July 29, 2014 - Shelley

My dearest girls - You will think I am a total whiner - but something good happened today.  Every apartment is given basic things - bedding, dishes, etc.  Well, the sheets that were available when we moved in have Spiderman on them.  Not only that, but they are for a double bed rather than a queen (which is what we have) AND the bottom sheet isn't fitted.  Well, you know that we have sleeping issues as it is!  haha  So sleeping with this stupid bottom sheet that doesn't fit has not helped - it's always in a wad by morning!  Well, Sister Thomas, the new mission president's wife, brought TONS of stuff!  Mission presidents are allowed two huge containers that are shipped ahead of time - that's in addition to their luggage.  Well, the containers came yesterday.  She offered anyone who wanted them, an extra set of sheets!  Of course, I wasn't even polite - I just stepped to the front and said I would LOVE them!  They aren't new, but they're nice and they're pretty!  I just had to tell someone!  The picture shows the new sheets with the old pillow case - just so you can appreciate the contrast.  Thanks for listening!!  I love you!!!  --Marmie

OK - trouble with internet.  I'll try sending the pic from my phone.

July 27, 2014 - Shelley

July 27, 2014

Dear Ones,

July, March, and September have the largest number of birthdays in our family.  So we are just winding down this week, with Joshua’s 18th birthday tomorrow.  We are so excited to have another missionary in the family!  He will be leaving the first part of September for McAllen Texas Mission, Spanish speaking.  And he will be WONDERFUL!

And speaking of birthdays, Clark enjoyed all of your special-day wishes!  Our translator, Flavien, took us to lunch at Planet Holly Bum – yes, you heard it right!  Despite the funny name, the food was good and things were very clean.  Flavien has been a total life-saver for us!  He has driven us all around and has been so diplomatic with government officials, church leaders, etc.  We absolutely couldn’t have accomplished anything without him.  He speaks 5 languages!

In the evening we hosted a little birthday dinner.  Left to right:  Sister Riendeau, Sister Anthony, Sister and Brother Atkinson.  The sisters work in the office and Bro. and Sis. Atkinson are here as construction missionaries. They even came bearing birthday gifts:  tuna, potato chips, and chocolate.  They must know him already!!  ☺

We have really enjoyed teaching English to the missionaries.

This next week is transfer week and we are sad to be losing some of our “stars”.  There are a couple of them who have pretty good English skills but several of them sound like I do when I’m speaking French!  TRES MAL!!!!!   If you have ever watched “The African Queen”, you may remember the beginning scene when Katherine Hepburn is playing the organ in her brother’s church in Africa.  They are missionaries.  She plows on through this hymn, singing at the top of her lungs – while the congregation of African church members tries to sing along.  It’s a disaster!  I felt exactly the same way when I was trying to teach a Primary song that none of the missionaries knew – the “Hello Song” (with the echo).  It was hilarious!!!  Clark didn’t know it either, so that made it even worse!  haha

This has been an interesting month in the country because it’s the last month that car owners can register their vehicles for the year.  They have between January and July – then it’s trouble!  Well, all over town, there are police who are stopping cars to check for current registration.  Normally, the police stop cars to try and get bribe money – it’s a big problem.  But this is even more than that.  They have hired on extra help – and traffic has been held up all over town.

The experience is a little different than in the United States.  Above is a policeman, armed with a machine gun, who is putting a pole with spikes on it in front of an oncoming van.  If the driver doesn’t have the proper documents, he will get fined or something – I really don’t know.  I’m pretty sure he won’t get shot, though – haha.  It’s funny because we have seen many cars just turn around right before the spikes and go the other way.  The police are generally on foot, so they can’t follow the escaping cars.  Anyway, we’re glad this month is almost over so the traffic can return to “normal”.  For anyone who has lived here, you know that “normal” is a little bit of a joke!  Haha

