May 20

Irania everyone ! (Banso)

Today marks the beginning of my third transfer in Douala.  It is incredible how fast time is passing, but I’m just taking it in stride and trying to do the best I can while I can!  Not to mention I’m having the time of my life, so that’s probably what’s making it go by so dang fast.

Anyway, we were buying veggies at this street stand when we saw this this prickly pear, which they call “corassole,” if you wanna look it up.  I asked what it was called, and the vendor just picked one up and handed it to me and said, “if you like it maybe you’ll come back to buy one!” He was so nice.  I sent a picture of it too, but basically it’s this big pear like thing with little spikes on it.  It has no pit, but rather has little seeds that are surrounded by the fruit which tastes like starbursts.  So you should probably be jealous.

During one of our lessons, our investigator told us about this story of how his dead grandma visited him in a dream, but she looked a lot younger, had all her teeth, and her skin was really nice.  We hadn’t even talked about the spirit world yet, but he basically just explained what it would be like!  He was so excited when we explained afterwards where she was.  Then he told us another story about how when he was younger he worked on a cocoa farm for this man who, at the end, refused to pay him.  The farm actually belonged to our investigator’s dead grandpa, so he claimed to own a quarter of the field through birth right through his mom, who had 3 siblings.  Since normally the women didn’t inherit anything, the man who was making him work got really mad and threatened him, but our investigator wasn’t afraid.  Well one night his uncle knocked on his door at like 4 in the morning and had him come out to this big meeting of all the elders of the surrounding villages, where he sat down in the middle of them and they basically debated, and I quote, “eating” him.  He said that they didn’t mean eating him physically, but then asked us what DID they mean?!  Were these men also children of God?  It was such a random, extreme anecdote and we had no idea what to say.  So we did our best to explain how yes, God loves even them.  He was satisfied I think.

We went to visit an old friend of ours, this DJ turned hair stylist (which means you own a shack and a razor and people pay you 60 cents to shave their head down a little), who has been losing weight.  He told us that he took out a pair of jeans that he’s owned for the last THIRTY years and finally fits into them.  I wasn’t amazed by how much weight he’s lost as much as I couldn’t believe he’s owned a pair of jeans for 30 years.  It reminded me of how we see designer clothes allll over the place here : Gucci, Louis Vuillton, Coach, Chanel, Lucky, etc., but people wear that kind of stuff to work the fields in.  I asked a friend about it, and he said it’s not so much about what you’re wearing but THAT you’re wearing something.  I loved that.

I got to go on splits with my friend Elder Gélinas, the Québecois in our apartment.  Unfortunately, we didn’t really get to talk a lot because a member was our teaching with us, but it was still an awesome experience.  He’s a great missionary, and teaches super well.  It was a lot different being with a francophone, because you learn so much more about how you can better phrase certain parts of your teachings.  I learned a ton. While we were walking around, this man scooted across the street with flip flops on his hands, his legs and feet tucked under him in a sort of ball.  It’s one of those things that if you saw it back home you would be mortified, but is one of those daily phenomenons here.  You feel so bad for these sorts of people and can do nothing for them.  You kindof wonder how they grew up, the trials and persecutions they went through, and how (if at all) they keep their faith. 

We came to the home of a member to find their great grandma just sitting around the house, blind and alone, not really doing anything.  She was so content to hear us say “abusine maman !” and give us this big, toothless smile, eye open (the other sunk in) but not seeing.  In Cameroon, and in much of Africa, you don’t send your grandparents to retirement homes.  They don’t even have them to be sent to.  You just take care of them at your own home until they die.  I think the elderly know this though, because they’ve already lived it, so they don’t expect to be fed and babied while they’re home.  They’re just…there, in the corner, talking to themselves or sleeping or chewing on some leaves or something.  It’s both honorable and sad, but I respect them a lot for what they do.  I wonder what my parents would say if I proposed that idea to them.  I don’t wanna back myself into a corner though, sooo maybe I’ll just not say anything…

My beloved companion got a package from home and shared with us his chocolate covered almonds and sour gummy worms.  In other words, it was manna from heaven.  Candy is priceless.  Let’s just say I would rather have a pound of Butterfinger than a pound of diamonds.

