February Letter

In Rwanda we attend church alternating between 4 branches.  We will soon have a 5th branch.  All are in the native language of Kinyarwanda.  They give us an ear set and a returned missionary who speaks English will interpret for us.  It is so sweet to feel the spirit of these sweet faithful members.  If someone speaks in English or French another person interprets. Into Kinyewanda.  All testimonies and talks go on like this for the entire meeting.  Attending these small branches takes my memory back to my childhood when our little branch was so small. Our faith so strong that the missionaries would be successful in their teaching so the branch could grow and become a ward.  Just in my life of 50 years there is now a Stake in Kingsland, GA.   It will come here also. The new mission will have a huge effect in moving the work forward quickly here in Rwanda. 

Rwanda is a small country but a fast developing country.  People are generally honest and respectful.  The country focus is on the education of the children.  The schools here are focused on teaching English and technology in all the government schools.  This little country will advance quickly now that the church is recognized by the government.  We notice how strong the families are in this country which was war torn just a few years ago.  Maybe that is a result of war.  I don’t know.  We read the dedication of the country by elder Jeffrey Holland.  He blessed the people of this land to forget the hatred and mistreatment they have experienced.  That has happened.  We meet people all the time who have lost one or both parents in the genocide in 2002.  Yet these people, now parents themselves, are strong and loving in raising their own families.  

Today is the first day of returning to Sunday classes for the branches.  Rwanda has been very strict fighting Covid.  Masks in public are still a strict mandate.  The 7 pm curfew in the country just lifted this week after a mandatory 3 day quarantine.   Last night was the first time we have experienced night life in Rwanda.  We went to a close eatery for a wrap for dinner.  It was amazingly delicious.  It is cheaper to eat out than fix.  $3 for a chicken wrap.  Yet groceries are outrageously expensive.  IF you find a can of vegetables or tomatoes you pay about $6.  No such thing as frozen veggies or frozen goods of any kind beyond fish except Ice cream which is $20 for a small container.  It sure tastes good though.  They have amazing gelato.  So, I am on a quest it find a few choices in eateries.  So far we found a sandwich shop, a pizza joint, two nicer restaurants and a hamburger spot.  We are careful of eating things not cooked but I ventured a wrap one night and so far I am good.  I would not be so brave in Uganda though.  Milk is only purchased in 1 liter boxes with a long shelf life of 4 months. Juices are available in boxes like the milk.  Apple being the most popular but you can get pineapple and mango too.

Our projects here in Rwanda are mostly schools where we are assisting in providing new classrooms and desks.  The culture here is to capture rain water in large tanks to be used in cleaning.  If for drinking they have a tank that is filtered.  Of course few schools have filtered tanks so the kids drink the rain water.  At least it is better than the ditch water in the rural areas.  We have a water filter at our kitchen sink and we drink only filtered, boiled or bottled water.  

The country of Rwanda is a lot cleaner.  Although the streets are still red dirt, the wind doesn’t blow so much and it rains more so the dust is controlled.  In Rwanda we mop weekly.  In Uganda we mop daily.  After being in the field inspecting, our truck in covered in mud.  Our gate guards also wash our truck for $5 and they scrub it inside and out with a small scrub brush and soap.  At first they washed it daily until we finally said to the boss they must only wash the truck on Saturday night.  Now they all want to work the Saturday night shift.  All five are members and returned missionaries except one who is preparing to go soon.  They are great young men.  They often accompany the missionaries to interpret for them.  No pay of course.  They spend every day out proclaiming the gospel and loving it.  We don’t know how they live.  Most of our meals are prepared for three, and sometimes 7 if the elders next door are home.  We eat a lot of pasta and rice and extremely little meat except fish.  Tilapia is harvested from the Nile and adjacent rivers so it is very plentiful and very delicious. 

The people in both countries are generally well kept and clean at church.  During the week they don’t bath quite as often which is a challenge if you need a repair man.  The more educated are definitely cleaner and well dressed.  The older generation bath over a small tub by splashing the water up onto them.  The rising generation have apartments with showers.  

Our living accommodations in both countries are very comfortable.  Like most of Africa they seldom put electricity in bathrooms.  But in Rwanda we do have a razor plug which is amazing.  We have all the comforts.  Hot showers, king bed, fans for cooling, a washing machine but no dryer.  Here in Rwanda we have a toaster, rice cooker, an insta-pot, a popcorn popper, and a waffle iron.  In Uganda we could find them all if we wanted to buy them at our own expense.  We feel ok with a toaster and a hand mixer.  

