Week 16 in Douala! (March 14, 2022)

 Bonjour amis et familles!

Another week is in the books. This week really felt like no more than 3 days but here we are at another Monday somehow. The weeks turn into months...

WHEN IN AFRICA 

Crazy random shirt of the week: a plain pink shirt with green Arial font lettering that just said, "I love disco."

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK 

We had a fun first-contact and first lesson with this Anglophone named Raphael. He was sitting outside his boutique and we started talking to him. He said he was a pastor and he'd love to talk the 'Word of God' with us. So we set up a time to meet. Our lesson with him was cool. He talked about some of his more powerful spiritual experiences and how much he's devoted his life to God and has seen the blessings of that. We talked about the Restoration of the Gospel and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. He said something awesome near the end of the lesson about how when we came by that day, he heard a voice, saying, "Let them come, they have something to teach you." That voice was right. He seems super excited to learn more about our message.

One day this week, we worked with this awesome new member named Dieudonné (French for 'God-given'). He was baptized my first Saturday here back in November and his progression has been amazing. He helped us in this one lesson where we were there to teach that ice cream lady, Evelyn, but Evelyn's friend kept trying to derail our lesson by making fun of our beliefs and what we were trying to teach (this wasn't her first rodeo with us, apparently). At one point, Dieudonné, having had enough of this friend's antics, stood up and bore powerful testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He talked about his conversion experience and told Evelyn and her friend that they needed to personally pray to God to get their answer for themselves.  We backed up his testimony and the friend didn't say anything for the rest of the lesson.


FUNNY QUOTE OF THE WEEK 

"Pourquoi vous pleurez?" (Why are you crying?)
- Elder Balanganayi, to a busted water pipe.

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK 

Alma 43:23:

"But it came to pass that as soon as they had departed into the wilderness, Moroni sent spies into the wilderness to watch their camp;  and Moroni, also, knowing of the prophecies of Alma, sent certain men to him, desiring him that he should inquire of the Lord whither the armies of the Nephites should go to defend themselves against the Lamanites."

Moroni was the captain-in-chief of the Nephite armies, and a very spiritually powerful man (see 48:17 from this same book). He had full reason to decide himself how to defend his armies against the Lamanites. But who did he seek counsel from? Alma! And who was Alma? The prophet! 
I know that as we seek counsel from prophets, ancient and modern, we will be guided in all that we should do. We will know how to defend ourselves from all the evils of the world, and we will be kept on the path that eventually leads to eternal life. 

Je vous aime tous,

Elder May

PICTURES:
I bet you can't guess what's in those bags.
Also cows, a parrot, and one of our go-to contacting neighborhoods. 






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