Eric's email of May 26th, 2011

            Well, this dumb computer is being a pain in the rear, and I can't figure out how to change the darn language.  So this could be painfully full of typos, sorry.

            Today we were originally going to get the transfers.  But last night the Thompsons called and said they don’t get the letters until Saturday, so now we have to wait 2 more days.  The Thompsons invited us over for an “end of transfer” dinner, so that means it’ll be a big one.  Some speculation has been made.  You’ll just have to find out next week though.

            So, Elder Tingey and I are officially overbooked.  Personal and comp study have taken a hit, as well as a few other things, like my sanity.  But, I prefer to have this problem rather than the opposite.  On Saturday we had a baptism-we had 2 candidates baptized!  First one was Soeur Nina, the daughter of Soeur Salome.  She was originally scheduled for the 7^th of May so I’m glad she got it done this time, and I also know her mother was very happy, who also gave a wonderful talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost.  The other was the oldest son of Soeur Christine, Frere Ignace!  We weren’t even expecting that he would get baptized, but what a wonderful surprise!  We did service chez eux (their house) in the morning, and in the afternoon he came to the baptism by himself.  And on Sunday, the whole family showed up, early even!  So on Sunday that whole family of Christine, including her sons Ignace and Sebastien got confirmed.  So, that is a huge worry off our shoulders.

            There was another lady that showed up to get baptized, but we had to push her to the next one.  Her name is Soeur Melanie (different than the one I’ve already told you about), who was an investigator from Elder Buck and Elder Garner that we got.  But right before last transfer, she voyaged without telling the missionaries, and her phone is broken.  Luckily we saw her 2 weekends ago, and she had just gotten back from her trip.  She didn’t come to church the next Sunday due to rain, and her phone was still broken and wasn’t at her house when we stopped by.  But, she did remember the baptismal date she had set when Buck and Garner were there, but she didn’t know what time.  So she showed up at church at 9 AM, and only found the young men of Bastos 2.  Then she left, and came back right when the service was ending.  Also, she hadn’t done her interview yet.  So I was happy that she had remember her baptismal date and done so much to be baptized, so I’m confident she'll be ready for the next one.

            Law and Order in French is on the TV in this cyber café.  Ou, en d’autres termes, Loi et Ordre.

            Soeur Marie Sylvie is still progressing well.  We read with her Acts 8:26-40.  I think she's ready for baptism, more ready than a few other people I’ve seen get baptized.  And thanks to la Societe de Secours, (Relief Society) she’ll be well taken care of.  And another Soeur that lives at Messassi, Soeur Honorine, asked us what are the interdictions, or, um, forbidden things in order to be baptized.  We explained the word of wisdom and all those, she accepted them.  I asked her at the beginning if she had prayed to know if our message is true, and she said, “C’est vrai, non!”, (that's true, no?) in a tone suggesting that I just asked a dumb question with an obvious answer.  The Relief Society is growing very nicely, and Messassi especially could have 3 solid new members close together with les Soeurs, Nina, Marie-Sylvie, and Honorine.

            Just so you know, District Meetings with only 4 missionaries is a little less exciting.  But the apartment is a lot more peaceful.

            Well, we started internet late, and we're on dinner tonight.  I think the transfer is supposed to happen on June 3^rd, so even if I unfortunately get transferred (because at this point if its up to me I would choose to stay), you should get one more email from me while I’m still in this area.

Je vous aime,

            - Elder Eric Palmer

(The cashier at Wal-Mart who helped me today was from Kinshasa, DRC!)  First off; unfortunately I have not yet been to Kinshasa.  I have been to Brazzaville, and saw Kinshasa from the airplane.

(Sarah Anderson is coming home in June!)  What the nut!?  Sarah Anderson is already getting home?  When did she leave on her mission?

(We donated the swing set from the backyard.  Any idea on what to do in that space?)  No, I don't have any ideas for that empty backyard space.  My head is too full.

(Our RS is serving lunch for zone conference on Friday.  It is the fourth day of zone conferences in our building.  We assume it is several zones.  How long is your zone conference?)  Our zone conference started at 3 PM and went til about 7:30, then ate and such.  But when President comes it is usually a bit longer, but normally we still have time to go teach a couple rendezvous.  Was the mission president there?  (Yes)

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Ekeh... as the Cameroonians say.  Thats like saying, "oh la vache" (Holy Cow-his response to Mark's new calling in the Stake Presidency.)

Elder Tingey had been predicting all week that you would be in the presidency, but he said you were going to be president.

(Which stereo types from last week did you think were inaccurate because compared to Cameroonians, Americans are rich and fat etc...) Inaccurate ones, hmmm... I don't know, since there are a lot of Americans, there are certain ones that fit each stereotype, but not tout le monde, (everybody) as some people think.

(Elder Dajeu has returned from his mission in Rochester-he is originally from Cameroon.  Eric and Louis emailed.)  Elder Dajeu and I sent an email a couple times the past few transfers.  Last week I emailed his father to ask which Cameroonian foods his wife knows how to prepare.

(Do kids in Cameroon get a long summer break like we do?)  Kids in Cameroon have roughly the same school schedule, but sometimes in August there is what they call the "rattrapage", if you need to redo some tests or classes.

Je t'aime et bonne chance,
-Elder Eric Palmer

Eric' email of May 20, 2011

Eric's p-day was today, Friday May 20th instead of yesterday:

Well, we found out today, that if I grew out my beard, it would be
red.  I thought that was interesting.
        Anyways, things less interesting than that, is that today is la Fete
Nationale au Cameroun, or we can say that it’s Independence Day.  But
this one is special, because it is to celebrate the 50th Anniversary
of the Reunification of Cameroon, but some Anglophones told me that
the Francophones mixed up the date.  Nonetheless, the Reunification is
celebrated today.  And that is why we changed pday to today, because
many people were not going to be free.
        We also had zone conference on Wednesday.  The lesson that President
Headlee asked me to prepare was on the Area Book and Reporting Tools,
and the Weekly Planning Session.  And actually it was called a
“workshop”, instead of a lesson.  At first I was afraid that it was
going to be super boring, but I don’t think it was that bad.  The one
thing I do need to work on in zone conference’s, is projecting the
amount of time for each element, because I keep underestimating the
time needed by a lot.  Elder Thompson taught a lesson about How to
Begin Teaching, and explained to us “entrer sans frapper”, (enter without 

knocking) which is something we should not do.  We watched to clips 

in “the District 2” DVD to help.  I swear the sister missionaries are 

always the good examples in those clips, and the elders are the ones that
"need improvement”.  And we also found out the transfer should happen
sometime around June 3rd.  I also delegated the fun part of zone
conference to Elder Tingey, and he had us play Jeopardy.  The
categories were: Area Book & Weekly Planning, The First Presidency,
Book of Mormon, and French Verbs.  It was good.  My team…won.
        Yesterday Elder Tingey and I also got called to fix someone’s
daughter.  We were at Messassi having a lesson with Soeur Marie-Sylvie
(who is still progressing wonderfully) and a couple other people.  So
as we were getting near the end of the lesson, some lady walked in and
greeted us all.  I assumed she was a friend of someone that lived
there.  But then, she just started talking to us about how she has
some problems with one of her daughters, etc.  She said she had seen
us a few times, and thought since we are young like her daughter, we
could knock some sense in to her, if that is the right translation.
So, we presented our self a little and offered the help we can give.
Then, she excused herself for coming into a house of people she didn’t
even know, except she said she had recognized Marie-Sylvie from a
hospital one time.  So she must have really wanted to talk to us if
she just entered the house of someone she didn’t know.  So she left,
and after we finished our rendezvous with Marie-Sylvie & co., we
walked to where she lived, she saw us and showed us her house.  Oh,
and her name is Chantalle, and we found 2 of her daughters and 2 other
youngens.  So, we had an ok lesson, got to know them.  Except at one
point it started raining, and made it hard to hear.  One of her
daughters asked me, “Vous buvez l’alcool?” (Do you drink alcohol?).