This has been a week of paper work.  We had one very important meeting with sector engineers and directors over a hill side water project we are hoping to embrace.  

 We visited two drug rehabilitation programs that are asking for machinery.  The rehab patients spend six to twelve months in a facility getting their addictions under control.  After that they are given the opportunity to enroll in a tailoring or carpentry training center where they learn a marketable skill.  This is where they are asking for assistance in needed tools. Some graduates choose to stay with the program for three years to earn a certificate and can then become mentors and teachers.  Many are street kids with no family and no homes to return to.  Living on the streets they eat anything they can find and if someone gives you anything you take it.  Easy to see how they get addicted.  

 One of our projects that was cleared for funding was Empower the Future.  You can look it up on line.  This organization takes street kids the police find and returns them back to their parents.  Parents send them away to the streets if they can’t feed them.  The organization provides training for the parents giving them a skill to earn money, provides professional counseling to the family, teaches money management, and aids the kids in their school studies.  The organization is funded by the items they make being sold. Of course we have purchased a few items from them like aprons and hot pads we needed.  Elder Bird will buy a tie when he sees one he likes.  They make other things like pin cushions, computer bags, children’s toys, and such.  The church will purchase 10 sewing machines and some carpentry tools for them.  We have partnered with The Sterling foundation on this project.  An amazing foundation from Provo who does so much good in the world.  It is an honor working along side of them. 

Our Elders next door got transferred so we now have two new sets.  They give us a little more privacy than the last set.  The past elders were in charge of the finances here in Rwanda (and still are).  Before we arrived they came and went from our flat at their pleasure because they used our office and our truck to do all the finance work.  Now they live across town and have to take the bus to our flat when they need to file paperwork.  They no longer have a key to our flat either so now they have to ask permission to come.  Before they just walked in any time.  I had to be very careful never to leave our bedroom until fully ready for the day. 

 

The last two days I helped a prospective missionary get his application ready for submission.  He has been trying to go on a mission for three years.  His brother has raised him and was quite upset when he joined the church which means he gave no support to his desire to serve.  Paul (the missionary applicant) finally moved out to live with some other member returned missionaries.  He has been working and saving then covid hit.  Now he is finally able to submit his application but is so worried he can’t go because he turns 26 the first of May.   Today we had another young man approach us at church in the same situation.  Too old now to apply because of the covid shut down.  We feel so badly for them.  We will speak to the mission president in hopes they can receive a call to serve locally like stake missionaries. 

 

Yesterday was the first day we quit work at 4 pm being all caught up on everything.  It felt so good after so many midnight bedtimes.  We made popcorn, relaxed and watched a movie last night. What a nice break. 

 

This is the beginning of the rainy season.  It rains every day and I am becoming a wuss.  I am wearing a windbreaker jacket in 80 degree weather because I am cold.  Can you believe that?  We even put a blanked on our bed.  We are going to have a hard time adjusting to the cold again when we return home.

 

“Urabeho” from the Rwandan  “Mazungoos”. 

 

 

Bananas, Bananas! Let's all go Bananas!

 

January 30, 2022 Letter

 

Dear Friends and Family

 

We are back in Rwanda this week.  We will probably be here for a month as we meet with our leaders and review prospective projects.   Elder Bird is acclimating to driving like home again.  It takes him a day or two every time we switch countries to acclimate to driving on the right or left side of the road.  I am navigator as often we do not have data so our GPS doesn’t work.  How did we ever live without cell phones and GPS?

 

This society, as in many other countries of the world, is what is known as a "hand to mouth."  They barely earn enough to provide two meals a day.  At one school we visited the enrollment was 1886 students grades K - 12.  600 of those students come to school at 7 am to receive their breakfast consisting of 1 cup of cornmeal porridge and one slice of bread. Most of these same students go without lunch because their parents cannot afford lunch money.  The amazing thing is the kitchens they cook in.  I haven't yet seen running water in any school kitchen.  We have visited several schools where the kitchen is an out door open fire with a pot on top of it.  They are thrilled to receive a 10' x 12' block building to store food supplies in. No shelving - just a room to pile the sacks of grain away from the bugs and thieving hands.  