As I sat in church today, I was so overwhelmed with awe for the wonderful saints here.  We went to a  ward in one of the newest church buildings here – not exactly like a Utah church building, but definitely a “western” style.  It’s in a very poor neighborhood – ours was the only car in the parking lot.  The neighborhood around it was ALIVE with music from other churches.  Not ten feet away from the Relief Society room was a big church building that was literally rocking with loud music – complete with a band and a pastor with a loud microphone.  Our sweet teacher just went right along with her lesson, as though nothing was out of the ordinary.  The lesson was on tithing.  I know that it’s a difficult topic here.  The discussion was lively, although I didn’t understand a single word in the three hours we were there.  This ward speaks Swahili.  I just kept thinking that it takes so much faith to leave not only the church you have growth up with, but really to leave your culture in many ways.  The church next door sounded like a lot more “fun”, but no one seemed to notice - except me.  I have much to learn.

Well, I know that the message of the restored church is true whether it is in English or Swahili or in any other language.  My testimony has grown, and I have received promptings in ways that I never would have imagined.  Clark and I have both felt your love and support – thank you!  Home doesn’t seem nearly as far away when we get your messages and words of encouragement.  Have a wonderful week!  --Sister Davis/Mom

July 27, 2014 - Clark

Sunday, July 27, 2014

The weekends are the longest because we are used to being so busy during the weekdays and in our prior life we were extremely busy on the weekends with church callings and temporal affairs.  Sundays are our longest day because we attend meetings for three hours without understanding.  It depends on the ward we attend, but they speak more Swahili than they do French.  The singing and the children are the most delightful part of meeting attendance.  We have enjoyed attending with the Atkinsons.  Brent Atkinson speaks pretty good French.  This is their 3rd mission as a couple.  They served in Ivory Coast, Honduras and now in DRCongo.  Brent has learned most of his French from reading the Book of Mormon out loud in French.  He’s in his 4th year in a French speaking country and has read le Livre de Mormon several times.  He is providing inspiration but I haven’t progressed much since arriving.

The week was highlighted by a couple of main events.  My 67th birthday was on Monday and Shelley invited the senior sisters and the Atkinsons for dinner.  She baked a cake and Flavien, our translator took us to Planet Hollybum for pizza at lunchtime.  Shelley did everything possible to make it seem special with food and treats and festivities.  

Another highlight of the week was to receive positive feedback on our two school desk projects from South Africa.  We have yet to have a project approved and it seems we have been spinning our wheels for a couple of months.  I know it isn’t completely true and we do have some other projects in the pipeline, but it hasn’t been without considerable frustration in working through the church bureaucracy.  I know the church is still true but we’re working with bureaucracy every weekday.   In any event, we’re excited to finally get the green light.  We also heard from our advisory couple, Melinda and Bruce Kinghorn, who are planning on visiting us next week to review our projects.

One of the highlights of the week was that the mission president was gone to cities up north and we were able to have our own car for a week.  It was new-found independence that we had to give up on Friday.  I have become more familiar with the road system as I had to drive to the airport to pick up the president’s party upon their return.  This was my most extensive driving experience.  The big challenge isn’t just the crazy drivers, avoiding sewer mains with no lids and the snarled traffic, but stops by the police.  We made it back with no scratches and no lost money to police extortion; a real success.

Our family members have had some real challenges in their personal lives.  It is difficult being half a world away and trying to remain in touch with them.  Lindsay and Mike have been trying to decide on the best location for the advancement of his career with Ensign.  Ensign owns and manages long-term care and rehabilitation centers in several states.  Mike has been training in Burley, Idaho since January and has had several offers within the company to become the director of a facility.  He has decided their best option is to move to Temple, Texas.  The timing that would be preferred is to have the family move to coincide with the beginning of school.  Although we aren’t in Utah, we will miss them living in our home and attending the old 18th ward.  We’re supportive of their decisions but the family has to now determine what to do with the home and yard until October of 2015.

