Week 46 Mbote na bino!

 Bonjour! 

Another good week in the congo!

The highlight was definitely the baptism of Frère Gérald! Fr Gérald, or Papa Gérald as he likes to be called is an amazing man with an amazing story.

Fr Gérald is in his fifties, and a year ago his wife passed away. They both used to go to a church regularly but after he lost his wife he stopped going to church for a year. 

A year passed and Fr Gérald decided that it was time to go back to church, but he knew that there was something more out there. He had a lot of questions about why there were so many churches today and which church was true and so began to pray to find out which church he should join. He had been praying when he received a vision that told him that two doves would show him the way to the right church. Doves are white. 

One day Papa Gérald was walking when he saw two guys in white shirts who also happened to be white 😆

He called us over and told us that he wanted to talk to us. So of course we changed numbers and set up a time to come by. 

In our first lesson with him, he told us about his story. He had lost his wife a year ago and lost his daughter a week prior. We taught him about the plan of salvation and he knew then that he had found the true church.

We invited him to be baptized. 

A week before his baptism he got the news that his son got poisoned in DRC and passed away. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to be baptized. I explained to him that the trials he was having were part of the adversary trying to stop him from being baptized and the blessings that come from being baptized. And he was baptized on Saturday! 

We had a wonderful service and it was a special day! Also it was my birthday! I'm still the youngest missionary here :)

Pics from the baptism below!

Elder Rodriguez, Gerald, and Elder Hillam

Week 45 Sango nini?

 Ça fait longtemps! Its been a while!

Don't worry I'm still alive, the malaria hasn't gotten to me yet :)

Everything is still good here in Africa! Elder Rodriguez and I have been working hard and have been teaching some great people!

My French has gotten better. And my lingala. Ozali malamu?

Thats one of the biggest challenges we've been facing. Everyone speaks lingala, but not everyone can speak and read in French. Often the parents of families can't speak French which makes it hard to teach them. So you really got to find those who are truly ready for the gospel.

Papa Gerald who we've been teaching will be getting baptized this Saturday! We're excited for him!

The top of a mountain here

Papa Gerald

Ate dinner at the bishop's house (it was awesome)

The street chicken we love to eat 😋

Émile, a town in our area

Kids

Good view of our area

Food from bishops house

Week 41 2 Mundelés in Africa

 Bonjour!

This week zoomed by. Started this week with my new companion Elder Rodriguez. Showed him around the area and we got to work! Even though our French isn't the best we've been working hard and have had some awesome lessons with some amazing people!

We had two friends get baptized! Fr Beni and Fr Vann. Super excited for them! They are awesome.

We also had zone conference this week in downtown Brazzaville. We talked about miracles we saw, being obedient and practiced our teaching skills.

Super excited for this week and what it holds!

Me in Kintele

Congo River

Some kids wanted to take a picture with us

The Elders of our apartment 

Had dinner with Elders Quorum president 

Baptism of Fr Beni and Fr Vann

Week 40 Guess who my new companion is?

 And it's Monday again!

Well, this week was pretty great and crazy as usual! 

We had some great lessons with two of our friends who will be baptized this Saturday! Fr Vann and Fr Beny! We also started teaching Fr Beny's older sister, Sr Shekinah this week. We also had a great lesson with Sr Nelly's family also!

The weather's nice and cool here. It's the best! Time goes by so quickly here 😫 always got to make the most of it. 

We finally are back to 2-hour church here in congo. My first time going to elders quorum.

So on Thursday, the assistants told us that there was going to be another big transfer and we'd find out about it in a couple of days. So come Saturday I still hadn't heard anything when I got a phone call from Elder Rodriguez. For those who don't know, Elder Rodriguez is from Atlanta Georgia like me. While I was doing online MTC he had his mission call to go to Congo as well. We got to meet up and hang out. He's an awesome Elder! He has been in Pointe Noire for this entire time so I haven't been able to see him since November. 

Anyways he called me and asked, "Have you heard the news?"

"No, what news?" I replied

He said, "I'm coming to Brazzaville and we're gonna be companions!"

"NO WAY!"

