Alright, so I'm gonna do my question answering for each email, then tell you about my, um, interesting week I had.
First off, yes time definitely does move faster when I'm busy, and it just seems like each transfer I have goes by faster. Like I still feel new to Pointe-Noire, but I've already been here a transfer. Just compared to when I think of my first transfer back in Bonabéri with Elder T, compared to the one I just finished with Elder Parsons, that does not feel like the same amount of time.
(His saxophone teacher, Mr. Gates sent us an email this week.) Yes, I saw the email from Mr. Gates, and I already sent him one. That's lucky that he sent you one, I'll bet he's surprised to hear what I'm doing.
So for that youth class I taught last Sunday, there is a teacher called and such. But I think just every 3rd Sunday or something, they ask a missionary to teach that class. I don't know why, and the manual they gave me is called "Se Preparer pour l'Exaltation", which means "To Prepare Oneself for Exaltation", something like that. And I don't know why I'm using that manual. I felt like I should have been using some primary book, something to get their darn attention. But I think its an all youth class, from 12 and up. But I do know that often the older kids go to a different class so they can actually learn, probably.
Yeah, I still have my little notebook where I write down my (French) words I don't know. And today I actually gave the district meeting lesson, which we do in French, and one other missionary said he could tell I was looking in the dictionary, so I guess its helping. (Do any of the elders in your apartment speak English?) So of the elders here, there are 3 missionaries not from an English speaking place, one speaks pretty good-ish English, and the other 2 not really. So we speak most often French in the apartement. As for Elder Buck, (The new elder who is bringing Eric's camera) he's not here yet. I have been told he will get here tomorrow.
(Are you writing in your journal regularly?) My journal writing is better. I don't write daily because sometimes at night I'm too tired or lazy, but I would say I write a little more often than every other night. But I make sure I don't skip more than 2 nights, because then I might miss too much. But that's still something I can get better on. Also, I try to use good handwriting, but sometimes that doesn't happen, especially if its just before I go to bed. And I've had 4 comps: Elder Wilkins (MTC), Elder Terneiden and Elder Lee (Bonabéri), and now Elder Parsons (Pointe-Noire).
(We sent you a package-but shipped it to Cameroon.) I'll keep an eye out for the package that's coming, but I won't be surprised if I won't get it for a while. I say that, because President says he won't be coming back here until July, and he went to Cameroon at the beginning of the week. So unless he goes to Cameroon again before he comes to Pointe-Noire, I'll have to wait at least 2 months. But as long as it gets here, without stuff getting stolen, that will be good. And yes, I'm taking vitamins, using sunscreen, I got enough contact solution, all that kind of stuff is fine I would say. (Typical mom questions.)
(I am teaching a lesson about becoming a teacher. What helped you prepare to be a teacher?) So, what helped me the most in preparing to teach on my mission... I would say is studying the scriptures, most of all the Book of Mormon. What happens when you do that often, daily preferably, is that you are often reminded of Christ and what he has done for us. And then you learn the teachings and doctrines of the Church, and how it is unique from every other church on the Earth.
(Tell us more about the security at your apartment.) So the security for the house isn't really security, we just have a guy we call a guardien, who waters plants and sweeps up and stuff outside. And he usually comes in the morning around 8:30 and finishes before noon. So its not really security, but maintenance. But the complex in surrounded by a wall, with barbed wired stuff on top. I'll just send some pictures of it when I get a camera, I think that would be the best way to explain it. But its just our building, which are two apartements together, its not a neighborhood liked that. We are in a neighborhood, or a quartier, if tha'ts the same thing, but every house has its own walls around it.
(Tell us about the chapel you meet in.) So the chapel here is really, nice, but soon they are going to run out of space. The chapel probably fits 130, maybe, but each branch is getting filled up nearly to the max each Sunday. Its probably the same size as your chapel, if you do not open up the gym area. But it actually was built so that they could build more as the Church got bigger here. There isn't a gym or basketball hoop yet, but I actually think they do plan on having a cultural hall, even with a basketball hoop, at some point.
Since I've gotten my cleats, I think I've only used them twice, both times in Bonabéri, playing football once and American football. But now there are more missionaries, and so we will be playing soccer more often here, maybe even later today.
So about my flight from Douala, there was something that was very unusual that happened: it was on time. Basically every time before, it late. But both the Willis' and the Baxters were surprised it was on time. I think the name of the airlines was Trans Air Congo, something like that.
Alright, I think that was all the questions. So the first thing, was something I thought about this week, when we got the new elders. Its just about the diversity of the missionaries here, but all with the same purpose to share the Gospel. We have 4 missionaries from USA (all different states), 1 from Canada, 2 from Congo Kinshasa, 1 from the Ivory Coast, and 1 from Zambia. Plus we are all serving here in Congo Brazza, that makes 6 different countries. So that just shows how the Church really is true and the same everywhere. Just something interesting I thought about this week.
This week I also taught another lesson at church. In the branches here they have a class during Sunday school especially for amis de l'église and recent converts, and its usually a missionary or branch missionary who teaches it. And so it was just my turn this past Sunday, I taught on the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was pretty easy, at least compared to the lesson from the previous Sunday.
But one unfortunate thing was this week I got sick. Twice actually, on Friday and yesterday. It was only really that bad yesterday. We ended up staying in all day. But lets just say I weigh less than I did at the beginning of the week This morning I weighed 159.6 lbs, which is basically minus 20 lbs since the end of my MTC stay.
So that's pretty much things here, we also had to move rooms to make everything work with the Baxters leaving and the new missionaries. President also said there will be a new couple coming in July, so we only have to survive one transfer without a senior couple. And at the next transfer, we will be getting 10 new north American missionaires, not 20. But that's still kind of a lot. But it'll be good, lots of new areas opening up or getting split. I hope you guys have a good week, thanks all for writing me and everything you do!
Je vous aime,
- Elder Palmer
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Eric's email of May 20th, 2010
Today I was able to catch Eric online and we were able to send a couple emails back and forth. It makes me feel like I am talking to him! We also had a short phone call from the Baxter's about replacing his camera-and they handed the phone to Eric for a very quick "Hello"
Alright Dad, I'll do my best to get these 6 questions from above answered:
1) So to go look for a camera, I'll be able to schedule time next pday to go looking and figure out what stores there are.
2) Right now in American dollars I have $146 I believe. I actually tried to go change some today, but they were only going to give me 400 CFA to the dollar, but if I brought $100 or more I could get 525 CFA for the dollar. And I think if I need more you can just make sure there is money on my debit card, because last week my companion used that to get money at an ATM thing.
3) I'm pretty sure I can use my debit card, but I don't know about the American Express. I'll try to find out.
4) I think that if I need more money, the best way would be through my debit card.
5) If you send me money, just send it in US dollars.
6) Ok, I don't see there being a need to send actually money in a package, so don't worry about that.
Alright, I found more than 6 questions up there. Wait never mind, that last one is too general, so I'll answer that in the email to mom probably after I answer the other quick questions.
(Eric was supposed to get himself soccer cleats right after Christmas. We questioned him several times about it, but never got an affirmative answer, until today!) Yes, I have already bought soccer cleats, I bought those back in Douala.
(What do you know about the new missionaries coming to Pointe Noire?) For the new missionaries, I have been told by many people, including the mission president, that at the beginning of July there will be 20 North American missionaries entering this mission. So that does not include the African missionaries that could come. But, we actually just got transfer news because the end of this week is the end of the transfer. And so I will be staying will Elder Parsons, but there will be 5 missionaries getting transferred here, and we will go from 3 companionships to 5 companionships. One of the 5 coming will also be a brand new missionary from North America, and there is one other brand new one going to Cameroon. But I don't know the exact day of the new missionaries' arrival.
Alright, I think those are all Dad's stuff, now I'll go make sure I look at all of Mom's.
(Do you have bugs in Pointe Noire and what are they?) So yeah, there are lots of bugs in Pointe-Noire, and the most annoying one is the mosquitos. Here I have to sleep under at least one sheet, because if I don't I'll just get bit all night, especially on the ankles. Its weird. There's also lots of flies, and some weird looking wasp things. And in the apartement we find the occasional cockroach.
Alright, I think that's all the ones I found in Mom's email. (His cousin Jeff just reached Argentina to start his mission.) That's really cool about Jeff, I have his email so I'll try to send him one again.
So things here are going well, like I said we got transfer news. That kind of stuff always keeps me from getting bored, I don't know why. Just the anticipation of a transfer is fun. And this transfer also went by really fast, I still kind of feel really new to Pointe-Noire.
But one new goal thing I started this week to help my french, is now I carry a petit cahier(small notebook) around in my pocket, and write down the words I want to say but don't know in french. At the end of the day I look them all up and write them down. And then I can go back and look at the words and not forget them so easily. I just started this yesterday, but here are the words I've written down and looked up so far:
to insult = insulter
to lactate = not found in our dictionary
a goat = une chèvre
a germ = un germe
extra = supplémentaire, de plus
a shot, injection = une piqure
a grill = un gril
a garlic = un ail
an amount = une quantité
to exchange = échanger
So yeah, I need to look in another dictionary to find "to lactate" in french, but I think this will help.
Also, last Sunday I taught the youth Sunday school last week. Elder Parsons warned me how hard it would be, but I didn't really understand til I actually taught the class. Its mostly because there is a group of 5 or 6 girls who just like to talk amongst themselves the whole darn time. (Girls are girls no matter where in the world they live!) And I also used really bad french one time, because I wrote on the board "qui est-moi", trying to say "who am I". But they let me know, and helped me change it to "qui suis-je". Dumb. The lesson was on testimonies, and we were reading in Matthew 16 when Christ asks his apostles who he is. And later we read a little in Alma 32, but I gave up on the reading and just drew a seed growing to a tree with fruit on the board. And when we got to the point when the tree had grown and producing fruit, I asked one kid what his favorite fruit was, and someone responded by saying "poulet!". Then the whole class started laughing, because poulet is chicken. (Once again, kids are kids no matter where they live.)
My food preparing skills have also gotten better. I can make oatmeal, spaghetti, rice, something with chicken,(something?) and hamburgers. And I keep asking one of the branch missionaries to give me his mom's recipe for saka-saka, which is something literally everyone eats here a lot. (Saka-saka is made from Cassava leaves, veggies and fish.) But he keeps forgetting, but I plan on adding that to my repertoire too
So as far as the missionary work and proselyting and such, this was more of a quiet week. But Elder Parsons and I have a new idea so that we get more cordonnées (referrals) and higher quality amis. We are going to work a bit more with the recent converts and finish up all their after baptism lessons in a timely manner, and let them invite family or friends or whoever to the lessons. Just the success rate with cordonnées compared to contacts made by missionaries is a lot better. And its makes our work easier. So hopefully that will work how I've thought it out.
Um, yeah. I think that's about everything notable. I just wrote to look for cameras in my agenda, so I won't forget. I hope everyone is still doing well, enjoying the end of school. I know Scott is enjoying the lighter work load after all his exams. Congratulations Andrea on bus safety, and Jacob at Busch Gardens! Also, I speak horrible English now.
Je vous aime,
-Eric
My email to Eric:
So, about the mosquitos-use repellent and do you have a mosquito net to sleep under?
Dad pulled a tick from behind Andrea's ear this morning-she has been "exploring" in the back yard a lot lately.
To lactate is- allaiter. (to nurse) Can also be a noun. Produire du lait means to make milk. And why did you need that verb?
Mom
Hey Mom, thanks for the french help. I wanted to know that word, because Elder Parsons and I were waiting for an ami to show up, and there were goats in their yard thing. And one was feeding the other, and so that's why I thought of goat and lactate.
There are no nets to sleep under, but as long as I have a fan on, the sheet works just fine. Thanks.
Je t'aime,
- Eric
Alright Dad, I'll do my best to get these 6 questions from above answered:
1) So to go look for a camera, I'll be able to schedule time next pday to go looking and figure out what stores there are.
2) Right now in American dollars I have $146 I believe. I actually tried to go change some today, but they were only going to give me 400 CFA to the dollar, but if I brought $100 or more I could get 525 CFA for the dollar. And I think if I need more you can just make sure there is money on my debit card, because last week my companion used that to get money at an ATM thing.
3) I'm pretty sure I can use my debit card, but I don't know about the American Express. I'll try to find out.
4) I think that if I need more money, the best way would be through my debit card.
5) If you send me money, just send it in US dollars.
6) Ok, I don't see there being a need to send actually money in a package, so don't worry about that.
Alright, I found more than 6 questions up there. Wait never mind, that last one is too general, so I'll answer that in the email to mom probably after I answer the other quick questions.
(Eric was supposed to get himself soccer cleats right after Christmas. We questioned him several times about it, but never got an affirmative answer, until today!) Yes, I have already bought soccer cleats, I bought those back in Douala.
(What do you know about the new missionaries coming to Pointe Noire?) For the new missionaries, I have been told by many people, including the mission president, that at the beginning of July there will be 20 North American missionaries entering this mission. So that does not include the African missionaries that could come. But, we actually just got transfer news because the end of this week is the end of the transfer. And so I will be staying will Elder Parsons, but there will be 5 missionaries getting transferred here, and we will go from 3 companionships to 5 companionships. One of the 5 coming will also be a brand new missionary from North America, and there is one other brand new one going to Cameroon. But I don't know the exact day of the new missionaries' arrival.
Alright, I think those are all Dad's stuff, now I'll go make sure I look at all of Mom's.
(Do you have bugs in Pointe Noire and what are they?) So yeah, there are lots of bugs in Pointe-Noire, and the most annoying one is the mosquitos. Here I have to sleep under at least one sheet, because if I don't I'll just get bit all night, especially on the ankles. Its weird. There's also lots of flies, and some weird looking wasp things. And in the apartement we find the occasional cockroach.
Alright, I think that's all the ones I found in Mom's email. (His cousin Jeff just reached Argentina to start his mission.) That's really cool about Jeff, I have his email so I'll try to send him one again.
So things here are going well, like I said we got transfer news. That kind of stuff always keeps me from getting bored, I don't know why. Just the anticipation of a transfer is fun. And this transfer also went by really fast, I still kind of feel really new to Pointe-Noire.
But one new goal thing I started this week to help my french, is now I carry a petit cahier(small notebook) around in my pocket, and write down the words I want to say but don't know in french. At the end of the day I look them all up and write them down. And then I can go back and look at the words and not forget them so easily. I just started this yesterday, but here are the words I've written down and looked up so far:
to insult = insulter
to lactate = not found in our dictionary
a goat = une chèvre
a germ = un germe
extra = supplémentaire, de plus
a shot, injection = une piqure
a grill = un gril
a garlic = un ail
an amount = une quantité
to exchange = échanger
So yeah, I need to look in another dictionary to find "to lactate" in french, but I think this will help.
Also, last Sunday I taught the youth Sunday school last week. Elder Parsons warned me how hard it would be, but I didn't really understand til I actually taught the class. Its mostly because there is a group of 5 or 6 girls who just like to talk amongst themselves the whole darn time. (Girls are girls no matter where in the world they live!) And I also used really bad french one time, because I wrote on the board "qui est-moi", trying to say "who am I". But they let me know, and helped me change it to "qui suis-je". Dumb. The lesson was on testimonies, and we were reading in Matthew 16 when Christ asks his apostles who he is. And later we read a little in Alma 32, but I gave up on the reading and just drew a seed growing to a tree with fruit on the board. And when we got to the point when the tree had grown and producing fruit, I asked one kid what his favorite fruit was, and someone responded by saying "poulet!". Then the whole class started laughing, because poulet is chicken. (Once again, kids are kids no matter where they live.)