Spencer and Jacey have also had some challenges with Medtronic.  The Ardian project he has given himself to for the past 2-3 years didn’t receive FDA approval and Medtronic decided to pull the plug on this venture and with it all personnel who were assigned to the project.  Spencer’s position along with hundreds of others was vacated.  They offered to either provide a severance package or retain him at a lower position, meaning a demotion.  It has been disappointing to see how Medtronic has handled this situation.  In the past they have continued to assure him that he is being trained for leadership and yet when the chips were down, it was strictly business.  This uncertainty has engulfed their family and ours for the last 2-3 months.  The good news is he has finally been awarded a position with Medtronic in Santa Rosa that is both a promotion and allows them to stay in their home.  We are so grateful for everyone’s faith and prayers in their behalf.

We have enjoyed teaching English to the missionaries of Kisanga Zone.  There are usually about 10 missionaries who come.  Mom is right back in 1st and 2nd grade with these guys.  It doesn’t have to be difficult but it has to be fun.  She has introduced primary songs, games and a regular routine for them to follow.  We enjoy getting to know them better.  It seems every name begins with K and we’re still struggling to memorize names but we’re beginning to recognize them and they recognize us.  The time spent with missionaries and members lifts us.  

In our mission there are no white elders.  Almost all of the elders come from Kinshasa, the capital city of DRCongo.  The missionaries almost without exception come from poverty and their missions are paid for by the church.  They attend the mission training center in Ghana where they receive clothing and when they arrive in Lubumbashi, they are issued apartment supplies and personal supplies.  Shelley volunteered to do all the shopping for missionary supplies.  This has allowed us to become much more familiar with the downtown stores and where to find what.  The missionaries receive an allowance for support every three weeks.  They are completely supported on their missions and they generally have a hard time returning home.  They are going back to poverty, no job, no allowance and no promise for the future.  English can become a differentiating factor in their search for education or employment.  

My challenges with technology and connectivity continue.  My phone cost me about $250 for the first month getting setup and buying data service ahead of schedule.  I had enough data for about 3-4 months and I did the same thing on mom’s phone.  Well the church changed my phone to be on contract for the past 2 months.  I didn’t realize how much I was being charged but they send me a notice that I had used 100% of my billing credit and my phone had been locked.  The credit limit was $1,000 per month, so somebody is making some money and I’m without a phone until Monday.  Vodacom, the service provider also changed their policy and cancelled all unused data not consumed in the current month.  If we received a notice, it was in French and everyone in the mission office was caught by this.  I’ve mentioned frustrations before about the download speed and buffering.  Well last week we couldn’t view the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast on Sunday and it was such a disappointment not being able to see Emily.  We were fortunate in that we were able to see both the broadcast and the 24th of July Pioneer Celebration later in the week.  We’re certainly learning patience, but not voluntarily.  

Thank you so much for all your efforts to email, skype, facetime, text and in any other way try to contact me this past week with my birthday.  I won’t expect it every week, but it was wonderful at a time when one wants to be with family.  I was, it was just a little distant.  Your words of encouragement and support are greatly appreciated.  We love you and we look forward to another busy week.  We have Elder Hamilton, a member of the Area Presidency, coming to visit and interview this week.  We’ll give you a full report next Sunday.  

Love, Dad

July 20, 2014 - Shelley

July 20, 2014

Someone told us before we left home that our days would drag by and the weeks would fly.  Well, this week was sure an example of that.  We’ve loved getting messages and pictures from home about fun outings and birthday celebrations – July is a busy month!  Thanks for keeping us in the loop!

Most of you have already heard about our big fire – that was pretty exciting!

Clark was drying some garments in the laundry room (not attached to our house) and went to see if they were done.  Well, they were a bit OVER DONE!  

Faulty wiring and no vent appeared to be the culprits, but it gave us a pretty good scare!  Our wonderful landlord had the room repainted and the dryer replaced within 24 hours – but we think the same culprits exist, so . . .we’re keeping the marshmallows handy!  J/K

One lesson we are definitely having to learn is PATIENCE!!  Our projects are slow to come to fruition because of a variety of reasons, but we are still hopeful.  One ray of hope is the principal of a local secondary school – Pierre Kandal.

