tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65794045226642706342024-03-12T20:57:43.404-07:00Elder and Sister GatesKriss and Ed Gates are serving as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Congo, Africa.Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.comBlogger268125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-1205926838851641142020-03-30T08:09:00.002-07:002021-04-30T04:56:05.234-07:00DEDICATION - April 14, 2019<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We had the marvelous opportunity to return to Kinshasa for the dedication of the temple. The dedication was on April 14, 2019. The church paid for our flights and hotel. On the flight to Kinshasa, we had a layover in Paris. We met up with Elder Dale Renlund and the leaders of the temple department, and it was fun to visit with all of them. Elder Renlund had been the area authority over the Congos on our first mission and now he is one of the twelve apostles. He thanked us for our faithful service. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The dedication was sacred and inspiring. We were able to sit in the Celestial Room, with earphone interpretations in English. It was humbling to sit and hear the reaffirmations that we had been blessed to work on a project, hand in hand with the Lord. As the speakers discussed the challenges that were presented through the 36 months of building, we were reminded that we had witnessed the inspirations that were such a special part of the construction. The speakers and the prayers were beautiful, but our highlight was singing “The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning” with the fervent voices of those great Congolese saints!<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was wonderful to be with Stan and Merilee and Justin again for a few days. What a blessing it was to work with these two great men. We ended our stay with a dinner at our favorite Kinshasa Chinese Restaurant, in a private dining room. We were able to express our gratitude to one another, and to the Lord, for the sacred privilege we had of being part of the miracle of our Congo Temple. </div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-84902038643370151302020-03-30T08:07:00.000-07:002020-03-30T08:07:07.487-07:00OUR TEMPLE CONSTRUCTION HISTORY BOOK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of my main assignments on the mission was to write a Temple Construction History Book. From the beginning, I was told it would be a sacred book. There would be limited copies, with only six printed. One would be for the cornerstone, one for the church archives, one for the temple president's office, one for the Special Projects office and one copy for us. They also ended up printing one for Stan Houghton, the contractor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We completed sections on the History of the Church in the DR Congo, Preparing for the Temple, The Temple Team, 170 pages of Construction, The Finished Temple and Sacred Highlights. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Elder Bradshaw, another senior missionary is a writer and was able to help me put the book into a professional format. He was a great help in many ways. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After he left the mission, our son Chuck was able to take over and help finish the last portions of the book. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We worked on the book for almost three years. Ed and I took thousands of photos, and with lots of help from heaven, we completed the book. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we returned home, we received a letter from the Director of International Projects which said "The history you created was definitely the finest, and that sentiment has been confirmed with others as well." </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was our gift back to the Lord, for allowing us to help with the building of the temple. </span><br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-7741658828187802652020-03-28T10:06:00.000-07:002020-03-28T10:06:07.096-07:00OUR STREET BOYS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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(This entry was written March 28, 2020, 17 months after we left Kinshasa. I want to finish my blog book for my mission, but I need to include this tender part of our mission. I have not written it earlier, simply because it is too emotional for me to remember how much I learned from being with these sweethearts.) </div>
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The temple construction site had a high block wall all around it. There was a gate entering into the property. Outside the gate there were several young “street-boys” that begged for anything they could get people to give them. Because we were in a fairly affluent area, they had people give them food and money, when they gave their much practiced hungry, big eye looks. They were not allowed inside the wall, but they set up little cardboard beds along the outside of the wall. They had a sheet of tin, they would climb under, when it rained. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They enjoyed peeking over the fence in the morning to watch our prayer meetings. One Sunday, one of the boys hung out by the gate of the adjoining property, which was where the stake center was. This was also our ward building. We asked the boy if he would like to come into church with us. He said he would, and we took him inside. His name was Mechack, and he was an orphan. He attended every Sunday for several months. When we went home to the US for a visit, we returned with a church outfit for him, including a white shirt and tie. He was thrilled. </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mechack was 12 years old. He decided he wanted to be baptized. The day of his baptism, Mechack was dressed in his white baptismal clothes, and we were walking into the church when we received a call from the missionaries. They said they had just found out that Mechack couldn’t be baptized, because he didn’t have a parent or guardian to sign the papers. We were all very sad, but Mechack kept coming to church. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">He started to bring his friends to church with him. They would wash up at the leaking fire hydrant in front of the church and I would help them get dressed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The other couple missionaries were very good to the boys.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">They especially loved to sit next to Stan or Justin. They let him play games on their tablets during sacrament meetings. This was not a good idea, as they were more interested in the video games than sacrament meeting. T</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">he bishop befriended them. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I told him that since they lived on the streets in his ward, and coming to church, they were his ward's investigators.</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ksjP_JK99h0/Xn5mPmdFR5I/AAAAAAAAHNo/gb8Fh9ENluYvloc0UJBPDIpErugZoVZsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_0681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UrllLluxVAE/Xn5rvfRML0I/AAAAAAAAHOY/4AuoM8i7IPwuOLNlw2e1AygDWpj6LXn_QCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCTLY78GNqYo88VjlOTUbFBmIGxANWE06Pbj8DpHfeywjmjatwwQYiU8WVbjGow-7YDqaUxwH-JN53IgHAY3UW2lkqHsaoCkRSUoiGbkuIJjApD0G-JeVLzyiul1AAwVamNy169WXlVN5SWVUU7T4Xs-t5bjMLKvf3DR0yru90Rk_SvSNOmkYZfSk_jt8-l3yWFL2fHO6LRTjVjxiAtfhnbbnbKXg-nLDi3Pu91XigwoiH-2qKAuUjLuq8FIUS-bnlkYeWOu1NBZF9GqbCblpK-xZSX7UZyatJA_FFzj6qFiZ-j75e7UlwdY7UkVWtMJ8TcfW6NoqAPSt-OpQwwTWP8b--vdqU3tvYvT0BCU2Jt1rmg2gI92y1y9KbtgMON2fYInfSxfNzx51gbLDFyBPQVanR0hkMlTMUV676A95vi8P-7cDGv5matTSRJylgvrbjmf0Tz7MrkMwW80EoqTgd4VMlgtpdInxNgTudzQLeszNW-XgE67qGdovGldHJczpsO5VtAG7_9mo0sRi-AUAqZTmHVaTWaxKXZiN1E8foyO_af_XfrxCFM-17TTBaBS3k4kqHEkhLRDqYEg9h_SNwntFSQSMMEheswqd758wU/s1600/IMG_1900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UrllLluxVAE/Xn5rvfRML0I/AAAAAAAAHOY/4AuoM8i7IPwuOLNlw2e1AygDWpj6LXn_QCEwYBhgLKs0DAMBZVoCTLY78GNqYo88VjlOTUbFBmIGxANWE06Pbj8DpHfeywjmjatwwQYiU8WVbjGow-7YDqaUxwH-JN53IgHAY3UW2lkqHsaoCkRSUoiGbkuIJjApD0G-JeVLzyiul1AAwVamNy169WXlVN5SWVUU7T4Xs-t5bjMLKvf3DR0yru90Rk_SvSNOmkYZfSk_jt8-l3yWFL2fHO6LRTjVjxiAtfhnbbnbKXg-nLDi3Pu91XigwoiH-2qKAuUjLuq8FIUS-bnlkYeWOu1NBZF9GqbCblpK-xZSX7UZyatJA_FFzj6qFiZ-j75e7UlwdY7UkVWtMJ8TcfW6NoqAPSt-OpQwwTWP8b--vdqU3tvYvT0BCU2Jt1rmg2gI92y1y9KbtgMON2fYInfSxfNzx51gbLDFyBPQVanR0hkMlTMUV676A95vi8P-7cDGv5matTSRJylgvrbjmf0Tz7MrkMwW80EoqTgd4VMlgtpdInxNgTudzQLeszNW-XgE67qGdovGldHJczpsO5VtAG7_9mo0sRi-AUAqZTmHVaTWaxKXZiN1E8foyO_af_XfrxCFM-17TTBaBS3k4kqHEkhLRDqYEg9h_SNwntFSQSMMEheswqd758wU/s640/IMG_1900.JPG" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One week Mechack brought five of the other street boys with him, two were older than he was, and sort of the ringleaders of this group of street boys. All of their clothes were very dirty and ragged, but I had collected enough shorts and t-shirts for his friends to wear into Sacrament meeting and into primary and priesthood. I would gather the clothes up after the meetings and bring them back each week. </span><br />
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The week after he brought the five boys, I could tell he was nervous about something. He didn’t want to wear his good Sunday outfit. They changed clothes in the construction office. One by one, each of the boys were given their nice shorts or pants and a shirt to wear to church, and then they went out the door to wait to walk over to church together. I walked out the door with the last boy, and was surprised that I couldn’t see any of the boys there. When I asked where they were, the gate guards said they had gone outside, one at a time. I finally realized that I had been robbed of all the church clothes I had collected by a bunch of street urchins who wanted to keep those nice clothes. They had all disbursed down the side streets, even Meechack. I was furious!</div>
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The next day the boys were back at the gate again, some in their rags, some in the stolen clothes! I scolded them, but since most of them only spoke the tribal language, they just laughed. Meechack came back and gave me back the clothes he had taken and apologized. I could tell that the bigger boys made him do it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I decided that I could possibly help Mechack, and other younger street boys, if I taught them to read French. Being literate is a huge advantage in Kinshasa. I started teaching them daily. Right after we had the prayer on the job, I would walk out the gates and gather up the boys who were interested. I usually had at least 2 or 3 boys. I taught the in a classroom at church. They loved being in that beautiful building and were fascinated with the picture of Christ. </div>
