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