Dark and Darker

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

For breakfast this morning we had French toast or as the French would say pain perdu. We take reading labels very seriously here because "truth in labeling" isn't quite like in the states. Countries that provided the ingredients for that meal included Morocco (cooking oil), Egypt (strawberry jam-not sure how close it came to a real strawberry), South Africa (honey), DR Congo (bread, yoghurt, and eggs), and Ireland through Switzerland (powdered milk made in Ireland by a Swiss company). We purchased paper towels the first week we were here. They proved to be good in the sense that they didn't disintegrate on contact with anything. Try as we may without checking all the sales slips we cannot remember where we purchased them. As with so many things, here today, gone tomorrow. The stores get shipments from suppliers and they don't know what will be in them so the possibility exists that they may never have that item again.

The same is true for fresh fruits and vegetables. Many stores that cater to the expat crowd have European fruits and vegetables, but the prices are alarming. We wanted to make a dish with lemon juice so we bought a lemon for 90 cents, not bad (gulp). We try to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables because they are cheaper and fresher. We have fresh tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, courgette (a zucchini-like veggie), green peppers, onions and just yesterday fresh locally grown cabbage. For comparison, the South African store, Shoprite, had cabbage imported that cost 6 to 10 dollars for a medium-sized head. The cabbage we purchased yesterday was really fresh and only cost $3 for a medium-size head. The DRC currency is called Francs Congolais so I think sometimes the real cost in dollars is less - $3 for a head of cabbage - outrageous.

We made one of our favorite salads “Niçoise” with fresh green beans, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, olives, green onion, red wine vinaigrette and tuna. Fresh tuna, sushi quality, is not available and even it were it may not be safe so we used a can of tuna which is of pretty good quality. When fresh foods are available it is good to take advantage without delay. We also found sweet potatoes here. The sweet potato has quite a history and it is thought that it originated here. The ones we bought were quite gnarly but we had mashed sweet potatoes with our dinner and they were the best, super sweet.

Don't mean to spend so much time talking about food and the method of acquiring it but it does take up a lot of our time.

Janine, my sister-in-law wrote that there was snow on the mountains and cool weather in the valley. I look out the window of our home office (actually a second bedroom) and watch the day turn into night in a matter of minutes, I mean in minutes. The same thing happens every day - 5:20 p.m. Sun goes out of sight and by 5:50 it’s dusk and 6:10 pm it is dark. As Miracle Max said in Princess Bride, "There is a big difference being mostly dead and being all dead." Well here in Kinshasa, Congo, when it is mostly dark it is all dark, no moon nor stars can be seen. It is dark. Light returns about 5:30 AM. Today it was as if a huge forest fire was burning close by so no sun was detected until midday.

Our construction site this week is the huge building across the street from our apartment. Ralph, my brother, could tell us the cost of the two massive cranes on top of this building said to be in "bankruptcy" and no work has occurred during the years that missionaries have been in this building - about six years. One Saturday we saw some men gathered on the ground floor but they are the only humans we have seen. Cement, cinder block and rebar are the major construction materials used here as you can see. Much of the construction sites are on hold. It is said that they build until the money runs out and then they wait until they get more money, sometimes years.

This is what it will look like when (if) finished.

The Perpetual Education Fund office work

Mark here:

We are called as Perpetual Education Fund Self-Reliance missionaries. The Fund is a wonderful thing that gets many of our young people into school to prepare for a better future. We have 300 recipients here in Kinshasa, and are growing here, and starting in Lubumbashi, 1,200 miles to the east. Next year, we are told we will begin helping church members who have no other livelihood to start small businesses of their own.

One of our duties is to contact all of our loan recipients by phone once a month. We can’t mail them a statement, because there is no mail service here. We encourage them in their studies and assess problems. For them to make a loan payment at the bank is challenging, because the bank system itself is pretty young in the country. Nonetheless, they learn responsibility and self-reliance when they keep their commitments faithfully.

The students are required to make a small loan payment ($5) every month while they are in school, more after graduation. Very often, a student who is behind in his payments will commit to come see us or to make a payment at the bank. What we found is that those commitments are usually forgotten, so I began to make a record of them and watch for the completion of the student’s intentions. Occasionally we send a text message reminder. The result is fewer students are behind on their loans.

