Shopping

16 March 2011

Lubumbashi, Congo

Today was a moving day.  That is President Packer decided to move a few things from the old mission home to the new mission home.  We already live at the new mission home on the second floor above the mission office.  The new mission home is located in a section of Lubumbashi called “Golf” because of the golf course located here.  The principle reason for the move is that the electric power is much more reliable here.  The office couple have been without city power for 4 days, relying on the generator of the owner of their apartment. 

A trademark of the Church is how well it takes care of its missionaries.  Here is a picture of the 3-filter water purifier found in every missionary apartment.  I assume that the missionaries in Hong Kong also had this device.  The missionaries in the famous city of Laputa (where there is no electricity) use these filters attached to a hand pump.  Laputa is famous because the Church installed a fresh water system for this town of 150,000 people located deep in the heart of the Congo.  There are 4 missionaries there and 3000 members. 

Congo Money

 

Here on my bed you see an example of Congo money.  The highest denomination Congo bill is 500 francs.   The lowest is 50 francs.  US money is used for bigger bills.  There are no coins.    

This large avocado we bought on the street cost 1500 francs.  Move the decimal point 3 spaces to the left for an approximate cost in dollars: $1.50.  We ate half of the avocado with sliced tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs for dinner last night.  It was a little hard at the base but ripe and flavorful at the top.

 

We also bought bananas on the street.  We stopped a woman carrying a very large basket of 50 to 75 bananas on her head.  Since the basket was so heavy, the avocado vender helped her lower the basket to the ground.  1000 francs bought 4 small bananas.  The bananas looked a little bruised and overripe but were in fact still a little green tasting. 

The electrical outlets are mostly European types, though our toaster needs an adapter from British (like in Hong Kong) to the two round prongs.  We found a Chinese power strip fulfills all our needs.  We found it when we bought our rice cooker in the Indian-owed “Groupe Jambo”.  If you have read any of the “#1 Lady Detective” novels about Botswana, you will remember that many stores in Africa are owned by Indian companies.  The “2^nd floor manager” is from a town in central India and will be here until 2012. 

 

On the 1^st floor we bought a few more groceries.  We bought 21 items for 40,854 francs (40854 francs/911 = $44.85).  The checkout lady refused my $100 bill because it was printed in 2001.  Brother Wilson had a bill printed in 2006 that was accepted.  The mission president takes these older bills to South Africa where the banks aren’t so picky. 

In a future blog we’ll explain our new assignment here.  The day we arrived, we were changed from “public affairs” to “whatever the mission president needs”.

We know that all is well with you because the Lord is mindful of your needs.

Elder William and Sister Ann Moore

Safe Arrival

   

We arrived safely and were met at the airport in Lubumbashi and ushered through customs after about a 30 minute delay.  The mission president (Gary Packer) had already loaded our 3 suitcases which made it without a surcharge from South African Airlines.

This is the countryside from the airport into town.  From the air we observed a countryside dotted with little houses linked by dirt roads.  

Street scenes.  The van pictured here is public transportation.  One man drives and one collects fares from passengers who sit on (3?) wooden benches.   The fare might be just 100 francs (20 cents) or maybe more due to the high price of fuel.  These second-hand vans are called "dubai" after their country of origin.

Notice the clear sky.  It has rained several evenings but not yet during the day.  The rainy season is coming to an end.  

Some vehicles are people powered.  We also saw men struggling with over-loaded bicycles.

Store fronts

The present mission home/office.  At this moment I'm sitting in the office struggling with this blog and a slow internet.  Next month the mission home/office will move to where we live.  To access the driveway the toyota diesel pickup turns off the main road, splashes through a red puddle and honks at the brown gate.  A man opens the door (on call 24/7).  

This is our second floor apartment above the new mission office.  The white Toyota is one like we will have.  It will be a nightmare driving the narrow streets.  This is a newer neighborhood with better water and more reliable power.  The mayor lives in this section of town so we hope all the services will be better.  The street (Diwai Boulevard) is not paved (yet).  Our apartment is not completely ready.  We will use the mission office kitchen until ours is ready.  

