Today,December 23rd, Was the Day at the Prison....what can I say.

Today We went to Monrovia Central Prison

 What an experience.

I cant believe we did this.

But we did.

We were safe. All is well.

But We will never forget this experience 

no matter how long we live!


Sister Kunmbi works for the ICRC and evaluates health conditions of the prisons in many countries.

She is a member of the LDS Church and is very highly regarded in her work.

She just returned from Washing ton DC a couple months previous to this . She went with her husband and children where they were sealed as a family and then visited several Temples while she was there .

She asked us if we would come to this prisons to see the conditions and possibly provide some aid.

For today we only took reading materials and a nicely packaged treat for each inmate in the prison. There were 1000.

This is the handcarts the carry water and food trays full of bowls of rice to the prisoners.

The menu for the food . To show us.

The stack of rice for the prisoners. This is for the rest of the year. 4 bags a day.

They receive one bowl a day.

The  casaba flour. To make a paste.

This is all I want to say about the prison for now. Maybe another time.

Christmas excitement

After our walk on the beach and the crowds died down we went down to see the coconut palm and the car. 

                                                  

If the car did not have the tree to stop it there could have been a more gruesome scene with the car through one of the houses in the back ground.

                 

A very bad way to start out Christmas day on a family somewhere.

The Christmas Crash!

The ambulance finally arrives with its one driver! 

The ambulance and fire department . Motorcycles Were everywhere!
We couldn't get out of our gate. We are talking hundreds probably thousands.

The ambulance .The Fire TRUCK , The People!
Covered in the truck are the barrels of water in case
there's a fire.

What a morning !
A very sad morning for some family some where in Monrovia.

Merry Christmas from the senior missionaries in Libera.(Liberia) .

Our Christmas began at 5:45A.M. this year.
we woke up to a horrible crash and sound of twisted metal out side our apartment this morning.
There was a horrible accident and it was literally right out our gatet.
A Speeding drunk driver couldn't negotiate the turn and flew off the road into a coconut palm.
It nocked down the palm tree and tore the car apart killing the two front passengers.
The two in the back made it out alive.
We think 1/2 of the Monrovia population showed up at one time or another to take pictures and call people on the cell phone. It was really the attraction of the day.
The Ambulance came. The fire truck and firefighters and the gallons of water on the truck came.
Everyone came.
The two in the back went to the hospital.  Maybe in the ambulance. The two dead people were taken from the car but here they lay where the accident is until a family member comes to get them.

WE went for a nice  long beautiful walk on the early morning beach before the Christmas afternoon rush to the beach.
Just us seior couples, The Allens, Sister Heszeltine (Elder H is sick ) and Us. Elder Allen is way down the beach a head of us so you cant see him in the picture. It was nice.

Another week of Checking up on Past Water Projects! SO far SOOO Good!

Week have been flying by here in Liberia but we are learning a ton!

In Liberia The flag is the same color as ours.
With Stars and Stripes and the way they display their flag it catches me off guard and I think I am always seeing American Flags.

This last week was another busy one.
We went to see several Wells and Latrines (water Projects)that were made by the  previous Humanitarian couples.

 

Some were for schools and some were for communities. Some were just Latrines and some were wells with the Latrines. Some were in communities outlying where water just isn't.
These boys are flying kites outside a community which used to be a small displacement camp.


 This community is so glad for their Latrines. The community is called the Chicken SOup Factory community.
Their community was a mess due to no sewer disposal. LDS Charities put in Latrines and septic tank and taught Community Hygiene. This has really improved their community

We also looked at some schools that are in need to determine if they were possible future projects.

Issac Tondo School Latrine on right. 


This young Lady is drying, smoking fish in a fishing village, Banjor, north of us. The community received a well and Latrines, The hygiene training helps them learn how to manage the latrine and well and keep it clean. They also learn how to organize as a community to keep their well pumping water.







These fishermen travel in these canoes between this port and Sierra Leone.
The fish here looked so very good and fresh. We just had no where to carry cold fish in our truck. 

This picture is of the leader of the VOA (VOice of America) displacement  (Refugee) camp.
He organized and leads the people still  in the Camp. 10,000.













The camp is made up  of Muslim belief made up of several countries.
They fled to Liberia and now they have no where to go.


This man is an exceptional man.

