What an excellent week.
When I was at the Bailey's last week they
gave
me a CD they found of acoustic guitar arrangements of church
hymns, so last week I laid in bed and listened to it for the first
time annnddd I couldn't help but cry haha. I miss playing guitar so
much. I dream about it, I play air guitar, I sing the guitar parts
out loud, etc.
Despite all that, it doesn't get in the way of missionary work, thank
goodness. We had a rough week as far as lessons go. People were
particularly hard to get a hold of for some reason, so I didn't have
as many funny moments throughout the week.
One thing happened on Tuesday while we were sitting with a less-active
member. We were sitting on the side of the path and this little man
holding a plastic bottle of whiskey comes by and, in Munikituba, asks
us if he can do a trick for us for 300 CFA (about 60 cents).
Jhostavie, the branch missionary we were working with, told him that
we only speak English so he would go away, but he does it anyway. He
pulled his neck down into...itself...and it falttened out like a cobra
neck and he crossed his eyes and puffed his cheeks out. It was
hilarious. But...no money for him haha, sorry little drunk man.
Maybe next time.
On Wednesday we went on splits and I got to work with Elder Wright in
his sector. I got to talk to one of his investigators about France
because he lives there 6 months of the year, and he's not far from
Grenoble! He even knows Annecy, so I got to talk to him about that
for a while, it was wonderful. He gave us his wife's information
(she's still in France) so the missionaries could visit her back
there. Afterwards, we went to visit these two guys who are preparing
to be baptized on Saturday. They had called us in the morning to tell
us their mom had just died that morning, so we went over to comfort
them and the family. It was pretty different than your average
American mourning scene. For one, Claude, the 18 year old, was
totally indifferent about it outwardly. He talked to us like nothing
had happened. Meanwhile, inside the house, his older sister was
weeping and wailing like nothing I had ever heard. It was awful. We
went in to try to comfort her by talking about the plan of salvation
and where she is right now in a better place, and she was pretty calm
the whole time, but as soon as we walked back outside she was off
wailing again. They cope pretty differently I guess...I just thought
it was sad that they basically have like 0 hope of seeing them again.
They don't quite understand yet. But alas.
Elder Wright and I ended walking a ton trying to find people to teach,
and it went pretty well. One of the taxis we did get to take was
actually air-conditioned, it was incredible. That's the second one
I've ever been in. Then I saw a kid wearing a Flight of the Conchords
shirt and it made my day.
On Thursday I was back in my sector with Elder Etherington, but it was
rough. We had a great time with Armel and his sister-in-law, but
afterwards no one that we'd planned on seeing was home or available.
We went to the church so my companion could help the Mpaka choir
practice while I was supposed to teach people with Paco outside, but
the people never came. So that was unfortunate, but we learned our
lesson. No more practice haha. We went to Fond Tie Tie to meet the
Mpaka elders so we could split. I sent Elder Hatch into our sector
and I left to Mpaka to work in my old sector with Elder
Rakotonindriana. About 30 seconds from the house we crossed a truck
stuck in the mud. It was already night, but we wanted to help. For
the next 45 minutes we were slipping around, getting dirty, and trying
to help dig it out. Eventually, 5 or 6 other people stopped to help
or stand there and give directions, so we were pretty much uneeded.
And it was getting late, so we went home and ate a delicious pizza
made by the famous Elder VanAusdal. He used real orange cheddar
cheese - the first I've seen on my mission. I was so excited. The
pizza was so good. Hopefully we can find some today. Oh and a drunk
guy stopped us and told us his name was Kevin. I asked him how to
spell it and he said, "like Jesus." I didn't know what to write. He
said again, "FIVE letters, just like Jesus." I replied, "oohhhh right
of course..." and we invited him to church and moved on.
For time purposes I'm going to refer to Elder Rakotonindriana from now
on as Rako. The kid is hilarious. He is ALWAYS laughing or smiling
or preaching the Gospel or all three at the same time. It's awesome.
He speaks perfect English from going to Anglophone school in middle
and high school, and speaks fluent Turkish from studying the language
in school. He has an Olympiad gold medal for poem reading that he won
in Instanbul, and his dad is a two-time world champion French Boxer
and is now a personal body guard for the CEO of a telephone company in
Madagascar. We had a great time talking about his life throughout the
day, and had an even better time talking with the investigators. I
felt bad though because I basically spoke 50% Munikituba the whole day
with our investigators, and they gave Rako a hard time because he's
black and doesn't speak their language but the white guy does haha.
