Elder and Sister Gailey with some of the members of the BonaPriso branch at the helping hands project.  There were about 30 people from our branch that came to help. 

With the obvious poverty of the homes it is amazing that many of the people have cell phones.  I haven’t seen any I phones, but you can see the cell tower in the background.  The homes will have a single light bulb in the center of the room, but most of the homes have a TV and something to sit on, even if it’s only a box.  In one appointment, the Elders warned us not to sit back on the couch, because we would fall through.  we sat on the front edge the whole time.

Sharing the gospel in Cameroon

This is a typical home in Douala.  Our missionaries enter these homes and teach the people the gospel.  The people are very religious, know the bible very well and have a lot of faith.  Many of them are looking for the true church and are led to the Elders by the spirit.  It is amazing to go with the young Elders and see how they teach with such power and with the spirit.  We go with them some days and share our witness.

 

Sister Whitesides and Sister Gailey were at a little shop where this lady makes little purses and baskets.  She had her baby asleep on her back and said we could take her picture.  Many of the mothers carry their children like this so they can still work with their hands.  Jan suggested that out daughter in laws should try it with their new babies.

Oct. 8, 2012

We have a lot of strange bugs and critters, but the lizards are really beautiful.  This one is about a foot long with the tail.  We have one in our apartment, but we never see it,  just its droppings.  Jan is worried that it will run across her face in the night.  We keep our room cool so it will be docile.

On Saturday the members of the branch invited the missionaries and us to play soccer.  Just as we were ready to play, it started pouring.  We were on a dirt field and it was mud.  Jan sat in the stands with Ilene her new friend and a whole lot of other Africans.  She stands out pretty well.

Oct. 3, 2012

All around the city, there are people selling anything that they feel has value.  There are also small businesses that make things to sell.   This is a wicker furniture store.  In the back ground you can see people in the yard weaving the reeds to make the furniture.  Most Africans could not affort such nice furniture.  Our apartment is furnished with it and it has pads that go on it to make it comfortable.

This is another market that sells the furniture.

 

 

There are hand carts every where.  They use them to transport things as well as to sell things.  We see old men with hand carts loaded with cinderblocks or cement bags, or a million other things that they pull around the city. This is one stop shopping for buckets and garbage cans.

This picture is taken out of our truck off to the side of the road.  The real Africans live in places like this that are seen looking in between the other buildings.  We see people cooking over open fires, pulling water out of a well with a bucket, and washing clothes in a bucket in front of these homes.

We went on a 4 hour drive to another city in Cameroon called Younde.  The Whitesides who came with us live there with 8 other Elders.  We took two of our Elders with us to get a residence card for one of them.  This is a water fall we passed as we drove across the river.  We drove through the middle of Cameroon and right through the jungle.  There were small villages all along the way, with mud homes with out plumbing or electricity.