Here we go, start of week 1
of transfer 12! Today marks Elder Hatch's
and my
17th month mark. Incredible. Just like a year ago, time is
still flyin on by. We made some big plans throughout the week, put
them into action, and here I am sitting at the Bailey's, a.k.a. my new
home! We live in this perfectly functioning abandoned apartment
upstairs from their house. It was basically made for missionaries but
never occupied by any. So we are its first tenants! We even have air
conditioning, so I'm back in heaven. Elder Hatch and I will be living
by ourselves, the first of our kind in the mission. We're so excited
to have the Baileys as neighbors. They are and have always been the
greatest blessing to us.
Last Monday I got a phone call from a lady who started speaking to me
in kikongo, and I was actually able to reply! So I had my first phone
call in kikongo. That night we went to a member of the branch
presidency of the Pointe-Noire branch and had the most delicious meal
after sharing a spiritual thought. They'd prepared us sakasaka, rice
beyond measure, fried chicken, grilled fish, boiled plantains, kuanga,
gave us each our own Coke, and an orange for dessert. Needless to
say, I was stuffed to the brim, and of course Maman Lodi made another
pass to serve us seconds and thirds. It was unreal. I wasn't too
full, however, to try the banana cream pie that I'd made earlier that
day - it was also incredible, but I waited for Tuesday night to tackle
my portion.
Speaking of Tuesday, we had a pretty great, normal day. The most
interesting part of the day was when, after being ratéd by one
investigator, we had a meeting with these two new investigators who
were just walking by the church one day, asked someone when the
program started and on what day, and that Sunday they were at church!
Well, when we sat down with them we were having this great, really
spiritual lesson, when I asked one of the guys what he thought of the
Atonement and what it meant in his life. He responds, "yeah I'm
basically just here because I want help getting my music career to
move forward." So that was a buzz kill haha. The best part is that
he said the same thing like 3 more times throughout the lesson, even
though I explained to him every time that that's not what we were
there for. In the middle of the lesson, the investigator that ratéd
us showed up and sat down with us. Then a third random guy walks in
off the street to sit down with us. Not long after a FOURTH guy
stumbles through the gates very drunk and announces, "I've come to
pray!" We promptly got him a chair. A member getting married on the
21st then came in with a referral for us, so it was a huge party
basically.
Turns out the drunk guy and guy #3 had both lived in Angola, so at one
point in the lesson the drunk guy was being loud and the other guy
starts going off on the drunk guy in Portuguese. It was hilarious.
One of those "stop and look around" moments when you can't help but
laugh at your situation. Anyway, guy #3 comes up after me after the
lesson and says, "Elder Garland you're like a big brother to me. I'm
trying to change my life around and I think with your help and
teachings I can do it. I really appreciate you. You inspire me.
Now...can I have your watch?" HA! Almost he convinced me to be
suckered into his trap. I said thanks, but no. He couldn't have my
watch. Sorry.
Wednesday was a little more tame. We went to Darcyne's, Lisa's, and
Lovely's as per usual. They're all doing wonderful and loving the
influence of the gift of the Holy Ghost in their lives. On our way to
Raoul's a white girl on a motorcycle rode passed us in the middle of
the quartier, so that was pretty crazy. We met Raoul's friend
Christelle, who is pretty awesome, who we hope will progress quickly!
No one was at Parfait's on Thursday except Héléna and Glad, so we got
to zoom through the Gospel and teach a couple commandments without any
random questions or tangents which often bring us into the weeds. Our
friend Ephraim, a.k.a. DJ Virtual, a.k.a. Charisma met us again at the
church. This guy is 6'6", mixes at night clubs from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.,
was initiated as a child to be a wizard in the DRC, played basketball
and was a famous actor in his town. He is the most interesting
character I've met so far. He's got the personality of an American,
except for the fact that he believes in mermaids (whose tails are
retractable and are only there to help them get around the water,
because believe it or not there are water mermaids, forest mermaids,
and mountain mermaids). He tried to take an appointment with us so we
could meet one, but we politely refused. He's hilarious though. We
get along famously. Imagine your next door neighbor is the nicest
guy, has a great sense of humor, comes to church when you invite him
and knows the Bible really well, but believes in mermaids and
wizardry. That's Ephraim. He says he wants to be baptized and be
with us Christians (he himself is a self-proclaimed cultist) but he
doesn't think he can go a whole day without having sex. Yikes, haha.