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Classes lasted for about two months, and some of them actually learned to read some. Moise was the sharpest and attended class the most regularly. I cared a great deal about those we were teaching. In addition to Mechack, I had a little boy by the name of Moise, who was very slow learning, but we let him come with us daily, just so he could be part of the group. I wouldn’t let any of the obnoxious older boys into the class. Just the sweet ones who were really there to learn. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">After two months, I had grown so attached to Mechack and Moise, that I asked if they would like to get off the streets and go live in an orphanage.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">I suppose I had become way too attached.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We had stayed close to Philamene and the Kaka Orphanage.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Philomene said she would take them, but we had to get it approved by the government.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We hired a young returned missionary to help us coordinate it.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">He arranged to have government officials come out and interview the boys, to see if they were truly orphans, or if they had parents who might claim them.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We paid all the fees, and finally the day arrived for the two boys to leave.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We bought them new clothes and back packs for the move.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">They were thrilled.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We scrubbed the 2 boys clean with water on the job site.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">When they were ready, we had a taxi drive onto the job site, and we shut the gates.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We put the boys in the back seat of the taxi and had them crouch down.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We didn’t want the big boys, the leaders of the street kids, to see them leave.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;">We knew they might create problems.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vye9B6hQmjc/Xn98BPXrIYI/AAAAAAAAHSI/uMCPgS60qiA0eFrDAnY9BHKO_p0nAu-DACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_2353%2B3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>The orphanage was a good hour away from the temple job site, where the boys hung out day and night. When we got there the next day to visit, they were excited about the move and going to school and having food and friends. However, they had never had rules to follow, and the orphanage was quite strict. Moise went to the local school, but Meechack was smart and we sent him to the private school and paid for his uniforms, entrance fees and tuition. Philomene became their legal guardian, so she could sign the papers for them to be baptized, after our mission was over. However, Moise couldn’t handle the rules and ran away back to the street by the temple site after just a couple of weeks. Mechack lasted about three months, and then he got into trouble at the orphanage, as he was accused of stealing. Soon after that he went back to the street gang of kids, where he could be a free spirit. We love to remember them on this happy day they headed for the orphanage.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We saw Mechack outside the gate when we went back for dedication. I told him to let the Bishop know if he wanted to return to the orphanage and the school. We never heard from him again. We did hear that the bishop opened a home for the street kids in the area, and we hope Mechack and Moise were able to follow the few rules, and that they could stay there. We had to learn to accept the concept of free agency, and we felt a bit of the pain that our Father in Heaven must feel when his children make poor choices. Perhaps some day, as they grow up, they will remember the good feelings of being at church and return. We know the Lord loves these boys. We are grateful to have learned from these street kids, and we will never, ever forget them. </div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-8773749303781374032018-02-03T23:45:00.001-08:002018-02-03T23:45:53.963-08:00ORNELLA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #001000; font-family: Arial;">This is a copy of my entry for our 2017 annual Family Christmas Service Project. It is written to our daughter, Amy, as she was my assigned recipient for the year. This is an important chapter of our mission, so I am including in our mission blog.</span><br />
<span style="color: #b01600; font-family: Arial;">_________________________________________________________</span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Dearest Amy... </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
You are such a loving and caring sweetheart. There were many things that I could have done and related to you, and there are many ways to serve in the Congo. However, I wanted to make an extra effort on a project for you. Knowing it was for this purpose encouraged me to focus on it and make it happen. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
You have two grown-up girls, who are very special. You have seen to it that they are getting educational opportunities, and taught them the importance of learning. We had the opportunity to "Pass it On", and owe the incentive to you.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
A couple of months ago, Dad and I were visiting the orphanage.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">We were taking them some Home Depot shelving units we had shipped over in a Westland container. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb_L5IkcQus/WkBzIzZM75I/AAAAAAAAGYE/wO-BzL8un_YyWyFtmjYOdNn9H97jtYrigCLcBGAs/s1600/DSC00183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Tb_L5IkcQus/WkBzIzZM75I/AAAAAAAAGYE/wO-BzL8un_YyWyFtmjYOdNn9H97jtYrigCLcBGAs/s640/DSC00183.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> There is one girl who was raised in the Kaka orphanage for the last 17 years. Her name is Ornella ands she is now 22 years old. On our last mission she worked for us, cleaning our home, to earn money. She now works at the orphanage and helps take care of the children. She does most of the cooking and the laundry and cleaning. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ji5fA7MmfWU/WkBzJnR7q8I/AAAAAAAAGYI/g9miRTb68pgYBroWEOAEN36EacNjQ_b7gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_9965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ji5fA7MmfWU/WkBzJnR7q8I/AAAAAAAAGYI/g9miRTb68pgYBroWEOAEN36EacNjQ_b7gCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_9965.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="480" /></a><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knm8r7N-MZQ/WkBzYyUktrI/AAAAAAAAGYU/S5pr0YB95NQXi3bXd-MuuzXly9BU9heiACEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_9978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knm8r7N-MZQ/WkBzYyUktrI/AAAAAAAAGYU/S5pr0YB95NQXi3bXd-MuuzXly9BU9heiACEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_9978.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
While we were there, delivering the shelving, Ornella, humbly told me that she would like to go to sewing school. We had an interpreter with us, so we were able to coordinate that we wanted her to find out more about the school she wanted to go to. We gave her transport money, so she could go get printed information that would tell us more about dates and prices and requirements for attending the school. We were to call her three days later to see what she found out. She was very excited about learning to sew, hoping she could make some money. We then told her we would pay her (very well) to work for us again, and if she would earn half the money (from us) for her schooling, we would pay the other half. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
We arranged to meet with her the next week, at the school, to get her registered. The school was over an hours drive away, in terrible traffic. Dad took off working at the temple to drive me and our interpreter, Felix, to the college. We waited in the line and then Felix coordinated with the receptionist to find out what we needed to do. He made the arrangements for us to pay the registration fee and testing fee directly to the bank. Yes, we found out she needed to take an entrance test. We gave her the registration form to fill out. She looked at it and shook her head. I pointed to where she should write her name, and she haltingly did... in very childlike letters. That was all she could do. We discovered she could not read or write, at all. My heart sank. We knew she would never be able to take a test, let alone pass it. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
When she came to clean, a couple of days later, I sat down with her. I had her write her name. Then I asked her what the letters were. She only knew some of them. I asked her if she would like to go to school to learn to read and write. She said, "Oh, yes... Please!" I had one of our student/workers who lives out by the orphanage check into literacy schools in the area. We found one about a ten minute walk from the orphanage. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><u style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #000120;"><br /></span></u><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
The next week, we drove out to take Ornella to the literacy school to find out about registering her. The school was very humble, but perfect.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tQEVBDtk1f4/WkBzI9AigWI/AAAAAAAAGX8/8RynqH7HRDIgpmIj4iCAJIBksmX84q1twCLcBGAs/s1600/DSC00226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tQEVBDtk1f4/WkBzI9AigWI/AAAAAAAAGX8/8RynqH7HRDIgpmIj4iCAJIBksmX84q1twCLcBGAs/s640/DSC00226.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQOsVJcQ5o/WkBzIzPNPDI/AAAAAAAAGYA/iRX4zqcC2zALutMe9u5UKLoWvHC9xEk3QCLcBGAs/s1600/DSC00225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MCQOsVJcQ5o/WkBzIzPNPDI/AAAAAAAAGYA/iRX4zqcC2zALutMe9u5UKLoWvHC9xEk3QCLcBGAs/s640/DSC00225.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></div>
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</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Ornella was excited for the opportunity to learn to read and write. They agreed to start her the following Monday. We had kept the money she earned working for us in an envelope for her. She paid her half of the tuition with it, and we paid the rest. </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G3av-9WwHoc/WkBzZeWs86I/AAAAAAAAGYY/GYXpGrQJ05gEjyFy1wcZwlfa8Yasc1tzwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Ornellas%2Bschool.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G3av-9WwHoc/WkBzZeWs86I/AAAAAAAAGYY/GYXpGrQJ05gEjyFy1wcZwlfa8Yasc1tzwCEwYBhgL/s640/Ornellas%2Bschool.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a></div>
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</span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></b><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></i><u style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></u><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sub><sup style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sup><strike style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: line-through; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></strike><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
She was thrilled and on the walk back to the orphanage kept saying, "Je suis une etudiant!" ("I am a student!) For the first time in her humble, humble life, she was a student.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hBYri-txrnc/WkBzYjH0oqI/AAAAAAAAGYM/1-QezCLw2243mAIjDeh1vLLfpgpCkSiOACEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_9968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hBYri-txrnc/WkBzYjH0oqI/AAAAAAAAGYM/1-QezCLw2243mAIjDeh1vLLfpgpCkSiOACEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_9968.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="480" /></a><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></b><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></i><u style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></u><sub style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sub><sup style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 9.6px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></sup><strike style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: line-through; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></strike><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