Yesterday we went shopping.  We spent $157  in food stuffs from an OK store.  Paid in US dollars and received Congolese francs in change.  Bought bananas on the street with the francs.

The mission president will give us our assignment next Monday.  

Ate dinner with two missionaries going home and one coming.  They come from big families.  The one elder going home is from Ivory Coast and might have a hard time since the airport is closed due to the political dilemma (2 presidents). The one coming is a sister from Cameron.  We accompanied her to one of the sisters' apartments (an old Belgium home at the end of bumpy roads but in a nice area of town).   There are 16 sisters in the mission.  The mission rents the apartments and gives each missionary cash each month for living expenses (about $120 a month).  There are no ATM's here.  

The "green" missionaries,

Bill and Ann Moore

Safe Arrival

We arrived without incident. 


We have tried to add pictures to this blog but without success so far.  What follows is the outline of the blog:

1.     Salt Lake to Atlanta = the two last seats in the back of the plane next to the rest room

2.     Atlanta to Johannesburg = 16 hours/ 8500 miles = the two last seats in the back of the plane next to the rest room

3.     Two hotel reservations in Johannesburg (we chose the one with the nice restaurant)

4.     Johannesburg to Lubumbashi with a flight of businessman = in the middle of the plane.

5.     Met at the airport and ushered through customs = our bags made it all the way without a surcharge and without a bribe.   

We won’t have internet in our apartment until the new mission home moves in on April 1^st, but we will be able to use the old mission home’s internet. 

We will be safe here.  The people are all very friendly.  We have a nice place to live: President Packer says ours is the nicest missionary apartment in Africa.  

Safe Arrival

Public Affairs Training

We've just completed the 3 days of Public Affairs training at the Joseph Smith Building in Salt Lake.  The first day we sang the first 2 verses of "Called to Serve" with new lyrics.

1. We the couples recently retired
    Heard our prophet's missionary call.
    With the faith and strength that is required
    We respond one and all.

Chorus:
    Couples make a difference
    In the world of here and now
    Couples make a difference
    And we're to show you how
    For decades we have labored
    And we've shed blood sweat and tears
    God our strength shall be
    We'll serve him throughout all our coming years.

2. We are couples who are getting older
    Left our *kids and grandchildren behind
    New responsibilities to shoulder
    Challenges of every kind.

3. We the couples of a royal army
    Called to serve in lands both far and near
    Leaving home and all our friends and family
    And a comfort zone so dear.

4. We the couples of a noble birthright
    Here to represent our Lord and King
    As we labor with our heart and Might
    Precious souls to Him we bring.

The oft repeated theme of our training; We Follow Jesus Christ.  That's why we Saints do everything in the Church.  Reminds me of Moses 5 when the angel told Adam and Eve why they were asked to offer sacrifices.  

Our major calling: the Training of Public Affairs Counsels on the Core Purpose and Process for Building
Relationships with Opinion Leaders.

There is a three step process:
1. Identify local issues relevant to the Church
2. Identify the opinion leaders (influencers) who can help resolve Step 1.
3. Create road maps to reach the opinion leaders

We make friends for the Church in an open, genuine and truthful manner.

If you want to know more about all this, just log on to newsroom.lds.org.

We fly out Monday morning.  The next blog will be from Lubumbashi, if we survive the flight.

Bill and Ann Moore

Setting Apart

Sorry no pictures today.

Sunday evening at 8 p.m. our stake president came to our home to set us apart.  Two sons and the bishop also came.  We were interested in the blessing the Lord would give us through His servant.  Settings apart are one time that the Lord speaks directly to us.  Just a few of the multitude of blessings follow:

The Lord blessed Ann that she would be able to communicate, that she would have the gift of tongues, that she would be a leader, that the people would see the light in her countenance and want that light in their lives.  She was blessed that she would have an influence on families being united for eternity.  Considering the poorness of the DRC and the nearest temple being 1000 miles south in Johannesburg, that is a major prophecy.  She was promised good health and energy.  The Lord thanked Ann for her willingness to serve.

