This week I will focus on some of the people that I'm teaching. I only have 15 minutes to type this time, so I'll go as fast as I can.
It's funny, Dad, that so many people are like "Where's Cameroon?" I guess it makes sense. Did you know this country is number 1 on the list of "Most Corrupted Countries?" Pretty wild, huh?
Like I said before, the people of Cameroon are incredibly accepting of religion. They all believe in God, and as long as you go to some church of God somewhere you are fine. We have to help them understand that that simply isn't the case. Sometimes you find some people who have some pretty crazy ideas.
We taught one guy, for example, who claimed to be Moses reincarnated. His friend down the street was Elijah reincarnated, and that the two of them know everything. They believed God is the Father, and the Word - whatever that means. We asked him "What does God look like," and the only answer we got was "God is the Word." Elder Tingey, after hearing how he knows everything, asked, "Who was the prophet before Moses?" and the guy couldn't answer. He just stared at us blankly for like 30 seconds. Finally Elder Tingey said, "there wasn't one," (correct answer) and the guy just said, "yeah, I knew that." So that was interesting.
Frère Brent, the doctor, gained a testimony last week. He called us out of the blue and said, "Hey, I was just reading in the Doctrine and Covenants and I know it's true. I want to be baptized ASAP." His family all love the gospel. We gave his kids a Book of Mormon Stories book in English, and they love it! We gave them French hymns also, and they sing and pray and do stuff together as a family. It's a really awesome thing to see.
We recently had an awesome rendezvous. We went out to this house, which was next to a cathedral, and the father of the home is a pastor of the Catholic Church. His wife directs the music, and the whole family sat down to listen to the two of us tell them how the truth has been restored. The father asked us "Do you worship Mary?" (No. She is the mother of Christ, but Christ is whom we worship). "Why don't you have crosses or cross yourself after praying?" (We celebrate the life of Jesus Christ, and the fact that He lives today). "Why don't you pray with a rosary?" (Christ taught to not have vainly repetitious prayers) Finally the father said that we were a secte (French for cult) and walked off and got super drunk in anger. The mom left also, and the kids were glued to every word we said. They all (all seven) were totally prepared to listen to our message. We taught them a little bit more and then left. They all followed us and accompanied us all the way back to the nearest carrefour (French for crossroads or intersection) (about a 15 minute walk). They all really liked us. I talked to the son about going to the states and missions and learning English. It was a really wonderful experience.
I also am sending a couple pictures. I am sending one with my companion, and a couple with some ward members and me. No baptisms yet, but next week we are planning on two or three from our branch. Oh, we typically get about 6-8 baptisms every two weeks here. It's fun, but it's tough.
I love you all. Bon courage!
- Elder LaFleur
P.S. If you want to be a real Cameroonian, to say, "I'm really hungry," you say "J'ai faim jusqau," literally translates to "I'm hungry until!"
We taught one guy, for example, who claimed to be Moses reincarnated. His friend down the street was Elijah reincarnated, and that the two of them know everything. They believed God is the Father, and the Word - whatever that means. We asked him "What does God look like," and the only answer we got was "God is the Word." Elder Tingey, after hearing how he knows everything, asked, "Who was the prophet before Moses?" and the guy couldn't answer. He just stared at us blankly for like 30 seconds. Finally Elder Tingey said, "there wasn't one," (correct answer) and the guy just said, "yeah, I knew that." So that was interesting.
Frère Brent, the doctor, gained a testimony last week. He called us out of the blue and said, "Hey, I was just reading in the Doctrine and Covenants and I know it's true. I want to be baptized ASAP." His family all love the gospel. We gave his kids a Book of Mormon Stories book in English, and they love it! We gave them French hymns also, and they sing and pray and do stuff together as a family. It's a really awesome thing to see.
We recently had an awesome rendezvous. We went out to this house, which was next to a cathedral, and the father of the home is a pastor of the Catholic Church. His wife directs the music, and the whole family sat down to listen to the two of us tell them how the truth has been restored. The father asked us "Do you worship Mary?" (No. She is the mother of Christ, but Christ is whom we worship). "Why don't you have crosses or cross yourself after praying?" (We celebrate the life of Jesus Christ, and the fact that He lives today). "Why don't you pray with a rosary?" (Christ taught to not have vainly repetitious prayers) Finally the father said that we were a secte (French for cult) and walked off and got super drunk in anger. The mom left also, and the kids were glued to every word we said. They all (all seven) were totally prepared to listen to our message. We taught them a little bit more and then left. They all followed us and accompanied us all the way back to the nearest carrefour (French for crossroads or intersection) (about a 15 minute walk). They all really liked us. I talked to the son about going to the states and missions and learning English. It was a really wonderful experience.
I also am sending a couple pictures. I am sending one with my companion, and a couple with some ward members and me. No baptisms yet, but next week we are planning on two or three from our branch. Oh, we typically get about 6-8 baptisms every two weeks here. It's fun, but it's tough.
I love you all. Bon courage!
- Elder LaFleur
P.S. If you want to be a real Cameroonian, to say, "I'm really hungry," you say "J'ai faim jusqau," literally translates to "I'm hungry until!"
Adam, Enoch, and Noah were all prophets before Moses
ReplyDeleteYes, Sheri, you are correct! I'm certain Andre and his companion know this as well. I believe Andre struggled explaining to us in his email their question to the man they were talking to. I believe he meant authors in the Old Testament before Moses. I considered correcting it or clarifying his statements, but I try to avoid that stuff as I'd prefer to have it as true to what Andre is sending, mistakes or ambiguous statements and all.
ReplyDelete