My food preparing skills have also gotten better. I can make oatmeal, spaghetti, rice, something with chicken,(something?) and hamburgers. And I keep asking one of the branch missionaries to give me his mom's recipe for saka-saka, which is something literally everyone eats here a lot. (Saka-saka is made from Cassava leaves, veggies and fish.) But he keeps forgetting, but I plan on adding that to my repertoire too
So as far as the missionary work and proselyting and such, this was more of a quiet week. But Elder Parsons and I have a new idea so that we get more cordonnées (referrals) and higher quality amis. We are going to work a bit more with the recent converts and finish up all their after baptism lessons in a timely manner, and let them invite family or friends or whoever to the lessons. Just the success rate with cordonnées compared to contacts made by missionaries is a lot better. And its makes our work easier. So hopefully that will work how I've thought it out.
Um, yeah. I think that's about everything notable. I just wrote to look for cameras in my agenda, so I won't forget. I hope everyone is still doing well, enjoying the end of school. I know Scott is enjoying the lighter work load after all his exams. Congratulations Andrea on bus safety, and Jacob at Busch Gardens! Also, I speak horrible English now.
Je vous aime,
-Eric
My email to Eric:
So, about the mosquitos-use repellent and do you have a mosquito net to sleep under?
Dad pulled a tick from behind Andrea's ear this morning-she has been "exploring" in the back yard a lot lately.
To lactate is- allaiter. (to nurse) Can also be a noun. Produire du lait means to make milk. And why did you need that verb?
Mom
Hey Mom, thanks for the french help. I wanted to know that word, because Elder Parsons and I were waiting for an ami to show up, and there were goats in their yard thing. And one was feeding the other, and so that's why I thought of goat and lactate.
There are no nets to sleep under, but as long as I have a fan on, the sheet works just fine. Thanks.
Je t'aime,
- Eric
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Eric's email of May 13, 2010
So from Jacob's email, I understood almost everything, except the last sentence didn't make sense to me. So besides a few grammar errors, that was actually an ok translation.
So responses to (not so) quick questions from Dad:
So the church organization in Pointe-Noire: Here there are only 2 branches. I don't think we are part of any stake or district or anything, just the Pointe-Noire branch and the Aéroport branch. There are 3 missionary companionships, and Elder Parsons and I are the one that work in some of both. But today during district meeting, we actually spent time looking at the map and dividing the city in 6 secteurs. So it looks like that will happen and the end of next transfer, 3 companionships in each branch. And President has also said he is going to put another branch here soon, and also find another building or two. So things will start to grow a lot faster, from all that. I would say there are between 100 to 120 people that show up to each branch Sunday.
(Mark asked if they speak French French or African French.) So Congolese French, just uses France French. Also the same with Cameroon. We just say numbers in the normal France french way. But something I've kinda heard more about, is that France is still kinda in control of the french speaking African countries down here. Apparently the English speaking and Portuguese speaking countries of Africa are able to develop better and stuff, because England and Portugal and all those countries are out, completely. But from what I've heard, from many sources, is that France still influences a lot of stuff in Congo, and take a lot of the profit of things from these countries. Which explains a bit why Congo and other french speaking African countries are behind the others. That's just what some Congolese people and other missionaries told me.
Anyways, so about the camera. We actually didn't have time to go anywhere today, because we had to spend time getting a new phone. It fell out of Elder Parsons' pocket when we were getting out of a taxi. That was Tuesday, so Wednesday we went to the MTN (the big phone company here) store to get a new phone and our old number. But the line was over a 3 hour wait yesterday. We went today again, and got lucky because its some holiday that I forgot the name of, so there weren't very many people there. But to answer the question, no I didn't look at cameras.
(What is the weather like?) Right now in Pointe-Noire it is dry season. Here it is opposite of Cameroon, I think because we are on the other side of the equator. But dry season here isn't as harsh as in Douala. Here there is often a nice breeze and its just not as hot, thankfully. But I left Douala at the end of its dry season, and got to Pointe-Noire for the beginning of its dry season. And I'm told that dry season is much better here than rainy season, because during rainy season it is also hot and muggy.
Unfortunately, I cannot get the pamplemousse soda here. That was a brand called "Top", who had topamplemousse, topgrenadine, topanana and stuff. But that's a Cameroon brand, done by "les Brasseries du Cameroon". But here they still have Coca Cola, Sprite, and Fanta, so its fine. They do have more Fanta flavors here though, like strawberry, citron, and grenadine. I really like the strawberry one. One time I did see a few Mountain Dews in a boutique somewhere. Oh, and I forgot to tell Dad this. A couple p-days ago, in a "Park 'n' Shop", one of the two real kinda grocery stores, I found Perrier. And I got one. Still don't like it. Guess I'm still not old enough to like soda water.
So there's the questions. Lets see, what has happened since I talked to you all on the phone... On Mardi (Tuesdays) we did set a baptismal date with the mom and dad of a family. They are called Ruston and Ordre. Ruston, the father, we just saw on the road at the Poudrierre one day with his friend. Elder Parsons and I had no rendezvous scheduled, so we were looking, and they let us share our message with them. Ruston's wife Ordre, and about 4 other people ended up joining us. And that was about 2 and a half weeks ago. Then 2 Sundays ago, they came to church, I didn't see them there, because I was busy doing something else, but Elder Parsons saw and talked to them, but didn't recognize them exactly. But he did set up a rendezvous, and later that evening had an epiphany and remembered. So we taught them all about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and last week, they came to church again. And the past Sunday their branch watched a session of conference, and they both liked it, especially Ordre. But last week Souer Ordre had asked us "qu'est-ce que nous devons faire pour etre sauvé?". (What must we do to be saved?) Good question. So we started teaching the Gospel, taught faith and repentance at the end of last week. Then on Tuesday we talked about baptism. They both had many questions already about it. Talked about the restoration of the Priesthood and such, we had left them 2 Nephi 31 to read. And so at the end of the lesson we set a date for the 5th of June, yay! So they are awesome. The only problem, is that they are not actually married, which is a common thing here. The process to get married traditionally is complicated and expensive, and its not good to the family to skip traditional marriage and get civilly married. But the church (thanks to modern revelation, I assume) has said people in this situation can get baptized if the traditional marriage process has been started. And to do that, they have to do "la premiere presentation". This includes some food and drinks, unfortunately a good amount of wine, and things that the husband must present to the family of the wife. But once this first presentation has been done, the Church has said they can become members. So we will have to make sure Ruston and Ordre get going on that.
One other cool story. There is this one ami de l'église named Dieudonné Matinga. He is a cordonnée from some member, and he also has been at church the past 2 weeks. He already has a really strong testimony, kind of amazingly. But also on Tuesday, we had a lesson with him, just our second time, but we brought a Book of Mormon for him. And after we had explained the Book of Mormon, he told us about this dream he had had. Its a reoccurring dream every so often since '87, he said. And in the dream, and voice or person or something tells him to "read in the Gospel of Jesus", chapter 10 verse 16. The first time he had this dream, he woke up, and didn't really know what to do. He thought to read somewhere in the New Testament, but didn't know where. But then he had a friend, who told him, "well, which apostle was the beloved apostle of Christ?" or something like that. But that would be, John. So John, 10:16. That is the verse about "I have sheep not of this fold, but that will hear my voice", something like that. And so when Dieudonné told us in John, me and Elder Parsons looked at each other, because we knew. So after he was done explaining, we told him the real meaning of that verse, and read in 3 Nephi 15:21-24, where Christ explains exactly what he meant in John 10:16. So that was pretty amazing. And Frere Matinga was pretty excited about the Book of Mormon.
Well, I hope this week goes well for everyone. Oh, and one thing I forgot: so the Willis' leave at the end of the month, and so do the Baxters. From what I know, there will be another couple in Douala, but not here in Pointe-Noire. So that'll be a little bit of a bummer. So yeah, just wanted to mention that before I forgot. Enjoy the week, and thanks again for the emails, I really appreciate them. And I expect one from Andrea next week, because even Scott wrote me today, ha.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
So responses to (not so) quick questions from Dad:
So the church organization in Pointe-Noire: Here there are only 2 branches. I don't think we are part of any stake or district or anything, just the Pointe-Noire branch and the Aéroport branch. There are 3 missionary companionships, and Elder Parsons and I are the one that work in some of both. But today during district meeting, we actually spent time looking at the map and dividing the city in 6 secteurs. So it looks like that will happen and the end of next transfer, 3 companionships in each branch. And President has also said he is going to put another branch here soon, and also find another building or two. So things will start to grow a lot faster, from all that. I would say there are between 100 to 120 people that show up to each branch Sunday.
(Mark asked if they speak French French or African French.) So Congolese French, just uses France French. Also the same with Cameroon. We just say numbers in the normal France french way. But something I've kinda heard more about, is that France is still kinda in control of the french speaking African countries down here. Apparently the English speaking and Portuguese speaking countries of Africa are able to develop better and stuff, because England and Portugal and all those countries are out, completely. But from what I've heard, from many sources, is that France still influences a lot of stuff in Congo, and take a lot of the profit of things from these countries. Which explains a bit why Congo and other french speaking African countries are behind the others. That's just what some Congolese people and other missionaries told me.
Anyways, so about the camera. We actually didn't have time to go anywhere today, because we had to spend time getting a new phone. It fell out of Elder Parsons' pocket when we were getting out of a taxi. That was Tuesday, so Wednesday we went to the MTN (the big phone company here) store to get a new phone and our old number. But the line was over a 3 hour wait yesterday. We went today again, and got lucky because its some holiday that I forgot the name of, so there weren't very many people there. But to answer the question, no I didn't look at cameras.
(What is the weather like?) Right now in Pointe-Noire it is dry season. Here it is opposite of Cameroon, I think because we are on the other side of the equator. But dry season here isn't as harsh as in Douala. Here there is often a nice breeze and its just not as hot, thankfully. But I left Douala at the end of its dry season, and got to Pointe-Noire for the beginning of its dry season. And I'm told that dry season is much better here than rainy season, because during rainy season it is also hot and muggy.
Unfortunately, I cannot get the pamplemousse soda here. That was a brand called "Top", who had topamplemousse, topgrenadine, topanana and stuff. But that's a Cameroon brand, done by "les Brasseries du Cameroon". But here they still have Coca Cola, Sprite, and Fanta, so its fine. They do have more Fanta flavors here though, like strawberry, citron, and grenadine. I really like the strawberry one. One time I did see a few Mountain Dews in a boutique somewhere. Oh, and I forgot to tell Dad this. A couple p-days ago, in a "Park 'n' Shop", one of the two real kinda grocery stores, I found Perrier. And I got one. Still don't like it. Guess I'm still not old enough to like soda water.
So there's the questions. Lets see, what has happened since I talked to you all on the phone... On Mardi (Tuesdays) we did set a baptismal date with the mom and dad of a family. They are called Ruston and Ordre. Ruston, the father, we just saw on the road at the Poudrierre one day with his friend. Elder Parsons and I had no rendezvous scheduled, so we were looking, and they let us share our message with them. Ruston's wife Ordre, and about 4 other people ended up joining us. And that was about 2 and a half weeks ago. Then 2 Sundays ago, they came to church, I didn't see them there, because I was busy doing something else, but Elder Parsons saw and talked to them, but didn't recognize them exactly. But he did set up a rendezvous, and later that evening had an epiphany and remembered. So we taught them all about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon and last week, they came to church again. And the past Sunday their branch watched a session of conference, and they both liked it, especially Ordre. But last week Souer Ordre had asked us "qu'est-ce que nous devons faire pour etre sauvé?". (What must we do to be saved?) Good question. So we started teaching the Gospel, taught faith and repentance at the end of last week. Then on Tuesday we talked about baptism. They both had many questions already about it. Talked about the restoration of the Priesthood and such, we had left them 2 Nephi 31 to read. And so at the end of the lesson we set a date for the 5th of June, yay! So they are awesome. The only problem, is that they are not actually married, which is a common thing here. The process to get married traditionally is complicated and expensive, and its not good to the family to skip traditional marriage and get civilly married. But the church (thanks to modern revelation, I assume) has said people in this situation can get baptized if the traditional marriage process has been started. And to do that, they have to do "la premiere presentation". This includes some food and drinks, unfortunately a good amount of wine, and things that the husband must present to the family of the wife. But once this first presentation has been done, the Church has said they can become members. So we will have to make sure Ruston and Ordre get going on that.
One other cool story. There is this one ami de l'église named Dieudonné Matinga. He is a cordonnée from some member, and he also has been at church the past 2 weeks. He already has a really strong testimony, kind of amazingly. But also on Tuesday, we had a lesson with him, just our second time, but we brought a Book of Mormon for him. And after we had explained the Book of Mormon, he told us about this dream he had had. Its a reoccurring dream every so often since '87, he said. And in the dream, and voice or person or something tells him to "read in the Gospel of Jesus", chapter 10 verse 16. The first time he had this dream, he woke up, and didn't really know what to do. He thought to read somewhere in the New Testament, but didn't know where. But then he had a friend, who told him, "well, which apostle was the beloved apostle of Christ?" or something like that. But that would be, John. So John, 10:16. That is the verse about "I have sheep not of this fold, but that will hear my voice", something like that. And so when Dieudonné told us in John, me and Elder Parsons looked at each other, because we knew. So after he was done explaining, we told him the real meaning of that verse, and read in 3 Nephi 15:21-24, where Christ explains exactly what he meant in John 10:16. So that was pretty amazing. And Frere Matinga was pretty excited about the Book of Mormon.
Well, I hope this week goes well for everyone. Oh, and one thing I forgot: so the Willis' leave at the end of the month, and so do the Baxters. From what I know, there will be another couple in Douala, but not here in Pointe-Noire. So that'll be a little bit of a bummer. So yeah, just wanted to mention that before I forgot. Enjoy the week, and thanks again for the emails, I really appreciate them. And I expect one from Andrea next week, because even Scott wrote me today, ha.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Eric's email of May 6th, 2010
Alright family, so the camera thing is not too bad. I did backup a good amount of my photos, but I did lose some more recent ones because I hadn't backed up that recently. But yes I do still have the Wolverine, (small backup device) that just stays at the apartment. But I did send home the most important ones my last p-day in Douala, so ça va. And so from your suggestions, the first one could work. (Should we mail one, should we send one with a new missionary, can you buy one from a missionary that is leaving or can you get one there?) There is a way to ship stuff here, through DHL. I'm sure Dad has heard of it. DHL. I am told that its completely reliable, stuff doesn't get stolen. And it takes just about a week, only 1 week. But, as you would expect, it would be expensive. So that's one option. Another is one day I could go to a store and see how much cameras here are. There are some real stores, I don't know how expensive one would be, but maybe one p-day I could go check it out, see how much it would cost, and tell you. So I think those would be the best 2.
And I don't think there are any missionaries heading here in May. I have been informed that there will be 20 North American missionaries coming at the beginning of July. And right now there are 6 missionaries in Pointe-Noire, and President said he wants to put 12 here at that time. The Baxters will also be home at that point, so they will just keep the whole apartment and fit 6 more in like that. The Baxters live just next door, in the same little complex. So that's what I heard the plan is. And we calculated it and that should mean the new missionaries just entered the MTC yesterday.
