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!