August 5, 2014 - Clark

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

We’ve had two great days back to back.  Yesterday we were able to have Immaculee, the director of small village water programs for all of Katanga Province and two of her assistants accompany us to visit several small villages on the road to Kasenga.  This is a stretch of road that runs from 15-40 miles outside of Lubumbashi just past the airport near the road to Likasi.  Elder Atkinson came with us in the van and drove.  His background in construction had him interested in the idea of fixing broken hand pumps rather than drilling new bore holes for water for small villages.  There have been thousands of bore holes developed by NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) to help the African people.  As  many as 90% of the pumps installed are no longer operational because of lack of training, lack of planning and no money.  

Immaculee introduced us to the village chiefs and shows us the abandoned pumps in 4-5 villages.  We visited with the chiefs, examined the pumps, asked questions about well depth, length of service, when and what caused their failure and how they are retrieving water currently.  Unfortunately many revert back to drawing water from the river and other contaminated sources.  The Ministry of Health has developed a safe drinking water program but provides precious little funding to the program.  UNICEF is their only current partner and they are hoping we can provide additional funding.  We’re trying to go to school on their experience and use their political contacts to avoid reinventing the wheel.  

Because of our current difficulties in dealing with Johannesburg and water program restrictions, we don’t know if we’ll be able to make any headway but the prospects are intriguing.  Elder Atkinson offered to buy all of the repair parts from his own funds if we could hire an assistant to work with him in repairing pumps.  He has 4 months left on his mission and his construction program is on hold at the present.  He is repairing toilets in sisters’ apartments and looking for something a little more meaningful.  We don’t think they would approve our rebel proposal; nonetheless, we are going to personally buy the repairs parts for a single well and attempt to determine how long, how difficult and how expensive a single repair would be.

Today, Shelley and I visited 4 orphanages in the Lubumbashi area.  Amas, who is a member of the high council and a director of orphanages for the Ministry of Social Affairs, arranged for our visits.  It was a broadly diversified sample.  We visited a Catholic orphanage, a Methodist orphanage, ad Muslim orphanage and an orphanage dedicated to babies 0-4 years of age.  Their directors were Esther, Rebecca, Miriam and Emmanuel.  I found it interesting that all names were from the Bible and these people were definitely saints.  Three of the four lived right at the orphanage, usually in a single room with no private life of their own.  They had anywhere from 23-52 children under their care.

Their needs varied from school desks to pre-school curriculum materials, to beds, to workshop tools.  We usually try to allow them to identify their most important needs.  We could see needs everywhere but their requests were generally quite modest.  The challenge from the humanitarian perspective is that we are charged with helping others develop self-reliance.  We cannot build new buildings or pay for on-going operational expenses.  We usually try to focus on educational programs or training that will transfer knowledge rather than simply supplying things that do not change their ability to eventually care for themselves.  

It was a very sobering day, but extremely inspirational.  I know there are celestial people out there who are not yet members of our faith.  These directors were amazing.  The children were generally happy, well cared for and healthy.  They were extremely well behaved while we were there and respectful.  Their living conditions were not anything you would chose and they didn’t either but were making the best of their challenging situation.   One orphanage only asked for kitchen utensils and cookware.  

This afternoon we attended a planning meeting for the new Kisanga Stake Center open house.  President Tondoy Tshibanda is the stake president in charge.  We have worked with him on the Katuba Bridge project.  This is a big deal for the church in Lubumbashi, with both radio and TV coverage.  Mom put together 35 kits for dignitaries that will include community leaders and elected officials and media.  It will take up our entire Saturday, but we are excited to be part of this historic event.  The last open house for the Mwembila Chapel attracted 2,000 visitors and generated over 500 referrals.

Wednesday, we taught English to the Kisanga zone of missionaries which we really enjoy.  It gives us an opportunity to get to know the missionaries and despite the language barrier it is really easy to get attached and begin establishing relationships.  Shelley gives an incentive for being on time and it is amazing how much more punctual they have been since the word got out.  Elder Iwubu helped me with translation in the open house meeting and I rewarded him with a chocolate bar.  He was pleased and the other elders took notice of the small advantages that come from learning English.

