Dear Family and Friends,

We have had another adventure in Mozambique. The thing that comes to mind is rivulets of perspiration, no sweat, coming from our bodies. I have never been so hot in my life. As we taught in that auxiliary training meeting my hair became soaked and water was dripping from my head to my feet and every place in between. I was still wonderful. It was very exciting to be there as the church has had missionaries there for only 5 years, and we had 500 people at that district conference, and this year they will have baptized 800 people. The missionaries were outstanding and I really felt a fondness for the assistants who were with the women every minute taking us wherever we wanted to go...sometimes to meetings and sometimes shopping. They reminded me of my sons so much and I guess that is why I enjoyed them so much. There were so good at what they did and they were fun and they were loved by all the people around them. ....the shopkeepers as well as the members. They were wonderful. It was wonderful to be with Elder Bateman of the First Presidency of the Seventy. He is wonderful. He is a masterful teacher and so smart. He remembered every name and every detail of the church in all of Africa. It was fun to travel with him. He was a wonderful sport as sweat dripped off him too. The country is tropical and beautiful and right on the he Indian Ocean.....sometimes it is deceiving to see the coastline and the beauty of nature and then you see the poverty. They are a happy people. They are not hungry like the people of Kenya because there are so many natural resources. For our grandchildren, I want you to know I saw children playing with big leaves again. They are huge leaves, tropical leaves with a large stem that they take turns pulling each other on. It is like having a wagon without wheels. It is easy to pull because the earth is sand. I also saw some children making dolls out of mud and sand. They molded their little families into people and made eyes and mouths out of little rocks. I also saw children that had old wire rims.....maybe from an old bicycle that they would roll with a stick and chase it all over. They were very good at it. I also saw some children dancing to music on the street....little children....age 18months up to 6 or 7 years old. They were having a wonderful time. When you don't have toys, it is amazing what you can do to find things to play with. We loved the people even though they speak only Portuguese. The missionaries were such wonderful translators that it was easy to communicate and I've found it is pretty easy to communicate with my hands and heart.

Elder Bateman and Elder Nelson were traveling together and before we went to Moz. we were with them at a Mission President's Seminar. I loved that. Those mission presidents and their wives are so wonderful and we loved being with them and learning with them. We had a department for the wives which turned out well, I think. We feel blessed to be here. We're having spiritual experiences and funny experiences and educational experiences and all kinds in between. Especially after last year, I feel so blessed to be here....to have my health and energy. We miss you all and think about you often. I even talked about one of my grandchildren in this last conference and the people loved it.....how do I know that? ...they smiled and laughed with me. Someday, I'll tell you who and what I said. We love you all. We love your e-mails. Please keep them coming.....they are wonderful.

Dear Family,

We have had a nice few days. Today was church and we went to a ward in Soweto. None in the Primary Presidency showed up nor did any teachers.....just the secretary and nursery leader......so I taught them for an hour off the top of my head and it was fun. They love the missionaries, so I taught them "I hope They Call Me On a Mission" and they didn't know it and they loved it...and stood and sang it and learned it so quickly. African people are wonderful musicians. They don't have pianos. So we did it without a piano. They usually use tape recorders and CD"S. There were a few who only speak Swahili so they didn't understand anything I said, but they were so reverent and they actually learned the song, even though they didn't know what the words meant. It was really fun. I told them about my grandchildren and showed them pictures of all of you. They laughed and smiled. It was a fun day...we had 6 people to dinner and now we are collapsing, but I miss all of you...especially on Sunday night. We talked to John and his children for a few minutes until the connection broke up and it was great. Claire kept saying, "Poppa". I miss you but know you are all doing your very best. We are too.

Love Mom

Kinshasha, Congo and Brazzaville, DR Congo

Dear Family and Friends,

We thought we'd drop another note after our 6 day trip to Kinshasha, Congo and Brazzaville, DR Congo. It was a wonderful trip and every single moment seemed to be a journal entry. We arrived at the airport which was a beehive of confusion. Luckily President and Sister Waldram met us to help us through all the red tape and there was also a beautiful member of the church (Josepha) who works there who helped us and believe me, we would still be there if it weren't for them. It was crazy with jillions of people trying to carry your bag and stopping you at check points, etc. They made what could have been impossible so very easy. Our ride into the city was quite a visual. There was and always was a sea of people everywhere....walking and walking and walking. There are cars also, and there are crazy, crazy drivers. I wish I could describe well what we saw but it is hard to put in words. ...I'll try. The women were in beautiful colored dresses....African prints that took your breath away. With their beautiful black skin these colors were magnificent.......very bright and lovely. Many had the fabric tied on their heads in the same matching fabric. Some had other colors on and of course some were in western dress, but not the majority. A lot of the men were in western dress, but there were many who had the same wonderful fabrics in their clothes. They were often designed like a hospital scrub outfit....some wear long dresses of beautiful fabric. The clothes tend to be loose because it is so hot and humid there. Many babies ride on their mother's backs again held there with these beautiful fabrics. We only saw a handful of white people the entire time we were there.

