P.E.F. Realities

Mark writing:

My big brother Dave in Bonita Springs, FL says,

"About your blog; it's nice with all the included pictures, which tell more of the story than the words. Sorry that you had to scramble for some turkey; I ate more turkey than you had in just one of the birds.

You have not related much about some of the success you have had with helping others to train for new job experiences, or to do better on their own in business. Tell us some news about that: who have you helped, how have they done, and what are their futures looking like?"

We thought of little successes we have had, like not getting dysentery, but have not wanted to say much about the Perpetual Education Fund, because it seems pretty discouraging. We like the work and are motivated to serve, but we found quite a financial immaturity among the students. Who can blame them, since their mamas and papas probably never had a bank loan in their lifetimes. The PEF is tailored to third-world environments, and one reality is that there is no way to send you a loan statement. Who among us has ever made payments to stores or banks or other institutions without a monthly bill?

Instead, the program opts for a personal phone call to every beneficiary each month. It's great, it can be mentoring and encouraging, but here is where I diverge from the norm. I think the call needs to be focused and specific. Not just "how are you doing" but maybe "when are you going to make your payment, and why did you break your promise last month and the month before?"

In my mind the student is not a strength to his family, congregation and community if he doesn't have integrity or is totally disorganized. So, I've tried to stick on them until we get them on the phone and they make a specific commitment. Last week I had six people left on my call sheet whom we had not reached. I had left voice mail or sent texts to the number we had for them, but it wasn't until I called moms and dads, brothers and sisters and even bishop in the church that we discovered that the phone numbers were wrong for four of the six. The phone they had previously was destroyed or stolen or whatever. Yet, in the database, I could see that other callers from our program had said "we called, we'll try again later," and left it at that.

For us, the PEF is two things. Elaine is application processing, and has done as many as 8 apps in one day, providing all the documentation, and doing it all packaged up electronically for review and approval. She is also responsible for our working fund, and has become quite the little accountant and spreadsheeter. I am mostly collections, and have gotten into it heavily. There has been some wonderful progress there. Students who were previously "lost" have been found and are making payments regularly. There are maybe 20 of those, among maybe 100 who are far behind on their payments. Still Elaine and I sometimes need some moral support.

In this picture, our boss is grinning, because our stake president, sitting in the middle, is making PEF calls with us. He called all the most delinquent in the stake, about 20 people, and told them all to get the payment in. Several, he set meetings with in his office. I started the first call, and mentioned that Président Eustache was sitting with us, and he grabbed the phone. After that he made every single call by himself, while I scribed.

He used all the same approaches I do, like setting a specific deadline, and committing the student to a specific amount. He seems to believe that a student who pays his obligations is a valuable member of the stake, the family and the community, and the contrary not so much. He didn't accept excuses like sickness or unemployment for these chronic non-payers. He was sympathetic, but said they needed to exercise faith and make a commitment for a payment date. It was very gratifying to see him in action.

From a business point of view, I very much like the discipline of getting the students to make a small payment every month. I think that skill alone (and the underlying budgeting) will set them apart. Not to mention that we have 400 people in the program and most if not all will get a college degree of some kind or higher learning or trade certificate. That's pretty darn good in a country where there were only 30 people who had college degrees in the whole country when they liberated from Belgium 50 years ago.

Quite a few of our kids have gotten skilled positions with good wages. Many others will have to create work for themselves in the informal economy that is 80% of the whole here. Dozens of them are a success at self-employment. We've got nurses, teachers, drivers, plumbers, lawyers, managers, carpenters, and information techs. I think it all works out eventually, and I don't think you should judge the "hiring rate" in the first couple of years. Things move much more slowly here.

Elaine has a custom of making a chocolate cake when one of the students makes a $100 payment. The last couple went like this:

Our bishop in the LDS ward we attend is Aimé Ngoy. He has a wife and two beautiful little girls.

Elaine holds the Ngoy's newborn baby girl.

