Week 7 in Douala: The 12 Comps of Elder May (Jan 10, 2022)

Bonjour amis et familles! 


As the subject line probably led you to believe, Elder May has a new comp. I was riding on staying with Elder Mbaya, but he's off to Gabon and I'm staying in Douala. My new comp's name is (drumroll please) Elder Balanganayi! I'll give the correct pronunciation next week, for this week you're on your own haha!

I spent a night this week in Yaoundé, actually, to get my temporary Residence Card for Cameroon. It's only taken 7 months for me to get it (go international bureaucracy!)

Anyway,

WHEN IN AFRICA 

Something cool happening in the world is the CAN, the Africa Cup of Nations. It's the World Cup of Africa, Cameroon is actually the host country. Everyone had a bunch of parties to celebrate the start of the tournament. The crazy and annoying thing is that one of these parties that was happening next door to the apartment literally lasted all night. My american-made earplugs did nothing. When our alarm sounded at 6:30, they were partying just as loud as at 10:30 the night before. Soccer is kind of a big deal here. 

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK 

After the disruptions of my petit voyage and the transfer (by the way - the word I French that they use for transfer is 'mutation'), we got back into the swing of things with some good lessons on Friday and Saturday. One was with someone me and Elder Mbaya had taught once about 6 weeks ago. She welcomed us like we'd been there yesterday, and had some great questions that were tied to what we had taught her 6 weeks ago. It was a very welcome surprise.

I've talked about this lady before, I'll call her Marianne. She's been taught everything but has to jump some temporal hurdles first before getting baptized. Marianne came to church without us visiting her for a couple weeks. That's actually a great sign for personal conversion. What was also cool is she brought 3 of her daughters as well! 

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK 

1 Nephi 17:21:

"Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy."

This is Laman and Lemuel talking against Nephi as they are about to sail to the promised land. It's super negative, and the phrase 'we might have been happy' is especially arrogant, prideful, and gross. Why is this my spiritual thought? Because sometimes the best examples to illustrate important principles are negative. 
How many times does something in our lives change, and we think about what our life could have been like if that thing hadn't happened? How many times are we like Laman and Lemuel, too arrogant and ignorant to see the good the future might bring? I've had 5 companions in the last 4 transfers. I've dealt with a lot of change. I've learned that the best thing we can do when circumstances change is to look forward, not backward. To make the most of the present, and leave the past behind. Let's all strive for this attitude as we start 2022. Let's be happy here and now, not in some hypothetical alternate reality. 

Je vous aime tous,
Elder May






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