We also met with an NGO who is a facilitator for orphanage services.  They work with other NGO’s who are involved in orphanage projects.  We couldn’t really tell what they could do for us as we usually like to make our own assessment of the needs based upon personal interviews and touring the facilities.  I think we’ll pass on this one.  Another visit of the day was to Lubumbashi University.  We spoke with the number 2 person in charge and he asked us for help with latrines and desks.  My feeling is that the university should be self-reliant and they are not the needy of this community.  Flavien talked about what a visionary man President Packer was.  He said President Packer had been impressed to assist in creating an English language training program at the University.  He felt it would be a key in finding employment for graduating students.  The program is no longer operating because of lack of funding.

Thursday we visited four local hospitals with a representative from the Ministry of Health.  They are still working on obtaining report from the wheelchair project of 2012.  The Ministry was to provide a copy of all wheelchair recipients; simple, right?  Wrong.  They allocated the 200  or so wheelchairs to 11 different facilities and never required a reporting from those facilities.  From the 4 we visited, only one produced a report.  It may never be completed and the 2014 allocated funds of $240,000 for Lubumbashi will probably be reassigned to another location for lack of follow-through.  It was a real eye-opener of the living conditions and the lack of sanitary patient and doctor environment.  I seriously don’t know what we would do if we really needed medical assistance.  I suppose, we’d have to fly to Johannesburg.

Today we spent time with Sister Riendeau and Rosalee Kot in reviewing Shelley’s preparation for a maturation project.  We understand many of the young girls miss school during their menstrual cycle and fall behind.  The woman are looked at as property or chattel and are not revered and respected.  It seems most of the visible work that is done is done by women.  One thought that was proposed was that because of the labola or dote program where a husband has to pay a heavy price for the privilege of marrying, that the husband feels like he owns the wife.  The maturation program has been successful elsewhere and the idea is to sew sanitary pads that are reusable that will give the girls new-found freedom and independence.  There is a worldwide program called Days for Girls that they are using as a pattern.  

The mission president and the Clawsons have been in Burundi this week and have spent the last two days in the Nairobi airport trying to get back to Lubumbashi.  The travel here can be a big headache and generally is.  Every airport requires a local facilitator who know the ropes and assists passengers through all the intentionally imposed red tape.   We spent much of the day either on alert to run to the airport or at home cooking a meal they could eat upon their late arrival.  It seems crazy that it is Friday again and another week has passed.  We stay as busy as possible and the time passes much faster when we do.

Saturday was the new Kisanga Stake Center open house.  We had volunteered to be shadow leadership for the stake committee over the event.  We provided recognition bags for the dignitaries who came and Brother Atkinson was supposed to be in charge of showing videos.  We delivered the bags on Thursday night and came with all the brochures, pamphlets and Books of Mormon.  They decided not to pass out the literature and instead to concentrate on getting completed referral cards where the missionaries could deliver the church publications when they visit them in their homes.  They decided to show videos in the chapel area and brought different videos than Elder Atkinson.  They didn’t need his computer or his videos.  We were not needed and that was the plan.  We wanted them to be in charge and they took control without us micromanaging their event.  It wasn’t all perfect, but they owned it and we felt success because they did take ownership.  Shelley and I were on local TV.  The person in charge is a church member and he recorded impressions from people who speak Swahili, French and English.  Guess which couple we were?

