Week 1 BACK in Libreville: The Field is just as White

 Bonjour amis et familles!

If you couldn't handle the transfer news suspense, worry no longer. I've been transferred for the last time for my mission back to Gabon. Finally. It's something I've been waiting on for forever and I'm so thankful it happened. 

WHEN IN GABON  

A couple of differences between Cameroon and Gabon:

1. In Gabon, there are no moto-taxis. Hardly any motorcycles at all even. No one to heckle me to get on one. That's actually such a relief. Instead, there are many taxi-buses that go up and down the highway. They're pretty fun to ride. I'd ridden them a little bit in my area in Yaoundé as well but they are much more common throughout the city here.

2. No crazy big malls or supermarkets here. Especially in my new area. A lot of corner stores with all the essentials, though. All of them are run by men from the Middle East or North Africa. All of them.

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK

The field is still as white and ready to harvest here than it was when I left last May. Case in point: me and my new comp Elder Kabuya found 20 new people to teach! My previous high for a week was 7 (also here in Gabon ). People here constantly ask us who we are and we tell them and teach them with pleasure. It's super fulfilling. 

We taught this one lesson to these 3 ladies on Wednesday, my first full day here. We taught a really great Gospel of Christ lesson. They were all very attentive and gave great responses to our questions. One of them walked us back out to the main road after, and in doing so, told us that she was considering getting baptized again. We love that! 

On both Wednesday and Saturday, we went out hiking. Basically. It was to find a member that lives way out in the forest. Libreville is definitely less developed than Douala. I love the vibe. The visits were to teach her 8-year-old brother so he can get baptized. It wouldn't usually be our job if it's an 8-year-old but his parents aren't members so it counts as a convert baptism. We'll take it. It was great to talk with her older sister and another young member about their stories and how they found the Church. 

Sunday was so cool. They were renovating the branch building and we wouldn't have been allowed to meet there because of COVID rules when I was first here, so it was a really cool experience. The old branch President and an RM named Gédéon who was a super big help last March both gave me a hug. They were the only ones I met who remembered me but that's okay.

There's so much more I could talk about but long story short, I loved my first week back in the country where my African mission began. It's been a blast. 

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

1 Nephi 14:14:

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory."

As the covenant people of the Lord, every member of the Church can access the power of Christ's atonement. Everyone can be armed with righteousness and be a force for good in the world. That was my spiritual thought at this one member's visit. It wasn't until after we left that Elder Kabuya told me that she's usually in her wheelchair and can't walk. That gave my spiritual thought even deeper meaning! The Atonement gives us a spiritual power to overcome all our trials! 

Je vous aime tous,

Elder May

PS. To all who want to ask why there's a homemade Christmas fireplace in our apartment, I have 4 words: Why wouldn't there be?