EASTER



I thought this moth was gorgeous and it was huge - about 3 inches





As I explained in my letter, this is a group of women standing
in line by the Catholic church to worship for Easter.





The same group of women standing in a long, long, slow line.
They are waiting to get into the Catholic church.  They do this on
the Thursday before Easter.

 


Our new mission office




New mission office




Our new mission couple, the Evansons, in front of the new mission
home.  The new mission home is right next to the mission office.



Elder Bahou and Elder Elenge (our AP's) in our new office.



Sister Packer and Sister Moore in the new mission home.




The new mission home kitchen - a work in progress.  It was supposed
to be completed a month ago but this is Africa.



KAKANDA PETITIONS TO BECOME A BRANCH

A few weeks ago in my letter I told you about a small town by
the name of Kakanda that has a small group of people (50) who
have been meeting as a group and they want to become an
official branch of the church.  We went with our president and
his wife to visit this "group" and see if they could qualify to become
a branch.   This is where the meeting was held - the small 2 room home
of one of the people.  They move their meager belongings into the
second room each week for church.  This week it was so crowded
there were people sitting outside for the meeting. 



I took this picture just before the meeting.  Often the kids sit
together, the men sit together, and the women sit with the small
children.  Sometimes we see families sitting together in the
more progressive areas.



So much for that "starving children in Africa"
thought.

Notice the little guy on the right with his camouflage shorts, his
huge vest and his colorful tie.  So many of their clothes come
straight from American thrift stores.  They do a fabulous job of
always looking spotlessly clean when they attend church or go
shopping.  Even their shoes are clean and this is red dirt like in
Moab.

This is the river where the first baptisms took place.

An unexpected baptism - oops.  A couple weeks later we drove by
this same spot and the truck was still there but the cab was
totally submerged.  It looks like this will be its final resting spot for
many years to come.



A typical village.  We passed lots of these little villages on our
3 hour drive to Kakanda.




This is the home where we held the church meeting with the
"group."  First they get official permission to meet as a group
and teach and pass the sacrament and then as they grow they
get permission to become a branch and become part of a district.




Who is this handsome guy and what is he doing
in the bushes?



WOMEN'S CONFERENCE

These pictures were taken last week at women's conference -
Relief Society birthday celebration.  They know how to
celebrate!  Their celebration was 5 hours long.  Each of the
10 wards presented a skit, a dance, and a poem.  Plus they had
a spiritual program and a dinner.  What fun.  See the lady second
from the left?  Remind me to tell you a story about her.  She is
in my english class and I adore her.

Before the meeting started we watched people
braiding each other's hair and sitting around chatting.

BRANCHES AND STAKES

Check out this little fashion queen with attitude!!
She was SO cute and friendly.  The first 4 pictures
were taken in the parking lot at the stake center after
stake conference.  In my last letter I told you about
the gathering in the parking lot after conference.  This
is the most affluent, well run stake in our whole mission.
It feels like being in the states - except that we are the only
white faces.



My very favorite thing is enjoying their fabulous dresses and
headwear. 




More parking lot visiting.  They were waving good-bye as we
were leaving.



This is the toll booth on our way to the Zambia border to visit
the city of Kasumbalesa.  This is the place where we visited a
small "group" and made it a branch.  A group is what exists before
a branch.  I took this picture because of the cage of live chickens
on the roof.  I have been in Africa a little too long because it didn't
seem cruel or disgusting - it just made me hungry.



OOPS - somebody had a bad day long ago



Somebody had a bad day just a couple of days ago.  These are
things we commonly see when we drive through the country to
the villages and cities.



See the van with the back open?  All these people plus more
that didn't get in the picture were in that van for the hour and
a half ride to Kasumbalesa - plus several cases of Fanta soda.
These are the choir members that I told you about 2 weeks ago
in my letter.  They were fabulous!  They came to the meeting to
welcome the group as a new branch in their stake.  This was the
meeting where we were sitting in front of open windows and there
was a revival going on next to us and as the preacher heard this
 fantastic choir he started preaching louder and louder.  Maybe
 he was afraid his people would leave to check out the angelic music.
 



Notice the little girl on the front left - kicked back and all relaxed. 
These primary kids were singing before the meeting started and
they knew all the words to several of our hymns, such as, "The
Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning."  They were amazing.  The
little girl stole all of our hearts.  She sang with gusto, had a little
nap in her chair, and was SO cute.  I MISS MY GRANDKIDS!!!

TRANSPORT



The frightening thing about this picture is that we were
on a country road going about 50 miles an hour as we
followed this truck.  Safety doesn't seem to be a major
 concern for the Congolese. 



One way to transport charcoal

Another way

This is Africa

P-day but still work to do as my wall street banker
husband does high finance and prepares soutein
(support money) for some of our missionaries



Greg is holding $400 in each hand.  The small stack is American money and the big stack is DR francs.  Their highest franc bill (500 CDF) is worth 50 cents.  They accept both here.  CDFsare important for buying fruit and veges off the
street but most people want dollars because they are more stable than their currency.  Nobody trusts
the banks so everything is done with cash - no   checks, no credit cards.  That makes life tough for the mission
finance guy.  Greg doles out bills from his till all day long and hand records it on a ledger.  We often think we live in
the old west of a hundred years ago.




This is the hospital where we took our sister missionary that I told you about and all of our sick missionaries.  The only one that has gone to the new surgical hospital is the elder who had hernia surgery the day before Christmas.  That new hospital only does high tech surgeries (hernias.)  The hospital in this picture is also the place where I would have gone to get my tooth repaired.  Thank you super glue!



This is the truck that I told you about that tipped over in front of our apartment.



One of our elders washing the baptismal clothes
at the church after a baptism - I was thinking of
Debra and Dan as I saw this.




LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!




Her hair is a work of art.  It is braided in swirls on the top of her head and the rows that crisscross on the sides.  I love their braiding talents.  I have seen so many wonderful hairstyles.  I like the creative braids the best.