Come Follow Me ~ 4 Jan. 2015

A New Year. . . . 2015

We made it to a New Year here in the Congo!  On 6 January 2015,  we will be at our one year mark with 6 more months to go.  We cannot believe how quickly time flies when your having fun!   As a Senior Missionary Couple serving as MLS missionaries, we have loved our service here and look forward to giving our "all" these last few months of our mission to bringing souls to Christ.  

Our President Monga and his family came to celebrate the holidays here in Pointe Noire for 10 days.  We loved having them and last Monday, we went to the Ponton Plage.   This following picture is one that we took of our missionaries.  I loved the "footsteps in the sand", which 'beckons" us to follow....  We are so grateful to serve alongside of these fine Elders and their dedication and love of the Lord. 

Elder Sperry, Joshué, Arnauld, Elder Mbikayi, Elder Muamba and Elder Andri

Come Follow Me . . . . Baptism

This is Desti.  He has had many missionaries teach him the Gospel.  He finally was ready to be baptized.  Elder Sperry and Elder Mbikayi are the missionaries for Aéroport which is the sector  that Desti lives in.

Elder Nzoronka, Elder Andri, Elder Bolendolo,  & Elder Etherington

This is Colette.  She was so happy to be baptized.  Elder Adriamiasinarivo baptized her.  She is in the Loandjili Branche where Elder Etherington used to be. It was a group effort for a beautiful family.

Elder Andri and Elder Bolendolo also baptized two brothers in the Loandjili Branche.

 They are Néfi Gloire Deshan Niaty, and Grace Ruben Niaty.

Come Follow Me. . . .The Ponton Plage

We consider the Ponton Plage our special retreat.  We love to go there on a Preparation Day to bind ourselves together in fun and love.

  These are the Aéroport Elders and the first time for Elder Mbikayi to come.  Elder Sperry loves to come to the beach and take in all of the fun things that we do here. 

These are the Pointe Noire Elders. This is Elder Nzronka's first time also.  Elder Etherington has been here for 7 months and knows that eventually he will be transferred..... but for right now he is loving the work the Lord has called him to do.

This is Elder Johnston with Elder Muamba.  They are the Mpaka Elders.  Elder Johnston goes home in February, so this is his last companion and one of his last times here at the Ponton Plage.

Come Follow Me. . . . Volleyball that quickly turned into Soccer.

We started out playing volleyball, but the moment the ball touched the ground,  it was soccer that took over.   All of the African Elders LOVE to play soccer!!

Elder Bolendolo, Elder Andri, and Elder Etherington go after the ball.  Elder Muamba and Joshué look on.

Elder Nzoronka put his heart, soul and face into playing hard for the Team.  

The Pointe Noire Missionaries plus Arnauld, Joshué, Miriam and Ben.

Président and Soeur Monga loved getting away and just having time for themselves and their family.  Being a Mission Président is such a very demanding calling.  We are so grateful that they were able to come and have some time to relax and have fun with their family.

Elder Johnston, Elder Sperry, Elder Muamba, Elder Bolendolo, Elder Nzoronka, Elder Mbikayi, Elder Etheringto and Elder Andri.

Missionaries are always trying to outdo each other!   Elder Nzoronka, Elder Mbikayi and Elder Muamba are seeing who can stay up the longest.

Elder Etherington jumps off the ledge of the sand..... I think this is called a "Cannonball" in swimming!

After it was all over Elder Sperry accompanied us for some singing while we waited for Elder Bailey to take President Monga's family to get a taxi.

Elder Andri loves music.  He is learning how to play guitar and piano.

Come Follow Me. . . . The New Mvou Mvou Apartment

Included in our busy week, we moved the Loandjili Elders and the Pointe Noire Elders to a new apartment.  We prayed so hard to find an apartment that would be secure and safe, in their area, and with a Landlord that we could work with.   We found this with only 3 weeks before we had to be out of the other one.  Heavenly Father does hear our prayers and does watch over His missionaries!

The new kitchen!  Elder Etherington loves to cook so he was very happy with all of the space that is in the new apartment.

