Annette & Bill Moon

Our DR Congo Kinshasa Mission has come to an end.

2010-01-17T23:28:00.000-08:00

Elder and Sister Moon leaving to be released from their Stake President. We will miss our badges! We are grateful for the experiences we had in the DR Congo Kinshasa Mission. We will always cherish the wonderful people we had the privilege of associating with. The experiences we had for the twenty and a half months we served will be forever deeply rooted in our hearts. The Lord blessed us so abundantly with tender mercies each day! How can we ever fully express to Him our extreme gratitude?

David made sure the world knew we were arriving home!

One picture that never got posted was this treasured picture taken with Elder Holland, Elder Koelliker and his wife, President and Sister Headlee and Eustache. We were privileged to spend several days with them when they came to split a stake in Kinshasa. What a blessing to spend time with an apostle and a member of the Seventy!

2010-01-17T23:07:00.000-08:00

Sister Moon with her mother, Ruth Challis the day we arrived home. We are grateful our parents were so supportive!
Elder Moon's parents, Grant and Ella Moon on the day we arrived home. Mom Moon had a bad heart attack last June while we were serving. We are so grateful she has recovered and was here to greet us!

Saying good bye to some of our sweet sister missionaries.

Mac and Janet Coleman who are on a one year consulting assignment became dear friends while we were serving. They had both served in French speaking missions when they were younger. He is doing some work with the military.

Elder and Sister Moody have been accomplishing many great humanitarian projects throughout the mission. We loved serving with them and playing with them and eating with them and walking with them. We even shared a few tears with them Their combined talents make them a top notch Humanitarian Couple!

Priesthood Brethren singing at our ward farewell party.

2010-01-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

Youth Choir at the Tshibobo village water closing ceremony.

2010-01-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

The Hoki Poki with our English class

2010-01-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

Congolese man receives wheelchair from LDS Humanitarian

2010-01-17T22:36:00.000-08:00

2010-01-17T22:24:00.000-08:00

Our farewell party at the mission home hosted by President and Sister Headlee. They are doing a great job in very challenging circumstances. We were privileged to work with them!

Pascal and his wife Gloria. Pascal is one of the hardest workers you will find. He has the greatest sense of humor and is a joy to work with. We are so excited for he and Gloria with the upcoming birth of their baby.

Oh how we love Pascal and Eustache! They have deep rooted places in our hearts. We will always cherish the experience we had working with them
One of our last nights on the roof of our apartment building. We loved the beautiful sunsets from that vantage point.

Sister Moon with Hardy Lumu. He was my youngest piano student.

2010-01-17T22:13:00.000-08:00

David Beck, the General Young Men's president of the church came to our Stake Conference the last Sunday we were in the DR Congo. We discovered that he and Elder Moon have the same Great grandfather, Helorum Moon.

Don't you love all the cute hair accessories in this little girl's hair?

The Lumu family and three other kids our last Sunday at church. The Lumu family were great friends.

Bombyck helped us our entire mission in many ways. He was very instrumental in increasing the size of our English class from 20 students to 90 regular attendees. He also helped with many projects Elder Moon did. He served as ward mission leader most of our mission and helped many people learn about the gospel.

Some of our sweet friends that we will really miss!

2010-01-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

Elder Moon had to create some boxes to bring home some of our stuff. He was testing the strength or maybe he thought he could just ride cargo class!

Construction has been going on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for the last year across the street from our apartment. We got to go to sleep each night with the sound of rebar clanging and cement pumps pumping!

Sister Moon working out on the roof. We are 10 floors up and had great views in every direction.

We should really send this picture to the St. George Marathon. They collect pictures of people wearing their shirts all over the world. I wonder if they have one from the DR Congo!

Elder Moon getting buff!! I do love those muscles!

2010-01-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

Elder Moon running on our roof top. A lap only takes twenty seconds but at least he could run every day!

Some times you have to get creative to get a good workout! This metal ladder on the roof worked great for pull ups.

We should have cropped this and zoomed in so you can really see all the people crammed in this truck. Do you think they are wearing seat belts? At least they have their hard hats on!

Sister Moon wore out her running shoes. One of the sisters was still happy to get them when we left.

Elder Moon pulled rank and posted this picture. The sleeve of this fun Congolese dress was really cute. Wish you could see the detail!

2010-01-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

Angelique Tarr, Sister Moon, Getruth Nakale, and Daange Tarr at the Nakale's home. They had a going away party for us.

Ameda Tarr, Da Tarr, David Nakale, Elder Moon, Gelda Tarr, Erich Nakale, David Nakale and Lee Nakale.

Yummy cake!

Another young couple in the ward presented us with these outfits. So many people were so generous and spoiled us with wonderful keepsakes. One man from our English class presented us with some beautiful copper artwork and named his garden the "Moon Jardin".

2010-01-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

Melissa wanted to braid my hair the night the ward had our farewell party. We had to settle for one braid right up front. She was very pleased to have been my hairdresser!
These are some of the primary children that sang for us at the party.

A number of our English students showed up to the ward farewell party. They have been so fun to work with and their language skills have greatly increased. A number of them are learning about the gospel.

This is the table cloth the priesthood presented after singing to us. We attached a video of the brethren singing. They did such a good job, they were asked to sing in Sacrament meeting the following Sunday.

The priesthood brethren singing at the farewell party.

2010-01-17T21:18:00.000-08:00

Micadeau crocheted this beautiful tablecloth for us and presented it after the Relief Society Sisters sang to us.
Marie Lumu has been serving as Primary president and presented us with this painting after the Primary sang to us.

Bernard and his wife Yaya along with Tommy and his wife Julie from TIFIE took us to dinner along with the Headlee's and Moody's. They have been great friends and some of their cohorts at TIFIE have been good to transport needed items as they have traveled to and from the states.

One of the last things Elder Moon helped fix was the generator at the building where the mission home and office are located. The workers were trying to fix the generator and fortunately Elder Moon had the right size wrench they needed.

Glad most of the oil ended up on his face and not his shirt!!!

2009-10-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

2009-10-27T13:46:00.000-07:00

After Luputa, we drove back through Mwene Ditu and had been asked by the Branch President to stop and meet with the members. We met them on a Monday about noon. We visited for awhile and then went into the church where we were all asked to speak for a few minutes. They were so warm and welcoming. We enjoyed our time with them.

