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)

Je vous aime tous

Bonjour à tous (Hello everyone)! Mboté!

Like always I hope you each are doing well! Also, is it just me or did it feel like we took a time machine through November!? Time is going by fast.

Which is the reason why this week felt like 3 days. I know it's been a while since I've done any math but I'm pretty sure a week is supposed to be 7 days. Sure doesn't feel like it. 

Anyways this week started off with us getting revaccinated. Apparently, the Russian shot doesn't do much so we had to get revaccinated with the johnson and johnson vaccine. 

Then we had Thanksgiving which was one of the most thankful and difficult Thanksgiving Days I've ever had. God is good and He has given us so much it makes my head spin. Life can always be a little bit more difficult. I am very grateful for the compassion of the Atonement of Christ. His love gives a lot of things sense (Alma 42: 13-15). 

Speaking of His love, we were able to share it well this week with our wonderful friends. Sure we've had setbacks, power outages, empty gas cans, an outright invasion of ants, and more of things similar to the ones already mentioned but through it all, He has provided for us and protected us. The best way to love ourselves is to understand God which helps us comprehend our own significance (Pro 19:8) and in doing such we'll be able to know the best way to keep the 2 greatest commandments: by helping others feel and comprehend Him and His love.

So, life is good. Hard, not easy, but it is good and fulfilling.

What a gift that is.

I hope and pray you all will be able to feel His love very profoundly and in abundance this Christmas season. I appreciate and love each of you for what you have each individually done for me!

Je vous aime tous (I love you all), Elder Habel

Courage

Bonjour, mboté and howdy y'all!

I hope you each are happy, healthy, safe, and enjoying life and the twists and turns which come with it.

This week definitely had some twists and turns which all led to good things!

We met with some members by some miraculous manners. One, we couldn't find one of our amis (friends) so we went to go find some members to talk to. We were heading down a road and got to a classic intersection of choosing the right or left. A person who just happened to be there and who just happened to know some members directed us to a family. Many missionaries had passed by there before and in remarking that he knew where we wanted to go haha. We were talking to the mama and the son of this family when their papa arrived just in time to see us. He has been in need of a priesthood blessing for a long time and it was pretty cool how we were able to answer a prayer. 

In visiting the members we had some very courageous sisters make a return to the church! My heart was so filled with joy to see these precious people act courageously upon their faith in Christ! 

All in all, this week we were able to help many people feel and act upon the love of God. What a miracle. I hope to give more of my love and His love to these special souls of Mafouta in the coming days. I hope each of you has a great week this week. The Lord loves you infinitely.

Love, Elder Habel

"Code Level: Midnight"

I would like to start by thanking you all for the birthday wishes! They made my birthday a day I will never forget! We celebrated it well with pizza and soda!

Concerning this week we were able to visit some members who needed to feel some love. Some had not gone to church for quite a while and others had been forgotten and left behind. There were many sweet and tender moments as we expressed to them the love the Lord has for them and our love as well. I think my favorite phrases were《Je me sens comme toutes ces choses me parlent directement》et 《Je sais que Dieu m'aime》("I feel like all of these things speak directly to me" and "I know God loves me." It was a gentle and pleasing reminder that; yes, God loves us and that; yes, God remembers us always. Knowing these truths and acting upon them brings happiness and peace. I have seen it in my life and I know He wants to show you it also. 

 

  

 

     

                                                              

 

  

    

As for funny experiences, I learned that bats love to follow sound! As you can see this bat decided to call our home his home.

We were wondering how to get him outside when I remembered a trick my family has used to get birds out of the house. So, I went to go approach the bat who was shifting back into his corner of the stairs as his last defense. I went to go reach for him when the playing field changed. The power went out! Everything was completely and utterly dark. Oooof. All I could do was chuckle at my bad luck. Thankfully I didn't get bit or anything because I was definitely waiting for a Michael Scott quote to come from the bat saying "Oh how the turned tables." and then for him to go full out "Code Level: Midnight" on me. If these "The Office" quotes don't make any sense to you I'm sorry. If they do make sense...your welcome mainly for the imagery of Michael Scott the bat attacking Elder Habel in the pitch black in Africa.

So later on the bat started flying all around downstairs. We decided to open the door so he could escape. To facilitate his escape I led him with the sound of my voice to the door. That worked and our little friend is now frolicking in the jungles of Africa. 

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this weekly! I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Au revoir avec amour (Goodbye with love), Elder Habel