Part of the process of getting a P.E.F. student loan is an extensive online application. The students approach this after the "Planning for Success" workshop, and interviews with church leaders. Because of power outages, slow connections, server slowdowns, etc., they sometimes take a full day on the computers in our office to apply.

This week, Elaine took her beautiful African fabric (actually imported from Holland), and made a simple bedspread for our bed.

Rainy season is upon us, so we experienced the drive home in the rain this week. The video is from inside our Toyota pickup truck. Along the way an oncoming car flashes the headlights at us, indicating that he wants to turn in front of us. We've learned to do this in hopelessly congested traffic. On rainy days, all the street vendors disappear except for umbrella salespeople. This is a pretty mellow drive home, enjoyable to see the rain for dry-country people from Utah. Our rainy season lasts 9 months, we are told.

We pass the gas station where we buy fuel. Gas is about $6 a gallon, not bad. After the gas station we see one of the innumerable buildings under construction in Kinshasa. Elaine has started a photo collection of them. People start buildings here and run out of money, but might come back later and pick up where they left off.

Just this morning, we learned that the wall on the left in this video is that of the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa. We pass it every day, but it doesn't advertise itself prominently. Just yesterday one of our P.E.F. workers, Boris, had a background check there for his new employment at the U.S. Aid Agency. As we pass the embassy, you can barely see the U.S. flag through the tree on the left.

Amazing grace

"Toto, I think we are not in Kansas anymore" a wonderful line from The Wizard of Oz has become my oft quoted paraphrase, Frère Smith, I think we are not in Kansas anymore. (Remember Dorothy's last name is Gale-my maiden name- after all).

It has been an eventful week, some good and some challenging, but mostly good. Indulge me in a little prefacing. We recounted in great detail Mark's encounter with the police concerning a stop sign that was not visible and how upsetting it was for both of us even though I was not in the truck at the time. Well guess what? The sign has been replaced and now faces the traffic lane. The police have been there each day and traffic seems to flow a little better. I was feeling I might not be able to endure this endless tension of fearing possible harassment by the police as well as bad guys. Getting up and getting going was getting hard as was sleeping.

My concerns felt like Elder Quentin L. Cook's phrase he used in a Conference talk, "I hope ya know we had a hard time". I prayed mightily explaining to Heavenly Father that this fear was making it impossible for me to function and I couldn't see myself surviving for eighteen months. I also asked that my answer not be another trial to see if I could handle it, but just some indication that I might be shown something to help. Monday when we left the office around 5:00 PM we drove to the "dreaded intersection" and stopped well before the stop sign and one of the officers waved us forward, then motioned us to pull over to the right side of the road. Oh no - not more of what I was dreading. Mark rolled down the window and the officer said something to him in French and Mark yelled, "Oh NO".

Well, that is enough to make one's heart stop. He turned to me and said the officer informed him that his back left tire was FLAT, I mean FLAT. The officer stopped the rest of the traffic going the same direction, made a space for Mark to pull off the road and we were surrounded by four police and several other bystanders. I don't know if they asked if they could help and I didn't understand or if they all left their "duties" and started to change the tire. They would not let me do anything, anyway what do I know about changing a tire on a car let alone on a Toyota truck? Mark called the mission office to talk to someone about where to find the spare tire and how were we to get it on. No one answered, so he called Frère Didier, our "boss". Mark handed his phone to one of the policeman (something we have been told not to do) and Didier explained how to get the tire off, where to find the jack, etc., etc. All these police and bystanders pitched in and changed the tire, not an easy task anywhere but really not easy here. They would not allow Mark to help, no they said, they would take care of it. A half hour later we were back on the road again with police help getting back into the flow of traffic. As one of the bystanders completed the tightening of the bolts, another policeman wearing a different uniform who had stood by and watched most of the time, checked to make sure they were tight. We got out all our Congolese francs and willingly paid each one a little something, and believe me it was little.

It appears that the man that did the most work, lying down in the road, checking all steps taken came out of a shop that serviced heavy equipment. By the time the flat tire was replaced, Mark had learned all the names of the policemen and policewoman. As we drove away, I started to cry, which startled Mark a bit. When I was able to talk, I explained to him what I had prayed for that very morning and as I watched them rally to our aid, I knew that it was an answer to my prayer, a peace I have not felt since arriving here. I am not naive enough to believe that nothing challenging will happen the next 17 months, but I think my anxiety level has been reduced measurably. It even looks and feels different now.