I didn’t intend this week’s letter to be a daily journal review but I continued that pattern after Monday and Tuesday.  We try to attend a new ward each Sunday on the advice of the mission president to visit different wards every week.  There are 3 stakes and we try to decide on a different unit each week.  Today we went to Upemba Ward.  It is Justin’s ward and we saw his wife Christine and their family.  We also saw Kennedy, a young man who we have considered using as a translator.  We also saw Kennedy yesterday at the open house.  He introduced us to his fiancé, who is the daughter of the 2nd counselor in the Kisanga Stake Presidency.  He helped us both yesterday and today with translation.  We would have used him earlier as a translator but we haven’t had our own car.  He also played the piano in sacrament meeting and led the music in priesthood.  We met his mother and family today.  There are some wonderful people here.  His father died last year while Kennedy was serving his mission in Kinshasa.  He has graduated from the university in chemistry and is unable to find a job.  He is trying to support his family with the loss of his father.  

We have had another eventful week and our objective is to find joy in the journey.  We’re recording events so we have something to report upon our return.  These experiences are changing us and we hope to share them with you.  We love you and wish a great week.

Love, Mom and Dad

August 3, 2014 - Shelley

August 3, 2014

It’s Sunday afternoon.  It seems like no matter where you are, Sunday is a family day.  As I sit here in our living room, I can hear family celebrations going on in our neighborhood.  They usually include music and food!  We have a “lokalgrown wannabe” group that practices on the porch of their nearby home.  It’s pleasant music and is usually pretty mellow.  Our street is a very bumpy dirt road – but on Sundays it’s crowded with the parked cars of relatives who have come to share the afternoon.  My guess is that an outsider who was observing our home on 5th West might make the same observation.  In a way, it’s very comforting!

This week has gone by quickly.  Part of it included the visit of a member of our Area Authority – President Hamilton and his wife who came from South Africa.  Pres. Hamilton is a counselor to President Cook, the Seventy who is in charge of the Southeast Area of Africa.

President and Sister Thomas hosted a little dinner at their home, and it was great to get to know this wonderful couple. His French is flawless, and she knows about as much as I do, so that REALLY made me feel good!  Theirs is a very interesting, but challenging assign-

ment that involves a great deal of travel.  She told me that this was the 17th bed she has slept in in the last 2 months!

Our humanitarian work continues to plug along.  We think we have our two desk projects approved – hopefully in time to get the desks before school starts again in September.

The photo above shows a village school where the students have been sitting on bricks and old pieces of wood.  Pretty humble circumstances!

Our humanitarian work asks that we identify a “champion” – someone who has invested in the cause and will follow it through.  And we have found several!  One is a lady named Therese who runs a trade school for young under-privileged girls.  In addition to regular school classes, she teaches them sewing and is adding a kitchen to teach cooking skills.  

 

Here is Therese with her husband who helps her.  They are single-handedly influencing the lives of 300 high school girls each year on a tiny budget and LOTS of sweat equity.  I call her the local Oprah!!!!

Also this week, we captured a scene straight from the movie “Oliver”.  This is a local orphanage that is run by a couple of Catholic nuns.  They only receive help from their local Catholic Church congregation.  Their dream was to create a place of refuge for young girls who are forced to live on the streets.

These nuns actually went out at night in dangerous neighborhoods and “rounded up” the girls – ages 5 to 14!

These are the girls’ plates all lined up for lunch.  “Oliver” plates.

These are two of the girls making fou fou for lunch.  There are 29 girls living in a very modest home with a high fence around it, where they have job charts and learn skills, just like in a regular family.  During the school year, they attend the local neighborhood schools.

Here is Sister Philomene (Sister “Fifi”), who runs the orphanage.  She is truly another champion!!!!

Well, we are learning in a different way that “there is beauty all around, when there’s love at home.”  We are learning from so many wonderful people who have given up their personal comforts to create a home and security and opportunity for those who would otherwise literally die on the streets.