The Lord also blessed Bill with good health and energy, that he would speak the language fluently, that he would be protected and know what to do.  The Lord reminded Bill to follow the directions of the Mission President.  The Lord thanked Bill for being a good example on the members of the ward and stake to serve missions.  Just today in Church an elder asked me what he needed to do to prepare financially for a mission.  He had heard us talk about putting the date on the calendar, even if they had little children.  My advice was no debt, including a home mortgage.

We were promised so many blessings.  The blessing was so personal and tailored specifically for each of us.  We are so thankful for the Priesthood and the willingness of our leaders to give of their time to bless our lives.

Tomorrow (Monday) we start taking our daily malaria tablets (an antibiotic).  Hope we can find yogurt in Lubumbashi to resupply our systems with good bacteria after the malaria pill kills everything else.  Tuesday we start our training in Public Affairs in Salt Lake for 3 days.  We'll come home to an almost empty house each evening.  My sons helped us move the furniture into the basement in preparation for Ann's niece who will housesit for us.  We trust that she will treat the home well.  It's better to have someone in the home, but there are numerous horror stories of trusted and close relatives trashing a mission couple's home.

Two of the major concerns of senior missionaries are #1 What to do with our home? and #2 How much money will the mission cost?  Preparations for a mission have many hidden costs: dentist, doctor, immunizations, clothing, batteries for hearing aids, even an 18 month's supply of vitamin pills adds up.  Since Medicare doesn't cover outside of the United States, we needed special insurance from the Church.  But the good thing is that there are people in the Missionary Department who helped us complete all the necessary steps.  The mission staff in the Congo have found a nice apartment for us.  It's like going to the temple for the first time: there are workers to help on every step of way.

Lubumbashi

There is a place

a name

That conjures up terror

and trepidation

A wild country that

speaks of night mares and

violent death

The largest rain forest in Africa

As full of mystery today

as it was a century ago.

One of the last great wild places on Earth

The fabled "Heart of Darkness"

Congo

***Dialogue from BBC DVD

"Natural World: Africa and Europe"

(available from SL Co Library)

When we tell people we have been called to the Congo on our mission, the first thing most people say is: "Be safe!"

We were both willing to go. But the Lord has been very kind to us. We gave us what we desired. Sweet Sister Ann is a mosquito magnet. The Lord has blessed Lubumbashi with few mosquitos. Ann's first choice for a mission was Hawaii. Well, Lubumbashi is in Central Africa, but at an altitude of 4000 feet. We've monitored summer temperatures in the high 70's. Almost Hawaii.

What follows is from President and Sister Headlee's website. President Headlee is the mission president in the Kinshasa Mission. The Lubumbashi Mission was split off from his mission about 7 months ago.

LUBUMBASHI

President Mike and Sister Pam Headlee administer the DR Congo Mission. They have a web site: headleefamily.net. I pass on a post about Lubumbashi which has been a mission for about 7 months.

Posted on July 15, 2009 at 10:35 pm in Uncategorized

http://headleefamily.net/page/3/

It just rolls off your tongue! ….lube ume bosh ee… It is at the southeast end of the Congo. It is about 1000 miles from Kinshasa. There are two LDS stakes here and they are growing very fast. It is possible that we could see 2 more stakes here before we leave. It felt a lot like being in Zambia…possibly because it is only 40 miles from the Zambian border. We came to Lubumbashi to have a zone conference and meet the missionaries. There is a couples’ home here, which is vacant right now because our couple assigned here doesn’t arrive until Sept 7th or 8th. We came down one day and President Headlee met with the 2 stake presidents, had a zone conference the next day, the following day we drove to Likasi (about 2 hours drive away) for a small zone conference and then drove back the same day. We left the following morning. I was thinking that all this travel would be a drag, but actually it is really nice to get out of Kinshasa and visit some these pleasant (and rural) areas away from the big city.

One of 7 LDS chapels in Lubumbashi (click on photo to enlarge)

How big is Africa? (click on photo to enlarge)

Are you as surprised as we are? The Lord is doing great things in "The Heart of Darkness".

Elder William and Sister Ann Moore

(We depart on March 7th)