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!!!!