This is our new home. It is much more open and has room for everyone to sit at the dining table together and meet together more comfortably for Zone Conferences and other meetings. It is actually less decorative - no columns or ultra fancy ceilings, which is OK. We have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and a large kitchen/dining/living area. There is also a detached laundry room and storage room and a bathroom for the guardians.
President and Sœur Jameson are visiting. This is our front room/dining area/office area.
Because of the lighting, this picture doesn't show the best, but it is one we bought because it is so true to life of what the markets are like here - women with babies on their backs, and things on their heads, pregnant women, women selling deep fried donuts (
beignets), manyoke, fish, etc., and some men in the mix also. Yesterday we went into a covered market and saw thousands of people and their wares - all crowded together so you can hardly walk down the isles. We bought egg plant, green peppers and apples there.
This picture also represents to many real life scenarios. In the background are Baobab trees, which are found outside of town and have much importance in legend and culture here. When I bought the painting, it wasn't finished and the artist agreed to include the color blue so it would match our furniture. I love all the babies on the mothers' backs. Scenes of lots of people crowded together like this are a popular theme in Congolese paintings.
This is our kitchen, which is open off of the dining area. It has a small fridge and freezer behind the cupboard doors on the right. First time we have had drawers (3 of them) since coming to Congo! There is a stove top above the oven, but if we use it, we blow a fuse, so we brought in our gas stove and use those burners, but not that oven....our solution. We also brought in our large fridge because we didn't want to store it outside and we need more space. We keep water bottles in the 'white' fridge.
This is the front of our home. There are two French doors that open into the living/dining area and two (one around the side) that open into our bedroom. There are also 4 windows, which the landlord added bars to before we moved in. We are a little leary of not having bars on the doors and have chosen to have guards 24/7. It really isn't because we are afraid of safety, but of theft. It is the culture here to have bars (or some type of grills) on windows and doors.
These are our guardians. Patrice is on the left. He has been with us almost a year. He is a very good guardian - without us asking, he washes our car every day and keeps the outside of our house clean. He tends our flowers and found and planted flowers in front of our outside wall. He has come every day he is scheduled for all this time. He belongs to another church and so we have always worked his schedule around his being able to attend. When we moved, we were able to find another guardian to help on weekends, so he gets all of Sunday off.
Pascal is on the right. He just started with us when we moved. He is a recent convert to our church. He seems to be good, too. They both like to keep busy, by caring for the outside area and also reading and moving around. Sometimes they sit outside the wall, as most other guardians do. But we think it is good, at night, for them to be inside the wall, because then they know if someone were to try to come in from the side or back.
Monday, May
6, 2013
Dear family,
We are so
excited about Katie/Sister Johnson, leaving for her first missionary assignment
today! She will be a great missionary in
the Rochester, New York, Mission. One of
the elders who was in our city for several months has a friend who is a sister
missionary there. We have asked his
mother to tell her about Katie, in case they have the opportunity to meet. Katie wrote that she may be able to go to the
Sacred Grove even more than once while she serves there.
We have
experienced a good week, and a lot of interesting happenings. On Monday we returned home to find that our
power had been disconnected. We were
assured when we moved in that all the utilities were currently paid up. We found out that the electric here was over
$800 U.S. dollars in arrears. It hadn’t
been paid for fourteen months. This is
not unusual here and we know that people sometimes get in difficult situations
back home and utility bills are usually the first things that go unpaid. However, when our interpreter called the
landlord, he said that if we wanted electricity we would have to pay the whole
bill and then deduct less than half of it from our next rent payment
amount. This did not set well with Sister
Wheatley, who said we shouldn’t have to pay any of it because it was all for
months when we didn’t live here. After a
process that took most of the day, and cost about the equivalent of $400.00 US
dollars, we were very blessed to have our power restored – at least
temporarily! Until this morning (Monday
May 5) we hadn’t had any water come into our reservoir for about 15 days. We were happy this morning to receive water
again and know that it hasn’t been shut off.
It appears that we will just have to take what water the city gives us
and take it when it is available. There
is a well/reservoir across our little road and we can pay to have water run
through a hose from there to our cistern when we run out. Water and reliable electricity are both precious
and to be treasured here, as in many places around the globe. Sister Wheatley says she will never take
pure water for granted again – it is most precious above diamonds and rubies!
