Bonsoir, tout le monde!
This week has been interesting. It's felt a little long for me, but whatever.
We have been meeting with an investigator named Rita. Rita just showed up at church one day - and that's how we got to know her. It's a little wierd having an investigator contact you rather than the other way around. She showed up at church a couple weeks ago and said "Hey, you two are the missionarries, right? Tell me all about your church. What's this Book of Mormon? Can I have a copy?" Anyways, we are teaching her, and she is awesome. She is loving the Book of Mormon, thoroughly enjoying church every week (which is tough for some investigators) and progressing really well.
On the downside this week, we had to drop an old investigator. She had been an investigator for over a year, and she hasn't read the Book of Mormon, come to church, or really did much of anything for months. I feel bad because we told here straightforwardly "We can't teach you because you aren't progressing," but at the same time, she has had over a year to decide. And just because we aren't teaching her right now doesn't mean that she can't come back. I just feel bad that it had to come to that.
We have been finding a lot of new and excellent investigators. We have a student named Abraham (not his real name; Rita wasn't her real name either, fyi) who got the Book of Mormon and has been really enjoying it. He has been asking legitimate questions and shows a desire in what we are teaching. We have another investigator named James, who actually has dual citizenship with the United States and Cameroon. He has a PhD, is wicked sharp, and is stuck in Cameroon because his passport got stolen while he was in Nigeria. So we're teaching this great guy. He is trying to make an alliance between as many African countries as possible to ask the USA not for money, but for technology and schooling, which is really just money going somewhere, but whatever. He's a great guy, but his only preoccupation is that if he joins this church, he doesn't want to be persecuted. We are trying to help him see that this is true, and that supporting and living the truth is of far greater worth than any persecution any man can bring (see "History of the Church," like all of it).
I went on splits this week with my District Leader, Elder Hansen. We worked in his sector, and it was a lot of fun. I got to remeet Jean-Pierre's family, and his wife. His wife refused to be baptized for a long time, and then after my first transfer, she finally decided she wanted to be baptized. Elder Tingey, my trainer, had the interview with her, and she said this: "I know I don't speak or understand french very well, but I know that this stuff is true. This stuff is good stuff!" I got to speak with her and her family on Friday, and I love that family. That family is an incredible family. I really lucked out going on splits with Elder Hansen and get to know them.
Frank, the convert I baptized last month, is still moving strong. He is awesome. Right after his baptism we told him about how now that he has made the decision to be baptized, Satan is going to try to mess it all up for him (see Moses 1; notice how Satan shows up after Moses sees the Lord). He is taking every blow in stride. His wife, as it turns out, is one of those "I was born Catholic and I'll die Catholic, and if you change from Catholicism, y'er of the devil!" types, and has been bothering him a lot about his change of religion. After I ordained him a priest, the mother of his two children has taken them away from Frank until he pays money for them back. That's how disgusting people are here - they make their kids suffer au village and won't give them back to someone who genuinely cares for them and wants whats best for them unless they pay an outrage fee that they just can't pay.
Regardless, Frank is still active, still coming to church, still reading the Book of Mormon and loving it, and is still doing what active members do. I love Frank so much. He is awesome. It's funny how you serve a mission trying to serve others and help them come unto Christ, but instead you find that as you try to help others, their incredible examples and faith only serves to strengthen you.
Anyways, I don't have much more time. Au revoir!
- Elder LaFleur
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