1/11/2015 - Grandaughter Born, Douala Branch Homeless

On Dec 28th we flew to Utah to meet and help with our new granddaughter, Rhonda, for 10 days.  (Senior couples can take time off for significant family events.)

Grandma time with baby Rhonda

Our flight to America was smooth, with a free upgrade, but the return flight was arduous.  We got delayed and re-routed taking almost 2 days and passing through Salt Lake, New York, Paris, Casablanca, Yaoundé, and Douala.  And Sister Coleman’s suitcase was delayed by 12 additional hours.

Airline seats become beds with free upgrade

All of our children happened to be in Utah at the start of our visit so we had a family reunion of sorts.  We also visited with various people with links to Africa and picked up a few things that we couldn’t get in Douala.

The excruciating cold of Utah was a shock to my system.

I was afraid that we would find it painful to return to life in Africa, but it wasn’t.  We enjoyed being in America but at the same time we felt an emptiness, like we needed to be back home, in our mission.  The American lifestyle that we expected to really enjoy on the trip seemed unimportant.  Sure, walking through a well-stocked supermarket or Wal-Mart was fun, but they will still be there after our mission.  None of these small pleasures could compare to the joy of missionary service.  The only hard thing was leaving our loved ones, but we’ll keep in touch with video chats.

We got back yesterday and learned that Elder Kabasele is seeing a doctor for an abscess on his arm.  We got him some antibiotics and it is improving.

The Douala Branch is still homeless.  The house that they contracted to occupy was not vacated on time by its previous tenants so the branch held church services in a hotel for 2 Sundays.  I think that we can move in tomorrow.

We started taking photos of Bonaberi families, with the hope of putting them on the branch web site and on the bulletin board to increase unity in the branch and help me remember their names.

The Uche family.  He is 1st counselor.

The Ele family.  He is 2nd counselor.