the president , elders rarely have only one president and just a few sisters do..  Sister Banza was our first.  She's been a fabulous missionary. In fact, almost every transfer for months and months, when Brent was trying to decide on new assistants to the President, he would say, "How about Sister Banza?  She'd be prefect in every way."  We love her and are sad to see her leave us, but know that she'll be a great leader of sisters in the church in Lubumbashi.  Elder Nsenga also returns to Lubumbashi and will help strengthen the pool of returned missionaries who add such stability to the church.

Kinshasa Mission Christmas

Beaded Christmas scene from S. Africa

We knew that we'd be traveling for most of December, but couldn't resist the need for decorations and making candy for Christmas.  So, we (no, I) decked the halls of the mission home with a few things that were here and some that we've purchased along the way. The Christmas nativity collection is growing all the time.

Baobab tree, made famous in The Little Prince
Always required reading for French 202 at PC.

Nativity from the DRC

Nativity from Swaziland

A week before Christmas we made our second December trip. This one was to Cameroon to have zone/Christmas conference with the missionaries and do some training in the branches.  We decided to take a new direct flight to Douala offered by Camair-co. We'd had good service with them in the past and thought it would make life easier if we could "fly directly."  Now one of the biggest memories of this trip will be the travel.  We took off from Kinshasa an hour and a half  late on a scheduled 9 pm flight.  We didn't arrive in Douala until after midnight. Since we didn't want our couple out late, we'd arranged for the Bano Palace Hotel's shuttle to pick us up.  They weren't there to meet us and didn't arrive until a phone call and an hour later, so we stood in front of our least favorite airport in our mission (always a zoo, even after midnight) for an hour and finally reached the hotel at 1am.  

Zone conference at the Gaileys' was bright and early the next morning and it was wonderful.  They always make us feel so comfortable and welcome.  These elders are focused, faithful and appreciative. It's always a joy to be with them. We also did some priesthood and auxiliary training with the branches and then it was off to Yaoundé, where our flight was delayed two hours.

 The poor Whitesides, who live a long way from the airport, waited all that time in their truck in front of the airport.  This delay was much harder on them than it was on us.  
But we had another great conference with the missionaries and the Whitesides.  It felt very festive as we sang Christmas songs, did a Christmas reading, listened to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, passed out our Christmas bag for each Elder and celebrated the birthdays of four of our elders.  
Then we did training with the members. Brent did priesthood training and I did auxiliary training. I'm so grateful that the Lord has blessed me with enough language to teach without having to read or fumble terribly for words. I know that it's the Lord's doing, not mine. The hi-light of the training was when Sister Whiteside bore her testimony in French.  Whatever she missed in language was compensated for by the spirit and the sisters loved it.  Brent, of course, did his training in flawless French and, with years of priesthood leadership experience, he's a great blessing to these new, inexperienced, young Cameroonian leaders.

 

In all parts of our mission the decorations and celebration of Christmas are very low key to not at all.  But Youndé was "Christmastown."  There were decorations and Santa hats all over town. They were in the swing of the Christmas season and it was  fun to share it all with the Whitesides .

Santa was everywhere and had a microphone at most of the stores.  Loud music was playing and even louder DJ-ing was being done. When we drove into the parking lot where the Santa in the big green glasses was, he said, The white people have arrived." and came right over to have his picture taken with us in front of the purple Christmas tree.
 You could also get your gifts wrapped at many handy little gift wrapping stalls in front of the store. Even one street in the center of town was blocked off and had celebrations every night. We did NOT attend.

At the end of our trip the plan was to fly directly home from Yaoundé and arrive the afternoon of Dec. 23. We would have an afternoon to unpack, relax and recover before heading into the busy Christmas week.  However, our plane in Yaoundé kept getting postponed and we ended up sitting in the Yaoundé airport for 8 hours. Because, all that time, they were saying it would leave soon, we didn't have the Whitesides come the long distance back to get us. We were blessed to get two of about ten chairs in the airport and we just stayed put so as not to end up standing for hours.  Finally, Brent went looking for food and found a package of cookies and 2 Fanta orange drinks.  Those and a pack of candy that the Whitesides had given us kept us going. I almost always carry a few things to eat, but doing the quick, direct flights with not many hotel stays, we packed light. Bad idea!  When we finally got under way, we made the 25 minute flight to Douala. Then we were deplaned and sent to a waiting room, which was full of members of the famed Kinshasa orchestra. I wished they'd have played for us for those two hours we waited. But no such luck! Finally, they loaded us and the orchestra back on the same plane we'd been on and completed the flight to Kinshasa.  It was after midnight when we finally got home. What was to be a 2 and 1/2 hour flight ended up taking us 12 hours. Not sure we'll try the "direct flight" again. Such is travel in Africa.

