Bujumbura's Newest Members

On Sunday we had the first baptisms held in Bujumbura in over 18 years. There was a branch here before the terrible Tutsi-Hutu wars, but it was dissolved in 1996 because of security concerns. Now the Church is back and this time we pray that it will stay and flourish. It appears that we have a good beginning.
Before we even found a place to hold baptisms we had three people ready and eager to be baptized. We searched all over the city for a site. We even went down to Lake Tanganyika to see if there was a private spot where we could do baptisms.

We had our choice of marshy areas or public beaches without much privacy,

and both places would take some wading to get to deep enough water. Just no luck!

The elders looked in stores for pools to buy that would be large enough for a baptism. No luck there either!

Then one of our members, Brother Willes, an embassy worker from Idaho, suggested the pool at his hotel. It just fit our needs and the management was kind enough to let us use it.

It was an exciting day for our little group as we gathered for our first baptisms.

Our first three new membersl-Alain and Alice Malabi and Freddy Suguru.

It was even more special to know who these people are. Alice and Alain Malabi are the children of Veronique and Kyubi Malabi. The parents joined the church in the Ivory Coast while in school and then moved to Tanzania, where he served as branch president and Sister Malabi served as Primary president. Work took them to Burundi and for four years they taught Sunday school in their home, had no sacrament because they were not authorized to do so, saved their tithing in the bank so that someday they could pay it and waited for the baptism of their children. Alice is now 10 and Alain is 13. The baptism of the children was something that their family had looked forward to with great anticipation.

The young man who was baptized is Fleury Suguru. His family was among the first members baptized in 1992 when the church was organized. All of his family was baptized but Fleury, who was too young at the time. During the war Fleury's older brother and more than 140 other children were locked in a school and told that they were to be killed. Fleury's brother, who was 14 at the time, prayed with the other children, but in the end the school master locked the doors and set the school on fire to please the right people in th conflict and and all the children and several teachers perished. When Elder Holland dedicated the land last week he spoke of angels who died for their country during the terrible wars and now shouted for joy to see this land dedicated to the preaching of the gospel. We couldn't help but think of Freddy's brother when Elder Holland spoke of angels watching. Sunday Fleury joined his family in membership in the church.

It seemed so fitting that the next generation of these faithful saints would be the first baptisms in this new time. We look forward to many more baptisms in the weeks to come. Many are ready and waiting for their turn to become members of the Church. God is blessing Burundi.

A Little Breather after the Excitement

After the busy week, President Packer suggested that we have a couples' p-day while they were still here. So, we went in search of something fun to do. We went to a resort on Lake Tanganyika to see what was available and found the makings of a great p-day. It is beautiful!!!

We wrote to the President that there was a Lake Tanganyika cruise we could take and he got permission for us to do it. I must say we were a little surprised and I was a little nervous about the idea of being on a lake in Africa that reportedly has both Hippos and crocodiles in it. But it turned out to be a glorious day!

Lake Tanganyika is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, the second deepest and also the world's longest lake. It's water is very blue and very clean and clear.

We planned on a small cruise ship for our adventure. Walking down to the shore, after having the Kermit the frog bus for the dedication, we were worried that this was the"cruise ship."

What we ended up with was something in-between the two boats. It was a nice little motor boat and they provided almost enough life jackets and assured us that there were NO crocodiles in this part of the lake. So, off we went.

It was sunshiny day and the water was still and peaceful. We saw fisherman in boats and near the shore catching sangala and capitaine, which are the big fish found in this lake. They also catch tiny fish that you cook and eat whole, bones and all. The elders love those nasty little fish and mix them in every topping they make for their fu fu. I tease them about "Poisson" often.

It was a relaxing and wonderful boat ride. After a short time we came to a place where the muddy water of the river that runs between Rwanda and Burundi enters the lake. You could see the contrast as the muddy water of the river came into the clear blue water of the lake.

Hippos like to stay in the river so we headed into the river to find them. We had not gone far when we sighted hippos. As usual, they were mostly submerged so that just the tops of their heads and noses showed, but it was still fun to see them anyway.

We also saw hundreds of birds, mostly African ducks, but a few storks and other waterfowl hanging out right by the hippos, actually one bird was sitting right on one of the hippos above. Our boat's engine disturbed the birds and they all took to the air in quite a wonderful display.

On the way out of the river our little boat got stuck on a sand bar. NO problem! The two crew members just jumped out and pushed us off of the sand bar and back into the lake.

After the boat trip we stopped for pictures just to prove what a fabulous beach we were on.

There is apparently silica rock in the lake and millions of tiny pieces are strewn all over the beach making the sand glisten in the sun and look like it has tiny diamonds sprinkled in it.

It's one of the most beautiful beaches we've ever seen.

Then we had a delicious lunch at patio tables near the pool. We enjoyed great pizza, and chicken and fish kabobs. A word to the wise, never order hamburgers in Africa. They serve a really grim undercooked meat loaf in "hamburgers." We tried them once in the Congo and poor Pres. Packer ordered one here. Not a good choice!

But the ice cream was heavenly!!