He is the second from the right and his school is in the background.  It may not look like his school is outstanding compared to North American schools – but it is a sterling example of what one person with vision can accomplish.  He has organized the parents, solicited the help of the governor, and used any means he can think of to make this inner-city school into a jewel!  He recently acted as the general contractor to add 10 new classrooms, but they still don’t have desks.  We are attempting to partner with the parents to provide those.  Wish us luck!

For those of you who remember or know about Clark’s adventures on our trip to Jordan a few years ago, this will sound very familiar.  While in Jordan, Clark loved bargaining with the local jewelry vendors for necklaces, bracelets, etc.  These vendors were mostly Bedouin ladies (whose stuff all looked the same to me!).  Anyway, he has found a new place to “haggle” – the local marche!  (MAR-SHAY).  These ladies are selling fruits and veggies – and he loves to stop for local wares.

This gal is a favorite and will throw in an extra banana or apple every time!

We have spoken about the totally beautiful children!  Next to our grand-children, they are the cutest ever!

We deemed this little guy the Ward Clerk because he was all over the place during Sacrament Meeting!  Here’s another darling baby who sat in front of us today.

We have decided that Africa could be the wealthiest country in the world.  It is loaded with natural resources, anything grows that is put in the ground, and there is a huge work force.  We have been so impressed with the faith and spirituality of the people.  Anywhere in town on Sunday, you will see families dressed up and going to church.  From our home, we can hear singing and church celebrations several times during the week – not just on Sunday.

I have recently reread my patriarchal blessing and have found such comfort in it.  I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me.  I know that Africa needs the message of the Restored Gospel, and they are receptive.  Africa needs Heavenly Father – and He is here.  I love my companion and hope that I am never transferred!!!

Have a great week!  I love you all!

      --Mom/ Sister Davis

July 19, 2014 - Clark

Saturday, July 19, 2014

This has been another interesting week.  Our translator, Flavien Kot, has been sick this week and we spent several days in the mission office.  I love staying busy and it’s more of a challenge when we’re not actively involved in developing projects.  We were able to spend some time on our school desk projects.  There are two schools we are considering, both from the Catholic Diocese.  Other advisors have counseled us to use the Catholic Church’s infrastructure; they have great connections and no money.  

The two schools we’re considering are diametrically different.  

1. Bukanda School is an elementary school located in the middle of six remote villages and accommodates about 250 students.  They have no desks and sit on bricks or stones on wooden planks for desks.  They are the poorest of the poor.  We have visited this area to consider refurbishing hand pump wells.  Most of the wells that have been developed in the past are no longer working because no one takes responsibility for maintenance.  
2. Maisha-Karavia is a progressive school with a wonderful principal who could easily fit the title of champion.  We’re always supposed to be looking for a “champion” who can shepherd the project.  This guy has built 10 new classrooms in the past year and needs 400 new desks.  He has received a $50,000 grant from the government because they have recognized the contribution the families have made.  We proposed matching their desk commitment dollar for dollar and still need to present our proposal to Johannesburg.  He said he would have 3 quotes no later than Tuesday and would have a formal letter of request including a listing of the school and parent commitments.  He is super, considering that we have spent much of the week chasing down 3 proposals for the Bukanda School.

Probably the most memorable event of this week was our dryer fire.  The power has surges and is totally unreliable here.  Our laundry room is in a separate cinder block facility.  I was doing laundry and had put a load of garments in the dryer around 9:00 and returned at 10:00 pm.  The smoke that came billowing out of the laundry room about blew me over and I can still smell the burning garments.  The heat was so hot, it melted the sheet metal off he top of the dryer and the metal door was melted off its hinges.  We lost about half of our garments, but I was grateful because my previous load was all of my white shirts.  

Our landlord was so responsive that the very next day, he bought a new heavy duty dryer and had the room repainted.  I took a few pictures of the fires before our guard, Samuel hosed it down with water.  I’m sure it was electrically caused and it was a bit of a scare  It could have been so much worse; no one was hurt, no property other than the dryer and garments was damaged and it wasn’t my fault.

