September 21, 2014 - Shelley

September 21, 2014

It’s Sunday afternoon here.  Our weather has become hotter – in the mid-90’s, but our home is still pretty comfortable, even without the air conditioning that has spoiled us for so many years!!!!  Just a little fan!

Flavien Kot is our wonderful translator.  We attended his ward today.

It’s a humble, but clean, little building that is located in a poor area and is on a very bumpy dirt road.  The number of children to adult ratio has to be about 5:1 at least!!!  And they were unbelievably quiet and reverent!

This is Flavien with his wife Crystal, his mother Rosalie, and their three children – Octavia, Dan, and Brent.  Rosalie is the Stake RS President.  Some gal in the background must be trying to “photo bomb” the picture!  Haha  

It was a week for “farewells” as we sent the Clawsons home.  Sister C. has been the medical advisor and her husband was in charge of missionary apartments.

Here they are with the rest of the senior missionaries and our two office staff.  They were multi-talented people and will really be missed.  Consequently, the office has been pretty quiet this week as we have all been trying to see who will fill in the gaps.

One gap is being a driver!  Clark and I are the only couple who currently have drivers’ licenses other than the two office sisters.  They are both under 5 feet tall and prefer not to drive the mission trucks that have standard transmission unless that absolutely have to!  SO – we have had the dubious honor of picking up people from the airport and running errands in the truck!  Well, we had the unfortunate luck of getting pulled over TWICE this week by the police!  Lest we sound like the Congo’s Bonnie and Clyde, I have to say that the police are very under-paid and pull cars over to look for any possible tiny thing wrong with your car.  They wanted to impound the car both times, but we managed to survive without even paying a franc!!!!  It’s a long story.  Angels were watching over us for sure!

We attended a meeting with the American Consulate’s office from Kinshasa.  It was for Americans living here to tell them about their services for us.  It was mainly interesting to see the other people there because we haven’t met many.  Most of those who attended were associated with churches.  Afterward there was a little reception, and in the background there was a band playing soft, American music.  It took me by surprise to hear “The Tennesse Waltz” after I saw who was playing it!

The back porch of the mission office has been housing a large pile of boxes containing French BOM.  We’ve been doing some cleaning and rearranging of the supplies and found that the termites were loving those books just a little too much.  As President Thomas put it, “They are feasting on the good word of God.”  

I’ve mentioned several “champions” that we’ve met since coming here.  They are people with vision and know-how to improve the lives of those around them.  Well, we met another one this week.  Her name is Maggie and she started a school for children with handicaps in 1980.

She started with 8 children and now has 500 students on a 30-acre campus.  It’s a very diverse school – some with disabilities and some without.  Some live at the school and some commute.  Some are in a regular classroom setting with normal school subjects, and some are there to learn a trade.  It’s a very big operation!  And this Maggie is wonderful!  You can tell by the picture that the children all love her!  I especially like the look on the face of the boy who is sitting on the step.

One interesting thing that has happened to us is that we have basically had no church meetings while we have been here.  We go to church every week – but all meetings are either in Swahili or French – so we never really know what is being said.  Actually, it’s pretty hard to stay awake.  I need to learn Emily’s trick from Girls State for sleeping with her eyes open!!!  Just kidding, Em!!!  

We aren’t the only ones struggling with this.  So last week the new couple, Dr. and Sister Mikesell, suggested we meet each Monday night in a Family Home Evening setting to study the Sunday School lesson for the following week.  That way, we will at least have an idea of what they are talking about.  The lesson was on “standing in holy places”, which was especially great for me since that was a recent Mutual theme.  Just having that spiritual boost made a big difference to my week.   I feel a greater sense of responsibility to keep my thoughts on a higher plain  - including developing more patience for our work here, which seems to proceed at a snail’s pace!  I have a heightened appreciation for my church membership and for those who are such good examples to me.  And my thoughts and prayers have been even more closely tied to our children who trying tirelessly to raise their children in homes that are holy places and a refuge from the world.

