Week 21 in Yaoundé: The One with the God-sent Downpour

Bonjour amis et familles!

Elder Caldwell and I have had a really good week filled with awesome member visits, first-lessons from contacting, and friends bringing other friends to sacrament! 'Twas in fact quite miraculous. I'll be delighted to tell y'all about it!

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK 

We had a couple awesome outings with Frère Junior from the branch where we visited other members that we hadn't ever visited before. One of which was his mom, who's this awesome lady who is basically the Cameroonian equivalent of my grandma (wears hats to church and everything!). We had a great deep-ish doctrine conversation that was thought-provoking and faith-promoting. She also fed us this awesome peanut sauce and 'couscous' (it's not what you're picturing, I promise). I love meeting these members and getting to know them more. It's one of the best parts of the mission, to see and meet these faithful African saints. 

On Friday, we had 3 lessons planned! And then, one by one, they got cancelled. Feeling a little disappointed, but not discouraged, we decided to just go and talk to people. We chose a neighborhood and began our quest. And what a successful quest it was! At one point, we had walked down this path to what looked like a dead end. A lady asked us where we were going. We told her we were just there to talk to people. We started explaining who we were right as it started pouring. She invited us into her house, and we really had no choice but to start teaching her! Even over the deafening sound of the rain falling on her tin roof, I was able to navigate what she was saying, and we had a wonderful conversation. She invited her mom to come listen. We got her to download the Gospel Library app (we didn't have any paper copies of the Book of Mormon). It was amazing. If it hadn't started raining, it might not have even happened. We're going back over tomorrow. 

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK 

D&C 61:3:

"But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief."

I love this scripture. The context is that Joseph Smith and 10 Elders of the church were traveling fast and a little dangerously on the Missouri River towards Kirtland. In this verse, the Lord tells Joseph Smith to slow down. There were many people on either side of the river en route that could've benefited from hearing the Gospel. The same principle applies to me in my missionary work here. A lot of time, I am too busy trying to get from point A to point B to notice that I could take time to go talk to someone about the Gospel. Something I've constantly needed to improve on the mission is talking to everyone! It is not needful that I let others perish in unbelief! Sometimes it's okay to slow down! 

Je vous aime tous toujours! Passez une bonne semaine! 

Elder May

PICS:
Finally got some pics of just me and Elder Caldwell! Also giant avocado, cool street art, pizza, general Yaoundé pic









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