And to get a camera from a missionary going home, there is only one here, Elder Ritchie. He goes home in July when the new wave comes, and his camera can't hold a charge. So that's my thoughts, and the Wolverine will be fine for a while.
So we will be calling home this Sunday, that came fast... Anyways, I will call you Sunday, around 19h30 or 7:30 PM, which is 2:30 PM chez-vous, si je ne me trompe pas. So I think that should work, right? Hopefully Dad can get home in time for that. But we couldn't call much later. Its a good thing you have morning church though. So that's that, I'll be calling with the stuff I used back at Christmas. Sunday 7:30 here, 2:30 there.
So "Afasso" means "bonjour", basically, but its a little different. Its like "bonjour" and "ça va?" squished into 1 word. So you say "afasso", and you respond by saying "ka bien", which is like "ça va bien". And the name of the language is called Mounoukoutouba, I think I spelled that right. Here in Congo things are a bit less complicated than in Cameroon. First off in Cameroon, there are 2 national languages, French and English. And so that kind of separates some people, even more when you add 200+ patuas. (Local languages) Here in Congo there are 4 national languages, but its less confusing, and I'll explain why. First there is French, which nearly everyone speaks, usually at least one person in each household. Also, Mounoukoutouba is one, which is a patua here, but it is also spoken by everybody (except the missionaries...). And 2 other languages whose name I don't know.
So this week I had one experience that stuck out, probably one of the best of my mission. Or at least one I doubt I will forget. So this took place Wednesday just around noon. Elder Parsons and I were at La Base, which is the cartier (neighborhood) around the church. We had some rendezvous planned, but most of them fell through. So we contacted a little and taught a couple lessons there. And we planned (holy cow, they just showed NBA highlights on the TV here in the internet café...) Ok, anyways, so we were planning on just contacting there for a couple more hours, but we were walking and we saw this guy with a pousse-pousse with a bunch of wood planks in it, taller than me. A pousse-pousse is just a cart people use to haul stuff with. Like the verb "pousser", to push. And so this guy was stuck trying to get over a curb thing, being helped by one other guy, and girl about my age, and a lady with her baby on her back. And so Elder Parsons and I went to help, because there was no way for them. So we eventually get it over the curb, and we continued to help him up a hill. And we keep going. One of the guys and the lady with a baby drop off. We continue. Then we take a little break, the guy who this belongs to asks us if we are Jehovah's Witnesses, we say no and explain who we are. And he tells us we are going to La Poudrierre, which is a little far. We normally take a 15 minute bus ride there. So we continue, and then the girl drops off, so its just me, Elder Parsons and him. And we get it all the way to his house, we are pretty darn tired and we sit down. And I see his foot, and he is bleeding, pretty bad. Turns out, he wasn't wearing shoes, geez. So it was right between his big toe, and he's still walking trying to get us chairs, but we are trying to get him to wash it and sit down. And then, he takes one step, and blood just squirts up out of his foot. And the other day Elder Parsons told me he doesn't like blood and that he has fainted before. So I'm there with a guy with a bleeding foot, and I'm hoping my companion doesn't pass out. But he finally washes it and wraps it, sits down, and we get him to prop it up on a chair. And then his wife gets us some water, which was heavenly. And then we teach him. It was kinda weird and I don't know if we were speaking the best French, because we were tired. So we just taught a short lesson with him and his wife. His name is Fifa, and her name is Jouria. And they seem really nice and such. But that was just a weird experience to contact a family.
So that is easily the most notable experience of the week. Today we also went with one of the branch presidents to the beach and stuff. We saw some historical spots of old slave places and stuff, not good. And by the name of this city, you can tell what those old slave traders thought. Anyways, it also made me really tired, I slept in the car ride home. Next week I'll try to send come pictures one of the other missionaries took. The internet café we go to is really nice, so yeah. I can't wait to talk to you guys on Sunday, try to enjoy the week back together at the house after vacation with friends and Puerto Rico.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
And I don't think there are any missionaries heading here in May. I have been informed that there will be 20 North American missionaries coming at the beginning of July. And right now there are 6 missionaries in Pointe-Noire, and President said he wants to put 12 here at that time. The Baxters will also be home at that point, so they will just keep the whole apartment and fit 6 more in like that. The Baxters live just next door, in the same little complex. So that's what I heard the plan is. And we calculated it and that should mean the new missionaries just entered the MTC yesterday.
And to get a camera from a missionary going home, there is only one here, Elder Ritchie. He goes home in July when the new wave comes, and his camera can't hold a charge. So that's my thoughts, and the Wolverine will be fine for a while.
So we will be calling home this Sunday, that came fast... Anyways, I will call you Sunday, around 19h30 or 7:30 PM, which is 2:30 PM chez-vous, si je ne me trompe pas. So I think that should work, right? Hopefully Dad can get home in time for that. But we couldn't call much later. Its a good thing you have morning church though. So that's that, I'll be calling with the stuff I used back at Christmas. Sunday 7:30 here, 2:30 there.
So "Afasso" means "bonjour", basically, but its a little different. Its like "bonjour" and "ça va?" squished into 1 word. So you say "afasso", and you respond by saying "ka bien", which is like "ça va bien". And the name of the language is called Mounoukoutouba, I think I spelled that right. Here in Congo things are a bit less complicated than in Cameroon. First off in Cameroon, there are 2 national languages, French and English. And so that kind of separates some people, even more when you add 200+ patuas. (Local languages) Here in Congo there are 4 national languages, but its less confusing, and I'll explain why. First there is French, which nearly everyone speaks, usually at least one person in each household. Also, Mounoukoutouba is one, which is a patua here, but it is also spoken by everybody (except the missionaries...). And 2 other languages whose name I don't know.
So this week I had one experience that stuck out, probably one of the best of my mission. Or at least one I doubt I will forget. So this took place Wednesday just around noon. Elder Parsons and I were at La Base, which is the cartier (neighborhood) around the church. We had some rendezvous planned, but most of them fell through. So we contacted a little and taught a couple lessons there. And we planned (holy cow, they just showed NBA highlights on the TV here in the internet café...) Ok, anyways, so we were planning on just contacting there for a couple more hours, but we were walking and we saw this guy with a pousse-pousse with a bunch of wood planks in it, taller than me. A pousse-pousse is just a cart people use to haul stuff with. Like the verb "pousser", to push. And so this guy was stuck trying to get over a curb thing, being helped by one other guy, and girl about my age, and a lady with her baby on her back. And so Elder Parsons and I went to help, because there was no way for them. So we eventually get it over the curb, and we continued to help him up a hill. And we keep going. One of the guys and the lady with a baby drop off. We continue. Then we take a little break, the guy who this belongs to asks us if we are Jehovah's Witnesses, we say no and explain who we are. And he tells us we are going to La Poudrierre, which is a little far. We normally take a 15 minute bus ride there. So we continue, and then the girl drops off, so its just me, Elder Parsons and him. And we get it all the way to his house, we are pretty darn tired and we sit down. And I see his foot, and he is bleeding, pretty bad. Turns out, he wasn't wearing shoes, geez. So it was right between his big toe, and he's still walking trying to get us chairs, but we are trying to get him to wash it and sit down. And then, he takes one step, and blood just squirts up out of his foot. And the other day Elder Parsons told me he doesn't like blood and that he has fainted before. So I'm there with a guy with a bleeding foot, and I'm hoping my companion doesn't pass out. But he finally washes it and wraps it, sits down, and we get him to prop it up on a chair. And then his wife gets us some water, which was heavenly. And then we teach him. It was kinda weird and I don't know if we were speaking the best French, because we were tired. So we just taught a short lesson with him and his wife. His name is Fifa, and her name is Jouria. And they seem really nice and such. But that was just a weird experience to contact a family.
So that is easily the most notable experience of the week. Today we also went with one of the branch presidents to the beach and stuff. We saw some historical spots of old slave places and stuff, not good. And by the name of this city, you can tell what those old slave traders thought. Anyways, it also made me really tired, I slept in the car ride home. Next week I'll try to send come pictures one of the other missionaries took. The internet café we go to is really nice, so yeah. I can't wait to talk to you guys on Sunday, try to enjoy the week back together at the house after vacation with friends and Puerto Rico.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Eric's email of April 28th, 2010
Sorry this posting is late.
Afasso! (and then you say "ka bien")
So first off, this email will be kind of difficult, because I am using an English keyboard for some reason. I don't know why this computer has it, but its weird because I got pretty good on the French one. But so first, I want to respond to the question from Mom's email before I forget, about the mailing address. (No PO Box in Pointe Noire, still send packages/letters to Cameroon) If that is what the Willis' suggest, I think that would make sense. One elder here had recently received mail right before I came, that was dated in November. So I would say, the Willis' idea would work fine.
And so I'm glad that Mom and Dad are enjoying Puerto Rico, and actually I know plantains well! They aren't eaten that often here, but in Cameroon I ate them every time with fish and such, and I liked to dip them in pima (a very spicy pepper) sauce. At first I didn't like them, but I soon learned to. And rapelling that waterfall sounds sweet.
Wow, Père ne m'a que demandé deux quèstions! (Wow, Dad only asked me 2 questions!) So for the first one about the Mother's Day call, I don't know exactly yet, but I am pretty sure we will be doing it on Mother's Day, May 9th. And I plan on using the calling card. I will make sure I still have the info, and I'll let you know better next week.
The Zone Conference was awesome actually, and I will proceed to give the detailed review that Dad asked for. So, like I said, here we wake up at 5:30 AM, one hour earlier than normal. And so we woke up and then just got ready to leave, because the Baxters (Senior couple) said we were to leave at 6:30. (So I just stepped away from the computer for 10 minutes because someone came up and said he left his work on this computer. But then he figured out I speak English, no idea how he figured that out, but so I found out he is from Kentucky, and he knows of the Church. So that was random, but cool I thought.) But about zone conference, we got to the airport at 7:00 AM, and our flight left around 8 I think. But when we got to security, Elder Mbuyi and Elder Mafiya weren't let through. They are both from Kinshasa, but the guy didn't like their passport for some reason, even though they had gotten here fine. So we had to figure that out and decided to buy the necessary visa when we return, and got on our flight just before it left. So the flight only took about 40 minutes, just enough time for me to do a 3 star difficulty Sudoku, and then we landed.
When we arrived, there were already 2 people from the Church there with cars to pick us up. Oh, and I forgot to say, we flew to Brazzaville. And we held the zone conference in the stake center of Brazzaville, which was only about a 15 minute drive away from the airport on a bumpy unpaved road. So we get there, and there was about an hour before President and Elder Runland arrived, so we were talking and got to know all the missionaries of Brazzaville. And the conference consisted of the missionaries from Pointe-Noire, Brazzaville, and the assistants to the President. So there were us 6 elders from Pointe-Noire plus the Baxters, and 20 to 25 missionaries from Brazza. In Brazzaville the church is much bigger, they have a stake with 8 wards and 4 branches. In Pointe-Noire there are only 2 branches. But that's a big difference from Cameroon, in all of Cameroon there are 0 wards and 3 branches. Dang.
Anyways, the conference was great, even Elder Runland, who went on a Swedish speaking mission did it in French himself, and he got by. He did need a little help, but I was impressed with it, rather than having a translator. And also his wife did some, also in French. She said she had studied in school but forgot a lot, but she rarely needed our help. She did a lot better with French in school than I did. (Eric hated French in school.) But so we had our conference, and everyone was on a short schedule. The Headlees and Runlands had to leave pretty much immediately to catch the boat to get back to Kinshasa, and we had to leave to catch our flight. Side note, so Brazzaville and Kinshasa are right next to each other, its just the river (Congo) that divides the countries. But I was told if you took an airplane from Brazza to Kinshasa, it would take 15 minutes or less. But by using that ferry system, it took the Headlees and Runlands 2 and a half hours to cross. But one good thing, I caught President right before he left so I could get a missionary handbook in French, which made me happy.
So then we left immediatly for the airport at about 3:30, got there and had the same problem with Elder Mbuyi and Mafiya. Elder Ritchie told me it's because Brazzaville and Kinshasa don't like each other. Anyways, we eventually got past that again, and got to our flight. Another 40 minutes, another 3 star Sudoku puzzle, and we landed in Pointe-Noire at around 4:30. So we landed, and as planned we got the visa things for Mafiya and Mbuyi, and Elder Parsons and Elder Kessler and I talked about 90s music. Then we got their visas in about half an hour, got in the Baxters' truck, and went for ice cream. I got an ice cream cone with chocolate flavor and cheesecake flavor. It was richer than anything I had eaten in a while. Also the power went out twice while we were at the ice cream place. And I think that's about it.
So yeah, that was zone conference. I wrote down a lot of stuff I can't remember now, but the main thing I got from Elder Runland was the importance of having a good attitude. He talked about 2 parts of missionary work: the attitude & the work ethic. And you need to work hard and also have a positive attitude. You need both. If you only have one, or worse neither, good luck. But those 2 characteristics will make life better and missionary work progress well. So I gots to remember that.
Also today we got news that President Headlee is coming on Monday. I don't know exactly why, but that's cool. We didn't have time for interviews but hopefully we will Monday. Also, the beginning of July will be the end of a transfer, about a transfer and a half from now. And at that day, 2 North American missionaries will be going home plus the Baxters, and 20 (twenty) will be coming. So holy cow. And right now in Pointe-Noire there are 3 companionships, 6 elders (4 from the states and 2 from Kinshasa). And President also told the Baxters that he wants to put 12 missionaries in Pointe-Noire at that time. So that will be exciting, but also that means there will be a lot to do, and a lot of new missionaries. So yeah.
I think that's all the exciting news, maybe President will tell us more cool stuff on Monday. Mais, Mom et Dad, jouissez le reste de la voyage au Puerto Rico, et Scott et Jacob et Andrea, ne mourrez pas à l'école. (Mom and Dad, enjoy the rest of your trip to Puerto Rico, and Scott, Jacob and Andrea, don't die in school.)
And also, I am going to write this last thing in french, so that only one person gets upset or mad at a time: Mon appareil de photo a été volé. Pardonnez-moi. Vous pouvez me donner vos idées cette semaine, et nous pouvons mieur discuter cela le jour des mères. (This was to keep mom from getting upset, I guess. My camera was stolen. I'm sorry. You can tell me your ideas next week and we can discuss it on Mother's Day.)
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Afasso! (and then you say "ka bien")
So first off, this email will be kind of difficult, because I am using an English keyboard for some reason. I don't know why this computer has it, but its weird because I got pretty good on the French one. But so first, I want to respond to the question from Mom's email before I forget, about the mailing address. (No PO Box in Pointe Noire, still send packages/letters to Cameroon) If that is what the Willis' suggest, I think that would make sense. One elder here had recently received mail right before I came, that was dated in November. So I would say, the Willis' idea would work fine.
And so I'm glad that Mom and Dad are enjoying Puerto Rico, and actually I know plantains well! They aren't eaten that often here, but in Cameroon I ate them every time with fish and such, and I liked to dip them in pima (a very spicy pepper) sauce. At first I didn't like them, but I soon learned to. And rapelling that waterfall sounds sweet.
Wow, Père ne m'a que demandé deux quèstions! (Wow, Dad only asked me 2 questions!) So for the first one about the Mother's Day call, I don't know exactly yet, but I am pretty sure we will be doing it on Mother's Day, May 9th. And I plan on using the calling card. I will make sure I still have the info, and I'll let you know better next week.
