I loved the pictures of Comicon - looks like it
was a blast, so I’d be pumped to go with you guys! I'm glad the business trip
went well for you, mom, as well. Sounds like home life is pretty smooth sailing
for the moment.
Out here things aren’t too different. Some fun
experiences of the week. So remember how I always said I wanted a big family?
Yeah, I’m not sure I want that anymore. Here's why. For the last 2 Sundays I
have been forced to babysit primary kids during sacrament meeting. Not really
by choice - the kids just like me so they take a seat next to me and the
parents aren’t around - so it’s like forced babysitting started by the kids.
The first week I was taking care of Regian, Beldin, and their little 3yr old
sister Methusalah. It was rough. Trying to get them to sing and pray and not
run around. While also trying to keep them quiet and calm and entertained.
Making sure my planner kept getting passed around so everyone had a drawing
turn only caused more problems (and a mess of scribbles on its pages). I almost
lost control of the situation when the pinching and slapping started or when
Methusalah was pulling threads out of her dress; BUT the dress and all of us
survived. ha-ha :)
This week it was an older kid sitting with me -
an 8 year old. This little girl was not as nice as Regian and Beldin. Basically
this week I was just trying to keep her from ripping my hymn book (and also
keeping her quiet)! When I would grab the book she would start getting louder.
Also she was determined to pinch and bite me to death! She would whisper
"je vais te blesser" or "I will hurt you" - kinda scarey ha-ha.
In the end all was well, only thing that was hurt was my dream of a big family!
I think 4 will be enough for me.
Ntambwe and I have had some good experiences
teaching this week. And by good I mean it’s good that we had them because we
gained some important experience. Here in Africa a new church is becoming super
popular - Adventists! Or the seventh day church. There big thing is they say
the Sabbath is on Saturday, as that is the seventh day in the week and God
blessed the seventh day.
Okay, good idea and it’s right in a way but
wrong as well, let me explain why to you. First problem with the logic - when
God created the earth he wasn’t using our modern day calendars. Its men who
designated Monday and Tuesdays and such. So really God designated the 7th day
as Sabbath, but it never says Saturday in the creation. Okay, clear, but even a
scriptural account explains the problem. Yes, true. Old testament, Sabbath is Saturday.
Awesome everyone is on same page. But that’s law of Moses - when Christ came he
established the gospel. And after his resurrection which happened on a Sunday,
the Sabbath was changed to that day. After all to remember Christ’s sacrifice
on the Sabbath, what better day than the day his atonement was completed?
Scriptural proof is in Acts chapter 20 when it says "Paul and the apostles
gathered to break the bread". Obviously taking the sacrament. So even in
the bible it explains that Sunday is the new day of worship.
The main problem with Adventists attitude, is
they are so blocked on this point that they don’t even want to hear about
anything else. Even with the proof and logic above they simply won’t have it -
so teaching them is impossible. We taught a man named, Pascal. The lesson took
2 1/2 hours and we got nowhere. It was like pulling teeth trying to get him to
commit to pray about our message. It’s crazy how popular this church is
becoming.
Also we had a meeting with Jehovah's Witnesses!
One was a 70 year old mama that is hilarious! The first day we crossed them and
fixed the rendezvous we said, "You’re Jehovah witnesses, right?". She
responded "Yup, Jehovah, the real name of God!".
We tried to keep it away from arguing and
just explaining our message which actually worked, a little. We explained the
restoration completely and I think they understood what we said. However when I
tried to commit them to pray they responded like this: "No I refuse to
pray about this" and the other "I will never pray about this!".
Last crazy teaching appointment - A man named John
wanted to talk with us only because I am American. basically whenever we tried
to teach about the gospel he just wanted to know why Africa isn’t rich or
politically powerful. The dialogue from the lesson went like this:
Me, "So God called a prophet today whose
name is Thomas S Monson"
John, "If God called an African as prophet
would you accept it?"
Me, “Of course, IF he was called of God"
John, "No, Johnson. Johnson. Johnson, God
calls African prophets everyday!"
Me, "Umm, no...no he really doesn’t. He
calls one prophet for the world."
John, "If God was universal then there would
be Africans preaching to me right now." (oblivious to the fact that there
is a Congalais teaching with me)
Me, "Good point, there is a Congolais
sitting next to me who preaches the gospel, so yeah universal."
John, "No, Johnson. Johnson. Johnson, I’m
not against you. Johnson, we're friends Johnson..."
And thus the lesson continued for an hour. In
the end I had to explain to him that the White House is called the White house
because the paint is white and it's a house because someone lives there. Also
that Martin Luther King Jr. is not the one that started the Protestant movement
(Martin Luther) and he is also not a prophet simply because he said, "I
had dream". Also he tried arguing what American culture was like with me.
WHAT!? I’m American, I think I know pretty well what it's like to live in America!
That lesson ended with me literally walking out of his house, departing with an
insult after he ridiculed us and our church to our faces. : (
So this week I have gained a lot of experience
from teaching. Sadly, even in Africa, there are people that just refuse to
listen. But the good news is the recent converts I've helped baptize are all
still active and doing incredibly well in the church! So far not a single one
has left the church. In Congo I baptized maybe, 20 people. And a lot are
less-active. Here I've baptized 5 and all are still active!!!
Ntambwe is doing well. He is a little upset
with me for the insult I throw at John, but understandable, since I’ve gotten
to Yaoundé I’ve become much more aggressive with teaching. Ntambwe told me this
morning however, that he doesn’t want to do anything together except plan and
teach. Basically, he's decided that we will only work together as little as
possible - let's hope the companionship holds together for 4 more weeks.
I love all you guys. Usually, when we missionaries
talk about home life, my stories are always coupled with; "once with my
brothers" or "as a family". I miss hanging out with you guys and
am excited for all the things we will do together upon my return! Have an
amazing week and do a good job following spiritual promptings!
Love,
Elder Johnson