Something else I’ve been working on this week was updating our emergency plan.  Elder Clawson has been responsible and he is going home in a couple of months, so he’s delegating his assignments.  It coincided with the shooting down of the Malaysian airliner and the Gaza strip turmoil.  We have a national election next November in DR Congo.  Last time they had a national election, they sent all the non-local missionaries (all seniors) to Johannesburg for 3 weeks.  Mom and I felt a little badly that we’ll already be home by that time.  

Another new event has been driving on our own.  We still do not have a vehicle, but with a new mission president who doesn’t yet drive, we have been driving more.  Our translator also didn’t have his annual inspection and insurance stickers updated, so we have driven to the project sites with a mission vehicle.  This week has been especially fearful because there are police patrols everywhere.  We are told they do this twice a year; they are checking all the stickers and there are roadblocks everywhere.  

Another fun thing we have been doing this week and another delegated assignment from Elder Clawson is shopping for the missionaries.  Every missionary who arrives receives certain supplies and someone has to keep the storehouse stocked with those supplies that include:

• Blanket
• Water bottle with a filter
• Rechargeable led lights
• Pillow and sheets
• Umbrellas
• Mosquito net
• Electrical power strip
• Emergency food bucket and first aid kit

Mom is the new quartermaster after volunteering for this job.  Can you imagine any man trying to teach mom how to shop?  It was fun and we have gotten to know the downtown area much better after spending time downtown.  

We have also enjoyed walking with Brent and Celeste Atkinson.  They live in the same complex as us and we try to walk almost every evening.  Elder Atkinson has been a victim of police extortion twice in the past 10 days and he prefers to walk over driving.  We have been walking downtown the past 3 weekends and we take our back packs.  There are two senior sisters who are a few years older than we are.  They asked us to take them walking to downtown and we did last week and they wanted to go again today.  They are real troopers and have enjoyed being among the people more.  They were told not to walk early in their mission and have not had this experience .   We have seldom felt threatened and enjoy both the exercise and the opportunity to see more of the people and the culture.

Our mission president will be making the same Luputa, Mwnene Ditu, and Mbuji-Mayi trip during the next 10 days that we did earlier.  His wife is having a very difficult adjustment period and this will be a real wake-up call for her.  For us, everything looked better after our return; it’s all relative and we recognized that for the Congo we were extremely spoiled with our living conditions in Lubumbashi compared to these locations.

The weekends are our most challenging times because we have too much free time.  Sundays are a 3-hour meeting in a language we don’t understand and Saturdays have become more bearable by immersing myself in cleaning projects.  I clean the floors every weekend because of the dirt and dust that accumulates with the open louvered windows.  I do almost all of the laundry and try to help out with the dishes.  It helps me stay occupied and involved.

I’d have to say we have started to settle-in a little more.  You have to become blinded to your anxieties and cling to one another like never before.  Mom has been so strong.  She is a great cook as you all know and having familiar food is a comfort.  We have never spent this much time together and we are adjusting more with each passing week.  She has taken over the organization of all the project files and correspondence and reporting.  She continues to say, we never could have worked together in your office, but we are working together here and it is working.  

One unnerving bit of information is that we may have to move.  The humanitarian couples are treated as separate and apart from the regular missionary efforts.  We have secured an office in the mission home simply because it was vacant, but by the end of August, another couple is coming by the name of Drapers.  They are personal friends of the mission president and we have been put on notice that we will probably be losing our office.  We were given the option of having our office in our home or moving into the mission home upstairs apartment where the kitchen could be used as the office.  The Clawsons currently live there.  We decided we absolutely need the social interaction with the other members of the mission staff and want to be around them.  This means giving up a very nice home for a cramped apartment.  We currently have two bedrooms, two baths, an office, living room and a kitchen.  The new arrangement would be a kitchen(doubling as an office) downstairs, a bedroom and bath with a living room upstairs.  It’s still not bad and we need the social interaction.

I think we might have lost our nice living quarters anyway, because a new doctor is coming by the name of Miksell from St. George.  He is 76 and recently had double knee replacement surgery and cannot negotiate stairs.  We’ll try to remain flexible and keep you updated.

