Bonsoir (encore) tout le monde!
Donc, j'ai commencé à étudier seulement en français. Je lis mes écritures en français maintenant pour mes études personel, avec "Prêchez Mon Evangile." C'est interessant d'apprendre une autre langue et finalement le comprend. Je n'ai pas maîtrisé la langue, mais je m'ameliore toujours.
This week has been fairly interesting. We are seeing some progress now in the work we've been doing. We have an investigator who is progressing really well. Her name is Penelope, and she has a baptismal date all set up. She comes to church every week and loves the Book of Mormon. It's funny how some investigators end up contacting you rather than the other way around. Penelope showed up at church one day and asked "Hey, you two are the missionarries? And you have the communion (sacrement) here every week, and it's available? Why don't we talk sometime this week so you can tell me about it?" There are people out and about who are just so prepared to receive the gospel. It's a great experience finding and teaching them.
We have another named Sarah who does not yet have a baptismal date set, but she will soon. Sarah is the neice of another member. Sarah is actually straight out of the village. When we first met her (Elder Tingey and I) she didn't understand english or french. She only understood patua (her dialect; there are like 200 different patuas in Cameroun alone. In Congo-Brazzaville there is only one: Lingala) and so we didn't teach her. Now she understands english super well, and she is learning the gospel very well.
As far as studies go, what I've been thinking about most this week is this: what knowledtge is the most valuable to know, and why? The "why" is really what I'm aimed at understanding. Ultimately, I figured that the most valuable knowledge is that that is most applicable to the greatest number of situations. After being out here for about 7 months, I've discovered that it is the gospel that is most applicable to the greatest number of situations. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, that is faith in Our Lord and in His Atonement, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remmission of sins followed by the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end, is the only way to ensure salvation in the next life and peace and joy in the life we have here. A teacher in sunday school the other day gave this really awesome lesson about the difference between happiness and joy. We ultimately came to the conclusion that joy comes from following the Gospel, of which perfects you (see Moroni 10). That is joy comes from a perfection of oneself, while happiness comes and goes according to your circumstances. Very interesting.
Turns out we have 10 more missionarries entering the field soon. Right now we have 11 who are leaving in the next two transfers (including this one) and then there will be 10 more coming in. There is a pretty good chance that I will be training. We will see how all that goes.
And that's it for this week. Je vous aime.
- Elder LaFleur
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Yuppers Feb 13, 2012
Bonsoir, tout le monde!
It is the start of a new transfer and.... I'm staying here again. Surprise! It seems pretty likely that I will be staying in the same branch that I was trained in for about a year, just like the two other missionarries behind me (Elder Tingey, my trainer, stayed in Bastos I for a year, and before him Elder Palmer stayed in the same branch for a year). Elder Buck goes home at the end of this transfer, and after next transfer the n00bs are coming in and I'll probably end up training, due to lack of seasoned pros (there is a group of nine who are leaving just after Elder Buck). We will see what happens at the end of this transfer.
Frank is still holding up. He has had a lot of trials, but is still hanging in there. I love him so much. He is awesome. I never thought I would have friends from a completely different continent, in a different language and in a completely different culture.
I taught a guy from Belgium this week, and his french was awesome! I thought that the Camerounian accent wasn't so bad, but after hearing him talk, wow! His name was George (not really) and is married to a sister of a recent convert of ours (recent convert's name is Josephine, and her sister's name is Elizabeth). I met Elizabeth with Elder Tingey way back in the beginning of my third transfer (maybe earlier; now I'm thiking second) and she said she really wanted to hear more of this message, but she was getting married in Belgium and wouldn't be back until Christmas. So I hung onto her phone number for freaking ever, and sure enough, one day we walked into Josephine's house and Elizabeth was there, with her husband.
Turns out Elizabeth has been going through some tough times right now. It's kind of strange, really. I don't know what her trials entail, but to any other Cameroonian woman, she is living it up right now! Her husband is white (meaning he's got money) and she should be all happy and rich now, right? It goes to show that we shouldn't be so quick to judge someone else's situation, because I could tell through her tears that nothing was going well in her life. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and then invited her to read it, and promised that she would learn how to overcome each of her trials as she continued to read the Book of Mormon.
Her husband ended up being a really nice guy. All the white people here I've met (more particularly the Europeans) have been kind of snobby. They don't talk to us nor to other blacks. They don't ride in taxis and when they do, it's only a dépot (rent the taxi rather than renting a spot; see appendix one). When we got there and started speaking french, George said "Your accent.... American?" Elder Buck and I looked at the floor in disappointment and just said "Yeah..." He believes God exists, but he doesn't see that he needs to do anything about it. He doesn't really support organized religion, nor does he really have faith in much of anything, but he ended agreeing to read a brochure. We'll see about prayer, and we will see what happens as we talk with his wife.
Other than that, it's been another week of preaching the gospel. Je vous aime, et j'espère que vous aviez une bonne semaine!
- Elder LaFleur
APPENDIX ONE ------- HOW TAXIS WORK HERE
In Cameroon, you don't rent a taxi like you do in the states. You just name where you want to go and how much you are going to pay, and taxis either accept it or reject it. You only pay for a place, and there are 5 places - 3 in back and 2 in the front seat. There are no seat belts, so accidents can get pretty nasty. Surprisingly enough, I haven't seen any. I guess when you drive in chaos, you know how to handle chaos, unlike the States.