Happy Birthday this week to Gray and Annabelle!!!  Much love,  Mom/Souer Davis

September 21, 2014 - Clark

Sunday, September 21, 2014

The week was different due to President Thomas traveling and Elder Atkinson and Emmanuel went to Kolwezi leaving me and Justin as the only two active drivers at the mission home.  Monday before Elder Atkinson left for Kolwezi on Wednesday, we tried to fix the well at the mission home.  It is a challenge because you have three separate decision making bodies involved in any decision: the mission, the FM group and the landlord.  Elder Atkinson assessed the problem after we pulled the pump but due to the landlord’s intervention, we couldn’t proceed with the repair until a full week later.  It seems to be a theme here and if you remember the scripture relating to being humble either by choice or by force, well the same is true for patience.  

We were sorry to see the Claswons return to the US on Tuesday.  They have both contributed significantly to the success of the mission and have covered a multitude of responsibilities.  I did have some excitement following their departure.  We have been driving for almost 3 months and I had yet to be stopped by the police without Flavien with us to talk his way out of things.  Well on Thursday and Friday we were stopped.  On Thursday, we were driving to the Lubumbashi Stake Center and were stopped about six blocks away.  We called Flavien and Justin for help.  The police were asking for the rose card or the vehicle registration.  The truck we were driving didn’t have a current registration card in the documents.  The police wanted to take us to the station which is the kiss of death, but Flavien came to the rescue again.  While we waited, he drove his car and picked up a military friend of his.  When the military guy appeared on the scene, he laced down the local metro cops and told them to let us go which they did.  It took us 45-60 minutes but we didn’t give them any cash.  

Cash isn’t the issue, but once they know they can extort money from you, you become a regular target.  I guess the military is well equipped and well trained and well respected and the local metro cops are not thought highly of.  The military can pull rank on them and that is something Flavien knew and arranged for our release.  On Friday, we picked President and Sister Thomas up from the airport.  When Tom is there it seems to work like clockwork.  We were pleased everything at the airport went so smoothly.  We must have been a little too smug because while driving back to the mission home, you guessed it, we were stopped again by the metro cops.  This time all the paperwork was in order although they always try to trump up some charge against you.  They told us our paperwork was out of date, but it wasn’t.  President Thomas speaks very good French and he argued with them for 30-45 minutes before we asked Justin to come and visit with them.  The President finally remembered a phrase Sister Riendeau had taught him.  He said “stare into my eyes, I’m telling you the truth when I say this couple has come at their own expense to your country and are humanitarian missionaries bringing your people clean drinking water.  They don’t deserve this harassment and he let us go again without paying any cash.  I just worry what will happen when we are without this type of help and we don’t speak the language.

Obviously my confidence has been shaken but I’m still driving.  It goes against everything you’ve been taught not to respect police authority.  I hate trying to evade them or disobeying them when they tell you to pull over or stop or come to the station with us.  I need to some hardening if I’m going to survive.  Elder Clawson was excellent but Elder Atkinson has been an easier target and I’m afraid I’m next.  When driving you try to look 200-300 yards ahead, you try to tailgate the car or van in front of you so they can’t step in between and you try to adjust your speed or timing so you aren’t easy prey when you stop at red lights.  The locals seldom obey red lights but that isn’t an option if you’re white.  Sorry to dwell so much on driving and police stops, enough already.

Another focus of this week has been preparing for Elder John Dow who is the worldwide expert on wheelchairs for the church.  He is coming next week to assist us in writing a project development worksheet for a wheelchair project here in Lubumbashi.  He is staying Monday thru Friday and we are arranging his schedule to accomplish a litany of preparation requests.  We are working with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs in coordinating the project.  We are trying to balance everyone’s egos and budgets and setting up appointments for his visit.  We look forward to it but it has taken a lot of our time just in lining up appointments. Wish us luck.

I mentioned last week that Elder and Sister Mikesell came last Saturday to serve as the new mission medical advisor.  We are their host couple and have spent considerable time together showing them around and trying to assist them in their transition.  We remember what a change it was for us and we’re trying to make life a little more bearable for them.  We had family home evening on Monday, we made arrangements for them the visit the Ministry of Health to arrange for visits to the local hospitals and clinics and we’ve driven them to all their meetings and took them to dinner last night.  This is their 3rd mission and they are so faithful.  He is 76 and just had double knee replacement surgery last February.  

