Last Letter From the Congo:)

Hello everyone!
   Thank you all for the emails that you wrote to me! This last week was a little weird knowing that it was going to be my last time doing a lot of things, but my goal was just to act like it was a normal week and work hard like always!
   I can't believe this will be my last letter home! Wednesday, I will be talking my flight home! The mission has been so awesome and I'm so sad that it is at an end, but now life starts again!
   I thank you all for what you have done for me the last 2 years! For a final challenge, come and see me so that I can hug you and tell you all in person my mission stories!! I will talk in church on Sunday, Aug 14 at 10:00am (2055 Edgar St) and there will be an open house at my home (2961 Arabian Circle) starting at 2:00pm that same day.  Please come so I get a chance to catch up with you...everyone's invited!!

Love,

Elder Legerski

Mixed Emotions

Dear friends and family,
   To start off, I'm sorry that I didn't email you yesterday. We haven't had power since Sunday and the connection in the cyber wasn't working yesterday. But I want to thank all of you that emailed me this last week...I thank you so much. It's so weird to think that the days of my mission are now in single digits! I don't even know what to think or what to say. My emotions are really mixed. On one hand, I think about going home a lot and on the other hand, I really just want to work as hard as I can. I almost feel like home has never existed and I have been a missionary all of my life. It's a really weird feeling!
   But still, things are going really well. We have been doing a lot of work in the sisters' old sector and have been discovering a lot of new places and amis and it's been really amazing. We are teaching Arnold, who is the cousin of one of our ward missionaries, and he was mind blown about the Plan of Salvation and the lessons with him have been going really well. All in all, just trying my best to stay focused and obedient. It's my second to last time writing to you all so just know that I love you all and I can't wait to see you all! And for a challenge, go and eat some cookie dough ice cream for me!

Love,

Elder Legerski

"A Blessed Life is Not an Easy Life"

Hello everyone,
   How are you doing!? This week was an amazing week... I just loved it! But before I tell you all about it, I just want to thank all of you that wrote me and I hope that you have an amazing week!
   This week starting off with a bang as Elder Ellis came and visited our misson! I got to lead the conference, so it was a lot of fun and it was my last zone conference ever! The 2 things that I liked the most were: 1. Gods ways are higher than our ways and 2. God will always keep His promises. It was a super amazing conference and we learned a lot. And afterwards, we had an interview with him and it was really awesome! I spent most of the time translating as he doesn't speak any French!
   After zone conference, we had a really good week meeting a lot of new amis! We met one guy named Syr and he can speak English, French, Chinese, and Arabic, and he was even talking notes in Arabic during our lesson. But he was just amazed that we would leave our studies to come and serve the Lord and receive nothing for it! It was a really good lesson and the spirit was so strong! Then on Sunday night, we had a good lesson with sister Simonne. Someone robbed her so she has been having a really hard time. But we talked about the example of Nephi and how even though he did so much good, he still had a really hard life! And then a thought popped into my head that said "A blessed life is not an easy life". And that is so true!
   But that was my week! This week were looking forward to lots of splits and lots of working! I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week! Go and eat some monkey bread for me!

Love,

Elder Legerski

New Missionaries and Family Missionary Work

Hello everyone!!!
   This week was a really amazing week! But before I start, I just want to thank everyone that wrote me this week and for my big sis, Meg, a good recovery from her crash! This week was really busy since we had new missionaries coming! We got to see Elder Pito and Sister Avajon and they are really awesome!
   Unfortunately, we were really busy with meetings all week long, so we didn't have much time to be in the sector. But we did have an activity where we taught the members how to do missionary work and it went really well; we are hoping to help a lot of people do missionary work among their friends and in their family! And then on Sunday, we went out with the Bills and visited inactive members with them and it went really well! It was so cool to be with them and to see them teach and I learned a lot doing it; also, I felt like a US missionary because I was in a car! But other than that it was just a normal week!
   We have a zone conference this week with Elder Ellis and it should be amazing! I love to learn the lessons given by general authorities! I love you all so much and I wish you a really great week! For a challenge this week, go and eat mac and cheese with hot dogs for me!

Love,

Elder Legerski

Transfers, New Assignments and 2 Baptisms:)

Hello everyone how are you doing!?
   Sorry I am emailing on a Tuesday! We had missionaries go home and so we were busy all day yesterday! This last week was a little bit of a hard one with lessons falling through, but it was good as well  because we had 2 baptisms for the first time in a long time! And they were both confirmed on Sunday in white shirts and ties and it was awesome! Also, Elder Larson will be coming to Brazzaville for his last 2 transfers so I'll get to hang out with him for the first time in a year! I'm so pumped!
   Unfortunately, the sisters got taken out of our ward so now we have to work both sectors.  So we have a lot of work to do, but we are really excited to do it and to really get to know and work with all of the members!
   I love you all so much and wish you all a good week! Go and eat some fettuccine pizza from Olive Garden for Elder Cicon and I!