It is the start of a new transfer and.... I'm staying here again. Surprise! It seems pretty likely that I will be staying in the same branch that I was trained in for about a year, just like the two other missionarries behind me (Elder Tingey, my trainer, stayed in Bastos I for a year, and before him Elder Palmer stayed in the same branch for a year). Elder Buck goes home at the end of this transfer, and after next transfer the n00bs are coming in and I'll probably end up training, due to lack of seasoned pros (there is a group of nine who are leaving just after Elder Buck). We will see what happens at the end of this transfer.
Frank is still holding up. He has had a lot of trials, but is still hanging in there. I love him so much. He is awesome. I never thought I would have friends from a completely different continent, in a different language and in a completely different culture.
I taught a guy from Belgium this week, and his french was awesome! I thought that the Camerounian accent wasn't so bad, but after hearing him talk, wow! His name was George (not really) and is married to a sister of a recent convert of ours (recent convert's name is Josephine, and her sister's name is Elizabeth). I met Elizabeth with Elder Tingey way back in the beginning of my third transfer (maybe earlier; now I'm thiking second) and she said she really wanted to hear more of this message, but she was getting married in Belgium and wouldn't be back until Christmas. So I hung onto her phone number for freaking ever, and sure enough, one day we walked into Josephine's house and Elizabeth was there, with her husband.
Turns out Elizabeth has been going through some tough times right now. It's kind of strange, really. I don't know what her trials entail, but to any other Cameroonian woman, she is living it up right now! Her husband is white (meaning he's got money) and she should be all happy and rich now, right? It goes to show that we shouldn't be so quick to judge someone else's situation, because I could tell through her tears that nothing was going well in her life. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon, and then invited her to read it, and promised that she would learn how to overcome each of her trials as she continued to read the Book of Mormon.
Her husband ended up being a really nice guy. All the white people here I've met (more particularly the Europeans) have been kind of snobby. They don't talk to us nor to other blacks. They don't ride in taxis and when they do, it's only a dépot (rent the taxi rather than renting a spot; see appendix one). When we got there and started speaking french, George said "Your accent.... American?" Elder Buck and I looked at the floor in disappointment and just said "Yeah..." He believes God exists, but he doesn't see that he needs to do anything about it. He doesn't really support organized religion, nor does he really have faith in much of anything, but he ended agreeing to read a brochure. We'll see about prayer, and we will see what happens as we talk with his wife.
Other than that, it's been another week of preaching the gospel. Je vous aime, et j'espère que vous aviez une bonne semaine!
- Elder LaFleur
APPENDIX ONE ------- HOW TAXIS WORK HERE
In Cameroon, you don't rent a taxi like you do in the states. You just name where you want to go and how much you are going to pay, and taxis either accept it or reject it. You only pay for a place, and there are 5 places - 3 in back and 2 in the front seat. There are no seat belts, so accidents can get pretty nasty. Surprisingly enough, I haven't seen any. I guess when you drive in chaos, you know how to handle chaos, unlike the States.
Yup Feb 6, 2012
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
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
All Your Base Are Belong To Us (again) Jan 30, 2012
How are you gentlemen. All your base are belong to us.
So first, a quick apology. Sorry I haven't sent a whole lot about what's happening out here in Africa. I have been answering a lot of emails and stuff, which I'm very thankful for, but nonetheless, I felt like I needed time to sit down and send something to all of you.
I looked up an old missionarry's blog (elderpalmer.blogspot.com) and my friend's blog (elderschmid.blogspot.com) and discovered that my blog emails need some serious improvement. And so this week, I'll go through each day of the week and talk about what I did that day and stuff.
Monday was P day. We made a district (apartment) rule to ensure that all of our shopping is going to be done on P day. It's really awesome sharing everything with another companionship. I really like the other two Elders in my Apartment (Elder Hansen and ElderGraham) and it's nice being able to work together nicely as a district.
Tuesday we saw a less active member who is currently working in a bar. Her husband went super inactive years ago and she ended up seperating from him (but not divorcing him). She was worried about how the church would feel about that, and so she just hasn't come back. She wants to come back now, but her work schedule just isn't matching up with church. We also saw an older investigator named Sampson (not his real name) who knows the Book of Mormon is true, and now is searching for every possible way to claim that the Church of Jesus Christ wasn't an organization and that it isn't our church, despite the fact he knows the Book of Mormon (which is exclusive to our church) is true. It's kind of frustrating sometimes. He can't seem to let himself connect the dots and understand that this church is true! He just isn't willing to give up what he has now to get salvation (which is a serious bummer). Nonetheless, I'm sure he will come back one day. I may not be the missionarry to see it, but I really think he will come back one day. I just hope he doesn't have to be super humbled for it to happen.
Wednesday we saw Frank (not his real name) who I baptized a month ago (see pictures from last email). He is doing awesome. I warned him after his baptism that Satan was going to do everything possible to make his life hard, and he is. Most importantly though, Frank is totally taking it all really well. His wife is all like "I'm catholic and you were catholic and catholocism is the only way; you're destroying our family, blarg blah blah." Then the mother of his kids took his kids and expects him to pay to see his kids. I was floored on how tough things are for him now, but he is still reading the Book of Mormon and he is still hanging strong. I'm so impressed with the faith that these people have.
Here's another example of incredible faith that happened on Saturday:
We met an anglophone from Baminda, who heard that our church offers a lot of Humanitarian aid, particularly in Africa (true. Look it up at www.lds.org). He has two kids and was a moto taxi man, got in a nasty accident and now his right hip is completely destroyed. He literally has no hip at all there. It's excrutiatingly painful. He is signed up as a disabled person through Cameroon and everything. This guy was in serious need of medical assistance, but due to lack of funds that is so rampant out here, he can't get what he needs. Us as missionarries are obligated to not give money (it's in our rulebook; "The Missionarry Handbook of Instruction" I think is the official name). I felt awful having to tell him that. When most people pester us for money, they always follow it up with a comment like "Oh, the whites can't share any money with us blacks who suffer" or something like that. This guy though, he just looked us in the eye and said "It's all right. I know that your prayers will do so much more than any sum of money."
