Hump Day!

Hey everybody!

Holy cow it has only been a year but everything has changed! That would be cool if you could buy that property. Would that mean that I would come home to a different home? That'd be weird... Sounds like everything is going really well and you guys are keeping yourselves really busy.

Hump Day pancakes

The work is going forward incredibly here. This Saturday we are planning to have 6 baptisms! I am so excited! Plus the other branches are having baptisms too so there should be 12 people being baptized on Saturday! One step towards a stake here in Yaoundé. By the way. Our branch president informed us that our branch will be getting a new building in the next couple of months, and when they do, they are planning to split the branch! That will make 6 branches in Yaoundé! That also means I have a good chance of staying here for a little while because they will probably just split our companionship in half and give each of us a new companion and take half of the sector. The work is truly going forward. It's awesome to see. I am loving it here. The other elders are awesome. This city is awesome. We have a lot of fun. We are all really enjoying it. I can't believe it's been over a year since I left. 

So this week in general was really good. The weather is great. It is the beginning of rainy season, which I love. We've been rained on a few times, but that's ok. Mid 70's to low 80's. Not too bad :) It's been hard having to refuse food these last couple weeks. People get really offended when we don't accept their food. But we do the best we can to explain why. I know it's for the better, but it's really hard. It's also taken some getting used to having a sidebag. The backpack was nice. The side bag is convenient for brochures and everything, but it's a lot harder on my shoulders and back. Elder Brockbank pops my back for me every night, but the last week or so, it doesn't pop any more.. So headaches have been bothering me lately, but I'll figure something out. 

Last night we got home and the water was out. It was still out when we left this morning. So we got to bucket shower this morning. I found out it isn't so bad if you boil some water and dump it into a bucket of cold water. Then you have a warm shower :) The things you learn on your mission.... 

This week we did a lot of cool things. We met a less-active member that was baptized in France. He is a rapper and released an album in France. Then he came here to perform for the president of Cameroon But it took a turn for the worst and now he doesn't have anything. But he is working on a new album. He rapped a couple songs for us haha. He is really cool. If you get on iTunes, maybe you can find him. His name is Aribot. 

Wednesday we got rained on. And of course we forgot umbrellas. So we were soaked. All the gel that was in my hair went away and we were soaked. But it was really cool. It is funny being the only people on the roads because everyone else is afraid of the rain. It also really touches people that we come see them even in the rain. It is also ironic that you talked about Elder Lundberg last week and his problems. But I think there was a little bit of karma going on, because on Wednesday I had some "problems" too. I'll tell you about that another time.... hahaha 

Anyway, Thursday we did splits. Elder Beutler came over and worked with me. We had a great day. We went to see a less-active sister, but when we got there she had a little girl that was really sick. She asked us to give her a blessing. That was an incredible experience. She told the little girl to say hello to the white people. The little girl was half asleep and said "bonjour les blancs" which means "hello the whites." It was really cute. But when we stopped by on Sunday, she was up and playing and getting ready for school. 

Friday we met a really cool new family. Her name is Fortune. She used to go to a different church. A couple months ago she broke her ankle She called the people in her church to come help her, and no one ever came. So one day she was talking to a friend, and her friend said that she should go see the Mormons because they are really nice and loving. So she came to church and loved the teachings. She said she is tired of switching churches and could stay here for the rest of her life. It was an awesome lesson!

In contrast, I will quote Elder Brockbank. "Today we saw Satan on Earth." hahaha we were walking down the road and these guys came up to us and listed a bunch of churches including our church and said that they are all of the devil because there is only one prophet on the earth at a time and they have a prophet. We tried to give them a brochure and told them to pray about it. They said that after Jesus fasted for 40 days the first person that came to him was the devil. So when we prayed to know that our message was true apparently it was the devil that told us that. So they said that you can't pray because the devil will trick you... Anyway, that was really interesting.

Saturday we were invited to go to a branch activity. It was really fun. We got to see someone cut the throat of some chickens. Then they talked about how to lead the church and how we should help the work go forward It was a really cool meeting. Then they ate, but we had to say no...
Sunday we did a bunch of baptism interviews. We're getting excited about Saturday!

Cameroon from the top of  Mt Febe where elder Holland gave the dedicatory prayer.

Noce neighborhoods in Yaounde

Today we went up to Mount Febe, where Elder Holland dedicated Cameroon. We read the dedicatory prayer and had lunch. It was a really cool experience. We could see all of Yaoundé, which is HUGE! It is basically as far as the eye can see. The pictures don't really do it justice, but I'll send some anyways. 

Anyway, everything is going good here. Have a great week!

Love, Elder VanAusdal