Annette & Bill Moon: May 2008

Construction in Africa
It is amazing to see the way construction takes place here. We stopped into a UN compound on Saturday for a local craft show and saw a group of men working on a project. They had dug a hole about twenty feet deep, and about 12 feet across all by hand to put in a storm drain pipe and were then filling the sides back in. We do see a few cranes occasionally but mostly we see scaffolding made from wood sticks and people trying to construct things with basically no tools. Something that should take a few hours takes weeks.

Quick Thinking!
We were extremely blessed last Sunday. We attended the Stake Conference for the Kinshasa Stake. When it was over an older couple had asked for a ride home. Sister Moon had unlocked the truck so they could get in and sit down. The man had a stroke about a year ago and has difficulty walking or standing for very long. Elder Moon was busy taking pictures of some of the missionaries. The couple were getting really hot sitting in the truck so Sister Moon thought she would start the truck so the air conditioning would circulate and they could get some air. When she leaned in from the passenger side, she noticed the emergency brake was not on. She was so glad she had noticed and put it on before she started the truck. As she turned the key, the truck lurched forward and started to roll down the parking lot toward a large group of people who were all just visiting. She was so stunned and then realized no one else was there to help and she needed to do something quickly before a tragic accident took place. She was wearing a long straight skirt and knew she could never get around the gear shift nor did she have time to run around the truck. "I did the only thing I could think of and that was to dive head first through the passenger side and reach down with my hand to reach the brake and stop the truck. I was successful, so that is the good news. The bad news was my legs were up in the air and I was stuck and couldn’t move. The couple in the back seat was still kind of in shock and was no help. Elder Barlow, (he and his wife are the Country Directors for Humanitarian) saw what was going on and hurried over to help. He got the truck turned off and back in gear so I could let go of the brake and try to gracefully get myself out. About that time, Elder Moon started over towards the truck and was wondering what our truck was doing in the middle of the parking lot. He had missed the whole event. I am so very grateful that no one was hurt. There were so many people, especially little kids running around. And of course I learned after the fact, that if I had just turned the truck back off, it might have stopped rolling. "

Press Conference
Yesterday, we went to a press conference for a lady in our ward who has decided to be a professional singer. They were announcing the debut of her CD. There were many people from the press and TV stations there to hear the announcement, listen to her sing, and ask many questions. She had asked Elder Moon to help with some equipment so we had to be there a couple hours early. True to Congolese culture, it started an hour and forty minutes late. Two hours later, we were ready to leave and didn’t stick around for the refreshments.

A few DR Congo Mission statistics:
There are 79 single missionaries and 6 married couples for a total of 91 missionaries. With 4 new missionaries in 3 weeks, 6 more in 7 weeks, and 8 after that, we’ll be up to 111 missionaries by the summer’s end. Our mission covers a huge amount of land, but the mission is concentrated into 2 cities in Cameroun (Douala & Yuounde), one in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and 2 cities in the DR Congo (Kinshasa and Lubumbashi). As the office couple, we will probably never see the other 4 Senior Couples in the other cities. We talk on the phone and do finance things, but we would have to fly to see them.

The people:
90% unemployment in the DR Congo creates problems. We drive from an apartment that always has 4 to 7 guards and our truck gets mirrored underneath every time we pull in to make sure no one planted a bomb when we weren’t looking. The security guards also look under the hood and dab the handles with a cloth and immediately analyze it for nitric compound ingredients used to make explosives that are easily detected with these special analytical machines. We travel about 8 kilometers to the office. We see more crippled or handicapped people every morning on that 15 minute drive than we have seen in the U.S. our entire lives. Fast Sundays aren’t really called Fast Sundays. They do have a Testimony meeting. But most Congolese only have one meal everyday their entire lives. So every day is a “Fast day” in the Congo. When asked to imagine heaven, the Mother of one of our home teaching families said, “It would be a place where no one is hungry.”
The poorest family in our Pleasant View 2nd Ward in Provo, Utah would be considered as one of the wealthiest families in the DR Congo. If they have one light bulb hanging from the center of their one room house, they are rich. If it works more than half the time, they are extremely well off. Our ward, Kasa Vubu ward, is considered one of the wealthiest wards in the DR Congo. On Sunday, there are 6 cars in the church parking lot, and 4 are owned by the church and the other 2 by UN workers from the U.S. If they have running water in the house, they have to boil it, before it is safe to drink. But most do not boil the water.
They are a very humble people, and almost all believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ. We open and close our English class with prayer, even though half of them are non members. We ordered Book of Mormons for the entire class, in English. But they will take 3 or 4 months for delivery. (We see our mailman about once a month.) One of our class members is taking the discussions and will most likely be baptized soon. A gatekeeper saw our badges and asked us if he could come to our church. Many people look for the missionaries so they can learn about it and be baptized.

Conditions in general:
Even though there is poverty everywhere, there has been peace for 2 years. The 10 or so large glass windows with bullet holes at our office building have all been completely repaired. Many of the street potholes will tear our wheel off if we don’t steer clear of them in our travels each day. None of the 10 or more street lights is functional on our way to work. Police stand in a “box” in the intersections and hand signal the traffic all day long at each major intersection. But in general, things are improving! As long as the people can manage a meal a day, they can survive and make do. But if the people do not get the minimum amount they need to live, there will be war. The tribes and their chiefs have a huge impact on the people. This area is extremely ready for the true gospel of Jesus Christ!!! We just hope and pray that peace will continue… a peace that is delicately balanced from day to day.