Like I said, the faith of people here in Africa is really impressive. I even thought to myself "Man, this guy needs some serious cash that I can't give and he just doesn't have." This man totally showed his faith by responding and having such an attitude like that towards prayer.
So that's some goings ons here. I hope you all are having a wonderful winter, of which I don't have to deal with (hooray for tropical climates!). Alors, j'espère que vous auriez une bonne semaine cette semaine.
Bonne soirée!
- Elder LaFleur
So first, a quick apology. Sorry I haven't sent a whole lot about what's happening out here in Africa. I have been answering a lot of emails and stuff, which I'm very thankful for, but nonetheless, I felt like I needed time to sit down and send something to all of you.
I looked up an old missionarry's blog (elderpalmer.blogspot.com) and my friend's blog (elderschmid.blogspot.com) and discovered that my blog emails need some serious improvement. And so this week, I'll go through each day of the week and talk about what I did that day and stuff.
Monday was P day. We made a district (apartment) rule to ensure that all of our shopping is going to be done on P day. It's really awesome sharing everything with another companionship. I really like the other two Elders in my Apartment (Elder Hansen and ElderGraham) and it's nice being able to work together nicely as a district.
Tuesday we saw a less active member who is currently working in a bar. Her husband went super inactive years ago and she ended up seperating from him (but not divorcing him). She was worried about how the church would feel about that, and so she just hasn't come back. She wants to come back now, but her work schedule just isn't matching up with church. We also saw an older investigator named Sampson (not his real name) who knows the Book of Mormon is true, and now is searching for every possible way to claim that the Church of Jesus Christ wasn't an organization and that it isn't our church, despite the fact he knows the Book of Mormon (which is exclusive to our church) is true. It's kind of frustrating sometimes. He can't seem to let himself connect the dots and understand that this church is true! He just isn't willing to give up what he has now to get salvation (which is a serious bummer). Nonetheless, I'm sure he will come back one day. I may not be the missionarry to see it, but I really think he will come back one day. I just hope he doesn't have to be super humbled for it to happen.
Wednesday we saw Frank (not his real name) who I baptized a month ago (see pictures from last email). He is doing awesome. I warned him after his baptism that Satan was going to do everything possible to make his life hard, and he is. Most importantly though, Frank is totally taking it all really well. His wife is all like "I'm catholic and you were catholic and catholocism is the only way; you're destroying our family, blarg blah blah." Then the mother of his kids took his kids and expects him to pay to see his kids. I was floored on how tough things are for him now, but he is still reading the Book of Mormon and he is still hanging strong. I'm so impressed with the faith that these people have.
Here's another example of incredible faith that happened on Saturday:
We met an anglophone from Baminda, who heard that our church offers a lot of Humanitarian aid, particularly in Africa (true. Look it up at www.lds.org). He has two kids and was a moto taxi man, got in a nasty accident and now his right hip is completely destroyed. He literally has no hip at all there. It's excrutiatingly painful. He is signed up as a disabled person through Cameroon and everything. This guy was in serious need of medical assistance, but due to lack of funds that is so rampant out here, he can't get what he needs. Us as missionarries are obligated to not give money (it's in our rulebook; "The Missionarry Handbook of Instruction" I think is the official name). I felt awful having to tell him that. When most people pester us for money, they always follow it up with a comment like "Oh, the whites can't share any money with us blacks who suffer" or something like that. This guy though, he just looked us in the eye and said "It's all right. I know that your prayers will do so much more than any sum of money."
Like I said, the faith of people here in Africa is really impressive. I even thought to myself "Man, this guy needs some serious cash that I can't give and he just doesn't have." This man totally showed his faith by responding and having such an attitude like that towards prayer.
So that's some goings ons here. I hope you all are having a wonderful winter, of which I don't have to deal with (hooray for tropical climates!). Alors, j'espère que vous auriez une bonne semaine cette semaine.
Bonne soirée!
- Elder LaFleur
A letter to the Haven Ward... Jan 23, 2012
Here is a note for Haven Ward:
"Dear Haven Ward,
I wanted to write a brief note to all of you thanking you for the help you have given me. There is an old African proverb that says 'It takes a village to raise a child.' It's also a cliché, but nevermind that. Growing up in the village I did prepared me for the kinds of experiences and problems I would face here on my mission, and later in life. I would like to thank all of you who helped me grow into the person I am today, and giving me the tools necessary to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
- Elder LaFleur"
"Dear Haven Ward,
I wanted to write a brief note to all of you thanking you for the help you have given me. There is an old African proverb that says 'It takes a village to raise a child.' It's also a cliché, but nevermind that. Growing up in the village I did prepared me for the kinds of experiences and problems I would face here on my mission, and later in life. I would like to thank all of you who helped me grow into the person I am today, and giving me the tools necessary to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
- Elder LaFleur"
Monday, January 16, 2012
Just pictures
I had a terrible time with the computers, so I can only send pictures.
The first is me out in the boonies. It's super pretty out there. Remember, Yaoundé is like walking around on mars with foliage exploding from the ground.
The second is me and my new companion, Elder Buck (he's been here for a couple weeks, but still...)
The third is me and Frank, whom I baptized a week ago, and gave the Aaronic priesthood yesterday.
