A Message from the Sweaty Elder:)

Bonjour everyone!

How are things going in America!? Things are good here in Africa; its just getting
hotter and hotter and I'm getting sweatier and sweatier!! Right now we are in a cyber café to email and the air conditioning decided not to work!! So I'm emailing in about 95 degree weather in a tiny little concrete room. You just got to love Africa!!


Home sweet home!
 

This week has been a really good week as well as a trying one. Our water was out for 2 days so we had to fetch all of our water as well as take bucket showers. It made me realize just how much water we use!! Let's just say I am really thankful for running water!!


The Bonaberi Elders:
Elder Legerski, Elder West, Elder Rakotondrabeharison, Elder Larson


 

During our p-day Elder Larson and I were cleaning the kitchen. Pause for a second cause yes, I do clean and I clean a lot and I do it really well, especially sweeping. But I decided to "go in deep" and clean under the counter next to the washing machine where it was all gross and it was going well, until we hit cockroach central. In 40 minutes we killed 11 cockroaches, including an albino one!! And one that was around 3 inches long got away. Let's just say I really, really do not like cockroaches and I want them all to die!!

This week has been a good, but hard one. One funny story is that we were asked to give a blessing to a member who was in the hospital and when we were about to begin, he starting taking off his shirt, which for Africa isn't weird at all and he was struggling so I helped him.  Then he took off his undershirt and things got a little funny.  Well, he is a recent convert and he thought we had to rub the oil on the affected part and it was really funny!  But I was able to give him a blessing and it was really amazing.

Elder West and I committed 2 people to be baptized and they were people that were so prepared. One of the men, Narcisse, said he had a vision that one day he would go to church with his best friend and
his best friend, Jean Baptist, was baptized not too long ago. The other man is a man named Julian who works with the branch president and he said he had been praying to know the truth and a preacher gave him a card and as he went to call it he said he got the feeling that he should throw it away so he did. 2 days later he meet the branch president and in our second rendez-vous he said he had a testimony of the church and the Book of Mormon. He said that as he read the Book of Mormon, he just felt good. It was amazing to hear these stories and to receive people that are so prepared.

The French is coming along really well!! I am starting to understand a lot, although the speaking is still very very hard for me. I set a goal to read the entire Livre de Mormon (Book of Mormon) in French so that after I do so, I may be able to recive the gift of tongues (the ability to understand a foreign language). I pray everyday for help and slowly but surely it is coming.

As a way to help the members out, our apartment is now teaching English at the church
and it makes me feel so much better when I see them try and speak because they look like me!! But it's a lot of fun working with them.

To answer the questions you asked in your last email:
1. I had to pay 12,000 francs for the package you sent for my birthday, which is about 24 dollars but it was worth it! I couldn't tell if it had been opened or not but it was in pretty good shape.

2. Make sure to tell all of the Sister Missionaries back home "hello" and I wish them all the best of luck! Tell Sister Unrast that she can even take my room if she wants it, just stay away from my shoes!!

3. As for the light sabers,  they were at the apartment when we got there and we have lots of fun with them!! There are lots of left over things so we use what we can to fix things!

 

Elder Legerski (aka Elder Skywalker)
 

 4. The areas our mission covers include: Brazzaville, Congo, Equitorial Guinea, Douala, Youndai, and Gabon. We fly to all but Youndai, which we take a big bus to. Since we do not have a lot of missionaries, it's not uncommon to be in a place for a long time; Elder West was in Aqua in Douala
for 7 months and he has been in Douala for 10, so transfers don't happen a ton!!

5. We are experimenting with food as an apartment; we have fish once a week now and I love fried fish!! I even ate the eye ball!! And the skin or scales are super good even if my mind says its so wrong. When I woke up the morning after, I wanted to puke because there was fish
in my stomach but I made it through.

Dinner is Served!!
 

6. And I have finally discovered my African addiction: the African pop!! There is "Planet" which makes apple and annana, or pineapple, soda and it is soooooo goood!!! I drink it all the time and I can't get enough of it. Good thing I walk so much or I would get fat:)

My message this week is "BE GREAT IN YOUR OWN WAY". This has helped me so much on my mission. Always, I was comparing myself and seeing what other people are doing to succeed but I wasn't searching within myself. So now I am trying to do things for myself and am seeing how I do best, instead of taking off of what others have. Our Father in Heaven made us all different so we must all find out how we tick. So everyone, figure out what YOU do well and just run with it. Don't see how others do it, just do it how YOU know and make it great! Embrace your differences.

Well that's all for this week.  I hope that all is well back home. I can't wait to Skype, but for now it's back to the Lord's work. Someone go have a gallon of eggnog for me 'cause I miss it so much!!

Love
Elder Legerski