The Zone Conference was awesome actually, and I will proceed to give the detailed review that Dad asked for. So, like I said, here we wake up at 5:30 AM, one hour earlier than normal. And so we woke up and then just got ready to leave, because the Baxters (Senior couple) said we were to leave at 6:30. (So I just stepped away from the computer for 10 minutes because someone came up and said he left his work on this computer. But then he figured out I speak English, no idea how he figured that out, but so I found out he is from Kentucky, and he knows of the Church. So that was random, but cool I thought.) But about zone conference, we got to the airport at 7:00 AM, and our flight left around 8 I think. But when we got to security, Elder Mbuyi and Elder Mafiya weren't let through. They are both from Kinshasa, but the guy didn't like their passport for some reason, even though they had gotten here fine. So we had to figure that out and decided to buy the necessary visa when we return, and got on our flight just before it left. So the flight only took about 40 minutes, just enough time for me to do a 3 star difficulty Sudoku, and then we landed.
When we arrived, there were already 2 people from the Church there with cars to pick us up. Oh, and I forgot to say, we flew to Brazzaville. And we held the zone conference in the stake center of Brazzaville, which was only about a 15 minute drive away from the airport on a bumpy unpaved road. So we get there, and there was about an hour before President and Elder Runland arrived, so we were talking and got to know all the missionaries of Brazzaville. And the conference consisted of the missionaries from Pointe-Noire, Brazzaville, and the assistants to the President. So there were us 6 elders from Pointe-Noire plus the Baxters, and 20 to 25 missionaries from Brazza. In Brazzaville the church is much bigger, they have a stake with 8 wards and 4 branches. In Pointe-Noire there are only 2 branches. But that's a big difference from Cameroon, in all of Cameroon there are 0 wards and 3 branches. Dang.
Anyways, the conference was great, even Elder Runland, who went on a Swedish speaking mission did it in French himself, and he got by. He did need a little help, but I was impressed with it, rather than having a translator. And also his wife did some, also in French. She said she had studied in school but forgot a lot, but she rarely needed our help. She did a lot better with French in school than I did. (Eric hated French in school.) But so we had our conference, and everyone was on a short schedule. The Headlees and Runlands had to leave pretty much immediately to catch the boat to get back to Kinshasa, and we had to leave to catch our flight. Side note, so Brazzaville and Kinshasa are right next to each other, its just the river (Congo) that divides the countries. But I was told if you took an airplane from Brazza to Kinshasa, it would take 15 minutes or less. But by using that ferry system, it took the Headlees and Runlands 2 and a half hours to cross. But one good thing, I caught President right before he left so I could get a missionary handbook in French, which made me happy.
So then we left immediatly for the airport at about 3:30, got there and had the same problem with Elder Mbuyi and Mafiya. Elder Ritchie told me it's because Brazzaville and Kinshasa don't like each other. Anyways, we eventually got past that again, and got to our flight. Another 40 minutes, another 3 star Sudoku puzzle, and we landed in Pointe-Noire at around 4:30. So we landed, and as planned we got the visa things for Mafiya and Mbuyi, and Elder Parsons and Elder Kessler and I talked about 90s music. Then we got their visas in about half an hour, got in the Baxters' truck, and went for ice cream. I got an ice cream cone with chocolate flavor and cheesecake flavor. It was richer than anything I had eaten in a while. Also the power went out twice while we were at the ice cream place. And I think that's about it.
So yeah, that was zone conference. I wrote down a lot of stuff I can't remember now, but the main thing I got from Elder Runland was the importance of having a good attitude. He talked about 2 parts of missionary work: the attitude & the work ethic. And you need to work hard and also have a positive attitude. You need both. If you only have one, or worse neither, good luck. But those 2 characteristics will make life better and missionary work progress well. So I gots to remember that.
Also today we got news that President Headlee is coming on Monday. I don't know exactly why, but that's cool. We didn't have time for interviews but hopefully we will Monday. Also, the beginning of July will be the end of a transfer, about a transfer and a half from now. And at that day, 2 North American missionaries will be going home plus the Baxters, and 20 (twenty) will be coming. So holy cow. And right now in Pointe-Noire there are 3 companionships, 6 elders (4 from the states and 2 from Kinshasa). And President also told the Baxters that he wants to put 12 missionaries in Pointe-Noire at that time. So that will be exciting, but also that means there will be a lot to do, and a lot of new missionaries. So yeah.
I think that's all the exciting news, maybe President will tell us more cool stuff on Monday. Mais, Mom et Dad, jouissez le reste de la voyage au Puerto Rico, et Scott et Jacob et Andrea, ne mourrez pas à l'école. (Mom and Dad, enjoy the rest of your trip to Puerto Rico, and Scott, Jacob and Andrea, don't die in school.)
And also, I am going to write this last thing in french, so that only one person gets upset or mad at a time: Mon appareil de photo a été volé. Pardonnez-moi. Vous pouvez me donner vos idées cette semaine, et nous pouvons mieur discuter cela le jour des mères. (This was to keep mom from getting upset, I guess. My camera was stolen. I'm sorry. You can tell me your ideas next week and we can discuss it on Mother's Day.)
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Friday, April 16, 2010
Eric's email of April 15th, 2010
Hello everybody, so I'm gonna start by answering Mom's questions, then I'll go get Dad's darn questions.
(I reminded Eric that he opened his mission call a year ago on April 16th and asked if it seemed like a long time ago.) So I got my mission call a year ago Friday, dang. That does not feel like a long time ago at all, to me at least. Weird, I guess that means I am becoming an old geezer.
(I asked him how his clothing was holding up.) So my shoes are still comfy and fine, especially the brown ones. The only thing is that, on the brown shoes, the sole started to come off, but I bought some super super glue stuff and managed to close it back up for now. If not, there are people all over who fix shoes for cheap. Last week Elder Lee got the whole bottom of his basketball shoes put back on for less than 500 CFA. And I wear my sandals not a whole lot, but often on pdays and such. Maybe I will start to wear them more often when it rains, though. As for shirts, um, maybe I might need some more. For some reason, today I found that I only have 6 white short sleeves shirts. (He went with 7.) I was finishing my packing, and I couldn't find any other one. The supplies that are in the worst condition though, I think, are my ties. Holy cow, I have a couple of ties that are filthy. They get kind of dirty on the big end, and some are disgusting looking where the knot is. And it is worst on the lighter colored ones, like the one I got from Bro. Edmunds. So ties are the only thing in not good condition.
So yeah, the Willis (Senior couple who take care of the Elders in Bonaberi) residence is comparable to an American one, and is much much better than any other house I've been in in Cameroon. Never met anyone else with a pool. So that picture of me and 3 others by the pool, if I can remember correctly it goes like this: very left is Fred, then me, then Ebanezar, then Emmanuel, who are all studs.
Ok, I think I got all Mom's questions, now I got to go to Dad's email. Tout à l'heure. (Later)
Ok Dad, here I go.
So the Willis' finish their mission at the end of May, which will make 18 months for them. They are from Montana, and Sister Willis lived in Wyoming when she was younger, if I remember correctly. But now they live in Provo. But mainly, they are from Billings, Montana.
(Are you flying to Pointe-Noire?) Yeah, I'm flying from Douala to Pointe-Noire, and I have no idea what airlines. All I know is that I will sleep at the Willis' tonight, and that we need to get to the airport before 11 to get me all checked in. And then my flight is supposed to be leaving at 12:30 or 1:00, but, the Willis' said that ever since they have come, this Douala-Pointe-Noire flight has never been on time. And today, our friend Robert, who works at the airport, says that's because every African airline except Air Gabon doesn't get it or care about being on time. Its called African time. Ca veut dire, people are late in Africa. When people say "j'arrive", they could arrive between 10 minutes and 3 hours. So yeah, just a little side note there. And if you want my airplane tickets just tell me, and go take another vacation with them.
Alright, so now I'll answer Dad's next 2 questions, and it will probably be the biggest chunk of my email, cuz I've got to think about it. And Dad would ask these questions. So anyways, some of my 3 most meaningful or striking experiences in Bonabéri (not necessarily in order):
1) One I just thought of is about Stanley. Stanley has been a member for over a year now, and he was great and everything, but he had one issue (which is somewhat common I've found), which is tithing. We would explain the law of tithing and such, but he would never really commit. He would say, he isn't financially stable, and so doesn't know if you would pay it always. We would even explain the financial blessings and such, but its wasn't getting to him. Then, with Elder Lee, about a month ago, we taught tithing again, same result. Then the next week, we talked about the Melchizedek Priesthood, and at the end, he asked if he needs to pay tithing to get the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then the next lesson we talked about temples, which Stanley really liked. And he asked again, if he needs to pay tithing to go to the temple. So we were feeling good about that, and then a couple days later, just in passing by, he told us he wants to start paying his tithing. So I chose this because I saw how Stanley was hard to get to for so long, and we never knew if he would ever pay his tithing, but he saw the blessings, especially the temple, that pushed him to act and live the principles of the Gospel, specifically tithing.
2) The baptismal service at the beginning of this month. I loved that, because I got to see all 3 of those people, Fred & Emmanuel & Eb, all progress from the beginning to baptism & receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and further. And at the beginning, they were are just simply there, not anything extraordinary happening, and then gradually they got testimonies, came to church despite some difficulties, and preparing themselves now to get the Aaronic Priesthood soon.
3) The day we had the "Bonabéri Olympics" activity. Again, it was just great to simply have fun with some of the members, and a whole bunch of the cartier (neighborhood) kids. It was cool to see Mam Laura coach people and tell them how to play football. It was fun teaching people how to play frisbee. Missionary discussions are important and good and all, but to show them an activity where you do not just sit in a chair and listen to people was something great I think.
Ok, now the 3 most memorable people from Bonabéri (also, not necessarily in order):
1) Emmanuel. When I got here, Emmanuel was just someone we saw once or twice a week and invited to church. He works at his soya stand down by where Tumasang, another member works. And he would always say its toooooooo hot, toooooooo much rain, tooooooooo much tired and such things. But then one Sunday he came, said he actually liked it, and then the next Sunday bore his testimony. And we had never taught him yet! And so it took a little bit longer to get him at church consistently and to read the Book of Mormon, but now he does that and many other great things. I saw him yesterday, and we talked about the Priesthood, and he promised to do all the work necessary to get the Priesthood. So for him, basically it shows how the Gospel can change someone and motivate them to do good, who didn't really care much at first. And he is also the best testimony bearer, according to me. I think I've described it already, but he does it simply on what he knows is true, but I believe him when he says it, and feel the Holy Ghost.
2) Grant, the branch missionary. Grant became a member before I got here, but what I love about him is he is willing to share the Gospel with anyone, and help us out whenever we need it. Also, when people call us "les blancs!", Grant calls them "les noirs!", which keeps me from gettin annoyed by that. He also taught me a lot of Douala. Tuesday evening we walked with him for about an hour, and we got 4 cordonées, which I think are called referrals in English. Also he is a cartier chief, which basically means he knows everywhere and everyone in Bonabéri. He is also preparing for a mission, and wants to leave by the end of this year. When he finally embraced the Gospel, he changed and is actually happy to keep the commandments now.
3) Andrew & Phillip. 2 hilarious studs. Andrew has been a member nearly a year, and Phillip got baptized in January. Even though they can say some weird things at times that anglophones say, they are awesome, and have some of the strongest testimonies. Sometimes they get a little over excited when talking about the church, and they are learning and learning, but they are 2 people who will do whatever you ask them to serve in the church. Andrew's wife also moved in with him recently. Last night they fed me and the the 3 other missionaries, with food prepared by Andrew's wife, Germen. Phillip taught me how to open a bottle of soda with my teeth. (So why did I pay for braces?) They have also known the church just since it got to Bonabéri, and would barely have 10 people at church, and now they've seen it grow, get a new building, and they might be 2 of the most excited people for Elder Runland, the member of the 70, to come. (To dedicate the new building.)
And so I don't have nearly enough time to write about everyone, but there is also Fred & Robert & Omega, Mama Laura, Eb, Passie, Tumasang, Stanley, Florent, Jules, Totto, Léonel (aka Mr. Perfect), Danielle, Valére, Nelson (Emmanuel's son), the Motto family, Lawson, President Njampou and his family, Felix, and lots of other people as well.
Au Cameroon et à Point-Noire, il y a huit missionaires à Yaoundé, huit missionaries à Douala, et six missionaries à Pointe-Noire. Il y a vingt deux missionaries, alors. Mais, en toute la mission entiere, il y a plus que cent missionaries. J'ai vu une fiche avec tous les missionaries la semaine passée, et beaucoup des missionaires servent au Congo. (In Cameroon and Pointe-Noire, there are eight missionaries in Yaounde, eight missionaries in Douala, and six missionaries in Pointe-Noire. Therefore, there are twenty-two missionaries. But, in the entire mission, there are over one hundred missionaries. I saw a picture with all the missionaries last week, and many missionaries serve in Democratic Republic of Congo.)
Sorry, I thought I would write one paragraph in French. Dad and Scott or whoever can critique me. (No critique from either.) So that's about all the time, thanks for the thought provoking questions Dad. Andrea & Jacob, kick behind in soccer. Scott, don't die. (from studying so hard) Mom, make sure Dad & Scott don't go too crazy during the playoffs. (NBA)
Je vous aime bien,
- Eric
(I reminded Eric that he opened his mission call a year ago on April 16th and asked if it seemed like a long time ago.) So I got my mission call a year ago Friday, dang. That does not feel like a long time ago at all, to me at least. Weird, I guess that means I am becoming an old geezer.
(I asked him how his clothing was holding up.) So my shoes are still comfy and fine, especially the brown ones. The only thing is that, on the brown shoes, the sole started to come off, but I bought some super super glue stuff and managed to close it back up for now. If not, there are people all over who fix shoes for cheap. Last week Elder Lee got the whole bottom of his basketball shoes put back on for less than 500 CFA. And I wear my sandals not a whole lot, but often on pdays and such. Maybe I will start to wear them more often when it rains, though. As for shirts, um, maybe I might need some more. For some reason, today I found that I only have 6 white short sleeves shirts. (He went with 7.) I was finishing my packing, and I couldn't find any other one. The supplies that are in the worst condition though, I think, are my ties. Holy cow, I have a couple of ties that are filthy. They get kind of dirty on the big end, and some are disgusting looking where the knot is. And it is worst on the lighter colored ones, like the one I got from Bro. Edmunds. So ties are the only thing in not good condition.
So yeah, the Willis (Senior couple who take care of the Elders in Bonaberi) residence is comparable to an American one, and is much much better than any other house I've been in in Cameroon. Never met anyone else with a pool. So that picture of me and 3 others by the pool, if I can remember correctly it goes like this: very left is Fred, then me, then Ebanezar, then Emmanuel, who are all studs.
Ok, I think I got all Mom's questions, now I got to go to Dad's email. Tout à l'heure. (Later)
Ok Dad, here I go.
So the Willis' finish their mission at the end of May, which will make 18 months for them. They are from Montana, and Sister Willis lived in Wyoming when she was younger, if I remember correctly. But now they live in Provo. But mainly, they are from Billings, Montana.