The forth is Brent and I, whom I stood in the circle in giving him the Melchezidek priesthood (that's right - he was so prepared it only took 2-3 months!!!)
Je vous aime.
- Elder LaFleur
ps (from Kendrick) - Andre also sent these two photos of him with a wad of money (about 6 million cFa):
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Pictures and Stories and News...Oh my!!!
 |
| Andre is on the left with his trainer Elder Tingey next to him |
Today we visited the Gorilla park and got to see a bunch of gorillas and stuff. They are on a reserve here in Cameroon, and, well, it's a zoo dedicated to gorillas. You can get pretty close to them though. There was a time where we got to walk through a dense portion of jungle. It was really neat. Probably (and surprisingly) the funnest part was walking on this trail next to one of the enclosures of gorillas, and trying to dodge the poop they throw at you (yes, throw at you. Elder Shmid got hit a little).
There was also a really gigantic tree there (as you can see in the picture). I'm not sure how big it really was, but one thing is certain: I really want a treehouse in a tree that big and tall.
I had my first baptism baptism this week. I baptized Valerie. She is the daughter of another investigator we have named Daniel (I used his bathroom a couple transfers ago). She has been attending church regularly for a couple months, and has heard all the lessons plusiers fois, mais (translation: several times, but) she only accepted baptism recently. She got baptized with her cousin, who Elder Tingey baptized. Brother Daniel was so excited about that. He jumped up and hugged us when he heard the news.
I got to play piano for sacrement meeting a couple times. I can't play - at all, really. I can play the melody in the right hand and then play chords with my left. It works out okay - we have a super watered down hymn book thingy here. The way the name the chords and stuff in French is different than in English (they use solifege, but "do" is always the note "C." So there are chords that say "Si b" and that trips me up a bit. I tend to think of it all abstractly).
We caroled people this week. I just took a guitar around and played chords around a couple of hymns and sang with people. It was fun. I got to really brush up on my guitar playing, and it ended up being really useful! Don't ever tell your children that playing guitar or anything is stupid (mine didn't; they encouraged me playing guitar, just for the record). It ended up being really valuable. People really liked having the guitar with us.
Elder Tingey is getting transferred! After being in the same sector and Apartment for a full year, he is going to Douala. Elder Buck will be replacing him here. Elder Buck is from Douala. I only met him in passing once. He trained my friend Elder Nash, and now Elder Tingey will probably be finishing his mission there in Douala.
The other day we bumped into a white guy, and I felt really akward talking to him. It was the strangest thing ever. Here is a guy from the states, speaking my native tongue the way I speak it, and I couldn't hardly look at him in the eye without feeling really akward. It's kind of fun to be so completely enveloped in a culture that it feels strange to interact with some other part of the culture I was originally used to back home. In the states, just talking to another white guy wouldn't faze me (obviously). Now that I have lived here for a couple months, talking to anyone who doesn't belong to Cameroonian/Central African culture, in appearance, language and mannerism, is completely foreign to me. It's strange, but it's fun to be able to say that I am now comfortable with another man's culture.
A brief explanation: there are only three areas in my mission where I can serve: Pointe Noire in Congo Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), Douala and Yaoundé in Cameroon. Those are the only cities that are safe for whites to live in. There are a couple of other places to serve in my mission, but I will never see the DRC, nor the other side of Congo Brazzaville. The gospel is not yet in Gabon, Central African Republic and Equitorial Guinea. Gabon might be opening soon, but their argument is "Well, we have over 300 churches in our country. Why do we need yours too?" Well, if you have 300, 301 isn't quite such a big difference, is it? We hope that Gabon is a little bit more receptive soon.
I hope you enjoyed more anecdotes and pictures this week. I love you all and I hope you have all had a merry Christmas!
- Elder LaFleur
Monday, December 26, 2011
From Kendrick
So, I just wanted to mention how blessed we feel as a family to have Andre serve our Heavenly Father in this way. He loves his mission and its exciting to watch him grow. He loves Cameroon and the people there.
Yesterday, for Christmas, Andre was allowed to contact us. Usually missionaries can call home only on Christmas and Mother's Day. Thanks to today's technology, we were able to not just talk to Andre, but see him as well, thanks to Skype! I took advantage of the moment and we took a family picture. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing an interest in my son and his adventures in Africa.
Yesterday, for Christmas, Andre was allowed to contact us. Usually missionaries can call home only on Christmas and Mother's Day. Thanks to today's technology, we were able to not just talk to Andre, but see him as well, thanks to Skype! I took advantage of the moment and we took a family picture. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and thanks for sharing an interest in my son and his adventures in Africa.
NOt much time but... December 19, 2011
I wanted to send a couple pictures. So this is Elder Tingey and I with our new machetes. We went au champs this week (worked on someone's farm) and so we decided that in order to be prepared to do it again, we needed machetes. I took a couple of pictures like this. Just remember that the "field is white already to harvest."
Pictures, andd..... December 5, 2011
One more experience while everything is loading. I bumped into a musician the other day, and he and I talked a little bit. He was a guitar player, didn't know how to read music, but man could he play. The style of music here fills two genres: religous and pop, and this guy mixed the two. He played this song for us where one of the lyrics was "Shake your body for Jesus." To be honest, it felt really sacriligious, but he could really play guitar.
That's something that's interesting here in cameroon. Everyone believes in God, everyone is chrisitian, and everyone loves to talk about it. That's one of the more difficult parts of serving here - you get people who just want to talk, not committ to a specific church.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy.
Per usual, not much time... December 5, 2011
So I'll type as much as possible here.