I got denied a brochure for the first time on Friday night, getting out of the taxi.  After talking with our driver for like 20 minutes, he politely explained that he was happy just to talk and share ideas, but no thanks.  I was devastated.  How do you State-side Elders and Sisters do it?!  I kept the brochure in my hand while my companion helped me stay on my feet as we walked through the gate to our apartment (I may have been a little dramatic about it), but as we were walking in, a friend of one of the other tenants was walking out, so I just contacted him right there and he left with the brochure.  Elder Zurcher and I shared a jumping high five as we were walking up the stairs.  No one saw, so that’s probably for the best.

We had an incredible Saturday.  The Bonabéri elders had a baptism to which they invited us.  They had cut the water in that part of town, so they only had about shin-high water in the baptismal font.  It was just enough for the first sister to sit down and have the elder baptizing immerse her by laying her on her back.  The fun began when, as they were getting out, thick, black clouds started racing across the sky and immediately started dumping pouring rain, a fierce wind pushing it almost horizontal to the ground.  The second baptism, a little boy of maybe 10, was anxious to be baptized, so they went back into the font as the storm raged on.  It was the most memorable baptism of my life.  You couldn’t even hear the prayer.  It probably would’ve been enough to just say the prayer and leave the font, as both the child and the elder baptizing him were already completely soaked before going under the water.  I couldn’t help but record the scene.  It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, but the Spirit was still so strong.  After a while the rain died down and we were served beignets, roasted caramel peanuts, and this fried triangle snacks filled with meat and veggies called “pili pili.”  It was delicious, but didn’t exactly match the pineapple soda I was given as well.   

Afterwards, we went to the Akwa branch to host an activity celebrating the restoration of the Priesthood.  Elder Zurcher and I sat outside and welcomed people as they came in and played games with members from both branches.  We taught a guard who usually sits outside next door, but saw us and wanted to come chat.  He had tons of questions, and they all had to do with the Plan of Salvation, so we had an awesome lesson with him.  Everyone went upstairs where we projected “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration.”  There were probably 50 or so people there, and if anyone left without having felt the Spirit I would have to ask what they were doing for the whole hour the movie was playing.  I watched it in English back in the MTC, but the Spirit in that room was so, so strong.  I left with a more firm testimony on the divine calling of Joseph Smith, and I would encourage anyone who doubts the revelations he received to watch that film! It’s seriously so powerful. 

On Sunday we welcomed several new investigators at church, and it was just a great Sabbath day.  Elder Zurcher and I taught a lesson on missionary work (easy but awesome) to the Anglophones who don’t actually speak American English, but it was so really good.  One of the investigators is the man who grew up in Cameroon but moved to New York, and then eventually Wisconsin and Chicago.  He knows everything I’ve ever known about my hometown, it was so cool to chat with him! And his English is more American than anything I’ve heard, so that was easy on the ears.  He said, “I’m a billion dollar person because I’m able,” which I found profound.  He walked a couple miles to come to church, because he said if he didn’t have taxi money he would be lying—he had his legs, which lots of people are sitting around hospitals begging for.  He’s fantastic.

Anyway, another transfer down.  Can’t believe it.  This one is over at the end of June, and then I will have already done a quarter of my mission!  It’s nuts.  I love it.  I love you.  I wish I knew everything about everyone of you and all your worries and burdens and sufferings and pains and problems so I could tell you that no matter what it was, Jesus Christ suffered below all of that and that your problems can be resolved through the Atonement.  If you don’t believe me, try applying it in your life and see if I’m just saying nonsense ;) 

Till next week!

Abeni !

Elder Garland

May 13

Omobusé everyone! (Abo dialect)

Wookelache ?! How are you?! This week was pretty fantastic.  Now that training is over (12 weeks of reviewing basically everything you learn in the MTC step by step and applying it into your missionary work), Elder Zurcher and I have had extra time to see people, which means we’re even more tired when we get home. 

On Tuesday we walked all the way from one side of town to the other at night, which was probably a really dumb idea, because we ended up going through poorly lit streets right by a mosque and through a market stuffed with people.  We were the only white people there, but I guess that’s normal.  I just mean that that made us an even bigger target at night.  Then, right when we get to the entrance of the neighborhood where we were going to teach, all the power shut off.  We kindof just looked at each other, shrugged, and stepped into the black abyss of a dirt road to go visit one of our investigators.  God must have been watching our backs the whole time, because I’m here today writing to you!  It was great lesson, and the good news is that while we were going through the market we found this cart loaded with huge red/green mangos from the north.  I’ve been dying to try one, but they’re like 500 francs (about a dollar) and you can get 6 smaller ones for that price anywhere else.  But my companion finally gave in and we bought one, and it was basically the most delicious thing that has ever entered my mouth, and there was so much of it.  So.  That was awesome.

