October 27

Well, the Internet for the computer that I'm typing on isn't working,
so I'm using Notebook and praying that eventually I can just copy and
paste this to send home...

We had a great FHE with Darcyne's family last week after writing home.
We went over there and, with the help of Sister Bailey, taught a
lesson on obeying their mom by playing Simon says.  Afterwards we made
a paper chain of different tasks they could do around the house to
help their mom and then when they're done they can clip off the chain.
They loved it.  I just hope they keep going without us...

Tuesday was pretty normal, except that we watched two 1940's style
fighter jets land at the airport.  You know the kinds that have the
mouth and teeth painted on the front?  Yeah, but Congolese so it was
extra intimidating.  When we went out to see our new investigator
Nathanael he told us about how he'd already read all of 1st Nephi.  It
was amazing.  He's probably through Mosiah by now.  I can't wait to
ask him tomorrow.  He's stellar.  He's the first vegetarian I've met
in Africa, if I haven't said that already.  He also blinks a lot,
haha.  But he grows his own cabbage, so that's cool.  We're looking to
help him farm some time for a service project.

We finally got to see Dieu-Merci at home.  His mom hasn't been letting
him go to church because she consulted a witch doctor and they told
her the church was evil and sacrifices young men :( we're hoping that
through visits from the other young men and us that her heart will be
softened and all will be well.

We met up with the Pointe-Noire elders at the hospital the next day
and sent off Elder Sperry to babysit Elder Bybee at their apartment
house.  He's still recovering from his surgery, so he can't do too
much unfortunately.  Meanwhile, Elder Johnston and I went out to do
some interviews for our upcoming baptisms.  We ended up having a
couple extra minutes before our first interview, so we went out to see
Loic, another friend of ours, and then we went out to see Hermeland.
Well...he wasn't there.  And when I called him he had apparently been
called into work on an emergency, so that was frustrating.  He was
willing to do just about anything the next day to make up for it though, and
fortunately the Pointe-Noire Elders were in the area getting Elder
Bybee's bandage redressed, so they were able to take care of the interview then.

Before, however, we were walking on the rails to Josna's when we were
stopped by this very professional man who said he'd found an
insufficient amount of information on Google about the Church and
wanted a Book of Mormon.  We were very happy to give him one.
Unfortunately, he doesn't live in our sector, but I'm sure the other
elders will love teaching him.  Afterwards we went out to do Josna's
interview, and that went pretty well.  She's the one that's been
studying with the Pointe-Noire elders but just barely moved into our
sector.  We went out to see Daniele, but en route ran into her older
sister who told us she'd left for the hospital earlier and wasn't at
their grandma's house where we'd planned on meeting.  Instead, we
walked together to see if she'd be at their house, but she wasn't.  I
gave her sister our phone to call her grandma and see if they were
anywhere near, and turns out they were on their way but didn't say how
much time it would be.  We left in hopes of coming back to find her,
but right as we were walking out I heard, "Elder Garland!!" and it was
Daniele, just getting back.  So she aced her interview and then we
headed out to the Foucks apartment to change up again.

I don't know if I ever told you about Evangelist Destin...he's this
really crazy preacher guy who roams the streets of KM4 and la Base and
we always run into him.  He was the first person we saw on Thursday,
and it was just comical.  He always quotes a scripture at us and then
says, "God bless you" and peaces out.  What is his purpose in my
mission I wonder?!?

Down by Josna's house we were sitting down with the 14 year old cousin
of a member.  Her name is Willvie, and we'd given her the Book of
Mormon the other day and told her to pray about it.  We said that when
she finishes praying though, she shouldn't just get up and go about
her business, but that she should give God a minute to respond to her
questions.  When we went over to her house on Thursday she said that
she did as we told her, and that as she listened to her heart she felt
like God was telling her that it was true.  It was a very humble
testimony, but it touched my heart as well and I knew that what she
was saying was true.  How cool that God will speak to ALL of His
children who search in honest desire to know the truth!  I'll always
remember that.