We don't know how it is going, but we look forward to finding out. Hopefully she will be able to get away from the orphanage work for 3 hours a day, for the next 6 months, and she will become literate. It will open many new doors for her... and change her life, if she is able to.</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o3UWkymcCwo/WkBzY_jLZPI/AAAAAAAAGYQ/DJ91N_cTpxAG-wJVguH83DnJT2z9Ag83gCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_E9959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o3UWkymcCwo/WkBzY_jLZPI/AAAAAAAAGYQ/DJ91N_cTpxAG-wJVguH83DnJT2z9Ag83gCEwYBhgL/s640/IMG_E9959.JPG" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-source: none; border-image-width: 1; border-left-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 204); border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; position: relative;" width="480" /></a><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
Amy, we are proud of you for making the sacrifices that you have to give your girls the opportunities that they have to learn! </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; font-size: 13.86px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-21719595994621427982018-02-03T23:32:00.002-08:002018-02-03T23:32:24.414-08:00"Water, Water Everywhere, but Not a Drop to Drink" by Ed Gates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">This entry was originally written for our family Christmas service blog on Dec 25, 2017. I had Ashley's name as my recipient this year. She is currently Relief Society president in her ward, and always serving others. This experience is an important chapter of our mission, so I wanted to add it to our mission blog. </span></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">By serving in Africa as a missionary it's not very hard to find a way to do a service project!<img alt="😳" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f633" goomoji="1f633" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f633" style="cursor: move; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.33px; margin-right: 1.33px; margin-top: 0px; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /><img alt="🤔" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f914" goomoji="1f914" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f914" style="cursor: move; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.33px; margin-right: 1.33px; margin-top: 0px; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" />The real challenge is putting that serving to the particular person who you will be serving for?</span></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">I really thought about who I was to serve, early in the year. </span></div>
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Y<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">ou have heard about the orphanage, we have kind of adopted. On our last mission we built a wall to stop the flooding creek. In early November there was a terrible storm and the creek overflowed and rushed through the area. Our wall held up, but not the neighbors on two sides. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">The pictures will show what we found when we arrived, better than me trying to explain it to you. </span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5dasYVqZtbQ/WkFbwuI1mpI/AAAAAAAAGZY/VEgecdufOM8ORH1fxENHGei78TP-Lm-3gCLcBGAs/s1600/DSC00229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5dasYVqZtbQ/WkFbwuI1mpI/AAAAAAAAGZY/VEgecdufOM8ORH1fxENHGei78TP-Lm-3gCLcBGAs/s640/DSC00229.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">My service was for my favorite daughter in law Ashley! </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">The challenge was that I had to connect my getting the water <img alt="💦" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f4a6" goomoji="1f4a6" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f4a6" style="cursor: move; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.33px; margin-right: 1.33px; margin-top: 0px; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /> out and doing it for Ashley who is the Relief society president.</span></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">.</span></div>
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The water originally was up above the top of the door and windows. However, much of that dissipated when the 2nd neighbors wall collapsed. The bedrooms are about 2 feet lower than the ground, so when we arrived, there was over 2 feet of water in the house and a good foot throughout the yard. We tried to pump the water out of the house, but the pump didn't work. After hours of trying, we finally gave up and bucketed the water out of the house. </div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uGSppLeylck/WkFcNqIizOI/AAAAAAAAGZ0/DjQADuEUYJ4JGVRwgP89dwAEduXw-VLbgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_9999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uGSppLeylck/WkFcNqIizOI/AAAAAAAAGZ0/DjQADuEUYJ4JGVRwgP89dwAEduXw-VLbgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_9999.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div>
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<u><span style="color: #000120; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></u>
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WwfPf6xFViI/WkFcLtMQCyI/AAAAAAAAGZs/ItXb_V4wupU7OW5hcQBkmyJ6kn_tcMAXgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 16px; margin-right: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WwfPf6xFViI/WkFcLtMQCyI/AAAAAAAAGZs/ItXb_V4wupU7OW5hcQBkmyJ6kn_tcMAXgCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_0004.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="480" /></a></div>
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T<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">here was much clean up, and many dishes to be done, once we got the water out. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">I said to Kristine that we needed help from the local relief society but they never came. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">I spent most of two days getting the water out and she kept busy cleaning dishes and working on getting clothes dry and helping get clean food for them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M_hymIUUap0/WkFe6xR_sPI/AAAAAAAAGaA/ovkX4C1_EKUdyRk8Nvv52Agy7V5C98vlwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: "arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 12.8px; margin-right: 12.8px; text-align: center; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M_hymIUUap0/WkFe6xR_sPI/AAAAAAAAGaA/ovkX4C1_EKUdyRk8Nvv52Agy7V5C98vlwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0021.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1"> </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">I know that if this was in Ashley's ward, she would have made sure that there were some sisters there helping get the clean up done!<img alt="😍" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f60d" goomoji="1f60d" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f60d" style="cursor: move; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.33px; margin-right: 1.33px; margin-top: 0px; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /></span></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">I am proud of you Ashley for the way you serve as president of your Relief Society. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">There were many many times throughout this year that my thoughts were of you and of how I could do a service for you. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">.<img alt="🙄" class="CToWUd" data-goomoji="1f644" goomoji="1f644" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f644" style="cursor: move; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.33px; margin-right: 1.33px; margin-top: 0px; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /></span></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">To end this report, I need to say how difficult it was,not physically,but mentally. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">It was extremely difficult not get depressed,because of how blessed I am,and how blessed all of us are. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">I do know that as you have served in this calling, there have been some of those same feelings. </span><span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">Both of us have been able to grow from the service we have been blessed to give.</span></div>
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<span class="m_5224532073804738151s1">I love you Ashley.</span></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-9641618821641241642017-11-10T12:48:00.003-08:002017-11-10T12:48:55.019-08:00Elder and Sister Bednar Visit Our Temple<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Elder Bednar and entourage
visit at the Kinshasa Temple 10/14/2017:<span style="color: #454545; margin: 0px;"></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6579404522664270634" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><br /></a><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mBTOSsiFhzU/WgYQHCiZkiI/AAAAAAAAGTw/nYsww4Ae_KQq99pyxpV8mLbCHuB-U3-tgCLcBGAs/s1600/Bednars%2Bwith%2BGates%2Bcropped%2Band%2Blightened.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1600" height="380" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mBTOSsiFhzU/WgYQHCiZkiI/AAAAAAAAGTw/nYsww4Ae_KQq99pyxpV8mLbCHuB-U3-tgCLcBGAs/s640/Bednars%2Bwith%2BGates%2Bcropped%2Band%2Blightened.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">On Thursday, Oct 12, 2017 we poured
the baptismal font for the 2<sup>nd</sup> time.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>(There was a measurement mistake the first time, and the font had to be
redone, which took weeks to form again.)<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>The 2<sup>nd</sup> time we poured it, there was a major problem with the
concrete and it came out of the chute extremely liquified. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>After 24 hours of of waiting, we could see
that it was never going to set up to the required standard. (We later found out
that the batching plant had added the wrong chemicals to all the batches that
they sent to us that day… a retardant instead of corrosion inhibiter we had
given them. Welcome to the Congo!)<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>To add to the pressure, after 18 months of
working, we knew we were having our first visit from one of the twelve apostles.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Elder David Bednar was due to come the next
day.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #454545; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The rest of this is edited
from Stan Houghton’s Journal … the general contractor for the temple.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I, Kriss, added a few items which are in
italics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After our prayer meeting on Saturday
morning with the guys I told them what we had to do and that we had some
special visitors coming today so we needed to keep things just as clean as
possible, even with us having to remove all the font forming and bad concrete.