Love,
Elder Legerski

The Best of Reasons to be Dressed in White

Hello everyone how are you!?
   Happy 4th of July from the Congo! Wish I could be with you all to celebrate the birth of our wonderful nation, but I'll just be doing it at the apartment with sparkling cider and chili fries! I hope that you all have a good holiday and you enjoy yourselves!
   This week was a really good one for me here in the Congo! This week was spent preparing our amis for baptism! We have 2 amis, Jhonathan and Amour, that we saw almost everyday this week to prepare them for their baptismal interviews and they both went well! The only hard thing was that Amour got sick so we had to go look for him on the day of his interview. But they are now going to be baptized this Saturday! We are having a big baptism with Ouenze and Moungali (neighboring "arrondissements" or sectors in Brazzaville) and our ward so it should be pretty amazing! The two are super excited and they have been doing amazing.  Jhonathan asked me if I would baptize him so I'll get to be dressed up in white once more!
   But other than that, I got to go on splits with Elder Frazer who is from Canada and it was really fun! We had a great day and it was really good for him because he got a chance to truly lead in the lesson and it was so awesome to feel the Spirit as he was talking. He is an amazing missionary. Also, we fixed baptism dates with 2 new amis this week so we are hoping to have another 4 baptisms before I leave, which would be unbelievable!
   This next week we have misson council and also we are getting transfer letters, but I already know that I'm not going anywhere:) So my text transfer is back home!

   I love you all so much and I thank all of you for your emails and I hope you have an amazing week and holiday! Go and eat a lot of yummy food for me! 

 

Love,

Elder Legerski

 

***Elder Legerski will be giving his missionary report in sacrament meeting on Sunday, August 14 at 10:00 am at the Rock Springs Stake Center.  He would absolutely love to have you all come! 

We will also have an open house that same day, starting at 2pm at 2961 Arabian Circle.  Please come welcome Zachary home!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy...and Loving it

Hello everyone how are you doing!?
  This last week was really tiring and also really amazing! There were a lot of planes and buses and interviews to be done and I think it is the week during my mission where I have been the most busy! During the week, we started in Douala and I went out to Bonaberi and worked with 2 missionary teams out there for 2 days and it was amazing! They are all doing so well! Also got to see a lot old amis and members! Then we took a bus to Yaounde and once we got off it was back to work with 2 of the teams in the Bastos District! I was there Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday, we took the bus back to Douala and the plane back to Brazzaville. And on the way back, we met two air waitresses (or people that work for the plane) from Angola and talked to them about the Church so it was pretty cool!
   It was a super awesome week and I got to meet a lot of new people and it was such an amazing experience. Being in Douala brought back a lot of old memories and I found a lot of stuff that I had left in the apartment! One the best things was meeting all of the missionaries. Now I have meet them all except 2 which are in Gabon! But while we were gone, our amis were doing well.  We have 2 amis named Johonaton and Amour that will be baptized soon and they came to the basketball activity and institute and they are really loving the Gospel and they are doing so well! This week we are planning for mission council and receiving Elder Ellis from the South African Presidency, so we are pretty stoked!
   I love you all so much and I thank all that wrote me this last week and I wish you an amazing new week! For a challege go and drink some sparkling cider in honor of the Cavs victory!

BYEOOO!

Elder Legerski

Miracles and Missionary Work in the Congo

Hey everyone how are you!?
  This week was an amazing one for Elder Mikanda and I here in Diata! Just wanted to thank everyone that wrote me this week and all of you who sent up prayers on my behalf! I don't have a bunch of things to say this week! We have been really busy working with 5 amis which we hope will be baptized on the 9th of July! They are Deborah, Jhonathon, Rock, Fernese, and Amour. They all want to be baptized and we have been having some really amazing lessons with them during the week!
  I also got to go on splits with Elder Gilbert and it was so much fun! He really taught me a lot just in the way he went about doing missionary work! Just goes to show that we are learning everyday!
  We leave Congo to go to Cameroon tomorrow to go on splits and it's gonna be so much fun! I hope to do a lot and work really hard!
   I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week! Go and eat some Oreos for me! And just wanted to thank my family for the amazing goodie package that I got! Somehow it got through to me pretty quickly!

Love,
Elder Legerski

Short and Sweet

Hello everyone,  
   I have no idea what to say to you today. This last week was a week full of meetings. So it was kinda boring and we didn't have a lot of time to see our amis. But it was still really good.
   But I have good news! Next week Elder Mikanda and I are going on splits with most of the Elders in Cameroon! So I get to go back! It's so weird but I'm really excited to go. I'm just doing my best to work hard...it's so weird to think that it's June already. I used to dream about being at this point in my mission. The time is flying by. But I love you much and I hope you have a good week! Go and have an ice cream shake for me!

Love you all so much!!

Elder Legerski!

A Humble "Grandfather" and Old Friends

Hey everyone!
   Sorry I didn't get to email you yesterday...we had a ton of things to do and we didn't have time to email! But this past week was a blast. It was the last week with Elder Bacera and Elder Sperry and it was just amazing! And it was also a week full of missionary work! I got to go on splits with Elder Sperry and it was just awesome! But we had a really humbling experience. We thought that we were going do really well together and have really spiritual lessons, but the day was just okay.  When we came back, we talked about that and we saw that it was the Lord's way of teaching us humility and that we had been prideful and it was really humbling and an awesome lesson to learn.

   Then on Friday, I went on splits with Elder Temahuki who is from Tahiti and it was just amazing! He is my "grandson" (I trained the Elder who trained him) on my mission and I was in my old sector with him.  I got to see Loubake and Joriane, who were 2 amis that I taught and it was really awesome and we had really amazing lessons! But also because of transfers, we got a new person in our team: Elder Mpongo! So he just got here and we will be working with him for this transfer!

   As the time flies by I just never have enough time to do all that I want but I just keep trying my best to stay focused and to get better! I love you all so much and I hope that you have a great week back home! For a challege this week go and eat some Grubs for Elder Crandell and I!

Love you all!!