I thought she had said,“Tu partais à l’école?” (You have left school?).

And I answered yes.  Thankfully, Elder Tingey understood and was 

surprised by my answer, and quickly corrected me.  We’ll see them again

on Monday.
        Brother Patrice (friend of newly reactive member Brother Gildas) is
also progressing wonderfully, as in as wonderfully as Sister
Marie-Sylvie.  Last Friday, we sang a hymn and opened with a prayer.
And Patrice, anticipating that we were going to ask, “Avez-vous des
questions?”, (Do you have any questions?) said right after the prayer 

that he had no questions, but had a testimony to share.  That caught

our attention.  He said that 2 nights before, he was praying before

going to bed, and during his prayer he asked about the Church and what

we teach.  Then he said,that he felt something he never had felt before,

it was a good feeling, and the thoughts “Thomas S. Monson est un vrai

prophète” (Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet) and “L’Eglise est vraie”  

(The church is true) kept running through his head, and that he even
started crying a bit.  The next morning he woke up Gildas early and
told him what happened, and the next day he told us his experience.  I
felt like I was in Preach My Gospel in the story under “Listening”,
especially because there were some people’s children making a bunch of
noise.
        Its raining hard right now.  I hope the connection doesn’t go out.
        Oh, and we are also getting ready for a baptism tomorrow.  We have 2
candidates.  One is Soeur Nina, the daughter of Soeur Salome.  I felt
really good in her lessons this week and actually believed her when
she said she wanted to be baptized.  And the other is Ignace, the son
of Christine.  And Christine and both her sons are planning on getting
confirmed this Sunday.  She said last Sunday they all got ready, and
around 11:30, it started raining really hard, and that she didn’t have
an umbrella and she didn’t want to go out in the rain with Martin, her
3 month old baby.  She expressed a real want to be confirmed, and
feels kind of sad about how she hasn’t been confirmed and doing all
she wants to in Church.  Again, I’m really grateful how the Relief
Society has supported her.  This week if it starts raining hard before
church again, we are just going to go get her.
        Well, that’s about it.  Everyone enjoy their last month or less of
their respective school.

Je vous aime,
-       Elder Eric Palmer

To Dad:

For the burger restaurant, I would be willing to work there.  I don't
know why not.  I'm not saying to sign me up right now for 40 hours a
week.  But I don't think that would be awkward.  Sounds like it could
be a good idea.

I think I could do that running program, probably do the long runs on
pday, just have to find someone to do them with me.  Finding someone
will probably be the biggest challenge.  (1/2 marathon training)

Ok, lots of people here hove lots of weird preconceived notions about
Americans, and other people.  Weird one from just today, is that a guy
stopped us and asked about the water filtering system that he heard
existed in Asia, Europe, and the USA, something to do with osmosis
water.  I told him I have no idea, but gave him a Restoration
brochure.  Other notions include: money, being fat, can't speak
anything but English, only eat food that is in cans and such.  Not
everyone thinks all that, but different people have different notions.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Eric's email of May11th, 2011

  Well, its weird that my last phone call home is done.  It didn’t even feel like that long between Christmas and Mother’s Day.  And the time I have left is smaller than the time between those 2 phone calls.  Its weird/scary/exciting.  In fact, 2 years doesn’t even feel like a long time at all, really.

                So right now, nothing too out of the ordinary is happening.  We are just very busy, and getting ready for a baptism the 21^st of this month.  But, there is one wonderful thing happening in Bastos 1.  La Societé de Secours (Relief Society) is working wonderfully.  They have have a full presidency, Soeur Therèse is la Présidente, the 1re Conseillère is Soeur Thamar, 2e Conseillère is Sister Ndongo, and now they even have a secretaire, Soeur Philomen, who was baptized just last month.  And its not only them that are working well together, but all of the sisters together.  On Sunday, Soeur Therèse went with the branch president's wife to go visit Soeur Christine, who got sick after her baptism and still hasn’t gotten confirmed.  And on Saturday, Soeur Therèse and Soeur Patricia (who works with us a lot to see amis in Emana and Etoudi) are going to go visit Christine and some of our amis de l’Eglise, like Melanie and Marie-Sylvie.  I already know that without the Relief Society’s help, we would not have been able to progress well with Christine and Melanie.  So, I’m very grateful for the work they are doing.

                I also did a baptismal interview yesterday for Elders Nsimba and Prince.  The young man I interviewed is named Genesis.  I interviewed him last month, but we decided to wait and prepare more for his baptism.  But yesterday, right when we started, I felt different than last time, and was already almost certain that he was ready this time.  So I was mostly glad that he had prepared himself and received a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon.

                The only really other things I have to talk about are out amis.  Soeur Nina, the daughter of Salomé, is progressing well to baptism still.  Sœur Marie-Sylvie is doing very, very well.  Yesterday she got her Doctrine et Alliances, and kissed it when she got it.  She has an awesome testimony.  They only thing right now, is she thinks she needs more preparation before baptism.  I think she is completely ready to be baptized now.  She even stopped selling phone credit and fruit in front of her house on Sunday.  Elder Tingey also thinks she is ready.  Anytime now, she should become a member.  And Sister Therèse and Soeur Patricia will see her this weekend, so I think that will really help her.

                There is another family in Bastos 2 we have now, la famille du frère Jean-Paul.  Last month 4 of their kids got baptized.  There is one more that comes to Church but is still not baptized.  Apparently she is not wanting to be baptized because her mother (who is not yet a member but comes to church each week) is recommending her not to do it.  So, we are going to try to make the mother happy and do some service for her.

                With Soeur Melanie, we have finally figured out the real problems.  And the key is the Book of Mormon, but she says she is still not interested at all in reading it.  So we are going to start at the beginning, the very beginning, and start reading with her.  She is a unique investigator.

                Longla family is doing ok.  Rigobert and Melkior passed the Sacrament last week!  And the father says he will talk to his wife about baptism, because he wants to wait until October when he will be off from work.  As we try to explain the blessings of baptism and the temple, he kind of understands, but then seems to forget the next rendezvous.  And in general, most of the Anglophones aren’t very happy right now since the translation in sacrament meeting stopped.

                A member that just came back, frère Gildas, got a calling to be teacher.  And his friend, Frère Patrice, is progressing pretty well, but he doesn’t understand how someone could prophecy and also have free agency.  He’s thinking too hard.

                We are also planning a soirée familiale chez Frère Ndzana at Etoudi this Monday.  We are expecting a large turnout.