So tomorrow Elder Nsaka will be in Nzoko, a town in Brazzaville, and Elder Rodriguez will be my companion! Super excited! 

Elder Dewey will stay here too and be getting an African companion. It's gonna be fun.

 Kintele

Climbed a mountain today

Some of Fr Beny's family 

Sunsets are crazy cool here!

Week 39 Joyeux Jour de l'Indépendance

Wow, this week flew by as always! 

Really been enjoying the weather here in the dry season, it hasn't gotten above the high 80s at all here which is the best. Makes me not so excited for the hot wet season again.

I had a great week here! I had some great lessons with some families here. One family who called out for us to come to preach to them while we were walking down the street has been progressing pretty well! We've been teaching the mother Sr Varelle and her husband Fr Symphorien as well as their daughter Sr Shekinah. Sr Shekinah has been progressing the fastest out of those three and came to church yesterday! 

I also had a great lesson with Sr Nelly's family. Sr Nelly is the mother who asked me about the Book of Mormon I was holding in my hand on a bus. We taught her kids and their friends and it was great!

I really love teaching about the principle of agency. Agency is the gift that God has given us to be able to choose for ourselves and it is crucial to God's plan for us. But from this great gift comes great responsibility. Agency allows us to choose to follow God or not. When we receive knowledge and revelation we have the responsibility to act on it. As missionaries, we teach people about how they can receive answers to their questions through revelation. But after they receive an answer it is up to them to choose to act. 

If there is one thing I have learned here, is how thankful I am for the USA. We are super blessed to live where we do because we are much freer to choose in America than elsewhere; we can make more choices for ourselves and choose to follow God. This is one of the reasons the gospel was restored in America.

Elder Hillam and Elder Nsaka

A river we found in a valley

Lesson with Sr Nelly's Kids

Just the main road of Kintélé

Week 38 Piano and Practice

 This week went by quick! We had some lessons with some new people that we found this week and the week prior! 

On Sunday, we got to talk to Fr. Vann and Fr. Beny. Fr. Vann is in his 20s and Fr. Beny is 14. We have been teaching Fr. Vann for about 2 weeks now and he is now preparing to be baptized! Fr. Beny is the younger brother of Fr. Josué Caleb who was baptized last month.

We have some other great friends who are super close to getting baptized as well!

On Sunday I played piano for the ward. It was fun! It was the first time the ward has ever had a piano to sing along to.

My French is getting better as I practice and study each day. I am able to understand more and more! 

This last week was very cool. In the 70s for a couple of days! Right now we're heading into the  cool dry season here or "saison sèche"-- it's pretty nice!

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve here in Africa at this unique time and I see so many miracles every day.

Piano set up at the church

Elder Nsaka and Elder Hillam

Week 37 Bonjour and Mbote!

This week was great again!

We had a decent amount of lessons this week but it was a little slower due to many people being busy as it is the last couple of weeks of university and school here!

This Saturday Frère Arolde got baptized! It was an awesome service, and he will be an awesome member!

This week we will be working to have Frère David and Sr Honoria, Jeade and Grâce ready to be baptized this week!

Fr Arolde!

Elders of the Makabandilou Ward

Week 36 Thunderbolts and lightning--very very frightening!

Howdy and Mbote!

Another good week in the Congo. I had some great lessons this week and am looking forward to the baptism of Fr Arolde and Fr David this Saturday the 19th! 

We had zone council this week which was good.

I started to carry a Book of Mormon in my hand everywhere I so I can use it and talk about it more. So one day we were sitting in a bus and I was holding it in my hand and she peered over and read the title out loud. I asked her if she had ever read it before and she said she hadn't. She told me her name was Sr Nelly and one thing led to another and I gave her a copy and got her number. 

A couple days later we went to Sr Nelly's home and had a great lesson with all of her family about the Book of Mormon and what it is! It was an awesome experience! 

Friday at around 4am I woke up and was lying in my bed. There was a crazy lightning storm around us. Just lightning strike after lightning but with no rain at all. It felt so odd, and I've never seen anything like it. Not 5 minutes later as I'm laying awake in my bed, I see a giant flash of light and hear a crazy loud crack of lightning that struck our apartment. It was crazy. I checked to see if my phone was still charging and it wasn't. The lightning took out our power. Since I was awake I decided to go out on the balcony and film some of the lightning! 