It was a great way to unwind after a busy week and we enjoyed every minute of it. I have decided that I like being a princess now and then. We've also decided that we will have to spend another great p-day or two at beautiful...

A Memorable Day Part 2

The high point of the week definitely was the dedication of Burundi by Elder Holland. But all the events associated with it made this week a memorable one.

We prepared all day Monday for our visitors, making sure that everything was as perfectly planned as possible. Here nothing ever goes just as planned and this was true of this visit. Elder and Sister Koelliker were supposed to come and on Monday we got a call saying that he was ill and they wouldn't be coming. We also found out that Sisters Holland and Snow would be staying in Johannesburg. We were sad to miss seeing them, but quickly amended the plans for hotels and restaurants. (Flexibility is the name of the game in Africa.)

We also picked up Sister Andrea and Elder Gene Puckett on Monday. They flew in from Kenya. They are public affairs missionaries who came to take care of PA things for the dedication and to do some training while they were here. We were excited to have them come, since they had stayed with us in Lubumbashi and we had stayed with them in Kenya. Nothing is more fun than good friends with whom you can share important things.

They are great missionaries. One of the blessings of being senior missionaries is other couples who become friends. Since we've spent most of our time alone, we have had to make friends with people quickly when we got the chance and friendship with them was easy. They went with us to make a few last minute arrangements and we spent the rest of the day together. We were happy to have them here in Burundi.

Tuesday morning we were making last minute arrangements when we realized that we had forgotten to clean and set up the meeting hall for the general member meeting to be held after the dedication. So we, and the Frogleys, jumped in the car and hurried to the meeting hall to give it a quick once over. When we arrived we were delighted to see all eight elders almost finished cleaning the building from top to bottom. It sparkled and so did they. We were so proud of them for taking the initiative to take care of those arrangements. It was one of those proud parent moments!

We had made arrangements for our taxi driver, Jean, to get a bus for us to simplify transportation in the crazy Bujumbura traffic. We had pictured a nice Greyline bus with air and soft seats. What we got was a giant Kermit the Frog bus. No problem! In Africa, we can adjust!

Fortunately everybody was good humored about it and we had quite a good time all being together.

At the end of the trip Elders Holland and Snow piled in the back of the bus with the missionaries. It was great!

We had a nice luncheon with the couples before the dedication. It was wonderful to talk with the General Authorities about our mission hopes and concerns. They were so knowledgeable and interested in Burundi. The brethren really do know what goes on in every little corner of the world. It was very relaxing and pleasant to share a minute of causal conversation during this otherwise very busy day.

We all went together in the Kermit bus just up the hill from the restaurant to the Monument to Unity for the dedication . It was the perfect site with a beautiful view of the valley below and Lake Tanganyika in the distance.

I especially loved seeing our young elders as they, literally, sat at the feet of an apostle and learned from him. It was a great experience to see Brent standing by the side of Elder Holland and Elder Snow as he translated for them. We will never forget it.

Immediately following the dedication we held a meeting for the members and friends of the church. We arrived 45 minutes early and found about 25 people in the group from Uvira, DRC already there waiting for us. This group of investigators, some of whom had traveled 120 km to be there, was planning to be right up front to hear these special witnesses of the Savoir.

By the time the meeting started we had 77 people, about 30 0f whom were members. Brent conducted the meeting and also did the translation into French, while a young member, Aimable Otis Burundi, translated from French to Kirundi. Other missionaries in the audience translated to members who only speak Swahili. It was quite amazing to have four languages going at one time. But all were reverent and accepting of this necessity and the spirit was not hindered by the many languages needed to communicate.

Elder Snow read from Ephesians 2 where it says that as members of God's church we are no more strangers, but "fellow citizens in the household of God" and then from Alma 7 about the atonement of the Savior. After his talk our great young missionary choir sang "Joseph Smith's First Vision." It was awesome!

Elder Holland told those in attendance that he had never been to meeting where there were so many members and even more non-members when an official unit of the Church didn't even exist yet. He expressed his love and welcome to all, both members and friends of the church. He promised wonderful blessing and a great future for the Church in Burundi. He encouraged all in attendance to be patient as the Church begins to grow and develop after the order of the priesthood. He told them to look to Joseph Smith as their example. Joseph Smith waited and prepared for many years to begin the work of the restoration. He reminded them that the restoration itself didn’t happen for 1800 years after the gospel was lost from the earth in the time of Christ. He told them that God is very patient and they must be patient too. He asked us to be faithful and obedient to the commandments and commitments as we wait upon the Lord. He promised that this work will go forward, but we must do it right, as we begin the great task of gathering the Lord’s children into His flock and spreading the gospel throughout the newly dedicated country of Burundi. It was a great meeting and just what needed to be said. These people have been patient already for a long time, but we have the very strong feeling that it will not be a much longer wait until they can have the full blessings of the Church to fortify their faith and bless their lives.

After Brent and President Packer took the General Authorities to the airport at midnight, it was hard to even settle down enough to sleep, although it had been an exhausting 18 hours. Having these great church leaders here with this new little group of saints and having Elder Holland pronounce a blessing on this tiny country was a wonderful miracle that will strengthen this land for generations to come. It just doesn't get any better than this!