First of all, thank you for your emails. It really means a lot to me hearing from all of you. I hope you all enjoy reading these ones.
This week, per usual, not much has happened. We had thanksgiving, and that was fun. I'll send pictures of our zone at thanksgiving. Basically, we just ate a bunch of rottisserie chicken and mashed potatoes, as well as drinking Djino and Topamplamoose. It was fantastic.
Francoise is going to be baptized, most probably. I have high hopes for December 24th. She has totally committed and is now reading her scriptures and stuff every day. I love going to see her. I just really hope she wants to keep going.
I have a couple new investigators I'm excited about. Francois (unrelated to francoise) works at Camtel (cameroonian telephone company) and he is awesome. I love going to see him. He's a really sharp guy, and after giving him the book of Mormon, read through the first 5 chapters of 2 Nephi, from the start. He has committed to living the word of Wisdom, which is tough for him to do, but I really hope he is going to pull through and make it to baptism. I get the feeling he will.
Charles is the husband of a recent convert. Charles has had a troubled past, and has had some troubles with his wife, but now is coming to church, and has started settling differences and helping his wife out with stuff. He is really receptive of the gospel, and has also committed to the Word of Wisdom. I really hope he makes it to baptism too. I get the feeling he will - he already has extra support from his wife.
Sorry this email is skimpy. I don't have much time... Again...
- Elder LaFleur
First of all, thank you for your emails. It really means a lot to me hearing from all of you. I hope you all enjoy reading these ones.
This week, per usual, not much has happened. We had thanksgiving, and that was fun. I'll send pictures of our zone at thanksgiving. Basically, we just ate a bunch of rottisserie chicken and mashed potatoes, as well as drinking Djino and Topamplamoose. It was fantastic.
Francoise is going to be baptized, most probably. I have high hopes for December 24th. She has totally committed and is now reading her scriptures and stuff every day. I love going to see her. I just really hope she wants to keep going.
I have a couple new investigators I'm excited about. Francois (unrelated to francoise) works at Camtel (cameroonian telephone company) and he is awesome. I love going to see him. He's a really sharp guy, and after giving him the book of Mormon, read through the first 5 chapters of 2 Nephi, from the start. He has committed to living the word of Wisdom, which is tough for him to do, but I really hope he is going to pull through and make it to baptism. I get the feeling he will.
Charles is the husband of a recent convert. Charles has had a troubled past, and has had some troubles with his wife, but now is coming to church, and has started settling differences and helping his wife out with stuff. He is really receptive of the gospel, and has also committed to the Word of Wisdom. I really hope he makes it to baptism too. I get the feeling he will - he already has extra support from his wife.
Sorry this email is skimpy. I don't have much time... Again...
- Elder LaFleur
Sunday, December 4, 2011
More fun times from central africa - November 28, 2011
Bonsoir, devoted readers and fans!
So recently, we have been rebuilding. Our two most progressing investigators got baptized (the doctor and his wife), and so now we are in rebuild mode. I have high hopes for a few of our investigators, but our biggest challenge is having investigators get to church. Investigators coming to church is super important because it signals an investigator is progressing towards baptism. We don't want to baptize someone who isn't going to be active at church.
I think the reason church attendance is such a difficult key indicator to have a high number of here is because of the cultural opinion of what church should be. On average, people don't go to church to worship God, although that's what the pastor will be saying you're doing. Church here is more of a social gathering and performance than it is a sacred time to worship the Lord. Elder Tingey went to another church once (he promised an investigator that he would go to his congregation if the investigator came to ours), and told me all about it.
Basically, it started out with a rock band up front playing rock music. They were all getting into it and stuff, the band was totally rocking out, and there would be a pastor up front yelling stuff through a microphone. The pastor finally said "Alright, now confess your sins!" and everyone jumped up and started screaming all their sins. There was a guy there who yelled something like "I'm committing adultery with my neighbor!" while another guy was like "I stole from the supermarché!" and this and that. The band is still all rocking out and stuff, and then gigantic baskets get passed around. The pastor yells "Pay money and God will forgive your sins!" This money, of course, goes straight to the pastor, but never mind that. People are dropping like 50 000 cFa into these baskets (that's like $100; a lot for Cameroon), sometimes more into these baskets.
Finally after like a half hour of this the pastor calms everything down and asks for more donations in white envelopes. He said something like "Now this donation is between you and God." The woman next to Elder Tingey was dropping another 50 000 cFa into this thing. After that, the pastor gave a brand new mercedes to a random guy. The guy in the congregation who got the mercedes talked about how he has been praying for a new car.
Finally, the talking started, and the pastor taught something. Basically he taught that "Not all revelation from God is acceptable." Basically if God gives you an answer to a prayer you don't like, you pray and tell him to change it. He claimed that prayer is what changes the will of God (not a belief in our faith; you should always pray humbly).
And so, church for other people here is like going to a rock show. So a lot of people have trouble going to our church, where we don't have a band or dancing and dolling out the free cars.
In other news, I finished the 12 week program for training. I am now a full fledged in the field missionary! I had to be trained for 2 transfers, and now I'm trained!
We are getting some new missionaries in the next few months. One is coming January (he should be entering the MTC in the next couple weeks), as well as a bunch more in may when Elder Tingey's generation leaves (that's a replacement force of 10 more missionaries; not a whole lot of missionaries get called to Cameroon).
Elder Tingey and I had a cake off recently. Basically I took the recipe my mom gave me and Elder Tingey took his recipe and we gave it to a bunch of people and asked which was better without telling them who's cake is who's. It ended up being a tie, unless you count Elder Tingey's vote, in which I would have won. But whatever. I just enjoyed eating all that cake.