It was amazing to meet him.
It was also very sad to see their conditions.
 This is very common to the bigger houses in the camp.


This leader  told our site monitor that the one thing different in the LDS church is that they don't have any prejudices with people. They help all people. They have no boundaries.

They take really good care of their Latrines and they have the biggest community using them.

This next community is one of my favorite.

                                                Better Days School

I will also include a picture of this school and orphanage run by a reverend. He takes of Children orphaned by war and now Ebola. His school is close neighbors to the Refugee camp of the Muslim community and a couple villages.
He said during Ebola the disease went all around him. He could hear the crying and screaming from pain move from village to village all around him. He said he kept his children close to him and prayed and used the water from the well that was just put into his village at the outbreak of the disease.  These were some of the hardest hit areas.  He lost no one in his little school area.
He said 'God heard my cries and he protected us and kept all of my children safe.

So To those who donate to LDS Charities and Humanitarian....They say 'Thank You!
Do you see what your little donation does?

The Reverend and his wife and teachers.

Just drying the Laundry.

The Reverend and some of his children of his orphanage.

Another Proud caretaker of a well and Latrine in his community. His is next to the VOA community. His community is the one of the most successful well committees we have seen . They have been so good at working together and caring for their project.

THis is another sweet home from the refugee camp.

We also have some sweet tender mercies happen that are worth all of it.

So Sunday at church was a wonderful reward for our work this week. Our branches were so welcoming and opened up to us.We are caring for 2 right now. Paynesville 2 and 3.
John was able to get both his branch clerks trained (it will be a slow and lengthy process) and the auxiliaries got  through most of their lessons. The spirit then could come into their classes. They also asked me who the people in Daughters of our kingdom were. They didn't know about Joseph and Hyrum in Carthage jail. They had no idea about the Nauvoo temple burning or the crossing of the plains.
We had a great lesson on how the women of that time kept their covenants, left their homes and beautiful temple they just finished  and that because they left and kept their covenants we have a church, missionaries who come all the way to Liberia and temples all over the world.
IT was wonderful day.
Well that's all for this week.

We love you all. We miss our family a lot. Communicating has taken some time.
We had a great visit with Erica and Willy though ....They are having a Baby!!!!!!


Love to you all and Merry Christmas. 
Remember us here in Liberia !!!    

This Girl kept saying to dad when we walked by her..."I want you to take me home. You know what I talkin bout I want to go home witch yu."!

We looked at so many hand pump wells today! (from the first of the week)!

This is what they look like here!

This is one of 13 we looked at Monday.

The community well committee!

A very important part of a successful project. They make sure the people keep the well nice and clean and that the people pay a little for their water. No water is free. It is a gift from God.

If they pay a little it is a better community.

.

 

John Moore looks over his work . John is a Branch President and a very Site Monitor.

On our wells the contractors put the depth and water level in cement right by the well.

 

With a good community water committee the wells are taken care of and kept clean.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas Season To you All!

Sister Smith and Sister Gaye ....Our Daily Sunshine

Sister Gaye (left) and Sister Smith (right) greet us when we come to the office every day.
They are our 'receptionists' . They are always so cheerful and fun.
Our office is directly behind us. Every office of the church is here in this office building in Monrovia.
Including one very overloaded mission President and his 2 MLS couples (and one welfare /humanitarian services couple) caring for 16+++ branches and 3 districts.
Wonderful work goes on here and lots of miracles.

Grow Old Along With Me ! The Best Is Yet To Be!

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand
Who saith, “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; 
trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”

[Rabbi Ben Ezra (1864), stanza 1 , Browning]

This last week I have been pondering over two of my favorite talks by Elder Holland because I have needed just a little more confidence. ('Remember Lots Wife' and Cast Not  Away Therefore Thy Confidences')  It is overwhelming thinking about all the needs of the country we are working  in and wonder how we will be able to know how to help most effectively. How will we guide and direct the members in the branches to learn their responsibilities without scaring or offending them. How will we be able to effectively communicate?How will we know who to trust in the humanitarian work we need to do? How can we best help this very over loaded mission president? How will we communicate with our loved ones?  All these things bring worry and These are the times I doubt and lose confidence.


As I read and listen  both talks I realize that the confidences that the scriptures refer to are the confiding in us the lord does when he makes it known that we are on his course.
Many many times John and I have had it confirmed to us by the Holy Ghost and by  the missionaries all around us that we are so needed.