Come Follow Me. . . . A New Year!

We had a New Year Celebration at the church to celebrate 2015.  We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for all He does to sustain us and strengthen us to be "Instruments in His Hands".  We are going to work so hard this New Year to help our members get to the Temple, and help the Youth get out on missions.  We also will work hard to strengthen the Branches in their testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. so that they can be a part of the "work of salvation" here in Pointe Noire Congo.

The Church Is True!

The Gifts of Christmas ~ 25 December 2014

He is the Gift....

Our Christmas was spent celebrating the gift of our Savior.  We are grateful to our Heavenly Father for his only begotten Son, who came to this earth to die for each one of us, so that we can live again.   All of the Elders came over for some food and fun and we received a wonderful surprise when our President showed up with his family to spend the next 10 days in Pointe Noire.  

Our daughter-in-law Stephanie and her family sent us a scripture-present each day of December.  Each present told of a "gift" the Savior has given to us.  We loved focusing on the real meaning of Christmas and what the "gift" of our Savior means to all the world.

Back:  Elder Mbikayi, Elder Etheringto, Elder Muamba, Elder Sperry

Middle:  Elder Bulendolo, Elder Johnston, Elder Nzoronka and Elder Andri

The Pointe Noire missionary team!

President and Sister Monga and their family with all of the missionaries ..........  We loved having them for our Christmas Devotional and dinner.

Each of the Elders took one of the Scripture-Gifts and read it to all of us and then wrote what gift the Savior gave us on the "white board".

President kept checking to make sure all of us had the right gift written down.

Elder Andri's gift was found in D&C 84: 36-38 "everything we have".....

The Gift of Food....

We prepared a wonderful chicken dinner for 16 people.  Because we now have 5 African Elders, we have to try and fix things they will eat.  They have a very "hard time" with American Food, but seemed to enjoy the chicken.  We whipped cream for the fruit salad and Elder Nzoronka said it was wonderful on his Avocados and onions..........!  We just set the food out and the African Elders just mix everything together and love it.   They ended up putting the Banana Cream Pie on baguettes.  

Elder Etherington got a phone call right in the middle of the dinner.  He has not been feeling well, so he just settled for some mashed potatoes and gravy.

Everyone ate everything that was put on their plate....  We have to say they eat much, much less than the American Elders!

Elder Mbikayi and Elder Muamba tried American food for the first time.  They were a little hesitant, but President Monga told them they have to try "new things".

We bought a "Yule Log" to celebrate Elder Bulendolo's birthday today.

We made oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies and fudge for dessert.  By the end of the night we only had a few left.  

Our entertainment for the night was Elder Mbikayi, Elder Etherington and Elder Sperry singing Away in a Manger.  It was beautiful.

The Gift of Snow....

Elder Johnston and Elder Muamba practicing for the "snowball fight".

We asked each of the Elders to tell us of some of the "traditions" that they do as a family each Christmas Day.  One Elder said that they always had a "snowball fight".  So Elder Sperry helped us make "snowballs" during the week and we had a competition between the Mpaka and Aéroport Elders and the Loandjili and Pointe Noire Elders. 

 Get ready...... Get set.......

We put a line on the driveway and put the teams across from each other.  The goal was to see who after one minute had the least amount of "snowballs" on their side of the line.  

Elder Etherington took one to the face!!

Elder Johnston trying not to get snow in his face!

President Monga has never witnessed a snowball fight!

Time is running out....

Times up...............!

The Loandjili's and Pointe Noire's snowball's....

The Mpaka and Aéroport Elders snowballs.....

And the winners are.......................

Elder Muamba, Elder Sperry, Elder Mbikayi and Elder Johnston.

We made African socks to give to each Elder... We filled it with essentials like a tooth brush, toothpaste and a black writing pen also some caramels and chocolates...

Our Zone Leader Elder Johnston with President Monga and Elder Muamba.

It was a very fun and wonderful Christmas day to be together with our dear Elders as they called home and were able to talk with their families.  We love them and love serving with such fine, dedicated young men who are dedicated to the "work of salvation" here in the Congo.

