Week 20 in Yaoundé:

Bonjour amis et familles!

Comment vous allez? Je vais très bien moi-même. I had kind of a slow week since for the first time in almost 8 months, I got some African tummy troubles and had to stay home all day on Wednesday feeling absolutely terrible. But we still got some great lessons in over the course of the week, and had a very edifying Zone Conference. Let's get into some details!

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK 

Elder Caldwell and I went up to Soa on Tuesday for a follow-up lesson that I'd met with my previous 2 companions almost 2 weeks ago. It went really well. Her name is Sylvia and she's been super receptive. I couldn't tell how much of the Book of Mormon she'd read in those 2 weeks, but I could tell she was well into 1 Nephi. She had questions about the book, as many people do, so we taught her how the book came to be by teaching her the Restoration of the Gospel. She liked it. She had some other questions that were kind of tangential, but we answered those too. She loved our answers. We hope we can continue with her. 

We had one of my best lessons I've ever taught or otherwise been a part of with Zazie on Saturday. Through a series of really good questions, I got her to truly think about how the Book of Mormon (which she's read basically all of) and the Gospel has been a blessing in her life since she's met us. Everything she said was just perfect. At one point, she was talking about how she was thinking about not meeting with us anymore, but she would get little thoughts telling her to keep seeing us, to keep coming to church. I told her that these thoughts are manifestations of the Holy Ghost, telling her that she's on the right path. We brought up a baptismal date, and she said she would want baptism, but she's too afraid about leaving her other church. So we left it to be decided another week in the future. I did tell her that even if I wasn't in the area by the time she decides to be baptized, but I was still in Yaoundé, I could come back and baptize her. She liked that hypothetical.

FUNNY QUOTE OF THE WEEK 

Elder Back: "Comment vous allez?"
Elder May: "Je suis en train de mourir, et vous?"

Translation: "How are you?" "I'm dying, and you?" Elder Back from Mimboman called us Tuesday night for I-forget-the-reason, right as my stomach started misbehaving. So I told him how I really was. In French, it's even funnier - 'en train de' means 'in the process of' or 'currently' and nobody would actually say in conversation that they're 'currently dying.' Elder Sadiki, the one francophone in the apartment, couldn't stop repeating it, as he thought it was so bizarre. 

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK 

Mosiah 18:23:

"And he commanded them that they should observe the sabbath day, and keep it holy, and also every day they should give thanks to the Lord their God."

The sabbath day is very important to God. It is the day where we set the world aside and offer up our time and our desires to serve God and His children, by going to church, by visiting our friends and neighbours, by doing anything but what we normally fill our days with during the rest of the week. But, as Alma the Elder explains, it isn't enough. Sabbath day worship on its own does not a true disciple of Christ make. We should be giving thanks to God by serving His children, by doing acts of Christlike kindness, every day. What can you do today to serve His children and hold up your light?

N'oubliez jamais que je vous aime tous! Passez une très bonne semaine! 

Elder May

PICTURES: 3 of the 4 original Gabonese 7 who are currentlyin Yaoundé (sorry Elder Merrill), me with Elder Mukama, the last of the mission's pre-COVID Elders who is going home this transfer, and a group pic from the zoo last week.





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