August 18

Title: Out of Africa

Is that the title of the book? I don't remember. But I wasn't trying to play off of a book title, I've just had some really special experiences with Africans this week.

So I explained about the Eritrian family (who speaks Tegrinia) and the other man from the Congo who stopped us outside the library last week, right? Cool. Well, the plot thickens.

That sounds like it's bad. But it's actually so so good! Well. Maybe. 

It has been a super good week. Things with the Eritrian family are going SPLENDIDLY. They were going to come to church but didn't have enough money and didn't tell us until it was too late to find a ride (20 minutes before sacrament meeting.) So sad. But they are just the cutest! They want to learn so bad! We went over to help them move and asked what we could do to help and they said "just teach us. we just want to learn" and the next appointment we watched the Joseph Smith film and they wanted to keep it so they could watch it again. They are so good. Oh, my heart.

then we met with the man from outside the library. We will call him Congo, beacuse I'm feeling quite uncreative. We met with him and even had this member come with who is just fantastic and it was so good, and he wants to get baptized, but he was told that he could not get baptized if he was planning to break commandments.  The thing is, he is apparently the president of this organization that wants to kill the president of the Congo. He was at one point years ago a judge and he had some sort of power struggle with the President and apparently the President wants him dead too and anyway. It was kindof an interesting situation--he's a really smart, friendly guy--the stake president was a fellowshipper way back when and said that he's harmless, but...yeah. So he had all of his books out that he had recieved when he was taught years ago by the other missionaries, so I had coincidentally read in the Doctrine and Convenants 98 that morning about forgiveness, and luckily I can read French, so I opened up to it in his triple and told him to read it. He loved it. He even got up to get a pen so that he could mark it. We told him about God making it possible for us to keep His commandments. And even though he didn't speak much Dutch or English, it was a pretty powerful lesson.

I love the principles of the gospel--especially the principle of forgiveness. Forgiving is freeing. Being forgiven is freeing. What a great hope it is to know that we can be forgiven and that as we forgive others and see them for who they are, they can become who they "ought to be."

brb becoming who I ought to be

xoxo

Zuster Hoff