More Elders, More travel

Our six day odyssey to the far ends of the mission continued. We stayed in Yaounde, Cameroon for less than 24 hours, but it was a full day and time well spent. We met with the great missionaries there and started to get acquainted. Brent interviewed Elder Palmer who goes home this transfer. It's strange that we knew of him and corresponded with his mom on the internet before our last mission. We thought we would never met him even though we'd been called to the same mission and here we are. Brent gave him his exit interview and issued his temple recommend. What a crazy life we have!

The Thompsons were kind enough to host our meeting in their home, which made it very warm and comfortable.

We spent the rest of the time in Yaounde with the Thompsons. They come from Canada and are doing a great job of supporting the elders and the local branches. They're even working on a temple trip that will require a boat trip of many hours. They're very courageous and hard working. Both speak excellent French and that's a huge blessing.

They showed us the huge baptismal font that was built at their rented chapel. The only problem they have is getting enough water to fill it. They had a whole list of things that they wanted to tell us about and we learned a great deal. We visited their building and talked non-stop about good things that were happening and other things that need attention. We drove around Yaounde and got a feel for the city. It seems to be quite progressive and is also beautiful and green, with nice contour to the land. It's still Africa, but there seems to be a little prosperity here that we haven't seen before.

We had lunch at a lovely restaurant with Thompsons, then we were headed for Douala, Cameroon on that great Camair Co plane. I just love their brand new planes. The Yaounde airport was easy to navigate and we were very happy for that. Since we were flying business class we had a nice lounge to sit in and were able to board the plane after all the pushing and shoving was finished. We flew everywhere we went on business class because the other class is often oversold and so sometimes you just don't get on and have to wait, sometimes overnight, for the next plane where the scramble begins again. We were so glad to know that we would have a seat and didn't have to worry about getting to our next stop.

In Douala, we were met again by the Nuttalls. They come from Provo, but have lived all over the world, including 6 years in Paris. So, their French was also excellent. Elder Nuttal served in the same mission as Brent, only a little earlier. They had places and even a few people who they both knew from their mission days. They'd actually shared the same mission president (Pres. Martin) for awhile. Again our meeting was hosted in the home of the wonderful couple. These senior couples are such a great blessing. We just wish we had more of them.

It was so fun to be able to speak in English in these places. I loved being able to just express myself without being tied to a prepared talk or floundering for the right words to say when I spoke. Elder Waite, one of these elders once said, when asked what he'd sacrificed to go on a mission, that he'd sacrificed his ability to communicate freely. I can relate! We were actually a little nervous about working with North American elders. We've worked with Africans, but this would be different. It was different, but it was just as great! We loved them and felt at home immediately.

Brent did another exit interview with Elder Acorda. He's so darling. I hate that he's headed back to Canada, having finished his mission and we won't have the chance to meet him again.

Since we were in Douala for a day and a half, we got to see and do a little more. Again the couple had a long list of things to share with us.

We were able to attend a wonderful little group who is about to become a branch. It was interesting that here there were both English and French speakers. They just got up and spoke in whatever language they preferred. I loved it! They were warm and wonderful people. They need to have their rented building remodeled. They're bursting at the seams. The missionaries live in the same building. Their apartment opens into the chapel room. The primary is in a tiny place, but there are plans to remodel and it will be a good building when it's done. I love the spirit in these tiny, new units. They just have a giant spirit in a tiny church organization.

Chapel, Young Mens' Meeting

One of the first members in BonaPriso, a cute young woman, and the Primary

This building will, after some significant renovation, be a place where two branches can meet in the future. It's large and well built and it has beautiful, hand carved doors that I just love. I hope they don't decide that the doors need replacing. Each was different and I just loved them all.

After church the Nuttalls were kind enough to invite Marius Nkong and his friend to dinner. Marius was our AP in Lubumbashi . It was so fun to spend a little time with them.

Our last stop was Pointe Noire. The flight there was about two hours. That gave us time to have a little meal on the plane. It was nice that we usually got a meal, since we had little time to eat at each of our stops. Pointe Noire is on the ocean and has some beautiful beaches, even some black sand beaches. We walked on the beach near the couples' house for a few minutes. It wasn't a really beautiful one, but there were great shells that the Gates have collected. They really have some amazing things. That day he found a very nice one and gave it, and two others to us as a souvenir. We hope to get to the other beaches someday, but this trip our important task was to visit with missionaries and couples.

Again we met at the couples' home and it was a good thing to do that. It felt comfortable and easy to invite the spirit and to talk together. It was another great learning experience as we talked to the elders and the senior couple. When Sister Gates introduced herself we found out that we went to the same high school. She was two years behind me, but I did know her older sister. Small world. Brent interviewed Elder Wilkins, who will go home before we get there again. We had another nice evening out with the Gates at a nice restaurant next to the ocean and they too had a list of things they wanted to share with us. Wow, did I say that we learned a lot on this trip? We hope that we can help address their concerns and encourage them to have courage and keep moving forward .

After a day in Pointe Noire, it was off to Brazzaville and another adventure crossing the Congo River. This time it was still a different experience. After sitting in an unairconditioned, old room for two hours waiting to clear customs, we finally headed out to our boat. We had stairs to climb down to the water this time, but they had no handrail and were pretty much an adventure. I had been very nervous about getting our big suitcase down the hill, but we had help and that part was easy. However, there was no nice touring boat waiting for us this time. We went in a very old, tiny speed boat. It reminded me of the little water skiing boat that we had when I was a child. Actually, maybe it was the same boat. I think it was that old. We had no access getting onto the boat . We had to step up from the beach onto the front of the boat as it sat in the water. I could do that easily when I was 16 and we had our little ski boat. This time I found it much more of a challenge. They packed 11 passengers and all our luggage and parcels onto the little boat and we headed out. Again the trip was much more uneventful that the getting to and from the trip. However, the week before when our AP's had returned, their small boat had ended up on a sand bar and was stuck for about half an hour until they could get it free. Interesting!?!

When we got to the dock on the Kinshasa side there was no place to easily get off the boat, so we had to step up about two feet above the side of the boat onto the dock. The landing is visible in the picture below. Brent went first so that he could help me and the luggage get off. An Africa women, who was in a big hurry, pushed me aside and jumped in front of me. So, Brent help her up and then I followed after her.

Next we went back through the barred area that we'd come through on our way there. Thankfully, the customs lady hired by our office manager was there to help us. She convinced the police that our luggage didn't need searching and our documents were in order and we moved right through a group of about five tables full of police and into our waiting car. It was an amazing six days. We had a great time meeting the missionaries and the church leaders in all of those places. We learned so much about their areas and the things that they need from us. It was quite an experience and the most amazing part is that we're going to repeat it every few months for the next two years. We can do it, right!?!