July 18, 2011

Dear extremeties of the earth,
So transfer calls are normally Friday, but they took longer with the joining of the missions, so we were supposed to get them this morning, but it's 4 30 and still no call haha. A good week in Bergerac! A lot of things could have gone better, but we'll take what we can get. We definitely saw the hand of the Lord. Gael will by baptized by his papa this week! Muamba was in Bordeaux all week and he was able to attend a baptism there. He loved it so much and he keeps getting more and more excited for his baptism. We taught him tithing this week just before he left to Bordeaux. Teaching tithing to an investigator committed for baptism can be nerve wracking sometimes because we never know how they'll react. But Elder Lumakaso and I went in with faith (we were on exchange). We said the prayer and introduced the topic. Immediately he stopped us and started talking and talking about how he paid tithing to churches all the time in Africa and he talked about all the blessings he had received from it. Elder Lumakaso, the member, and I just looked at eachother like... Wow, ok! Haha Muamba is a stud. He said one time he had no money to pay tithing with, so he gave all he had really which was a nice watch that he had bought. He said that three days later, someone gave him a watch for free! Then he bore testimony about tithing. All we had to say was how much he had to pay, and he accepted. He even asked if he can pay more haha. I'm so thankful for how much the Lord has prepared him to receive the Gospel!
I had a cool experience this week. Elder Coenen and I were crossing the street and on the sidewalk on the other side there was a big group of people and just to the side was a lady alone who looked like she was about to cross the street but was just standing there like she was waiting for something. I was debating whether to talk to her because I could tell she wanted to cross and if I stopped her I would block the group of people behind her from crossing the street, but I felt like we needed to talk to her. I said bonjour and told her we present a message about Jesus Christ. She looked the other way and said, "sorry, I'm completely atheist!" and was even mad. I wondered why I had been propmted to talk to her because it was pretty rude how she said it. But then I felt like I needed to insist a little bit and I simply asker her "why?" Then she opened up and talked about how she had just lost some family members and how her life is just misery right now. I told her God loved her and I testified that God gives us trials to make us stronger and happier in the longrun, and that he hasn't left us alone to get through it, but He sent His Son Jesus Christ to help us. Next thing I knew she was tearing up, and started saying how much she needed to hear that and that we were the answers to her prayers, her "angels" she said. The Spirit was so strong. Even though we were there with people all around and cars passing by, the Spirit spoke to her heart and she knew that what we were saying was true and that she needed to hear more. We set up an appointment, and we'll be seeing her this week. I learned a lot from that contact. Probably half the people we talk to say they don't believe in God, and sometimes we persist, but often times we just ask them if they know anyone else who would be interested. But that contact reminded me that the worth of EVERY SOUL is great in the sight of God. As missionaries and as members, we need to try our best to bring every soul to Christ, no matter how heard hearted they might be at first, the power of the Spirit will humble them and help them recognize the truth.
Sunday night we had an interesting, random experience. We found an old man in the road who had fallen and had a huge gash in his head and it was bleeding like crazy. Some people had stopped and looked but hadn't really done anything. Elder Coenen and I picked him up and asked him what happened. He told us he was staying at the hospital but had left to get money from an atm. We told him we had to get him back to the Hospital right then, but he wouldn't until he had his money! Stubborn old man haha. So we walked with him because with every step he almost fell over. The atm was a good half mile away too. That was probably quite a scene, two missionaries walking the streets of Bergerac with an old man with a bloody face and hospital clothes on. Finally we got there and he got his money and we walked back and got him fixed up at the hospital. Poor guy, he had a big old gash in his head. I have no idea how he was conscious. Good thing we were there to walk with him, or I think he would have kept falling and eventually hurt himself a lot more seriously. Well I'm out of time. Sorry I don't know about the transfer yet. You'll find out soon enough. Love you! Bonne semaine
Love,
Elder Tudooooor (that's how Muamba says my name)