The Area Presidency called a special adult meeting for two of the three stakes here.  Elder Hamilton of the Area Presidency flew from Johannesburg Friday to conduct the meetings yesterday.  They were each two hours in length and the primary focus of the meeting was to talk about the dote or labola.  Elder Oaks talks about this in his message called the Culture of the Gospel in the March 2012 Ensign.  It is an African custom to require a bride price (dote or lobola) be paid by the groom before they can marry.  This often is extremely difficult because of the exorbitant amount and the fact that employment is scarce here.  It causes many to delay marriage and can cause pre-marital problems due to the delays.  It was a frank and open discussion (all in French) and we’re not sure how much we understood but several members participated in the dialog.  Elder Hamilton is another French RM who speaks extremely good French.  I believe he is the only member of the presidency who has any French language skills.  

September is our busiest family birthday month with nine.  We have tried to make contact with each of you but apologize if we have not.  The same old excuse is the unreliability of the internet.  We have also had Joshua’s farewell and entering the MTC in Mexico City, and Emily and Scott’s anniversary.  We’re sorry to miss all the family events.  We also wished we could have been there to support Lindsay and Mike in their move.  I’m sure the family gathering was bitter sweet.  We believe it will be better having someone living in the home rather than leaving it vacant.  We’re grateful to have Kevin and Megan Diehl and their two daughters living in the home.  

We had an interesting experience mid-week.  We were invited by the US Embassy to a meeting for American Citizens at the local Park Hotel.  They had a live band, drinks, snacks, etc. and held a meeting for the 25 or so who showed up.  It was good to see other white faces and we discovered most of those who came were from other church organizations.   We met missionaries from the Baptists, Methodists, Assemblies of God and others.  They told us about the services available to US citizens, mostly dealing with passports and visas.  They have no office in Lubumbashi and you would need to fly to Kinshasa to receive most of their services, but it was informative.  I thought it would be about Ebola, but not even a mention.  It did provide a little excitement driving downtown at night.  The bottom line was “don’t lose your passport, because if you do, you’ll have to fly to Kinshasa to have it replaced and it takes 3 weeks.  By the way you couldn’t fly to Kinshasa if you lost your passport.  

Our project excitement has calmed down somewhat because we can’t recommend anymore projects until we have completed and closed the ones already approved.  It sounds like a good idea in theory but it really slows down the process as you have a difficult time keeping the pipeline full if you have to empty it first.  We spent time signing contracts, providing documentation to Johannesburg and we’re still waiting for our promised car.  Patience, patience.

I’ve tried to reflect on the spiritual highlights of a week that saw us doing many temporal mundane things.  FHE, dinner with mom twice, being released twice by the police, visiting a school for the handicapped, and spending time with other senior couples who have committed to come to Africa or wherever the Lord would call them. We also had a surprise facetime call from Barr and Nancy Cannon on Monday.  We missed being in attendance at Gayle Ivey’s viewing and funeral but have a testimony of the plan of happiness.  Their family has been such a fine example to us in the 18th Ward.   Many of our family and friends are participating in the Ogden Temple dedication today and we’re sorry to miss it.  

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

September 14, 2014 - Shelley

September 14, 2014

It’s been a good week!  I heard that last week’s letter didn’t come through for some.  So sorry!  I don’t know what the problem was.  Is?  Me? haha

We have another new senior couple.  It is Vaughn and Renee Mikesell from St. George.  He’s a retired dentist and will be replacing Sister Clawson as the mission’s medical person.

It’s their 3rd mission.  They’ve only been home from Chile since November!  Such faithful people!  Renee’s sister is Kathy Andreason, a familiar Brigham City friend to many.

We heard that Peach Days was wonderful and that school has started successfully.  School began last Monday here.  It’s been so much fun to see the kids – all dressed in a universal uniform of white shirt and navy blue skirt/pants.  They look so darling!!!  One thing Africa has is an ABUNDANCE of children!!!  And they are beautiful!  It’s always amazing to me that people can walk out of a one-room brick house that has a dirt floor looking clean, pressed and polished.

This is the kind of iron that local people use.  Since electricity is never reliable and many homes aren’t wired for it anyway, this is the way people press their clothing.  Locals cook outside on a little hibachi-looking stove that uses “charbone”.  Charbone (sp?) is similar to charcoal briquettes except that it is made from wood that has already been burned.  The cavity of the iron is filled with hot coals from the charbone to make the iron hot.  And it works great!  I have learned that I have been way too pampered in my life!  I think of this kind of thing as being like the pioneers, but it still works!  I think my Grandma Gibbs used to heat an iron on her wood-burning stove.  I’m hoping to never have to try either of these things out for real!