Elder Legerski

Short, but Sweet:)

Hey everyone...how are you doing!?
   Everything is really good here in the Congo! This week was a week that was really fun and filled with lots of hard work! We didn't have any interruptions this week as assistants so we just got to work our butts off! We met with so many amis and got to meet a lot of new amis that we have been trying to see, so we are hoping for good things this week.
   But I don't really have much to say this week...I just hope that you are all well and I hope you have an amazing week! I love you all so much! For a challenge this week, go and eat some schwarmas!

 

Love,

Elder Legerski

Splits, Stake Conference, and Mac & Cheese with Ketchup?

Hey everyone how are you doing!?
   So once again it's really hard to remember what I did all week, but I know that it was a really good week;)  I got to go on splits with Elder Stephens and it was really fun. He has been out for 3 months and he still doesn't speak super well, but it was really fun to go and work with him and really help him with his French! Also this week, we had a meeting with a security guy from South Africa and he talked about safety and things that we need to do and he told us that we are really lucky because our mission is really safe. Elder Sperry and I had to traslate for him and it was really hard because I kept switching back to French and forgetting English words! Also, this week we had Stake Conference! It was really fun to go to and see all of the different people from the Stake and also to be taught and it makes me really excited to go back to Stake Conferences back home!

   But our amis are doing really well and we have really been working on finding new amis and contacting people and it has been really great. We fixed a baptism date with a young man named Jhonathan that we have been teaching and we are really optimistic because he was given to us by a member. Also, we talked with Jean de Dieu about the Book of Mormon and it was really good. He finally understood that only God can tell him if the Book of Mormon is true. It really strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father has let me know personally that the Book of Mormon is true. As I have read it, it has really helped my testimony of Jesus Christ grow. 

   Well, that's about all for this week...I love you all so much and I hope you all have a really good week! And for your challenge, Elder Sperry said that you should eat mac and cheese with ketchup! 

 

I love you all!

Elder Legerski

The Best Part of a Missionary Mom's Mother's Day:)

Hi everyone how are you!?
  So I just got to Skype with my family for Mother's Day, so I don't really have a lot to say in my letter this week! It's crazy to think that I just called my family for the last time as a full time missionary...I remember when i was at the MTC and still had four more times left!

The Happy Elder:)

  
   But I'm gonna keep it short this week. I got to go to Pointe Noire and work with the missionaries there (Elder Biaya and Crandell and Elder Tshibanda and Miller) and it was a lot of fun. I didn't get to see any of my recent converts and members that I worked with at Aeroport because I was on the other side of the city, but it still brought back so many memories when I landed in the airport and it was just awesome! And also we got to go to the Yes Club, which is a really nice chineese restaurant for President Monga's bday and we all sang to him and we all ate with chopsticks so it was a lot of fun! As for the amis, they are doing really well. We are really trying to find new people to teach and the search has been going well.
   I have been reading about the missionaries in Alma and it has really been insiring me to be a better missionary and work harder than ever before! Well, I love you all so much and I hope that you have a good week! I love you all so much and I'll see you next week! For a challenge go and eat sweet and sour pork and egg rolls!

Love,

Elder Legerski

 

PS.  Oh and I just wanted to thank the whole ward for the Christmas cards that they sent to me! They finally got here really late but I really loved them!!

 

Koltin and Elder Legerski
Mother's Day Skype

Dad and Elder Legerski
getting caught up

Koltin's been wearing my shoes while I've been gone??!!

See Ya'll on the 10th of August!!

Dear family and friends,
  I'm tired. One thing about missionary work is that it is really hard and really, really tiring. I'm just really tired all the time. We played basketball today and Elder Sperry and I feel like old men already. We're probably gonna go home and take a nap.

   But even in spite of all that, everything was really good this week. As far as the amis go, things were a little hard but all is well. We had zone conference and it was really amazing. We learned about what the apostles want us to work on and it's really been changing our work but it's been a good change and we are really hoping that we see the fruits of our work. Elder Sperry, Elder Bacera and Sister Twikala all testified for the last time so it was really cool to see. 

   But one thing I want to talk about today is Sister Simonne. She is a recent convert and has had some trouble working on the Sabbath day because she has a hard time paying her rent. We talked with her on Friday and told her that if she wants to be blessed she needs to come to church and not sell. But on Saturday, her boss guy came and asked her for money that she didn't have. So she called us and told us that she had to sell. But we told her that even with this difficulty, if she trusted in the Lord he would bless her. And this Sunday, she came to church!  It was really amazing to see her exercise her faith and come to church. 

   But that's about all for this week. We are going to Pointe Noire this week to work with the missionaries there so we are pretty pumped and we are looking forward to working hard with them. I love you all so much and I hope that you all have a good week. For a challenge this week, go and eat some monkey bread!

Love,
Elder Legerski

PS.  My official homecoming date is August 10!!!

Hellos and Goodbyes

Hello dear family and friends!

   How are you all doing there in the weird Wyoming weather!? Here in Brazzaville it's still hot like always, but it's getting just a little bit cooler which really helps when there isn’t any power at night! This week was a really bust week and we didn’t really get to work a lot because of all the things that we had to do with the new missionarys coming in and the old ones leaving--but it was still amazing! But before I tell you how my week went, I just wanted to thank everyone for the emails that they sent me and I hope that you all have a good week!
  