(Are you flying to Pointe-Noire?) Yeah, I'm flying from Douala to Pointe-Noire, and I have no idea what airlines. All I know is that I will sleep at the Willis' tonight, and that we need to get to the airport before 11 to get me all checked in. And then my flight is supposed to be leaving at 12:30 or 1:00, but, the Willis' said that ever since they have come, this Douala-Pointe-Noire flight has never been on time. And today, our friend Robert, who works at the airport, says that's because every African airline except Air Gabon doesn't get it or care about being on time. Its called African time. Ca veut dire, people are late in Africa. When people say "j'arrive", they could arrive between 10 minutes and 3 hours. So yeah, just a little side note there. And if you want my airplane tickets just tell me, and go take another vacation with them.
Alright, so now I'll answer Dad's next 2 questions, and it will probably be the biggest chunk of my email, cuz I've got to think about it. And Dad would ask these questions. So anyways, some of my 3 most meaningful or striking experiences in Bonabéri (not necessarily in order):
1) One I just thought of is about Stanley. Stanley has been a member for over a year now, and he was great and everything, but he had one issue (which is somewhat common I've found), which is tithing. We would explain the law of tithing and such, but he would never really commit. He would say, he isn't financially stable, and so doesn't know if you would pay it always. We would even explain the financial blessings and such, but its wasn't getting to him. Then, with Elder Lee, about a month ago, we taught tithing again, same result. Then the next week, we talked about the Melchizedek Priesthood, and at the end, he asked if he needs to pay tithing to get the Melchizedek Priesthood. Then the next lesson we talked about temples, which Stanley really liked. And he asked again, if he needs to pay tithing to go to the temple. So we were feeling good about that, and then a couple days later, just in passing by, he told us he wants to start paying his tithing. So I chose this because I saw how Stanley was hard to get to for so long, and we never knew if he would ever pay his tithing, but he saw the blessings, especially the temple, that pushed him to act and live the principles of the Gospel, specifically tithing.
2) The baptismal service at the beginning of this month. I loved that, because I got to see all 3 of those people, Fred & Emmanuel & Eb, all progress from the beginning to baptism & receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and further. And at the beginning, they were are just simply there, not anything extraordinary happening, and then gradually they got testimonies, came to church despite some difficulties, and preparing themselves now to get the Aaronic Priesthood soon.
3) The day we had the "Bonabéri Olympics" activity. Again, it was just great to simply have fun with some of the members, and a whole bunch of the cartier (neighborhood) kids. It was cool to see Mam Laura coach people and tell them how to play football. It was fun teaching people how to play frisbee. Missionary discussions are important and good and all, but to show them an activity where you do not just sit in a chair and listen to people was something great I think.
Ok, now the 3 most memorable people from Bonabéri (also, not necessarily in order):
1) Emmanuel. When I got here, Emmanuel was just someone we saw once or twice a week and invited to church. He works at his soya stand down by where Tumasang, another member works. And he would always say its toooooooo hot, toooooooo much rain, tooooooooo much tired and such things. But then one Sunday he came, said he actually liked it, and then the next Sunday bore his testimony. And we had never taught him yet! And so it took a little bit longer to get him at church consistently and to read the Book of Mormon, but now he does that and many other great things. I saw him yesterday, and we talked about the Priesthood, and he promised to do all the work necessary to get the Priesthood. So for him, basically it shows how the Gospel can change someone and motivate them to do good, who didn't really care much at first. And he is also the best testimony bearer, according to me. I think I've described it already, but he does it simply on what he knows is true, but I believe him when he says it, and feel the Holy Ghost.
2) Grant, the branch missionary. Grant became a member before I got here, but what I love about him is he is willing to share the Gospel with anyone, and help us out whenever we need it. Also, when people call us "les blancs!", Grant calls them "les noirs!", which keeps me from gettin annoyed by that. He also taught me a lot of Douala. Tuesday evening we walked with him for about an hour, and we got 4 cordonées, which I think are called referrals in English. Also he is a cartier chief, which basically means he knows everywhere and everyone in Bonabéri. He is also preparing for a mission, and wants to leave by the end of this year. When he finally embraced the Gospel, he changed and is actually happy to keep the commandments now.
3) Andrew & Phillip. 2 hilarious studs. Andrew has been a member nearly a year, and Phillip got baptized in January. Even though they can say some weird things at times that anglophones say, they are awesome, and have some of the strongest testimonies. Sometimes they get a little over excited when talking about the church, and they are learning and learning, but they are 2 people who will do whatever you ask them to serve in the church. Andrew's wife also moved in with him recently. Last night they fed me and the the 3 other missionaries, with food prepared by Andrew's wife, Germen. Phillip taught me how to open a bottle of soda with my teeth. (So why did I pay for braces?) They have also known the church just since it got to Bonabéri, and would barely have 10 people at church, and now they've seen it grow, get a new building, and they might be 2 of the most excited people for Elder Runland, the member of the 70, to come. (To dedicate the new building.)
And so I don't have nearly enough time to write about everyone, but there is also Fred & Robert & Omega, Mama Laura, Eb, Passie, Tumasang, Stanley, Florent, Jules, Totto, Léonel (aka Mr. Perfect), Danielle, Valére, Nelson (Emmanuel's son), the Motto family, Lawson, President Njampou and his family, Felix, and lots of other people as well.
Au Cameroon et à Point-Noire, il y a huit missionaires à Yaoundé, huit missionaries à Douala, et six missionaries à Pointe-Noire. Il y a vingt deux missionaries, alors. Mais, en toute la mission entiere, il y a plus que cent missionaries. J'ai vu une fiche avec tous les missionaries la semaine passée, et beaucoup des missionaires servent au Congo. (In Cameroon and Pointe-Noire, there are eight missionaries in Yaounde, eight missionaries in Douala, and six missionaries in Pointe-Noire. Therefore, there are twenty-two missionaries. But, in the entire mission, there are over one hundred missionaries. I saw a picture with all the missionaries last week, and many missionaries serve in Democratic Republic of Congo.)
Sorry, I thought I would write one paragraph in French. Dad and Scott or whoever can critique me. (No critique from either.) So that's about all the time, thanks for the thought provoking questions Dad. Andrea & Jacob, kick behind in soccer. Scott, don't die. (from studying so hard) Mom, make sure Dad & Scott don't go too crazy during the playoffs. (NBA)
Je vous aime bien,
- Eric
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Eric's email of April 8th, 2010
Hey Mom, I'm sending you this short email real quick, so that you don't send any packages to Douala, or Cameroon actually. The reason is, I'm getting transferred to Point-Noire! I leave on Monday, so yeah. (He later told us it would be Friday, April 16th.) I don't really know much more about that, but its kinda a bummer, because the following week is when they will move into the new building, but all well. If you want good pictures of the church when its finished, I think you will have to ask Sister Willis. But I have been told that in Congo they have a real, actual LDS church building, so that will be good. But yeah, just thought I'd get y'all the big news first.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
"J'ai été muté!"
I think I spelled that last word wrong in the title, I just guessed. Dad can correct me on that. But that means I got transferred! To Pointe-Noire! But here are Dad's questions from last week, that I am required by law to answer:
(When you go out for fish or whatever to eat, what are the names of the "restaurant's" that you get the food at? Do you usually go to the same places or do you try all sorts of places?) So when we go out to eat, which is normally fish, there aren't restaurants with names and such. The only times we've gone to restaurants with names is at Zone Conferences when President Headlee takes us. But we have 2 fish ladies that just post up on the side of the road. We just call them "fish ladies". And sometimes every so often, we go the other places, one we get beans & benyais (spelling...?). Benyais are just doughnut ball type things, except with no frosting or sugar, just fried. So pretty much, its all just from some lady on some road somewhere.
So there's not really too much in common about the members' jobs, except I noticed that the higher class and such usually don't give a hoot about what we the missionaries have. But there are lots of different jobs, one is a hair-cutter, one works at this place called "OK Foods" that just packages little snack things and such, one drives trucks around and hauls stuff, one sells soya which is meat on a stick, one is a teacher, one works at the docks, and some don't/are looking for a job. And I don't really know too much about education, but most people didn't go to college or anything.
Dad, why do you ask random questions all the time? (This was Mark's question):If you had the resources, what "store" would you open in Cameroon that would do really well? What kind of stuff would you sell, maybe stuff that the Cameroonians would love to have but just don't get much?If I would open up a store here, its would be...ugh...I dunno, if I had the resources I would open my store up somewhere else. I guess if I had to, I'd just sell candy from America, because lots of the candy from here is not really good at all. Like last week I gave the bag of Skittles you sent me to Fred & Omega because it was their birthdays during the week, and they loved that stuff. So I would open up a candy store with actual good candy.
So about Limbé, it will be best described with some pictures I took, which I shall send later today. But one great thing about it, is that it is an anglophone area! So Elder Wilkins and I said one day near the end of our missions we will go open up Limbé or some other English place and be companions again. But we saw a whole bunch of monkeys and such at the Gorilla Wildlife Reserve or something like that. I also bought a hat. Its called a "traditional hat" or "nature cap", but I just call it the "anglophone hat", because if you see anyone wearing it, they are an anglophone. After the monkey zoo, we went to another beach, had some fries and a soda, and played sports. We had to pay this guy darn 2000 CFA for a volley ball and a soccer ball for 1 hour, but it was worth it. It was sweet because we played football down on the beach, and I scored.
So I think I got them all Dad. Now I'll talk about the baptism, which was great. On Saturday, Eb, Emmanuel, and Fred were all baptized. But we did have a small problem because the water at the church in Bonapriso was off, so we did the program and such at the church, then relocated to the Willis'. They have a pool in their backyard, so that saved us thankfully. We had to take taxis from the church to the Willis', and probably got about 7 or 8 of them, that took a good chunk out of our soutien. (Money allocated for the week.) And then one person forgot baptism clothes at the church so we had to wait for him to go back and get them. And we didn't have the Willis' car because it got hit by a truck last Thursday.
But we eventually got everything together, and it went fine. But I'm glad I got to see them all baptized before I left, because I started teaching all of them from the beginning, and it was great to see how they changed from beginning until now. Especially Emmanuel, who used to never go to church, because it was toooo hot, or tooooo much sun, or tooooo much rain, or toooooo much tired. But now he comes each week, and is ready to keep "the 10 commandments, and the commandments in the Book of Mormon". That is a direct quote from his testimony, which was awesome btw. Emmanual bore his testimony at the baptism Saturday and at church Sunday, and he is the best. All he does is keep it simple, and says what he knows is true, and its great. One problem is some people give long as could be testimonies with a billion ideas and stories, which wastes time and messes up other peoples opportunities. Sunday only 3 people got time because the 1st person took for ever... But I was just especially glad Emmanuel got to share his, everyone should take his testimonies as the perfect example.
This week we finally started cleaning the new church as well. We started Tuesday, spent all day cleaning and preparing everything to do painting on Wednesday. And also a good number of members and amis (friends) showed up, so that made me happy to see. Then Tuesday night I got the call from Sister Willis that I'm getting transferred to Congo, so that's kinda a bummer. I don't get to see the building all finished, the General Authority, Elder Runland, and Pres Headlee coming all the way out to Bonabéri itself for the new building, so that stinks. All well. But yesterday we did a good chunk of the painting, everything except the main room. So Friday we have to do the big room and some 2nd coats if necessary. They might have to do some more things next week, but it should be ready for the 18th. Also last night we played soccer and football. I caught 3 touchdown passes, and got closelined (literally, by a closeline that got me on the neck) right after I caught a full field touchdown pass in stride from Elder Lee, and scored once in soccer. And we won both games, which is always fun.
But yeah, its sad to go. One member, Andrew, is always upset when missionaries get transferred. Yesterday he told me and Elder Lee that they should keep missionaries in an area for 1 or 2 years, haha. Oh, and this transfer is also surprising, because Elder Lee is getting transferred as well! He is going back into Bonapriso though, so we both are getting taken away from the new building. I am excited to go to Congo, but it will be a bummer leaving Bonabéri. Getting transferred is a small bit of what its like to get your mission call, or going home from your mission, its weird.
So that's that. I've been informed there are no anglophones down there, so that stinks, because they are hilarious. But I think it will be good. So I hope everyone enjoys their spring break, Jacob don't get too bored. And enjoy going to Puerto Rico Mom and Dad, now I know why you wanted the frequent flier miles!
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Je vous aime,
- Eric
"J'ai été muté!"
I think I spelled that last word wrong in the title, I just guessed. Dad can correct me on that. But that means I got transferred! To Pointe-Noire! But here are Dad's questions from last week, that I am required by law to answer:
(When you go out for fish or whatever to eat, what are the names of the "restaurant's" that you get the food at? Do you usually go to the same places or do you try all sorts of places?) So when we go out to eat, which is normally fish, there aren't restaurants with names and such. The only times we've gone to restaurants with names is at Zone Conferences when President Headlee takes us. But we have 2 fish ladies that just post up on the side of the road. We just call them "fish ladies". And sometimes every so often, we go the other places, one we get beans & benyais (spelling...?). Benyais are just doughnut ball type things, except with no frosting or sugar, just fried. So pretty much, its all just from some lady on some road somewhere.
So there's not really too much in common about the members' jobs, except I noticed that the higher class and such usually don't give a hoot about what we the missionaries have. But there are lots of different jobs, one is a hair-cutter, one works at this place called "OK Foods" that just packages little snack things and such, one drives trucks around and hauls stuff, one sells soya which is meat on a stick, one is a teacher, one works at the docks, and some don't/are looking for a job. And I don't really know too much about education, but most people didn't go to college or anything.
Dad, why do you ask random questions all the time? (This was Mark's question):If you had the resources, what "store" would you open in Cameroon that would do really well? What kind of stuff would you sell, maybe stuff that the Cameroonians would love to have but just don't get much?If I would open up a store here, its would be...ugh...I dunno, if I had the resources I would open my store up somewhere else. I guess if I had to, I'd just sell candy from America, because lots of the candy from here is not really good at all. Like last week I gave the bag of Skittles you sent me to Fred & Omega because it was their birthdays during the week, and they loved that stuff. So I would open up a candy store with actual good candy.
So about Limbé, it will be best described with some pictures I took, which I shall send later today. But one great thing about it, is that it is an anglophone area! So Elder Wilkins and I said one day near the end of our missions we will go open up Limbé or some other English place and be companions again. But we saw a whole bunch of monkeys and such at the Gorilla Wildlife Reserve or something like that. I also bought a hat. Its called a "traditional hat" or "nature cap", but I just call it the "anglophone hat", because if you see anyone wearing it, they are an anglophone. After the monkey zoo, we went to another beach, had some fries and a soda, and played sports. We had to pay this guy darn 2000 CFA for a volley ball and a soccer ball for 1 hour, but it was worth it. It was sweet because we played football down on the beach, and I scored.
So I think I got them all Dad. Now I'll talk about the baptism, which was great. On Saturday, Eb, Emmanuel, and Fred were all baptized. But we did have a small problem because the water at the church in Bonapriso was off, so we did the program and such at the church, then relocated to the Willis'. They have a pool in their backyard, so that saved us thankfully. We had to take taxis from the church to the Willis', and probably got about 7 or 8 of them, that took a good chunk out of our soutien. (Money allocated for the week.) And then one person forgot baptism clothes at the church so we had to wait for him to go back and get them. And we didn't have the Willis' car because it got hit by a truck last Thursday.