One project I’m working on is to come up with a product or two that the sisters in the wards can make as they learn to sew.  I think I’ve already mentioned the maturation kits.  Another is a fabric doll.

This adorable little girl was the inspiration for a doll I have been sewing.  Luckily, the mission owns one electric sewing machine, so I’ve been having a great time making a doll to use as a sample.  

She has a baby on her back, as many women do.  The local gals will be able to take the pattern and put their own spin on things.

People always told me how wonderful it is to have clean sheets that have dried on the line in the breeze.  But honestly, I’ve never done it until now.  It is kind of a satisfying feeling to see them fluffing around in the wind – and they do smell and feel good.  I guess I’m just getting used to some of the simpler pleasures of life!

Well, our world of communication is unexplainable.  We have times when we can’t send emails or text messages or download anything – and then we have some miraculous times.  We’ve actually had several Face Time conversations this week that have lasted more than two minutes.  One of those was when we were downtown.  We had taken the Drapers to the grocery store.  Just as we were getting out of the car, the phone rang and it was our son Spencer.  He was calling on Face Time from his hotel room in Scotland!!!  And it was so clear!  We sat in the car and had a wonderful, lengthy chat while we waited for the Drapers.  It was just another example of tender mercies that are all around us.

I will end my letter with a picture of my handsome companion!  He is getting so tan – he looks like he’s played golf everyday all summer.  (He doesn’t quite look “local” yet, though!)  We love you and pray for you.  Our thoughts are with our two birthday people this week – Avery and Matt.  And, of course, with Mike and Lindsay as they travel with their cute family to their new home in Temple, Texas.  Yee-haw!  Much love,  Mom/Sister Davis

September 14, 2014 - Clark

Sunday, September 14, 2014

I remember Roger Low’s WWWWWWWW (work will work when wishy washy wishing won’t)  I have somehow become addicted to work and it isn’t always good.  I remember my father did not know how to relax and always had to be on task.  Well I’ve become my father.  Without Davis and Bott, without being the stake executive secretary, without a yard to work in, without cars and kids to care for, I’ve resorted to different forms of work.  I do the laundry, I do the dishes, I bake bread and rolls, I wash the floors and occasionally I repair water wells.  All in the name of work and it all seems to be fulfilling and make the time spent more meaningful.  The time passes much faster and somehow seems more rewarding than simply idling away.  I’ve been busy this week doing most of the tasks mentioned and enjoying it.

We welcomed another new missionary couple this week, Vaughn and Renee Mikesell from St George.  He will be the new medical advisor and this is their third mission.  They said when you’re a missionary you have a lot of uncommonly rewarding experiences and after you return, it’s not long until you long for similar experiences to return to your daily routine.  They have served in the mid-west US, in Chile and now here.  He is a retired dentist who lived in Sandy and relocated to St. George just a few years ago after retiring.  They are replacing the Clawsons who are leaving on Tuesday.  We had a farewell dinner for them on Friday night at the local favorite restaurant, Latte’licious.  We understand it is owned by the Governor.  Public office does have its perks; he owns several other local attractions, hotels, gas stations, multiple properties, etc.

With all the coming and going, we have been required to change offices this week.  We feel like we’re a man without a country.  Some mention that we’re not really part of the mission.  Our call was to Lubumbashi Mission but we report to Johannesburg, our budget is supported from humanitarian and we feel like the ugly stepchild at times.  This is one of those times.  We did however make some progress on our humanitarian projects this week:

1. The Katuba Bridge contract was signed and we are finally ready to proceed.  The problem is they will only approve 25% of the contract cost for mobilization and beyond that the construction needs to be completed before payment can be made to the contractor.  The problem is we have a 100% cash economy and the jobs are often 75% materials or higher.  This means the contractor has to have their own working capital to order materials and most do not.  This makes a 30 day project now a 120 day project.  More bureaucracy to adjust to.
2. Mapendano School Latrines was approved by Salt Lake City and we are ready to start 4 months after originally submitting the proposal.  Things seem to move so slowly and patience is not one of my many virtues.
3. Fire response in rebuilding the marketplace at the government owned site encountered some snags.  Elder Atkinson has supervised that job and they have struggled building on top of an old landfill or garbage dump.   No cooperation from the city on preparing the building site and they had some demands when we visited on Friday.  The head representative asked why they had not been given the money to repair their own site and now they want to send 2 representatives with our people anytime materials are purchased.  I told them no, we will buy all materials and provide them to our construction department and turn over to them the finished product.  Everyone wants to be involved so they can rake off some of the money for personal benefit.  Unbelievable, never a mention of thanks for what we are doing, just how can I personally benefit from this project.