                In my ready I have read through Ether 11.  The book of Ether is basically the entire Book of Mormon in 30-ish pages.

 

Je vous aime,

-          Elder Eric Palmer

      To Mom:

 

      (What time was it when you went to bed after our phone call?)  After the phone call, I went to bed near 1 AM.  But surprisingly I didnt feel more tired than usual, because I feel kind of tired all the time.

(How many times have you been to the gorilla park?)  I have been to the gorilla park 2 times only.  (Did you know about the dental clinic held at the church?)  And yes, they announced the dental clinic for about a month.  But we didn't go to it.

(Scott is going to Prom and Party All Night this weekend.  Do you remember where yours were held?)  My party all night was at the school, and the dance was at the Omni Hotel or something like that.  

After the Book of Mormon, I'll probably just continue the Doctrine and Covanents.  I want to read that whole book from page zero until the end.  I'll have to finish it after my mission, though.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

 

      To Dad:

     

      There have been a few members asking me something recently.  A few, mainly the Longla family, asked for "gospel music" so that they could learn hymns.  I don't know if it would be a pain to get a few Mormon Tabernacle Choir CDs that I could give to a few people.  That's the only request I could make.  And Elder Tingey isn't making any suggestions because he thinks he won't be with me when the package gets here.

In Cameroon, there are only officially organized branches in Douala (soon to be 2) and Yaoundé (4).  But when I was in Douala there was some guy in the Southwest who had found the Church in Russia, and was trying to teach a Gospel Principles class a such.  And I heard that there was a handful of people in Limbé meeting as the church kind of.  In Congo-Brazza, there are 2, soon to be 3 branches in Pointe-Noire.  In Brazzaville there is 1 stake.  I don't think the church is anywhere else for the moment.

No questions about internships or college and stuff?

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Phone Call on Mother's Day!

We had a great call with Eric on Mother's Day-He sounds great.  Because he and his companion are serving in two branches, they are at church all day.  Our church is in the afternoon, so we called him around 9:30 his time.  Everyone had a chance to talk, including his grandparents!

Eric's email of May 5th, 2011

  Before I forget, because I forgot last week, Bonne Anniveraire à Mom!

            Also today is exactly 1 year for Elder Tingey!  He started his mission on May 5^th, 2010.  I remember when I hit one year… I was here in Yaoundé!  And that doesn’t seem that long ago.

            So this past week was very busy and eventful.  On Saturday we went au champ with Soeur Marie again.  Pretty much did the same thing, I spent most of my time with Elder Nsimba using machetes to clear out the field.  There were lots of bugs.  We didn’t get stuck in the rain though, but it didn’t get too hot either.  I noticed that when she works au champ, she doesn’t wear any shoes.  Or socks.

            After church on Sunday, we went to the Longla house, and we taught Rigobert and Melkior how to tie a tie.  It was kind of hard for Melkior because he is pretty short.  And their father also stopped drinking coffee at work.  Thankfully his kids persuaded him to drink nesquik instead.  He told us he started drinking that, and at first he thought it was going to make him throw up.  I don’t know why, but he was grateful that it wasn’t going to be as painful as he thought.

            We have been doing English class the past couple weeks.  We do it each Wednesday at 4.  I taught yesterday, and we learned about the body parts.  Elder Tingey thinks that bellybutton was not a correct word to teach, and made me teach them “navel” instead.  But we had the best turnout so far yesterday, by the end we had 10 people.

            Are sector is also ginormouse.  I spelled that wrong.  I don’t really know how to explain it, but we are all over the place.  We have to do a good job of scheduling our rendezvous’ in order to work as efficiently as possible.  A few of our people literally live au village.  Like yesterday we went to see Soeur Salomé because there a few people out there who want to talk to us, and one already got a Livre de Mormon.  Its really beautiful out there.  I wish that my whole sector was like that.  I’ve got a picture to send.  And, we had a good lesson.  At first I thought her friends weren’t understanding much or anything, but when we explained about why there are so many churches to day, I think they had an epiphany of some kind.

             We do have another investigator who is starting to progress really well, le Frère Patrice.  He is a coordonnée from a member who starting coming back to church recently, Frère Gildas.  But on Sunday Patrice came to church even though Gildas didn’t, which really impressed me.  

            And we have another new amie that was a coordonnée from Marie-Sylvie (who is also progressing very well towards baptism), named Soeur Marie-Susanne.  She lives au village, at Nyom.  But, I have really high hopes for her.  We have only had 2 lessons so far, but she loves the story of Joseph Smith.  She said about 7 months ago she stopped going to churches at all, and said she asks the Lord to show her the truth and is waiting for it.  The main thing is she lives faaaaaaaaaar.  So as she gets a testimony I believe that will help her overcome the distance and find what she is looking for.

            In the Book of Mormon, I just finished the Book of Mormon.  And I learned mostly a lot about why the Book of Mormon came forth and the role it plays in God’s plan.  My favorite chapter was Mormon 9, lots of good scriptures I can use as a missionary.  Sometimes it seems like that book is forgotten, at least to me.  And even though I’ve read it before, this time I learned a bunch that I never noticed before.

            Today I am also going to send a letter to Elder Lee in California and Elder Aldridge in New Zealand.  I wonder how many letters have been sent from Cameroon to New Zealand.  And have been sent and have made it.

Je vous aime,

-         Elder Eric Palmer

 

(Anything you want for your birthday?) Besides candy, I don't think there is anything I want or need.

(What is a DMB from your last letter?)  A DMB is a dirigeant de mission de branche.  Or branch mission leader.  We do have branch missionaries, but we don't do splits very often, but they do have other people they visit and come with us sometimes.  Yes, the baptism happens at the church, they built a baptismal font out back.

(Do you think you will meet the new mission president?)  Yeah, I will meet the new mission president.  We will see President and Sister Headlee one more time between the 13th and 18th of June, and then President and Sister Jameson come on July 1st.  So I assume I'll see him.  Someone needs to give me a release interview.

(When should we call you for Mother's Day?)  Alright, well I don't think that you could have a worse time for church.  Because here we have church with Bastos 2 from 9h00 to 12h00, then Bastos 1 from 13h00 to 16h00.  And then you are in church when it is 18h00 to 21h00 here.  Alright... hold on.  I'll send another email in a sec.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

(Anyone here that you want to say goodbye to before the annual exodus of students?)  Honestly I cant remember who is there and who isn't and who is leaving and such.  So just say au revoir to anyone you feel like I should.

(When to phone.)  3-4 my time is not good.  We finish sacrament meeting at 4, and we have a meeting with the branch president right after church.  So I called the Thompsons, and we decided this.  So you will get out of church at 9 PM my time.  So since you are calling my phone, you can just call me whenever you get home.  We decided that even though it'll be a little late that would work the best.  So don't worry about calling too late, just call whenever you get home from church, which should mean something around 9 30 my time, n'est-ce pas?

And tell Scott he blew it somehow this week.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Eric's email of April 28th, 2011

Elder Tingey and I seriously just spent at least 4 hours cleaning our apartement and stuff.  Right now I am probably cleaner than I have been in a long time.

