OUR FIRST GROUP OF ELDERS...

One of the best parts of our mission is dealing with these great young men. We try to treat these boys as if they were our grandsons, and truly love them. Then after they have been here from 4 to 8 months, we have to say goodbye. Some are transferred to Cameroun or the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which are other countries in our mission. Some have finished their missions here, and then we have sent them home to their families. Transfers happen every 6 weeks. The first transfer that we were here we were still new and getting to know the boys and figure out what we were doing. These guys did a great job of training us. We started with 12 elders, but we are now down to 8. The mission is growing faster than we can get the elders over here. We think of our boys that we have had here so far in 3 sets. Our first group were those of our "original" elders we started with that were transferred within 3 months after we arrived. These included Elder Kessler & Elder Palmer from North America,. and Elder Mboui (DRC), Elder Tumba (DRC), & Elder Bally (Ivory Coast). Thanks to each of them for welcoming us to Pointe Noire!

OUR OWN SPIRITUAL ARMY……..

Our main purpose in being here is to “support the Elders” so they have the time to be full time missionaries. Life in the Congo is full of interesting challenges, small and large. We are here to help them over the hurdles so that they can focus on moving the work forward. We have been blessed with some amazing young men. When I think about what most 19 and 20 year old young men are doing and focused on… I am humbled. I look at these “Elders”, who are anything but “elderly” and we are honored to be here with them.

They wake up at 6:00 am and do “personal” things like exercise, shower, grab an early snack and do laundry until 7:00. Then they have personal study for 1 hour, followed by another hour of companionship study. At 9:00 they break for 30 minutes for a good breakfast. They don’t stop for lunch, so they like to wait for their big breakfast. They usually cook pancakes or eggs or French Toast… or all of the above. They eat a lot of food, when they do eat. At 9:30 they study French (or English for the Africans) and leave the house to go out into the quartiers at 10:30. They spend their day teaching the gospel and keep very focused and busy. Our Elders always are in pairs. They never visually are separated from each other (except in their own home.) They have so many new converts and investigators, that most of their time is spent going from one appointment to another. However, they do occasionally get stood up, and then get to walk through the quartiers (neighborhoods) and visit with new people.

They usually teach until 6:30 or 7:00 and then head home. Elders in the United States take off for lunch and dinner. However, for security reasons, our guys are not to be out after dark walking around. Then they take the buses home and return about 7:30 or 8:00. They always have a meeting together as they close their day by evaluating what they did and who they visited. They have to do paperwork to keep the records accurate. They fix dinner and do a few personal things, like shower, grab an early snack and do laundry and then they fall into bed exhausted, and usually very happy with themselves.

On Thursdays they finish up teaching about 1:00 and then they are off for the rest of the day. It is called Preparation Day. They get to play basketball with Ed at 6:00 in the morning, and then they head home for a couple of hours of studying and then a couple of hours of proselyting. This is also their day to go shopping at the Markets for the next week and to go to the internet cafés for 2 hours to write to their families and friends. Then they come to our house (between 3:30 and 5:00 for a big nice dinner and to relax and play games or watch a movie or go to the beach or whatever we all decide to do that week. Ed and I cook the dinner, and the boys rotate doing the dishes.

It is one of the highlights of the week, and we always enjoy having them!!!

Africa Food Storage

They have what is called salted fish. I don't know how it is made other than putting dead fish out with a bunch of salt. It smelled so nasty! It is everywhere! No cannery here!

FHE

On Monday night a family invited us to their house for FHE and dinner. It was so neat to see this delightful family. Each FHE they invite one or more friends and neighbors. The Dad of this family was so cute; he smiled all the time. We started by singing a hymn in French. Then Father shared something, then the Mother, then one of the Elders. The spirit was so sweet. I didn't understand anything but I could still feel the spirit. The lighting isn't great but how great is this humble song?

Push Push (pronounced poosh poosh)

These little cart things are hilarious. These guys push these carts around with whatever someone hires them to transport. When Mom and Dad bought a new sofa, they hired one of these guys. I have seen hundreds of these and only one tipped over. They are on the street where the cars are so that only adds to the craziness of the roads. This was the only one I saw the entire week that had been tipped.