   So this week was hectic but fun as well! On Tuesday, the people that were supposed to go Cameroon couldn’t go because their flight got transferred, so we had to organize what would happen because President Monga was in Cameroon. Then after all that, we had to go and do a trainer's meeting with the new trainers and then we went to the Browns house! The Browns are a couple that work for the US embassy and they had us over for dinner and it was so awesome! They are so nice and they made pizza for us and we talked about them and the mission here in broken French.  I spent a lot of the time translating, but it was really fun and they are just a really cool example; in spite of all the differences in the culture and the language, they still come to church every Sunday! I hope that one day my future wife and I will be like them! Then on Wednesday, we went and got the new missionaries and they are super cool! They are Elder Tatahio from French Polynesia and Elder Odimba from Kinshasa.  They are really awesome guys and I'm looking forward to working with them! That same day we saw Elder Waite and Elder Nzema off and it was really weird because it seems like they came just before me and was just weird! And then on Thursday we went on splits with Elder Bilolo because he was waiting for his new companion and we had a really good day with him. We had a cool lesson with a lady named Joseph and we talked about the importance of family prayer and she was really touched and said that they would start doing it daily. On Friday, we had the orientation meeting for the new missionaries with President Monga and it went really well.  Afterwards, we went and ate and it was amazing food like always. And then on Sunday, it was ward conference and we had a lot of new amis and there were a lot of people there and was just a lot of fun.
  
   But that’s about all for this last week! This week we have zone conferences so it should be pretty packed! But all is well here and everything is back to normal! Really awesome being a missionary and doing Christ's work. I love you all and I hope you have a great week! And for a challenge this week go and eat cheesecake for me!

Love,
Elder Legerski

Splits, Transfers, and Saka Saka

Hello family and friends how are you!?
   This last week was a really fun week even though I was almost never in my own sector because I went on a bunch of splits with people, but that's okay! I just wanted to thank all of the people that wrote me and I wanted to wish my cousin Biz a happy wedding and a happy honeymoon! Wish I could have been there but I hope that you will be at my wedding!

   But this week was really an amazing week!  I started by going with Elder Kabeya for the third or fourth time and we had a really good day together, even though we had to take a lot of transport because they don't live close to their sector. It turned out to be a really awesome day and we even taught a lesson in the middle of nowhere, right the middle of a bunch of fields, so that was awesome! And then on Wednesday we had the last ever district meeing with Elder Nzema and we had a lot of fun and we drank sparkling cider together and I almost took his head of with the cork, but i didn't! And then on Thursday we helped one of our inactives cook and we ate saka saka (a dish featuring Cassava leaves) with her and it was soooo gooood! I loved it so much and I ate sooo much!

Saka Saka...and according to Elder Legerski, it's delicious?!

And then on Friday, we had the final dinner for Elder Waite and Elder Wzema and it was super good and we ate super good food again! It's always nice to have someone else cook for you because it makes life a whole lot better! And also on Friday, we had transfers and I wasn't moved at all! But Elder Izere and Elder Kazemb are leaving and Elder Sperry is coming to Brazza so these next 5 weeks should be a lot of fun! Then on Saturday, I went out to Talagai and I worked with Elder Pindi for the day and it was a lot of fun!  For most of this week we didn't have power, so it was really hot at night, but now it's started to come back! And now even with the fan I'm starting to get cold! And that was all for my week! It was really tiring but it was a lot of fun!

   This coming week we have new missionaries that are coming so it's going to be a really packed week, but it's also going to be really fun! I love you all and I hope that you have a good week! As a challenge, go and eat some dessert pizza for me!

Love,
Elder Legerski

All is Well

4/5/2016
Hi!,
   I'm not really going to write a letter to you guys this week. Last week was a normal week and everything was good, except for a few things. I don't know if you have read the news about Africa, but there were rebels who were shooting and burning police stations and they got close to our apartment,but we are fine. They moved us out and we are at President Monga's house now so we are all okay and safe. Just wanted to let you know! I love you all so much!

Elder Legerski

4/11/16
Hello family and friends,
   How are you doing!? This week here in the Congo was just amazing and everything was like normal! I just wanted to thank everyone that wrote me this week and I hope that you have a good week!

  I finally got to watch General Conference and it was amazing! This week, all that I'm going to say is that I know that the keys of the priesthood were restored on earth. And also, that if we will do family counsel like Elder M Russel Ballard told us to do, it will bless us abundantly!
   I love you all and I hope you have a good week! And for a challenge this week, I want you to write me the blessing that you have recived for keeping the Sabbath day holy!

Elder Legerski

A Love We Cannot Even Imagine

Dear Friends and family how are you doing!?
   I'm doing really well here in Brazzaville! Everything has really calmed down and things are pretty much back to normal! But since I wrote you last week, nothing really has changed! But we did go to the marche today and I can say that my bartering skills have gotten really good and they pretty much got to a master level today!

 

   But as this is Easter season, I just wanted to bear my testimony and say that that I am so thankful for Christ in my life. He lives and He atoned for our sins so that we may have eternal life. I love Him and I know that we cannot even imagine His love for us. 

   But thats all for this week! Stay safe and have a good week! For a challenge, go and eat a whole box of peeps!

Elder Legerski

Staying Safe During the Congo Elections

Dear family and friends how are you!?
   Well this week I don't really have a lot to say! I just wanted to say thank you to all my friends and family members who wrote me this week. And also I just wanted to wish my little brother Koltin a Happy Birthday! I love you lots, bro! But sorry that this email was so late we have had a little trouble in Brazzaville! (Due to the Presidential Elections in Zach's area, all telecommunications were blacked out and he and the other elders in his area were advised to stay in their apartment for a few days till things died down...http://www.ibtimes.com/republic-congo-election-2016-results-stalled-citizens-take-polls-amid-media-blackout-2339752)

   But to shoot to the point, we haven't been teaching since the 19th. Because of the elections things aren't super safe and we have really been staying safe and being really careful so we have just been in the apartment all week. But all is well and there is no danger now! But it's just been really boring and I'm really ready to go back out and work! 