This morning we also went to play basketball by Carrefour Etoudi.  When we first got there, there was just us 2 and a few young kids.  But then a couple other people about our age showed up, so we played 2 on 2.  One was 6’3”, and the other was around 6’7”.  I played with the taller one.  And, even though we have been doing running and such, I’m still out of shape.  After about the 3^rd game, I was ready for a breather, but no one else was.  In total we played 6 games, we only won 2.  Except for the second game, I was pretty useless.  But we stayed in the other games, mostly because this guy could dunk and also shoot 3s.  Elder Tingey wasn’t very happy with his teammate, though.  His teammate would not agree with me that Michael Jordan would choose a layup (or dunk in his case) than a 3 pointer if he had the choice.

                So we watched General Conference last weekend on Saturday and Sunday.  I watched it all in French.  And honestly, it was pretty hard to focus.  But after I asked Elder Nsimba if he understood everything well, and he said no.  The sound quality wasn’t very good, I think they duct taped a microphone to the projecter.  We had a good number of people show up, including a handful of amis de l’Eglise.

                Sunday after conference, the Cleverlys invited us to Easter diner.  I have now spent parts of 3 major holidays at the Cleverlys: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.  I think the only one left in that top tier that we could get invited over for is the 4^th of July.  This time we ate lamb, potatoes, deviled eggs, and something that Elder Tingey thinks is pudding, but I think it could be something else, but it was really good.

                We have also officially started the new transfer.  Elder Tingey and I are in charge of all of Bastos 2 and the north part of Bastos 1, y compris Emana, Messassi, et Olembé (Comprising Emana, Messassi and Olembe).  So we have lots of work.  But one thing that will help us a lot, is in Bastos 2 we have a DMB and branch missionaries, and a weekly coordination meeting.  This is seriously the first time my whole mission that I’ve actually had all these things, so for that I am very grateful.

                We are getting ready for a baptism on May 7^th.  Elder Tingey and I have 3 candidates.  The first is Frère Isaac.  He’s in Bastos 2, so I just barely met him.  Apparently he has known the Church for a while, and his wife, Soeur Cicile (spelling?) is a member.  The 2nd is Soeur Nina, la fille de la Soeur Salomé.  We have been teaching her for about 2 months now, and even though she lives far away in Messassi, she has come to Church every week she has been in town.  And the 3^rd is Frère Ignace, the oldest son of Soeur Christine.  So this Sunday Christine and her other son, Sebastian, should get confirmed, and the following weekend her oldest son.

                Its also weird to only have 2 missionary companionships in the apartement.  A lot quieter.  Except for my first apartement in Bonabéri, I’ve lived in apartements with 3 companionships, and even one transfer in Pointe-Noire, inbetween the Baxters and the Gates, we had 5 companionships in a double apartement.  It also gives us a little more cleaning on pday.  And we have to cook more often, but less food.

                We also learned that President and Sister Headlee will be next coming to Cameroon between the 13^th and the 18^th of June.  So I will be running another zone conference before then, that we scheduled for the 18^th of May.  I assume that will be the last time we see the Headlees, because I think at the beginning of July the new President and Sister Jameson arrive.

                We also watched some old General Conferences with the Longla and the Ndiemboh families (the 2 anlgophone families).  That especially helped the father of the Longla family to understand more about the temple and its importance.  With Marie-Sylvie, she is progressing really well.  But now since she wants to be baptized, we need to try to get her to go to Bastos 1 which is her real branch, but so far she has been attending Bastos 2 because she likes the morning.  And there are a few other members who have been attending branches they don’t live in.  Elder Thompson told me you have to get permission from the 1^st Presidency to attend a branch other than the one you live in as an actual member of that branch.

                And there are about 10 other people that I could talk about, but we don’t have time.  But I’m glad to be busy.

Je vous aime,

-          Elder Eric Palmer

    
      Any advice for Elder Schmidt...(future DRC missionary) bring durable shoes, if you carry your camera with you during the day, put it somewhere deep in your bag, take your doxy everyday, ummmmm, let me think...

(Are you taking care of yoursel?)  I think I'm (barely) getting enough sleep, but I have started eating healthier.  Today I figured out a new good meal, that is a combo of spagomellettes and and avocado salad thing.  And I have been doing really well on vitamin taking.

And yes, when Elder Nash came up I got the package, everyone enjoyed the Reese's and candy.  And I also got 2 letters from Bishop Carter, one dated in February and the other in March, so thank him for those.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Eric's email of April 21st, 2011

Well, there's no connection right now, so we decided to type up our email and hopefully later today we’ll be able to send it.

                Yesterday, no wait, Tuesday we went au champ.  We went to help an investigator that we found about a transfer ago.  Actually, she found us.  We were walking to see Soeur Nina at Messassi, and this lady called us over and told us she had a bunch of problems.  She talks a lot.  Her name is Soeur Marie, and her sister Marie-Sylvie is progressing very well.  Marie-Sylvie has been to church 3 times and participated a lot in the Relief Society activity a couple weeks ago.  Soeur Marie has been to church just once.  But she told us she needed un coup de main at her champ, so we went.  And her champ is in a weird spot.  She must have picked it because its close, but it is on a steep hill.  I’ll send pictures of it sometime.  So we went and got there around 7 AM and it was really foggy, and around 8:30 is started pouring rain.  But I prefer the fog and rain rather than heat.  But we worked for about 4 hours, Elder Garner broke 2 hoes, and I only got 1 blister.

Here is the farm.  Once again, it is fuzzy,

but you get the idea.

                Last Saturday we also went au village again to see brother Etienne at Nkol-Ondom.  The elders quorum scheduled an activity chez Etienne that basically was a family home evening.  I think the main purpose was to help Etienne’s wife feel welcomed and try to get her in the church.  Etienne is an awesome member, Sunday School President, but his wife doesn't have really interest in the church yet.  But it was nice to go with some of the members, including Maman Natalie, Souer Mireille, Soeur Therese (the new Relief Society President) and a few other people.

                The new transfer starts tomorrow, and we got the news last weekend, and guess what!  I’m staying!  Guess what else!  So is Elder Tingey!  So we are going to do 4 transfers together.  24 weeks together.  And I will do transfer number 7 in this sector.  36 weeks in this sector.  So I’ve been here since the middle of August ’10 and will be here at least until the beginning of June ’11.  That is basically the whole school year.  But, both the missionaries in Bastos 2, Elder Buck and Elder Garner got transferred, and no one is coming to replace them.  So we decided that Elder Tingey and I would keep just a few of our quarters in Basots 1, and take over Bastos 2.  So its kind of like a transfer, but not really.  Just adding another branch to the progressing investigators we already have.  So we’ll be busy!  Bettter overscheduled than not have enough to do.

I think this shows the Elders in the apartment.

Notice the wall of shoes.

                Oh, duh.  We also had a baptism on Saturday.  In total there were 19 people baptized, so I think that's the biggest one I have been apart of.  Soeur Venessa, who is the niece of Frere Ndzana got baptized.

 Soeur Vanessa and Frere Ndzana

   And Soeur Christine got baptized with just one of her sons, Frere Sebastien.  Her older son, Frere Ignace, was too sick and didn't come.  But then apparently Soeur Christine got sick and couldn't come to church Sunday to get confirmed.  The baptismal font got filled up the day before, and it was pretty cold by the time we did the baptisms, so that might unfortunately be what got her sick again.  And this weekend we are watching general conference, so she will have to get confirmed the next Sunday.  So, prayers for her will help.