We all thought that we would have the guys working until about 12:00 noon.
I was nervous as I was still trying to figure out how I was going to explain
this problem to Elder Bednar and his group that were coming!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">I spent the next 2 hours directing
guys on what to do inside so that the Temple would look good and extra clean. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>They walked over from the Chapel to the Temple
at about 2:45. Present were (Most all of these brethren had
their wives with them) Elder Bednar, Bishop Waddell (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">counselor Presiding Bishopric),</i> Elder Gong, Elder
Hamilton, Elder Mark Palmer (He's from NZ),<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">3 great men from the first quorum
of the seventies) </i><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Elder Lono, Elder
Monga, (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our 2 local seventies) </i>Elder
and Sister Romney our missionary couple friends in Kinshasa over PR), and of
course Elder and Sister Gates. </span><span style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After we met and greeted everyone,
Elder Bednar said, ok Stan, take us through the Temple! I knew at
that time just what I needed to do. We went in to the front entry of the Temple
and I waited until everyone was in there. I told them where we were and where
the recommend desk would be located. Then I said, Welcome to the Temple! I then
started out and told them that today they would see something that they have
never seen before in a Temple, and that I hoped they would never see again! You
could have heard a pin drop on the concrete floor it was so quiet. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Then I told them about us pouring
the font on Thursday and the problem we had experienced with the concrete. I
told them that this was a prime example of how if something goes wrong and it
is not perfectly right, it needs to be replaced. They all completely understood
and were very complimentary that we were there watching things and making sure
that it was done correctly, not only the font but all of the other items
throughout the Temple also. <span style="color: #454545; margin: 0px;"></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">Everyone that came were extremely
personal and nice. They had several questions as we walked through the Temple
and I was able to share some personal thoughts and experiences along with their
experiences as the topics and questions came up. One thing that I mentioned to
them as we were talking about the topic of Sisters is that I took the time to
compliment all of the sisters there on how thankful and important they were in
supporting their husbands in their callings, how I missed being with my wife
and how each of us men are nothing without our wives!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It was enjoyable to go through with
them. They spent about an hour with us in the Temple walking through and asking
questions. As we were leaving the Sealing room I explained to Elder Bednar how
we have a prayer meeting each day before we begin our work on the Temple and
how we had spent the last month on many occasions teaching all who were there
at our meetings about who was coming to visit the Temple, your calling as an
Apostle, what an apostle was and who you represent. Some of the guys had asked
me earlier if I thought they could possibly shake Elder Bednar's hand. I
told them that I would ask him if he had time to do so. He said absolutely! So
while the group walked in to the Instruction room and then into the Celestial
room, I had DM and Eric go get everyone that was working on the job and bring
them in to the Temple. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">When we were in the Celestial room
we discussed more of their questions and Eric asked me if I would tell the
story of the "Rainbow Halo". I decided to let Sister Gates tell the
story and she did a perfect job! Elder Gates and I both got pretty emotional
while she was telling the story, it was hard to hold back the tears. It was
perfect and what a great opportunity for us to be able to share those 2 special
experiences of the rainbow halo's we had while working on the Temple. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>(Both times we were pouring concrete in the Celestial
room.)<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>After the story Elder Bednar said,
"In hearing that you would think the Lords hand is in this work!", it
was fun, we had a good time with them. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After we left the Celestial room I
led them back to the Instruction room. We had all the guys line up in the room
as Elder Bednar and the group waited in the hallway to come through
and shake their hands. After everyone entered the room and lined up I said to
Elder Bednar that these men had been taught who he was, what his calling
was and who he represented. Along with the other brethren and sisters with him,
all being Disciples of Christ and these men were all here and excited to meet
them. It was so special, all of the men just loved shaking their hands. After
they shook all of their hands I think it was Sister Bednar asked if
they would sing a song. We sang "Put your shoulder to the wheel".
This was the song that we had practiced and brought all of the men and their
families to sing in our sacrament meeting at church a couple of months ago.
They knew it well and sang it perfectly, with gusto! It was very touching and
special. The sound was just perfect in that Instruction room!<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Elder Bednar recorded it on his phone, I
only got part of the last verse. It was one of those moments that the tears
just come to your eyes. Elder Gates and I both mentioned that there were
several times as we walked and talked the spirit was so strong while visiting
with them that we both got emotional now and then. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">The
men lined up reverently to shake hands. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>The
security men stayed close to the Bednars.<span style="margin: 0px;">
</span></span></i><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQWCKgf3PQc/WgYNqbMPgyI/AAAAAAAAGTU/jTgUYWksYb8hAlkIc7c9u5VvWupEwbDqQCLcBGAs/s1600/Elder%2BBednar%2Bshaking%2Bhands%2Blightened.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQWCKgf3PQc/WgYNqbMPgyI/AAAAAAAAGTU/jTgUYWksYb8hAlkIc7c9u5VvWupEwbDqQCLcBGAs/s640/Elder%2BBednar%2Bshaking%2Bhands%2Blightened.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After shaking hands, when I asked Elder Bednar if it was ok to take his
photo for the temple history book, he said ok and asked where we wanted
it.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I asked if it would be ok to take it
in front of the men, and he agreed. </span></i><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o5zdP7jbP5Y/WgYOdEwUc1I/AAAAAAAAGTc/mbJplSRJdZAzLEHLgljFVFQwWKoidMryQCLcBGAs/s1600/Guys%2Bwith%2BBednars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o5zdP7jbP5Y/WgYOdEwUc1I/AAAAAAAAGTc/mbJplSRJdZAzLEHLgljFVFQwWKoidMryQCLcBGAs/s640/Guys%2Bwith%2BBednars.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Things quickly got a little crazy. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>One of the guys asked if he wanted to wear a a
Westland hard hat and then one of the men put one on Sister Bednar. ( I hoped
their wasn’t any head lice.)<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>It was only
seconds until they took out their phones and started taking “selfies” with an
apostle. <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After that the guys were so excited and could not get enough
pictures with Elder Bednar! It was great! And it was HOT and humid in
there!</span></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGvaxR3Oy74/WgYPJzXyzhI/AAAAAAAAGTo/GZJOyxfMoLsyRBS61SzUtuyqM6Rh5Vz1wCLcBGAs/s1600/guys%2Bwith%2Bphones%2Blightened.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGvaxR3Oy74/WgYPJzXyzhI/AAAAAAAAGTo/GZJOyxfMoLsyRBS61SzUtuyqM6Rh5Vz1wCLcBGAs/s640/guys%2Bwith%2Bphones%2Blightened.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After we finished there we walked
through the rest of the Temple showing them and explaining the balance of all
the rooms to them. And of course, they all had to see the Baptistry with all of
the unset concrete that we were still shoveling out!</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">After the visitors left, many of the
guys came up and gave me a big hug thanking me for helping them to meet and
shake hands with an Apostle. Even our workers that are not members were so
happy that they got to shake the hand of an Apostle!</span><br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px;">It was a special day for all of us,
one we all will never forget! Even with the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i>trial that we have been facing, it all is turning out ok. Now, we just need
to pour the font one more time and have it turn out perfectly!<span style="color: #454545; margin: 0px;"></span></span></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-51874443476160810732017-11-05T05:22:00.001-08:002017-11-05T06:30:09.211-08:00Our Temple Worker's Choir<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
July 18, 2017<br />
<br />
One of our most important assignments with this calling is for us to promote spirituality on the temple job site. Every morning at work, we start the day with a morning prayer meeting. Ed (or I)conduct it. We have a welcome, a song, a prayer and a short message. Then we turn the time over to Stan or Justin to discuss the work of the day. On Mondays we have a longer devotional with a message. Every morning we are thrilled by the men and how great they sound when they sing. They really are amazing. They know all the verses of almost every hymn. They sing, often in beautiful harmony, with gusto and testimony of the words they sing.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago, Ed felt inspired to invite all the workers, members and nonmembers, to join together and form a choir to perform at our sacrament meeting. He felt it would be a good way to promote spirituality and unity, and to introduce the church to those with questions. He did everything, and asked nothing of me... except to bake cupcakes. He coordinated with the bishop to find the best date. He felt they should sing "The World Has Need of Willing Men." Of course, they sang it in French. It is a favorite, because it describes what all of us are doing every day. About 2 weeks before the big day, Ed had a printed invitation made up and gave them out to everyone who was working on the job. He invited them to bring their entire families to be part of the special day. He told them he would pay for the public transport for all. He had each man fill out a response sheet, and if they replied that they couldn't come he went to them and asked if he could help them in any way to be able to participate. He was marvelous and made everyone feel an important part of the Temple Worker's Choir. <br />
<br />
On our big day, we were thrilled with the participation. Most of these great men brought families. We had over 120 extra people at Sacrament meeting. The choir was absolutely amazing! I was very proud of my sweetheart.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bsdhAPlQ-EQ/Wf8HWUgkNLI/AAAAAAAAGSY/lB1tQdZ1CTcO-dJ5qbWMwiPy7Xjjr3REQCLcBGAs/s1600/Sacrament%2BMeeting%2BChoir%2BPhoto%2Bcrop%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="373" data-original-width="1600" height="147" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bsdhAPlQ-EQ/Wf8HWUgkNLI/AAAAAAAAGSY/lB1tQdZ1CTcO-dJ5qbWMwiPy7Xjjr3REQCLcBGAs/s640/Sacrament%2BMeeting%2BChoir%2BPhoto%2Bcrop%2B3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-45636016002724260662017-06-03T00:04:00.000-07:002017-06-03T00:04:00.404-07:00Our Orphanage Was Flooded Again – And once again, we were needed!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">On our 2</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> mission, we were very involved with