Everyday we realize what a blessed life we have led.  More that ever, we recognize the Savior’s hand in the lives of so many – including ours!  We love you and feel your love for us, as well.  Enjoy your week.  Much love,  Mom/Sister Davis

August 3, 2014 - Clark

Sunday, August 03, 2014

I think back on this week and wonder what to share with you.  There were several things about our week that involved us more in serving with the mission rather than strictly humanitarian efforts.  This week was transfer week and I became a new driver to shuttle the missionaries from apartment to apartment within Lubumbashi.  I tried to take pictures of the streets leading to apartments, but I would really struggle even finding the neighborhood where many of them were.  It was fun to be with the missionaries and see what they were accumulating.  The sisters are the absolute worst.  This mission time is a time when they live a different lifestyle because they have regular money and regular food.  The sisters accumulate so much clothing that when they go home, they either have to pay significant excess baggage charges or they have to give it away to the poor.  We moved one sister who had 5 bags.

I have also become a regular on the airport pickup routine.  I’ve been shuttling President Thomas and missionaries to and from the airport.  It was so overwhelming when I first arrived, I wonder how in the world I’m able to manage it now.  Kevan and Teri Clawson are being released in mid-September and they mean so much to the mission because of everything they do.  Sister Clawson is the medical officer but so much more.  She orchestrates all transfer logistics, acts as the mission president’s executive secretary preparing agendas, calendaring and organizing the flow of work and scheduling.  Brother Clawson is responsible as the defacto quartermaster who purchases all mission supplies, manages all missionary apartments and is the most fearless driver of all the mission staff.  He is totally familiar with where all the stores are located for finding anything and everything Lubumbashi has to offer.  They are trying to delegate their responsibilities before they leave.

I probably mentioned some of the personnel movement in my last letter but I want to summarize again and how it affects us.  Newly arriving couples include:

1. Mikesells are from St. George and will arrive the second week of September.  He is a retired dentist and will be the new medical officer.  He recently had double knee replacement surgery, is 75 years old and cannot do stairs.  They will be moving into the current home where we are living because it is the best fit for his profile.
2. Drapers are from Calgary and will arrive in two weeks.  They are personal friends of President Thomas.  They will be MLS missionaries who will serve for a time in the mission home and then be sent to Mbuji-Mayi.  They will be succeeded by the Conrads who are scheduled to arrive before the end of the year.
3. Conrads are also friends of President Thomas and will probably work in the office. They will probably take Drapers place in the mission office.

We, as humanitarian missionaries are somewhat like nomads without a home.  We took up squatters rights in the vacant office at the mission home in an effort to have some social interaction.  The other option was to work from home.  We do not have power during the day at home and the lighting is horrible even when we do.  We felt it was essential to our mental health that we have interaction with the other senior couples.  We were given the option of either:

1. Move from our current home to the upstairs apartment in the same compound (no power and no lighting) or
2. Move into the Clawson’s apartment above the mission home and use the downstairs kitchen as our office.  

We chose the move to Clawson’s apartment in order to have social interaction with the mission home staff and other seniors.  This will happen September 11-12.  We will have about 1/3 the space we currently have but that’s not all bad when it comes to cleaning and upkeep.  It will be an adjustment and part of our return to normalcy is having a regular routine that will be disrupted.  We like our landlord, Michael, our guards, Samuel and Pappi, and our late afternoon walks with the Atkinsons.  The move will take us out of our comfort zone once again.

In any event, the Clawsons have had a great impact on this mission and their departure is necessitating some real adjustments with their departure.  We’re doing a lot of shuffling to try to cover for their departure while the new couples are arriving and becoming adjusted.  

During the week we had Elder Hamilton, of the Seventy, 2nd Counselor in the Southeast Africa Area, here.  We had dinner together with the other senior couples and office staff; we also had a missionary conference where he, his wife and President Thomas and his wife were the speakers for 2 hours.  He interviewed all the senior couples.  We were asked to express our true feelings and it was hard not to sound a little negative where we had yet to have  single project approved and have been without a car since we arrived.  Mom really enjoyed visiting with Sister Hamilton who is mother of six and grandmother of 11.  They had a lot in common.  