July 13, 2014 - Shelley

July 13, 2014

It has been wonderful to hear from so many of you!  We hope you all have had a good week.  Our week has been mostly up – but we did have one disappointment.  The humanitarian project we submitted (latrines at a school) was put on hold because it was deemed a “water project” and all water projects are on hold.  Bummer!

On the bright side, however, we started teaching an English class to part of the missionaries.  Two other couples are also teaching, so we divided them into three groups – and we have twelve Elders.  It was so fun because they are really trying.  It brought out the old (not “old” – “FORMER”) teacher in me – and Clark is a natural with the Elders.  But their English is about like our French – so you can see that they have a long way to go!  Haha

And we had a totally fun “road trip”!  In order to validate our exit visas, we had to make a trip to Zambia.  I don’t really understand how it all works, but we needed to leave the country and then re-enter.  Zambia is about two hours away – and the road is actually very good.  One of the office employees, Emmanuel, volunteered to take us, so we left early on Thursday morning.  While we were there, Emmanuel needed to do some food shopping for his wife because prices there are so much cheaper.  Well . . . this is where the adventure began!  If you can remember Indiana Jones wandering through the market in Cairo, it might give you a mental picture of how we felt.  Of course, we naturally stand out because of our color, so we had some “followers”.  The market would remind you of a giant Peach Days in Pioneer Park, with booths everywhere.

These show the dried fish market.

We couldn’t take careful pictures because we were warned about losing our cameras in the crowd.

Then Emmanuel said he was going to take five live chickens home.  I thought he must be kidding – but, no!  A boy with a bike followed us around while Emmanuel bought things and added them to the pile on the bike.  The picture below shows bags of fish, beans and five LIVE chickens tied to the handbars.  He also added a hundred pounds of fou fou flour in two huge bags, and this boy pushed his bike about a mile to the car. (The bagger boys at Kent’s and Smith’s can feel very grateful!)  And yes, the live chickens rode home in the covered back of the truck!  Emmanuel said his wife would be so happy – but I told Clark never to try it!!!!

We get to see another shopping phenomenon on our way home from church on Sundays.  Large bundles of clothing are laid out in a market area.  I think it must be used clothing from different countries and agencies like Deseret Industries and Goodwill.  Anyway, then people come to shop for clothes by looking through the piles.  It is quite the social event with crowds that last into the evening.

We had a very tender mercy last Sunday.  For the first time, we were able to view “Music and the Spoken Word” as a live stream.  The last song was “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” from one of my very favorite movies – “White Christmas”.  And just as the song was ending, there was a close-up of our daughter Emily singing!  We knew that the Lord was watching out for us – it has lifted our spirits all week!

We recognize more each day that the most important way to help the people of Africa (and anywhere) is to share the message of the Gospel.  It is true and my testimony grows stronger each day.

Much love to all,  Sister Davis/Mom

July 13, 2014 - Clark

Sunday, July 13, 2014

We had an eventful week but one highlight we need to relate is going to Zambia.  In order to get an exit visa, you need to travel to a foreign country within 90 days of receiving your 5-year visa.  Zambia is only about 35-40 miles away.  We had Emmanuel from our mission office drive us there and he had made arrangements with a member of the church to be our facilitator.  What happens here is that the process always seems to be a mystery and you need a facilitator to assist you regardless of the process.  When we arrived in the border town of Kasembalasa, we discovered that our facilitator had traveled to Lubumbashi and we had a substitute.  

In preparing to go, Justin said it would cost about $100 per person, but Emmanuel told us to bring $700.  We had no idea what the cost would be.  We stopped at the missionaries’ apartment before meeting our substitute facilitator.  The time at the border was confusing as we had to go first to DRCongo’s building to exit the country and then to Zambia’s building to enter the country.  We don’t know what was done but everyone wanted a piece of the action and we ended up with a second facilitator.  This process took us about an hour or so and then the real fun began.  The Zambia side of the border is a marketplace where prices are about half of what they are in Lubumbashi.  Mom and I were too afraid to pull out our wallet in the crowds that gathered and so we went home empty-handed.  Emmanuel, on the other hand had come for the shopping trip.  His prize purchase was 5 live chickens that were about the size of small turkeys.  We visited with the owner of the shop and she said they were 65 weeks old.  They simply tied their legs together and hung them upside down on the handle bars of their bike and pushed them across the border to Emmanuel’s waiting truck.  Emmanuel only bought 1 chicken for himself but he bought 4 as gifts for family and friends.  It sounds like this act is performed often and indebts to receiver of the gift for a return favor.

