Christmas Tree

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this humble little Christmas tree in the Bastos Elder's apartment.  This is Elder Hunt's lone present under the tree.  I just thought it was so sweet to see this little tree with one present under it.  It helps me remember the many sacrifices a missionary makes as he "forsakes his net to follow the Savior".  

Christmas Zone Conference

We held Zone Conference last Saturday.  It was a wonderful conference.  President and Soeur Cook told of Elder Bednar's visit to Kinshasa.  We in the outlying countries were not able to attend his visit.  It would be too expensive to bring us all in to the mission home, which is a 2 1/2 hour plane flight away.

We had a quartet sing.

We also had a "quartet" play the keyboards.

President and Soeur Cook brought presents for all the Elders.  Their Stake back home had donated a new tie and a new pair of socks for every Elder.  

She had them play a game to choose their tie.

Everyone was happy with their new tie and socks.  Merry Christmas!  Thank you President and Soeur Cook.

Gabon is Dedicated

http://www.lds.org/church/news/print/gabon-country-dedication-in-ancient-forest?lang=eng&country=afe

This is a huge event in our mission.  We will be sending missionaries here, hopefully this transfer.  It is an exciting time for our American Elders.  They will now be able to serve in 4 different places within our mission.

Elder/Sister Moody have been there preparing a place for the missionaries to live.  

Sister Cook told of this dedication.  It had been raining the night before.  Walking along the trail, there were trees strewn along the path.  Elder Bednar mentioned the fact that the adversary was doing his best to stop this dedication from taking place.  As they sang and had a prayer, a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds and highlighted the spot where Elder Bednar was standing.  

Elder Bednar bore a powerful witness to the gardener and botanist who were their guides.  He bore a powerful testimony to them that he was an Apostle of the Lord and invited them to stay and be witnesses to what was about to happen.

Just as he started the prayer, President Cook told us that leaves started to fall from the trees.  At a closer look, they weren't leaves, but butterflies.

Miracles were seen as the government gave permission for this work to go forth, after many efforts for the last 10 years.  We are all celebrating this glorious event.  It certainly confirms who is in charge and that "nothing can stop the work from progressing".  How exciting to be part of that work.

Happy Thanksgiving

It just happened to be Elder Whitesides' birthday as well, so we celebrated big time.  We enjoyed watching the Elders eat "steak au pouive" at L'awale'.  We had the restaurant to ourselves, so it always feels very private.  The Elders gave Elder Whitesides a tie, which they had all signed on the back.  They sang to him in English, French, and Spanish.  Pretty impressive.  After, we traveled back to our apartment and had potluck desserts.  You can see by the picture that we didn't lack for sweets.  We had fun with games and a movie.

Enjoy the pictures.

Sorry Elder Zurcher and Elder Whitesides.
 I didn't notice you were standing behind a tree ;)

Banana Cream Pie, Brownies, Chocolate Cake, Bread Pudding, Corn Flake Crunchies, Chocolate Ganache and Caramel Apple Suckers.  Yummy!  These Elders are amazing cooks.

Renewing Visas

We had to renew Elder Leavitt's visa today.  We take them to apply for a Carte de Sejour at the Government offices.  Once again, President Bala is a great help to us.  He takes the Elder in and gets them through all the paperwork.  We stay in the car and wait about an hour.  I snapped a picture of the view we were looking at.  Another day in this beautiful land of Cameroon.

Afterwards, we took them for a hamburger at KaZoo!  President Bala wanted to take us to the "Bazaar" which was going on for the next 10 days.  10 different villages bring in their goods to sell.  So, we dropped the Elders off and we went shopping.  (You soccer fans can see the Omnisport Stadium where Cameroon just qualified for the World Cup).  I was excited to get my veggies and fruit all purchased for President Cooks visit this weekend.  I was a little worried about how we were going to carry it all.  I didn't have to worry at all.  We hired this boy to carry it all.  He followed me around as I did my purchasing.  President Bala quickly left me to do his own shopping.  Elder Whitesides said it was a huge compliment, because President Bala soon learned I could take care of myself.  The funniest time was that I was arguing with the man that I wanted to buy only 2 pineapples.  He kept pointing at the pile of 3.  I finally realized that I could buy 3 for the price of 1.  Bonus!  We all had a good laugh.

Happy Birthday Elder Hunt

For Elder Hunt's birthday, his parents arranged for him to take his District to lunch.  We had a great time.  It was so nice of his parents.  It isn't every day that the missionaries get to go out to a nice restaurant.  These pictures will make you hungry.  Thank you Brother and Sister Hunt.

Well Done Elder Graham

We get so attached to these Elders.  It is hard to see them go, but we are so excited for them to complete their mission and head home.  Elder Graham is a good missionary.  He is loved by all - the people, the missionaries - and the Senior Couples.  The other Elders planned a surprise on P-Day.  They told him they were going to play soccer, but really, ended up at the Golf Course to hit some golf balls, something they knew Elder Graham would be excited about.

These goats were hanging out on the driving range.  The started to run, when one of the balls hit them.

That night, we had a farewell dinner for Elder Graham.  It was also close to Halloween, so I told them if they would bring a "trick", I would have a "treat" for them.  We laughed and laughed at the many things that were shared.

Elder Naughton stood on his hands and bobbed for his apple.  

Elder Whitesides decided he would see how long he could stay under the water.

To finish up the night, we have them form two lines and say their farewells.  It is just a small tribute of a job well-done and how much they will be missed.

We love you, Elder Graham.  Well Done!

Oh yes, the treats!!  They were so surprised.  Thanks for bringing them from the USA to us, Jeff Gibb.