Eric holding Aloha (a boy from the orphanage), Sebastien, 

Christine holding Marin, Elder Tingey 

                I also went to another new quarter, the one after Messassi.  Its called Olembe.  Its nice and calm like Messassi, even a little bit more.  There is one more quarter after Olembe, I forgot its name, but after that quarter you are officially outside of Yaounde boundaries.  But, the people we see out in Messassi and Olembe come to church nearly every week, and there are a couple members that live at Obala, which is very much outside of Yaounde, but the pay 500 francs each way each Sunday to come to church.  Ca m’encourage.

                Well, I’m trying to think if there is anything notable...  As usual, the Book of Mormon is awesome.  Today I just read 3 Nephi 11, and I’m really excited to read these following chapters because this time around I'm understanding a lot better than ever, and so I bet I'll learn some pretty cool stuff.

                Well, I heard that the internet is back, so I’m gonna give this a try.

Je vous aime,

-          Elder Eric Palmer

    

      (We pulled the lawnmower out this week.  Are you excited to come home and mow the lawn again?)  Actually yes I will be excited to mow the lawn and do yard work and such.  This morning we actually did a power clean of our apartment, and it made me want to do something like clean the garage Saturday morning and listen to Car Talk.

      Anyways, Christine has 3 sons: Ignace (12), Sebastien, (9), Martin (3 months-ish)
   
(     Our ward is participating in a service project on the James River at the end of April and we get to wear the yellow t-shirts.  Do you have a yellow t-shirt?)  For the yellow shirts the Church sends, I've never got those, but they did get them in Pointe-Noire for their service project right after I left, so Elder Tingey has one.  We were supposed to do one here, but it was postponed a few times then just canceled.  Somebody never signed something in order for us to get permission to give the free service.  I don't get what goes on sometimes.

(     Did you get the package yet?  I want to know if the Reeses made it or if they are melted.)  And I fully expect to get the package on Monday, because a missionary will come up here on the bus from Douala due to transfers.  So next week I'll tell you about the Reeses.

     Je  t'aime,
-    Elder Eric Palmer

Eric's email of April 14th, 2011

              Well being zone leader keeps you busy.  Yesterday we had zone conference, and the past week I spent pretty much all my study time and such planning for that.  Our lesson was on the Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion.  I had gotten this lesson plan that I think came with the new District 2 DVDs, and it had a bunch of scriptures and Preach My Gospel passages.  I decided to split it up and each person in the zone had a scripture and a question to answer.  But I didn't really realize how it all fit together until we actually learned it during the zone conference.  I realized the first piece talked about what we need to do as missionaries to qualify for the Spirit, the second part was what the Spirit can do in lessons and in the conversion process, and the last part was what a person must do and feel to be converted.  And the last part we learned with Alma 32:26-37, and this time I understood a lot better the what one must « feel » part.

                And I’ve also spent a lot of time doing baptismal interviews this week.  At this rate this will be the largest baptism of my mission, I think.  I spent 10 hours at the Church again on Sunday.  Ça fatigue.  (So tiring)  Tuesday we went out to Ekounou to do interviews for Elder Kabwika and Elder Waite.  And today I’ll be finishing up the last couple interviews with Elder Nsimba.

                We also have been informed that on Saturday we will receive any transfer info, and that it will take place on the 22nd of this month.  Elder Tingey keeps predicting that we will go on number 4 together.

                So for this weekend Elder Tingey and I have 4 candidates for baptism.  1 is the neice of Frère Ndzana, Soeur Venessa, who is 12 years old.  Her uncle started coming back last general conference when Elder Tingey and I just called him to invite him, and then his niece started coming with him.  So I think its nice to get more members of a family in the Church.

                Our other 3 candidates are Soeur Christine and her 3 children.  This one I’m am really excited for, because like I’ve said, things haven't been easy for her since I’ve known her, with her mother passing away and having her new baby.  She first talked with the missionaries a few weeks before I got to Yaoundé, so she's been an investigator a long time.  But she has already been well integrated, she helped out with the Relief Society party last weekend, she has visiting teachers that visit her.  So everything has been put in place, and I’m hoping like crazy that it happens this time.

                We also received an amazing new investigator from Maman Natalie, the old Relief Society president.  We taught her the first time Monday afternoon, her name is Soeur Fridoline.  We taught about the Restoration and a bit of the Book of Mormon.  Maman Natalie was also with us, and she bore her testimony a lot.  Soeur Fridoline was first impressed when Maman Natalie showed her 1 Corinthians 15:29, because she had never heard of that or ever heard it taught.  So when explained that a bit, Maman Natalie shared about her wonderful experience at the temple.  We also read 1 Peter 3:18-19 and James 5:14-15, and was very impressed by all these things in the Bible that she had never understood or even heard of before.  So I learned that sometimes it is effective to use the Bible to show the things that the complete knowledge has been restored of, but references to them are sitting right under their nose!  We saw her again Tuesday, and we asked her if she prayed, and she said yes and she got an answer!  She’s planning on coming the church on Sunday, and well see her again tomorrow.

                Yesterday Elder Tingey and I also had a ground breaking lesson with Daniel, dad of the Longla family.  It had been brought to our attention that he may have a Word of Wisdom issue still.  So we reviewed it, and he said that alcohol was no problem, but that the big one to overcome now is coffee !  I wondered how in the world that could be.  But he said often at his job, their boss offers them some coffee when they work late.  I think we spent almost 30 minutes talking about coffee.  He didn't understand why just one spoonful mixed in with milk once a week at the jobsite was a problem.  He didn't think it was possible to deny that offer from his employer.  We talked about 2 other members we know who work for the same society.  We tried everything, especially the temple, but he wasn't budging.  Even nesquik.  But thankfully 2 of his kids were there : Melkior and Queentine.  Eventually they just asked/begged him to just try.  And with a few more words and a bit of silence, he accepted.  I think if his kids weren't there, we would have had no chance.

                Alright, well I got to hurry and finish up because we had a busy p-day.  We went to the gorilla park again today, so I’ll try to send some photos that Elder Tingey took.  And then we got to go finish baptismal interviews and go shopping.

Je vous aime,

-          Elder Eric Palmer

    

      Picture of the Zone at the Gorilla Park

Too bad it is fuzzy

      

      To Mom:

      I don't think there is nearly as much pollen here as in Virginia.  I never wake up to see cars covered in it.

(We are removing the swingset in the backyard and I asked Eric what we should put in its place.)  Since its not big enough for a basketball (court), I'll have to think about it more.

I forgot to say this I think, but one of Elder Tingeys friends is in the Richmond, Virginia mission.  His name is Elder Fergeson, so watch out for him.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Eric's email of April 7th, 2011

                Elder Tingey and I just got done with our first rendezvous of they day with Frère Celestin.  It was only our second time teaching him.  In our first lesson we talked about the Restoration, and he accepted the invitation of “lorsque vous arrivez a la connaissance de le veracite de ce message, vous ferez-vous baptiser....?”, (when you come to a knowledge of the truth of this message, will you be baptized?)  but he put the accent on the “as he comes to a knowledge...”.  Today we watched the Restoration DVD with him.  He wanted to rip it onto his computer, but we told him there is a copyright.