   I love you all so much and I hope that you have a good week and I will talk to you in just a few short days! I can't wait to hear from you. And for a challenge, you guys have to go play War (the card game) and eat peanut butter cookies! 

 

Love, 

Elder Legerski

Hitting My 18 Month Mark

Dear family and friends how are you doing!?
   Everything is going really well here in the Congo! This week was a week that was full of mission stuff, but not too much missionary work! But despite all of that, it was a really good week and a really fun one as well! And as always, I just wanted to thank everyone who wrote me this week and just wanted to wish you all a good week!
    But this week was a week of people that left and people that came! But I will start with the ones who are leaving. Well, the Nelsons are finally leaving! The Nelsons are our office couple here in Brazzaville and they are done after 18 months here in the Congo! It's so sad to see them go home but I know that their family is sure going to be happy to see them! It was hard to say goodbye, but I know that we are going to stay in contact! Because we are losing the Nelsons, the Bills are coming back down from Pointe Noire to Brazzaville! So we need more couples in our mission! Couples are SO important for us and we are in desperate need for them! So all of you who can go on couple missions, get ready and come on down to the Congo, and all of you who can't, tell all of your friends who can to come on down to the Congo so you can help us missionaries do the work of our Lord, Jesus Christ! I know he will bless you for your efforts!
    But as I said, we also had new missionaries come in this week! It's always a big thing when people come into the mission! And so most of this week was spent doing trainings and greeting them and all of that fun stuff! We had an Elder from Belgium who is really cool and speaks super good French!! We also had 2 canadians, Elder Fraser and Boutot; but one speaks English and the other super good French! And finally, we had Elder Best and Stephens from the US, but Elder Best went straight to Cameroon cause he didn't get a Congo visa; however, Elder Stephens came here. It's always fun to see English speakers learning French because it reminds me of when I was at that point in my mission and was in awe of all of the old missionaries who spoke French already! But it was really awesome to be with them and I know that they will all make really amazing missionaries.
    And last but not least, I went to a baptism at the old ward of Guynemer! It seems like the Lord really likes me to seed and not to sow! In the past few months, 9 of my old amis that I left in the sectors have been baptized:) But thats okay because its all for the same cause and it's the will of the Lord! But Loubaki and Nancy got baptized on Saturday and it was really awesome; the first baptism in almost 10 months in that ward, I think. But the ward was there and the room was full! Quite amazing to be there and really nice to see all the people that I left there!
    But that's all for this week folks! Nothing else to report! I hope that you all have an amazing week and that I will hear from you next week! This coming week is officially 18 months for me as a missionary! If I was a girl, I would be coming home:) But for this week's challenge, go and drink some cream soda for me!

I love you all so much!
Elder Legerski

Our Amis Continue to Progress!

Hello dear family and friends how are you!?
   I wanted to thank everyone that wrote me this week...it was really amazing to hear from all of you and I hope you have a even better week than this last one!

   This week I don't have a lot of things to say. It was a really good week and we just got out and worked really hard. We only worked one day without a member and because of that, we are really starting to find new amis, new people to teach and people that are interested in our message. But that's about all that I have to report for this week! I just realized that I left my planner in my other bag, but oh well!

 

Elder Legerski and Elder Dou
 getting a weeks worth of water for the apartment
 

   As for the transfer, Elder Kabeya will be leaving our team and we will be back down to 2 people but he will be in our apartment still! We have 5 missionaries who will come into our mission on Wednesday so we will have a lot to do with meetings and all that fun stuff! It's always good to get new missionaries in the mission and it's really exciting being able to meet them all. 

But I do have very good news for everyone even if I don't have a lot of histories (stories)!  Elder and Sister Bills came to do a training because they will come back to Brazzaville to replace the couple that will leave next Monday. Anyway, I talked with them and they told me that John Matoko and Jean Beri, 2 of my converts, will receive the Melchizedek priesthood and that made me so happy! It's so good to see people keep on progressing even after their baptism! And also Loubaki and Nancy, who I taught in my last sector, will be baptized this Saturday so our hard work is starting to pay off! But that's all! Missionary work is amazing!

   But for a challenge this week, go eat some bbq ribs for Elder Freshour and I!

 

Love,

Elder Legerski!

Happy Leap Day from Africa!!

Hello every one...how are you doing!?

 

   Happy Leap Day from Africa! I would like to thank everyone that wrote me this week and tell you that I really appreciated it and that I love you all!  This week was a super busy one! We had a lot of stuff to do as assistants, so we didn't get to work a whole lot. But it was still a great week!

  To start it, I wanna tell you all what we did on Friday morning. We have an avacado tree in our yard and every time that we went outside in the morning, we would find 4 or 5 that had fallen. So I climbed up the tree and picked all the big ones and threw them down to the other Elders and I picked 118 of them! And I only picked about a third of them that were there! It was so awesome! Also, we ate a papai from our papaya tree!

   But this week was good. We had Elder Jomie from Guadalupe, who came into our mission, so we had meetings for him this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And because he is being trained by Elder Rakatoarimanga, Elder Kabeya came and is working with us as a three some! So it's been a little different working as 3 but it's also been really cool! And now we have transfers this Saturday and we are already at our max for missionaries, so we will be adding 5 new elders! Now we will be having some temporary sectors opened up and we will have 4 teams (so 8 elders) in our apartment so it will be a party! 