On Saturday I found out that my companion Elder Nsaka would be getting transferred to Point Noire, a city on the coast that you have to fly to. I would be in a trio with Elder Edwards and Elder Dewey for a week or two but today the mission office couldn't find his passport so I don't think he will be leaving anytime soon... 😂

Nkombo Zone

Our apartment

Sunset

Sr Nelly and her family

Week 35 Twenty-five kg of Uranium

I had another good week here in la terre promise!

On Tuesday one of our lessons got postponed so we went out contacting and met a man named Fr Augustine. After talking with him he walked us to his home. We met his whole family and taught all of them together it was awesome!

Most of the rest of the week was filled with lots of teaching appointments! One Sunday we had a lesson with Fr Arolde and he will be baptized on the 19th! Super excited for him!

We got a keyboard in our apartment! One of the members had an extra one for us to borrow so I could practice and play for sacrament meeting! It will be fun and exciting for the ward to finally have a pianist. Luckily for me the Congolese love to sing egregiously slowly which will make it easier to play in sacrament meeting!

So Elder Dewey and Elder Edwards have been teaching a guy. And out of the blue he texted Elder Dewey about 25 kilos of Uranium he had somehow gotten from working in the Chinese uranium mines in DRC. He wanted to see if we could help him sell it! Anyone want some uranium?

I'm joking, that much uranium would be illegal to possess. lol.

I'm so thankful for the time that I have had here. I've been in Africa for 2 months now which is crazy. Time flies here! I have really been trying to use my time here as effectively as possible because in the end the 16 months I have left here is a very small amount of time. There is so much work here to do!

Tried wearing one of our friend's wigs, trés beau, no?

Our piano!

Soursop, interesting fruit, tastes like strawberry and apple together!

25 kg of Uranium

Week 34: Got Stopped by the Military!

 Sorry, I forgot to send an email last week! Nothing to crazy happened that week, we had a zone conference, and I got sick with another cold. Fun!

This week we were super busy again, teaching so many 

Some awesome things happened this week!

We have been teaching 3 sisters and all three of them will be baptized in a couple of weeks! Sr Honoria, Sr Jeade, and Sr Grâce! 

Also, Fr David who we have been teaching will be getting baptized also!

There is a big military academy in our area, one day we were walking by and two military officers stop us from their car. They asked who we were, and what church we represent. We explained to them that we're not Jehovas' witnesses and that we are actual missionaries of L'Eglise de Jésus-Christ de Saints des Derniers Jours. They wanted to learn more so we had a pretty cool lesson with two captains inside the military academy! We will have another this week!

One friend we are teaching lives pretty far out, turns out motorcycles are faster than walking.... 

1. 

2. Rice, Fish and Saka Saka

3. Patriarch of the Congo Brazzaville Stake

4. Main Road in Kintéle

5. Motorcycles are faster than walking

Rice, Fish and Saka Saka

Patriarch of the Congo Brazzaville Stake

Parts of our area

Main Road in Kintéle

Week 33 It rains, it pours!

 This week was awesome, a little less crazy than last week!

This week we started to contact all of the people that came to church after stake conference last week. One of the people we started teaching is Soeur Melissa! Sr Melissa sells hair extensions and wigs on the side of the road from inside a metal shipping container. The first time we taught her we talked about the restoration of the gospel and we invited her to read a verse from the Book of Mormon, after reading the verse she said that she loved it and really wanted a copy! Luckily I brought one for her! We have been teaching her a lot this week and she is progressing very fast.

When it rains here it absolutely pours. One night while we were in our apartment, it started pouring. Often when it rains, the power will go out. So when the lights started flickering and power was going on and off, I thought nothing of it. Then, while I was laying on my bed, I heard a loud pop, at first I thought it came from outside until I smelt smoke. I looked over to see my travel adapter and charger smoking, and instantly I knew it was fried. Also, our apartment's microwave and everything else that was plugged at the time got fried. Luckily our fridge and freezer are plugged into voltage regulators so they survived. 

