This has been a pretty dramatic week. On Monday night my companion and I went to an FHE with the first counselor in the ward, and what did he have for us to eat? Steamed catipillars and fufu, which I'd requested last week! It was actually super good...I wish I could explain it with words, but just know that once it's in your mouth you don't really know that you're eating little critters :)
Tuesday was pretty busy. We got to see some of the recent converts in the ward, and we met this guy who had met the missionaries in France and got married to a Japanese woman and came back with his kids (who are beautiful, by the way) to the Congo. He's quite the character. We only saw him that once, but hopefully I'll have some more news on his progression this next week.
On our way to district meeting on Wednesday I was getting into the front seat of the bus when my companion, who was behind me, calls out to me that he'd just got a phone call from the landlord that he didn't have a key to the house and needed one to let the plumber and electrician install the pump for the water. So, though I was frustrated, I got out of the bus and called the Kinsoundi elders to tell them that we'd be late. Only then did they tell us that the meeting had been cancelled because Elder Ntambwe had to go to the hospital for a rash under his arm. I don't know why they didn't call us before, but God does! And he stopped us from wasting our time going all the way out there for nothing. Instead, we just continued with our normal morning schedule and then went to the Bacongo district meeting, which was great. We got a coordonnee from the sister missionaries, but didn't know if it was in our sector or not. After some asking around and getting directions, we decided to go see the girl even though she was outside or sector. We just wanted to get a first contact with her and then pass her off to the other elders. She turned out to be really cool, and she speaks Kituba! Her mom was so excited she gave us a little of this really bitter papaya-looking fruit called "Tchiya" which means "hot" or "fire" in Kituba, but no relation between the two apparently. She said the closing prayer in Lari, the dominant language in my sector, and I actually understood most of it with my Lingala knowledge combined with the kikongo. It was sweet.
Elder Leavitt had some bad news...he'd been to the hospital for some more tests and found out that he'd accumulated 2 liters of fluid around his chest cavity surrounding his lungs, so they decided that they would send him to Seattle to be treated, and that he'd leave Friday. I was shocked. I'm leaving pretty soon, but the thought of going home Friday made me kinda freak out. Plus I feel really bad for Elder Leavitt. On the outside he seems ok, other than he wasn't eating much, but he was suffering pretty bad on the inside. So we sat down and chatted for the next hour or so about how that would be, going home and all. He was really bummed, but he got the promise that he'd get to come back to this mission, so that was good.
On Thursday, after 3 weeks of suffering, we finally got a small fridge and an oven. Blessings. We'd gotten a text from the Assistants that they were waiting for us at the office, so we huffed out there in a rush only to find out that they meant to text the other zone leaders. Woops. We decided to just do weekly planning at the office, and by the time we were done we were invited to go to the Bills' to help them start preparing dinner for Thanksgiving. We helped skin, core, and cut apples for a crisp, and tear apart some homemade bread for stuffing. We took everything to the Nelsons' where we sat down with our own apple and a handful of toothpicks and gumdrops to make apple turkeys haha, it was fun. Then we loaded plates of chicken, rice and gravy, green bean casserole, and stuffing. It was awesome. For dessert we had the apple crisp and a vanilla custard with whipped cream. Incredible. I was so thankful for the opportunity to celebrate with a handful of Americans in the middle of Africa. There are too many things to list for which I'm thankful for...but I'm infinitely greatful for this chance to serve a mission. The blessings have been endless and often undeserved, but they keep coming!
We said goodbye to Elder Leavitt early Friday morning, and sent him off with the Nelsons to their trip South Africa. We found out on Saturday that Elder Leavitt had barely made the trip and that he had to stay there to be treated instead of taking the flight to Seattle. We decided to fast for him on Sunday, and we continue to pray for him. It might be tuberculosis, but we're still waiting for more news.
Because of his leaving, we took on Elder Rakotonindriana as a third companion and had to adapt our program for him. We picked him up at the office (he'd gone with the Nelsons to drop off his companion at the airport), and then we came back and at before leaving. We only got to see one of our recent converts, but at least we know now where he lives!
On Saturday we showed up to one of our rendezvous, but they weren't there. We were standing in the road thinking about what we were going to do when this younger guy came up and was like, "When is the end of suffering?" So we just said...can we sit down with you for a minute? Haha it was classic. We sat down, answered a few questions, gave him a brochure, took his phone number, and prayed. Missionary work is easy when people have the courage to approach you! We went from the sector to the stake conference, where a brother was playing hymns on a recorder. The conference was great. They talked about raising kids, traditions, justifications, home teaching, etc. The members really needed to hear the messages that were given; I hope it went home to them!
I also found some old friends on Sunday - Floger and Odenelle from Mpaka! I was so happy to see them. We got to chat like old chums for a while before we went back home. I was also really happy to break my fast over a steaming plate of mac n' cheese and drain a 1.5 liter of ice cold water. It's always worth fasting, haha.
I love you all! I will see you all in a little over 2 weeks...incredible. Say your prayers, read your scriptures, go to church. It'll be ok.
Elder Garland
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