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.