A Good Week!

Big news! Today is transfer letter day. We haven't heard anything... The Bailey's emailed and asked what was going on, and they got  an email saying "plans have changed." That's it. So we have no idea what is going on. About the nativity, I forgot to tell you, but I bought an awesome nativity a couple weeks ago! It has a stable and everything and it's completely dismountable. I ended up getting it for 40 dollars. He was asking 70, but I talked him down. I could have got it for 30 but I mostly just wanted to make sure I got it. They had a whole bunch of nativities around, so I didn't even have to order one. It is made out of iron wood. I took a pic so I'll try to send that home. By the way, my camera is officially up and running! I just need to buy a case. 

So this week was a good one. On monday we went to the beach! That was really fun. We played volleyball and had lots of fun.

 Then we did spring cleaning. We deep cleaned the apartment and now it looks really good. Hopefully I get to stay for another transfer. In my letter from President Cook he informed me of some things that are coming up in Pointe Noire. In a month 4 new missionaries are coming to our mission and 2 will be in Pointe Noire. He is also adding another companionship to our apartment in Mpaka.  It was kind of weird though because I was the only one that he told about that... So I don't know what that means.

 HEY! We just got information about transfers. Nothing in Pointe Noire is changing. I'm here for another transfer! Anyway, so maybe I'll get to stay here for the division of the sectors and branches and get to train! That would be awesome.

Anyway, Tuesday Elder Ndayizeye was sick, so we stayed home all day. We also got the hardware installed so we can hang curtains. That will be exciting haha. We have a lot of work to do in our apartment to prepare it for a new set of elders. That means a bunch of repairs and adding a new bunk bed and all kinds of fun stuff. Anyway, all day that day I was reading in Jesus the Christ and got a lot of reading done. It worked out just right that I read about everything from the last supper to the crucifixion. It was a really cool experience. Then I also profited from that time to make bread bowls and beef stew. It was really good. I had strips of beef and this recipe called for cooking it in water with bouillon cubes for an hour then adding vegetables and cooking for an hour. It was REALLY good. 

Wednesday we had another really good day. Our first appointment fell through so we ended up talking to someone on the road for a couple minutes when Guy, my recent convert walked by. We had been having a hard time fixing a rendez-vous with him. So we got to talk to him. He's really cool. He is 20ish. He doesn't know for sure... But he has a strong testimony and understands a lot about the gospel. Even though he can't read! The branch president set it up so every saturday someone can come to the church and help him learn to read so he can go on a mission! Then we also had a lesson with Padma. She made us a really good fruit medley with all kinds of different fruits. 

Thursday was a good day. Full of lessons. Nothing too exciting. 

Friday we had a lesson with someone named Juldas. He is a 14 year old that lives with one of the counselors in the branch presidency. We taught him with my 11 year old convert Dacise and another 8 year old that lives there. It was such a fun lesson. We would show a picture of the angel moroni and we asked who it was, and the 8 year old named Galvie got really excited and yelled "That's Captain Moroni!" It was really fun to see that. 

Saturday was another interesting day. We ended up walking a lot. We had an awesome first contact with someone named Lous Andre. He was a coordonne from another sector. That was really cool. Then we talked to Surprise about the Priesthood. It was really cool. His mom made us peanut butter and gave us fufu powder. They are so nice. 

Sunday was an awesome day. All 13 of my recent converts were at church! Talk about real growth :) That makes you even more happy than having investigators at church. But, another incredible thing happened. The Louzolo family has a son named Africa. He's kind of a recluse and doesn't like to talk to other people. He never wanted to talk to the missionaries because of that. But he always reads the Bible and prays a lot. The parents have been helping him to learn the Gospel. And guess who came to church yesterday! It was so awesome! I was really excited. I also got to see 3 recent converts: Loubaki, Bienvenu, and Surprise receive the Priesthood! So as you can tell we had a really good day at church.

Anyway, this was a really good week. 

I wish I would have brought my clarinet. I miss it a lot. But we did get a grant from the Hartmond foundation to get synthesizers for Pointe Noire! So all the apartments got a keyboard and they have 12 others to use to teach people how to play piano! It's really fun. I've been learning to play a lot of different hymns. 

Anyway, sounds like you guys have been having fun. It's been going good here too. Have a great week!

Elder VanAusdal

If you know Tyler at all you know he loves to cook. Now that his camera is up and running again I am sure we will see lots more of these. 

Home made Pizza!!