Well, we'll keep working with him. He's too funny to drop, and he's
been to church twice now and is reading the Book of Mormon. A
progressing investigator if you ask me!
Afterwards we went over the baptismal questions with Bellna, our
kikongo speaking investigator whose uncle is Elvis, and she is solid
and ready for baptism on Saturday :)
That night we made corn chowder and cinnamon rolls. It was the most
amazing batch I'd ever made. Cinnabon came to the Congo and invaded
our kitchen. Sister Bailey gave me a frosting recipe, so we were set.
Incredible.
Friday was a wonderful day as well. We went to Darcyne's again and
split to talk to Maya, her oldest daughter, and the rest of the kids.
Jhostavie and I went over the baptismal questions with Maya, and that
went super well. She's got a kickin testimony and she's super smart
for her age. She'll make a great addition to the church, especially
considering she'll be with her family. :) Darcyne is the nicest
woman. She's like my older sister I never had. She gave me 8
different pieces of African fabric so I could make ties, just because
I told her on Wednesday that I loved the patterns and loved to make
ties with them. She is a saint, and her kids are angels.
Well...they're hilarious and adorable anyway.
We sat down with those two new guys from Tuesday and the music one
gave us the same story. I didn't know what to say, after having
already explained it a million times. So I just repeated myself,
again. I think he got it this time.
Saturday was sweet. We sat down with Milandou, who said he'd come to
church Sunday (he didn't), but it was a really spiritual experience.
We walked over to see that ancient, blind dinosaur of a woman Maman
Tété because it'd been forever and Elder Hatch had never met her. She
was there, but didn't believe her grandson when he told us we'd come.
When she finally opened the door, we all sat down together and in
kikongo she told us she was upset that we didn't pass by the house to
say hello anymore or eat sakasaka together. It was sad, but also
adorable. She is seriously SO old haha. When we left we went to see
Cécile, she said she was sick, but was about to sit down to do this
enormous stack of dishes. Without really asking we kinda just took
over, grabbed some soap and got to work. She about died laughing,
along with the 5 other women in the parcelle, and then every person,
man and woman, that walked in for the next 30 minutes. It was great.
Because of that, she was much more at ease with us while we talked
about the plan of salvation. It was a wonderful lesson. It always
is. We got to see Prudence again, and for maybe the second time in 7
months she went the whole lesson without breastfeeding her son Nephi.
She even offered us a Coke! What a nice woman. The next Relief
Society President.
Then I walked by a little boy in the quartier wearing a Backstreet
Boys shirt. Incredible.
We went to the church and sat down with President Caillet to talk
about things we thought could be better in the branch (how not to bear
testimony, how not to give a talk, how not to teach the Gospel
Principles class), and then we sat down with Ephraim who had randomly
popped out of the baptismal service that was taking place while we
were in branch council. He is one weird dude, but so funny.
On the way home I talked to the taxi driver the whole way only in
kikongo. It was so cool! I think he was a little drunk, because when
we first got in he just started going off in kituba. Thankfully I was
able to respond. What a nice man.
We were missing some investigators at church on Sunday, but we still
had 14 people make it to sacrament. Ephraim came straight from the
club, so he was whipped and half delusional. We went to the Bailey's
afterwards to finalize some plans we had made for p-day.
And that leads us to today! We skipped basketball to help Elder
Bailey get a bunch of stuff for our apartment and bring over the beds
and whatnot. It was a really long day. None of the markets were open
because it's the day of Pentecost. We ended up getting a ton of stuff
from a boutique across from the Foucks apartment, and then we headed
home and got installed in our new place! It's pretty cozy. The best
part will be living in our sector. We walk out and teach the people
across the street. It will be fantastic. More to come. More people
to meet, more people to love!
