Makelékelé

Bonjour, mboté, mboté zéno et joyeux noël (Merry Christmas)! 

I hope you each had a very wonderful, memorable Christmas! I would like to thank you for the Christmas well wishes! They made my Christmas! 

Speaking of Christmas, this week to celebrate we had a fun mission activity with Président et Sister Magre! We ate some good food (crèpes and manyoak) and watched "The Fighting Preacher"! We also read "The Giving Tree" all together which was a very heartwarming read! If you haven't read it yet you should read it as soon as possible! It's a goodie! 

To celebrate the season we also sang some Christmas songs all together as a mission choir! It was fun to exercise my voice once again! I learned again I like to sing but...I also was reminded I need to learn how to read music haha. I thought French or African Boonie languages were hard to read but no no no, music is hard to read! That'll take my head for a spin that's for sure haha. Voilà! My goal for the new year: learn to read music. 

As for Christmas day, it was nice to talk to the family and to have some mangez-vous with the ward members! Christmas strangely has a very 4th of July feel here in Africa. You could honestly think of it as Christmas in July! It's hot, humid, everyone's getting pretty for the evening by doing their hair (both the guys and the girls) and there's lots of grilling going on! Then when it got dark that's when the fireworks started! Not big ones more like knock-off firecrackers! It was a good way to celebrate the birth of the Savoir! We also ate chocolate chip pancakes the night, which was awesome! Hats off to Elder Call for the delicious meal!

Some quick updates: I got transferred from Mafouta! I'm going to miss them so much! I'm working with Elder Sindika now in Makelékelé! I'm a zone leader, I hope I'll be able to serve my fellow missionaries well with love!

Well, that's all for this week! The Lord is good and He loves you so much! 

Sincerely, Elder Habel

Joyeux Noël

Bonjour tout le monde! I hope you each are doing very good, very happy, and safe! Christmas is already almost here which is astonishing! Time sure flies by! 

This week was awesome! I was able to go on splits with Elder Huff! While we were together it felt like the Lord just kept putting His children on our path one after another! He led us to cross paths with many members who had need of us and of His word! Miraculously two people (Frère Kana Amour) who we were able to contact came to church without us calling them! It was pretty spectacular! Humbly listening to the Spirit leads to many little miracles!

As for the rest of the week Elder Mboungou and I were able to see once again the Lord do His thing! Frère Joresse is super excited to be baptized in January! He just devours everything we give him and his hard work really does show! I love these people so much! The Lord is good!

As we were talking to a member the Lord mercifully showed me a truth of which I will forever be grateful. The Spirit of Christmas is the grateful adoration of the Savior and everything He is and has done for us and; I would like to specify this "and" here, our families. Because of Him and His loving sacrifice we can be together and refine ourselves together forever as individuals and as families. Because of Him, we can achieve our complete destiny as individuals and as families. The sting of death is no more because of Him! What a wonderful gift! Christmas = The Christ + the family! We were testifying of the temples of God as this thought "clicked" in my mind thanks to the Spirit! I am very grateful for my Savior Jésus Christ. I know my soul has been healed by His love, and that He lives!

So with this wonderful truth that we have that God loves us, sent His son to die for us, and that we can be together and be better together forever because of Him I invite you to share it. Share His light! What joy and light and warmth will fill your life! It surely has filled mine. 

Well, all in all, I love you each and thank you each for what you have done for me, for your families, and for your God! 

Ayez un Joyeux Noël (Have a Merry Christmas)! 

Avec amour (With love), Elder Habel

Seventy and a Stroll

 Bonjour! Mboté! Kolélé! 

I hope each of you individually is happy, safe, and that you can feel the love of God in your hearts. That you can always feel His presence in your life.

And if you can't...keep in there. It is good to choose to hold on. God always; sooner or later, accomplishes His promises.

As for this week, we had the pleasure and the great honor to welcome Elder Mutombo of the Seventy to our mission! He did a tour of our mission and it was amazing to listen to what the Spirit had him say! He is a very bright, happy, and patient person. He follows the Spirit with love. As he was teaching us here are some lessons I learned: 

1) Listen to the Spirit and to what Christ tells us.