                Ok, this might have lots of typos, because I’ve gotten used to the French keyboard.  But this one is English/Arabic, so I’m getting kind of confused.

                Daniel Ndiemboh is progressing very well.  He came to church the first time of Sunday.  He pulled up on his motorcycle with 2 of his daughters on back.  But the best thing was that he shared a testimony in Sacrament meeting!  After the first person he got up, introduced himself, and talked about what he had received from the missionaries at his house.  He also spoke of one time when Elder Tingey and I gave him a blessing for his back pains, and by the end of the lesson he was pretty much healed.  And he said that he wishes to come back and stay in this church, and that his family does the same.  I would say, that is a good sign of progression.  We will see him tonight, and we hope to set a baptismal date with him.

                There will also be a party for the Relief Society this Saturday, with all 4 branches of Yaounde.  We have invited all of our amis de l’Eglise, and we are expecting a very large turnout.  More people seem to want to come to the party on Saturday than to Church on Sunday.

                We have also had a change in the branch here.  We used to be doing translation and such during Sacrament meetings, and there used to be separate English and French Relief Society and Elders’ Quorum.  But we discussed it a bit at the last zone conference, and President Headlee officially told our branch to stop separating those classes, and no more translation during sacrament meeting.  But they still have English Sunday School.  And the translation was becoming bothersome, 2 Sundays ago they cut out a whole talk and 1 hymn because all the time was gone already.

                Soeur Christine and her 2 children are getting closer to their batpism on the 16^th.  Elder Nsimba will do their interviews tomorrow.  I pray like crazy that they make it this time.  And the niece of Frere Ndzana is also getting ready to get baptized the 16^th.

Tonight we also plan on having the best lesson ever with the Longla family.  We have confirmed that the entire family will be home, and we are going to talk about the temple and eternal families.  The father has already asked if he can change his religion to this church, we know that the mom loves what she already knows about the temple, and the oldest daughter said she will be baptised after her exams, which have her go to church even on the weekends.  So we plan on getting the entire family engaged together, so that they can receive the eternal family blessings of the temple.  And that would help us get future anglophone leaders in Yaounde!

                We also watched the Saturday morning session and Priesthood session last weekend.  The connection was good so we got video.  So where in the world is Meridien, Idaho?  (New temple announced for Meridian, which is a burb of Boise.)  And also, are there any plans to ever get a temple in Richmond, or anywhere in Virginia?  We also saw one of the very recently returned missionaries singing in the choir in the Priesthood session, Elder Wilkinson.

                Also later today, Elder Tingey and I are going to go try to play basketball at le palais du sport that the chinese built here.  Many people have told us that the outdoor stuff is free.  Too bad I’m horrible at basketball now, Scott and Jacob are going to spank me when I get back.

Je vous aime,

-           Elder Eric Palmer

      

      Mark emailed Eric that he (Mark) needed to brush up on his French for his upcoming trip with Jacob next week, so Eric is "helping" him by writing to him in French:

      (Mark told Eric that next week he and Jacob will be getting up at the same time as Eric because they will be in the same time zone)

      Vous allez vous lever a 6h30 aussi? (You are going to wake up at 6:30 too?)

Je ne vais ecrire qu'en francais pour t'aider.  Et je vais employer le passe simple.  (I will write in French to help you.  And I will use "passe simple" - a complicated verb tense.)

Le Cameroun and le Congo Brazza furent colonizés par la France, alors on dit quatre-vingt-dix ici.  Mais a Kinshasa on dit nonant et telles choses.  Et tu me le demandas deja.  (Cameroon and Congo Brazza were colonized by France, so they say four-twenty-ten (to say the number 90).  But Kinshasa says ninety.  And you have asked me this question before.)

Oui, j'aimerais etre entraineur pour l'equipe de Jacob.  Mais ne dit-il pas qu'il ne veut plus jouer au foot?  (Yes, I would help coach Jacob.  But I thought he didn't want to play soccer.)

Nous recommencames a faire la course trois fois par semaine.  Maintenat nous faisons un mile ( je ne le connais pas en francais) et demi.  J'y serai pret.  Mais le marathon se fera en mars?  Serai-j'en Virginie?  (We started running again three times a week.  Right now we go 1 1/2 miles.  I will be ready.  (To run the 1/2 marathon with Mark in the fall.)  But isn't the marathon in March?  Will I still be in Virginia?)

Je vais reflechir a ce que je voudrais pour mon anniversaire.  (I will think about what I want for my birthday.)

Well, I probably complicated that french too much and made some errors, so bonne chance.

      Ok, I'll be ready for that, but I'll have to just gradually increase the distance.  And how do you prevent side aches?

And I just looked at the blog, and I thought it was funny that everyone else in that main picture has gone home or been transferred except me.
Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

To Mom:

Alright, I don't know if Scott just doesn't write, or has Dad's "insanity" syndrome (doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results), because I got no email from him, neither Jacob this week.  If he sent it to my fastmail again, I don't even know what to say then.

That question was in English, by the Longla children. (What is our faith and abundant life in a pluralistic world?)

They package has not yet arrived chez moi, and I don't have my camera this week, I'll bring it next time.

Also, do you want me to call on Mother's Day on Sunday evening again?

Je t'aime,
- Elder Palmer

Eric's email of March 31st, 2011

Hello tout le monde,

                Today I am on a exchange with Elder Waite, who arrived in Cameroon about a week and a half ago.  He is from Fredonia, Arizona, which is very near the Utah border.  We actually started the exchange yesterday, but Elder Tingey and Elder Kabwika are in Ekounou, the other side of Yaoundé, and we’ll switch back this evening when they come into town.

                So for the zone leader stuff, its kind of tiring.  We will be having April’s zone conference on the 13^th, and (with the help of the Thompsons) I’ve started to plan it.  We will be learning about the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion.  And you get asked lots of questions and people want you to make decisions, and you are supposed to deal with problems and such.  So just gives me a bit more to do.  And I did my first baptismal interviews on Sunday, which was a cool experience.  Sunday I spent 10 straight hours at Church.  I imagine it is was Dad must have felt like.

                The Longla family is doing really well.  On Tuesday we had a lesson with the kids, and their mother was outside preparing food.  They had asked a question about celestial marriage, and then we sang “Families can be together forever”.  When we were singing, their mother stopped and came in and listened, and she said she liked that song very much.  We’ve been talking about the temple a lot with them, which seems to be the thing that will get this whole family in the Church together.  Their father really wants to get baptized now, and also wants to send his parents' and grandparents' names into the temple so that someone can perform their baptisms and ordinances on their behalf.

                And one of their sons, Rigobert, asked us a very unique question on Tuesday, and neither Elder Tingey nor I had the answer to it.  His question was, "What is our faith and abundant life in a pluralistic world?"  He had written it out exactly like that on their chalk board before we came.  He said he read “pluralistic world” somewhere in the Bible, and will find us the exact verse next time.  And enlightenment on this subject would be useful.

                Last Friday we went au village to go au champ-ing.  The village was called Aka.  It was actually outside of the Yaoundé city limits, we had to ask the Thompsons for permission, and they said ok.  We went with Soeur Philomen, who should be baptized soon and is being taught by Elder Nsimba and Elder Prince.  Her mother lives at Aka, and we all went to go plant cassava.  It was really nice and peaceful out there.  But our service had a big impact on Soeur Philomen’s husband, Frère Oscar, who has known about the Church since 1993, but never got baptized.  Elder Nsimba told us that the next day they met with Frère Oscar, and he said he wanted to be baptized and live the commandments and come to church with his family.