After weekly planning we split with the Mpaka elders.  I went over to
Mpaka and Elder Tripp came over to l'Aeorport.  I always enjoy going
back to Mpaka.  Elder Ralison wasn't feeling great, so Elder Naughton
and I made 500g worth of spaghetti and tackled a half a kilo of beef
for our sauce.  It was most excellent.  The sweetest feeling was
sleeping in the ice box with a big, cozy blanket.

I followed the others around the next day in my old sector and got to
do a few interviews for them.  The best part was seeing a recent
convert of mine who'd kinda disappeared - Arian.  He looked good, and
he was really happy to see me.  That made me feel good.  Now I just
hope he keeps going back to church!  The good news is that he was
sitting down with Elder Etherington and Nkulu and getting an earful
from them.  That's always motivating for Africans.

On Saturday the Young Women were having an activity but couldn't
figure out how to work the oven, so they asked me to save the day.  I
was happy to help in return for a piece of the cake they were learning
how to cook, haha.  We had been out to see Lovely, but she wasn't at
home.  Neither was Elsa, who we were hoping would teach with us.  We
had to go back to the church to meet with Paco for coordination
meeting, and on our way we called and invited several other members
who we thought would be called as branch missionaries.

Hermeland's baptism went off without a hitch.  He'd asked Paco to
baptize him, but had only met him once and couldn't even remember his
name haha.  Classic.  He bore his testimony afterwards and I guess it
was really nice - Elder Sperry and I regrettably had to leave to go
teach the Preach My Gospel class that we decided to start for the
branch missionaries, but at least the class went well.  There's been
some parachutists training right above the church, so we got to see
some on Saturday.  It was pretty cool.  I hope I get to go skydiving
some day...just a side thought.

We had another 24 investigators at church.  They just keep coming...5
of them were new, and 2 live in the Mpaka sector.  One of them was a
girl who told us at the beginning, "Oh I was invited by a brother..."
and by the end confessed that the "brother" was actually God.  God had
invited her to come pray at our church.  That's a pretty good start to
a testimony! :)  One brother gave an incredible talk about what makes
the church true.  He talked about how if you let a blind person touch
an elephant and have him describe to you what an elephant is, though
he's not lying about what he can feel he won't be able to give you the
whole picture.  The Church is the elephant...there are good churches
in the world who preach the Gospel of Christ - they're telling the
truth!  But there's something missing that doesn't make it the whole
truth.  In the Church we have the WHOLE truth!  What a blessing it is
to know that.

There were 5 million people who wanted to talk to me after church,
which is what makes church stressful, but it always works out in the
end.  We chatted with the Mpaka elders who came afterwards, and I got
to do another interview for them, but eventually we had to go out to
see Josna.  Unfortunately, she wasn't at the house.  We walked all the
way back passed the church to Raoul's house to meet his friend that
came to English class who happens to be living at his house.  Well, he
wasn't there either.  We took advantage of being with a member though
to teach Desty, who once again wanted to walk with us.  We had to go
home after that lesson, and the Baileys were kind enough to invite us
over for dinner - we had some homemade vegetable soupe and bread.  The
ensemble was good, but the thing that touched me the most was the
salted butter.  I have never had a bar of salted butter in my fridge
in the last two years.  It was amazing.  My tongue rejoiced.

Now I'm just preparing my course list for this winter at BYU.  It's
weird mixing secular needs into the mission...like I shouldn't be
thinking about these things but am obliged to.  Maybe it's God's way
of easing me back into the real world.  Lord knows I'll need as much
help as I can get!  Not that I'll abandon my missionary habits, but
living in a 3rd world country for 2 years has an effect on you.
Coming back from 1st world France and going to Wal-Mart the next day
was hard enough!  Anyway, I'm excited to go back to school.  I'm
excited to stay busy.  For the moment, however, I still have 7 more
P-Days, and I plan on making most of every day in between this and the
last!

I love you, I pray for you.

Elder Garland