I have also been surrounded by some pretty great women here who have at  times in their lives taken steps into the 'darkness' only to find again the brighter light that continues to lead them.  But it begins with taking the courageous step into the unknown .  These women I've met here have,  through this faith,been able to open doors for themselves that allow them opportunities to serve and bless many others.
They have been great examples to me .

There is so much great work going on in this area of West Africa ...all in behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ and teaching and reaching to his beloved African people.


And so the Poem 
'Grow  old along with me....
I realize doesnt just mean with   your friends or Spouse or family.
It means to grow old in our faith in the Lord.
As we do the things he asks us to do and serve in the capacities we discover within ourselves and just keep going forward one courageous step at a time we will realize ...The Best IS Yet TO Be.

This is what we are learning serving here. Every day is a learning experience and a blessing.

This is the second Saturday in Liberia. This week has flown by.
We go to our office a couple miles up the road and have been organizing it and getting the tiny details of being in Liberia taken care of.

As we are in our office the people just keep coming and coming. We end up visiting with people all day long and very little organizing done. But it has been good.

We have met many members and water contractors and site monitors from previous water projects. They will be very helpful in taking us around to the different projects we need to inspect.

 We have had people come in and present us with requests for help in their institutions around the area. 
These we stake and read through and go visit and decide if they are projects we will be able to help with.
 My spiritual story is about one of these proposals.
One in particular touched us very deeply.
A lady from The International Committee of the Red Cross came in and told us the conditions of the prisons in Liberia. This is her job with the Red Cross as a nurse she monitors the health and welfare of the prisoners.
The conditions in the 16 prisons in Liberia seem to be the same through out Liberia.
Many prisoners do not know when their day in court will be or if they will ever have one and are held in very humble conditions with very little food. In most cases,especially one in particular, the inmates are extremely in need of food.  We read a letter from her before telling us most of the conditions and the needs they have at the prisons. The prisoners are great distances from their families. They  only one bowl of rice a day. We also knew that reading material was high on their list...and a bar of soap for each prisoner. They were hoping we could satisfy their major immediate need by Christmas but we explained we had a process we needed to go through. One was to com eout to the Prison and view the conditions ourselves. They were most anxious for us to do this. We told them we would like to come before Christmas and that we did gather some reading material to take them as they mentioned that in the letter to us.
The mission office staff gathered materials that have been stored around the office and Distribution center that were outdated or a little warn.  We did have two boxes of  a Liahona that  we thought might also be of interest to them. 'Let me show you some of the reading material we found for them.'
I grabbed two of the Liahonas out of the box and gave one to each woman.
When their eyes caught the image on the cover it was just quiet for a second and then both said ...'This is just what they need. They all need this even the ones who are unable to read.'
 At the moment they said that the spirit came into our office so strong it was difficult to talk.
I just bore testimony to them that these prisoners re all Gods children and that Jesus loves them very much. They are praying asking for God to find  and to help them.  I knew it was true. 
We all just sat their looking at the magazine. This was the front of the magazine with a Piece of frosted velum over the cover. It was a special edition Ensign just about Jesus Christ.







Today We visited our two branches we are going to start helping. Mainly with the branch clerk and counselors for donations.
but we also will sit in on the branch meetings and just observe and be there if they have questions.
 we start at 9 am and finish at 3:30.
It was wonderful. We were able to hear a blind man read to us from a Braille book of Mormon. My smart husband bore testimony to them that this is evidence to each of them who heard it that the book of Mormon is being taken to all nations and tribes and people in EVERY language.
It started many discussions in the other classes.
Relief society was so much fun in one of the branches.
Well funin both but in one the sister were really fun. They wanted me to tell them how Relief Society was in my  home in the US.
I told them it was just like here....and I listed the same characteristics that every group of Relief Society  has. It was fun.

 In one relief society they were teaching daughters of our kingdom and the women were going on and on about where a woman should take her place in the home.

The Relief Society President....av ery humble lady stood and bore her testimony to her relief society about the value of women and the gospel and serving other in Relief Society.
Wow! The spirit radiated from her and i just started to cry and my heart was so full. IT was the greatest spiritual experience I had since I arrived....or one of the many.