This is what has been used for many years to send messgages from one village to another. They ususally will send their messages in the middle of the night when it is quietest. It was a way of communicating that someone had died, or other information they neede to pass along. They use some type of code and pass it from village to village. That way someone in a distant village gets the message and can come when needed. Not much has changed in a thousand years in many of these villages, except now they have cell phones!

A picture of the homes in Luputa.

We met at the mayor's home the morning we were to leave. He had just learned of the death of a family member. He was still gracious and received us. He has pledged to be very supportive of the last two phases of the water project along with the casava project. Je is standing in the middle in the green shirt.

Sister Moon singing again with a group of people.

2009-10-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

What is Sister Moon doing?! Actually, she was enjoying teaching songs to a group of people while we were waiting for the others we were traveling with to have a meeting. The Congolese do love to sing! We made a quick stop at Marie Josee's orphanage. She receives many orphans, malnourished children, children of violence, and displaced people. She tries to help them all. I think she has already qualified for sainthood! What an amazing woman.

We heard some wonderful music one night at the monastery coming from the church. We walked over and found this group playing away on their homemade instruments. They were fantastic. The little boys in the background were playing african drums and shakers. They really put together some great sounds! Hopefully, our video of them will download so you can see and hear them. They were really fun!

This picture is a little out of place but shows much of the foliage that the workers had to cut and dig through for the trenches for the water project.

Omar has been our driver when we go to Luputa. He is a fun person and a great driver. We appreciate his skills and company.

2009-10-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

Elder Moon and one of the women trying out one of the water stations. They worked great!

Elder and Sister Godfrey from South Africa were on the trip to Luputa. They are the area directors for the Humanitarian efforts in the Africa Southeast Area. They were a delight to travel with!

Elder Moon and one of the engineers for Adair, the contractors, check the water pressure on a water station. It was 30 psi. Great pressure!

After the ceremony we were served large plates of rice and some really tasty goat meat. It is one of the foods saved for special occasions.

The young people from the church branches sang in a choir at the ceremony. They all looked so nice in their white shirts and blouses.

2009-10-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

We ran into our good friend Marie Josee at the closing ceremony for the water project. She is head of maternity at the Luputa General Hospital and runs a clinic and orphange. It was great to see her!

The governor of the province came to the festivities and presided over the ceremony. He spoke very kind words about the church and all it has done. He talked about what a saint is and said that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints truly were saints. Dominique Sowa, in the red shirt, has been the contractor for the project. What a good man he is! We have really enjoyed our association with him.

The cutting of the ribbon for the turn on of the water in Tshibobo!

The governor signing official documents related to the water project. Notice the various chiefs and mayors looking on.

As part of the ceremony, a group put on a great skit about water. They were a lot of fun and did a good job portraying the need for water.

2009-10-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

We were privileged to go to Luputa again for the closing ceremony of the first phase of the church's large water project. While there we went to the the casava project. It had a rough start in the beginning but looks fantastic now!

The fields are lush and green and healthy looking.

The plants that last February were not even up to our knees, are now over our heads. What a thrill!

These two cute girls showed up at the monastery we were staying at one night. They were waiting for their ride to the next village to practice for the choir that was to sing at the closing ceremony for the water project. The were excited to practice their English.

Elder Moon found this old ammeter sitting on a window sill at the monastery. He thinks it was made before 1900. He's grateful for modern day tools!

2009-10-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

Elder Moon hiking up to the falls.

What a glorious sight!

2009-10-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

On our Preparation Day, we went with the Moody's and some other friends to the Chutes of Zongo. They were beautiful!

Elder Moon can still do his had stands. I didn't quite catch him at the top, but he still has good form-even at 60 years old!!!

And he can still do head stands!

On our way out from the Chutes of Zongo, there had been a light rain and turned the dirt roads to very slick roads. Yes, we slid off into a ditch and immediately, the villagers ran to our rescue. They started digging and placing rocks near the tires. It took about tweny minutes, but they got us out. Then six of them rode on the outside of the back of truck for the next ten miles and helped us get through all the bad spots. We were worried about them getting back but they kept insisting on going with us until they knew we were over the bad spots. They had a long walk home in the dark but truly helped us out!!!

2009-10-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Elder Moon fixing more machines!

Dr. Hunsaker and Elder Moon working together. Dr. Hunsaker has come twice since we have been here to bring donated eye equipment and to train doctors.

Elder Moon, Elder Moody and Dr. Hunsaker assembling one of the eye examination machines for St. Joseph's Hospital.

2009-10-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

President and Sister Headlee started serving July 1st. They are doing a great job! They have spent time in Zambia and South Africa before coming here to serve so they had at least been exposed to Africa before they came.

Elder and Sister Moody are good to include us when they do many of their Humanitarian projects. Elder Moon especially gets involved with many fix-it projects.

We love to go to lunch at this fun restaurant that has a gigantic hamburger! It is huge!!! We share it of course.

We had a wonderful visit from Elder Holland and Elder Koelliker and his wife. We spent several days enjoying their company. They visited one of the hospitals that the Moody's have done several projects with. This hospital has been a great partner to do Neonatal Resuscitation training and Vision projects. Eustache, who is our office manager is in the white shirt and did all their translating.

Elder Moon has fixed a number of machines for the hospital. When we returned this one on the day of Elder Holland's visit, Dr. Kilangalanga told them how they had not been able to do a certain surgery for six months because their machine was broken and no one could fix it.

2009-10-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Our English class grew to 90 + participants each week. They loved to do the Hoki Poki!

We took a picture one day after class but some of the members had left. We loved working with them. It has been one of the highlights of our mission.

Our closing activity, where we presented over 90 participation certificates to those who had qualified, was a great success. We had about two hundred people show up for the ceremony and dinner. They loved to sing and really know how to harmonize.

Marie and Felicien Lumu came to help us with our closing activity for the English class. They were a great help serving the dinner and cleaning up afterwards. They are some of the stalwart members of our ward.

2009-10-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

This baby lion and I became good friends. When Bill tried to pet him, he tried to take a chunk out of Bill's leg!

