June 16

Salut !!

Just another crazy week in Congo.  This week was no exception, as the
Baileys prepared to leave for Kinshasa and confided the house to us on
Thursday.  On Tuesday, however, we had a pretty normal day.  We
prepared our kikongo speaking friend for her baptismal interview, and
got to help another recent convert dig a well in his back yard using a
very long 2x2 piece of wood attached to what looked like a garden
watering can with the bottom blown out.  In a little over 3 hours they
had already dug like 15 feet deep and had reached fresh water.
Incredible.  The earth here is divine.

We went over the baptismal questions with some other investigators in
preparation for their interview Thursday, and then we went to the
market to get some veggies because no one was available on Monday.  I
even got the mamans to forward me the veggies until next week.  We've
got friends in the market haha.

We had some extra time when we got back, so we decided to make some
more friends with our neighbors.  We met Muhammed, our Senegalese
boutique friend to the left, who gave us a free Coke just because.  So
nice.  He left his wife and kids in Senegal to make money here, which
he sends back home every now and then.  He sleeps in his boutique.
Our other boutique friend, Ngodai, is also from Senegal, but no free
stuff from him.  It was nice to just say hi though.  We also got free
beignets from these mamans in front of Muhammed's.  Way too greasy,
but they were very nice haha.

When we got home there was an enormous huntsman spider chillin in our
stairwell, so I speared it with a brand new plastic broom that the
Baileys bought us.  The spider died, at the cost of the broom, which
exploded in half when it came crashing down with the dead spider.

On Wednesday we followed the Baileys to Mpaka for their district
meeting, and that was really cool.  Elder Rako talked about focusing
on the Spirit during lessons and helping our investigators recognize
the Spirit.  It was cool!  We saw Maya for a few minutes to ask if she
still wanted to be baptized on Saturday, which she did!  The best part
of the day was when we saw Gerlene, an ancient investigator that for
some reason was never baptized.  We finally started working with her,
got her to fast to overcome some difficulties she was having, and then
she had this amazing experience fasting and told us how things were
just started to work themselves out.  Incredible.  God is working so
hard with the people here.  It's awesome to watch!  Afterwards, we
were invited by President Mabiyala to go consecrate a member's house
while we were getting ratéd by an ami, so that was a really sweet
experience too.  I didn't even know the lady, but when we got there
she asked me to say the prayer.  It was probably one of the most
sincere prayers I've ever said in my life.  What a wonderful
experience.  To thank us, she offered to feed us trois pièces, which
is a meal consisting of smoked fish, peanut butter, and grass
clippings (essentially).  BUT!  It was delicious. She topped it off
with a Coke.  What a nice woman.

On Thursday, we split so Elder Johnston could come do our interview in
our sector with me while Hatch went with Elder Bybee in their sector.
I got to teach some people while Elder Johnston was interviewing, so I
wasn't just doinking around like I probably would have done at the
beginning of my mission.  I was happy to see progression haha.
Anyway, Helena, Glad, and Belna all passed their interviews.  Maya
went partying the other weekend, so she has another week or so to
think about what she really wants.  She was super upset to find out
that she wouldn't be baptized on Saturday, but I think she understands
why.  At least she was upset!  That's a good start haha.  After we did
all the interviews, Elder Johnston and I went over to check on our
Canadian friends in the same quartier as the church.  When we got
there, the mom let us in no problem!  She invited us to sit down in
her kitchen to chat with her and her cook, Hervé.  For the next hour
or so we just talked about where she came from, what she's doing here,
etc. etc. etc.  She's a really motivated woman.  She's here only to
help orphaned children.  One of those people who doesn't only talk
about doing stuff, but ACTUALLY does it.  They have a lot of land here
that they're planning on building a little village for orphans.  It's
pretty impressive.  We just have some different ideas on the nature of
God and our destination as children of God, but she said she would
love to have us come back to keep talking about it.

I made Elder Johnston make us his secret vegetable sauce.  Delicious.

Friday was...not so productive haha.  We had zone council for 4 hours,
throughout which we understood one word in ever 500 or so.  So
basically it was a big waste of time, but we asked for a resume so we
could actually base zone training off of something tangible.  We did
have time to go see Divine at Lisa's house, which ended up being one
of the most trying moments of my mission.  We walked in, and Leonard,
Lisa's dad, was watching Cameroun play against Mexico.  We sat down,
asked if Divine was there, and when she came out I had to make the
decision to take our lesson outside.  I could've just as easily
suggested we watch a few minutes of the game together, but alas...I
knew what was the right thing to do.  God blessed us though, because
after we sat down with Lovely and headed home, the last 5 minutes were
playing on a TV right next to our house.  We got to watch the Lions
lose, but I was happy just to see a couple passes and Eto'o play.

We had a fulfilling Saturday.  We left early to go see Maya and
console her about her baptism, but we were able to help her understand
why we were pushing it back.  In the end, she understood and is still
motivated to push for next week.  We went straight to the church to
start filling the font, set up the chairs and sweep/mop to make the
place spiffy for the baptism.  Everyone came on time, including
President Caillet and Alain, which was a miracle in itself.  Everyone
was changed, sitting down and ready to party by 3.  I don't know if
that's ever happened in the history of my mission.  It was as smooth
as the Président butter that the Baileys bought us.  We were supposed
to meet with Josué after, but he left before we could chat with him.
While we were looking for him we got a call from Maya asking us to
come to this festival of arts that her mom (Darcyne) was cooking at.
We were really pressed for time, but for the sake of making our recent
and soon to be convert happy we took a taxi out there with all the
baptismal clothes.  When we got to the door of the complex there were
people standing at the door as if you were supposed to pay, but due to
our extreme confidence and God we just walked up, said excuse me, and
walked in like a couple of bosses that knew/owned the place.  We were
surprised to find that not only were we not the only white people, but
there was a pretty even spread of white and African.  Incredible.  It
was the most amount of white people I've seen in the same place at the
same time.  They even have kids!  For some reason I've always thought
that the white people who were here are just here by themselves.
Nope.  Bonafide white kids running around.  Darcyne was especially
happy to see us.  She was all smiles.  She wanted to offer us
something to eat but we had to tell her hello and goodbye.  Sophie,
our French friend, was there as well, so that was nice.  We went home,
made delicious corn chowder, and slept with beautiful air
conditioning.

On Sunday our recently baptized friends were confirmed with no
problems.  Helena asked me to confirm her, which is always an
incredible experience.  I think it was the most comfortable I've been
confirming someone/giving a blessing.  The words just come out the
more you base yourself on the Spirit and not on your own words.  It
was very sweet, very tender.  I loved a talk that a member gave.  He
said that "humility is what makes people shine."  I love that!  It's
so true.  After walking around for an hour and a half looking for a
less-active member we finally found her.  We had no more time and she
wasn't available to talk with us, but she was really happy to see that
people still cared about her.  At least we got her phone number!  We
got home, planned for today, and made delicious chili and corn bread.

New people I've met this week - Krishna, Hosanna, and Millecent (One
thousand hundred).  So yeah.

I love you all.  Have a wonderful week.  You're the best of the best!
Be safe.  I want to see you when I get back, so I'll do the same.

All my love,

Elder Garland