We did spend the first of the week with Francis, the assistant DTA (director of temporal affairs).  We visited several of our on-going projects and he seemed pleased.  The project beneficiaries were pleased that we would bring him and they especially liked the fact that he was African rather than white.  He’s from Ghana and has worked for the church for over 10 years.  Working for the church is a peach of a job for most local members who struggle to find meaningful work.  Many work on their own in some entrepreneurial ventures but few have benefits and steady work.  Our translator Flavien has been approached by Desire to apply for church employment.  He interviewed a week ago and hasn’t received any offer yet.  We have grown extremely dependent upon his local knowledge and would miss him terribly but want what is best long-term for his family.  

The adjustment to full-time companionship has taken time and effort.  You need to remember I came directly from tax season where we saw one another a few hours a day at the most.  Now you’re talking 24/7 and getting reacquainted all over again.  Anyone who knows the transition that takes place following tax season can relate to the adjustment that requires without a change in culture and language.  Don’t get me wrong, there is no one I’d prefer to spend time with over Shelley but it hasn’t happened to this degree since we were dating.  We’re finding our way regarding strengths and weaknesses and who does what.  She is much better at documentation, organization skills, reporting and calendaring, however, I’ve been delegated all financial issues and proposal preparation.  I also have to take the lead in all meetings.  It’s surprising how our prior experiences have prepared us for our different roles.  We’re doing much better now and I believe I’m past tax season.  Everyday seems to have the same routine and the same weather, so I don’t know if I’ll recognize the return of tax season because I associate it with cold weather and winter conditions.

We have enjoyed teaching English to the missionaries.  Mom is the leader here and I try not to get in the way.  We started small with 6-8 elders depending on who was sick or out of town but with the latest revision of adding the sisters to the elders in our zone, we are now at 20 (12 elders and 8 sisters).  They used to come late or whenever they wanted, but mom started quietly rewarding those who were on time with a candy and for the last two classes we have almost perfect on-time attendance.  The sisters seem disinterested or maybe they are just more interested in the elders than English.  This does allow us to get to know their names and develop a personal relationship with the missionaries.  Their English is progressing faster than our French.  We are probably way too dependent upon our translator but it feels regardless of our language ability there is so much in cultural understanding we gain from our translator.  

We are supposed to have Saturday as our diversion day but we usually fill it up with work-related assignments.  The weekends are the most challenging because we are used to being busy from morning till night every weekday and so having too much time is a challenge.  We did some shopping for the Mikesells yesterday and went into the office so we could use our old printer while the Drapers were taking a P-day.  We are now the designated drivers and took the Drapers shopping.  Sundays are different because we don’t understand the language although French is much more recognizable now; it’s when they switch to Swahili that I’m totally lost.  We are having the Mikesells over for dinner tonight, so I have to dedicate some time to my now “famous cinnamon rolls” so we can send both they and the Atkinsons home with breakfast.  Have a good week, life is good for us here in Lubumbashi.

Love, Dad (Elder Davis)

September 7, 2014 - Shelley

September 7, 2014

For my family at home, this is the busiest birthday month of the year!  This past week the Congo drums were beating for Ashley, Joseph, Chloe, Mercedes, and Jacob – and for Maggie tomorrow!  We hope your days were as special as you all are!

This is an interesting experience.  Just when I think I’m getting accustomed to everything, something jogs the memory of my “former life”.  This week it was helping our new senior couple, the Drapers, find their way around.  Seeing Lubumbashi for the first time through their eyes caused me to remember how different it is than “home”.  Not bad, just different.  I have gained such a belated appreciation for newcomers to America.  Customs and food we take for granted must be such an adjustment for them!  Much more than I ever realized.

