Week 3 Back in Libreville: Laying up in Store

 Bonjour amis et familles!


A little bit of a slower week this week. The apartment took turns catching a cold but we still moved the Work forward here. In some important ways.

WHEN IN AFRICA

There's this super sketchy bridge on the 'hike' we've got to take to the family of Gédéon, the 8-year-old we're teaching. Pics attached. It looks dangerous to cross and it also is sketch 'cause it creates the perfect trap to rob someone, which I think has happened before to past missionaries.

MISSIONARY MOMENTS OF THE WEEK 

We had a baptism on Saturday, but through a series of unfortunate events, it wasn't for Gédéon. It was for this old lady named Marie who is the mom of a member. We were really hoping to get someone baptized by the end of the month, and she was a good candidate. This is her story:
She was going to get baptized a month ago, but she suddenly had to move over to her daughter's house to take care of the latter's kids, which meant she no longer had the taxi money to come to church. We arranged with the Elders in that area to teach her the rest of the lessons, with the Zone Leaders to do her baptismal jnterview, and with an American member family who works at the US Embassy to come pick her up for her baptism and confirmation. Glory be to God, it all worked out. She gave a really good testimony after the ordinance about her gratitude for being lead to the Church hat made it all worth it.

We were heading back to the apartment one afternoon and I heard someone yell out at me, "Hey, can I read your badge?" So I give her and another lady the whole spiel. We invite them to church. The usual. But then they actually came on Sunday! And we had a really good lesson with them afterward that confirmed that they are looking for the truth. I'm going to keep Edwige and Merisse on my radar...

We had another fun contacting experience as well on Friday. Elder Kabuya decided to knock on a door. We waited for a solid minute, no answer. Feeling determined, Elder Kabuya put his right foot into the home (the door was open, which means someone was in the home - it's a cultural thing) and said, "It's the missionaries!" A few seconds later, a lady appeared at the window. After explaining our purpose and telling her we could schedule an appointment, she asked, "How long would that be?" "If you only have 10 minutes, 10 minutes," was the answer. "Come in, then!", the lady responded. We taught her the whole Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon. It was a really spirit-led discussion and I'm proud of us for making it happen. 

SCRIPTURE/SPIRITUAL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK 

D&C 4:4:

"For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul."

I do not doubt that I've used this scripture before to talk about how 'white' the missionary field is here, especially in Gabon. But let's take another phrase into consideration - 'layeth up in store.' What does it mean to lay up in store? For me on the mission, it means that planting is as important as harvesting. Even to the end of my mission, I need to be planting as much as I can - working with all my might in the vineyard of the Lord. Each person I find is a new seed to be planted - even if I won't be there to see it grow, the Lord still needs me to work. To lay up in store a silo's worth of people to teach as a legacy. And I'm up to the task. 

Je vous aime tous,

Elder May










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