I never realized how increibly beautiful all these animals are! Zoo's don't do them justice. To see them roaming the hillsides in their own environment was inspiring!

Look at those teeth! And his tongue was huge!!!

I was excited that this lion decided to let out a roar as we were passing by. What a sound!

2009-10-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

What a makeup job on the eyes! Just kidding, it's the real thing!

Just thinking of having a drink but it's a long way down.

Family dinner!

This Cheetah looked like it was really checking something out. The flower in the foreground just added a nice touch!

Had to include another cheetah. They really blend in with the landscape. They were beautiful as they moved around. Truly graceful!

2009-10-27T11:37:00.000-07:00

In August we had to go to South Africa for some medical appointments. While we were there we got to visit the Rhino and Lion Park. It was amazing to see these animals! This was part of a group of wild dogs. They were scary looking!

The king of the jungle is a very handsome creature. He truly was majestic!

This guy ran right past our car as he saw food to eat. He had a really serious look on his face!

The female lions were beautiful.

We saw herds of zebras and other animals mixed together.

2009-10-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

This man was so happy to receive a wheelchair! Many extra people showed up hoping to get a chair. They had to go through the list carefully because people who weren't on the list had gotten on the chairs and were trying to leave with them.

This man had crawled to the Handicap Center about 3 kilometers from his home each day to receive some training. On his way home one day, he was hit by a car. Wylmar, on the left, carried him to a hospital and paid for his treatment. He is truly a modern day Good Samaritan! He also arranged for him to receive this wheelchair.

We had a great evening with the Nakale family, the Moody's and the Tarr family. Bishop and Sister Tarr didn't quite make the picture!

2009-10-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

We went to a wheelchair ceremony with the Moody's who are serving as the Humanitarian Directors for our mission. When we arrived, we noticed that 1/3 of the wheelchairs needed help. Elder Moon fortunately brought his tools and went to work to adjust chains, and tighten bolts so that they would all work. Two hours later when we were driving home, we saw 3 of the recipients wheeling down Lumumba Boulevard in Kinshasa about 10 kilometers from where the distribution had taken place. They were happy wheelers!

We had a Primary Activity day where the Primary President, Marie Lumu taught the children how to polish shoes.

She also taught them to sew buttons on shirts. They are all experts now!

This is Jeanne Isige and part of her family. Several of them participated in our English class and started meeting with the missionaries. At least four of them have joined the church. Jeanne and her son Patrick have been called to serve in the Primary and are a great asset.

2009-07-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends the Livingstone's have completed their mission and left for home. It was hard to see them leave. They have done a wonderful job as mission president and wife. The mission has almost doubled in number of missionaries since they came. They have had to travel under some pretty rugged conditions but have kept a good attitude about it all. We are grateful to them for all they have done for us.

We had an office dinner and farewell for the Livingstone's before they left. Eustache and Mamie and their three kids(Stacy kept running out of the picture), were there along with Pascal and his wife Gloria. Elder and Sister Moody, (Humanitarian Directors) President and Sister Livingstone and the Moon's. We have had a great working relationship.

President and Sister Livingstone just before a testimony meeting with a number of returned missionaries that served under them.

The Kasa Vubu Ward had a nice event to honor the Livingstone's. There were many friends of the church there and the Livingstone's did a great job teaching prinicples of the gospel. We couldn't get everyone in one picture but this is part of the group that was there.

The Livingstone's share their testimonies and love for the people.

2009-07-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is Francois Lunda's family. He is the head of the Church Distribution Center here in Kinshasa. He is a counselor in the Ngaliema Stake. They invited us to dinner one night before Livingstone's left for home. They have ten children and a couple of brothers that live with them. We had a wonderful Congolese meal. They are a very gracious family. His wife Jeannette is on the right holding their baby. Lunda helps me alot with orders which can be very challenging.

In our garden on the porch we have a big round tub that collects water from the air conditioner that drips from the apartment above us. We often have lots of birds that stop for a drink or bath. These little guys hung around for quite awhile one day. They usually get chased off by some very large birds that look similar to our magpies back home.

In the circle of the street just outside our apartment building is a popular workout area. Who needs a gym when you have a delapidated monument to work out on! Every morning around 6:oo am you can see a large group of guys doing very interesting workouts!

This is Tyler and Becca Nicholes with their son Spencer. They have been such great friends! Becca and Spencer leave this week to return home for a vacation before they move on to their next assignment. Tyler will join them in a few weeks. We will miss them immensely! We have enjoyed some fun evenings with them. They have also been very generous in loaning us many of their movies and puzzles. What a great family!

2009-07-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

These are the new missionaries that arrived last week at the DR Congo Mission! They are excited to be here and I know they will be great missionaries!!!

2009-07-05T02:20:00.000-07:00

Dr. Crouch, Sis Preece, Mrs. Ngoyi, Dr Ngoyi and Dr. Preece pose for a picture after dinner. They taught hundreds of doctors in Africa how to get babies to breath after the are born. Neonatal Resuscitation. There efforts have already saved the lives of many babies!!!

The Nakales are having a birthday celebration. The father, David, is getting help from his 2 boys blowing out the candles.

Yes, Elder Moon is blowing out his candles with a wind turbine (his hand). It really works! You should try it. Elder Moon's mother taught it to him.

These missionaries have served an honorable mission and are getting one last picture before going home. They are diligent, hard workers who have seen tremendous success.

2009-07-05T01:59:00.000-07:00

This is a typical market with cooking stoves, charcoal, soap, food, and anything you can imagine.

Sister Moon and Sister Livingstone pose with Sister Bokala at their home on the Kinshasa University Campus.

We had dinner with the Kinshasa Stake Patriarch, Elder Bokala, and his wife, shown in the previous picture. After dinner, 6 of their 7 sons and their daughter sang several chuch hymns for the Livingstones and us. They sounded fantastic!!!

This beautiful bird crashed into the window at the mission office. We brought it in, photographed it, and after a few minutes, it was well enough to fly off (in the office) Pascal was able to get it outside and it flew away.

The "mission" sewing machine broke. The speed control foot peddle uses the principle of a carbon pile. Those are all the disks on the white papers on the table. After considerable work I was able to restore the speed control capability. Before repairs it had only one speed, maximum speed.