But we eventually got everything together, and it went fine. But I'm glad I got to see them all baptized before I left, because I started teaching all of them from the beginning, and it was great to see how they changed from beginning until now. Especially Emmanuel, who used to never go to church, because it was toooo hot, or tooooo much sun, or tooooo much rain, or toooooo much tired. But now he comes each week, and is ready to keep "the 10 commandments, and the commandments in the Book of Mormon". That is a direct quote from his testimony, which was awesome btw. Emmanual bore his testimony at the baptism Saturday and at church Sunday, and he is the best. All he does is keep it simple, and says what he knows is true, and its great. One problem is some people give long as could be testimonies with a billion ideas and stories, which wastes time and messes up other peoples opportunities. Sunday only 3 people got time because the 1st person took for ever... But I was just especially glad Emmanuel got to share his, everyone should take his testimonies as the perfect example.
This week we finally started cleaning the new church as well. We started Tuesday, spent all day cleaning and preparing everything to do painting on Wednesday. And also a good number of members and amis (friends) showed up, so that made me happy to see. Then Tuesday night I got the call from Sister Willis that I'm getting transferred to Congo, so that's kinda a bummer. I don't get to see the building all finished, the General Authority, Elder Runland, and Pres Headlee coming all the way out to Bonabéri itself for the new building, so that stinks. All well. But yesterday we did a good chunk of the painting, everything except the main room. So Friday we have to do the big room and some 2nd coats if necessary. They might have to do some more things next week, but it should be ready for the 18th. Also last night we played soccer and football. I caught 3 touchdown passes, and got closelined (literally, by a closeline that got me on the neck) right after I caught a full field touchdown pass in stride from Elder Lee, and scored once in soccer. And we won both games, which is always fun.
But yeah, its sad to go. One member, Andrew, is always upset when missionaries get transferred. Yesterday he told me and Elder Lee that they should keep missionaries in an area for 1 or 2 years, haha. Oh, and this transfer is also surprising, because Elder Lee is getting transferred as well! He is going back into Bonapriso though, so we both are getting taken away from the new building. I am excited to go to Congo, but it will be a bummer leaving Bonabéri. Getting transferred is a small bit of what its like to get your mission call, or going home from your mission, its weird.
So that's that. I've been informed there are no anglophones down there, so that stinks, because they are hilarious. But I think it will be good. So I hope everyone enjoys their spring break, Jacob don't get too bored. And enjoy going to Puerto Rico Mom and Dad, now I know why you wanted the frequent flier miles!
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Eric's email of April 1st, 2010
Hey family,
Sorry I didn't write today. We ended up going on another trip, this time to Limbe. So maybe this week I'll get a little bit of time to write home, but we'll see. I just wanted to let Mom know I'm OK. But that's unfortunate to hear about Sister Moore, I'll keep her family in my prayers. And if Dad or whoever got me Tyler's email, that would be great. But thanks for the emails and such, and thanks for all the questions Dad, I'll try to answer them later. One thing though, is that this is the last week of transfers, and that would be a bummer to leave Bonaberi before the building is done, but whatever.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Sorry I didn't write today. We ended up going on another trip, this time to Limbe. So maybe this week I'll get a little bit of time to write home, but we'll see. I just wanted to let Mom know I'm OK. But that's unfortunate to hear about Sister Moore, I'll keep her family in my prayers. And if Dad or whoever got me Tyler's email, that would be great. But thanks for the emails and such, and thanks for all the questions Dad, I'll try to answer them later. One thing though, is that this is the last week of transfers, and that would be a bummer to leave Bonaberi before the building is done, but whatever.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Eric's email of March 25th, 2019
(Once again we have two emails put together-the first to Anne, the second to Mark.)
So yeah, I'm gonna respond to all of your questions here Mom, then do Dad's and write some other stuff.
Yeah, last week I sent an email to Bro. Dajeu and told him about the new building we have found.
(We found out this week that some newly called DRC missionaries had been reaasigned.) And yeah, I remember you told me about those kids that got their call the DRC. And I remember the last zone conference Pres Headlee said there were too many kids getting called here, and told them he can't fit them all here, so I knew some kids were going to get reassigned. All well, I guess, Uganda sounds pretty cool too.
(The Gladys Knight Saints United Choir gave a fireside here in Richmond.) And I know who Gladys Knight is, Mom. But that's really cool - I'm glad that that was a success, and I'm glad that will give the missionaries there a lot of work to do.
And finally, for this email, I got the package this week! We had another Christmas in our apartment Sunday night, because we decided not to open them until after the day was over. But thanks for all that stuff, the stain remover will be very useful, but I still think by the end of my mission my shirts will be just completely disgusting. But thanks a lot again for that stuff, the pictures were also great, too. Everyone said Jacob looks like me a lot, so, sorry Jacob. And Andrea looks like a street-baller in that YMCA picture. And my comp, Elder Lee, said Scott always looks so happy.
Alright, I'll finish this stuff on the email to Dad.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Alright, so let me go look at what questions I gotta answer...
(Patoa is a term for dialect-Eric is sharing the English patoa with the investogaros ie- "cool" etc.) So I am not disputing the info you found on the internet, but "patoa" is how the people here told me how to spell it. First I thought it was spelled "partoi" or something, but in English class we taught a little bit of "American Patoa", and they told me to spell it like that. So, just saying. And Dad, my companion Elder Lee says you are a jerk because you ate ice cream, and we didn't. Not really, but sorta. (Mark had just advised Eric to watch what he eats on his mission to avoid gaining weight, but then informed Eric he had just eaten some ice-cream.)
So first of all, the answer to that question I sent, is... C! Yes, C is the correct answer, have fun with that.
Fufu corn is cous-cous made from corn, and thats it. But my companion just informed me that it is different from the European cous-cous stuff. And I haven't even eaten it that much, only 2 or 3 times ever. But that amie de l'église called me fat again this week, along with another one. So last night at diner I asked Grant, the branch missionary if I am fat, and he said no. So I told him all our investigators tell me I am, and he says I am just fat compared to all the other missionaries in Bonabéri. But its probably just because I'm the only one that works out in the mornings, so I'm just more buff.
So for the new building, we still haven't started cleaning it, because the owner is still finishing up a few things. We wanted to be in there for church on April 4th, but its looking more like April 11th now. But first part of April we will be in the new place. And it is only about a 5 minute walk, on the same road as our old apartment even. So that's only a 10 minute walk maximum, even if you are walking African speed. And to transport our stuff, we will just carry it or load it in the back of the Willis-mobile.
And yes, the new building will definetely help to get a branch here in Bonabéri. Pres told me in a few months or so there should be a branch here. In that old building, it would have been impossible to organize a branch there, there just aren't the necessary facilities I guess you would say. So finding this new building may have been the most important step in getting a branch organized in Bonabéri.
So this past week was good, especially Sunday at church, because we had 8 amis de l'église at church! Which is really good compared to some recent numbers. We are also getting 3-4 people ready for baptism April 3rd: Eb, Emmanual, and Fred. We were planning also one Omega as well, but he is only 17 so we need a letter from his mom. And we finally met her on Tuesday night, and she is fine and happy that her son is at church and such, but doesn't think her son needs to be baptized again. We tried to explain it briefly, but it wasn't the right setting, so she lives in town in Bonapriso, and we are sending her phone number to the missionaries there. So it looks as if Omega will have to wait, but that's ok. But this week we got all those people ready and talked about the interview, so tomorrow I will be with one of the zone leaders from in town who will come out to do their interviews, so yeah.
Also on Saturday we are having an activity, called "Bonabéri Olympics". And this is something just organized by us the missionaries, to show members a church activity that is fun and not just like a missionary discussion. So I'll talk more about that next week, but we are going to have games like tug of war and such. When we tell people, they always ask if we are going to play football, and we have to tell them no. So I hope people show up even though we aren't playing football, we'll see.
Also Tuesday night Elder Lee and I had a really unique experience. One of our amis, Robert, works at the airport, and he was rewarded with a medal for working there for so many years. So Tuesday evening at 4:30 there was a reception at his house. We were a little late according to when Robert told us to be there, but we were able to relearn the principal of Africa time. We didn't start really anything until nearly 6:00. We ended up rescheduling the remaining 2 rendezvous we had planned. But we went, and Fred (who is getting ready for baptism), sat us down at a table, and we just sat there waiting for a while, and then there were some speeches in Douala (their patoa), and some lady at our table was kinda translating. And Totto, who is a member of the church, gave the last speech and the prayer in Douala, so that was cool. Then we ate a whole bunch of African food, and we had Fred as our cultural expert to help us not mess anything up. We also taught Fred a good amount of American Patoa that evening. Again, we observed that Cameroonians love their alcoholic beverages, and some kept asking us why we don't drink and such. Only one lady was annoying, and said we need to drink so we can tell people we've actually been to Cameroon. I don't know. But the point of all this is, that Cameroonians like to have receptions with lots of drinks and speeches in their patoas. So it was pretty cool.
But that's about it, I am still anticipating rainy season when it is much cooler. Yesterday Elder Lee told me that he had never seen me sweat so much, because we were at a family's house that was not well ventilated, and I had to make sure I didn't transpire (french for sweat) on my Book of Mormon. Tell Scott that he is grounded again for not writing. Thanks again for the package and stuff, and Dad, ne meurs pas au 10k.
Je vouse aime,
- Eric
So yeah, I'm gonna respond to all of your questions here Mom, then do Dad's and write some other stuff.
Yeah, last week I sent an email to Bro. Dajeu and told him about the new building we have found.
(We found out this week that some newly called DRC missionaries had been reaasigned.) And yeah, I remember you told me about those kids that got their call the DRC. And I remember the last zone conference Pres Headlee said there were too many kids getting called here, and told them he can't fit them all here, so I knew some kids were going to get reassigned. All well, I guess, Uganda sounds pretty cool too.
(The Gladys Knight Saints United Choir gave a fireside here in Richmond.) And I know who Gladys Knight is, Mom. But that's really cool - I'm glad that that was a success, and I'm glad that will give the missionaries there a lot of work to do.
And finally, for this email, I got the package this week! We had another Christmas in our apartment Sunday night, because we decided not to open them until after the day was over. But thanks for all that stuff, the stain remover will be very useful, but I still think by the end of my mission my shirts will be just completely disgusting. But thanks a lot again for that stuff, the pictures were also great, too. Everyone said Jacob looks like me a lot, so, sorry Jacob. And Andrea looks like a street-baller in that YMCA picture. And my comp, Elder Lee, said Scott always looks so happy.
Alright, I'll finish this stuff on the email to Dad.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Alright, so let me go look at what questions I gotta answer...
(Patoa is a term for dialect-Eric is sharing the English patoa with the investogaros ie- "cool" etc.) So I am not disputing the info you found on the internet, but "patoa" is how the people here told me how to spell it. First I thought it was spelled "partoi" or something, but in English class we taught a little bit of "American Patoa", and they told me to spell it like that. So, just saying. And Dad, my companion Elder Lee says you are a jerk because you ate ice cream, and we didn't. Not really, but sorta. (Mark had just advised Eric to watch what he eats on his mission to avoid gaining weight, but then informed Eric he had just eaten some ice-cream.)
So first of all, the answer to that question I sent, is... C! Yes, C is the correct answer, have fun with that.
Fufu corn is cous-cous made from corn, and thats it. But my companion just informed me that it is different from the European cous-cous stuff. And I haven't even eaten it that much, only 2 or 3 times ever. But that amie de l'église called me fat again this week, along with another one. So last night at diner I asked Grant, the branch missionary if I am fat, and he said no. So I told him all our investigators tell me I am, and he says I am just fat compared to all the other missionaries in Bonabéri. But its probably just because I'm the only one that works out in the mornings, so I'm just more buff.
So for the new building, we still haven't started cleaning it, because the owner is still finishing up a few things. We wanted to be in there for church on April 4th, but its looking more like April 11th now. But first part of April we will be in the new place. And it is only about a 5 minute walk, on the same road as our old apartment even. So that's only a 10 minute walk maximum, even if you are walking African speed. And to transport our stuff, we will just carry it or load it in the back of the Willis-mobile.
And yes, the new building will definetely help to get a branch here in Bonabéri. Pres told me in a few months or so there should be a branch here. In that old building, it would have been impossible to organize a branch there, there just aren't the necessary facilities I guess you would say. So finding this new building may have been the most important step in getting a branch organized in Bonabéri.
So this past week was good, especially Sunday at church, because we had 8 amis de l'église at church! Which is really good compared to some recent numbers. We are also getting 3-4 people ready for baptism April 3rd: Eb, Emmanual, and Fred. We were planning also one Omega as well, but he is only 17 so we need a letter from his mom. And we finally met her on Tuesday night, and she is fine and happy that her son is at church and such, but doesn't think her son needs to be baptized again. We tried to explain it briefly, but it wasn't the right setting, so she lives in town in Bonapriso, and we are sending her phone number to the missionaries there. So it looks as if Omega will have to wait, but that's ok. But this week we got all those people ready and talked about the interview, so tomorrow I will be with one of the zone leaders from in town who will come out to do their interviews, so yeah.
Also on Saturday we are having an activity, called "Bonabéri Olympics". And this is something just organized by us the missionaries, to show members a church activity that is fun and not just like a missionary discussion. So I'll talk more about that next week, but we are going to have games like tug of war and such. When we tell people, they always ask if we are going to play football, and we have to tell them no. So I hope people show up even though we aren't playing football, we'll see.
Also Tuesday night Elder Lee and I had a really unique experience. One of our amis, Robert, works at the airport, and he was rewarded with a medal for working there for so many years. So Tuesday evening at 4:30 there was a reception at his house. We were a little late according to when Robert told us to be there, but we were able to relearn the principal of Africa time. We didn't start really anything until nearly 6:00. We ended up rescheduling the remaining 2 rendezvous we had planned. But we went, and Fred (who is getting ready for baptism), sat us down at a table, and we just sat there waiting for a while, and then there were some speeches in Douala (their patoa), and some lady at our table was kinda translating. And Totto, who is a member of the church, gave the last speech and the prayer in Douala, so that was cool. Then we ate a whole bunch of African food, and we had Fred as our cultural expert to help us not mess anything up. We also taught Fred a good amount of American Patoa that evening. Again, we observed that Cameroonians love their alcoholic beverages, and some kept asking us why we don't drink and such. Only one lady was annoying, and said we need to drink so we can tell people we've actually been to Cameroon. I don't know. But the point of all this is, that Cameroonians like to have receptions with lots of drinks and speeches in their patoas. So it was pretty cool.
But that's about it, I am still anticipating rainy season when it is much cooler. Yesterday Elder Lee told me that he had never seen me sweat so much, because we were at a family's house that was not well ventilated, and I had to make sure I didn't transpire (french for sweat) on my Book of Mormon. Tell Scott that he is grounded again for not writing. Thanks again for the package and stuff, and Dad, ne meurs pas au 10k.
Je vouse aime,
- Eric
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Eric's email of March 18th, 2010
This week we received two emails-one for Mark and one for Anne. The first 5 paragraphs answer questions from Mark. The rest is the email sent to Anne.
Alright, here Dad I'm gonna answer all your questions then I'll answer all Mom's on an email to her and tell you guys about other stuff then.
(Do you have pictures of the new building?) So yes, I got the note about taking pictures, and we just got the keys to the new building about 2 or 3 hours ago. So we will start cleaning this week, but I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures.