   As I mentioned last week, Marina had his baptism on Saturday and he chose me to baptise him and it went really well...he was really to plunge! He bore a really powerful testimony afterwards and then on Sunday, he brought his friend with him and he sang in the choir, so it was really awesome to see. 

And that was my week in a nutshell! We played soccer for about 3 hours today so I'm gonna be sore this whole next week! 

   I love you all and I hope that you have a great week full of joy and laughter! And for a challenge, drink some pumpkin hot chocolate for me!

 

Love, 

Elder Legerski

Every Member a Missionary

Dear family and friends,
   This week was a really weird week; it was either super hot or pretty cool so we had the best of both worlds! I just wanted to thank everyone for all that they do for me and thank everyone who sent me an email...I hope that your week was good and I hope that all of you will have another good week this week. This week was one packed with lots of good stuff and lots of experiences, so I'll just go on with the week and talk about all of them!

Zone Conference in Brazzaville
February 16, 2016
 

   So this Tuesday we had a zone conference, but it wasn't like a normal zone conference. There was a video conference that was put out by the church on missionary work that was shown the 20th of January, but because we are so behind, Salt Lake we had to wait for the dvds so that we could watch it. But it was really good and it showed us what we need to do as missionarys and it really helped me know what I need to do personally and as a companionship. But the thing that I liked the most was a short video that showed a member family doing missionary work, and that really hit me hard. I know that when I was at home, I was not a good missionary and I need to really work on that. Most people that discover the Gospel and are baptized are found by members. Members are so improtant in this work and I have really understood that as a missionary. So, I want to invite everyone to  share the Gospel with a friend or a neighbor. Just invite them to church or talk with them about his or her family and link it to a Gospel truth. The Holy Ghost will testify to this person that what you said is true and important. I promise that if you all do this, you will become happier than ever and that you will take part in a very important work. Now I'm gonna link this with an experience from Friday. We left the apartment at 11:30 with a member and we walked around from 11:30 to 6 at night and it was probably 96 degrees outside. 9 of our lessons fell through and as we closed with the member for the day, we told him that this is why members are important in this work. 

   But other than that, all is going well. We are having a baptism for Brother Marina this Saturday so that is really exciting. But that's all for this week! I love you you all so much! And for a challenge, all of you go eat a ghost pepper!

 

Have fun!

Elder Legerski

Avocados and Amis!

Hello family and friends how are you!?

 

   It's still hot here, but the rainy season is coming back and things are cooling down a little bit, so that's really nice! I wanted to thank everyone for their emails; I really appreciate it and I hope you all had a good week! This week was just a normal week for us. We didn't have any unusual things that went on! But our dmp Ken is going on his mission to Lumbumbashi on Wednesday so we are having a special family home evening for him really soon which will be really nice! It's funny because they play the Hokey Pokey and none of them speak English so I am really looking forward to it!!

 

   As I said, this week was just a normal week in the sector. We have been working with 2 people so that they can be baptized on the 28th of February. One of them is Marina and he has been an ami for a long time, but he has a smoking problem, so we talked with him and set up plans to help him stop smoking. We also gave him a special blessing and since we have talked with him, he hasn't smoked and he is on track for his baptism. He is really amazing and he comes to church every week and he even comes to institute every Saturday. Respecting this body that our Heavenly Father gave us is really important and as we do so, he will bless us.

 

   Also, we have been working with a girl named Fabia who will also be baptized on the 28th. She is 23 and she really likes the church as well. She brings her friends to church and to institute as well. We talked with her about Joseph Smith and how important he is for us and what he did for us. 

   But other than that, we have just been working really hard trying to find new amis and to teach and just do everything we can to come unto Christ.  I don't think I have ever been this tired in my life, but I haven't done a work that is more important than this work. As we progress on our mission, we start to realize how short these 2 years are and want to do all that we can to use this time to its fullest. So it results in us being super tired, but it's super fulfilling. Being a servant of the Lord is just awesome!

   That is all for this week folks! I hope you are all surviving in the cold back home! Were here eating the avocados from our tree in our yard. Yeah, that's one of the really awesome parts about Africa, picking fruit off the tree in your yard and eating it for breakfast! I love you all so much and I hope that you all have a great week and I will see you again next week! For a challenge this week, go eat some ribs!

Elder Legerski

New Area, New Responsibilities:)

Hello family members and friends...how are you!?

 

   Here it has been really hot (even more than usual) so I have been sweating a lot! Now I am living in Diata in an apartment which was for the Bills before they went to Pointe Noire to be the senior couple there. Its probably the nicest apartment in the mission and we are here with Elder Nzema and Feshour and Mikanda and its really big, pretty much a house, so today we had to work our butts off to clean it! 

   But as for being an assistant to the president, there are only a few things that have changed.  We still have a sector and we still go out to sector every day, we just have some other things that we have to do. This week Elder Temahauki came from Tahiti and we had to go get him at the airport because President wasn't there and we had to pick him up and do a little orientation with him.  Also, a few days before that, Sister Lenge from the DRC got here and we had orientation with her and we went over to President's house and we got to eat so much! And also we got to see most of "Meet the Mormons" https://www.youtube.com/user/MeettheMormons and it was awesome! But other than that all is going well here in Diata!