Aimé has a law degree and magistrate certification. He is employed by the Church and works in our mission office handling all legal affairs. As a magistrate, he has the ability to arrest even police officers he deems to have committed a crime. So if any couple or young missionary in the mission is badly treated by the police, Aimé gets a call, and goes to the police station and negotiates for us. He and his wife also raise chickens and sell eggs (we buy a couple of flats a month, 30 eggs for $6.) The Mrs. also has a small store. He got his magistrate certificate through a PEF loan. I called him as part of the routine a month ago and asked why he was late. He said he was thinking of paying it off. Since then he has made a $90 payment and a $100 payment. Elaine baked him a cake. (Congolese don't favor sweets. He ate a piece and we, well, we took care of the rest with a few friends.)

The next $100 payment was from a girl aged 25 or so who found work as a computer programmer out in the provinces after studying I.T. at Cisco Academy (they exist in the States, too.) She hadn't made her payment because there was no Ecobank out in the boonies. We set it up for her to send in a payment via Western Union to her bishop, who took it to Ecobank, our processor. She sent in $100, putting her into the black by $30. I told her bishop about the chocolate cake, and said there was no way to send it to her that far away. He said to make the cake and he would enjoy it by proxy for her. Elaine is getting it ready for tomorrow.

The young woman wants another certification from Cisco. However, she reported that they were not cooperating with her in setting up distance learning over the Net. We put her on to Pépitho, our first Cisco grad 16 months ago, who knows the director of Admissions and other administrators. Pépitho makes a whale of a salary working at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, and supports another P.E.F. student for whom he is the legal guardian. Out old boy network worked and the young woman will get further Cisco credentials in due time, and improve her situation further.

Out of our 400 beneficiaries of P.E.F., 300 are established and required to make payments currently. Of those, I think 100 are always on time, 100 have so-so payment records, and 100 were seriously late when we arrived. With involvement with priesthood leaders like President Eustache, we probably have 20 who have reformed, and probably another 20 in process of change. That makes us happy.

Thanksgiving and South Africa

Thanksgiving is celebrated only in the U.S. so we went to the office as usual. The couples wanted to celebrate just to honor the day but to also see if we could do it here.

Ready for Thanksgiving on the top floor of our bldg.

The hunt began for a turkey for the celebration. Turkeys were on order, not for Thanksgiving but for Christmas. Shoprite market had turkeys of about six or seven pounds per bird and cost $14 per kilo adding up to $90 U.S. for two of them.

In the foreground, real whipped cream

 They were very tasty after being cooked by the master in the group, Sister Sneddon. The couples added to the fest with side dishes like sweet potato casserole, glazed carrots, mashed potatoes, Jell-O, homemade rolls, (white and whole wheat) and great pumpkin pies made with canned pumpkin from the U. S. imported by the Gates. It was a great occasion and helped us appreciate all the wonderful celebrations we have had with loved ones on past Thanksgivings. 

The smell of those rolls coming out of the oven can bring tears to your eyes.

 We didn't have a lot of time between the holiday and our trip to South Africa. We are serving as PEF Self-Reliance missionaries. This program is being changed and adapted to the needs of countries like those in Africa that do not have stable economies with jobs and employers. The conference we attended was to help us understand how the program will work in countries like the Congo.

Modern airport in Johannesburg. Kind of a shock.

The flights were not too bad, but getting to the airport in Kinshasa was harder than I thought it would be because it was a Sunday. We used a door-to-door service called Jeffery Travel to get us there, and get us through the gates. We had to get ourselves on the plane but it was a little easier than when we first came. The plane was packed with people and luggage; the Kinois don't trust anyone, so they drag all their possessions onto the plane as carry-ons. The steward, in a snide voice said, "You are allowed one carry-on and most of you have three or more, hope you can find a place to stow it."

Our South African airport driver Abram speaks 11 languages.

The hotel in South Africa was more traditional than modern, with an estate feel as opposed to a high-rise. It was wonderful to have a tub that we could "soak" in. The food was great, a buffet, with different choices each day, no continental breakfasts but thirty or more choices each meal.

