I told the missionaries about meeting Jean Marie Su at
the airport (see below.) One of them
asked, “Do people always just come up to you and ask about the Church?” I said “Yes.
Doesn’t that happen to you?” He
thought a bit and said, “Yes, I guess so.”
The missionaries have gotten so used to it that they have to be reminded
that miracles are taking place all around them.
The Spirit is strong here and is leading people to the Church. I spend 95% of my time on administrative and
supportive tasks, but when I have a chance to do a little proselyting it is so
rewarding. And when someone accepts our
message and the Spirit bears witness we feel good all week. I love this country!
In the airport parking lot a little boy stuck out his
hand so I stopped to shake hands. His
dad introduced himself (Jean Marie Su) and I did the same. When he heard the name of the Church he was
surprised that it is in Cameroon. He had
bought an LDS book somewhere 9 years ago and wanted to know more about it but
didn’t know who to talk to. We chatted a
while and he seemed really ready for our message. I gave him the only brochure in my pocket,
entitled “La Chasteté.” We swapped phone
numbers and he called the next day, made an appointment, came on time, and we
taught him. Then he came to all of the
meetings on Sunday, was warmly welcomed by the branch and the mission
president, and made an appointment with the Elders for Wednesday. He is sure that God directed him to me so he
could find His church.
President Cook
later told me that Jean Marie is an attorney and said he could help us with visas. That could really bless the mission.
Prince Franck came over Monday morning to talk about
choosing an American university to study electronics. I gave him a list of the top colleges but he
said that he wanted a religious college and cost was important. So, I showed him the cost of BYU and told him
a little about it and he quickly chose it.
Then details started coming out that amazed me. The chief had a talk with him Sunday night
about his future and told him to do everything that I tell him. Franck told me that he wants to join my
church and model his life after mine. He
said that he fasted from Saturday night to Monday morning (I had told him about
fast Sunday), started reading the Book of Mormon, and felt that he is being
called to follow this path. He has never
tasted alcohol. We made an appointment
for the next day to study the gospel.
Things came up and he missed his appointment but we expect to see him again
soon.
Monday evening about 10pm we got a call that floored
me. An aide to congresswoman Honorable
Maître Fotso Kamdem Fostine called and asked if the Honorable could visit us at
our home Tuesday morning at 11am to discuss the Book of Mormon that we had
given her! We said yes, but she didn’t
make it, so we’ll see how that goes.
 |
| Sister Coleman with One of the Purses that She Made |
We helped Hermann Skype with the bishop in Norway. Hermann’s the guy that has been trying to get
us to buy him a plane ticket to Norway.
The bishop didn’t recognize him but said that he would call a couple of
people that Hermann named and see if they wanted to help him. Afterwards I told Hermann that it was
incredible that he didn’t know anyone in his family or acquaintances who
trusted him enough to loan him money for a plane ticket. He said that his brother William would
certainly do it. So, we sent an email to
his other brother, Nivard, asking for William’s phone number. He couldn’t explain why he didn’t try that a
year ago. But we got no response. Hermann said that he was leaving Wednesday no
matter what, so we assume that he is now on a boat heading north.
 |
| Gregoire Ele, Moto Taxi Driver & 2nd Counselor |
Elder Baker finished his mission and we put him on a
plane for home. He was such a great
missionary. I asked so he replied that
he had baptized over 50 people.
 |
| Our Outfits for Alvine's Wedding |
President & Sister Cook came to town for branch
conferences. The meetings went
well. It is probably the last time that
they will come to Douala, since the mission will split and we will have a new
mission president on July 1st.
It is so nice to be able to discuss issues with the President, who can
give authoritative answers. One thing
that came out is that we might get 2 more missionaries. That is great news. We have 18 missionaries covering all of
Cameroon, a country the size of California.
The field is white but the laborers are few. If we had another 100 missionaries we could
start to address the backlog of people seeking the gospel in Cameroon.
 |
| Eric (investigator), Elder West, & President Cook after teaching |
I finally figured out why things scan and print
funny. The paper here is not letter
size, it is A4 size, which is longer and skinnier.
We were at the Bonaberi meetinghouse and Frère Michel was passing by, so he stopped in to hang out for a while. It is a popular gathering place. I liked his outfit so I asked if I could take a photo. It looks like pajamas, but guys wear outfits like this everywhere.
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| Frère Michel in Typical African Clothes |
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