Oct 14, 2013- “Limbé was such a blast!", Elder Garland’s birthday ,"If you become closer to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on your mission, then your mission will have been a success."

Douala, Cameroon- Bonaberi

Comp: Elder Casey Garland

Elder Garland’s birthday ,“Limbé was such a blast! We went to a primate park and I took a ton of pictures, we stood in the water of the ocean, and I got you some rocks as well! “, “The beach was beautiful and you could see the island of Bioko off the coast. It was really cool. The island is a principality of Equitorial Guinee. “  Advice for Alex & Max: “If you become closer to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on your mission, then your mission will have been a success. It's up you to figure out how to do that. Become more like him and bring others unto him. “ tan

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Oct 14, 2013

Dearest Mother,

It's been a fun week and I am red and tan all over! I will get to that later, but let me answer some questions first! 

1. What do you think is amazing about your brothers?

They are all amazing and smart. I love all of them. I just can't imagine them not all going on to do amazing things. They are all so great in each of their own ways. It's a beautiful thing. 

2. What is a quality of dad’s that you want to emulate?

His willingness to serve and love the people around him. His ability to work until he is dead tired and then somehow continues to work on. He is a hard worker. There are many things I want to emulate, even if they don't come straight to mind. He is amazing. 

3.  What is something you’ve learned from Elder Garland?

  I have learned that what I have been doing is enough and sufficient. He helps to put it all into perspective.  I appreciate that.

4/5- What made you smile? What made you laugh out loud?

 Going to Limbé this week. It was such a blast! We ran around, laughed at each other and played volley-ball for hours yesterday. It was so fun! I got so much sun on the tops of my feet, legs, arms, and face! Luckily though the only thing that is really sunburnt is the top of my left foot. Oh well. They won't be seeing any sun again any time soon so no big deal. Limbé was such a blast! We went to a primate park and I took a ton of pictures, we stood in the water of the ocean, and I got you some rocks as well! It was so much fun taking a break! What a blessing it was. The beach was beautiful and you could see the island of Bioko off the coast. It was really cool. The island is a principality of Equitorial Guinee. 

6. What is something that happened at church?

I actually had a really fun time attending Branch Council. It was weird. I liked the setting, I liked hearing all of the auxiliaries talk about their respective quorums and groups, and I like listening to what is going on in the branch.

As far as the rest of church goes though, we actually had not a single investigator show up to church. That was a first for me my entire mission. It was really strange, but it made me appreciate all the times that I have had investigators at church. I became humbled and thought about missionaries throughout the world who would kill to have just one investigator at church. I am truly blessed. 

7. Tell me about the creepy crawly things….

Honestly, Natalie's side is much more interesting concerning this subject. Not much has changed. I killed a couple cockroaches and saw a couple mice this week. That was about it. 

8. What service to you render this week?

Well this week we did a service project with a less-active member and afterwards his wife made is Eru. It's basically oil, leaves, and meat to put it simply. Tastes good, but there is always an abundance of oil. 

9. What adventures did you have?

Limbé was the biggest one. It was such a blast! 

10. What advice do you have for Max and Alex?

If you become closer to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on your mission, then your mission will have been a success. It's up you to figure out how to do that. Become more like him and bring others unto him.

So yeah! That was my week. It was a blast and I am totally tan and red now. I love it. Everyone keeps telling me that I am red and stuff and I like it. Going to Limbé was so much fun. It felt like a completely different world. Like a dream. It's really hard to describe, but I imagine that's how it feels in southern California or Florida. It was so fun. That's about it for this week! 

Love you Mom! Hope you have a great week!

Until next time, 

Love Elder Massé

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Side Note: Elder Masse’s companion is Elder Garland.  This is part of his letter Elder Garland wrote that is on his mission blog.  I love hearing his stories! Elder Garland’s Mission Blog:

October 14th

…Anyway, what an awesome week...At 1 in the morning Elder Thibault set an alarm and woke me up to sing me happy birthday, and then he woke up really fast and brought me breakfast in bed, which was super nice, but I wanted to eat with everyone else so I just got up and went into the living room.  Then they brought me this awesome African vest they got from the marché which I love. ..

When we got home I made a huge cabbage/sausage dinner over rice by myself, which was surprising because usually Elder Massé helps me…  I learned why Elder Massé hadn’t helped me in the kitchen—I found a hidden note in the guitar that told me to check my camera, that led me to a box of crayons, to my soccer cleats, to a bag of cookies, to a box of cookies, and eventually to underneath my pillow where he had left me a really nice note and a pocket sized journal for a present.  It was so creative and nice and really heartwarming.  It made my birthday wonderful,  along with the present from my other companions.  Best birthday ever!

The rest of the week flew by.  We made up for that failed service project the next day when we went back to the same place and helped them tear down a tin fence/barrier/wall and pull weeds and paint and trim bushes and the like for like 4 hours, after which they fed us éru and watafufu.  Basically it was boiled flour mixed with plant stems and red oil haha.  ... We came home to change, went back out and finally got to see Marie Anne,   we set her a baptismal date and now she’s getting baptized Saturday! ...

After heading home, Elder Massé realized he didn’t have the key in his pocket anymore, but we were sure it fell out when he sat in this one couch at a friend’s house that totally collapsed on him, so we had to walk all the way back.  It turned out to be fantastic though, because she asked us for a blessing for her baby, and then right after that her neighbors who are members asked us to come over and pray for them and give one of them a blessing too.  The whole situation was just incredible, I loved it. It made coming home that much sweeter.

Yesterday was the real kicker.  I forgot to tell you last week that we were going to a new beach, which is why I wasn’t able to write!  We went to this Anglophone city called Limbé, where they had a huge black sand beach with volcanic rocks at the beach head.  All the missionaries piled in the Gailey’s truck and we left at 7 o’clock on the dime, and an hour later we were climbing out to visit this wildlife preservation center that was mostly centered on monkeys.  It was awesome.  I took a million pictures.  Then we went to the beach and played volleyball for like 5 hours with some random people from Lebanon and around Cameroon.  ... It was so much fun.  They Gaileys brought us lunch of PB&J’s and starbursts and skittles and a giant apple and banana bread and it was delicious.  I would have sworn I had teleported to Southern California.  Coming back, we realized it was all just a dream.  Even though everyone was super sun burnt on their legs and face and upper arms it just didn’t seem real at all.  I loved every second of it.  I wish we could open a branch down in Limbé… 

Elder Garland