We had an unexpectedly touching visit to a “hospital”.  I call it a hospital, but that is a very loose interpretation of the word.  I always thought our son Nate was born in quite primitive conditions in a “rustic” hospital in Kahuku, Hawaii – but that looked like the Mayo Clinic compare to this!  When we arrived, the medical staff was conducting an immunization clinic for newborn babies.  Also, there were a half dozen or so pregnant ladies sitting on the porch waiting to be seen for their monthly appointment.  This hospital had contacted us with a “wish list” a mile long and we had gone there to make an evaluation.

This shows the immunization room on the left and the 3-room hospital on the right.

This is the delivery room.  It’s in a closet off of the 4-bed maternity room.

These are the nurses of the hospital.  I was very touched at the nurse on the right because she was wearing a Cub Scout leader shirt from the US that she had bought from a clothes bundle because she thought it was so cute.  These are all lovely people – trying to help others with very meager resources themselves.

We are getting approached more and more often by groups with requests such as this.  In order to qualify for humanitarian help, though, the group must show how they are helping themselves before we can do anything.  This group of hospital workers is asking each person from their neighborhood to donate one brick (22,000 + residents) to help build a new hospital room.  We hope to be able to help with new beds, but it’s a very slow process!!!!

These are the mothers and babies waiting for shots inside the small building.  I thought that the hanging scale was interesting.

I couldn’t help but shed a few when I saw the maternity room with four beds next to the delivery closet.  There were two patients – one mother with a new baby and one mother whose baby hadn’t made it.  Both were lying on beds with dirty sheets and mosquito nets. Having delivered children myself, I thought of how clean and sanitary everything has been for me.  It made me recognize my blessings even more.  Did I mention that this facility has neither power nor running water?

It has been a crazy week around the mission home because it is “transfer week”.  Just like other missions, the missionaries switch locations every six weeks.  The DRC is so spread out that this becomes expensive and difficult at times – especially when the airlines don’t cooperate.  There are no roads to connect the northern part of the mission to Lubumbashi so travel has to be done by air.  It’s too long to explain, but a dozen missionaries have been stuck in Mbuji-Mayi for two weeks because the airline discontinued that flight until last night at 11:00!  It’s hard enough to stay awake in church because we don’t understand the language, but after getting home at 1:30 from picking up elders at the airport, today was a killer!  Haha

Our first real project got underway this week.  Bukanda School is in a village about 15 miles from town.  The students have been sitting on bricks because they haven’t had desks, so providing desks is our project.  Before that could happen, the community needed to contribute something.  So we bought the paint, and the parents painted the six classrooms.

This is the parent committee – kind of like the PTA.  They did a great job of painting.  The principal is in the green sweater.

We just went out to see how they were doing – not to paint.

We invited the office sisters to go with us just to get them out of the office for a break.  Sister Riendeau and Sister Anthony are friends from Richland, WA.  I’m the TALL one!!!  (I just want my children to see that I can be tall in some crowds!)

You have to look very carefully to see this, but hanging to the right of the tree trunk is a 3-foot metal bar.  It’s the school bell!

Well, I’d be lying if I didn’t say we’ve been suffering a bit with homesickness this week.  Knowing that it was Peach Days, birthdays, and football season have turned our thoughts to home and family and friends.  Thank heavens for your letters and emails!  Thank heavens for Bishop Taylor and his play-by-play of the Box Elder Bees football games!!!!  Most of all I am thankful for my wonderful companion.  He knew what I was like when we started this journey – and he let me come anyway!  

Since I was unable to bear my testimony today in Swahili, I want to bear it now.  I have a testimony of the Restored Gospel and a living prophet.  I know that the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, is for all of us.  Never before in my life have I “heard” the whisperings of the Holy Ghost as loudly as I have here.  Heavenly Father has guided our path and given us help in some of the most unexpected ways – almost always through other people.  It has really helped me realize that people may be waiting for me to answer their prayers, also – and I’d better be doing what I should to be worthy of that inspiration.

Reach out to someone who may need your hug this week.  We love you!

Much love,  Mom/Soeur Davis

September 5, 2014 - Clark

Friday, September 05, 2014

I know I sound like a broken record, but the days are so long and the weeks are so short, I seem to lose all track of time.  I still have not adjusted to the 15 second sunset that occurs around 6:30.  As soon as the sun goes down, darkness sets in and we are restricted to our guarded razor wire enclosed compound.  We have enjoyed welcoming the new senior couple, Neil and Glenda Draper from Calgary, Canada.  We just returned from a neighborhood walk and are having them over for a game of 5 crowns this evening.