I also taught a District meeting using a nice long allegory about jazz ensembles. I don't have my notes with me, but next week I'll bring back what I taught.
Anyways, that's it for this week. Bonsoirée, and Excelsior!
- Elder LaFleur
So recently, we have been rebuilding. Our two most progressing investigators got baptized (the doctor and his wife), and so now we are in rebuild mode. I have high hopes for a few of our investigators, but our biggest challenge is having investigators get to church. Investigators coming to church is super important because it signals an investigator is progressing towards baptism. We don't want to baptize someone who isn't going to be active at church.
I think the reason church attendance is such a difficult key indicator to have a high number of here is because of the cultural opinion of what church should be. On average, people don't go to church to worship God, although that's what the pastor will be saying you're doing. Church here is more of a social gathering and performance than it is a sacred time to worship the Lord. Elder Tingey went to another church once (he promised an investigator that he would go to his congregation if the investigator came to ours), and told me all about it.
Basically, it started out with a rock band up front playing rock music. They were all getting into it and stuff, the band was totally rocking out, and there would be a pastor up front yelling stuff through a microphone. The pastor finally said "Alright, now confess your sins!" and everyone jumped up and started screaming all their sins. There was a guy there who yelled something like "I'm committing adultery with my neighbor!" while another guy was like "I stole from the supermarché!" and this and that. The band is still all rocking out and stuff, and then gigantic baskets get passed around. The pastor yells "Pay money and God will forgive your sins!" This money, of course, goes straight to the pastor, but never mind that. People are dropping like 50 000 cFa into these baskets (that's like $100; a lot for Cameroon), sometimes more into these baskets.
Finally after like a half hour of this the pastor calms everything down and asks for more donations in white envelopes. He said something like "Now this donation is between you and God." The woman next to Elder Tingey was dropping another 50 000 cFa into this thing. After that, the pastor gave a brand new mercedes to a random guy. The guy in the congregation who got the mercedes talked about how he has been praying for a new car.
Finally, the talking started, and the pastor taught something. Basically he taught that "Not all revelation from God is acceptable." Basically if God gives you an answer to a prayer you don't like, you pray and tell him to change it. He claimed that prayer is what changes the will of God (not a belief in our faith; you should always pray humbly).
And so, church for other people here is like going to a rock show. So a lot of people have trouble going to our church, where we don't have a band or dancing and dolling out the free cars.
In other news, I finished the 12 week program for training. I am now a full fledged in the field missionary! I had to be trained for 2 transfers, and now I'm trained!
We are getting some new missionaries in the next few months. One is coming January (he should be entering the MTC in the next couple weeks), as well as a bunch more in may when Elder Tingey's generation leaves (that's a replacement force of 10 more missionaries; not a whole lot of missionaries get called to Cameroon).
Elder Tingey and I had a cake off recently. Basically I took the recipe my mom gave me and Elder Tingey took his recipe and we gave it to a bunch of people and asked which was better without telling them who's cake is who's. It ended up being a tie, unless you count Elder Tingey's vote, in which I would have won. But whatever. I just enjoyed eating all that cake.
I also taught a District meeting using a nice long allegory about jazz ensembles. I don't have my notes with me, but next week I'll bring back what I taught.
Anyways, that's it for this week. Bonsoirée, and Excelsior!
- Elder LaFleur
Thursday, December 1, 2011
All Your Base Are Belong To Us...
This week is moving along nicely. I had an interesting experience with a couple of pastors though.
So this week I got told that I am going to hell, and dragging everyone else around me down too. It was actually kind of funny. I thought for sure I would get all upset when it happened, but it ended up being a nice contrast.
There is an investigator named Francoise (not real name) who knows that our church is true. But there is a pastor Etienne and a pastor Steven who belong to her old church who keep showing up and telling her that she needs to come back to their church. She isn't though. She knows that our church is true.
Anyways, we show up one day to talk to Francoise about stuff, and pastor Steven laughed and said something along the lines of "If you give me a million cFa, I will join your church." Elder Tingey totally chatiè'd him (chastised in broken franglais) by quoting the scripture "seek ye first the kingdom of God." Pastor Steven got all emberassed and was about to walk away when pastor Etienne showed up and started getting in our faces. Then pastor Steven tag teamed with him and yelled loud and clear that we are of the devil, we are preaching the devil's doctrine and that we need to go back home and fix our gospel.
I didn't say anything. To be honest, it was kind of pathetic. I mean, there are differences between our two churches, but we don't march up into people's faces and tell them they are of the devil. The only thing I could think about was the reference Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." And so, we just stood there for 30 minutes and let them tell us that we are evil. I figured it wasn't worth arguing, despite the fact that they were saying plenty of things that are not true. So Elder Tingey and I just stood there.
The situation reminded Elder Tingey of something a Congolese Elder told him (his name was Elder Nsimba, and he was the man). Elder Nsimba said that "People only throw rocks at a mango tree if there is good fruit." So the only reason people were bashing us is because we have good fruit! Just like it says in the scriptures, "Ye shall know them by their fruits."
They packed up and left, and then we talked to Francoise for a minute, and then set up another rendezvous with her. We then went back later and Etienne was there. He kind of looked dumbfounded. We walked in and sat down, and right before we started, Etienne ran off. We spoke with Francoise and had a really awesome rendezvous. The Spirit was super strong, and she is getting closer to baptism. Once again, "Ye shall know them by their fruits."