the Kaka Orphanage here in Kinshasa.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Due
to severe flooding, when it rained hard, Ed dedicated the last 2 months of his
mission to rebuilding the orphanage.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">He
built a wonderful wall to block the flooding in the future, and it has held
beautifully.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">(These are photos of the wall he built in 2014.)</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qwwNq9rYNus/WTJbCACsF8I/AAAAAAAAGCM/w2IVhU7pmawy9k6BREjN0CI4MSXTtPPdACLcB/s1600/4%2Bwall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qwwNq9rYNus/WTJbCACsF8I/AAAAAAAAGCM/w2IVhU7pmawy9k6BREjN0CI4MSXTtPPdACLcB/s320/4%2Bwall.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zeVnl4q11pE/WTJa--nX6sI/AAAAAAAAGCI/tHzio0Rt5Swq4cPnDZwiWGZOyCK9FcnLACLcB/s1600/3%2Bwall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zeVnl4q11pE/WTJa--nX6sI/AAAAAAAAGCI/tHzio0Rt5Swq4cPnDZwiWGZOyCK9FcnLACLcB/s320/3%2Bwall.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">However, while we were in
the United States last month, a few weeks ago the creek, next to the orphanage, was so full that it
ripped down a section of the old wall, that wasn’t even along the creek
bed.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">At 2:00 in the morning, while it
was pitch dark, the wall broke and the water came rushing and swirling into the
orphanage yard, and then into the children’s rooms, which are 2’ below the rest of
the yard.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The water was so forceful that
they couldn’t open the door to get out of the bedroom.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">19 children and 1 adult were trapped.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The children were kneeling on their bunks,
trying to keep their heads above the water, screaming and crying for help. The
one adult was moving from one bed to another, to help the children, as the
water was up to her neck.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">A neighbor (a good Christian man) heard them
and got through the water in the yard, with something heavy enough that he
could smash a hole high up in the exterior wall.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The 1 adult handed the children out to him,
one at a time, as they were rescued at the last minute.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> (The rescue hole is the one up high, to the left of the word "Centre".)</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J81CyXc0G7Y/WTGHLss4GxI/AAAAAAAAGBs/5agffl3piJMATbp2A1c-y8WQxEKCVLjEACLcB/s1600/IMG_8234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J81CyXc0G7Y/WTGHLss4GxI/AAAAAAAAGBs/5agffl3piJMATbp2A1c-y8WQxEKCVLjEACLcB/s640/IMG_8234.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When we returned from the United States, we were told about
the disaster by Elder and Sister Romney, the other missionary couple who live in our apartment building. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">(They had emailed us about it, but had sent it to our temple job email,
which we didn’t have access to while we were gone.) </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">When the flood happened, Philomene called the
number that she usually calls to get ahold of me.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Our interpreter answered, and he understood the
gravity of the situation.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">He told the
Romneys what had happened. They i</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">mmediately got men from our jobsite, and
drove out to the orphanage to help pump out the water and start cleaning up the
mess.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The children were moved to the
school rooms to sleep for the following couple of weeks.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> (This is 15 year old Dorothea. We have loved her for 4 years. She was the 2nd oldest in the bedrooms when this flood happened. You can see where the waterline was, above her eye level.)</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PacoFgaUpjw/WTGFbgPTYcI/AAAAAAAAGBg/vVNeZgmKHKkW69HMpScgt1QPrS2bexzAQCLcB/s1600/IMG_8083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PacoFgaUpjw/WTGFbgPTYcI/AAAAAAAAGBg/vVNeZgmKHKkW69HMpScgt1QPrS2bexzAQCLcB/s400/IMG_8083.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When the director of the orphanage was telling me of the
terror, I cried and cried and cried… as she cried with me… and we held each
other tightly.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We both realized how
fatal the flood could have been.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We know
that they were greatly blessed that night.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Romneys were fantastic!</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They said they were glad that we weren’t there, so they could have the
blessing of helping and coordinating this project. They are the Public Affairs missionary couple, and rarely leave their desks.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">By the time we returned to Kinshasa, they had spoken with our
humanitarian missionary couple, and found a contractor to start building the
wall that had collapsed.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The urgency was
to get it built before another rain storm.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They were all relieved when Ed showed up, as he could monitor the work
and make sure that it tied in with the existing wall, and would be built strong
enough to withhold future floods.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The new wall is completed.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Things are getting back to normal.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Romneys arranged for new mattresses and sheets for all the
beds.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The children were so thrilled with
the sheets that they took them off the beds at night, and folded them up for
under their heads.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They said they didn’t
want the sheets to get dirty.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I am continually amazed at life in the Congo. </span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are grateful for the good neighbor that saved
the children’s lives.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are thankful
for the Romneys and the others who helped Philomene and the orphanage.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are thankful we returned when we did so
that Ed could help get the wall built better and stronger.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The list of things we are thankful for is
endless.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are thankful we are where we
need to be, at this season of our lives.</span></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-24327768357307173532017-06-01T12:47:00.000-07:002017-06-01T12:47:57.173-07:00It’s Good To Know You Are Needed!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: calibri;">Look how fun... We are really building a temple! This is a photo taken from the neighbor's deck, so we are allowed to post it. It shows how much of the steel roof is erected. (It also shows our apartment house at the far, far left.)</span></span></div>
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Ed is the inspector for the temple job.<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: calibri;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: calibri;">When we were told not to come back to the Congo for a few weeks, due to potential political violence, everyone assumed all was going well at the job site.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: calibri;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: calibri;">The first morning back on the job Ed immediately realized there were problems with the way that the roof structure was being erected.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: calibri;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: calibri;">The connecting plates were made out of a steel that was only about half the thickness that was specified on the plans.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: calibri;"> Corrections are being designed... and then we will move forward again. </span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2WjH_-mJbM/WTBUQlaPxCI/AAAAAAAAGA4/fKGGqzD2310DKucavZvQCic5IIN6y5_zgCLcB/s1600/IMG_7642.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2WjH_-mJbM/WTBUQlaPxCI/AAAAAAAAGA4/fKGGqzD2310DKucavZvQCic5IIN6y5_zgCLcB/s640/IMG_7642.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: calibri;">The good news that came out of it was that we were reminded that we are needed here in Kinshasa!😊😌</span></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-37268523254181892422017-06-01T10:50:00.002-07:002017-06-01T11:01:45.644-07:00What more can I say?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Words can't describe how I feel about this picture, so I decided I needed to blog it. This is AJ, our grandson who survived brain cancer and surgery two and a half years ago. (After 6 weeks of daily proton therapy, following the surgery, we were warned to expect side effects. So far, we don't see any and he has had clean scans! He is such a sweetheart.) This is his new sister, Mayley. </div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-75624024080892197012017-06-01T10:03:00.001-07:002017-06-13T08:39:01.652-07:00Our Quick Trip Home - March 23-May 14<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As service missionaries, we are able to return to the United States to visit our children. It has worked out to be about 3 times a year... spring, summer and Christmas. For our spring visit, we were scheduled to be gone for 19 days and to return on May 11th. To make a long story short, due to potential political violence, we received word that we should not try to come home for another week. (It was reported that 14 people were killed in Kinshasa on the 10th, near the road from the airport.) On Easter Sunday, the 16th) we flew to Chicago and checked our bags in to go to Paris, our next stop on the way to the Congo. We rented a car and went to a Sacrament Meeting. When I checked my messages after the meeting, there was a message from Alan Rudolph (our director in Special Projects, for the church) saying that he agreed with Stan (the owner of the construction company who is building the temple) and we should not return to the Congo for a "few" weeks. Wow! We got our bags back from the Paris flight and switched to return to Raleigh-Durham and make new plans. <br />
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We had a marvelous time playing with our kids and grandchildren for the time we were home. We were able to visit all 6 families, in 5 different states. (Char & Lani in North Carolina, Chuck in Virginia, Mitzi in Utah, Tiffany in California and Amy in Alaska.) Highlights included:<br />
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Attending general conference with two of our granddaughters, Zetta & Tara. (Mitzi's girls)<br />
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Brooklyn's Baptism... (We have missed attending 2 others this year, so we appreciated being able to be at this special occasion.)<br />