                Soeur Christine and her kids came to Church on Sunday.  Her new child is 2 months old today, and she and her 2 older children are getting ready for the 16 of April.  I hope so bad that she keeps coming to church and gets baptized, because she has been an investigator since before I got here, which means 8 months-ish.  And with her mother passing away and having her new baby, she had lots of trials, and it would be wonderful if she got through it all and was baptized.

                We also started teaching an old investigator again, Frère Ghislain.  He is the son of the member from France who came to the viewing of General Conference last fall with another one of his sons.  We hadn’t seen them in almost 3 months, but apparently Ghislain came to the church looking for us, and one of the branch presidency members of the other branch told me he came.  He already recognizes something different about this Church and our message, and I hope this time we progress more.

                And la Soeur Nina, daughter of Soeur Salomé accepted our baptismal invitation this week, but she did not say if it would be in April.  And we also set a baptismal date for the 16^th of April for the niece of a member we reactivated recently, Frère Ndzana.  She has been coming with her uncle to church the past few months, but because of school and other things, we could never catch her at the house.  But now they are having what we call spring break, which is 2 weeks for them.  We saw her yesterday, and got her a Book of Mormon, and at the end of the lesson she asked her uncle in pas-toi when we are going to baptize her.

                And I saw earlier this week the gas price, and if I remember correctly it was 520 francs for 1 liter of gas.  So Scott can convert that to compare with the gas price over there.

 

Je vous aime,

-          Elder Eric Palmer

 

p.s.  Have you decided if I’m flying home to Salt Lake City or to Richmond yet?

To Mom:

Darn it, the crtl+F isn't working like on the other computers, so if I miss a question, sorry.

 

(Are the YW and YM programs functioning in the branch?)  The programs like YM and YW function ok, but not all the way yet.  The problem is getting people to activities not on Sunday.  They don't have mutual or whatever like they do chez nous, at least not in Cameroon.  Maybe in Kinshasa and places with stakes they do.  But its hard to get people to come to church during the week.

 

(Are other churches able to have youth programs?)  And I don't really know about other churches.  I heard they have like a primary on Sunday and stuff, they have lots of prayer meetings or deliverances during the week.

 

(What do you like about being Zone Leader?  What don't you like?)  Things I like being about zone leader... I don't know.  I don't think there is stuff that I don't like, I'm learning a lot and how to handle different situation and what not.  I haven't not liked anything yet.

 

(Did you get the package yet?  What do you want for your birthday?)  Didn't get the package yet, maybe its in Douala, though.  And for my birthday, I don't know.  I don't think there is anything that could get sent in a package that I really need or want.  I'll think.

 

Je t'aime,

- Elder Eric Palmer

To Dad:

 

I know what chouette is and means, (cool) but have never heard anyone say it outside of the MTC.  Maybe they say it in France, though.

 

(Will you get to watch General Conference this weekend?)  We will be going to the Thompsons Saturday and Sunday evening to watch a session of conference each night.  Saturday morning session starts here at 17h00.  Then probably a month later we will have the DVDs and watch all the sessions one weekend at the chapel.  I just barely finished reading the last conference Liahona, which we got 4 months after conference had finished.  For some reason it is a pain in the kaboose to get Liahonas here.

 

Je t'aime et bonne chance au 10k. (Good luck in the 10k Monument Avenue 10K this weekend.))

- Elder Eric Palmer

Eric's email of March 24th, 2011

Bonjour.  It’s very bright today.  And hot.  It seems to be like that after a big storm, which we had last night.  And last night I fell asleep with my contacts in because I was too tired to wait for someone else to get out of the bathroom.  And this cyber café is showing Recess (an old Disney cartoon) in french.

                             Anyways, Saturday we had a baptismal service, and Rigobert, Melkior, and Queentine got baptized.  I’ll send a picture.  We also got a good turnout to the baptism, probably the best turnout I’ve seen since I’ve been here.  We even got the presidents of the Young Men and The Young Women, and the entire Longla family plus 3 other friends of theirs.  And another amie de l’Eglise showed up, la Soeur Nina.  So I was glad so many people showed up to show their support.  The only complaint we got was why they couldn’t take pictures of the baptism taking place.  Oh, and also Blaise gave a talk on baptism at the service, so that was great too.

                             Then Sunday after church, the Longlas invited the missionaries over again to celebrate the baptism.  Celebrating is something very important to them.  But this time there were a lot more people, and they had more of their friends, a couple sisters from the ward were there, including the Young Women's President, so that's good that they are getting integrated into the branch.  And this time Elder Tingey and I also provided some refreshement, we made pizza.  It received a much better reaction than what Elder Tingey told me happenned in Pointe-Noire.  Yesterday Sister Victorine, the mother, asked for the recipe for pizza.

                             We had another good lesson with the Ndiemboh family, but now its down to mostly just the father and one of the daughters that comes to each rendezvous.  But the dad is understanding the Book of Mormon amazingly well.  Last time we saw him, he had almost finished the first book of Nephi.  And he asked us some questions, and recited to us everything he had read.  He explained all that happened with Lehi and family voyaging in the desert, and he even told us the names of the places that Lehi named, like Bountiful and such.  And he does that without the book or any notes.  I definitely don't have the names of all those places memorized.  And he even told us the exact verse where he figured out why Lehi and family was eating in the desert without having to cook their meat, and everyone was healthy and everything.  Then I was looking at the book, and he wasn't, but he cited the reference for the verse where it says the Lord made their meat sweet or something so that they wouldn't have to cook it, something like 1 Nephi 17:12.  I think.

                             La Soeur Nina is also progressing very well.  She has now been to church the past 3 Sundays and attended the baptismal service.  And she lives at Messassi, which is not close to the church.  But just like her mother, Soeur Salomé, who is already a member, she comes each week without fail.  So that is a good sign.  Soeur Nina has already testified to us that the Church is true and that the Book of Mormon is true.  Yesterday we invited her to be baptized the 16th of April.  She thought for a minute, and said next rendezvous she will tell us her answer.

                             And yesterday after seeing Nina, we went and saw her mother, Soeur Salomé.  Soeur Nina is living in her mother's old house, and her mother told us she moved to Nkol-Ondom.  That is where Frère Etienne lives, out in the bush, I sent a picture of his house a week or 2 ago.  So at Messassi we take a car for 150 francs per person.  But to get to where Salomé lives now, we took the car to the end of its route, which is about twice as far as where brother Etienne lives, then we had to walk for 15 more minutes.  She actually lives in the quarter after Nkol-Ondom, which is called Lendom.  It was far.  I don't know if you tried to find a map of Yaoundé on the internet if you could find these places, but I would suggest trying it.  For reference, the missionaries and the church are in Bastos, and all these other places are on the far north boundary of Yaoundé.  I’m not even sure if Lendom is considered to be part of Yaoundé.  But despite the distance, it was beautiful and peaceful out there.  I’d want to live out there, if I could have a car.