2009-07-05T01:50:00.000-07:00

The Moody couple have been wonderful!!! We see them at the office almost every day and have Friday night dinner and movies with them.
President and Sister Livingstone

at Bonobo Park.

Elder Moody with Stacy and Steven.

Sister Moon with Johann.

Yes, they have heavy equipment here. This D-9 Catepillar hasn't moved for several years, but it greets everyone at the entrance to the Bonobo Park.

2009-07-05T01:43:00.000-07:00

Playing in the Park!

Sister Moody enjoying time with Stacy and Steven Ilunga.

Here is the whole Ilunga family. From left to right: Mamie, Johann, Eustache, Stacy, and Steven.

2009-07-05T01:32:00.000-07:00

These women are in an acre area that is sequestered from the rest of Bonobo Park by an electric fence. The new born Bonobos live in this area and are cared for by the monkeys mothers and also the four women shown in the photo. All of the 60 Bonobos in the park have names and all the attendants know them by name.

We are in our jungle outfits for the Bonobo experience.

This is George. The attendant told us all about his personality. He is cranky in the morning, but perks up in the afternoon. He loves to tease the mothers and enjoys tossing dirt at us.

Lunch!

Stacy's hairdo for the day! Stacy is Eustache and Mamie's little girl.

2009-07-05T01:13:00.000-07:00

The autoclave at St Joseph's hospital broke. Since replacement parts were not available, I had to go to the local hardware store, shown in the photo, and buy "parts".

The autoclave was repaired at the hospital. Basically all the electrical parts had to be replaced.
The maternity ward is in the open door behind me.

Elder Moody, one half of the Humanitarian Couple in the DR Congo (and Republic of Congo and Cameroon), and I pose with the finished autoclave makeover product. Please note the new gravity operated door latch. The door stays shut because of a dead weight, made from a heavy lock, that rotates on a gate hinge. We are applying for a patent on it.

We took our 2nd excursion in a year, to Bonobo Park. It is a Bonob0 monkey semi-open reserve about 30 kilometers from Kinshasa. This little water fall is at the park.

Walking at Bonobo Park. Annette is holding Eustache's baby Johann. Eustache is the glue that holds the office together, along with Pascal, and he is in the background.

2009-07-05T00:51:00.000-07:00

Two of the beautiful women from church. They wear wonderful headwraps that match their dresses. We should adopt that custom back home. It would really help out on bad hair days!

This is one of our porches to our apartment. It has had problems with the drain. One night a huge storm hit and within two hours, the entire thing filled up(it is 7 feet by 24 feet and is 6 inches high). We were in the bedroom which is in the back of the apartment watching a movie. As we got up from the movie, we noticed water pouring into our bedroom from the hall. As we scurried to investigate where the water was coming from, we found that our entire porch was flooded and was spilling into our apartment. It had already flooded the living room, dining room and kitchen and had flooded the hallway down to our bedroom! What a mess! It was about 11:00 at night but I ran down to the guard station to get help while Elder Moon started bailing water. We had four guards helping Elder Moon and I clean up and trying to unclog the drain to the porch. We finally got to bed about three hours later. We thought the problem had been fixed but a few weeks later another storm hit and it started filling up again. This time we knew that we had to keep an eye on things. Elder Moon tried all sorts of things but in the end he had to take one of the drainage pipes off the outside wall and we found a rock that had lodged in the pipe. Over time I guess it had collected all sorts of debris that had clogged the pipe. It was great as the next few storms hit to not worry about being flooded, something you don't expect when living five floors up from the ground!

OK, no makeup or hairdo but we found the rock. Amazing what something that small can do!

Typical way to catch a ride to wherever someone is going.

2009-07-05T00:38:00.000-07:00

Bill got up early on Mother's Day and prepared a wonderful breakfast for me and served it to me in bed. He even picked a beautiful flower from our garden and potted it in a cup with dirt and all! What a fabulous husband!!!!

Elder Moon has taken on all the dish washing responsibilities since we came on our mission. He has been a huge help. As you can see, sometimes he does not put the vinyl apron on and then he gets pink spots all over his pants from the bleach as the water splashes on him!

We get beautiful sunsets. This was taken from the roof of our apartment building.

The soccer fields here are not the most beautiful but get used constantly. There is always a game being played. I'd hate to make a sliding tackle on these fields!

At our Stake Conference where
Elder Jensen of the Seven Presidents of Seventy was presiding, the power went out and the generator wouldn't start. Bill had to take the battery from our truck to get the generator going. Elder Moon saved the day again!

2009-07-05T00:16:00.000-07:00

Still in love after all these years!

Pascal and Gloria at the church wedding. What a happy couple!

Putting on the ring at the government ceremony. The judge told all the couples that she expected to hear that they all had babies in nine months!

All of the brides had beautiful hats.

2009-07-05T00:07:00.000-07:00

Pascal and Gloria at one of the three wedding ceremonies. This was the government ceremony where eight couples were all married at the same event. The hats were really amazing.

This was at the ceremony at Gloria's home. Gloria had a different dress for each ceremony.

This was also at Gloria's home. She came out surrounded by friends and family who were hollaring and yelling in delight. She looked beautiful and even teased Pascal as she got closer to him. Music was playing and everyone was enjoying the fact the dot had been paid and they were officially married by the traditions of their tribe.

The bridesmaids actually came out dancing first and do a traditional bridesmaid's dance.

Sister Moon in one of her Congolese outfits, dressed for the wedding. Elder Moon snapped the picture before I was ready but at least it shows the dress!

2009-07-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

Cute

Cute babies at the wedding. We love their hair! They love to see their faces after we take their pictures!

Great hair!

The little boy on the right is holding a toy that he made. He pushes the ring of wire with the stick and a piece of tin can hooked to the end. He would run along keeping the ring of wire rolling on the ground. And how about the cute boy strutting his stuff!

2009-03-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

Elder Moon has always loved to run and traveling to Luputa was no exception. I would only let him run around the field in front of our room. Even in the early morning there were people out and about. They gave him some very curious stares as he ran around! Some of the kids would try to imitate him for a few steps but would always stop.