.................................................................................................................................................

The Gift of our Savior....

We are so grateful for the gift of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Some days our testimonies of what he has done for us, is what helps us make it through the day.  We know that because of Him we can accomplish anything even when things are hard.  We are so thankful this Christmas Day for the special season of celebration and the focus we had on who Christmas is truly all about.  It is one Christmas we will always remember as we serve the Lord here in Pointe Noire Congo.

The Church Is True!!!!

Until Next Week.........................

Tis the Season.... 17 December 2014

Tis the Season for Celebrating the gift of our Savior....

This past week has been one of preparation and celebration.  We were asked by our Mission President to plan something in each of our cities to celebrate... "He is the Gift".  We already had in mind that we wanted to do an "Open House Christmas Concert"..... so we just went with that and called it "Il Est Le Don".   

Several weeks ago we chose the date, time and place, and that we wanted each of the Branches to provide one musical number.  The missionaries spent the last 4 Mondays practicing their song, "As Shepherds Kept Their Lonely Vigil" and it all came together last Saturday December 13.  We had a wonderful 2 hours of tours of the church, videos, concert and ended with the Piano Guys playing "O Come Emmanuel".  Everyone was touched and the Spirit was felt.  We had almost 200 people come and many investigators who were also impressed with the evening.

Our greatest hope was that we could bring to all the people the understanding of how precious the gift of our Savior is to the world.    We have been asked by our First Presidency to remember the humble dignity of His birth, gifts, and life, and to fill the world with the light of His love and healing power.

The meeting was held at the Mpaka/Aéroport building.  These investigators and members loved the musical numbers.

We were the final number.  Elder Etherington was the "director" and he had great vision.  He is at the piano so you can't see him.  The missionaries "whistled"..... (African flute) the first part of the song while Elder Johnston and Elder Nkulu gave the account found in Luke.

These are the Aéroport Sisters singing "Away in a Manger".  They were directed by Bienchelvie who is very passionate about music and loves to sing and direct.

After the concert, the missionaries mingled among all of the people.

Elder Sperry, Elder Johnston, and Elder Andri, take a selfie with some members.

Tis the Season to celebrate being a missionary....

Back: Elder Bulendolo, Elder Johnston, Elder Sperry, Elder Tripp, Elder Etherington

Front: Elder Nkulu, Elder Ralison, Elder Andri, and Elder Bybee.

This was our group photo on Monday as we were saying goodbye to Elder Tripp who is going to go to Brazzaville to be the new Zone Leader, and Elder Nkulu who has finished his mission and will go home to Limbubashi DRC.  Elder Bulendolo has only been here for two days and is right out of the MTC in Ghana. 

We had planned on going to the Beach on Monday to have our farewell dinner.  But it was raining so hard that we went to Plan B and had our Barbecue and baked beans at our home.  Every last drop was eaten.....

After our meal we had a testimony meeting where we expressed our thankfulness to our Savior, and had some "parting words" by Elder Tripp and Elder Nkulu.  

This is Elder Bybee and Elder Ralison singing Elder Nkulu's favorite song.  

Here the missionaries are uniting as a Zone to give Elder Tripp a blessing before he goes to Brazzaville to assume his new duties.  We told him "If the Lord brings you to it....He will bring you through it".    We know that we are not alone in the work of the Lord.

Saying good-bye!

This is Elder Muamba,  our new missionary from DRC, who had been serving in Brazzaville.  He will be Elder Johnston's companion for the Mpaka area.

Tis the Season for Mangoes......

We have waited for the mangoes to come back and they are finally here.  There are many different kinds and sizes, but they all taste the same......delicious!

This is the grand-daddy of them all.  It was (we ate it in a Mango smoothie) the biggest mango I have ever seen!

...................................................................................................................................................

We are so grateful this year 2014, for the season of Christmas, to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  He is the source of true peace.  "If the Savior were among us today, we would find Him where He always was---ministering to the meek, the downcast, the humble, the distressed, and the poor in spirit."  We hope to be following in His footsteps, as we serve here among the people of Pointe Noire!    The Church Is True!

Until next week.........