Elder Ethan May's Missionary Adventure

  (...but you can't fit it in the moving truck.) Bonjour amis et familles! This past week included helping with a very tiring move, having my last Zone Conference, confirming a baptism for next week, and some super great new people. So without further ado... MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK   We helped move a member on Wednesday morning. She was moving from the top of a big hill so we had to carry everything down to where the truck was. After carrying an armchair and a mini-washing machine down with the help of Elder Kearley, I was set on not touching the fridge. My arm strength was gone. We took everything else down instead, filled the truck, and then, only out of necessity, our companions and some neighbors succeeded in getting the fridge down the mountain. We left it in the unfinished house next to the truck. Moving is going to be such a piece of cake when I get home.  We had a really cool first lesson with a lady and her old aunt that just said "amen" to everything we s...

Bonjour amis et familles! Two-thirds of the way through my last transfer. You do the math to know when I'm coming home. But as they say, la fin de ce mois-ci ne va pas me trouver ici... WHEN IN AFRICA  My companion wanted to go down to the Libreville Central Market to get some food on Friday, and it gave me and the other American a chance to do something we've always wanted to do - buy some cool African design fabric to make what they call a 'boubou,' a full body traditional outfit. So now I have some fabric to use, I just need someone to make a shirt and pants out of it. Should be pretty dope.  Also black-eyed peas actually exist? They're not just a band name? Peep the photo.  MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK  We have this one friend who we found last week who is progressing extremely well. He's an older man named Alphonse and we met with him 3 times this week. During the 2nd lesson on Wednesday, we talked about the Book of Mormon and invited him to read a chapte...

  Bonjour amis et familles! A little bit of a slower week this week. The apartment took turns catching a cold but we still moved the Work forward here. In some important ways. WHEN IN AFRICA There's this super sketchy bridge on the 'hike' we've got to take to the family of Gédéon, the 8-year-old we're teaching. Pics attached. It looks dangerous to cross and it also is sketch 'cause it creates the perfect trap to rob someone, which I think has happened before to past missionaries. MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK  We had a baptism on Saturday, but through a series of unfortunate events, it wasn't for Gédéon. It was for this old lady named Marie who is the mom of a member. We were really hoping to get someone baptized by the end of the month, and she was a good candidate. This is her story: She was going to get baptized a month ago, but she suddenly had to move over to her daughter's house to take care of the latter's kids, which meant she no longer had ...

  Bonjour amis et familles! Kinda reaching for a good subject line this week. Let's get right into the thick of it: MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK  We had a fun visit to another family who lives super far out on Tuesday. The standard share a meal and a message. Before sitting down to eat, they showed us their really cool garden. Everything in this garden was edible, all the leaves and bushes and the like. There was a pineapple plant and it blew my mind. Sue me, but I always thought pineapples grew on trees. Our message was about showing love to everyone and coming to Church for Christ. It was very appreciated (as was the food!). We officially scheduled Gédéon's (the 8-year-old) baptism for this next Saturday, the 24th. It's kind of weird because I haven't ever met his parents but his sister and my companion say it's all good. So that'll be cool. We visited them twice this week.  We had a fun lesson with an older gentleman named Serge yesterday afternoon after a ...

  Bonjour amis et familles! If you couldn't handle the transfer news suspense, worry no longer. I've been transferred for the last time for my mission back to Gabon. Finally. It's something I've been waiting on for forever and I'm so thankful it happened.  WHEN IN GABON    A couple of differences between Cameroon and Gabon: 1. In Gabon, there are no moto-taxis. Hardly any motorcycles at all even. No one to heckle me to get on one. That's actually such a relief. Instead, there are many taxi-buses that go up and down the highway. They're pretty fun to ride. I'd ridden them a little bit in my area in Yaoundé as well but they are much more common throughout the city here. 2. No crazy big malls or supermarkets here. Especially in my new area. A lot of corner stores with all the essentials, though. All of them are run by men from the Middle East or North Africa. All of them. MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK The field is still as white and ready to harvest here t...

  ("...but I see them daily for multiple hours."*) Bonjour amis et familles! This was a pretty lackluster last week of the transfer as far as the Work goes. But let's review together some highlights: MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK  The 4 of us were again invited somewhere fun and cultural when another friend of the Church asked us to drop by his recording studio. If you know anything about Elder May before he was Elder May, you know that I wouldn't pass up the opportunity. This guy was hilarious - i.e. he refuses to take off his gangster sunglasses and loves everybody and lets them know it. He showed us the studio space and let us play the piano. There was even an alto saxophone hanging up that I got to hold (there was no mouthpiece or reed for me to use, sadly). We got a lot of fun pictures, and although we didn't actively teach any Gospel principles, we stood as witnesses of God at all times and built a good friendship with the guy.  We were able to visit Ramell...