This is the Nakale family. Oh how we love them! We had the wonderful opportunity to teach them the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's an opportunity that most office couples never get. They moved to Kinshasa from Namibia and don't speak French so we were asked to teach them in English. They were all baptized the same day. The youngest, David is almost hidden. We were thrilled when Eustache who works in the office with us and Mamie had their third child and we got to go see little Johan. How exciting to hold a newborn! We are grateful that all went well and both mother and child are strong and healthy.

This is the Nakale family on the day of their baptism. Bombyck on the far left is the Ward Mission leader and came with us to all our appointments. The sisters in front were at many of the lessons also.

Elder Moon also had the privilege of baptising these two cute brothers from our ward.

2009-03-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

This little girl is sitting by piles of charcoal that she is selling. Most people cook with charcoal that is simply made by burning wood. Many people will only by enough for the day because if they buy a big bag of it, their neighbors and friends will see how much they have and will take some home for themselves.

If you look beyond the woman carrying the load on her head, you can see many homes of a village off in the distance. This is a beautiful country!

2009-03-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

Most villages we drove past, the people would come running, waving and welcoming us.

The roads are narrow and our driver would constantly be beeping his horn to let people know we were coming through. People would leap off the road and into the bush.

Notice this woman is carrying a long branch or trunk of a tree on her head. I'm sure she will burn it and turn it into charcoal.

2009-03-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite parts of traveling is meeting the children. These two little buddies walked with arms around each other.
Elder Moon would turn the monitor of the video camera around while he was recording so the children could see themselves. They loved it!

These three kids were standing in the bush just watching us.

OK. This is the man I talked about in a previous post. He was doing a water dance at the water project. He was quite the character and perhaps alittle too suggestive for me to watch!

Another shot of the soap factory at the monastery. It was really something to watch the process they used.

2009-03-01T21:44:00.000-08:00

This is a soap factory at the monastery that we stay at. The young man is pounding the soap into a mold.

This is the way most people iron here in the DR Congo. The iron is filled with charcoal. You can see the orange glow through the hole on the bottom right.

This girl ironed for hours late one night. Once in a while she would wave the iron around to distribute the heat.

This picture reallly belongs below with the water project pictures but we thought it was a cool picture!

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We did hike through some pretty muddy terrain but what beautiful country!

Marie José is on the left pointing to the table of food. She is also shown holding a picture of the Barlows who served as the Humanitarian Directors for the DR Congo Kinshasa Mission. She has a great love for them and they for her. Sister Barlow and Marie José are like kindred spirits. The Barlows finished their mission in October. Elder and Sister Bailey have been here temporarily but leave to go home on the 19th of March. We are excited to meet Elder and Sister Moody who will be arriving next weekend to serve as the new Humanitarian Directors.

2009-03-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken at Marie José's orphanage and Center for Malnourished children. She is an amazing woman who is really trying to make a difference in the world. She is head of Maternity at the Hospital in Luputa and then runs her own clinic and orphanage. She has the biggest heart! She has rallied the neighborhood surrounding her orphanage to help out. The children eat their meals at the orphanage but play and sleep in "homes" around the neighborhood. A man rides around on a bike with a loud speaker and horn to announce when meals are being served. She only houses the very sickest and weakest of the children. People from as far away as Mbjui Mayi, which is a far bigger city than the village of Luputa, have started bringing malnourished children to her for the great care she gives.

Feeding time at the orphanage.

2009-03-01T07:01:00.000-08:00

The church is also working on a Cassava project. They are partnered with IITA who is experimenting with different disease resistant varieties. Here you can see one of the healthy new varieties and also a diseased variety they have grown for years. In one part of the field, they have 42 rows that have two rows each of twenty-one different varieties to see which ones will grow best in these conditions.

This is Nestor who is the site moniter for the Cassava project. I think he has a degree in agriculture.

I don't know the man's name from IITA on the left, but next is Nestor, President Livingstone, President Binene and Elder Moon.

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This is Daniel and his wife Monique. He is the site manager for the water project and has done a great job! He was excited to receive the rain coat and boots. He has to travel on his motorcycle out to the project each day and when it rains here, it really pours!!!!

At the end of the day, the workers all jump in the truck and head back to their villages.

These workers had to work in some pretty mucky places but were so excited we would take their picture.

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The workers sometimes have to work in some pretty mucky conditions! They were so excited to have us take pictures of them.

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The workers demonstrated for us how they connect the pipes. Together. The head of the team has a whistle in his mouth which he blows different signals to let them know what is being done. It was really interesting to watch as he blew the whistle to signal they were starting. He and another worker sanded the pipe, then primed it and finally applied the glue. Then he blew a number of times on his whistle which let them know it was time to join the pipe together. Seven workers then picked up the pipe which is 18 feet long and connected it to the next piece. They were very proud of their work.

Elder Moon did some measurements and was followed closely everywhere he went.

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We were welcomed by a large group of workers when we arrived at the site where they had been laying pipe. Everyone was anxious to show us what had been accomplished. They even had a man with leaves attached all over his clothes doing a water dance. There was a very festive mood as they brought out a glass pitcher and glasses so people could drink from the flowing water! Even one of the chiefs was around for the tour of the project. They like to wear very decorative hats as you can see.

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The Humanitarian department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is funding a water project that will bring water to 14 villages ending at Luputa. We were asked to go and check on the progress of the project. This is the water committee with representitives from the various areas and the contracters. We met with them to discuss the project and let them know that the church has approved the second phase of the 3 phase project.

Looking over some of the plans.

People along the road to Luputa. They carry all sorts of things on their heads.

This picture was taken through the window and it was raining pretty hard but the people walk on!

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At one point, two trucks were stuck in the mud. We had to find away around them without getting stuck ourselves. Our driver was very good at navigating through tough spots!

These drive-in food stops are are along the road ways. The roads are full of people walking, or pushing bikes, or trucks loaded with goods and people. These are like our fast food restaurants where people who are traveling can stop and buy something to eat. There usually aren't alot of choices for them, but at least they can pause briefly and get out of the sun.

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Some of the roads are full of ruts...

some are full of water.

Some are very narrow....

and some have pigs wallowing in the mud!

Sometimes we had to work our way through the bush, hoping to get back to the road.

