Elder Palmer (back row, 6th from left) is serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa mission for
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.


Eric returned home on August 27th, 2011!!!!!

He was transferred to Yaounde, Cameroon on August 13th, 2010.


Links listed on the left are from the senior couples and Mission President!

Comments in italics are clarifications from Mom.




Friday, August 20, 2010

Eric's email of August 18, 2010

Haylow,

Just so you know, next week I'll respond to those 2 questions Dad asked me about Pointe Noire. Put that in the email again next week to remind me, but I will stew over that a bit during the week. I wrote it in my agenda, so that I won't forget.

(Where did you get the Virginia T-shirt you are wearing on the golf course?) So first thing about that Virginia shirt. I bought that in the MTC. At first Elder Wilkins and I went there to see if there was a Congo shirt or something, so we put in an order, and then we got the paper back saying that the item we ordered does not exist. And for some reason at that point, I thought I needed another t-shirt, so I got a Virginia shirt. Now, I have toooo many t-shirts. So that's how I got that.

(Did you get your last package before you left Pointe-Noire?) Also I did not get that package before I left, but I'll get it eventually. Whenever the Headlees come, they can take stuff in their baggage between Cameroon and Congo and such, so Elder Bally and I will probably get our stuff from the Headlees at some point. I just hope that Elder Lee or other missionaries in Pointe Noire don't eat the food if there is any.

(What is Yaounde like?) So yeah, pretty much Yaoundé is green and beautiful. It reminds me of Virginia. There are trees all over like at home, but here here all the dirt is red. I will be sending some pictures. Elder Lee told me this before I left, and its definitely true, that Yaoundé is the most well off and eye appealing place in the mission. So green...

The climate is a lot like the climate I experienced at Pointe Noire, but a little bit hotter. Also it should be rainy season sometime soon, and I'm not looking forward to that. Especially after rain stops and then the sun is out, that is the worst. But right now its ok, and I did just yesterday finally buy a jacket (for $5) when I'm a little bit chilly in the morning or evening.

(How is the food with Elder Acorda? Do you do extra chores for him since he seems to be the cook?) So food with Elder Acorda is really good, but I do help him so I don't have to do extra chores. And I actually have some kitchen skills now, if that's hard to believe. But in our apartement, which is our district of 3 companionships, we have a new dinner program. 6 nights a week, we do community, which means we pay for everything together and stuff, and each companionship will have 2 nights where they cook and everything. Elder Acorda and I are doing it tonight. We will be making Nbongo Tchobi, which is this black sauce that we will have with meat and rice, I assume. I'll send a picture later. And the other night, we are on our own. Elder Acorda and I will go get poisson bresé from a fish lady.

(How many elders are in Yaoude?) So in Yaoundé there are 12 missionaries plus the senior couple. The couple is called the Thompsons, they are from Canada, but Sister Thompson was born in Panama. They have been in Yaoundé for 3 months I believe. They are a great couple too, they picked up me and Elder Kesler in Douala, took us to a pizza place for lunch, and then drove us to Yaoundé. There are 2 districts, Ekonou and Bastos. My sector is Bastos C, and I am part of the Bastos 1 branch. There is also the Bastos 2 branch and the Ekonou branch, soon there should be 2 Ekonou branches. Elder Wilkins is in my apartement, so we are together again. Our apartement is nicknamed "the fortress", because it is pretty big.

So I'm excited to work with Elder Acorda, but we have a lot of work to do. Especially because the week before I got here Elder Acorda was pretty much sick the whole time and had malaria. We don't have many amis right now, so we are contacting and figuring out the best ways to get quality amis. Also our sector is pretty darn big, I've never had a sector this large, so I'm trying to figure out how to best schedule and not spend for darn ever traveling.

So that's pretty much Yaoundé right now. But we have found a couple new good amis, Rosaline and Joseph. We just started teaching them Monday, and a couple days ago we were talking about the Book of Mormon, and Joseph asked us one of the funniest questions I heard. Since the Book of Mormon deals with the people of the American continent, he asked if that's where the phrase "God bless America" comes from. They are French speakers, so he asked all that in French, except he said "God bless America" in English. It made me laugh.

Well enjoy the last moments of summer, next time I email you I will be 1 years old. Weird that it happened so fast.

Je vous aime,
- Elder Palmer

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