Mom and Dad’s relationship

My parents have worked together for about 30 years. Before their mission they spent a lot of time together. Mom said when the first came out they had some things to work out. From what I can see they are great! I can’t help but look at my relationship with Wayne and wonder, can I do this? Seeing how well Mom and Dad work together and how happy they are makes me think, I don’t know if I can do this, but I sure want to try. On this trip, at one time I was talking to Mom about Grandma and Grandpa. When I see Grandpa look at Grandma, I KNOW what love is. I can see it in his face and entire being. He loves her. Movies and poets can try and explain or recreate love, but it is nothing compared to my Grandpa with Grandma. I can see that Mom and Dad are having this great experience together and growing so close. I can see this same love developing in their lives. It is funny as they both ran successful businesses before their mission. However, their organization stills have been better. For example, on our first day we went to go pay the internet bill. No one takes visa and hardly ever do they take checks. Remember to run an errand is not a quick process. The traffic is crazy and the roads are an experience. We stopped in front of the internet place and Dad said, “Mom you got money?” No, she didn’t, and Dad didn’t have enough. This was not an unplanned stop. This was the main reason why we were going out and about at that time. Don’t worry too much, Dad went in and charmed the lady. Dad told her the next time he was by there that he would give her the rest. The next time we were there to pay her the rest she wouldn’t take it. We aren’t quite sure what happened as again, the language is a bit of a barrier. I guess Dad’s charm speaks all languages. Back to Mom and Dad’s relationship: It is as if it has a new dimension. It is as if they were a regular TV and now they are in High Definition. It is just something that is a bit purer and better, not that anything was wrong with the old way. I don’t know if I am explaining this right, just know that I hope to be able to grow together with my husband as I have seen Mom and Dad.

Clocks Street

This is a funny, “he said she said” story. At one point Mom was looking for some clocks to put into one of the Elders home. She had searched far and wide. There is no Wal-Mart or mall here just to go and have your choice of items. The Marche’ do not have clocks. Time is not a huge priority. Once Mom and Dad were driving down a street with some Elders. One of the Elders said, “Look left Elders.” Followed a few seconds later with Mom yelling, “Look CLOCKS!” She was pointing wildly to the right. Of course Dad and the Elders look where she was pointing. This is where the story differs. Dads version: As I looked over to the right all I saw was paintings of naked breasts, painting after painting of women with no tops on. There was not one clock in sight. Moms version: There is lot of huge clocks sitting there with those paintings, but I didn’t even see what the paintings were as I was so excited to see clocks! The Elders in the car version: "Elder Gates, you call them clocks?" This happened at the beginning of Mom and Dad’s mission, and the story gets passed on from Elder to Elder like a fable of old. The streets there don’t all have names, but this one they all refer to “Clocks Street”. The photo is taken a ways back so nothing can be seen that shouldn’t be. If you look at the row of paintings, starting from the left going right, the first one is a painting, the next 4 are indeed clocks, and the rest are all paintings. Yes, every painting was of a lady with no shirt on. Now you know why the Elder at the beginning of the story said, “Look left Elders.”

Our "Modern Day Scriptures"

I haven’t taken the opportunity to bear my Testimony on this blog. However, I have had a wonderful experience this month. I have known since I was young that The Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price are scriptures that are true. I know that ancient prophets wrote the books in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. I know that Joseph Smith interpreted the Book of Mormon, from the ancient records, with help from the Lord. I know that we have Prophets alive today, who are working under the inspiration of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, to help us restore Christ’s true church on the earth. I was taught these things when I was young. They have always been a part of my life. However, I have an exciting new testimony of the Prophets and the scriptures. Recently the church released a new Handbook of Instructions. Part 1 is for the Stake and Ward executive leaders. Part 2 is for the Auxiliary leaders, such as Primary, Relief Society, Young Men and Young Women, etc. As I prayerfully searched for a way to train these wonderful people, we received our new handbooks and the DVD training that goes with them. It was like I was drowning and someone tossed me a life preserver. As I read the sections that I needed to use to train these women, time after time I got excited and exclaimed out loud, “This is exactly what I need! How did the general authorities and the committees know exactly what I would need in the Congo in the heart of Africa to be able to bring the joy and the love of the gospel to these individuals.” Then the answer it me. They were inspired by the Lord in all that they were writing. Just like Adam and Noah and Moses and Nephi and Alma and Moroni… and all the others. I am humbled to report that it took me this long to “get it” for myself… but I am excited to be here, and being led by these 2 wonderful books of modern day scripture. This is our “Preach My Gospel” which all missionaries study every day. We are having the same exciting experiences at having our questions about what to say and what to do answered on a daily basis, from the precious things that are written inside of these pages. I bear you my testimony that I know that the living Prophets today have been inspired to write these 2 books that answer our questions of what to do, what to say, how to act, and how to be humble… in everything that we do. These are our Scriptures written in Modern Days.

THE WELL AND PUMP HAVE BEEN TESTED!

After months of working and waiting and waiting and working, the pump was placed in our well! We still need to get the waterlines and the water distribution stations completed, but we’ve got water! These are some shots of the neighborhood boys celebrating in the water. One little boy, ran home and came back with a bucket and soap, and his clothes, and started to scrub his laundry… because he wanted to take advantage of the water, which was too precious to waste. How grateful we've learned to be for WATER!