June 1, 2014
Dear Ones,
Well, we’ve been here two weeks! It definitely feels like longer than that, but we’re doing okay. This was our third Sunday. We have been to a different ward each week – just to get a feel for things. Both other weeks the meetings were held in regular church buildings – here they call them “Bountiful Buildings.” This is an issue in and of itself that I’ll talk about in a minute. But this week we attended a ward in the Luano district of town. The meetinghouse was formerly a home. Currently they are constructing a chapel in the front yard of this home, but for now, everyone met in a larger room – probably the old living room – for Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting. The other rooms held RS, Priesthood, Primary, etc. And talk about a Primary! Holy cow!! It was HUGE! We’re talking about some very large families here in Africa. It seems like the norm is to have a baby about every two years. Many of the young elder missionaries come from families of 8+ children. During Sacrament Meeting we had a row of children in front of us that I thought was a Primary class – they all looked very similar in age – and found out they were all siblings – 8 of them!
And these people are singers!!! I’m telling you that we started RS with 6 sisters (lots of the sisters came late) and the singing rocked the rafters!!! (including one quiet sister whose French leaves much to be desired- haha) Most wards don’t have an organ or piano – and honestly, they don’t need them! In our ward today, they had a choir director who had his ward choir off to the side. They sang both prelude and postlude. In every meeting – like RS, etc. – the person conducting sings the first line or two to get everyone going – and then everyone starts at the beginning together. They sing in multiple-part harmony, too. And to hear the Primary singing is just a total joy! It seems so tender to hear them singing songs that are so familiar to me, but in a language I’m struggling to understand.
Of course in church, everything is either in French or Swahili – so we don’t really know what is going on. But one really neat thing happened during testimony meeting. One of the counselors in the bishopric was bearing his testimony and was quite emotional. The other counselor came up and stood by him and gave him so pats to comfort him. Very touching!
On Friday morning we took a road trip with Elder and Sister Clawson. He’s in charge of the missionary apartments, among other things. And she is the mission medical gal. They were going to two towns in the outlying areas – Likasi and Kolwezi – to deliver materials to the missionaries and to teach an English class, which they do once a month. So Dad and I went along so that we could meet with the district presidencies (neither are stakes yet) to introduce ourselves and give our humanitarian presentation. We have posted several pictures on istream if you want to see them. Anyway, we passed through very interesting countryside – very pretty land – kind of hilly. There were homes and “businesses” all along the way.
I think our meetings went pretty well. In each place we asked what the presidencies felt were their greatest needs. One needs a bridge (similar to the other bridge project we have talked about) and the other wants some help with unemployment (we suggested some training in how to write a resume, how to do well in an interview, etc. – maybe even a local job fair). Anyway, we’re just feeling our way on how to do this, so we’ll see how these go.
We spent the night in Kolwezi in a funny little hotel that the Clawsons call the “Flintstone Hotel”. It looks exactly like a page out of Bedrock! The outside was bright pink and our room was just as bright only turquoise. I would give it about a one star rating, but then, this is my first rodeo in the hotel business, and I may have to come back and adjust that. At least it had a good shower and flushy toilets! I know that in a couple of weeks we are going on an 11-day road trip with President and Sister McMullin. One town where we’re staying for FOUR days (Luputa) has no water and no electricity. We have to take our own food, sheets, towels, and sleep in the church. So there you have it. The Bedrock place may be a 5 star by the end of that trip! Haha
We love to hear about how things are going with you at home. I know that you may think it’s just same old, same old – but that’s what we want to know about. Just to have you check in regularly means so much! Nothing is ho hum! We are usually back at our house by 6:00. It’s dark by then and we can’t go out at night. Our TV only has French shows. So our evenings are LONG!! On our trip we met another missionary couple – the Atkinsons – who will be moving here in three weeks. He does construction for the church, and they will live in one of the apartments in our compound. Can’t wait! Ashley posted a picture on Instagram and it just took me by surprise because it was in our backyard!! So great to see it!
We love you all so much!! Happy first week of summer vacation! Happy 5th Anniversary to Matt and Ashley tomorrow!! Happy 22nd Anniversary to Monica and David on Friday. Happy 7th Birthday to Luke on Thursday!!! Take good care of each other! Thank you for taking care of Grandma Edie! XOXO . . . Love, Mom
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