Now how can we get someone to mount the repaired tire back under the bed of the truck?

We have had a busy week in the office with new loans to process, a partition built for Frère Didier to have some privacy to interview applicants, a party to celebrate our 100% contacting loan recipients that are behind on their payments, and one of our volunteers - Boris - getting a job with USAID (the office that occupies the first three floors of the building where we live). 

Mark is becoming acquainted with a lot of this city as he drives Frère Didier to banks, the Temporal Affairs office, schools to pay tuition for our PEF applicants, and more banks.

I finished some sewing and altering. There is a Singer sewing machine that passes around the mission couples, works well, but it is not my Bernina. I had to take in Mark's pants; he is losing some weight. I hesitated, because we are finding ways to add variety to our diet. We buy eggs from a member and they deliver them to the mission office where we pick them up. We found some Quaker Old Fashioned Oats today, so we can get a little more fiber. We purchased dry beans from the public outdoor market where the vendors go to get stuff to sell in their little shops or on the street. Elder and Sister Moon are humanitarian missionaries and go out near this public market and can buy stuff, but it is in bulk. They buy 100 pounds of flour ground to their own specifications and are willing to sell us some of that. We used this flour to make tortillas. We asked them if they could buy peanuts there and they said yes, so we should have some of those soon.

We are sending some money with the Bybees, who "have to go" to South Africa for a meeting of the Public Affairs Missionaries from our region. We want them to buy some nuts like walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts and almonds. Mark had some problems with an infection, but now with the help of Sister Bybee's essential oils, he is much better. 

Mark's task today, Saturday P-day, was to clean the floors - first sweeping then wet mopping. 

The water as it comes out of the tap. Mark's Crocs are floating awaiting cleaning.

We fill the tub with water because it is the only hot water in the place. The pictures tell an interesting story, the first is what it looks like straight from the tap and what it looks like after scrubbing the floor. The first is scary enough, but the floors are seldom free from the fine dirt that seems to get inside no matter that the windows and doors are shut all the time. 

The water after mopping the floor.

The senior missionaries make us welcome

We have completed three weeks in the Congo. We met the Mission President the night we arrived. He was doing his maiden "airport" pickup. He had with him three couples along with his wife. The next day President and Sister Cook got on a plane to visit some of the far-flung parts of his mission followed by a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa for a meeting of all the mission presidents serving in the Africa Southeast Area. They returned Sunday or Monday and invited the senior missionaries to dinner, something he said they like to do the day after a couple arrives but they were unable to do because of their own very hectic schedule. This dinner was marvelous, chicken, oven roasted potatoes, coleslaw, petite peas and onions, with chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert.

Mark described the first four days in Kinshasa as follows:

"President Cook and wife and the couples took turns hosting us to wonderful meals. Wednesday, President Cook and his wife picked us up at our "doorstep" and took us to their apartment. We told the mission president about son Michael coming from Arizona see us before we left and going to our setting apart, and giving the prayer. He was very happy for us. They fed us dinner, and it was really good. It turns out that President Cook was on a mission with me in Paris in 1969-71. He actually arrived in 1970. One apartment that he stayed in was in Nogent-sur-Marne in Paris. It was a chapel on the ground floor, and missionary quarters on the second/third floor. I lived in it just prior to him being there. He mentioned that there was a Dutchman and his family living there on the third floor, who was a Church Physical Facilities employee assigned to oversee chapel construction on the grounds.

It all came back to me then that my companion and I lived on the third floor there, and that when the Dutch family arrived, we were displaced to the second floor. One of the things that came from that was that the apartment, which was always chilly became very comfortable, because the man knew how to maintain the furnaces, a great boon to us. I told Pres. Cook that the Dutchman told us that his wife wanted us to come to dinner the week after they arrived, and what did we want to eat? I said "Pot au feu" (pot roast). He replied that he didn't know what that was, but they would find out and serve it to us. They did, and it was excellent. Well it turns out that the dinner that Sis. Cook prepared for us was also an excellent pot au feu with tender beef roast, moist delicious potatoes, and really well-cooked carrots all in a sweet gravy.
 