(Do you have Nutella?) The chocolate stuff that we use is called Tartina. But I've also seen that Nutella stuff here too, but we just get Tartina because its cheapest but still really good. I think it says "paté à chocolat" or something like that on the Tartina containers.
Yeah, we can go places to buy white shirts and such. Today I was actually going to go to marché centrale, but we don't have time now because Elder Lee and I went with the Willis' to finish the deal and get the keys(to the new church building). But that would be the best place to get it, even though that place is a "goat rodeo", as Elder Willis says. (A goat rodeo must mean it is very chaotic.)
Each week, we take a taxi into town every Thursday morning to do emails and shopping and such, which costs us 2000 CFA. And then 2 or 3 times a week we take a taxi to and from this place called "Mount Paragon", which is just kinda a long walk, and we get that for "cent-cent", which means 100 CFA for each place. But that's about it. I hear they (Elders in Bonapriso) take them more often in town because their area is bigger. Oh, and I saw today at the bank that $1 is about equal to 455 CFA right now. We were at the bank with the Willis' to get the money for the apartment.
Alright Mom, I'll do my best to answer all the questions this week.
So like I said in the email to Dad, we just finally got the keys today, (to the new building) so we have not yet started cleaning. But the guy we are renting from is named Samuel, and he joined the church in France, but moved back to Cameroon 12 years ago and the church was only in Yaounde. He also left his Book of Mormon and everything in Paris when he moved. But I think he will start coming to church when we get in the new building. Today he asked me about a little blue reference book that he says all the missionaries had, but I don't have it. But he also asked about a Book of Mormon, so we'll see.
And I think the members are excited kind of. Not many have seen the new place yet, but they are happy. And we will actually also be living there. Its big enough so that the missionaries will just live in a few back rooms, so that will be a wonderful blessing as well. (I asked if the keyboard could stay in the new building-the missionaries had been carrying it back and forth) So yeah, the keyboard will just be there always. And yeah, I'll still be playing the piano each week, usually the same dozen songs. And the only song I've heard a notable improvement on is page 79, which is "Secret Prayer" in English I think. We sing that song nearly every darn week.
(Eric said he has eaten Miombo-a type of rubber) And so that rubbery stuff I talked about, its not that hard to eat and it doesn't taste bad. And yeah you swallow it. People eat it a lot because its cheap as free but still fills you. Elder Lee likes it a lot, but I take plantains or something rather than that "Miombo" stuff. Also you dip it in pima, which is a super spicy pepper that I like. So no matter what people give me I'll eat it with pima.
(Will you get General Conference?) So for General Conference, we don't get it here. Its not broadcasting at any of the buildings or anything either. We just go to church like normal, and everyone waits for the Liahona to come. But they do have some DVDs of older conferences that they show sometimes at the church in Bonapriso. Oh, and at our new building in Bonabéri, there will be a TV so we can show movies and such.
Alright, I think I got them all. Tell Scott and Jacob and Andrea that they are grounded for not writing me this week. But that past week went well, I think. Nothing too amazing happened, but it was great. We have 3 people getting ready for baptism in April, and will have their interviews next Friday, and it might be 4, we'll see. But yesterday was a fun day, because we did an exchange, and I finally got to go on an exchange outside of my area for the first time ever! I worked with Elder Roldan in the nouvelle route (versus ancienne route, which is mine). And it also rained yesterday until noon, but not too hard, and it stayed cool for the rest of the day. I barely was sweating at all, which was awesome, and it was the first day I actually used my umbrella. And yesterday Elder Lee and Elder Price told me one of our investigators called me fat, when I wasn't there. She said to them, "Elder Palmer is fat, because he likes to eat fufu corn". So yeah, I'm fat.
Elder Lee and I have also commenced a new first lesson tactic this week. We did this because explaining everything in the first lesson to people here often takes too much time, and we weren't getting the most important parts to be the focus. So, now we have started having our first lesson on the Book of Mormon and prayer, and that's it. This lets us present immediately something unique about our message right from the start so that they will be more interested. And the very first time we did this was Monday. We were also working with Grant, who is our branch missionary/the man. And so we got raté-ed, (ditched, as in our appointment ditched us) and just went looking from some new peeps. And so we just walked down the street a bit, walked up to this family's house, presented ourselves, and they brought us chairs (btw, contacting is just too easy here. I don't know if its because we are white or because people here are more open to this kind of stuff, but its too easy sometimes). Anyways, the family name is the Elombo family, and we taught the mom and two of her kids. So we said a prayer, and we just started talking about the Book of Mormon. I don't think we even said the word apostasy, or restoration, or Joseph Smith even, but it was a great lesson. We left them a Restoration brochure, and we will go back on Sunday. That was the most effective one I think, and we've done it a few times now and I like it. And it didn't hurt that Grant already new the family a bit. Also I've seen a great help when we work with members especially Grant, who is "le chef du quartier".
And now the spiritual experience of the week, is brought to you by our ami de l'église, Fred. Fred is one of those getting ready for baptism here in April. And at first, the only reason we were really seeing Fred is because he lives with Robert (who is getting ready for baptism in May). We talked with Fred usually when Robert wasn't there, just as a backup. But he started coming to church with Robert, and even when no one else from his house came he was still there. So we actually started teaching him, and one night we were teaching him and Omega together, and we were planning on asking Omega to get baptized, and so since Fred was there we asked him too. And he said yes, first, without even hesitating. And at the next rendezvous, he said, in his anglophone accent "I don't know really why I said yeah, but I just think it is the will of God for me." Something like that. And so he actually started taking our lessons seriously, one time he even told us we need to come more often to prepare him for baptism. And last night he even called Elder Lee to see what chapter he was supposed to read in the Book of Mormon, because he forgot. So it has been awesome to see Fred go from a funny anglophone who made us laugh, to someone who has a real testimony now and is preparing himself well for baptism soon. And he is still funny, we teach him American "patoa". Patoa is one's native language, like there are over 200 African patoas here in Cameroon. And we have taught Fred "What's up?" and "Peace out".
So yeah, that is that. I think we are getting closer to rainy season, which is good. I think I will like that a lot more rather than the heat and dryness all the time. Today its really hot though, which happens a day after rain and then the darn sun is out. Oh, and one other exciting thing we will do on Saturday, is go play basketball at the American school in town!!! The missionaries used to play basketball in Yaoundé at the American embassy, and on of them got a hookup and now we can get in the American school and go play indoors on their hardwood court! But things are good, oh and thank the Hickey's for the letter I got from them last week.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Alright, here Dad I'm gonna answer all your questions then I'll answer all Mom's on an email to her and tell you guys about other stuff then.
(Do you have pictures of the new building?) So yes, I got the note about taking pictures, and we just got the keys to the new building about 2 or 3 hours ago. So we will start cleaning this week, but I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures.
(Do you have Nutella?) The chocolate stuff that we use is called Tartina. But I've also seen that Nutella stuff here too, but we just get Tartina because its cheapest but still really good. I think it says "paté à chocolat" or something like that on the Tartina containers.
Yeah, we can go places to buy white shirts and such. Today I was actually going to go to marché centrale, but we don't have time now because Elder Lee and I went with the Willis' to finish the deal and get the keys(to the new church building). But that would be the best place to get it, even though that place is a "goat rodeo", as Elder Willis says. (A goat rodeo must mean it is very chaotic.)
Each week, we take a taxi into town every Thursday morning to do emails and shopping and such, which costs us 2000 CFA. And then 2 or 3 times a week we take a taxi to and from this place called "Mount Paragon", which is just kinda a long walk, and we get that for "cent-cent", which means 100 CFA for each place. But that's about it. I hear they (Elders in Bonapriso) take them more often in town because their area is bigger. Oh, and I saw today at the bank that $1 is about equal to 455 CFA right now. We were at the bank with the Willis' to get the money for the apartment.
Alright Mom, I'll do my best to answer all the questions this week.
So like I said in the email to Dad, we just finally got the keys today, (to the new building) so we have not yet started cleaning. But the guy we are renting from is named Samuel, and he joined the church in France, but moved back to Cameroon 12 years ago and the church was only in Yaounde. He also left his Book of Mormon and everything in Paris when he moved. But I think he will start coming to church when we get in the new building. Today he asked me about a little blue reference book that he says all the missionaries had, but I don't have it. But he also asked about a Book of Mormon, so we'll see.
And I think the members are excited kind of. Not many have seen the new place yet, but they are happy. And we will actually also be living there. Its big enough so that the missionaries will just live in a few back rooms, so that will be a wonderful blessing as well. (I asked if the keyboard could stay in the new building-the missionaries had been carrying it back and forth) So yeah, the keyboard will just be there always. And yeah, I'll still be playing the piano each week, usually the same dozen songs. And the only song I've heard a notable improvement on is page 79, which is "Secret Prayer" in English I think. We sing that song nearly every darn week.
(Eric said he has eaten Miombo-a type of rubber) And so that rubbery stuff I talked about, its not that hard to eat and it doesn't taste bad. And yeah you swallow it. People eat it a lot because its cheap as free but still fills you. Elder Lee likes it a lot, but I take plantains or something rather than that "Miombo" stuff. Also you dip it in pima, which is a super spicy pepper that I like. So no matter what people give me I'll eat it with pima.
(Will you get General Conference?) So for General Conference, we don't get it here. Its not broadcasting at any of the buildings or anything either. We just go to church like normal, and everyone waits for the Liahona to come. But they do have some DVDs of older conferences that they show sometimes at the church in Bonapriso. Oh, and at our new building in Bonabéri, there will be a TV so we can show movies and such.
Alright, I think I got them all. Tell Scott and Jacob and Andrea that they are grounded for not writing me this week. But that past week went well, I think. Nothing too amazing happened, but it was great. We have 3 people getting ready for baptism in April, and will have their interviews next Friday, and it might be 4, we'll see. But yesterday was a fun day, because we did an exchange, and I finally got to go on an exchange outside of my area for the first time ever! I worked with Elder Roldan in the nouvelle route (versus ancienne route, which is mine). And it also rained yesterday until noon, but not too hard, and it stayed cool for the rest of the day. I barely was sweating at all, which was awesome, and it was the first day I actually used my umbrella. And yesterday Elder Lee and Elder Price told me one of our investigators called me fat, when I wasn't there. She said to them, "Elder Palmer is fat, because he likes to eat fufu corn". So yeah, I'm fat.
Elder Lee and I have also commenced a new first lesson tactic this week. We did this because explaining everything in the first lesson to people here often takes too much time, and we weren't getting the most important parts to be the focus. So, now we have started having our first lesson on the Book of Mormon and prayer, and that's it. This lets us present immediately something unique about our message right from the start so that they will be more interested. And the very first time we did this was Monday. We were also working with Grant, who is our branch missionary/the man. And so we got raté-ed, (ditched, as in our appointment ditched us) and just went looking from some new peeps. And so we just walked down the street a bit, walked up to this family's house, presented ourselves, and they brought us chairs (btw, contacting is just too easy here. I don't know if its because we are white or because people here are more open to this kind of stuff, but its too easy sometimes). Anyways, the family name is the Elombo family, and we taught the mom and two of her kids. So we said a prayer, and we just started talking about the Book of Mormon. I don't think we even said the word apostasy, or restoration, or Joseph Smith even, but it was a great lesson. We left them a Restoration brochure, and we will go back on Sunday. That was the most effective one I think, and we've done it a few times now and I like it. And it didn't hurt that Grant already new the family a bit. Also I've seen a great help when we work with members especially Grant, who is "le chef du quartier".
And now the spiritual experience of the week, is brought to you by our ami de l'église, Fred. Fred is one of those getting ready for baptism here in April. And at first, the only reason we were really seeing Fred is because he lives with Robert (who is getting ready for baptism in May). We talked with Fred usually when Robert wasn't there, just as a backup. But he started coming to church with Robert, and even when no one else from his house came he was still there. So we actually started teaching him, and one night we were teaching him and Omega together, and we were planning on asking Omega to get baptized, and so since Fred was there we asked him too. And he said yes, first, without even hesitating. And at the next rendezvous, he said, in his anglophone accent "I don't know really why I said yeah, but I just think it is the will of God for me." Something like that. And so he actually started taking our lessons seriously, one time he even told us we need to come more often to prepare him for baptism. And last night he even called Elder Lee to see what chapter he was supposed to read in the Book of Mormon, because he forgot. So it has been awesome to see Fred go from a funny anglophone who made us laugh, to someone who has a real testimony now and is preparing himself well for baptism soon. And he is still funny, we teach him American "patoa". Patoa is one's native language, like there are over 200 African patoas here in Cameroon. And we have taught Fred "What's up?" and "Peace out".
So yeah, that is that. I think we are getting closer to rainy season, which is good. I think I will like that a lot more rather than the heat and dryness all the time. Today its really hot though, which happens a day after rain and then the darn sun is out. Oh, and one other exciting thing we will do on Saturday, is go play basketball at the American school in town!!! The missionaries used to play basketball in Yaoundé at the American embassy, and on of them got a hookup and now we can get in the American school and go play indoors on their hardwood court! But things are good, oh and thank the Hickey's for the letter I got from them last week.
Je vous aime,
- Eric
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Eric's email of March 11th, 2010
Hey family,
I hope the email and internet everything will work fine this week. So, this week, especially yesterday, was AWESOME! And we also had zone conference this week. So I'll start by answering Dad's questions then talk about yesterday's awesome day.
(Do you have enough money?) Money is fine, no problems there. I actually have extra from the soutien (support) they give me that I gotta give back later today, so there are no problems there. And I was going to go buy my cleats today, but it is too rainy and we spent too much time playing football and rugby this morning.
My companion, Elder Lee, has just informed me that there is no daylight savings here.
I don't know the next Cameroonian holiday, but there was one on March 8th: International Women's Day. So its not just for Cameroon, but here the women with enough money buy an African dress and in the evening go party. But all day we could go around and say "bon fete" and everyone was happy.
My French is going very well I think. I don't want to brag or things like that of course, and obviously I still have a lot I can improve, but I understand pretty much everything people say and most often don't have any problems expressing what I want to. Especially during lessons with people, I find it to be the easiest there, because I talk about those things all the time, and because those are the things that are most important.
So now, Wednesday. The first great thing, is that we found a new building for the church in Bonabéri!!! I told you this at the beginning I think, but right now we are at a member's house, which is getting much too small and there is just too much noise there. But we've been really looking for a new place since before last zone conference, and on Saturday Elder Lee and I found a "grand apartement en etage", which is exactly what we had talked about. We sent the phone number to the Willis' that night, (Senior missionary couple who work with the Elders) and President and Sister Headlee went down there on Wednesday in the morning and they basically made the deal and got the keys to the place last night. And the other funny thing is that the guy who owns it is a member of the Church, who joined in France! I barely met him, but apparently he didn't know the church was here and hasn't been in a while. So that was random. But we've got to do some cleaning and fixing up before we get there, but in 2 or 3 Sundays we plan on being there.
The other sweet thing that happened Wednesday is we set a baptismal date for Robert. He has been taught since November, and has said one day he will be a member of the Church, but for some reason was not too worried about getting baptized. But we finally got him Wednesday, and he is preparing for baptism in May. And his nephew, Omega, and friend, Fred, who live with him are getting baptized in April. But that was great to finally get set.