   This sector is a pretty good sector and it's one of the biggest wards in the city so it's pretty nice! We had a ward missionary come out to the sector with us almost every day and it went really well. We are really trying to get to know the members and see if they have people that we can talk with and it's been working really well. We have to earn their trust and then they will share the names of their amis they think we could share the Gospel with.  Elder Mikanda and I work together really well and we are really working hard together even though we are both new in the sector. So we are searching and having some good baptisms and helping out this new ward!

   But on a sad note, I saw Elder West off on Wednesday and now he is home! It was really bittersweet to see him off. Seems like it was yesterday that we were together in training back in Bonaberi!

   But I love you all so much! Thank you for all those who wrote to me this week; I hope you all have a good week and I will see you next Monday!! For a challenge this week, all of you go and eat some green cake!! I love you all!

 

Elder Legerski

BORN TO ASSIST

BORN TO ASSIST!!!
   Before I explain why I said that, I would like to thank Elder Bacera for his wonderful and original thought to use this. As I got my transfer letter, I found out that I have been called as assistant to the President for the Mission Congo Brazzaville. I will now be working at the sector of Diata B and I will be working with Elder Mikanda. I'm a little nervous about this new calling, but I know that the Lord prepares those that he calls and that all will go well! Over half of the mission just finished training so things got really shaken up here in our mission!  But I would like to thank all of those you sent me emails this week...I thank you so much and I hope that you all had a good week and that this one will be even better!!

   I also wanted to give a quick shout out to Leanna Hoch for her 2 cards that finally came through after many months! One of the cards was an R2D2 Christmas card and the funny thing is that my family sent me the same card, just one year in advance! It looks like they both know me really well! But just wanted to tell Leanna thank you so much...it means a lot!

   As the new transfer comes, there are a lot of changes that are going to happen! The first of them all is that Elder West (my trainer) is finally going home in 2 days! I can't believe that time has gone by so fast! I still remember the first time we met when I just got out of the MTC!! Now almost 16 months later, he is going home!

   Second thing is that Elder Dou, my colleague right now that I just got training, will be training now! So now I have 2 children with 2 grand children! My missionary family keeps growing and growing! His companion is from the French Polynesia, an island chain in the Pacific Ocean governed by the French! He is the first one ever from there in our mission so we are glad to have him! This is a really diverse mission with, I think, people from 11 different countries!

   But as I am transferred, I had to say goodbye to the ward and to all of the amis that I teach. But the worst was saying goodbye to Joriane and Loubaki cause they are the 2 amis that really love the Gospel. When we met with Joriane for the last time last night, she came out with the 3 Liahonas (a church magazine) that she got at church and she was so happy to have them. You should have seen the smile on her face! It really made me appreciate having a living prophet and reading his words. I have recently been studing the Liahonas  https://www.lds.org/liahona?lang=eng  a lot in personal study and it shows me how simple the gospel is:  we just gotta live it!

   But thanks to all for this week folks! I hope you all have a great week full of spiritual experiences! I love you all so much! And for a challenge go drink some root beer for me!!

Love,
Elder Legerski

Pure and Simple

Hello family and friends...how are you!?

   So that you can get a feel for Africa, I'm just sitting in a cyber (café) overlooking a huge open market...yeah, this mission is awesome!  I wanted to thank all of you who wrote me this week, it was really appreciated and I thank you all so much! This week was quite a busy one for us here in Guynemer and I have a lot to say so I'll do my  best to fit it all in!!

  To start off, we had a zone training, which I got to lead because I was zone leader, and it's just a meeting to help train missionaries so that we can all teach better and become better. I got together with the district leaders and talked with them with the assistant about what the weak points in our zone were and then on Friday, we had training and it was a lot of fun and we had a lot of practice and it helped out so much! I have come to love doing role plays because they are so important and it is one of the best ways to learn together! We all make mistakes, but in doing role plays in a controlled environment, we can all correct each other so we can become better!

  Then on Saturday, I got to go on splits with Elder Kabeya and it was a lot of fun! It's always great to go into different sectors and see their amis and their progression. Its been almost 7 months since the last time I worked with him in Pointe Noire back in my first transfer there, and it's amazing how much he has grown and how much he has improved!!

   And Sunday, we attended the new church built building for the first time! And it was such an awesome Sunday! We had 5 amis who came and 1 that came late with 9 new people that were invited by members!!  We got their numbers and we hope that we can meet with them all this week! And also, we had 3 inactives at church so it was pretty much a hayday! I can really see how the ward is starting to turn around little by little and also how our sector has gotten a lot better since we arrived here. If we are willing to just go out and work, then the Lord will work miracles!

   And finally, last Tuesday the assistant told us that Elder Hamilton from the 70 would visit us here in Brazza for the mission tour. Elder Ellis was supposed to come, but because of political reasons, he can't get the visa. But we were with Elder Hamilton all Monday (which is why I am writing on Tuesday) and it was really awesome! He talked with all the leaders about how we need to lead like Christ and really focus on being an example and showing the other missionaries how work should be done.

Brazzaville Missionary Conference
with Elder Hamilton
(with Elder Legerski smiling in the back:)

 

   And then he talked with us about the gospel of Jesus Christ and how really simple it is and that we need to do our best to be simple with the amis and to help them have eternal life, beginning with baptism. As I spend more and more time here, the more I realize that baptism is the beginning and it all leads to the temple.

   But that is all for this week folks! The transfers are Friday and I think I might be going somewhere so I should have some news for you next week!  Also wanted to give a shoutout to Elder Alexander, who will be going to Benin Cotonou...welcome to Africa my friend!

