This week has been a bit of a disappointment, and very awesome at the same time.
Our three investigators who were to be baptized this week all bailed out on us. Cathy just came back from the village, so she isn't prepared. Her mother, Francie, wants to push it back to the middle of October instead of October 1st. Chris has work non stop until october 10th, and so he is waiting until the beginning of November. So that has been disappointing.
But here is some cool stuff that happened.
On friday, I got kind of sick. I had some gastrointestinal problems (spelling?) and had to go the bathroom at one of our investigators houses (he was an anglophone, so it wasn't hard to get across that I really had to go). His name is Brother Nbo, and he walked me out to this out house. He kept saying "It is okay. You are welcome." So I walked in, and he move a little rock over, exposing a hole in the ground. That's where I had to poop. I asked for some toilet paper, and he said "Oh, yes. Here it is," and pulled a couple of scraps of newspaper out from behind a wallboard. It was all ratty and dirty. I don't think it had been used before, but I wasn't about to find out, or complain. After he walked out, I dropped trow and let it all go. I thought to myself "Well, welcome to Africa," as I squatted over a little hole in the ground.
When I was finished I washed my hands in a bucket of water Brother Nbo got me. He kept saying "Yes, yes. We are together. We are together" over and over. I didn't know what, but I thanked him and washed my hands and we all sat down again. Brother Nbo then said something along the lines of this:
"You know, I am very glad that you are willing to use the toilet like we do. I think it is wonderful. We are together. There are other whites who come here, and they refuse to do what we do. They don't visit. They don't talk to us. They don't eat our food. They don't use the toilet like we do. And we feel like it is because we have a different culture or different colored skin. But I am so happy that you were willing to use my toilet because it shows that we are together. You and I are brothers, and you do not mind doing what I do, and living the way I do. It makes me happy that you are that way."
So although I suffered some pretty unpleasant times, it ended up being for the best. Brother Nbo was happy to see a white kid be willing to live the same way he does, and that was pretty cool.
My next cool story happened last tuesday.
So Elder Tingey and I were teaching a lesson to an investigator, when two young kids walked up to us and asked us what we were talking about. Elder Tingey and I gave them brochures on le Rétablissment de l'évangile, and they left. During our next rendezvous, we got a call from them and they said "Hey, we gotta talk to you right now. We are at your church. Come over quick!" So we did.
We taught them the first lesson, and the Spirit was so strong. It was so awesome. During the lesson, I felt impressed to give them le Livre de Mormon, so I did. After the closing prayer, one of them, Will, explained that the two of them were from Cribe, another town, and they went to Yaoundé to visit a girl. On the way to visit her, they passed us and got the brochures. They went to the girl's house, and it ended up being that she had left on a trip, and wasn't even in Yaoundé. So the two of them sat there and read that brochure. They had this strong impression to meet with us. Finally Will said that "I didn't come here to meet that girl, like I thought. I came here to get this book and hear this message, because it is true." The Lord had prepared a way for these two to receive the true gospel, and get the Book of Mormon, and I got to be a part of it. I just saw something miraculous, and I got a front row seat.
So T.B. Joshua is a "prophet" who has a TV show in Nigeria and gets broadcasted into central Africa. Everyone thinks he is a prophet because he "casts out demons" and prophecies of things. We share the scripture that in the last days there will be false prophets, but everyone, even some members, still totally believe it. In fact we taught one member who said, as if she were bearing her testimony, "I know that T.B. Joshua is a prophet of God." I had to try so hard from not just giggling. So you should look him up.
So those are some of the things I've experienced this week. I hope you all enjoy these messages and reading my wonderful adventures in Cameroon. This is a wonderful place. These are wonderful people who have been prepared to hear this message. And it is fantastic. I love it here.
Until next week, I'll see you in the funny books.
- Elder LaFleur