It is interesting how things are starting to come together.  Mom has followed her promptings in pursuing a maturation project for women.  It has spawned additional service opportunities with other projects. We are currently working with a girls’ school that teaches practical skills like sewing and homemaking skills to 350 girls.  They have added two additional classrooms and are trying to establish a cooking lab.  WE offered to make a proposal to Johannesburg to outfit their kitchen if they provided 25% of the funding and suggested service projects their sewing class could be involved in.  I believe we have decided their best sewing students could teach girls at the all girl’s orphanage we are working with.  The orphanage has 29 girls ages 5-14.  I believe the maturation project mom is promoting with one of the stakes here could also provide similar training to the 350 members of the all girls’ school.

I’m excited about tomorrow because we have arranged for a field trip to visit small villages outside Lubumbashi.  The director of the small village clean water initiative will accompany us along with her best 2 repairmen.  We are trying to determine the feasibility of refurbishing wells by repairing hand pumps rather than drilling new bore holes.  Elder Atkinson is a church construction missionary and he is going to accompany us to review the project. We   understand close to 90% of the bore holes drilled in Africa are abandoned because they have not been maintained and no provision has been made for their sustainability through repair.  It seems futile to continue drilling new holes when refurbishing existing wells would be so much more cost effective.

I’m also excited about Tuesday.  We visited the Ministry of Social Services this past week trying to determine what services they provide for orphanages and nursing homes.  We met with two specialists in addition to the director of programs for the handicapped.  It just so happens that the specialist over orphanages is a member of the church who is on the high council.  He has arranged for us to visit several local orphanages this Tuesday.  We also have a coordinating council meeting for the open house for the new stake center.

We are also helping with the open house for the new Kisanga Stake Center.  Flavien has done some printing and we are the English teachers for the Kisanga zone of missionaries.  President Tshibanda who is our champion for the local bridge project is the stake president in charge.  Shelley and I are preparing the bags for distribution to the local dignitaries who are invited.  

We also had some good news regarding our proposed projects.  We have received conditional approval for two school desk projects and we resubmitted two additional proposals:

1. Ultrasound equipment for Luputa Hospital.  We received the requested statistics and formal letter of request from the hospital.
2. Mapendano School latrine project was resubmitted as a water project for the committee’s review tomorrow.  We’re hopeful both of these projects will be approved.

All in all we had a very good week.  We feel fortunate to be traveling outside the mission office.  We have seen a lot of the community and surrounding areas and have had an opportunity to meet many community representatives.  We love you all and hang on every word we receive from home.  Have a great week and we’ll work on doing the same.

Love, Dad

August 1, 2014

Lubumbashi  Market  Fire

There was a market fire in Lubumbashi, Katanga Province, on the night of August 1, 2014.  There were no casualties, as the market had closed and it was in the evening.  However, all belongings of the people selling in that market were destroyed.  Also, a water tank vehicle from a neighboring business, Hyper Psaro, was lost.

The people who sell in this market live from hand to mouth.  What they sell during a day, feeds their families that night.  The time of year is critical because these are families who have children starting school in two weeks.  With the loss of the family income, these families are worried about how they will be able to financially enroll their children in school and provide even the basic school supplies for them.

This market was located on a road adjacent to the Lubumbashi Stake Center.  Nothing on the church property was destroyed.  This is a highly-developed, commercial part of town that has manufacturing and distribution centers.  None of the adjacent buildings were damaged other than smoke damage.

  

Left:  The two men on the left are representatives of the market vendors.  The man in the middle was referred to as the chief.  The man on the right in the vest was the municipal representative in charge of the cleanup.

Right: Fire debris not yet cleaned up.  Lubumbashi Stake Center is in the background.

Below: Documentation of cleanup efforts and remaining debris as of August 14, 2014

  

  

Executive Summary

Lubumbashi leaders, Mbidi Ilunga and Desire Ilunga met with Elder and Sister Davis on August 14 to discuss possible ways the church could be of assistance in a relief effort to assist merchants required to relocate their business from the fire-damaged Marche location to the new location provided by the municipality.

The mayor’s office sent a letter to the church outlining suggested financial assistance that could be provided.  Their request included: materials, demolition costs, relocation expenses, security, construction of a new Marche office building, aid for being out of work, transportation, fuel and other wish list items.  