We met back up at Fond Tie Tie and it was good to be back in Foucks.
On Saturday we helped filled Pointe-Noire's baptismal font bucket by
bucket, and with 6 of us it only took like an hour. I can feel it in
my back though - I spent 45 minutes drawing water out of a below
ground cistern with a bucket and pouring it into other buckets. It
was great to assist the baptism though. We went out to our own and
got to welcome tons of people for Cedric, Lisa, and Lovely's baptism.
Afterwards, I taught English while my companion taught our recent
convert and the Mpaka elders went to the airport to pick up a surprise
Elder Tweneboah from Ghana who's going to work in Mpaka! We got to
meet him at church, and he's a wonderful man. Ready to work and
learn!
On Sunday we had an another 17 investigators at church, but we were
missing our favorite family because of sickness. The service was
great. Cedric asked me to confirm him, so that was great. I really
appreciated the opportunity, but it's nerve wracking to give blessings
in front of everyone! We sat down with a girl who's been coming to
church for a long time but never met the missionaries and we committed
her to be baptized on the spot! When we got home we made veggie chili
and cornbread and then for the rest of the evening, surprise, I played
guitar! I forgot to mention that during the baptism one of the Mpaka
members brought a guitar to the church. He said I could borrow it,
but there were no strings except 4 that he'd taken off and wrapped up
and put inside. Well, I took it home, strung up the E, A, D, and B
and went to town. It was heaven on Earth. I've missed it so much.
No more guitar dreams for this guy! Today we're going to look for
some new strings, so we'll see how that goes. I'm pumped though. I
was pleased to find out that I can still play some originals! As for
the instrumentals...we'll see when I get the strings. Anyway. I'm
ecstatic.
HEY! I love this work, and I love you. I could write a book of
everything I've learned since I've showed up in Africa. I'll need
your help when I get home. I need you to keep reminding me every once
in a while that all this actually happened, that it wasn't just a
dream. At the speed that time is passing, I'd think it was fake. So
just say "Africa" to me every so often if I ever start showing some of
my old habits. Thank you for your example. You are what makes the
world go round. Good, honest, hard-working Christians that DON'T want
to watch the world burn and are constantly working to put out the
fires that others are starting! Keep it up. God has your back, and
when you fall he has your hand.
Have an amazing week, whoever you are!
Elder Garland
hymns, so last week I laid in bed and listened to it for the first
time annnddd I couldn't help but cry haha. I miss playing guitar so
much. I dream about it, I play air guitar, I sing the guitar parts
out loud, etc.
Despite all that, it doesn't get in the way of missionary work, thank
goodness. We had a rough week as far as lessons go. People were
particularly hard to get a hold of for some reason, so I didn't have
as many funny moments throughout the week.
One thing happened on Tuesday while we were sitting with a less-active
member. We were sitting on the side of the path and this little man
holding a plastic bottle of whiskey comes by and, in Munikituba, asks
us if he can do a trick for us for 300 CFA (about 60 cents).
Jhostavie, the branch missionary we were working with, told him that
we only speak English so he would go away, but he does it anyway. He
pulled his neck down into...itself...and it falttened out like a cobra
neck and he crossed his eyes and puffed his cheeks out. It was
hilarious. But...no money for him haha, sorry little drunk man.
Maybe next time.
On Wednesday we went on splits and I got to work with Elder Wright in
his sector. I got to talk to one of his investigators about France
because he lives there 6 months of the year, and he's not far from
Grenoble! He even knows Annecy, so I got to talk to him about that
for a while, it was wonderful. He gave us his wife's information
(she's still in France) so the missionaries could visit her back
there. Afterwards, we went to visit these two guys who are preparing
to be baptized on Saturday. They had called us in the morning to tell
us their mom had just died that morning, so we went over to comfort
them and the family. It was pretty different than your average
American mourning scene. For one, Claude, the 18 year old, was
totally indifferent about it outwardly. He talked to us like nothing
had happened. Meanwhile, inside the house, his older sister was
weeping and wailing like nothing I had ever heard. It was awful. We
went in to try to comfort her by talking about the plan of salvation
and where she is right now in a better place, and she was pretty calm
the whole time, but as soon as we walked back outside she was off
wailing again. They cope pretty differently I guess...I just thought
it was sad that they basically have like 0 hope of seeing them again.
They don't quite understand yet. But alas.
Elder Wright and I ended walking a ton trying to find people to teach,
and it went pretty well. One of the taxis we did get to take was
actually air-conditioned, it was incredible. That's the second one
I've ever been in. Then I saw a kid wearing a Flight of the Conchords
shirt and it made my day.