As we were waiting for a taxi, a motorcycle guy pulled up and stopped right in front of me, and I just say, “no thanks,” but he kept staring at me.  I looked down and saw that it was a guy we always say hi to that works at the prison, and he just started laughing.  It was really funny (mostly for him).

On Wednesday night we were with some members when their power went out too, and I just kept talking and it was going great until I asked the Relief Society President a question and she took a little too long to respond.  We sat there for probably 15-20 seconds before her husband finally knocked her on the side and woke her up.  So that was pretty embarrassing.  Her grandson made up for it by farting while my companion was talking just a little later.  Where am I again…?

We got to go help a sister put doors on her house on Thursday, and walls on her bedroom.  She had been sleeping for months without walls!  She said, “Every night I just go to sleep praying that God will allow me to wake up the next day, and he always answers my prayers.”  It was incredible.  We got some pretty good sun, but I wish I had worn my shorts instead of my jeans, it was so heavy.  What was really amazing was watching these people create and build with little to no tools (there were two handsaws, a machete (of course), a crowbar, a hammer, a tape measure and a railroad spike with a handful of nails) using only scraps from someone else’s house.  They work very efficiently though!  And the machete?  It’s such a versatile tool.  I saw it used as scissors, a hammer, a saw, a crowbar, a chisel, a back scratcher, and a pencil.   Here’s the thing about working with them though: if you don’t get it right the first try, you give up the tool you were using to whoever was supervising you, and they “shot you how to do it” until they finish the job.  I’m pretty sure that phenomenon applies to all dads though ;) They fed us this delicious rice and pork (real pork this time) dish with half frozen follerie—this deep, deep red leaf boiled in water and mixed with tons of sugar to make a sort of juice.  It was delicious. We came back to the apartment to study, and I fell asleep kicked back against the wall with my feet up on the table after I ate a Snickers (which are surprisingly cheap here, from 300-500 CFA!). 

That night we prepared for 4 more elders to come down from Yaoundé, Hoiland, Massé, Schmid and Johnston.  They’re all really cool, and we made spaghetti together and just had a good time.  While Elder Gélinas was making peanut butter I heard him go, “Oh my…” and I immediately knew that he had pulled the blender up and the bottom had stayed in the machine because that had happened with Andriamamonjy when he was making coconut milk one day.  So I ran into the kitchen to see him in this stupor as he watched the peanut butter lava ooze out of the blender mountain and spread across the table.  I slapped him into consciousness and we started moving things around and cleaning up.  We didn’t end up losing that much in the end, but the blender got the worst of it.  We spent over an hour cleaning peanut butter out of it, and to this day it still leaks traces of peanut butter.  We haven’t dared turning it on yet...

On Friday I woke up and killed 7 mosquitoes before I left the room, and then we had a baptism!  Yvette, this really kind, shy girl about 26 years old who has grown up with her right foot upside down, if that makes sense.  She walks on the top of her foot, which makes it really hard to get around, but she has a great testimony of the restored Gospel.  We were so excited because she asked this doctor who’s been taking care of her for the last several months and trying to treat her foot to baptize her.  He’s incredible and has an even more impressive conversion story.  I may have mentioned it before, about how he had this crazy dream and reach under his bed and found a Book of Mormon in his hotel room in Germany?  It’s awesome to hear it from him.  Anyway, the baptism when super well!  On the way across the bridge to Bonabéri, we saw all these people out in boat/canoes diving into the water and coming back up with large buckets of sand into their boat/canoes.  Our taximan explained that they sell that sand to construction companies in town.  What a cool job that would be.  They carry around these loonnnggg bamboo polls that help them find the depth of the river and to push around with.