This week has had highs and lows.  I’ll share the good news and hold on to the low points.  We received word just yesterday that our final two projects have been approved.  They are construction of a pedestrian bridge located near one of the local chapels and the other is purchasing cooking lab equipment for an all-girls school.  That means that every project we have submitted for approval has now been approved.  In all that makes 7, with one emergency response proposal and one water project and 5 local area initiatives.  We are at our limit until we complete and close some.  We’re now finding out the reporting requirements, and I thought it was unnecessarily complex dealing with the IRS.  

The low point of the week occurred when we returned to visit Immaculee, the director of the small village water program for the Ministry of Health.  We have invested nearly $2,000 of our own money trying to determine the estimated cost per well to repair existing wells.  Armed with that information we returned to present a proposal to the villages.  If they would set aside $150 of their own money for each well in a bank account for future repairs, we would repair the well without a cap on the total repair cost.  I thought it was a total no-brainer, but I don’t think like the Congolese.  

Rather than express gratitude for the 4 wells we had restored to working condition at an average cost of $308 per well, her first  response was, “I have had several complaints from  your work”:

1. Two village technicians had volunteered to help us repair wells in their villages because they had already been trained by the Ministry of Health.  The supervisor from the MOH who accompanied us told us not to pay them because their village was receiving the benefit of new water.  These technicians were paid $20 after 2 days work (average salary here is $1-2 per hour).  Both technicians complained to the MOH that they had not been paid  and Immaculee was more concerned about their complaining than about the newly restored water.
2. The supervisor who accompanied us was not paid anything by us because we assumed he was on the MOH government payroll.  Apparently he was only part-time and he complained that he had been required to work a full day each of two days and he wanted additional money.  Immaculee wanted us to pay him.
3. The village chiefs who received restored wells didn’t express gratitude for the restored well but complained that the visitors had brought the chief no commodities such as sugar or salt as a token of respect for the chief.  

I was so deflated because I felt we had a perfect solution to the multitude of boreholes that had been abandoned in this single health zone. (32) But the response we received told me the people were not yet prepared for my proposal and I would simply follow those who had gone before by making an investment of time and money that was not their own.  The people need to see this as their problem and take ownership which will include a commitment to future maintenance of any investment.  

We had a fun experience on Monday at Bukanda School.  They are a poor village without desks for their elementary school.  We are in the process of providing  125 desks and repainting all the classrooms.  The room have latex on the wall and enamel on a bottom strip of about one foot.  We had Elder Atkinson deliver the painting supplies we had purchased for about $1,000 on Friday and returned on Monday to observe the painting.  They asked what time we would be there to supervise the project.  We told them it was their project and we would be there to take pictures and thank the volunteers who showed up.  They did take charge and about 15 volunteers did show up to paint.  It wasn’t the way I would have done it but the paint did get on the walls (the floors, the windows and everywhere else), but at least it was their project.  I was disappointed when we arrived, they didn’t say thanks for delivering the painting supplies but said we had forgotten some paint thinner for the enamel paint.  Flavien stepped in and said after all we had done, they could come up with the $10 for paint thinner and take care of it themselves.  They agreed but it’s unfortunate it had to be discussed.

I recently received an email from Elder Wright that was a response President McMullin had written to his daughter-in-law about charitable giving in Africa.  It offers great insight from someone who has lived and served in DRCongo for 2 years as mission president.  

We have enjoyed seeing the landscape for the first time through the eyes of the Drapers.  After a while you become calloused to the shock and awe of your first impressions.  As we have hosted them and introduced them to church meetings, downtown shopping, neighborhood walks, driving, grocery stores and a multitude of other firsts, it is fun to see the world all over again through their eyes.  It almost feels like watching your child experience things for the first time; the zoo, a mountain hike, Disneyland, ice cream.  They are going to be a great addition to the mission.  Elder Draper will serve as the executive secretary to the mission president and Sister Draper is an outstanding musician with great keyboarding skills.  I imagine she will be Sister Clawson’s replacement with scheduling traveling and transfers and tracking logistics.