Have a wonderful week. You are a child of God, and He loves you :)
still flyin on by. We made some big plans throughout the week, put
them into action, and here I am sitting at the Bailey's, a.k.a. my new
home! We live in this perfectly functioning abandoned apartment
upstairs from their house. It was basically made for missionaries but
never occupied by any. So we are its first tenants! We even have air
conditioning, so I'm back in heaven. Elder Hatch and I will be living
by ourselves, the first of our kind in the mission. We're so excited
to have the Baileys as neighbors. They are and have always been the
greatest blessing to us.
Last Monday I got a phone call from a lady who started speaking to me
in kikongo, and I was actually able to reply! So I had my first phone
call in kikongo. That night we went to a member of the branch
presidency of the Pointe-Noire branch and had the most delicious meal
after sharing a spiritual thought. They'd prepared us sakasaka, rice
beyond measure, fried chicken, grilled fish, boiled plantains, kuanga,
gave us each our own Coke, and an orange for dessert. Needless to
say, I was stuffed to the brim, and of course Maman Lodi made another
pass to serve us seconds and thirds. It was unreal. I wasn't too
full, however, to try the banana cream pie that I'd made earlier that
day - it was also incredible, but I waited for Tuesday night to tackle
my portion.
Speaking of Tuesday, we had a pretty great, normal day. The most
interesting part of the day was when, after being ratéd by one
investigator, we had a meeting with these two new investigators who
were just walking by the church one day, asked someone when the
program started and on what day, and that Sunday they were at church!
Well, when we sat down with them we were having this great, really
spiritual lesson, when I asked one of the guys what he thought of the
Atonement and what it meant in his life. He responds, "yeah I'm
basically just here because I want help getting my music career to
move forward." So that was a buzz kill haha. The best part is that
he said the same thing like 3 more times throughout the lesson, even
though I explained to him every time that that's not what we were
there for. In the middle of the lesson, the investigator that ratéd
us showed up and sat down with us. Then a third random guy walks in
off the street to sit down with us. Not long after a FOURTH guy
stumbles through the gates very drunk and announces, "I've come to
pray!" We promptly got him a chair. A member getting married on the
21st then came in with a referral for us, so it was a huge party
basically.
Turns out the drunk guy and guy #3 had both lived in Angola, so at one
point in the lesson the drunk guy was being loud and the other guy
starts going off on the drunk guy in Portuguese. It was hilarious.
One of those "stop and look around" moments when you can't help but
laugh at your situation. Anyway, guy #3 comes up after me after the
lesson and says, "Elder Garland you're like a big brother to me. I'm
trying to change my life around and I think with your help and
teachings I can do it. I really appreciate you. You inspire me.
Now...can I have your watch?" HA! Almost he convinced me to be
suckered into his trap. I said thanks, but no. He couldn't have my
watch. Sorry.
Wednesday was a little more tame. We went to Darcyne's, Lisa's, and
Lovely's as per usual. They're all doing wonderful and loving the
influence of the gift of the Holy Ghost in their lives. On our way to
Raoul's a white girl on a motorcycle rode passed us in the middle of
the quartier, so that was pretty crazy. We met Raoul's friend
Christelle, who is pretty awesome, who we hope will progress quickly!
No one was at Parfait's on Thursday except Héléna and Glad, so we got
to zoom through the Gospel and teach a couple commandments without any
random questions or tangents which often bring us into the weeds. Our
friend Ephraim, a.k.a. DJ Virtual, a.k.a. Charisma met us again at the
church. This guy is 6'6", mixes at night clubs from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.,
was initiated as a child to be a wizard in the DRC, played basketball
and was a famous actor in his town. He is the most interesting
character I've met so far. He's got the personality of an American,
except for the fact that he believes in mermaids (whose tails are
retractable and are only there to help them get around the water,
because believe it or not there are water mermaids, forest mermaids,
and mountain mermaids). He tried to take an appointment with us so we
could meet one, but we politely refused. He's hilarious though. We
get along famously. Imagine your next door neighbor is the nicest
guy, has a great sense of humor, comes to church when you invite him
and knows the Bible really well, but believes in mermaids and
wizardry. That's Ephraim. He says he wants to be baptized and be
with us Christians (he himself is a self-proclaimed cultist) but he
doesn't think he can go a whole day without having sex. Yikes, haha.
