Une fois de plus—bonjour !
I have this weird habit of forgetting my planner on the day of transfers and not having any notes from the last week, but I’ll do my best to sum up the week as the guy next to me very unsubtly half sings, half mumbles the words of the song he’s listening to.
It was definitely a week of service for us here in Bonabéri. We spent two hours one day shelling these pumpkin-like seeds that they call “pistache” and filled about half a cup with the small grains that came out. They use it to make a light sauce or a thick paste that they wrap around a piece of fish or meat and cook in a banana leaf for several hours. Apparently we needed to shell about four times what we did to get the amount needed for the paste dish. Good thing Africans have all the time in the world to prepare their meals! We got to draw water from a well for a family so we could do their dishes. I can’t imagine how easy it must be to have dish washer...having running water at the apartment is nice enough, but these people have to get bucket after bucket out of a communal well just to wash themselves, let alone their dirty plates.
We offered to help a less-active member fill the potholes in his driveway, to which he agreed, but when we showed up at his house the holes were filled, but he said he still had work for us to do. And work we did. For six hours we split up and remodeled his front “yard”. He had me pull out, one by one, the tiny weeds pushing through the rocks. And that’s what I did the whole time. Meanwhile, my companions were busy trimming bushes and whatnot. At the end, he made us omelettes and mashed plantains, which were actually delicious. The whole time we were working he helped me pull weeds (but his weapon of choice was a machete instead of using his fingers), talking to me about how he would love to have me come back to visit him in his village where we could go fishing and all these other cool things. So if you’re a girl and you’re interested in vacationing to a village in Central Africa, let me know...after I get back of course.
Our branch missionary and apartment alarm clock, Elder Nyom, finally had to go home as he was replaced by Elder Davis from Yaoundé. For his going away present, Elder Massé and I prepared fish! It was the first time I’d ever scaled and gutted a fish and it was actually surprisingly fun. Must be those natural man instincts. Beat fish dead. Scrape skin. Pull out guts. EAT. Anyway...it turned out really good after we steamed it and fried ripe plantains and cooked rice. Elder Nyom was really happy as well and congratulated us on our preparation.
On Saturday I felt a little funny all day, and it wasn’t until after we got back from working all day that I started feeling a little light-headed and decided to take my temperature. I clocked a 101.8 and asked my companions for a blessing, and then immediately after at 8:30 I called it a day and went to bed. Notice that I didn’t say “went to sleep”. I laid in my bed for the next 10 hours, tossing and turning and soaking my bed and blanket in sweat. It was the worst night’s sleep I’d ever had. I woke up and still had a fever, so I took some more ibuprofen and had to stay home from church in the first time in over a year. I thought I’d just lay there until a fell back asleep, but my body disagreed, so I just got up and walked out into the living room and plopped down on a chair and poured myself a bowl of cereal. The weird thing was that I had a fever, but still had an appetite. By about 11 my temperature dropped back down to normal and I was feeling much better, so I thought I’d catch up on my sleep. Nope! As soon as I walked into my bedroom I had uncontrollable chills. I laid in bed thinking they’d go away as I heated up the bed, but to no avail. I resolved the situation by crawling into the bath and pouring hot water over my head for 45 minutes. Eventually I told myself that I should probably get out and take more medicine, which I did whilst covering myself in my favorite African shirt, my sanja (African skirt), and my blanket. Another hour later and I was getting hot again, so I took it all off and checked my temperature and saw that my fever had spiked again to a mission record-breaking 104! I took more ibuprofen, then acetametaphin, then laid down and stuck a frozen dish rag on my forehead, which quickly melted to the form of my head, for the next five or six hours. It was THE longest day of my life. I hadn’t slept the night before, but was awake the entire day as Elder Massé babied me by swapping the rags and giving me more medecine, etc. I’m super thankful for the charity that he showed me that day. My fever went down eventually, and I even ate tacos for dinner. By the time I went to bed I was back down to a steady 99, and slept like a baby. I was super grateful for all the prayers and to receive two visits from members who had heard that I was sick and came by to check up on me. I’m surrounded by and incredibly loving people who want nothing but my well-being.
That’s honestly about all that happened this week! I can’t believe I’m already in my sixth transfer in Africa. I’m taking advantage of every minute I have to bear my testimony and invite everyone I can to come to church and experience what marvelous changes they can have through this Gospel, and it’s been the most enriching time of my life. I would encourage you all to serve your neighbor, regardless of his or her faith or ethnicity or whatever! Charity a delicious pie that is the true love of Christ. It is an infinite delicacy and and everyone deserves a slice of it ;)
I love you all and think and pray about you every day.
Elder Garland
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