Unto the Lord ~ May 26, 2014

UNTO THE LORD ~ Our work in the Branches

Alma 37:36

Many times, when things are hard, or we have had a day that has taken everything we have, Elder Bailey and I think about the expression..."Unto the Lord".  Somehow, this gives us the courage to keep going, the faith to keep trying, and the joy in the journey.  We have, over the many years that we have been in the service of the Lord, learned that everything we do is really because of our love for our Savior Jesus Christ and our gratitude for what He has done for us that we could never do for our ourselves.  Thus....our blog title for this week.....Unto the Lord!

These two beautiful "Sisters in the Gosple", Natacha and Pauline, are my friends.  We needed to be at the Pointe Noire Branche at 2:00 on this past Saturday, May 24, 2014 to be a part of a huge celebration for the Relief Society.  We had been at the Mpaka/Aeroport Branche watching Conference and they asked if they could get a ride.  I love these dear sisters even though we can't carry on a conversation that has more words than a 3 year old vocabulary ( on my part) we get along fine.  When we arrived at the church, no one was there, so we sat along side the road and ate some cookies....because we were starving!

Natacha, Pauline, and Soeur Bailey

Varnish, Ketsia, Eloise, and Soeur Bailey

For my part on the program I had a quartet that sang "Daughters In His Kingdom" in English.  They wanted to sing it in French and when we couldn't find the written words we just decided to do it in English.   We had Elder Hatch translate the words into French and passed them out for all the Sisters to read.  What would a quartet be without "matching outfits?"

Part of the Celebration consisted of a "Relief Society Choir.  We sang: "If You Could Hie to Kolob", and "Holy Temples on Mount Zion".  They were both in French and Elder Bailey said they sounded beautiful!

Elder Bailey was the piano player for the night.  He learned of his part when he came!

President Sombo, President Cook and Sister Sombo.  We had a dinner on Friday night for all of the Branche Presidents and their wives.  President Sombo is the President of the Pointe Noire Branche.

UNTO THE LORD ~ Our Work with the Elders

     Elder Wright, Elder Rakotonindriana, Elder Twenenboah, Elder Garland, Elder Ndayiezye, Elder Johnston

Back row:  Elder Etherington and Elder Hatch

These are the Elders of Pointe Noire as of last Friday.  President and Sister Cook came in for one day to have a Zone Conference.  Transfers were today so this was the last time some of these Elders will be together.

President Cook instructing the missionaries!

Elder VanAusdal and Elder Garland practicing teaching from the the Book of Mormon with just using the pictures.

Elder Tweneboah is from Ghana and speaks beautiful English.  He has been here for a week and is studying so hard to learn French.  Elder Johnston is his teaching companion who is also teaching using the pictures from the Book of Mormon.

Elder Hatch and Elder Ndayiezye

Group Picture!  Yep, these are the ones the Lord has put His trust in to find those He has prepared!

UNTO THE LORD ~ TRANSFERS

Transfers happen every 6 weeks and that was today, Monday, 26 May, 2014.  All of the missionaries wait to see if they will stay here, get transferred to another country, or who their new companions will be.  Sometimes they just have to trust in the Lord that what has happened is His will.  

Elder Garland, Elder Hatch, Elder Johnston, Elder Rako, and Elder Tweneboah read what there transfers will be.

Elder Rakotonindriana reacting to his new call as District Leader.

Elder VanAusdal, Elder Ndayiezeye and Elder Etherington read about their transfers.

Elder Etherington and Elder Garland who was his trainer, give a tender goodbye hug, as they now will have new companions.

Elder Garland and Elder Hatch will now be companions and the Zone Leaders of the Pointe Noire missionaries.

Elder Johnston will have a new companion that will arrive on Friday named Elder Bybee.

Elder Wright will be the Senior Companion to Elder Etherington.  They are assigned to the Mpaka Branche.

Elder Rakotonindriana and Elder Tweneboah are now companions and also assigned to Mpaka.  Elder Rako will be his "Father".... in missionary terms.

Elder VanAusdal will be the Senior Companion to  Elder Ralison who arrives on Tuesday.

And Elder Ndayiezeye will be leaving us to return back to Kinshasa.  He will be the new trainer for Elder Randriatsarafara from Madagascar.

UNTO THE LORD... our everyday experiences!

These are the Young Men and Missionaries that Elder Bailey plays basketball with every Monday morning.  He purchased a "real" basketball for all of them to use from the Sports Store we found in the city.  

Mondays are Preparation Days, and haircutting days for the missionaries.  Sister Bailey cut four missionaries hair yesterday and Elder Bailey's.

Elder VanAusdal, Elder Johnston, Elder Wright, and Elder Hatch with their new haircuts.

These are our faithful,  weary to the bone, valiant, Zone Leaders at the General Conference we showed last Sunday in the Mpaka/Aeroport Branches.  They work so hard in their calling.   Everything they do is motivated by their love of the Lord and what He has done for them. We sure do love and appreciate them.  

We know that when everything that we do is "Unto the Lord", we are on our way to being truly converted to the Gosple of Jesus Christ.   We are so grateful for our "Missionary Experiences" here in Pointe Noire, and the opportunity to serve our Savior, Jesus Christ and hopefully one day become like Him!

Until next week.....