Many foods we truly can't get in The Congo

We asked if we could go shopping and we went to the Killarney Mall three times. We had to return again and again because the meetings ended around 5 PM and the mall closed at 6 PM, go figure. I guess like many African cities, it is not safe after dark.

The participants were mostly senior couples doing PEF in various places in the southeast region of Africa. We learned a lot from each other about the conditions they are experiencing in their area. One couple is serving in Kenya, one in Durban, Nigeria, Tanzania, etc. The staff conducting the training were South Africans, young and smart.

Our farewell dinner included exotic dishes like ostrich. We had steak and lamb chops with a side of peanut pumpkin puree, very good. The service wasn't nearly as good as the food, and three hours for dinner was a little much because the location was outdoors and it was cold, cold enough to need a blanket around your shoulders.

We are now back in our "home" apartment and that is good. The airport van with tinted windows allowed us to take videos without anybody on the street shaking their fist as usual.

We went to the Binza Stake conference after our return, and that was wonderful. We were the only white members in a congregation of 1,000 or more.

We learned that our dear nephew, Wayne, has been diagnosed with colon cancer. Please pray for him and his family.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Elder Bednar's Visit - Before and After

Elder Bednar is the youngest in age of the Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a great occasion for an apostle to visit and he was scheduled to meet with the Kinshasa Missionaries Monday November 4th. There was a lot to do to get the meetings scheduled but much was needed to be done to spiff-up the buildings and grounds.

Crispin is responsible for cleaning the S&I building where we work, so for several days before the apostle's arrival he was putting in the hours. Mark and I were given the task of making sure that the refrigerator was clean so it could be used for the food that would be served at a luncheon just before the meeting with the missionaries.

Some of the local leadership had traveled to Lumbumbashi - a Southeast city where Elder Bednar was also visiting before coming here. Word was sent to the local leaders telling them to do more than a surface clean. SO we had armies of workers in our building re-staining doors, painting walls, replacing tile in some rooms, just about anything you could think of was attended to.

The wall around this property which will also be used for the Kinshasa Temple sometime in the near future was less than inviting with the rivulets of black mold making it look well like the Congo. The Thursday before the Apostle's visit they started painting the outside of the wall. We almost missed the driveway because we didn't recognize that it was the same place where we work. When we left the office on Friday nothing had been done on the interior of the same wall but Monday when we arrived it too had been painted and they were painting the eves of the S&I building.

 

President and Sister Cook asked the Senior Missionaries to help with the luncheon for Elder Bednar his wife and four or six other authorities that were with him. Sister Cook prepared all of food and we helped her set the tables and serve the food. It was a wonderful experience for us to help and we also had an opportunity to greet and shake hands with the authorities. 

 

The group of visitors went to the chapel next door to our office to meet and teach the missionaries. We were able to join them there and to listen to the message from Elder Bednar.

After Elder Bednar left, the Missionaries sang the hymn "Called to Serve" en Français for President and Sister Cook, our mission president and his wife.

We have had days of rain and more rain. Mark was able to photograph a double rainbow when we were taking a walk around 5:30 PM. The storms stir up the air and it is possible to see the sky and the clouds accompanying the storm which made quite a spectacular sunset.

I wanted to share the birthday song sung in French and Lingala by some in our office and others in the S & I group with Hermes leading when we celebrated my birthday. Lingala is a tribal language that most of these men and women learn in their homes. Sometimes they speak using  French, Lingala and English in the same sentence.

Elder Bednar and his wife, President Cook and his wife as well as two security people and one videographer flew to Gabon to dedicate the country for missionary work. Recently the Church was granted official status to function within their boundaries. President Cook described that as a most sacred occasion with twelve people attending in an arboretum under a tree that is 150 years old and massive. Torrential rains fell the night before and into the morning but cleared somewhat. As they gathered for the dedication Elder Bednar explained to the Botanist and the gardener that he is a special witness of Jesus Christ to all the earth, here to dedicate the country for the preaching of His Gospel. The men remained reverently in proximity to witness the event. As he began the prayer, sunlight shined on him and the air was filled with butterflies. The Church will be assigning missionaries to work in that country in the immediate future.