Traveling to Luputa in February 2009

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In February, we got to return to Luputa. The roads going to Luputa can be alot of fun! Last August when we went it was the dry season but February was the rainy season! It was really wet!!!

Sometimes we would have to leave the road and make our way through the fields.

People really load the trucks up with goods and passengers.

2008-12-27T12:36:00.002-08:00

Our English level three class is over. We had a big celebration with certificates, singing, dancing the Hoki Poki and lots of food. John James wore a traditional African outfit for the festivities. It was a day of great rejoicing! We will start a new class in January.

Rita and Danny Kalala were married the end of November. They both had served as missionairies in the DR Congo Kinshasa Mission. What a beautiful couple!

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We made forty-five of these little mangers with baby Jesus to give to the Primary children at the Kasa Vubu Ward Christmas party. The children loved them. We used our milk and juice boxes we had saved. We covered them with used brown envelopes and shredded others to make the straw. The babies were made from some of Elder Moon's socks and some material left over from other projects.

Sister Moon with one of the Primary counselors on the left and the Nursery leader on the right. One of the cute kids jumped into the picture at the last moment.

Sister Moon with two of her friends.

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The angel appearing to the shepherds.

Joseph and Mary with baby Jesus. They did a good job acting their parts with great dignity.
Some of the shepherds and wisemen.

One of the sweet angels.

Joseph.

2008-12-27T11:36:00.000-08:00

Our three wisemen for our Nativity presentation.

Joseph and some of the shepherds.

Children dressed for the Nativity scene.

Mary and some of the angels.

Dressing the Primary children for the Nativity scene. They acted it out as it was read from the scriptures for the ward Christmas party. We made all the costumes from fabric that had been left from previous missionaries and items we had at our apartments. Sister Livingstone and Sister Bailey were a big help making the costumes and mangers.

2008-12-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

Elder and Sister Barlow went home the end of October so we were asked to do a few of the Humanitarian things to keep some of the projects going. This is a group that assisted Elder Moon as he installed a video camera and TV monitor onto an operation microscope table at St. Joseph's Hospital Eye Surgery Center.

Elder Moon and one of the doctors dressed to enter the surgery room to install the equipment. There were three surgeries taking place as he installed the equipment.

We also delivered 50 Neonatal Resuscitation kits, 50 manuals and 100 syringe bulbs to Dr Ngoy and Dr. Valerie also at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Our dear friends, Elder and Sister Barlow. They have returned home but their influence continues throughout the DR Congo. Oh how we miss them!!!!

2008-12-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

This is one of the cute families that came for the closing ceremony of the wells.

Another sweet family that came to the ceremony.

Elder and Sister Barlow who headed up the project.

Sister Barlow pumping water!

At most closing ceremonies, the chief usually takes a drink and then spits on the four corners of the project to bless it. Here is the chief in action.

2008-12-27T10:56:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken a few months ago at a village where the Barlows had done a water project. The project consisted of two wells up in the village. These pictures show many of the villagers walking to the river, washing their laundry, bathing, and filling their water containers to take back to their homes in the village.

2008-11-29T07:32:00.000-08:00

Elder Moon working on an eye machine. We followed the doctor to get to the clinic but knew we would have to come back on our own. We drew a map as we drove marking every landmark we could see hoping we would not get lost. That map will have to have a place in our scrap book as it served us well!

This is one of our former sister missionaries. Her fiance worked while she served her mission so they would have enough money to get married. It was fun to experience a Congolese wedding. The ceremony itself took place in the chapel and was very reverent with lots of talks and some music from the choir. Afterwards, everyone moved into the cultural hall where the bridesmaids came dancing in, and there was much merriment! As many of the guests greeted the bride and groom, there was alot of whistle blowing, chanting and singing.

This little flower girl was just precious! She looked like a mini bride.

Here's a group of our fantastic missionaries. Oh how we love them!

2008-11-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

In October we had a Sisters' Conference. We had a wonderful breakfast, learned to make some colorful cards, listened to talks and had an all out great time. We have the best sister missionaries!

They love to get up close and personal to have their pictures taken!

Wish you could see the cards better. They are in three D. They are of Congolese women in their colorful fabrics with hair and beads, etc attached.

Sister Livingstone tried some of the hair we were using. What do you think? Should she become a brunette?

Everyone had a great time!

2008-11-29T06:53:00.000-08:00

This cute little bird showed up on our window sill and watched us for quite a while. There are many beautiful and colorful birds here.

We went to this really nice boutique to look at local artisans work. They have beautiful gardens with birds, lizards, peacocks, statues etc. It was so peaceful walking through the lush gardens and observing the different wildlife.

This albino peacock was so beautiful! He really liked to strut around with feathers fully spread.

This bird has a really interesting head dress! Notice the fun statues around.

Elder Moon working on a camera that broke. He couldn't get replacement parts so he had to make some along with some tools because he couldn't find any small enough.

2008-11-29T06:45:00.000-08:00

This was a well project that the Barlows did. It was fascinating to see how they hand dug the wells, formed the rings in the ground with cement, and then dropped the pipes down in the well. Villagers are so thrilled to get these wells!

2008-11-29T06:39:00.000-08:00

Elder Moon working on one of the Braille machines that the church donated to a Blind and Handicap Center.

Elder Moon basically had to take each of the machines apart an clean and fix them. They are older machines but he says they are built well and should last for years.

Here is one of the crews that repaired all of the benches in one of the ward buildings. They did a great job!

2008-11-29T06:31:00.000-08:00

This cute little girl was my shadow one day as we fixed benches at one of the ward buildings. Her English was pretty good and we had some great discussions. She wanted her picture taken every few minutes. She loved closing one eye each time. What a fun personality she had!

Don't you love the hair!

This was taken a few months ago. It is a picture of our English class.

2008-11-16T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Rest of the Luputa Trip

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O.K. so I don't have this blogging thing down very good. And the last six weeks our internet has been broken but they finally came and really fixed it this time so we will try again. The man holding the stick in the trench is showing how they measure to make sure the trench for the water pipes is deep and wide enough. Most of the trench has been hand dug by the villagers. This is all apart of the huge water project the church is doing in Luputa. The first phase is almost finished. It will bless the lives of thousands of villagers from the water source along a twenty mile pipeline to Luputa. Water will be distributed all along the way. It will be such a blessing to have clean water and to have it come right to their village.