It took us over an hour of standing on the corner to get a taxi that was going back into Douala centre ville, so while we were waiting we skipped across the street (not literally, thank goodness) to this bakery and bought a hamburger sandwich with about an inch wide by 4 inches long strip of meat in between a baguette and a chocolate filled beignet, both of which were surprisingly good! That night we went to Marlyse, one of our recent converts, to pick up a meal order we had given her 6000 CFA to go to the market with, and she delivered!  She made us potatoes, fried plantains, fried fish, and rice for all 8 of us.  It was wicked good.  Then Elder Morin came back with a bag of beans and small beignets from another member, so we had this royal Cameroonian feast.  It was fantastic.  I should’ve taken a picture!   Anyway, we also learned from the elders who had been with President Jameson all day that there would be no transfer changes in Cameroon, which was an answer to lots of prayers!  Elder Zurcher and I will be together for another 6 weeks, and we’re really hoping that we’ll get to see the marriage and baptism of this family we’ve been teaching since I got here, and that he’s been teaching since November.  By the time he leaves, I’ll have been with him for 20 weeks! That’s pretty unusual unless you’re the assistant to the president, which no North Americans can be! We’re just super excited to keep working together.

Saturday was incredible.  We had zone conference with the president, during which we talked a lot about inactive members and how we can best help them, a little like last week.  I got to meet the other 6 elders who were in Bonabéri from Yaoundé—McGrath, Addington, Davis, Rambalosson, Hatch and Lundberg.  They’re all way cool.  I hadn’t seen that many white people in the same room since I left the MTC, so that was kinda weird.  We were 24 all together.  Sister Jameson talked to us about mission news.  There might be a new MTC going into Kinshasa, and the missionary couple is in Gabon, which means we might have missionaries there starting with the next transfer!  We can’t wait.  The story of how the church got there is so incredible.  The Lord just puts people in the right places at the right time.  The lady whose house is being rented out for the church meetings nursed the president’s wife back to health a while ago, so that’s why  we’re allowed in the country.  She’s been waiting for the missionaries since she called her son in Italy to find out if she should even rent out the house to this church she had never heard of when he said, “Mom, that’s the church I just joined!” Just an awesome story.

On Sunday we had no drama at church, which was a huge blessing.  We went to the Gaileys’ for banana splits and to Skype home, which was the highlight of the week.  It was such a blessing to see my family.  I’ve missed them so much, and even though the video cut out a couple of times, I wish I could’ve stayed for the rest of the night just to talk about everything I’ve been doing.  I’m just so thankful that the Internet even exists here so that I can talk to them!  That night we had a lovely dinner with the first counselor, the amazing Marius and his family.  He’s got such a cool story too, but I’m running out of time so I’ll have to save it for another day! 

I love YOU all so much and I hope you’re making the most out of your life! NOW is the time to prepare to meet your maker, and He can’t wait to see you face to face!  I wish I could share half the experiences I’ve had since I got here that have all testified of the truthfulness of these things, but I’ll just leave you to wonder and ponder and search for the truth on your own :)

Have a fantastic week!

Manke !

Elder Garland

May 6

Omaki ! (Mbo for hello!)

So last Monday night I was in heaven.  We made chili and cornbread, and then got to jam on the guitar all night.  We were right about to go to bed when the power went off as we were all singing “hallelujah” together, but we kept playing in the dark.  Then I broke another string, and then we decided it was probably time to go to bed.  Unfortunately, the power didn’t come back on until 2 or 3 in the morning, so we didn’t even sleep. 

Tuesday was crazy filled with lessons, but it was awesome.  One of the people we tried teaching stopped mid-sentence to try this face cream from a street vendor as he was walking by.  For the next 15 minutes they debated prices and brands and how effective it was, and then finally she turned back to us and said, “I’m following.”  Ha!  Elder Zurcher and I had a good laugh about that. That same night, we had just gotten done teaching the restoration, concluding by encouraging him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and then we asked if he had any questions.  He said, “yes, a lot of churches say different things about this…but I want to know what you have to say.  Was Jesus really born on the 25th of December?! Why are there vegetarians when God says he gave us animals to eat?!” I had a hard time not face palming, but turns out he’s actually really interested, and has a baptismal date!