President and Sister Cook returned to Kinshasa with Elder Michael Moody and his wife who are serving in Gabon but needed to leave the country in order to renew their visas. They were here in Kinshasa for a week and they were able to attend our Kinshasa Stake Conference last Sunday before leaving to return to Gabon on Wednesday. 

Elder Michael Moody and his wife are serving in Gabon. The Moodys spend three years serving in Tahiti as Temple President and Matron at the same time Matt and Sue Smith were serving there as Mission President. They send their love to you Sue, and to your family.

Mardeau is a sister that works in the office next to ours as a secretary. She speaks English as well as French and Lingala. She was at Conference with her family, two little girls and one son the oldest. Her husband was called to be the Stake Young Men's President. He has served seven years on the High Council.

President and Sister Cook leave for South Africa tonight so we had a gathering of all the Senior Missionaries at our apartment Friday before they departed. It was fun to share dinner and conversation with these wonderful people.

One day as we returned from the office, just outside of our compound there is a big tree with vinelike aerial roots supporting it. A lighthearted young man was using one as a swing to the enjoyment of onlookers including Mark and me.

 

Love you and wish you a happy Thanksgiving. We are so grateful for all of you and your prayers in our behalf.

E & M

Weather Report and such

We all (maybe we older folk) repeat a saying about the weather, “Red in the morning, Sailor take warning; red at night, Sailor’s delight.” We had a substantial rainstorm this past week and at 6:00 PM (18:00) there was a beautiful red sunset, the sky was ablaze with color.

Around 9:00 PM (21:00) the rains, thunder and lightning started and every bit of dirt in the air came down but this time there was enough water to wash the air clean. It rained off and on all night. We went to the Chapel Saturday to watch the first two sessions of General Conference

and the streets were wet and only a few sprinkles were falling. As we drove along we could see why they have an “army” of street sweepers with brooms. Most of the streets are dirt or sand and when it rains like that those roads wash down to the paved roads and the street sweepers are spaced about one block (Provo block) apart and spend their day sweeping dirt. I didn’t understand why they would do that day after day (except Sunday), why every day? It will be interesting to see what progress they make today (Monday) on moving all that sand from the road to the shoulder so it can be washed back into the road next time it rains.

Sweeper in safety vest alongside a transport

So back to my original question, since we are in the Southern Hemisphere, should the saying go like this; Red in the morning, Sailor’s get going; Red at night, Sailor’s plight! We had rain again Sunday night so things look “clean” even the air. I put clean in quotes because there are so many levels of clean.  We can see the Congo River through a window from in our apartment and the air isn’t clear enough to see any details, hard to separate the water from the land but Saturday you could see the land and it was green with trees and the water was still gray with clumps of something floating along but you could distinguish the difference between the two. 

 Monday we left our apartment at 7:00 to attend a devotional for all Church employees held in the SI building where our PEF office is. Traffic is about the same, taxis driving sideways, transports changing lanes from right to left and back again right in front of our truck, the best one was when one flipped a U-turn right in front of us and went the opposite direction on a divided road. You have to have at least two sets of eyes to keep track of all directions including up and down.

Monday is usually a busy day, well all days are busy but because so many employees gather for the devotional, they bring students from their wards and stakes to the office to get started on their paperwork for PEF loans. We left the office about 16:00 with Frère Mutombo and Kalongi Dieumerci Tshitundu to participate in the Mutombo’s Family Home Evening. When you get off the one or two main roads you don’t have many roads that are paved or the pavement has been maintained but after you get through the juggernaut close to the office we were on a fairly nice road. It wound around nice walled properties, trees and went up in elevation. It even felt cooler. The elevation was something like going along 3700 North to the West up the hill. We passed a property that had a beautiful wrought iron fence around it that followed the curve in the road for quite a distance; Mark said that the fence looked like ones that the Church puts around Temples. Didier said that the “Church Officials” visited this property as part of their information-gathering preliminary work for the temple here. Then he said that this was the Presidential Palace and was where the father of the current “President” was assassinated some years ago. 