The group of beautiful African women are teachers at a monastery we stopped to visit.

Elder and Sister Moon with Sister Parmley in the vehicle we traveled in. Bouncing around in the back of this truck on the roads to Luputa was a real adventure. Alot of people would pay good money for a four wheeling trip like that! Just harder to do in missionary clothes!! You should have seen Elder Moon's white shirts. They were covered in red dust!

Primary Song

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2008-09-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

Really quite an amazing sight!
These kids hiked with us also. The blue bands that some of them have on their foreheads designates them as a team and is like their uniform.

Typical homes of the villagers.

Great roads to travel on!

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This man brought this owl to us thinking we might want to buy it for our dinner! It was an amazingly beautiful owl. Elder Moon felt bad all day that we didn't buy it and set it free. We did help free a chicken that was tangled up in some string. It could only take about one inch steps because it was so caught up in this eighteen inch string. We felt so bad for it so we tried to catch it but were having a hard time. Finally, one of the people from the Monastery where we were staying caught it for us and held the chicken while Elder Moon tried to cut it loose. The lady let us free the legs from each other but wouldn't let us cut the last little piece of string from the one leg. When she let it go, the chicken took only baby steps for a minute and then seemed to realize it was no longer bound. It was really fun to watch it take some giant steps and then start to run around. Afterwards we learned that someone had probably intentionally bound the chicken with the long string to make it easier to catch when they were ready to have it for dinner. At least they were nice about it when we were freeing it and thinking we were doing this nice thing!
We often see people playing checkers with homemade boards and bottle caps as playing pieces. These men saw our cameras and wanted their picture taken. People are very creative in making things from what is laying around.
Elder Barlow is explaining details of the water project to Elder Moon, Elder Parmley ande others.
This cute little boy hiked all the way down and back up with us at the water project. He loved the baseball cap that Elder Moon was wearing and kept asking for it. It was one that the Tifie group had given Elder Moon. Just as were ready to drive off, Elder Moon gave the hat to him and he just beamed. Wish I had had my camera ready!
Elder Moon and a group of the kids that followed us up and down the trail.

2008-08-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

All these children were gathering around as we were getting ready for the ceremony where the church was donating many items to the hospital. I had a fun time teaching them alot of songs. They loved singing and were quick to follow even though it was in English. They particularly loved action type songs.
Sister Barlow started ripping pieces of the bubble wrap used to package the items being donated and gave it to the children showing them how to pop the bubbles. They loved it!
Elder Moon assembling the operating table that was being donated. What an improvement over anything they had!
Lots of curious onlookers watched through the bushes the whole morning.

Arriving at the freshly painted hospital in Luputa.

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This is an autoclave that they use at the hospital to fire up and sterilize the surgical equipment.
Elder Parmley and Sister Barlow ceremoniously handing a set of surigal tools to the head chief of the village.
Elder Parmley of the Seventy and President of the Southeast Africa area spoke at the ceremony. In his premission life, he was a well-known cardiologist. It was a wonderful experience to travel with him and his wife.
Look at the bead detail in this chief's hat!

Front view of the same hat. Elder Barlow and the chief. Notice the cane the chief is holding is decked out with the same beads.

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This mother is looking at a picture of she and her baby on our friend's camera. She was so excited to see their images! Everyone wants their picture taken and laughs when they see themself on the display.

As Elder Moon was unpacking the ultra sound machine that the church was donating to the hospital in Luputa, he noticed something was rattling. So immediately after the ceremony, he took the machine apart and found a screw that had jiggled out. There were also twelve other loose screw! The roads we traveled on were extremely bumpy! He got everything back in place and tightened up. The machine worked great when he was done!
Finding the problem.
This headlight from a car is the light that is used in this operating room. It is hooked to a generator as they don't have electricity.

More of the operating room.

2008-08-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

Giving the orphans their gruel.

Orphans and many of the neighbors who let the children spend the night at their homes. During the day, the children come back to the orphanage to be cared for. The most extreme cases stay at the orphanage all the time.
This is Marie Josee who has founded this orphanage. She is a nurse and is head of maternity at the hospital in Luputa but she also runs this orphanage and women's clinic. Here she is holding a baby that was extremely malnourished and was found lying next to his dead mother. She has a heart of gold and is truly making a difference in many peoples lives. She has no funding, just lots of love.
Elder Barlow with Marie Josee and her training chart she posted on the wall in the birthing center. She went to the Neonatal Rescusitaion Training organized by the Barlows,(DR Congo Humanitarian Directors), and went back to Luputa and starting training all the doctors and nurses. A week later she called the Barlows laughing and crying because they had just saved a baby that everyone thought was dead. She followed the procedures she had been taught and on the third try, the baby started breathing and is now strong and healthy!

Birthing table.

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The people here don't have alot but they are creative! This little train was made from sardine cans, sticks and bottle caps.
This homemade guitar made from a can, stick and fishing line actually made some interesting sounds!
The children are fascinated with our skin and my hair. They love to touch us and love to feel my hair.
Every village we came to people would come running to greet us, especially the children.

Elder Moon and some of his friends.

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The children in the villages love to follow us around. They all want to learn English words and are so eager to talk to us.
They love to hold our hands and will push each other out of the way to get a turn.
We stopped at this outdoor couture where they make clothes. I saw a cute top hanging up and asked how much it was. It was a very reasonable price so I decided to buy it. I found out it was only the model. Our driver told the man that he would take me to buy fabric and bring me back to be measured. The next thing we knew, we were going to the marché to buy fabric. This is the man who made my outfit. He made it that night and our driver brought it to me early the next morning.
Sister Barlow skipping with the kids.

Elder Moon and followers strutting along.

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These cute families carry supplies and their family members on a single bike. Notice these roads aren't easy to bike on!

Most Congolese people have beautiful posture. They carry large loads on their heads. We have seen everything from all types of food, sewing machines, car batteries, and last week saw a lady carrying a table with a book case on top of the table.
People pay good money to go 4 wheeling and we get to experience it as part of our mission!

Our dear friends the Barlows, ready to quench their thirst with some precious water. Traveling from Mbuji-Mayi to Luputa and back, we had to carry enough water for the trip as it isn't available in the towns we were visiting.