It was most interesting to talk about those old days and mutual friends, particularly Bruce Brown. We also had Belgian bread and butter, with jam and honey, fresh salad with Knorr Greek dressing and chilled bottled water. For dessert, they served a chocolate sheet cake with Neapolitan ice cream." 

On other nights, the Moons served Mexican enchiladas, the Bybees served a delicious roasted chicken meal with baked sweet potatoes, and a green salad with tomatoes. For dessert, Sister Bybee had made a wonderful plantain pudding. The Smiths 1 treated us to a wonderful mac and cheese dinner (the cheeses were the best Europe has to offer), stewed tomatoes and green peas. On Monday for FHE the Gates had a dessert evening and served a wonderful rice and raisin pudding for all the couples. 

Our own efforts at cooking have a long way to go. We are still trying to find ingredients we like to use like baking soda, which I thought would be easy. A previous missionary here said that cream of tartar was not available, but we found it at ShopRite and now I need to know what to do with it. Each of the couples has taken us shopping for food to favorite places, including produce stands by the road.

ShopRite grocery. Across the road from our office.

I want to make Mark's favorite cake, one that his Sister Nancy made for the family, chocolate with boiled frosting. Haven't found cocoa yet and a boxed cake costs around $12 US. Will keep looking. It is common for a store to have an item you like but the next time you go, they don't have it. We did find plain yoghurt yesterday, a container of less than 6 oz. for $2.25 - yikes. Hope we can use it as a start to make our own. We bought a thermometer for that purpose. Time will tell. 
 
We have been able to buy peanut butter on sale for about $1 for 400 g, about 14 oz. We had to make three dozen cookies for the Zone Conference earlier this week and they turned out okay. We used peanut butter and oatmeal. The Bybees gave us a carton of Quaker Oats and we were sure we could buy some, so we used all we had. We went shopping yesterday and could not find oats.

Our first Missionary Zone Conference was Tuesday in the Seminary and Institute building. Our PEF Self-Reliance Office is in the same building, across the hall. Elder Carl B. Cook, a Seventy, a General Authority of the Church, presided and taught the missionaries. He speaks only English so it was good for me to hear the training in both languages and Mark was able to serve as a translator for Sister Cook. The training centered around the concept of asking questions and referred us missionaries to Preach My Gospel. They served the missionaries lunch with the cookies for dessert. Many of the African missionaries declined the cookies; they are not too fond of sweets. Mark just reminded me that they drank a very sweet soda pop, go figure.

Wednesday, I was asked by the missionary Zone Leader to participate in a discussion two sisters were teaching because the investigator was a single male. He realized that I couldn't speak French, but he was desperate. The night before we had been asked at dinner by Elder Cook to recount our best day in the mission. I couldn't come up with an answer, because the best day was the next day when I got to participate in teaching the principles of tithing and offerings to an investigator. Ça c'est cool!

"On the take..."

Saturday, August 24

How to describe the past week, or has it been a little more than a week? We were feeling really blessed and protected because we have been here for three weeks and have yet to be stopped by the "police". Well, we made up for it in a two-day period. The first stop we were able to plead ignorance and they really had no justifiable reason for stopping us, so they sent us on our way. The day after, Mark was driving our office manager, Didier Mutombo, to a Western Union office to get a money order from a PEF student making a payment. I stayed at the office, so Mark had to go through the hellish experience with the police on his own with Frère Didier. Frère Didier was a great help and had some money to "pay" the fine. I will let Mark give the details, but I characterize it as the bullies with their spiked boards, their gang mentality and their clubs, and the defenseless "white" driver. It didn't seem to help that he had a local with him. I guess the outcome was better than most because it cost Mark $20 for not stopping at a "stop" sign. Other missionaries have had to pay more, one $120. Hope we can document the "sign" to illustrate the "keystone cop" qualities of their harassment. Note that the stop sign points the wrong way. You can read it only when you pass it.

 An article in the current National Geographic Magazine describes the situation: 

Only a few of Kinshasa’s roads are paved. Its schools are unaffordable for most Kinois. Despite its status as the capital city of the second largest country in all of Africa, Kinshasa is a marvel of dysfunction. Each of the government ministries has to be, as one U.S. official tactfully puts it, “basically self-financing”—meaning much of the money it has is generated by bribery and extortion. This is especially true of the police, who, says the aid adviser, “are one hundred percent on the take. Every one of them is an officer for one reason: to collect for himself.”

