Lundberg
and I have been praying for interesting things to happen every day to help keep
our spirits up, and Heavenly Father has heard those prayers without a doubt. We have been laughing so hard almost every day!
Lundberg has even started drawing comics
to keep a record of our adventures. So
to start - we may have set a record this week. 1 lesson interrupted 4 times by crazy/drunk
people! We were teaching at the church
in its courtyard. The big gate was open
so everyone could see what we were doing. (we were teaching a young lady so we had to have
the lesson in public view - but that’s not a problem at all). So, the lesson commenced on the Atonement, a
pretty deep subject. A drunk man walked
by and then asked, "Is that the word of God?" We said it was and he approached us asking for
a brochure, we gladly gave him one and then he left staring at the brochure
repeating "I love this, I love this". So we continue, and reached another spiritual
point in the lesson when a local drunk lady, who interrupted us last week,
walks right into the courtyard, stops in front of Elder Lundberg and says, "Give
me 100 CFCA!" (money). At this
point she knows we speak French so we can’t play dumb and she won’t leave. We kept telling her to leave because she won’t
find money here. At the same time I
notice an old lady walking by the gate who looks totally normal, trying to diffuse
the situation in an attempted cry for help, I yell out, "Hello mama,
bonjour!" (adding in an extra sharp missionary smile). FIRST thing she says..."give
me a 100 CFCA!". What!!! We told the grandma to go, and after we got the
drunken crazy lady away too! At this
point we and the investigator are all laughing and having a good time. We are about the close the lesson when Elijah
Green (a crazy Congolese man who was deported from America years ago, does
drugs, drinks, and is 100% crazy. (He also
knows the church because of his friend) He walks by the gate, notices us and begins
talking to us and he said, "Listen to me….listen to....listen to me man! I
got a friend here who don’t know about the Gospel, give me a book an' I'll
teach him." So we did and sent him
on his way. Now, why did I share this
story?
1 -
it proves God not only answers and hears prayers but that he also has a sense
of humor :) ALSO MISSIONARY WORK IS FUN! During that lesson Chanelle explained her
desire to be baptized and we set a date for 7th of December. The 4 crazies were hilarious, but those are
just funny moments among awesome spiritual experiences!
The
week only got better! (hopefully that made you laugh a little) Half way through
the week I found a shirt of Top Gear! We
were walking through a market and I saw it hanging up, I ran to the stand and
said "I will give you 2000 CFCA for the shirt". Not caring about the size I bought it and was
so excited to try it on that night. Luckily
it fits! - Julius style that is. Haha. And the best part is the shirt simply has written
on it - "I am the Stig" :) New
favorite shirt.
We
attended a youth activity and got to see some African culture, at least from
the youth. And surprisingly it’s not
that different from our culture at home. They danced and it took me back to church dances
with Gabbie and Drew and Kaleb. Haha. Dollar for dollar the same!
Spiritually
we are working hard in the sector. 5
baptismal dates and more to come. We are
currently preparing an 11 year old girl Delicia. I love Delicia, she is so smart and funny. She wears innumerable amount of bracelets ever
day and is just always smiling. It’s
also fun because she is in the exact same situation I was in when the
missionaries found us in Centennial Apt. Almost the same set up as well. It has been such a blast teaching her and
being where Elder Hellewell and Kuafauna were, almost 9 years ago for our
family! Sshe should be baptized this
week :)
Sadly,
we had a less active start some trouble at church, so this week we will be
doing damage control with him and the others he affected. He was arguing in church, apostate doctrine. Claiming that we should not be teaching about
"American or European marriages". That this is Africa so we shouldn’t be taking
advice from American/European leaders on marriage. The members handled it marvelously and courageously
defended the standards the church holds on marriage. Expressing that we are learning about marriage
in the way God views it, not American, European, or African. And they also defended the sanctity of marriage!!
WOAH MEMBERS!
Thanksgiving
this week! We will be playing soccer
most of the day on Thursday - so I am pretty excited :) I hope the holiday is just
as great for you all there as it is here.