                             And the end of yesterday we had a very interesting lesson with the Longla family (Blaise’s family).  At first it started off very boring.  Elder Tingey and I planned on talking about service in the Church, one of the 5th lesson principles.  I could tell that the family, especially Rigobert was very bored with it.   It wasn't that interesting to me, either.  But then Rigobert told us we had a question about the Aaronic Priesthood.  So then we talked about some really interesting things, and read in the Doctrine and Covenants that they got last weekend.  And we even ended up talking about the angels Gabriel and Michael, and who they were when they lived on earth.  Thank goodness for modern revelation and the Bible dictionary.  The reading assignments we left them were the books of Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price.  Its cool to discuss those kind of things, because the Word of Wisdom and the apostasy can get boring after so many times.

                             On Monday we had a soirée familiale (family night) with Soeur Agnèsse and her 2 children.  She has been a member for nearly 10 years I think, and she is originally from Rwanda.  After the lesson, we taught them the table hockey game that you play with 3 coins.  I don't really know how to explain, but the activity we wanted to do fell through.  So I remembered that game that we played in middle school a lot, and they loved it.

                             So that's about it.  A new missionary arrived yesterday, he is working in Ekounou, the other side of town, and is being trained by Elder Kabwika.  His name is Elder Waite, he is from Arizona.  I haven't met him yet, but we should see him today.  From what we’ve been told, we won't have any more new missionaries until July.

                             And enjoy conference for me, luckies.

Je vous aime,

-          Elder Eric Palmer

p.s.  this week Elder Nsimba also taught me the phrase « né d’un chien ! »  I wonder if Dad knows that one...

To Mom:

I did not see any of the parade for Women's Day. (See the Thompson's blog for pictures of the parade.)

And Dad told me about Scott getting into Virginia Tech, but Scott didnt tell me.  It's time to chatier (chastise) him, thats 2 or 3 weeks with no email.  I'll chatier him too.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Still to Mom who "caught" him online....

Elder Tingey was in charge of making the pizza, but I helped.

This is being dumb, its not letting me send a picture.  I'll try in a different email.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

Eric' email of March 17th, 2011

Frère Etienne and me at his house.  His quartier is called "Nkol-Ndom",
something like that.  From our apartement its about 20 something minutes north,
pretty much au village.  If I were to live in Cameroon,that is the
kind of place I would like to live in.

Pday again...

                Since Saturday, We’ve had a lot of extra curricular activites.  On Tuesday we had interviews with President Headlee.  I just asked him about that college question that Dad asked me about, and some questions I had about zone leader stuff.  One quuestion was about « un rapport d’Excellence » (report of excellence) that that paper I got mentioned.  President Headlee said he had no idea what that is, so I don't have to worry about it.  He also told me to get comfortable through April and May, so we’ll see how long I stay here.

                We then had zone conference Wednesday morning.  It was the first one that I conducted, but that's about all I did.  The next one in April will be my responsibilty, though.  We learned that by May, Gabon will be okay-ed for missionaries, and about 6 months after that a senior couple and full-time missionaries should be there.  So probably after I’m gone.

                President taught us the Doctrine of Christ, I heard him give me this lesson early in my mission.  We read 2 Nephi 31, and talked about the 8 covenants from baptism to eternal marriage that we make to qualify for exaltation.  Yeah.  It probably would sound more exciting to you if you were there, especially because President Headlee never runs out of things to say and knows a whole lot of random things.

                We also watched episode 2 of the District 2.  This time, I learned how to react when someone actually accepts a baptismal invitation.  Because in the movie, 2 elders extended the invitation, the person accepted, and then the elders were a bit surprised and sat there with their mouths slightly opened, not knowing what to say.  Its not bad to have silence, but we discussed it and said we could also express what we feel and the joy that gives us, and there are also the blessings we can promise them.  So silence is good, but don't look like an idiot either.

                3 of Blaise’s younger siblings are getting ready to be baptized this Saturday : Rigobert, Melkior, and Queentine.  And Blaise is going to give one of the talks!  But on Monday evening we had a slight scare.  Daniel, the father said he was going to plead to Elder Tingey and me like Abraham pleaded to the Lord about sparing Sodom and Gommorah if he could find a few righteous people.  One of their relatives, who does not live in Yaoundé, was very happy that those children were going to be baptized, but she also wanted to be there for it so that they could celebrate together.  But she lives in Limbé, which is pretty far, and wasn’t planning on coming until July.  So some wanted to push the baptism back to July.  So after Daniel finished pleading his case, Elder Tingey and I talked a little about why baptism is important, and the blessing of the gift of the Holy Ghost and such.  There were also 2 other relatives there, from the Ndiemboh family, and they were talking in patoi  for a while.  I don't know exactly what was said, but the father, and finally the mother, were ok with the baptism happenning this weekend.   Especially the mother didn't want to do it without this other family member, but some of the children weren't very happy.  But the mother accepted when she asked if Elder Tingey and I would still be here in July, and we said we don't know, we could get transferred.  I don't know if the importance of baptism has been completely understood yet.

                Not much else really notable happened.  Later today we have a rendezvous with Soeur Melanie, who is prooving to be hard to crack.  She doesn't like it when the answer to her questions are « get baptized » or « receive the gift of the Holy Ghost » or « go to Church ».  But we have been seeing her with a member, Soeur Patricia, who is helping a lot.  But still, lots of work to do.

                Also Elder Tukuafu left yesterday, and Elder Buck came over to our apartement.  He's the one that went to SUU and lived on the same hall as me the following year.  He and Elder Tingey and I plan on starting to do some running.   Horray.  And I also need to thank Sister Warnick for her letter I got this week.  And I wonder how many times Scott has gotten marked late.  (Sister Warnick was Eric's seminary teacher and is currently Scott's seminary teacher.)  Well I can't believe its March, and that school isn't far from being out.  Don't have too much senioritis, Scott.

Je vous aime,

-          Elder Eric Palmer

      To Mom:

      (How was the pig roast last week?  How long did it take to roast the pig?  Had Elder Tingey ever roasted a pig before?)  The pig roast was ok, but I did have some rumbly stomach afterwards.  I don't think I'll do that again, at least here.  It took a few hours to roast, I didn't stay the whole time.  And I think it was Elder Tingey's first time to roast one.

(Last week Eric wrote about a letter he received from Elder Lee-I thought he was referring to one of his past companions.  I wondered if he was keeping in touch with past comps who have gone home.)  That letter I got was from Elder Lee the Korean in our ward, not Elder Lee who was my companion.  But today I did get and email from Elder Ternieden, my trainer.

(How much is gas in Cameroon?)  Sorry I forgot about gas prices, but I wrote it down again.

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer

      To Dad:

     

      J'aime mieux assister à la Paroisse d'Innsbrook.  (I would rather go to the Innsbrook Ward-when he gets back.)

Je crois que mes chausseurs oranges suffiront jusqu'à la fin de ma mission.  Et sinon je trouverai quelque chose.  (I think my orange (running) shoes will last through my mission.  If not, I will get some other ones.)

Et je n'ai ni vu ni entendu dire de line de zip au Cameroun.  Et si j'en trouvais, je n'y ferais pas confiance.  (I have not seen a zip line in Cameroon.  I would not trust it if I did.)

Je t'aime,
- Elder Eric Palmer