2) Don't let your worries and fears harm your faith in Christ. 3 Néphi 11: 7, 9-11

2) Humility leads perfectly to obedience. Soumettons-nous à la volonté de Dieu (Lets us submit to the will of God)!

3) We need to lovingly help our brothers and sisters come unto Christ and help them receive the blessings from their Heavenly Father in the temple. Don't be afraid to share the truth.

To be brief it was a very reaffirming visit. 

As for our area this week, we miraculously were able to accomplish much, especially considering the fact we only had two days to go out into our area! I would like to share an example of the divine aid we received. We were rounding down a day in one of our areas out in the countryside. We were walking towards the "terminus" (a dirt round point,  ridden with potholes, and  surrounded by one-story, shack-style stores) when a lady who was walking by us said, "Bonjour les Elders!" Instantly our attention was attired! We started talking and we realized she had already been visited by previous missionaries. She had come to church numerous times but it had been years since the missionaries came by. So she invited us to come and teach her family! We gladly took the invitation, had a wonderful little stroll through the countryside, and up a mountain (okay maybe it wasn't so little of a stroll haha). At her house, we taught her family, which was incredible! The next day, two of her brothers (Frère Ruphy and Frère Gédeon) came to church! It was quite the tender mercy from Heavenly Father!

Thus, Heavenly Father this week once again showed His hand in our lives. To close, I am deeply thankful for each of your examples and for your impact on my life. I have realized God often communicates His love to His children through His children. May we each be ready and willing to help God express His love. 

Like always, and always with sincerity, I hope each of you experiences many tender miracles from God in these days ahead of us. I love you and He loves you more!

Avec amour (With love), Elder Habel

Je veux être un instrument de Dieu

Mboté et bonjour! 

I hope each of you made some awesome memories this past week! 

This week me and Elder Mboungou made some pretty epic ones!

First, While we were with one of our friends (Frère Bizénga) we were in the middle of talking about giant lizards, snakes, spiders, crocodiles, and bats that he has seen when someone came up selling this lovely lizard that you see in the pictures from this week. (It was 3500 FRC which is like 5 or 6 bucks in the states. Don't worry we didn't buy it haha). Apparently, when you get away from the city the animals are a problem. To confirm this, our friend Bizénga told us that he had killed a venomous snake earlier that morning at his house! Also learned that there was a whole village that got invaded by snakes to the point where they've abandoned it. To sum it up, let's just say these experiences have increased the reasons that I'm not going out too far into the boonies any time soon! 

Secondly, Frère Zepherin is the older man I am posing with! We had splits within our district and I got to go with Elder Tshikoyi into his area! We met with Frère Zepherin, a member, and talked to him about faith in Christ and the courage that He can give us! Very powerful conversation! Then we asked him if there was anyone he loved and wanted to share the Gospel with. After a nervous hesitation, he said yes! We encouraged him again with the scriptures and the Spirit blessed him with a strong courage, the sort which gave him the desire to exclaim 《je veux être un instrument de Dieu》《I want to be an instrument of God》!  With this newfound courage, we knocked on the door of his friend, who was at first a bit confused by our arrival. There we were: him looking at us deciding whether or not to let us in and the courage of Frère Zepherin being put to the test. Thankfully, after a long 3 seconds he let us in and we had a very good conversation with him! It was awesome to see Heavenly Father help his son have courage and be successful as well!

Thirdly, we had an epic baptismal service for Sœur Benicia, Sœur Beldrine et Sœur Merile, ane Frère Cléo! Lots of members came, the families of our friends came as well and everyone had a good time! These four precious people really wanted to be baptized and it was awesome to help them reach their goal! 

 

Well, that's what happened this week! God is good. He loves each of us greatly! Hope y'all have a good week! 

Avec amour, Elder Habel.

(It was raining sideways. It was funny to see the raindrops under the roof of the balcony haha)