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A golfing trip to Saint George with Ed's brothers, Ernie & Ken... and their wives. We are very blessed to have these 2 couples as our dear friends!<br />
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Our first trip to Costa Rica... seeing the gorgeous country, golfing 72 holes in 2 days, and some great relaxation.<br />
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A last minute Eastern Caribbean Cruise with 2 of our daughters and their husbands, and Ed's brother Ernie and his wife, Linda.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>But the highlight of the trip was being able to help Lani and her family during the birth of her 5th child... What a blessing to be "Grammy and Papa" and to be able to be there!</b></span></div>
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We finally were cleared to come "home" to Kinshasa, the day after Lani returned home from the hospital. It was great to spend time with our kids... but it was also great to get back to build the temple!<br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-26832610971959176432017-03-19T02:33:00.002-07:002017-03-19T02:33:23.807-07:00School Donations - The High Schools<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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At the high school level we were able to go into 14 classrooms and introduce
ourselves. It was a wonderful opportunity to spread good will about the
church. We told them that the temple is across from ShopRite (the main
store in the area) and that they could watch the temple go up. Then in a
year we would send an invitation to them to attend our open house. Almost
all the classes got a notebook and a pencil... most got pencil sharpeners and
erasers... and the scientific classes got rulers. Again, lots of happy
kids! <br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-82814439653348319532017-03-16T11:43:00.001-07:002017-06-02T08:53:41.468-07:00How does one put into words sacred happenings?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">March 11, 2917</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">How does one put into words sacred happenings?</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I wrote a blog entry, in October, and asked
“Is It A Coincidence?”</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Literally during
the minutes that we poured the concrete floor slab in Celestial Room, we
witnessed a beautiful natural phenomenon for about 15 minutes.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It is referred to as a “Halo”.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As we all looked up at the sky, we saw a
beautiful rainbow around the startling bright sun.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I immediately said… “It’s Dad… and he’s
letting us know that he is with us and cheering us on.”</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I pointed it out to the workers who were busy
pouring and finishing the slab.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">And then
I said… “It’s the Seraphins! (French for angels.)</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They are celebrating that we are building a
temple in this part of the world!”</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We
were all thrilled, and very humbled, to have witnessed such a sight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Yesterday, March 10, we poured the columns and beams in the
Celestial Room.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I was deep in work in
the office.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I felt a distinct impression
that I needed to go outside and watch the men and see if I felt Dad’s presence,
or at least to feel the spirit of the temple.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">(He loved the excitement of a concrete pour.)</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I kept working, and a minute later the feeling
came again.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">At a cousin retreat in
January, my sisters and nieces encouraged me to “Be Still” and taught me the
importance of taking time to follow promptings.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I decided to walk away from my work at my desk, and go watch the men at
work… and “Be Still” and enjoy the moment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I opened the office door and walked outside.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The sun seemed brighter than usual.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I looked up and saw our 2</span><sup><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: x-small;">nd</span></sup><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
Halo.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I quickly walked down to tell Ed
and the workers to look up.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was there
again, as we were pouring the Celestial Room walls.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I walked over to the lunch area, picked up a
plastic chair, and sat down at the front of the temple and watched.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">For about 30 minutes, I just sat and watched
the temple being built, under the Halo.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I
happened to have my little red Kids Are Music sound amplifier on the job, for
the first time.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I have a wonderful digital
album called “Happy Hymns” that I love.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Our interpreter volunteered to walk around the job with the speaker
playing energetic songs such as “The World Has Need of Willing Men.”</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">The men sang as they worked for about 30
minutes.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">They moved from the Celestial
Room area to the front platform, which will hold the steeple for now, but is
engineered to hold a “future statue”.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">As
they finished pumping the last of this area… the pour was finished, the pump
hose was pulled up and moved to the side of the building.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We looked up in the sky and the Halo faded
away.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">This time we know what it was that we saw.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was a special Tender Mercy. It happened
twice, months apart, as we were pouring the floor & walls of the Celestial
Room.</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">What a blessing it is to work on
building this temple with these marvelous men!</span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">We will always humbly remember what we witnessed.</span></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-37237943367907194842017-03-16T09:07:00.000-07:002017-03-16T09:07:35.315-07:00School Supply donations from the U.S.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Along with all the other items that arrived from the United States, there were several boxes of school supplies. We sorted and took an inventory of what we had. We identified a needy elementary school and two schools with approximately 7th-12th grades. We were concerned that if we just dropped off the supplies, that they might not ever make it down the line to get to the individual students. There is a big problem here of people taking bags and boxes of donations, and setting up a shop on the road. Then they sell the items and pocket the proceeds.<br />
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We contacted the schools and made arrangements to go in and talk to the administrators. We felt good about the elementary school. The "principal" said that we could meet each of the 9 teachers and give them a bag with crayons, scissors, colored pencils, a pencil sharpener, a notebook and a single file folder. The art supply bag, with the teacher's name on it, will be checked back into the office everyday. They were thrilled with everything... even the filing folder!<br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-54804590050494997002017-03-13T12:08:00.002-07:002017-03-13T12:08:39.963-07:00Distribution of Donations from Utah Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When the temple contractor, Westland Construction, shipped a large container to Kinshasa from Utah, he accepted donations from various sources. Huge crates and boxes were shipped. I was asked to coordinate finding worthy recipients and distributing them. It ended up being an extremely rewarding experience for me.<br />
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I arranged for 4 boxes full of "like new" children's books to be donated to the English speaking school. This school was not as needy as the other places we made donations... but the books were in English, instead of French... and the school was thrilled to receive all those wonderful books.<br />
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There were over 100 fabric bags, made by a group of young women. 18 were distributed to an orphanage. <br />
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The rest were donated to the Raped Victims Women's Center, which is in the Eastern part of the country, where a violent war is currently being fought. Enemy soldiers rape the Muslim women, who are then abandoned by their families, as the victims are considered "unclean." Most of the baby clothes we received were also donated to this center. </div>
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Clothing and beautiful soft fuzzy blankets were given to orphans and to some of the needy children in the church, whose Dad's work at the temple site. <br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-21945295885332237472017-03-12T01:34:00.001-08:002017-03-12T07:30:59.525-07:00Daily Prayer Meeting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Every morning we have a Prayer Meeting with a song and a hymn. (Ed is on the far right. They are in a circle... but this is how a panorama looks.) On Mondays Ed or I give a devotional. Ed goes around daily and greets each of them with a handshake. These guys sound fabulous when they sing. It is privilege to work with them!<br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-35432417778254659442017-03-12T01:17:00.000-08:002017-03-12T07:31:37.481-07:00Simbas Pants<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have had requests to please start blogging more about our mission. Some may recognize some of the entries as similar to those posted on Instagram & Facebook. However, there will be more details here and at the end of our mission I will be able to have all of my blog entries made into a book.<br />
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Simba, who is one of the guys on the job had pants that were ripped to the point that Ed was concerned that they might get caught on something and create a safety hazard, where Simba might get hurt. Ed mentioned it to him, and Simba replied he didn't have another pair. (Simba has many children and we are sure he uses his money for food, rent and schooling.)<br />
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Ed said, "Well I would give you a pair of my old ones that are too big for me, except they would be huge on you." (Ed used to be a 34 waist, and now is smaller than a 32.) Simba was thrilled and said "No, Elder Gates. I will make them fit. You will see!" So Ed took the pants the next day, and Simba made them work. He chopped off about a foot off the length and found a heavy string to make the 34 waist fit his 28" waist.... and he is thrilled!<br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-51447295266349185192016-10-13T15:06:00.001-07:002016-10-16T05:44:19.146-07:00Was it a coincidence?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Was it a coincidence?