We turned off this winding paved road onto a rocky, potholed, lane that in places looked like steps to go down. In my mind I saw images of cars in movies being driven down stairs to escape the police. Then there was a sharp drop and I thought, how will we ever get back up this hill? We turned off this lane into a narrower lane and the home was the first gate on the left. It was a very humble home with the water source out in the yard against the wall enclosure. They had a little garden with Manioc or cassava growing. We went into their living room; the family was gathered, which included a young man unknown to us and three sisters of Sister Mutombo and three little ones, two children of Frère Didier and a niece. 

That was one of the best FHE's I have ever participated in. It was in French but I did understand enough to know that it was a lesson on faith and that faith requires that we ask in prayer and Heavenly Father listens and answers our prayers. President Mutombo is 34 years old and serves in the Stake Presidency as the second counselor. He and his wife traveled to South Africa with their first child, a girl, to be sealed. They now have a son, Dave, that is around one. They are preparing to return to the temple with about eighteen family members to do endowments and sealings for many of their brothers and sisters.

  

Dieumerci asked if we could get back to familiar territory (he wanted to linger longer because his girlfriend is Jennie, one of the three sisters) and I asked him to see if I had the turns correct. He asked which direction do you turn at the top of the lane, I said left. He laughed and said the he would go with us to get us back. I must have been wrong. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be, but we were glad to have Dieumerci with us. We dropped him at a place where he could get transportation to his part of town and continued on a familiar road to our apartment. We got there at 19:00. The drive was in the dark and the hardest part was trying to dodge pedestrians stepping right in front of you. Whew! These forays underscore the reasons why Senior Missionary Couples drive trucks

Trucks for Moons, Sneddons, Smiths, and Gates

 We have a “New” truck, the one that was “totaled” the day we arrived. It is a blue Izusu not quite as big as the Toyota truck we were driving. They spent $8,000 to repair it, but the door on the driver’s side isn’t tight and produces a wind-tunnel sound when your speed gets above 30 miles per hour. We changed trucks on Friday and drove home. Saturday we worked all day on P’day things and then Sunday we tried to start it so we could go to church and the battery was unresponsive. The Moons gave us a ride and Elder Smith "1" got jumper cables so we were able to get to the office on Monday. Getting a battery replacement was a task that took all one day but it is still not right so tomorrow Mark has to spend another day finding out what is wrong with it. I guess he will go with someone that is responsible for the upkeep of the fleet.

We'll say goodbye today from the 10th floor of our building, where we took a rooftop view of the city.

The railroad yards where commuters come in and go out twice a day.

The courtyard of St. Joseph's school, our next door neighbor

 

Lots of light from the setting sun at 5:00 p.m. in Kinshasa

Kitchen Explosion Plus

You've heard of bulging cans. Beware. Tomato paste is sold in three-ounce cans here. I like them because many recipes call for just a few tablespoons of paste, and what do you do with the rest of the can? We were making baked beans from local dry beans, all the work was done, we just needed to add a little tomato to the mix. I picked up a little can and attached the can opener, squeezed the handle sending the blade into the can, and... we had a kitchen explosion.

The red contents glazed my face, pasted my hair, moved on to the white curtain, and onto the ten-foot ceiling. We opened another can of tomato paste, not a bulging one, and got the beans into the oven. Just a half hour of work standing on the kitchen counter to clean the ceiling, take down the curtains and get them into the washer. Just in time to eat a pretty good dinner.

Our dining table is a slab of joined wood, an equatorial tree species called Kambala. The big trees are harvested in the jungle and floated down the Congo river to Kinshasa and offloaded at a river port near us. The immensely heavy timber is then trucked to market.