 

Enablement is a HUGE problem in all the countries of Africa because so many well meaning people do so much.  The people sit back and wait for someone to come to their aid and save them.  Many reach out by Facebook with sob stories that are unreal and scams are frequent - especially with US and Canadian citizens. 

 

Last week we visited a water source with our District President.  He took us there asking for the church humanitarian department to help with a spring where the children are getting water from a ditch.  Only 20 feet away the church had erected a lovely cement capture area with steps down into a rocked area where the children could place their cans under the spout of running fresh clean spring water.  In the 15 years since this structure was built it has eroded and the steps are destroyed (mostly by unattended children).  The ditches are flooding and the area is becoming a swamp instead of watering the crops in the fields.  Our men would see the breakdown of the cement and repair it and clean the ditches.  The committee of 6 men all stood around and could not see a solution.  Finally Elder Bird pointed out the water needed to be temporarily rerouted, the steps could be broken up, the debris hauled away, new steps formed up and poured.  Then the ditch banks should be shored up with rocks and cemented into place.  Most of all, they need to not throw trash into the ditches and they need to clean the ditches so the water would flow downstream to their crops.   They were aghast.  They really truly could not see a solution or any way to remedy the situation.  Simple things are unknown to them because of lack of training.  The people have been held back and oppressed for many years.  They lack education and parental examples.  Think of all the things most of us learn at the side of our parents as we work in our yards, repair a car, clean our homes and cook in a kitchen etc.  Families are almost non-existent.  The youth, however, are being educated.  Slowly the people are coming.  The problem is much worse in Uganda than in Rwanda.  The government is more corrupt in Uganda with wealthy leaders and oppressed citizens. When it is election time the candidates line up to pay their vote bribes to the citizens.  That is easy money for these poor people.  In Rwanda the infrastructure is stronger, leaders are more honest, and people are much more honest.  They take great pride in their country, pay high taxes (50% on earned wages), and the money is returned into the education system.  In both countries the progress will be slow but is steadily inclining. 

 

We met this week with a school committee.  We are proposing a large project at this school which will impact the entire community.  This school is on the top of a hill in Kigali, Rwanda.  The capital city of Kigali is built on hill after hill.  The school is at the crest of a hill with about a 300 foot drop off at a 30% incline.  When it rains, which is often, the water washes down the hill into the community homes below causing muddy flooding.  In addition, this community can sometimes go a full month without water during the dry season.  We are hoping the city will join efforts in terracing the hill side, erecting a retaining wall and fence around the school property, build a water capture tank at the hill top to aid the citizens below, and follow up with leveling and planting the school grounds.  We hope to involve the citizens and members in a helping hands planting project to help control erosion.  This would also provide the children with a large grassy playground area.  It will be one of three very large projects we are proposing to our Area Presidency for clearance.  

 

We are diligently working to find projects in which we partner with the government of Rwanda.  Some members of the government are very leery of our church purposes and are opposing granting visas to prospective missionaries. Two elders received their calls and last week, at their departure, were denied visas and cannot yet leave.  Our Mission President is here in Rwanda now.  Tomorrow we will meet with the Immigration Department of Rwanda to represent the church, the humanitarian work we are doing, and plead our case.    Please pray for our success or we may not be able to come and go from Uganda to do our work here.   

 

After finally getting comfortable in Uganda over the last 6 weeks, we packed up and moved to Rwanda.  We are slowly settling in to this apartment.  Food costs have sky rocketed in the last month because Rwanda borders have been closed.  They announced reopening to start February first.  Hopefully that will help items to drop in price.  When shopping yesterday we found a small box of corn flakes cost the equivalent of $9US.   I put it back and said we can eat oatmeal or toast and eggs.  I was amazed at how many common items had doubled in cost in just the six weeks we were in Uganda.   We brought one full box of items with us because we couldn’t find them here in Rwanda.  Now we are looking forward to our return to Uganda in February just so we can bring another box back with us.  Next time I will bring food items. 

One of our city officials asked about the church and if she could attend.  She and her husband showed up today and even stayed for two meetings!    You never know who is watching and who will be touched by the spirit. 

 

Great week!  Great work!  Finally feeling we are needed and functioning missionaries. 

