Eric's email of March 4th, 2010

Eric sent this picture a few weeks ago. The caption on the wall is
"Holiness to the Lord" Zechariah 14:20

Hello everyone,

Alright, so I'll start with answering questions... So Dad, what questions of Mom's did I not answer? Oh, and no I don’t recognize any of those names you told me about Mom, but that’s cool about those guys’mission calls. (Two SUU students are going to African missions-one to DRC!)

For my last 3 meals, starting this morning, my comp and I stopped at a boutique and got chocolate gateaux. Which is basically some bread thing with this chocolate spread, (we think it is Nutella-how deprived is Eric that he doesn't know what Nutella is?) and we get 2 for 300 CFA, which is 60 to 70 cents. Then last night at the end of the day, we met up with the other two missionaries and had "poisson brisé", which is grilled fish that you peel apart and eat with your hands. That costs 600 CFA, then I got 200 CFA of plantains which are just kinda like bananas but have the texture of potatoes and are really good, and 200 CFA of Miondo (that's how Elder Price told me to spell it), which is basically just rubber that you can eat. I doubt there is any nutritional value at all in that. And also I had a Topomplemousse with that. And then yesterday for breakfast, I made scrambled eggs and potatoes with ketchup, yum.

No, I did not get my cleats yet, and I stinkin' forgot my money again to get it transferred to CFA...I'll get them soon...(These cleats were supposed to be his Christmas present-and now it is March!?!)

Well I've only played soccer once, and that was a while ago in my 1st transfer, Elder Lisowski and I went to play one Saturday morning with a member named Grant. And it was ok, but we never went back because no one else ever wanted to go again, lazys. But since then, the last p-day of the week of zone conference I played basketball with Elder Terneiden, Elder Lee, Elder Landress, and Grant and Florent (2 members). And it was pretty good, except I didn't really eat a breakfast because I was out of food and we didn't bring enough water. But we are planning to play something next p-day because this Tuesday is zone conference so one p-day we have more time because there is no district meeting.

(Mark asked how old is the oldest member in Bonberi?) So right now I can't tell you, but in April the oldest member will be Ebanezar, who I talked about a little bit last week. He's 78, so he says, and he is getting baptized on the first Saturday of April. But, who has been a member the longest... I think I would have to guess Nanné Stevens, because he knows the Dajeus and was Bro. Dajeus' hometeaching companion. Right now he is a Sunday school teacher, and he's the man. (The Dajeus are members from Cameroon who now live in our stake.)

So I think I got all the questions, if not ask me them again next week, and so I apologize because I probably did miss something. But this week was ok, except I'm pretty sure it is the hottest week of my life, and Elder Lee has said the same thing. Especially Monday, I thought I was going to die. But (thankfully) we had to come back at 1:30 to do weekly planning and meet someone from the Branch presidency who is also the guy who fixes our apartment when it gets messed up. The shower head in my bathroom was leaking a little bit, so Elder Lee tried to wrap something around it to stop it some, and then it just kinda exploded somehow, so we had to turn the water off for a couple days. And so we also got a break from the sun. I'm a little bit sunburned right now.

Also last Sunday church got changed from 3 hours to 2, for the time being. This is because in Bonabéri we are still a group, so actually we don't exist. But the problem was that nearly everyone showed up late. Elder Lee announced to everyone to be there 15 minutes early next week, so we'll see.

Oh, and so before I forget, Mom, yes I got some packages. I got one from the Innsbrook YW, I got a family calendar from Aunt LeeAnn, I got a card thing from the Bertonneau's, and I think there is one other I cannot remember right now. But thank everyone for those. I did get my Christmas package from Grandma and Grandpa, and I just got another card from them today.

So one other notable thing this week, is me and Elder Lee have found our new favorite people to teach. One day we just contacted this guy named Princely, and at least I didn't think much of it. So we went to our first rendez-vous with him and his brother Chris, it was pretty good. They are anglophones btw. Then later we came back a few times, and on the 2nd rendez-vous, Chris told us he received an answer that our message is true. So we've gone back, just finished Plan of Salvation, and Chris came to church last week. But also in our lessons their cousin Blandine, who is a francophone, sits in. And she is actually starting to take interest now that we gave her a Livre de Mormon, rather than just sitting in to learn English. And also they live with their grand-mére, who is awesome. I don't know how old she is, but she only speaks pigeon and is always saying random stuff during the lesson, but she is a sweet old lady who we can't communicate with. And so these lessons are good, and also they are hilarious. Yesterday we taught just Princely and Blandine, and we spent 40 minutes explaining the Spirit World to Princely. I told him, "Princely, when we die our spirit doesn't immediately go back to Heavenly Father." And then he said, "What!? How can you say that? Elder Lee, is this true?" And then we read a verse, but then it took forever for him to understand the difference between Paradise and Prison in the spirit world. He also got kinda mad when he saw how the French Book of Mormon is bigger than the English one. I told him "its the same thing, Princely, just in French and the writing is bigger". Then he said, "this is an injustice!" One would appreciate it more if they were there actually, but its always fun.

So the spiritual thought... is from Andrew, who is a member. And basically, he told us his awesome testimony. He didn't like where he was going with his former church. So later he found the missionaries, and at first wasn't that into it. Other people around him told him that the missionaries were not there for the Gospel, but to do crazy stuff. But Andrew said he prayed very hard for a long time, and got an answer. And so even when there were other people around him telling him stuff, he stuck with the answer he got from God, and he is the man. Also he is one of the few people who did all his home teaching in the first month of home teaching in Bonabéri, and last Sunday he taught a lesson and gave a talk. Stud.

Oh, and one other thing about Eb. We taught him la Parole de Sagess (Word of Wisdom) on Tuesday, and he got a little confused. On the board we wrote the things you do not take: l'alcool, le tabac, les drogues, le café, et le thé. But he got a little confused, and said how he understands a little bit of coffee and tea can be good, but he didn't understand why he should smoke and drink and take drugs. So, we explained to him these are the things NOT for the body. Eb is the man, though.

Well enjoy the nice weather and the Jazz/Wizards game. And enjoy the 10k for those who run it, Dad don't pull anything.

Je vous aime,
- Eric