One day last
week, we decided it was time for dinner out.
We had that tradition at home – after a long and busy week, Friday night
was the night. We had been shopping for
groceries and decided to stop at a small bakery that is owned by a Portuguese
man and his Italian wife, because they also own a couple of hotels and
restaurants. They have told us where the
one that is open to the public is, but we were never really sure where they
meant. The bakery was closed (most
businesses close for several hours in the afternoon), but not locked and we
walked in and ‘talked’ to a man who was closing up. We understood that the restaurant was about 3
streets over in a certain direction…..not a lot to go on, but we decided to try
to find it. We drove around for a while,
and suddenly saw a new looking Italian restaurant, which we figured might be
the one of a man we had met one day in town, who said he was from Italy, a
member of our church, and was opening an Italian restaurant soon. We went into the restaurant – and it was
his! He must have just opened, because
he still had no menus, but the restaurant had quite a few people in it and he
was happy to see us. It is small, but
very clean and nicely decorated. There
are about 8 or 9 tables, some which seat 2, some 4, and a couple that seat 6. We
had a lovely appetizer, delicious lasagna,
cold bottled water, a crêpe with Nuttella for desert. The reason he didn’t open his restaurant as
quickly as he wanted to, was he was waiting for his shipment of cheeses, etc.,
from Italy. The missionaries who work in
the quartier where he lives, haven’t been able to meet with him because he has
said he is too busy getting his restaurant ready. He indicated he has been inactive for quite a
while but wants to return. He is
friendly, but doesn’t speak a lot of English or French! He said there is not work in Italy, so this
is why he and his business partner decided to come to Congo. We think there are quite a few Italians
here. The restaurant is across the
street from the Italian Consulate. There
are Italian contractors here – one of whom we met about a year ago, when we
traveled to a bridge about 20 miles out of town, for a P Day activity. He was the managing contractor over the
refurbishment of the bridge. There are
many French people, a lot of Chinese, and a variety of Italian, Canadian, South
African, Portuguese, Philippine and a few British and Americans here. They come here to work in shipping, oil,
airlines, mining and we aren’t sure of what else.
One of the
Elders phoned us and requested that we pick up a baptismal candidate and his
family. This was the Elders idea. The family comes to Church faithfully even
though they live a long distance from the Church and they have little or no money. The baptism would be in the church building not
where they meet, but much further away.
Because they do make it to Church faithfully we agreed even though we
are not supposed to, to give them a ride to the baptism. The fear is making people dependent on the
missionaries. On Saturday we headed out
to get them, with plenty of time to spare.
We wanted to visit another family on the way, and leave them a loaf of
bread. The Elders were worried that their
family might leave before we arrived if we stop before going to get them, suggesting
that once we secured the baptismal candidate we could stop to see the other
family. After picking our way through
giant mud holes (we never know how deep they are we just look to see if other
drivers made it through) and around many dirt roads and sandy areas, we arrived
at the home - a simple one room, wooden house.
The son to be baptized had gone to the market and the parents were busy
working around the yard and not prepared to leave. We decided to visit the other family while we
waited. They agreed that when he
returned, they would meet us on the road at 1:00 P.M. We proceeded to visit the other family and
returned to the designated pickup point a little before 1:00 P.M. We sat in the vehicle in the hot sun until
about 2:00 P.M. It seems to Sister
Wheatley, that no matter where we park, or what direction we face, the sun is
always directly shining into the cab of the pickup….and opening all the windows
and doors or trying to find shade is futile.
We finally decided to return to the baptismal candidate’s home, realizing
that we may miss them altogether if they walk a different way. We follow a water tanker trucks tracks and
find a shorter way back (there are no water sources in the whole area and no
electricity without a generator). When
we arrived they were just getting ready to come and find us. For the fourth time it was through mud holes
and over questionable roads, on our way to the Church. We had the keys to the closet where the
baptismal clothes are kept and knew the
other people wanting to be baptized would be waiting to get dressed. We also had the keys from the bathrooms into
the font. We arrived just in time. There was a nice service and despite the
frustration we were happy to be a part of it.
Yesterday
(Sunday) was a busy day. Elder Wheatley
had to oversee changes in an Elders’ presidency in one branch and some
Priesthood Advancements in another.