Each of you who read this will have to decide for yourself. But if there is even a 1% chance that it was
something special and sacred, I want to write about it. One of my assignments is to write the history
book of the building of the temple.
This book will go into the cornerstone and into the archives of the church,
as well as a few special offices of the church.
I would suppose if I was ever going to be in tune with the spirit, and
in the right place (such as on a temple building site) to witness and recognize
that it might be more than a coincidence, this would be my time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">After six months of underground construction and delays (due
to weather and political protests and rioting) , we were finally ready to pour
the main temple floor slabs. I have twice felt that my Dad’s spirit might
be close to me, on the temple job site.
Both times were big concrete pours. Today was one of them. We saw something we have never seen
before. Most of the men working were our
previous students and we were all proud of each other that we were able to
complete the pour, without having to
bring in outside help. Everyone was in a
great mood, and the pour was going well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We were almost finished and the men had just started to pour
and finish the last area, for the day. It was the Celestial room, which is considered the most special room in the temple. As the men were working hard, and concrete
was pouring out of the pump and the chute, one of the subcontractor’s pointed
up and said… “Look!” It was beautiful! It was almost noon and the sun was straight
up overhead. Around the sun was a
gorgeous rainbow circle. It is called a “Halo” and is a very rare natural
optical phenomenon. It was so bright that it was difficult to look
at it for very long. I turned to Ed and said … “It’s Dad sending us
a message. He is so proud of you!” I had
our workers pause and look at it and laughingly told them it was Seraphins
(Angels) singing because we were pouring in the Celestial room. We watched the “Halo” in the sky as they worked
for about 15 minutes, and as they finished the Celestial Room, the Halo faded
away. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As I lie in my bed tonight, and think about it, I can’t help
but wonder… “Was it a coincidence?” But
I like to think it was more than that, and that makes me happy (and humbled) to
think that we were possibly blessed today to be part of a Heavenly Celebration
that there is finally going to be a temple in Kinshasa for these wonderful
people!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">PS: The colors of the
ring didn’t come through in the photo, but we are excited we able to capture it
at all! The top is from my camera and the bottom is from Ed's camera.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri";">PS. From wikamedia: </span><b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">Halo</span></span></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> (from </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">Greek</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">
ἅλως, </span><i><span style="font-family: "calibri";">halōs</span></i></span><sup id="cite_ref-1"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(optical_phenomenon)#cite_note-1"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">[1]</span></a></span></sup><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">) is the name for a family of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_phenomenon" title="Optical phenomenon"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">optical phenomena</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> produced by light interacting
with </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_crystal" title="Ice crystal"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "calibri";">ice
crystals</span></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";"> suspended in the atmosphere.</span></span></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-83499000519210478312016-10-08T22:28:00.001-07:002016-10-15T19:51:40.415-07:00Primary Temple Rocks- Part 5 (read part 4 below before you read this)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Primary Temple Rocks- Part 5 (<a href="http://elderandsistergates.blogspot.com/2016/10/primary-temple-rocks-part-4.html">read part 4 below before you read this</a>)<br />
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In my letter of instructions to the bishops and primary presidents, I requested that if they had access to a camera and a computer, to please send us a photo of their kids. And then last week the magic began as we started receiving them. Our hearts are grateful to be part of this great work!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UTVhhYgwYww/V_nOEBISjUI/AAAAAAAAFlo/4rhiQd16fj8cXQYsoxn56n8s4bG_0QZywCLcB/s1600/Sans%2BFil%252C%2BMasina%2Bcropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UTVhhYgwYww/V_nOEBISjUI/AAAAAAAAFlo/4rhiQd16fj8cXQYsoxn56n8s4bG_0QZywCLcB/s640/Sans%2BFil%252C%2BMasina%2Bcropped.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-60900957042014873572016-10-08T12:47:00.000-07:002016-10-15T19:56:33.716-07:00Primary Temple Rocks - Part 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
(<a href="http://elderandsistergates.blogspot.com/2016/10/primary-temple-rocks-part-3-rocks-go-out.html">Read part 3 before reading this entry.</a>)<br />
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What a fun 2 weeks this has been! On Sunday, two weeks ago, we were invited into primary to watch the 2 wards in our building to sign their rocks and receive their pictures of the temple. It was very touching to see how reverent they were about receiving and signing their rocks & temple photos!<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CayC0cQPgGk/V_k66AydLLI/AAAAAAAAFjc/6Q4lcjLJHOUDWsxBZWDEk7CZs-UTj2_aACLcB/s1600/IMG_5518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CayC0cQPgGk/V_k66AydLLI/AAAAAAAAFjc/6Q4lcjLJHOUDWsxBZWDEk7CZs-UTj2_aACLcB/s400/IMG_5518.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Our bishop helping three brothers sign their rocks.</div>
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Each child tried to use their best handwriting, knowing it would be part of the temple.</div>
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A cute family with 5 kids in primary... They wanted to all sign one rock.</div>
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A very long African name!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our own ward primary....</td></tr>
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<img border="0" height="426" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0ITs-JFizU/V_lBFZIBcNI/AAAAAAAAFkI/m8weWkq4I44mXjQjjYujzTkeHnVFbtfmgCLcB/s640/Kitambo%252C%2BKinshasa%2BStake.JPG" width="640" />and the other ward in our building invited us in to see their kids excitement!</div>
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-65253645605769955662016-10-01T22:45:00.000-07:002016-10-15T19:56:17.750-07:00Primary Temple Rocks ... Part 3 ... The Rocks Go Out!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
(If you want the <a href="http://elderandsistergates.blogspot.com/2016/08/les-pierres-de-la-primaire-rocks-part-1.html">full story on the Primary Temple Rocks - start with Part 1.</a> <a href="http://elderandsistergates.blogspot.com/2016/09/primary-temple-rocks-part-2-work.html">Part 2 was just written and is below this entry</a>. This is part 3.)<br />
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The rocks were ready to give out to the Stake Presidents at the meeting with the Area 70s on September 10th. We kept stressing that this was to be a sacred project... and it was.<br />
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The Stake Presidents were excited and had many questions. We also had a bag for the Mission President. He has 3 branches in outlying areas that are about a 7 hour drive away, which are too far away to be part of the Kinshasa Stake. Two of those branches are in a town called Matadi. We weren't sure when those rocks would get there. We left those presidents with their "sacred packages" and all our best wishes.<br />
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8 days later we received our first responses. These photos came back from Matadi! <br />
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We are thrilled and humble and grateful to have been an instrument in this project. Each of these 1500 children will know that this is their temple... and they are "going there some day!" <br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-17325625608514951062016-09-22T13:10:00.000-07:002016-10-15T19:55:10.933-07:00Primary Temple Rocks ... part 2 ... the work continues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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(If you haven't read <a href="http://elderandsistergates.blogspot.com/2016/08/les-pierres-de-la-primaire-rocks-part-1.html">part 1 about the Primary Temple Rocks, read that first</a>)<br />
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As part of our missionary assignment, we are in charge of building spirituality and promoting an enthusiasm for the new temple. We decided to have each child in the Kinshasa area, 1500 children, write their name and birthday on a rock, and get them back to us to be added to the concrete in the temple. This would really be their temple, to look forward to being sealed in some day.)<br />
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We made several trips to the river to get the rocks. They were hand chipped to our specifications. <br />
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I used the cute little lady on the left as my main contact. We both have 25 grandchildren, so we bonded! <br />
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Ed continued painting each rock until they were shiny white! <br />
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To keep the sacred theme, we played reverent hymn music inside the office, whenever we were working on the stones. As one man said after entering the room... "There is a beautiful, peaceful feeling here." When the were dry, we brought them inside and we wrapped them individually in tissues, like little presents... to make them seem more special to the children. <br />
