Week 5 in Libreville: We got that (spiritual) power!

 Bonjour amis et familles!


This was another great week. Productive lessons, crazy cultural logistical moments, and General Conference! Let's get the ball rolling...

WHEN IN AFRICA

We had the most stressful 'when in Africa' experience this week by far. We almost ran out of power. You see, in Gabon, you have to pay for electricity by individual kilowatt-hours. As a rule of thumb, the counter shouldn't get below 50 kwh. But, through a series of unfortunate events, by Saturday, this counter was at 11, and we couldn't find a vendor who would sell us any more (we tried like 3 places). What happened was nothing short of a miracle. Through not turning any lights nor AC on, and a couple of other cautions, we were able to conserve the energy while still being able to watch conference using a church-owned projector. Once we were sent a code from a member in the morning that would get us more power, the counter read 3.5. Now it's at a way more comfortable 340. 

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK

We were able to put somebody on date this week! She's the wife of someone in the branch (as previously mentioned in a past email), and she agreed to be baptized on the 24th! We had a really great lesson with her on Saturday (before the mad rush to find power) where we shared the importance of the baptismal covenant. She's been prepared well by her husband and others to take this great and important step.
I also want to share an update with this family we've been teaching for a while now. They are an older couple (I've mentioned them before) who I will refer to as Amélie and Jacques.  Jacques has so many questions but it's all because he really wants to know and learn! He told us, "What do I tell people what I believe once I'm baptized?" We felt impressed to share the Articles of Faith - 13 statements that sum up what we believe. He got a little caught on the 2nd statement (no original sin) but he's got a lot of faith. He's got future-branch-president (or even bishop :)) all over him if he continues to progress. 

FUNNY QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"You're not very fun outside the fridge!"
- Elder Meyer. No context provided.

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

"Faith is the power by which the unlikely accomplish the impossible." 
- Russell M. Nelson

General Conference was amazing (especially when watching it at night because of time zones). This quote from our beloved prophet really stood out to me. Faith is the first principle of the Gospel - it is what everything we do in the Church is based on. Our faith leads us to love, serve, teach, minister, and become like our Father in Heaven. We might have times where such a goal seems unlikely to be achieved, even impossible. But through our faith in Christ, reaching this heavenly, eternal potential can be a reality. What a wonderful promise.

Je vous aime tous! À la prochaine!

Pictures include (but are not limited to):
- work at an unofficial church welfare farm run by a British guy who lives full time in Italy but is here for work for a year
- cool conference setup (so stressful bc power conservation but fire doctrine)






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