Another baptism in Bonaberi: Andre Ngnandji.
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| Frere Gregoire Eli baptized André Ngnandji |
Prince Frank came to our apartment with his sister and
promised once again to come to church, make an appointment with the
missionaries, prepare for baptism, go to BYU, etc. That is always exciting. I asked if he could show us around the
University of Douala sometime. So on
Sunday he and a friend, Didier, picked us up and gave us a tour of the two
campuses. University tuition: $100 per year.
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| University of Douala Classroom Building |
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| Frank & Elder Coleman in a Classroom |
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| Sign on a Class Wall (no tribalism allowed) |
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| In a Classroom |
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| This Lecture Hall Seats 1000 (obviously skinny) Students |
Then they took us to a friend's home
where we came in near the end of a Pentecostal praise meeting. After the guests left we had a nice first
discussion with the Pentecostal leaders.
I was afraid they would bristle at the idea of another church but they
were very interested so we bore our testimonies, left a BoM and two brochures,
and exchanged phone numbers. I’m not
sure if Frank is really serious because he has missed so many appointments, but
he is definitely giving us opportunities to testify.
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| Parfait & Sidonie, Pentecostal leaders |
Sister Coleman had some great training sessions with Primary and Relief Society presidencies. They have a lot to learn and readily accept training. And Sister Coleman can almost get by in French now.
We spoke about marriage at a youth activity. (They call everything an activity here, even
firesides.) The youth have so few
examples of legal marriages in which both husband and wife belong to the church
that they asked us to come and testify of marriage. Three couples spoke followed by
questions. One of the questions: “My
parents told me to marry within my tribe.
Is that important?” The branch
president told a story of a couple from different tribes that fell in love but
were forbidden to marry. Like Romeo
& Juliet they committed suicide and their families mourned.
He counseled the young women to decide whom to marry and
ask their parents to make it easy and fast, rather than passively watching
their family demand a huge bride-price, thus delaying marriage and starting
married life with a debt.
Other questions posed: “When you go on a date do you have to
plan on marriage?” “Do returned
missionaries have to get married quickly?”
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| Youth Activity on Marriage |
The facilities manager came from Kinshasa to train the branch
councils. We were excited to see his
interest in fixing the problems in our meetinghouses. We made a list of problems and discussed
them. Now we wait and hope.
I had to explain again at the post office that mothers
send candy to their sons for sentimental reasons, not because they don’t like
African food. And it doesn’t mean the
missionaries are rich, so they shouldn’t charge $60 duties on a $50 box. But they seem determined to charge at least
$20.
Elder Waite is ill.
The missionary doctor said it is classic Dengue fever. It is very common in these parts and seldom
severe. But there is no medicine for it
and he was suffering from a headache and body aches, which is why it is sometimes
called “Breakbone fever”. After nearly a
week he is much better.
The previous couple here had had a minor accident in the
mission truck. It was a hit & run
with cosmetic damage to one fender. It
never bothered me but the leaders said to get it fixed. The dealer quoted ~$1600 and 5 days, while two other shops
each bid $140 and one day. One shop was highly
recommended by a branch member and close enough to walk to so we got it done there. I dropped it off at 9am and picked it up at 7pm the same day. It looks good, if you don’t look closely. A branch member, Eberé, has a shop and said
he could get it done so I pestered him for over 2 months for a quote. He finally came through but too late. His bid was $242, anyway.
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| Before Repairs |
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| After Repairs |
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