Mom’s favorite place in the marketplace was the dried fish market.  They use dried fish to mix in a sauce that is used for fou-fou which is their main staple.  It is a heavy dough-like bread made from flour of the kasava plant or manioc.  Dried fish lasts forever and doesn’t require refrigeration.  The sights and smells of the fish market still linger.  We were a little nervous because we were instructed to keep our hand on our phone, money and camera because this was a market where a lot of pick pocketing occurs.  Emmanuel bought a little of everything and I’m sure his wife was happy to see him arrive home.

The final cost of our visa journey was $50 for the two facilitators and no cost to have our passports stamped.  Looking back it felt much more like a shopping trip than a visa trip but it was memorable and we have some pictures from the market, even though we were worried about pulling our our iphone to take pictures.  

Another bit of encouragement we received this week was from our French language instructor, Honivah Leavitt.  I’ll forward her letter, but the essence of the letter was that “I know the living conditions will not get better, but the Lord will bless you his strength and protection.”  I found some verses in Mosiah that comforted me as well:

1. Mosiah 23:27-28, I like the term “they hushed their fears”
2. Mosiah 24:13-16, their burdens were made light and the Lord did strengthen them”

I’m still working the part of “submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord”

This has definitely been our best week.  Mom and I went for a walk downtown for 3 hours yesterday afternoon with the sisters from the office.  Our first day or so in Lubumbashi we were out for about half an hour and were completely overwhelmed to walk about a half a block.  Yesterday we must have walked 4 miles and felt almost comfortable.  We see less of the poverty, clutter and chaos and are learning to overlook the negative in favor of the positives.  The senior sisters are inspirational.  They are both widowed and serving in Africa without their deceased husbands.  They worked as ordinance workers together in the temple.  They are always positive and look on each new experience as an adventure.  We’re hoping their example is contagious.  They are 69 and 70 respectively.

We’ve had a few positives happen in our humanitarian work this week.  We had visited a hospital in Luputa on our field trip and they asked for help in assisting with the repair of their sonogram or a portable ultra-sound machine.  The stake president works as a surgical nurse and he introduced us to the hospital administrator.  We picked up the electrical cord in Mbuji-Mayi but have had no luck in finding a replacement.  The machine hasn’t worked for over a year.  Sister Clawson suggested I just write a letter for help.  I did so on Tuesday and on Thursday, they called with instructions on what would be required to secure a brand new machine.  We’re on it now and hope to be able to meet this need.  We’ll keep you posted.

Thank you for your emails, texts, skype and facetime sessions.  We’re working on becoming jaded to the unpleasant living conditions and bearing our burdens with less murmuring, but it’s sure nice to have a pick-me-up from home.  We love you all and pray for you daily.

Love, Dad

July 9, 2014 - Clark

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

I wanted to record some tender moments that we shared with Flavien Kot, our translator today.  He served as a missionary in Kinshasa under Brent and Carol Petersen as his mission president.  He loved his mission president so much that he named his youngest son Brent after his mission president.  Brent Petersen died and Flavien made the trip to his funeral in Utah.  This is a huge sacrifice and undertaking for a Congolese.  He did this about a year ago because he visited the Bowers, (Wendy) in California on the same trip.

Flavien told us that when he first entered his mission, he didn’t like president Petersen because he was so strict and such a letter of the law person.  He said that President Petersen actually sent over 20  missionaries home early from their missions.  He said the main thing President Petersen tried to teach his missionaries was honesty.  By the end of his mission, Flavien had learned to love the Petersens.  At the end of his mission, they gave him a photo album with picture post cards inside the album.  He treasured this gift of post cards from his mission president.  Post cards are unique here because the postal service doesn’t work.  Flavien thought they were beautiful pictures of the LDS sites in Salt Lake and treasured the post cards.