On Wednesday we were on our way to this woman’s house to ask why she’s been coming to church for the last 3 years but never got baptized, when we got a call from the secretary of the church asking when we were coming to his house.  We were so confused, but realized almost immediately that HIS wife was the lady we were going to see!  We had no idea.  It took us an hour to get to their house by taxi. We had spent all day trying to call people to teach, but since it was their Labor Day, everyone was out partying or hanging out with family or friends all day and didn’t have time to see us.  It made things really interesting when, after feasting on plantains, eggs, spaghetti, rice, oranges, papayas, coke, and djino (a fruit cocktail soda), we were walking back and people were all out on the streets just dancing and drinking and going crazy.  It was awesome.  But scary.  Several people tried to seduce us into dancing with them, but we held fast to our testimony and pushed through the crowds to nab a taxi.

I woke up at like 4 in the morning and mistook my companion’s fan for a small child carrying a baby.  It’s not the first time that’s happened.  Maybe I already wrote about confusing the mosquito nets for dead witches that had hung themselves? Or thought the bookshelf was a man just meandering about the room?  I actually got out of bed and went after him.  And last Thursday I tried to ask the fan what he wanted from us.  I’m just waiting for the next adventure I’ll go on within the boundries of my room.

Friday was crazy.  We had a zone conference, where we spoke with our branch presidents about how we can better integrate the less-active members, and the inactives, and it was outstanding.  I got to share a spiritual thought, so I chose to speak on the lost sheep parable, which I never really appreciated before.  With help from references that are listed in my French Bible, I compared the Matthew 18 and Luke 15 versions of the parable and talked on the two.  I ended with James 5:19-20 which is an awesome scripture on bringing lost souls back to Christ.  Anyway, I just had a great time studying that and sharing it.  That night we came back from teaching and one of the members had made us plantains, this peanut paste and what the call green vegetables, which are like…some sort of mix of green leaves haha, I don’t really know how to explain it any better than they do!

We had General Conference at the church the next day, which really poorly organized, but my companion and I showed up early to help string cordes across the room and hook up projectors and everything, and then the generator still wasn’t powerful enough to keep the lights and air conditioning on.  Basically the story from last Sunday still isn’t done.  But we’re working on it! Hopefully by the end of this week everyting will be finished.  In any case, I still got to watch the Saturday afternoon session of conference, which was so cool.  Like everyone’s been telling me, they spoke a lot about Africa and Africans, and I can basically just add my testimony to what they were saying.  People here have the least of what matters least and the most of what matters most.  I loved that! I think my favorite talk though was by Elder Bednar, which was about chastity.  Some favorite quotes he said were “love grows through righteous restraint”, and “chastity and vertu will be most precious above all things forever.”  I just thought that was the coolest thing.  I wish I could share what I shared with the family that we taught that to afterwards, but reading the words just won’t be the same.  I would encourage you all to look up that talk though, it’s so good!

On Sunday we showed up to church and the generator still wasn’t working, and the man in charge didn’t come until an hour and a half later. Finally, we just got everyone to go to their normal Sunday school classes and then held a testimony meeting in sacrament. It was impromptu, but Marius, the superman member who always saves the day, once again came to the rescue. We’re hoping that we will get to watch the rest of priesthood and the Sunday sessions next week, but who knows. Timing here just isn’t really anything that anyone cares about. One of those “European” fads I guess. After church we had a great experience where we got to visit a sick member with all the young single adults and sang hymns for like 30 minutes. They love to sing, especially hymns. They could sing all day! It was really heartwarming to see the sick brother just sitting their smiling as everyone was singing. We got to play the guitar again last night, and I didn’t break anymore strings, so that was nice. The Gailey’s, who I love more and more every day, had us over for waffles in their air-conditioned apartment for breakfast. It was heaven. I always have a single tearing rolling down my face as I walk out into the scalding sun, and it dries up faster than you can say “white man!” Another crazy week coming up as President Jameson is coming to town with all the elders from Yaoundé for back to back zone conferences and transfer letters. We have to host them for a couple days, so it’s gonna be nuts. Look forward to a lot of pictures though! Just a quick note about my companion – he’s the best. I couldn’t say enough about how great of a missionary he is, and just how awesome of a person. Just an honest working, doesn’t ever do anything 50%, quick to laugh and smile, says hi to everyone, talks to every taxi driver and person he sits next to. I love him. I’ll be sad if we get split up this transfer, but the odds are stacked that way. I’m profiting from every minute I can from him. I might be 2 years older, but he’s teaching me a ton about what it means to be a servant of the Lord. Osaymaka, I love and miss you all so much !!! Elder Garland