It is tropical, so there was much rain which turned the black dirt roads into mud. There are some paved roads, but many many areas were dirt and it was good we have a four wheel drive to go around in. The markets except for 5 or 6 were stalls with tin roofs or people just sitting or walking at the side of the road selling things. We loved the onion and garlic stalls. All products were stacked in a beautiful way as the people sat on the ground waiting for people to buy.....wall to wall stalls of all kinds of merchandise.

We had to cross the Congo River to get to get to Brazzaville Stake Conference and that was an experience of a lifetime. There are not bridges only boats. There are 2 kinds of boat. One was a motorboat which wasn't as nice as the African Queen and the VIP boat was a little nicer than the African Queen. We traveled on each boat..... the small one going and the VIP coming back. It was so crowded on that little boat. There were supposed to be maximum of 9 passengers and there were 11. It only took about 10 minutes but we were packed in with these life jackets and the fun part was getting in and out from about a 4 foot drop. Honestly, we weren't very gracious in our church clothes. The men had on suits and I know we were a sight, but climbing in and out was hard.....no ladder....only from boat to shore with people pulling and pushing. It was quite a deal. Lots of red tape on the other side. Again, there were people to help us get through.....no computers....everything done in triplicate and many check points. We were going into a different country. The church officials met us and were very glad to see us...dressed in their suits and ready to leave for meetings. I did auxiliary training while Bill trained priesthood. Actually, I did it with Sister Waldram, the mission president's wife. She doesn't speak french either, but she read hers in french and I had a interpreter. It is hard to do it that way, but I am learning and the women were wonderful. They were dressed beautifully in their dresses and head pieces and they took notes, but I don't know what they wrote, cause I don't know if the one translating got it all. We had to start and stop, but the spirit was there and many came up and kissed me on both cheeks and were so wonderful. There were 3,000 at stake conference.....85%. The singing was so fun.....loud and vigorous. The choir was the same....all young adults with big gold bow ties and matching skirts (bright blue satin) and white blouses. There was a new member meeting before conference with about 50 new members who bore testimony and who had lights shining through their hearts and eyes. There were tears of joy as they bore testimony. That was a very moving meeting to be part of. It was Bill and I and the mission president and his wife and the new members and the missionaries who had converted them. Those missionaries were also "shining". We were given huge bouquets of flowers, which of course we couldn't carry back on the boat, cause it was about all we could do to get ourselves and our suitcase on board, so we gave them to our drivers to give to their wives. Our drivers were CES people and our vehicles were trucks. The cars take quite a beating because of the roads......We hit many potholes very hard as we traveled about for the 6 days. We loved being with the Waldrams. They were so gracious and fun and helpful. We are so impressed with their upbeat attitudes with hard living conditions. They are a great blessing to the people there and are doing a wonderful job in everything they do. They took us everywhere to see the churches there and the sight which they hope will be for a temple one day. Mostly the saints meet in houses, but we saw one lovely building and the ground had just been broken for the next one so they are making great progress. Those saints know there scriptures very very well and are very educated in the Gospel, and are learning much about the church organization. We have only had the Gospel 13 years in Congo, so these people are the pioneers. They are very teachable and humble. It was wonderful to be with them. Language was a barrier, but we felt the Spirit together and learned together and worshiped together. It was a blessing to be there and we loved it. We get tired sometimes with all that is going on but it is a good tired. The missionary couples continue to inspire us. Those in the Congo have a very hard life, because of the living conditions, but they are doing it and are sooooo needed. They are something else. We miss all of you and love your e-mails....it is an experience of a lifeline. We love what we are doing and are getting ready for our next adventure. We go to Durban in 2 days, so must do the laundry and get ready. We want you to know that we feel very blessed to be here and we know this is the Lord's work and it is a privilege to be part of it. The Gospel is true.

Love S
Please keep in touch.....