Several months later, Flavien thought he would share a post card with a friend and dismounted it from the photo album, only to find a $100 bill behind the post card.  He was sure it was an accident and he contacted Carol Petersen immediately.  She assured him that she knew he would want to share his post cards with others and when he did he would be rewarded with 10post cards each with a $100 bill behind them.  He said this was the first $1,000 of US money he ever had and it was the key to his success both financially and in his humanitarian efforts.

He also said that unfortunately many couples from the US come to Africa but still want to live in America while they reside in Africa.  His advice was that when you live in Africa, you need to live in Africa.  Somehow that sounded profound to me.  I am sure I have been trying to continue my American connection and haven’t embraced living in Africa.  I hope to look at things differently and learn to appreciate our time while we are here in Africa instead of trying to be somewhere else.  I shared with him advice I had received from a Hospice worker when Nancy Jo was dying.  Her advice was to live in the moment and not try to live in the past or the future.  I’ll try harder to do that with Africa, live in the moment.

July 6, 2014 - Shelley

July 6, 2014

Dear Ones,  Well, our week has been a bit different.  Our mission president and his wife left for home on Monday.  I just can’t say enough about how much I admire their service.  Sister McMullen went WAY out of her comfort zone to do so many things.  She readily admits that she is a shy person/home body type.  Yet, she and the president traveled 50 % of their time because the mission is so large and spread out.  She wasn’t staying in 5 star hotels either – about one star to MINUS one star is more like it.  It meant cold water bucket baths most of the time and none of the conveniences we Americans take so much for granted.  She doesn’t like to cook, but she fed up to 40 missionaries, visiting guests, zone conference attendees, etc. – at least a couple times a week when they were at the mission home.  She hates to give talks, but she learned to speak enough French to speak in every meeting she attended with her husband and held several women’s conferences.  And all with a smile!  In my mind, she is truly a woman to be emulated.  I will miss her!

The photo shows President and Sister McMullin eating at a dinner they hosted for us when we first arrived.  They are from Vashon Island, WA, and are planning on spending a few days visiting their children in Utah and elsewhere along the way as they travel homeward.  The local missionaries gathered to sing to them as they left.  

     

The McMullins were only able to spend a few hours at the airport with the new mission president and his wife, President and Sister Thomas.  They are from Calgary, Canada, but seem very “American.”  I just can’t imagine the weight of this new responsibility in a land that is so different from home.  

Sister Thomas served a mission in Italy and President served in France, so he speaks French.  They had the senior missionaries over for a spaghetti dinner last night.  They are getting a “baptism by fire” in some ways because the mission complex hasn’t had any water pressure this week due to a blown out pump – and electricity is always an issue.  There is a generator but it is used sparingly because of the cost.  At our complex, however, we are much closer to the mines and have never had a problem with water – and we usually have electricity at least in the evenings.  I have no complaints!!!  (Well, a few . . . haha).  We are equipped with our headlamps when the power goes out before we go to bed.  It’s an adventure!

We’ve been able to submit our first project to Johannesburg this week!  That’s a big deal!!  We had no idea how much red tape went into getting something done, but it seems to be coming together.  This project is to repair 32 latrines and a septic area at a school that has gone all year with 4 temporary latrines for 2,600 students!  

We’re also pretty close to submitting our bridge project.  This community has been crossing a river on an old truck bed for several years.  During the rainy season, the water gets as high as the bottom of the bridge and lives have been lost.   We’ve had a member/architect revise his drawings 3 times – hopefully we can get it to work.

Below is a picture from a village outside of Lubumbashi where people had been lined up for two days with their bidons to get water.  There is only one well within several miles that still works.  A bidon (BEED – OWN) holds about 5 gallons of water.

                         

We hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!  I know that you realize what a great privilege it is to be born in a free land with so much opportunity.  We love you all!!!!