Mark has had three episodes of severe pain in his right side a few inches above his waist. Without real medical care options, we rely on the Priesthood for blessings. Any diagnosis is based completely on conjecture. We do have a nurse, Sister Moon, but nothing can be confirmed - only a guessing game. 

We went "shopping" as a group of three couples and Sister Smith 1. It felt like a school outing. We went to a store called American Eagle. They have three floors in their building, the first level is sort of like a Lowe's store with drapery fabric, carpet, hardware, towels and much more, the second floor was all office furniture. One desk on display was marked $1,000 plus, quite plush for Kinshasa. The third floor was home furnishings like leather furniture of all kinds, very expensive. 

 The store is owned by a Lebanese family by way of New Jersey and Detroit running a very profitable business here. We met two or three of the sons. One is a medical doctor, but decided because of Obamacare he would not be able to make enough money to pay for his education let alone make a good living for his family, so he works in the family business, spending time in DR Congo and at home in Detroit or New Jersey.

Our second stop was at the fabric ally. They have between 30 and 50 stalls selling the same thing, fabric. The fabric comes in 6-yard pieces and 12-yard pieces. I bought a 12-yard piece for $13. (On closer inspection the piece was not twelve yards but six - they left the labels on but cut out six yards from the center of the bolt - a little bit of a problem here concerning honesty). When you "discuss" the price with some vendors, with the flick of the wrist they send you on your way. The woman we talked to agreed to a lower amount but then acted as if we were the enemy, spitting on the ground as we left. She was upset when I was dumb enough to pay for what I thought was twelve yards and get six. The fabric is manufactured using a process called "Finex wax - guaranteed wax blocked print". One sister told the story that the Dutch developed the method of printing on fabric but failed to attract any interest in Western European countries like Belgium and France. So the Dutch shipped the fabric to the colonies in Africa where it became a huge success and is today. The Africans have added their own style with bold colors and prints, some leaning to the garish.

The third stop was the "thieves market", land of the gaudy, shoddy trinket trade. They sell "paintings", (I was going to call it art but there isn't much there to call art). Our outing ended abruptly when Mark had another attack of pain in his side. We have spent the rest of the day at home working on this and that. 

I forgot there was another stop, Bononos, a gallery that has legitimately beautiful African crafts and some ancient artifacts for sale but way too expensive for this Smith couple.

 

Sunday, August 25

We attend church in a building next to the office where we work (just in front of our buildings the Kinshasa Temple will be built). We were asked to go to that ward because it is within the boundaries of that ward. At one time they assigned couples to be member support to branches far afield but it was too hard and dangerous for the couples to drive that far. The members in those branches would let them do all the work as well as request "help" constantly. We see that some here with people hanging around the church coming up to us and in a pleading voice, asking us for help (which means money) to take a transport.

Elder Carl B. Cook, a member of the Presidency of the Africa Southeast Area will be here this week. The members are always so excited to have a "General Authority" visit. The members were advised that they had to be in their seats thirty minutes before the meeting times. The custodial/groundskeepers have been working hard to plant new flowers around the two buildings and get things clean, clean, clean. (I wonder what it will be like when Elder Bednar, an Apostle, comes in November.)        

The First Week

This is Tuesday, one week into the mission. Mark has the responsibility to call PEF loan recipients to discuss their payment arrears. Most are nice and promise that they will be in “this afternoon” or “tomorrow morning” to bring in a payment. There seems to be a universal loss of memory, because there has not as yet anyone come in today, yesterday, or ever. I have the task of processing PEF loan applications that have been completed. All the documentation has to be sent to the South Africa Area Office for approval and for funding. We have had two applications this first week.

Mark found duty-free Belgian chocolate in the Brussels airport.

