Week 10 in Douala: The 'Bible Study' (Jan 31, 2022)

 Bonjour amis et familles!


This was quite a successful week where we found a lot of new people to teach. Without further ado, I'll give you the rundown:

WHEN IN AFRICA

I saw a monkey that wasn't in a zoo! It was chained to a tree next to a house. It was a baboon of some sort. I didn't get a picture for complicated reasons. But I saw it. 

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK 

So let me tell you all this story. It's one for the ages, I tell ya. So read carefully!
We had contacted this guy a few weeks ago and had the opportunity to meet up right where we met in the street. He was actually there on the day and at the hour we agreed to. Which was impressive. He had this lady with him that started speaking English directly to me. I asked them what their religious background is. This lady responded by whispering to the man, "I think we should teach them something." She pulled out a little whiteboard and started drawing some interesting diagrams, trying to explain the relationship between our 'soul' and our 'body' and a couple other things. After 30 minutes, and trying to translate it all to my companion, I kindly asked if they would like to talk more. The lady asked what we were doing Saturday morning. I thought she was inviting us to a Bible Study or something. Boy, was I wrong.
We arrive at what was a worship service on Saturday. We are led into a room where about 70 people are praying while shouting simultaneously, while also speaking 'in tongues.' This pastor was shouting into a microphone through all of this. Definitely not the calm worship services I'm used to. Me and my comp were so uncomfortable, especially since our friend who took us kind of abandoned us and went and stood somewhere else. This praying and shouting continued for about an hour. Then what followed was the actual 'Bible Study,' which was calmer than the first hour, but the 'instructor' really got into it. He got up and shouted into my face at one point (Elder Balanganayi and I were, not by choice, it the first row). 
This whole ordeal took up most of our day. I wondered if it was even worth it to go. But then, this man, named Marc, and the lady, Chantelle, returned the favor and showed up to our service on Sunday! At the end, they came up and complimented us: "Your service was so calm and organized!" Yes, yes it was. Marc even left with a copy of the Book of Mormon.

I have other stories I could share but I'll leave it at that for time and length purposes. But we found 4 other people that weren't Marc and Chantelle as well.

FUNNY QUOTE OF THE WEEK 

"I don't know, I'm not an expert in medieval weaponry."

Elder Knight and I were having a conversation while making dinner about at what length does a knife become a sword. Y'alls thoughts?

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK 

D&C 130 18-19:

"Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."

As someone who is a 3rd-in-state Knowledge Bowl veteran, this is definitely one of my favorite doctrines of the Gospel. That we will keep all of that knowledge we gain in this life, and not only that, but it will be advantageous to us. Now, is something specific like knowing the capital of Eswatini (it's Mbabane) going to help me in my eternal progression? I don't know, or at least I don't know how. But I love the phrase 'through his diligence,' because it implies that we should be actively trying to seek out all the knowledge we can. Whether that be knowledge about the Gospel or otherwise. What's something you want to learn more about? Go learn about it! There's a great chance it will eternally help you!

Je vous aime tous,

Elder May







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