On 1 July 2010 the Democratic Republic of the Congo Lubumbashi Mission was created from the DRC Kinshasa Mission, with President and Sister Gary and Paula Packer called as mission president.
January 10-14, 2011, Ron and I made our second trip to Lubumbashi to present security training to 12 mission leaders and missionaries on issues specific to them and 20 stake and unit leaders regarding priesthood stewarship of meetinghouses. As French is spoken in DRC we somewhat anxiously anticipated our first experience offering training interpreted by translators. With fond memories of our first trip with Julie B. Beck in May 2010, we were excited to return to this city in southeast DRC.
Staying in the mission home at the gracious invitation of the Packers, we were pleased to become reacquainted from knowing them previously in Johannesburg. This is their third mission as senior missionaries--the first they served as workers in the Johannesburg Temple and the second as executive secretary in the Area Office.
Currently there are only three senior missionary couples serving in this mission with President and Sister Packer: Greg and Kathy Wilson as the mission office couple in Lubumbashi (pictured below on the left with President and Sister Packer on the right) and Elders and Sisters Jameson and Frogley providing member and leader support in Bujumbura, Burundi. If you speak French and would like a remarkable Congo experience, this may be the mission for you!
We were delighted to learn that Brent and Lorraine Jameson who we met in Lubumbashi in May 2010 have been called as a French-speaking mission president and will receive their assignment in March.
Arriving also in Lubumbashi this week was the U.S. Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We were honored to be included in an around-the-table discussion with him and only 13 other U.S. citizens who are currently in this city of 4 million people.
Flying from Johannesburg Ron and I transported for President Packer the first four bicycle helmets and locks that will be used by missionaries in Lubumbashi. The Packers donated their personal bicyles, pictured here, that they brought with them from Utah for companionships to share. The elders were excited about using both bicycyles and had no reservations about riding a pink woman's bike. The eight elders in Bujumbura are sharing two bicycles, helmets and locks purchased there for their use.
Over two days Ron and I surveyed six meetinghouses in the two stakes for security concerns and three properties for potential future use.
One small meetinghouse in the Katuba Stake that serves two wards in a residential area was a wonderful example of member stewardship as indicated by its well-kept appearance inside and outside. The tile floors throughout the building (for easy maintainance during the dry and rainy seasons) were swept, papers picked up off the floors and the chairs neatly stacked in each room.
On the corner leading to the building's paved parking area the Church has erected an electrical transformer for power usage by the community (as pictured below) building good neighbor relations.
Wherever we went daily life was apparent around us. At one building a group of young men were enjoying a game of basketball on the meetinghouse court. A small group of men at another location were solemnly building a wood coffin.
Rather than intense heat which we had anticipated, we enjoyed pleasantly warm weather all week. One day we marveled at the rainy season downpour that continued solidly for an hour, turning streets into rivers and sending street merchants and pedestians scampering to find any shelter available. A reminder to our being in a malaria area was the mosquito net under which we slept each night.
A singular example of the goodness we feel in DRC is illustrated by an encounter we had after our final training to stake leadership. Drawn by magnificent voices of the stake choir completing their twice weekly practice in another part of the building, Ron and I silently stood in a doorway and listened to their powerful rendition in French of "Faith in Every Footstep." Being led by three conductors standing in various locations amidst them, this 30 person choir sang wholeheartedly in strong, beautiful tones propelled by their testimony of the words which they voiced. In subdued awe we heard and felt a profound experience we will take with us as a cherished memory from our mission in Africa.
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