Elder and Sister Bird

                                   

                                          Rwanda District Conference  January 29 & 30, 2022

Sunday January 23, 2022

 

We followed our GPS to a chapel location where we were to meet with leadership.  Of course, GPS had the wrong location.  The church had another address so we went there but there was no church.  Time to pray we decided so we did and immediately two men in white shirts walked up behind us. Nope – not missionaries.  They were two brethren walking to church which was a few hundred yards away, around a corner. Not where the GPS or the church website said the building was.  But we found it on time and were warmly welcomed.  It was a lovely building to!  Most buildings here are rented.  They range in all sizes and shapes and conditions.  The only universal thing is the church sign at the entrance. 

After Sacrament meeting, we met Brian Mathews.   He was there to attend a baptism for a worker at his orphanage compound.   This young brother found the gospel through one of his fellow workers. He felt the spirit and asked for baptism. The sisters also had a baptism today. There are two sets of missionaries in this ward. Within the next two years the Mathews’ orphanage will have their own ward. This orphanage is very organized. They are setting up homes parented by an LDS couples who will foster twelve to fifteen orphans. They have three homes presently completed and 12 more planned. The compound farm is functioning and producing enough food to feed all the workers and residents. The main building was completed two years ago which presently acts as a dining hall and sleeping quarters for the workers. As other buildings come along, these workers will sleep elsewhere so the main building will become a church on Sunday, a dining hall and a school room until the school is constructed.  Elder Bird says Brother Mathews is building an orphan city.  Actually, it is an orphanage farm. He has several major investors and many minor investors. Amazing what the vision of one man can accomplish. “You can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.”  Someone famous, like Ardis Bird, gave us that quote.   

It was hard to visit two water sites this week where there were springs. Both had previously been tapped by someone else but both were nonfunctional due to lack of maintenance. In both cases the people could get clean water by simply cleaning the ditches and laying a

small piece of 4” pvc. But the people do not think “how can we fix this or improve our situation.” Instead they wonder when someone will come save them. Too much enabling and not enough training and self motivation.  Even the brethren visiting the sites with us did not know how or where to begin to improve the issue.  This spring has fresh clean water but the steps to the capture have collapsed and the bottom has filled in with sand and debris.  We sent them photos of a good repair and suggested two Elders Quorum projects.

Daily scripture reading has helped me this week. I had become lax with the overload of the work since coming on this mission. This week we received a challenge from President Chatora to reread the BOM in the next three months.  I am now starting Alma and have been so inspired. Did you know you can read the book of Mormon in 16 hours?  I’ve done it several times.  Having said that – you gain so much more if you read it a little bite at a time and ponder the messages it holds.  I ask myself – “What is so important in this verse that an ancient prophet laboriously formed a metal plate and then took the time to engrave it just so I could learn from it a thousand plus years later?” 

I wish all our grandchildren would ponder the scriptures that way.  And as you do – ask for a witness of the message.  I know you would each like to receive a grandiose angelic visitation proving the gospel is true, so would I, but quite frankly none of us are worthy of such.  Our faith has to be tested first.  Are we willing to just be a good person all the time?  Do we think kind thoughts all the time?  (I haven’t been thinking very good thoughts about our landlord lately – she is quite a unique charm.  I am repenting.)  I have learned that if we just do our best every day and move forward with faith, little witnesses come.  You will often have “AH Ha” moments when you hear the spirit say “That did not happen by chance.  I am in the details of your life.”  That has happened so many times.  For instance, Here we are in a medical world wide pandemic and who has the Lord placed as prophet to lead his church through it?  A doctor.  Our prophet set in place a study program of personal at home learning which preceded this quarantine by only months.  Do you think that was just a lucky guess?  Not at all.  When I was a young mother, President Ezra T. Benson was our prophet.  He told us we would see the day when we would hold church in our homes.  That prophecy came true this last year.  I know our prophets lead us by inspiration.  I also know we will only recognize that prophetic leadership is we open our hearts to receive a witness of the spirit.  If we put forth a little effort, the Lord magnifies that effort when seeking truth. 

You may ask why we are serving another mission when we could be living at home in comfort.  It is because the Lord has blessed us so abundantly.  When we married, we asked Heavenly Father for direction in our life together.  We followed that request with a promise to him that if we were financially capable, we would serve him as long as our health would allow us.  We did everything we possibly could to teach our children righteous principles of self-reliance and I think they found happy lives as they followed our counsel.  We admonish you grandchildren to do the same.  Listen to your parents.  It is actually quite a “cool thing” to have a good relationship with parents (and even cooler with grandparents).  It will buy you a lot of happiness and disobedience will lead you into a life of misery. 

Make you life a happy one.  We love you! 

Elder and Sister Bird