On Christmas Eve day we shopped for food for our Christmas celebrations with the couples. Having been gone more than 15 days in December, the cupboards were bare.  Then, with the help of our dear couples, we stuffed  90 gift bags for the missionaries in Kinshasa, who were to have their zone conference the day after Christmas.

 Christmas Eve the couples joined us for dinner and a little talk about Christmas traditions. Since nobody asked for anything special from their tradition Christmas Eve menu, we had a modified usual Christmas dinner (cheese puff potatoes, chicken  (no ham since it would have cost about  $70) homemade rolls, veggies and jello. . We had the traditional home made candy for dessert. It was so nice to have that touch of home for us. Everybody seemed to have a good time.

We got to talk to all of our children and most of the grandchildren on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.   We had wonderful conversations and shared many special moments with them as we saw them open our gifts to them and heard them tell of their exciting Christmas events and gifts.  We got cute email cards form them and even a new family picture from several. We didn't see Jen's kids until they came back to Arizona, but got to do the same thing with them in January. Family is always an important part of the holidays and we're so grateful when the internet works and allows us to "be with them." Technology is our friend, mostly!

On Christmas Eve we were able to Skype with Ryan's family. This has been a special tradition while we've been away these four Christmases. We read the nativity story from Luke for them , in French. They dress up and act it out. It's always a sweet experience. Their cute, funny little  dog is not pictured but made a wonderful lamb!                                            Another tradition of Ryan's family is to give us a gift of a service project done sometime during the year, rather than a physical gift. They tell us each year during our Christmas time together what they've done "in our honor" as a service. This year, since both sets of grandparents are on missions, they chose to have a missionary theme. They bought candy bars, put thank you notes on them and took them to Temple Square and distributed them to missionaries and workers with a personal thank you. It was a wonderful idea and a great gift to us and the Farleys. 

                   

              

Christmas Day the couples, minus the Billings who were with their students, came back to our home for brunch. Again I got to make  traditional family foods. We did Aunt Marilyn's famous cinnamon (pizza) roll, and wassail with  fruit and croissants supplied by the Moons and Smiths. We also had a young sister from the US who was in Congo to adopt a daughter. They got delayed and her husband had to go home, so she was going to be alone on Christmas.  Nobody should have to do that.  So, she and her little girl joined us.  Again we did the Christmas reading and sang carols and it was a nice morning. We even had some gifts for our couples. I love giving gifts and have missed doing it on our mission.  So this meant a lot to me to be able to do a little something. It was a strange collection of things that would seem very weird in the US, but here, we thought that it would be appreciated and it was. 

 

The rest of Christmas week was to be filled with many activities. We had planned a big all-Kinshasa missionary Christmas conference where we'd do the same things we did in the outlying cities and have  a meal of hoagies,  bananas and cupcakes.  We also had another meeting and dinner for the 16 members of the Zone Leaders' council planned.  But late Christmas night, I began feeling very ill.  I don't remember ever being so sick.  In fact, I left poor Brent to do the Zone Conference and Zone Leader council on his own. Fortunately, we had prepared food and gifts before we left for Cameroon. The sandwiches were ordered from a store, the bananas had been delivered, washed and bleached on Christmas day, drinks chilled and the 100 cupcakes were all made and in the freezer.  For the council I had planned to cook a nice meal, but I was still just too ill by the 28th.  So it was sandwiches, salad, soda and cookies.  It was all left to Brent to do the conferences, the Christmas reading and the gift giving and lunch. As always, he did a flawless job with a little help with the lunch from some of the office staff and Jacky.  But I was of no use.  It was finally decided that I had might have had malaria and I indefinably had an intestinal parasite. It's taken me over two weeks to start to feel myself again.  What a blessing it was that the time between Dec. 23 and mid-January we were home and most things were prepared to carry on without me. Even in our illness, the Lord has been mindful of us as things always seem to turn out much better than they could have been. We're so grateful not to have been traveling and to just be able to stay home and get well. 

We have spent four Christmases in Africa, each one in a different country.  Year one we were alone in Lubumbashi. Year two spent was in Burundi with the Frogleys.  Year three was spent as refugees in South Africa with all our senior couples and the wonderful couples of the area.  And now it was indeed a blessed last Christmas in Africa celebrated in every city of our mission.