Week 18 in Douala: The one with the planned/unplanned lesson (March 28, 2022)

Bonjour amis et familles!

I have officially completed my 3rd transfer here in icky-sticky-ville and I'm going for a 4th. So is my companion. It'll be our 3rd transfer together (first time that's happened on my mission). So that's the really anticlimactic transfer news.

Without further ado,

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK 

A lot of fun moments this week. We especially had a really miraculous weekend. For example:
On Saturday, we had the opportunity to teach a 12-year-old named Diane that had been brought to church by a member family. The family had told us to stop by on Saturday and try to have a lesson. And it was really good! This girl really loved our service and had told her mom that she wanted to come every week! She was super excited to start reading the Book of Mormon. Her mom, not so much. But we worked through her concerns and made some progress. Sadly, they didn't make it back to church yesterday (the family that brought her was out of town), but signs point to further progression. 

We had another experience on Saturday where we showed up to teach this lady, Jemelle, who we'd contacted a couple weeks ago. She answers the door, and tells us she's a little tired and didn't think she could focus on our message. She had just gotten back from Bible study. So I asked her what she studied. She asked, "Should I get my notebook?" We said, "Sure!" 45 minutes later, we were saying a closing prayer after a great Plan of Salvation lesson.^ It was a testimony-building experience about being genuinely interested in people's lives. 

On Sunday, we had only one friend show up to church, but it was a very unexpected appearance. This Anglophone named Vanessa works at a little hair salon right down the street. We'd talked with her on occasion, but we hadn't taught her a lot yet. We'd invited her to church anyway, and lo and behold, she came! She said she liked the service, and was not opposed to the idea of returning. 

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK 

Exodus 4:11-12:

"And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say."

When Moses was called as a prophet, he expressed how inadequate he thought he was. This amazing response from the Lord is what followed. The Lord will give us no direction or commandment that we won't be able to follow (compare 1 Nephi 3:7). The Lord told Moses that he would help him in his prophetic role, and I know that he can and will help us fulfill our roles in His kingdom if we act in faith and 'go therefore,' relying on He who knows us and loves us best.

Je vous aime tous,

Elder May







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