Since we arrived, the table has shown three problems. The base rocks on the floor, the slab rocks on the base, and the surface was uneven. In addition, the finish was gone, and every sweating drink cup or spill of milk left a stain. Mark has a loan recipient in our program who is a carpenter and exotic wood specialist. He came and looked at the table and gave us a price to rehabilitate it. On the appointed day, he came with two helpers and rebuilt and refinished our table in six hours using only hand tools.

 

They removed the slab from the base, split it into two planks, and planed the parts. They removed old mortise and tenon joints with wood chisels and carved new ones. They glued, rejoined, and clamped the parts together. They scraped and sanded the surface laboriously in the hot sun on our balcony.

They refinished with two coats of primer and two sandings, followed by two coats of varnish. They planed the base and delivered a level, stable table that will be easier to keep clean.

After the workers left, a storm rolled in off the Congo River. The clouds were dark and brooding. The river itself took on a black color, and the wind howled and whistled at our fifth-floor perch.

But, we are grateful for the rain. This is rainy season, but we haven't seen much yet. It cleans the air and bring lots of green growth to everything. We are back to another week of work. On Sunday we will see General Conference broadcasted from DVDs in our chapel. A week later, we will see Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve, and Bishop Gérard Caussé of the Presiding Bishopric visit here. We look forward to the instruction.

Birthday Week Plus

We want to share with you some of our experiences with birthday celebrations. For our birthdays, (Oct 5th and 7th) we prepared and served a real luncheon for our office workers and others who have offices in the same building. They sang "Happy Birthday" in three languages, English, French and Lingala. The singers's names are Mardeau and Hermès and Christian. They made the birthday quite unique and one we do not want to forget. Birthdays are for forgetting when you are over thirty, but this one we want to remember.

One young man in our office asked me if I would teach him how to make rice, because he had purchased a small serving at Shoprite grocery store across the street from our office and he thought it was very expensive. We decided to make the rice-cooking lesson part of the birthday party. We served rice and beans and a poke cake. The young men liked the cake, but I think the older brethren were not too sure about the Jello-soaked cake. Just like missionaries, the young men are hungry and will eat almost anything.

The Relief Society Presidency asked the senior missionary sisters to assist them in showing how to "beautify" their houses with inexpensive projects. The bishop asked the members to focus on the temple and make temple attendance a priority for all members. The idea we came up with was to frame pictures of the Johannesburg, South Africa Temple. As with many R.S. projects, those on the "committee" do a lot of learning. We were sure that this project could not be done in the time allotted so we decided that most of the "prep" would have to be done beforehand. So we had a late night session sewing and cutting with the help of Elder Moon, Sister Moon and Sister Bybee. Elder Smith offered moral support and refreshments – popcorn and licorice.

Wednesday we gathered with the sisters about 3:00 p.m. As always, the numbers increased as time passed. I don't fault these sisters; it is not easy to travel to the chapel, and many have to walk. A transport costs 500 -1,000 CF ($.50 - $1.00 U.S.). It doesn't seem too much, but for some $.50 is more than they can afford. Sister Bybee made a really easy cake and put it in the oven and then we started the "temple project". The sisters worked hard to get their pictures finished and we were able to get home before our 6:00 PM curfew. We were exhausted. I think many appreciated the activity. There is so much talk about the temple that is in process for Kinshasa. There are rumors that they are close to releasing an architect's sketch of what the temple will look like. In other temple districts where a temple is under construction, they have given a copy of the sketch to every member in the temple district. We look forward to seeing it. A brother in our ward is working for the Facilities Management group and said the sketch is coming. Good news.

Sunday we were relaxing after a bit of food, can't call it dinner, when Mark said, "Elaine, look outside!" The fountains in front of our compound are working. This time they have colored lights flashing, changing to the music that we can hear through our walls and windows.