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We made 73 packets for the different wards and branches. Each one included letters to the stake president, bishop and primary president... a flow chart of how the rocks were to be disbursed and returned ... a lesson plan including stories & music ... Sharpie pens .... and of course a rock for every child!<br />
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We had a month to complete the project and they were nearly ready to send out. The meeting with the Area 70s and stake presidents was to be on Saturday, September 10. We were just missing one final thing for each child, to complete the project and make it Perfect, but it looked like those items wouldn't make it here before the deadline.<br />
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Part of the "perfect" project was that every child would get to take home their own photo of the temple. We had ordered 1400 pictures from the U.S. The photo developers here print washed out colors... and are more expensive. When we ordered the photos from the US, we knew there was no mail delivery to Kinshasa. However, we also knew that we had concrete men that were booked to fly over to Kinshasa and arrive on the 1st of the month. We thought we had plenty of time. However, a special material (shipped from the U.S.) that was needed to be an additive to the concrete was being held in Congo Customs for additional fees (bribes). There was no point in bringing the men over until the additive was released from customs. The concrete men's departure dates were postponed twice. On Saturday, September 3, it looked like they were going to have to postpone the men's arrival again, and the photos wouldn't make it. I called Salt Lake church offices and Temporal Affairs here, to see if anyone was flying over, and could bring the photos with them. Noone was coming. Sunday was Fast Sunday, so I decided that I would fast that the pictures would make it in time to go out to the children of Kinshasa with their Primary Temple Rocks. My prayers were answered. On Monday, we got word from Customs that they were releasing the additive... which meant the concrete men were coming and arriving on the 9th. The pictures arrived!!!<br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-78107576805068910822016-09-21T13:37:00.002-07:002016-09-21T13:37:27.658-07:00CHANCE <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When we were on our last mission we worked very closely with an orphanage. Ed did an amazing job, with the help of Ryan and Westland construction... and some of his students, of repairing a "home" with deplorable living conditions for about 20 children. One little boy became Ed's shadow for 2 months, as the construction renovating was completed. His name is Chance. He was a charmer from day 1.<br />
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We had talked to Mitzi about the possibility of having the McBride's adopt him... and while we were considering the feasibility of the adoption, our friends, the Dains (Ryan's family) announced they were going to adopt Chance. It felt right, and we were thrilled for them ... and very happy that Chance would be raised by a loving family. (This is Angie Dain holding him before the decision to adopt.)<br />
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It took two and a half years to get the paperwork completed. When we arrived in Kinshasa for this temple mission, Ryan had just picked up Chance and he was legally part of the Dain family. However, the DR Congo had a moratorium on issuing exit Visas for children, so there were hundreds of families waiting to get their children back to the United States. The rest of the Dain family were in Provo waiting for school to be over, and then they were coming to spend a month with Ryan and Chance. <br />
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We got to be his "Grammy" and "Papa" for 4 months! What a delight it was to see a little boy discover life outside of a Congolese orphanage.<br />
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This was his first day of school with us, his new Dad (Ryan) and big brother, Jake.<br />
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They received his exit Visa in July and Chance is now living in Provo, Utah with his family, the Dains! It was a blessing to have him in our lives.<br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-66828732171936913782016-09-21T12:30:00.000-07:002016-09-21T12:30:48.918-07:00Ryan Dain... Our Project Manager is Very Ill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ryan Dain is the job project manager and in charge of the construction of the Kinshasa Temple. He was also in charge of building the 2 chapels that Ed's students helped build when we were on our last mission. We have become very close through the years. His family lives in Provo, Utah and he goes home to see them about every 2 to 3 months. Our apartments that we live in now are next door to each other.<br />
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Two nights ago (Monday, Sept 19) Ryan was at our home for dinner and had a severe seizure. It was very, very, very humbling. Ed and Stan were able to hold him down and immediately give him a commanding priesthood blessing. We were all overwhelmed because we realized that there is no 911 in Kinshasa. There are no ambulances, as we know them. The victim needs to be taken to the selected hospital. The only one we would go to is several miles away and in order to get to it, we would have to go through town, and cross the protestors lines. After his blessing, he started to relax enough to see that the worst of it was over. After 30 minutes he became slightly lucid and recognized Ed. <br />
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We immediately called our daughter Tiffany's father in law, who is a medical doctor in Idaho, Del Rey Maughan. He and his wife served a mission, in Africa, as the medical doctor for all the missionaries in many missions. He realized how difficult it would be to have this terrifying experience in such a strange country. He was wonderful and gave us information to coach us through the night. We are grateful for his experience and knowledge. <br />
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He said we needed to get Ryan home to the U.S. as fast as possible. He said the seizure might be caused by a brain tumor, and it might have been a first attack, which could be followed by a more severe one. However, the road to the airport was closed due to the protestors and demonstrators. There was no way to get to the airport on Monday. We purchased tickets for Stan to take Ryan home on Tuesday night, but the violence continued to get worse and the flight was cancelled. In the meantime, Ryan was feeling better, but still very confused and forgetful. We were finally able to talk to Ryan's doctor who agreed with everything Del Rey had told us. He needs an MRI and a diagnosis. <br />
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It is Wednesday and Stan and Ryan made it to the airport tonight. Their flight has just departed the city. We are so very thankful he is on his way home to get the medical care he needs. We are grateful that Ed listened to the still small voice that prompted him to pick up the phone and invite Ryan to eat dinner with us. Five minutes later he came through the door, smiling and happy. He sat down at the table and 30 seconds later the seizure attacked him. If Ed hadn't called him, he would have been home alone, and we could have lost him.<br />
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Ed is now in charge of the temple construction for the time being. Hopefully, Dad is hovering nearby. We are going to need all the help we can get! <br />
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Kriss Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10244649126956799439noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6579404522664270634.post-56312043768368559912016-09-20T17:57:00.003-07:002016-09-20T18:01:32.151-07:00DR Congo Citizens Protest!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Kinshasa, Congo, </h2>
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Is Locked Down as Protests Erupt Against Joseph Kabila</h2>
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Kinshasa protestors gathered by the hundreds and thousands in large groups across the city over the past 2 days. We were warned that we should all stay in our homes to avoid being part of the violence that has gripped many areas full of people who represent the demand that President Kabila step down and allow an election for a new president. His terms are over, and he simply won't leave. These good people are tired of the corrupt government and are demanding a change. On Monday, the first day, over 30 people were killed.</div>
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We have not seen any violence in our area. Both mornings we went across the street to the job site. Both days, a few men showed up for work. Others didn't dare the commute, as many of them live in the areas where the demonstrations and fighting continue to rage. Both days, we were told by our security force that we needed to get everyone to go home, to be with their families if they were needed. There was no public transport. Gaelord, one of our valiant hard workers, had to walk the seven hours to get home, as there was no public transport allowed in the city. </div>
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Things are very quiet and eerie in our neighborhood. We can look out our balcony and see the smoke from fires burning around the city. We keep getting email updates of what is happening around town. The roads to the airport have been closed for 2 days and flights have been cancelled. </div>
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We are safe and being careful, and staying tucked away in our nice apartment. Hopefully it will calm down for awhile and we can get back to work soon. We keep praying that something will happen to bring peace to this part of the world. It is humbling, almost overwhelming, to realize how blessed we are to have the freedom that we enjoy in America. I will never take it for granted again.</div>
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