On Thursday I was back in my sector with Elder Etherington, but it was
rough. We had a great time with Armel and his sister-in-law, but
afterwards no one that we'd planned on seeing was home or available.
We went to the church so my companion could help the Mpaka choir
practice while I was supposed to teach people with Paco outside, but
the people never came. So that was unfortunate, but we learned our
lesson. No more practice haha. We went to Fond Tie Tie to meet the
Mpaka elders so we could split. I sent Elder Hatch into our sector
and I left to Mpaka to work in my old sector with Elder
Rakotonindriana. About 30 seconds from the house we crossed a truck
stuck in the mud. It was already night, but we wanted to help. For
the next 45 minutes we were slipping around, getting dirty, and trying
to help dig it out. Eventually, 5 or 6 other people stopped to help
or stand there and give directions, so we were pretty much uneeded.
And it was getting late, so we went home and ate a delicious pizza
made by the famous Elder VanAusdal. He used real orange cheddar
cheese - the first I've seen on my mission. I was so excited. The
pizza was so good. Hopefully we can find some today. Oh and a drunk
guy stopped us and told us his name was Kevin. I asked him how to
spell it and he said, "like Jesus." I didn't know what to write. He
said again, "FIVE letters, just like Jesus." I replied, "oohhhh right
of course..." and we invited him to church and moved on.
For time purposes I'm going to refer to Elder Rakotonindriana from now
on as Rako. The kid is hilarious. He is ALWAYS laughing or smiling
or preaching the Gospel or all three at the same time. It's awesome.
He speaks perfect English from going to Anglophone school in middle
and high school, and speaks fluent Turkish from studying the language
in school. He has an Olympiad gold medal for poem reading that he won
in Instanbul, and his dad is a two-time world champion French Boxer
and is now a personal body guard for the CEO of a telephone company in
Madagascar. We had a great time talking about his life throughout the
day, and had an even better time talking with the investigators. I
felt bad though because I basically spoke 50% Munikituba the whole day
with our investigators, and they gave Rako a hard time because he's
black and doesn't speak their language but the white guy does haha.
We met back up at Fond Tie Tie and it was good to be back in Foucks.
On Saturday we helped filled Pointe-Noire's baptismal font bucket by
bucket, and with 6 of us it only took like an hour. I can feel it in
my back though - I spent 45 minutes drawing water out of a below
ground cistern with a bucket and pouring it into other buckets. It
was great to assist the baptism though. We went out to our own and
got to welcome tons of people for Cedric, Lisa, and Lovely's baptism.
Afterwards, I taught English while my companion taught our recent
convert and the Mpaka elders went to the airport to pick up a surprise
Elder Tweneboah from Ghana who's going to work in Mpaka! We got to
meet him at church, and he's a wonderful man. Ready to work and
learn!
On Sunday we had an another 17 investigators at church, but we were
missing our favorite family because of sickness. The service was
great. Cedric asked me to confirm him, so that was great. I really
appreciated the opportunity, but it's nerve wracking to give blessings
in front of everyone! We sat down with a girl who's been coming to
church for a long time but never met the missionaries and we committed
her to be baptized on the spot! When we got home we made veggie chili
and cornbread and then for the rest of the evening, surprise, I played
guitar! I forgot to mention that during the baptism one of the Mpaka
members brought a guitar to the church. He said I could borrow it,
but there were no strings except 4 that he'd taken off and wrapped up
and put inside. Well, I took it home, strung up the E, A, D, and B
and went to town. It was heaven on Earth. I've missed it so much.
No more guitar dreams for this guy! Today we're going to look for
some new strings, so we'll see how that goes. I'm pumped though. I
was pleased to find out that I can still play some originals! As for
the instrumentals...we'll see when I get the strings. Anyway. I'm
ecstatic.
HEY! I love this work, and I love you. I could write a book of
everything I've learned since I've showed up in Africa. I'll need
your help when I get home. I need you to keep reminding me every once
in a while that all this actually happened, that it wasn't just a
dream. At the speed that time is passing, I'd think it was fake. So
just say "Africa" to me every so often if I ever start showing some of
my old habits. Thank you for your example. You are what makes the
world go round. Good, honest, hard-working Christians that DON'T want
to watch the world burn and are constantly working to put out the
fires that others are starting! Keep it up. God has your back, and
when you fall he has your hand.
Have an amazing week, whoever you are!
Elder Garland
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