Also, Tuesday was Zone Conference! Those are always awesome, because President Headlee is the man. There were lots of good things that I can't remember too well, but I wrote them down in my study journal so I can remember them later. But I remember the main point of President Headlee's lesson was about plain and precious truths, and how they are related to the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. And specifically he talked about prayer, and how in the Bible, it is extremely difficult to find all the "qualifications" to get an answer from prayer, but all the doctrine and knowledge was restored, thank goodness. Oh, and also all the elders from Yaoundé came down, so I got to see Elder Ternieden (Eric's first companion) who got transferred back up there, and now I think I've officially met all the missionaries for Cameroon. There is one, named Elder Hunter, who went to Woods Cross High, (Utah, where our family used to live and Eric would have attended this high school had we stayed) so that was cool to meet someone from where we used to live. We talked about "Classic Skating" and such. (Classic Skating was a skating rink in Bountiful Utah where Eric and his friends liked to hang out-they were in elementary school.)
And so my official spiritual thought of the week is brought to you by our wonderful ami de l'église, Emmanuel. Emmanuel is an anglophone preparing for baptism in April, and we finished teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Monday. And at the end of the lesson, Elder Lee asked him, "Why do you want to be baptized?" And he said, simply, "Because I want to be blessed, and so my family can be happy together." Something like that, but it was super simple, but probably the greatest response to that kind of question I have ever heard.
So that's about that. This week we will start cleaning the new church building, and hopefully not melt to death. We are also planning a missionary activity for Bonabéri at the end of this month. We are going to do branch Olympics, like tug of war, 3 legged race, things like that, and the theme will be unity. But I hope things continue to go well. Jacob good luck with the band concerts coming up. Andrea stop growing so fast. Scott don't die at school. Mom keep running the house so well, and Dad ne meurs pas au Ukrop's 10K. (Don't hurt yourself at the Ukrop's 10K)
Je vous aime bien,
- Eric
I hope the email and internet everything will work fine this week. So, this week, especially yesterday, was AWESOME! And we also had zone conference this week. So I'll start by answering Dad's questions then talk about yesterday's awesome day.
(Do you have enough money?) Money is fine, no problems there. I actually have extra from the soutien (support) they give me that I gotta give back later today, so there are no problems there. And I was going to go buy my cleats today, but it is too rainy and we spent too much time playing football and rugby this morning.
My companion, Elder Lee, has just informed me that there is no daylight savings here.
I don't know the next Cameroonian holiday, but there was one on March 8th: International Women's Day. So its not just for Cameroon, but here the women with enough money buy an African dress and in the evening go party. But all day we could go around and say "bon fete" and everyone was happy.
My French is going very well I think. I don't want to brag or things like that of course, and obviously I still have a lot I can improve, but I understand pretty much everything people say and most often don't have any problems expressing what I want to. Especially during lessons with people, I find it to be the easiest there, because I talk about those things all the time, and because those are the things that are most important.
So now, Wednesday. The first great thing, is that we found a new building for the church in Bonabéri!!! I told you this at the beginning I think, but right now we are at a member's house, which is getting much too small and there is just too much noise there. But we've been really looking for a new place since before last zone conference, and on Saturday Elder Lee and I found a "grand apartement en etage", which is exactly what we had talked about. We sent the phone number to the Willis' that night, (Senior missionary couple who work with the Elders) and President and Sister Headlee went down there on Wednesday in the morning and they basically made the deal and got the keys to the place last night. And the other funny thing is that the guy who owns it is a member of the Church, who joined in France! I barely met him, but apparently he didn't know the church was here and hasn't been in a while. So that was random. But we've got to do some cleaning and fixing up before we get there, but in 2 or 3 Sundays we plan on being there.
The other sweet thing that happened Wednesday is we set a baptismal date for Robert. He has been taught since November, and has said one day he will be a member of the Church, but for some reason was not too worried about getting baptized. But we finally got him Wednesday, and he is preparing for baptism in May. And his nephew, Omega, and friend, Fred, who live with him are getting baptized in April. But that was great to finally get set.
Also, Tuesday was Zone Conference! Those are always awesome, because President Headlee is the man. There were lots of good things that I can't remember too well, but I wrote them down in my study journal so I can remember them later. But I remember the main point of President Headlee's lesson was about plain and precious truths, and how they are related to the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. And specifically he talked about prayer, and how in the Bible, it is extremely difficult to find all the "qualifications" to get an answer from prayer, but all the doctrine and knowledge was restored, thank goodness. Oh, and also all the elders from Yaoundé came down, so I got to see Elder Ternieden (Eric's first companion) who got transferred back up there, and now I think I've officially met all the missionaries for Cameroon. There is one, named Elder Hunter, who went to Woods Cross High, (Utah, where our family used to live and Eric would have attended this high school had we stayed) so that was cool to meet someone from where we used to live. We talked about "Classic Skating" and such. (Classic Skating was a skating rink in Bountiful Utah where Eric and his friends liked to hang out-they were in elementary school.)
And so my official spiritual thought of the week is brought to you by our wonderful ami de l'église, Emmanuel. Emmanuel is an anglophone preparing for baptism in April, and we finished teaching him the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Monday. And at the end of the lesson, Elder Lee asked him, "Why do you want to be baptized?" And he said, simply, "Because I want to be blessed, and so my family can be happy together." Something like that, but it was super simple, but probably the greatest response to that kind of question I have ever heard.
So that's about that. This week we will start cleaning the new church building, and hopefully not melt to death. We are also planning a missionary activity for Bonabéri at the end of this month. We are going to do branch Olympics, like tug of war, 3 legged race, things like that, and the theme will be unity. But I hope things continue to go well. Jacob good luck with the band concerts coming up. Andrea stop growing so fast. Scott don't die at school. Mom keep running the house so well, and Dad ne meurs pas au Ukrop's 10K. (Don't hurt yourself at the Ukrop's 10K)
Je vous aime bien,
- Eric
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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
"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
Friday, February 26, 2010
Eric's email of February 25th, 2010
Wow Jacob, you are turning into a basketball Jones, who plays well in crunch time. Make sure you record your highlights when they show them on Sportscenter. And Andrea, sorry your perfect season is over, but that's how most (or all) of my teams were, barely trying to get a few wins. Next time you should do a 360 dunk, Andrea, that should help. And Scott, Dad told me to ask you about your School of Rock dealio, so, dis-moi! (Tell me)
Yeah, last week I didnt get any time to send pictures, we had a special-ish district meeting with the zone leaders who came down from Yaoundé. But I'll do it this week.
Haven't gotten cleats yet, I was going to go today, but we ended up making a rendez-vous with this inactive member named Moise, who lives out in Bonabéri but works in town in Bonapriso. And since we are in Bonapriso today Elder Lee and I are going to go visit him with the Willis'. He's been a member since '07 or something like that, and apparently he was one of the biggest reasons the church got moved to Bonabéri, but he went inactive quickly. So hopefully it will go good, we just want to get to know him and find out his conversion story.
So let me see what questions I forgot to answer to Dad... Yes, I am writing in my journal, even though I don't like it. Sometimes its hard, because I get home and I have to help make dinner and do the area book and close our day and take a shower, and somehow write in my journal. But its going pretty good, and I very well could use another one, so that would be something good to send, thanks.
Alright, so about the Bonabéri activity-we got 63 people there, which is far more than ever come to church. Our record for church is only 46. We watched this movie called "Our Heavenly Father's Plan", a few people gave some testimonies, and we sang some songs, and Sister Willis made refreshments for after. The movie was made like 20 or so years ago.
Also this week we have set 4 baptismal dates! After almost a whole transfer with none. There are 4 people preparing to be baptized the 1st Saturday of April: Emmanuel, Ebanezar, Fred, and Omega. And I'll talk a little bit about these beautiful people.
So first is Emmanuel. Emmanuel is an anglophone who works on Ancienne Route (one of the 2 main roads in Bonabéri) and sells soya. And soya means meat on a stick. So he's a soya man. He also works next to a member of the church named Tumasang. And what happened with Emmanuel is that the missionary who I replaced here would just invite Emmanuel to church every week whenever they would go see Tumasang. And he never came, just saying there was "toooooo much sun" or "tooooo much rain" or "toooooooo much heat" or "toooooo much tired". But then one week he finally came, to our surprise, and said he liked it. And he came the following week, and bore his testimony! That was back in January, and he has been pretty consistent-ish with church since, and now with our goal for April we think he will come each week and read in his Book of Mormon. He is married also and has 2 kids, but right now his wife and one kid live back in the village. So we will also plan for his son here, Nelson, to get baptized.
Next, Ebanezar, whose name I don't really know how to spell. But often times we just call him Eb. Eb, is 78. Elder Lee told me he is by far the oldest person he has ever taught. And one day back when I was with Elder Ternieden we just met Eb en route one day, invited him to church, and he has come every week except one since. And he has super bad eyes, so he can barely read his Book of Mormon, but he is currently working his way through Alma 32 right now. Oh, and he is a Francophone.
Next is Fred. His real African name is Akama, but he told us to call him Fred, I don't know why. But he is hilarious. He lives with Omega, who I will talk about next. Fred always wears a cool hat. Another anglophone, actually wasn't even in our progressing investigators section, but since he gets taught with Omega, he was just at the right rendez-vous at the right time. So there will be a bit of work to do, but its sweet.
Lastly for now, Omega. Omega is 17, a francophone who speaks English well because he went to English school. He is the nephew of this guy Robert, who is the friend of Totto who is a member. And we also want Robert to prepare for baptism in April. But Omega is the man. He is still in secondary school, but he wants to do computer science for his job when he grows up. And basically he is the man, just because he gets everything and keeps his commitments.
So that's that for now, 2 of those are "families", with Emmanuel and his son Nelson, and Robert/Omega/Fred/Seignor (who is Robert's son who is 7 years old only). So it was a really great week, or at least since Monday. But its also like rainy season has started early, Saturday Sunday and Monday night, and knocked out the power each time. The biggest bummer about the power going out is no fridge, which means no cold drinks, which stinks. And no fans. But its not that bad, and its never out for more than a day.
So now I will share the spiritual thought. So last night we saw Sheila, Shilah, and Sheila, or Shilahs 1, 2, and 3. And we hadn't seen them forever. But we went to her place with "The Restoration" DVD. So we watched that, after Sheila 1 went and found a DVD player that worked. And basically that movie is awesome, because no matter where you are or who you are watching it with, you can feel the Spirit. It was only the first time I've watched that at an investigator's house, but I've decided we should do that once a week, for our sake. That way, even if we are having a crappy day and stuff, we can watch that and be happy again. And also, its really good for the investigators because its easy to understand Joseph Smith's story from it.
Well that is that, as some anglohpones say. Oh and this week was transfers again already, and I'm still here. Which I'm happy about, but transfers always keep things exciting. Anyways, I hope it snows enough for the kids to get another snow day. And you can also send some snow with the Willis' daughter if you want.
Je vous aime bien,
- Eric
Yeah, last week I didnt get any time to send pictures, we had a special-ish district meeting with the zone leaders who came down from Yaoundé. But I'll do it this week.
Haven't gotten cleats yet, I was going to go today, but we ended up making a rendez-vous with this inactive member named Moise, who lives out in Bonabéri but works in town in Bonapriso. And since we are in Bonapriso today Elder Lee and I are going to go visit him with the Willis'. He's been a member since '07 or something like that, and apparently he was one of the biggest reasons the church got moved to Bonabéri, but he went inactive quickly. So hopefully it will go good, we just want to get to know him and find out his conversion story.
So let me see what questions I forgot to answer to Dad... Yes, I am writing in my journal, even though I don't like it. Sometimes its hard, because I get home and I have to help make dinner and do the area book and close our day and take a shower, and somehow write in my journal. But its going pretty good, and I very well could use another one, so that would be something good to send, thanks.
Alright, so about the Bonabéri activity-we got 63 people there, which is far more than ever come to church. Our record for church is only 46. We watched this movie called "Our Heavenly Father's Plan", a few people gave some testimonies, and we sang some songs, and Sister Willis made refreshments for after. The movie was made like 20 or so years ago.
Also this week we have set 4 baptismal dates! After almost a whole transfer with none. There are 4 people preparing to be baptized the 1st Saturday of April: Emmanuel, Ebanezar, Fred, and Omega. And I'll talk a little bit about these beautiful people.
So first is Emmanuel. Emmanuel is an anglophone who works on Ancienne Route (one of the 2 main roads in Bonabéri) and sells soya. And soya means meat on a stick. So he's a soya man. He also works next to a member of the church named Tumasang. And what happened with Emmanuel is that the missionary who I replaced here would just invite Emmanuel to church every week whenever they would go see Tumasang. And he never came, just saying there was "toooooo much sun" or "tooooo much rain" or "toooooooo much heat" or "toooooo much tired". But then one week he finally came, to our surprise, and said he liked it. And he came the following week, and bore his testimony! That was back in January, and he has been pretty consistent-ish with church since, and now with our goal for April we think he will come each week and read in his Book of Mormon. He is married also and has 2 kids, but right now his wife and one kid live back in the village. So we will also plan for his son here, Nelson, to get baptized.
Next, Ebanezar, whose name I don't really know how to spell. But often times we just call him Eb. Eb, is 78. Elder Lee told me he is by far the oldest person he has ever taught. And one day back when I was with Elder Ternieden we just met Eb en route one day, invited him to church, and he has come every week except one since. And he has super bad eyes, so he can barely read his Book of Mormon, but he is currently working his way through Alma 32 right now. Oh, and he is a Francophone.
Next is Fred. His real African name is Akama, but he told us to call him Fred, I don't know why. But he is hilarious. He lives with Omega, who I will talk about next. Fred always wears a cool hat. Another anglophone, actually wasn't even in our progressing investigators section, but since he gets taught with Omega, he was just at the right rendez-vous at the right time. So there will be a bit of work to do, but its sweet.
Lastly for now, Omega. Omega is 17, a francophone who speaks English well because he went to English school. He is the nephew of this guy Robert, who is the friend of Totto who is a member. And we also want Robert to prepare for baptism in April. But Omega is the man. He is still in secondary school, but he wants to do computer science for his job when he grows up. And basically he is the man, just because he gets everything and keeps his commitments.
So that's that for now, 2 of those are "families", with Emmanuel and his son Nelson, and Robert/Omega/Fred/Seignor (who is Robert's son who is 7 years old only). So it was a really great week, or at least since Monday. But its also like rainy season has started early, Saturday Sunday and Monday night, and knocked out the power each time. The biggest bummer about the power going out is no fridge, which means no cold drinks, which stinks. And no fans. But its not that bad, and its never out for more than a day.
So now I will share the spiritual thought. So last night we saw Sheila, Shilah, and Sheila, or Shilahs 1, 2, and 3. And we hadn't seen them forever. But we went to her place with "The Restoration" DVD. So we watched that, after Sheila 1 went and found a DVD player that worked. And basically that movie is awesome, because no matter where you are or who you are watching it with, you can feel the Spirit. It was only the first time I've watched that at an investigator's house, but I've decided we should do that once a week, for our sake. That way, even if we are having a crappy day and stuff, we can watch that and be happy again. And also, its really good for the investigators because its easy to understand Joseph Smith's story from it.
Well that is that, as some anglohpones say. Oh and this week was transfers again already, and I'm still here. Which I'm happy about, but transfers always keep things exciting. Anyways, I hope it snows enough for the kids to get another snow day. And you can also send some snow with the Willis' daughter if you want.
Je vous aime bien,
- Eric
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