August 18

Ookkkk here we go, 30 minutes!

We had a great week.  Again.  I know I know, how can we have so much fun and be so happy so often?!?!  It's all in the attitude.  Elder Sperry is helping me be less sarcastic, which has helped a lot.  So I'm just happy like...all the time haha.  I love my companion.  We had a couple rough days as far as teaching goes, but we got to do a lot of service this week, thus making up for the lack thereof for the last couple months. 

We were at the Beri family's house on Tuesday night and here's how it usually goes - we show up while Maman Cecile is preparing, and we just sit right down and start washing all her dishes, which she laughs hysterically about but lets us do it.  Then we chat in kikongo for a while and laugh at my companion because he doesn't understand.  Then we feel bad so we tell him everything we're saying.  Then he says something in kikongo and everyone busts up laughing.  We get up to leave, but Maman Cecile makes us stay to eat roasted peanuts and manioc roots.  Elder Sperry is deathly allergic to peanuts, so I eat his share and feel really great.  All of that happens probably 2-3 times a week haha.

On Wednesday, the Foucks elders were having their apartment painted, so we went to Mpaka again for District Meeting.  Elder Masse talked to us about loving our investigators - even if they don't follow through with their commitments.  It was great.  Again - changing my attitude !  We came home and met back with our new favorite maman Janette.  We had this great talk on repentance and forgiveness.  It's cool to see that people of ALL ages can still embrace the Gospel and change their lives.  It's not too late!  We got to sit down with Jhostavie's uncle who thinks we're all Free-Masons (remember, that's a bad thing here because they think they sacrifice babies) and tell him about the church and how we're actually nice.  It was really great.

We walked around with Paco on Thursday and he helped us a lot.  As per usual.

Friday was Independence Day!  Happy 54 years Congo!  You're...getting there haha.  Staying positive.  We met up with Darcyne at her house and found out they were planning on moving Saturday, so we took a rendezvous to come back to help.  We went back to Janette's and helped her move bricks (again - hilarious, chatting in kikongo, neighbors laughing/dying, etc.) and tear down this little kiosk she used to have to sell bread but is now using the wood to cover an old gazebo of hers. 

On Saturday morning we left early to help Darcyne move out.  It took us 4 hours to help her take all her stuff out of the house and stack it all in her...driveway...? Anyway, we had to leave to get ready for the baptism at 3, and as we were walking out, the moving truck was pulling in.  We'll have to wait till next Wednesday to see the new house. 

The baptism was incredible.  Sister Padma from the Mpaka branch had waited over a year for that day.  It was a marvelous service.  She wanted to bear her testimony afterwards, but because it wasn't in the program President Caillet nixed it.  Sooo as soon as the closing prayer was offered, I got up and announced that she was going to bear her testimony.  A) I wanted to hear it B) it was HER baptism.  And her testimony was beautiful and she cried and other people cried. Miraculously I survived.

Lots of people were at church on Sunday.  New faces, old faces.  New faces that were just straight old.  We sat down with one of our baptismal candidates, met Paco's neighbor who loved church, ate leftover bread and spaghetti, made corn chowder, went to bed full.   I wish I had more cool things to write about this week, but time is lacking...maybe some day you'll get to read my journal when I type it up and publish it on the internetz.

So.  I love you.  Have a great week.

Oh by the way, Elder Sperry and I are officially together for another transfer.  Woop woop!!!  That means that, if I leave after this next transfer, I will have spent a year here.  Yikes. 

Ok.  Byo.

Elder Garland