 

   I love you so much and I hope you have a good week! For a challenge go eat a mango!!

Elder Legerski

We Won't be the Church Next to the Trash Anymore!!

Dear family and friends how are you doing!?
   This week was a really good week and it was really busy for us here in Guynemer. We had lots of meetings as well as lots of time in the sector and it was a lot of fun. It seems like we have too many amis to see now so we are working our butts off! But I hope that you all had a  good week and I want to thank all of you who sent me emails...I really appreciate it! Also, I wanted to wish my little sister Skya a Happy Birthday on the 24^th!! I love you so much!

   But the best news that we got this week is that we will start going to church in the new church built building this Sunday the 24^th! It is a huge blessing that we have because it is only the second one that has been built in the whole mission and the only one here in Brazza! We are hoping to invite a lot of people and we are hoping that it really helps us with missionary work and reactivating inactive members. And we won't be the church next to the trash anymore! Kevin S. Hamilton of the 70 will be coming to dedicate it, so it should be exciting! I'll do my best to send photos next week so that you can all see!

   This week I got a really cool opportunity to assist at a training for the Stake because of my calling and it was really amazing. The focus for this year here in Brazzaville is missionary work and they are really encouraging members to invite their friends to talk with the missionaries because if amis aren’t fellowshipped by members, then baptisms are really hard. But I got to go and talk on missionary work and I saw that they are planning on dividing the Stake and every ward so we have a lot of work to do!  It's really cool to see the planning that goes on and how we just have to go out and work and bring souls to our Heavenly Father! And because of that, our bishop came up to US this week and asked us if he could work with us this week:)  I encourage all the members back home to invite their friends to speak with the missionaries and to come to church! It's scary, yes, but the Lord will help you and He will bless you as you try and do his will!

   Other than that, there is no new news! We're just going to do our best this week to invite everyone we meet to church and to invite them to follow Christ! I hope that you all have a really good week and that you are all staying warm in the cold! I love you all so much! For a challenge, go make some doughnuts!

Elder Legerski

P.S. Elder Dou and I made 8 and a half liters of yogurt. So awesome!

It's Raining, It's Pouring!!

Dear family friends and people from all around the world,
  Il fait chaud (It's Hot!) but that's old news. Here in Brazza, all is going well. We had a good week here in Guynemer and it was really awesome cause we are disciples of Jesus Christ and we preach unto people so that they may have eternal life. Thank you so much for all that sent me emails this week...I really enjoyed it! I hope that you all had a super good week back home and all you college students aren't being too lazy!

   Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of good stories for this week so far. Just going out and working as hard as we can. But this Sunday we had a really cool experience. This Sunday it rained for the second Sunday in a row and when it does, most of our amis don't come to church because the rain just pours and most of them walk to church. But even with the rain, our 66 year old ami Loubaki came to church. It was just really awesome to see him walk through the gate and we went to save him with the umbrella and it really just made my day. When we sacrifice to keep the Lord's commandments, I know we will be blessed! 

   This week was a really good week for teaching good amis. There is a member who has had a girlfriend for 4 years because marriage is so expensive and she really hasn't wanted to talk with the missionaries. But now she is opening up to the church and she really wants to meet with us.  We were able to talk with her on Saturday and had a really amazing lesson and the Sunday after that, she came to church (even in the rain!) and we were so happy to see her! We are really praying that the Lord can touch her so that she may know that these things are true. 

   But that's about all for this week. We're going on to yet another week! I can't believe that we are 11 days into January! The time flies on a mission! But I hope you have a very good week and I will see you next week! And as a challenge, I want you to all go drink tangawiss (a drink made with ginger:)!

Elder Legerski

2015: Oh Man, What a Year!

Dear family and friends...how are you!?
   It's finally 2016! It's finally here!  New Year's Eve was good while I was here. We didn't really do anything special; we just hung out, but it was a lot of fun. These last 2 weeks were really hard for work because of all the holidays, but other than that all is well!! As I finally realized that 2016 was here and that I'm old, I thought about this last year because at the start of 2015, I was in training still, I didn't speak French and I was back in Cameroon! And as I look at 2015, I see that I have grown a lot and the thing that has grown the most is my testimony of Christ and His doctrine and His church. To put it simply, I know that these things are true and I know that thru Christ and His atonement, we may have eternal life! (Oh, and I also became fluent in French, which is quite nice!)

   This week I got to go to the hospital for the first time here in Africa, but it wasn't for me! Elder Biolo was sick so I had to take him to the  hospital and then we had had a day at the apartment because he didn't feel well all day long. It's really hard to just stay at the apartment, because we are so used to working all the time and to being busy!

   But the sector other than that is going well! We have had many, many experiences and it has been a lot of fun! And we are really starting to see the fruits of our labors here and we are really starting to find new amis and people that are interessted in the church! It's an amazing feeling to go out and work hard!

   There is one guy, Jean Claude, that we have been teaching. He is really interessted in the gospel and the Book of Mormon. He got interested because his wife has cancer and he thinks that this message will help him out a lot, as well as his wife and his family. It's really sad because she isn't doing well, but it's also really awesome to see how despite all these things, he is trying to find the answer thru God. It really makes me think about the Plan of Salvation https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng and how grateful I am for this knowledge and the blessings that it brings into my life. 

   But other than that, that's all for this week! I hope that you had a good New Year's Eve and you all stayed safe! I love you all so much and for a challege go eat some Panda Express for me! (Elder Crandall gave me this idea:) Until next week!

Elder Legerski