Please note that I did not mention any denomination that these two belong to. This was on purpose. We as missionaries do not seek to bash another man's form of worship. We don't even enforce ours on other people. We invite others to come unto Christ by receiving His restored Gospel. We do not with to diminish any other man's form of worship, and believe that every man should worship as far as his own conscious will allow.
So that's it for this week. Je vous aime!
- Elder LaFleur
So this week I got told that I am going to hell, and dragging everyone else around me down too. It was actually kind of funny. I thought for sure I would get all upset when it happened, but it ended up being a nice contrast.
There is an investigator named Francoise (not real name) who knows that our church is true. But there is a pastor Etienne and a pastor Steven who belong to her old church who keep showing up and telling her that she needs to come back to their church. She isn't though. She knows that our church is true.
Anyways, we show up one day to talk to Francoise about stuff, and pastor Steven laughed and said something along the lines of "If you give me a million cFa, I will join your church." Elder Tingey totally chatiè'd him (chastised in broken franglais) by quoting the scripture "seek ye first the kingdom of God." Pastor Steven got all emberassed and was about to walk away when pastor Etienne showed up and started getting in our faces. Then pastor Steven tag teamed with him and yelled loud and clear that we are of the devil, we are preaching the devil's doctrine and that we need to go back home and fix our gospel.
I didn't say anything. To be honest, it was kind of pathetic. I mean, there are differences between our two churches, but we don't march up into people's faces and tell them they are of the devil. The only thing I could think about was the reference Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." And so, we just stood there for 30 minutes and let them tell us that we are evil. I figured it wasn't worth arguing, despite the fact that they were saying plenty of things that are not true. So Elder Tingey and I just stood there.
The situation reminded Elder Tingey of something a Congolese Elder told him (his name was Elder Nsimba, and he was the man). Elder Nsimba said that "People only throw rocks at a mango tree if there is good fruit." So the only reason people were bashing us is because we have good fruit! Just like it says in the scriptures, "Ye shall know them by their fruits."
They packed up and left, and then we talked to Francoise for a minute, and then set up another rendezvous with her. We then went back later and Etienne was there. He kind of looked dumbfounded. We walked in and sat down, and right before we started, Etienne ran off. We spoke with Francoise and had a really awesome rendezvous. The Spirit was super strong, and she is getting closer to baptism. Once again, "Ye shall know them by their fruits."
Please note that I did not mention any denomination that these two belong to. This was on purpose. We as missionaries do not seek to bash another man's form of worship. We don't even enforce ours on other people. We invite others to come unto Christ by receiving His restored Gospel. We do not with to diminish any other man's form of worship, and believe that every man should worship as far as his own conscious will allow.
So that's it for this week. Je vous aime!
- Elder LaFleur
Friday, November 25, 2011
more news in Cameroon.... November 7th 2011
Bonsoir, tout la monde!
Life is still pushing along here in Bastos I. We had a baptism - Brent and his wife have both been baptized. They are a fantastic family! It was such a blast teaching them. Brent said that he didn't want to wear the jumpsuit, so he bought his own clothes. His wife got a nice dress too. They're almost temple ready! She just needs longer sleeves.
Brent bought his own clothes because he said that the jumpsuits make people look like prisoners. He said something like "I'm about to be a free man! I don't want to be in a prison outfit when I'm about to be relinquished from my sins!" And so, he looked super sharp at his baptism.
That was so incredible to see. I am so grateful that the Lord placed them in my path. I am so grateful that the Lord let me teach this family the gospel. That was really a wonderful experience. I probably looked like a total dufus at the baptism because I was all smiles the whole time.
Teaching that family shows that the Lord is preparing every one of us to hear the gospel. The Biloungas have totally been prepared to hear this gospel and to accept this message. They accepted everything we taught so readily. The Spirit was always super strong in every rendezvous we had. It was really a blast teachign them.
I wanted to thank you all for sending me recipes the last time. Thank you all for sending me recipes.
I have received a lot of questions about me getting packages and mail. Turns out I can send mail and receive packages. Here is what you must do:
1. Find something to mail me. Food is okay, but you have to make sure it is in a tough container. Cardboard and plastic are easily opened by mice - a strong plastic or metal tin container are the best things to send food in.
2. My address is the following:
Life is still pushing along here in Bastos I. We had a baptism - Brent and his wife have both been baptized. They are a fantastic family! It was such a blast teaching them. Brent said that he didn't want to wear the jumpsuit, so he bought his own clothes. His wife got a nice dress too. They're almost temple ready! She just needs longer sleeves.
Brent bought his own clothes because he said that the jumpsuits make people look like prisoners. He said something like "I'm about to be a free man! I don't want to be in a prison outfit when I'm about to be relinquished from my sins!" And so, he looked super sharp at his baptism.
That was so incredible to see. I am so grateful that the Lord placed them in my path. I am so grateful that the Lord let me teach this family the gospel. That was really a wonderful experience. I probably looked like a total dufus at the baptism because I was all smiles the whole time.
Teaching that family shows that the Lord is preparing every one of us to hear the gospel. The Biloungas have totally been prepared to hear this gospel and to accept this message. They accepted everything we taught so readily. The Spirit was always super strong in every rendezvous we had. It was really a blast teachign them.
I wanted to thank you all for sending me recipes the last time. Thank you all for sending me recipes.
I have received a lot of questions about me getting packages and mail. Turns out I can send mail and receive packages. Here is what you must do:
1. Find something to mail me. Food is okay, but you have to make sure it is in a tough container. Cardboard and plastic are easily opened by mice - a strong plastic or metal tin container are the best things to send food in.