This week has been crazy.  There are 13 Elders who have been stranded in Mbuji-Mayi for over a week and 14 new Elders arriving from Ghana.  All of the flights change by the hour with cancellations and changed routes and times.  Last night we had to make a midnight run.  Four sisters and one Elder came from Kinshasa.  They arrived after 23:00, took an hour plus for processing and then President Thomas had to conduct interviews in the parking lot.  We arrived home at 2:00 in the morning.   The four sisters all had to leave at 4:30 the next morning; 2 to Mbjui-Mayi and 2 to Burundi.  We’re leaving again in 10 minutes to pick up 16 Elders from the airport.  I thought I’d never remember how to get there and now I’m almost on automatic pilot.

We had a shopping spree this past week in preparation for the new missionaries arriving. We volunteered to be in charge of buying for the new missionaries.  We provide them a blanket, pillow, mosquito net, water purification bottle, LED lights for when the electricity fails, an umbrella, colored pencils, sheets for their bed and a large carryall bag.  We have different locations to buy everything.  Elder Clawson had taken us last transfer and we had to remember all of the stores locations; not an easy task.  We did and spent $1,500 in resupplying the depot where the inventory is stored.  

This coming week we have a new medical advisor coming to replace Sister Clawson.  His name is Dr. Mikesell from St. George; he is a retired dentist who is 75 years old and has just had double knee replacement surgery.  No Dr. Keller, you are not too old.  We also have two other senior couples changing locations on Friday with the shuffle that seems almost constant.  We will soon be considered the veterans as we will have been here longer than the president and two other couples.  

Our day starts off with a visit from the DTA assistant (Director of Temporal Affairs) from Johannesburg first thing tomorrow, so we’re off to bed.  We love you and love hearing from each of you.  Have a great week.

Dad (Elder Davis)

August 31, 2014 - Shelley

August 31, 2014

Another month is ending, and I would have to honestly say that this has been the fastest month yet since we’ve been here.  Just as your weather is starting to cool off, ours has started to get warmer.  Nothing terrible – but noticeably hotter than it has been.  We haven’t had even one drop of rain and things are VERY dusty, so we’re looking forward to the rainy season.  I’m not sure when it starts – hopefully soon.  Haha

Today (Sunday) is a bittersweet day for us.  We knew that these days would happen in our absence, but still it’s hard not to be home for our grandson, Joshua Chamberlain’s missionary “farewell”.  He will be leaving for the McAllen Texas Spanish speaking mission in ten days or so.  We’re so proud of him and know that he’ll be wonderful.  It’s fun to think that we are both out in the Lord’s service at the same time.

We have had a new senior missionary couple come this week.  They are Elder and Sister Draper from Calgary, Canada.  They are friends of our mission president, so he “recruited” them to come.  If you are ever feeling whiney about the inconvenience of a trip you are taking by air, you can think of them.  Because of missed connections and crazy airline schedules, they spent 64 hours getting from Salt Lake City to Lubumbashi!!!  Now that’s an inconven-ience!!!  They seem very nice!

One thing I’m excited about is that it appears to be papaya season.  Maybe if I close my eyes, I can just pretend that they are peaches and we are going to Peach Days!

This came from one of the many papaya trees in our yard.

I keep getting questions about if we are safe or not.  Below is a picture of the barbed wire that runs around the ten-foot fence surrounding our compound.

Saddly, our biggest safety concern is actually being stopped by the police who constantly try to extort money from drivers.  We were stopped for the first time this week and managed to escape by only paying enough for the policeman to buy a soda!  Lucky!

Clark has spent the week working on a project to restore broken pumps out in the villages near town.  It’s wonderful to see the reaction of the people who are now able to get water for the first time in years without walking for miles to the river with bidons and buckets.

As always, there are darling children.  It is very common to see young girls carrying younger siblings around on their backs.

Generally speaking, women are strong and work hard.  I so admire how they labor to care for their families in a way that seems to me to be much like people in the pioneer era.  Their necks and backs are strong.  However, Justan Kabala, who is the office manager of the mission home and is serving as a Stake President, said that only 30% of the women in his stake can read and write.  It’s hard to imagine, but hopefully, progress can be made to correct this.

We love you and know that the Lord loves you.  We are all very blessed!!!  Take care of each other and have a wonderful week!  

Much love,    Mom/Sister Davis