Eric's email of August 12th, 2010

Alright, I apologize, I don't know if I will respond to all of your questions today, I don't have very much computer time, but I have a few important things I need to tell you about.

First one, is that I got transferred! To Yaoundé! I leave tomorrow at 11 AM! I actually got the news last Friday, because our zone leader Elder Chirwa called Elder Bally to tell him that he has been transferred to Kinshasa, and he told Elder Bally that I was transferred to Yaoundé. I was kind of surprised, I've only done 3 transfers here, feels like I got here just yesterday. I am going to miss people here, most of all the recent converts I worked with, and the nice church building and things like that. But I'm also really excited to go to Yaoundé. And one big reason is because I'm going to be with Elder Acorda. Elder Acorda would have been my MTC companion if I had got to the MTC in July like it was at first. He told me how he showed up in the MTC and was sad because he had no companion for about a day. But he is 5 ft 3, max. But he is a short Filipino, was born in the Philippines but moved to Canada sometime when he was young. But he cooks darn good food, and always takes care of other missionaries. So, pretty much its going to be sweet.

So that's the biggest news. I'll tell you what Yaoundé is like next week. But last weekend we also had our baptismal service, and Elder Bally and I had 3 people baptized, Frère Marley, Frère Omarice, and Souer Aud. Also I baptized someone from my old sector that Elder Lee and Elder Lamm finished with, Souer Charline. Next week I'll send the baptism picture. But next week when I send the picture I'll talk a bit about each one of them, but maybe the coolest thing is about la Souer Aud. She is a 12 year old niece or daughter of a member. Its hard to figure that out with these huge African families. And also her brother is a member. But before her baptism, we would have her dad or her brother translate into Mounoukoutouba, because she doesn't speak French that well. But, I tell you this so that you know that the gift of tongues does exist. Her first lesson, Monday, the day after she was confirmed, we had a lesson at her house. And her brother didn't have to translate anything. She was even understanding my fat English accent! So it was either the gift of tongues or the gift of interpretation of tongues, or probably both.

(The senior couple in Pointe-Noire is Elder and Souer Gates. Their family in the US found Eric's blog and added some comments.) So I actually heard that the Gates' family got a hold of my blog a couple weeks ago. The Gates told me that all their kids found it and loved it, especially when I talked about their family. So, since the Gates family is going to read this, I will tell them that this morning that when we played basketball, Elder Gates stuffed some kid's shot. But I was glad to meet the Gates, they will be great missionaries here, and I know that a good missionary couple always makes our lives a lot better. And their French is also coming along well. Elder Gates finally learned how to say "soutien", which is the money we get each 2 weeks, and Soeur Gates can already go shopping by herself. Above all, she has the phrase "ça coute combien?" (it costs how much?) mastered.

So to answer one of Dad's questions, yes Congolais people are very religious. The other day someone told me that nearly 90 percent of the Republic of Congo is Christian, the other 10 percent is Muslim. But people here are a lot more religious overall than people chez nous, I think. Especially a large chunk of youth. I can think of only a handful of kids from high school who gave a darn about the Bible. But here, nearly anyone Christian has some kind of biblical knowledge. But often times, they just like to use it to Bible bash. Bible bashing gives me a headache...

So that's about all the time I have tonight, sorry its a bit shorter. We are going to dinner with the Gates' and all the missionaries at some Chinese restaurant tonight, and the Gates will be here soon to pick us up. And a free ride is always a lot better than paying 300 CFA to sit on a crowded as heck bus. Enjoy the end of summer while you can, kids, because I know Mom is excited for some peace and quiet.

Je vouse aime bien,
- Eric