We are tired tonight. Still trying to figure out how to keep enough money on my phone so at christmas we can call our kids.

I do seem to have tons of Data but cant get the time right.
Hope your holidays are shaping up.

Happy New Year ! 2013 is Here!

Before we begin with 2013 

We must catch you up on

2012!

The last time we posted about our mission was back in August.
Let us catch you up just a bit and as quick as we can.

We did not fall off the face of the planet. We were in Mozambique!

During the months of September, October and November we were doing many things . 

This is a post from 2013 ! I never posted but I need I our journal. Skip over! 


First:

We have been working on bringing 300 wheel chairs and 100 crutches and braces into Maputo since the day we arrived. As you noticed we were able to finally receive these in November. This is wonderful and now our challenge is to get them distributed properly. You would think this would go very smoothly as the Ministry of Health would like their poor to receive these. Not so. We are still working on and encouraging the Hospital to organize itself in order to distribute the chairs.

 So this is an ongoing project for us.

Second:

In between our journeys to the north we run the distribution center for Mozambique. We take orders from the other couples in the country and try to get the materials they need distributed as swiftly and inexpensively as we can. (This usually involves us taking what we can whenever we journey to the North.) 

We make sure the distribution center has the items needed by the members and so we order items, receive orders and have to account for the book work. Tis time of year is the process involving the upcoming year curriculum and with a change in curriculum it has added some interesting problems to our work. We also do all the other things involved in a distribution center in Africa. We have learned a lot in this part of our call.

Third: 

We help in the T-3 branch when we are here and help with the missionaries if the President asks us to.

This is nice to get to know the members in this struggling little branch. 

You can see they get so discouraged. Being a member is hard in Mozambique. Their new life as members is different from the rest of the peoples lives in Mozambique.  Here is where we could use so many Senior Couples, Just to show example and encourage the members.

This is Elders working with T-3 and the branch Presidency and Elder Fernandez.

Elder Fernandez on the Left just left to MTC Brazil and then to Cape  Verde.

 But the project that took most of our time and effort was our clean water project we were doing in Quelimane, Zambezia,Mozambique.

It was on the Island Of Idugo. (Ilha de Idugo)

We finnished the preparations of contracts, planning, purchasing etc., for the project in September and sent our Site Monitor (Naldo Ujembe) up to Quelimane to begin the process of giving the Ilha de Idugo clean water.

The Plan: Amizade, a new member of the church in Quelimane, has family members on the Ilha de Idugo and speaks the language of the people(Chuabo). Naldo, will go to Quelimane, and in Portuguese will teach Amizade how to make traditional hand dug wells that are cement lined. Amizade will teach this to the people of the island in Chuabo. Naldo will also teach them about Hygiene and Sanitation in the same process.

The church donated all the materials. This includes the steel forms for the cement rings, A Steel Handcart ,cement, sand, gravel, rock, shovels, levels, cement tools, wire cutters,steel, rope, pulleys and buckets and whatever tool you could think of that went with the project. Everything but the Steel forms and handcart could be purchased in Quelimane.

All the materials had to taken by canoe or hand built boat to the Ilha.

The Church  paid the boatmen to transport the materials to the island. So that is the plan.

So  September Naldo went to Quelimane and began the process. 

Amizade was to make sure the construction work was done. Naldo would make sure Amizade learned the correct way to do the construction work.

How did Naldo know how to do this?  Elder Wollenzien taught him.

So the last part of September Elder Wollenzien and I loaded our truck with the Steel forms, the hand cart and anything else we could fit in to distribute for the distribution center.



( Yes Devon, we have our own little UPS service Mozambican style.) and we headed to Quelimane...again.

Now being loaded so High and so Heavy we had to travel slower than ever to miss the biggest pot holes and just maneuver the rest of the road. 

 
The road to Quelimane takes 3 days this way. First we go to Inhassoro and stay (we cant drive at night). 

 

The second day we drive to Chimoio and stay at the Bank's house (the CHiomio Chapel). There we can play a  little Ping Pong and get a really good meal.

 

The third day we drive to Quelimane but that's the worst road by far.
All the distance though is beautiful. Mozambique is beautiful and interesting and we have now seen it at every season. Our favorite is to look for the Boabab  trees along the way.    

  

 

Boabab in early spring.

  Once we