Also when it rains some parts of the main road here get flooded and stay that way for days. One night we were traveling home in a taxi bus and we started driving through one of the flooded areas on the road; about 6 inches of muddy water. Then all of the sudden, a big semi-truck started going full speed through this flooded section, spraying tons of mud to the side of it. Once we realized what was about to happen, it was too late. The driver started cranking his window up, but before we knew it we were all covered in mud. I'm sure the semi-truck drivers had a laugh!

While many of the things here in Congo aren't consistent: power, running water, and getting covered in mud to name a few, there is one thing that is consistent: the love of our Heavenly Father. No matter what happens in the craziness of life, we can always depend on the love of our Heavenly Father. Knowing he has a plan for me and for all of us brings me peace and joy!

Week 32 I ate giant GRUBS! Also Miracles!

 Bonjour and Mbote everyone!

This week was full of many miracles! Let me explain!

We had a great week filled with lessons and contacting. Then on Saturday, we had 7 baptisms! It was raining in the morning but we still continued. It was a wonderful awesome service! They are all amazing individuals with their own amazing stories and testimonies. 

Then on Sunday, we had stake conference. The church rented out a nice international conference center in Kintelé. We headed over there in the morning. It was an amazing conference with over 1200 people in attendance! 

After the conference, we hopped on a bus with some members to go to the church building.

This is where things get crazy.

Once we got off the bus at the ward building we walked into the church. As I was passing the chapel I saw that it was full of people. I thought that perhaps the members had gotten together to have the sacrament since they didn't have it because of having stake conference instead. But it turned out that everyone who was in the chapel were all not members and they wanted to be taught to learn more! 

I could not believe it. The members of the ward invited many of their friends to come to stake conference, and afterward invited them to meet the missionaries at the church. We started getting everybody's contact info and introducing ourselves. It was a miracle, we got the contact info of around 150 people who will be taught this week! It was a tremendous miracle.

Also Happy Mother.s day! Mothers are so important and essential for God's plan. I have been incredibly blessed because of my mother. She is an amazing example of always turning outward to serve others as Christ did. I'm thankful for her example in my life. 

Mom, you are awesome!!!

So today we ended up eating giant grubs! Let me explain......

We were doing our shopping since its p-day, our day off. We went into the street market to go buy our food and we noticed a lady selling giant grubs. They were huge, like bigger than my thumb. Anyways we weren't gonna buy them, who would do that?!?

We went to go buy some bread and we started talking to the lady about the huge grubs we saw. They are called Mposé in Lingala (pronounced like poh-say). I joked with her that I wanted to eat them, and Elder Dewey asked her how to prepare them. She said she didn't know but she said she could go ask for us. She also asked if we had any money, so Elder Nsaka gave her 1000 francs. And she walked to go buy some for us. 

So now that we accidentally bought these giant grubs, we had to eat them! They are called palm weevil larvae in English. Big beetles lay eggs in palm trees and the larvae grow inside eating the trees. They are full of protein and fat. We fried them up and gave them a try! They weren't that bad! They tasted good especially the gushy insides 😋😋

Definitely, the weirdest thing I have eaten here!

Stake conference

The stake presidency (stake president in the center)

After stake conference with President Magré

After stake conference with my companion Elder Nsaka

Check the link for videos and more pictures! 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zzJm9PHDMpEYGHZ3A

Week 31 Cette semaine a été fantastique!

 Bonjour and Mbote everyone!

Another fantastic week in the blessed land of Congo! Elder Nsaka and I started this week by contacting and talking to some new people in our area. We are excited to teach many new people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week.

While walking we had two little kids run up to us to tell us that they wanted to learn about the restoration of Christ's church! Things like that happen often here.

Elder Nsaka and I are busy teaching always. I am excited for many of are friends who will be getting baptized this weekend!

This Sunday we will have stake conference in Kintelé which will be exciting!

We started teaching an English class for members and others in the area. Its fun to teach them English!

My french is getting better, I am able to teach more and ask questions in the lessons that we have which makes things fun! But I still have a long way to go before I can speak fluently and understand people!