Well, we'll keep working with him. He's too funny to drop, and he's
been to church twice now and is reading the Book of Mormon. A
progressing investigator if you ask me!
Afterwards we went over the baptismal questions with Bellna, our
kikongo speaking investigator whose uncle is Elvis, and she is solid
and ready for baptism on Saturday :)
That night we made corn chowder and cinnamon rolls. It was the most
amazing batch I'd ever made. Cinnabon came to the Congo and invaded
our kitchen. Sister Bailey gave me a frosting recipe, so we were set.
Incredible.
Friday was a wonderful day as well. We went to Darcyne's again and
split to talk to Maya, her oldest daughter, and the rest of the kids.
Jhostavie and I went over the baptismal questions with Maya, and that
went super well. She's got a kickin testimony and she's super smart
for her age. She'll make a great addition to the church, especially
considering she'll be with her family. :) Darcyne is the nicest
woman. She's like my older sister I never had. She gave me 8
different pieces of African fabric so I could make ties, just because
I told her on Wednesday that I loved the patterns and loved to make
ties with them. She is a saint, and her kids are angels.
Well...they're hilarious and adorable anyway.
We sat down with those two new guys from Tuesday and the music one
gave us the same story. I didn't know what to say, after having
already explained it a million times. So I just repeated myself,
again. I think he got it this time.
Saturday was sweet. We sat down with Milandou, who said he'd come to
church Sunday (he didn't), but it was a really spiritual experience.
We walked over to see that ancient, blind dinosaur of a woman Maman
Tété because it'd been forever and Elder Hatch had never met her. She
was there, but didn't believe her grandson when he told us we'd come.
When she finally opened the door, we all sat down together and in
kikongo she told us she was upset that we didn't pass by the house to
say hello anymore or eat sakasaka together. It was sad, but also
adorable. She is seriously SO old haha. When we left we went to see
Cécile, she said she was sick, but was about to sit down to do this
enormous stack of dishes. Without really asking we kinda just took
over, grabbed some soap and got to work. She about died laughing,
along with the 5 other women in the parcelle, and then every person,
man and woman, that walked in for the next 30 minutes. It was great.
Because of that, she was much more at ease with us while we talked
about the plan of salvation. It was a wonderful lesson. It always
is. We got to see Prudence again, and for maybe the second time in 7
months she went the whole lesson without breastfeeding her son Nephi.
She even offered us a Coke! What a nice woman. The next Relief
Society President.
Then I walked by a little boy in the quartier wearing a Backstreet
Boys shirt. Incredible.
We went to the church and sat down with President Caillet to talk
about things we thought could be better in the branch (how not to bear
testimony, how not to give a talk, how not to teach the Gospel
Principles class), and then we sat down with Ephraim who had randomly
popped out of the baptismal service that was taking place while we
were in branch council. He is one weird dude, but so funny.
On the way home I talked to the taxi driver the whole way only in
kikongo. It was so cool! I think he was a little drunk, because when
we first got in he just started going off in kituba. Thankfully I was
able to respond. What a nice man.
We were missing some investigators at church on Sunday, but we still
had 14 people make it to sacrament. Ephraim came straight from the
club, so he was whipped and half delusional. We went to the Bailey's
afterwards to finalize some plans we had made for p-day.
And that leads us to today! We skipped basketball to help Elder
Bailey get a bunch of stuff for our apartment and bring over the beds
and whatnot. It was a really long day. None of the markets were open
because it's the day of Pentecost. We ended up getting a ton of stuff
from a boutique across from the Foucks apartment, and then we headed
home and got installed in our new place! It's pretty cozy. The best
part will be living in our sector. We walk out and teach the people
across the street. It will be fantastic. More to come. More people
to meet, more people to love!
Have a wonderful week. You are a child of God, and He loves you :)
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