We arrived Tuesday August 7 on Brussels Air. The knee space was approximately one inch larger than the United flights from Washington D.C. to Brussels and from Salt Lake to Washington D.C., so it felt less like a straitjacket. We were able to sleep some on that flight so we weren’t too bleary to “enjoy” the arrival routine. The airbus can accommodate about 270 passengers. The flight was not a sellout but substantial. The flight went from Brussels to Luanda, Angola, an hour farther south than Kinshasa. A lot of passengers deplaned. What is this, why did we fly over Kinshasa to Luanda? No answer. Then they filled the plane again for the one-hour flight back to Kinshasa. Only problem - it was an additional one-hour wait on the ground before we could travel on. We were fortunate that there was not a major delay on any of the flights. We had to carry our baggage down metal stairs, Mark with his pillow under one arm, a computer bag on one shoulder, the water filter on the other, and a 40-lb. carry-one bag. I had one big shoulder bag and a 40-lb. carry-on bag. About this pillow. He left the pillow in the Salt Lake Airport outside security. He had to rush back hoping it would be there, but didn't want to go through security again. A friendly airport policeman fetched the pillow, sent it through scan, and we went on our way to our flight. The same pillow was left on the final flight after we gathered our things, so Mark had to swim upstream to retrieve it. So the pillow was the challenge. (Below is the cacophony of baggage claim at the Kinshasa Airport.)

We expected to have a vehicle and a driver’s license for Mark the first day (missionary sisters are not permitted to drive; it is hard enough for the brothers).  Now that a week has passed, we are still without both so another missionary couple gets to chauffeur us to the office and back. They have been kind to take us to stores and roadside stands to get food, so we do have something to eat. (Below is a clip of life in the Perpetual Education Fund Self-Reliance office.)

The couples assigned to Kinshasa in various callings took turns inviting the "Smiths 2" (another Smith couple is the "Smiths 1") to dinner the first four days. What a help while you are getting the hang of the system. The Smiths 1 had a wonderful meal featuring macaroni and cheese (Sister Smith 1 loves the cheese here). The Moons served Mexican dinner with enchiladas. The Bybees served a great chicken meal with haricots verts (green beans), sweet potato, and a beautiful green salad with a dessert made of plantains. President Cook and Sister Cook served a pot roast dinner; we were blessed, because beef roasts are scarce and very expensive. The Gates held a dessert night on Sunday for all the couples. Elder Gates' assignment is construction. He made a great rice pudding.

Missionary Training

Mark and I were asked to check into the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo between 10:30 – 11:00 AM on Monday 22^nd of July. There was a lot left undone (like packing bags, cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer) but Monday arrived and we were able to mow the lawn before we left the house for the MTC.

Most of the Senior Couples assigned to the MTC that week were in residence at the MTC or close by but a few of us chose to remain at home during the training period. There were 91 missionaries in our group, seven single women and the rest man and wife companionships.

We were divided into "districts". Our district was composed of five couples and two single sisters. Three of our teachers joined us in this photo. The photo was taken in our classroom on the last day and the last hour of "Preach My Gospel" training. All except the Smiths and the single sisters leave for their assignments tonight or tomorrow. The couples will be serving in places like Nebraska, Montreal, New Hampshire, and Zambia.

The five days were filled with great classes, great atmosphere, great people both class members and teachers. Our teachers were mostly young men and women between 21 and 27. All were returned missionaries with the assignment to teach the senior missionaries how to succeed. I often thought of the phrase, “from the mouths of babes” and they were great. One of our teachers hopes to attend law school so he is gathering “lawyer” jokes, which he shared with us. 

We were able to eat lunch with the “real” missionaries that number around 3,000 at the present time. They were assigned a specific time to go to their meals so lunch was served over a three-hour period. It is quite a production to feed three meals a day to thousands of missionaries, most of them with big appetites.

Mark on Skype with Marcel

Mark was able to meet in person his pre-MTC tutor, Marcel Kalenga. We had lunch with him. Wonderful young man working as a tutor and pursuing a degree at BYU. Marcel joined us at the MTC cafeteria. Marcel is Congolese and not only helped Mark refresh his French language skills but also helped us understand the local culture. He served his mission in Zambia and one of his companions, Boris Kabeya, now works in the office where we are assigned to serve.

Mark and Marcel

We are a bit concerned about buying "safe" affordable food to eat in Kinshasa. A senior missionary spent $6 for one orange at an expat grocery store, so we asked Marcel if there were oranges more reasonably priced. He was a bit incredulous about the $6 orange. He said that oranges in the public marché can be had for ten cents U.S. most of the time and a ten cents a dozen in season. He didn't advise, however, that we do the shopping at le marché. He suggested we send his friend Boris instead. 

We will begin phase two tomorrow, Saturday, at 8:30 AM at the MTC. The missionaries who have been asked to serve in the Perpetual Education Fund Self-Reliance Centers will receive specialized training. We are looking forward to it.