Love Me Some Beignets!

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been such a good one! Its crazy to think that I have already been here
in Douala for almost 3 weeks! On average we try and have around 5 meetings a day and usually we
end up having around 4 rendez-vous (or meetings) a day. We do a lot of studying in the morning
because I am being trained and we are learning a new language. Since for right now things have
settled into a rhythm, I'll fill you in on the highlights.

 

Elder Larson and I have formed an addiction to beignets, or French doughnuts; they are only 50 francs or 10 cents! We want to have an eating contest to see who can eat the most, I really hope we get to do that soon!  Also, during a lesson with a recent convert, there was a little girl who was running around naked the whole time. While for you that may seem weird, we are now used to it. Little kids hardly ever have clothes on! Also, when you see an adult, the less clothes they have on the crazier they are. One day Elder West and I were walking to get a taxi and we saw a man with nothing on, just standing in the middle of a field! I was shocked and Elder West just said "yeah, sometimes that just happens!"

 

This week I was able to do some service for a member. He sells food on the side of the road by the airport, which here is really common. So to help him out, I cleaned and gutted fish for about an hour! It was really gross, but now I have no problem with cleaning fish at all!

 

Also, the Jehovah's Witness church is really big in Africa. They have a lot of missionaries and members here and they walk around with little badges on. Many of the people that we talk to think that we are JW's.  This week, two JW missionaries stopped Elder West and I on the way back from service and gave us pamphlets and talked to us. I thought it was so funny! And if anyone needs a good rec team name or 3 on 3 name, JW.org sounds pretty interesting to me!

 

Also this week, we got an opportunity to teach an albino lady! They are really common here but I thought it was awesome! As for the teaching here in Douala, it is great! Most of the time we never have to go tracting but it does happen in our mission. Douala is a huge commercial city, so most people move here for business opportunities so they are not the people looking for the gospel most of the time.  Here in Bonaberi many people live in apartments or houses and most of those have a gate with a guardian, so knocking doors here is very hard! Tha guardian most of the time will not let
you come in and teach the people.

 

The people that we do teach though are amazing! They are usually very receptive of our message, which is great! They understand a lot of what we say but it truly is like teaching to a child so you have to be really simple in your speech. It's amazing how many young people that we teach, many of our investigators are 20 years and younger. I would never have thought about religion that young, but here, young people are so intrested in religion. But that's about it as far as teaching goes.

 

The French is really starting to pick up; I can now read a lot in French and understand it. During the lessons, I am beginning to understand almost everything! My speech still struggles, but the more that I speak the better it gets!

 

This week has been a great one and I can't wait for the next to come. The thing that I
have thought about this week is the standard of living here in Africa. We have an apartment
that in the US would be so bad, but here it is like upperclass. If we buy a lot of food, we feel
self-concious, even though for us it's not a lot; for them it would be so much. Never before have
I been so thankful for the things that I have! I'm truly blessed to be here in Africa at this
time. I know this is where I am supposed to be. I truly love it here and I can't wait to have more amazing experiences. Well, that is all for this week. Someone go have a nice big steak for me!

Much Love,
Elder Legerski