2. My address is the following:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Elder Andre Charles-Philip LaFleur
B.P. 3171
Douala, Cameroon
Send it to that address. If it's a normal letter, you can get away with an international stamp (about $1). If it's a package, you can USPS it (super costly, but more reliable) or Post Office (less costly, unreliable).
3. The missionarry couple in Douala will pick it up for me when it gets to cameroon - about 2 or 3 months. Cameroonian government looks inside every package they receive, and then you have to pay them depending on what is inside it. Don't send packages near Christmas - then it costs lots of money for them to pick it up. If you send something valuable, it costs even more (once again, Cameroon got number 1 on "most corrupted country" list a couple years ago). Save yourselves and us some money - don't send anything valuable. To be honest, all I really want is American candy. Skittles, Warheads, Twizzlers pull'n'peelz.... And my mom's homemade blackberry jam. The money that the couple in Douala pays I will have to pay them back in full.
Speaking of homemade, can I get your recipe for bread mom? I want to bake my own - despite the fact the baguettes here are so good.
And so, that is what's happening here in Bastos I. I hope you are all enjoying your time in the states. I am loving it here in Cameroon. I will send some more pictures of scenery next week.
- Elder LaFleur
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Some more happenings this week: Oct 31, 2011
Before I commence this email, it has been made known to me that I'm not supposed to use real names of people. So I'm changing people's names. Please remember though that these are realpeople, with real problems, whom of which God is really helping out through me.
The doctor for example (I'll call him Brent) and his wife (Josephine). So Brent totally knows that this church is true. He has gained a testimony and everything. His wife, however, hasn't received that. This week we decided to watch "Finding Faith in Christ" with the two of them. Tears were flowing (on their end - that never happens to cameroonians) and I bore testimony of Jesus Christ. After the nice lesson we ate dinner and left. We were walking down to the street when Brent called us and said "Dieu est magnifique." His wife spontaneously walked out of the kitchen after we left and said "Je dois me faire baptisé." We are so excited for them to be baptized. They are a wonderful family, and so Elder Tingey and I jumped and cheered after hearing that.
Another investigator we have is named Joshua. Joshua is a teacher for other congregations. Basically people call him up and say "Hey, I'll pay you X number of Francs to go and teach this congregation today." When we first taught him, he was really debative with everything we taught. But he decided to try reading the Book of Mormon, and studied it carefully (he really knows his stuff in the Bible. He wanted to prove us wrong). He told us about how while he was reading one night though, he heard this voice that said "Toutes les choses ils ont dit sont vraies. Ne doubte pas." And so, he knows without question that this message is true!
I remember meeting him my first day. He had a darkened countenance. He was kind of grouchy and was frustrated with the fact that our message and church different than his. But he kept going to church and kept reading the Book of Mormon. Now when we see him he is very peaceful and happy all the time. Every time we see him, he is smiling. His countenance shines now. He is just on the cusp of baptism. I hope and pray that he makes that last change to join this church, because he knows it's true.
So Cameroonian french is dirty french. I had some people ask me about it a little while ago, and it's really funny. To say "It's been forever" you say "Ca fait depuis!" (literally translated "It's been since!"). Or instead of saying "Comment ca va?" they will say "Oh, Elder LaFleur! C'est comment?" (literally "It's how?") It's really funny to hear anglophones speak too - they speak literally translated french. They say these phrases in english: "Elder! How?" I actually really like the cameroonian french. It's a fun difference than the french I have been taught my whole life.
Anyways, I hope all your lives are good. Excelsior!
- Elder LaFleur
The doctor for example (I'll call him Brent) and his wife (Josephine). So Brent totally knows that this church is true. He has gained a testimony and everything. His wife, however, hasn't received that. This week we decided to watch "Finding Faith in Christ" with the two of them. Tears were flowing (on their end - that never happens to cameroonians) and I bore testimony of Jesus Christ. After the nice lesson we ate dinner and left. We were walking down to the street when Brent called us and said "Dieu est magnifique." His wife spontaneously walked out of the kitchen after we left and said "Je dois me faire baptisé." We are so excited for them to be baptized. They are a wonderful family, and so Elder Tingey and I jumped and cheered after hearing that.
Another investigator we have is named Joshua. Joshua is a teacher for other congregations. Basically people call him up and say "Hey, I'll pay you X number of Francs to go and teach this congregation today." When we first taught him, he was really debative with everything we taught. But he decided to try reading the Book of Mormon, and studied it carefully (he really knows his stuff in the Bible. He wanted to prove us wrong). He told us about how while he was reading one night though, he heard this voice that said "Toutes les choses ils ont dit sont vraies. Ne doubte pas." And so, he knows without question that this message is true!
I remember meeting him my first day. He had a darkened countenance. He was kind of grouchy and was frustrated with the fact that our message and church different than his. But he kept going to church and kept reading the Book of Mormon. Now when we see him he is very peaceful and happy all the time. Every time we see him, he is smiling. His countenance shines now. He is just on the cusp of baptism. I hope and pray that he makes that last change to join this church, because he knows it's true.
So Cameroonian french is dirty french. I had some people ask me about it a little while ago, and it's really funny. To say "It's been forever" you say "Ca fait depuis!" (literally translated "It's been since!"). Or instead of saying "Comment ca va?" they will say "Oh, Elder LaFleur! C'est comment?" (literally "It's how?") It's really funny to hear anglophones speak too - they speak literally translated french. They say these phrases in english: "Elder! How?" I actually really like the cameroonian french. It's a fun difference than the french I have been taught my whole life.
Anyways, I hope all your lives are good. Excelsior!
- Elder LaFleur
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