Despite his objection, he ended up confirming one person a member of the
Church and conferring the Melchizedek Priesthood on another. We always stress that the members do this and
not the missionaries, so they can experience the blessings of using their
priesthood authority.
Today one of
the elders called and said he wanted to come over to have Sister Wheatley look
at his toe. This is always a
heart-stopper for her. You never know
what that means – it could be a severely infected ingrown toenail, a worm
growing out of a toe, a cut, a rash………We have tried to nurse a really nasty
ingrown toenail that eventually required surgery, stitches in an elbow due to a
P Day basketball game, a variety of intestinal issues like worms, what some
elders thought was malaria with fevers and chills (but what we don’t think was
because it wasn’t severe enough), headaches, backaches, toothaches, allergies
and colds and a worm growing out of a toe.
Our mission doctor is in Johannesburg, but usually answers his phone and
if not, can be contacted by email, or through our mission president if there is
an emergency. We have two good clinics
and one good hospital here, with French doctors. The doctors trained in Congo have different
approaches to medicine and unfortunately don’t have the opportunity for the
quality of training that French doctors have.
We have taken elders to the doctor whenever needed, but try to contact
our mission doctor first for his direction.
If there was an emergency, we would insist on going to one of the
approved clinics or that one hospital that is approved. After looking at this toe, which has red,
swollen flesh and was indicating red spreading up the top of his foot, Sister
Wheatley called Dr. Hoffman. He was able
to talk with us and indicate that we should start him on an antibiotic, he
should cleanse and soak his foot and apply antibiotic cream, etc. Dr. Hoffman is very careful with antibiotics,
so we know he felt this was important in this case. The elder said he had a small cut on his toe
and that is how he felt the infection started.
It is so difficult to keep feet clean here because of the rain, puddles,
dirt and sand everywhere, and all the walking they do. We will check his foot in the morning and see
how the treatment is progressing! The
Church places the health of missionaries as a very high priority, which is comforting
and we feel so blessed to have medical help from the mission doctor and quality
care available if needed. It isn’t the
same as at home, but as close as possible.
Amil, a
member from the Phillipines that we met down town one day, attended Church yesterday. He had seen the spire of our church house
before, but was unaware that the Church was established here in Pointe Noire.
Sister Wheatley invited him over for supper. He accepted the invitation. We learned that both he and his wife served
missions in the Philippines. They now
have three children. He contracts with a
U.S. shipping company called Tidewater. He usually works for four months then goes
home for a month. He brought his
scriptures, so after supper we asked if he would like to share a scripture with
us. He said he had been reading in Alma
and was touched by Alma 5:46. The whole
chapter is very powerful. I had marked
in my scriptures that this verse is part of Alma’s testimony. What is interesting is that Alma says in
verse 46 that he had fasted and prayed many days to know that the things he
spoke of were true. This is the same
Alma that had once gone about persecuting the Church. Even though he was visited by an angel (Mosiah
27) and rendered helpless, he tells us in verse 46 of Alma 5 that he had fasted
and prayed many days to understand the doctrines he was preaching to the people,
which were mainly, being spiritually born of God through repentance and being
stripped of pride, after which the Holy Ghost can act upon us. Chapter 5 ends with a plea or invitation to
come and be baptized. A lot of lessons
can be gleaned from this chapter and each reading will probably reveal
something new. Last evening the
impression was that like Alma, a visitation by an angel or a few spiritual experiences
won’t carry us through. We must
continue to fast and pray, and keep the commandments so we can say as Alma says
in verse 48, “I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea the Son, the only
begotten of the Father full of grace, mercy and truth…..He cometh to take away
the sins of the world, yea the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on
his name.” We leave our testimony that
what Alma testified would happen, did indeed happen. And as Alma looked forward to the coming of
Christ, we look forward to the day when he will come again.
We hope you
are all happy and well. Once again, we express
our appreciation for your faith and prayers on our behalf. We know that it is through your faith and
prayers that we are protected. In a very
real sense your prayers for us and other missionaries, involve you in the work
of seeking out those who will be touched by the gospel message. Our prayers need to include more than just
finding people to join God’s kingdom they need include providing members with
the means to marry, and attend the temple to receive their endowments and be
sealed together as families.
Love Elder
and Sister Wheatley