 

Another week comes to a close. We miss all of you so much, but we do enjoy our experience with saints and sinners here.

Profitez, Profitez

It is the end (or is it the beginning) of another week here in Kinshasa. It is getting hotter but little rain. And miracle of miracles, we actually saw a truck that lays down asphalt. We know because the route we travel is called Justice Blvd. and that is the road that is being resurfaced. Talk about a traffic jam, it took us an additional 20 to 30 minutes to get from the compound to the PEF office each of the last three days. (As we drove to church this morning we were able to go the same distance in less than 15 minutes)  At times like this all the drivers "profiter" which means in essence "hesitaters wait and the bold move ahead". Again cars and trucks end up pointed in every direction. In the clip above, you see them using the sidewalk to move ahead. The most fun is when the car in front of you decides to make a U-turn, which can mean a 10-point turn and blocking all lanes from moving; there is no way to profitez, so you wait. When Frère Didier, our director, goes with Mark he makes sure that there are no hesitations, continually telling Mark, "profitez, profitez (in French it means take advantage - even two inches between vehicles is an opportunity to "profitez").

We enjoy working with the members seeking help from the PEF fund. Many want to learn English, a skill that can mean the difference between getting a job and getting a good job. Boris Kabeya works in our office as a paid volunteer, helping Lingala speakers as well as French speakers fill out the application. 

Bonanza for Boris - four sisters come in at once to apply for loans

He is also a great help for Elder and Soeur Smith. He has been applying for work and the fact that he speaks English has helped him get a job with USAID. He just completed a background check and will probably be starting soon. We will miss his help and his smile that reveals his great dimples. Boris learned English while serving a mission in Zambia. The other paid volunteer in our office is Dieumerci Kalongi Tshitundu. He served his mission in South Africa and had many American companions thus his English is really good. He is taking classes here, but plans to go the US to finish his studies. He wanted to go to BYU Idaho but it proved to have too many roadblocks so has applied to Snow College, Ephraim Utah. To study in the States, a student is required to have a sponsor who is willing and able to put out $22,000 to help.

We are always impressed with the beautiful South England scenery Tim and Patcee Powers post on their missionary blog, so we pondered what is it that would give you a sense of what we see as we travel around this city. There seem to be an abundance of structures under construction and de-construction, so we want to share with you some of these structures and the fences that are around the construction sites. 

It looks like squatters took up residence here.

A new couple arrived on Tuesday, Elder and Sister Sneddon from Providence, Utah near Logan. Elder Sneddon was a professor in Lincoln, Nebraska his whole career and recently moved back to Utah so Sister Sneddon could live around the mountains again. She was born in Provo and lived in the Pleasant View area (her ancestral home is now part of BYU). Her maiden name is Baird and I worked with her brother Wilf Baird at Provo High and Timpview High. As always, a small world in the Church.

They are adjusting to restrictions imposed on the missionaries but the food and water are always a challenge. We are getting comfortable with the filtered water, the bleaching of all fresh vegetables and fruits and wiping down all containers. Mark packed his Kangen water ionization system and has attached it to the filtering system provided by the Church, which has made our water safe and good tasting. The humidity and dusty air clogs the pores of the skin and affects the hair in bizarre ways. We have started using the ionization discharge water, called “beauty water”, to wash our faces and hair. It has worked wonders - now the hair behaves somewhat.

A glass of good water on the balcony looking at the Congo River

The three filters in the back with the Kangen machine attached.

The Senior Missionary couples have FHE (Family Home Evening) together once a month and Mark agreed to make crepes for the dessert. Sister Smith 1 will provide the sweet fillings. Mark is getting rather professional about the process.

We made roasted peanuts this week from raw peanuts purchased in the distributor market (very inexpensive.) We removed debris, then washed and roasted them in the oven. Delicious.

Another cooking breakthrough occurred when we found cream of tartar in the supermarket. Using our new food processor, and combining good lemons and cornstarch, sugar, and egg whites, we managed a lemon meringue pie.