Traveling to the Ngandjike Branch meeting

2008-08-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Ngandajika Branch and curious neighbors.
Elder and Sister Parmley and the Ngandjika Branch.
Exciting roads to travel on making it difficult to arrive to meetings on time.
This tree that had been chopped down by some villagers caused a slight delay in our travel but our husbands showed that even though they may be part of a senior couple, they still have muscles to move trees!

Uh-oh!

An Outing at the Lake

2008-07-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

President and Sister Livingstone in a rare moment of relaxation. Their schedule is beyond crazy. We're not sure how they keep up with everything. Our mission includes five countries with missionaries in three of them. We could really use some Senior couples so if anyone wants to have the experience of a lifetime, get your missionary application turned in, and request to come to the Congo!

2008-07-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Elder Barlow really isn't crashing into this tree. He is being a loving husand and is picking some pods from this tree that Sister Barlow loves to collect.

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Sister Barlow is always taking pictures. Elder and Sister Barlow have done amazing projects as they have served as the Humanitarian Directors of the DR Congo Kinshasa Mission. They have an incredible blogspot that is very fun and truly inspiring. Check it out at: barlowsinthedrcongo.blogspot.com.

We enjoyed an hour of paddle boating on this peaceful lake. Could these be the original design for paddleboats? They worked fine, just not real comfortable but we didn't come to the Congo for comfort!
This area looks more like the jungle parts of Africa. There were vines hanging from the trees that you could really picture Tarzan swinging on!

Elder Moon, my best friend, my missionary companion and the man I adore!

2008-07-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

Elder Moon got to see how the machine worked after he got it fixed. One of the technicians layed on the table and let Elder Moon exam his eye. We each got a turn to look in the operating microscope and check out this man's eye. That's the closest I will get to being a technician or doctor!
Final adjustments of the machine.
Elder Moon gets involved in a wide range of fix-it projects. At this garden project he fixed the leak at the hose bib and fixed the hose at the other end so he could install a nozzle so they didn't have to hold their thumb the whole time they were watering. Our son Jonny bought the nozzle in Provo and sent it over because they don't have them here in the C0ngo.

2008-07-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Elder Moon fixing a field of vision eye exam machine at the Kinshasa General Hospital.
When he finished and the machine was working, the doctors gave him a big applause. It was really touching. They were so appreciative!
To fix this operating microscope, we had to put on scrubs and go in the operating room. Dr. Hunsaker who was here from Utah to train a group of doctors was working with Elder Moon.
This is another operating microscope that Elder Moon had to assemble that had been donated to St. Joseph's Hospital. We had a small room to work in and then put on full scrubs and entered the operating room where three people were having surgery. He finished the installation in the operating room while these surgeries were taking place.

Elder Moon had to return to the small room to repair a part and the lighting was poor. One of the technicians brought in some operating lights so Elder Moon could see what he was doing.

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This man without feet is waiting for his wheelchair. Watching these people receive these wheelchairs was a very humbling experience. We really take so many things for granted.

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At the Handicap Center, Elder and Sister Barlow who are the Humanitarian directors for our mission arranged for wheelchairs to be distributed to people. Many of them have had to crawl for years and use shoes, or flip flops or blocks of wood under their hands.

President Iyomi on the far right is the President of the Kasa Vuba Stake in Kinshasa. He is a doctor by profession. He spoke at the ceremony. The man in the wheelchair was so excited!

As we were walking back from Camp Luka, we passed this "shop" under a tree. The lady in the back of the picture was sewing clothing on an old treadle sewing machine. (These machines were invented in 1851 by Isaac Singer.) She hangs the items to sell on the wall behind her. Many people set up these little shops right along the trails or roads and almost all of them are the old treadle machines. That's because they don't usually have electricity in these villages or in town for that matter.

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At the far left you can see people filling their water containers. This picture above is the old latrine they used before the nice new blue one was built.

Beautiful faces of the children.

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This water tower was installed by
This water tower that was arranged for by the Humanitarian arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints makes it possible for the villagers to get water right in their village rather than walking 6 kilometers each way to obtain water.

We got to go to the closing ceremony for this Latrine project at Camp Luka. You can see the before and after pictures. What a great improvement for their village. This was built next to the school. IFESH and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered to do this project. They use local people to do the work and teach them the skills of how to build and maintain it. They also taught a hygiene class with the idea that the members would teach their families and other villagers.

2008-07-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

These children are playing a game with wrappers. Their goal is to win as many as they can. They flip some kind of object and the winners take a wrapper. I guess it is their version of playing for marbles.
We checked to see what unit this Cub Scout was from only to learn it is a shirt that had come from Colorado. He was very proud of it! I don't think he even knows what a Cub Scout is.
All of the children love to have their picture taken. Thank heavens for digital cameras so we can show them their pictures. They get so excited to see themselves and their friends.

2008-07-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

We spent a day with our friends from Tifie looking at their projects. This cute lady was teaching people how to whistle through her hands and had such a fun hairdo.
This is another little girl carrying her little brother who fell sound asleep.

Some of their faces tear your heart out. But when you show them their picture, they usually burst into huge smiles!

This little girl in the center of the picture is on her way to get water from the water tower that the church Humanitarian Group brought to her village. Notice she is carrying one jug and has another strapped to her back.

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Everywhere we go we see children 4-8 years old carrying younger siblings that range from tiny infants to 2 years old.

Family has an Interesting Conversion Story

2008-06-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Mr. MBUYI-MARCEL and Mrs. META-BERTINE and their 7 children belonged to a Protestant Church. One day the husband asked their minister why they didn't have a Prophet and Apostles in their church. He replied, "I don't know, but here's a pamphlet someone gave me that talks about them". It was a Joseph Smith's Testimony pamphlet. They read it, believed it, and then spent a long time finding the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But they finally found it, and shortly afterwards, their family was baptized. The mother is now the Young Women's President in their ward. They are a special family!!!
Note: When a couple gets married in Africa, the wife does not change her last name. That is why the husband and wife often have different last names. But when they are Sealed in the Temple, they are asked to have the same last name. This family is planning to go to the Temple very soon.

BYC Group

2008-06-27T23:56:00.000-07:00