The municipality has been actively cleaning up the damaged fire location and has posted security to prohibit merchants from rebuilding at this site.  We have made an appointment for Friday, August 15th to meet with the mayor’s office officials to listen to their request.  We visited the site and took pictures to document the damage in preparation for the meeting.

We discussed the possibility of using Helping Hands to assist with their relocation.  Mbidi Ilunga felt this would not be a good idea.  The church had previously approached the Marche about relocating and some merchants from the Marche feel the church may in some way be involved in the fire and are happy about the relocation.  Mbidi felt it would not be good to have any publicity that would fuel this speculation. Also the cleanup and relocation is well underway with the assistance of the municipality.

The four of us thought that assistance with materials would be the preferred option.  They have requested lumber, tin for their roofs and nails.  I had worried about how to control the disbursement of materials and had the impression to speak with Elder Brent Atkinson who is a senior couple missionary working with the church construction program.  I first thought that previous graduates from the construction program could be hired to assist in reconstructing the booths for the displaced merchants, but Elder Atkinson had a better idea.

Elder Atkinson said they have a construction class starting in one week with ten students and two trainer/supervisors.  The curriculum requires the students to work for free for the first three months under the direction of the trainers.  They receive one hour of instruction and three hours of on the job training each day.  Elder Atkinson said the church construction project has been delayed and they have no job-related work projects for the new students.  He suggested they be used to assist in rebuilding the Marche.  He said this would qualify for their training and would cost the church nothing.  This would also be a preferred way to control the distribution of materials supplied from humanitarian funds.  

August 15, 2014

This morning we had a meeting with Twite Wa Lwamba Eric, the Bourgmestre Adjoint of the Commune Kampemba.

Left:  Elder and Sister Davis, chairman of the reconstruction committee, Mr. Twite, Desiree Ilunga, government employee.

Meeting highlights and Recommendation

In meeting with the mayor’s assistant and the chairman of the relocation and reconstruction committee, we expressed our heartfelt concern for the merchants and their families who had been displaced due to the fire.  We told them we had received their request for assistance.   We said were there to understand their request and to communicate the guidelines we follow in providing humanitarian service.

We agreed with them that the cost estimate for cleanup, relocation and rebuilding would probably exceed their estimate.  We told them that we desired to participate in providing relief to the poor and needy and those who had suffered loss; however, this must be a collaborative effort involving the municipality, the merchants and the community.  They asked if we wanted any donation we made to remain anonymous and our response was that we were not there for the publicity and they could tell whomever they wished.  

We communicated that we would propose to our leaders that humanitarian service be provided in the form of materials and potentially labor assistance from our construction-training program.  They asked if we could construct the business office for the new market.  My response was that we would focus on the needs of the individuals in reconstructing their booths as our first priority.  

They were extremely pleased that we had come.  They were worried that we had ignored their request and many merchants expressed feelings that the church had turned a deaf ear to their cries and that we were somehow pleased with their plight as it resulted in their relocation.  I expressed appreciation for all the municipality had already done in preparing an alternate site for location of the market and conducting the cleanup efforts at the burn site.  I told them we would submit our recommendation this weekend and we would notify them by Friday, August 22nd if not sooner.

Those impacted include:

• 250-300 merchants
• Some church members had shops at this market location
• The Lubumbashi Stake Center will benefit from added access to the stake center

Our recommendation is to supply all materials requested at a total cost of approximately $17,500 and that the construction program participants and trainers be authorized to receive these materials and participate in the reconstruction of standardized stalls for the merchants.  This experience will qualify for their certification and Fernand, the Church’s local coordinator of construction, is supportive of the proposal.   We propose that the municipality be responsible for negotiating the pricing of the materials but that we purchase and pay for them directly and control all issuance of materials.  

The new market location is shown on the following page.  It is approximately 2 – 3 kilometers from the previous location.

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